Zhan Yu sat in the middle of the crowd; he lowered his head and whispered to Lu Bai, "Are you older than all of them?"
"I'm older than some of them. What's the matter?" Lu Bai was worried that Zhan Yu felt uncomfortable.
It turned out to be that Zhan Yu really was uncomfortable, "Being called sister-in-law by so many men, feels... very special."
Lu Bai reached out his hand to soothe the back of Zhan Yu's hair, then said smilingly, "It will become better after you get used to it."
After the waiter finished serving the food and everyone was ready to take a seat, the door of the room was pushed open, and the figure of a man and woman came into view. The man was wearing a black leather jacket, he was tall and handsome. The woman had on a light blue overcoat and was wearing a white dress inside. Her makeup was exquisitely applied and her hair was loosely draped over her shoulders, giving her a beautiful feminine appearance.
When Zhan Yu saw their faces, his mouth curved into a faint but beautiful smile. Mo Bei and Chu Hua?
Everyone was shocked that Mo Bei had brought a woman over. When they got a closer look at the woman, they realized that she was the one who had a catfight with Lu Bai's man. The most important point was that the two of them had a catfight because of Lu Bai!
Everyone wanted to applaud, but they forced themselves to suppress their desire. Their faces showed no signs of excitement as their gaze switched back and forth between the two parties. Eh, everyone, let's not be too presumptuous. It's not a smart thing to provoke Lu Bai or Mo Bei.
Zhuang Zhu was the one who had contacted Mo Bei. Mo Bei told him that he was busy and Mo Bei was contacted by Zhuang Zhu, but Mo Bei told him that he was busy and he will see by then. As a result, Zhuang Zhu wasn't bothered too much by Mo Bei's absence, but why does he have to bring this woman along!?
Zhuang Zhu looked at Zhan Yu worriedly, but he was surprised to find a faint smile on Zhan Yu's face instead. Zhan Yu was smiling at Mo Bei and Chu Hua as they approached the group, there was no jealousy or anger on Zhan Yu's face! No wonder Zhan Yu is worthy to be with Lu Bai, Zhan Yu's ability is not bad, Zhuang Zhu thought.
Mo Bei was also shocked by Lu Bai and Zhan Yu's presence. Zhuang Zhu mentioned nothing about Lu Bai, and he didn't expect him to bring Zhan Yu along. When he received the call from Zhuang Zhu, he was with Chu Hua. Chu Hua's company was about to launch a new series of jewellery with the theme "a couple for a lifetime". She had brought the design to Mo Bei to ask for his opinion on the designs. As soon as Mo Bei made a few suggestions, Sheng Wenyang started to edit, so they came late. Mo Bei thought that there will only be Zhuang Zhu and a few others would be present, and since Chu Hua still haven't had dinner yet, he asked her to come along since she had met them before. He didn't expect to see Lu Bai and Zhan Yu.
Zhuang Zhu got up to break the awkward silence, "Mo Bei , you finally came! If you had come a bit later, we would've already started eating."
"I was busy so I came late." Mo Bei replied. A person who was seated at the same table mockingly said, "Mo Bei, I think you're busy with girls recently! I heard rumours that you're always with some girl, now you're actually bringing her here for us to see!"
Zhan Yu looked at that person with admiration and thought, Bro, I'm worried for you!
The person who was with Mo Bei was not the same beauty in front of you okay!?
Sure enough, Zhan Yu noticed that the expression on Mo Bei's face had darkened, even Chu Hua's expression froze for a moment.
Zhan Yu looked at Mo Bei and said laughingly, "Eat your food and shut your mouth!"
His shame turned into anger!
Lu Bai was sitting besides Zhan Yu, so he naturally noticed that Zhan Yu's gaze had been on Mo Bei since the moment he entered the room. Even the smile on his face was weird. He reached out to put his arm on the back of Zhan Yu's chair and lowered his head to whispered in his ear, "What are the melons seeds in your brain thinking about?"
Zhan Yu laughed and whispered back to him, "I saw the girl who was with Mo Bei, it wasn't Chu Hua"
"Eh?"
Zhan Yu wanted to explain after he saw Lu Bai frowning, instead he questioned Zhan Yu, "Are you interested in Mo Bei?"
Zhan Yu really wanted to answer, "I do have a little interest in the male supporting character in the book!"
However, he could never say that!
Zhan Yu could only smile and shook his head, "No, no, no."
Lu Bai glanced at Zhan Yu, then turned around without speaking.
Zhan Yu had just realized that Mo Bei and Chu Hua had already taken a seat. What was coincidental was that both of them sat across from him.
Zhan Yu moved his chopsticks, but before he could pick up the food, he heard Mo Bei, "A'Bai, are you not going to introduce us?"
Lu Bai had just put a peeled lobster into Zhan Yu's bowl when he heard this question. He looked at Mo Bei and then he glanced at Zhan Yu's line of sight. He introduced them, "This is the grandson of the Mo Family, Mo Bei. This is my wife, Zhan Yu."
Zhan Yu, "..."
Wasn't "wife" used only when the two of them were alone? Yet today...
Zhan Yu clearly saw Chu Hua's hand trembled when she lifted the cup up while Mo Bei inadvertently glanced at Chu Hua. Then, he replied with a smile, "Mr. Zhan, it's an honor to meet you at last."
Hehe, same to you.
Zhan Yu smiled politely and replied perfunctorily, "Hello."
During this meal, Zhan Yu didn't know how Chu Hua and Mo Bei felt, but he had accidentally ate too much. Of course, the main culprit was Lu Bai; he kept putting more and more food in his bowl.
After Zhan Yu finished eating a small mountain of food, there was another small mountain of food in his bowl. When he saw that Lu Bai had no intentions of stopping, he turned his head to stare at Lu Bai, warning him not to overdo it.
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Zhu made a scene out of it, "Hey, hey, hey! That's enough! The two of you had been displaying how lovey dovey you are since the beginning of the meal! We had enough dog food fed to us!"
Zhan Yu wanted to respond, but before he could even respond, he was stopped by a 'clang' sound from across. Chu Hua's cup was accidentally knocked over and water had spilled everywhere, even her dress was wet.
"Sorry!" After she apologized, she ran out of the room immediately.
Zhan Yu remained seated, after looking at the Mo Bei running after Chu Hua, he turned to look at Lu Bai.
Lu Bai remained seated. He served a bowl of soup for Zhan Yu and said, "Be careful, it's hot."
Zhan Yu, "..."
Zhan Yu suddenly realized that Lu Bai really liked the him right now, what should he do!?
Mo Bei stood in the hallway outside the bathroom. After waiting a few minutes, he saw Chu Hua coming out of the bathroom with teary eyes.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall, saying, "You've seen it yourself today. When would Lu Bai ever do something like that for a man?"
Chu Hua remained silent, but stared at the plant pot in the hallway.
"Chu Hua, wake up. You can't win Zhan Yu."
"Why?! Give me a reason." She calmly retorted.
Mo Bei thought it was better for her to vent her feelings hysterically rather than suppressing it.
"Because Lu Bai doesn't love you." Mo Bei said, "As long as a man was interested or placed a man or woman in his heart, he wouldn't allow a man or woman to live by himself or herself all these years and not ask anything about it. When did he ever place your work, company, or life in his heart? Or at least even asked about it once? Chu Hua, you saw how he cherished and adored that man. It's impossible between the two of you!"
Chu Hua stubbornly refused to look at him but her eyes were still red. Mo Bei stared at her shaking shoulders, unable to force himself to speak harshly anymore.
When Chu Hua returned to the private room, she drank two glasses of red wine in a row before suddenly standing up. She raised her wine glass and said to Lu Bai, "President Lu Bai, I toast you."
Everyone looked at Lu Bai, eager for gossip.
Lu Bai lazily looked at her.
Zhan Yu's gaze landed on Chu Hua. She downed the glass of wine in one gulp, not waiting for Lu Bai's response at all.
Mo Bei sat by the side and leaned back. But his gaze wasn't on Chu Hua either. He watched with his arms folded.
Zhan Yu guessed that the two had an unpleasant conversation outside which was why Mo Bei was acting like this.
Lu Bai didn't move but this didn't stop Chu Hua from continuing, "President Lu Bai, thank you for helping me so much while I was in college. You helped me feel motivated." She downed another glass of wine.
"I am thankful for you, President Lu Bai. While I was abroad all these years, it was because of you that I persisted." She slightly choked with emotions and continued, "I kept on going for such a long time just for you. But I can't seem to find a goal to keep me striving." She paused momentarily and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Lu Bai, I just want to ask you a question. What did all the beautiful memories that we had together mean to you? I clearly remember each time we were together. Our hugs. Our kisses. Where did you toss these memories to?! You clearly...you clearly like me...but why..."
Under everyone's bright and gossip-filled gazes, Lu Bai stood up. He interrupted Chu Hua's endless rant by saying, "You're drunk."
Chu Hua chuckled. "I'd rather that I was really drunk but I'm clearly sober. LU BAI, do you understand how it feels to be heartbroken? No. You will never understand."
Zhan Yu raised his eyebrows and looked at the two.
Lu Bai looked at Zhan Yu and held his hands, helping Zhan Yu up. He took his phone and coat from behind him and hung it on his elbow. He replied to Chu Hua, "You are right that I don't know, because my life is complete."
Lu Bai's linked hands with Zhan Yu and ignored Chu Hua who had a tear-stained face of a beauty. He said to Zhuang Zhu. "Zhan Yu needs to work tomorrow morning so I'm going to take him home now. You can put the bill on my tab." After that, they silently left.
Once the car was started, Zhan Yu purposefully sighed after he slowly put his seatbelt on.
This noise was particularly loud in a silent car.
Lu Bai looked to the side.
Zhan Yu seriously looked at him too.
Lu Bai was unable to endure Zhan Yu's sparkling gaze so he shifted his gaze. He stared ahead and said, "If you have something to say, just say it."
Zhan Yu said pitifully, "It's sad that we left so early. We didn't even win Zhuang Zhu's money back." Originally, Zhuang Zhu had met with Lu Bai so that they could play cards.
"It's the same if we win the next time."
"I was looking forward to you playing cards." Zhan Yu knew that Lu Bai had great card skills.
"You'll have a chance in the future." Lu Bai said this and changed the topic, "How about I drive you over to my house and you play a few rounds with my mother and grandfather?"
Wouldn't he be indirectly bringing Zhan Yu to see his parents?
Zhan Yu hurriedly rejected, "No, no, no. I'm not good at playing cards. I'll look bad if I keep losing."
"You have me. What are you scared of?"
"What?"
"If you lose, I'll just help you win double the money back. If you lose, it's on me. If I win, it's on you."
Zhan Yu pondered over this and believed that he wouldn't be losing anything.
When Lu Bai saw that Zhan Yu didn't respond, he continued to ask, "How does this sound? Want to come over?"
"Of course not! I didn't prepare anything. I'm not going. I want to go back home."
Lu Bai glanced at Zhan Yu and didn't persist. He drove Zhan Yu back to his (Zhan Yu's) house.
Once they arrived at the Zhan Residence, Lu Bai said, "I'll come over to pick you up early morning tomorrow."
"You don't need to go through all this trouble. My driver can drive me over."
"So it's settled." Lu Bai didn't care what Zhan Yu had previously said.
Zhan Yu glared at him and said, "Hey, President Lu Bai, can you take my words seriously?"
"Yes, I always remember your words." Before Zhan Yu could ramble on, Lu Bai continued, "We won't be able to see each other for another few days. Let me hug you for a while."
Zhan Yu naturally didn't think that Lu Bai was just simply going to hug him. As expected, while Lu Bai hugged him, he started to kiss him until he(Zhan Yu) was dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Then Lu Bai let Zhan Yu go.
Zhan Yu's break was over and Zhan Yu returned to work as usual. Who knew that the first mission he received was to convince Lu Bai to accept an interview.
This...
Zhan Yu rejected without hesitation. "The chances of him accepting this are very low."
"Right! It's because of this that we meticulously planned this episode. If we are able to invite Lu Bai to be a guest for our show, we definitely won't need to worry about the ratings."
Zhan Yu glanced at the Chief Editor and said, "Shouldn't we worry about whether or not he will accept this first?"
The moment the Chief Editor heard this, his expression changed. He looked warmly and friendly at Zhan Yu. "That's why we need Host Zhan's help. Win him over! Believe me, the next episode will capture everyone's attention!"
Zhan Yu was speechless. What a group of unscrupulous people!
If Zhan Yu was to interview Lu Bai, it would be lacking emotions and rigid. The two knew each other closely, so why should they sit in front of the camera and talk about things, especially for the audience to hear?
Zhan Yu cut straight to the chase. "You guys can interview him if you guys want, but I'm not responsible for contacting him. You guys can try your best to settle this issue."
Zhan Yu didn't want to interview Lu Bai. Therefore, he racked his mind to think of someone suitable to replace him.
The Chief Editor knew that Zhan Yu had made his decision. After this, he went to talk to Zhan Yu a few more times because he thought that if the program group were to contact him, before the call could get to Lu Bai's assistant, it would've been filtered out already. But if Zhan Yu had asked him, there would be better chances.
After all, they were close with one another.
But Zhan Yu wouldn't do him this favor.
When Lu Bai found out about this, it was already a few days later. That night, he just finished attending a dinner party. On the way, he asked Assistant Wang, "Have you booked the ticket already?"
"Yes, President Lu Bai." Assistant Wang respectfully replied but debated on saying something.
"Just say whatever is on your mind."
"President Lu Bai, so there's a TV Station in A City who wants to interview you for one episode on their show."
Lu Bai tugged his tie and was about to say, "you want me to teach you what to do still?", when Assistant Wang said, "Coincidentally, Sir Zhan is also hosting this show."
"What?"
The program group wanted to interview him but how come he hadn't heard Zhan Yu mention this when they had called everyday?
Lu Bai thought deeply and answered "ok".
Assistant Wang was confused. What did this mean? Did he agree or not?
Assistant Wang thought that since his Boss was going to visit his wife, he might as well leave this for the two of them to settle.
When Lu Bai arrived at the neighborhood Zhan Yu lived in, it was already one in the morning. He opened the door and entered the house. As expected, it was silent. He attempted to walk gently. After he showered, he wore his robe and walked into the main bedroom to see Zhan Yu sleeping soundly. He couldn't control his smile. He didn't know whether to feel happy at Zhan Yu's deep sleep or worry for his lack of alarm for living here alone. He used the dusk yellow lamp by the bed and wanted to move the blankets over so he could lay in, when he realized Zhan Yu was already on top of half the blankets. He didn't want to wake Zhan Yu up so he felt his way around the room and walked to the wardrobe to bring a new blanket over to bed. While walking back, he noticed that Zhan Yu had rolled over. He held his breath and walked over.
When Lu Bai had just placed the blankets down, Zhan Yu was suddenly startled. Zhan Yu abruptly sat up and said tremblingly, "Who are you!"
Lu Bai reached over and held Zhan Yu's shoulders. "It's me, don't be scared."
When Zhan Yu heard a familiar voice, he borrowed the dim light to look at his face. After making sure it was Lu Bai, he couldn't help but throw a pillow at him. "LU BAI! You want to scare me to death?! It's in the middle of the night and what do you think you're doing?!"
"Ok, ok, ok. Don't be scared. We can talk about this tomorrow. Let's sleep now."
"Wait no, why are you here?" Zhan Yu was confused.
"I am free tomorrow so I decided to come over."
Zhan Yu found his phone and looked at the time. It was almost two in the morning. So he hurried here overnight?
Zhan Yu was extremely tired and figured that he might be too after getting off a plane. Zhan Yu hugged his waist and murmured, "Let's hurry and sleep."
Lu Bai kissed Zhan Yu's eyebrows and hugged him to sleep. When he woke up the next morning, he just found out that Zhan Yu had already left for work. There was a text from him, saying that breakfast was already made and for him to heat it up before eating.
Lu Bai had an extremely good sleep last night. He even slept an extra two to three hours. Therefore, he was in a great mood this morning. After he rinsed and finished eating breakfast, he sent Zhan Yu a text. "Wifey, are you busy with your work?"
When Zhan Yu saw Lu Bai's text, hr just walked out of the Director's office.
There was only one reason why the Director called him to his office. He had to convince Lu Bai to accept the interview.
Zhan Yu remained the same attitude. However, he couldn't handle the Director's glib tongue. It felt as if he didn't agree, then he won't let him back to work. Zhan Yu was forced to say, "He just returned to A City last night. If you guys want to talk, you can send someone over to talk to him."
Although the Director agreed, he mentioned many times for Zhan Yu to sweet talk him.
When Lu Bai came over in the afternoon to pick Zhan Yu up for lunch, he saw that Zhan Yu wasn't in a great mood. He teased Zhan Yu, "You're already full from eating just by looking at me?"
Zhan Yu was stunned and looked up at Lu Bai. He then realized that Lu Bai was just joking and wanted to make him smile.
Zhan Yu chuckled and said, "President Lu Bai, don't worry. Just looking at you puts me in a great appetite to eat. You don't need to doubt yourself."
Lu Bai coldly humphed. "I'm always confident in my looks."
"Mhm, right!" Zhan Yu followed along. After having two bites, he said, "I want to talk to you about something."
"What?"
Zhan Yu went straight to the point. "The TV Station wants to interview you for one of the shows."
"Mhm."
"Will you accept the interview?"
Lu Bai knew that Zhan Yu was the host of the show too. But seeing that Zhan Yu hadn't mentioned this piece of information, he said, "Normally, I don't go on these types of shows."
"I know." Zhan Yu knew better than anyone that Lu Bai hated revealing himself in front of the public.
Who knew that Lu Bai continued to say, "But if you're the one interviewing me and you give me some sort of benefits, I'll accept the interview."
Once he finished, Lu Bai purposefully looked ambiguously at Zhan Yu.
Zhan Yu clearly didn't fall in Lu Bai's trap. "No. I think it's awkward to even interview you."
Lu Bai didn't really respond so they dropped the topic.
Who knew that two days later, Zhan Yu walked into the office early morning when colleagues came over to congratulate him. "Zhan Yu, you're quite magical. Lu Bai actually agreed to attend this show for the first time ever. After it's broadcasted, you will definitely become famous!"
Zhan Yu was frozen momentarily before he shockingly said, "He agreed to attend the show?"
"Yes!" His colleagues happily stated. "You didn't know? I heard that the Director invited him out for lunch and then he accepted this. However, we all know whose credit this goes to."
Zhan Yu was speechless. Lu Bai didn't tell him that he agreed!
Not long from now, the official announcement came down. Zhan Yu was fully in charge of Lu Bai's interview. At the same time, this episode will be live-broadcasted for gimmick. This was the first time this show ever resorted to live-broadcast since the creation of it. Therefore, all the staff within the program group were highly concentrated and focused. Of course, because of Lu Bai's request, he would only appear at most for thirty minutes for the show.
The Director said, "President Lu Bai, if we're going to live-broadcast this, the whole process will be over an hour! If you only appear for half an hour, then our show..."
"You guys will just have to figure something out yourselves." Lu Bai answered.
Therefore, in the end, the program invited a popular celebrity as guest for the first half of the episode. After ten minutes of intermission, the main guest, Lu Bai, appeared.
Zhan Yu naturally needed to replan the entire episode. He worked overtime until late at night. When Lu Bai came to pick him up, he gloomily asked, "Why did you agree?"
"Is there a reason why I shouldn't agree to attend my boyfriend's show?"
Zhan Yu knitted his eyebrows and remained silent.
Lu Bai laughed and asked, "Am I that embarrassing to show to the public?"
Zhan Yu slapped his hand which was pinching his face. "It's because you're too presentable that I'm unwilling to present you to the public."
Lu Bsi chuckled and before he could say something, he heard Zhan Yu say, "Plus, I don't want you to do something you dislike for me."
"This isn't too bad for me. Just relax and treat me like a normal guest."
Zhan Yu murmured, "How are you normal?"
Zhan Yu felt completely different around him!
Because there were urgent matters in the company, Lu Bai returned to Sheng Jin City earlier than planned. Spending the next several days without Zhan Yu, Zhan Yu could use this time to calm down and prepare for the draft of the episode.
After an official announcement on Weibo that Lu Bai was going to attend the show, it created huge sensations. The extraordinary and wealthy Lu Bai was finally going to attend a show? The users left comments saying that they were eager to see his appearance.
The day of the live-broadcast, they followed the procedure and simply rehearsed in the afternoon. Because Lu Bai was still on the plane, he was naturally exempt from this.
After dinner, Zhan Yu had been adjusting and calmly himself. He attempted to prepare to host in his best state. During the beginning of the episode, although he was a bit nervous, he quickly entered his state. No matter whether he was facing the guests or the cameras, he appeared to be calm and imposing.
This popular celebrity's surname was Li and he was only 25 years old. But because of his exquisite acting and remarkable appearance, he immediately won many fans over after appearing in several TV shows.
Zhan Yu chatted with him comfortably as if they were friends. After that, they mentioned their dreams.
He said, "I have a simple dream. I just want to have a peaceful and enjoyable job, along with someone I like, and form a happy family with them."
Zhan Yu smiled and said, "Probably numerous people have the same dream."
"Host Zhan thinks so?"
"Yes, I think that's how life should be lived. Work, family, and friends."
"Host Zhan, so what do you think you're still missing?"
Zhan Yu thought about it and grinned. "I think I'm quite happy right now so I treasure the moments."
"So, is Host Zhan taken right now?"
Zhan Yu didn't think he would be that curious. He grinned and said, "Yep, I have a boyfriend."
To be continued...
...