Chapter 15 – Special
The meeting place was located behind the library at the National University of Arts. The lush woods echoed with the noisy chirping of cicadas. Usually, few students passed through this area, but today, because of Chi Lianxi and He Yujing, most people had gone to the auditorium, making this place almost completely deserted.
Seeing Jiang Liusui step out of the car, Lu Zhun, who had been waiting for a long time, strode over to him and said with a smile:
“It’s so hard to see you! I looked all over the auditorium and only found out from someone that you had already left.”
Lu Zhun was in the same graduating class, dressed in the same black gown, clutching a huge bouquet of pearl avalanche roses in full bloom.
Jiang Liusui was straightforward: “What did you need to see me for?”
Avoiding the question, Lu Zhun handed over the fragrant bouquet of roses: “Happy graduation. These are for you.”
Jiang Liusui didn’t take it. Lu Zhun didn’t press the matter and smiled at him again. “Last time, you didn’t accept, right? I still like you, so I just… wanted to confess to you one more time.”
Meeting Jiang Liusui’s gaze, Lu Zhun’s face remained calm, but his heart wavered with uncertainty.
Although he was known to change partners quickly, every relationship he had was genuine. Because he was considerate and generous to his lovers, he was never short of people around him. At first, he had only thought Jiang Liusui was stunningly beautiful and seemed to have the kind of temperament he liked. Carried away in the moment, he had confessed once.
Lu Zhun wasn’t used to being turned down. Yet this time, he had stumbled[mfn]栽了跟头 (zāi le gēn tóu) – to suffer a setback, make a serious mistake, or fail unexpectedly, often after being confident or careless.[/mfn]. Strangely, this only made Jiang Liusui stand out from everyone else in his mind, gradually leaving a deeper and deeper impression.
“I really like you,” Lu Zhun said, recalling his friend’s words. He guessed that Jiang Liusui might dislike his past romantic escapades. “What happened in the past is in the past… If you agree, we’ll take this seriously. I’ll be completely devoted to you.”
“It’s not because of that,” Jiang Liusui shook his head after he finished speaking. “I just…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, and Lu Zhun’s expression immediately darkened. Jiang Liusui spared him the full sting—he didn’t outright say he didn’t like him, instead offering a polite, indirect refusal: “Sorry to have made you come all this way. And… I also wish you a happy graduation.”
“Wait!”
Just as Jiang Liusui turned to leave, Lu Zhun hastily grabbed his hand. Jiang Liusui froze for a second, then jerked it free.
He rotated his wrist and frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry,” Lu Zhun quickly took a step back to show he meant no harm. “I got carried away… I didn’t mean to.”
“Can you think about it again, please?” He paused briefly, hinting at the benefits his background could offer. “If you ever need anything in the future, I should be able to help—”
The black sedan, which had been idle, suddenly opened its door, making Lu Zhun instinctively turn his head.
Out stepped a young man, strikingly handsome, his sharp features carrying a natural edge. With a cold expression, he exuded an unmistakable aura of danger—someone not to be trifled with.
“Done talking?” Seeing Lu Zhun freeze, he slammed the car door. “Say any more and it’ll just be annoying, understand?”
The disdain on He Yujing’s face was completely unconcealed, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere.
Lu Zhun, who had originally been ready to retort, found his voice stuck the moment he saw who was speaking.
The silence around him was so heavy that for a moment he almost forgot there were other people around. Realizing this, the reckless urge inside him collided with an invisible, ice-cold wall, twisting into a tight knot of frustration.
He had crossed paths with He Yujing a few times. Although they weren’t familiar, they had exchanged a few words. Back then, he thought He Yujing had character, but now, facing him, he only felt the man was arrogant and haughty.
Lu Zhun also got annoyed, forcing a fake smile: “Well, that’s hard to say, Brother Yu. Whether someone is annoying or not depends on the other person’s willingness.”
Since things had come to this, he looked at Jiang Liusui, who was just a few steps away, and decided to be straightforward. “You know there are several popular IPs this year, right? Pick whichever you want. Plus, the magazines under Tianyuan are open to you too.”
Realizing this sounded too utilitarian, Lu Zhun added an explanation. “I don’t want to make empty promises. These are the resources I can offer, and they represent my sincerity towards you. I’ve had my share of romantic experiences, and only now do I realize how special you are to me. I blame myself for being so slow to see it before.”
Having said this much, he thought Jiang Liusui would at least reconsider, and sure enough, he heard Jiang Liusui call his name.
Lu Zhun was about to follow up when a sharp, unexpected question cut through:
“Special or not, maybe it’s less about that… and more about the fact you’ve never been rejected before, so you just can’t swallow this bitterness?”
“…What?”
“It’s fine. No matter what you think, I don’t mind.” Jiang Liusui slightly drew out his words. “But if you keep pestering me, it’s really going to get annoying.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhun was momentarily stunned.
He had always treated Jiang Liusui as a pure little white flower, carefully offering resources and worried about causing misunderstandings. But now, it seemed this guy was nothing like a delicate flower.
He had always preferred obedient and submissive lovers. It was the first time he’d met someone with a hidden rebellious streak, and his heartbeat unknowingly quickened. Unconsciously, his heartbeat quickened, and as if possessed, he blurted out, “No, actually, I… I really—”
He Yujing, who had remained silent until now, couldn’t take it anymore and let out a cold laugh. “Give it a rest. Are you going to start another long-winded speech?”
Lu Zhun, interrupted once again, finally lost his patience. “No, what does this have to do with you?”
He Yujing couldn’t be bothered to reason with someone like him. He swept his gaze over Lu Zhun from head to toe, his gaze filled with disdain. “He’s only putting up with you because he has a good temper and is willing to see you. If I’d known you were this clingy and persistent…”
Lu Zhun’s face flushed red with anger, but he couldn’t afford to offend He Yujing. In his frustration, a trace of doubt crept in.
Were these two close?
He knew they had collaborated, but could they have grown so familiar just from shooting one MV? If he hadn’t been certain that Jiang Liusui and He Yujing were complete strangers before, he might have sworn He Yujing was his rival.
Yet Lu Zhun saw Jiang Liusui standing there, completely indifferent, not even sparing him a glance.
In that moment, all his persistence felt meaningless. “…Forget it.”
“Happy graduation, Jiang Liusui.”
Lu Zhun left dejectedly, holding that extravagant bouquet of roses. Thinking about the implied meaning in the other person’s words, He Yujing said with a dark expression, “If he’d just come out and said it straight, it wouldn’t have been so irritating. Turning a simple confession into some kind of threat and bribery—he really is something else.”
Jiang Liusui didn’t care much for Lu Zhun’s flippant attitude, nor did he mind how others saw him.
“Forget it, let’s not bother with him.”
He spoke lightly, immediately drawing a clear line between himself and Lu Zhun, yet the word “we” intimately pulled He Yujing to his side.
Jiang Liusui suddenly seemed to recall something. “Oh, right—didn’t you say you had a gift for me? What is it?”
***
Shen Sijia had chosen a bustling barbecue restaurant near the National University of Arts. Today, with graduates gathering everywhere for meals, Zhou Xun had gone ahead to the restaurant to get a queue number.
From the sleek black sedan, Jiang Liusui stepped out. Someone inside called to him and handed him a dark bucket hat. The fingers that offered it were long and broad—definitely male.
Recognizing the car’s brand and model, Zhou Xun raised an eyebrow and waved to Jiang Liusui, who was looking around for him. “Over here.”
When Jiang Liusui approached, Zhou Xun slung an arm over his shoulder and asked, “Who dropped you off?”
Jiang Liusui pressed the hat down over his head. “He Yujing.”
Zhou Xun’s understanding of Jiang Liusui’s relationship with He Yujing was still limited to them being former colleagues who had worked together. Surprised, he asked, “How did you two run into each other?”
Jiang Liusui recounted the events of the graduation ceremony. Zhou Xun felt there was something subtly unusual about He Yujing’s attitude but couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. He could only say, “Looking at it this way, he seems like someone worth befriending.”
Jiang Liusui glanced up at the dark gray brim of the hat. Earlier, when He Yujing noticed he was going out to eat without any disguise, he had given him the hat, worried he might run into trouble.
Recalling how He Yujing had also given him a baseball cap during their first meeting at the club, Jiang Liusui smiled and said, “Guess we’re pretty fated.”
“Shen Sijia’s parents are here. She’s taking photos with them at the school and will join us soon,” Zhou Xun said, glancing at Jiang Liusui as he spoke. On graduation day, it was common for local students to have family members present. He vaguely remembered that Jiang Liusui’s mother was also in the capital, but he hadn’t seen her at all.
Jiang Liusui rarely talked about his family. Zhou Xun only knew that his parents were divorced and that he wasn’t close to either side. Throughout their four years of university, Jiang Liusui had either stayed on campus or spent the holidays alone in his apartment.
Thinking of this, Zhou Xun tightened his arm around Jiang Liusui’s shoulder and changed the subject. “Let’s not wait for her. We can go in first.”
By the time Shen Sijia arrived at the restaurant, it was nearly eight. She barreled in, and the moment she sat down, she grumbled, “The traffic was awful! Every street was packed—next time, I’m taking the subway… Huh? Liusui, did you buy something from this brand?”
Her eyes widened slightly at the gift bag on the table. It was a foreign luxury brand—not too famous in China, but the price was expensive. Since He Yujing often wore accessories from this brand, she had bought a few items herself.
“Someone gave it to me,” Jiang Liusui said simply.
Shen Sijia was quick to catch on. “Gege?”
When Jiang Liusui nodded, she covered her mouth with her hands. “Waaah! What is it? Can I take a look?”
“It’s a bracelet. Go ahead.” Jiang Liusui watched as she carefully unwrapped it as though handling a sacred relic. Her eyes then lit up: “Oh my god, it’s this design! I wanted to buy it before, but it was too expensive to justify… This semi-diamond slim bracelet is so beautiful and versatile!”
Jiang Liusui usually didn’t wear much jewelry outside of work. When He Yujing gave him a gift, he’d simply said it looked nice, and suggested Jiang Liusui to wear it sometime. Jiang Liusui had assumed it wasn’t overly expensive. “Is this really that expensive?”
Shen Sijia nodded, whispering the approximate amount. Jiang Liusui froze in surprise. Zhou Xun, finally unable to contain himself, muttered, “Wait… what’s his deal? Does he casually give gifts worth six figures to anyone?”
Having calmed down from her excitement, Shen Sijia also felt it was strange for a wrap-up gift to reach such a price point: “I’m not sure either, but our gege probably wouldn’t give anything too cheap, right?”
Her tone was equally uncertain. Just as Jiang Liusui was about to ask more, his phone rang—it was Jiang Chuan.
His agent first asked where he was now, his words tinged with barely concealed joy: “Have you checked Weibo today? It’s all about you and He Yujing! After dinner, it’s best to head home. If you’re going out, be careful not to get photographed.”
The MV for ⟪Fading Colors⟫ had been released at midnight. While on the call, Jiang Chuan was scrolling through Weibo on another phone. Seeing the overwhelmingly positive response, he couldn’t help but dream about the future: “Do you think… we might have hitched a ride on a big ship[mfn]乘上大船 (chéng shàng dà chuán) – to benefit from someone else’s popularity or influence.[/mfn] this time? I even saw people shipping you two. I swear I didn’t do anything—this doesn’t count as us riding his coattails, right?”
“I’ve long heard that this ancestor’s temper is unusual. Sure enough, he can stir things up… no, the perspective of a superstar really is different! He doesn’t care about all these rules at all,” Jiang Chuan said happily. “This is great, just perfect.”
Jiang Liusui seized the moment to say, “Then, Brother Jiang, if we’re buying trending topics and promotional posts tonight, let’s avoid pushing those topics.”
Catching the implication in his words, Jiang Chuan asked with a laugh, “What, you don’t want to be associated with He Yujing? Do you know how many people are desperate to latch onto him but can’t?”
Thinking of the photos and videos from the graduation ceremony on Weibo that made the two seem quite close, Jiang Chuan added, “If you don’t want to offend anyone, just blame it all on me. Tell him privately that it was all the company’s arrangement.”
“I think it’s better to let things take their natural course. There’s no need to force it,” Jiang Liusui said softly, but his tone was firm. “Like you said, everyone wants to be connected to him. If we act too eager, it could backfire.”
Jiang Chuan had indeed been considering pushing in that direction—after all, the other side hadn’t explicitly forbidden fueling CP rumors. But hearing Jiang Liusui’s words, he hesitated. Besides Jiang Liusui, he also managed the most popular boy group at Gallery, so he wasn’t overly invested in the former’s affairs. Still, since Jiang Liusui spoke earnestly, he respected the artist’s opinion.
Moreover, the gap in status between the two was vast, and He Yujing’s fans were notoriously fierce. Playing it safe by sticking to straightforward promotion seemed not only wiser but safer.
“You have a point…” Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment before relenting, “Alright, I’ll handle it appropriately when the time comes.”
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