That night, Pei Qingjian naturally spent a passionate night with Lan Xingchen, to the point that the next morning he inevitably overslept again.
Pei Qingjian: …Why is it that even though we both slept at three, Lan Xingchen can be full of energy, vibrant, while I can’t?
It feels like Lan Xingchen even did more exercise!
Pei Qingjian was puzzled, but it didn’t stop him from quickly preparing lunch and delivering it at exactly twelve o’clock.
Lan Xingchen was somewhat surprised to see him in the office.
“Why didn’t you let me know?” he walked over, concerned. “Are you feeling unwell?”
“No.” Pei Qingjian, though a little worn out from last night, had slept well and regained his energy. He was just confused why he couldn’t get up early after preparing Lan Xingchen’s meals every time. Clearly, Lan Xingchen could!
“Let’s eat.” Pei Qingjian placed the lunchbox on the tea table in Lan Xingchen’s office.
Lan Xingchen nodded. While Pei Qingjian went to wash his hands, he sent a WeChat message rejecting his business partner’s invitation to lunch.
[Why?] his partner asked. [Aren’t you eating lunch?]
[Someone’s bringing me lunch.] Lan Xingchen said proudly.
Then he took a photo of the lavish lunch on his desk and sent it.
Partner: !!!
[You secretly ordered takeout without me!!]
Lan Xingchen: …
He thought to himself, if he has this kind of brain, it’s amazing the company is still thriving!
[You’re just eating takeout?! Fine, you enjoy your takeout!] Lan Xingchen said in mock anger.
Isn’t it takeout? Shao Kang asked, confused.
As he fiddled with his phone, he suddenly remembered hearing the young secretary girls whispering when he returned from a business trip.
—“Little Pei hasn’t been coming to the office for a long time. Did he break up with Lan? He’s not bringing lunch to Lan anymore.”
Lan Xingchen thought, if he only had this brain, their company could still be booming—he really is remarkable!
[You’re just eating takeout?! Fine, you enjoy your takeout!] Lan Xingchen said in mock anger.
Isn’t it takeout? Shao Kang asked, still puzzled.
Then he remembered those whispers again.
—“Ah? No, why does the ship I ship have to end up BE?”
—“I don’t believe it. Little Pei must be busy with something. Once he’s done, he’ll come bring lunch to Lan again.”
—“Exactly! Little Pei is so cute and considerate. As long as Lan isn’t blind, he definitely wouldn’t break up with him!”
—“Right. Our Lan is so handsome. Little Pei must just be held up with something. In a few days, he’ll be carrying his lunchbox to see Lan again!”
Shao Kang slammed the table and asked, [Is it really that legendary Little Pei who’s here?!!]
[Wait for me, I’m coming to you right now!]
Lan Xingchen: ???!!!
No, what is he doing here?!
It’s the middle of the day—why isn’t he eating lunch and instead coming to find him?!
Lan Xingchen quickly refused: [Don’t come over!]
Shao Kang: [I’m not here to see you, I want to see Little Pei!]
Lan Xingchen: [Even worse!]
Shao Kang: [So it really is him?]
Shao Kang: [Wait, I’m going to tell Xiao Yi right now.]
Xiao Yi—the real tech genius in their three-person startup group. Like many geniuses, he was quiet, aloof, and mostly indifferent to people and things.
Lan Xingchen and Shao Kang had only gotten to know Xiao Yi by luck. Later, when Shao Kang wanted to leave his family to start a business, the first person he thought of was the wealthy Lan Xingchen, and Lan’s first thought was Xiao Yi.
Lan Xingchen didn’t expect Shao Kang would even try to pull Xiao Yi into this, so he scoffed: [Dream on, Xiao Yi wouldn’t bother with this kind of thing.]
Yet shortly after, Xiao Yi privately messaged Lan Xingchen: [Your boyfriend is here?]
He politely asked: [Should we have lunch together?]
Lan Xingchen: !!!
Meanwhile, Shao Kang kept tagging Lan Xingchen in their three-person group chat: [Together, together, together. Lunch, lunch, lunch.]
Lan Xingchen had no choice and asked Pei Qingjian, “Do you want to meet my business partners?”
Pei Qingjian was sipping his soup and looked up in surprise. “Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Of course, it’s because they know you’re here and want to see you.”
Pei Qingjian: …This is way too sudden.
Yesterday, he was blindsided meeting Lan Xingchen’s aunt, and today he has to be blindsided again meeting Lan’s business partners? Is his life just a constant string of surprises these past two days?
“Can we wait a few days?” he asked. “Give me some time to prepare.”
Lan Xingchen didn’t quite understand. What preparation could there be?
But since Pei Qingjian had already brought lunch today, it wasn’t really appropriate to go out to eat again, so he nodded. “Of course.”
“You prepare, and tell me when you’re ready.”
Pei Qingjian breathed a sigh of relief. “Then let’s make it three days from now.”
“Fine.” Lan Xingchen sent this message to their startup group.
Shao Kang, excited: [Great! Three days from now, don’t miss it!]
Xiao Yi, in his usual calm manner: [Okay.]
Lan Xingchen put down his phone and thought: since both Xiao Yi and Shao Kang have met, he should also meet Fang Junhao and the others to keep things even.
Pei Qingjian: ???
So this month, his main agenda is just meeting people?
“Alright… fine,” Pei Qingjian nodded.
Meetings it is. After all, he had already met Lan Xingchen’s aunt—what else could he be afraid of?!
As he thought of this, he also remembered the awkwardness of calling someone by the wrong title.
“When I see your aunt next time, should I correct it and call her Mrs., or just keep calling her Aunt to let it slide?”
Lan Xingchen: …
“If you call her Mrs., it admits that I called her wrong yesterday and is a bit awkward. But if you let it slide and continue calling her Aunt, it just makes me look dumb.”
Lan Xingchen: …
Pei Qingjian sighed. “What do you think?”
“Either way is fine,” Lan Xingchen said with some helplessness. “From what I saw yesterday, she was fine with you calling her Aunt.”
That’s true, Pei Qingjian thought.
“Your aunt really is gracious—she didn’t make fun of me at all.”
Lan Xingchen: …
He chuckled softly, thinking Pei Qingjian was kind of adorable.
After finishing lunch, Pei Qingjian left.
The pay for Drunken River Moon had already been transferred to his account by Zhou Pengyue, but as an eighteen-tier actor playing a supporting role, the pay wasn’t high. After Zhang took his cut, he barely received half.
Still, any actor’s pay, even low, is high for a newcomer like Pei Qingjian.
Seeing the bank message, he marveled that even a small-time actor like him could earn more filming than retouching.
So he had to prioritize acting—it was the fastest way to gather the money he wanted to return to Lan Xingchen.
“Money received, thanks, Zhou Ge,” he said, calling Zhou Pengyue while driving.
“Good. Rest for now. I’ll see if there are other suitable scripts and send them to you if there are,” Zhou Pengyue said with a smile.
Pei Qingjian replied, “Thanks, Zhou Ge.”
“No problem, that’s my job. But you—keep up the acting skills from your last role. Don’t slip back to your previous two performances.”
“I know,” Pei Qingjian said, smiling. “I’ll practice every day, all the time, striving for perfection.”
“Good.”
Zhou Pengyue reminded him a few more things before hanging up to look over scripts.
Pei Qingjian returned home to continue reviewing his acting reel.
The next day, he went back to Lan Xingchen’s company to deliver lunch.
When leaving, he unexpectedly ran into Xu Ya.
Or maybe it wasn’t unexpected—Xu Ya was standing in front of his car, waiting for him.
It had been two months since they last met, and seeing each other now, Pei Qingjian still felt a little dazed.
“Something up?”
Xu Ya nodded, holding out a paper bag to him.
“This is a sweater my mom knitted for him. She asked me to bring it to him—could you help pass it along?”
Pei Qingjian had grown up in a world missing elder figures, so whenever it came to matters involving elders, he inevitably felt a little awkward.
Like now. On one hand, he felt that given the current relationship between Lan Xingchen and Xu Ya, he shouldn’t accept it.
On the other hand, he couldn’t help but think: this was something Xu Ya’s mother had knitted herself. How could he reject the intentions of an elder?
“Why don’t you give it to him yourself?” he asked.
Xu Ya was silent for a moment, then after a long pause, said, “My mom spent a long time knitting it. I don’t want him to refuse it because of me.”
Hearing this, Pei Qingjian thought to himself, that made sense. If Xu Ya went to see Lan Xingchen himself, Lan probably wouldn’t even notice what he was holding before he left—let alone accept it.
He thought for a moment, then looked at Xu Ya. “Wait here for me.”
With that, Pei Qingjian stepped aside and called Lan Xingchen.
Lan Xingchen had just hung up a call with a business partner and was about to message Pei Qingjian asking if he had gotten into the car when the call from Pei Qingjian came through first.
“What’s up?” he answered quickly.
While speaking, he walked over to the window. From his angle, he could see the parking lot in front of the office building, and naturally, he could see Pei Qingjian and Xu Ya standing a little distance away.
Lan Xingchen frowned. Why was Xu Ya here?
Tang Wenzhen’s mother still hadn’t recovered, and Tang Wenzhen had been busy taking care of her for the past few months. He hadn’t appeared in front of Pei Qingjian during that time. So why was Xu Ya showing up now?
If he had known earlier, he would have refused the business call and sent Pei Qingjian off first.
As he pondered this, he heard Pei Qingjian sound a bit puzzled over the phone. “Xu Ya said his mom knitted a sweater for you and asked him to pass it along. He’s afraid if he gives it to you directly, you’ll refuse because of him. Should I accept it?”
Lan Xingchen hadn’t expected it to be about this.
Autumn had arrived, the weather was getting chilly. That day, Cao Jie had also told him, [In a few days, I’ll bring you a gift. Don’t dislike it.]
This must be it.
Lan Xingchen lowered his lashes, momentarily unsure what to do.
He knew Xu Ya hadn’t told his parents the truth—otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so calm.
But knowing something and having it placed clearly in front of you were two very different things.
He hoped Xu Ya could tell his parents that they no longer interacted.
Yet at the same time, Lan Xingchen was very aware that, deep down in the unspoken corners of his heart, he didn’t actually want to cut off Xu Ya’s parents.
Otherwise, he could have told them himself.
Otherwise, he could have urged Xu Ya to tell them.
When someone can’t bring themselves to decisively end something, it only proves they still hold some attachment—whether to the situation or the person involved.
In his not-so-long life, he had already lost too many people, too much familial warmth. In some sense, Xu Ya’s parents were part of that familial warmth.
Lan Xingchen didn’t want to lose them. Especially since they had never wronged him. On the contrary, after his own parents passed away, they had worked hard to make him feel the warmth of elders, showing him that friendship could transcend life and death. Friends are one of life’s most precious treasures.
He could refuse Xu Ya, but he couldn’t refuse Xu Ya’s parents.
“Accept it,” Lan Xingchen said softly.
Hearing his tone, Pei Qingjian quietly said, “I thought you should accept it, too.”
It was as if he were encouraging Lan Xingchen, or perhaps affirming that his response was correct.
“Who knits sweaters these days? You can just buy one. Especially someone like his mom, who’s wealthy—why spend time doing this? But she did it because she cares about you. She knitted it herself and asked Xu Ya to deliver it as the weather turned colder.”
“She must have thought: Xu Ya and you work at the same company, so giving it to you this way is convenient. You can wear it quickly and stay warm.”
“It’s an elder’s sincere intention. Refusing it is never good. So just accept it first.”
Lan Xingchen smiled. “What are you doing—encouraging me?”
Pei Qingjian really did intend that.
He feared Lan Xingchen might want to accept it but hesitate because of Xu Ya’s presence, unsure whether he should.
So Pei Qingjian wanted to give Lan Xingchen affirmation, to tell him he was doing nothing wrong and didn’t need to deny himself or feel unhappy.
“I’m just sharing my thoughts,” Pei Qingjian said with a smile. “You’re a grown man—you need my encouragement?”
Lan Xingchen nodded. “Maybe I do.”
Pei Qingjian found that a little cute. “Fine, then I’ll encourage you.”
“Just words?”
“Otherwise?” Pei Qingjian looked puzzled.
Lan Xingchen sighed. “Why don’t you take some real action?”
“For example?”
“For example… you figure it out yourself.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
He stared at his phone, thinking, what does that mean?
Even after hanging up, Pei Qingjian kept pondering the question.
He stepped up to Xu Ya and held out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Xu Ya breathed a sigh of relief and handed over the bag.
“Thanks.” He looked at Pei Qingjian, sincerity shining in his eyes.
He was genuinely grateful—grateful that Pei Qingjian was willing to help, grateful that he didn’t refuse outright, and most of all, grateful that he hadn’t let his mother’s hopes fall through.
Their start hadn’t been friendly, but Pei Qingjian had never targeted him because of that.
“Has filming been going well these past two months?” Xu Ya asked.
“Pretty well,” Pei Qingjian nodded. “And you—work going smoothly?”
“Very smoothly.”
“Planning to keep at it?”
“Yes,” Xu Ya said softly. “Our department’s environment is nice.”
Pei Qingjian nodded. That meant he could continue creating new work value for Lan Xingchen.
“I’m leaving now—you get back to work,” Pei Qingjian said, opening the car door.
Xu Ya watched him get in. “Be careful on the way.”
“Got it. You go back too—stop slacking off here.”
Xu Ya: …
He shook his head with a wry smile. Originally he wanted to see him off, but it seemed better to return to his own post.
“Alright.” Xu Ya smiled and turned toward the office building.
Pei Qingjian didn’t pay much attention, setting down the lunch and paper bag in the car. Just as he was about to start the engine, inspiration struck.
He hurriedly got out, re-entered the office building, swiped his elevator card, and went straight to Lan Xingchen’s floor.
Seeing him get into the car, Lan Xingchen relaxed and flipped through the documents sent from various departments. Suddenly, he heard a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he said without looking up.
The person walked in and approached his desk.
Lan Xingchen assumed it was his assistant, about to ask for updates on the quarter’s key projects. But when he looked up, he saw Pei Qingjian.
“You just got in the car, didn’t you?” Lan Xingchen exclaimed. “Why are you back?”
Pei Qingjian smiled softly.
He stood in front of the desk and waved at Lan Xingchen.
Lan Xingchen thought he had something to say and stood, leaning over the desk.
“What is it?” he asked gently.
Pei Qingjian tilted his head slightly, a smile playing on his lips.
Just as Lan Xingchen was about to speak again, Pei Qingjian suddenly leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“Encouragement,” he said. “Now it’s not just words, right?”