HOYSE CHAPTER 44

Chapter 44 — We’re Adults, Be Mature

He watched the pill fail to make the landing, arcing out of sight.

Just like that, gone.

Gu Xi’s mood plummeted and kept on falling.

He had braced himself in every way, told himself to go with the flow no matter how he twisted his brain around it, and in the end this was what he got. He was so mad he almost puffed up like a pufferfish.

No need to pretend to be drunk anymore. His head felt as if someone had poured in several bottles of liquor, swollen and dizzy.

The phone that had been blaring earlier started up again. Half asleep, Gu Xi slowly opened his eyes.

Back seat in the dark. He grabbed the phone and mumbled, “Hello?”

If you listen carefully and you could hear it that he did not sound friendly.

If not for this call, his hand would not have shaken. If his hand had not shaken, Rong Jing would not have noticed. If he had not noticed, then maybe right now…

You guys sure picked the perfect time.

Gu Xi bumped his head against the window frame. Seeing Rong Jing look over, he signaled that he had mostly sobered up.

That firework he had been holding in his heart, ready to light, had just been chopped in half and snuffed with a splat.

He did not want to talk. He felt stopped up.

Liu Yu’s voice was so loud even Rong Jing beside him could hear it. “You finally picked up! If you did not, I was going to call the police!”

A C-list nobody had burst in just now saying Rong Jing had taken a very drunk Gu Xi and left. Gu Xi had only said he was going to the restroom, and it was true he had not returned. What did they think was going on? Could this pack of

Short for lǎo sè pī (老色批),
a slang term meaning "pervert"
or "horny creep." LSPs

ever be normal!

Forget their gathering. First, they had to make sure Gu Xi was safe. His situation was still being talked about online. If something happened, the blame would land on all of them.

Liu Yu remembered during the shoot for Lota that an Alpha bit-part actor had snagged a keycard and snuck into Gu Xi’s room in the middle of the night. Thank goodness Gu Xi had shared with his assistant and always carried pepper spray. The actor had not actually planned anything, he was just a fool who wanted to sneak in and confess.

As confessions go, it was absurd.

But you could not blame Gu Xi. Flowers bloom beautifully by nature. It is the thieves who are disgusting.

In Liu Yu’s eyes, confessing to Gu Xi was basically a dead end. Gu Xi’s brain was all career, while those Alphas’ brains were all romance. They were not even on the same channel. No future.

“Why call the police?” Gu Xi asked, baffled.

“Didn’t Rong Jing take you away? We were worried, that’s all. As long as you’re fine!” Liu Yu shot a glare at that little C-lister. Where did he get the nerve to talk like that? Saying Gu Xi was drunk and taken away like it was fact. How were they not supposed to misunderstand?

“I drank a bit and felt unwell,” Gu Xi lied calmly. “Rong Jing was being nice and helped me get a car. Why are all of you so dirty-minded?”

His guard went up almost instantly. He did not want to hear anyone say a bad word about Rong Jing, not even some baseless smear. After clearing Rong Jing’s name, he still felt stifled.

“Police have plenty to do. Do not bother them over nothing.”

What a mess. Call the cops for this? You people really have too much time.

There had to be someone egging Liu Yu on to call so nervously and so many times. There were only three people there. Who else could it be?

Gu Xi could guess the sequence in a heartbeat. Qi Ying, right?

Are you born to be my nemesis?

Tonight, the grudge had grown deep.

The car was quiet, the sound of traffic rushing past threading through it. Gu Xi’s half-hoarse voice from the drink drifted in the air. There was one part drunkenness, three parts something that tugged at you.

They were crossing an overpass. In the distance, thousands of windows glowed. A cool river breeze lifted Gu Xi’s hair. Streetlight poured a dim orange over his pale face. He looked like a wronged cat, lips downturned, and leaning there lazily.

Rong Jing had meant only to glance and check his condition, but his gaze stuck and almost would not move. Stop looking. He is a man.

Rong Jing sobered a little, took a bottle of water from the mini-fridge, and passed it over with a hangover candy in his palm. Gu Xi had only had a few sips of alcohol. So there was no way he was truly drunk. He accepted the water and when he took the candy, the cool pads of his fingers brushed the lines in Rong Jing’s palm, like a feather that had fallen without intent.

Rong Jing pulled his hand back fast and angled his eyes at the scenery.

Gu Xi tore the wrapper. As the sweet orange spread through his mouth, the sulk in his eyes melted along with it.

Only Rong Jing could give him this sour, astringent, then sweet taste.

It had started as the smallest desire, and without his noticing it had deepened into greed.

When they got out, Gu Xi’s right arm bumped the door frame. He hissed softly.

Rong Jing noticed. He did not know Gu Xi had run into something that afternoon and then given everything he had on him to a stranger auntie. But he did know Gu Xi was the type who was fiercely self-reliant, so independent he hated troubling anyone.

It was already nearly eleven. Rong Jing felt like his night was just beginning. There was a stack of files Zhou You had brought to read, and he had to study online with Xie as well. It would go late.

Gu Xi also saw the stack of files. He thought, can Rong Jing handle this pace, juggling this much?

To accommodate Gu Xi’s heat period, their rooms were nearby. After it ended, Rong Jing could not be bothered to move again.

Right now Zhou You had already disappeared into the study with his laptop and materials. Rong Jing stood there, wanting to say something but holding back.

Gu Xi looked over. “?”

Those eyes, clear as glass beads, made it impossible for Rong Jing to say it. You cannot talk like that. Better not.

In the quiet, it was as if he heard Gu Xi speak without words.

I know, I was wrong, okay?

Face flushed and a little at a loss, Gu Xi slammed the door.

He could not face Rong Jing for the moment. He took a quick shower and found the bathroom stocked with plenty of men’s skincare, all with strong word of mouth and suitable for male idols. He had come in a rush, there had been none of this here, and yet now each thing had appeared. His gaze moved. Towels, a change of clothes, a washbasin… all there.

At the sink, he picked up a face wash. It was a niche brand he had once recommended on a livestream, not an endorsement, just something he truly liked and had shared with his fans.

He did not know if this was a coincidence or something Rong Jing had picked on purpose. He leaned toward the latter.

Rong Jing was like that white radish swaying in his heart, the best part hidden under the dirt, found only after searching and searching.

He changed into a T-shirt and flopped face-down onto the bed. He should have fallen asleep quickly, yet his mind was buzzing.

Tomorrow, he'd have to pick some random, matched partner. After that, there’d be no turning back, right?

He felt like something had split him in two, his body and mind forced apart into separate, warring halves.

He turned over in bed, restless. Sleep wouldn’t come.

---

After finishing the call with the professional manager, Rong Jing told Zhou You to take the other files to the company first. His machine of a big brother would probably still be working.

Everything else could move slowly. He told Zhou You to prioritize Fun’s development, and on the acquisition side to focus on Shengteng Entertainment. He wanted to clean that wretched company out from the root.

Zhou You understood, then added quietly that the Ji family wants to take Xie Jisheng away. Should they do something about it?

Xie Jisheng carried both Xie and Ji blood. But Old Master Xie had never accepted that the Ji family’s young lady had cheated with the old man's already married son. Thus, betraying the marriage. He also resented how the Jis had forced that sham to be called a win-win. 

His disdain for the Jis ran deep, and it extended to Xie Jisheng because of his Ji heritage. As a result, Xie Jisheng grew closer to the Jis, yet their younger generation was crowded, and the battle for power had become fiercely intense. From an early age, they drilled into him the harsh truth: only by seizing power could he rise above them all.

If he could frame Xie Ling and Xie Zhanhong, why would he leave the Jis untouched?

He would not. He wanted it all.

Now the Jis were helping simply because he was still useful and because he was the Xie family’s second young master.

Rong Jing knew Xie Jisheng would try to strike back at the Ji family but that was from the original story’s main plot. In his mind, everything still felt shrouded in fog.

“Zhou You, find a way to let those Ji uncles and elders learn what Xie Jisheng’s been up to lately. Let them know he’s already bought people to take them out. It’d be even better if they hear that Xie Zhanhong was pushed into the hospital by someone’s indirect hand.” Rong Jing didn’t want those eyes fixed solely on the Xies. Better to muddy the waters.

“But that’s making something out of nothing. They might not believe it,” Zhou You said.

“Who said it’s made up? Don’t hesitate. Just do it.”

As Rong Jing tried to recall the exact names of the targets, he felt the world itself pushing back like the memory slipping away. He had already derailed Xie Jisheng’s rise within the Xie family. But as the male lead, Xie Jisheng had a second golden finger among the Jis. Heaven would simply shift its weight to lift him there.

What made him so formidable among the leads was the double bankroll.

Rong Jing decided not to strain to remember. Let them all believe they would be targeted. The Jis already had red eyes fighting among themselves. Once they found something fishy around Xie Zhanhong and then a bit of evidence that Xie Jisheng was getting ready to move, it would turn into ironclad proof among people who recognized no kin.

When that time came, Rong Jing wanted to see whether the Jis would still help him.

Zhou You: “…” Young master, so you are the most ruthless of all. Just sitting back and watching the tigers fight. Truly wicked to the core.

Who would have guessed the one stirring the chaos was the little master they’d dismissed as someone who didn’t do business, forced by his brother to throw money at investments. That dark streak had been buried far deeper than anyone realized.

After Zhou You left, Rong Jing stood by the window and looked up at a sky identical to the one in his old world. A velvet-blue dome pricked with stars. The hush made it easy to think.

He had nearly died today. That fear was only pressed down for now.

He and Xie Ling were both supposed to be cannon fodder who barely appeared. He had blocked one blow for Xie Ling, and after that Xie Ling had not run into danger again. Why?

What was different between them?

Less screen time?

They were both slated to exit. Screen time or not should not matter.

He glanced toward the full-length mirror beside the desk and took in a face that was dozens of points less handsome than his original appearance.

Because he was not handsome enough?

It could not possibly be that dumb a reason.

No. He looked again.

I am not me.

Because I am a soul from another world.

Xie Ling was not only a stumbling stone to the male lead’s god-mode climb. In the logic of a novel world, he was a native. His existence was legitimate. The illegitimate element was himself, a soul from Earth.

A flash split the sky over the mountain, lighting Rong Jing’s face. The volatile weather felt like an omen. Had he guessed it?

He was the bug that most needed clearing. Only by clearing him could the plot return to its rails.

Since learning he was inside a book, he had changed too much. He had snipped the fate encounter between Wu Fuyu and Gu Xi, then butterfly-effected Xie Jisheng’s god-mode rise. People who should have died had not. One thing after another. If this world had a will, of course it would take him out first.

As long as he did not die, the others would be safe for now. He was taking all the hits in front. Heaven would have less energy to strike at anyone else.

So what he had to do was simple: at every brush with death, do everything to live.

Another crack tore the night. It sounded like the sky splitting, like it could shred your eardrums. As if it scolded a tiny human for not knowing his place.

Rong Jing snorted.

Killing him would not be that easy.

Worried the thunder would wake Gu Xi, he went next door and knocked.

From inside came Gu Xi’s low voice. “I’m not asleep.”

The glow of a phone lit his face. The screen was paused on Mu Li’s official site, on that necklace he had already ordered. Hearing Rong Jing’s voice, Gu Xi switched the screen off at once.

Rong Jing picked up the first-aid box and knocked again. Inside was dark, lit only now and then by flashes at the window.

Gu Xi blinked from under the covers and looked at him.

Seeing he was very much awake, Rong Jing turned on the bedside lamp. Warm light spread over both of them. “It’s been an hour. Still awake?”

“The thunder woke me.” Truth was he had not closed his eyes. As soon as he did, he would think about tomorrow afternoon’s verdict.

He could not help it. He wanted to act out.

Gu Xi’s insomnia was serious. Rong Jing did not call him on it. “Right hand. Give it here.”

Gu Xi: “!”

His hand retracted under the blanket.

Rong Jing did not say anything. They just stared, wide eyes to narrow, across the room. Under that calm gaze, Gu Xi could not hold out. His heart thudded. He pouted, aggrieved, and slowly extended his hand.

“How did you expect me not to notice?” Rong Jing asked.

“If you had not, were you planning to pretend nothing happened?” He saw the green-purple marks, more obvious on skin that white. “How did you do this to yourself?”

“Ran into something.”

“Not the truth.” As they grew more familiar, Rong Jing was less polite.

Gu Xi cut him a look. Look who is talking. As if you are honest with me.

Rong Jing had patched up his injuries enough times to be practiced. Seeing the skin unbroken, he spread ointment and worked the bruise slowly. “Bear it.”

It hurts, but he could bear it.

What struck him more was the warmth of another person’s fingers on his skin. The slick of ointment, the slow circles, worked straight into his chest.

The air warmed.

Head lowered, Rong Jing did not look at him. “Stop stuffing everything down alone. If it hurts, say it. Try leaning on someone.”

It was almost the same thing Guan Hongyi had told him. He had never taken it to heart. His fate felt cursed, and he did not want to drag others in.

Playing dumb, Gu Xi smiled faintly. “Someone. You?”

Rong Jing did not make any promises. He only said, “Mm.”

Gu Xi studied the man beneath the lamp, gentleness radiating from him.

This moment was ordinary. It did not have the tight voltage of the scene in the car. Yet it moved him more. He felt like he was soaking in a glass of afternoon lemon tea, tart and swollen, countless bubbles popping up one by one.

He had thought this pancake was already sweet enough. Each time it managed to reset his sense. It could be sweeter. So sweet he could not let go.

Rong Jing’s touch had a particular technique, the kind you learned after a lifetime of fight scenes, knowing exactly how to disperse a bruise. The skin he had worked still felt warm.

He closed the kit. “Leave your hand out. Let the ointment dry before you tuck it back.”

He switched off the lamp and took up the box to leave.

“Rong Jing.”

He turned.

Gu Xi: Could you stop being this good to me. I am running out of self-control.

When Gu Xi did not go on, Rong Jing asked, “What is it?”

Gu Xi said, “… Good night.”

One more bite of this door-delivered pancake. He swore it would be the last.

“Mm. See you tomorrow.”

Thinking of the pile of files, Rong Jing felt fresh admiration for Xie Ling. What kind of three heads and six arms did it take to run a company that size. He could not even keep his little patch in order without running himself ragged. Once he joined the production there would be one, two, three… companies’ restructurings, acquisitions, mergers, official work. Maybe he should ask his brother to hire another manager.

And there were scripts to read. Acting was his lifeblood. He needed that hobby to keep going. So he could not drop it.

Could the day be 48 hours. It was not enough.

Life was so hard.

The room went dark again. The darkness settled over Gu Xi and he sat up and turned on the overhead light. If he could not sleep, he might as well do something.

He had already seen the Weibo trend #Imperium, Losing Fans#. It was obvious a chunk of that heat had been bought, though part of it was real. They were holding back on names for now, waiting for the debate and aversion to crest before dropping them. When that happened, a newcomer could be easily pushed out of the production. Even if he stayed, whether he could get roles later would be unknown. He would lose passerby goodwill before debut. The damage would be huge.

Also, Rong Jing had black history. The old stuff could not be scrubbed. Too many people knew, and the videos still existed. The opening position was bad.

Gu Xi called the PR firm he had used before and told them to watch the trend. If waves of boycott comments appeared, sprinkle in neutral, passerby-sounding replies. Too many glowing takes would backfire. As a veteran idol, Gu Xi knew you could not flood with praise. Rong Jing had neither works nor name recognition. Balanced comments could actually win a bit of goodwill.

He had set on Rong Jing for the role, yes, but it was also because his acting had genuinely stunned him. When Rong Jing acted, he had a way of holding the whole board that showed real potential. That was also why Rong Jing had never asked why the crew picked him. He trusted Gu Xi’s professionalism. He would not gamble a career.

The fan group he had created already had a dozen requests. The promo he had done in forums and on the bar had worked a bit. He vetted carefully. Fans at least needed to know Rong Jing’s basics. Among the applications, aside from the randoms and the join-for-fun crowd, most were there for his looks, and some were already iron fans from Rong Jing’s Weibo.

Approved, they were excited.

Rong Jing barely maintained anything. They had thought he was going to vanish. They never expected a base camp to appear out of nowhere. It was a pleasant surprise.

“Waaah, the child is finally home.”

“Never thought I would live to see the day I joined a support group. [Buddha-light-shines.jpg]”

“I’ve followed Rong Jing’s airport fits forever. It’s been so many years, he is insanely handsome, sweet or cool as he wants. This type is rare in the industry!”

“Thanks to the admin for opening this group. My youth is back.”

“I actually made it into Rong Jing’s support chat. Is passing CET-4 still a dream?”

“Thank you all. Please keep supporting Rong Jing!”

The Great Wall was not built in a day. Gu Xi would take it slow and lay a base.

He knew he was not a pro and did not have time to manage it. His plan was that once the fanbase grew, he would find someone reliable to hand it over to, then fade out. There was not much he could do for Rong Jing. Every little bit counted.

As for the unsinkable black mark, if it could not be deleted, do not delete it. When he had tested him, Gu Xi had realized that what Rong Jing feared was not the camera itself, but being watched through it. To overcome it would take drills, again and again, drills with people watching. It was a mental hurdle. Rong Jing already wanted to change. He just needed time.

Gu Xi called a junior he knew. When the other heard it was him, she nearly squealed.

“Mm, long time no see… I’m fine, don’t worry. Recently? Not busy… can I ask you for a favor…”

He finished that call and dialed the next, confirming times and slots. He hoped these people could help.

Hanging up, he slid straight into his bag for a script and began marking with watercolor pens, underlining key parts. His flight was tomorrow night for the Venice Film Festival. He would be gone several days and could not keep Rong Jing company. The script was not for him but for Rong Jing. Talent or not, he was only human. Humans made human mistakes. You had to break the script open to make it easier for him to enter state.

He did not know how long he worked. At some point, a drop of water fell onto the page without warning.

He wiped it fast. The drops multiplied. Embarrassed, he swiped at his face.

He had forgotten for a while by keeping busy. The second he let up, the tide flooded back.

Crying? What was there to cry about?

It was only a matched placeholder, a functional partner. Biology mattered. Feelings did not.

You are an adult. Be mature.

It would only be a temporary mark. Not a big deal.

Right… It would be fine.

…

You were just, a little unwilling.

You just really wanted to give your first time to that person.

---

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