Chapter 3: Dog-Blood High Society
“Playing around with a little celebrity is fine, but know your limits. More importantly, don’t bring him home.”
Perhaps because he was suddenly finding his nephew a little more agreeable today, Lu Shichen became unusually talkative. Not yet thirty, he was already worrying like a fifty-year-old father.
Unfortunately, Gu Xiu, with his new core, was even less willing to be lectured than the original owner. In his view, it would be better to just stop the car, get out, and have a fight. Whoever’s fists were harder would be the one who was right.
Gu Xiu’s eyes glazed over as he called the system in his mind: 【Can you turn off my hearing?】
007: 【…】
Gu Xiu: 【Didn’t you say you were my best friend in the whole world? You even called me Jiujiu. Are you going back on your word already?】
007: 【…】 That was when my non-existent dog eyes were blind!
But for some reason, 007 was a little intimidated by Gu Xiu and didn’t dare to feign death. It mumbled, 【The Quick Transmigration Bureau is people-oriented. We systems are in the service industry. We only have the authority to turn off a host’s pain perception, and we still need the host’s permission first…】
Gu Xiu: 【You’re really useless.】
In Lu Shichen’s peripheral vision, although his nephew seemed to be listening to the lecture quietly and obediently, his expression was sullen. He would occasionally scratch his ear, his irritation so palpable it seemed to settle on every speck of dust in the air.
“Gu Xiu.”
Lu Shichen couldn’t bear it any longer and called out in a low voice.
Gu Xiu clicked his tongue. “I’m listening.”
“This is a demand, not a suggestion,” Lu Shichen said sternly. “No matter how minor a celebrity is, his every move is watched by the public. Keep him in line. Don’t let him cause trouble outside and affect the family.”
Gu Xiu responded with silence.
His internal theater, however, was quite lively: 【007, help me search for any good sugar-roasted chestnuts nearby.】
Before 007 could be of use, the luxury car happened to pass through a bustling commercial district. Gu Xiu’s sharp eyes spotted several storefronts flashing by the window, and he quickly shouted, “Ninth Uncle, stop the car! Stop for a second—”
Lu Shichen’s brow furrowed in displeasure, assuming Gu Xiu had spotted another one of his little lovers.
Filled with irritation, he turned his head, only to see Gu Xiu beaming, the corners of his eyes slightly lifted. The smudged, panda-like smoky makeup didn’t seem so offensive anymore.
Gu Xiu righteously ordered his Ninth Uncle around as if he were a chauffeur, successfully getting him to step on the brake. He smiled and used Lu Shichen’s own words as an excuse: “Ninth Uncle, weren’t you the one who told me to be more considerate?”
As he spoke, he pointed a long finger out the window at a flower shop’s sign.
“How can one visit a patient without flowers?”
While maintaining his persona, Gu Xiu didn’t actually want to piss Lu Shichen off.
Although they were destined to be mortal enemies in love, and Lu Shichen would become Jiang Yuan Yao’s new backer and thoroughly humiliate him, Lu Shichen would still, for old times’ sake and in the hope that he would stay away from his lover for good, give him a sum of money to go abroad and fend for himself.
Gu Xiu planned to live a good, carefree life before he left. Naturally, the more money, the better. More, more.
Therefore, Gu Xiu acted with reasonable haste, not making Lu Shichen wait too long. He returned in five minutes, tapping on the window with the bouquet he had just bought.
“Ninth Uncle, I’m done.”
The car window was cracked open, and Lu Shichen’s hand rested on it, two fingers holding a cigarette.
He let the white smoke drift slowly upwards, not moving immediately, only lifting his eyes slightly. Outside the window, Gu Xiu’s golden hair fluttered in the wind, and he wore that same duplicitous fake smile.
A moment later.
Lu Shichen simultaneously withdrew his gaze and his cigarette, extinguishing the butt in the car’s ashtray. Click. The doors unlocked.
Only then did Gu Xiu walk around to the passenger side and get in, the fallen leaves crunching under his feet, bringing with him a bit of the autumn chill.
And, an even more distinct, strong, and rich sweet fragrance.
Lu Shichen couldn’t help but turn his head.
“And here’s the ‘consideration’,” Gu Xiu said, shaking a bag of freshly roasted chestnuts. He held it forward with a grin. “Presented to you.”
Lu Shichen: “…”
The man started the car with a deadpan expression, not even bothering to look at him, and said coldly, “Take it away.”
Gu Xiu let out a “tch,” but his face lit up with joy as he happily savored the treat all by himself. Eating a mouthful of warm, sugar-roasted chestnuts in the bleak, cold late autumn was the definition of bliss.
The natural, nutty aroma mixed with a milky scent, intensified by the heat, filled the air.
So the sweet fragrance on the young man came from these snacks.
It was somewhat surprising, but Lu Shichen had never meddled in Gu Xiu’s private life. He didn’t know his dietary preferences, much less whether he had always been such a glutton.
Lu Shichen glanced over a few more times during the drive. Gu Xiu was so focused on eating his chestnuts that he had no time to spare for him.
Even though he wasn’t smiling, the slight curve of his eyes suggested he was in a good mood.
Lu Shichen twitched the corner of his mouth and cleared his throat before speaking. “We’re here.”
Gu Xiu, who had hitched a ride, encountered a small problem.
Lu Shichen, following behind him, didn’t seem to be just passing by. It felt more like supervision, as if he wouldn’t rest until Gu Xiu had properly dealt with his little kept celebrity.
“Ahem.”
Gu Xiu suddenly stopped and turned on his heel.
In the short span of an hour, Lu Shichen was either frowning or on the verge of frowning, making one worry if he would develop frown lines prematurely. But the protagonist gongs of Jinjiang were the favored children of the creator; time and age only added to their mature and steady charm.
His ashen-gray eyes rested quietly on Gu Xiu’s face. With his hands in his pockets, he stood perfectly still, as if wanting to see what other clever tricks he could pull.
007 timidly popped its head out: 【Host… why isn’t the protagonist gong leaving?】
Gu Xiu had a logical explanation: 【I’m here to visit his future wife and even bring her flowers. Of course he can’t let that happen.】
According to the plot, Gu Xiu could go fool around anywhere he wanted—that wasn’t part of the main storyline and wasn’t required. He just needed to give the protagonist shou the cold shoulder, which meant he shouldn’t be visiting him in the hospital.
007 was convinced and relieved, curious to see how its unconventional host would handle this unexpected situation.
Gu Xiu said in his mind: 【Watch me. I can even speed up the plot and have the protagonist gong and shou meet ahead of schedule…】
As he finished speaking, the golden-haired young man in front of Lu Shichen smiled again. The smoky makeup had completely smudged into panda eyes, and only when he blinked did a barely perceptible glint of cunning show through.
“Um, Ninth Uncle, Yaoyao is still mad at me. I don’t dare go in.”
Gu Xiu took a step forward, his intention obviously to play matchmaker.
Lu Shichen remained unmoved, raising an eyebrow slightly as if to ask silently: So?
“Ninth Uncle, why don’t you give him these flowers for me? You’re the elder, after all.” Gu Xiu was all smiles, calling him “elder” this and “elder” that, but his expression and tone held no respect. “If you’re going to help, help all the way. See the Buddha… no, see your nephew all the way to the west.”
Lu Shichen’s eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze like two daggers. The transparent lenses of his glasses glinted with a cold light.
Anyone from the company who saw this would know it was a danger signal.
Gu Xiu, looking completely fearless, was still smiling. “Thanks, Ninth Uncle.”
Since Lu Shichen was so keen on acting cool and saying nothing, Gu Xiu took it as agreement. He shoved the fresh bouquet into the other man’s hands. “A great favor needs no thanks! I’ve got things to do, so I’ll be leaving now, Ninth Uncle.”
Lu Shichen didn’t cooperate.
But Gu Xiu was unexpectedly quick. He swiftly grabbed his hand and closed it around the bouquet, making him grip it tightly.
Lu Shichen froze.
Before him was a head of bright golden hair, panda eyes dancing with delight. On the back of his hand was the scorching heat of a palm, direct skin-to-skin contact, sending a tingling numbness through him.
Gu Xiu smiled again, told him the room number, waved, and made his successful retreat.
After leaving the hospital and taking a few breaths of free air, Gu Xiu’s tone when speaking to 007 became cheerful: 【007, look at the top of my head. Is it green?】
007: 【…】 I’ve never seen a host who’s so happy about being cuckolded!
Gu Xiu bought a bag of freshly roasted melon seeds from a street vendor. They were warm and fragrant. He cracked them open while enjoying the drama: 【You were right, poignant love stories are much more interesting. It’s a pity you’re so useless you can’t even live-stream the situation in the hospital room for me… sigh.】
【…】 007 paused for a moment. 【Even if there were R-18 content, I would trigger the privacy protection mode and shut down automatically, so you can rest assured about your own privacy issues…】
【Stop, stop.】 Gu Xiu was so startled he crunched down on a melon seed shell and quickly cut it off. 【I’m just an ex-husband in a crematorium trying to save up points to buy a house. Don’t curse me, okay?】
【…】
007 fell silent, grumbling internally: That’s not a curse, it’s a flag!
Go on, be willful. Just be careful you don’t mess things up!
Gu Xiu isn’t just playing around as he appears to be, Lu Shichen thought.
The two are probably having a cold war. Gu Xiu, who seems so frivolous and dissolute, actually cares a great deal about that little celebrity, Jiang Yuan Yao. It’s surprising, but it also makes sense.
Jiang Yuan Yao, an orphan who’s easy to control, is weak and gentle. Most importantly, he’s young and beautiful, the type that most attracts shallow and gullible second-generation heirs like Gu Xiu.
Lu Shichen unconsciously tightened his grip on the bouquet, and the diamond-like plastic wrapping crackled crisply.
He said he was visiting a patient, yet he bought a bouquet of yellow roses. Not carnations for wishing a patient well, but roses for a lover. Yellow roses, which also carried the hidden meaning of apologizing to a lover—a piece of flower-giving etiquette Lu Shichen had learned in his youth.
These useless and trivial bits of knowledge should have been long forgotten, but they had unexpectedly resurfaced and were now forcefully occupying Lu Shichen’s mind. He stared silently at the bouquet, a layer of ice gradually forming in his eyes.
But speaking of which, he had never personally seen the little celebrity who had Gu Xiu so bewitched.
He relaxed his frosty brow and went to find the room Gu Xiu had told him about.
The door to the hospital room was ajar, with a small transparent observation window on it. The voices of two people talking inside were intense, rushing out from the crack in the door like a tide.
“Jiang-ge, you haven’t eaten all day. You should eat something tonight.” A man with plain features had a pained look on his face, trying to coax him. He was probably an assistant or someone similar, respectfully calling the nineteen-year-old Jiang Yuan Yao “ge.”
The young man sitting on the hospital bed was stunningly beautiful. Even the anger in his eyes had a coquettish feel. He glared, showing no appreciation, and snapped again, “I already said, if Gu Xiu doesn’t come, I won’t eat! I’d like to see if he really wants me to starve to death!”
Outside the door, Lu Shichen’s brow furrowed tightly.
Assistant Wang continued to persuade him, “Mr. Gu promised he would come. You eat first, and wait while you eat. If you starve yourself and get sick, Mr. Gu will hold me responsible.”
At these words, Jiang Yuan Yao’s expression finally softened a little. He leaned back against the soft pillow at the head of the bed, his movements showing none of the weakness of a patient.
After finding a comfortable position, he lifted his mummified leg and ordered arrogantly, “Quick, help me elevate my leg. I don’t believe Gu Xiu won’t feel sorry for me this time.”
Assistant Wang chimed in fawningly, “Of course. A serious injury takes a hundred days to heal. With an ‘injury’ this severe, Mr. Gu will be heartbroken. No matter how busy he is, he’ll have to take a few days off to be with you.”
But to Lu Shichen’s eyes, that so-called injured leg was clearly moving freely. Assistant Wang, due to his clumsiness, was scolded several more times in a vigorous tone.
Then, Assistant Wang took out his phone, intending to hurry Gu Xiu along again. He glanced towards the door, and Lu Shichen quickly ducked out of sight, leaving without a backward glance.
The yellow roses Gu Xiu had carefully prepared were still in his hand.
The flowers were delicate and fragile. From cultivation to picking, to being arranged and given as a gift, every step required meticulous care.
But his gaze on the flowers was exceptionally cold, devoid of any affection. After a long moment, he flicked his wrist, and his metal watch reflected a blinding silver light.
He pushed his hand forward and squeezed hard.
The beautiful plastic wrapping crumpled into a ball.
The vibrant, dewy roses were thus shoved by him into a filthy trash can.
