MMLDU Chapter 56

On a summer morning, sunlight slanted through the glass window, casting its glow on the pristine floor.

A breeze passed through the garden, making the dewdrops on the flowers tremble precariously. The butterflies perched on the blossoms had damp wings, flapping clumsily. It wouldn’t be long before they could dance gracefully, flying far away.

Pei Lang suddenly woke up from his sleep and sat up abruptly. After regaining his senses, he remembered that it was his day off and there was no need to film. Losing strength, he flopped back onto the bed and shut his eyes, trying to catch a bit more sleep.

Yan Han had gotten up at some unknown point. The large bed now had only Pei Lang, leaving a slightly empty feeling behind.

He was still sleepy, but the abrupt way he’d woken earlier made him groggy and unable to fall back asleep. The half-awake, half-asleep state was unbearable. Helpless, Pei Lang patted his cheeks to force himself awake.

Checking the time, he saw it was past nine. As expected, Aunt Lin had probably already prepared breakfast.

Pei Lang got out of bed and went to his room to freshen up. While brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, he noticed his lips looked especially plump today. His naturally rosy lips now appeared even softer, fuller, and redder than usual.

Pei Lang scrutinized himself in the mirror as memories of last night’s dream began to resurface. His face flushed.

“I actually had that kind of dream… and the person was Mr. Yan…” Pei Lang couldn’t believe it and felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

Last night, he dreamt of kissing Yan Han. Perhaps he got too emotional in the dream and bit his lips, making them swell. “Does this mean… I’m actually bent?”

Lately, Pei Lang had been oscillating endlessly between “I’m straight” and “I’m not straight”, unable to reach a definitive conclusion. The more he overthought it, the less sure he felt.

Yes, seeing those maliciously edited pictures—where people paired him with other men in baseless rumors—had made him feel nauseous. But if the man in those pictures were replaced with Yan Han… he found himself strangely unbothered.

He didn’t like Yan Han that much, but at least the nausea was gone.

“I get it now. It must be because I’ve been acting too much in front of his father recently. I’ve gotten too into character, and that’s what caused this illusion. Yes, that has to be it,” Pei Lang rationalized successfully, convincing himself. He then adjusted his mood and went downstairs for breakfast.

Upon descending, he saw Yan Han reading a magazine. Feeling guilty, Pei Lang glanced at him briefly before quickly averting his gaze. Yan Han, however, stared directly at him with an unwavering gaze.

Yan Han also felt uneasy, unsure if Pei Lang had truly woken up last night and, if he had, what his attitude toward him would be.

Unexpectedly, Pei Lang only glanced at him unintentionally and didn’t seem to have anything to say.

The two sat in the dining room. On Yan Han’s shoulder, the little chibi sat sulking on a swing, saying nothing. In the distance, a little fox played alone, not joining in. Pei Lang thought Yan Han must be upset again. His inner world didn’t even seem lively anymore. As for why he was upset, Pei Lang neither knew nor cared to know.

As a big shot managing a large company, it was inevitable that Yan Han had his fair share of stress—he couldn’t expect everything to go his way.

But while they were eating, Aunt Lin started up again.

Usually, she would leave quietly and not disturb them. Today, however, she stayed nearby and started saying all kinds of strange things.

“Xiao Lang, this dish was specially requested by Mr. Yan for you. He said it’s your favorite. Oh my, this is the first time I’ve seen Mr. Yan so attentive to someone.”

Pei Lang: “…” He raised his head to glance at Yan Han, who pressed his lips together in displeasure. “Thank you.”

Yan Han, as if playing along with someone, gave a deliberate smile—one that looked particularly forced.

Pei Lang only found it unsettling. Aunt Lin, on the other hand, exclaimed in surprise, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen Mr. Yan smile.” She then theatrically wiped her imaginary tears from the corners of her eyes. “Xiao Lang, it seems you’re the cure for Mr. Yan. You must spend more time with him in the future.”

Pei Lang felt that this meal was turning into an ordeal. Aunt Lin kept talking, each comment more outrageous than the last. He couldn’t help but think that she had changed a lot during his time away.

It was seriously affecting his appetite. Finally, unable to take it anymore, Pei Lang joked, “My dear Aunt Lin, if you’ve been kidnapped, blink twice.”

Aunt Lin glanced at Yan Han nervously, her eyes widening as she refused to blink. Yan Han, however, cleared his throat lightly and gestured with his eyes for her to leave.

Mission complete, Aunt Lin dropped her exaggerated expression and practically flew out of Pei Lang’s sight in a few swift steps.

Yan Han had merely taken lines from a novel and assigned them to the “characters”, having them speak them in front of Pei Lang. Unfortunately, Pei Lang hadn’t read such novels and could only listen in confusion, entirely clueless. Left with no other choice, Yan Han grit his teeth and dismissed Aunt Lin.

For some reason, Yan Han seemed even angrier.

 

He was sulking on his own. Nothing had ever felt as challenging as this—chasing after his wife was hard, but chasing after a completely unyielding wife was even harder. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“I want to stay home all day.”

“Alright, I’ll stay with you.”

The entire day, Pei Lang and Yan Han were in the study. Pei Lang read while Yan Han worked. Strangely enough, it felt harmonious. Even Pei Lang hadn’t expected it. When he got tired of reading, he would turn his head to see what Yan Han was doing.

The man was fully focused on his work. His extraordinarily handsome face became even more attractive. Pei Lang found his thoughts wandering into Yan Han’s inner world. In his mind, the little fox lay quietly on the lap of the little chibi, obedient and docile.

As he thought about this, the scene from his dream suddenly popped into his mind. The vivid memory of Yan Han biting his lips in the dream felt almost real—so real that if he didn’t know for sure Yan Han would never do such a thing, he might have doubted whether it was truly just a dream.

His heart seemed to jolt with an electric buzz, a soft and tingling sensation. Pei Lang’s elegant fingers unconsciously touched his lips, his reddened eyes adding a hint of allure to his otherwise innocent and enchanting face. The subtle shift in his expression made him even more captivating, drawing a darker look from Yan Han as he fought to suppress his emotions.

Realizing he couldn’t let his thoughts spiral further, Pei Lang shook his head, trying to dispel the dream’s lingering images. He muttered to himself in self-reassurance, “Just think of it as filming a kiss scene. It’s not like I haven’t filmed one before.”

He said it as if it were no big deal, but back when he actually filmed kiss scenes, he had never felt even the slightest bit of emotional involvement. Yet this mere dream was enough to make him overthink, unable to focus.

The next morning, Pei Lang got up early. Su Jia first drove him to the filming location before heading off to drop the boss at work.

Su Jia noticed that his boss was acting strange today. Normally, Yan Han would play songs sung by Pei Lang during their drives—they both liked listening to them on their commutes. But today, not only did Yan Han forbid it, he even brought his own headphones and listened to something privately. Su Jia didn’t dare ask and could only suppress his curiosity, focusing on driving.

Halfway through the drive, Yan Han furrowed his brows slightly. From the rearview mirror, Su Jia noticed that his boss seemed upset. He held his breath, doing his best to lower his presence.

Finally, Yan Han could no longer hold it in and broke the silence in the car. “Do you know what I’m listening to?”

 

Su Jia nervously swallowed. “The mid-year report summary? An interview with a company artist? A singer’s new album?”

“Heh,” Yan Han let out a cold chuckle. Su Jia instantly realized he’d guessed wrong. “It’s ‘Tang Li Jian Xue’—a song he sang specifically for me.” Although his tone was flat and matter-of-fact, why did Su Jia hear it as a boast?

“A new song by Dad Lang?” Su Jia was astonished.

Yan Han had a look of smug satisfaction on his face and even glanced at Su Jia as if mocking his lack of sophistication. Su Jia felt a chill run down his spine but mustered up the courage to ask, “Boss, can you play it out loud? I’d like to hear it too.”

Pei Lang’s songs were all recorded—not in a professional studio, but still irresistibly pleasant to listen to. That day, Yan Han had recorded Pei Lang singing and had edited it into a song, saving it on his phone.

Finally, he had a song that he’d heard, but no one else had.

Online, fans often complained about how slow Pei Lang was in releasing songs, but they didn’t dare rush him and could only loop the existing ones. Su Jia had long wanted to hear something new, which was why he dared to ask his boss so boldly.

Yan Han showed no mercy. “You? Are you worthy?”

He immediately shattered Su Jia’s fantasy.

Other CEOs’ assistants were always perfect wingmen, speaking in ways that impressed and smoothed things over. But Su Jia? He actually dared to dream of sharing the song Pei Lang sang specifically for Yan Han—what utter wishful thinking.

After taking three days off, Pei Lang returned to the set in excellent condition and dove right into filming.

Director Jin oversaw the male and female leads’ scenes, while Pei Lang’s scenes were supervised by the assistant director. The past few days of filming had gone smoothly. Pei Lang had now become the team’s treasure; everyone looked at him with admiration and appreciation. The disdain and rejection from before were long gone.

The filming progressed well. After a week of shooting, two-thirds of Wen Yan’s scenes were complete. The male and female leads, however, had heavier workloads. Pei Lang had relatively more free time, while the two leads often started early and finished late, occasionally filming night scenes until the early hours of the morning.

Although Pei Lang had downtime, he didn’t leave the set. Instead, he practiced his skills and occasionally observed others acting. This drama had many veteran actors, so there was much to learn.

Today, Pei Lang was filming a scene as Wen Yan, dressed in striking red. He wasn’t wearing a hair crown; instead, his hair was styled simply and left loose. With his good looks and intense charisma, he wore a red headband that covered his blind eyes and tied it behind his head, the trailing ends falling to his waist, blending with his long hair. As the wind howled, his hair and the headband strands flew wildly, intertwining.

After the male and female leads jumped off the cliff, Wen Yan didn’t give up searching for them. Finally, he learned from his subordinates that they had survived. Wen Yan let out a sinister, hysterical laugh—a manifestation of his anger at being unable to have what he loved.

When Yan Xiuyuan arrived, he happened to witness Pei Lang filming this scene. From a distance, he was completely entranced.

Pei Lang, fully immersed in his role, exuded an almost magical allure. Yan Xiuyuan’s heart raced wildly, his gaze burning with intensity. That figure standing in the temple should have belonged to him. The desperate urge to possess him completely almost drove Yan Xiuyuan to madness.

After the scene, Pei Lang had a 30-minute break before preparing for the next one.

He removed the headband covering his eyes, revealing his captivating gaze. Lu Lu approached with a cup of water and a fan to help cool him down. “Brother Lang, someone’s here to see you.”

Taking a big gulp of water, Pei Lang scanned the area and immediately spotted Yan Xiuyuan. The look in his eyes made Pei Lang uncomfortable. “What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know. I told him you were busy, but he insisted on coming. I couldn’t stop him.” Lu Lu was well aware of the rumors about Pei Lang and Yan Xiuyuan’s history. He instinctively disliked this man approaching Brother Lang.

But as Yan Xiuyuan was the nephew of Yan Han, the investor, and held a significant position in the entertainment industry, Lu Lu truly couldn’t stop him.

“It’s fine. Go get some lunch. I’ll deal with him.” Knowing Yan Xiuyuan never brought anything good, Pei Lang dismissed Lu Lu and walked toward him.

Watching the person he longed for approach step by step, Yan Xiuyuan’s gaze grew even hotter, his desire blatant. He looked like he wanted to whisk Pei Lang away on the spot.

“What are you doing here?” Pei Lang pretended not to notice the meaning in his gaze, keeping his tone polite yet distant.

“I missed you, so I came to see you. You look stunning in this outfit,” Yan Xiuyuan said, staring at Pei Lang’s face with an obsessive gaze. His words were disgustingly saccharine, causing Pei Lang to frown involuntarily.

“Watch your words!”

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