Director Jin gave them a break, but Pei Lang didn’t tell Yan Han immediately and decided to return the next day instead.
After sending off Lu Lu, Pei Lang took a cab back to the villa. Passing through a bustling street, he decided to get some gifts for Aunt Lin and Yan Han. However, after thinking it over, he realized that Yan Han lacked nothing. Thus, he did not buy anything for him.
He picked out a beautiful jade bracelet for Aunt Lin, had it wrapped, and walked out. Before he could hail a cab, he bumped into someone he didn’t want to see.
Pei Lang had always been annoyed with this person—this male lead whose carefully crafted persona had crumbled. Ever since the system mentioned that the storyline had deviated, Pei Lang disliked him even more.
Yan Xiuyuan still carried himself with that high-and-mighty, arrogant demeanor, like a paper tiger. Yet, his eyes betrayed a cautiousness. “What a coincidence, you’re here too?”
It felt awkward for Yan Xiuyuan to greet someone he had once looked down upon. But he couldn’t bring himself to watch Pei Lang walk away again. From the moment Pei Lang’s gaze was filled with nothing but him—when he saw Pei Lang’s obsession—he had despised his actions, believing Pei Lang was unworthy. Yet, deep down, he had already considered Pei Lang his possession.
Even if it was trash, it should be his trash.
Now that this “trash” had been picked up and cherished by someone else, the feeling of loss slowly ate away at him. Bitterness and possessiveness replaced his disdain. When these feelings of possession turned into love, he couldn’t help but feel terrified.
Terrified of swallowing his pride to pursue someone he had once trampled beneath his feet.
Even more terrified of not being able to win him back.
His pride told him that lowering himself to Pei Lang was shameful. Yet his heart compelled him to do so. The irony was that even the faintest hint of affection was enough to drive him to stand before Pei Lang. This “coincidence meeting” was nothing but a long-planned encounter.
If Pei Lang had been unaware, he would have thought Yan Xiuyuan was setting a trap.
However, ever since the system clearly explained Yan Xiuyuan’s current feelings, Pei Lang knew that Yan Xiuyuan was approaching him with love in mind.
“It is quite the coincidence, dear nephew,” Pei Lang said, wearing sunglasses and a mask. His eyes narrowed slightly behind the lenses, exuding a lazy and nonchalant air that was oddly captivating.
“What did you just call me?” Yan Xiuyuan tilted his chin upward, clearly displeased with the address.
“Isn’t it true? I married your uncle. According to seniority, doesn’t that make you my dear nephew?” Pei Lang blinked innocently as if genuinely explaining.
Yan Xiuyuan’s temple throbbed as he suppressed his anger. “Do you really like him?”
The person he had once trampled underfoot had transformed into someone dazzling and radiant. Now, that person even had the audacity to call himself Yan Xiuyuan’s elder. His tone alone was infuriating.
“Isn’t that obvious? Why else would I marry him if I didn’t like him?” Pei Lang responded so naturally it was almost provocative. “What’s the matter? Are you having a hard time accepting me as your elder?”
Pei Lang saw through Yan Xiuyuan’s thoughts and feigned sudden realization. “Ah, but there’s nothing you can do about it. In our culture, seniority matters most. Even if I’m only one or two years older than you, I’m still your elder. My husband said you should address me the same way you address him. Be good now, nephew~ Call me ‘Uncle’ and let me hear it.”
“You call him your husband?” Yan Xiuyuan was livid, latching onto the word and pressing for an answer.
Pei Lang looked at him with feigned confusion. “Well, I’m married to him. If I don’t call him my husband, what should I call him? ‘Lover boy’? Ew, gross~ That’s way too cheesy. I couldn’t possibly say that.”
So calling him “husband” isn’t cheesy?
As an actor, Pei Lang knew how to perform, how to provoke Yan Xiuyuan, and how to make him give up and marry Pei Ziqing. Only their marriage would fulfill the mission, after all.
What Pei Lang didn’t realize was that his words were driving Yan Xiuyuan to the brink. Yan Xiuyuan had been trained since childhood by his father to maintain composure and decorum. Outwardly, he succeeded, but the darker parts of his nature, suppressed for so long, finally surfaced because of Pei Lang.
In front of Pei Lang, he couldn’t control his emotions at all.
Just as Pei Lang said, he was a beast.
“I forbid you from calling him that!” Yan Xiuyuan roared, grabbing Pei Lang and pulling him away.
“Yan Xiuyuan, what are you doing?! Let go of me! Don’t force me to fight back!” Pei Lang’s wrist throbbed in pain from the grip. If it weren’t for the people watching nearby and his reluctance to get entangled with Yan Xiuyuan and end up trending online again, he would have ripped off his sunglasses and given this defiant nephew a solid beating.
“Shut up!” Yan Xiuyuan, ignoring everything else, shoved Pei Lang into the car. He bent down to climb in and locked the doors. No matter how much Pei Lang banged on the windows, he refused to open them.
Amid the repeated pounding, Yan Xiuyuan gradually calmed down. Pei Lang, exhausted, also stopped. He sat quietly and stared directly at Yan Xiuyuan. Without his sunglasses and mask, and at such close proximity, Yan Xiuyuan finally realized that Pei Lang was utterly captivating—both from a distance and up close.
Why hadn’t he noticed before?
Yan Xiuyuan’s regret twisted painfully in his chest. For a moment, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to take Pei Lang away by force. But how would he deal with his uncle? And his grandfather?
As both of them cooled down, Pei Lang’s expression darkened at the way Yan Xiuyuan was looking at him. Every inch of his body that Yan Xiuyuan’s gaze swept over felt insulted and violated. His face turned frosty. “Speak. What do you want, dragging me into the car like this?”
What did he want?
Yan Xiuyuan didn’t even know himself.
He had lost all sense of reason. The moment he heard Pei Lang affectionately addressing Yan Han, he was overcome by anger and a desire to take him away. But once in the car, as he calmed down, he sank into a different mire altogether. Now, he was entirely at Pei Lang’s mercy, unable to regain control.
Yan Xiuyuan was not one for subtlety. When he hated Pei Lang, he made no effort to hide it, not even in front of Pei Lang or Pei Ziqing. Now that he had realized he liked him, he was just as direct. He had even bribed an unassuming member of the crew to find out that Pei Lang wasn’t filming today and had followed him all the way from the hotel to here.
“Pei Lang, congratulations, you’ve succeeded.” Yan Xiuyuan was visibly nervous, yet the words he spoke made one want to slap him hard enough to knock some sense into him. “All your efforts weren’t in vain. You clung to me, then ignored me. You even went as far as marrying my uncle just to spite me. I admit your push-and-pull game was impressive—I’ve fallen for you. Be with me.”
Pei Lang had mentally prepared himself for this, but when he heard those words, he still laughed.
A laugh born of sheer exasperation.
And then he really slapped Yan Xiuyuan, hard enough to leave a bright red handprint on his face. “You’re engaged to Pei Ziqing, making you his fiance. Though I hate to admit it, I am his brother. By extension, you should call me ‘brother’ as well. I’ve married your uncle, and we have a legal marriage certificate. No matter how you look at it, I’m your elder. Yan Xiuyuan, are you planning to rebel against your family hierarchy?”
Yan Xiuyuan ground his teeth, torn between wanting to strangle Pei Lang and not being able to bring himself to do it. “How dare you hit me!”
“I’m merely disciplining the Yan family’s rebellious son on their behalf.”
“You’re in no position to discipline me!” Yan Xiuyuan’s eyes burned with fury, his clenched teeth barely holding back his anger. “Don’t push your luck. Everyone knows the lengths you went to in order to pursue me. The only reason I’m lowering myself to seek you out is that I still like you. But there’s a limit to playing hard to get—overdo it, and you just come off as stupid.”
Pei Lang suppressed the flames of anger rising within him, forcing a smile as he crooked his finger at Yan Xiuyuan. “Come closer.”
Yan Xiuyuan thought to himself: I knew it. He still likes me. As long as I turn back, he’ll come running into my arms.
With his swollen, reddened face, Yan Xiuyuan smirked and leaned in.
He had dressed sharply today in a meticulously chosen suit, hoping to make an impression. As the male lead, Yan Xiuyuan was undeniably handsome. If it weren’t for his persona falling apart, Pei Lang might have appreciated his good looks.
“Aren’t you hot wearing all that?” Pei Lang’s slender fingers hooked around Yan Xiuyuan’s tie. Watching Yan Xiuyuan’s Adam’s apple bob up and down, Pei Lang couldn’t help but smile. “How about I help you unbutton a couple of those shirt buttons, hmm?”
Pei Lang’s natural allure was already enough to captivate anyone, but when he deliberately turned up the charm, it was practically impossible to resist. Yan Xiuyuan was entranced, his soul completely hooked by the moment.
Pei Lang removed Yan Xiuyuan’s tie and placed it on his lap, then brought both hands up to unbutton his shirt. He slowly undid the top button, his movements languid and deliberate, before sliding down to the second. Yan Xiuyuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed more intensely with each motion, the teasing igniting a deep itch in his heart. He was desperate to pull Pei Lang into his arms and crush him there to soothe the maddening tension.
But just as Pei Lang’s fingers reached the second button, they suddenly shifted to Yan Xiuyuan’s shoulder. In one fluid motion, his hands glided down the length of Yan Xiuyuan’s arm to his wrist. Before Yan Xiuyuan could react, Pei Lang grabbed the tie and, with a few swift and skillful movements, tied Yan Xiuyuan’s hands together. The binding technique was so precise and strange that the knot was both tight and nearly impossible to escape.
By the time Yan Xiuyuan realized he’d been played, he was furious and struggled violently, trying to intimidate Pei Lang.
But Pei Lang had already grabbed the car keys, unlocked the door, and stepped out.
“Reckless, arrogant, and nothing more than an emotional caged beast. Yan Xiuyuan, what do you have that could possibly compare to my husband?”
Pei Lang was well-trained in martial arts. Yan Xiuyuan, who couldn’t beat him in a fair fight, stood no chance with his hands tied. Yan Xiuyuan felt utterly humiliated, glaring furiously at Pei Lang, who was brimming with smug satisfaction. “He’s a cripple! Just a disabled man! I have the power to make sure he never stands up again—and I can make you end up the same way!”
If you’re crippled too, let’s see how you’ll keep resisting me.
“What did you say!? What do you mean you’ll make sure he never stands up again!?” Pei Lang demanded, his voice sharp. Yan Xiuyuan immediately clammed up, looking flustered. For a brief moment, Pei Lang suspected Yan Xiuyuan might have had something to do with Yan Han’s injury.
Thinking back carefully, the plot mentioned that Yan Han was injured because of his white moonlight.
Maybe Yan Xiuyuan was just spouting nonsense in his anger. “There’s no chance for anything between us. Stop clinging to me like trash. I’m not afraid of you.”
Pei Lang tossed Yan Xiuyuan’s phone onto the front passenger seat and slammed the car door shut, making it hard for him to reach out for help. Only then did Pei Lang feel assured enough to leave.
His good mood had been utterly ruined by Yan Xiuyuan. Sighing deeply, Pei Lang called Aunt Lin to let her know he’d be coming home for dinner. Aunt Lin was overjoyed and immediately began planning to buy fresh ingredients, which slightly lifted Pei Lang’s spirits.
Yan Xiuyuan was proving to be an even bigger headache than Pei Lang had expected. It seemed that matchmaking would need to start with Pei Ziqing instead.
Meanwhile, inside the car, Yan Xiuyuan watched helplessly as Pei Lang walked farther and farther away and took a taxi home. Yan Xiuyuan’s expression is complicated by his mix of love and hatred for Pei Lang.
However, Pei Lang had miscalculated. Even though Yan Xiuyuan couldn’t reach his phone, he still had his voice. Using a voice command, he activated the virtual assistant to call for help.
When his subordinates arrived and opened the car door, they were greeted by the sight of Yan Xiuyuan with a swollen face, his hands tied, and unable to move. They immediately wanted to call the police to investigate the culprit, but Yan Xiuyuan angrily berated them instead, venting all the frustration he couldn’t unleash on Pei Lang. Only after thoroughly scolding them did he seem to feel slightly better.
