Chapter 17: 17

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and finally made up his mind to ring the bell and let the waiter in.

“This porridge, and this, and this……”

He jabbed on the menu with his finger. In addition to the seafood porridge, there were also dishes with a light taste, with less oil and salt, and an order of beautiful crystal shrimp dumplings.

The more “ordinary dishes” one ate here, the more expensive it was. While ordering, he felt as if someone had chopped off a piece of meat from his small wallet.

But he couldn’t let his family’s big golden cat only eat porridge. A certain person was so sick in the morning that he barely ate, and now he would feed him a bit more to avoid sudden hypoglycemia.

The waiter reminded in a low voice: “Sir, our portions are relatively small and may not be enough for the two of you.”

Xia Xingchi blinked, and then subconsciously glanced at the veal steak and milk cake that he had been thinking about.

He swallowed, but in the end he just waved his hand and said: “I won’t eat, just order these.”

Li Chengyuan, who was sitting on the sidelines, frowned slightly when he heard these words.

At first he was prepared to eat vegetable salad, or at most greasy sausage fried rice. 

He never thought that this stingy little money-grubber would only be willing to buy things for him, and wouldn’t be stingy about spending money on him……even though his original intention was to make Xia Xingchi feel bad.

Seeing the seafood porridge being served on the table, the warm heat seemed to penetrate Li Chengyuan’s heart instantly.

His fingers curled up slightly. It turned out that this was the surprising feeling of being cared for.

“Wow, it smells so nice!” Xia Xingchi admired it, leaning over to study the reason it was so expensive and the difference between seafood that was shipped by air and seafood that was bought casually at a street stall.

Being drawn in by the scent made him even more greedy, and his stomach let out a gurgle that was very clear in the quiet booth.

“Haha……” Xia Xingchi smiled awkwardly.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Over the years, he had often been filled with resentment for this little liar, and had thought of many ways to make him pay a terrible price.

Unexpectedly, Xia Xingchi had not been allowed to eat for a while now, and his heart had already softened so much that he couldn’t do anything more.

“Try it quickly, what are you thinking about?” Xia Xingchi reached out and poked him.

Li Chengyuan stood abruptly, said with a sullen face, “I’m going to the bathroom,” then opened the door and left.

So Xia Xingchi was left alone in the room with the fragrant smells and a hungry stomach.

He had no choice but to divert his attention by going on Weibo and aimlessly typing the words, “Li Chengyuan.”

It was just for fun at first, but he was shocked when he saw the search results — he actually had so many fans?!

Although Li Chengyuan was very low-key, he couldn’t hide his high-profile face. The industry of Li Group involved all walks of life. Its branches were astonishingly huge, and its strong capital was obvious to all.

Therefore, several groups of keywords were put together: “Young and handsome, mysterious big tycoon.” It was full of impact, the perfect match for a male god.

As for those rumored shortcomings such as “ruthless means,” “cruel personality,” and “bad health,” fans obsessively called him the perfect male protagonist.

— But wasn’t this obviously the character design of the crazy villain?!

Xia Xingchi continued to scroll down, but suddenly found that not everyone was sure about Li Chengyuan’s appearance. 

Even though his blurry photos and back view were on the trending searches not long ago, it was the same every time. The hot search terms and pictures could only persist for a few minutes before disappearing completely due to his money-making ability.

In fact, there were pictures of Li Chengyuan on the internet, but there were dozens of versions of Li Chengyuan who were “suspected” to be the rightful owner.

It was rare for someone to take a clear picture of his face, and he was the first to be excluded by everyone. He saw the following piece in the comment area:

[Ah, this……Although Mr. Li is said to be handsome, there’s no need to exaggerate it so much, right? Is it possible for him to be more handsome than a celebrity who relies on their face to make a living?]

[Let it go, it’s easy to see which internet celebrity is hot (rolls eyes.jpg)]

[This picture is so handsome (drooling.jpg). I’ll take it first, asking for the Weibo of his internet celebrity brother]

[Who will delete it? Don’t confuse this fake picture with Mr. Li’s super topics.]

Fans were curious and eager to see the real face of the male god, so they sorted out the nine versions that were most likely to be correct, and then tagged the Li Group and asked them to claim their own boss.

But of course no one dared to speak up and reveal the truth.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help laughing wildly at the thought that the correct answer had been kicked out long ago and all nine of them were wrong. Everyone was still seriously voting. Which choice was the right one?

He laughed and laughed, but was unavoidably a little sad —

It occurred to him that fans would suddenly learn of the male god’s death in the near future. They would definitely be heartbroken and in disbelief.

It would be great if Li Chengyuan didn’t die. Maybe everyone would have a chance to see him later, take a look at the book’s pinnacle of handsomeness and not have to guess if he was good-looking or not.

Li Chengyuan had just pushed the door open and come in when he saw Xia Xingchi’s sad expression and drooping eyebrows.

He was stunned for a moment, thinking that he was aggrieved because he couldn’t eat.

Subtle distress and self-blame spread through the bottom of his heart, accompanied by sourness.

But even so, he didn’t say anything. He just sat down and drank the porridge without speaking, pretending like he hadn’t seen anything.

His aching stomach was gradually comforted by the warm sensation, and a bowl of seafood porridge, which had always been commonplace in his eyes, was more cherished than ever because of its extraordinarily different meaning.

“Is it delicious?!” Xia Xingchi was always optimistic, and his sadness was fleeting as he became cheerful again.

As soon as he spoke, there was a knock on the door and a waiter entered with a tray.

On it were a variety of delicacies, including of course Xia Xinchi’s long-coveted veal steak and many dessert milk cakes.

The other party quickly showed a standard service smile: “Hello, Sir, congratulations on becoming our store’s 99th customer! This is a gift for you —”

“Wait a minute, what event?” 

Xia Xingchi was taken aback upon hearing this, then went to look at those things again and finally asked: “You mean……all of this was given to me?”

— Such a high-end restaurant actually had such a strange down-to-earth activity?

— More importantly, why were these “gifts” more expensive than the meal he ordered?

— Could it be a lie? Didn’t everyone know about anti-fraud precautions?

Countless question marks circled in Xia Xingchi’s mind, but at this moment, he smelled the aroma of the veal steak.

It was more fragrant than he had imagined…..after greed consumed half his soul, he suddenly felt that there was nothing to doubt.

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“This event is our tradition! Our boss is commemorating his and his wife’s wedding anniversary, and it signifies long-lasting love.” The waiter smiled with enthusiasm. “You really are super lucky!”

His rhetoric was very authentic, and his smile was contagious. Xia Xingchi finally believed it and became excited: “Wow! Even I can be a lucky koi for a moment!”

Li Chengyuan looked at his smiling appearance and curved eyes, and smiled slightly. He nodded faintly when looking up at the waiter, implying his affirmation of the other party’s acting skills.

A large pie from the sky was obviously the happiest thing for a little money-grubber. The joy that came from a sense of luck could not be exchanged for money.

So until the waiter left, Xia Xingchi was still giggling foolishly, and it took him a long while to remember to eat.

It was indeed the delicacy he coveted, and it was expensive for a reason: The milk cake was very tender, sweet but not greasy, and had a rich milk flavor. The veal steak was also cooked well, tender and juicy.

Every dish was very tasty. Xia Xingchi narrowed his eyes contentedly, and Li Chengyuan couldn’t help but want to poke his puffy cheeks.

– – –

It was only that when the little money-grubber was about to pay the bill with the heartache of cutting off his own flesh, he saw that the waiter in charge of the checkout didn’t perform so well: “Sir, because Mr. Li……is our senior VIP, the dishes today are, are…..”

 Xia Xingchi looked at him doubtfully, wondering if this waiter had a stammer or just wasn’t too smart. 

Seeing this, Li Chengyuan gradually frowned, and had no choice but to make a silent “five”  gesture.

“Right! Today’s dishes are 50 percent off!” The waiter who was nervous to the point of freezing up finally finished his task with difficulty.

When it came to money, a little money-grubber was very shrewd and sharp, especially when facing one of his waiter “peers.”

Realizing that something was off, he astutely asked the other party: “Are you reciting a manuscript? Who told you to say that?”

While speaking, he quickly turned his head to stare at a certain suspect, and realized that the “99” event just now was also very deliberate.

However, Li Chengyuan still wore his usual cold expression and calmly took a sip of warm water. It seemed that he didn’t care about such “trivial things,” and looked even more indifferent.

“Li Chengyuan, did you……” Before Xia Xingchi finished speaking, he noticed that the waiter was about to cry from stress.

In order not to embarrass the hard-working waiter, he had to swipe his card to pay first – he used the salary he earned from making the advertisement, which was regretful but also filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

After the waiter left and the room became quiet again, Xia Xingchi turned his head again, trying to find some clues from a certain person’s expression.

But Li Chengyuan lowered his face first and changed the subject, asking: “Why aren’t you wearing your ring?”

When Xia Xingchi swiped his card, he noticed that there was nothing on his right middle finger.

“I’m afraid of it being seen by others.” Xia Xingchi pulled out the ring on a string from his collar. “In the end, I’m also a small artist.”

After some thought, he felt that he was in the wrong, so he hastily imitated Li Chengyuan and passed the blame: “It’s all your fault for being so popular. If your fans know that you married young, they’ll kill me!”

In an instant, he changed his identity from “The little scumbag who wants to hide his marriage in order to make money” to “The poor little guy who had to marry secretly because his other half was too popular.”

Li Chengyuan: “……”

After saying so, Xia Xingchi felt ashamed of his wages. If his status as an artist made this relationship invisible, what would happen if his salary was deducted by his sponsor?

So he had no choice but to come up with a plan to delay the attack: “It’s okay to make it public, but you have to give your fans a period of preparation and buffering. Let them accept it gradually, all right?”

This was the honest truth. If it was suddenly made public, Xia Xingchi suspected that he would be directly slaughtered. Not to mention stardom and making money in the entertainment industry.

Anyway, Li Chengyuan always kept a low profile and didn’t care about such things. Coupled with the fact that he had to deal with all sorts of affairs all day long, even if he had the leisure to manage and pave the way in front of everyone, he would definitely set it aside.

But what Xia Xingchi didn’t know was that these words made a certain villain ponder quietly for a while.

Finally, after the two left the restaurant and boarded the car, Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes silently and sent a few messages.

– – – 

The autumn night was clear, and twinkling stars could be seen in the sky above the villa.

As a worker who kept his promises, although the boss went to the company in the evening and hadn’t come back yet, Xia Xingchi obediently brought over his pillow and blanket.

He really didn’t know what kind of madness was plaguing Li Chengyuan, but after thinking of it for a long time, he finally found an explanation — Li Chengyuan wanted someone to warm him up.

After all, this person had poor health and was always afraid of the cold. If he wanted to sleep comfortably, hot water bottles and electric blankets were certainly not as comfortable as a large human-shaped heater that maintained a constant temperature.

When this thought occurred to him, Xia Xingchi hesitated for a moment, and in the end took back the blanket he had brought, leaving only Li Chengyuan’s blanket on the bed.

He waited until ten o’clock in the evening, but never saw Li Chengyuan’s silhouette.

“Aunt Li, why hasn’t he come back? It’s so late.” Xia Xingchi eventually became worried. “Is there a party tonight? Then he can’t drink, his delicate stomach can’t handle it.”

Aunty Li saw that the couple was so “loving,” so she smiled and replied: “Don’t worry, Sir is well aware. Besides, no one would dare to make him drink — it’s likely that too much work has accumulated these past few days and he hasn’t finished it yet.”

Since Xia Xingchi suddenly appeared in Li Chengyuan’s bathtub a few days ago and fled in a hurry, he first cast a wide net to find someone and then immediately afterwards proceeded to get engaged as if on a whim. He had indeed accumulated a lot of work.

Xia Xingchi could only nod.

On one hand, he was worried that he hadn’t eaten dinner, and on the other hand, he thought that this was a good thing, lest he be so frightened that he couldn’t sleep while there was a crazy villain lying next to him.

Taking advantage of Li Chengyuan’s absence, he quickly soaked in the bathtub to wash himself clean, then went ahead and dried his hair with a hair dryer. 

He even took out a new pair of pajamas and put them on.

After taking a bath and changing clothes to make sure that he was clean enough to climb onto the dragon bed of His Irascible Majesty without being violently beaten, only then did he turn off the lights and burrow into the bed to lie down.

The blanket smelled a little like Li Chengyuan’s shampoo and aftershave. He was ensconced in the very nice, cool scent.

Xia Xingchi buried his head in it to sniff, and in the end, he was easy to please and didn’t mind sleeping in a different bed. He wrapped himself up completely, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

– – –

When Li Chengyuan returned in the early hours of the morning, as soon as he entered the room, he saw a round, bulging silhouette on the bed, which seemed to move a little bit.

He was stunned for a moment, not realizing what it was.

Perhaps the “joy” came on too suddenly, and it took him a while to realize that he had already tricked a certain liar.

His heart like a pool of stagnant water came alive in an instant, and Li Chengyuan’s eyes showed some warmth as he gently lifted the blanket like opening a gift —

Xia Xingchi was sleeping with a pillow in his arms. His white and slender legs were exposed below his loose pajama pants, draped over the pillow like a little koala hugging a tree.

The corners of his pajamas were also lifted crookedly, revealing a slim and youthful waist.

He had clearly used the same shower gel, but on him, it smelled even more pleasant.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips. A trace of passion and forbearance flashed in his eyes, and after a long while, he leaned over and gently touched Xia Xingchi’s hand.

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