An Qingyan was waiting for Gu Fei's explanation when the doorbell suddenly rang behind him. He leaned against the door and turned to look through the peephole. Assistant Yang was standing outside carrying a bag.

"Assistant Yang came to bring me clothes."

Gu Fei looked down at the red wine stain on his clothes, then shifted his gaze to the boy opposite him. They had been standing so close that the boy's beige sweater was also stained with wine red.

An Qingyan: "So fast?"

Gu Fei: "My room is upstairs."

An Qingyan: "..."

Since they booked a room upstairs, they could have just gone up to change clothes. Why did they have to go to his room in front of everyone? How is he supposed to explain this to others?

An Qingyan looked down at her clean sweater stained with wine, glanced helplessly at the composed and self-righteous man in front of her, and then resignedly opened the door.

Assistant Yang glanced discreetly at the two people standing inside the door. An Qingyan gave him an awkward smile, then turned and went inside. His flushed face was really not suitable for being seen by anyone.

Assistant Yang smiled knowingly, thinking that young couples in the throes of new love are quite affectionate. He coughed lightly and handed the bag to his boss, "Mr. Gu, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

"Yes, remember to keep those people's mouths shut." (Original URL)

"Okay, no problem."

Gu Fei casually closed the door and walked inside, carrying his clothes.

The room was heated. An Qingyan had already taken off the soiled sweater, revealing a beige shirt underneath. He sat on the sofa with his arms crossed, expressionless, trying to make his attitude tough. "Now can you explain it to me?"

Gu Fei raised the bag in her hand. "It's too dirty. I'm going to take a shower first."

An Qingyan raised her chin slightly and said politely, just as she had in front of others, "Mr. Gu, you can go back to your own room to shower. If others find out, they'll really think I have some improper relationship with the investor."

"Isn't that right?" The man raised an eyebrow slightly, then turned and went to the bathroom.

An Qingyan: "!?"

Duan Ci's room was diagonally opposite An Qingyan's. After returning, he secretly observed the situation across the hall. The door remained closed, and Master Gu was still inside. What were they doing in there?!

Why isn't Master Gu out yet? Is it taking him this long to change clothes? Could he have ended up in bed with him? He could already imagine how An Qingyan seduced Gu Fei!

Duan Ci's chest heaved violently with anger. He slammed his fist on the door, wincing in pain. It was bad enough that this guy surnamed An was trying to steal the male lead role from him, but now he was trying to steal his man too!

Pah! How shameless!!

The sound of running water came from the bathroom. An Qingyan sat on the sofa, lost in thought. His phone screen lit up. Wu Weiguang and Qin He had sent him messages, all concerned about his situation.

Qin He, showing great loyalty, said, "Yan Yan, if that Master Gu tries to force you to do anything, just tell me, and I'll definitely go and save you!"

An Qingyan's lips twitched slightly. He told Qin He that he was fine, but after thinking it over, he opened the crew's WeChat group. It only contained the director and a few main actors; Duan Ci was not in it.

He sent a message:

Don't worry, everyone. Mr. Gu left after changing his clothes, and he didn't blame anyone for what happened earlier.

Wu Weiguang: [It's good that everything's alright.]

Qin He: [It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright.]

Han Yoon-ah: [It's getting late, everyone should get some rest.]

An Qingyan [Goodnight [Moon]]

...

They all tacitly agreed not to mention what had just happened again.

After locking her phone, An Qingyan sighed helplessly. Where did Mr. Gu leave? He's probably going to stay here until dawn.

A few minutes later, Gu Fei came out after taking a shower. He casually dried his dripping short hair with a towel in his hand and sat down next to An Qingyan.

The man was wearing a black bathrobe, the collar open, and water droplets slowly dripped down his well-defined, light tanned chest...

An Qingyan ignored the temptation before him and was about to ask for an explanation for the third time when Gu Fei suddenly grabbed his wrist, pressed him against the back of the sofa without saying a word, and silenced him again.

It was about ten minutes later when he was able to speak again.

His chest heaved as he breathed in the fresh air, and he punched the man's shoulder with his fist. "Gu Fei, can you let me finish what I have to say?"

"Okay, go ahead."

The man wrapped his arm around the boy's waist, burying his face in the boy's neck like a large dog. A faint, cool scent of cedar filled his nostrils. He suddenly chuckled, "Baby, how come you smell like me?"

Gu Fei's breath and the air he exhaled as he spoke were all sprayed onto the skin of An Qingyan's neck.

His fair skin was flushed red from the smoke, and his cheeks turned even redder. He was once again steered away from the topic and said hesitantly, "My new perfume is just a similar scent."

"Is that so?" The man's tone was meaningful: "Brother Fei thought... Yan Yan had become a thief again."

An Qingyan was so embarrassed that he quickly pushed Gu Fei's head away. He couldn't reconcile the lewd person in front of him with the serious, aloof Master Gu.

He coughed lightly, glanced sideways at the man beside him, and awkwardly changed the subject, "You still haven't told me why you suddenly became an investor in 'The Legend of Kyushu'? I've never heard you mention it before?"

Gu Fei hadn't told An Qingyan about this. He thought that even if he didn't tell him, An Qingyan would find out anyway, and he could just ask around on set. But it turned out that An Qingyan didn't care about this at all.

Later, Gu Fei stopped talking about it and just wanted to tease him.

Gu Fei raised his arm and put it on the boy's shoulder, stroking his chin as if teasing a kitten, and said slowly, "I wanted to give you a surprise."

An Qingyan's lips twitched slightly. He thought to himself that there was no surprise, but quite a few shocks. He had wanted to run away when he saw Gu Fei at the dinner party, but who knew he would witness a great show put on by Duan Ci.

“I suddenly thought of something.” He leaned on Gu Fei’s shoulder, grabbed the hand that was groping his face, looked up at the man’s sharp profile, and said, “Could it be that I really got this role because I used connections?”

Gu Fei smiled enigmatically, "You can interpret it that way too."

"..." An Qingyan felt something was off about the way he said those words, and she didn't know what to say. Then she heard the man's calm and gentle voice again:

"This show will be a huge hit. I saw its commercial value, which is one reason, but not important."

An Qingyan understood the meaning of those words. Gu Ye, whose net worth was in the billions, didn't care about this little bit of money. He vaguely guessed something. "Then what other reasons could there be?"

Gu Fei: "For you."

An Qingyan: "Duan Ci has connections with the original investors. Is he the one who really wants to use connections?"

"Mmm." Gu Fei nodded, then gently ruffled the soft hair of the person in his arms. Looking at the other's gentle eyes, he said as if coaxing a child, "Yan Yan is so smart."

An Qingyan smiled silently. It wasn't hard to guess. When they auditioned, Duan Ci confidently told him that the male lead was his, with such a confident and arrogant demeanor that it seemed like a sure thing.

Duan Ci probably isn't that confident in her acting skills; the most likely explanation is that she has powerful backers.

The entertainment industry is a murky place. We've seen plenty of unspoken rules and backdoor deals. Some people are disgusted, some are used to it, and some even think it's perfectly normal.

But An Qingyan strongly resisted these things. In his previous life, he had personally experienced such things and suffered countless losses because of his resistance and refusal to compromise.

"Director Wu had his eye on you, but the investors had already decided on Duan Ci. I just helped him out, and he's very grateful to me."

Gu Fei said earnestly, "Yan Yan, you earned this role through your own hard work and ability; you deserve it."

"Yes, I know." A smile curved the boy's lips as he held the man's warm hand, casually playing with his fingers, his tone carrying a hint of pride: "I'm very good."

He believed in his own abilities and in Gu Fei's character. He knew what kind of person Gu Fei was—a person with principles and a bottom line who wouldn't do such a thing.

Seeing the boy's somewhat proud expression, Gu Fei smiled silently, took his smaller hand in his palm, and his deep eyes softened with doting and indulgence. "Yes, Yan Yan is very capable."

Let's just leave this matter at that.

An Qingyan was still thinking about something else. Thinking of the good show he had just witnessed, he curled his lips with interest. "Brother Fei, Duan Ci deliberately approached you just now, why didn't you pay any attention to him? He's so handsome, and he was dressed so...sexily."

Gu Fei frowned slightly, seemingly puzzled. "You think he's handsome? Sexy?"

"Hmm?" An Qingyan propped herself up on the sofa cushions, got up from the man's arms, sat cross-legged on the sofa, rested her chin on her hand, looked into the other man's eyes, and earnestly discussed with him: "Don't you think so?"

Aren't you tempted?

Gu Fei: "Are you tempted?"

An Qingyan thought for two seconds, then nodded, "I am quite tempted."

The man's face slowly darkened. He narrowed his eyes, looking at the boy's ambiguous expression with a mixture of amusement and jealousy. The gloom on his face faded, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "Jealous?"

An Qingyan: "No."

Gu Fei leaned closer, staring intently at the handsome young man, and said slowly, "If you dressed like that, I would be very tempted."

An Qingyan: "...I won't wear it."

"It's okay, Yan Yan looks good no matter what." Gu Fei said, hooking his arm around An Qing Yan's leg and picking her up in his arms, carrying her inside.

Why did you suddenly start hitting me when we were just talking?!

"It's been so long, let Brother Fei give you a check-up."

An Qingyan: "..."

Gu Fei: "I heard Yan Yan has also learned to ride a horse? Show her to Brother Fei?"

An Qingyan: "..."