It’s Not Easy To Be A Stand-In

“He’s back,” said an icy voice on the phone.

Qiao Guang Yu gulped nervously and squeezed the phone tightly. “Then… what should I do? Throw a tantrum? Be jealous?”

“…”

There was silence at the other end, and then a man’s voice said, “You don’t need to do anything. Stay with the boss, and don’t let him find out that you already know.”

“Hey, you’re trying to make it difficult for me!” Qian Guang Yu yelled in displeasure. “You know I can’t keep secrets. What if I reveal it in front of your boss?”

“…” The man seemed to be at the end of his patience. “The guy is back, and it has nothing to do with you. What can he do if he learns that you know? The boss will not really fall in love with you!”

“Oh, that’s right.” Qiao Guang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m afraid I will cross the line, and Mr. Huo’s brain will hurt. Instead of loving his white moonlight, he will fall in love with me…”

“You think too much,” said the man.

“Brother Quan, secretary Quan, what should I say if I meet with Mr. Huo’s white moonlight?” Qiao Guang Yu asked anxiously.

Quan Quan’s voice was mechanical. “You can show appropriate feelings of realization, then sadness, and heartbreak, but don’t be excessive, to avoid arousing the boss’ sympathy and pity.”

“Wow, these acting skills are a bit hard. No, I have to practice in front of the mirror for a few days, so…” He sounded a little hopeful, “Can we stop the piano lessons these days?”

“No,” Quan Quan said stubbornly. “Don’t you know that the boss is always present, missing his white moonlight while watching you play the piano? You have to do the whole play. He bought you as a stand-in for three years, so you have to do your duty until the last moment.”

Qiao Guang Yu was disappointed, “Oh…”

“I’ll pick you up on time tomorrow,” said Quan Quan. “Don’t stay up late.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Quan, staying up late will give me dark circles, which will affect my looks that are so similar to the white moonlight; I know it!” Qiao Guang Yu waved his hand, expressing that he had lived through almost three years of inhuman days; he would pay attention to this minor detail.

Quan Quan stopped talking as well. After they said good night to each other, they hung up.

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Guang Yu sighed, tossed the phone aside, took off his clothes, and walked to the mirror.

In the full-length mirror, a tall and thin young man was staring silently at his face. He was handsome, with trim eyebrows and pretty eyes, a prominent nose, and soft lips. His skin was fair, and his body was well-proportioned, with straight buttocks and thin muscles.

For people who liked the same sex, this body was quite attractive.

Qiao Guang Yu admired his body, then walked into the bathroom to shower and went to bed.

After the lights were off, the night scene outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was on full display right in front of the bed. Qiao Guang Yu stared in awe at the city’s night sky that was polluted by light, suddenly smiled, and closed his eyes.

The next day, secretary Quan knocked on the door on time.

Qiao Guang Yu opened the door sleepily. The apartment he lived in was bought for him by the gold master Huo Zhou. It had two bedrooms and a living room. He lived in the master bedroom, and the guest room was reserved for Huo Zhou, although Huo Zhou has never spent the night or even touched him all these years.

It was easy to understand. Qiao Guang Yu played the role of Huo Zhou’s white moonlight, and naturally, the white moonlight could not be defiled. After all, Huo Zhou didn’t love him. He was still waiting for his white moonlight to come back and reconnect with him. He was keeping the white moonlight’s body like a jade.

So the most he did with Huo Zhou was kissing and holding hands. Even if the gun misfired, Huo Zhou would always restrain himself.

This kind of restraint once made Qiao Guang Yu wonder whether Huo Zong would hurt himself.

But these were not the things he should be worried about! This was what Mr. Huo’s white moonlight should worry about. He was only responsible for role-playing, getting paid to do the job.

Quan Quan frowned at him. “Be more reserved. Don’t show this… look in front of the boss.” He wanted to describe Qiao Guang Yu as sloppy; however, he didn’t think the word was serious enough to attract Qiao Guang Yu’s attention.

Because when he was not in front of the boss, he looked like this. He wore loose clothes, his slippers were upside down, his hair stood up, and he basically had no image.

“I know. When did you ever not see me dedicated in front of Mr. Huo?” Qiao Guang Yu yawned, opened the plastic bag Quan Quan brought him, took out the packed breakfast, and yelled, “You bought me shrimp dumplings! I love shrimp dumplings the most!”

“Eat more.” Quan Quan said with a sudden malicious smile on his face, “The white moonlight is allergic to seafood, and you’ll be with the boss almost the whole day…”

Don’t expect to eat seafood with Huo Zhou.

“Life is hard enough, brother Quan. Don’t tell me something I can’t face right now. ” Qiao Guang Yu wanted to cry without tears.

Quan Quan sat down on the chair in front of him. Because of their long legs, they briefly touched under the table, and then both shifted away as if nothing happened.

“I heard Mr. Wu will go to Chang Feng Island on the weekend. The boss also arranged a weekend trip to Chang Feng Island yesterday. Qian Tong will go with him,” he said.

Qiao Guang Yu swallowed a mouthful of shrimp dumplings and wondered, “What about us?”

“It’s up to you. I have my own business,” Quan said coldly.

“Oh…” Qiao Guang Yu froze for a moment, then said, “It’s not right. Don’t you usually prefer to do everything yourself without giving the people below you the opportunity to stand out?” He smiled teasingly. “What kind of big event can keep the scheming secretary away from the boss?”

“…” Quan Quan glanced at him without speaking.

“Hey, if you look at me like this, I might think you like me.” Qiao Guang Yu shrank his neck and deliberately looked shy.

“Get lost,” said Quan Quan in a bad mood. “This month is the anniversary of your mother’s death. Are you going to visit the grave?”

Qiao Guang Yu was startled and then smiled. “Worthy of being a secretary. You have an excellent memory. Even I almost forgot about it.”

When Qiao Guang Yu graduated, he submitted his resume to Huo Zhou’s company. Back then, Quan Quan screened resumes. When he saw Qiao Guang Yu, he felt he looked very much like Huo Zhou’s lover, Wu Yu, so he sent his resume to Huo Zhou.

Sure enough, Huo Zhou liked him – or rather liked his face very much, and it didn’t take long before he offered a support contract: buy him for three years for 5 million Yuan and a house.

The support transaction didn’t even include sex. There were only some special requirements for Qiao Guang Yu to pay attention to his speech and behavior.

That year, Qiao Guang Yu’s mother was seriously ill, and he really needed the money. Unfortunately, his mother died as soon as he got the money.

Quan Quan helped Qiao Guang Yu handle his mother’s funeral and then sat down with him to analyze college students’ difficult situations. He could save years of struggle with this money.

Quan Quan was a very pragmatic person. He told him clearly that by discovering Qiao Guang Yu as a substitute, he could climb to Mr. Huo’s secretary position. This was the benefit that Qiao Guang Yu gave him. He could then help Qiao Guang Yu invest the 5 million and guarantee capital and interest. This was the benefit he could give Qiao Guang Yu in return.

Their shared interest bound them to each other.

Qiao Guang Yu admired Quan Quan very much. He was only a few years older but was much more mature and stable than him. Without him, Qiao Guang Yu’s role-playing wouldn’t be so smooth. So many cheap bastards wanted to replace the white moonlight in the last few years, but Huo Zhou preferred to keep him by his side.

And Quan Quan could always help Qiao Guang Yu keep his bottom line, so he wouldn’t lose himself in this three-year life of eating soft rice.

In Quan Quan’s words, “Since I found you, I will be solely responsible for you,” so he took Qiao Guang Yu as his duty.

Quan Quan was an excellent secretary, and he trained Qiao Guang Yu to be a talented actor. A good actor and an outstanding secretary should not keep the boss waiting. Qiao Guang Yu hurriedly ate the packed breakfast, then went down to the underground parking garage with Quan Quan and got in one of boss Huo’s cars.

Qiao Guang Yu sat in the front passenger seat, fastened his seat belt, and turned on the radio to listen to the news. Sitting beside him, Quan Quan gave him a look, “you should also learn how to drive.”

Qiao Guang Yu shrugged, “Can the white moonlight drive? I have a lot of things to learn, so I have no time for this. Let’s talk about it later.”

Quan Quan focused on driving, “The ‘later’ you mentioned will be here soon.”

Qiao Guang Yu smiled; the white moonlight was back, wasn’t the ‘later’ almost here?

Initially, he thought it would be difficult to get rid of Huo Zhou after three years. After graduating from university, it would be tough to find a job after three years of undergraduate studies. And even if he got employed, he might not have the mentality to start from scratch. However, he didn’t expect that getting rid of Huo Zhou so soon would lighten his mood. Like a canary that saw the door of the birdcage open, he couldn’t wait to offer his most beautiful singing voice to the dawn of a new era.

Qiao Guang Yu tipped back his head on the seatback and closed his eyes.

He was almost asleep when Quan Quan’s voice reminded him, “Here.”

“Oh.” He rubbed between his eyebrows, and when he opened his eyes again, his lively and energetic personality had already retreated into the Pandora’s box living in his heart. His gentle eyebrows were now replaced with a faint touch of coldness and alienation. “Let’s go to class.”

Qiao Guang Yu studied piano in a piano shop with the pleasant name “A Thousand Flowing Sounds.” It had three floors. The first floor had a store selling instruments, and the second floor a piano school. Since Qiao Guang Yu went “through the back door,” he had a dedicated classroom.

A gentle, middle-aged pianist who was still slightly famous in China taught him. She was humble and very smart.

Qin Li said, “Play the first section you learned in the last lesson.” Then she sat on the sofa and casually picked up a magazine to read.

Qiao Guang Yu adjusted his sitting position. He estimated that Mr. Huo, who liked to peep, was already in place. Then, he adopted a graceful pose and placed his hands on the piano keyboard.

The elegant and gentle piano sounds poured out from under his hands, but occasionally there were some sharp notes with abrupt transitions. If you listened carefully, you could hear a hint of dissonance. However, Qiao Guang Yu’s expression was serious, and even the slightly flawed piano sounds could not hide the holy light his handsome face was glowing with just then.

Brother Quan warned him not to play the piano too well to better contrast with the white moonlight. Even if he could play well, he had to make mistakes on purpose, so the boss would never forget that his white moonlight was the most beautiful, simply perfect.

Teacher Qin Li had, obviously, long been used to Qiao Guang Yu’s way of doing things, so she kept quiet, as if immersed in his slightly unmelodious music.

And outside, Huo Zhou was peeking through the crack of the door, watching the elegant figure playing the piano, with a clear obsession in his eyes.

Quan Quan was standing behind Huo Zhou, staring at his watch the whole time and timing when to book a table at the restaurant for lunch.

Four people who understood music had their own different goals, endured the flawed piece, tortured their ears, and pretended to be enchanted the entire morning. It was quite funny.

The author has something to say:

1v1, no abuse throughout! Even if you abuse, you can’t abuse the MC, mmm!