Lin Zhu looked up, his chest unable to stop trembling lightly.
The relief of being forgiven mixed with a surge of intense emotion. He could feel his hands trembling slightly, yet he still couldn’t resist raising his arms and hugging Zhong Yao tightly.
How could his luck… be this good?
How could he have met Zhong Yao?
Lin Zhu’s voice was a little hoarse. He coughed twice, then tilted his head slightly and quietly rubbed against Zhong Yao’s neck. “This is only… just the beginning…”
He wasn’t quite sure how to put it. His heart felt as though it was being gently stroked, beating almost out of control.
Lin Zhu swallowed, moistening his throat. “There will… be better things ahead. After this drama finishes filming, we’ll go to auditions, compete for awards, and get onto the big screen. We’ll do it step by step…”
As if making a promise that had to be fulfilled, Lin Zhu squeezed his eyes shut, his voice gradually becoming firm. “The two of us together, we’ll take back everything that should have been ours…”
“I’ll return everything they took from you.”
Carefully placing the things he had read from people’s subconscious minds into order, Lin Zhu took a quiet breath and promised word by word, “As long as I’m here, those things will never happen again.”
Warmth responded as it descended over him.
Zhong Yao held him in his arms, lowered his head, and gently kissed his eyes.
The soft breath brushed his sensitive eyelashes. Lin Zhu shivered slightly, heat surging in his eyes for a moment before quietly fading.
Zhong Yao smiled faintly, his voice gentle. “Actually, when I look back now, I’m not entirely ungrateful for those three years.”
Lin Zhu paused and looked up.
Zhong Yao lowered his head. “For one thing, I was moving too fast back then. Without that interruption, I wouldn’t have had the chance to stop, rest properly, and reflect.”
“And secondly…”
Zhong Yao deliberately paused for a moment, then flicked Lin Zhu lightly on the tip of the nose, a warm smile in his eyes. “If not for those three years, how would I have known my future agent is this amazing?”
…
The amazing manager flushed red instantly, half-cooked with embarrassment, and whooshed straight under the blankets.
“Alright, alright… so now we’ve cleared things up, right?”
This was the first time Zhong Yao and Lin Zhu had been thinking in completely opposite directions. Now that the misunderstanding had finally been resolved, he let out a small sigh of relief and laughed, rubbing his agent’s head.
Still unaware that Director Jin had already done everything he possibly could, Zhong Yao spoke earnestly while lecturing his agent.
“Next time you have something on your mind, just tell me directly. We were lucky this time. Director Jin doesn’t usually get involved in this sort of thing. Otherwise, who knows what kind of misunderstanding it might have caused…”
Lin Zhu: “……”
Lin Zhu couldn’t bear to explain. He nodded and answered guiltily.
Zhong Yao still remembered the planning manager mentioning that his agent hadn’t eaten dinner. After kissing Lin Zhu, he told him to lie down and rest properly, then got up to prepare something for him to eat.
Lin Zhu rolled around twice in the blankets, emotions surging, his ears gradually heating up.
A misunderstanding was just a misunderstanding. It had only been a false alarm; now that everything was cleared up, it didn’t matter anymore.
But the material Zhong Yao had been studying on set… It should still be—
Genuine and completely authentic… right?
It must be. Otherwise Director Jin wouldn’t have called him.
Lin Zhu swallowed. He couldn’t help feeling a little tempted.
Even if Director Jin had forcibly interrupted things, Zhong Yao should still have… learned something.
Could he at least… touch the “gear stick” now?
Lin Zhu became so embarrassed by his own imagination that he didn’t dare lift his head. The warmth Zhong Yao had carefully wrapped around his heart and lungs made him feel completely warm again, and the thoughts he had previously suppressed began quietly stirring once more as he poked his head out from under the blankets.
Could he now do the things those stories talked about… like slipping in the bathroom, having the power suddenly go out in the bedroom, or sneaking up behind Zhong Yao while he was busy to tease him, only to be overpowered and pinned to the sofa to “teach him a lesson”?
Lin Zhu decided to try it.
It was already late at night, and calling the assistant at this hour would be a bit too much trouble. Zhong Yao was still preparing ingredients, even digging out a can of luncheon meat and two packets of instant noodles, planning to cook a small hotpot for his manager.
Lin Zhu took a deep breath and quietly slipped out of the bedroom on tiptoe.
Just as Zhong Yao closed the refrigerator and turned around, a familiar human-shaped pendant cautiously attached itself to his back.
The pendant even seemed to be heating up on its own.
Zhong Yao raised an eyebrow and set down what he was holding, straightening up.
He reached back and wrapped an arm around the person clinging to him. The warmth of his palm seeped through the thin fabric and pressed against Lin Zhu’s back.
Lin Zhu’s heart was pounding loudly.
According to most of the scenes he had read, Zhong Yao should lose his balance from being jumped on like this. When told to get up, Lin Zhu would refuse. The two of them would fool around for a bit, and then Lin Zhu would have his wrist grabbed and be pinned onto the sofa…
After that, Zhong Yao could improvise however he liked.
Based on previous experience, Lin Zhu no longer insisted on how the rest of the plot would go. As long as he could at least “get on the road” and take a look, he would already be very satisfied.
Lin Zhu swallowed, trying to suppress the nervous flutter in his chest, and closed his eyes…
Zhong Yao simply bent down slightly and lifted Lin Zhu securely onto his back.
Lin Zhu: “……”
Zhong Yao bounced him gently so he could lie more comfortably, then turned his head and lightly brushed his forehead against him. “Can’t sleep alone?”
Zhong Yao’s physical strength was nothing like those useless male leads in the stories. He easily carried Lin Zhu to the sofa and set him down. On the way, he even made him a cup of milk tea. Finding the cup too hot, he wrapped it with a towel and tucked it into Lin Zhu’s hands.
“There aren’t many ingredients left at home. Should we just finish everything in one meal?”
Lin Zhu had slipped straight out of the bedroom earlier. Zhong Yao brought over a pair of slippers and placed them by the sofa, then wrapped a blanket around his lightly dressed agent. “Tomorrow we’ll ask them to buy more groceries. See what else you want to eat, I’ll write it all down.”
The cozy domestic conversation about food and daily life forcibly switched the entire mood. Lin Zhu nodded sadly, his attention easily diverted. “Baby cabbage, sweet potato slices, handmade chicken meatballs, king oyster mushrooms… and I want crispy pork too…”
Zhong Yao had always had a good memory; he had already remembered everything without needing it repeated. He leaned over to kiss his manager’s forehead, then turned back and quickly set up the hotpot.
Lin Zhu ate until he was completely full. Sleepiness made his eyelids fight each other, and he completely forgot why he had jumped onto Zhong Yao’s back in the first place.
The next day, after accompanying Zhong Yao to a media interview and returning, Lin Zhu secretly asked the hotel to cut the electricity.
Then he watched helplessly as Zhong Yao pulled out two bright red emergency candles, and the two of them ended up sitting together for a candlelight dinner.
…
On the third day, Lin Zhu steeled himself and decided to slip in the bathroom.
The Marlensius team had already reviewed the first draft of the outline and officially invited him to the United States to participate in the next stage of script development and casting.
Time was tight and the workload heavy. Lin Zhu planned to return to Beijing first to handle some matters, then fly overseas directly from there.
If there was still no progress today… it might really have to wait until this drama finished filming at the end of the year.
Slipping in the bathroom obviously required skill. If he really fell badly, they would have to deal with injuries, and romance would be completely out of the question. But if he acted too deliberately, it would be unbearably embarrassing.
Lin Zhu’s determination had already weakened once. Whether he could push through depended entirely on today. No matter what, he had to prepare properly. He couldn’t waste another good opportunity.
Ever since the weather turned colder, Zhong Yao had developed the habit of going into the bathroom first every time, letting the room fill with warmth before allowing Lin Zhu in.
Listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, Lin Zhu took a deep breath, gave himself a little encouragement, and carefully rehearsed falling poses on the bed.
By the thirty-second attempt, a heavy thud suddenly came from the bathroom.
Lin Zhu: “!!”
All the romantic thoughts in his head instantly flew out of the window. Lin Zhu jumped off the bed, yanked open the bathroom door, ignored the hot water splashing over him, and rushed forward to help Zhong Yao.
“Ge! What happened? Did you fall? Were you too tired earlier? Don’t move yet, let me see where you got hurt—”
Lin Zhu’s words abruptly stopped.
Zhong Yao was sitting inside the unusually spacious bathtub, looking up to meet those amber eyes made especially clear by the misty steam.
Lin Zhu stared blankly into Zhong Yao’s eyes. His heart pounded violently as the sound of water roared in his ears.
Zhong Yao’s ears turned hot. He looked away, his usually steady voice rare in its awkwardness. “I—I fell…”
Lin Zhu’s mind had turned completely to mush. He responded vaguely and lifted his leg to step into the tub. Distracted, his foot slipped, only to be caught firmly by Zhong Yao’s outstretched arms.
Lin Zhu froze, staying obediently against Zhong Yao’s chest.
His clothes were completely soaked, clinging wetly to his body and revealing the slender lines of his shoulder blades.
Zhong Yao lifted a hand and slowly began undoing Lin Zhu’s buttons.
Lin Zhu’s heart was racing so fast he could barely breathe. Stammering, he tried to make conversation. “Ge, y-you… how did your progress suddenly get so fast? I didn’t even notice…”
Zhong Yao sighed softly, removing Lin Zhu’s clothes and setting them aside. “I’ve actually… been flirting with you all along.”
Lin Zhu: “??”
Dazed and confused, Lin Zhu said, “Fl-flirting? I didn’t notice…”
I read two novels. Both said you should first cook delicious food for the other person, and then—”
Zhong Yao couldn’t bring himself to say the rest and paused before speaking honestly. “But once you start eating, you never look up… so I thought, seeing you eat so happily was actually pretty nice too…”
Lin Zhu: “?!”
Why that one too?!
Why couldn’t these novel writers just coordinate with each other?!
Thinking about how he had turned his disappointment into appetite and wolfed down food, Lin Zhu regretted it so much he wanted to run ten laps outside.
Seeing Lin Zhu’s expression, Zhong Yao stopped and gently kissed his forehead, pressing his fingers to check Lin Zhu’s pulse.
“Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
A little worried, Zhong Yao stroked his back and lowered his forehead against his. “Is this kind of plot too… explicit? I also felt it was a bit much, but I already tried the other methods. There aren’t many ingredients here. I don’t know what else I could cook for you…”
Zhong Yao coughed softly, opened his mouth, and asked with difficulty, “Is… this okay?”
“Okay, okay.”
Lin Zhu nodded vigorously, speaking nonsense. “Ge, don’t worry, I’m not uncomfortable. I’m great. I can even run laps. I—”
Lin Zhu shivered slightly and cut himself off, his heart suddenly racing even faster.
They were too close. Warm water surrounded them, their clothes soaked… and the natural reactions that followed had already appeared.
Lin Zhu grabbed Zhong Yao’s arm, his own arms trembling slightly.
Zhong Yao quickly wrapped an arm around him. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Not here first…”
Zhong Yao was just as nervous, but facing an agent who was so tense he couldn’t move or speak, he quickly shouldered the responsibility of the household. After drying himself quickly, he lifted Lin Zhu horizontally in his arms, wrapped him in a large towel, and carried him out of the bathroom.
The bedroom air conditioner was still on, so it wasn’t cold at all, but Lin Zhu still shivered.
“It’s alright… don’t be afraid. We’ll go slowly.”
Zhong Yao met Lin Zhu’s gaze, comforting him out of habit. But before he could do anything else, Lin Zhu suddenly let out a muffled sound.
Lin Zhu hurriedly shut his eyes and grabbed Zhong Yao’s wrist, his entire body gradually heating up.
Slowly drawing in breaths, Lin Zhu forced out broken words through clenched teeth.
“Ge, you can’t—”
It was Lin Zhu’s first time in his life watching porn. Combined with the immersive experience from his mind-reading ability, it felt overwhelmingly intense. Curling his legs tightly, he turned and crashed into Zhong Yao’s arms.
“You can’t— you can’t rehearse this kind of thing in advance too…”
Zhong Yao: “……”
…
Three minutes later, Zhong Yao — who had done absolutely nothing — carried his completely exhausted agent back to the bathroom.
Lin Zhu’s face was bright red. Too embarrassed to let Zhong Yao help, yet unable to gather any strength, he wobbled weakly while trying to avoid him.
“Ge, I—I’ll do it myself…”
“You can’t even stand properly. Be good.”
Zhong Yao gently held him and apologized softly.
“My fault. I’ll try — next time not to overthink everything.”
His movements were gentle and efficient. In no time he had cleaned Lin Zhu up, dried him carefully, and carried him back to bed.
Lin Zhu felt strangely light and exhausted, his eyelids heavy. Seeing Zhong Yao’s uneven breathing, guilt filled his heart.
“Ge… I’ll help you…”
“No need. Just rest and focus on getting your body better.”
Zhong Yao smiled, still holding his pulse. He leaned down and kissed Lin Zhu’s forehead.
“Your heartbeat is so fast. Good thing we didn’t actually go through with it. If you felt worse again, I’d be worried sick.”
Zhong Yao remained calm, his chest rising slightly as he coaxed him gently.
“When people hear about it later, they’ll say I made our little one unable to handle it with just one look… wouldn’t that make me sound amazing?”
Lin Zhu’s face burned red as he buried himself in Zhong Yao’s chest.
Zhong Yao’s heartbeat wasn’t any slower than his. Lin Zhu could hear strong thumps hitting against his chest again and again.
Lin Zhu tried hard to raise his head. “Ge… I’ll… use my hand to help you.”
Zhong Yao rubbed his hair, about to speak, but Lin Zhu had already lowered his head with a flushed face, his voice growing softer.
“Don’t go take a cold shower… it’s bad for your health.”
“I’ve noticed several times… you sneak off in the middle of the night…”
Zhong Yao coughed repeatedly, quickly interrupting him.
Lin Zhu didn’t have much strength left but still stubbornly grabbed Zhong Yao’s wrist.
Unable to refuse him, Zhong Yao lay down on the bed. The two covered themselves with the blanket as Lin Zhu clumsily and earnestly “helped” him.
Not long after, Zhong Yao looked at Lin Zhu — who had unknowingly fallen asleep — and let out a helpless smile, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.
A faint blush still lingered on Lin Zhu’s face. His thin back rose and fell softly, clearly exhausted as he slept even more deeply than usual.
Zhong Yao’s gaze softened further. He pulled him closer and leaned down to kiss him slowly.
…
After a long time, Zhong Yao quietly got up and went to the bathroom again.
The next day, Lin Zhu rescheduled his flight to the afternoon.
Song Tianlang had been unusually quiet recently. The case was entering its final stage, and that agent of his could only cause trouble for a few more days.
Although Lin Zhu had agreed with the police not to alert the enemy, he hadn’t stopped preparing. He left several backup strategies with his team and, before flying to the United States, pulled aside the PR staff responsible for thoroughly investigating the details from years ago.
“We’ve figured it all out. That so-called ‘personal conduct’ issue was actually just a student Zhong-laoshi had once sponsored.”
The PR staff had wide connections, and with Lin Zhu’s precise direction, they quickly uncovered everything.
“It didn’t go through company accounts, wasn’t publicized, and even the transfers were done secretly without telling anyone… but a bank teller was bribed and illegally leaked the information.”
Combining unscrupulous media with greedy scum had twisted a good deed into something ugly.
“The receiving side was just a small credit cooperative, with no publicity or record, so they couldn’t find the recipient. They planned to use that to spread rumors that the money wasn’t sponsorship. It was… payment for keeping someone.”
“Remember when they smashed Huaying’s building? You wondered why they specifically spread that rumor. This is where it came from.”
“This was originally supposed to be used to smear Zhong-laoshi three years ago. Canxing’s PR suppressed it, but the issue still exists. If it resurfaces again, it’ll still cause trouble.”
The PR staff shook his head in confusion.
“But it’s strange. I can understand limited PR resources, but instead of suppressing this one, why didn’t Zhong-laoshi have the company suppress something else? This should’ve been the easiest accusation to clear up.”
Lin Zhu frowned slightly.
“Because… for Zhong-laoshi, it wasn’t a big deal. But for the student he sponsored, it could’ve ruined their entire life.”
The PR staff froze. “That serious?”
Lin Zhu nodded.
“People’s memory of hot topics is limited. They only remember the most sensational part. Zhong-laoshi has always had public attention. Whether the rumor was true or not, sooner or later it would’ve been buried under bigger news.”
“Besides… someone who still needed sponsorship was probably very young.”
For Zhong Yao, being falsely accused was only a minor setback. But for an ordinary person whose name might only appear before the public once in their life, everyone afterward would associate them with a scandal of being kept.
For a student who hadn’t even grown up yet, it could destroy their future.
Zhong Yao’s stubborn, upright character would rather waste three years of his own career than drag an innocent young person into such a scandal.
“Som can we find them now?”
The PR staff didn’t think it was such a huge issue and volunteered. “They should be grown up by now, right? Probably mature enough to handle things?”
He was reluctant to waste such a good opportunity.
“What if we secretly find the beneficiary? When they try to stir things up with this rumor again, we can strike back immediately. Then everyone will see who should really be ashamed.”
Lin Zhu didn’t answer, his gaze resting on the white trails left by airplanes outside the window.
“It’s just that it’s been too long. I heard Zhong-laoshi has been sending money for more than ten years. If we couldn’t find them back then, who knows if we can now.”
The PR staff urged him, “Why not just ask Zhong-laoshi tonight?”
Lin Zhu: “……”
Lin Zhu coughed twice, his face turning red. “L-let’s talk about it later.”
After accidentally falling asleep while helping last night, Lin Zhu hadn’t dared look up at Zhong Yao all day. He couldn’t even speak properly in front of him yet, so he definitely couldn’t go ask him about it now.
The PR staff sighed regretfully and shrugged. “Alright. Anything else?”
Lin Zhu had finally suppressed the memories of last night, only for that one sentence to bring them back. Taking a deep breath, he asked, “In the CP forums… do we have people there too?”
“Yeah, to help guide fan discussions and boost trending topics.”
The PR staff didn’t see anything wrong with shipping CPs and nodded calmly. “Don’t worry, we won’t over-guide them. Mostly we rely on the fans’ enthusiasm.”
“This time when we go back, guide them a bit.”
Thinking about how the two of them had spent days unsuccessfully flirting with each other because of misunderstandings, Lin Zhu ground his teeth.
“All those scenes where someone seduces the other by cooking delicious food… pay them by the thousand words and have them change those plots.”
Agent Lin then issued his command like a domineering CEO: “I’ll give you 50,000 yuan budget. Within three days, I don’t want to see the words ‘eating’ or ‘meal’ ever again.”
