Chapter 16: A Punishment for You Part 2

“What are we going to do, Bad Pear? You really can’t drink.” Xi Xingheng smiled. “Ah… good thing I can. I’ll take the drinks for you.”

Yu Huaili: …

Did the Protagonist Bottom have his brain soaked in alcohol? Saying stuff like that made it seem like the two of them were being all ambiguous.

Just force-pushing it, huh?

They returned to the private room and sat down. Sure enough, a lot of peeled shrimp sat on the plate in front of Yu Huaili, with dipping sauce considerately placed right next to it.

He ate two, then stopped.

Not long after, Wen Zheng also came back in, all smiles.

A few more rounds of toasts followed. Yu Huaili used tea in place of alcohol. He felt like he’d drunk two whole pots of plain water before the party finally ended.

“Tsk, why did you drink so much with Duan Qiong and Xi Xingheng?” Sister Chen looked at Jiang Qing, who couldn’t even walk in a straight line, patting his back while frowning. “They have good tolerance, so you do too?”

Jiang Qing: “Mm…”

“Aiyah, you little—” Sister Chen was about to say more when Wen Zheng’s smiling voice came from behind her. “Aren’t you all shooting a magazine tomorrow? Be safe on the road. Tell the driver to go slower.”

She turned to look, only to find Wen Zheng was speaking to Yu Huaili.

Something wasn’t right.

Whether as a leader or in his everyday conduct, Wen Zheng was impeccable in every way.

Succeeding so young, not only was he considerate of his subordinates, understanding, approachable, and refined… he had no tabloid scandals either.

But Sister Chen knew Wen Zheng also kept people at arm’s length in his interactions. So she always felt the tone of that polite remark he’d just made was a little off…

The van stopped in front of the hotel.

The assistant checked the time. “Sister Chen, we won’t make the flight now—it takes off in twenty minutes… But I’ve coordinated with the driver. We’ll drive through the night. We should reach the shooting location around six.”

Sister Chen thought for two seconds, then agreed.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t book another flight, but if there were fans at the airport seeing them off, seeing Solaron-X—especially Jiang Qing in this drunk state—it would become ammunition for gossip again.

Male idols may be male, but they couldn’t act too much like ordinary men.

Sister Chen called out to the other three and had the assistant help Jiang Qing into the car.

Glancing at Duan Qiong, who was standing there with his arms crossed and a cold face waiting for him, Yu Huaili smiled and said goodbye to Wen Zheng. “Boss, take care on the way back. Get some good rest.”

Wen Zheng smiled faintly and nodded.

Watching the van carrying Solaron-X disappear from view, Wen Zheng finally got into his own car.

Looking down at the tree shadows rapidly receding past the window, his expression relaxed, with a hint of faint weariness on his brow.

His executive assistant handed Wen Zheng a glass of warm water. “Boss, would you like to rest for a bit? I’ll call you when we reach Plum Garden.”

Wen Zheng took the cup, watching the faint ripples on its surface. He abruptly remembered how Yu Huaili had sat there with an indifferent face tonight, emptying two whole pots of water.

A faint smile slowly surfaced in his eyes. Wen Zheng’s gaze then fell on the executive assistant before him.

Wen Zheng asked, “How old are you?”

The assistant was a bit confused by the question but answered truthfully. “Twenty-eight.”

Twenty-eight.

“Still very young.” Wen Zheng smiled.

“Boss, you’re young too.” The assistant meant it.

Wen Zheng was only in his mid-thirties now, in his prime, and he’d already single-handedly built Morning Star Entertainment into a giant of the entertainment industry.

“Is that so.” Wen Zheng smiled. “But I feel that talking with even younger kids makes me sound too dull. Maybe it’s a generation gap.”

Even younger kids?

The assistant mulled over who this “even younger kid” Wen Zheng mentioned could be.

After thinking it over, he could only conclude that today Wen Zheng had only interacted with the four boys of Solaron-X.

Among those four, the assistant remembered Yu Huaili the most. After all, he’d just recently received Wen Zheng’s instructions to handle Yu Huaili’s affairs.

So was Wen Zheng talking about Yu Huaili?

The assistant couldn’t quite pin down what Wen Zheng’s words meant, and clearly Wen Zheng didn’t need his answer either.

Remembering how Duan Qiong had inexplicably glared at him several times when Solaron-X was leaving after the party, Wen Zheng smiled again and said softly, “But that crazy-dog friend of his might have misunderstood and thought I wanted to pull some strings with him…? It’s really hard to understand what they’re thinking.”

The assistant: Huh?

He was starting to lose track.

Finally, Wen Zheng let out a long sigh. “But in this industry, you really do need to keep in touch with younger people.”

The assistant understood this one.

He said, “Boss, if you want to understand what young people think, you could look at Solaron-X. They’re the boy group Morning Star is pushing, and their fan base skews young… And I think Yu Huaili of Solaron-X would be a good entry point.”

Hearing this, Wen Zheng lifted his eyelids and glanced at the assistant, letting out a small laugh. “You think Yu Huaili is good too?”

Catching that “too,” the assistant gave a soft “uh” and said, “Yes.”

“I think so too.” Wen Zheng said. “That kid is pretty good.”

At first sight, he’d only thought Yu Huaili’s looks suited his taste. He felt this kid should be able to blow up big.

At their second meeting, the clear ambition in Yu Huaili’s eyes made him look twice. He’d always appreciated people like that and was very willing to provide a helping hand.

Perhaps because he’d looked at Yu Huaili a couple more times, even the glass of wine in his hand seemed to notice Yu Huaili, spilling straight onto his clothes.

Honestly, he was sorry about that. But seeing Yu Huaili’s bewildered, innocent expression, a rare bit of amusement rose in his heart.

Adding him as a friend afterward was purely Wen Zheng’s whim—including the part where he said the reality show director had only chosen Yu Huaili.

But he really was looking forward to what kind of answer Yu Huaili would give him.

He appreciated ambitious people, but those who had ambition without brains couldn’t go far.

And Yu Huaili’s answer had satisfied him.

At today’s meeting, he felt Yu Huaili had a contradictory yet attractive quality.

At this kind of drinking party, saying plainly that he couldn’t drink—it was like he wasn’t afraid of offending anyone at all. But frowning as he took tiny sips of milk was adorable. Getting glared at by Sister Chen after snatching a bite of food, that aggrieved expression was vivid and lively, too…

But when he caught sight of Yu Huaili by the stairwell corner, leaning against the wall and looking at his phone—

In the dim stairwell, the light of the screen reflected off Yu Huaili’s features, suddenly revealing a hint of resolve and coldness…

Wen Zheng felt he couldn’t quite see through Yu Huaili.

Just who was he, really?

At the end of the party, that circle of people really had drunk a lot.

Duan Qiong and Xi Xingheng’s tolerance both seemed fine, no reaction at all. But Jiang Qing, plastered, would occasionally howl in the car that he wanted to throw up.

But when the driver stopped the car to let him out to puke, he said he couldn’t.

“If you yell again, get out.” Xi Xingheng opened his eyes, extremely annoyed. “Walk to City H on your own.”

Jiang Qing looked at Xi Xingheng’s utterly indifferent face, shivered, and sobered up a bit. He finally stopped his dry howling.

In the dead of night, the car fell completely quiet, broken only by the occasional beep of the driver’s navigation.

Yu Huaili and Duan Qiong sat in the back row.

Duan Qiong wasn’t asleep. He moved his numb shoulder and watched Yu Huaili, whose head had tilted to the other side. Gently, he cupped Yu Huaili’s cheek and straightened his head.

By the light of occasional shadows sweeping past the window, Duan Qiong’s gaze traced Yu Huaili’s sleeping features.

Yu Huaili was always smiling, but his features were actually quite sharp. Seen like this, he somehow carried a hint of being hard to approach.

As he looked, Duan Qiong couldn’t help reaching out to poke Yu Huaili’s cheek.

Soft.

As his finger slipped down, it accidentally brushed across Yu Huaili’s lips.

…Also soft.

Duan Qiong lowered his arm. Leaning against Yu Huaili, he rubbed his fingers together lightly, his voice barely a whisper. “You were so close to Jiang Qing during the day. Do you know what kind of person Jiang Qing is? He’s so dirty…”

“And at night you were whispering with Wen Zheng. I was so mad. What did he even say to you? Why did you let him stand so close?”

“And when Xi Xingheng put his hand on your shoulder, why couldn’t you refuse? I know you hate Xi Xingheng too, right? He’s practically plastered to you for promotion…”

“And just now, when you handed that charging cable to the driver, he deliberately touched your hand. Didn’t you even notice…?”

Duan Qiong whispered, “Bad Pear, you can’t let those men get close to you like that. We’re the ones who are friends.”

“You little scoundrel…”

But then Duan Qiong remembered how close Yu Huaili had leaned into him today, caring whether he was cold and taking the initiative to hold his hand.

Always like this. Always trying to lead him on.

Duan Qiong wanted to tell Yu Huaili—this wasn’t good. Men were just stumbling blocks on his road to fame. If Yu Huaili really listened to those men’s words, he’d be finished.

But Duan Qiong’s gaze lowered a few inches, slowly landing on Yu Huaili’s lips.

His eyes inexplicably darkened. He rubbed his fingers again and stayed like that, watching Yu Huaili for a very, very long time.

So long that his eyes grew sore before he snapped back to reality.

Yu Huaili hadn’t been asleep at all. While playing games with the System, he heard the Protagonist Top mumbling beside his ear like he was talking in his sleep, saying who knows what.

The Protagonist Top went quiet. The game was lost. The System, muted for two hours for cursing, went quiet too.

Yu Huaili’s lashes trembled slightly. He’d been about to open his eyes to find a bottle of water when a warm breath suddenly fell on his cheek. Then he heard a dull, chaotic heartbeat, like war drums.

Then, Yu Huaili felt trembling lips land precisely on the corner of his mouth.

“That’s a punishment for you.”