Chapter 16
Seeing the defiance in Lu Xiao’s eyes, Lu Lou called out to him. “Where are you going? Don’t do anything stupid.”
This brother of his had terminal love-brain syndrome. What if, after hitting a wall here, he went racing up in the mountains out of spite?
Lu Yushu said sharply, “He won’t. He values his life now.”
Lu Lou snorted. “Being lovestruck does have its perks.”
There had been countless accidents where race drivers flew off the track in bloody wrecks. When Lu Xiao used to race, the entire family worried. To spare their father the anxiety, Lu Xiao even used an English name when racing abroad, with everyone helping to cover for him. After getting married, he truly settled down—never touching those extreme thrills again.
By rights, at this point, the elder brothers should have stepped in to advise Meng Xueyuan not to be so distant. But on the very first day they registered their marriage, Lu Xiao had made it clear: anyone who dared approach Meng Xueyuan would be cut off completely.
“……” He hadn’t even won his wife over yet—who wouldn’t value their life? Lu Xiao didn’t look back as he walked out, brushing past Lu Yushu. In the corridor outside stood two impeccably dressed secretaries.
Each was absorbed in their phone, not talking, their expressions cool and professional. When they saw Lu Xiao, they gave him a slight nod.
The reason these two had been able to stay by the eldest and second brothers’ sides for so long wasn’t just their outstanding competence and pleasing looks—it was their loyalty. They were loyal to the eldest brother alone; the second couldn’t command them, and vice versa. Even headhunters came away empty-handed.
Thinking about what he was about to do, Lu Xiao frowned. If he shifted his focus away from the entertainment industry, his work would overlap less with Meng Xueyuan’s—and he’d see him even less.
If only Meng Xueyuan could be his secretary—working in the same office every day, riding in the same car…
Forget it. He could only choose his own path; he couldn’t force Meng Xueyuan to make choices for him.
When the time came, he’d hire a couple of capable secretaries himself, so he could leave work early and see his wife. His brothers’ secretaries were excellent—but unfortunately impossible to poach.
Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Xiao suddenly noticed that the two secretaries were wearing a certain luxury brand’s current-season pieces.
Why did he know that so clearly?
Because when the brand sent clothes to Meng Xueyuan, Lu Xiao had paid extra to order ten more sets for his wife.
Carefully selected. Extremely expensive.
Dressing up his wife was a joy.
But Lu Xiao wasn’t feeling very joyful right now. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what felt off—only that suspicion filled his chest. Surely he couldn’t be uncomfortable just because the secretaries were wearing the same brand as Meng Xueyuan?
He wasn’t particularly sensitive about wearing matching outfits. After thinking it over, the problem had to lie with his two brothers.
He pivoted on his heel and went back, saying to Lu Yushu and Lu Lou, who were mid-discussion, “You treat your secretaries this well—so how is it excessive for me to start a company for my wife?”
Don’t be so hypocritical.
They claimed they didn’t buy clothes for their secretaries, but there was no way a secretary would spend a year’s salary on two luxury outfits. Luxury brands didn’t just fall from the sky.
This was just one of Lu Xiao’s rare visits to Lu Group headquarters, yet every time he came, the secretaries looked brand-new.
For all he knew, the wardrobes of his brothers’ secretaries might be fuller than his wife’s!
The thought shocked Lu Xiao. His wife marrying a powerless rich second-generation like him was simply too unfair. And Meng Xueyuan had never once complained.
Lu Lou looked puzzled. “How are we treating them well?”
Lu Yushu crossed one leg over the other and said in bemusement, “Why do you always measure things against my secretary?”
Lu Xiao replied, “You know exactly why. Big Brother won’t criticize Second Brother, but honestly—who brings their secretary along just to submit a contract? People like you, who turn into giant babies the moment you’re away from your secretaries, what right do you have to laugh at me for being love-brained?”
He piled on another round of sarcasm, feeling a bit better afterward. “Useless.”
Big Brother and Second Brother: “……”
—
The Lu family study.
After starting their careers, the three Lu brothers lived separately and only came home to eat together when they had time.
For someone like Lu Xiao to come home and head straight for the study instead of the kitchen was extremely rare.
Lu Fengge and Lu Xiao sat facing each other.
Lu Fengge was nearly fifty yet still handsome. A few lines etched by time lined the corners of his eyes, adding three parts authority in public and two parts refinement at home.
He listened as his youngest son said he wanted to enter the company— like his two older brothers.
Like his two older brothers… what a ghostly notion. When Lu Third Young Master was five, he’d already been arrogant enough to challenge his two brothers to a one-on-two fight. After losing, he’d boarded a southbound train overnight, run away from home, and gone back to their southwestern hometown to find their great-grandfather.
Lu Fengge understood this son well. With two exceptionally outstanding brothers above him, Lu Xiao had never wanted to compete on the same track or be compared with them.
Part of it was innate temperament. Another part was Lu Fengge’s own oversight—allowing certain sour-faced people to say to young Lu Xiao, “Your two brothers are already good enough. You don’t need to work hard. You can just rely on them in the future.”
Young Lu Xiao’s grades had been excellent too. Hearing that kind of talk too often inevitably bred defiance. Still, it never damaged the brotherly bond. He dabbled in this and that; some thought Lu Xiao was wasting his potential, but as family they could see clearly—he made a name for himself in every circle he entered, stirring waves wherever he went.
In Lu Xiao’s eyes, his brothers were useless opponents he could beat. There was no way he would ever say something like “be like my two older brothers.”
Lu Fengge focused his thoughts—had something happened?
With both his eldest and second sons around, Lu Fengge had actually always been at ease letting Lu Xiao roam outside. If he ever tired of it and returned home to inherit the family business, Lu Fengge had the leverage to make that happen.
Not yet fifty, Lu Fengge naturally wouldn’t hand over full authority to Lu Lou and Lu Yushu. He still handled affairs himself, keeping things balanced and reserving a portion for his youngest.
Lu Fengge began, “You—”
Lu Xiao cut in, “Don’t ask.”
Lu Fengge closed his eyes briefly. If that face didn’t so clearly belong to his own bloodline, no amount of beating would ever be enough.
“There’s no problem with you going into business,” Lu Fengge said. “The question is—how long can you stick with it this time?”
He adopted the patience of a father teaching his son. “On average, you switch circles every two years. The business world doesn’t work like that.” Investments that move hundreds of billions are planned around returns ten or twenty years down the line. What can you accomplish in two years?
The momentary thrill of signing contracts?
Father and son locked eyes—sharp brows and bright gazes, each faintly reflecting the other.
“I’m serious,” Lu Xiao said.
Lu Fengge picked up a file from the desk and tossed it to him. “You can take this Middle Eastern project. Prove it to me, and I’ll assign people to support you.”
Lu Xiao opened the proposal, skimmed it, and immediately spotted the trap. “The person in charge has to travel there for three months?”
Lu Fengge nodded in satisfaction. Worthy of being his son—he’d zeroed in on the key point right away.
Lu Xiao exclaimed, “You just don’t want to go yourself, so you’re dumping it on me?!”
So much for goodwill.
Lu Fengge said, “It’s rare that you offer to share my burden. What—regretting it now?”
Lu Xiao had to admit this was an extremely valuable project. If he performed well, it would be an unparalleled stepping stone. Lu Group might not find another chance this good for him to enter management within a year.
But having just come out of days spent together with Meng Xueyuan, Lu Xiao couldn’t imagine being unable to see him for three months. Would that tiny spark of intimacy just go out?
Chasing his wife couldn’t be putting the cart before the horse—Lu Xiao’s thinking was perfectly clear.
Still, the words had already been spoken. Backing out would be humiliating, so he nitpicked and tried to reason his way into making Lu Fengge go instead.
A figure in loungewear appeared at the study doorway—tall and slender, with smooth black short hair. Like Lu Fengge, his age was hard to guess; one could only tell that in his youth he must have been a peerless beauty, the kind time could never defeat.
This was Lu Xiao’s other father, Shen Ning. All three brothers had been born to Shen Ning.
Male pregnancy was relatively rare. Shen Ning kept a low profile; the world only knew Lu Fengge and his two outstanding sons. The third son, Lu Xiao, like his other father, even kept his name out of the public eye.
Growing up, Lu Xiao had witnessed Lu Fengge’s endless social engagements and Shen Ning’s casual freedom. The stark contrast between their lifestyles made his choice decisive—he chose the latter.
Seeing his younger father, Lu Xiao couldn’t help thinking of the spoilsport Yao Quan from the variety show. Heh—failing to become a “third party” for a gay man and then flying into a rage, completely illogical.
Lu Xiao said smoothly, “When you first got married, you stayed in Hong Kong for a whole year without coming home. A three-month business trip is nothing—so you should go yourself.”
He was different. Two years into marriage, he still couldn’t bear to be away from Meng Xueyuan.
Lu Fengge: “……Don’t bring up the past.”
Back then, he’d married into Shen Ning’s family at barely twenty, with no emotional foundation. Lu Fengge had merged Shen family resources and fought for his career in Hong Kong, while Young Master Shen, freshly returned from overseas, stayed rooted in Nancheng instead. After the wedding, they hadn’t seen each other for a year. Now, Lu Fengge had no desire to travel for work at all—not even assignments where he could bring Shen Ning along. After finally raising two sons capable of standing on their own, even the youngest had, for the first time ever, offered to shoulder his father’s burdens.
Lu Fengge said, “Miss this village, and there won’t be another shop.”
Lu Xiao still didn’t agree.
The project required three months of overseas travel in its later stage—no different from leaving the entertainment industry. He and Meng Xueyuan had agreed to divorce once he became popular. He’d kept stubbornly insisting, “How am I popular?” and dragged things out until now.
If he quit the industry, both fame and infamy would vanish, and there would be no reason for the marriage to continue. If Meng Xueyuan brought up divorce again, how should he respond? Taking this step felt no different from walking a tightrope.
An unprecedented gravity settled over Lu Xiao’s expression—bearing more than a trace of Lu Fengge’s decision-making air.
Shen Ning came in, patted Lu Xiao on the shoulder, and said to Lu Fengge, “Don’t make things hard for your son.”
Lu Fengge was speechless. “I don’t even know what I’m making things hard about.”
Ask anything—except don’t ask.
Their family really was too open-minded.
“I’ll think about it for a few days,” Lu Xiao said. Tomorrow he was going on set with Meng Xueyuan to film the urban portion of Little Mountain God. There would be lots of scenes together—maybe after finishing them, he’d finally succeed in winning him over.
Shen Ning asked, “You and Little Meng went on a marriage variety show as trainee guests? Was it fun?”
Lu Xiao told the truth. “Not fun.” He’d thought it would be a date to deepen their feelings, but instead there was Yao Quan and Xie Jingfeng spewing nonsense in front, and Liu Qingqing hurting Meng Xueyuan on behalf of Miss Wang in the back.
A total pitfall. He wasn’t looking forward to the next episode at all.
Shen Ning raised an eyebrow. He’d thought that with all the loud online fanservice, the two might end up making it real.
Maybe it was because he and Lu Fengge had married too early—this third son of theirs didn’t seem able to truly step into marriage.
Shen Ning hadn’t watched marriage variety shows before. Thinking Lu Xiao was just bored, he comforted him, “You’re still young. The other guests are all long-married couples—you can’t grasp their points yet, so of course it’s dull.”
Lu Fengge was bent over his desk writing, not even lifting his eyes. “How is he young? At our age, people already have two kids.”
Lu Xiao said, “That’s really strange—how did you manage to win over my dad who’d just returned from studying abroad?”
“An arranged marriage,” Lu Fengge replied. “Want me to arrange one for you too?”
Lu Xiao thought: What’s so impressive about that? I also relied on my own ability to get into a contract marriage, okay?
…
Crown Apartments.
Meng Xueyuan sat on the sofa closest to the front door, playing on his phone while listening for sounds.
Lu Xiao had told him they’d leave together for the set tomorrow, but next door it was completely quiet. The owner still hadn’t returned.
Had he gone home for a family gathering? Lu Xiao’s family was in Nancheng, after all. That must be it.
Ding— WeChat chimed.
Meng Xueyuan had added the follow-shot cameraman from Harmony of Marriage on WeChat. The other party sent him a huge compressed file.
[This is the content that got cut from the variety show. I think it’s very meaningful, so I’m sending a copy to Teacher Meng. You can reminisce when you have time.]
The skinny cameraman had sent Lu Xiao a copy of the “wife-watching maniac” footage per his request. After thinking it over, he casually forwarded the compressed file to Meng Xueyuan as well.
Meng Xueyuan glanced at the file size—it was huge. Had the cameraman sent him everything beyond the two hours of broadcast footage?
Idle was idle anyway. He’d download it to his tablet and watch.
Just as Meng Xueyuan was about to grab the tablet, WeChat vibrated several more times in quick succession.
Unlike Lu Xiao, who disliked answering calls, Meng Xueyuan—as the queen bee clan leader—believed timely handling of messages was only right.
The screen was filled with good news.
003: Obtained a May 1st Labor Medal, bonus 10,000 yuan.
004: Reliable news—Uncle Deng has been selected as a Model Worker!
031: Commendation ceremony on April 28.
0177: Reporting to the clan leader—today the supervisor told me he nominated me for the National Model Worker selection. Chances are high. Long live the motherland.jpg
The numbers were assigned according to clan members’ ages in the year Meng Xueyuan was born—the larger the number, the older the member. Those with three-digit numbers were already over fifty.
Meng Xueyuan immediately forgot about the compressed file, reread the messages several times, and replied to each with praise.
[Forensic bee, thank you for your hard work. Stay safe and rest well while running the front lines.]
[Bees dancing.gif]
[I’ll be sure to watch on time.]
[Uncle Deng is amazing! Take care of your health—best model worker!]
Hardworking little bees—who wouldn’t want a Model Worker medal?
For worker bees, the highest honor was becoming a model worker.
When Meng Xueyuan first entered the industry, netizens had also called him a “model worker,” but it was only teasing, without real weight.
Excited and envious, Meng Xueyuan immediately ordered fresh flowers and fruit for express delivery.
Such great news—if only he could share it with Lu Xiao.
Meng Xueyuan opened his door, planning to take a quick look and then go to sleep. Just then, he saw the elevator doors open at the far end of the hallway. Lu Xiao walked out, carrying a box of documents and a food container.
Lu Xiao dumped the box of files at the door and brought the food container over. “Homemade durian mille crêpe. Want to try some?”
Meng Xueyuan slowly backed away. “Thanks, but no.”
Durian smelled awful. Even bees wouldn’t pollinate it. He preferred fruits pollinated by bees—the “fruits” of their labor.
The nuptial flight plan was suspended for three days.
Just as Meng Xueyuan was about to head back inside, he suddenly noticed the box of documents Lu Xiao had brought back.
They didn’t look like film contracts or scripts. What were they?
Lu Xiao explained, “I’ve been thinking of doing some further study lately.”
“Studying what?” Meng Xueyuan asked.
Not wanting to lie, Lu Xiao said, “Business.”
Meng Xueyuan recalled how his manager Lin Mu often said, “Lu Xiao will quit the industry sooner or later.” His expression changed slightly—was this finally the day?
