However, things didn’t go as planned. Lan Xingchen wanted to do something, but due to a sudden task assigned by Xiao Yi, he had to work overtime for two days, giving Pei Qingjian a reprieve.
“You wait—you’ll make up for it sooner or later.”
“Make up, make up, make up,” Pei Qingjian replied, stroking his hair contentedly.
Twenty days weren’t much for Pei Qingjian, who loved collecting materials and studying his roles.
He spent his time analyzing the script while watching other dramas with similar characters, learning from their performances.
Half the time passed just like that, filled with studying and imitation.
That day, as usual, Pei Qingjian went to deliver lunch to Lan Xingchen, but unexpectedly saw Xu Jianian being tugged along by Xu Ya at the base of the office building.
He hadn’t seen Xu Jianian in a long time, so the sudden appearance caught him off guard.
Curious, Pei Qingjian leaned in, only to have Xu Ya look up and catch him red-handed.
Pei Qingjian: ……
He lifted his chin, trying to look self-righteous.
Xu Ya didn’t expect him to appear at this moment and quickly pulled Xu Jianian aside.
Pei Qingjian: ???
They’re leaving?
How is he supposed to eavesdrop now?
He sighed and carried the lunch boxes into the office building.
Xu Jianian reluctantly followed Xu Ya for some distance before they finally stopped.
“Xu Ya,” he said, planting his feet firmly. “What are you doing?”
Seeing that Pei Qingjian had entered the office building and could no longer see them, Xu Ya released his grip and stopped moving forward.
Rubbing his wrist, Xu Jianian said, “You never told me you’re working here now.”
“I hadn’t passed my probation period yet, so I didn’t tell you earlier.”
Xu Jianian smiled. “With your skills, there was no way you wouldn’t pass probation.”
Xu Ya didn’t reply, only asked, “Why didn’t you go see Tang Wenzhen today?”
Hearing Tang Wenzhen’s name, a flicker of disappointment passed over Xu Jianian’s face.
He didn’t answer that question and said instead, “I don’t want to keep working at Tang’s company.”
“Why?”
“No reason,” Xu Jianian said with a bit of stubbornness. “I want to come here and work with you. Is that okay?”
Xu Ya: !!!
Xu Ya stared at him in surprise. “Of course not.”
“Why not?”
“This is Xingchen’s company. You don’t belong here.”
Xu Jianian didn’t expect that response. He pressed his lips together and said softly, “But at Tang’s company, they bully me and make trouble for me.”
“They? Who exactly?”
“My superiors—Wenzhen’s cousins and other relatives.”
“You didn’t tell Tang Wenzhen?”
“I felt awkward,” Xu Jianian said. “I didn’t want him to think I was trying to cause trouble.”
“And he’s already got enough to deal with lately. I didn’t want to bother him with this too.”
Xu Ya frowned. “If you want to be with him, you have to face some things together. If his cousins and relatives don’t know your relationship, maybe they just dislike you. But if they know and still make trouble, it means they don’t approve and don’t want your relationship to develop.”
“In that case, you should tell Tang Wenzhen.”
Xu Jianian listened, then fell silent for a moment.
“Xu Ya, let’s not talk about Tang Wenzhen for now,” Xu Jianian said. “I just want a job change. I want to work with you, so we can watch out for each other. Isn’t that okay?”
“No,” Xu Ya insisted. “If it were another company, maybe. But not here.”
“Why? You don’t want to work with me?”
“It’s not about wanting or not wanting. It’s that you can’t be here.”
Xu Jianian pressed his lips together. “What about your company? Can I go there?”
“No.”
Xu Jianian looked at him, eyes full of confusion and disbelief.
Xu Ya wanted to explain, but realized it would be too complicated.
He couldn’t hide it forever. Eventually, Xu Jianian’s sensitive nature would clash with his parents once they found out about him and Lan Xingchen—they’d see him as a thorn in their side.
Xu Ya knew his parents well. They were gentle, indulgent, and understanding toward Lan Xingchen, but showed little patience for anyone else. Especially his father, who had never been easy to deal with.
If Xu Jianian appeared at their company, his father would throw him out without a word and scold him harshly.
So Xu Jianian couldn’t go.
It would do him no good.
“I’m doing this for your own good,” Xu Ya said softly. “If you really don’t want to stay at Tang’s company, find another job. With your education, it won’t be difficult.”
“But I don’t want to be picked over like vegetables at the market,” Xu Jianian muttered.
“That’s part of looking for a job. Everyone goes through it. It’s not a big deal,” Xu Ya reassured him.
Xu Jianian didn’t expect him to say that. How could it not be a big deal? He, as a wealthy young man, hadn’t suffered much and could dismiss it easily—but for ordinary people, it was a huge deal!
“I don’t understand. You could help me, so why won’t you now?” Xu Jianian looked at him. “Xu Ya, aren’t we friends?”
“Of course we are. And of course, I want to help you…”
“Then let me work with you.”
“I told you, it’s not appropriate.”
“What’s inappropriate?”
“This is Xingchen’s company.”
“But you’re here too.”
“True, but it’s not my company. You know he doesn’t like you, doesn’t want you here…”
“But he doesn’t like you either,” Xu Jianian said, looking innocent yet cruel, simple yet piercing, as if unaware of the implication. “He doesn’t want you in front of him either.”
Xu Ya froze.
He hadn’t expected to hear that from Xu Jianian’s mouth.
He looked at Xu Jianian quietly and felt a sudden sense of unfamiliarity and coldness.
Xu Jianian noticed the silence and finally realized too late what he had just said.
It was the truth—but not a pleasant one. It was the kind of truth Xu Ya didn’t want to hear. He felt a pang of regret for having reacted so quickly and blurting it out.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said awkwardly. “I just thought… maybe he doesn’t really care about these things. And with me here, maybe I can help fix our relationship a bit. That would be a good thing for us, right?”
Xu Ya said nothing. After a long pause, he finally said, “I have work to do. I’m going up first.”
“Xu Ya,” Xu Jianian grabbed his arm.
Xu Ya turned to him and gently removed his hand.
“Go talk to Tang Wenzhen,” he said. “If he likes you, he’ll naturally help you handle these things.”
With that, he turned and walked into the office building.
Pei Qingjian, having entered Lan Xingchen’s office, went straight to the window, but he’d arrived too late—he only caught sight of Xu Ya entering alone.
“That was quick,” Pei Qingjian murmured. “I wonder what they were talking about?”
Lan Xingchen glanced at him, then at the view outside. “What are you looking at?”
Pei Qingjian pointed. “Xu Jianian.”
Lan Xingchen: ……
“He came here?”
“I don’t know. I happened to run into him and Xu Ya talking when I arrived. If there hadn’t been no suitable cover nearby, I would’ve tried to eavesdrop.”
Lan Xingchen chuckled. “Eavesdropping? Come eat.”
Pei Qingjian nodded and carried the lunch boxes over to the coffee table, setting them down.
After finishing, he took his usual nap. Once Lan Xingchen started his afternoon shift, Pei Qingjian got ready to leave.
At the elevator, he hesitated, but eventually chose the regular elevator instead of the private one.
He pressed for the 27th floor, and when the doors opened, he stepped out.
To his surprise, Xu Ya wasn’t at his desk.
Pei Qingjian frowned. Where did he go?
Just then, a female colleague of Xu Ya’s passed by. Seeing him standing outside the office, she smiled. “Looking for Xu Ya?”
Pei Qingjian nodded and returned her smile.
“Xiao Zhang said he’s probably in the stairwell, smoking. He seemed a bit down.”
“Thanks,” Pei Qingjian said hurriedly.
“No problem,” the colleague replied with a warm smile.
Pei Qingjian left the office and headed to the stairwell.
Pushing open the stairwell door, he was met with a haze of smoke.
He coughed uncontrollably, and Xu Ya, hearing him, looked back and extinguished his cigarette.
“What are you doing here?”
Pei Qingjian stepped back a few paces, waving away the smoke. “Come out.”
Xu Ya complied.
Pei Qingjian looked at him, noticing that he genuinely seemed upset, a bit lonely.
“Why did Xu Jianian come here?” he asked.
After all, as the key person in this story, Pei Qingjian always worried that even a small disruption could bring disaster to Lan Xingchen’s fragile world.
“He wasn’t happy working at Tang Wenzhen’s company, so he came to see me. He said he wants to resign and work with me.”
“Did you agree?”
Xu Ya looked up at him, slightly surprised. “Do you think I would agree?”
Pei Qingjian: ……
“It’s not what I think. It’s just… you were already good to him. So if he said that, you might have agreed.”
“I told you before—I won’t let him come here,” Xu Ya said calmly.
Pei Qingjian felt relieved. Good, good—otherwise, he’d have to go talk to HR.
“So your bad mood is because you feel like you didn’t help him?”
Xu Ya: ……
Of course not.
He simply hadn’t expected Xu Jianian to speak so freely and lightly, saying, “He doesn’t like you either. He doesn’t want you in front of him.”
So casually. So effortlessly. As if it were no different than saying, “The weather’s nice today.”
Xu Ya knew it was true.
But that truth shouldn’t have come from Xu Jianian.
Pei Qingjian could say it, Fang Junhao could say it—anyone could—but not Xu Jianian.
He was directly involved in the matter. He was one of the main reasons they had drifted apart.
If he cared about Xu Ya in the slightest, even a little, he shouldn’t have said it.
Especially not so easily, so nonchalantly.
Xu Ya didn’t understand. Couldn’t he see his regret and hurt? Or did he just not care?
He himself was gentle and understanding. Why couldn’t Xu Jianian show him the same?
Or… did he simply not want to?
He lowered his head. “No.”
“Then what is this?”
Xu Ya was silent for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating smile. “I have no one to blame but myself.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
“Don’t worry,” Xu Ya said, staring into his eyes. “I promised you I wouldn’t let him come here. So he won’t appear here.”
“That’s obviously for the best,” Pei Qingjian whispered. Then, fanning the smoke wafting through the door crack, he added, “But you too… smoke less, go back earlier.”
Otherwise, it would affect work and Lan Xingchen’s earnings.
Xu Ya hadn’t expected him to say that.
He chuckled lightly. Even Pei Qingjian cared about his health, saying, “Smoke less.” Yet his own friend had just told him, “He doesn’t like you either. He doesn’t want you in front of him.”
It was ironic.
“I get it. You too—go back early, and be careful on your way.”
“Oh.” Pei Qingjian nodded and turned, heading toward the elevator.
Xu Ya watched him go and then returned to the office.
Over the next few days, Pei Qingjian deliberately paid attention to the surrounding area when he came to deliver lunch at noon—and sure enough, he didn’t see Xu Jianian again.
Good. As long as Xu Jianian didn’t show up, Lan Xingchen was safe, and he could focus on his work without worry.
Pei Qingjian looked over his script. Just one more week, and he would be joining the crew!
Lan Xingchen nearly went pale upon hearing that.
“This time is going by way too fast! Only one week left?!”
Pei Qingjian tried to soothe him. “One more week… seven days, that’s all.”
“Seven days?”
“That’s enough for a little mini-vacation.”
Lan Xingchen: ……
He gave Pei Qingjian a sidelong glance.
Pei Qingjian wrapped his arm around him, speaking softly, “Don’t worry. These seven days, I’ll be with you the whole time. You say east, I won’t go west; you say up, I won’t go down.”
Lan Xingchen: “And I get to do whatever I say, however I want?”
Pei Qingjian treated it as him merely talking for fun and answered casually, “Of course.”
But that night, not even past midnight, Pei Qingjian quickly realized that Lan Xingchen really meant it—he wasn’t just talking! He was serious.
Lan Xingchen went wild—unrestrained and chaotic—pushing Pei Qingjian to honor his earlier promises, up and down, left and right.
Pei Qingjian felt like his waist was about to be broken.
“Enough, enough!” he struggled.
Lan Xingchen looked at him. “Didn’t you say if I go up, you wouldn’t go down?”
“That’s not what I meant!” Pei Qingjian protested.
Lan Xingchen smirked triumphantly. “I don’t care. This is what I understand it to mean.”
You animal! Pei Qingjian cursed silently in his mind.
He lay on the bed, holding Lan Xingchen, and although he wanted to bite him hard, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
After indulging in chaos for a while, Lan Xingchen finally came to terms with the fact that Pei Qingjian would soon be leaving again.
The only consolation: this time Pei Qingjian was close by, in their city, and he could visit anytime.
“Perfect. I’ll take some vacation then, and let Shao Kang stay in the office,” Lan Xingchen said happily.
Pei Qingjian leaned against him silently wishing Shao Kang smooth workdays.
Author’s note:
Shao Kang: ??? Doing work?!!
Lan Chief: Vacation, vacation!
Shao Kang: Jealous, jealous!