Ch.92 – The Star Around The Sun

Xia Xingcheng didn’t understand what Yang Youming meant by giving his post a like. He obviously hadn’t heard from the man in so many days, and now he had inexplicably liked his post. Xia Xingcheng had to stifle down the urge to ask him what it meant.

 Seeing the entirety of Weibo erupting with liveliness, Xia Xingcheng held in a bellyful of air and closed Weibo, collapsing into sleep. Why do I have to rush to find you when you’re the one ignoring me?

As a result, he had just fallen asleep when he was suddenly woken by his ringing phone. 

When Xia Xingcheng saw that the caller was Huang Jixin, he immediately flew into a rage and yelled at him, “Why are you calling this late?”

Over the phone, Huang Jixin was clearly stunned, then said, “Isn’t it only past ten?”

Xia Xingcheng howled, “Past ten isn’t late, huh? I work so hard filming everyday–I can’t go to bed at ten o’clock?”

Huang Jixin didn’t understand why he was being yelled at and said confusedly, “How would I fucking know that you slept so early today?”

Xia Xingcheng sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down. “What is it?”

Huang Jixin said, “Are you close with Zhu Tianjie?”

“We’re filming together, what’s there to be close with.” Guessing that he was most likely calling because of the hot search on Weibo, Xia Xingcheng sat up on the bed and rubbed at his hair, saying, “Don’t you know my social circle well?”

Huang Jixin said, “Ah. Nevermind, just keep a distance from him and get along peacefully.”

“What do you mean?” Xia Xingcheng’s hand stopped as he asked him, staring lifelessly at the blanket. 

Huang Jixin spoke somewhat unclearly, “I don’t mean anything, just reminding you.”

Xia Xingcheng asked, “Is there something wrong with this Zhu Tianjie guy?”

Huang Jixin said, “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s more popular than you so don’t get too close to him lest people say you’re piggybacking off his fame.”

Xia Xingcheng felt that he was hiding something. “Did someone tell you that there’s something wrong with Zhu Tianjie? What on earth is going on? Are you saying things by halves to deliberately keep me awake?” 

Huang Jixin was silent for a moment. All of a sudden, he impatiently said, “How do I know? Yang Youming called me in the middle of the night and told me to pass this on to you. Are you capable of asking him yourself?”

Xia Xingcheng froze, then softly said, “I definitely won’t ask him.”

Huang Jixin’s tone was as impatient as before. “Please tell him that he should call you directly if there’s something on his mind, don’t go looking for me to pass things on! You two are several decades old, what giant conflict can’t you sit and talk about? Do you think you’re highschoolers dating?”

Xia Xingcheng immediately hung up.

Once he lay down again, Xia Xingcheng realized he was better off without asking. After knowing that Yang Youming had asked someone to tell him, he couldn’t sleep even more.  

With a somewhat irritated sigh, Xia Xingcheng forced himself not to think about Yang Youming and tried to shift his attention to the scenes that were going to be filmed the next day. Later on, he gradually felt sleepy again, closed his eyes, and dozed off. 

In the end, he still didn’t know what exactly was wrong with Zhu Tianjie, but he did know that Yang Youming wasn’t a person who liked talking about someone behind their backs. If Yang Youming had said so, then there really must be something not right with this Zhu Tianjie guy. 

Xia Xingcheng didn’t have many scenes with Zhu Tianjie, and they originally didn’t have much contact; yet for several days in a row after that, Zhu Tianjie would invite everyone to dinner if they concluded filming early, and if they finished late, he would invite everyone out for a midnight snack.

As it so happens, Yuan Qian and Bao Kai both had fun-loving personalities, and everyone ate and drank together everyday, taking turns to treat each other–their relationship was quite harmonious.

Xia Xingcheng actually loved joining in on the fun. Though he remembered Yang Youming’s warning and rarely interacted with Zhu Tianjie in private, when it came to these group activities, there was no way he could make someone lose face, so he went along as much as he could. Even if Xia Xingcheng occasionally didn’t notify anyone and slept in the hotel, someone would call him down. 

Furthermore, the longer he interacted with Yuan Qian, the more he couldn’t bring himself to dislike her. He found that although Yuan Qian’s acting skills wasn’t anything to write home about, she was very dedicated; if the director was dissatisfied and asked her to reshoot a scene, Yuan Qian would cooperate no matter how many takes it took and never shouted that she was tired. If it wasn’t for her relationship with Yang Youming, he felt that he and Yuan Qian would’ve become friends. 

That evening, everyone had barbecue, and Yuan Qian drank a lot. She sat between Bao Kai and Zhu Tianjie at first but got up and took a trip to the bathroom later on, and when she returned, she directly sat next to Xia Xingcheng.

She raised her hand and grabbed Xia Xingcheng’s shoulder. 

Xia Xingcheng sniffed a strong smell of alcohol mixed in with the scent of Yuan Qian’s perfume, and he suddenly recalled that Yang Youming had said Yuan Qian’s perfume left a deep impression and he still hadn’t forgotten its smell to this day.  

Yuan Qian pinched Xia Xingcheng’s face, making him turn to look at her, and said, “Let me take a good look at you. How pretty are you?”

Fearing that she would spout nonsense, Xia Xingcheng cooperated in turning his head, whispering, “Qian jie, you’re drunk.”

Yuan Qian’s large eyes were watery and bright as she carefully stared at Xia Xingcheng’s face. She said, “It’s not that pretty.” 

Xia Xingcheng said in a low voice, “Of course, I’m not as pretty as you.”

Yuan Qian let out a laugh. She was genuinely a tiny bit drunk, but she seemed to maintain a thread of rationality. Leaning close to Xia Xingcheng’s ear, in only a voice that the two of them could hear, she said, “He’s not the one I want.”  

Xia Xingcheng took a deep breath and told himself not to bother with her.

In the end, after Yuan Qian finished speaking, her head dropped on Xia Xingcheng’s shoulder, and she whispered, “But I regret it.”

Xia Xingcheng thought about it, but still didn’t say a thing. 

Yuan Qian’s eyes were fixed to the grill in front of her, her head tilted on Xia Xingcheng’s shoulder as she hummed a song in a low voice all the while.  

Xia Xingcheng didn’t have the heart to push her away. When he looked up a moment later, he saw Zhu Tianjie staring at the two of them; the instant he met Xia Xingcheng’s gaze, Zhu Tianjie smiled at him.  

Afterwards, Yuan Qian fell asleep on the table.;

Zhu Tianjie got up and walked to Xia Xingcheng’s side and sat down next to him, offering him a cigarette.

Xia Xingcheng thanked him but refused, saying, “I don’t really like smoking.”

Zhu Tianjie asked, “Are you close with Yuan Qian?”

Xia Xingcheng shook his head. “She’s drunk, she’s probably not clear on who I am.”

Zhu Tianjie laughed and clapped his shoulder, saying, “I shot a drama with Yuan Qian once, she’s exactly like this. She makes trouble for others and doesn’t know to act proper, if you feel that you can’t handle her, you can ask me for help.”

Xia Xingcheng was slightly stunned for a second before saying, “Thank you. I think she’s just drunk though, it should be fine.”

Zhu Tianjie was still faintly smiling, his expression mild as he held the cigarette Xia Xingcheng had refused just a few moments ago in his mouth, then pointed the lighter a seat away from Xia Xingcheng’s left, saying, “May I trouble you?”

Xia Xingcheng got up and took the lighter, and just as he was about to hand it to Zhu Tianjie, the cigarette in the latter’s mouth had already shifted close to his hand. He had no choice but to help light it for him.  

The distance between them was too close–Zhu Tianjie’s forehead was practically touching Xia Xingcheng’s face. After the cigarette in his mouth was lit, he took a long drag, and before leaving Xia Xingcheng’s side, he blew all the smoke in his mouth on Xia Xingcheng’s face. 

Xia Xingcheng evaded it very subtly, lowering his gaze to conceal the annoyance in his heart. 

Zhu Tianjie then restored the distance between them, smoking as he chatted with him.

Xia Xingcheng patiently talked to him until Ding Wenxun said he was going back. Then, he and Zhu Tianjie supported Yuan Qian up, one on her right and the other on her left, and headed out. 

When they came out of the restaurant, Zhu Tianjie stood on the sidewalk and said, “I’ll send Yuan Qian back to the hotel ba.”

Yet Xia Xingcheng didn’t quite trust Zhu Tianjie, and seeing that Yuan Qian was drunk out of her mind, he felt a little worried so he said, “It’s better if I send her, Jie ge can go rest up early.”

Zhu Tianjie looked at him and faintly smiled, saying, “You also need to rest early.”

In all fairness, Zhu Tianjie was good-looking. Above all, his personality was especially upright and his smile easily struck a favorable impression. 

Up until now, Xia Xingcheng didn’t think that he had much dislike for him, he was just a bit guarded against the man. Thus, he also smiled and said, “I didn’t drink much, it’s fine.”

Having heard this, Zhu Tianjie took away the hand that was propping up Yuan Qian and gently patted Xia Xingcheng’s shoulder at the same time. “Call me if there’s anything.”

Xia Xingcheng nodded.

He asked the driver to send Yuan Qian to the hotel, then contacted her assistant and brought Yuan Qian back to her room together, after which he left. 

It was already quite late when Xia Xingcheng returned to his own room. He first took a bath, dried off the water on his body, then lazily climbed into bed. Just as he was about to reach for his phone, it suddenly rang. 

The incoming call displayed an unfamiliar number. 

Xia Xingcheng hesitated for a second before picking up–immediately hearing Zhu Tianjie’s voice from the other side. “Have you gone back yet?”

Stunned, he replied, “I’m back.”

Zhu Tianjie laughed and said, “That’s good then, rest early.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “You rest early too.”

Zhu Tianjie softly said, “Mm, wait for me tomorrow morning, I’ll treat you to breakfast.”

Xia Xingcheng finally sensed that something was amiss by then. He felt a layer of goosebumps breaking out on his body and subconsciously grabbed the back of his right hand with his left hand. Before he could even think of something to say, he once again heard Zhu Tianjie say, “Good night.”

Hence, he could only say, “Good night.”

Zhu Tianjie hung up first. 

Xia Xingcheng took the phone away from his ear and saw that the call display had faded away and reverted to his homescreen. The more he thought about it, the more messed up he felt. 

He couldn’t put what it felt like into words, but he’d always felt that it was like Zhu Tianjie was pursuing him; specially calling him to say good night, inviting him to breakfast–these were all common ploys men used to woo women. 

If he was a woman, even if he didn’t like Zhu Tianjie, he would also be a little vain. But he’s a man. For the first time since his debut all those years ago, he was enjoying this kind of treatment, and it made him a little dumbstruck for a moment.

Though he’d gone to bed with Yang Youming–and quite pleasurably at that–he had never wanted to be with another man. When he’d said that he wanted to look for another man to sleep with that one time, it was nothing more than a lie to threaten Yang Youming. If it wasn’t Yang Youming, in his eyes, no other man would ever be more attractive than a girl.  

His brows puckered, his eyes shifting left and right in suspicion. After putting his phone down, he abruptly came to the sudden realization that when Yang Youming had warned him through Huang Jixin about keeping a distance from Zhu Tianjie, it was probably not because Zhu Tianjie’s moral character had problems, but because he knew that Zhu Tianjie was gay, and he was afraid that there might be a little something between Zhu Tianjie and him, right? 

Xia Xingcheng had a sudden feeling of enlightenment, he grabbed his phone again and was overcome with an intense urge to message Yang Youming on WeChat and say “It’s none of your business”, and yet in the end–he gave up.  

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – ming ge ur a grown man dating someone 13 years ur junior plz man up

⟵ Chapter 91 | TOC | Chapter 93 ⟶