Chapter 17

He Yuxuan appeared before everyone in just a white T-shirt and black pants.

Even though it wasn’t mealtime, there were plenty of people coming and going in the cafeteria. Seven out of ten guys were dressed like this, but only he, just standing there, seemed completely set apart from the rest.

“You here yet, partner?”

The girl sent him a message. He Yuxuan hurriedly replied: “Coming.”

His timing was usually pretty accurate. However, Jinghai University was huge; he took a wrong turn down an unfamiliar path and got completely lost, so he was a bit slow.

Bo Yuanyuan’s heart stirred. She looked towards the entrance and naturally, her attention was immediately captured by that overly striking boy.

She watched for two seconds, then glanced around near him, uncertain which one her partner was.

Until He Yuxuan spotted a small crowd gathered near them, guessed they were drama club members, and walked straight over.

Thus, their eyes met.

“Hello, are you He Yuxuan?” Bo Yuanyuan waved the chat screen on her phone, asking with natural poise.

She wore a pale blue chiffon long dress, her lightly curled long hair cascading naturally over her shoulders. She looked about 168 cm tall, her glistening eyes like autumn waves.

He Yuxuan raised a hand slightly: “That’s me. You must be classmate Bo Yuanyuan?”

“Hahahaha, yes.”

“Then, please guide me in this.” Facing a bunch of unfamiliar faces, not a single one he knew, He Yuxuan naturally stood by his future partner.

“Do you really only have plain white T-shirts?” Bo Yuanyuan sized him up a bit and made a small joke.

“Pretty much. Also have black ones, blue ones…” He Yuxuan nodded.

He very much appreciated classmate Bo Yuanyuan’s aesthetic. People who liked pale blue couldn’t be bad at heart.

The ratio of males to females among the new members was quite balanced. A glance around showed well-dressed handsome men and pretty women. Naturally, almost over ninety percent of the gazes were glued to this pair.

“He’s He Yuxuan?”

“Looks pretty pretentious.”

A few guys mouthed idle comments with their lips.

The girls, however, were far more honest—they looked at whoever was good-looking.

“Such a coincidence. The Campus Belle and arguably the most handsome guy in our club got paired together.”

“Ahh, they look so good standing together! My eyes are blessed!”

Besides their duet, there were also skit performances, supposedly self-written and self-directed. The new members were quite multi-talented.

“Today we report the performance list. Let’s think about the piece.” Bo Yuanyuan’s baifumei aura was very pronounced. Many guys grew timid in front of her, liking her yet feeling inferior.

But He Yuxuan only viewed everyone as students. The concept of romantic interest didn’t even exist in his mind.

“Sure. Yuanyuan, do you have any suggestions?” he asked.

“How about ‘Mia & Sebastian’s Theme’? It’s an interlude from my favorite movie, La La Land.” Bo Yuanyuan said softly.

He Yuxuan had heard the movie title but hadn’t seen it. He was, in fact, less interested in romance films. He hadn’t even managed to act in one before, but any piece would be fine for him.

“Okay, let’s report that then.” He Yuxuan had no objections whatsoever.

A handsome and gentlemanly guy—almost no one would dislike him. Bo Yuanyuan pursed her lips in a smile and went to report to the staff.

As she walked, her skirt swayed, airy and graceful, her aura outstanding, drawing many more gazes.

Meanwhile, He Yuxuan put in one earbud to listen to the piece. He basically had it figured out in his mind.

“Then we need to find a place for our usual practice,” he said when she returned.

“Our department has piano rooms. There are free slots after class. I happen to need a piano, so can we tentatively set it there?”

Bo Yuanyuan was from the Music Conservatory’s Piano Department, holding the title of Music Conservatory Goddess. She’d reached Grade 10 long ago; her skill wasn’t to be underestimated.

Rumor had it she’d entered with the highest score in both her specialized courses and academic classes.

She wasn’t sure of her partner’s skill—he wasn’t a music major, after all—but Bo Yuanyuan wasn’t worried. They would just slowly mesh together.

“Okay, we can give it a try today.”

~

Such scenes mostly seemed to appear only in novels.

The slender, elegant heroine devotedly playing a piece in the piano room, fully immersed, while the male lead walks in from the back door, listening attentively.

Except here, the male lead was also musically talented, holding a cello and playing back and forth with the heroine, exchanging glances several times. The atmosphere was pure and wonderful.

Mainly, both leads had faces straight out of a novel!

Passing students couldn’t help but steal glances through the window, immersed in the beautiful scene.

“They must be a couple. Truly a perfect match in looks.”

“The girl is the Campus Belle. But I haven’t seen that guy before; he’s so handsome.”

When Wei Jiameng walked past the piano rooms after class, fragments of whispered gossip reached her ears. The name Bo Yuanyuan made her listen a few extra seconds. The other girl had a boyfriend? Curious, she also glanced inside, then paused.

She happened to catch the moment the guy and the girl looked at each other, the piece just rising to its climax, as if they were the very starcrossed lovers themselves.

Both Wei Jiameng and Bo Yuanyuan were new students in the Piano Department and were both ranked on the Campus Belle list, except Bo Yuanyuan crushed her in every aspect.

Perhaps the other didn’t consider her a rival at all, but Wei Jiameng had always seen Bo Yuanyuan as her competitor.

The other girl’s boyfriend looked like that. Then, thinking of her own ex-boyfriend, now in jail for causing trouble, Wei Jiameng’s heart was naturally unbalanced.

Wei Jiameng stared at the guy a few more times, stunned yet again by his looks.

As she left, she opened her phone and asked casually in a small group chat: “Bo Yuanyuan got a boyfriend?”

…

Meanwhile, what others perceived as a match made in heaven was, in reality, purely professional.

“Is this where we need to make eye contact?” He Yuxuan inquired.

Since they intended to capture the feeling from La La Land through the duet, they naturally had to nail every detail. He Yuxuan’s strong empathy allowed him to quickly immerse himself in the story, nailing every rhythm perfectly.

“That’s right. Just look at me the way you just did.” Bo Yuanyuan instructed firsthand.

She did have dating experience, but after the college entrance exams, they’d naturally gone separate ways due to different choices. She found her partner quite unique. Honestly, if their interactions weren’t so completely normal, the way he looked at her those few times almost made Bo Yuanyuan think He Yuxuan had fallen for her at first sight.

“Okay, I’ll get a handle on it.”

“When did you start learning cello? You’re really incredible.” Bo Yuanyuan exclaimed.

She’d thought it was just his hobby, not expecting such strong skills. He was mostly the one accommodating her.

“Since I was a kid. Learned for many years.”

“Me too. I thought about learning cello back then too, but it was so hard I gave up,” Bo Yuanyuan recalled.

She finished with a look of admiration: “So you really are amazing.”

“Practice makes perfect, that’s all. Let’s continue. Let’s aim to give the audience a perfect show.”

“No problem.” Bo Yuanyuan naturally thought the same.

“I asked. Outfits can be partially reimbursed. I’ve already figured out what dress to wear. What about you, partner?”

“I’ll see how much can be reimbursed then.” He Yuxuan answered without hesitation. He wasn’t spending a single cent. As for what to wear, just something slightly formal would do.

~

A certain Diamond Member of the Chenchen Hotel had some suggestions for the establishment, requesting the manager contact the primary person-in-charge to discuss them.

Outstanding service was the most famed quality of Chenchen as a luxury hotel.

“You take the guest to the meeting room first. I’ll come over immediately,” Chu Ci instructed the manager via call.

Saying this, Chu Ci stood up and traversed the long corridor to meet this guest.

Leather shoes made no sound on the soft carpet. He wore a tailored black suit, his expression composed. Aside from his overly young and sharp features appearing slightly youthful, nothing about him suggested he had just turned eighteen.

Pushing open the meeting room door, Chu Ci immediately spotted the man in a bathrobe.

The other had a lazy, opulent posture, looking about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a fine face and physique.

And he was somewhat an acquaintance. Chu Ci had called him “brother” before; they were of comparable family status.

“Little Ci, long time no see, you’ve grown so much.” The other smiled amiably.

Chu Ci politely greeted: “Brother Gu, long time no see.”

Chu Ci had only met the other once, at a banquet when he was fifteen. Back then, the man had just graduated university, young and dissolute. Facing the hard-stone-like Chu Ci, he’d casually teased him with a couple of jokes.

And received a look from Chu Ci like a little wolf cub. Gu Zixing had found Chu Ci quite interesting then.

The precocious Chu Ci had also known at that time that the other was the same kind—a fairly good-looking one at that.

“Brother Gu, if you have any suggestions for our hotel, please speak frankly.” Chu Ci didn’t engage in small talk, getting straight to the point.

Gu Zixing watched the kid’s completely unreceptive attitude and smiled.

“Seems Little Ci is going to be a workaholic, too. I just wanted to catch up, that’s all.”

Gu Zixing was a 0.5, able to switch freely. He’d grown tired of playing around these past few years and started thinking about settling down. Marrying a woman was absolutely impossible, and families like theirs certainly wouldn’t prop up a weaker one; a strong alliance was the best choice.

Hearing that the young master of the Chu family was starting to take over family affairs, Gu Zixing recalled the kid’s wolf-like gaze and felt a stir in his heart. If a few years ago, making a move on the minor Chu Ci would have been pure beastly behavior, he was now of legal age.

“Let’s exchange contact info first, Little Ci.” He added.

Chu Ci raised his eyes to look at him, expression cold: “If there are any inadequacies with the Chenchen Hotel, you may contact me through the manager at any time. I am always at your service.”

Implied: a private WeChat contact was unnecessary.

Within their class in Jinghai City, there weren’t many gay men, and choices were limited. Gu Zixing had asked around and knew Chu Ci liked handsome types. He hadn’t expected the other to not even find his appearance appealing.

Then there was truly no one else in their circle to pick.

“Fine…” He spread his hands.

Chu Ci didn’t linger, returning to his office to handle affairs.

Truthfully, when he was fifteen, he had found this man quite good-looking—at least more interesting than those adolescent male classmates. He’d been briefly curious.

But now, Chu Ci had no interest in any men whatsoever, whether sultry or gentlemanly. He felt absolutely no need to get to know them.

In his private WeChat, besides relatives, the only male his age was He Yuxuan. All others who should be cleared had been purged.

Knowing just one man was enough.