Chapter 46
Fall, especially late fall, is the season to enjoy sweet osmanthus wine.
Lu Bai cheerfully brought the hot wine back to the hotel – this day’s shooting continued until late at night. When Qu Xueyu went back to the hotel to take a shower, Lu Bai left a note and sneaked out to buy the perfect drink to go with their late-night snacks.
However, as a result of this, he has not yet gotten back to the hotel but was stopped by someone standing outside.
The man was wearing a black coat, and his face was obscured by the shadows of the night, making it hard to see.
Lu Bai’s movements stalled, on guard – this place was still quite lively, if the other really meant harm, he would not be helpless.
The man did not move, just watched the young man profoundly. After a long time, he opened his mouth, and his voice was broken and hoarse, a little harsh.
“I’m sorry. Thank you.” With that, he turned and strode away, his silhouette melting into the darkness of the alleyway.
Lu Bai: “???” Did you recognize the wrong person?
Although it was strange, Lu Bai did not worry about it after seeing that person leave. He went back to the hotel, and just after entering the lobby, he was caught by Qu Xueyu.
Qu Xueyu wore the simplest white shirt and black pants, put on a jacket, and pressed a cap on top of his head, then came to the lobby and waited for Lu Bai. This is the Lu family’s hotel, and Lu Bai had explained to them in advance, so the hotel had cleared the surrounding paparazzi. It was late at night, and there were not many guests in the lobby, so Qu Xueyu freely went up to greet him at the door.
“Wine.” Lu Bai offered the treasure in his hand to the other person in front: “You grew up in Chunming, didn’t you? Jinghai’s osmanthus wine is very delicious.”
Qu Xueyu laughed softly, his eyes carried a genuine warmth, he stroked the teenager’s hair, and said: “Okay.”
In fact, to say that he grew up in Chunming is not accurate, before his parents divorced he also briefly lived in Jinghai for a few years, but that was too long ago. Not to mention the fact that even during their marriage, his parents were almost enemies, each treating him as a disgrace with the blood of “the other side”. As a result, neither of them would be able to make themselves comfortable enough to share this sort of meal with him.
Later, after his parents divorced and almost immediately got married and started their own families, he became completely unwanted. His grandfather couldn’t bear to see him suffer, so he brought him to live in Chunming until he could take care of himself, and only then did his grandfather return to his home in Jinghai.
So he didn’t have much affection for the city of Jinghai, since he would come back in a hurry to visit his grandfather or to shoot a movie, he really didn’t have much of a chance to savor the food here. And as there were few osmanthus wines brewed in the north, he really rarely drank them either. There was nothing particularly special about Jinghai that he was attached to, let alone the local fare.
“Jinghai is such a lovely city. The Osmanthus wine smells delicious, too.” He looked into the boy’s shining eyes and reached out to gently caress the other’s cheek. The look in his eyes was so gentle that it was as if he loved the city with all his heart and soul – and he thought to himself that the city was indeed so charming and delightful because, well, it was home to his boy. Since this city was his hometown, he couldn’t help but love it.
Lu Bai smiled even wider at his words, then took the teenager’s hand and walked towards the elevator. Secretly planning to get all the delicious snacks in Jinghai and feed them to the young man, and then cheerfully record the young man’s bright eyes as he ate them.
When they were inside the elevator and the doors were just about to close, a beautiful and slender hand reached in, “Excuse me.” Hearing the lady’s voice. Lu Bai hurriedly pressed the door open button.
The woman was dressed modestly but elegantly, wearing light makeup, and had a pair of sharp eyebrows. She was carrying food and she smiled at Lu Bai, “Thanks so much.”
Lu Bai stared at the woman’s eyes for a brief moment, then said, “You’re welcome.” However, as if by instinct, he tightened his hold on Qu Xueyu’s hand.
Only after having thanked Lu Bai, did the woman then notice Qu Xueyu. The moment she saw Qu Xueyu’s face under the brim of his hat, her eyes shrank and her face instantly cooled down.
Qu Xueyu looked at the woman, his face had a polite and detached smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes, “Mother.”
Lu Bai’s eyes widened, and he held the youth’s hand even tighter.
The woman’s face cooled a bit more when she heard this title, and she seemed to be a bit embarrassed, then she traded the food between one hand to her other and remarked, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Qu Xueyu quietly gripped the teenager’s hand in return and looked at the woman as he raised an eyebrow, “I also didn’t expect to see you here.”
The woman’s face seemed to soften for an instant at his words, “Yaya was tired after a day of rushing around after casting calls and wanted to eat roadside snacks, so I went outside to look for some.”
Qu Xueyu rubbed the teenager’s hand, no color on his face: “Hmm.”
‘Yaya’ his half-sister, wants to be an Idol. His mother has used all her connections to send the girl into the entertainment industry and has to rush all over the country to make auditions. His mother accompanies her throughout the whole process, fearing that her precious daughter will have a little accident and suffer a little bit of grievance.
The elevator soon fell into an awkward silence. Finally a “ding” sounded, and the woman was out of the elevator in no time, a few steps later, she turned back to the elevator, and her prideful face showed a rare hint of a twisted tenderness, and she regarded Qu Xueyu through the closing elevator doors. “You, you are also considered as Yaya’s older brother. The circle is complicated, if one day she runs into trouble, I ask that you look after her.”
Qu Xueyu lowered his eyes: his mother was of noble birth and haughty disposition… she never went back on her words and never begged for help, yet she was willing to compromise for her daughter’s sake with her son, whom she absolutely refused to get involved with again…
Since he was a child, this was probably the first time his mother had looked back at him.
His mother was as cold and intense as he remembered her to be, but wrinkles had been added around her brows and eyes.
Qu Xueyu tightly held the teenager’s hand in his as he silently regarded the woman. There was no warmth in his expression. However, he managed to solemnly, courteously, and detachedly say, “Fine.” Having made such a promise, he would not fail to keep it.
The woman nodded, said thank you, and turned to leave again.
“Auntie!” Lu Bai suddenly reached out and caught the elevator door that had almost closed, shouting towards the woman’s back.
The woman stopped but did not turn around.
“I’m Xiao Qu’s boyfriend.” Lu Bai said, “I’m deeply in love with him. So I think I’m somewhat qualified to say these words.”
“Auntie. He is your son as he has your blood in his veins, so you do have some right to claim him. But! If you have never truly loved him or acknowledged and taken him seriously from the beginning, and are not prepared to love him in the future, then please at least don’t hurt him by making such a demand!”
“Yaya is your baby. Xiao Qu is my baby1Reminder that this can also mean treasure. LB is not saying he’s adopted QXY. Just like how she treasures and pampers her daughter he wants to treasure and pamper QXY.. Just as you would never want to see your baby girl upset, I don’t want my cherished baby to be upset. I hope you can understand.”
The woman heard his words, but she still didn’t turn around, she simply left. Lu Bai and Qu Xueyu couldn’t see what expression she had on her face at that moment.
Lu Bai released the doors and they slowly closed.
In the closed elevator, Qu Xueyu hugged the teenager tightly in his arms, he buried his head into the teenager’s neck, deeply breathing in the warm and sweet scent of the teenager’s body. A smile lay beneath the corners of his lips. He cared, after all, she was his mother, but he also didn’t really mind – they were more like strangers sharing a bloodline. He had never hated his mother because she had the right to choose the kind of life she wanted to live. There was no love, no hate, and it made things easier for both of them.
But this teenager is so damn iron-willed and adorable.
“Who am I to you?” Qu Xueyu asked in a low, muffled voice beside the teenager’s ear that had been flushed red by his breath.
Lu Bai felt that the youth buried in the side of his neck was like a beast licking its wounds. He gently patted the youth’s back with heartache, and even though the words that were about to be spoken really made his cheeks a little red and hot, he still replied, “You’re my baby. Don’t worry, I’ll always love you in the future.”
Qu Xueyu finally chuckled a low, husky sound, and he bluntly gave the teenager’s hot earlobe a kiss, then said, “Good.”
Lu Bai still gently patted the young man’s back, and then looked up at the camera in the elevator rather worriedly: Heh, tomorrow I’ll have to go to the manager and erase this before I can go…
After enjoying the Osmanthus Wine and snacks they washed up, Qu Xueyu then carried Lu Bai to the bed.
The room was filled with the safety of the night.
Lu Bai snuggled into the youth’s arms, raising his head obediently and coquettishly to let the youth kiss him, and his hands didn’t even forget to lightly patrol the youth’s back like he was coaxing a fragile child.
Qu Xueyu’s heart was a soft mess, and after the kiss, he hugged the youth a little tighter and said: “In fact, my grandfather loves me very much. To me, he is considered to be the one who brought me up, and I haven’t had to suffer much since I was a child.” As a result, neither his father nor mother were that important to him, and all the love that was missing in his early childhood was made up for by his grandfather, and more.
“I’ll also cherish you.” Lu Bai muttered, and after a pause, he pushed himself away from the youth, looking straight into his eyes, as if making a promise: “Really.”
“Hmm.” Qu Xueyu pulled the youth back into his arms, sighing in comforting relief, “Xiao Bai is really reliable.”
“I also think I’m reliable.” Lu Bai said without a trace of self-consciousness. After a pause, he asked, “Are you still going to Yunzhou in two days?” There was a snowy mountain in Yunzhou with great autumn scenery, and the movie needed to use the autumn scenery there. However, autumn only came once a year, so the crew would have to rush there to shoot the relevant plot before the end of this fall.
Qu Xueyu took a short pause to think then nodded.
For some reason, Lu Bai’s heart suddenly flashed with a sense of panic that he couldn’t grasp. He touched the young man’s hand over him in the darkness, and stuck his fingers one by one into the other’s finger gaps, as he said, “After Grandpa’s birthday, I’ll go over there to accompany you.”
Qu Xueyu kissed the corner of the youth’s forehead, “Good.”
~~~~~~
The fall sky was cloudless.
Lu Bai hung up Qu Xueyu’s phone call reluctantly and went downstairs.
Elder Lu’s birthday lunch was organized in a rather low-key manner, the number of guests had been cut down again and again, but there was still a full house.
The banquet was arranged in a warm and cheerful manner, Lu Bai and Lu Guanguan also accompanied Elder Lu who was quite happy. The Lu family also invited Ming Yan to come, besides some disagreements with the former sister-in-law, Ming Yan and the Lu family got along quite well.
But when the banquet ended and the guests were sent away, there appeared an uninvited guest in the house.
Qin Gu’s face was a bit cold, but he still brought the woman to the Lu family’s living room.
The woman’s temperament was tranquil, her eyebrows were beautiful, and her eyes looked a bit sad, but there was a shrewd light in them. She swept her gaze past Father Lu and Sheng Mei, before fixing it on Ming Yan, her voice gentle and soft: “Mr. Lu, Yan, it’s been a long time.”
Ming Yan’s face instantly went cold.
Father Lu composed his face as he looked at Qin Gu.
Qin Gu removed his gaze from the teenager and met Father Lu’s eyes, stating, “Auntie Xiao2Xiao Yangs mother said that she has something she wants to say to you and Auntie Ming.” After a pause, he added, “About Xiao Bai.” If it hadn’t been about Lu Bai, he wouldn’t have brought someone in at the expense of the Lu family’s displeasure.
“Young Master,” at this moment a servant walked in from the side door and handed Lu Bai something, “There’s a delivery for you.”
Lu Bai took the item wrapped in kraft paper and blinked in confusion, but he still thanked him and accepted it. After touching the brown paper – it seemed to be a book or notebook within.
The woman looked away from Lu Bai, who was standing beside his father oblivious to the situation at hand and only fiddling with the delivery in his hands, and with a slight smile, she stated, “I do have something to say about Xiao Bai.”
Author’s Note: Missing Person Returns orz
Edit: Krone
