HOYSE CHAPTER 76

Chapter 76 — One Yuan

That light kiss ended, and Gu Xi had to bite back a laugh at the sight of Rong Jing standing there like a statue.

Sometimes he loved this about Rong Jing: all that easy dominance in everything else, and yet when it came to feelings, he could not turn a corner to save his life. Teasing him felt like scoring a tiny, perfect victory.

“You… why did you…” Rong Jing stared at Gu Xi in shock. Every time they had gotten physically close before, it had been because of some objective reason.

“It is scene 145 of Sovereignty. Did you forget?” Gu Xi blinked at him, wide-eyed and innocent, as if he had not been the one doing the kissing a second ago.

Rong Jing’s mind jumped to that scene. After Fu Qianming’s schemes are exposed, he fakes his death to escape the pursuers. The “death” finally forces Seventh Prince Shao Hua to face his feelings, whitening his hair overnight. Years later they meet again. Shao Hua, terrified his eyes are deceiving him, circles and tests and suffers alone. He has mistaken too many strangers for his lost person. Deep down he believes Fu Qianming died long ago and that it is only he who refuses to let go.

Shao Hua senses something familiar from the start. He makes every excuse to get close, then slowly probes. When he is finally sure beyond doubt, he steps in and presses a brief kiss to Fu Qianming’s jaw.

“This time, I am right,” he says.

The unsaid line is clear: no matter what you become, I will still know you.

Which felt very much like this moment.

Rong Jing could not tell if Gu Xi was merely running lines or meaning something more, only that the “him” from moments ago had not been him at all.

Could someone like Gu Xi really exist, someone who could tell at a glance? Even replaying it, that thing felt like a copy-and-paste of his soul.

He tried to explain, but the instant he tried to speak, it was as if his tongue had been bound. Something unseen warned him: do not say it.

So the rules had changed. Before, when the hallucination overwrote him, he had at least been able to slip Gu Xi part of the truth.

Gu Xi did not know what he was wrestling with. He tried gently, “Jokes aside… I felt like you were a little off just now.”

It had only been dozens of seconds, and reason said he must be imagining things. But when it came to Rong Jing, Gu Xi could not afford to be careless. And it was not as if there had not already been a handful of impossible incidents. He had not talked about them, but he had not forgotten either. He did not want to miss something he should not miss.

“What was off?” He really had noticed something, had he not?

“It was like… it was not you,” Gu Xi said carefully.

Something shook inside Rong Jing. That fuzzed patch in his chest sprouted a new root, a tender shoot.

An entire afternoon had gone by with no one noticing, not Zhou You, not the office, not a single crew member. Yet with Gu Xi it took one glance, one brush in passing, and the seam was found.

Rong Jing tried again and again. Each time he reached for anything about Heaven, about his guesses, his words were smothered. His expression could not help showing a kind of fretfulness no one had ever seen on him.

Rong Jing’s anxiety was hard for most to detect. Gu Xi read it in an instant.

He thought a moment. “You can’t say it? Blink once for yes, twice for no.”

Rong Jing did not move, then blinked twice.

Gu Xi nodded as if he understood and did not ask further. As he always did, he simply said, “Got it. I know which one is you. If there is anything I can do, you must tell me.”

Rong Jing blinked. The six hours that had felt like years stretched behind him. With those words, something inside him pushed back.

Looking at Gu Xi’s earnest brows, his heartbeat went ragged. 

Once. Again. Stronger.

It was not the first time.

Before, he would forcibly look away or he would remember Gu Xi was a man, and the cool would come back.

But even knowing now, none of it stopped this drum in his chest.

They moved to the living room sofa. Gu Xi brewed them each a hot drink and washed a bowl of strawberries.

The air between them slipped back into its usual lightness.

This episode of the show featured Xun Jiarui as a guest too. In the final cut the team sliced their schedules apart. Gu Xi was shown exiting a hotel and getting into a car. Rong Jing spotted the building instantly. It was Xielier. They had blurred the logo, but he had stayed there so often it was laughably obvious.

“You were at Xielier that day?” Rong Jing had not expected the coincidence.

“Mm. Went to see a friend.” Gu Xi’s eyes were all smiles. “You came to the elevator that day, didn’t you? Then skipped it and took the emergency stairs. I was nearby.”

Rong Jing did not really remember, and Gu Xi did not expect him to; he had been a stranger then.

Even without saying it, he knew why Rong Jing had changed course. He had sensed Gu Xi’s rejection, or maybe he had simply seen two Omegas and avoided them. That was Rong Jing, no one could replace him.

Gu Xi’s gaze stayed on the screen. He planned to scrub out all of Rong Jing’s parts later and save them. He plucked up a strawberry and held it out.

Rong Jing took it. Their fingers touched.

His eyes flicked to Gu Xi’s mouth, the full red curve shining with juice.

And suddenly that night in the dark unspooled, image after image. It had been too dim then. They had mapped each other out by diluted moonlight, by heat and scent. He had not dared look closely.

It was not that he had forgotten. He had never let himself remember. If he thought too hard he would come apart.

He tore his gaze away, took a gulp of hot drink. His throat still felt dry.

The place Gu Xi had kissed prickled hot. He felt… off.

The episode switched to the subway. One frame, a quick cut.

“That costumed mascot was you!” Rong Jing blurted.

“You sound disappointed,” Gu Xi teased. “It was me. Are you scared?”

“Not scared. Just surprised.”

“You went outside to catch a thief then, didn’t you?” Gu Xi thought of how he had almost mistaken him, then found him again. The whole thing still stung.

The screen filled with bullet comments, most friendly, one or two sour enough to burn the eyes: Gu Xi’s ass is so perky, it must feel amazing to squeeze; even in a mascot suit his body is pure sexy.

Rong Jing wanted to shut them off. Gu Xi caught his wrist. “Let it play.”

His expression was very calm, as if this were nothing.

He had long since gotten used to being turned into a fantasy. When he had been younger he had raged. Age had taught him to stop punishing himself with other people’s filth. They could not touch him anyway.

Rong Jing’s chest ached. How much malice had it taken to build that level gaze? Gu Xi sat with a soft pillow in his arms, eating strawberries like an obedient cat, and Rong Jing’s fingers itched to ruffle his hair.

When it cut to the film academy talk, the editors had left in the moment Gu Xi picked Rong Jing to answer a question.

The bullet screen exploded.

They had been low-key on set, but visiting fans and staff had posted the odd tidbit. Anonymous scene reports said the two did not get along. Aside from the scenes they shared, one would avoid where the other was. Halfway through production the rumor had hardened into fact.

Mixed in were stranger leaks: their intimate scenes were scalding, Gu Xi’s first on-screen kiss was rumored to be in there too. Fans were both thrilled and tormented.

As for why Gu Xi was “targeting” Rong Jing, Xi-fans argued it was the years of baseless gossip. Gu Xi had hit a limit. Rong Jing had become the cannon fodder. If the other party had done something unforgivable, Gu Xi would never have worked with him. Since the work was normal, it had to be something non-principled.

Whatever the truth, everyone had accepted the “not on good terms” setting.

“Oh my God, they met that early?”

“I forgot they graduated from the same school!”

“Xi-fans and Jing-fans arriving in five, four, three…”

“Xi-fans are going to explode, lol.”

“Their first stage together was here? Wild.”

“G-x could not have known that random student he picked would turn out to be R-j. Feels like fate.”

“From this alone they look like strangers. Where are the people who swore G-x was trading resources? X-J-R, you not coming out to apologize? This kind of slander does real damage.”

“Wasn’t that cleared up ages ago?”

“Who even believes it? If anything it is more believable people want to trade for G-x. Anyone spreading that sh*t has no brain.”

The two men glanced at each other, mutually guilty.

They also realized at some point they had drifted very close, close enough that the smallest movement would bring them together.

Gu Xi’s eyes were clear, like a night studded with stars, full of tiny hooks.

Like a sailor hearing a siren, Rong Jing moved without thinking, his fingertips almost brushing Gu Xi’s.

Applause burst from the show’s audience. Rong Jing jerked like a man waking and shot to his feet. “I… I should sleep early. Good night!”

He left without a second of hesitation. In Gu Xi’s stunned stare he rushed out, door shutting behind him in one smooth, cowardly line.

Breathing hard, heart rioting, he touched his jaw where that kiss had landed. What had he been about to do?

Was he insane? That was Gu Xi. The person he wanted to protect. Was he going to become the kind of bastard from the original book and covet him?

He was losing control.

Because he left, he did not see the back half. The bullet screen threw up a single line: does anyone else think his voice sounds like the

It’s the nickname/codename
given to Rong Jing during the
variety show “A Day in a Star's Life.”
In Chinese internet slang and text speak,
“bss” is actually a common abbreviation for “boss.” bss

?

One became many.

“Be confident. It is exactly the same.”

“No, really confident. It is indistinguishable.”

“Any tech gods who can do a character analysis or a voice match???”

“Urgent!”

The speculation snowballed. The variety team could not have predicted it. They had only wanted to stir the pot about the rumored feud. Instead they had fed a wildfire.

Netizens discovered that Rong Jing’s voice sounded very, very much like the mysterious sharp-tongued bss in the Absolute Idol prologue.

Skeptics said a similar voice proved nothing. Xun Jiarui also sounded alike.

Then a techie appeared with a face match. He overlaid Rong Jing’s frontal shots with the half-face of the bss in motion. The fit was perfect. He put it to explosive music, and the crowd went wild.

Decoded: the poison-tongued gentleman was the newbie, Rong Jing.

Thinking back, Xietian Entertainment’s statement had been artful. It thanked everyone for their love, and said the judge did not wish to debut that way.

Read it again. Slowly.

He really did not want to debut that way. He was not even on the show. He had gone straight into a film set.

Why would a rich, handsome man hide like this?

Within hours the topic rocketed up the charts. The site’s backend choked under the traffic.

Rong Jing knew none of it. He could only see that almost-disaster on loop.

He did not know if it was the Alpha possessiveness after marking, or something else, something not the same as before.

A floor above, Gu Xi tossed and turned too.

“Ugh.”

Was Rong Jing about to kiss me? Why did he run so fast? I was not even warmed up.

“Ugh.”

Did Gu Xi notice I was being a beast too? Not so different from other Alphas?

A sleepless night.

Elsewhere in the city, Wu Hanqi sat by a window, turning a Go stone between his fingers. He held white. He placed a move.

A needle of pain stabbed his mind.

He did not change expression. When it subsided, he smiled.

“Interesting.”

He had just unlocked a new ability. If it failed, there would be a chance of backlash.

And the very first try had been broken. Had someone nearby recognized that it was not the original? Normally Heaven’s puppets were seamless. It should not be so easy to spot.

So, the bug had experts around him.

A gauge flickered in his head. [Imprisonment] had lost 10 percent. Next time 20 percent. Then 30. Each use stronger than the last.

From his remaining choices, Wu Hanqi had selected Imprisonment.

Definition: it has a peculiar effect on the soul. Once a soul is imprisoned, a puppet copy is created almost identical to the original. Each appearance lasts longer, until the world gradually forgets the original and the puppet replaces him fully. The original will vanish forever.

Countermeasure: during every single period of imprisonment, one or more people must correctly tell the difference. Also, the original must possess a strong will to remain in this world.

Why pick Imprisonment?

Because during the final use of Illusion, he had noticed a delicate detail.

The red bug’s soul was unstable. That meant his attachment to this world was not strong.

The longer the puppet stood in his place, the longer people would forget the original. To break it, someone had to recognize him every time, and even that was not enough. The soul itself had to be anchored.

Wu Hanqi was very good at finding a person’s weak point. In his view, the last strike of Illusion had already found the bug’s greatest flaw.

A man who does not cling to this world, how could his soul be steady?

Attack with your strengths against the enemy’s weakness, seize it, and press the advantage. That is how you win.

After a night of bad sleep, Gu Xi wandered out of the bedroom to find Mo Dian cleaning the wreckage of last night in the living room.

“Did you watch the episode?” Mo Dian asked. “A Day in the Life of a Star. Your episode aired.”

“I did. What about it?” Gu Xi yawned, eyes half-lidded. He was still very sleepy.

Mo Dian stared. He really did not know? At least pretend to care about the trending list. In the old days Gu Xi would have been all over this. He was gearing up to lecture him when a knock came.

“You keep at it. I will get the door.”

Gu Xi drifted to the entry like a ghost and pulled it open.

He had not expected Rong Jing, who almost never initiated, to be standing there. Gu Xi’s breath caught. Sleep vanished.

I am doomed.

I am not ready. I have not washed my face or fixed my hair. I am not even dressed. Why did I open the door like this?

He nearly slammed it shut again. No. Too out of character.

Hold. Do not panic.

Three-quarters angle. His bare face looked best that way.

Rong Jing did not notice the flurry. He was not exactly calm himself. He held out a folder, solemn. “The contract. I should have given it to you earlier, but it got delayed. Please look it over. If there is anything to change, tell me.”

Gu Xi kept his cool face, subtly shifted to his better angle, and took it.

He flipped a few pages and stared. What was this? Was this a contract to keep someone, or to invite home a revered ancestor?

How could Rong Jing hand him this and call it “keeping.” Was he serious?

From the look on Rong Jing’s face, he was dead serious.

You dare hand me this? Do I dare accept it?

“Is there another contract?” Gu Xi asked.

“?” said Rong Jing.

“I mean a normal one. This cannot be your starting point.”

Someone had clearly edited the document. Every clause skewed toward him. Rong Jing’s side was only about giving and more giving. That was not the relationship Gu Xi wanted.

Behind him, Zhou You’s eyes lit up. He had told the young master this would not fly. Cooked duck, about to fly away.

He swooped in and produced the version he had sweated over for nights, with clauses carefully tailored to Gu Xi and the young master’s slightly terrifying possessiveness. He passed it over like a bomb and watched Gu Xi’s face, terrified he would hate it.

They bypassed Rong Jing entirely, completing the handoff.

Gu Xi skimmed the “normal” contract. Now this made sense.

He nodded, took the pen from Rong Jing’s pocket, and amended one line: the monthly allowance, originally a minimum of one million, became 1 yuan. He handed it back to Zhou You.

“This version. Change the amount. Nothing else.”

“That is not appropriate, Gu Xi.” Rong Jing moved to stop him. “Wait, wait…”

“What is inappropriate?” Gu Xi’s brows lifted. “I told you. You reap what you sow.”

You till the field once, and you get me. That is very fair, is it not?

Smiling, he flicked the new contract against Rong Jing’s chest.

That playful pat landed like a thump straight to Rong Jing’s heart.

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