Chapter 60

At that moment, Bai Wei received an invitation to a private gathering from the old publishing group.

At first, Bai Wei thought the gathering was for the new authors the publishing group had signed. At least, he expected to see some senior executives and editors. But when he arrived at the meeting room in the hotel, he found only one person.

It was a graceful middle-aged man, with his back to him. Bai Wei felt a sense of alert. He quickly thought of terms like “rules of the game.”

But the reality was worse. The middle-aged man turned around, revealing a face that resembled Bai Wei’s.

“I am your father,” he said.

It turned out that there was no admiration for talent, no such thing as the birth of a lucky star. The only reason the old publishing group helped Bai Wei was simple: he was the child of the powerful Xie Jingyu.

And so far, he was Xie Jingyu’s only child. Ten years after Bai Zhu’s death, Xie Jingyu remarried another woman. They had a child, but two years ago, that child passed away. A year ago, Xie Jingyu divorced.

Bai Wei’s position thus became very important, especially since he was so exceptional — something he realized in the following month.

Xie Jingyu heard about Bai Wei eloping and observed that there had been no one by his side in recent months. He easily saw through Bai Wei’s explanation that Lu Sen had gone on a business trip, saying, “I know you’re unhappy in your marriage. Most elopements end like this.”

His next words lit Bai Wei’s fuse: “Just like me and Bai Zhu. We always saw reality too clearly. I never expected that, years later, our child would repeat the same mistakes.”

Xie Jingyu said he only wanted to help Bai Wei. Publishing was part of the Xie family business but not all of it. He knew Bai Wei’s previous plans with his publishing house and knew Bai Wei didn’t want to be a famous author. This was fine; he didn’t want Bai Wei to waste his energy on such things. He took over Bai Wei’s contract, hoping Bai Wei could work in a relatively relaxed environment. Of course, his ultimate goal was to have Bai Wei join the Xie family business and eventually take his position.

He even wanted Bai Wei to change his surname and return to the family.

Bai Wei’s most polite response was to slam the door in Xie Jingyu’s face.

At first, Xie Jingyu didn’t mind. After all, he had been proud when he was young. He created many opportunities for Bai Wei to understand what the Xie family was doing, to know what benefits Bai Wei could gain if he rose to power, and to see how heavy and glorious it was to be the head of a big family. Anyway, Bai Wei had already broken off with the Bai family.

But Bai Wei was resistant to all of it. Eventually, Xie Jingyu incredulously said, “Why are you as stubborn as Bai Zhu? What’s wrong with this?”

Bai Wei replied, “I’m not interested.”

But Xie Jingyu looked at him with a serious expression and said, “Don’t forget, your contract was once with X Publishing, and now it’s with us. Whether it’s with them or with us, it’s the same. Although the contract is more flexible, as long as you write even one word, it’s money for the Xie family.”

When it came to negotiation, Xie Jingyu knew how to strike where it hurt.

Bai Wei’s response was simple: “I don’t have to write a single word.”

“But that was ten years, wasn’t it? The most golden decade of a person’s twenties to thirties.”

Bai Wei wanted to kill Xie Jingyu, but a blurry memory surfaced in his mind. It seemed like when he was very young, Bai Zhu and Xie Jingyu had taken him to a water park… He walked out of the room with a dark face, and at that moment, Xie Jingyu said, “Bai Wei, I don’t even mind if you use the Xie family to consolidate power and climb higher, but you need to face reality and stop making mistakes.”

“Do you think Bai Zhu and Black Harbor City were mistakes too?” Bai Wei turned around and stared at Xie Jingyu, his eyes reflecting the sunlight like the ripples in a pool.

Upon hearing Bai Zhu’s name, Xie Jingyu wavered. But soon, he angrily said, “What good is a place like Black Harbor City, filled with crime and filth? If I hadn’t gone there with Bai Zhu, things wouldn’t be like this now!”

Bai Wei angrily returned to his apartment. He locked himself in, only leaving when he needed to buy basic necessities. He stayed in the apartment for over a month, in a daze, forcing himself not to write a single word or speak a single sentence, until Lu Sen found him again.

When he opened the door, he found Lu Sen standing outside, the one who had rung the doorbell three times was his resurrected newlywed husband. Lu Sen had that annoying fake smile on his face, and he looked around the apartment, saying, “Darling, is this where you’re living now?”

“…”

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time. During this time, I read many geography magazines and found a few picturesque towns that would be perfect for settling down. But it seems like you’ve changed your mind now.” Lu Sen smiled warmly. “Does living in South City make you happier? We could change our plans and consider living here.”

Bai Wei’s phone vibrated — it was a call from Xie Jingyu. He looked at Lu Sen, feeling choked up, and unexpectedly spoke the truth, in a moment meant for confrontation between just the two of them.

“No, I’m not happy at all,” he said.

“That’s good,” Lu Sen held his hand, “You can let me in first. I brought a list of towns where we could settle. We can choose the one you like best and continue with our goal from half a year ago.”

Bai Wei’s contract was still stuck between the two sides, which was intentional on Xie Jingyu’s part. But after that, he and Lu Sen flew to Snow Mountain Town to continue their newlywed goals.

He was in a daze, detached, but it didn’t matter. In the past, he needed to leave Qinghe with someone; now, he needed to leave South City with someone. His feelings for Lu Sen back then were no more than that.

Lu Sen waited outside the study for a long time. He recalled Xie Jingyu’s words, the accusations about Bai Wei wasting his talents, and the criticism of him indulging Bai Wei’s wastefulness… He kept his eyes fixed on Bai Wei, afraid that he might do something extreme.

Even so, one of his hands reached inside, hiding under the desk, ready for action.

Finally, Bai Wei fell asleep on the desk. Lu Sen gently tapped his shoulder with his hand, trying to make him sleep more comfortably.

When Bai Wei woke up, he got up and walked out of the study. Soon, he saw a large lump at the door. Lu Sen was squatting there, like a dog abandoned overnight, staring at him pitifully.

“Dogs are man’s best friend,” this phrase humorously flashed through Bai Wei’s mind.

Lu Sen: “I don’t know how he found the house’s phone number, I haven’t contacted him…”

“He probably found my contact information from the town government’s archives, or through the post office, or from a letter Li Yuan sent before… it doesn’t matter, he would have found it eventually,” Bai Wei said.

“Then it’s not my fault…” Lu Sen looked at him carefully.

“Yeah. It’s not your fault.” Bai Wei said expressionlessly as he went to wash up. He didn’t want to see Lu Sen at the moment.

What he truly didn’t want was for Lu Sen to see how vulnerable and broken he had become.

Clearly, Lu Sen was not a gentleman, nor was he a perfect young master from a noble family. Lu Sen was a monster with a fabricated past; he was the “son of elopement” with a dark history. But in the past, Bai Wei could still stand a head taller than Lu Sen, using things he had earned through hard work.

But now, his business failure secret was known to Lu Sen.

That’s the way the adult world works—failure in your career means complete failure, regardless of any past accomplishments.

Sleeping on the desk for one night indeed had an effect on his appearance. Bai Wei looked into the mirror and saw himself pale and haggard, with dark circles under his eyes.

When he went downstairs for breakfast, he saw that it had already been set on the table. Bai Wei initially wanted to sneak out through the back door, but Lu Sen had already spotted him.

“Darling, do you want to have breakfast?” Lu Sen looked at him with a pitiful expression.

Running away in a panic would be even more embarrassing… and Lu Sen had already invited him. Bai Wei hesitated for a moment before sitting back at the table.

There were two fried eggs on the table, and Lu Sen was holding a peeled boiled egg in his hand. He handed the boiled egg to Bai Wei, “You can rub this on your eyes to reduce swelling.”

Bai Wei couldn’t be bothered to make any defiant comments like “my eyes aren’t swollen.” He just looked at the egg suspiciously. “Is this really useful?”

“Definitely useful,” Lu Sen said confidently.

After all, this wasn’t just an egg; it was one of his severed tentacles, disguised as an egg. In fact, the tentacle he held was covered in a liquid used to enhance skin activity.

Bai Wei: …

For some reason, the egg gave him an ominous feeling. Bai Wei took it and placed it on the edge of another plate… Why did it feel strange to the touch?

He glanced at Lu Sen suspiciously, and Lu Sen looked at him sincerely.

“Alright, darling, do you have any plans after this?”

“Going to work,” Bai Wei said. He did indeed have classes today, which was why he had left the study earlier.

No matter his mood, he would pretend to be a normal person in front of everyone.

“But you only slept for four hours last night,” Lu Sen said.

How did Lu Sen know he had only slept for four hours?

“It’s fine,” Bai Wei said.

They had just fought yesterday, yet today they were maintaining a fake peace at the breakfast table. Finally, Lu Sen asked the first topic that broke the silence: “Darling, what are your plans for the future?”

“…”

Bai Wei lowered his head and ate his fried egg.

“Do you want to continue being an art teacher in Snow Mountain Town, or do you want to continue being a writer?”

“…I haven’t thought about it,” Bai Wei had to admit.

“You should have thought about it. When Tang Lin was shooting the short drama, you said you couldn’t take it anymore, so you revised some of the script. When you were writing, you seemed really happy,” Lu Sen said. “And I also saw many drafts on your desk. They were just started, but you stopped and threw them aside.”

Bai Wei suddenly looked up: “You went into my study?”