At 11 a.m., the sharp sound of an alarm clock rang from the bedside table.
Immediately, the warm yellow quilt on the dark blue sheets wriggled twice, and a slender, fair arm stretched out from inside.
As if feeling the chill outside the quilt, it quickly retracted, but soon stretched out again, unable to bear the sound of the alarm.
With his eyes closed, Zhao Chenxing fumbled around the bedside table until he found his phone. He skillfully swiped the screen to turn off the alarm.
Holding the phone in one hand, he propped himself up from the warm quilt and then flipped over like a salted fish, leaning steadily against the headboard.
Like most young people, the first thing Zhao Chenxing did after waking up was not to get up and wash, but to open Weibo and check the latest gossip in real-time.
Some might argue that checking Weibo early in the morning is about staying informed on current affairs, but that was definitely not the case for Zhao Chenxing. He was just an ordinary frontline member of the gossip group.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes and opening his mouth to welcome the first yawn of the day, Zhao Chenxing scrolled to the latest post from a marketing account.
He didn’t pay attention to the specific text, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the accompanying picture.
The picture was of Jiang Liyue at the Fashion BS company building this morning, where he was scheduled to shoot a solo magazine cover.
It wasn’t surprising for Jiang Liyue to have work photos leaked, especially since he had just won the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival. The entertainment media were eager to publish his latest updates.
What was surprising was that he actually greeted the swarm of media with a “smile.”
Normally, he would walk quickly past the crowd of photographers and reporters with a cold, beautiful face and slightly furrowed brows, as if enduring something.
Today was extremely unusual. Not only that, but he also waved his long, slender, fair hand at the buzzing media.
If it weren’t for the pink band-aids on his four fingers, the media might have thought this newly crowned Film Emperor had just taken on a hand model job.
Looking at Jiang Liyue’s smiling face and the band-aids on his hand, Zhao Chenxing pursed his lips.
Then he clicked to read the comments.
“Sisters! Come and see! Fresh Jiang Ge!”
“Hahaha, what’s with the pink bunny band-aid? It totally doesn’t match our Jiang’s domineering CEO vibe.”
“Licking the screen~ Gege looks so damn good when he smiles! How can someone like this exist in the world?!”
“OMG! Gege’s smile is so sweet! I’m melting!!”
“Oh my god! Jiang Ge is totally a big boss in the entertainment circle! That face! That acting! Blessed by the heavens!”
“Jiang Ge! Mua~ Long time no see! Happy working!”
“Wuwuwu! I miss Gege, when will Gege come back to Beijing~”
“What the heck? Looking like this? And still a Film Emperor? Must have bought his way up, right? Ugh!”
“Upstairs is pure hyb.”
“Upstairs must be a hater, even I, a passerby, know JLY is homophobic…”
“Lol, I can only say he’s truly the leader of the Kongtong Sect, even using pink band-aids.”
“If it weren’t for his height and build, I’d honestly think he’s the ultimate sweet O from a novel!”
“Upstairs, don’t talk nonsense, our Gege would never appear in an ABO story, after all…”
…
Zhao Chenxing liked several comments in a row until he saw a few that made his brows furrow. His slender fingers quickly tapped on the screen.
After completing a series of actions, he relaxed his brows, got out of bed, and wobbled to the bathroom to wash up.
He had drunk some alcohol yesterday and felt like the smell hadn’t completely dissipated, so he decided to take a shower.
His brain still half-asleep, he thought he was still abroad and prepared to lower the temperature for a quick cold shower.
Half-squinting, Zhao Chenxing was suddenly hit by cold water, shivering instantly as the cold water jolted his brain awake.
So, he silently turned the knob to hot water and slowly started showering.
In the bathroom mirror, through the mist, Zhao Chenxing’s facial features were faintly reflected. His appearance was clean, with the gentle look of a big brother next door, not particularly striking.
…
After all, growing up with a certain someone, his aesthetic standards were forced to be very high.
When they were still little kids, people’s attention and gazes were always on the stunningly beautiful Jiang Liyue beside him, never noticing him.
Looking at the mirror, Zhao Chenxing casually combed his wet bangs back with his hand, revealing a faint scar at the root of his right temple—
An old scar, not very noticeable, about the size of a child’s thumb, light pink.
His smooth, fair skin had a slight bump and wrinkle at the scar.
Zhao Chenxing paid no mind to the scar on his temple, picked up a towel, and casually dried his wet hair. Once it was no longer dripping, he put down the towel and headed downstairs.
When Zhao Chenxing went downstairs, he saw his mother, Yuan Li, holding a tablet and watching something.
Five years hadn’t left any marks on her; God always favored gentle women.
Unlike Zhao Chenxing, in five years, his facial features had become more defined.
Perhaps it was because the food abroad didn’t suit his taste, Zhao Chenxing had become much thinner.
Wearing loose pajamas, Zhao Chenxing wandered down from upstairs, the hem of his clothes lifted by the airflow, revealing his slender waist.
Seeing this, Yuan Li’s temper flared, and she immediately stopped smiling: “Can you wear your clothes properly before coming down? It’s autumn, not summer. Don’t act recklessly just because you’re still young.”
Yawning, Zhao Chenxing shuffled over to Yuan Li in his slippers, then plopped down on the sofa, sprawling comfortably against the backrest, humming in satisfaction.
He wiped away the physiological tears that came with the yawn, turned his head towards Yuan Li, and mumbled nonchalantly, “Oh, Yuan Li, it’s fine, I’m in good health…”
Then, as if remembering something terrifying, he suddenly widened his eyes, sat up straight like a corpse being electrified, and exclaimed in horror to Yuan Li, “Wait a minute! You didn’t really sell me to Jiang Liyue yesterday, did you?!”
Yuan Li was startled by his sudden loud voice. She elegantly rolled her eyes at Zhao Chenxing and turned her head back to the tablet: “Didn’t we agree yesterday? You’re going to be Xiao Yue’s assistant.”
Hearing the bad news confirmed, Zhao Chenxing exploded like a powder keg, performing an on-the-spot explosion:
“No, you two just decided on your own, is that called discussing? That was clearly notifying me. I had no chance to speak at all, unless you’re telling me the definition of ‘discuss’ has been redefined in the modern Chinese dictionary?!”
Hearing Zhao Chenxing’s wailing, Yuan Li was unfazed: “It’s fine, weren’t you planning to be a couch potato when you came back? Isn’t it good to find you a job?”
Thinking Yuan Li was disapproving of him not finding a job and being a lazy homebody, Zhao Chenxing thought there was a chance for a turnaround. He immediately changed his face to a flattering one:
“How could that be? I learned a lot in France, how could I be content being a couch potato? My goal is to conquer the stars and the sea!”
Such grand ambitions had been spoken since he was a child, so our Lady Yuan, let it go in one ear and out the other, pretending not to hear.
Seeing this, Zhao Chenxing thought it was bad and needed to add fuel to the fire: “Think about it, we’re both adults now, we should have our own social circles, right? Being an assistant means I’d have to be around Jiang Liyue all the time, there’d be no freedom at all!”
Hearing this, Yuan Li put down the tablet, slightly raised her head, and her clear, beautiful eyes looked over the rim of her frameless glasses, scrutinizing the ranting Zhao Chenxing.
Yuan Li was surprised: “That’s strange? Didn’t you two always like sticking together before?”
Then, she remembered that the two kids still hadn’t explained what happened five years ago.
That incident led to Zhao Chenxing going abroad without discussing it with them, and Jiang Liyue changing his life path to become an actor in the entertainment industry.
These two kids had been apart for five years now, and whenever she tried to ask them indirectly, one would start dodging the question, and the other would remain silent.
Thinking of this, she changed her tone, pretending to be angry: “What? You drank some foreign ink and now you don’t recognize people?”
Hearing the threat in Yuan Li’s tone, Zhao Chenxing immediately smoothed things over with a smile: “No, we’re good. Didn’t you see he came home with me last night? We almost slept in the same bed.”
Yuan Li remembered something and immediately raised her eyebrows to question: “Speaking of which, I wanted to ask, Zhao Chenxing! Tell me properly, Xiao Yue’s hand was fine yesterday, how did it end up with band-aids overnight?!”
Yuan Li was a lady full of girlishness, and she personally handled most of the household items to perfectly match her aesthetic.
This morning, when she came downstairs, she saw the medicine box open on the living room table, a style that was clearly her troublesome son’s doing.
She was puzzled in the morning about what trouble this unlucky kid was up to again after just returning home.
Later, when Jiang Liyue came downstairs, he was on the phone with his agent while greeting her.
As he hurried out, she noticed that the one injured wasn’t Zhao Chenxing, but Jiang Liyue.
“Xiao Yue’s body, you know, even a small bump turns red and serious, and there’ll be bruising. If it weren’t covered by band-aids, I’d be heartbroken. Speak! How did it happen!” Yuan Li’s sharp gaze bore into Zhao Chenxing.
Zhao Chenxing’s eyes darted around, his hands nervously twisting together, stammering:
“Well… he wanted to come into my room, I didn’t let him… then I wasn’t paying attention, and when I closed the door, it got caught… who knew he’d be so silly, seeing me about to close the door, his hand was still on the door frame, even a child knows to let go, he…”
As he spoke, Zhao Chenxing glanced at Yuan Li’s face from the corner of his eye, seeing her face cloud over, her brows furrowed. Before she could speak, he quickly admitted his mistake: “I know I was wrong, it’s all my fault!”
As he admitted his mistake, Zhao Chenxing suddenly realized this was a reason he could use.
He immediately got excited: “Think about it, I’m always so careless, who knows how I’d end up hurting Jiang Liyue, anyone can be his assistant but me, otherwise he’d get hurt.”
Yuan Li looked at her son, who was gesturing excitedly, and thought of the events that happened between the Jiang and Zhao families over a decade ago. She sighed and said nothing.
The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became quiet. Zhao Chenxing didn’t know what Yuan Li was thinking, and he didn’t dare speak, only scratching his head and fidgeting on the sofa.
After a long time, Yuan Li came back to her senses, lowered her eyes, rubbed the tablet in her hand, and softly said:
“You’ve been abroad for so many years, and it’s Xiao Yue who often came back to see us, bringing us things. All these years, he’s only asked me for this one thing… you know him better than anyone, he, well, forget it, I won’t say anymore.” With that, she didn’t insist further. Children have their own paths, and they can’t control everything.
Hearing this, Zhao Chenxing was extremely troubled. You can’t just say half of it, right? What’s up with Jiang Liyue? Did something happen that he didn’t know about? He pondered for a while, then could only say with a sigh: “Fine, I’ll go, but I’m telling you! I can’t guarantee I’ll do this job well!”
Hearing this, Yuan Li quietly curled her lips, then nonchalantly said, “Good! Go as soon as possible, your luggage is all packed!”
Yuan Li believed she had found a good job for her son. Jiang Liyue and Zhao Chenxing grew up together, their relationship was so close they shared everything, being an assistant would be a piece of cake for Zhao Chenxing.
Moreover, considering how they interacted as children, who took care of whom was still uncertain. Although both were precious, she ultimately…
After slowly finishing lunch, Zhao Chenxing picked up the suitcase he had just brought back two days ago, which he hadn’t unpacked yet, and got into the car.
As Zhao Chenxing was about to leave, Yuan Li followed him, leaning against the car window, gently stroking his head, and said to the driver, “Uncle Zhang, please take him to Xiao Jiang’s place.”