When Chen Miao left Lu Lianning’s house, almost an hour had passed since Gu Chen had left. He didn’t expect to run into Gu Chen at the street corner. Gu Chen was sitting in the driver’s seat, his car parked beside a utility pole.
A dog walked by, lifted its leg, and peed on the pole. Chen Miao was pedaling his broken bicycle, huffing and puffing as he rode up. When he saw Gu Chen, he didn’t realize that he had been waiting for him on purpose.
He grinned, flashing his white teeth, and greeted him. But then Gu Chen called out to him.
Once Chen Miao got into the car, Gu Chen lit a cigarette and rolled the half-open window all the way down.
Without making any effort to hide his intentions, Gu Chen got straight to the point. “Why is Lu Lianning’s living room missing so many things?”
Chen Miao’s mood was hard to read. After a moment of silence, he replied in a low voice, “He lost his temper and smashed everything. The cleaning lady didn’t have time to replace them this morning.”
“He lost his temper?” Gu Chen smiled mysteriously. “Did you provoke him?”
Chen Miao’s lips tightened.
Gu Chen went on, “I didn’t realize you had this kind of talent. When Xiao Ming tried to get into his bed, do you know how hard he worked?”
He flicked the ash from his cigarette against the window frame, and it floated down along the side of the car.
“Ye He was with Lu Lianning back in high school. After entering the entertainment industry, he felt like he couldn’t get any good resources from Lu Lianning, so he slept with a director. Lu Lianning found out, and that’s why he hates him so much now.”
The statement felt abrupt and disjointed. Chen Miao wasn’t particularly curious about Ye He, knowing nothing good ever came from their interactions. Still, Gu Chen’s words left him puzzled.
“Why couldn’t Ye He get any resources by staying with Lu Lianning?” Chen Miao asked, raising his eyelids.
Gu Chen glanced at him, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions. “Not everyone can be like Lu Lianning. Even if he avoids publicity, skips variety shows, and only focuses on acting, scripts still keep coming his way. He’s backed by the Lu family. Although the family head is currently ignoring him, it’s different for Ye He. The company’s top management isn’t sure what to do with Lu Lianning—whether to promote or suppress him, and whether to side with the father or the son. Right now, none of those choices seem wise. For Ye He, there was no chance at all. He couldn’t get any resources from Lu Lianning, and Ye He’s someone who knows exactly what he wants. Naturally, he found his own way to succeed. Over the years, plenty of people have tried to get close to Lu Lianning. Even if they didn’t gain any resources, they could still walk away with a hefty sum of money. After all, Lu Lianning’s still very wealthy.”
He stubbed out his cigarette in a small box inside the car and then looked directly at Chen Miao. “I don’t care what your intentions are. If you’re looking for a shortcut by climbing into his bed, I won’t say more. But if you’re not, I suggest you stay clear-headed.”
His tone, sounding almost like heartfelt advice, combined with the complexity in his gaze, left Chen Miao confused, as if he was being warned about something.
By the time he returned to his low-rent apartment, it was already dark. He cooked some noodles in plain broth and slurped them down.
When he sat down, a sharp pain shot through his butt, so he stood up again. The sudden movement made the pain worse, and he bared his teeth.
Later, as he got ready for bed and pulled off his pants, he noticed bloodstains on them.
Chen Miao climbed out of bed and changed into clean underwear, keeping the light off to save electricity.
Standing by the greasy window, he bent over a red plastic basin, scrubbing his pants on a washboard. As he looked up, he could see a half-moon in the sky.
Moonlight streamed through the window, but he kept his head down, rubbing soap over the two small bloodstains on his pants.
He bent over and scrubbed a few more times, but the pain in his backside flared up again. The sounds of his sharp breaths and the fabric scraping against the washboard filled the night.
He had thought the pain was manageable when he woke up that morning, but riding the bike must have torn it.
Chen Miao’s mind drifted back to what Gu Chen had said earlier that day.
He couldn’t help but wonder how something this exhausting could be considered a shortcut. He’d rather endure Lu Lianning’s endless demands and cook ten meals than go through this.
Meanwhile, Lu Lianning lay in his large bed, tossing and turning as memories of the previous night kept him awake.
His throat suddenly felt dry, so he drank a glass of ice water, which offered a bit of relief.
He had a ten-day break and had decided to vacation on a private island in Europe.
Having accepted Yu Ren’s film offer, he wanted to relax before the shoot began. Once filming started, his schedule would be too hectic for any downtime.
He started thinking about who to bring with him.
Normally, he would take Xiao Ming, but so much time had passed, and he hadn’t bothered to find anyone new.
His thoughts turned to Chen Miao, recalling the restrained breaths from the night before and the breakfast he had made this morning.
Being a Beta, Chen Miao was strong and resilient—after a night of being toyed with, he could still get up and cook the next morning.
The Omegas, on the other hand, often whimpered in pain and refused to get out of bed after sleeping with him.
Setting his glass down on the table, he decided to bring Chen Miao along. It was convenient.
Chen Miao accompanied Lu Lianning to Europe, where their intertwined figures could be seen on the beach, on the deck, by the large floor-to-ceiling windows, and in the sand.
Lu Lianning claimed that Chen Miao was too dark and slathered him with the sunscreen he had brought. A few rubs later, things quickly escalated.
They went through three or four bottles of lubricant but barely made a dent in the sunscreen.
