Yuyang City Central Hospital, a fifth-floor ward.
The empty room was quiet. Wu Yan, looking pale, sat on the bed eating fish porridge with sluggish movements. He felt it was completely tasteless. Pei Jin, sitting on a chair by the bed, watched him with an expressionless face.
Xu Yike, standing diagonally opposite, saw that Wu Yan was eating and proactively stepped out of the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.
Wu Yan swallowed his food, picked up the glass of water, and took a sip. His tone was helpless. “Brother, stop staring at me.”
“Hm?” Pei Jin snapped out of his daze, seemingly having missed what Wu Yan just said.
“If you stare at me like that, I don’t want to eat food anymore,” Wu Yan set down the glass and added, “I want to eat you.”
The sheer weight and implication of that sentence was massive. Even though Pei Jin had taken on many scripts and played roles of this type, those were scripted performances with a fixed format. In real life, facing Wu Yan, he always felt out of his depth.
“I can’t eat anymore…” Wu Yan ate for a bit longer until about half the meal was gone. He pushed the bowl forward, truly lacking any further appetite.
Pei Jin looked at the remaining food and didn’t force him to eat more. He nodded and stood up. “I’ll go get Xu Yike.”
“Are you coming back in a bit?”
Wu Yan noted that it was getting late. The doctor had already come in to remove his IV drip earlier; Pei Jin had probably been with him for over an hour.
“It’s dark. You should rest early.” Pei Jin’s answer was essentially a “no” to Wu Yan’s question. He picked up his wool coat from the back of the chair and spoke softly.
Watching Pei Jin’s retreating back, Wu Yan leaned back against the bed, staring at the white ceiling as his thoughts drifted away.
Outside the ward, Pei Jin indeed found Xu Yike leaning against the wall. His gaze swept over the man’s wrist. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
“Nothing. Is he finished?” Xu Yike feigned indifference, hiding his wrist behind his back. He looked past Pei Jin toward the closed door of the ward.
“Mhm,” Pei Jin replied.
“Then I’ll go in. Thank you for the trouble, Brother Pei. With your busy schedule…” Xu Yike trailed off. Pei Jin’s recent itinerary was packed, leaving him little rest, yet he was constantly being bothered with these matters.
“It’s fine. Wu Yan… I should have come to see him anyway.” Leaving those words behind, Pei Jin headed downstairs.
The hospital corridors were cold and deserted. Outside, the sky was dark. As soon as Pei Jin stepped out of the main entrance, he saw his car parked nearby. Luo Xia rolled down the window and shouted.
“Brother Pei, over here!”
Pei Jin quickened his pace. Once he was in the car, Luo Xia stuffed a stack of documents into his arms. He glanced at the title on the top page.
“There’s an interview tomorrow?” he asked.
“Yes, President Qin arranged it personally,” Luo Xia said concisely. Among the artists under his wing, Pei Jin was the only one who was successful and low-maintenance. According to President Qin, the other newcomers were just starting out and required more effort, while Pei Jin could handle himself.
“I understand.” Pei Jin flipped through the script, saying no more.
The night scene of the bustling city was full of traffic and noise. As the lights changed, pedestrians crossed the street. Pei Jin leaned back in his seat, looking exhausted. But when he closed his eyes, his thoughts were chaotic. His mind was filled entirely with images of Wu Yan. Pei Jin felt he should see Wu Yan less—it was seriously affecting his work efficiency.
Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to find a message from Wu Yan.
Wu Yan: Goodnight, Brother. Get some good rest today!
The message was accompanied by several emojis: waddling penguins and a penguin hugging a pillow while sleeping.
He couldn’t help but think of the hand warmer Wu Yan had given him. Looking closer, he noticed the youth’s profile picture was also a penguin walking in the snow. It seemed Wu Yan was particularly fond of these animals.
He replied with a “Goodnight,” and no further messages came through.
“Brother Pei, what are you looking at? Why are you smiling so happily?” Luo Xia suddenly leaned over, trying to peek at the screen, but Pei Jin turned it off first.
“Nothing.” Pei Jin’s tone was calm. He hadn’t even realized he had been smiling.
“Were you chatting with someone?” Luo Xia, rarely seeing Pei Jin like this, asked curiously. “Did you look at the scripts I sent you? Any that interest you?”
“No,” Pei Jin answered after a moment’s thought. The scripts Luo Xia sent were either too melodramatic, logically flawed, or had unlikable, “idiotic” characters. He wondered how such poor scripts even reached his desk.
“Then I’ll pick some more for you next time.” Luo Xia nodded, feeling a bit guilty. Pei Jin’s resources were top-tier, and the number of scripts sent to him was countless. Using the Movie Star’s manager’s reputation, Luo Xia had taken many of those resources and given them to other newcomers. Pei Jin never said anything about it, but Luo Xia knew he must be aware.
Pei Jin gave a slight nod in response. He looked out the window at the scenery flying by. The cold winter of Yuyang City was in full effect—a damp, biting chill that was hard to bear.
In the hospital, Wu Yan watched Xu Yike clear the table, then pulled up his blanket. The moment his head hit the soft pillow, he prepared to sleep. He was truly tired from standing at the mall today, and drowsiness was now hitting him like a wave.
He soon fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, he was awoken by a commotion at the door. Frowning, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the closed door.
Xu Yike entered with medicine just as Wu Yan looked toward him with an impatient expression. He explained: “A patient next door is causing a scene. The police have been called.”
Wu Yan rubbed his sore neck and yawned. “I can be discharged today, right?”
“Doctor Jiang’s opinion is that you should stay a few more days for observation.” Xu Yike, knowing his own words held little weight, directly quoted the doctor. “The Young Master’s constitution is poor; you must be careful.”
“The hospital’s soundproofing is too bad. If this keeps up, I won’t be able to stand it,” Wu Yan said truthfully, his tone brooks no argument. “I’m leaving today.”
This was the best public hospital in Yuyang, yet Wu Yan complained about the soundproofing. Xu Yike’s expression was complex. He had forgotten to mention that part of the noise was because the person next door was using a megaphone.
Apparently, a child had accidentally eaten something while playing at a neighbor’s house. After finding out, the parents rushed the child in for a stomach pump. The mother, a teacher, had rushed back from a business trip and was now using a “little bee” megaphone to scream that it was the neighbor’s fault.
Wu Yan pulled his phone from under the pillow. The first thing he did was send a “Good morning” to Pei Jin. Noticing Xu Yike still standing there, he raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything else?”
“Young Master, I apologize for what happened before.” Xu Yike lowered his head, his voice weakening.
“Apologize? Where is the sincerity? Is it just words?” Wu Yan laughed. “To make up for your mistake, you should help me chase Pei Jin.”
“…” Xu Yike had already said those things to Pei Jin; if he helped Wu Yan now, wouldn’t he be digging a hole for himself?
“Xu Yike, weren’t you very obedient when you first arrived? Why do you hate me now?” Wu Yan recalled that in the original novel, Xu Yike was quite compliant at first and would even help the original owner hide things from his mother. Something must have happened to change his attitude.
“The Young Master has a short memory for unimportant things. I’ll go handle the discharge papers now.” With that, Xu Yike turned and left.
Watching him leave, Wu Yan felt it was bizarre. He didn’t think much more of it, instead scrolling through the latest gossip on his phone. There was another knock at the door.
He frowned with irritation. Hearing the door open and footsteps enter, he grabbed his pillow and threw it without looking.
The visitor caught the pillow and looked stunned. A trace of shock appeared in his eyes as he looked at Wu Yan. “Wu Yan, I rushed back from abroad just to see you, and you welcome me with a pillow?”
Hearing a somewhat unfamiliar voice, Wu Yan looked up. He saw a man with an eye-catching red “wolf tail” hairstyle, wearing a loud, colorful shirt—he looked quite casual and reckless.
Almost instantly, a memory surfaced in his mind. “Gu Yanzhuo?”
“So you still remember me, Yanyan.” Gu Yanzhuo looked at Wu Yan’s messy hair and cowlicks. The youth looked a bit dazed as he stared back. Gu Yanzhuo stepped forward and sat familiarly on the bed, reaching out to ruffle the youth’s hair. “Why aren’t you managing your image?”
“I’m not like you; I don’t have fans watching me every day.” Wu Yan mercilessly swatted the man’s hand away. Hearing the man’s feigned cry of pain, his tone didn’t soften. “Why did you dye your hair like a red-feathered chicken?”
“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Gu Yanzhuo instinctively stepped back for fear Wu Yan would kick him. He corrected him: “Also, what red-feathered chicken? This is wine red!”
“We haven’t met for two months, yet you seem to be in much better shape, Wu Yan. Did you find a miracle doctor?” Gu Yanzhuo observed Wu Yan’s face; though still sickly pale, his lips were much more flushed.
The previous Wu Yan lost his temper much more often. Plus, the “new” Wu Yan wanted to live, so he was very diligent about taking his medicine, which naturally improved his state.
“You haven’t… fallen in love, have you?” Not hearing an answer, Gu Yanzhuo couldn’t help but ask. “We had an agreement. I haven’t started dating yet, so you can’t be first.”
Hearing the questioning tone, Wu Yan smirked. “With your profession, if you fall in love, you’d better not sleep too soundly at night.”
“Also, I’ve always had a fiancé,” he added concisely.
“Ah?” Gu Yanzhuo felt a chill down his neck just thinking about that scenario. But he was mostly joking. Hearing the second half, he was stunned. “Your fiancé… that old piece of dead wood, Pei Jin?”