“Chengyi?”
“Lu Chengyi?”
“Mm, I’m listening. What were you saying, Brother Shui?” Lu Chengyi replied. Holding his phone, he walked up to Lin Luoting and met his gaze without blinking, as if silently asking what was going on.
He wore dark work clothes, his face devoid of unnecessary expression. Every inch of his handsome features was a perfect masterpiece.
His chest was broad but not bulky, his legs long but well-proportioned. He was tall and straight-backed, without the lankiness common among people his age still growing into their bodies.
His hand, bare of its work glove, held the phone as he quietly gazed at Lin Luoting.
Lin Luoting tilted his head and smiled faintly, silently answering that yes, he’d done it on purpose.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just asking where you moved to,” Zhou Miao said. His voice was the only sound in the quiet space. Then, tentatively, he added, “I thought I heard someone call out to you just now?”
Lu Chengyi said, “A friend’s relative. I moved in with a friend.”
A friend’s relative? That was a pretty distant connection. And that voice had sounded so cloying, and so overly familiar.
Zhou Miao grumbled to himself as he closed the dorm room door and came out. “What made you decide to move out all of a sudden?”
Lu Chengyi said, “My friend went abroad and asked me to look after his place.”
“What about that relative?” Zhou Miao asked.
“They were worried, so they came to check on things.” Lu Chengyi’s answer left nothing to question.
Zhou Miao still felt there was something off, but couldn’t put his finger on it. “All right. But you’re an artist now, at least. It’s fine to stay there for a little while, but once you get famous, you’ll need a place with better privacy.”
“I know.” Lu Chengyi didn’t want to say more. “You said you had good news?”
Going by the timing, the audition results for First Love should have come in. Had he gotten the third male lead or the male lead?
“Yes!” Zhou Miao perked up. The mention of it got him excited all over again. He’d almost forgotten after that voice interrupted him.
“The First Love crew just called me.” He covered his phone and lowered his voice. “Take a guess.”
“I got the part?” Lu Chengyi asked.
“You did, and you got the male lead!”
Lu Chengyi’s breath caught. His voice softened. “The male lead?”
“That’s right, the male lead!” Zhou Miao burst out laughing on the other end.
Lu Chengyi let out the breath he’d been holding. The corner of his mouth lifted. Even though he’d been prepared for it, the good news still made him a little excited.
Zhou Miao shared in his excitement for a while. “They’ve pretty much settled the major and minor roles now. Filming starts in mid-April, so it’s not far off. We’ll head over early and get the contract signed.”
“All right,” Lu Chengyi said.
They didn’t talk for long, mainly because Zhou Miao had to hurry off and negotiate Lu Chengyi’s pay.
Lu Chengyi put away his phone, his smile slowly fading until his face had returned to its usual cool, unsmiling expression.
Watching him, Lin Luoting clicked his tongue inwardly in regret. Smiling and not smiling, he was a different kind of beautiful either way.
“A friend’s relative?” He sat on the tall stool nearby, one leg bent, and narrowed his eyes with a half-smile. “Which friend? What relative?”
The man’s voice was even. “I don’t want the people around me to know about our relationship.”
“So?” Lin Luoting tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he’d heard something ridiculous. “You’re telling me what to do?”
Lu Chengyi lowered his hand. The furrow between his brows showed his impatience. His voice dropped. “What exactly do you want?”
The question stumped Lin Luoting.
He frowned slightly. He wanted to tell Lu Chengyi to be a little more accommodating, but, all things considered, the man already was. Those deep black eyes stared steadily at him, framed by slightly sunken sockets and thick lashes. They were deep and captivating.
When he didn’t answer, Lu Chengyi said, “Let’s each give a little.”
Lin Luoting gave a soft snort. “Oh?”
A long, strong hand suddenly reached out and landed on his face, the pad of a finger brushing lightly against his skin.
Lu Chengyi said evenly, “You’ve got dirt on you.”
Lin Luoting’s skin was smooth and very soft.
After a moment of stunned bewilderment, Lin Luoting laughed. “That’s your way of giving a little?”
“For me, it is,” Lu Chengyi said.
Lu Chengyi turned away and rubbed his fingertips hard, as if he could scrub away the lingering sensation too.
He told himself they were both men, so it was no big deal. Filming was about to start, and he should try not to fall out with Lin Luoting at a time like this. He repeated the thought to himself several times before finally letting it go.
So giving a little meant making the first move? Interesting.
Lin Luoting had no idea what Lu Chengyi was thinking, and didn’t care. A tool didn’t need thoughts of its own. All that mattered was what it did.
Clearly, Lu Chengyi’s initiative pleased him.
“Fine,” he said generously. “We’ll each give a little. Just don’t forget your end of it.”
With his back to Lin Luoting, Lu Chengyi put his glove on. “I won’t.”
That was the end of the discussion, and Lu Chengyi could finally get back to work. Lin Luoting followed along behind him, teasing with malicious delight, “Hurry up and work, okay? If you slack off, I’ll tell your friend~”
He was fully playing the part of a worried relative.
On the other side, only two crooked flower stems stood in the patch of soil. Lu Chengyi asked, “Why not hire someone to plant them?”
“I wanted to try planting them myself,” Lin Luoting said from behind him, crouching down. His tone and expression were so matter-of-fact that he might as well have been asking why planting flowers had to be such a hassle.
“…” Lu Chengyi had no answer.
He sighed inwardly and said, “Forget it. I’ll do it.” Planting flowers was still better than warming the bed.
As he worked, he said, “If you want to do it yourself, you can hire someone to plant them and then prune the branches yourself. These roots take a long time to flower.”
“Is that so?” Lin Luoting asked, opening his eyes a little wider in surprise.
He keenly noticed that Lu Chengyi was unusually easygoing just then, though he didn’t know why. Unable to keep his hands still, he poked at a newly planted stem, bending it to one side.
“Mm.” Seeing that, Lu Chengyi simply found a watering can, filled it, and handed it to him so he’d have something to do instead of causing trouble. “It’s also a little late in the season to transplant them. March or April is best.”
“How do you know so much?” Lin Luoting asked with interest.
Lu Chengyi was silent for a moment. Only after a long while did he quietly say, “My mom loves planting flowers.”
…
One planted flowers while the other followed behind with a small watering can. For once, the atmosphere between them was harmonious.
Outside the greenhouse, Han Meimei stood with a solemn expression, notebook in hand. A loose sheet of paper was tucked inside, and a sketch of the greenhouse soon took shape beneath her pen.
In the bare greenhouse, the smaller figure was the boss, while the taller one was Lu Chengyi. The boss sat on the tall stool, tilting his head up as Lu Chengyi bent over to gently stroke the boss’s face. The two gazed into each other’s eyes, full of tenderness.
Greenhouse play, duration: 2 hours.
Hehehe.
Han Meimei put down her pen and calmly closed the notebook. The boss and his lover came out of the greenhouse side by side. One had a damp forehead; the other was fresh as a daisy.
She smiled to herself.
She wasn’t the flustered Han Meimei of old anymore. She was Han Niohuru Meimei.
They hadn’t finished planting the greenhouse. They’d covered less than a quarter of it, and all of that was Lu Chengyi’s work.
Lin Luoting found planting flowers too much trouble and planned to leave the rest to professionals. He’d follow Lu Chengyi’s advice and just prune the branches himself.
He told Han Meimei what he had in mind. “What time is it?”
Han Meimei finished making a note and glanced at her watch. “Almost eleven, Mr. Lin.”
“It’s nearly lunchtime.” Lin Luoting suddenly realized. He turned to the man beside him. “Stay and have lunch with me.”
The man beside him paused, but didn’t show much resistance. “Mm.”
Lu Chengyi went back to his room to shower and change, and by the time he’d freshened up, it was lunchtime.
The chef was used to making enough for two. They sat across from each other at the dining table, and after lunch, Lin Luoting took the fish food out into the yard.
Under the sun umbrella, a lounge chair sat beside the pond. Lin Luoting sat nearby, occasionally tossing fish food into the water.
Red, white, and black fish eagerly swam over to him, but he didn’t seem very interested.
The housekeeper brought out a plate of freshly cut fruit from inside. Seeing Lin Luoting there, she hesitated and didn’t dare approach. Lu Chengyi took the plate from her and carried it over, setting it on the little table beside the lounge chair.
Lin Luoting glanced at his hand, which was dusted with fish food, and lifted his chin. “Feed me.”
Lu Chengyi speared a piece of strawberry and held it to his lips. Lin Luoting opened his mouth and ate it, then narrowed his eyes. “A little sour.”
“I’m going to Jin City to film in a few days,” Lu Chengyi said.
Lin Luoting chewed the second strawberry, which was a little sweet. His cheeks puffed out slightly.
“If you want me to read to you, call me,” Lu Chengyi added.
Lin Luoting swallowed and said languidly, “And the bed-warming?”
“…” Lu Chengyi paused, then speared a piece of apple instead. “I’ll come back when I have time.”
“Then my benefits are going down,” Lin Luoting said. He gave Lu Chengyi a discontented sidelong glance with a soft laugh. “If that’s the case, do something to make me happy.”
He lazily held out both hands. “They’re dirty.”
Compared with how often Lin Luoting ordered him to strip and warm the bed, wiping his hands was nothing. He’d wiped his mother’s hands plenty of times at the hospital, too. Lu Chengyi asked Han Meimei for a packet of wet wipes, opened it, and crouched in front of Lin Luoting.
Lin Luoting’s hands were slender and fair, with long fingers and a well-proportioned shape. Only the pads of his fingers were stained with a little pale yellow fish food. Once clean, they smelled faintly of jasmine.
“Your hands are so warm,” Lin Luoting said. He wasn’t sure if it was because his bloodline had awakened, but his own body temperature seemed a little low. “I’m a little sleepy. Hold me while I sleep.”
Lu Chengyi set the used wipe aside and glanced around. “Here?”
Lin Luoting nodded. “Mm. It’s warm here.”
Taking a deep breath, Lu Chengyi lay down on the lounge chair.
The warm, dry air made him feel cozy all over. After showering that morning, Lu Chengyi had changed into a white shirt. The collar hung open, showing his Adam’s apple and part of his collarbones, lending him a touch of sensuality beneath his refined appearance.
Lin Luoting lazily curled up in his arms, wrapped both arms around the man’s lean waist, and rested his cheek against Lu Chengyi’s chest, closing his eyes in comfort.
A strong, steady heartbeat thudded in Lu Chengyi’s chest. The other man’s distinctive scent lingered beneath Lin Luoting’s nose, a faint rum-like fragrance that made him feel drowsy.
In his half-asleep haze, he remembered why the other man was leaving. “The male lead… congratulations.”
“…Thanks?” Lu Chengyi’s mood was complicated. His brow remained furrowed, and he kept his hands at his sides, trying not to touch the person in his arms. “Tomorrow’s Monday. I have to go to school and take care of my leave of absence.”
“I know,” Lin Luoting said.
“I’ll be back the next day,” Lu Chengyi said.
“All right. I’ll come with you,” Lin Luoting said.
“?”
Lounging-chair play, duration unknown.
Hehehe.