Chapter 102 – Extra: Fragments
Years after parting ways in the Southwest, when Lu Xiao saw Meng Xueyuan again, he was on the 101st floor of the Sea Star Building, looking through floor-to-ceiling windows at fine flakes of snow drifting down, dusting the black metal window frames with thin streaks of white.
After getting the authority to pick Lu Xiao’s teammates, Lin Mu became obsessed with playing talent scout. He dedicated himself to selecting ordinary people from universities who were outstanding in both character and academics—and good-looking—absolutely refusing to choose anyone pushed by capital despite lacking looks. The moment he saw Meng Xueyuan, Lin Mu felt a self-satisfied thrill of having found a true gem. He tried again and again to persuade Meng Xueyuan to join the entertainment industry, this “warm big family,” patting his chest and promising there were no hidden rules.
Meng Xueyuan didn’t believe him, but he was worried about Baihua Village’s path to prosperity, so he agreed to meet the teammate on the other side—someone with a lot of say.
Whether the other party was a good person, he would know at a glance.
Lin Mu was as nervous as a matchmaker—afraid Meng Xueyuan wouldn’t like Lu Xiao, and afraid Lu Xiao wouldn’t like Meng Xueyuan. On the phone, he exaggerated how well-matched, considerate, and beautiful Meng Xueyuan was; after hanging up, he told Meng Xueyuan how upright, friendly, and driven Lu Xiao was.
Meng Xueyuan’s expression stayed calm; he didn’t take it to heart. His roommate, hearing he was going for an interview, reminded him to read the contract carefully and keep a cool, aloof demeanor—hard to pin down. Meng Xueyuan already looked more and more like a handful of pristine snow; even without pretending, he was cool.
When the elevator doors opened and Meng Xueyuan followed Lin Mu inside, Lu Xiao happened to be remotely closing the curtains. The last sliver of light filtering through fell on Meng Xueyuan’s frost-and-snow-like profile; the red mole beside the bridge of his nose was like the red lights on an aircraft’s wings—flying straight into Lu Xiao’s heart and landing there.
Lu Xiao, who had been sitting with an air of swagger, didn’t know why he stood up.
He recognized Meng Xueyuan—the younger brother who had left without a word and made him shed the last tears of his childhood.
They looked at each other, eyes locked. For a moment, neither spoke.
Lin Mu didn’t dare breathe in between them, afraid even a ripple of air might affect their looks and make the two of them fail to click.
After ten minutes, Lin Mu said, “So? I didn’t lie, right? You’re very suitable as teammates.”
No one answered. Lin Mu said, “No response means yes. I’ll get the contract!”
When the contract arrived and both sat at the table, just before signing, Lu Xiao suddenly changed his mind. “I have one condition.”
He twirled the pen. “I’m providing the resources. How do I know you won’t get famous and go solo?”
Meng Xueyuan said, “I won’t.” Because you’re very handsome.
Lu Xiao stared at him. The little brother who used to be so cute and smiling—how had he become so cold? Had he gone through something bad while growing up?
Lu Xiao frowned slightly. The entertainment industry wasn’t a good place. If he couldn’t bring Meng Xueyuan into his protective circle, who knew how he’d be bullied?
Marriage.
Lu Xiao thought: he hadn’t inherited the family business. The greatest protection he could give Meng Xueyuan was marrying him—more effective than anything else.
The thought made his heart beat faster.
How could Meng Xueyuan grow up like this—looking like his little brother as a kid, and like his wife as an adult?
Lu Xiao pressed down the corners of his mouth. “A contractual marriage. Resource sharing.”
Meng Xueyuan instinctively glanced at Lin Mu.
Lin Mu screamed internally. Oh my god, Lu Third! I just promised Meng Xueyuan there were no hidden rules and you pull this? You’re losing your wife—no, your teammate!!
Meng Xueyuan thought for two seconds. “Okay.”
Lu Xiao said, “Then sign. After that, we’ll go register the marriage.”
Lin Mu: ???
Lu Xiao immediately called someone to send over two sets of clothes suitable for registering. He looked at Meng Xueyuan. “Your size?”
Meng Xueyuan gave a few numbers, a little nervous. “I’ll make a call.”
He called his mother to tell her he was going to register his marriage with Lu Xiao, emphasizing that the man was very handsome and definitely a good person.
Mother Meng said, “As long as Yuanyuan is sure, that’s fine. If it doesn’t work, you can divorce later. Tell Uncle Chu as well.”
“Okay.”
Meng Xueyuan then called the previous clan leader, Chu Jiexiang. Chu asked for Lu Xiao’s name, told him to wait, made a call to someone unknown, and after a while said, “You can marry.”
Lu Xiao had no idea he’d just been background-checked within minutes. He never thought to check Meng Xueyuan’s background himself—he happily went to register the marriage.
Afterward, he took both marriage certificates and slapped them onto his brother’s desk. “My wife. The Lu family has to protect him.”
His brother rubbed his temples. “.”
2.
The first time Lu Xiao noticed the CP fans of him and his wife was at a small arena performance. A leading CP fan spent a fortune to grab a front-row seat and held up a banner that read:
Through wind and rain, waiting for you on snowy nights.
Below, in small print: Welcome to follow the Snowy Night Super Topic.
Lu Xiao looked disdainful on the surface, but went back and searched it up anyway.
[Super Topic]: Today’s performance edit is out—absolutely insane eye contact, so much chemistry it’s criminal not to kiss! Bro, control yourself!!!
Lu Xiao clicked in. Is my desire to kiss my wife that obvious? Next time he’d restrain himself a bit. No help for it—the more time he spent with Meng Xueyuan, the more he felt this person was destined to be his wife.
Another comment read: Slow it down ten times—even a dog can see the affection.
[Super Topic]: AHHHH I’m shipping so hard—Lu Xiao sang two words wrong today and immediately looked to Yuanyuan’s reaction. Proof of wife-controlled behavior!
[Super Topic]: Brother Lu is the type of top who looks cool and alpha on the surface, pretending not to care about his wife, but privately washes his wife’s underwear every day and sneaks glances at her reaction when he messes up. No one would believe it if you said it out loud.
Lu Xiao clicked a thumbs-down. Pure slander—he’d never washed Meng Xueyuan’s underwear.
During the boy-group period, they lived in the same apartment and shared one bathroom.
Lu Xiao heard Meng Xueyuan’s phone ring; the other hurried out to take the call.
Lu Xiao grabbed his pajamas—his turn to shower.
When he went in, he noticed Meng Xueyuan hadn’t washed clothes before leaving as usual.
Possessed by some impulse, Lu Xiao mixed their clothes together, soaked them in water, rubbed in soap, and scrubbed away with his head down.
He washed the clothes—and the underwear too. When it came time to hang them up, he chickened out.
Wasn’t this too obvious? Would his wife realize his ulterior motives and start doubting why they’d registered the marriage?
Lu Xiao didn’t dare hang them out, but also couldn’t bear to give up the clothes he’d washed for his wife for the first time. He silently packed them into a bag, drove his sports car home overnight, and hung them on his own balcony.
Because Lu Xiao stayed in the bathroom too long, Meng Xueyuan forgot he hadn’t washed his clothes and only realized much later—had he lost a set of clothes?
The next day was bright and sunny. Lu Xiao skipped an hour of training and, when the manager asked, shamelessly said, “Went home to collect laundry.”
Lin Mu: ? No housekeeper?
3.
The boy group disbanded for two reasons. First, going solo was better for Meng Xueyuan’s career. His face and temperament were otherworldly; unbinding him from the group and shedding the floating idol image opened up more diverse paths.
Second… Lu Xiao felt he might very well end up forcing something on the bed one of these days—and then his wife would hate him and cut him off forever.
Especially with the current stage costumes… how could there be shirts with nothing but pleated straps across the chest?
The camera angle couldn’t capture it, but from his slightly elevated view, it felt like his wife was showing far too much in front of him.
Lu Xiao’s own jeans were ripped and tattered, yet at this moment he transformed into a feudal conservative.
He believed his wife should—immediately—go down the serious-actor route. Just eye acting alone would make audiences cry “divine performance.”
He kept these thoughts to himself and never dared ask his wife to cover up more.
When Lin Mu mentioned unbinding, Lu Xiao eagerly went along and even paid out of pocket to hire the best acting teacher for his wife.
Please—his wife had to hone his acting so well that he wouldn’t need to rely on his face in the future.
On the surface, Lu Xiao said calmly, “Polish your acting. Only if we both transition successfully is it a success. If even one of us doesn’t, people will still want to keep us as idols.”
Meng Xueyuan was also willing to focus on acting. Lu Xiao really wasn’t the type to indulge in mindless fan praise—he was a good person with artistic pursuits. “Okay.”
Later, they truly transitioned successfully.
Lu Xiao trained his acting every day, hoping to one day act opposite his wife. His acting had to be good enough that playing lovers together would feel effortless.
He studied hard.
A year later, Lu Xiao won Best Actor.
A year and a half later, he joined a near-extinction-level production with his wife to film Little Mountain God.
Not long after, he truly had his wife!
4.
At twenty-six, Lu Xiao was already, spiritually speaking, a father of three.
Yet he still enjoyed a high-quality two-person world with his wife—because Little Sweet’s uncles were simply too many, always borrowing the kid for a day of play.
After playing with the drone-bee uncle, Little Sweet would come back in the evening and make rounds—up and down—checking whether Grandpa, uncles, and dads had smooth days at work.
After playing with the strongest worker-bee uncle, before it even got dark, the little one would be so tired he’d sit on the floor clutching an egg roll, big eyes closed, wobbling like a roly-poly. His head would bob suddenly, he’d wake up, and stuff the egg roll into his mouth.
Shangguan Ning said, “Little Sweet is sleepy. Let’s take him home.”
Baby Meng Lingxiao rubbed his eyes and tried hard to stay professional. “Uncle, I’m not sleepy.”
They’d agreed to play all day.
Shangguan Ning laughed. “Alright, alright. Uncle will carry you—baby’s not sleepy.”
The baby really was sleepy, but he didn’t want to fall asleep in front of his uncle. He blinked and asked, “Uncle, do you have a sack?”
Meng Shancha asked, “What do you want a sack for?”
“Lots of aunties ask me what color sack I like.”
If so many people asked, sacks must suit him very well.
He thought about it. “Uncle, I like colorful ones.”
Meng Shancha found a rectangular blue plaid woven bag—the most ordinary kind used for packing luggage. Seventy centimeters long, forty wide, sixty high.
Little Sweet scurried in. The size was just right for lying flat. “Uncle, help me zip it up.”
That way, uncle wouldn’t see him fall asleep.
Meng Shancha zipped it up. Five seconds later, he unzipped it again and saw a sleeping baby.
He lifted the woven bag and handed it back to Lu Xiao.
Later, Meng Xueyuan was photographed shopping with Lu Xiao—Lu Xiao had a checkered snakeskin bag hanging from his arm.
Netizens looked left and right, suspecting it was a new LV fashion item.
So heavy—could it be a million in cash? Rich people really are something, carrying cash to shop.
Lu Xiao put the bag on a chair, and a pink, jade-like little treasure popped out.
It really was a fashion item—the Lu family’s eldest grandson’s new favorite bag!
“Daddy, I want ice cream too.” Little Sweet caught the scent of strawberry ice cream and wriggled out eagerly, staring longingly as his two dads shared one bite each.
Lu Xiao thought the kid would dawdle longer before coming out and quickly stuffed the last bite into his wife’s mouth. “You’re not fully over your cold yet—you can’t eat it. How about sweet soup instead?”
Little Sweet had no choice but to climb up, kiss Meng Xueyuan’s cheek, and pretend he’d gotten some ice cream too. “Daddy, I ate it.”
Meng Xueyuan kissed his cheek back. “You got another bite.”
“Daddy, give me one too!”
Lu Xiao leaned in and kissed him as well.
Baby Meng Lingxiao covered his cheeks with both hands—so sweet.
5.
In the secretary world, a drone bee who started from a low rung put on his headset and, under his husband’s “simultaneous interpretation coaching,” handled everything smoothly and wielded real power. When faced with doubt, he stated firmly: “That’s right—this is the CEO’s intention.”
He didn’t solve problems; he only relayed messages.
Secretary Bai, who never made mistakes, was actually late once to a morning meeting.
Lu Lou commented: the morning meeting wasn’t that important—but the consequences were very serious. The secretary didn’t talk to him for an entire day.
In the end, they had to rely on Little Sweet to fix things.
Little Sweet gently pushed open the bedroom door and squeezed in his little face, voice sugary sweet. “Uncle Bai He, Eldest Uncle wants to talk to you.”
After a while, he climbed onto the floor-sweeper robot and leaned on the study desk. “Eldest Uncle, Uncle Bai He says you’re sleeping in the study tonight.”
“Uncle Bai He, Eldest Uncle says he was wrong and won’t do it again.”
“Eldest Uncle, Uncle Bai He gave me a strawberry and told me not to pass on messages for you.”
“Uncle Bai He, Eldest Uncle gave me two strawberries.”
…
…
“Mmm, Eldest Uncle, I’m full now. You should talk to Uncle Bai He yourself.”
[End of Extras]
