Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Bang—"

The man slammed the door with considerable force.

Lu Tingchao, unable to resist, was pulled inside, and then his position was abruptly changed.

He was suddenly pinned tightly between the door and the man.

In his earlier stumble, Lu Tingchao had instinctively reached out to grip the waist of the person in front of him to avoid an awkward fall—then, out of habit, his hands traveled upward, settling on the man's V-line.

For a split second, before he could even process what was happening, he had even absentmindedly stroked the area a couple of times.

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Outside the stall, the restroom door swung open.

It sounded like two staff members had entered: "We need to double-check the venue's electrical lines. Zhuang Ji is here today—we absolutely can't afford any issues."

"I've already sent Xiao Ding's team to inspect it. There are way too many fans; it's completely over capacity and really dangerous."

"There are still fans outside waiting who couldn't get tickets! What can we do? One's an award-winning actor, the other's a top idol. No wonder the fans ship them as a couple—it's not without reason..."

Lu Tingchao, who had been listening intently: "!!!"

Lu Tingchao grabbed Zhuang Ji's hand, panicked but not daring to raise his voice: "What are you doing?!"

But these hands had never done much hard labor since childhood, and they were delicate-boned besides.

Zhuang Ji easily grabbed both of Lu Tingchao's wrists with one hand, pinned them to the side, and leaned down to nip at his earlobe.

Lu Tingchao jolted instantly.

"Baby, did you enjoy hearing gossip about your husband?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao froze completely.

He wanted to escape.

But he couldn't.

Because outside, two dedicated colleagues were still enthusiastically chatting.

"My wife's younger sister is a shipper too, but what's there to see between two men? I really don't get young people these days!"

"I heard Jiang Rong and Actor Zhuang's families know each other. These days, if you don't have some connections, you really shouldn't try to make it in the entertainment industry. Earlier, I saw Jiang Rong—she brought two full makeup teams."

The door of this restroom stall was not particularly thick or thin.

Lu Tingchao blushes easily when he's anxious, and his skin is fair and delicate too. By now, as he looked up at the other, his face was almost completely flushed, a striking and beautiful contrast to the anger in his eyes.

He struggled a couple more times, not only failing to break free but also making the door bang loudly.

The two outside went quiet.

"Is someone in there?"

"No one, probably just a mop falling over in the farthest stall."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao didn't dare move again, allowing Zhuang Ji's free hand to lift his chin and then crush their lips together in a kiss that left no space between them.

It was a possessive, lingering kiss.

Slow and deep, gentle yet invasive.

The bitter orange scent of the man seemed to wash over him through the kiss, eventually leaving the same fragrance on his own skin.

Lu Tingchao was kissed breathless, until he was almost entirely leaning into Zhuang Ji's embrace.

Zhuang Ji finally let out a soft laugh and kissed the moisture from Lu Tingchao's lip. "Still want to listen to gossip?"

Lu Tingchao: "...No more."

He instinctively shrank further into Zhuang Ji's arms. "I was wrong, hubby."

The two staff members outside finally left.

The sound of the door closing echoed.

Before Lu Tingchao could even sigh in relief, he felt Zhuang Ji's wandering hand slide lower a bit more—even before he could process it—

Zhuang Ji asked softly, "Did little Chao Chao miss me?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao had never experienced anything like this in a restroom before. He stood frozen for moments before understanding what Zhuang Ji meant, and his entire body went rigid.

"Seems not."

Zhuang Ji sighed. "But Little Ji missed you a lot."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao didn't have to touch his own face to feel it burning with embarrassment.

He pushed frantically at Zhuang Ji's hand, his voice trembling. "You... you never used to be like this."

"That's why you left me for those two and a half years."

Zhuang Ji's voice turned cold. "You told me you were going back to Hong Kong to settle your parents' estate, but just the other night at the banquet, I ran into your cousin. Chao Chao, your parents never worked in Hong Kong, and the Lu family don't have any assets there."

Zhuang Ji asked, "Where were you those two years?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao found this question difficult to answer.

Fortunately, Zhuang Ji's phone rang, shattering the tense moment.

While Zhuang Ji answered the call, Lu Tingchao stole a glance.

Yes!

Jiang Rong.

Jiang Rong’s voice was cloyingly sweet, like 100% pure sugar: "Brother Ji, are you done? We're about to go on stage," she said.

Zhuang Ji glanced at Lu Tingchao in his arms: "Done."

"Then I'll wait for you backstage, Brother Ji. Do you remember what we talked about earlier?"

Zhuang Ji: "I know, I'll be right there."

Lu Tingchao seized the opportunity to quickly retrieve his pants and fix his zipper, slipped out of Zhuang Ji's arms, took a step back, and said, "If you're going on stage, I'll head to the audience seats. Break a leg!"

"Lu Tingchao."

Zhuang Ji said.

Lu Tingchao turned back.

Zhuang Ji: "You didn’t go to Hong Kong during those two years you were away, and you weren’t out with Chi Guo that night either."

Lu Tingchao: "?"

Zhuang Ji: "You’re keeping something from me, right?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

The old Zhuang Ji was an elegant and gentle young master, the sole heir of the Zhuang family, impeccable in demeanor, speech, manners, appearance, and ability—nothing about him was less than perfect.

But the current Zhuang Ji... Lu Tingchao felt he was hard to figure out.

After all, the old Zhuang Ji wouldn’t have acted so erratically like this.

"No, not at all."

Lu Tingchao shook his head like a rattle drum, "Hey, I’ll explain it to you later. You go on stage first, isn’t Jiang Rong still waiting for you?"

Zhuang Ji: "Does Chao Chao love me?"

Lu Tingchao: "?"

Lu Tingchao: "Love you, love love love, I do!"

Zhuang Ji seemed to finally relax.

The tension between his brows eased, and he regained some of his aristocratic demeanor.

As he passed by Lu Tingchao, he leaned in slightly: "Kiss me."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao had to grab his shoulders and give Zhuang Ji a kiss.

"I’ll go out first. Wait for me at the hotel tonight."

"Mm."

Lu Tingchao finally sent the troublesome guy away. He leaned against the perfume counter, scrolling through his phone while waiting, planning to go back to his seat in ten minutes.

Before ten minutes passed.

He got a WeChat message.

Mo Lingnan: I've picked up the child.

Mo Lingnan: #video#

It took Lu Tingchao two seconds to realize this must be Mo Lingnan’s account.

There were no WeChat Moments posts, and his profile picture was a tree in a forest—lush, tall, straight, and vivid green.

Lu Tingchao clicked on the video.

Lu Doudou wasn’t shy at all in the new environment. He nodded at the camera, seemed to look around the room, and delivered a brief assessment.

"Chao Chao, this uncle’s house, rich, acceptable."

Probably "acceptable" as in acceptable to be easily discarded.

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Mo Lingnan: I brought your things too. When are you coming home?

Calling it "home" felt strange, but since Lu Doudou was already there, it was probably fine.

Lu Tingchao typed: "Thanks Director Mo for taking us in! You're so kind! #lookingpitiful#. I’ll come back once I earn some baby formula money."

Mo Lingnan: "How much do you want to earn?"

Lu Tingchao: "A thousand or two isn’t too little, ten or twenty thousand isn’t too much..."

Mo Lingnan: "Doudou’s kindergarten is all set. Come home early."

There are actually such reliable nice people around these days!!

Lu Tingchao was deeply moved: "Love you! If you suddenly sneeze, it must be me thinking of you!"

Mo Lingnan: "..."

Mo Lingnan called him.

Lu Tingchao was about to push the door open and leave when the call interrupted him, so he simply answered by the door: "Uncle Mo, what’s up?"

"Nothing much, just seeing your messages, I suddenly have something to say to you."

Years of field work had made Mo Lingnan’s voice naturally stern and serious, carrying a deep, natural authority.

Lu Tingchao: "?"

Mo Lingnan said: "In real criminal cases, offenders often fall into many categories. There are active types, passive types, instigating types..."

Lu Tingchao: "?"

Mo Lingnan: "Among the active types, there’s one kind of offender with a particularly interesting style."

Lu Tingchao: "?"

Mo Lingnan: "This kind of offender is passionate, talks big, and often has one characteristic: they often fail and are full of remorse afterwards."

Lu Tingchao: "...Huh?"

"So, we often think this type of offender needs straightening out, polishing up, and supervision."

Mo Lingnan paused for a few seconds, his tone flat and deliberate, as if lecturing in a classroom. "To put it in the street slang common among offenders—they need to be taught a lesson."

Lu Tingchao: "…"

The call had already ended.

Lu Tingchao stood in place for two seconds, finally confirming… Was that making an innuendo??

How do you still know offender slang so well even after leaving the job???

Lu Tingchao quickly typed a string of question marks into the chat box, then accidentally glanced at the time and realized there were less than fifteen minutes until the recording started. He immediately turned and rushed toward the recording studio.

The staff in the studio naturally had no idea that Lu Tingchao was Zhuang Ji’s family member. He made his way awkwardly by himself, finally managing to find a seat and sit down just as the house lights around the stage went completely dark.

There was a main camera positioned in front of the audience seats.

The main camera was aimed at the dazzling, radiant main stage.

In the darkness of the entire venue, that spot felt like a distant, unreachable place.

The show’s top male lead and second male lead were naturally the main focus of the ensemble reality show as well.

The opening act was the theme song performed together by Zhuang Ji and Jiang Rong.

A soft white backdrop and rose-colored spotlights lit up alternately, creating a sweeping, romantic play of light and shadow.

Jiang Rong, dressed in a white suit, escorted Zhuang Ji onto the stage.

He took a champagne rose from behind him, bent slightly, extended his left hand, and said in a sweet, soft voice, "Mr. Zhuang, I’ve heard so much about you. Would you sing a duet with me?"

The screams from fans below and the surge of light signs instantly seemed powerful enough to lift the entire studio roof.

Zhuang Ji paused for a moment: "The pleasure is mine."

"Get together! Get together! Ahhh, is this 'official'?"

"I don’t care, this is the wedding scene!! My CP is real!!!"

Fluttering rose petals rained down from above.

Lu Tingchao also fell silent for a moment, then picked up his camera and started snapping away wildly—big shots, small shots, random shots everywhere.

His seat was absolutely perfect, with an unobstructed view no one else could match. He could almost picture the side hustle income gradually coming his way.

Right in the middle of his shooting spree, the screen of his phone, placed beside him, lit up.

It was a message from his agent, Chi Cheng.

And besides the new message, there was also a friend request that Lu Tingchao hadn’t had time to check earlier.

Jiang Rong: Chao Chao, hello! I mentioned I had some work opportunities to introduce to you, and Brother Ji gave me your info.

Jiang Rong: You mentioned before that your schedule was too tight to take on the second male lead role or the talent show.

Jiang Rong: I happen to have a spot open for a dating show. The other participant is my junior—he’s 6'3", super handsome, an athlete, and you’d only need to film two episodes. Are you interested?