Luo Cheng’an chuckled. “You’re taking me on a variety show. Of course I’m excited~”
Xi Yu gave Luo Cheng’an a fake smile as he took the spare key to the room from Luo Cheng’an’s hand, then kicked him straight out the door.
He felt refreshed.
After being kicked out, Luo Cheng’an called out, “I’ll wait for you downstairs. We’re leaving at 9:30!”
Xi Yu ignored him completely and lay back down on the bed.
He only needed ten minutes to get up and leave, so he could sleep for another hour and twenty minutes.
Ah, what a wonderful hour and twenty minutes.
Xi Yu closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep.
A few minutes later, he felt that something was wrong. He sat up and looked toward the only cabinet in the room.
“Why haven’t you come out yet?”
A low voice came from inside the cabinet, carrying a hint of barely perceptible grievance.
“My legs are numb. I can’t move.”
Xi Yu: “……”
Just destroy the world.
Xi Yu had no choice but to get out of bed. He opened the cabinet door and saw Lu Zhixing biting his lip, his pair of limpid eyes filled with embarrassment.
Xi Yu reached out to pull him.
Lu Zhixing sat on top of the cabinet with both feet dangling down to the floor, letting the blood circulate again.
“What a strange feeling.” Lu Zhixing suddenly spoke.
Xi Yu raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Don’t you think the two of us like this are a little like…” Stealing an affair.
Lu Zhixing stopped halfway through his sentence.
Xi Yu was confused. “Like what?”
“Nothing.”
“I think you’re a little weird too.”
Xi Yu stretched lazily. After being disturbed, he wasn’t sleepy anymore. He pointed at the wardrobe.
“Pick whatever you want. Change your clothes and let’s go.”
Lu Zhixing climbed down from the cabinet and took out a piece of clothing Xi Yu had worn before.
“You really are willing to do whatever Luo Cheng’an asks. Peerless Secret Realm is so dangerous, yet you agreed to accompany him just because he asked.”
“It’s not because of him.” Xi Yu paused, then turned his head to look at Lu Zhixing. “Do you hate Luo Cheng’an that much?”
Xi Yu had noticed that Lu Zhixing seemed to like competing with Luo Cheng’an.
Fairly speaking, there was really nothing comparable between the two.
In every sense.
Luo Cheng’an had traded his brains for a good-looking face.
But Lu Zhixing was the nation’s movie emperor. His acting skills, appearance, and even family background were all top-tier.
The two had even known each other before. Xi Yu really couldn’t figure out why Lu Zhixing harbored such hostility toward Luo Cheng’an.
The only possibility was that Luo Cheng’an’s brain wasn’t working properly and he had offended Lu Zhixing somehow without realizing it.
“His brain isn’t very good. If he offended you somehow, don’t hold it against him.”
After all, they would be appearing on the variety show together later.
Xi Yu casually mentioned it.
But he saw Lu Zhixing’s expression instantly turn cold.
???
Was the grudge really that deep?
Lu Zhixing took off his pajamas and picked up his clothes to put them on. Xi Yu instinctively turned around and looked away.
Behind him came Lu Zhixing’s ambiguous voice.
“I think his brain is quite good.”
He had managed to coax his Master into speaking up for him everywhere in such a short amount of time.
Lu Zhixing’s hostility was blatant. Xi Yu’s brows furrowed slightly.
After a while, Lu Zhixing finished dressing and sat at the edge of the bed, folding the pajamas he had taken off.
“The person in that space just now was your disciple? I heard you call him an unfilial disciple.”
Xi Yu leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, a hint of pride showing between his brows.
“Exactly.”
“What kind of person is he?”
Without thinking, Xi Yu blurted out, “Jade in quality and gold in bearing, like jade tablets of fine virtue.”
Lu Zhixing pursed his lips. At last, a smile appeared in his narrow eyes.
“Then he must be a very, very good person.”
Xi Yu raised his eyebrows. There was a hint of careless laziness in his eyes, and he didn’t respond to Lu Zhixing.
But Lu Zhixing had spent several thousand years with Xi Yu. How could he not understand his Master’s way of expressing emotions?
His Master was happy…
Because of him.
Lu Zhixing held the pajamas in his hand, his fingertips gently rubbing the fabric. There was still a trace of warmth left on them.
It was just a pity that he still couldn’t call him Master.
There were still things he had yet to accomplish.
“I’m leaving.”
Lu Zhixing walked to the window and was just about to jump down when Xi Yu suddenly remembered something.
“Are you going to Peerless Secret Realm because of Liu… that bracelet?”
Lu Zhixing shook his head.
“No. I’m just playing for fun.”
Originally, it had been because of Liuyun.
But now, Liuyun’s true owner had returned.
He no longer needed it.
“Right.” Lu Zhixing stepped onto the windowsill. “Your disciple, the one who is jade in quality and gold in bearing, asked you to protect me. So can I come over tonight?”
Xi Yu hadn’t even spoken when Lu Zhixing continued gloomily,
“I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. Every night, I’m terrified, not knowing when a few evil ghosts will come out and tear me apart and torture me.”
Seeing Lu Zhixing’s self-mocking expression, Xi Yu inexplicably felt something strange in his heart, something he couldn’t explain.
He glanced at the mattress beside him, hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
Upon hearing that, Lu Zhixing’s previous gloom immediately vanished. He smiled lightly.
“Then see you tonight, Xiaoyu.”
…………………….
The curtains swayed in the wind.
Lu Zhixing had already disappeared.
Xi Yu felt that something was wrong, yet he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
After a long while, he looked at himself in the mirror, his mouth covered in toothpaste foam, and finally remembered what was wrong.
Lu Zhixing was afraid of ghosts?
Couldn’t he just draw a few talismans?
That little problem would be easy to solve.
How had he not thought of that at the time?
Xi Yu clicked his tongue. His brain really didn’t work well when he hadn’t slept properly.
But he’d already agreed.
Having Lu Zhixing right under his nose was fine too. That way, there would be absolutely no room for accidents.
After washing up, Xi Yu folded his pajamas and placed them on the bed. When he turned his head, he saw the pajamas Lu Zhixing had just folded.
Huh. There was actually someone whose way of folding clothes was the same as his disciple’s.
Xi Yu folded the pajamas neatly, cast a Dust-Cleansing Spell, then tossed them into the wardrobe.
After going downstairs and eating breakfast, he was dragged by Luo Cheng’an to sign the contract.
Luo Yuan had covered all the expenses for Peerless Secret Realm, so signing the contract was merely a formality.
The production crew, however, froze for a moment when they saw Xi Yu’s face.
“This is…”
Luo Cheng’an put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest.
“My brother! Isn’t he super handsome?!”
So embarrassing.
Xi Yu wanted to crawl under the table. He hurriedly took the documents, signed them, then grabbed Luo Cheng’an by the collar.
“Let’s go. You’re acting like you have something wrong with you.”
From sitting down to signing the contract, less than ten minutes had passed.
The production crew hadn’t even had time to introduce the variety show.
The assistant director pushed up his glasses and said to his assistant, “Post an announcement on Weibo. That face… it’s practically tailor-made for the entertainment industry.”
There was no shortage of good-looking people in the entertainment industry, but even there, a face like Xi Yu’s was rare.
The last person whose face alone had made him an instant sensation was the current movie emperor, Lu Zhixing.
“The Luo family’s son. With a face like that, no wonder he’s eager to join a variety show and show his face. He’s desperate to enter the entertainment industry.”
The assistant director currently assumed that Xi Yu had suddenly become rich and was desperately trying to squeeze into places he had never been able to reach before.
He had heard that the Luo family’s son had once been a beggar, and that even now he hadn’t changed his name, while Luo Cheng’an was still being treated well by the Luo family.
Clearly, Xi Yu wasn’t as favored as Luo Cheng’an.
But after all, he was their biological son. The Luo family was wealthy and powerful, so Xi Yu wanting to enter the entertainment industry wasn’t a big deal.
The assistant director still looked down on Xi Yu somewhat.
The assistant couldn’t decide how to word the announcement, so he asked the assistant director.
The assistant director waved his hand.
“狸猫换太子. This kind of huge gimmick is free traffic falling from the sky. Find a way to let it leak out, but don’t make it too obvious.”
The Luo family hadn’t issued an announcement, but allowing Xi Yu to appear on a variety show also meant they weren’t planning to hide him. They might as well take advantage of the situation and stir up the hype again.
Xi Yu didn’t go home. Instead, he directly carried his things to the area beneath the overpass.
A person couldn’t live without a job.
Even if he was extremely wealthy now!
Xi Yu was wondering whether he should raise his prices and change five yuan to ten yuan when he got out of the car and suddenly stopped.
A cordon had been stretched around the area beneath the overpass, with a crowd of people gathered outside.
Xi Yu put his things back into the trunk and walked toward the crowd.
Luo Cheng’an poked his head out, but there was nowhere to park here. He hurriedly started the car and left to find a parking lot.
Several police cars were parked nearby. Old Dog hurried over when he saw Xi Yu.
“You can’t set up your stall here for the next few days. A few hours ago, a young woman floated out of the river.”
Xi Yu stood outside the cordon and looked toward the river in the distance.
Several police officers were taking notes with their pens. Nearby, a young man knelt on the ground, covering his face and weeping bitterly.
There was also a middle-aged man with a dazed expression sitting beside the female corpse, whose face had been soaked beyond recognition.
Xi Yu saw the middle-aged man try several times to reach out and touch her, only to be stopped by the police.
“This poor girl was only in her early twenties. A few months ago, she even came to buy watermelon and told me she was pregnant. She said she’d come back to buy watermelon from me after the baby was born. I don’t know how she ended up like this…”
Aunt Lan shook her head, her eyes reddening.
Xi Yu turned his head.
“You know her?”
Aunt Lan pointed toward the residential complex behind them.
“She lived in the neighborhood back there. She usually passed by here after work and bought watermelon. That girl had such a hard life. Her mother died early, and her father raised her by himself. Her father couldn’t bear to let his daughter marry far away, and luckily, the girl found a boyfriend who knew how to care for her. Knowing about her family situation, he was willing to marry into her family. I heard he even fell out with his own family over it.
“They only got married last year. Her father bought them a house. Five months ago, the girl became pregnant. Just when their good days were finally beginning to show some promise, she was gone.”
Xi Yu’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Who killed her?”
Old Dog sighed.
“They say she came out for a walk last night and accidentally fell into the water.”
The sightseeing lake behind the overpass had no railing. Because the location wasn’t very good and there weren’t any entertainment facilities nearby, there had never been many people around.
Most were simply nearby residents who came out for a stroll after dinner.