Chapter 60: Beating Others to the Punch

Chapter 60: Beating Others to the Punch

No attempt was made to conceal anything; half of the man's face was exposed to the light, his voice as cold and crisp as the clinking of jade shards, each word enunciated clearly.

His dark pupils met Chen Yibai's gaze without flinching, his movements polite and composed.

Even if he didn't introduce himself, Chu Mingyuan knew who he was.

Xu Sinian, the award-sweeping actor, a natural center of attention, a walking topic, the person who overshadowed him.

And single.

He had interacted with him a few times before. This man maintained a consistent basic politeness towards everyone, always keeping an unbridgeable distance, polite but aloof.

This person's schedule and private life were tightly guarded secrets. He had seen him a few times at award ceremonies, dinner parties, and on set.

But he never expected to meet this person here, someone who hadn't appeared in public for a long time.

Upon meeting again, the other party still maintained his usual politeness, but lacked the detached indifference and blandness.

Those eyes looked over, filled with a completely different sense of pressure from the polite gesture, and a well-concealed possessiveness.

His gaze fell on their clasped hands, and Chu Mingyuan forced himself to look away, looking at the man's hand still suspended in mid-air. He then raised his hand to return the handshake, smiling and saying, "Hello."

A touch and then apart.

He smiled, but his smile was much more shallow than usual, the curve of his lips almost non-existent.

A good neighbor suddenly appeared. Feeling the scorching heat transmitted from the palm of his hand, although he didn't quite understand, Chen Yibai didn't pull away either. He looked up and asked softly, "How did you come here?"

The good neighbor said, "I didn't get any news downstairs, so I came up."

He lowered his voice, his tone not changing much, but it sounded different from when he usually spoke.

His gaze returned to that slender hand firmly held, and Chu Mingyuan exhaled, lifting his gaze again to meet the pale gray irises under the white locks of hair, asking, "Who is this?"

Before Chen Yibai could blurt out 'friend', the good neighbor by his side tightened his grip slightly on his hand and spoke first, "It's as you think."

His voice was steady, without any hint of ambiguity or hesitation.

"…"

So what did he think it was?

Did these two take advantage of the situation to exchange telepathic messages?

The mind of the lonely war god couldn't process the current situation anymore, still stuck in the phase where ten thousand braised chicken armies were attacking Earth. So he gave up thinking and chose to unconditionally agree with the good neighbor's words, nodding upon hearing them.

The slight curve at the corner of Chu Mingyuan's lips disappeared completely.

He originally wanted to say something else, but the man standing opposite him lowered his head and checked the time, then lifted his head and politely nodded, saying, "It's getting late. If there's nothing else important, I'll take Yibai back now."

His words sounded polite enough, but in reality, he was already leading the person by the hand and stepping back, his overall demeanor far from gentle.

Although he didn't quite understand what was going on, it seemed he didn't have to bother answering whether or not to give a chance. Chen Yibai followed the good neighbor back, turning halfway through and remembering to wave and say goodbye politely.

Chu Mingyuan stood in place, watching the two leave together.

Their clasped hands didn't loosen, unlike how he needed to rely on taking photos to bridge the distance, the two people were close, still talking. That arrogant Xu Sinian would also bend down and lower his head to listen to others.

The two figures vanished completely.

The night wind continued to blow down from the vast sky, and the small garden regained its tranquility.

Freed from the dilemma, leaving the small garden, Chen Yibai exuded relaxation and joy all over.

Right next to the entrance of the small garden was the elevator, which led straight to the basement parking lot. With no one around, Xu Sinian didn't wear a mask, his free hand removing the hat from his head and steadily placing it on the person beside him, covering the conspicuous white hair.

He still hadn't let go of the person's hand. Stepping into the elevator, feeling the still icy fingers in his hand that hadn't warmed up, he stuffed the person's hand into his coat pocket, lowering his head to ask, "How long were you up there in the wind?"

With his hand in the pocket, it instantly became warmer. Chen Yibai squinted his eyes and said, "Not long."

He then raised his thumb, looking up to praise, "Comrade Old Xu is really amazing."

The brim of the hat was pulled low, and he had to make an effort to look up to talk to the person.

Standing in the small garden, he had drifted off mentally for a moment, not fully understanding how things were resolved. In any case, praising someone as amazing was right.

He had been pondering this matter for a while, but the person came and instantly solved it in two minutes. From the results, his brain was much better than his own.

Comrade Old Xu said it was alright.

The elevator descended, stopping at the basement parking lot. Not wanting to linger in this hotel that exuded an eerie atmosphere, Chen Yibai rushed out as soon as the door opened.

Halfway through his rush, he was restrained by an invisible force. Turning around, he remembered that his hand was still clasped in the good neighbor's pocket. So he walked back, asking softly and politely, "How much longer do we need to hold hands?"

Although he didn't quite understand earlier, he guessed it might have been necessary to deal with Chu Mingyuan. Now that they were downstairs and out of sight, he felt it was probably time to let go.

He had at most seen girls holding hands to go to the bathroom in high school, never boys. The last time a friend touched his hand was to read his palm.

And after looking for a long time, they couldn't figure out anything.

It wasn't that he was against physical contact with good friends; touching hands wasn't a big deal. He just felt that holding hands for too long seemed a bit strange.

He couldn't put his finger on it, but it just didn't seem quite right. After all, regardless of any aspect, they were quite different from high school students holding hands to go to the bathroom.

His good friend asked in a low voice, "Can you wait a little longer?"

Then he would wait a little longer.

A qualified friend's brain always unconditionally meets any request from a friend. Chen Yibai bounced back, walking alongside his good neighbor to where the car was parked.

As White Hair spoke, he strode forward with large steps. With one difficult matter resolved, he felt light and carefree, little flowers blooming all over him. The brim of his hat blocked his vision, preventing him from noticing that his good friend's gaze had been fixed on him the entire time.

It followed closely, never straying away.

This time, the car was parked quite far away, and they walked for a distance before reaching it. Before getting in, his good neighbor finally slowly released his hand, bending down to open the car door. Chen Yibai settled into the passenger seat with ease.

His good neighbor circled half the car, opened the driver's side door, sat down, inserted the key into the ignition, started the engine, and then turned to say, "This is an exception. Remember not to agree if someone else tries to do this in the future."

A pair of hands now completely warm, Chen Moubai buckled his seatbelt efficiently. After pondering what 'this' referred to, he leaned back against the seat and said, "That won't happen."

He waved his hand and said, "This is a privilege of being good friends."

It's normal for good friends to have a bit of a hand-holding hobby; although a bit strange, it's not impossible to accommodate.

Xu Sinian turned to confirm, "Are you still my only good friend?"

Chen Yibai raised his thumb and nodded.

Officially certified, genuine and reliable.

Xu Sinian smiled and said, "Let's go back."

---

Chu Mingyuan's agent had drunk too much and went to the restroom to sober up.

He swore he had only gone to the restroom for a moment, but when he returned, the person who had been sitting at the table was nowhere to be seen.

Unable to get through on the phone, he asked everyone nearby but couldn't find out where the person had gone. However, he heard that Chen Yibai might have gone to the small garden upstairs and could have been there for some time.

Damn.

An unpleasant thought flashed through his mind, and he rushed upstairs immediately.

The location of the small garden was easy to find; upon reaching the upper floor, he simply turned to the side. There were people in the small garden, but only one.

Chen Yibai, who was supposed to be in the small garden, wasn't there. Only his unreachable movie star was present, standing by the railing, not looking at his phone, as if merely enjoying the breeze.

He approached, and the person noticed him, turning his head.

There was no expression on that face. The agent was momentarily unsure whether something had happened or nothing had occurred, hesitating whether to ask about Chen Yibai.

Chu Mingyuan spoke first, saying, "Do you have cigarettes on you? Give me one."

The agent skillfully pulled out a cigarette and handed over a lighter, saying, "You've quit smoking for quite a while now, why did you suddenly think of this thing again?"

Oh ho.

Before the person could answer, the agent realized what was going on.

One person, Chen Yibai, who may have come to the small garden but had already left, and cigarettes. This likely meant that something had indeed happened, and the outcome wasn't ideal.

Chu Mingyuan lowered his head to light a cigarette. The flickering light illuminated his brows and eyes as smoke billowed around him.

The agent cautiously asked, "Rejected?"

Although it was a question, he could guess the outcome from watching the person light the cigarette.

From the perspective of an agent, he was certainly delighted, even wanting to set off a string of firecrackers. But as a ten-year-old friend, there was a certain...also quite happy feeling.

This person's feelings didn't last long. It was better not to start than to spend a lot of time together only to end up breaking up.

Chu Mingyuan said, "Someone beat me to it."

The agent was momentarily confused by these words. Or rather, he understood, but doubted it meant what he thought it did.

Chu Mingyuan, with flickering light at his fingertips, said, "He has a boyfriend now."

"Mm."

Agent: "Mm?"

That wooden stake-like person?

He asked, "Do you know who it is?"

For this person to make such a stubborn piece of iron bloom, it took considerable skill.

Chu Mingyuan: "Xu Sinian."

Xu what year?

Looking more closely at the person's expression and confirming that he hadn't misunderstood, the agent's eyes widened, his tongue stumbling as he said, "Wasn't he always single?"

Completely unexpected and the most outrageous person imaginable, spreading this news online would result in him being riddled with holes.

Chu Mingyuan exhaled a puff of smoke, "Chen Bai was also single two months ago."

In two months, he was just one step behind. That one step allowed someone else to snatch the opportunity first.

One shocking revelation after another, the agent struggled to digest the information he had just heard. For the moment, he could only offer consolation, "It's okay, this time it's just like before, you brought the feelings from the play into reality. In a while..."

Oh, he remembered. This time, this person didn't have any romantic scenes with Chen Yibai.

"..."

Realizing something, his eyes involuntarily narrowed. The agent was now thoroughly at a loss for how to comfort him. He could only look at the cigarette burning halfway in the person's hand and ask, "Want another one?"

Chu Mingyuan lit another cigarette.

Leaning against the railing and looking down, he saw the bustling city below, its traffic flowing and lights glittering.

---

At half past ten in the evening, Chen Bai returned on time to the familiar neighborhood he hadn't seen for a long while.

Stepping back onto the elevator, he leaned against the wall, exhaled, and said, "Feels like I haven't been back for eight hundred years."

Not eight hundred years, not even eight months. His good neighbor smiled and said, "The sheets at home have already been changed; stay there tonight."

Chen Bai could stay anywhere, so he nodded, slightly lifting his cap brim and extending one finger as he said, "Tonight, I must play a game of flying chess."

His good neighbor agreed, saying yes.

He guessed it wouldn't be just one game.

Indeed. That night, after playing game after game, Chen Moubai successfully added several striking last-place victories to his record, making them stand out neatly and prominently.

That night, he went to bed with a grudge, sleeping with a frown on his face.

After the wrap party, there was no work for some time, specifically set aside for rest. In theory, he could sleep until he naturally woke up. But because of the pitiful habits formed during the months on set, the working man woke up promptly at five in the morning. After waking up and looking at the familiar ceiling, he pondered for a moment where he was.

Realizing he didn't need to go to work that day, he fell back asleep.

This time, when he woke up again, it was already past ten o'clock in the morning.

The sun was shining outside, slanting through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the room. With his mind still groggy from sleep, the person lying in bed struggled to get up, his eyes still closed, and tentatively searched for his slippers amidst his messy hair, but couldn't find them. So, he simply stepped onto the ground and got out of bed.

He completed the actions of washing up purely by instinct, washing roughly but at least getting it done. His bangs dripped water as he casually flicked them back, then opened the door and walked out of the room.

Wanting to find something to drink, he followed the corridor to the dining room. Before reaching the place, he heard voices first.

It was his good neighbor's voice, seemingly on the phone, speaking softly and indistinctly.

Without intending to disturb, Chen Bai continued to look for water. Successfully finding his cup in the usual spot for water cups, he squinted his eyes, trying to make his still blurry vision clearer. With his other hand holding the kettle, he aimed the spout at the cup and steadily poured half a cup of water.

"Right now isn't convenient here; you should take Xu Lang back this time."

Xu Sinian was sitting in the living room, indeed on the phone.

The people in the room were still asleep, so he kept his voice low. Listening to the person on the phone speak, his eyebrows twitched, and then he heard a faint sound coming from the living room.

It was the sound of a glass colliding with the table. Turning his head, he saw the person in the living room raising the glass, so he stood up with the phone in hand and said, "Let's talk about it in a few days... That's cold water, don't drink it."

Chen Yibai glanced sideways. By the time his brain processed what the person was saying, he had already taken a big gulp of the water in the glass.

It was indeed cold water, and one sip was enough to make him quite awake. After putting down the glass, he scratched his head and laughed, saying, "It is pretty icy, huh?"

His good neighbor had already come over. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the person wasn't wearing slippers. So, he temporarily put aside the matter of the water and went to find slippers for him.

While they were busy looking for slippers, Ms. Jiang on the phone and Mr. Xu listening in were quiet for a moment before Ms. Jiang directly skipped over the previous topic and asked, "Is Yibai back at your place?"

Her voice was two octaves higher than before, clearly piqued with interest.

Xu Sinian didn't respond, opening the room door and finally finding the missing slippers in the corner under the bed.

It was hard to imagine how the slippers ended up in such a place.

He remained silent, but Ms. Jiang on the other end could still chatter away, continuously talking, saying, "No wonder you didn't want your brother to come; the inconvenience turned out to be this kind of inconvenience."

She pretended to speak to Mr. Xu, saying, "Yibai only returned to City A yesterday, and today you've already brought him home. Your son moves pretty fast, Mr. Xu."

Bending down to pick up the slippers, Xu Sinian finally reacted this time, asking, "How do you know he just came back yesterday?"

Even his address had unknowingly changed.

Ms. Jiang laughed, stating matter-of-factly, "I often chat with Yibai."

Mr. Xu chimed in, saying that he would occasionally chat as well.

"..."

Xu Sinian's eye twitched, unable to figure out how many people this person chatted with every day.

As he fell silent, Ms. Jiang on the other end continued talking, moving the phone slightly further away. He took the slippers and returned to the living room.

After the person on the phone spoke for a while and laughed, her laughter lingering, even Chen Yibai, who was seated on a chair in the living room waiting for his slippers, could hear it. After a brief moment of thought, he asked, "Is it Aunt Jiang?"

He was right. Ms. Jiang, hearing his voice, quickly confirmed it and demanded that her son, who was holding the phone, switch to someone else to take the call.

Bending down to place the slippers in front of the person, Xu Sinian looked up at a certain Bai sitting on the chair, silently inquiring.

Happy to have company to chat with early in the morning, Chen Yibai was delighted to engage in conversation, reaching out to take the phone.

The sofa next to the living room couch was just right for basking in the sun, and he was called over by his good neighbor to answer the phone in the living room.

Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, he hugged a cushion to his chest and casually accepted the soy milk offered by his good neighbor. After thanking him, he half-opened his eyes and took a vigorous sip.

His messy white hair shimmered in the light, and as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone speaking, he responded occasionally.

"Little brother has a day off today? That's great... Does he still have time to play... "

"Convenient? How could it be inconvenient, I'm resting these few days."

Realizing what the person on the other end of the phone was about to say next, his good neighbor, who had been quietly sitting beside him, glanced over.

Sure enough, after listening to the person on the other end speak for a bit longer, Chen Moubai turned his head and said, "Auntie and the others said they wanted to come over and play, asking if you have time."

Letting out an imperceptible breath, Good Neighbor opened and closed his eyes, saying yes.

Chen Yibai truthfully relayed the message, and Aunt Jiang on the other end sounded quite delighted.

Thus, at the end of the call, both parties happily agreed on the day's arrangements. Little Brother Xu's school was nearby, and Mr. and Mrs. Jiang said they would be passing by to pick up their high schooler today, and then they would come over here afterward.

School let out at noon, and coming straight here after would allow them to catch lunch.

The plan was set.

After hanging up, Chen Moubai returned the phone to Good Neighbor, who was sitting to the side, and casually rolled up his pajama sleeves.

It was a little past ten in the morning, nearing lunchtime, so preparations could begin now if they wanted to eat on time. He hadn't even considered eating out for lunch; he had already decided to cook at home, and with a roll of his sleeves, he transformed into Chef Chen.

His assistant, Xu, helped tie on an apron.

The ingredients in the fridge were unexpectedly plentiful, eliminating the need for a large grocery run nearby.

Survival skills had been etched into his instincts. It had been more than a quarter since he last cooked, but stepping back into the kitchen, Chef Chen was as skilled as ever, his culinary prowess showing no signs of decline.

As he washed vegetables, Good Neighbor remembered something and turned to ask, "Did you tell Aunt Jiang about what happened last night?"

With his sleeves rolled up, Chef Chen was bent over, flipping the food in the pan. Finally recalling the earth-shattering confession from the previous night, he wiped his face and said, "No."

Due to scheduling issues, Ms. Jiang rarely chatted or sent messages after that time, and it wasn't easy to bring up the matter. He had planned to take this secret to the grave.

Good Neighbor simply acknowledged this with a response.

Ms. Jiang and Mr. Xu picked up the high schooler and arrived at the door right around noon.

Assistant Xu was in the midst of another round of vegetable washing, his hands wet, so it was Chef Chen who went to open the door.

"Click—"

As the door opened, he lifted his gaze but saw no one at first glance.

His vision was filled with a dazzling bouquet of flowers.

"Huh?"

While Chef Chen's mind raced, a high schooler's head emerged from behind the flowers, shouting, "Second Brother Bai!"

Behind the high schooler were Ms. Jiang and Mr. Xu, their faces beaming. Ms. Jiang said with a smile, "Isn't there a tradition of sending flowers when a project wraps up?"

She continued, "Although it's a bit late, Auntie still wanted to send you a bouquet."

The flowers were from her and Mr. Xu, while the high schooler was a young, energetic porter.

Realizing the flowers were for him, Chen Yibai snapped back to reality, smiling. After thanking them, he embraced the bouquet tightly, letting them in and saying, "Old... Xu Sinian is washing vegetables in the kitchen."

He couldn't get enough of smelling the flowers, so he carried them to the kitchen to show off to his Old Xu in a full-scale, manual display of pride.

After ensuring a comprehensive showcase and receiving Old Xu's approval, he carried the flowers to the living room, searching for a place to settle his newly received blooms.

He seemed quite busy.

Xu Lang automatically transformed into a Second Brother Bai tracker upon entering, following him around the house. Ms. Jiang didn't do the same; she took a look into the kitchen instead.

Her son, who had never cooked a single meal in his decades of life, was wearing an apron and actually washing vegetables. Turning to glance at the person in the living room, she asked, "When you went to pick him up yesterday, didn't you send a bouquet?"

Putting the washed leaves aside, Xu Sinian said no.

Ms. Jiang tersely commented, "You're moving too slowly."

Leaning against the door with a smile, she warned, "If you keep being this slow, someone else might beat you to it, like confessing early or something."

To be fair, Ms. Jiang had merely made a joke, yet the hand of the person washing vegetables paused slightly. The pause was brief, and then everything returned to normal. Xu Sinian turned his head and said, "It's time for lunch. I'll set the table; have Xu Lang wash the vegetables."

His voice remained steady, revealing no change.