Chapter 23
After washing up, Meng Xueyuan went with Lu Xiao to the office-building set. Most of the morning’s scenes were Lu Xiao’s.
The script had added about ten percent more business intrigue. Next, Lu Xiao was to shoot a boardroom scene: a large office, verbally cornering everyone else until they were speechless, with long, highly specialized lines. As for Meng Xueyuan’s little immortal, his job was simply to eavesdrop outside—no lines, just a few expressions.
The script was getting more and more realistic… Just as Meng Xueyuan was thinking that once Lu Xiao went into business he wouldn’t get to see him much, the screenwriter promptly delivered Lu Xiao’s meeting schedule right to his eyes.
Eavesdropping—wasn’t that basically him playing himself?
Meng Xueyuan stood by the window along the office corridor, peeking through a gap in the curtains to spy on the meeting inside.
This would be Lu Xiao in the future, wouldn’t it? Wearing suits and ties every day, face cold as he intimidated people. All those flamboyant clothes he liked would have to be pressed to the bottom of a suitcase for now, only to be worn after work.
Based on Lin Xilan’s and Bai He’s working hours, Meng Xueyuan guessed their boss often worked overtime too. Lu Xiao probably would as well.
Then would he still have time to wear the clothes he liked? If work were lighter and he could get off earlier, he’d have time to change into his favorite outfit and go for a stroll. Unfortunately, Lu Xiao had said not to use his connections, so Meng Xueyuan couldn’t help.
[“The ‘CEO’s’ project runs into trouble because one subordinate drops the ball. The Little Mountain God decides to secretly use his superpowers to help him.”]
“Cut!”
The director clapped his hands. “Lu Xiao, Meng Xueyuan—your acting has really improved. You can’t see the acting at all, it’s perfect! That’s a wrap for this scene! Off work—let’s eat lunch. This afternoon we shoot at the hotel. I’ll film you so handsome you’ll blow the sky off—add a slow-motion turn-and-look-back close-up. I’ve even thought of the Bilibili title: [Lu Xiao’s Last Stunning Glance Before Leaving the Industry]—the kind that gets over a billion likes.”
Everyone around had been eating the “Lu Xiao quitting the industry” gossip all morning but hadn’t dared discuss it in front of him. Now that the director brought it up first, people chimed in: “Shoot it, shoot it! One last big hit together with Lu Xiao! When people rank classic movie moments in the future, this will definitely be on the list!”
Lu Xiao: “……” Are we filming a movie, or wrapping dumplings just to eat the vinegar?
“Something’s wrong!” The stage manager, who’d been waiting for them to finish this scene, said anxiously. “Fans have surrounded the outside—we can’t get out. There are more and more of them, security can’t hold them back. We had to close the main entrance of the office building. All entrances, big and small, are completely blocked.”
Director: “What’s going on? Who’s causing trouble?”
The stage manager wore a bitter expression. “Lu Xiao’s fans. They came to see him one last time.”
Lu Xiao: “……” One last time?
The director immediately caught on. Just moments ago he’d been praising them; now he said, “You quit the industry and couldn’t pick a better time? Like waiting until our movie wraps to boost the buzz? Now look—you two can’t get out.”
The agent knew Lu Xiao and Meng Xueyuan were together and called Meng Xueyuan directly. “You two already have a lot of sasaengs. There are tons of fans outside the set. I don’t know who leaked today’s filming location online and called people to block Lu Xiao.”
Because the retirement was so sudden, Lu Xiao had been crowned with the title “scumbag.”
Lu Xiao’s agent continued, “It’s Sunday today. Last night, Saturday, a famous singer held a 60,000-person concert at the Nan Cheng Stadium. The overlap between that audience and Lu Xiao’s fans is as high as 15%. They rushed straight over. Plus local fans and onlookers—it’s a mess. The slogan ‘Go see the scumbag and demand an explanation’ is way too catchy. Don’t go out yet. Let them cool down.”
After listening, Meng Xueyuan said, “Lu Xiao, hurry and post something on Weibo to calm the fans down. Tell them to go home and eat.”
Lu Xiao was very obedient. “Okay.”
He took out his phone, ignored the missed calls, and posted a Weibo.
[I’m retiring, not dead. Disperse, disperse—go eat, don’t starve yourselves.]
Meng Xueyuan: “……”
However, many fans didn’t buy it. Once stirred up, all they remembered was to curse him as a “scumbag.”
Lu Xiao: “……”
Meng Xueyuan’s fans, the Snowflakes, were jumping around in the middle, telling Lu Xiao’s fans, “Just block your brother, don’t block ours.”
Lu Xiao’s fans shot back, “It must be Meng Xueyuan, that femme fatale, who persuaded Lu Xiao to quit the industry.”
Snowflakes: “Holy crap. Your brother doesn’t even take endorsements—he earns less than ours. Now he’s seen reality and gone home to inherit the family business, trying not to live off someone else. That was your brother’s own decision, OK?”
Lu Xiao’s fans: “Give me a break. You just did joint promotions for one month and then quit?”
Snowflakes: “Tch. He must’ve planned to quit long ago—that’s why he didn’t take endorsements. Don’t pin this on our YuanYuan!”
“Stop arguing, stop arguing! At a time like this…”
CP fans came over to mediate, but found themselves sword in hand, looking around in confusion—wait, weren’t we CP fans thinking this ship was about to sink again? Why are you solo fans shipping harder than us? And shipping post-marriage breadwinning at that?!
Lu Xiao sat to the side, unhurriedly playing with his phone. Meng Xueyuan scrolled through forums; critical voices had already appeared online, saying that idol-chasing was too irrational.
In the past, big fan accounts would come out to call for calm, asking people not to cause trouble for passersby.
The fans outside weren’t leaving, and there were still other people inside the office building trying to work normally. The impact was terrible.
Either force their way out, or…
If Lu Xiao left, he had to take Meng Xueyuan with him. If he left alone, fans would keep blocking Meng Xueyuan. He didn’t like the idea of pushing through a crowd with Meng Xueyuan—put bluntly, with such a huge fanbase and no security checks on arrival, who would dare trust a flesh-and-blood dash?
“Isn’t there some back way?” Lu Xiao put down his phone and asked. With his skills, as long as there was even a sliver of an escape route, he could slip away like a cicada shedding its shell.
The stage manager suddenly remembered something. “There is. Behind the office building there’s a row of single-story houses. There’s a connecting corridor—you can go down from the second floor onto the flat roofs. Go along the rooftops to the other side; there’s no one there for now. We’ll send a car to pick you up.”
“But when you cross the rooftops, fans will see you. You’ll have to run faster than them—get to the car before they do.”
“Alright.”
Lu Xiao stood up and said to Meng Xueyuan, “We go together.”
Meng Xueyuan was just about to step forward and follow him when he suddenly frowned. “I twisted my ankle. I can’t run.”
Lu Xiao reacted instantly and said decisively, “I’ll carry you.”
The director’s mouth fell open. “Carry him? Seriously? Then can you still run fast? What if the fans catch up?”
But Meng Xueyuan had already taken Lu Xiao’s arm with complete trust, and the two of them headed for the fire escape.
A crew member was watching the situation from the window when he suddenly exclaimed, “Hey—there are so many buses. What’s going on?”
From each bus got off a team of security guards to maintain order. One guard held a loudspeaker and shouted something; soon after, fans began boarding the buses one after another.
Were they being threatened?
Curious, the crew member opened the window and heard the announcement clearly—
“Lu Xiao is treating everyone to hotpot. First come, first served. Please board in an orderly manner.”
“Lu Xiao is treating everyone to grilled fish. First come, first served. Please board in an orderly manner.”
“Lu Xiao is treating everyone to milk tea. First come, first served. Please board in an orderly manner.”
Crew member: “……” What do I do, I kind of want to get on too.
No wonder Lu Xiao dared to take Meng Xueyuan out the back door—so many buses had been arranged at the front to draw attention.
For a moment, all the fans’ attention shifted to the plaza in front of the office building.
No one noticed that on the back side of the building, a second-floor window quietly opened, releasing a fire escape corridor that bridged over to the flat roof of the low buildings opposite.
Lu Xiao pulled Meng Xueyuan across the makeshift bridge. Once they reached the rooftop of the low building, he crouched down. “Get on.”
Meng Xueyuan climbed onto his back.
Lu Xiao supported Meng Xueyuan’s thighs and burst forward like a cheetah.
Moments later, a sharp-eyed fan spotted someone sprinting a hundred meters across the rooftop.
“Damn—it’s Lu Xiao!”
A small group of fans chased after them below, but they’d lost the initiative; Lu Xiao was far faster.
There were no stairs down on the other side of the rooftop, which was why no one had been lying in wait there.
A Hummer was parked by the roadside. The driver quickly pulled out a folding ladder. Lu Xiao set Meng Xueyuan down, jumped onto the roof of the vehicle first, then down to the ground. Meng Xueyuan climbed down via the ladder.
The two of them dove into the car, the Hummer started up and drove off in one smooth motion.
Panting, the fans could only watch the exhaust fumes through a fence: “……”
This was so thrilling—excuse me, are we catching a mistress or what?
Meng Xueyuan’s heart was pounding. He was about to fall in love with the feeling of sharing hardship with Lu Xiao.
He knew Lu Xiao had great stamina and could easily carry him while running, but he hadn’t expected the whole process to be so… thrilling.
Being pressed beneath Lu Xiao and being carried on Lu Xiao’s back both let him experience Lu Xiao’s extraordinary physical strength, but the two felt subtly different. Meng Xueyuan couldn’t quite explain how—he just knew it felt amazing.
He opened Weibo and saw that the previous trending topic had been #LuXiaoTreatsFansToFood#, only then realizing that Lu Xiao had left himself a backup plan. When he’d been sitting there playing on his phone earlier, he hadn’t been indifferent—he’d been arranging the buses.
When Meng Xueyuan refreshed, the trending topic changed to—
#ExcuseMeLuXiaoAreWeCatchingAMistress#
A mistress?
Meng Xueyuan clicked in sensitively. It turned out to be a video shot by a netizen of Lu Xiao sprinting across the rooftop.
The person filming was probably chasing too; they were pretty fast, so the footage shook badly, yet Lu Xiao in the frame was still getting farther and farther away.
Someone in the comments posted still frames, which showed even more clearly how agile Lu Xiao was with Meng Xueyuan on his back.
[How fast can a man run while carrying his wife to escape.gif]
[Can’t catch up. Really can’t.]
[Who came up with this trending title? Cry-laugh.]
[How does Meng Xueyuan not count as a mistress? He stole Lu Xiao away and even hid him!]
[Wake up, they debuted together. Meng Xueyuan knew Lu Xiao earlier than any of you here.]
[Turns out I’m the mistress.]
[The rightful wife is on his back, the fans are on the ground, bawling their eyes out.jpg]
[I’m not crying—I’m already happily eating the hotpot Lu Xiao treated us to!]
[Good thing I didn’t squeeze inside; I got on a bus at the outskirts and went to drink milk tea.]
[Who understands—on one bus alone I spotted at least ten CP fans.]
[My bro is truly generous, no complaints. I forgive him. Don’t know what company his dad runs, but I’ll buy everything.]
[Careful—what if it’s a real estate developer?]
[Then I’ll buy stocks. Snowflakes, don’t ever say Lu Xiao’s fans don’t spend money!]
[Is no one curious about what’s wrong with Meng Xueyuan? Why did he need to be carried? Leg pain or butt pain?]
Lu Xiao and Meng Xueyuan were both sitting in the back seat. His shirt was soaked with sweat and clung to his back; sweat beaded at his temples. He raised a hand and wiped it away. In truth, there had been safer ways to handle the situation, but he’d subtly chosen to flee with Meng Xueyuan.
Even though he’d become more settled and home-oriented, no longer taking risks because of Meng Xueyuan, there was still hot blood and impulse in his bones. Carrying Meng Xueyuan while running made dopamine surge as if it were free, easily reaching the peak joy that exercise brings.
Meng Xueyuan hadn’t properly looked at Lu Xiao after exercise last night. Now that he did, he found him incredibly sexy.
It was said that some people, while exercising, because of increased oxygen and blood flow plus friction from clothing, were prone to physiological reactions. Meng Xueyuan couldn’t help lowering his gaze to Lu Xiao’s thigh area.
Hiss… it seemed like there was a bit.
Still, he wouldn’t invite Lu Xiao to “help each other out” anymore.
The queen bee’s nuptial flight mission had already been completed; he no longer urgently needed Lu Xiao’s pollen.
Being human was different from being a queen bee—one had to be a bit more reserved.
Feeling a little awkward, Lu Xiao grabbed a cushion, then remembered to worry about his wife’s condition. His wife couldn’t run—this was serious. “Does your leg still hurt? Can you still—”
Meng Xueyuan said, “I can do it.”
