Let Me Be Spoiled - Chapter 43

In the end, he held himself back.

Fu Qing was very good at enduring things.

At four in the afternoon, Xie Yan got on the bus back to the city. Fu Qing had something to do and couldn’t see him off, so they said goodbye at the station.

There were few passengers on the bus. There was no air conditioning, but the windows were open, and the breeze coming in made it bearable. Xie Yan still wore a mask and sat near the back, his head turned slightly as he looked out the window.

A few stops later, more people got on. Two girls boarded and sat in the last row. They kept glancing forward and whispering to each other.

They thought they were being discreet, but Xie Yan was very sensitive to being watched and noticed their little movements right away.

When Xie Yan got off the bus, the two girls quickly followed him, keeping a short distance behind.

Xie Yan stopped and turned to look at them, his brows slightly furrowed.

Realizing they had been caught, the two girls mustered up the courage to speak softly, “Excuse me, are you Xie Yan, Teacher Xie? You look a lot like him…”

Xie Yan took off his mask with his left hand, revealing the rest of his face, and nodded. “No need to call me ‘teacher.’”

His tone was cold and calm, but it didn’t sound impatient. The two girls were thrilled and bravely asked, “We’re your fans. Can we take a photo with you? It’s okay if not—we just wanted to ask…”

But in the end, it was just a photo.

He nodded and stood between them, looking up at the camera, still without a smile.

After the picture was taken, the girls seemed to understand that this was just how Xie Yan was. Before leaving, they couldn’t help but say, “Why doesn’t your company get you a car, Xie Ge? Not even an assistant with you. Taking public transport like this doesn’t seem right. You’re already famous—what if people keep bothering you?”

Xie Yan didn’t really feel that he was “famous.” His way of life hadn’t changed at all.

Taking the photo had taken over ten minutes, and it was almost time for his meeting with Yang Xun.

Xie Yan ran to their agreed meeting spot.

During the time they were filming White Whale, Yang Xun didn’t get much exposure, and his popularity dropped. Once filming wrapped, his manager immediately had him join several hit variety shows. Now, they were being released one after another, and he was trending on the hot search daily. On top of that, he had a romance film about to premiere, and he had been busy with roadshows. Yang Xun was overwhelmed, either attending events or on his way to one, with no time to rest.

But that was the price of filming White Whale, and Yang Xun accepted it. He didn’t dare complain to his older brother or his manager—he only dared to vent to Xie Yan in the middle of the night.

Finally, after wrapping up all the promotional work, Yang Xun was able to return to Ji’an for some rest. After lying around at home for a whole day, the first thing he did was ask Xie Yan to meet up.

Pushing open the door to the private room, Xie Yan saw that Yang Xun had already ordered a few desserts. His assistant was still dutifully following behind him, and only greeted Xie Yan when he came in before stepping out.

Yang Xun had been running around too with many events lately and had lost a lot of weight, so he was finally allowed to indulge a bit in sweets. When he saw Xie Yan, he couldn’t stop chewing and mumbled, “Xie Ge, you’re here!”

Afraid he might choke, Xie Yan poured a glass of plain water and handed it to him.

Yang Xun scarfed everything down and finally let out a breath. “Mmm, Xie Ge, your role as Yan Chuzhi is super popular right now! When I was doing my roadshow, some fans even asked if we were good friends and whether you could post more selfies on Weibo.”

At that, Yang Xun dragged his chair over to Xie Yan’s side, grabbed his phone, took a bunch of photos, and gleefully browsed through them, picking a few of the best to post on Weibo.

Before posting, he refreshed his feed and noticed someone had just posted something related to Xie Yan—it was the photo taken by those two girls.

“Ahhhh! Met a guy on the bus wearing a mask. Kept looking at him and thought he looked so much like Xie Ge! We only realized it was really him after he got off! Xie Ge is so good-looking. Just to show you all how amazing he looks, my bestie and I painfully turned off all filters. This man! This whole person! Comes with a built-in beauty filter! Look!”

To keep it “authentic,” the girl didn’t even blur her own face. Though she was quite pretty herself, in the same photo, she and Xie Yan looked like they came from completely different dimensions.

It was too real. That’s why, whenever Yang Xun took a photo with Xie Yan, he always tried to make himself look ridiculous on purpose.

After fiddling around for a bit, Yang Xun suddenly seemed to remember something. He reached into his bag and pulled out a thick stack of documents. “Oh right, Xie Ge, you’re going on Where are We Going Today? next week, right?”

He handed the stack over to Xie Yan. “This is information Lin Jie prepared for me when I was supposed to go on Where are We Going Today?. Too bad I didn’t end up using it, so I brought it for you.”

As a trending young idol, Yang Xun had obviously been invited to the show. His agent said they would check his schedule, but they were already planning to accept. Then Yang Rui vetoed it, saying Yang Xun was too pampered and clueless about basic survival—going on that show would wreck his whole public image. Yang Xun had really been looking forward to it, so at first he was furious. But later he figured maybe his brother was just worried something would happen to him. After all, it was an outdoor survival show. It looked fun on-screen, but he had zero experience—something really could go wrong. It was understandable that his brother didn’t feel at ease. Yang Xun eventually decided it wasn’t worth letting the whole family stress for a week and generously forgave him.

That said, he had kept the materials carefully all along. Now that he was passing them on to Xie Yan, at least they wouldn’t go to waste.

Yang Xun was the kind of person who rushed to take credit after doing anything. He eagerly flipped through the documents for Xie Yan, not noticing the water glass right by his elbow. He accidentally knocked it over, and Xie Yan, quick on the draw, snatched the documents out of the way—only to get water spilled all over himself, soaking the hem of his T-shirt and part of his pants.

Yang Xun made a face and called his assistant, telling him to buy a new outfit in Xie Yan’s size and bring it over.

Xie Yan said, “It’s not necessary.”

Yang Xun hurriedly said, “No way. If you go out like this and get photographed, tomorrow’s headline will be: ‘Heartthrob Yang * Xie * in Midnight Rendezvous, Rushes Out—Scandalous Wet Look Photos, Click to See!’”

Xie Yan lowered his eyes and said calmly, “If I really got photographed, it wouldn’t just be a wet look—it would be a full outfit change.”

Yang Xun thought about it and realized that headline would be even worse, so he called his assistant back and told him not to buy anything.

Still, going out like this was definitely not an option.

Yang Xun, trying to make up for his mistake, humbly fanned Xie Yan’s wet clothes with the stack of papers.

As he tugged at the hem of the shirt, the collar loosened slightly, and the jade pendant tucked inside slid out, resting against Xie Yan’s chest.

When Yang Xun looked up, he happened to catch a glimpse of that hint of green.

He was a little puzzled. “I don’t remember ever seeing you wear that before, Xie Ge.”

Xie Yan paused, then held the pendant in his hand and brought it a little closer to Yang Xun. “It was a gift.”

Yang Xun examined it closely and could tell that Xie Yan cherished it deeply. He was a second-generation rich kid who’d seen all kinds of jewelry growing up, and he started praising it with practiced ease, “This jade’s water is really good—the green is so clear and vibrant. It’s a top-quality piece, and the carving is excellent…”

He suddenly trailed off.

Xie Yan looked down at him and asked, “Why did you stop?”

Yang Xun replied, “It’s nothing. I was just wondering… why it’s carved into a laughing Buddha.”

Seeing that Xie Yan still didn’t get it, he explained quietly, “Usually, men wear Guanyin, and women wear Buddha.”

Xie Yan tightened his grip on the jade and suddenly frowned.

Yang Xun thought he was upset and quickly tried to smooth things over. “That’s just some old-fashioned saying from ages ago. It’s totally normal not to know that. Nowadays people just wear what they like—it’s all the same.”

Xie Yan still didn’t say anything.

Yang Xun felt like he had screwed up again. Afraid he might’ve ruined a genuine friendship, he hurriedly changed the subject and flipped open the program info. “This show has four regular hosts and four guest participants. Lin Jie really did her homework on the hosts—since you’re spending seven days together, it’s important to understand their personalities. Now that’s what a real manager should do. No offense, but Xie Ge, what’s going on with your agent? Totally unreliable. Just look at that incident the other time—didn’t do any PR at all. It was the fans who had to step in.”

Xie Yan wasn’t listening to him anymore.

Yang Xun kept rambling on, “That fan is seriously devoted. I was actually touched, and almost cried. Better than my own Ge—I asked him to invest in White Whale and he wouldn’t even consider it…”

But Xie Yan’s attention was long gone.

He was wondering if Grandpa Fu and Fu Qing knew that saying.