When Xiaowen came in, he saw the smile on Mu Xingyu’s face and couldn’t help staring. He’d been working with Mu Xingyu for a while, and Xingyu was so handsome that even he, a man, couldn’t help admiring him. But now, Xingyu seemed even more radiant than before.
“What is it?” Mu Xingyu asked, noticing Xiaowen staring at him. He tucked the lotus bracelet into his sleeve and looked puzzled.
Xiaowen shook his head with a smile. “Brother Xingyu, you’re even better-looking than before. I was so stunned I just stared.”
“Oh, really?” Mu Xingyu wondered if it was because he’d drunk the water that had dripped from the lotus. He hurried to the bathroom and examined his face in the mirror.
His face looked the same as always, but his skin seemed much smoother. There had been a scar on his right cheek from when a tree branch had poked him as a mischievous child. Now, even leaning close to the mirror to inspect it, he couldn’t find a trace of the scar.
He was amazed. The lotus water’s healing powers had revealed another surprise.
Seeing Mu Xingyu staring into the mirror, Xiaowen joked, “Brother Xingyu, don’t tell me you’re amazed by your own looks? No wonder your fans say your biggest regret in life is that you can’t kiss your own face.”
“Stop it. How did it go when you asked for time off?” Mu Xingyu asked as he came out of the bathroom.
“Director Ye said you could rest for a week, but…”
“But what?”
“I haven’t told Sister Qin about the time off yet. I’m worried she’ll…”
Mu Xingyu cut him off. “Don’t worry about her. I might not even continue filming this drama.”
“What?” Xiaowen asked in surprise. “Brother Xingyu, did something happen? Is Feng Zian trying to sabotage you again?”
Mu Xingyu smiled and shook his head. “No. I have some things to take care of at home.”
Only then did Xiaowen relax. Then he remembered who he’d just seen and quickly said, “Brother Xingyu, guess who I saw just now?”
“Who?”
“Mr. Andre! He must’ve heard you were injured and come all this way to see you.” Xiaowen sounded delighted.
Mu Xingyu’s expression darkened at once. In his previous life, when Andre heard he’d been injured, he really had come to the hotel to see him. Xingyu had been delighted at the time, but it had only been a way for Andre to earn his trust.
Andre was so good at pretending that not only had Xingyu been fooled, but everyone around him had thought Andre cared about him in a special way.
He’d kept his identity secret when he entered the entertainment industry, and the crew had treated him poorly. The standard room he was staying in said it all. Andre came from a powerful, prestigious family, and his visit to show concern had been a way of backing Xingyu up.
But now…
Now that Mu Xingyu knew who Andre really was, he wanted to cut ties with him as soon as possible.
“Xiaowen, take my things downstairs first. I’ll be down in a bit.”
“Brother Xingyu, aren’t you going to wait for Mr. Andre?”
“No. I’ll go find him.”
“Huh?” Xiaowen didn’t understand what he meant.
Mu Xingyu didn’t explain. He changed into casual clothes, packed up the last of his things, and had Xiaowen take them downstairs. Then he took the elevator up.
The upper floors had suites for the main cast and crew. Feng Zian was staying up there.
In his previous life, he and Feng Zian hadn’t gotten along, so he’d never gone upstairs. But later, when he’d fallen on hard times, Feng Zian had let slip that he and Andre had been involved for a long time. One reason Feng Zian had always targeted Xingyu was that he’d worried Xingyu would steal Andre away from him.
When the elevator doors opened, Mu Xingyu went to Feng Zian’s room and knocked, following his memory.
Feng Zian opened the door. He paused when he saw Mu Xingyu, looking surprised, then broke into a smug smile. He straightened his clothes, exposing the hickey on his neck, and feigned surprise. “Xingyu, what brings you here? Is something the matter?”
“Looks like I picked a bad time, Brother Feng. I was injured, so I’m going home to rest for a few days. I came to let you know.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t careful while we were filming. How are you feeling now?”
“I’ll be fine after a few days of rest.” Mu Xingyu didn’t want to talk to Feng Zian any longer. He glanced into the room and said softly, “Give my regards to Mr. Andre.” Then he turned and left.
Inside the room, Andre paused while getting dressed. He’d thought the suite was big enough that Mu Xingyu couldn’t see him from the doorway. But when he heard Xingyu’s last words, he realized Xingyu knew he was there and hurried after him.
Feng Zian stopped him. “Andre, don’t rush off.”
“The company needs me. I have to go.” Andre left the suite, but the elevator doors had already closed. He had to wait for the next one, then caught up with Mu Xingyu in the hotel lobby.
Mu Xingyu had deliberately slowed down, waiting for Andre to catch up.
When he heard Andre call his name, he turned around with a surprised smile. “Mr. Andre, what are you doing down here?”
Andre was an American, tall and handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes. Everyone passing through the lobby couldn’t help looking at him.
The handsome foreigner came over to Mu Xingyu with an apologetic look. “Xingyu, let me explain. Feng and I had something to discuss. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“Mr. Andre, we’re just friends. You don’t need to tell me what you and Brother Feng are to each other.” Mu Xingyu gave him a polite smile.
In his previous life, Feng Zian had told him that Andre had gone to see him before coming to visit Xingyu. That was why Mu Xingyu had deliberately gone to Feng Zian, to make it clear he wanted nothing to do with Andre.
“Xingyu, don’t be angry. I…”
“Mr. Andre, as your friend, I sincerely wish you and Mr. Feng well. I need to get home, so I’ll be going.” Mu Xingyu walked straight out of the hotel lobby.
It was the middle of winter, and the icy wind made him shiver. But the sense of relief that washed over him left him feeling light all over. He walked briskly toward Xiaowen.
The company hadn’t provided a car for him, so Xiaowen had called a taxi. Once inside, Mu Xingyu told the driver to take them to Bailu Bay.
Xiaowen was surprised. Bailu Bay was one of Beijing’s most famous wealthy neighborhoods, full of detached villas with eye-wateringly high prices.
“Brother Xingyu, do you live in Bailu Bay?” Xiaowen asked, puzzled.
“Yes.” Mu Xingyu nodded. He’d kept his identity secret and always been low-key, so no one at Fenghe Media knew about his family.
The filming location was in the suburbs, and on the way back they hit the evening rush. The car crawled along, so Mu Xingyu took out his phone.
He’d run away to travel to avoid marrying Gu Yunzhou. He hadn’t expected a talent scout to discover him along the way, leading him to join Fenghe Media.
Afraid his parents would question him, he usually kept his phone on silent in his bag. Now the battery had run out, so he borrowed Xiaowen’s power bank to charge it. Once it turned on, he checked his messages.
As soon as it started up, he was flooded with missed notifications. When he opened WeChat, he saw that his mother had sent him more than ninety messages.
He skimmed through them. Most asked where he was and told him to answer her calls.
He’d barely finished reading when the phone rang.
The moment he answered, his mother’s anxious voice came through. “Xingyu, you finally picked up! Where have you been? Why has your phone been off this whole time? Do you know how worried I’ve been?”
“Mom…” Remembering his mother after she’d taken sleeping pills in his previous life, Mu Xingyu’s eyes reddened instantly. He struggled to keep his emotions in check. “I’m sorry I worried you. I’m on my way home.”
“Really? That’s all that matters. Listen, if you don’t want to marry into the Gu family, I’ll do whatever it takes to help you. Don’t worry. Just come home.”
“Mom, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll tell you everything when I get back.”
Mu Xingyu and Gu Yunzhou’s engagement had been arranged as a joke by their mothers when the two were children. After Madam Gu passed away, everyone had assumed the joke wouldn’t be taken seriously. But then Old Master Gu brought it up again and made the engagement official.
The Mu family was wealthy and powerful, but only within China. The Gu family, on the other hand, was one of the most prominent families in the world.
The Gu family had made its fortune in technology and had expanded into overseas trade early on. Later, marriages into European nobility helped it grow its international markets even further. Gu Yunzhou’s mother, Anna Phillips Windsor, was the president of a leading fashion conglomerate abroad. His parents’ marriage had taken the Gu family to even greater heights.
Mu Xingyu and Gu Yunzhou were both men, but same-sex marriage had long been legal in modern society. The Gu family had foreign ancestry and was even more open-minded, so Old Master Gu didn’t mind at all that his grandson was marrying a man.
But that left Mu Xingyu in a difficult position. Everything he knew about Gu Yunzhou came from conversations between their parents. Gu Yunzhou was a business genius. He’d brought together the technology businesses on his father’s side and the fashion business on his mother’s, building the Gu Group into a whole new kind of conglomerate.
His father had always spoken of Gu Yunzhou with admiration, and even a hint of fear. Business was a battlefield, and Gu Yunzhou was a tyrant on it. Every project he set his sights on succeeded, and any company that dared oppose the Gu Group had better be ready to go under.
Yet a man who dominated the business world had been left with disabled legs, and even the world’s top doctors couldn’t treat him.
Perhaps because of his disability, Gu Yunzhou was cold and distant. To be honest, Mu Xingyu was afraid of him, and didn’t want to marry him at all.
Then Gu Yunzhou had been in a car accident and fallen into a coma. The chances of him waking up were slim.
Mu Xingyu had been relieved, but he hadn’t expected Old Master Gu to still want him to marry into the family. It was obvious Old Master Gu wanted him to bring Gu Yunzhou good luck through marriage.
Furious, Mu Xingyu had used travel as an excuse to avoid the marriage. That was how he’d ended up entering the entertainment industry.
But after dying once, Mu Xingyu had changed his mind.
This time, he was going to marry Gu Yunzhou and make up for the mistakes he’d made in his previous life.
Besides, he had a treasure now. Maybe it could even heal Gu Yunzhou and help him wake up sooner.
Mu Xingyu couldn’t help touching the lotus bud on his wrist.
Author’s note: There’ll be another chapter tonight~~
I haven’t settled on a fixed update time yet, but I’ll do my best to build up a backlog and try to update promptly at 9 every day, just like I did with my last book.