Edited by Yummers
Uncle Zheng watched the filming from the sidelines for half an hour before he went back to the hotel reluctantly. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go in and watch, it’s just that he didn’t want to cause trouble for Yuan Rui.
When he arrived the day before, he called Zhao Zhengyi in advance and was led onto the set by him. Since then, he’s had a feeling that the employees there must’ve seen through their relationship a bit. If he goes there again today, it might be too much.
Although the masses were becoming more and more acceptable towards celebirties’ sexuality— including a bunch of celebrities that also go along with their shipping fans’ wishes and act intimate with a same-sex individual—if they turned out to be an actual homosexual, it’d probably be hard for them to appear on mainstream media ever again. After all, it is taboo to the officials.
Zheng Qiuyang knew how much Yuan Rui enjoyed working in this industry. He wasn’t doing it for vanity and fame, instead, he liked the unknown delights this job brought him.
When he left to go back to the hotel, he bought some snacks from a store beside the hotel for Yuan Rui and went back up to the room with a huge bag in his hand.
The production team had rented out the whole floor. The hotel elevator also only stopped at whichever level one’s room key corresponded to; since everyone was at work right now, the entire hallway was empty. At least he didn’t need to sneak in and out of Yuan Rui’s room.
He watched a soccer match’s live replay in boredom, glancing at the time every now and then, filled with anticipation of Yuan Rui’s return.
When the doorbell rang, he sprung up from the sofa to excitedly open the door.
A woman stood outside the door. Her hair was of medium length and slightly wavy, her skin was fair and clear, and finally, her tall height accompanied the stern aura that surrounded her.
She looked at Zheng Qiuyang with a questioning expression.
Zheng Qiuyang thought she looked a bit familiar, so he pondered about it for a second, then, he remembered that he’d once seen her on a TV show as a kid before. His heart instantly jumped harshly as he said, “Hello Director Yang, I’m Yuan Rui’s friend.”
Yang Lu’s eyebrows furrowed as she responded, “Hello…Your surname’s Zheng, right?”
Zheng Qiuyang was astonished that the other had immediately realized who he was. But knowing that she was aware of Yuan Rui’s sexuality, he didn’t try to hide their relationship further. He introduced himself naturally, “My name is Zheng Qiuyang, you might’ve heard of me before. I’m Yuan Rui’s boyfriend.”
Yang Lu nodded, she asked, “Is Yuan Rui not back yet?”
“He’s not.”
“I asked his assistant earlier, he said he didn’t have any more scenes to film today so he should be back soon. I’ll go in and wait for him.”
Zheng Qiuyang had no choice but to move aside, welcoming her into the room.
Yang Lu skimmed over the bag of snacks on the table. While in his state of boredom earlier, Zheng Qiuyang had opened the bottle of Skittles and ate a couple. He forgot to close the lid. Therefore, the small red cylinder container simply stood on the table with its lid open while the TV was playing a soccer match.
Yang Lu sat on the sofa. Zheng Qiuyang turned off the TV, then made a cup of tea for her. “Have some tea,” He said formally.
She nodded. “Thank you. When did you get here?”
Zheng Qiuyang sat down on the sofa across from her. “Yesterday, I’m leaving tomorrow…I heard that you’ve been working in Guangzhou recently.”
“I’m done with the work over there, so I’m here to spectate the situation here, I am the producer after all. It seems pretty convenient for you to travel here on a weekend. You work as a jewelry designer, right?”
“Yes,” he replied.
Zheng Qiuyang was a bit weirded out. He felt like Yang Lu didn’t really like him. Despite how humble her words and expressions were, there was a cold disdainfulness that faintly seeped out from all of her actions.
He’s heard of this person multiple times from Yuan Rui, especially in recent times. Because of the distance between the two, they relied on technology to interact each day. Yuan Rui would tell him, “Even though Auntie Yang is so far away in Guangzhou, she’ll still give me a call every three to four days. She’s so nice to me.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Zheng Qiuyang thought for a moment, it was probably due to the poor first impression his mom left the other with last time. So he brought it up in an attempt to break the tension. “I heard that my mom has met with you once. She doesn’t have a good temper, please excuse her behavior.”
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But she was nice to Yuan Rui and Yuan Rui also liked her.
Thus, he kept his smile on. He even tried intentionally flattering her by saying, “Yuan Rui talks about you often. He said you were a very good person and you care for him a lot. He doesn’t look too deep into things usually, but nonetheless, he’s still an artist. It worries me constantly that others would target him. To be able to meet such a noble figure like you is a blessing for him. I’d really like to sincerely thank you for all that you’ve done for him.”
Yang Lu looked up at him, replying indifferently, “You don’t need to thank me for that. I’m Yuan Rui’s godmother, it’s a given that I take care of him.”
Zheng Qiuyang wasn’t good at holding conversations with seniors in the first place. Thanks to his childhood experiences, he’d never be able to stop the uncomfortableness when seeing women who were of mom-status. He decided to refrain from talking since it didn’t seem like the conversation would last.
However, Yang Lu spoke up again, “What about you? How long have you been in a relationship with Yuan Rui?”
Zheng Qiuyang answered, “Nine months.”
“Then that’s not too long.”
“……”
Yang Lu kept her eyes on him, saying, “Fortunately for me, I had the chance to meet with your father many years ago, so I understand your family situation. I will take the liberty to ask this now—what do you have planned for the future?”
Zheng Qiuyang was a bit dumbfounded. The exact reason why he didn’t have the guts to go visit Suo Jianjun with Yuan Rui was this question. To his surprise, Yang Lu managed to ask him this dreaded inquiry first. His tone dropped as he lacked confidence. He forced himself to answer, “Right now, I’m just trying to focus on my current job…”
“From the looks of it, it’s not hard to guess that you don’t have a concrete plan for the future,” Yang Lu said. “Excuse me for being blunt, but I am now fifty-three years old. I’ve succeeded and failed, I’ve done many things and met many people. I’ve also come across many youngsters like you, who’ve had resources handed to them ever since they were young. All of them lacked harsh training. They resembled a flower raised in a greenhouse. They look nice on the surface, but once a problem arises, all they do is turn a deaf ear and lie to themselves.”
“……”
Yang Lu picked up the cup of tea, blew on it, and took a sip before continuing, “It’s true that Yuan Rui is naive, but he’s different from you. He’s not someone who is willing to dawdle away time to follow the flow of things. Others may think he’s just been lucky, but for him to be where he is today, luck hasn’t been the only factor at play. It was mostly the hard work he applied with the chances he was given. You obviously are aware of how hard he works for the shows he attends. You guys haven’t been together that long yet, the hormone attraction is still there. Maybe in the future, he’ll quickly come to realize that you aren’t the one suited for him.”
Zheng Qiuyang was angered but also a bit frightened as he had his weak point thrashed brutally.
He was always curious about what Yang Lu told his mom that day. A person who has been stubborn for decades like his mom…how did she give in all of a sudden like an eggplant in the cold?
Now, he finally understood.
A mistress like his mom and a child born with a silver spoon like him, they were just like the Skittles on the table—they were nothing more than a childish eyesore in Yang Lu’s eyes.
Thanks to Song Huanyan, Yuan Rui got off work early in joy. But he didn’t tell Zheng Qiuyang, he wanted to give him a surprise.
Back at the hotel, he went to find the manager to borrow their kitchen. Since it wasn’t dinner time yet, the kitchen was very idle. The manager agreed to his request generously. He even told Yuan Rui that he could use whatever they had in the kitchen, after all, the production team will pay for it.
He fiddled inside the kitchen for almost an hour to make six dishes: hot and sour shredded tomatoes, mushroom and vegetables, pork and cauliflower stir fry, fried hairtail fish, white boiled shrimps, and spareribs. They were all Zheng Qiuyang’s favorite dishes at home. At last, he made a tomato and egg drop soup. It was another favorite of Zheng Qiuyang’s, even when he had no appetite, he could still drink a whole bucket of this soup.
Yuan Rui made each dish in large portions and stored them all in two separate containers. Then, he had Zhao Zhengyi deliver one container to Song Huanyan’s room.
On the other hand, he took the remaining box back to his room, anticipating the thoughts of making his boyfriend happy with it.
But as he opened the door with his hotel card, he saw his boyfriend and godmother sitting face to face with an odd tension between them.
“You’re back,” Yang Lu stood up with a smile. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
Yuan Rui was caught off guard a bit. He stuttered, “Auntie Yang, you’re back from Guangzhou already?”
“Yeah, I’ve finished the business over at Guangzhou. Now I can stay in Shanghai for a few days to watch you guys film.”
Zheng Qiuyang walked over quietly, taking the bags from Yuan Rui’s hands to set them down.
Yuan Rui blushed a little as he said, “Um, um, he’s my boyfriend, Zheng Qiuyang. He’s here to visit me…what were you guys chatting about?”
Yang Lu responded, “Just some casual stuff. Did you order take-out? Is the hotel food not to your taste?”
Yuan Rui quickly explained, “No, no. I borrowed the hotel’s kitchen and made these myself.”
Yang Lu smiled. “They smell rather good.”
Yuan Rui didn’t really want to invite her but he felt obligated to be respectful, so he offered, “Would you like to eat with us? I made quite a bit.”
Yang Lu looked at Zheng Qiuyang, then said, “It’s fine. You guys eat by yourselves, I won’t get in the way. We can talk again privately sometime later.”
Yuan Rui sent her off, then turned back around as he closed the door. He skipped towards Zheng Qiuyang with an eager expression that asked for approval. “Doesn’t it smell good? Doesn’t it?”
Zheng Qiuyang answered, “It does.”
Yuan Rui was even happier. “The hotel’s kitchenware was so nice to use, as expected of professional equipment. The thing is just that these two chefs keep trying to take pictures of me sneakily without even turning their flashlights off. It made me super nervous, I thought that I was going to season the food wrong. But I tasted them already, they’re fine.”
Zheng Qiuyang was in a horrible mood as he forced out a smile to say, “As long as they’re made by you, I don’t care if it’s under or over-seasoned, it’d taste good even with arsenic added.”
Yuan Rui laughed. “It’s not like I’m Pan Jinlian.”
Zheng Qiuyang, “…”
He thought a little depressingly, But in other’s eyes, I’m the Wu Dalang who isn’t worthy of you.
As the two sat down to share their meal, Yuan Rui gradually detected that Zheng Qiuyang was a bit upset. He asked, “What is it? Was it uncomfortable talking to Auntie Yang?”
Zheng Qiuyang didn’t want to talk about it, so he said, “It’s not like you don’t know, I dislike talking to aunties the most. Oh right, I went to see you at the filming set this afternoon.”
Yuan Rui’s attention was diverted away from the topic as he asked, “Ah? I didn’t see you.”
“I didn’t go in, I watched from afar. I also talked with your fans.”
Yuan Rui dipped the shrimp he peeled in the sauce then placed it in Zheng Qiuyang’s bowl. He asked, “Really? What did you guys talk about?”
“Nothing much. They were all young girls calling me uncle.”
“Hahaha!”
“They have a doll of yours, they said it was The Sparkling Friends’ official merch. It looked pretty nice, why didn’t you ever talk about it? Is there any more? You should give me one.”
Yuan Rui smiled. “I have to ask if there’s any more left…uncle, you like plushies?”
After chatting with him, Zheng Qiuyang’s mood eased a lot. He smiled as well. “The doll’s legs looked pretty good, I could play with it for a long while.”
“…You’re so dirty!”
He stuffed a shrimp right into Zheng Qiuyang’s mouth, yelling, “Eat the shrimp!”
Zheng Qiuyang ate the shrimp, then smiled teasingly still. “I ate it. Now, can uncle play with your legs?”
Yuan Rui was stern. “Nope!”
But a while after they were done eating, Yuan Rui only cleaned up for a bit before he obediently offered his legs for his uncle to play with.
The hotel room had a huge sofa. Zheng Qiuyang sat with his back against it as Yuan Rui straddled him on top of his lap. The two held each other’s faces as they kissed. It wasn’t intense, instead, it was meek and left a lingering touch.
Zheng Qiuyang’s hands traveled down Yuan Rui’s legs through his pants. His hands ran all the way from his calf to his thigh, over and over again, he couldn’t bear to stop.
Yuan Rui was a bit aroused by all the touching, suggesting, “We should go to bed.”
But Zheng Qiuyang replied, “Let’s not do it, we did it so many times yesterday.”
Yuan Rui spoke disappointedly, “Uncle, can you not get it up anymore?”
Zheng Qiuyang pinched his thigh, “Of course I can, but can you even film tomorrow if we do it again?”
Yuan Rui spoke pitifully, “You’re leaving tomorrow night, I still have to wait more than a month to go back home.”
Zheng Qiuyang found it funny. “So you want to eat your fill in one go?”
Yuan Rui blushed a little, but still admitted frankly, “Yeah, I really want to do it.”
Zheng Qiuyang had been yearning for it from the beginning too. He only endured it in consideration of his work. Now, he no longer hesitated. His hands reached under the other’s bottom to pick him up, carrying him in his arms as he speed-walked into the bedroom. He pushed Yuan Rui down against the bed, gave him a kiss, and commented, “You got thinner again, you’re so light.”
Yuan Rui smiled at him with his sparkling eyes, he joked, “It’s good that I’m light, or else you won’t be able to carry me anymore, uncle.”
Zheng Qiuyang suddenly realized that such an address felt pretty good in the bedroom. One hand of his smoothly retrieved a condom from the head of the bed while the other hand rubbed Yuan Rui’s pec through his shirt. Zheng Qiuyang said, “Even if uncle can’t carry you anymore in the future, will you still love uncle?”
Yuan Rui didn’t know how to react. “…”
They’ve never done this before. For a moment, YuanRui.exe stopped working. He didn’t know how to continue. How did a jokingly-told title like “Uncle” suddenly turn so lewd?
At the same time, he could kind of feel a weird excitement sprouting from nowhere. Ah! I’m really turning into a pervert! This is too lewd!
Since they just did it the day before, there wasn’t much need for preparation. Zheng Qiuyang was able to dig in right after slipping the condom on.
Zheng Qiuyang ate as he asked persistently, “Yuan Xiao Rui, do you love me?”
Yuan Rui was seeing black from how he was being eaten, he answered in a daze, “Love you, I love you.”
“For the rest of our lives?”
Yuan Rui hugged onto him tightly. “I’ll love you even in our next life.”
“Even when I’m no longer handsome and can’t do it anymore in the future, will you still love me?”
Yuan Rui received so much stimulation that he basically screamed out his reply, “I love you! Forever!”
Zheng Qiuyang smiled, but he felt like it still wasn’t enough. He could only use the intense movements to fill the bits of uneasiness his heart bore for the future.
That lady completely overstepped. She barely knows anything about Yuan Rui and asked to be his mother. He accepted and now she really feels like she should have some say in his and ZQY’s life? whats the difference between her and ZQY’s mom at this point?
he has a father to worry about that and guide him.
thanks for the chapter <3
+1
Tbh, she has a point about his hesitation about leaving the family company and him being content with the current situation. He needs to make a decision if he wants to last with YR.
Hmmm…
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
Gads! Is this some foreshadowing going on?? I mean ZQY’s mom is one thing, but his dad is a whole different level of trouble. Aunty Yang may have been a bit blunt, but what she asked and said about ZQY’s future plans ain’t wrong. I do feel like she underestimates Yuan Rui’s feelings though.
I can see Director yang is becoming less likeable
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
thanks for the chapter!
I agree with what Yang Lu said, but she overstepped her boundaries. Something like that is better left said by Yuan Rui’s (step)dad. I also feel like it would have been better to have that conversation with Yuan Rui before approaching his partner.