PTBLSI chapter 60

 

Qi Xi woke up not knowing what time it was. Seeing the sunlight coming through the curtains, he knew it was probably late. However, Fu Yanchuan was still in bed. He lifted his head to look at Fu Yanchuan and asked, “Brother Yan, why are you still here?”

Fu Yanchuan’s hand was still hooked around Qi Xi’s waist. He gently pulled Qi Xi closer. He pressed his forehead against Qi Xi’s and said, “I was afraid you’d wake up and ignore me.”

“How could I—”

Qi Xi blurted out half a sentence and then froze. Last night’s events surfaced in his mind, and his face instantly turned red. He pushed Fu Yanchuan away. He now felt that Fu Yanchuan had a dark side too. He had said it would be just one more time, but thinking back on it, his legs still felt hot. Under the blanket, he kicked Fu Yanchuan.

“How could you lie to me? You don’t keep your word! If you do this again, I won’t believe you.”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t push him away; instead, he held him tightly and apologized. “There won’t be a next time, okay?”

Qi Xi looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. Fu Yanchuan forced his head closer and met Qi Xi’s slightly red eyes. He said, “Xi Xi, can’t you forgive me?”

Qi Xi grabbed the buttons on Fu Yanchuan’s chest, avoided his gaze, and said, “Don’t do it so often or for so long every time. I’m going to end up with kidney deficiency.”

Fu Yanchuan almost laughed again. The way Qi Xi said he had a kidney deficiency was just too cute. He leaned over and kissed him on the lips. “Isn’t this training? You’ve even developed abs. How could you be deficient?”

“No way! You can’t even see them! Touch them. They’re completely different from yours.”

To prove his point, Qi Xi pulled Fu Yanchuan’s hand toward his abs, which were still developing. But when Fu Yanchuan’s palm pressed against them, he immediately recalled last night’s events. He stiffened and held down Fu Yanchuan’s hand tightly.

Suddenly, Fu Yanchuan flipped over and pressed him down. Qi Xi instinctively said, “Don’t.”

“I’ll just hold you.”

Fu Yanchuan tightened his arms around Qi Xi, kissed his ear, sucked on it for a long while, and finally let go. “I’m leaving. If you’re tired, sleep a bit more.”

“Mm.”

Hearing Qi Xi’s response, Fu Yanchuan got out of bed. After changing his clothes, he came out and reluctantly hugged Qi Xi again, kissing him once more.

“Xi Xi, I’m leaving.”

Qi Xi nodded obediently, watching Fu Yanchuan leave the room. Only after hearing the door close did he roll over to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t fall asleep.

He didn’t know what time he had fallen asleep the night before, nor could he fathom how Fu Yanchuan had managed to change positions so many times with just his legs. He quietly touched the spot and immediately pulled his hand back, forcing himself to sleep.

Over the next few days, Fu Yanchuan remained busy. Qi Xi stayed home alone and didn’t have time to draw. He worried about whether Cheng Shu would come looking for him again and considered whether he should go back to school. At the same time, he constantly thought about why Fu Yanchuan still hadn’t come back. When he had free time, he also had to chat with Xie Hui and spend time with Dasheng.

He stayed mentally busy like this until Friday. While sunbathing on the balcony with the orange cat, he received a call from Fu Yanchuan saying that he would come back and take him out to eat.

It was the first time Fu Yanchuan had said he would take him out to eat on his way to work. Qi Xi thought that Fu Yanchuan missed him. But after arriving, he discovered that Cheng Shu was there.

“President Fu, Qi Xi.”

Cheng Shu stood up to greet them. Qi Xi didn’t understand what was going on. Fu Yanchuan wrapped an arm around his shoulder, turned his head, leaned close to his ear, and said, “Just treat it as if you’re coming to eat.”

Seeing Cheng Shu made Qi Xi nervous. He was afraid that maybe this meant they didn’t need him anymore. He turned to greet Cheng Shu. “Director Cheng.”

“Mm, sit first.”

Seeing how Fu Yanchuan held Qi Xi, clearly not trying to hide anything, Cheng Shu didn’t want to suspect people’s relationships. However, in the entertainment industry, this kind of thing was far too common. Especially someone as simple and pure as Qi Xi, who was also so eye-catching—it wouldn’t be surprising if he were targeted. Even Bai Peiyong had ideas.

However, Fu Yanchuan’s attitude made Cheng Shu feel that he might be serious about Qi Xi. The reason he could meet with Qi Xi now was because he had already spoken with Fu Yanchuan once. Fu Yanchuan didn’t talk about benefits but made a bunch of demands. In short, Qi Xi couldn’t be treated as a tool for drawing; he had to be given creative freedom.

Given these demands, he wasn’t sure if Fu Yanchuan truly loved Qi Xi. However, he was certain that Fu Yanchuan genuinely appreciated Qi Xi’s talent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.

However, it must be said that Fu Yanchuan is a clearheaded businessman. Even at this point, he had provided the supplies and equipment Qi Xi needed for drawing yet hadn’t said a word about investing. He was probably afraid that, once he opened that door, he would keep adding more under Qi Xi’s name, though he had indeed considered that possibility.

“Director Cheng, have you already decided? Can I work on animation with you?”

Cheng Shu had just sat back down when Qi Xi asked him, his eyes full of expectation. He subconsciously glanced at Fu Yanchuan, then took out the prepared script and handed it to Qi Xi. “I’d be more than happy. This is the script, but it’s only a draft for now. Take a look and see if you have any ideas.”

Hearing this, Qi Xi finally became happy. He took the script and asked, still not quite understanding, “Can I give suggestions?”

Cheng Shu glanced at Fu Yanchuan again. “To be honest, I was inspired by your art style to create this project. I really wanted to work with you, so I adjusted the script a bit.”

This really had nothing to do with Fu Yanchuan. He had been amazed by Qi Xi’s drawings first. Turning them into an animation would create an entirely new style, so with that goal in mind, he sought out Qi Xi.

Qi Xi didn’t fully grasp the deeper meaning of those words. He opened the script and started reading. Though it was called a draft, it was really only an outline.

The rough story was about a withdrawn boy. After his parents passed away, he lost his support system and was passed around among relatives, growing more and more distant from the outside world. The boy put all his energy into drawing. One day, the creatures from his drawings appeared in the real world. To bring the creatures back into the drawings, the boy went on a magnificent adventure and discovered that he had gone from the drawings into reality.

After reading the story, Qi Xi felt a moment of connection with the boy. Images from the story formed in his mind, and he couldn’t help but praise it. “This story is so touching. If it’s made into a movie, it’ll definitely be as good as God of the Abyss.”

“That’s good, then.”

Cheng Shu didn’t know that Qi Xi praised people casually and secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was afraid that if Qi Xi didn’t like it, Fu Yanchuan would make him change the story.

Qi Xi handed the plot back to Cheng Shu and asked, “Director Cheng, when do we start?”

“Preparations are almost done at the moment. See when you have time. Come to our office first, meet the other colleagues, and get familiar with the place.”

Qi Xi immediately stood up. “I have time right now.”

Fu Yanchuan pulled Qi Xi back down, looking helpless. “Eat first.”

Qi Xi said, “Then we’ll go after eating.”

“In the afternoon, I’ll send someone to your school to handle the temporary suspension procedures. You need to go once.”

“Then what about tomorrow?”

Fu Yanchuan looked at Qi Xi and stopped talking. Even Cheng Shu could tell that Fu Yanchuan’s face clearly said, “Why don’t you feel reluctant to leave me?” But Qi Xi didn’t understand.

He was surprised that with Qi Xi, Fu Yanchuan was actually the passive one, so he spoke up for him. “Actually, we still have some things to prepare for. There’s no need to be that urgent.”

Eager to change, Qi Xi reluctantly took a step back. “Then can everything be ready by next Monday?”

Fu Yanchuan finally relented. “If you say next week, then next week.”

Cheng Shu wasn’t in a rush these past few days. Seeing Fu Yanchuan’s unwilling yet helpless expression as he agreed, Cheng Shu was truly shocked and went along with it. “Any time you come next week is fine. For now, we’ll just sign the contract. President Fu, is that okay?”

Fu Yanchuan nodded, and only then did he take out the contract.

Qi Xi remembered that Fu Yanchuan had taught him how to read contracts. He carefully read through each clause and asked about anything he didn’t understand. In the end, it took more than half an hour to finish reading it. “Director Cheng, I don’t see any problems now. Let’s sign.”

Cheng Shu inwardly muttered that, of course, there was no problem. The contract had been annotated and revised by Fu Yanchuan himself. All the terms had been confirmed by Fu Yanchuan. While it didn’t go so far as to strip away his rights, the contract was two hundred percent beneficial to Qi Xi.

After signing the contract, they finally started eating. After the meal, Qi Xi said goodbye to Cheng Shu and went with Fu Yanchuan to the school to complete the temporary suspension procedures. By the time they finished, it was almost time to leave work. Instead of going back to the office, Fu Yanchuan returned home with Qi Xi.

Thinking that he was about to start working, Qi Xi was extremely excited. The first thing he did after getting home was brag to the orange cat. “Dasheng, do you know? I have a job now. The drawings I make will be turned into animations. People all over the world will be able to see them! Am I amazing or not?”

The orange cat, which didn’t want to be lifted high, meowed: “Meow!”

“You think I’m amazing too? Xie Hui said I was amazing, too, and even asked me for an autograph. Would you like me to sign one for you, too?”

The orange cat drooped its tail helplessly, turning into a boneless cat strip. It didn’t even meow anymore.

Fu Yanchuan stood to the side, watching Qi Xi. He wasn’t as happy as Qi Xi was. If he had to admit it, he didn’t want Qi Xi to leave.

He had a kind of intuition that one day, Qi Xi would be seen by more people, become admired and pursued, and have more choices.

By then, Qi Xi would no longer be the same. He wouldn’t be focused on him alone. He wouldn’t rely on him. He’d no longer be infatuated with him.

“Xi Xi.”

He suddenly called out. Qi Xi finally put down the suffering orange cat and ran over to him. He held up a dazzling smile and asked, “Why did you call me?”

He pulled Qi Xi over in one motion, falling onto the nearby sofa and pressing him tightly against his body. He stared at Qi Xi as if he had caught him. He didn’t blink for a long while before saying, “Xi Xi, look at me.”

Facing Fu Yanchuan’s intense gaze, Qi Xi felt alarmed for no apparent reason. He looked like he wanted to take a bite out of him. Qi Xi cupped his face with both hands and asked, “How should I look?”

Fu Yanchuan couldn’t answer. He didn’t know what would satisfy him either. He grabbed one of Qi Xi’s hands and leaned over to kiss it.

He didn’t want Qi Xi to sense his unease, yet he also hoped Qi Xi would understand and promise never to abandon him, no matter how dark and selfish his heart was.

After kissing him enough, he pulled back, gently wiped his damp lips, and gazed at him for a long time before saying, “Look like this. Always, forever, only look at me, okay?”

Qi Xi thought about it. “But what if you’re not that handsome anymore when you turn into an old man? It’d be really strange if I still looked at you like this.”

Fu Yanchuan instantly felt a breath get stuck in his chest. He didn’t know whether to be happy that Qi Xi had thought about them growing old or angry that Qi Xi only liked looking at his face.

His thumb, which had been resting on Qi Xi’s lips, suddenly pressed inside. Then, his lips and tongue tangled with his finger in Qi Xi’s mouth. Only when saliva overflowed did he pull away.

“If you kiss me like this, I’ll—”

Seeing Qi Xi’s shy expression because of him, Fu Yanchuan finally felt somewhat satisfied. He gently wiped the moisture from the corner of Qi Xi’s lips, leaned in again, and said, “I’ll take responsibility.”

 

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