Su Yuanjiu told Xu Yu to be careful, and they didn’t chat further.
A few days later, Xu Yu’s reshoot time arrived, but this time he and Yun Jie didn’t use Su Yuanjiu’s special access. Firstly, Xu Yu felt embarrassed. Going upstairs during work hours just meant waiting a bit longer for the elevator—not much inconvenience.
Secondly, he hadn’t contacted Su Yuanjiu in a long time. When two people don’t stay in touch, their relationship tends to regress; the longer the time, the more it regresses, especially when they are just acquaintances.
Now, Su Yuanjiu was practically a stranger to Xu Yu. He didn’t feel comfortable taking advantage of him without realizing it.
They used the same costumes as last time. After getting ready in the dressing room, Xu Yu and Yun Jie walked out.
After a few steps, they heard chatting from the quiet corridor. Xu Yu looked ahead and saw five men in suits walking from the corner.
Recognizing one of them, Xu Yu paused.
Seeing this, Yun Jie overtook him, then stopped, following Xu Yu’s gaze, and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you know them?”
Xu Yu quietly said, “My brother.”
“Xu Yu?” The person seemed surprised to see Xu Yu there and said something to the people around him before walking over to Xu Yu.
It was a three-way corridor intersection. Xu Sheng took Xu Yu’s path, while the other four men went their separate ways.
Soon, it was just the three of them.
“What are you doing here?” Xu Sheng asked.
Xu Yu replied without much expression, “What’s it to you?”
Xu Sheng, as if not hearing him, glanced at Xu Yu’s outfit and asked, “Are you working with JSS?”
Xu Yu still replied, “None of your business.”
Yun Jie stood beside him, visibly taken aback by Xu Yu’s words.
Xu Sheng soon wore an impatient expression on his face. Of course, Xu Yu didn’t care at all. Without waiting for Xu Sheng to ask again, Xu Yu left.
Yun Jie hurried to catch up. Xu Yu’s long legs took large strides, almost forcing Yun Jie to run.
It wasn’t until they entered the elevator and the doors closed that Yun Jie spoke.
Yun Jie: “Is it that half-brother of yours?”
Xu Yu: “Mm.”
Xu Yu had mentioned some family matters to Yun Jie before, but very little. She knew only that, apart from Xu Yu’s brother, Xu Yu didn’t like anyone else from the Xu family.
And that brother of his was also a half-brother. It sounded like a complicated family.
As the elevator neared the first floor, Yun Jie was still in surprise.
Having worked with Xu Yu for so long, today was the first time she heard Xu Yu swear. It seemed that his feelings towards this brother were no longer just dislike; they could be called hatred.
Fortunately, this little incident didn’t affect Xu Yu very much. With only a bit left of the advertisement to finish, the progress was much quicker. Following the director’s instructions, Xu Yu walked and ran, filming a few additional shots. In just a few hours, the shoot was over.
The advertisement for the next quarter had thus concluded. Before parting ways, everyone shook hands with smiles, exchanging polite hopes for future collaborations.
Back in the car, Yun Jie slumped into her seat and picked up her phone with an “Ah,” saying, “One job finished.”
Xu Yu responded with a grunt, lazily settling into his seat.
Yun Jie continued, “I haven’t seen Mr. Awkward for a long time.”
Xu Yu closed his eyes to rest, not saying anything.
Yun Jie asked, “Have you run into him in the neighborhood recently?”
Xu Yu: “No.”
Yun Jie nodded, seemingly just casually asking, before moving on to another topic.
“Tonight is your episode of ‘My Song, Your Song’,” Yun Jie said. “Are you ready?”
Xu Yu: “I didn’t plan on watching it today.”
Yun Jie smiled. “That’s okay. I’ll watch it first tonight. I’ll contact them later to prepare some publicity, just in case.”
Xu Yu opened his eyes, “Is it that serious?”
“Just in case. Better safe than sorry. If they don’t use it on the show, I’ll help with some publicity,” Yun Jie shrugged, saying to Xu Yu, “You don’t need to worry about these things. Get some rest early tonight. You have to go record songs in the morning.”
Xu Yu: “Okay.”
Just as he had told Yun Jie that he hadn’t seen Su Yuanjiu in the neighborhood recently, Xu Yu returned to the neighborhood and saw a car slowly approaching Su Yuanjiu’s home, stopping downstairs.
He recognized this car; it had once brought him home.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the driver opened the back door, and Su Yuanjiu got out of the car. Xu Yu stood by the roadside, in a place where Su Yuanjiu could easily see him. So when he got out of the car, unexpectedly, their eyes met.
From a distance, Xu Yu smiled at Su Yuanjiu.
The driver got back into the car and drove away.
Su Yuanjiu walked towards Xu Yu, who walked towards him as well. When they met, Su Yuanjiu asked, “Finished shooting the advertisement?”
For a moment, Xu Yu felt the misconception that Su Yuanjiu had always cared about him.
Xu Yu nodded. “It’s finished.”
Su Yuanjiu said, “I’ve been out of town these days. I just got back this morning, and I’ve been in meetings until now.”
Xu Yu grunted, not knowing why Su Yuanjiu was telling him this, as if explaining.
But since Su Yuanjiu said so, he could only express a bit of concern, “It must have been tough.”
Su Yuanjiu asked, “Are you free tonight? I will cook, and we can eat together?”
Xu Yu was caught off guard for a moment before politely saying, “No need.”
Su Yuanjiu’s tone was very natural, and he handled Xu Yu’s response courteously. He continued, “Let’s do it together, okay?”
Xu Yu hesitated for a moment, looking into Su Yuanjiu’s eyes, as if tempted, before saying, “All right.”
Despite having created a hundred meters of distance just moments before, Su Yuanjiu’s few words had compelled Xu Yu to retreat.
It seemed that not contacting each other these past few days didn’t matter much, and the sense of distance Xu Yu had towards Su Yuanjiu was unnecessary. They were just friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while.
Then, Su Yuanjiu very naturally said to Xu Yu, “Let’s go to the supermarket together. I don’t have any groceries at home.”
Xu Yu nodded. “Okay.”
Perhaps Su Yuanjiu was naturally gifted in this way. Upon closer reflection, Xu Yu rarely felt particularly awkward around him. Even if there were initial discomforts, they were quickly dissolved by a few words from Su Yuanjiu.
Su Yuanjiu always guided their conversations, and he easily amused Xu Yu.
Xu Yu had always been slow to warm up to others. It was rare for him to become this familiar with someone in such a short time, with so little contact. But after a few steps, Xu Yu contradicted his own thoughts.
He and Su Yuanjiu didn’t seem that close after all.
What was he thinking?
There was a small supermarket in the neighborhood. Inside, Su Yuanjiu pushed a cart while Xu Yu stood beside, holding onto the cart’s edge.
“What do you want to eat?” Su Yuanjiu asked Xu Yu.
Xu Yu also asked, “Can you cook anything?”
Su Yuanjiu smiled. “By now, if I said I couldn’t, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?”
Xu Yu’s eyes curved, “That’s okay; as long as you answer ‘yes’ to ‘can you cook anything’, it won’t be too embarrassing.” Xu Yu then asked again, “Can you cook anything?”
Su Yuanjiu’s smile deepened, responding, “I can cook anything.”
Suddenly becoming serious, Xu Yu then half-jokingly said, “Then I’ll order a Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.1Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, also known as Buddha’s Temptation or Fotiaoqiang, is a variety of shark fin soup in Fujian cuisine. This dish has been regarded as a Chinese delicacy known for its rich taste, and special manner of cooking.“
Su Yuanjiu chuckled softly. “Oops.”
Not joking anymore, Xu Yu said, “Anything will do; just whip up something.”
Su Yuanjiu: “Any dishes you don’t eat?”
Xu Yu shook his head, “I’m not picky about food.”
For the next while, the two of them purposefully wandered through the supermarket.
Before Su Yuanjiu picked something, he would ask Xu Yu, who would always reply with a nod. Apart from that, there was no other conversation between them. When it was time to pay, Xu Yu watched Su Yuanjiu’s back and had a brief moment of panic.
How did they end up grocery shopping together? How did they end up eating together?
Huh?
Thinking about this, he also thought about what Yun Jie would say if she found out. She would probably explode.
“You two are progressing faster than I imagined.”
Suddenly, Yun Jie’’s words echoed in Xu Yu’s mind.
Forget it; let it be.
It’s just a meal.
It’s not a big deal.
They didn’t buy many groceries, but enough for two people to eat. It appeared to fit perfectly with Su Yuanjiu’s request to “add one more pair of chopsticks.”
This meal wasn’t specifically for Xu Yu, and the pressure on him wasn’t that great. Right now, he just imagined himself as Su Yuanjiu’s younger brother who happened to run into him and get a free meal at his house.
It is just that simple.
Following Su Yuanjiu to his floor, Xu Yu politely turned his head as Su Yuanjiu entered the password.
Shortly after, Su Yuanjiu opened the door, “Come in.”
Xu Yu followed inside. Once inside, Su Yuanjiu found a new pair of slippers for Xu Yu, saying, “My place isn’t as big as yours; please don’t mind.”
Xu Yu chuckled, “No problem.”
Before coming, Xu Yu had imagined what Su Yuanjiu’s home might look like. Since Su Yuanjiu had mentioned buying it in the early stages of his entrepreneurship, it had been several years, so the furniture shouldn’t be too new.
However, upon entering, the furnishings in the house weren’t as he had imagined. It seemed recently renovated, with a style similar to Su Yuanjiu’s home shown in Xie Nan’s vlog, giving a very comfortable feeling.
As soon as they entered, a faint sandalwood scent drifted over. It was evident that Su Yuanjiu had high standards for quality of life. Even after not living here for a long time, many details still exuded a sense of high taste.
Without much observation, Xu Yu followed Su Yuanjiu to the kitchen and helped him put away the groceries.
Su Yuanjiu was still in his suit. After they finished putting away the groceries, Su Yuanjiu casually took off his suit jacket and hung it on a chair.
Xu Yu glanced at him from the corner of his eye and saw Su Yuanjiu roll up his sleeves, revealing the Buddhist beads on his wrist, just like in the video.
Even at a meter distance, Su Yuanjiu undid his tie and the top two buttons, allowing Xu Yu to observe him more closely than ever before. Due to his sensitivity to physique, Xu Yu could distinctly feel Su Yuanjiu’s muscle contours.
“Are we done?” Su Yuanjiu suddenly spoke up.
Xu Yu looked down at the empty shopping bag, nodding, “Yes.”
Su Yuanjiu acknowledged and handed Xu Yu a bottle of sauce, “Could you please put this in the fridge? Thank you.”
Xu Yu tried not to touch Su Yuanjiu’s hand as he took the sauce from him.
Standing in front of the fridge, he opened the door but stopped mid-action with a puzzled sound.
Inside the fridge were rows of peach-flavored drinks, two bottles of each brand. Xu Yu recognized them at a glance.
“You like peach-flavored drinks too,” Xu Yu said with a hint of joy, watching Su Yuanjiu’s back.
“Yeah,” Su Yuanjiu turned around, looking at Xu Yu, “I’m also a tough guy.”
Xu Yu: “…”
Xu Yu: “…”
Xu Yu: “…”
Su Yuanjiu chuckled softly.
Xu Yu: “…”
Staring at Su Yuanjiu, Xu Yu pushed his lower lip against his upper one, “That’s not funny.”
