Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Both men, nearly 190 centimeters tall, made Lu Tingchao, caught between them, seem especially slender and delicate.

He had just been pulled off balance by Zhuang Ji, stumbling forward into the man’s arms, when he suddenly remembered the camera was still rolling behind them—

Lu Tingchao: "!!!"

Lu Tingchao immediately began to wriggle, pushing at Zhuang Ji’s arm: "Let go first."

"Let go so you can hug him instead?"

Zhuang Ji’s face darkened. "Stand aside for a moment. Once I’m done here, we’re going home."

Lu Tingchao: "I—"

"Wow."

Fei Xiuqi gave a light shrug. "Chauvinist pig. No wonder Chao Chao ran."

Fei Xiuqi winked at Lu Tingchao, who was wrapped in Zhuang Ji’s arms: "BB, good move. Aren't I so much better than him?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

After his anger reached its peak, Zhuang Ji instead grew calm.

He curled his lip: "I heard the largest shipowner in Hong Kong has a particularly spoiled youngest son who never gets involved in the business but holds full authority over the family trust fund."

Zhuang Ji sneered: "A Cantonese punk living off his family—what can you possibly offer Chao Chao?"

[Spoken in Cantonese] "In terms of money and power, we’re not far apart."

Fei Xiuqi raised an eyebrow. [Spoken in Cantonese] "But aside from that, where can you compare to me?"

[Spoken in Cantonese] Fei Xiuqi: "Have you ever given Chao Chao a fireworks drone show? It’s been a while since you two went on a date, right?"

[Spoken in Cantonese] Fei Xiuqi said: "Actor Zhuang, someone like Chao Chao—you don’t really think you can keep him just with money and sex, do you?"

Zhuang Ji: "Fei Xiuqi!"

"Actor Zhuang, don’t get mad out of shame."

[Spoken in Cantonese] Fei Xiuqi laughed. "Actually, what I meant to say is, someone like you probably isn’t as good as me in bed either."

Fei Xiuqi tapped his lower lip and blew a kiss to Lu Tingchao: "BB, I’m packing twenty-eight centimeters. When are you going to try it with me?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

A... a shocking size.

Although the situation was hardly appropriate, Lu Tingchao’s mouth moved faster than his brain, and he blurted out: "Twenty-eight?"

Fei Xiuqi gazed at him tenderly: "Want to see?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

No, better not.

It would break me.

Lu Tingchao withdrew his curious little gaze, suddenly feeling an increasingly chilling aura around him.

Lu Tingchao: "...Um, Zhuang Ji, stop looking for the director for now. How about we go outside and talk?"

Zhuang Ji looked at Lu Tingchao, then at Fei Xiuqi.

After a long moment.

He smiled, his tone icy: "Alright then, Chao Chao, let’s talk in the car."

Lu Tingchao turned sneakily and made a break for it.

Zhuang Ji followed.

After just two steps, he suddenly heard Fei Xiuqi say from behind: "Just give up."

Zhuang Ji said coldly: "Is that your declaration as the other man?"

[Spoken in Cantonese] "You can interpret it that way."

[Spoken in Cantonese] Fei Xiuqi said, "But I prefer to think of it as friendly advice from the inevitable winner."

Zhuang Ji: "Save it."

Fei Xiuqi spread his hands: "Whatever. What I mean is, actually, from the moment you married without going public and instead built up a celebrity pairing (CP) publicity stunt with Jiang Rong, you had already lost him."

[Spoken in Cantonese] "Zhuang Ji, can’t you feel it? From kisses to sex, he doesn’t love you anymore."

*

The black G-Class (Mercedes SUV) with temporary plates, its wheels sunk deep into the sand.

The soft beach softened the visible shaking of the vehicle.

Lu Tingchao was pinned against the back seat, his pale fingers clinging to the window, slipping weakly several times, almost breathless.

"Can’t... Zhuang Ji... I still have to shoot... shoot..."

Zhuang Ji looked at the person collapsed in his arms.

In some moments, he even wanted to melt this person into his very bones.

His heart was screaming with desire.

To be closer, to be tighter.

Zhuang Ji gripped Lu Tingchao’s fingers and kissed him: "Shoot what? More fireworks and drone shows? Or his twenty-eight centimeters?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao shrank back into the seat again and again: "I really didn’t mean it... I just spoke without thinking..."

"Then why not get curious about your husband’s?"

Zhuang Ji pressed against Lu Tingchao’s forehead, his voice hoarse and damp. "Used it so many times already? Bored? Don’t like it anymore?"

Lu Tingchao: "...!!!"

A deadly question!

Lu Tingchao shook his head like a rattle-drum: "No, not at all."

Zhuang Ji: "Do you want your husband to go easy on you?"

"Uh-huh."

Lu Tingchao tugged at Zhuang Ji's clothes with pleading eyes. "Hubby is the best. Hubby, gimme a kiss."

Zhuang Ji: "Then let's measure."

Lu Tingchao: "???"

Zhuang Ji: "It just so happens 'hubby' is hard. We need to be precise down to the hundredths of a millimeter."

Lu Tingchao: "?????"

Zhuang Ji said in a tone that could almost be called gentle: "How come you’re not moving, baby?"

Lu Tingchao was stunned: "But... there’s no ruler..."

"You'll have to figure something out yourself, Chao Chao. You're so clever, I'm sure you'll find a way."

Zhuang Ji kissed Lu Tingchao's lips and encouraged, "If you don't want to use your hands, you'll have to use something else."

Lu Tingchao: "..."

His anxious heart finally sank.

*

Lu Tingchao washed his hands for a long time at the beach sink before he felt the sticky mess on his hands was mostly cleaned off.

Looking back, he saw Zhuang Ji had changed into beach shorts and a shirt at some point and was leaning against the Mercedes G-Class looking cool and relaxed.

Lu Tingchao: "..."

So annoying.

Lu Tingchao walked over quietly and silently kicked some sand toward Zhuang Ji, splattering it on his shirt and pants.

Zhuang Ji had just replied to a message. He put away his phone, exerted strength in his arm, and effortlessly threw Lu Tingchao over his left shoulder.

Lu Tingchao: "Zhuang Ji!!!"

Zhuang Ji smacked his butt: "Bad baby."

Lu Tingchao was dangling over the man's shoulder, only supported by his soft stomach: "You are! I'm not a bad baby!!"

Zhuang Ji smacked him again: "Oh? Then what are you, Chao Chao?"

Afraid of falling, Lu Tingchao instinctively grabbed Zhuang Ji's side, feeling firm, tight muscles.

Lu Tingchao pouted: "I'm the world’s most invincibly adorable little cutie."

Zhuang Ji asked: "Can little cuties flirt with other guys behind your husband’s back?"

Lu Tingchao was stunned silent.

After nine years together and seven years married, such silence was rare between them.

After a long moment.

Lu Tingchao finally said: "I understand your job; you should understand mine."

Zhuang Ji laughed angrily: "Chao Chao, what am I supposed to understand?"

"Understand you going on a dating show as a married man? Or being held in another man's arms?"

Zhuang Ji said, "Lu Tingchao, what do you think I am?!"

Lu Tingchao said sincerely: "I take you for a great actor, a great Film Emperor. A Film Emperor has his principles; the audience gets their entertainment."

Zhuang Ji: "..."

Zhuang Ji put Lu Tingchao down, placed his hands on his shoulders, and lowered his head: "Chao Chao, did you join this show just to spite me?"

Lu Tingchao: "...Huh?"

Zhuang Ji: "Was it because you were jealous of Jiang Rong and me?"

Lu Tingchao: "Yeah."

Zhuang Ji: "You were jealous, unhappy, so you wanted to get back at me, make me miserable too. That's why you did this, right?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Lu Tingchao looked up at Zhuang Ji.

Even now, he still believed Zhuang Ji was absolutely deserving of the title 'great actor'.

He still liked Zhuang Ji's... face too.

Lu Tingchao liked Zhuang Ji's deep-set eyes and brows, how they always seemed full of affection when he looked at someone.

He also liked Zhuang Ji's thin, pale lips, how their color deepened with each kiss as the man's breathing grew heavier.

Even at a moment like this, Lu Tingchao's expression remained innocent and guileless.

Lu Tingchao said: "Zhuang Ji, actually, Auntie Zhuang told me a long time ago that you and Jiang Rong are a better match."

Zhuang Ji's expression instantly froze.

But Lu Tingchao continued: "When you and Jiang Rong were studying seriously as kids, I was out messing around with cats and dogs. When you and Jiang Rong were studying seriously as teens, I was street racing and dating around. When you were a bit older..."

Zhuang Ji: "Enough!"

Zhuang Ji said: "Lu Tingchao, what are you trying to say?"

Lu Tingchao's courage was often fleeting, and under Zhuang Ji's pressure, it vanished instantly.

Originally, Lu Tingchao had planned to use Zhuang Ji and Jiang Rong's CP as leverage for a big divorce payout, but after saying those few sentences...

Oh no, would Zhuang Ji sue him for damages instead?

No, no.

Chao Chao would rather keep sleeping with him than pay money QAQ

Lu Tingchao quickly stepped back half a step: "I... I didn’t mean anything by it. I just suddenly remembered..."

Zhuang Ji laughed: "Chao Chao, you think I buy that?"

Lu Tingchao lowered his head and studied the ground.

"When you were a kid getting into trouble with cats and dogs, I skipped class to clean up your messes. When you were a bit older and started dating early, you used my money to buy gifts for all those crushes of yours. And when you got even older..."

Lu Tingchao was so embarrassed his scalp went numb: "Enough, enough, enough!"

"Of course it's not enough!"

Zhuang Ji's eyes reddened with fury, "And when you got even older, after the Lu family went bankrupt, it was you who came to me holding a pillow, begging me to take you in. It was you who climbed into my bed, you who said we should get married, you who promised to love me forever—swearing I’d be your last."

Zhuang Ji took a deep breath: "So now, Lu Tingchao, are you trying to tell me you’ve finally grown tired of me? Is that it?"

Lu Tingchao: "..."

Chao Chao-brand turtle retreating into its shell, neither admitted nor denied.

"Fine."

Zhuang Ji’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, "So what do you want? You want a divorce, is that it?!"

Lu Tingchao hung his head and crouched on the sand like a child, drawing circles.

After a while.

The circle said: "Ah."

Zhuang Ji: "..."

Zhuang Ji’s hands clenched behind his back, knuckles turning white.

It took every ounce of his self-control to suppress the urge to knock Lu Tingchao out by hitting his neck.

Zhuang Ji closed his eyes, then finally said: "Fine. Okay! Lu Tingchao, do you think I care? My life will go on just the same without you. It's not like I can't live without you."

Lu Tingchao let go of the circle and stood up from the sand.

Lu Tingchao said with strong agreement: "I think you’re right."

Zhuang Ji: "..."

Lu Tingchao cautiously glanced at Zhuang Ji and asked timidly: "So… when should we go to handle the divorce paperwork?"

Lu Tingchao added thoughtfully: "I know you’re very busy. I can make the appointment first... If you’re unhappy, you can give me less money in the settlement."

After saying this, Lu Tingchao instinctively tugged Zhuang Ji’s pinky finger again, his tone soft and wheedling: "But you can't give me nothing at all, ba? We’ve been married for seven years after all. Pretty please?"