Halfway through dinner at the restaurant, Jiang Yu’s agent, Tan Yanfei, finally came in from outside. He must have had something to take care of earlier and missed quite a show. After sitting down, he didn’t show any displeasure toward Yu Shiqing. He just politely greeted the group and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
After dinner, Jiang Yu stood up and glanced at Yu Shiqing. Yu Shiqing understood the signal, pressed a napkin to the corner of his lips, and also stood up. “Let’s go.”
Tan Yanfei asked, “Where are you going?”
“Shopping for clothes,” Jiang Yu replied. “It’s nearby. You don’t need to follow me. Go rest.”
Having seen Tan Yanfei’s attitude before, Yu Shiqing thought he would at least try to talk them out of it. But he didn’t. Tan Yanfei sat calmly, nodded, and said flatly, “Be careful not to get caught by paparazzi.”
Yu Shiqing’s eyes narrowed slightly, a little surprised. Jiang Yu also glanced at Tan Yanfei again but didn’t think much of it. He put on his hat and left side by side with Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing hadn’t taken off his hat during dinner. Now with a mask on, he walked to the door but was suddenly stopped by Jiang Yu.
“Sunglasses. Put them on.”
Yu Shiqing looked at him. “Sunglasses at night?”
Jiang Yu gave a half-smile, not really smiling. “Because you’re Yu Shiqing.”
Yu Shiqing had no choice but to put the sunglasses on.
Jiang Yu said, “As compensation, I’ll pay for the pajamas.”
But after using the map to find the only lingerie store near the hotel, who would pay became unimportant.
Yu Shiqing stood in front of the store silently for a while and said to Jiang Yu, “You go choose. I’ll wait here.”
“Are you kidding?” Jiang Yu looked around and lowered his voice, clearly uncomfortable. “The pajamas are for you, not me.”
Yu Shiqing glanced into the store and already felt like backing out. “Then great. I don’t need them.”
Jiang Yu was firm. “No. You do.”
Yu Shiqing said, “Still—”
But Jiang Yu didn’t give him a chance to finish. He grabbed his wrist and pulled him straight into the store.
Yu Shiqing was caught off guard and was dragged inside.
“Hello, can I help you?” The sales assistant looked suspiciously at the two strange men lingering at the entrance.
Yu Shiqing adjusted his sunglasses and silently took a step back.
Naturally, the sales assistant focused on Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu, who seemed born to be on stage, suddenly looked stiff under the few gazes in the store. His usually cold voice also became tense.
“Pajamas.” He gave a light cough and cleared his unexpectedly dry throat. “Just grab two sets.”
The sales assistant’s eyes fell on their clasped hands and suddenly realized what was going on. Shy customers like this weren’t that rare, especially those fully disguised.
She studied them quietly, secretly amazed. Though their faces were mostly covered, both looked like Alphas—great body proportions, refined aura. People like this had these kinds of tastes?
Still, she wasn’t one to judge. So, she warmly recommended something to Jiang Yu.
“This is our newest style. What’s your size?” She introduced the lingerie on display at the front—one of their signature pieces.
Yu Shiqing had already seen it from outside the store. Under sheer fabric were bits of red silk, with long and short tassels hanging down to barely cover key areas. Even on a mannequin, it didn’t look very decent.
Hearing the sales assistant seriously recommend it to Jiang Yu, Yu Shiqing forgot he was wearing a mask and covered his mouth with a fist, trying and failing not to laugh.
Jiang Yu’s face turned dark. Hearing the laugh, he turned and glared at Yu Shiqing.
The sales assistant continued, “If you don’t like this one, we also have—”
“I just want the most basic kind,” Jiang Yu cut her off. “And it’s not for me. It’s for him.”
The most basic? The sales assistant paused, surprised. She had met all kinds of people, but this time she had really misjudged. And honestly did buying regular pajamas need so much secrecy?
“Alright, sir.”
“Thank you.”
Once he got the normal pajamas, Jiang Yu didn’t want to stay even a second longer. He turned and walked out.
Yu Shiqing followed behind him.
Coming from the warm store into the cool air, his sunglasses fogged up. And since there weren’t many people on the street, he casually took them off and put them in his pocket.
Only after stepping outside did Jiang Yu slow down. He turned around and met Yu Shiqing’s gaze.
Though the shadow from his hat covered half his face, Jiang Yu clearly saw the rare, genuine smile in Yu Shiqing’s usually calm eyes.
Yu Shiqing smiled and said, “Don’t be mad. You were wrapped up so tightly—it was just a misunderstanding.”
Jiang Yu came back to his senses, and with a cold face, tossed the pajama bag into Yu Shiqing’s arms. “You carry it!”
Yu Shiqing caught it. “Okay, I’ll carry it.”
To avoid making things worse, he didn’t say a word on the way back.
Back at the hotel, Jiang Yu took out his room card to open the door. But just before he swiped it, he felt something and turned to look toward the hallway corner.
Yu Shiqing noticed. “What is it?”
Jiang Yu paused. The hallway was empty. The carpet muffled all sound. After a moment of silence, the whole place seemed especially quiet.
“Nothing,” Jiang Yu said, narrowing his eyes and looking away. “I saw it wrong.”
Then he swiped the card and entered the room.
After a long day and with an early training the next morning, Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu greeted each other, then went to their own rooms to wash up and sleep.
Early the next morning
The two of them got up one after another.
In the elevator going downstairs, they ran into Ren Bai, who was yawning.
“Did you hear?” As soon as he saw Yu Shiqing, Ren Bai perked up.
Yu Shiqing asked, “Hear what?”
“‘Dawn’ filming got delayed,” Ren Bai said with a big grin. “Serves them right!”
Yu Shiqing stopped his celebration. “Why was it delayed?”
“They said it’s a funding and location issue. Isn’t Huaze also working on a big historical drama? Maybe they really ran into money problems.” Ren Bai got more excited. “Anyway, it’s delayed at least three months. Good thing you didn’t take the role, or we’d have to wait three months to get paid!”
Jiang Yu’s eyes flickered.
Last night, Du Han had mentioned something had happened in Yu Shiqing’s family. Now Ren Bai brought up payment.
He looked at Yu Shiqing. “Do you need money?”
Yu Shiqing said, “A little.”
Ren Bai realized he’d said too much and gave an awkward laugh.
Jiang Yu said, “If you need it, I can lend you some.”
Ren Bai was shocked. Lending money without even asking how much? Jiang Yu was really generous.
Yu Shiqing was surprised too, but politely declined. “It’s not that bad yet.”
Trying to shift the topic, Ren Bai said, “Oh, right! One more thing I have to tell you.”
He grinned again. “Yesterday when Director Shi talked about your schedule, I felt something was off. So I went to ask around, and guess what? Du Han snatched ‘Dawn’ from you by not only turning down other roles but even agreeing to act for free! That’s how Huaze ended up lying, saying you already took on ‘Doomsday Rescue’ and weren’t available. Director Shi had no choice but to agree. Ha!”
Jiang Yu looked at Yu Shiqing.
Huaze switching actors without even informing them should’ve been a huge deal, yet neither of them reacted. Clearly, Huaze’s treatment of Yu Shiqing had gotten very bad.
Ren Bai kept going. “Now ‘Dawn’ is delayed, and Du Han ended up losing everything. Just imagining his face makes me feel so good!”
Yu Shiqing hadn’t expected things to unfold this way. Still, he could guess why Du Han had been so eager to take the role.
Du Han had been in the industry for four years. He had solid box office numbers, but no luck with awards. He’d won Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actor, but never Best Actor. Three years of nominations, no wins.
And Dawn had a great chance at winning.
It was a Huaze production, with the perfect timing and cast. Knowing Du Han’s personality, he would do anything to get the role. Yu Shiqing wasn’t surprised.
But once you took something by force, you had to deal with the consequences too.
Ren Bai’s thinking was simpler: as long as Du Han suffered, it was worth celebrating!
He was in such a good mood, he barely remembered how angry he’d been the night before.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened.
Ren Bai had just stepped out when he saw a figure stepping out of the opposite elevator.
The moment the person saw Ren Bai, he quickly lowered his head and pressed down his cap, trying to walk away before being recognized.
But Ren Bai caught him right away.
“Well, well, isn’t this Teacher Du Han? I heard ‘Dawn’ was delayed—what bad luck. And you even turned down other movies to sign this one. So now you’re totally out of work? Planning to go home and scratch your feet for three months?”
Du Han’s hand clenched tight on his bag, veins popping, but he didn’t dare turn around.
He didn’t want to face Yu Shiqing at all.
Ren Bai shouted after him, “Thank you, Teacher Du Han, for sacrificing yourself so others can act! Even willing to scratch your feet for it!”
Du Han’s back stiffened. He seemed to hold back his emotions. Someone next to him whispered something, and he quickly left.
Ren Bai laughed so hard he bent over.
With this unexpected entertainment, he stuck around with Yu Shiqing at the filming site the whole day and stayed in a good mood.
Until evening.
Yu Shiqing was training with the action director. Except for lunch, he had stayed there almost the entire day, working hard so the director could design custom moves for him. His shirt was soaked with sweat, outlining his strong, lean muscles.
This wasn’t Jiang Yu’s first time seeing how focused he could be. From how he always carried his script around, it was obvious Yu Shiqing took acting seriously.
And yet such a dedicated actor had been wasted by Huaze for over three years.
Jiang Yu pressed his lips together.
During a break, Yu Shiqing walked to the side.
Seeing Jiang Yu, he nodded and opened the thermos Ren Bai had prepared for him. His breathing was slightly heavy. His sweat-dampened black hair was casually tied back, making his sharp profile even more striking.
Jiang Yu stood next to him and watched the sweat slide from his temple down to his Adam’s apple, tracing clear lines across his neck. He quickly looked away only to notice that nearby staff had quietly gathered in groups, whispering and stealing glances in his direction.
Yu Shiqing also noticed something was wrong.
He put down the bottle and was about to speak when Ren Bai came hurrying over.
His face was no longer smiling.
He didn’t try to avoid Jiang Yu either, and said directly, “You two might’ve been followed by paparazzi last night.”
He handed over his phone.
The trending page had just been updated.
#JiangYu# had already replaced #AlphaStarJSpottedWithMysteryLover# and shot up to number one.
The blogger posted: “Famous Alpha idol spotted hand in hand with lover, walking around at night, entering hotel room together. Photos coming at 8 p.m. tonight. Real evidence, not just rumors.”
