Ji Mian took a while to catch his breath. Although he had pretended to cough on purpose, this body just couldn't handle it, and it eventually turned into a genuine episode.
"Is it serious?" Qin Yan asked with concern in his voice.
Ji Mian shook his head.
He was carefully supported by Qin Yan and sat down near a table.
"That guy is Lu Ge. He has a grudge against me, which is why he deliberately made things difficult for you." Qin Yan glanced at the direction Lu Ge had left. The latter had taken a glass of wine from a waiter and sat down on a red sofa, surrounded by wealthy young men who seemed to be wary of something, keeping their distance from him, let alone sitting next to him.
Qin Yan withdrew his gaze and said to Ji Mian, "Try to avoid contact with him in the next few days. He’s a lunatic."
"Mm."
Qin Yan glanced at his watch; it was past eight forty. "I’ll go get Zhi Xia."
"…"
The moment Zhi Xia's name was mentioned, Ji Mian slowly lowered his eyes, hiding the dark, cold gaze behind his long lashes. The fleeting warmth he felt with Qin Yan just moments ago vanished without a trace. Anger rose in him, and a pale flush tinged his face, making him look even more haggard and pitiful.
But Qin Yan didn’t notice any of this; he had already delayed for over ten minutes due to Ji Mian’s discomfort and was now preoccupied with the worry of making Xu Zhi Xia wait too long.
He quickly settled Ji Mian and hurried away.
…
The cruise ship was set to sail at ten o’clock sharp. With less than ten minutes left, two people, one tall and one short, walked onto the gangway and entered the cruise ship.
The shorter boy led the way, walking briskly, while the taller man struggled to keep up with his long strides.
"Zhi Xia, I didn’t mean to leave you hanging…" Qin Yan explained helplessly as he chased after Xu Zhi Xia.
Xu Zhi Xia quickened his pace, clearly not wanting to listen to him, and left him far behind.
As they reached the entrance, a waiter responsible for checking levels stopped him.
The waiter hadn’t seen Xu Zhi Xia before but knew that anyone who came here was either rich or noble. He politely bent slightly and asked, "Sir, do you have an invitation from Mr. Lin?"
Xu Zhi Xia tilted his head, "Invitation? No."
Upon receiving the answer, the waiter straightened up, noticing that this guest without an invitation was dressed in casual shorts and a T-shirt, looking very much like a university student, which was indeed different from the other guests.
The waiter naturally assumed this person might have gotten on the wrong ship and was about to advise him to leave when his gaze unintentionally met Xu Zhi Xia's face, and he instantly forgot what he was going to say.
Wow… what a good-looking person!
The boy before him seemed to have walked straight out of a masterpiece by a top artist. His features were not as rugged as most men but leaned towards the soft, resembling a beautiful young man that only existed in Western paintings. He looked almost like he belonged to another dimension, with flawless, fair skin and soft black hair blown back by the wind, revealing his smooth, full forehead, which only enhanced the impact of his face.
The boy looked up at him, his pupils clear as amber, his gaze so clean it seemed untouched by any dust. He spoke, his youthful voice with a slight huskiness: "Can I not go in?"
Under such gaze, the waiter immediately stuttered. "I… uh…"
"Zhi Xia!"
Qin Yan's voice in the distance rescued the waiter from his awkward situation.
He strode over and grabbed Xu Zhi Xia's hand.
However, Xu Zhi Xia pulled his hand away, still looking at the waiter and refusing to shift his gaze to Qin Yan.
"Mr. Qin," the waiter said, "Is this gentleman with you?"
"Yes."
"Oh, I see." The waiter breathed a sigh of relief. "Then please hurry inside; the ship is about to depart."
Without a glance at the person beside him, Xu Zhi Xia walked straight in.
Seeing this, Qin Yan hurriedly followed, quickly apologizing, "I’m sorry, it was my fault, Zhi Xia…"
Earlier, he had wanted to explain the reason for his delay, but now all he could do was apologize.
"I'm sorry, I—"
Before Qin Yan could finish his sentence, Xu Zhi Xia suddenly stopped and turned around.
"Yan Ge, you really believed it, didn’t you?" He smirked, his eyes filled with a hint of mockery.
This sudden change left Qin Yan stunned.
Having pulled off a prank, Xu Zhi Xia instead walked towards Qin Yan, smiling as he asked, "When have I ever been unreasonable?"
"…" Qin Yan was lost in his smile.
" Yan Ge?"
Qin Yan was snapped back to reality by this call.
Once he regained his composure, he sighed helplessly, "Sigh, you…"
He reached out to ruffle Xu Zhi Xia’s windblown hair but was dodged by the latter.
"I was planning to mess around a bit more. Don’t touch my head."
Qin Yan had no choice but to retract his hand, asking, "Shall we go inside? The banquet hall and restaurant are inside, and it’ll be livelier there."
"I’m not going. We’ve come out to sea; what’s the difference if I go inside? I want to see the sea."
Xu Zhi Xia looked around and then asked, "When does this ship leave?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the low rumble of the engine reached their ears, the floor beneath them slowly moving, followed by the announcement that the cruise was departing.
Both were still in the outer cabin, close enough to the engine to hear its deep roar clearly, like a beast growling.
The ship had set sail.
There was really nothing to see on the sea at night.
But since Xu Zhi Xia wanted to see the sea, Qin Yan was more than happy to accompany him.
Just as he nodded in agreement, he suddenly thought of Xu Chi Qiu, who was still waiting for them in the banquet hall, hesitating for a moment.
He had been out for an hour; Xu Chi Qiu was probably still inside waiting for them.
"Come on, Yan Ge."
Hearing the boy's urging voice, Qin Yan had no choice but to temporarily forget about Xu Chi Qiu. With so many people in the banquet hall, and since they wouldn’t take long looking at the sea, it should be fine.
He indulgently replied, "Alright, let’s go."
They headed to the deck on the first floor.
As Qin Yan had expected, the night sea was indeed not particularly interesting. Aside from a couple of small boats, the sea was just a vast expanse of darkness. The endless blackness and the sound of the surging waves were unnerving.
But Xu Zhi Xia was quite satisfied, the corner of his lips slightly curled up, and his eyes shone brightly under the deck lights as he quietly gazed at the sea, listening to the icy roar of the waves, like a little beast filled with curiosity about all the darkness.
Qin Yan quietly observed Xu Zhi Xia’s perfectly delicate profile and suddenly felt an impulse to kiss him.
He held back the quickening of his heart and turned his head back to look at the uninteresting horizon.
—
In the banquet hall, Ji Mian's gaze was once again fixed on an antique clock straight ahead.
It was already ten-thirty, and Qin Yan still hadn’t returned.
He had been sitting in place for almost two hours, his back aching terribly.
So tired, Ji Mian thought.
Just sitting here doing nothing in this body was exhausting.
"Let’s sit here." A slightly irritated male voice came from beside him, followed by the sound of a chair scraping against the floor.
Ji Mian turned his head to look.
Two exceptionally good-looking men had taken seats beside him.
One was a delicate-looking pretty boy type, and judging from his outfit and light makeup on his face, he was likely an idol. That line was what he had just said.
The other had a somewhat better image, probably also an artist. He was more refined than the first but possessed a warm and approachable aura, which was quite rare in the entertainment industry.
Ji Mian didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but since they were at the table next to him, their discussion naturally fell into his ears.
"Yu Ge, didn’t you say that Mr. Qin would come? It’s already ten-thirty, and the ship has left..." The idol tugged at his decorative tie, seemingly quite impatient.
The man called Yu wore a calm expression. "I only said Mr. Qin received the invitation; I never guaranteed he would come."
"…So I came for nothing?Yu Ge, you promised to introduce me to Mr. Qin."
"Yu" rubbed his forehead, trying to hide his impatience in his eyes. "I will do what I promised."
"That's good," the lightly made-up idol said with relief, "after all, that night I was—"
"That's enough!" The voice of "Yu" suddenly rose several degrees.
The young idol was startled, chuckling awkwardly as he got up to leave.
After all, the goal had been achieved; he had leverage over "Yu" and knew the other party wouldn't go back on their word.
In this world, those without bottom lines always seem to live better.
After the young idol left, the man called Yu sat alone in his place.
He took a hard gulp of his drink, his fingers clenched into a fist, wanting to overturn the flowers and decorations on the table but ultimately refrained from doing so out of consideration for his image.
After a long time, he seemed to calm down, giving a bitter smile.
Having been in this circle for many years, he still made the mistake of misjudging people, thinking he had encountered a good person.
In the end, after the facade was torn away, what lay hidden inside was such a contemptible thing.
"Mr. Wen?"
A soft male voice pulled Wen Yu from his emotional turmoil.
He suddenly came to his senses and looked at the person calling his name—a pale-faced young man.
Wen Yu had seen all sorts of people in the entertainment industry, and his sharp eyes quickly discerned that the young man before him had an excellent bone structure and skin, and though he was thin, the first impression he gave was still stunning.
"You know me?" Wen Yu felt a bit awkward.
He didn't know if this person had overheard their conversation.
"I haven't seen you," Ji Mian said with a smile, "but I just heard that person call you 'Yu Ge,' and since you know Qin Yan, I remember Qin Yan mentioned that he had an artist named Wen Yu who is currently very popular."
"Are you a friend of Mr. Qin?"
"We're childhood friends. My surname is Xu, Xu Chi Qiu."
Hearing his name, Wen Yu suddenly realized, "I've heard of you. What can I do for you, Mr. Xu?"
"I have a friend who really likes you. Forgive my boldness, but could you please sign an autograph for her?"
Wen Yu was taken aback. "Of course."
Even if Xu Chi Qiu wasn't a friend of Qin Yan, he had no reason to refuse an autograph request from someone attending this banquet.
Everyone here was either rich or noble, holding an unusual status. There was no harm in making connections.
He wrote his name on the autograph paper with a black pen and was about to hand it to Ji Mian when he remembered something and politely asked, "What is your friend's surname?"
Ji Mian replied with a surname and added, "She's a girl."
Wen Yu thought for a moment and added a blessing on the autograph before handing it to Ji Mian.
"Thank you," Ji Mian said.
"…" Wen Yu hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Mr. Xu, about our earlier conversation…"
Ji Mian smiled knowingly. "I will keep it a secret."
"…Thank you."
"Ge!"
A bright young voice echoed from the entrance of the banquet hall, catching everyone's attention as all the guests turned to look.
Even Lu Ge, who had been uninterested and keeping his eyes lowered nearby, lifted his eyelids to look toward the entrance.
The person appearing there was Xu Zhi Xia, waving his hand high in greeting to Xu Chi Qiu, completely oblivious to the gazes around him.
His soft black hair was lifted by the breeze at the entrance, and he looked vibrant and lively, as if he had brought a touch of spring's vitality into the entire hall, stirring a ripple in everyone's hearts.
Even Qin Yan, who was only a step behind Xu Zhi Xia and usually exuded a strong presence, was unconsciously overlooked by the crowd.
Wen Yu felt Xu Zhi Xia's gaze seemed to be directed towards him, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
After staring at the young boy's face a few more times, he suddenly realized that the boy bore some resemblance to Xu Chi Qiu beside him.
"Mr. Xu, is that your…?"
"My younger brother," Ji Mian replied.
He smiled slightly, appearing pleased with Xu Zhi Xia's arrival. But his dark eyes were fixated on Xu Zhi Xia, as if he wanted to pull him into the dark, terrifying vortex of his pupils.
He could hear the intense resentment deeply hidden within Xu Chi Qiu.
'Xu Zhi Xia, why can you effortlessly attract everyone's attention every single time?'
'From the moment you were born, you easily took away all of our parents' attention; at school, you could always make teachers and classmates laugh, while I could only be ignored in the corner, looking up…'
'And now, you still greedily take away Qin Yan, the only thing I have…'
This resentment was like a series of sharp blades, continuously attempting to pierce through Ji Mian's soul barrier, leaving him feeling slightly breathless.
Xu Zhi Xia ran quickly, his black hair flying, arriving in front of Ji Mian in half a minute with a gust of wind.
"Ge." He called out, then looked at Wen Yu beside Ji Mian, smiling cleanly and harmlessly, "Is this your friend, Ge?"
"Xu Chi Qiu" felt a tremor in his eyelashes, his breathing quickening.
Here it comes again, that smile capable of taking everything from him… it was disgusting.
Wen Yu met Xu Zhi Xia's smiling eyes and momentarily lost his composure. "I just met Mr. Xu…"
"Oh." Xu Zhi Xia replied perfunctorily and then leaned closer to his brother.
Though he was the younger brother, he had already surpassed Ji Mian in height by a few centimeters, and he would probably grow even taller in the next couple of years.
By next year, he might be half a head taller than Ji Mian.
At this moment, Qin Yan also approached.
Xu Zhi Xia said, "Yan Ge and I just went to see the sea. It was very interesting. Have you been to see it, Ge?"
"Xu Chi Qiu" shook his head, smiling without saying a word, his eyes cold beneath his eyelashes.
What’s the point of the sea at this time?
Qin Yan's expression was slightly awkward, after all, he had been alone with Xu Zhi Xia while leaving Xu Chi Qiu, the sick person, here alone.
He said, "Sorry, Chi Qiu, for leaving you here alone for so long."
"It’s no problem."
Xu Zhi Xia also realized something and paused for a moment, "I didn't think about this, leaving you here alone Ge"
"I'm sorry Ge. I…" The young boy's face was filled with regret for not realizing sooner, which tugged at people's hearts.
Qin Yan felt heartbroken.
Xu Zhi Xia was young; how could he consider everything so comprehensively? There was no need for him to blame himself like this.
"What's wrong? It's my own choice not to go to the deck and to rest here." Ji Mian smiled, "Besides, you’re out having fun; constantly circling around me is no different than being in the hospital."
Seeing Xu Zhi Xia with his head down like a dog that had done something wrong, Ji Mian hesitated for a moment and raised his hand to ruffle the boy's fluffy black hair.
The boy being ruffled seemed to freeze for a moment.
【The original host wouldn’t do this kind of action.】 The system spoke.
Xu Chi Qiu felt utterly disgusted by Xu Zhi Xia, and no matter how much he was pretending, he wouldn’t take the initiative to touch the main character.
Ji Mian's hand paused but didn’t immediately retract.
【It’s nothing.】 He said.
This was the first time he truly acted as someone else, and he was aware that he couldn't replicate Xu Chi Qiu completely; minor discrepancies in actions were not a big deal.
Moreover, Xu Chi Qiu had always liked to show off the false affection he had with Xu Zhi Xia in front of Qin Yan to gain favor. This wasn’t breaking his character.
Xu Zhi Xia’s hair was very similar to what Ji Mian had in his previous life, soft and fluffy, and it felt great to touch.
He ruffled it a few more times, thinking no wonder his brother always liked to touch his hair in his past life.
Having satisfied his craving, Ji Mian withdrew his hand.
Xu Zhi Xia kept his head down and let him act until he finished, then slowly raised his face, smiling at him.
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