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Shen Mingbei didn’t take this media gossip seriously, or perhaps he just ate it like food. Either way, he treated it as entertainment with him as a spectator.
But even if Shen Mingbei didn’t take it to heart, someone naturally would. In the afternoon, before he could even practice much, Shen Mingbei received a call from Qu Lang’s mother.
She gently asked Shen Mingbei, “Xiao Shen, have you been busy lately? Didn’t you say you’ll be filming a while ago?”
Shen Mingbei didn’t want to explain more about how his role was snatched away, so he directly answered, “I haven’t been busy lately. I’ve finished filming.”
Hearing this, Qu Lang’s mother responded with a still-gentle voice, “Then come back home for dinner – I made chicken soup. By the way, bring Qu Lang with you. Neither of you has come back for a while.”
Shen Mingbei didn’t really want to go back, much less contact Qu Lang.
But Qu Lang’s mother wasn’t a good-tempered person. Shen Mingbei had only hesitated for a moment before she sensed her opposition, hence she sternly said, “I just want you to come back home, yet you’re filled with all sorts of excuses. Where are you? I’ll send a driver to you right now!”
“No, no, no, I’ll go back myself. I’m just busy right now.” Hearing her words, Shen Mingbei knew that if he reported his address, Mother Qu would immediately rush over, so he hastily halted her thoughts.
Qu Lang’s mother had a bad temper – one kindle would cause her to explode. It just so happened she had a weak heart too. Shen Mingbei could never refuse anything she set her mind on, so he could only comply with her wishes.
Hearing Shen Mingbei’s agreement, her tone eased up. She asked about Shen Mingbei’s health before hanging up.
Shen Mingbei held his phone and stared at it for a long while. In the end, he didn’t contact Qu Lang-
He didn’t want to see Qu Lang.
At night, Shen Mingbei went to the Qu’s home. Sure enough, he smelt the aroma of chicken soup.
Qu Lang’s mother was also born from an influential family, but as the Qu Family’s madam, she liked cooking with her own hands and feeding her juniors.
Before Shen Mingbei arrived, he already knew his dancing today had gone to waste. He still had a long way to go in terms of losing weight, yet he was feeling more at peace about it.
Qu Lang’s mother came out from the kitchen. Seeing Shen Mingbei come in alone, although her smile remained, her expression suddenly turned unpleasant.
“Where’s Qu Lang?”
“He’s busy.” Shen Mingbei changed into the slippers a servant brought over and walked forward, asking, “Mum, what did you make?”
Hearing Shen Mingbei’s question, Qu Lang’s mother cast a mild glance towards the front door before retracting her gaze and answering, “Ginseng, goji berry, and silkie-chicken soup.”
It was very common to add some herbs to chicken soup, so Shen Mingbei didn’t think too much of it. He nodded and chimed in with, “It’s very healthy.”
Qu Lang’s mother lightly said, “It’s good for your kidney – good for you.”
The pot lid almost slipped from Shen Mingbei’s hand. Good- Good for what?
Qu Lang closed the kitchen door and said to Shen Mingbei, “I saw the news.”
‘Wh-What news?” Shen Mingbei had a guilty conscience. For his senior to suddenly mention this, he couldn’t help but stutter.
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When Shen Mingbei was younger, his parents were very affectionate toward each other, so he’d always longed for love. However, after his parents passed away, he gradually understood nobody in this world loved him.
He wanted to cherish that little bit of care from Qu Lang’s mother.
In the end, he was going to divorce Qu Lang anyway. He didn’t want to be the person to make Mother Qu sad by saying this.
“Qu Lang and that vixen, Lin Xiang, are together again.”
After Qu Lang’s mother finished speaking, she glanced at Shen Mingbei, appearing slightly puzzled over why Shen Mingbei didn’t seem to know. Having failed to meet her expectations, she said to Shen Mingbei, “You should care more about your man.”
Mother Qu jabbed Shen Mingbei, but only felt bone and discovered this person had lost a lot of weight. Her brows knitted tightly together. “Have you lost weight recently?”
“No! Mum, you’re seeing wrong.” Shen Mingbei hastily shook his head, afraid of Mother Qu dragging him onto a scale.
Qu Lang’s mother cast an icy side-glance towards him – just looking at that expression gave Shen Mingbei goosebumps. Finally, she said, “I asked Xiao Zhang. Recently, Qu Lang and Lin Xiang have always been together. It’s must’ve been quite a while since you last saw Qu Lang, right?”
Shen Mingbei explained, “No, I saw him just last night.”
“How many words did you speak to each other?” Qu Lang’s mother understood her dog-son and Shen Mingbei’s temper.
Shen Mingbei thought about it. Last night, they truly didn’t speak too many words, probably just…
How was he supposed to say this to Qu Lang’s mother? He should let her tacitly know that they didn’t say much and they no longer contact each other.
Truthfully, they never really contacted each other much in the first place – Qu Lang never listened to him.
Qu Lang’s mother didn’t bicker over this with him either. She had Shen Mingbei watch over the fire in the kitchen and went out to call Qu Lang.
Shen Mingbei leaned towards the door and eavesdropped. Hearing Mother Qu and Qu Lang both fly into a terrible rage, he secretly sighed in relief – it seemed Qu Lang wasn’t coming over. That’s right. Qu Lang had Lin Xiang, so there was no reason for him to come over.
He ate dinner with Mother Qu. Then, they took a walk and watched a movie together. Mother Qu told him to live here for a day and Shen Mingbei agreed compliantly.
Qu Lang’s mother had a weak heart, so she had to rest early. Before going back to her bedroom, she said to Shen Mingbei, “I don’t want you and Qu Lang to be like me and his dad. When the time comes, you have to hold on to what’s yours.”
Qu Lang’s parents didn’t have a good relationship either.
To make her feel more at ease, Shen Mingbei could only respond, “I understand.”
Shen Mingbei went back to his room and scrolled through some of the remaining removed photos from trending. He felt slightly more clear-headed now. The angle shot was very beautiful – it was clear that Qu Lang and Lin Xiang’s relationship was very intimate. They were obviously in public, but it seemed they only had eyes for each other.
To confidently introduce each other to the public – this must be what lovers do.
Unlike him and Qu Lang. Although married for several years, not many people even knew they were acquainted. Admittedly, it was because he didn’t think it necessary, but the key laid in Qu Lang’s attitude.
Shen Mingbei took a shower and changed into the pyjamas he left at the Qu’s home. He perfunctorily dried his hair with a towel, planning on sleeping with still-wet hair, but when he opened the bathroom door, he discovered Qu Lang sitting at the bedroom desk reading through documents.
“President Qu?”
The sound of Shen Mingbei opening the door made Qu Lang want to immediately look back, but he restrained himself. Only when Shen Mingbei called out his name did he respond with ‘en’.
Qu Lang waited for Shen Mingbei to announce he was going to make noodles. Who would’ve expected Shen Mingbei to say, “I didn’t know you were staying here for the night. I should sleep in the guest room.”
When Shen Mingbei finished speaking, he walked to the desk and picked up his phone, ready to leave. He glanced at the phone next to his and discovered Qu Lang got a new one. It didn’t match Qu Lang’s usual aesthetic.
Qu Lang suddenly grabbed Shen Mingbei’s hand, shocking him and even making him feel a little scared.
“President Qu.” Shen Mingbei wanted to struggle free, but Qu Lang used great strength as if he wanted to crush his bones.
Qu Lang’s voice sounded as beautiful as always, but his tone was stiff and disaffectionate. “Where are you going?”
“The guest room.”
When he answered, the atmosphere in the room suddenly chilled for some reason. Shen Mingbei knew that, in accordance with their past routine, they should be in bed by now.
But remembering the trending posts about Qu Lang, he felt a little impatient. He clearly already had Lin Xiang, so why would he keep provoking him?
Shen Mingbei felt both frustrated and disappointed.
Qu Lang, on the other hand, didn’t feel this way. He couldn’t help but swallow his saliva just by looking at Shen Mingbei’s wide-collared pyjamas.
Perhaps it was because he finally ate dinner and Shen Mingbei’s lips finally regained some colour, or perhaps it was because he’d just finished showering, so his skin was steamy to the touch. A pair of big apricot eyes looked at him from behind the other’s long fringe…
He always knew how to seduce someone.
Qu Lang wanted to kiss him so much, so he did.
After one kiss, Shen Mingbei was left panting. Qu Lang always made him feel as if he would drown.
Qu Lang dragged him to the bed while Shen Mingbei shook his head in resistance. ‘N-no.”
But Qu Lang didn’t listen to him; instead, he spoke in a rarely-tender voice. “I showered already.”
They were like chicken speaking with a duck. Shen Mingbei simply raised his feet and kicked. “You have Lin Xiang.”
Qu Lang indifferently grasped his ankles before saying, “Stop fussing around. There’s nothing between me and him.”
Shen Mingbei’s resistance was just like a tickle to Qu Lang. When Qu Lang heard ‘Lin Xiang’, he merely thought the other was making a fuss. Very soon, he fucked Shen Mingbei until the other lost all his strength.
The next day, when Qu Lang woke up according to his biological clock, Shen Mingbei was still asleep. Qu Lang seldom gave himself a vacation to stay with Shen Mingbei. He hugged the other tightly and fell asleep again. When he opened his eyes, only a pillow was left in his arms.
Shen Mingbei left the Qu’s home earlier than Qu Lang.
Shen Mingbei didn’t go to the dance studio; instead, he went directly to his company-
He’d eaten a large bowl of chicken soup last night at the Qu’s home, so he didn’t quite dare go to his dance teacher.
Xiao Zhang knew Brother Shen was coming today, so he arrived at the company early in the morning.
Xiao Zhang, whose stomach rumbled with hunger, ate the Mother Qu-branded chicken soup Shen Mingbei was forced to take away with him.
At the company’s cafeteria, Xiao Zhang held the bowl and smelt it. He lamented, “It smells so good.”
Shen Mingbei nodded – it truly was fragrant. If it wasn’t for Director Gong’s film, he definitely wouldn’t give the chicken soup to Xiao Zhang.
With Xiao Zhang openly drinking the warm soup at the company’s cafeteria, very soon, many more others came over for a freeload. The woman responsible for Shen Mingbei’s makeup, costume, and hairstyling came over for a bowl. After a while, two more people came over. One of the girls stuffed Shen Mingbei’s hands with a small plate of cherry tomatoes.
“Brother Shen, eat this. It’s quite embarrassing for us to just drink your soup.”
Shen Mingbei had planned on not eating breakfast, but just a few cherry tomatoes should be fine…
Shen Mingbei accepted the snack obtained through this ‘exchange’. Five people sat at the cafeteria’s small table, chatting whilst drinking soup.
The girl who gave Shen Mingbei cherry tomatoes suddenly said, “Did you guys see the trending posts yesterday?”
The stylist probably knew some inside information on how Lin Xiang snatched Shen Mingbei’s role previously. To preserve her artist’s principle, with a slightly displeased tone, she answered with another question, “About Lin Xiang?”
The girl didn’t notice the stylist’s attitude. She just nodded and, with a mysterious aura, began gossiping. “Actually, Lin Xiang and President Qu already knew each other from the past. There are rumours saying they were already together in middle school.
As childhood sweethearts, their relationship is very good.
For some reason, they broke up. Now that Lin Xiang has returned President Qu would definitely want them to get back together.”
Hearing this, both Xiao Zhang and the stylist looked at Shen Mingbei.
Since they looked at Shen Mingbei, the other two also cast their eyes on him.
Shen Mingbei was unperturbed, even with four pairs of eyes staring at him. He continued to eat the cherry tomatoes and asked the gossiping girl, “And then?”
Hearing Shen Mingbei’s question, the gossiping girl’s eyes suddenly brightened. She asked Shen Mingbei, “Brother Shen, do you know the inside story? If Lin Xiang truly gets back together with President Qu, the star’s journey onwards should be very smooth, right?
I feel jealous just by thinking of this. Why can’t I get such good resources?”
Speaking of this, the gossiping girl’s voice suddenly stopped. She remembered – didn’t the scoop say Brother Shen’s role was snatched by Lin Xiang?
She seemed to have said something wrong.
Shen Mingbei didn’t mind. Seeing a trace of embarrassment flash past the girl’s expression, he said, “They should be getting back together soon.”
Shen Mingbei’s calmness obviously comforted the girl.
They worked for a small company – in this company, Shen Mingbei was the big shot, hence everyone knew there was a supporter behind him. Since he said soon, the gossiping girl believed him and added, “Actually, these two are quite compatible.”
Shen Mingbei agreed. “They are.”