HTI: Chapter 87

Sunlight poured in the room through a gap in the curtains and hit Qiu Xing’s face. Qiu Xing frowned, slowly opened his eyes and instinctively reached out with his hands. It was empty and cold.

Qiu Xing woke up instantly and sat up to look around. The quilt slipped from his body and the cold air outside the quilt rushed over. Qiu Xing froze and slowly looked down at his body. A few seconds later, he opened the quilt blankly and looked down.

“……”

Qiu Xing raised his gaze and his expression was comically frozen. Various complex emotions were rolling in his eyes. His gaze darted instinctively around the room, trying to find someone’s figure. However, no one was found. He only saw the messy clothes thrown ambiguously on the ground, among which his underwear was intimately close to someone’s pyjamas.

His expression changed and he quickly got out of bed. He picked up his pyjamas and patted them. Then he returned to the bed and sat on the bed for a few seconds. After that, he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to find his own clothes to put on.

Once the clothes were worn, a sense of security and reason finally returned. Qiu Xing splashed cold water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. Could it be… no, it wasn’t possible.

His memories of last night were very clear. He never did anything to Xie Yang that would require taking off their clothes. Only… the kiss from last night suddenly flashed through his mind. His heart beat violently and he hurriedly lowered his head to wash his face with cold water.

After a simple wash, Qiu Xing went back to the room. He bent over to tidy up the clothes on the floor and then stood by the bed. He looked at the messy bed and made full preparations. Hesitantly, cautiously and in a dignified manner, he raised a corner of the quilt and looked at the sheets.

There was no blood. His tight shoulders relaxed slightly. Then he frowned and stood still for a long time. In the end… was there or not? His memory told him there wasn’t but in case there was…

His hands shook and the quilt fell back on the bed.

It wasn’t until lunchtime that Qiu Xing finally left the small bedroom with a bag. He called Zhou Miao as he walked out. The phone got through but the familiar ringtone came from close by. Qiu Xing stopped and glanced toward the sound.

Zhou Miao and Liu Sha were sitting on the sofa in the office. Zhou Miao was awkwardly pinching his phone and trying not to look at Qiu Xing’s split lips. He faced Qiu Xing’s increasingly dangerous eyes and explained, “It was the little boss who called me and said… that you spent the night here.”

Qiu Xing slowly put down his phone. “Last night… Xie Yang was drunk and I took care of him all night.”

Zhou Miao, “…Yes.” His lips were split from the care.

Liu Sha was older and calmer than him. She stood up and said, “I’ve suspended the elevator using the excuse of regular maintenance. I will have someone clear the corridor for you to leave.”

Qiu Xing nodded and stepped away.

“Ah Xing.”

Qiu Xing stopped and looked back at Liu Sha.

“Yang Yang will go directly to J City to join the crew after the business trip. This bedroom will be temporarily out of use. He asked me to help him clean the bedding in the room and put it away. I want to ask, in the room… is there anything that is inconvenient for me to see?”

Qiu Xing’s grip on the bag tightened and he pretended to be calm. “No… I have a meeting. Send me back to Rongding first.”

Liu Sha nodded and immediately organized it so the corridor was clear.

10 minutes later, Qiu Xing left Yang Xing smoothly. Liu Sha returned to Xie Yang’s office and used the key to enter the small bedroom, only to find that the bed was empty and there was no bedding.

***

At 1 o’clock in the afternoon, the plane landed in X City. Xie Yang got into the car that Qin Cheng rented in advance, took off his mask and turned on the phone that had been off for several hours. A bunch of missed calls and unread messages popped up, all from Qiu Xing. Xie Yang clicked on the first message and almost laughed out loud.

It was sent at 9 o’clock in the morning.

Qiu Xing: Xie Yang, we… you have… tell me the truth.

Then an hour later.

Qiu Xing: Let Wu Shui take you to the hospital to see.

Qiu Xing: I’ll arrange a private doctor for you. If you feel uncomfortable, tell the doctor. Don’t hold back because you are shy.

30 minutes after that.

Qiu Xing: Does it hurt?

An hour later.

Qiu Xing: Did you lie to me? I checked and the sheets are clean.

He actually went to check the sheets.

Xie Yang could almost imagine Qiu Xing’s frown as he carefully and shyly checked the sheets. He hurriedly coughed down the laughter that almost came out and called Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing picked up the call but didn’t speak.

Xie Yang deliberately lowered his tone and spoke coldly. “Why? You want to take advantage of me and run away? Forget it. I guessed it a long time ago. It’s fine. I’m hanging up.” Then he just hung up.

A few seconds later, Xie Yang’s phone started to ring. Xie Yang refused five of Qiu Xing’s calls in an indifferent manner and only slowly picked up the sixth one. He asked, “Have you decided to take responsibility?”

“…Xie Yang, don’t lie to me.”

“How did your lips split?”

The opposite person was instantly quiet.

Xie Yang was aggressive. “Did you take the initiative?”

It was still quiet.

Xie Yang subjected the other side’s soul to torture. “Did you stick out your tongue?”

The call was hung up. Xie Yang finally laughed. Then he felt that something was wrong and glanced sideways.

Qin Cheng took the schedule and asked, “Did you finally remember that I’m in the car?”

“……” Xie Yang converged his expression and corrected his posture. “Brother Qin, you say it and I’ll listen.”

Qin Cheng helplessly stared at Xie Yang. Then he held the schedule and started to explain the work arrangements for the next week.

There were a total of 10 songs on Xie Yang’s new album. Apart from the full indoors MV that required Xie Yang to shoot from beginning to end, the other MVs only required Xie Yang to lip sync and would be quick to shoot. However, no matter how fast, a week was still rushed. It couldn’t be avoided. For the next seven days, Xie Yang would have to stay up late for the first time in a while.

“After you go to the crew, Director Zhou will definitely give you time to adjust your state. You will be able to sleep after you go to the crew. Is it okay?”

Xie Yang said it was no problem.

Qin Cheng then mentioned some things that required paying attention to. Finally, he put down the schedule and said, “I heard a bit of news. Your former teammate, that Mo Bin, seems to be coming out again.”

Xie Yang wasn’t too surprised when he heard this.

In the beginning, Mo Bin’s blocking was arranged by Ji Zehui. Now Huangtian was reshuffled and Ji Zehui had left Huangtian. The thing Huangtian needed right now was to recuperate and not fight with people. It was normal and easy for Huangtian to think about using Mo Bin to annoy Yang Xing and take advantage of the hype of the new IUD.

Qin Cheng was a bit worried. “The Golden Song Awards will be held in June. Ji Zehui’s Broken Cocoon, the new IUD’s IUD and Tong Jian’s Children’s Language will all participate in the award competition. If Mo Bin comes out to discredit you at this time, it will hinder you from winning a prize.”

“Don’t worry, Mo Bin can’t come out.”

Qin Cheng was surprised. “Why?”

Xie Yang explained, “It is because I am also a shareholder of Huangtian. During the time when Hong Zhijie bought the Huangtian stocks on a large scale, I fished in troubled waters and bought some in Wu Shui’s name. The proportion isn’t big but it can cause a small impact. Later, I handed over the rights of these stocks to Yang Qing and asked Yang Qing to go and negotiate with Hong Zhijie.”

Qin Cheng was shocked. “You also bought Huangtian’s stocks?”

Xie Yang nodded.

It took a long time for Qin Cheng to digest the news and then he shook his head. “You are really… it seems I was worrying too much. Then it’s okay. You make the MV and I’ll handle the other trivial matters.”

***

The shoot was so busy that Xie Yang didn’t have time to look at his phone until dinner.

In one afternoon, Qiu Xing made a total of eight calls and sent six or seven messages. The content of the messages was varied with some vague ‘ you…’ and ‘we…’. There were some concerns and roundabout inquiries.

Xie Yang read it carefully before calling this person. The phone was answered in seconds but Qiu Xing still said nothing.

Xie Yang told him, “I’ll be very busy in the next week and won’t check my phone very often.”

“How busy?”

“The type of busy where I need to stay up late.”

Qiu Xing’s voice sank slightly. “Must you stay up late?”

“Yes.”

Qiu Xing was silent again.

Xie Yang said, “I only have 10 minutes to eat. I’m hanging up first. You should rest early.” Then he hung up and picked up his chopsticks to eat.

By the time the day’s filming ended, it was already after two in the morning. Xie Yang took out his mobile phone to take a look. There were no messages or calls from Qiu Xing. He locked the phone and got into the car to return to the hotel.

The hotel was set by Qin Cheng and was near the shooting location. On the way back, Qin Cheng told a piece of news he heard to Xie Yang.

“The heroine of I see Xuanyuan is finally decided. It is Wen Yao. She is 26 years old this year and this is her first time playing as the female lead of a movie.”

Xie Yang was surprised and confirmed it again. “Wen Yao?”

Qin Cheng nodded and asked, “Why? Do you know her?”

Xie Yang shook his head.

He didn’t know her but he had to know her name. Wen Yao was one of the most important female protagonists in the original novel. She was a competitor of the female lead in the early period and then an extremely loyal girlfriend in the later period. She helped the female lead a lot.

Wen Yao was a second-generation star. Her father was a director and her mother was a well-known fashion designer. He remembered that at the end of the novel, Wen Yao married into a jewelry family in B City and quit the entertainment industry to help her husband with the business.

According to the original timeline of the plot, Wen Yao and Mu Zhouyi should’ve become good friends by now. However, the plot had greatly changed. Mu Zhouyi’s situation and reputation weren’t the same as the original novel. It was unknown if these changes affected the relationship between Wen Yao and Mu Zhouyi.

The car stopped at the entrance of the hotel. Xie Yang awakened from his thoughts and put on his hat and mask. He got out of the car and entered the hotel lobby. The hotel lobby in the early morning was empty and quiet. This made the presence of someone sitting in the lounge area very strong.

Xie Yang’s footsteps stopped. Then he walked straight to the elevator like he hadn’t seen this person. As the elevator doors opened, Xie Yang took Wu Shui and Qin Cheng into the elevator. He had just turned around when someone touched his forehead.

Xie Yang raised his eyes. Qiu Xing met Xie Yang’s gaze and reflexively lowered his hand to cover his eyes. The doors closed and the elevator started to rise. Wu Shui and Qin Cheng looked at the sky and pretended they didn’t exist.

A few seconds later, Qiu Xing put down his hand. He stood beside Xie Yang and pulled at Xie Yang’s hand. Xie Yang raised his hand and put it in his pocket.

Qiu Xing paused before arrogantly reaching into Xie Yang’s pocket to grab Xie Yang’s hand again. “I didn’t get off the plane until midnight and there are no rooms available in this hotel.”

Xie Yang threw Qiu Xing’s hand away and said, “Wu Shui, give your room to Mr Qiu. You can go to my room and sleep on the floor.”

Wu Shui, “……”

Proofreader: Mnemo & Paranoid Kitten