Chen Miao’s mind went blank. The last thing he heard was Lu Lianning’s low voice saying, “You’re fired, Chen Miao.”
He stood there, frozen for a long time.
The people around him seemed busy with their own tasks, yet there were always a few glances cast his way—some sympathetic, some amused, and some even gloating at his misfortune…
But without exception, no one dared to approach him. No one offered comfort, and no one dared to mock him.
Anything involving Lu Lianning wasn’t something people wanted to get involved with.
Chen Miao left with the last group of crew members. No one was brave enough to offer him a ride without Lu Lianning’s approval before he got into a car.
About four or five hours after Lu Lianning returned to City H, Chen Miao arrived.
Anxiety gnawed at him. He didn’t understand how things had come to this. He paced around his rundown apartment like a headless chicken, then checked the balance on his bank card.
Suddenly, it felt like a heavy stone had settled in his chest. Life in the mountains had been tough, but at least there, he felt more at ease than in City H—debt collectors couldn’t reach him in such a remote place.
But now he was back, and…
Chen Miao clutched his head on the edge of his shabby bed. In the end, he decided to find Lu Lianning.
He had already received three months’ salary from Gu Chen. If he lost his job now, would he have to return the money?
But he couldn’t pay it back.
There was barely five hundred left in his account, money he had set aside for food.
And if he could no longer work for Lu Lianning, what would he do? Go back to delivering food at a restaurant or selling shoe polish in a mall?
That wouldn’t be enough, nowhere near enough…
Chen Miao didn’t sleep well that night. At dawn, he got up.
It was winter, so he wrapped himself tightly in his worn-out cotton coat and headed to Lu Lianning’s house.
At that hour, Lu Lianning was surely still asleep, so Chen Miao crouched by the door and waited.
As daylight broke, he started knocking on the door, but there was no response.
He stubbornly rang the doorbell several times. Finally, after his relentless attempts, there was a loud bang from the other side, like something had been thrown against the door, followed by the sound of glass shattering. Then came an irritated shout, “Get lost!”
Chen Miao slowly withdrew his hand. The film shoot wasn’t finished yet; Lu Lianning would have to leave the house eventually.
But he hadn’t expected it would be past ten in the morning before the door finally opened. Lu Lianning’s hair was a bit messy. Without even glancing at Chen Miao, who was still crouched at the door, he grabbed his car keys and headed straight to the garage.
Chen Miao stood by the doorway, watching as Lu Lianning’s car sped away, leaving him without a chance to say a single word.
That day, Lu Lianning was severely late, and Ren Qi vented his frustration by hurling thinly veiled criticisms on set.
This only worsened Lu Lianning’s mood. They had to reshoot the scene multiple times, and it wasn’t until late at night that they finally wrapped up for the day.
When Lu Lianning returned home, Chen Miao was already gone. Seeing the empty doorstep, he felt that Chen Miao hadn’t been sincere at all in admitting his mistake.
Meanwhile, Chen Miao was in Gu Chen’s car, getting scolded. Gu Chen’s face was grim as he answered a ten-minute phone call.
When the call ended, Gu Chen’s anger had cooled a little. He looked at Chen Miao, and his tone softened slightly.
Balancing firmness with kindness, Gu Chen handed Chen Miao a key. “This is the key to Lu Lianning’s house. You know what to do tomorrow, right? If he’s late again, or if Director Ren calls me again, you won’t have this job anymore.”
“I know Lu Lianning has a bad temper and is hard to please, but isn’t the salary I’m paying you much higher than what your peers get?”
Chen Miao nodded.
Gu Chen continued, “As long as he does his job seriously, just go along with whatever he wants.”
Chen Miao replied, “I already go along with him in everything.”
“Then how did going along with him make him so angry?” This was the first time Gu Chen had ever heard of Lu Lianning wanting to fire an assistant—usually, it was the assistants who quit out of frustration. Now that he thought about it, he found the situation rather fresh and was a bit curious.
Chen Miao suddenly fell into an awkward silence, as if Gu Chen had pinpointed the real issue.
Just then, Gu Chen’s phone rang again. Seeing that Chen Miao was still sitting there silently, Gu Chen impatiently waved his hand, signaling him to get out of the car while he answered the call.
The next morning, Lu Lianning was woken up early by some noise. As he opened his eyes, he heard sounds coming from the living room.
He slipped on his slippers, threw on his pajamas, and opened his bedroom door. The aroma of food greeted him.
He saw Chen Miao, wearing an apron, placing a bowl of century egg congee1
on the table. When Chen Miao noticed that Lu Lianning was awake, he put on a dry smile and greeted him, “Good morning, Lu-ge.”
Lu Lianning almost laughed in anger. Crossing his arms, he glared at Chen Miao. “Who let you in? Where did you get the key?”
Without hesitation, Chen Miao replied, “Mr. Gu gave it to me.”
“Fine. Then put it on the table and get out.”
Chen Miao looked down, brushed some flour off the apron, and said, “Lu-ge, we need to hurry. You can’t be late again today.”
“Do you not understand what I’m saying!? I thought I made myself very clear—you’re fired!” Taking a few steps forward, Lu Lianning grabbed Chen Miao by the collar, yanked off his apron, and pushed him toward the door.
As a Beta, Chen Miao stood no chance against an Alpha like Lu Lianning. He was shoved all the way to the entrance. With one hand, Lu Lianning pulled the door open; with the other, he was ready to throw Chen Miao outside.
But in a desperate move, Chen Miao grabbed the edge of the door as it was closing. He squeezed half of his body through, speaking urgently, “I’m sorry, Lu-ge. I promise I’ll never try to warm your bed again.”
“Just… just give me one more chance.”
Lu Lianning paused, his hand frozen mid-motion as he tried to pry Chen Miao’s grip from the door. He studied Chen Miao’s face, noticing the sad expression as if Chen Miao had resigned himself to giving up on something important.
In a tone void of emotion, Lu Lianning asked, “Really?”
Clinging to the door with both hands, Chen Miao shook his head vigorously. “Really, I won’t warm it anymore.”
