Land Of Settlement

“Qing Ya’s advertisement had been assigned to Bai Mu Chuan?” 

“No way… It should have been given to Jiang Jiang…”

 “I don’t know. I heard that President Lu has other plans for Jiang Jiang. Oh my, they actually gave such a big endorsement deal to Bai Mu Chuan…”

“I heard…”

“President Lu has always been generous with her lovers…………”

The next day, Xia Qi woke up early again today and went to the company for training. However, the practice room was much noisier today. Bai Mu Chuan, who gained popularity after the talent show, took and secured Qing Ya’s endorsement deal in China. This news had become a hot topic of discussion within the company for a week.

 Xia Qi put on his earphones and started his breathing exercises to regulate his breathing. But before he got immersed in his exercises, Bai Mu Chuan entered the practice room, which resulted in another commotion.

Bai Mu Chuan was full of confidence, where his aura was practically glowing. He had received hints from his assistant, Qin Le, last night. Although such matters were not exactly honorable, the temptation of the endorsement deal was too great. Besides, Bai Mu Chuan himself was gay, so the idea of “accompanying Lu Xuan” was not that difficult for him to accept. In the entertainment industry, all sorts of things could happen. People would laugh at the poor but not the prostitutes and everyone had long been accustomed to it. Some actors even felt a bit jealous. After all, high-quality sponsors like Lu Xuan were extremely rare. Without mentioning Lu Xuan, they all congratulated Bai Mu Chuan and returned to practice. Bai Mu Chuan had wanted to chat with Jiang Jiang, but unfortunately, Jiang Jiang could not wake up this morning as he drank a bit too much last night.

Bai Mu Chuan was not in the mood to warm up his voice and walked over to Xia Qi with a smile and said, “Jiang Jiang was right. It was not wrong to follow President Lu.”

Xia Qi was not sure if this “President Lu” referred to Lu An Qi or Lu Xuan. He hesitated for a moment and sincerely replied, “Congratulations, this opportunity was quite hard to come by.”

“Of course.” Bai Mu Chuan lazily leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window. With a smile on his lips, he whispered, “Actually, I wanted to take things slowly. I was not in a hurry for advertisements or anything… But President Lu was too enthusiastic, so it was hard to refuse.” Bai Mu Chuan knew that what he was about to say was not appropriate, but when he thought about how Xia Qi could keep secrets well, he could not help but boast, “I really did not expect it. Last night, I felt like I did not do anything, and he… I don’t even know how he noticed me.”

Xia Qi felt a sense of tightness in his chest, so he lowered his head and changed the music on his phone. Bai Mu Chuan’s eyes were watery as he lowered his head with a smile and said, “Qin Le had warned me for half a day. I had no choice. I can not offend President Lu and be canceled. Sigh…” 

While they were talking, Qin Le entered the room to find Bai Mu Chuan. Bai Mu Chuan gave Xia Qi a helpless look and followed him out. Xia Qi took off his earphones and let out a gentle sigh.

He actually wanted to tell Bai Mu Chuan that if he did not want to go, he did not have to. Lu Xuan was not the kind of person who would force others to do anything. Lu Xuan was different from those people…

That painful memory from three years ago flashed through Xia Qi’s mind. He faintly smiled and suddenly felt a sense of happiness. It was thanks to Lu Xuan back then.

In entertainment news, there were always beautiful male and female celebrities around Lu Xuan. Xia Qi had long idolized him, and he slowly adjusted to it. After sorting out his emotions, he continued his breathing exercises.

Bai Mu Chuan was away for the whole day. The company was never short of gossip, and in the afternoon, Xia Qi overheard from someone that Bai Mu Chuan had lunch with Lu Xuan. Lu Xuan even had someone send Bai Mu Chuan back into his car, and it was also said that Bai Mu Chuan came back with an exquisitely packaged box. As there were various rumors going around, Xia Qi sighed with worry because this time, Lu Xuan’s lover was someone from their own company. No matter how he tried to manage his emotions, his mood was still a bit down.

Jiang Jiang was also in a bad mood. In terms of qualifications, Jiang Jiang would outshine Bai Mu Chuan. Yet, the first advertisement of Shengshi Media was assigned to Bai Mu Chuan. Even the way Bai Mu Chuan addressed Jiang Jiang changed from “Brother Jiang” to “Jiang Jiang.” It was as if he considered himself on equal footing with Jiang Jiang. Qin Le was afraid of offending Lu Xuan, so he turned a blind eye towards the situation. Jiang Jiang’s assistant was going mad.

“Brother Jiang, do not bother with him,” Jiang Jiang’s assistant, Ren Jiajia, said angrily. “The people President Lu had relationships with would frequently change, and sometimes there was more than one. Who knows when he will get tired of him?”

Jiang Jiang’s expression remained calm and said, “I heard that President Lu was serious this time.”

“Pfft,” Ren Jiajia sneered. “That was what Bai Mu Chuan himself said. He thinks President Lu was going to have a serious relationship with him. Why wouldn’t he be happy? Xia Xia, don’t you think so?”

Xia Xia was the nickname given to Xia Qi by the people in the company. Xia Qi was named like this without a reason. Feeling helpless, he replied sincerely, “I really don’t know.”

Ren Jiajia rolled her eyes and went to chat with her close friend in the company to ridicule Bai Mu Chuan.

Xia Qi didn’t know if Lu Xuan was really serious about having a romantic relationship, but Bai Mu Chuan seemed to be genuinely in love with him. The next evening, Xia Qi left the company later than usual and coincidentally ran into a frantic Qin Le who was desperately searching for Bai Mu Chuan.

“Brother Qin.”

Xia Qi had just finished a physical training class with another young singer. They changed their clothes and came out, where they bumped into Qin Le along their way. Qin Le grabbed Xia Qi anxiously and asked, “Have you seen Mu Chuan?”

Xia Qi shook his head in confusion. “No, today I was… I think I saw him in the afternoon, but I don’t know what happened. What’s going on?”

“This clueless lunatic…” 

Qin Le gritted his teeth, walked in circles not knowing what to do. One of Bai Mu Chuan’s assistants rushed in frantically, sweating profusely. He stammered, “Brother Chuan… returned the… the… room card…”

Qin Le completely lost it. “What the hell’s going on?! What happened to the room card? Where the fuck did Bai Mu Chuan go?”

The assistant wiped the sweat off his forehead, nervously handed the room card to Qin Le, and said, “Brother Chuan asked me to return you the room card and tell President Lu on his behalf that… he will go to the film set first. He… booked a hotel there and asked President Lu to visit the set…”

“Visit? Hahaha…” Qin Le went completely crazy. He laughed forcefully. “Is he insane? Call him, call his other assistant! Let his assistant take the room key and go to him immediately!”

The assistant swallowed hard, his voice strained. “Brother Chuan changed his flight and has already boarded the plane. I… I’m unable to contact him.”

“Who allowed him to leave?! Does he really think that highly of himself?!” Qin Le could not bear it anymore. He cursed while trying to find a way to contact Bai Mu Chuan.

The young singer who was taking classes with Xia Qi could not help but pull the assistant aside to inquire about the situation, and that was when Xia Qi finally understood what had happened. During lunch, Bai Mu Chuan had invited Lu Xuan, but Lu Xuan’s secretary had declined the invitation, which made Bai Mu Chuan fall in a bad mood. In the afternoon, someone from Lu Xuan’s side came, and Bai Mu Chuan thought they came to offer gifts and appease him. However, to his surprise, they only delivered a hotel room key card. Bai Mu Chuan immediately shut off his phone and returned the room card. At the same time, he changed his flight and went to the airport by himself earlier. Before he left, he left a message for Lu Xuan: “I’ll forgive you if you come to visit me. Just remember to bring my favorite food. Hmph.”

Qin Le was furious. “Hmph, you little motherfucker!”

The assistant was caught in the argument and felt extremely wronged. He could not help but complain, “What the hell… Lu Xuan was only interested in looking for a sexual partner. He does not have the time to play these kinds of games with him. Now that we were unable to find him, everyone blames me. Brother Chuan isn’t even my puppet… I am unable to control him all the time…”

The young singer enjoyed seeing Qin Le’s frustration and said, “Serves him right.”

Qin Le dismissed the assistant, feeling helpless. He could not find Bai Muchuan, could not tell Lu An Qi, and definitely would not contact Lu Xuan. He could not say, “Sorry, our actor does not want to sleep with you tonight. You should go find him yourself and bring his favorite food. Maybe then you’ll be able to sleep with him.” The thing is Qin Le had already made a firm guarantee with Lu An Qi and had Bai Mu Chuan to sign the endorsement deal, so if he were to say something like that to Lu Xuan, not to mention how Lu Xuan would react, Lu An Qi would be furious and might just fire him on the spot.

Like Jiang Jiang, Qin Le had struck up a conversation with Lu An Qi long before the company was acquired. It was his first day of work after the acquisition, and he had already messed things up so badly… The sky quickly darkened, and Qin Le’s eyes turned red as he began to calculate the possibility of Bai Mu Chuan returning immediately tonight to find Lu Xuan.

Qin Le checked the flight schedule, and the answer was definitely no.

Just as Qin Le’s phone rang, Xia Qi gave a forced comforting smile and left on his own. Qin Le looked at the caller ID—it was Lu Xuan’s secretary. His headache instantly intensified, but he reluctantly answered the call, apologizing with a smile.

“President Lu can find anyone he wants. Did he really think that he would care if Bai Mu Chuan acted like this?… ” The young singer had been marginalized by Bai Mu Chuan before and now felt a great sense of satisfaction. “See, he has truly annoyed President Lu this time. This endorsement deal will definitely fall through. Have you ever encountered such a generous benefactor? Unbelievable… Xia Xia, are you okay?”

Xia Qi snapped out of his daze, touched his flushed cheek, and stammered, “Yes… I’m fine.”

“Are you feeling unwell?” The young singer sympathized, as Xia Qi had a good reputation among colleagues. “You’ve been working so hard these past few days, haven’t you? Don’t push yourself too much. Miss Lu will surely notice your efforts.” Xia Qi smiled gratefully. It was not that he felt unwell, but… an ugly and terrifying thought had been lingering in his mind since a while ago, and he could not quite control himself.

The little singer’s ride had arrived, so he left first. Xia Qi clenched his sweaty palms, shook his head vigorously, and slowly walked out of the company’s entrance. The sky had darkened quickly, but the setting sun radiated in a myriad of colors. Xia Qi bit his lip and abruptly turned around, running back.

“Brother Qin…”

Qin Le was still in the second-floor lobby, feeling utterly helpless. Xia Qi rushed up, slightly out of breath. His voice trembled, “Brother Qin… That room key, could… could you give it to me?”