The two girls, seeing he had no intention of refusing, were suddenly beyond excited. They pulled him into a flurry of photos before scurrying away, chattering their thanks.
Xiang Xu, completely bewildered by what had just occurred, stood there like a statue. After struggling to understand it for a moment, he gave up, assuming it was just a strange quirk of their personalities, and went back to his work.
But when he went to work the next day, he found the bookstore’s atmosphere rather strange.
Reverie usually had few customers in the morning, but today the crowd was at least double the usual amount. Several customers, while appearing to look at books, would occasionally glance at him. Xiang Xu was startled, fearing his clothes were on backward or that he had not washed his face properly. He hurried to the breakroom to inspect himself, only to find his clothes neat and nothing unusual about his appearance. Only then did he cautiously peer out from the employee lounge.
As he emerged, he felt gazes coming from all directions, many accompanied by people pointing their phones at him. Xiang Xu felt a sense of trepidation; despite having done nothing wrong, he found himself acting like a sneak.
As he walked toward the checkout counter, Huang Siyi whispered in his ear at lightning speed: “Little Xu, it is incredible! You are trending on Xiaohongshu!”
Mu Lianyi sipped his breakfast milk tea while scrolling through his phone. In the brief pause between sips, his personal makeup artist, Xiao He, immediately stepped forward to touch up his makeup.
He had just returned from filming a drama in H City early this morning, and he had to record a reality show in X City later. Having been on the move for nearly a month, his face showed no signs of fatigue; he was truly born to be an artist. Looking at his face, which looked flawless no matter how it was styled, Xiao He could not help but sigh.
Two years after his limited-run idol group disbanded, the other members had faded, failed, or been caught in scandals. Ripple, regardless of his poor reputation, had skyrocketed to stardom at an astonishing pace. He was now one of Star Rising Entertainment’s most profitable artists. Honestly, Ripple deserved his wealth. Although he was famous for having a temper as cold and foul as iron, his looks and body alone could pave a path to success. Furthermore, his singing, dancing, acting, and variety show sense were impeccable. Words like “all-rounder” and “perfect” seemed tailor-made for him.
Because he followed Ripple, Xiao He’s own career as a makeup artist had flourished. Even though he was frequently scolded, the treatment was beyond compare.
Just as his mind wandered, the man in front of him suddenly leaped out of his chair. His arm knocked over a powder brush, leaving a white smudge on his clothes. The plastic handle of the brush hit the ground with a clack, rolling a few times.
Ripple’s sharp, piercing eyes, which had been fixed on his phone, lifted slightly to scan Xiao He coldly.
“I am sorry, I am sorry! Ripple-ge.” Xiao He apologized, frantically picking up the brush. He braced himself for a verbal barrage, but the expected scolding never came.
“If it hits the ground, throw it away. Do not put it on my face again.” Ripple commanded calmly. He brushed off his clothes and sat back down.
He is not scolding me?
Ripple’s rare moment of gentleness left him dazed. He then noticed Ripple’s face glowing with delight, his slender eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at his phone screen with satisfaction.
When Xiao He reached for a new brush to apply his makeup, he noticed Ripple’s cheeks tilting upward, a sight truly rare in a century. Although he knew it was inappropriate, Xiao He was too curious and snatched a quick glance at the phone screen.
It was the Xiaohongshu interface, featuring a post with a photo of two girls and a boy. Even with a quick glance, his professional instincts told him the boy was exceptionally handsome. He had been drawn to the boy in the work uniform first, only noticing later that the two girls beside him were stylishly dressed, pouting and winking with practiced social-media savvy.
However, compared to their excited expressions and exquisite makeup, the boy in the middle looked like a Tang Monk captured by spider demons. His pure, innocent face was filled with helplessness, and his dark pupils were brimming with fear of the unknown. The photo was incredibly dramatic, eye-catching, and humorous due to the contrast in expressions. It was no wonder Ripple was having trouble keeping a straight face.
Actually, Ripple’s sense of humor is not as bizarre as everyone says; he is quite approachable. Xiao He quickly revised his previous evaluation of Ripple having a “foul and stubborn temper.”
“He really was waiting for me!”
The sudden roar startled Xiao He so much he almost poked Ripple with the brush.
He looked up and saw Ripple calling out with immense joy: “Li Li! Where is Li Li?!”
His assistant, Li Li, rushed through the door while steaming his clothes: “What is it, Boss? What are your orders?!”
Mu Lianyi shoved his phone into Li Li’s face, triumphant. “Did you see it? Did you see it? Open your eyes and take a good look!”
Li Li retreated two steps before he could see the photo on the screen. He saw it, but he was completely baffled. I see it, but what is the big deal?
“You idiot! That is the boy who wanted to repay my kindness. He must have become a shop clerk just to wait for me!”
Li Li: “!!?”
He stared hard at the text under the photo, but it only said, “We caught the handsome clerk at the internet-famous bookstore! He was very ‘happy’ to take a photo with us!” He scrolled down, but found no touching story about a boy becoming a clerk to repay a debt of gratitude. Seeing Mu Lianyi’s radiant face, Li Li furrowed his brow. Is the boss letting his imagination run wild again?
“It was clearly a shady store, but he was willing to step foot in it again just to wait for me. It shows.”
Risking a scolding, Li Li could not help but say the truth: “Boss, perhaps he just lives nearby.”
“What do you know?” Mu Lianyi rolled his eyes at him. “A naive young boy like him is the most innocent. If someone is kind to him, he will insist on repaying the debt with the force of a fountain. You superficial people only see the shallow surface.”
Li Li, called “superficial,” was left speechless.
Mu Lianyi turned the screen back, admiring it triumphantly while saying in a tone of intoxication:
“Sigh, I truly am a man burdened by sin. Why must I provoke someone like this?”
Li Li and Xiao He exchanged glances. In each other’s eyes, they saw the internal mockery of their boss’s bizarre logic, but both wisely chose to remain silent.
“Enough said. Li Li, book me a flight back to S City. Immediately! Right now!”
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? Even if my schedule for this month is full, can I not spare half a day? Clear half a day for me immediately! If Chen Hao has an opinion, tell him to come find me.” Mu Lianyi scrolled through his phone, tapping the keyboard frantically.
Find you? That is easy to say. If Brother Hao finds you, you will scold him, and then he will come scold me. Why am I always the one getting scolded in the end?
Li Li felt his fate was quite bitter. Then, he heard a ding sound. He saw his boss looking at him with pride, signaling with his chin. He draped the clothes over his arm and took out his phone. The next second, Li Li’s eyes widened.
“Hush money. Do not say another word I do not like to hear.”
Li Li immediately clamped his mouth shut.
Learning that he had “trended” made Xiang Xu somewhat uneasy. He was not terrified by the attention; he had been used to that as a Crown Prince. Now that he was Xiang Xu, although he was uncomfortable at first, he found it acceptable as long as he interpreted it as “having a bit of fame because of my looks, so people are curious.”
When he was thirteen or fourteen, his portrait had become a fad in the capital, and many people had tried to track his whereabouts. It was not until his Imperial Father issued a ban that things quieted down. The ban had been quite severe, causing young ladies in the capital to avoid him for the next six or seven years, fearing they would be implicated by his father’s suspicions. Later, rumors spread that he was cold-blooded or perhaps even preferred men.
His “good” father had not bothered to stop those rumors. He had left Xiang Xu isolated until he was twenty before rushing to arrange a marriage for him. Sometimes, he could not understand what was going on in the mind of the man who ruled the lands. It was not until the wedding night, when his father had a bit too much to drink, that he revealed two layers of his logic:
First, a man should not be trapped by love.
Second, only real things need to be hidden; otherwise, they become trouble, while rumors will shatter on their own.
He understood “rumors will shatter on their own,” but the idea that “only real things need to be hidden” baffled him.
This phrase, which he had been unable to comprehend, had felt very real over the past two days.
The number of customers coming to Reverie had surged recently, and many people who did not buy books lingered in the store, causing their workload to double. It was fine when Xiang Xu was there, though he was pestered for photos and small pranks. But when he was absent, customers would harass his colleagues, which gave Xiang Xu a headache.
Having served in the imperial court, he knew never to trust colleagues who smiled and said “it is no trouble.” If they were irritated, their backstabbing would be more insidious than anyone’s. Although he did not compare his colleagues to those shrewd ministers—they were much simpler and cuter, the principle remained the same.
Even setting his colleagues aside, his situation could be compared to Zhao Yan hoping to conquer the world and kindly taking him in, only to find the negative impact brought by his presence far outweighed his utility. Even if Zhao Yan was righteous and said nothing, he might not be able to tolerate him forever.
As he was lost in thought while changing out of his uniform, there was a knock on the breakroom door.
It was Wen-jie, who was supposed to be on leave today. She looked at him with a smile. “Little Xu, do you have a moment? The boss would like to invite you for lunch today.”
Fortunately, the clothes he had changed into were on the chair; if they were in his hands, they would have certainly fallen to the floor.
There was no need to ask: this was undoubtedly a farewell lunch!