Chapter 4

When Su Xingyao returned to Lu Jiuxu’s villa, it was already completely dark.

The weather had been strange today. In the evening, the temperature suddenly dropped, and a light drizzle began to fall and kept going.

The driver dropped Su Xingyao off at the main house’s gate. As soon as he opened the car door, he saw Aunt Zhang standing by the door. She had a thin coat draped over her arm and an umbrella in her other hand.

When she saw the car had stopped, she quickly walked over and opened the umbrella for him.

“You’re finally back. The temperature suddenly dropped, so put on your coat. Don’t get wet in the rain.”

Su Xingyao paused, holding the car door open, and stared blankly at Aunt Zhang.

Seeing that Su Xingyao hadn’t moved, Aunt Zhang thought he hadn’t heard her clearly. She swiftly unfolded the coat and draped it over his shoulders.

“Come on, dinner’s ready.”

“Okay.”

Su Xingyao responded softly, awkwardly reaching out to put the coat on.

After getting out of the car and taking the umbrella from Aunt Zhang, he followed her inside.

When he left this morning, he was only wearing a thin shirt, and in this cold weather, he should have felt cold.

But now, his whole body felt warm.

The dining table was already set with a steaming pot of soup and several side dishes.

Aunt Zhang told Su Xingyao to sit down and then quickly turned to serve them both some rice.

Su Xingyao lifted his head and quietly glanced at Aunt Zhang’s back before lowering his gaze to the steaming dishes on the table.

For a moment, he felt a bit dazed.

It seemed that ever since his sister left, he hadn’t experienced the feeling of being waited for to come home and have dinner.

In the orphanage, he had no home, and in the Shen family, he was just a peripheral figure. His parents had never eagerly waited for him to come home for dinner.

The soup pot bubbled as steam rose. Seeing that Su Xingyao was lost in thought, Aunt Zhang urged him.

“Look at you, you’ve lost weight. You need to eat more. Eat more so you can get better faster.”

Su Xingyao nodded and slowly chewed a piece of meat.

The Shen family also had a nanny who played a similar role to Aunt Zhang.

However, while Aunt Zhang raised Lu Jiuxu, Aunt Liu had raised Shen Huaixi since childhood.

As a result, all her affection was directed toward Shen Huaixi, and so, when their parents weren’t around, she had always treated him with cold indifference and neglect.

Aunt Liu, who never forgot to make Shen Huaixi a cup of milk before bed, completely forgot to leave him any supper the year he was recognized and brought back to the Shen family.

Every night, after finishing his study sessions and returning home, no matter how hungry or tired he was, he couldn’t find any warm food waiting for him.

Even when he worked late into the night and wanted to cook for himself, the pantry with ingredients was locked.

Later, he subtly mentioned this to his mother.

But his mother hinted that she knew what kind of person Aunt Liu was, and that he, being so young, shouldn’t be learning to lie.

While they were having dinner, the driver, Mr. Wang, who had parked the car, came to deliver Su Xingyao’s suitcase.

When Aunt Zhang saw the shabby old suitcase, her eyes nearly welled up with tears.

She knew Su Xingyao had gone back to his parents’ house to collect his things, but she didn’t expect him to bring back something so pitiful and poor.

In their interactions, she had long noticed something unusual.

After all, a person who was injured so badly and disappeared for such a long time would usually have parents frantically calling and searching for them.

But all this time, she had never seen anyone come to look for him, nor had she ever heard a phone call checking on him.

Everyone’s heart has its flesh, and she couldn’t understand how such a gentle and obedient child could be ignored by his family to this extent.

—

Early the next morning, Su Xingyao went to the garden to help Aunt Zhang cut the freshest flowers and arrange them.

He had just finished cutting a bouquet of peonies when his agent’s phone call came in, urgent and relentless.

Su Xingyao wasn’t planning to answer it.

But then he remembered that he hadn’t blocked the number because he still had some business to attend to, so he pressed the answer button.

As soon as the call was connected, Liang Yifan’s sarcastic voice came through.

“Xingyao, what’s been going on lately?”

It seemed like a concern, but in reality, it was a criticism.

Su Xingyao ignored Liang Yifan’s sarcastic tone and directly brought the conversation to the topic he wanted to discuss.

“Brother Liang, I’m planning to terminate my contract with the company.”

Although the higher-ups had already ^[1]“Given him a heads-up” means providing someone with advance notice or a warning about something that is going to happen. given him a heads-up, knowing that Su Xingyao’s recent disappearance was due to a temper tantrum and running away from home, Liang Yifan, who had always been used to being high and mighty in front of him, was still waiting for an explanation.

However, upon hearing the sudden mention of termination, Liang Yifan, who had been drinking water, almost choked. He immediately raised his voice in surprise and asked, “Terminate the contract?? Why bring this up all of a sudden?”

Although Liang Yifan looked down on Su Xingyao, the truth was, he had worked with him for two years, and to be fair, Su Xingyao had been quite easy to manage when it came to work.

Whether it was joining a show to fill up numbers or appearing on a program that was bound to attract criticism, as long as the notice was given, Su Xingyao would go, even if he was reluctant, without saying much.

Despite the harsh criticism, Liang Yifan had always felt that Su Xingyao liked his celebrity status.

Therefore, hearing that Su Xingyao wanted to terminate the contract really shocked him.

Su Xingyao wasn’t interested in explaining further, so he simply said, “It’s nothing, just letting you know.”

His tone was calm, but there was a firmness in it that left no room for discussion.

It was this attitude that made Liang Yifan feel like his control over Su Xingyao was slipping, giving him the sense that he was being provoked. He immediately denied the proposal.

“You telling me this is useless. You need to talk to the company.”

By “company,” Liang Yifan was referring to Xingxing (Star) Entertainment, founded by the new business mogul Qin Mingchuan.

After saying that, Liang Yifan sneered and continued speaking.

“I can tell you’ve really grown up after running away for a month. But we’ve been working together for so long, we’ve got some feelings here. Don’t blame me for not reminding you. ^[2]“If you think your wings have grown strong and you want to fly, that’s fine, but before you fly, you need to understand how much you weigh” is a metaphor. It means that if someone … Continue readingIf you think your wings have grown strong and you want to fly, that’s fine, but before you fly, you need to understand how much you weigh. Once you leave, do you have the ability to make it? Do people even want you? Can you handle the public opinion?”

Liang Yifan narrowed his eyes with contempt, as if he was certain that Su Xingyao would fail the moment he left the company, and continued.

“Xingyao, do you think you’re Shen Huaixi? He has the popularity and the traffic. As for you? You’re full of scandals, you got criticized in the last show, there are negative trending searches all over. Besides Xingxing Entertainment, which company would dare to sign you after termination?”

Liang Yifan’s words were blunt and harsh.

He had many ways to persuade Su Xingyao to discuss the contract termination calmly, but in the end, he habitually chose the method he thought would hurt Su Xingyao the most.

Although he didn’t know the relationship between Shen Huaixi and Su Xingyao, he could sense the subtle atmosphere between them. Especially how Shen Huaixi was up in the sky, while Su Xingyao was being trampled in the mud.

After saying these words, Liang Yifan felt a sense of satisfaction, as if he had successfully “pushed” the other person.

However, what he didn’t expect was that Su Xingyao’s response was simply, “It doesn’t matter.”

It doesn’t matter.

For him, leaving Qin Mingchuan’s company for Shen Huaixi didn’t matter at all.

Su Xingyao’s calm attitude made Liang Yifan momentarily feel that maybe Su Xingyao knew something. Maybe he knew that the higher-ups had helped him when he debuted, providing him with decent resources and quickly reaching out to Liang Yifan after he gained some popularity.

All the good resources in the company were reserved for Shen Huaixi, Su Xingyao didn’t need to deal with any negative press or clarifications.

Liang Yifan listened to the company and did so many bad things and now, seeing Su Xingyao’s unwavering attitude, he felt humiliated and raised his voice to make himself seem less guilty.

“Stop dreaming. Even if you want to terminate the contract, you still need to finish filming the drama you’re working on.”

Su Xingyao immediately refused, knowing it wouldn’t be a good role. “You didn’t get my consent, and I never signed a contract.”

Liang Yifan smiled maliciously. “The company and I have the right to make decisions for you.”

Then, he gritted his teeth and emphasized again.

“The S-level drama, you’re preparing to join the cast in three days.”

Since the contract was still in Liang Yifan’s hands, Su Xingyao knew he couldn’t refuse, so he decided not to argue further.

After casually replying “Okay,” he hung up the phone.

Taking the phone away from his ear, Su Xingyao noticed a text message from an unfamiliar number.

The unfamiliar number said:

Xingyao, it’s fine if you’re angry and block me as many times as you want, but can you please not treat Mom and Dad like this? Do you know how much it hurts them?

Shen Huaixi’s self-pitying words appeared right in the center of the screen, making Su Xingyao speechless.

He quickly blocked the number and decided to visit the service center to change his phone number at a convenient time.

—

Being harassed by two people in a row was indeed annoying, but neither of them was enough to ruin Su Xingyao’s mood.

He switched his phone to silent mode and walked toward the rose garden, intending to continue cutting a few more rose bouquets.

However, after only taking a few steps and passing a row of hydrangeas, he realized that Lu Jiuxu was sitting in a chair, looking at him.

The other person was holding a stack of documents in his hand, with a cup of coffee placed on the table in front of him.

It was clear that he was working here.

Su Xingyao was a bit surprised to see Lu Jiuxu. Just yesterday, Aunt Zhang had mentioned that he was abroad for business.

He didn’t expect him to return so soon, and even more surprising was that he was already here looking at documents so early.

When their eyes met, Su Xingyao immediately remembered his earlier phone call with his manager.

His previous position had been just a hydrangea away from Lu Jiuxu.

With such a short distance, he must have disturbed him.

Finally realizing why Lu Jiuxu had been staring at him earlier, Su Xingyao’s eyes immediately softened with a hint of apology.

“Mr. Lu, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were here. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

Lu Jiuxu calmly withdrew his gaze, and his expression didn’t show any displeasure from being interrupted.

“It’s fine. I just arrived.”

He took a sip of his coffee, elegantly placed the documents down, and then gestured for Su Xingyao to sit.

“Mr. Su, let’s talk.”

Su Xingyao was slightly surprised by his words.

Nonetheless, he walked over confidently and took a seat in the chair opposite.

Su Xingyao glanced at him with his faintly curious eyes, wondering what Lu Jiuxu wanted to talk about.

What happened next was unexpected.

When Lu Jiuxu said he wanted to chat, it truly was a casual conversation.

He casually brought up a topic and then started talking to him.

During their conversation, Su Xingyao realized that Lu Jiuxu had an elegant manner and profound knowledge, with none of the petty commercialism or vulgarity that many businessmen possessed.

His voice was also magnetic and pleasant, and listening to him felt as comforting as a gentle breeze.

Before he knew it, Su Xingyao had been talking to him for over an hour.

This gave him a new understanding of this seemingly villainous big boss.

The pleasant exchange ended only with the arrival of Sunset.

The dog, with its strong possessiveness, didn’t even recognize its own owner and directly jumped onto the chair next to Su Xingyao.

Su Xingyao petted Sunset’s head, his eyes curving into a smile. Seemingly casually, he spoke the words that had been on his mind.

“Mr. Lu, I’m sorry for the trouble these past few days. Thank you so much.”

The last time they met, Lu Jiuxu had left in a hurry, and Su Xingyao never got the chance to properly thank him.

“Thank you for saving me, and thank you for looking after me during this time, as well as for covering my medical expenses…”

Lu Jiuxu gave a slight nod, but unintentionally interrupted the words Su Xingyao had intended to say next.

“It was Aunt Zhang who took care of you.”

Among all the topics they had discussed, Lu Jiuxu only mentioned this one and credited all the care to Aunt Zhang.

Su Xingyao didn’t expect him to say it like that, so he could only smile and reply, “It’s the same.”

If it weren’t for Lu Jiuxu, he would never have met Aunt Zhang.

Moreover, Lu Jiuxu had taken him in when he had nowhere to go, which was already a huge act of kindness. Not to mention the expensive medical fees, Lu Jiuxu had never even brought it up with him.

His gaze rested on the smile at the corner of Su Xingyao’s lips, and Lu Jiuxu also smiled faintly.

“Why bring this up all of a sudden?” he asked.

Su Xingyao glanced at him.

Given Lu Jiuxu’s depth of insight and keen observation, it was easy for him to understand what Su Xingyao meant.

However, since Lu Jiuxu had asked, Su Xingyao still answered him honestly.

“Mr. Lu, you’ve done a lot for me, and I want to personally thank you.”

Su Xingyao continued, “Please let me know the medical expenses.”

As he spoke, Su Xingyao looked at Lu Jiuxu.

But Lu Jiuxu’s deeply profound gaze was now quietly fixed on him, as if he didn’t want to discuss the matter.

Su Xingyao had no choice but to stop the conversation on that topic and awkwardly told Lu Jiuxu the real reason he had come.

“Mr. Lu… I’ve been bothering you for too long.”

He had been here for too long, and it was time for him to leave.

Even though Aunt Zhang loved him, the dog, Sunset, liked to be spoiled, and he enjoyed the peonies here, everything in this place didn’t truly belong to him.

The brief time he had spent here, feeling at ease and relaxed, was already a rare luxury.

Although Lu Jiuxu had never shown any intention of asking him to leave, Su Xingyao still had enough self-awareness.

This was not his home, and he couldn’t keep imposing on the place indefinitely.

After hearing Su Xingyao’s words, Lu Jiuxu didn’t respond immediately. He simply lowered his head and took another sip of coffee.

A long while passed before he finally spoke, his gaze still focused on the coffee on the table.

“It’s gotten cold.”

He seemed to be mumbling to himself about the coffee, but his eyes were on Su Xingyao.

Then, seemingly casually, he said something else.

“Your health isn’t fully recovered yet, you should stay here a little longer.”

Lu Jiuxu looked at the bouquet of sunset coral that Su Xingyao was holding in his hands and smiled slightly.

“Just consider… temporarily looking after these flowers for me.”

Following Lu Jiuxu’s gaze, Su Xingyao also lowered his eyes to the delicate peony petals in his hands.

He thought that Lu Jiuxu would follow along with his words and tacitly agree to his departure.

After all, this was how things should be between strangers, right?

But unexpectedly, Lu Jiuxu kept him here.

And for a reason that was rather inexplicable.

Su Xingyao understood that Lu Jiuxu was probably not someone who liked to be rejected.

So, when the topic reached this point, and Lu Jiuxu had already spoken to keep him, although Su Xingyao didn’t understand the reason, he also realized there was no need to push further.

He gently adjusted the petals in his hands, his light-colored eyes looking toward Lu Jiuxu.

“Mr. Lu, do you like peonies as well? I see you’ve planted many sunset corals in the garden.”

Lu Jiuxu looked at the pair of pale eyes, thoughtful for a moment before answering honestly.

“No.”

But in the next moment, he spoke again.

“It’s from a friend of mine…”

“Maybe he liked them.”

As he spoke, Lu Jiuxu seemed to remember a pair of light brown eyes that were similar to Su Xingyao’s.

—

That night, as Su Xingyao went to bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about Lu Jiuxu’s two sentences.

They sounded a little strange.

But he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.

If it was a friend who liked them, why use the uncertain word “maybe”?

Later that night, he had a dream.

In the dream, there was a blurry yet familiar figure.

The figure was a boy, around seven or eight years old. In the dream, he was by the side of the younger, crying version of Su Xingyao, gently stroking his hair to comfort him while firmly saying two sentences.

“You will definitely become the brightest star.”

“Don’t ever deny yourself because of anyone.”

“You will definitely become the brightest star…”

When Su Xingyao woke up, those words still echoed in his ears.

He got up, grabbed a pen, and quickly wrote the two sentences down on a piece of paper.

After returning to the Shen family, he had this dream many times. In the dream, this friend of his would always encourage him with unwavering support.

But for all these years, the scenes in the dream had always been blurry with just a few words.

Yet this time, he finally saw a clearer scene.

Although he still couldn’t see the person’s face, he could tell that the person was comforting the crying version of himself.

“You will definitely become the brightest star.”

“Don’t ever deny yourself because of anyone.”

From the first time he dreamed of this person, his intuition told him that this person must be someone incredibly important to him.

Although he had unfortunately forgotten about him, it was this person who came into his dreams to firmly support him when his whole family was denying his dreams.

Su Xingyao placed the two lines he wrote and his ID together.

This time, he would not deny himself because of anyone.

—

The day after chatting with Lu Jiuxu in the garden, he flew abroad again.

And that same night, Su Xingyao was called into the “Falling Flowers and Glass” drama group by Liang Yifan.