The results of the audition were quickly announced, and after the opening ceremony, the crew smoothly began filming.
The entire crew seemed to have no objections to Qiu Yuan appointing an unknown actor as the lead.
After observing for a few days, Xin Hexue came to a conclusion: the entire crew operated under Qiu Yuan’s word alone.
It was only through Wei’er’s introduction that he learned all the investors behind the scenes of the crew were from the Qiu family. To put it plainly, this was the prince’s game.
The Qiu family was big and powerful. Even though they had shown some decline in the past ten years compared to the Pei and Xi families, their wealth was still far beyond what ordinary minor noble families could ever catch up with.
Qiu Yuan never intended to make money by directing films.
With that in mind, the “genius director” title might really be, just as netizens speculated, built on overwhelming publicity and marketing.
Especially when Xin Hexue once walked into the lounge and found Qiu Yuan’s eight tentacles, each holding a communicator, using ten small accounts to argue with netizens.
“…”
‘Psychopath.’
Xin Hexue closed the door.
Another reason why the crew had no objections might be because Xin Hexue had previously starred in Director Yun Ziming’s last film.
Logically speaking, since they were now filming a sequel, reusing the previous actor posed no issue at all.
Xin Hexue had a lot of solo and partnered scenes, so he needed to participate in filming almost every day. As promised before, Xi Zhengqing indeed arranged a full professional team of manager and assistants for him. Whenever he wasn’t filming, Xin Hexue only needed to rest and wait inside the nanny car.
The weather at the turn of spring and summer had already started heating up.
Today’s scene was the swimming class before the locker room incident.
Because of a prior scene in the rain, after Xin Hexue went through artificial rain from the props team and finished shooting, he developed a high fever that very night and had to take two days off. In the meantime, they could only film scenes for other characters.
Qiu Yuan leaned on the door of the nanny car and said to Xin Hexue, “The pool is heated, is that okay? I really don’t want Xi Zhengqing calling me again to demand an explanation.”
Xin Hexue took off the coat draped over him and handed it to the assistant, “Mm.”
Although he did wish he appeared more dedicated, like those stars written about in StarNet news who wore only a single layer in minus fifteen degrees or who pushed through 40-degree fevers to film through the night, Xin Hexue had to admit that for him, compared to being praised for professionalism, dying young would probably come quicker.
“Mr. Xin, this…” The assistant reminded him.
Xin Hexue looked at the ring on the middle finger of his left hand. “I almost forgot, thanks for the reminder.”
It was a simple silver ring inlaid with tiny diamonds, designed with the concept of twin branches…clever and delicate, with fine patterns.
The assistant carefully put the ring away and said to Xin Hexue, “President Xi said he’ll come pick you up for lunch.”
Qiu Yuan stared at the ring, his brow arching into a sharp curve. “You’re not planning to get engaged to Xi Zhengqing, are you?”
Wearing a ring on the middle finger of the left hand implied being in a relationship or engaged.
Of course, they weren’t engaged yet. Otherwise, Qiu Yuan would have known from the invitation to the engagement banquet.
Xin Hexue didn’t answer the question directly but asked in return, “Why not?”
The light and airy tone made it seem like being engaged to the heir of the Xi family wasn’t worth even a second of his attention, as if even at the wedding itself, the young man would still maintain this calm and composed attitude.
Qiu Yuan neither confirmed nor denied it, but just as Xin Hexue was about to pass him and enter the set, he added, “Yes, he’s acting like a dog circling you now, but you’d better just treat it as a game and get out while you can. Don’t lose control. If you wait too long, even the most loyal dog will bite when it goes mad.”
“Of course, there’s still one way you could retreat unscathed.” Qiu Yuan looked into Xin Hexue’s eyes and grinned, “Just find yourself an exit route.”
That last piece of advice felt completely unnecessary.
He looked like he was desperately trying to sell himself off as a cheap bargain.
Xin Hexue glanced at him, then looked away indifferently and walked forward.
[Qiu Yuan love value+5]
The assistant standing nearby had heard the entire exchange but was on both Xi Zhengqing and Qiu Yuan’s payroll, so he simply stared straight ahead, pretending to be deaf. His eyes were on his nose, and his nose on his heart.
………
At noon, someone did come to have lunch with Xin Hexue.
But when the assistant led him to the table in the restaurant, Xin Hexue discovered that it wasn’t Xi Zhengqing.
But he had already started suspecting something on the way here. If it were Xi Zhengqing, he would’ve come to pick him up directly by car, not wait at the restaurant and send a nanny car to bring him over.
Xin Hexue looked at the graceful and elegant woman, who had been waiting at the table for quite some time.
The lady stood up and shook his hand. She wore a deep red corduroy long dress, and the diamond and onyx beads on her wrist clinked together, and her pearl earrings swayed lightly.
She looked like she might pull out a five-million-yuan check and slap it on the table at any moment.
“Hello, I’m Zhengqing’s mother. You can call me Aunt Cheng. You’re Zhengqing’s boyfriend, right?”
“Hello, Auntie. My name is Xin Hexue.”
“I know, dear. Come, sit down first. I wasn’t sure about your tastes, so I haven’t ordered yet. Take a look at the menu.”
Xin Hexue stared at the first page of the menu.
He had intentionally and unintentionally learned things from Xi Zhengqing.
The Xi family was indeed harmonious, without messy affairs or illegitimate children. Compared to the other noble families in the Core Zone, this already put them ahead in many ways.
But rather than saying they had good family values, it would be more accurate to say they pushed tradition to the extreme. The main branch of the Xi family always followed the male A and female O pairing. Each generation of couples would only have two children, carefully selected through gene screening. The gender of the children was determined before pregnancy, with male Alphas kept as heirs, while female Omegas were used for political marriages. This cycle repeated over and over, executed like a textbook model.
Even when the Xi family’s eldest daughter eloped with a Beta from District Six, in the end, she still returned and ended up in a political marriage.
Xin Hexue put down the menu. “Auntie, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Madam Xi smiled. She was well-maintained, and there was not a single wrinkle at the corners of her eyes. “Let’s eat first, let’s eat and talk.”
Xin Hexue lowered his head, showing the unease of an ordinary Beta from District Six. When Madam Xi asked him what he wanted to eat, he casually ordered a few dishes whose names alone didn’t reveal much about their contents.
The chain restaurant had a nice atmosphere, it was near the film city in District One. It was advertised as a “sky garden”, with small fountains and green plants around.
However, the taste of the dishes could only be described as average.
The young man put down his cutlery and dabbed the corners of his mouth with a napkin. His gaze remained lowered, never once looking directly at the lady across from him.
In the distance, a seemingly shrewd businessman called out, “President Pei, this way please.”
He had finally managed to arrange a meal with the current head of Shennong Pharmaceuticals and was convinced that after this dinner, his project would be solidified.
But Pei Guangji’s steps paused. He had seen Xin Hexue.
And the person sitting across from him was… Madam Xi?
Pei Guangji’s eyes darkened. He turned to the person beside him and said, “You go ahead. I’ve got something to take care of. I’ll come over later.”
The businessman replied awkwardly, not daring to object to Pei Guangji’s tone, and could only proceed to the private room on his own to wait.
The moment Pei Guangji saw the two of them dining together, he immediately thought of the Xi family situation.
Xin Hexue was likely going to be put in a tough situation.
Pei Guangji was still unsure whether it was true that Xi Zhengqing had settled his boyfriend in the mountainside villa, but there was one thing he didn’t doubt.
The Xi family was very skilled at breaking up couples.
Pei Guangji didn’t want to see Xin Hexue humiliated and cornered by Madam Xi in public.
His temple suddenly throbbed with pain for a moment.
A flash of memory passed through his mind…
In the back seat of an aircraft.
“You’re hurting me.”
As the young man said this, tears slipped down his snow-white cheeks.
Pei Guangji felt a brief pang in his heart, and he snapped out of it in a daze.
First, he declined the waiter’s concerned inquiry, then raised his gaze again. Madam Xi was rummaging through her bag, while the young man sat anxiously in his seat.
Without thinking further, Pei Guangji strode over in large steps.
Xin Hexue was looking at Madam Xi, wondering what kind of attitude he should put on in a moment. If this turned into some cliché dog-blood drama of him fleeing and Xi Zhengqing chasing, that would be incredibly tacky.
Madam Xi finally found what she was looking for and slid a thin card toward Xin Hexue. “This is a meeting gift from Auntie. Take it.”
Xin Hexue: “I can’t accept this…?”
‘Hmm?’
Was she not going to tell him to take the five million and leave her son?
Madam Xi smiled sweetly. “This is Zhengqing’s secondary card. There’s no spending limit within District One and the Core Zone.”
She added, “But for expenses in other places, you’ll still need to get reimbursement from Zhengqing, or you can contact Auntie.”
Two Alpha voices rang out at the same time.
“Mother!”
“Xin Hexue.”
Xi Zhengqing and Pei Guangji met eyes. His previously hurried steps slowed, and he greeted politely, “Oh, President Pei, what a coincidence.”
Pei Guangji merely nodded, his eyes fixed tightly on Xin Hexue.
Madam Xi continued speaking to Xin Hexue as if no one else was present. “Child, take this meeting gift. Auntie hopes you and Zhengqing can get married soon.”
Her gaze swept over the ring on Xin Hexue’s left ring finger, and her eyes curved in a smile. “In about a month, the summer sun will be wonderful. It’ll be a great time for a wedding. Before that, Auntie will need to check the almanac to pick a good date. As for the rest…the wedding plan, the dress selection…I’ll leave that to you young people to decide.”
After speaking, Madam Xi lifted her steps. Before leaving, she patted Xi Zhengqing on the shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. You young people should think it over carefully. I’ll go visit your father at the hospital first.”
Not long ago, Xi Zhengqing had already angered his father into the ICU.
Because he confessed that he had fallen in love with a Beta from District Six.
Madam Xi let out a slight sigh. She could not stop her husband, and that had already doomed her daughter to an unhappy first half of her life. This time, she did not want to become her husband’s accomplice again, interfering with their child’s decision.
Other than her children, she had no other hobbies, at most, tending to a certain kind of flower in the garden.
Madam Xi used to grow roses in the garden very well, until she saw four-year-old Xi Zhengqing clutching a rose in his hand, the thorns piercing his palm and causing it to bleed profusely. After bandaging the wound, she ordered the servants to dig up all the roses she had cultivated.
From childhood to adulthood, Xi Zhengqing had always seemed like a child lacking in vitality. Beneath the glamorous appearance of the Xi family heir, as a mother, she could smell that kind of decayed soul that was like a rotting swamp.
She feared that if things continued like this, her child would head toward irreversible destruction.
But recently, everything had taken a turn for the better.
Madam Xi saw the photo Xi Zhengqing had shared. Her child was holding another child in his arms, and the room in the background looked warm and cozy. On Xi Zhengqing’s face was a genuine, unfeigned smile.
So, rather than let the Xi family’s cycle repeat itself, Madam Xi preferred widowhood.
Wearing the perfect smile that belonged to the lady of the Xi family, she paid the bill and left the restaurant.
Xin Hexue held the black-gold card that Madam Xi had stuffed into his hand and looked at Xi Zhengqing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the figure of Pei Guangji.
Back when he had inexplicably received the prompt [Pei Guangji Heartbreak Value +5], Xin Hexue had already noticed Pei Guangji observing from a distance, but he hadn’t paid much attention.
Xi Zhengqing suddenly let out a sigh of relief, as if all the anxiety caused by seeing his mother dining and talking alone with Xin Hexue, and her clever tricks as she excused herself, had completely vanished into thin air.
He even smiled with such brilliance that the arc of his thin lips lifted sharply. He held Xin Hexue’s hand, and the two of them standing together looked like a perfect match.
He said to Pei Guangji, “That’s how it is. Our relationship has received our parents’ blessing. It’s such a coincidence to see you here today, and we’re grateful to President Pei for witnessing it. Oh, and for the wedding, we’ll need to invite President Pei to be our groomsman. I wonder if we’ll have that honor?”
Xi Zhengqing held Xin Hexue’s hand as if showing off, and the white diamond chips on the ring glinted under the lights, stabbing Pei Guangji in the eyes.
Pei Guangji suddenly felt a splitting headache.
At some point, he had made a silent vow to marry someone, and even hastily asked someone to prepare an engagement ring first.
Who was he going to marry??
[Pei Guangji Heartbreak Value +10]
………
In the high-end apartment.
Xin Hexue came over with ointment and cotton swabs and sat at the edge of the sofa. Xi Zhengqing was bare-chested, his toned upper body turned away from him.
The Alpha’s back bore no signs of mechanical modification, entirely covered in the flesh and blood of a pure natural human.
Xin Hexue touched the injuries on it. They looked like they had been made by a whip, but now that he saw them with his own eyes, the wounds were no longer the bloody mess they had once been.
The wounds had begun to heal, growing light-colored flesh. The blood scabs clung to the muscles of his back in strips and patches.
“Are you really okay?”
Xi Zhengqing nodded. “Mm, it’s almost healed. I didn’t tell you the past few days because I didn’t want you to worry.”
“Help me apply the medicine, okay? It doesn’t hurt.”
Xin Hexue used a cotton swab to apply the ointment on Xi Zhengqing. When the white cream touched the wounds, Xin Hexue narrowed his eyes slightly, as if just looking at them made him feel the pain too.
“I’m really happy,” Xi Zhengqing let out a heavy breath. “You didn’t reject my mother’s idea of us getting married to her face. But don’t worry, I’ll talk to her.”
Xi Zhengqing: “Hexue, you don’t need to feel pressured. No matter what you decide in the end, I will accept it. I only hope that you’re happy.”
‘Really?’
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes, not looking at Xi Zhengqing’s righteous appearance.
If he said right now that he wanted to get back together with Pei Guangji and marry him tomorrow, this Alpha would probably go crazy on the spot.
Thinking of Pei Guangji’s ugly expression today and the skyrocketing Heartbreak Value, Xin Hexue curled his lips in delight.
So, he held Xi Zhengqing’s hand and responded softly, “I’m willing. Auntie’s idea…I can accept it.”
Xi Zhengqing hugged him with overwhelming joy, holding him so tightly it was as if he wanted to fuse Xin Hexue into his bones and blood.
He cupped Xin Hexue’s face in his hands. The gesture was so encompassing that his large palms nearly covered Xin Hexue’s ears completely.
It was raining outside. The muffled sound of rain became even blurrier after being blocked by his palms. As the sense of hearing dulled, the sensitivity of touch heightened in compensation, making the lips especially receptive.
Xin Hexue couldn’t catch his breath under the Alpha’s kiss.
Xi Zhengqing’s tongue tangled tightly with the moist and red one, occasionally brushing against the roof of Xin Hexue’s mouth. He knew how intensely stimulating that was. Xin Hexue, who was already sensitive, immediately let out a light moan as if he couldn’t bear it.
The corners of his eyes flushed red, and tears welled up.
Whether it was the saliva in his mouth or the tears from his eyes, Xi Zhengqing took them all.
The seamless press of their lips brought a tremble that pierced straight to the soul, and the young man gradually melted in the heat like snow.
Xi Zhengqing’s hands didn’t behave. They slid downward and rested on Xin Hexue’s sensitive waist. He kneaded slowly and tormentingly, wrinkling the soft cotton fabric.
Such a flexible waist trembled in his hands as if jolted with electricity.
So cute.
………
Pei Guangji didn’t find Xi Zhengqing’s earlier words very credible.
First of all, their relationship wasn’t good enough for Xi Zhengqing to ignore his own interests and let his boyfriend stay in a villa registered under his name, especially since that villa had originally been lent to Pei Ying.
Second, Pei Guangji couldn’t explain, and was both hopeful and afraid to understand, the story behind all those paired items that appeared in the villa.
His head throbbed violently, yet he couldn’t help but look again and again: the paired toothbrushes and cups on the sink, the cotton slippers in the entryway shoe cabinet that always appeared in twos, even in the master bedroom on the second floor, where the walk-in closet still had clothes that didn’t match his size or style.
Pei Guangji couldn’t remember.
But he recalled Xin Hexue’s silent and resistant expression when he moved out.
He seemed to be able to piece together only one truth…
That he had come between the love of his childhood friend and his boyfriend.
Otherwise, how could the obviously paired items in the house be explained, or why Xin Hexue wouldn’t even spare him a glance?
The weather in early summer was unpredictable.
A torrential rain fell outside. There was a flash of silver light, then a clap of thunder that seemed to tear through the eardrums and shake the house.
Pei Guangji returned to the master bedroom and opened the door.
The quilt was soft and slightly bulging in an arc. He stepped forward to embrace the young man, gently comforting him on this stormy night.
Another flash of lightning tore through the image that suddenly appeared in his mind.
Now, Pei Guangji only found a white shirt in the bed that didn’t belong to him, still carrying a faint green sandalwood scent.
With the onset of the rut period, the Alpha, who was exhausted both physically and mentally, hunched over with a conflicted and pained expression.
Pei Guangji couldn’t remember how he took the communicator handed to him by the new assistant, how he refused the suggestion to call a medical team. He returned to the room filled with the young man’s scent.
His personal communicator had been destroyed in the aircraft accident and has now been repaired, but due to chip damage, all records were wiped clean.
Pei Guangji found the few remaining garments still bearing the green sandalwood scent, and built a safe nest and hid himself inside.
He found the contact named “Xin Hexue” in the communicator.
His thumb trembled with hesitation, but the pad of his finger pressed firmly and dialed out.
“Doo doo…” After two beeps, the other side picked up.
Pei Guangji almost lost grip of the communicator. He quickly turned the volume to the maximum.
The heavy rain poured down and the thunder had stopped.
That allowed Pei Guangji to clearly hear the voice on the other end.
“Uh…!”
The cry was short and suppressed, as if laced with all the damp and ambiguous feelings of worldly love.
Then came the shallow chaotic breaths.
Xi Zhengqing chuckled hoarsely, “Does it feel good this way?”
Xin Hexue was suddenly pierced deep inside by something unfamiliar.
A tongue was buried in the wet heat, grinding with great flexibility and agility.
Xin Hexue raised a hand to cover his eyes. Overwhelmed by the stimulation, his clenched lips loosened and he broke into a cry.
Pei Guangji listened to the sound from the communicator.
His mind, already burning from the rut period, was now as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head. Every bone and drop of blood in his body turned cold.
[Pei Guangji’s heartbreak value +30]
The scab on Xi Zhengqing’s back got scratched open. Fearing the blood would scare Xin Hexue, he had to tend to the wound first.
Then he turned and asked, “Did someone just call?”
Xin Hexue’s bare body was as white as flowing goat milk.
His lashes were wet and clumped into little tufts. He lowered his eyes, and from an angle Xi Zhengqing couldn’t see, he slid his finger, ended the call and replied lightly, “No.”
