Chapter 64

Chapter 64

"064"

As they passed the next room, Xiao Lancui asked, "Where's Lu Ao?"

Xiao Mian got irritated just hearing Lu Ao's name. He'd slept like a log and when he opened his eyes, Lu Ao was already gone. He almost thought Lu Ao had snuck into Xiao Lancui's room overnight.

Good thing that wasn't the case!

"Probably took off." Xiao Mian wished Lu Ao would just scram. He especially hated Lu Ao's whole goody-goody act, and the fact that Xiao Lancui actually bought it pissed Xiao Mian off even more. He stressed each word, "He's an outsider. He's gotta be uncomfortable staying at our place."

Xiao Lancui didn't say either way. With him there, Lu Ao wouldn't feel uncomfortable—he'd probably left for his sake.

The Xie family had suddenly produced the Lu family's runaway young master, so they'd inevitably question him about it. Lu Ao was worried he'd be put on the spot, so he left first.

Lu Ao must have left him a message. He'd rushed out in a hurry, and his phone was still on the carpet.

Actually, he'd already had his explanation ready. It was just that Lu Ao always thought ahead for him, and the irritation from last night's absurd dream had mostly faded.

Xiao Lancui dreamed.

He dreamed of that historical fanfic.

Only in the dream was Lu Ao no longer called "Beloved Minister," but instead "A Lan" and "Teacher" in turns. Xiao Lancui knew it was a dream—only in dreams could such absurd scenes exist, with an absurd Lu Ao and an absurd him.

But he couldn't wake. Struggling only made the golden chain and bells clink louder, and he sank deeper, clutching Lu Ao's sweat-slicked back.

A Lan.

Teacher.

Through Xiao Lancui's blurry vision, Lu Ao's face grew clearer and closer, until warm lips came down, kissing him softly.

"My heart yearns for you."

That's when Xiao Mian woke him up.

Xiao Lancui lightly smacked the hand Xiao Mian had on his wrist, his tone no longer so cold. "Let go."

Xiao Mian was rarely treated gently by Xiao Lancui, so he was flustered and nervous, both cheeks hot enough to fry an egg. He obediently went "oh" and let go.

They went downstairs to the first floor, where the living room was eerily quiet.

Xie Jingfang actually hadn't kicked Xiao Jingli out. Her face was pale. When Xiao Lancui came down, Xiao Jingli was the first to smile and call out to him, "Dong Dong, Dad's here to take you home."

There was still a white gauze patch on Xiao Jingli's neck, and even his smile couldn't hide how worn out he looked.

It seemed he couldn't get ahold of Xiao Anfeng and was going frantic trying to find any news.

Even though Xiao Anfeng hadn't turned off his phone, Xiao Liqin had plenty of ways to block Xiao Jingli's calls. Now Xiao Jingli was desperate to find Xiao Anfeng. He knew how much Xie Jingfang meant to him, so if he held onto her, he could just wait for Xiao Anfeng to show up.

To hold onto Xie Jingfang, he needed to take her away.

It was like a set of nesting dolls.

Xiao Lancui didn't answer. He looked at Xie Jingfang first. She didn't object, but when their eyes met, she turned away, uncomfortable.

Xiao Lancui mulled it over for a moment and got it.

Xiao Jingli had long since discovered Xie Jingfang's poisoning scheme. The original story didn't mention it, but this old fox knew everything. He'd been letting her poison him the whole time.

When the original body had caught him jerking off with Xiao Anfeng's underwear, Xiao Jingli had taken advantage of the original's poisoned, weakened state and blurry vision, deliberately bringing him onto the boat to stage a fall into the sea.

Now he was using it to threaten Xie Jingfang.

Sure enough, Xiao Jingli went on, "Your mother's coming back too."

Xiao Lancui quickly pieced it together. He walked over to Xie Jingfang first, draped an arm around her shoulder, and said, "I've got plans with a friend later. You two go ahead. I won't be back for dinner either—I'll be home late, so don't wait up."

He then turned to Xie Jingfang with a smile. "Save some room. The place I'm going has some great small-pot pear soup. I'll bring you some when I get home."

Xie Jingfang loved small-pot pear soup, but the real point was to reassure her—to let her feel safe going back to the Xiao villa with Xiao Jingli.

Xie Jingfang caught the meaning. She was both comforted and heartbroken. She reached up and held Xiao Lancui's hand, only letting go reluctantly when Xiao Jingli spoke up.

"Alright then, your mother and I are heading home first." Xiao Jingli only cared about Xie Jingfang. He was genuinely anxious, eager to get her out of there.

Xiao Lancui looked at Xiao Mian, signaling for him to go along.

One, to keep Xie Jingfang company. Two, to get rid of Xiao Mian so he wouldn't pester Xiao Lancui into tagging along for his errands later.

Xiao Mian nodded quickly and followed, but at the door he turned back, giving him a pleading look. "Brother, bring me some of that pear soup too!"

He was also afraid Xiao Lancui would take off again.

Xiao Lancui nodded, and only then did Xiao Mian leave, glancing back every few steps.

Xie Jingfang's parents were both there. They respected her decision and didn't say much. They kept Xiao Lancui for breakfast, didn't bring up the Xiao family's business, and instead asked about his likes and his plans after graduation.

Xiao Lancui answered each question. When the meal was over, he grabbed his phone and left.

Only after leaving the Xie house did he have time to check his phone. Xiao Lancui opened WeChat and sure enough, there was a message from Lu Ao at 7:30.

"Brother, I headed out first. Don't worry about me."

Xie Jingfang's parents kept a regular schedule and were up by 6:30. Lu Ao had left before then, not wanting to disturb his sleep, and only messaged at 7:30.

A small smile tugged at Xiao Lancui's lips. He was about to reply when Lu Ao's voice drifted over from his left. "Whatcha looking at, brother? Smiling so happily."

Xiao Lancui turned his head. Lu Ao had wheeled his bike up behind him, craning his neck to peek at the phone. Xiao Lancui was caught off guard. Had he really been smiling that happily at Lu Ao's message?

His heart seemed to slam hard against his ribs twice. Before Xiao Lancui could process this unfamiliar feeling, he grabbed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Ah... hiding it." Lu Ao hadn't seen anything. He tilted his head and leaned in front of Xiao Lancui, grinning. "You're not looking at something dirty, are you?"

The young man's face blurred for a moment, unexpectedly overlapping with that sweat-slicked face.

The decadent scenes from the dream resurfaced. Xiao Lancui stopped short, staring at Lu Ao, unable to answer.

Lu Ao had only been joking, but Xiao Lancui's silence was as good as a yes.

The bike and his legs screeched to a halt at the same time. The smile in Lu Ao's eyes froze. Both hands gripped the handlebars tight, and in the cold air, there was a faint cracking sound.

Lu Ao couldn't muster a smile no matter how hard he tried.

Before, when his legs were disabled, he'd never touched matters of men and women. Now that his legs worked fine, his A Lan wanted to get married?

Don't even think about it!

Absolutely not.

Lu Ao was so furious he could've ground his teeth to dust. "Is gege checking out women? What kind of woman? Is she pretty?"

Xiao Lancui didn't know much about that kind of stuff. It took him two seconds to realize Lu Ao had the wrong idea.

He thought he was looking at dirty pictures or videos.

He looked at that face—pale in the cold wind, eyes red-rimmed, like he was carrying some huge grievance.

Lu Ao never showed this kind of fragile look.

Even the day he almost died in that cave, he'd mumbled in his sleep, "A Lan, don't cry... I'm fine..."

Xiao Lancui spaced out for a second.

Had he been crying?

He couldn't remember.

He probably didn't. The day the Xiao clan was wiped out, his father was forced to kneel in front of him, and even then, he didn't shed a single tear—just glared at him with hatred and said two things.

The first was, "Xiao Lancui, you're a heartless demon! I wish I'd strangled you at birth!"

He just replied calmly, "As you wish."

His father was a cold-blooded demon who never cried, and so was he.

Xiao Lancui kept walking, but he told the truth this time. "No. I was reading your message."

Lu Ao's heart started pounding again. He pushed his bike and caught up to Xiao Lancui in one step, unable to hide his smile. "So gege was that happy to hear from me? I'll definitely keep it up—I'll text you every second!"

Xiao Lancui didn't argue, just asked, "Why didn't you leave?"

"I couldn't stand to." Lu Ao couldn't take his eyes off Xiao Lancui. Now that Xiao Lancui was right there, he looked at him openly, greedily.

God knew, now that Xiao Lancui was alive and standing in front of him again, he wished he could watch him every second, never let him out of his sight again.

"I was gonna leave after you came out, but you came out alone." Lu Ao reached out and pulled up the scarf on Xiao Lancui's left side—a bit had slipped down, leaving a gap for the cold wind to sneak into his neck.

"Gege, what's wrong?"

Lu Ao had seen a car pull into the Xie place. He recognized the plate from the files—it was Xiao Jingli's car.

"Nothing big." Xiao Lancui brushed it off, then said, "You haven't eaten, have you? Come on, I'll take you somewhere."

Xiao Lancui brought Lu Ao to a bar.

The bar was dead in the morning. The manager personally walked them to a private room. As soon as Lu Ao stepped in, he spotted a monitor.

Lu Ao could see the room on the monitor at a glance.

It was exactly the same as the private room they were in now—one of the bar's private rooms.

Xiao Lancui didn't explain. He grabbed the drink menu off the table and handed it to Lu Ao. It had some rice and noodle dishes too. "I already ate. Order whatever you want."

Lu Ao ordered a bowl of beef noodles, an appetizer platter, and a plate of fresh-cut fruit. When he saw sour plum juice on the menu, he asked Xiao Lancui, "Gege, you want some juice?"

Xiao Lancui figured he'd be here a while, so he nodded.

Lu Ao ordered two glasses of sour plum juice. The manager didn't say anything, just quickly left and closed the door behind him.

This bar was part of Huo Shenan's family business, which is why they could use this private room.

The food came fast. At the same time, someone opened the door of the room on the monitor.

A man in his early thirties in a suit and glasses walked in.

Lu Ao ate his noodles in silence while Xiao Lancui spoke up. "This guy's named Sun Feng. He's a celebrity agent."

Lu Ao stopped chewing, noodles still in his mouth, surprised by Xiao Lancui suddenly explaining.

He swallowed and said quietly, "You can tell me?"

Xiao Lancui's eyes were still on the monitor. Another young man walked into the room, and his voice came through the monitor. "Hi, Brother Sun. I'm Tan Yiyang."

Xiao Lancui said, "Of course. Him." He pointed at Tan Yiyang. "He's an actor I brought in."

His voice was flat. "I need to confirm something."

Sun Feng's voice came through the monitor. "Hello, hello, Xiao Tan."

Sun Feng was super friendly. "You're someone Young Master Huo sent over, so we're all family. Don't be shy—if you need anything, just say it. We're all straight shooters."

Tan Yiyang smiled shyly. "Then I'll be direct, Brother."

"Haha, go ahead."

"You previously looked for a guy with a heart-shaped face, brown eyes, big pupils, clean aura, around twenty years old. Do you think I'd fit?"

Sun Feng paused, then laughed as he looked at him. "So that's what this is about. You're too late—that was last year's recruitment."

Tan Yiyang laughed too. "Good food is worth the wait! Brother, help me out. I need money recently. I can do anything."

"You really are too late. Last year, the boss already picked someone and sent them for training. Besides, you don't look like him. You'd have to resemble the actual person—otherwise, it wouldn't command that fifty-thousand-a-month salary."

Tan Yiyang sighed. "So that's how it is! Well, if there's any side gig like that in the future, Brother, consider me first. I work fast!" He casually poured a glass of wine for Sun Feng. "By the way, Brother, I sell skills, not my body. I only earn honest money!"

"Haha, then you really can't do these jobs, little brother. You're one of Young Master Huo's people—just pick up whatever work he gives you. No need to come to me." Sun Feng drank, then lowered his voice. "Since you're a straightforward guy, I'll let you in on something."

"Officially, it's recruiting models. But really, it's just finding people to sleep with wealthy patrons. Eh, if you can't bear to part with your ass, you won't make money. That model you just asked about—damn, he knew how to make bank. Last year, a boss took him away at fifty thousand a month. This year, just last month, he came back and got picked by another boss. Now he lives in a luxury penthouse, swipes cards freely, living it up!"

Sun Feng downed his drink in one gulp, then said mysteriously, "They think I don't know, but I've known all along. I have connections everywhere. Father and son really do share the same taste, huh—that male model, one after the other, got fucked by a father and son pair!"

Xiao Lancui turned off the monitor.

No need to listen further. It was confirmed.

The father and son were Xiao Jingli and Xiao Liqin.

His throat felt a bit dry. He lowered his gaze—on the table sat a glass of deep red liquid. It was sour plum juice. He picked it up and took a few sips.

In the sweet and tangy aroma of sour plum, there was a—

He touched the tip of his tongue, his temples pulsing. He stopped the glass and turned to Lu Ao. "Why is this alcohol?"