Pei Qingjian hadn’t expected that and paused slightly.
Lan Xingchen looked at him, eyes complex.
He gripped Pei Qingjian’s wrist, feeling the pronounced bone under his palm.
“Tomorrow, I’ll see you off,” he said.
Pei Qingjian said nothing.
Lan Xingchen’s eyes darkened little by little.
Pei Qingjian, seeing him like this, softened almost instantly.
After all, he liked Lan Xingchen. He couldn’t bear to see him upset.
Even now, his leaving was only because the contract had ended, because they needed to adjust the way they interacted—not because he wanted to disappear from his life.
“Alright,” Pei Qingjian finally said softly.
It was like a guillotine that hadn’t fallen at the last second—Lan Xingchen felt as if he had briefly surfaced from drowning, finally able to take a breath.
He lifted his eyelids and quietly looked at Pei Qingjian, murmuring, “Thank you.”
Pei Qingjian shook his head. “Friends sometimes stay over at each other’s place for a night before leaving. It’s normal.”
“Mm,” Lan Xingchen nodded.
Yes, it was normal.
They were friends—it was normal.
That night, the two lay in the same bed, but for the first time, they didn’t touch each other.
Lan Xingchen pulled out a thin blanket, and each covered themselves, lying at an indistinct distance—neither far nor near—and silently stared into the thick night.
“Can I still come to see you?” he asked.
“Of course,” Pei Qingjian said, trying to keep his tone light.
“Will you come to see me in the future?”
“Of course.”
“If something happens, will I still be the first person you think of?”
“Yes.”
“And if you need help, will you come to me first?”
“Yes,” Pei Qingjian smiled. “We’re friends.”
Lan Xingchen nodded. Yes, they were friends, and of course they could still turn to each other.
Thinking that way, it seemed there was no problem after all.
Then why was he worrying?
Lan Xingchen blinked, gazing at the endless night.
He was about to have a new friend—a friend he had known for a long time he would eventually have.
This was a good thing; it was something he had long known. So what was there to worry about?
Wasn’t it fine to be friends?
Friends would always be there, friends would always care and be concerned. Friends had no limit on numbers—if new friends came along in the future, old friends wouldn’t disappear.
That’s why friendship could endure; that’s why friendship was precious.
So becoming friends with Pei Qingjian—wasn’t that a wonderful thing?
Lan Xingchen didn’t understand what exactly he was worried about.
What was he dissatisfied with?
He listened to Pei Qingjian’s steady breathing; he had already fallen asleep.
Lan Xingchen turned his head to look at him, having spent the whole night without rest.
The next morning, Lan Xingchen didn’t rush to the office but first accompanied Pei Qingjian home.
Just like before, when he had helped Pei Qingjian collect his things from his grandparents’ house, now he helped return Pei Qingjian’s belongings.
“Is it safe for you to live here?” Lan Xingchen asked, worried. “What if your dad comes again?”
“And now that you’re so popular…”
“Exactly because I’m popular now, it probably seems less likely that I’d be living here,” Pei Qingjian said. “It should still be safe.”
“And didn’t you change the locks? They’re all coded now; they can’t get in.”
Lan Xingchen still wasn’t fully reassured. He thought that even if Pei Qingjian moved out, he should go somewhere with stricter security, not here.
“Why don’t you stay at my villa?” Lan Xingchen suggested. “The one you’ve been to before.”
“No need,” Pei Qingjian smiled.
“Then maybe buy a new apartment?” Lan Xingchen remembered something. “I helped invest the remaining payment for you, and it earned about two million. A friend of mine was selling a place for two to three million recently—it’s not bad.”
Pei Qingjian was surprised—Lan Xingchen had even helped him handle these matters?
He felt awkward.
“Just keep it at your place,” Pei Qingjian said.
“I’m not good at this stuff anyway. You can continue helping me manage my investments, earn more money.”
Lan Xingchen: …
“This money… if you earn it, you should spend it,” Lan Xingchen advised.
Pei Qingjian nodded. “Mm, so the more you earn, the more you can spend. Earn first, then spend.”
Lan Xingchen: …
He fell silent.
Pei Qingjian, seeing the time, didn’t want to keep him from work. “Shouldn’t you be heading to the office?”
Lan Xingchen: !!!
Was he trying to send him away?
He was definitely trying to send him away!
Did he think Lan Xingchen was too meddlesome?
Or that he was a nuisance?
Lan Xingchen, feeling hurt, reluctantly nodded, “Mm,” and left.
Around eleven o’clock, he finally arrived at the office. He had barely sat down when Shao Kang came in to talk business.
After the discussion, Shao Kang looked at his watch. “Lunch time. Come on, let’s eat together.”
Then he suddenly realized. “Wait, I forgot—you have someone delivering your meals. I’ll go find Xiao Yi to eat with instead.”
Lan Xingchen: …
His mood, already sour, sank further.
“I don’t have anyone,” he ground out through clenched teeth.
Shao Kang: ???
“Didn’t you say a few days ago that little Pei has returned?”
Yes, he had returned. And now they’d ended the contract, returned the money!
Thinking of this, Lan Xingchen felt even more frustrated.
“What’s wrong?” Shao Kang asked, noticing his expression. “Did you quarrel with little Pei?”
“No.”
“Then this…?”
Lan Xingchen: …
He didn’t even know how to explain.
After a while, he muttered, “We broke up.”
Shao Kang: !!!
Shao Kang immediately froze, forgetting to eat. “Break up?!”
“Yes,” Lan Xingchen said, looking at him. “From now on, we’re just friends.”
Shao Kang: ????
“You broke up but can still be friends?”
“Can’t we?”
Shao Kang: …
He didn’t think that made sense.
“Why did you suddenly break up?”
Lan Xingchen: …
“Just… an amicable split,” he said vaguely.
“Don’t you like him anymore?” Shao Kang asked.
“I do.”
“Then he doesn’t like you? That can’t be,” Shao Kang denied. “He seems to really like you. If he didn’t, would he deliver meals to you every day?”
Lan Xingchen: …
“So… what’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing.”
Could it really be anything else? The contract ended!
Lan Xingchen, exasperated: “You just don’t understand.”
Shao Kang: ???
“Then explain it in terms I can understand! Make me get it!”
“A breakup only happens if one person doesn’t like the other. Otherwise, what reason could there be?”
“And breaking up but still being friends? Sounds like you don’t like him. Otherwise, you wouldn’t say something like that, right?”
Lan Xingchen: ???
He thought this logic was flawed.
“Why does it have to mean I don’t like him? Isn’t it fine to be friends? Aren’t we already good friends? Isn’t that enough?”
Why couldn’t he be friends with Pei Qingjian?!
Shao Kang: ???
For the first time, Shao Kang thought Lan Xingchen’s love intelligence was… really low.
“You’ve kissed, hugged, been intimate—how can you still be friends?”
“And when you date a new boyfriend, would you bring him around Pei Qingjian? If so, could you act natural while being close with the new guy? And if Pei Qingjian acted the same with a new boyfriend, could you bear it?”
Lan Xingchen: !!!
He almost broke his pen in half!
This was impossible!
He even pictured the new boyfriend… it would definitely be Xiao Jin!
A few days ago, he even called Pei Qingjian to ask if he was free to meet. If he hadn’t been coughing desperately nearby, Pei Qingjian might have agreed!
Just imagining Pei Qingjian being clingy with Xiao Jin, without needing to kiss, made Lan Xingchen feel suffocated even thinking about it!
Shao Kang tapped the table, watching Lan Xingchen’s expression fluctuate. “See? After a breakup, being friends is impossible.”
“Only people who never truly loved each other—or loved each other too much—can stay friends.”
“The first kind—you clearly don’t fall into. The second kind… well, for our brotherly sake, I don’t recommend it.”
“So my conclusion: either you two split completely—he walks his path, you walk yours—or…”
Lan Xingchen: !!!
He refused to accept it. “Impossible.”
Shao Kang knew it. “Then just get back together.”
Shao Kang continued, “I think little Pei really likes you. All year long, whenever he’s not filming, he comes to see you. He behaves, he listens. He likes you. You can’t let him go. Why not just lower your head, admit your mistake, and reconcile?”
Lan Xingchen: …
But the problem was—they weren’t really in a relationship before.
So… could they even reconcile?
How could he reconcile? Should he try to renew the contract?
Extend the arrangement he and Pei Qingjian had before?
Just say that he still needs a “kept” companion, so after some thought, he decides to renew the contract—this time a bit longer—and when it ends, they can become friends again.
Would Pei Qingjian agree to that?
Would he think Lan Xingchen was joking? Or that he was just trying to maintain a financial arrangement, not interested in a pure friendship?
Lan Xingchen felt his head spinning.
He wanted to ask Shao Kang for advice, but he couldn’t reveal the truth.
—He certainly couldn’t tell Shao Kang that Pei Qingjian was his “kept companion.” That would be so awkward. How could Pei Qingjian face Shao Kang afterward?
He couldn’t ask Shao Kang, he couldn’t ask Fang Junhao… who else could he consult?
Lan Xingchen thought long and hard, then suddenly realized—of course! He could ask the vast online community!
Maybe everyone could brainstorm together and give him better suggestions.
So he waved Shao Kang out. “You go ahead. I want some quiet time alone.”
Shao Kang nodded. “Alright, I’ll bring back some lunch for you.”
“Mm,” Lan Xingchen replied.
Once Shao Kang closed the door, Lan Xingchen immediately grabbed his phone and went online.
[Question: In my situation right now, what should I do?]
He finished typing the title and started writing the post. But as he typed, he realized Pei Qingjian was a popular celebrity. If he called him his “kept companion,” it could ruin Pei Qingjian’s reputation if discovered.
So he deleted the term and tried a different phrasing.
Soon, a fresh post appeared:
[I previously asked someone to pretend to be my boyfriend. During that time, we got along very well, and we agreed that even after the contract ends, we could stay friends. Now the contract has ended, and I want to renew it, to continue living together under the agreement. But I’m worried he might feel uncomfortable or think I don’t want to be friends with him. Should I propose renewing the contract? Or how can I do it so that he agrees without feeling uncomfortable?]