Chapter 52 Part 2

Some nosy onlookers started whooping and hollering. Liang Zhixia’s pupils dilated slightly. He yanked his hand back and scurried away with quick steps.

So embarrassing.

But as he returned to the lounge, he ran right into Si Si and Lin Shen.

Si Si winked at him exaggeratedly. “Whoa! I knew you two were super close. I’m so jealous!”

Liang Zhixia had to explain once more. “He’s really not my boyfriend.”

The expression on the young man’s face was far too serious and earnest. Si Si and Lin Shen exchanged a glance. “Really?”

Liang Zhixia replied, “Really. More real than a pearl.”

Suddenly, Lu Quan’s cold voice came from behind him. “We’re not a couple.”

Liang Zhixia’s back stiffened. He had no idea when Lu Quan had come over or how much he’d overheard.

Si Si sighed in disappointment. “Aw, fine. I really thought you guys were a thing.”

Lin Shen lowered his gaze. “Oh, right—Xiao Ji just said in the group chat that Boss Xiao is treating us to dinner tonight.”

Worried that the two newcomers might not know who Boss Xiao was, Si Si explained, “Boss Xiao is the organizer of this Comic-Con. He’s pretty young and easy to get along with.”

Liang Zhixia knew exactly who they meant—Boss Xiao was Xiao Ji.

He turned to Lu Quan. “Brother Lu, are you going tonight?”

Lu Quan generally disliked these kinds of gatherings, and his status meant he could do as he pleased.

Lu Quan could read Zhizhi’s mind with a single glance. In a quiet voice, he said, “I’ll go.”

“If you weren’t going… huh?” Liang Zhixia had been about to say that if Lu Quan skipped it, he’d just go alone. “You’re going?”

Lu Quan reached out and pinched his cheek, chuckling softly. “If I didn’t go, wouldn’t Zhizhi be all lonely?”

Liang Zhixia grumbled, “I wouldn’t.”

But he couldn’t deny that having Lu Quan at the gathering would make him feel a lot more at ease.

Si Si and Lin Shen, who were still lingering nearby, turned to look at each other. They both saw the huge question mark of confusion in the other’s eyes.

This much obvious affection, and they’re not a couple???

Since they’d done their makeup at the hotel that morning and come straight to the event, they now had to take the shuttle bus back to change out of their costumes.

Lu Quan trailed behind Liang Zhixia. After a full day as his assistant, he didn’t feel tired at all. In fact, he enjoyed this job more than sitting in his office.

If his actual assistant knew that his boss wanted to jump ship to become a newbie cosplayer’s sidekick, he’d probably think Lu Quan had lost his mind.

Who wouldn’t go crazy working at this intensity every day?

There were steps at the Comic-Con exit. As Liang Zhixia lifted his foot to step over, Lu Quan called out to him.

The moment he turned his head, an arm wrapped around his waist, and he was suddenly lifted off the ground.

Out of habit, his arms looped around Lu Quan’s neck. Bewildered, he said, “Brother Lu, put me down!”

The exit was bustling with people coming and going. This was social suicide.

Lu Quan supported his waist and hips with one hand while pressing the other to the back of his head. In a deep voice, he said, “If you don’t want anyone seeing, bury your face in my shoulder.”

Liang Zhixia tucked his head into the warm hollow of Lu Quan’s neck, mumbling, “But they’ll still recognize me like this.”

Lu Quan replied offhandedly, “They won’t say anything.”

Shuttle buses departed one after another in front of them. Lu Quan frowned, deftly slipping off Liang Zhixia’s high heels with one hand. His heels were already rubbed raw and bleeding.

His brows knit together, his expression grave, a flash of heartache in his eyes. “Your shoes rubbed blisters—why didn’t you tell me?”

Liang Zhixia had known Lu Quan would ask this the moment he took off the shoes.

He mumbled, “It’s not that bad.”

It was just a little thing. He could tough it out.

Liang Zhixia had always had pale skin, and the tops of his feet, rarely exposed, were even fairer. Barefoot, he felt terribly insecure, curling his toes as he whispered urgently, “I want my shoes back.”

One arm still around him and the high heels dangling from his other hand, Lu Quan said coldly, “No.”

Just then, a little girl approached, carrying a woven basket on her arm. She looked up at Lu Quan, who was holding Liang Zhixia, and said in a childish voice, “Big brother, buy a flower for your pretty sister?”

Lu Quan glanced down at the girl, who barely reached his calf. In a low voice, he said, “Your pretty sister won’t take my flowers.”

The little girl scurried around to Lu Quan’s back and peered up at Liang Zhixia, her expression pleading. “Pretty sister, will you take big brother’s flowers? They’re so fragrant and pretty!”

Liang Zhixia lifted his head from Lu Quan’s shoulder to look at her. The girl’s clothes were washed to a faded white, with threads unraveling in places. He pressed his lips together and said, “Brother Lu, buy the flowers for me. I’ll transfer you the money later.”

He spoke softly, so the little girl didn’t hear. Thinking the pretty sister still didn’t want them, tears welled up in her eyes, though she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

Lu Quan pulled several hundred-yuan bills from his pocket. In a low voice, he asked, “Can you wrap up all the flowers for me?”

The little girl stared blankly at the red bills, slow to react.

A gust of wind blew by, snapping her out of it. She hurriedly crouched down, wrapping the entire bundle of roses in paper.

Once she was done, she held up the huge bouquet happily. “Here you go, big brother. Thank you!”

Lu Quan raised a brow. “Have your pretty sister hold them.”

Liang Zhixia shot him a covert glare and reached out to take the flowers from the girl.

The little girl rummaged in her small bag, intending to give Lu Quan change. He lowered his gaze and said, “No need. Just say something nice.”

Something nice?

The little girl racked her brains, then her face lit up. She declared loudly, “I wish big brother and pretty sister eternal happiness together!”

Lu Quan hadn’t expected that. While Liang Zhixia wasn’t looking, he slipped her another bill. “Thank you.”

Under the setting sun, Lu Quan murmured an explanation to Liang Zhixia. “She said it herself.”

Liang Zhixia clutched the roses and whispered, “As if you’d dare.”

Out of Lu Quan’s sight, he lifted the bouquet to his nose and inhaled deeply.

Just as the little girl had said—the flowers were fragrant and beautiful.

By the time they boarded the shuttle bus, the once-noisy compartment had fallen completely silent.

Only then did Liang Zhixia realize he’d been carried the whole way by Lu Quan—and he was still holding the flowers.

It was like having a neon sign on his forehead: “Something’s off with us.”

All the way back, he kept his head turned toward the window, terrified of accidentally making eye contact with any colleagues.

Lu Quan looked utterly relaxed, without a care. He took a thermos from his bag, tested its temperature with the back of his hand—not cold—and offered it.

Liang Zhixia eyed the cup thrust toward him, too embarrassed to refuse. He puffed out his cheeks and gulped down several mouthfuls.

Lu Quan handed him a tissue, then pulled a bag of small cookies from his pack and tore it open.

“What’s in this bag, anyway? A magic pouch or something?”

Liang Zhixia munched on a cookie, eyeing it curiously.

Lu Quan was texting the hotel to have a doctor waiting when they arrived. Hearing Zhizhi’s words, he looked up with a smile. “Doraemon’s magic pocket.”

He hadn’t expected Lu Quan to know the cartoon. No longer twisting awkwardly to stare out the window, Liang Zhixia raised his brows. “No way.”

Lu Quan shielded them from the furtive glances drifting their way, lips curving. “Zhizhi, name anything.”

Liang Zhixia set down his cookie, tapping the seat cushion lightly with his fingertip. Suddenly, he said, “Nail clippers.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Lu Quan actually produced a pair of nail clippers from the bag.

His crimson eyes froze, the cool detachment from the stage replaced by a hint of adorable bewilderment.

Liang Zhixia refused to believe the bag had everything. He thought for a moment, then said, “Socks.”

No way the bag had socks.

Liang Zhixia gazed at Lu Quan with unwavering confidence, his chin tilted slightly upward. From Lu Quan’s perspective, he looked just like a proud little kitten, reminding him of that first day of school.

But under Liang Zhixia’s assured gaze, Lu Quan pulled a pair of white cotton socks from his bag.

Liang Zhixia recognized them at a glance as his own socks.

“You…” Words failed Liang Zhixia in his shock. He snatched the socks back, his face flushing red and pale by turns. “Why do you have my socks in your bag?”

Lu Quan replied with just four words.

“Better safe than sorry.”

Puffing out his cheeks, Liang Zhixia turned to stare out the window. Who in their right mind wore high heels with white cotton socks? Some kind of mix-and-match fashion statement?

The bus rumbled along with its load of passengers and finally pulled up to the hotel, swaying gently. A wave of exhaustion from the day’s travel washed over everyone, and quite a few had dozed off from the motion.

Lu Quan nudged Zhizhi and softly called him awake.

Still groggy from sleep, Zhizhi stared blankly as Lu Quan scooped him up and carried him off the bus. It wasn’t until they reached the hotel lobby that Liang Zhixia fully came to his senses.

The lobby was packed with people, and now he truly had no face left to show anyone.

Amid the crowd, the hotel manager approached with hands clasped together and a beaming smile, full of deference. “Young Master, the doctor is already waiting on the sixth floor.”

Lu Quan nodded. “You’ve worked hard.”

The manager hurried to reply, “Not at all, it’s what I should do.”

The two didn’t bother hiding their familiarity, and plenty of people noticed the exchange between Lu Quan and the manager.

Back on the sixth floor, the doctor—dressed in a white coat—stood waiting at the room door. Lu Quan opened it to let him in, then bent down to set Zhizhi on the sofa.

“His heel got rubbed raw.”

The doctor nodded and examined it. Finding it to be just a common minor issue, he treated it and advised, “Best to keep it dry. No more shoes that rub for the next few days, and it should heal up quickly.”

Lu Quan noted it all down.

After seeing the doctor off, there was a knock at the door.

Lu Quan went over and opened it. A young man stood outside, his mask off for once, revealing a handsome face in full.

A flash of admiration lit up the young man’s eyes. He raised his hand to show the QR code on his phone screen and winked at Lu Quan. “Mind if we add each other as friends?”

He’d originally just wanted to cozy up to someone powerful, but now a one-night stand didn’t sound half bad.

When Lu Quan wasn’t in front of Liang Zhixia, he rarely bothered with words. Lifting an eyebrow, he curled his thin lips in a cold smirk. “I’m not interested in seconds.”

He’d investigated everyone’s backgrounds before the trip, and this guy in front of him was filthy.

The young man’s face twisted in fury. He opened his mouth to retort, but the door slammed shut right in front of him with a bang.

Liang Zhixia emerged from the bedroom, now changed into fresh clothes. “Who was that?”

Lu Quan turned to him with an aggrieved expression, his deep voice thick with complaint.

“Just now, some really dirty guy said he wanted to sleep with me.”