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Shen Mingbei felt his meaning was clearly expressed. After speaking, he turned around and left.
Qu Lang’s face turned unsightly after hearing it.
Ignoring the noodles, he stood up and walked behind Shen Mingbei before holding him back. He disregarded Shen Mingbei’s struggles and asked, “What did you eat? With who?”
Shen Mingbei felt this person was being very strange. In the past, he never cared whether he ate or not.
But when facing Qu Lang, he gently explained, “With Cai Feng and Xiao Zhang.”
Qu Lang never took notice of Shen Mingbei’s friends, so he naturally didn’t know any Cai Feng’s or Xiao Zhang’s.
However, the name written on the business card he took out from Shen Mingbei’s pocket was ‘Gu’-something, not these two people.
Qu Lang’s expression turned uglier. Was this person aware he’d already married?
Not only did he stop messaging him, but he was also disappearing every day to fool around outside. In order to wait for him, he delayed his work and hadn’t even eaten until now! He, on the other hand, returned after eating with someone else. He told him to make dinner, yet he half-heartedly made noodles!
It’s only Lin Xiang returning – did he have to act like this?
Thinking of this, Qu Lang felt exasperated. Forgetting about dinner, he pulled Shen Mingbei into the bedroom.
Qu Lang used great strength. Shen Mingbei was so shocked he couldn’t struggle free. Before he could react, Qu Lang began kissing him.
It was as if Qu Lang wanted to devour him. Qu Lang only relaxed a little after Shen Mingbei began desperately struggling due to a lack of oxygen.
Shen Mingbei took advantage of this opening and avoided him. He wiped away his tears and, with reddened eyes, asked, “What are you doing?”
Qu Lang stayed silent. Taking in Shen Mingbei’s appearance, he found it even more difficult to restrain himself; however, thinking of how Shen Mingbei silently ‘resisted’ for the past half a month, he patiently replied, “I’m compensating you.”
Qu Lang’s patience could only fit this one sentence.
In the relationship between these two, Qu Lang had always stood in the dominant position. Whatever he wanted to do, he would do.
Shen Mingbei fell asleep crying. Qu Lang only calmed down a little after leaning against the pillow. He was extremely awake right now. Although he wanted to go another round, Shen Mingbei couldn’t handle it any further, so he didn’t want to force him anymore.
Towards Shen Mingbei, Qu Lang never felt he’d insisted on anything before.
Qu Lang never thought he liked Shen Mingbei.
It’s just, at around the time Shen Mingbei appeared, his attitude and temperament, appearance and voice, or maybe the feelings he held for him, made him very suitable for becoming a beautiful home decoration.
The two had been married for many years. Qu Lang didn’t like staying with anyone and, coincidentally, Shen Mingbei was often away busy with work, so there was actually very little interaction between them. But Qu Lang had always been confident that no matter where Shen Mingbei ran to, he’d eventually return.
After all, Shen Mingbei was the type of person who’d send messages reporting he was safe and sound even if he wasn’t at home – even if Qu Lang never replied back.
When Shen Mingbei was at home, he’d even make some food.
""
It’s just, the food always aroused more than just his appetite

But during the past month, Qu Lang felt something wrong. One day, there were suddenly no more messages from Shen Mingbei. After careful consideration, let alone food, even Shen Mingbei himself was rarely seen.
For some reason, Qu Lang’s heart felt both stifled and empty – he wanted to see Shen Mingbei. He remembered Shen Mingbei once said he’d be filming a drama for Dongyang Film Studio, so after Qu Lang finished work he immediately flew over.
As a result, he encountered Lin Xiang instead.
In addition to Lin Xiang, there was Lu Chen.
Lu Chen was originally the heir of the Lu Family, but he didn’t want to inherit the family business, hence, he worked as the vice president beside Qu Lang. He was mainly responsible for any work Qu Lang was too lazy to manage.
That day, as Qu Lang didn’t find the person he was looking for, he’d planned on leaving straight away, but Lu Chen pulled Qu Lang back and said, “I just knew you’d come. Xiang-Xiang’s finally back, so let’s eat out together!”
Qu Lang hesitated but didn’t refuse.
There were three people at the dining table, yet Qu Lang felt a little lonely.
The dishes Lu Chen ordered weren’t very tasty and he inexplicably remembered Shen Mingbei.
He was clearly there to see him!
Why did he leave without telling him?!
Qu Lang didn’t want to eat, so he drank alone.
Lu Chen advised him to stop drinking. Qu Lang didn’t listen.
Lin Xiang said, “Since A-Lang wants to drink, then let him drink.”
Lu Chen said he might as well sacrifice himself to accompany the gentleman. The three drank until late in the night. Later, Qu Lang couldn’t even remember how he returned to the hotel.
Lin Xiang left early in the morning to begin shooting with the cast and crew. After Qu Lang awoke according to his biological clock, Lu Chen handed him a glass of water and asked, “What were you thinking?”
Qu Lang accepted the glass and, after drinking the water, he asked, puzzled, “What do you mean?”
Lu Chen said, “Xiang-Xiang came back for you, so you should give him an explanation.”
“It’s over between us.” Qu Lang didn’t think there could be anything between him and Lin Xiang. Back then, since Lin Xiang dared to do that sort of thing, he should’ve known the consequences.
Lu Chen spoke nothing more, but his eyes clearly expressed his disbelief. After a while, Lu Chen asked, “What will happen to you and Shen Mingbei in the future?”
Qu Lang found this question strange – what could happen between him and Shen Mingbei?
“The same old.”
Qu Lang’s tone was light as if he felt no emotion.
Lu Chen said, “Lin Xiang still doesn’t know the matter between you and Shen Mingbei.”
Qu Lang ‘en’ed and lowered his head to look at his phone. Usually, Shen Mingbei would’ve sent him a message by now, but after tapping on the conversation page several times, there was still no message.
Actually, this had become the norm. The last time Shen Mingbei sent him a message was already ten days ago. The reason why he returned to Dongyang was also that Shen Mingbei suddenly stopped sending messages to him

Lu Chen couldn’t see Qu Lang’s phone screen and asked if he was busy with something. Qu Lang shook his head, then nodded his head.
Lu Chen tactfully said, “I’ll call breakfast for you.” After, he left the room.
Since there were no messages from Shen Mingbei, Qu Lang restrained his heart a little. He began asking Assistant Xiao Chen the latest news on Shen Mingbei.
The two exchanged a few messages before Qu Lang felt something wrong and directly called him. “He’s already back?”
Assistant Xiao Chen was extremely professional in all aspects of work, so he could immediately answer Qu Lang’s question. “Mr Shen returned to Qingtan Bay four days ago and haven’t left since.”
Hearing how Shen Mingbei had already returned, Qu Lang suddenly and inexplicably felt at ease.
Shen Mingbei was at Qingtan Bay, still obediently waiting for him.
Thinking like this, the corners of Qu Lang’s lips raised slightly. The anxiety his heart had been subjected to these past few days diminished and he eagerly returned to the Capital.
He’d wanted to go straight back, but as soon as he got off the plane Xiao Chen said there were several slip-up issues for some contracts. Qu Lang had no choice but to work overtime.
When returning to Qingtan Bay in the dim light of night, Qu Lang groped about in the dark as he entered the room.
Qu Lang’s weariness from working overtime was instantly swept clean after smelling Shen Mingbei’s familiar scent. He embraced Shen Mingbei and did it twice.
Unfortunately, he had to return to work the next day.
Qu Lang was in a very good mood when he left, but it didn’t last long. For another ten days, there still wasn’t a single message from Shen Mingbei. Not only were there no messages, even the person himself had disappeared.
There were many times he came back home early, only to learn from the maid-auntie that Shen Mingbei hadn’t come back.
Other than beside him, where else could he go?!
At first, Qu lang reasoned that it was due to Shen Mingbei’s illness – that he was dispirited – but even after waiting patiently for several more days, there was still no news.
Qu Lang remembered the guy he saw at the hospital.
That day, Shen Mingbei was only wearing a hospital gown, directly exposing his neck as he chatted with him. He was smiling so splendidly and even holding the other’s hands

Qu Lang’s heart was stifled, restless yet with nowhere to vent.
Qu Lang thought, since Shen Mingbei wasn’t coming over to find him, then he wouldn’t bother caring for him either.
Qu Lang questioned the maid-auntie and learnt that while he was away, Shen Mingbei’s aunt came over.
Shen Mingbei’s aunt.
Qu Lang met her a few times. She looked quite similar to Shen Mingbei, but her manner was different.
But since his aunt came, it was probably for money.
Qu Lang asked Xiao Chen to add some more money to Shen Mingbei’s card before staring at his phone the entire day. Shen Mingbei’s gratitude never came.
Then, he smashed his phone.
Qu Lang looked at the broken phone and frowned again.
He hurriedly asked Xiao Chen to promptly buy him a new phone, worried that his damaged phone won’t be able to receive messages. In the end, he bought it himself.
The phone was bought, yet there were still no messages. Qu Lang couldn’t understand why Shen Mingbei suddenly changed his attitude.
Lu Chen invited Qu Lang out for another drink. After listening to Qu Lang, Lu Chen said, “Shen Mingbei is throwing a tantrum with you.”
Qu Lang was unconvinced. What could he possibly throw a tantrum about? Wasn’t he good enough to him?
Lu Chen had no choice but to make it clearer.
“Shen Mingbei must already know about the matter between you and Xiang-Xiang.
A while ago, 《Feng Yue》replaced a cast member. Shen Mingbei knew it was Xiang-Xiang who replaced him. I guess he just wants to make things difficult for you, but don’t have a reason.
For someone like Shen Mingbei, there’s always something to throw a tantrum about.”
Lu Chen said this with certainty, yet for some reason, Qu Lang felt at ease. Since he was still staying with him, that meant he still cared about him.
That’s right, Shen Mingbei was so in love with him – since he knew about Lin Xiang, how could he not be angry?

..
When Shen Mingbei woke up the next day, Qu Lang was already gone.
He was dumbfounded for a bit before Shen Mingbei suddenly remembered how he boasted in front of Gong Yi saying how he’d act out all the scenes himself

Looking at the time, Shen Mingbei hurried downstairs and ran to the company-arranged dance studio for class.
The dance studio wasn’t quite far away from Qingtan Bay, so Shen Mingbei didn’t wait for a top-quality driver. Thinking it wasn’t too far away, he drove away himself with a navigator. Shen Mingbei had only eaten a vegetable salad last night and was messed around by Qu Lang until midnight.
And he didn’t eat breakfast either. His vision blurred just in time for him to collide into the tail light of a car in front of him.
Shen Mingbei was fully awake now. He left his car wearing a pair of sunglasses and a mask and quickly apologised first.
At first, the driver had wanted to say something, but after he took a look at Shen Mingbei he suddenly said, “Mingbei, it’s me!”
Shen Mingbei was startled. He took a closer look before carefully saying, “Gu Yibai?”
Hearing Shen Mingbei call his name, Gu Yibai’s smile was very sincere. He said, “I heard you live nearby, so I bought a house nearby. I never thought I’d actually meet you.”
Shen Mingbei felt his words were slightly strange, but he’d just hit the other’s car, so it wasn’t convenient for him to say anything else. He could only laugh, “Me neither.” After laughing, he wrung his hands a little. Even Gu Yibai, who was a lawyer, could buy a house nearby – he really was just a superficially flashy celebrity.
Observing his beloved car’s damaged tail light, Gu Yibai wasn’t angry. He said to Shen Mingbei, “I gave you my business card last time. Why did you never give me a call?”
Shen Mingbei continued to awkwardly smile. By the time he remembered he could seek advice from Gu Yibai to help his aunt divorce, the business card had already disappeared. Seeing how they weren’t that familiar and probably wouldn’t meet each other again, he didn’t think much of it.
He even asked Cai Feng to introduce him to another more reliable lawyer

For him to ask this was truly embarrassing.
“How about we exchange WeChat1?” Shen Mingbei initiatively took out his phone, skipping over how he lost the other’s business card and was even asked about it, and directly said, “I also need to send you compensation money for car repairment.”
Gu Yibai didn’t want the other to compensate him, but since he could add the other’s WeChat, he swiftly took out his phone too.
“My car is insured, so it shouldn’t cost too much. When the time comes, I’ll tell you the amount.” They instantly made an appointment for the next meeting. Gu Yibai felt he truly made the right choice coming out today.
“En, okay.”
Seeing how there was no other matter, Shen Mingbei prepared to drive away, but Gu Yibai asked, “Do you have time to grab a coffee with me?”
""
Shen Mingbei shook his head. “I’m busy today.”
Gu Yibai felt a little regretful, but he knew he couldn’t push too far. He had no choice but to drop the subject.

..
Shen Mingbei arrived at the dance studio and practised all morning. In the afternoon, he was forced by the dance teacher to eat boiled vegetables.
In his free time, he skimmed through Weibo and suddenly discovered Qu Lang was trending again.
This time, it was because of a picture of him and Lin Xiang eating.
The dishes in the photo looked so delicious. Shen Mingbei stared at the dishes, then stared at his own boiled vegetables. Bitterness suddenly crowded upon his mind.
He wanted to eat meat

Footnotes
‘WeChat’ – also known as ‘Weixin’ is a Chinese messaging, social media, and payment app.