Mr. Liang hadn’t gotten out of bed. Duan Ming helped request a half-day leave from the film crew and came to check in at noon.
“It was right not to go this morning.”
Duan Ming gulped some water, still shaken: “Director Jin was burning with anger. He almost singed the hair of the production manager.”
The butler inquired: “Wasn’t it because of Mr. Liang?”
“No,” Duan Ming shook his head. “They found three more cameras in other rooms. Luckily, they were discovered in time, and nothing leaked out.”
With such an incident happening right at the start of filming, Jin Zhenbo was furious and spent the entire morning severely scolding the relevant staff members.
“It’s not that this happened right at the start of filming.”
The butler, being an outsider, saw things more clearly: “It’s that only when things are busy at the start of filming can ill-intentioned people take advantage of the chaos. They didn’t expect Mr. Liang to catch them on the first day.”
Duan Ming tugged at the corner of his mouth: “Yes, the production manager also said… the crew owes him for this.”
Duan Ming glanced at the side bedroom and lowered his voice: “How is he?”
“He’s okay,” the butler nodded. “He caught a slight cold, nothing serious… The doctor said he’s mainly just tired.”
It wasn’t just the exhaustion from filming. When Liang Xiao entered an unfamiliar environment, he would instinctively be on guard for quite a long time, without even realizing it. He hadn’t really been able to rest properly.
Being constantly on edge wasn’t a problem, but suddenly finding himself in a place where he could completely relax, he couldn’t quite handle it.
Fearing Duan Ming would worry, the butler explained: “He’ll be fine after a good sleep. A few days of rest, and there won’t be any problems at all.”
Duan Ming sighed in relief: “I know.”
Duan Ming tugged at the corner of his mouth again: “He usually wouldn’t break down this early. Most of the time, he’d wait until all the filming was done and he could go home before really collapsing…”
The butler, not knowing which one to feel more sorry for, nodded after a moment and solemnly promised: “It won’t happen again in the future.”
Duan Ming sincerely thanked him and was about to speak when the side bedroom door was pushed open a crack.
Liang Xiao, wearing a coat and looking sleepy, pushed the door open and came out.
Seeing him, Duan Ming’s eyes lit up and he quickly went over: “Are you still feeling unwell? Don’t worry about the crew, they’re still on the morning schedule. You can take it easy, going in the afternoon won’t delay anything…”
Liang Xiao, still not fully awake, listened to him hazily for a while before asking: “Brother Duan, where’s President Huo?”
Duan Ming: “…”
Duan Ming, exasperated without President Huo around, said: “Where’s your sense of independence?”
The butler was pleased with this development and came over with a smile to greet him.
Liang Xiao remembered last night’s events quite clearly, but couldn’t distinguish which parts were real and which were dreams. Seeing the butler approach, his face instinctively flushed, and he became much more alert: “…”
“President Huo is working in the master bedroom,” the butler informed him. “He specifically asked me to tell you not to rush out when you wake up, to dress warmly, eat well, and not to be distracted while acting.”
Duan Ming had been listening happily at first, but grew increasingly puzzled: “President Huo… is in the master bedroom of this presidential suite?”
The butler nodded: “Yes.”
Duan Ming was confused and looked up at the nearby master bedroom door: “Then why doesn’t President Huo come out and say it himself?”
The butler didn’t really understand either: “President Huo said, ‘Flowers and leaves don’t meet morning and night.'”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Duan Ming was bewildered: “What does that mean?”
The butler tried to guess: “Maybe President Huo read some poetry…”
Liang Xiao listened to these two discussing in low voices, going from poetic references to Buddhist sutras. He took a deep breath and pressed his forehead hard.
Last night, to stay in the side bedroom, Liang Xiao had used every trick he could think of, casually misleading Huo Lan quite a bit.
He didn’t expect their President Huo to take this particular phrase to heart.
Liang Xiao himself felt this idea was too outrageous. Not daring to admit it, he reluctantly tried to smooth things over: “It’s fine.”
“Tell President Huo I understand.”
Liang Xiao coughed once: “Tell President Huo not to work too late at night– to rest early…”
Duan Ming stared at him in disbelief.
The butler, having endured too much, could accept almost anything now. He nodded and made a note: “Alright.”
Liang Xiao had originally wanted to give their President Huo a good morning hug, but now it was neither early nor possible to hug. He stood at the door, racking his brains for a while, feeling a bit deflated: “…That’s all.”
Apart from his concerning sleep issues and occasionally getting caught in logical loops that Liang Xiao couldn’t quite understand, Huo Lan wasn’t like him in other ways. He wouldn’t neglect taking care of himself when busy.
Liang Xiao thought hard for a while but couldn’t think of anything else to remind him of.
Since Huo Lan had taken last night’s words to heart, given their President Huo’s strict self-discipline, the two of them might really end up living for a month with one in the master bedroom and one in the side bedroom, never seeing each other.
Liang Xiao found the thought terrifying. He swallowed dryly and stammered: “President Huo said…”
The butler was curious: “What?”
“…He said,” Liang Xiao stumbled, “when will the flower visit the leaf’s place?”
The butler thought carefully but had no recollection: “He didn’t…”
Liang Xiao coughed once, struggling: “Then, what if the leaf wants to scratch at the flower’s door in the middle of the night?”
Liang Xiao: “Will the flower spank the leaf?”
The butler hadn’t heard this either and didn’t understand what he was saying, but after a slight hesitation, he spoke: “Is it important? I can ask for you–”
Liang Xiao quickly declined: “No need.”
The butler was a bit worried, concerned that this might be a very important question, so he opened his notebook and wrote it down.
Liang Xiao leaned against the door, calmed down for a moment, and pressed his temples.
Last night, Liang Xiao had been emotionally stirred and thought living next door like this was fine, but now that he’d come to his senses, he realized how deadly this plan was.
Every day when he came back to stay, lying in the side bedroom’s bed, Huo Lan’s master bedroom was just on the other side of the wall.
Liang Xiao carefully considered the layout of the two rooms and gestured to indicate the position of the beds.
Liang Xiao became even more troubled: “What kind of man-made separation is this…”
Both beds were against the wall, and it was the same shared wall.
This type of wall wasn’t load-bearing. Liang Xiao, having worked in construction before, could roughly estimate its thickness – no more than a hand’s width.
At such a close distance, if he turned over in the middle of the night and accidentally kissed the wall, it might be right where their President Huo’s chest was on the other side.
So would that count as kissing the wall or kissing their President Huo’s chest?
As Liang Xiao leaned against the door lost in wild thoughts, a sudden idea popped into his mind, making his face flush hot.
What if their President Huo turned over in the middle of the night and accidentally bumped into the wall…
Duan Ming watched him turn red on the spot and was startled: “What’s wrong?”
Liang Xiao mumbled self-reproachfully: “The leaf is too naughty.”
Duan Ming was bewildered: “Huh?”
Liang Xiao, flushed and dazed, didn’t dare to think further. He turned around unsteadily and went back to freshen up.
