Land Of Settlement

Hearing the news of the ambassador switch, Xia Qi did not take it to heart. He was used to staying silent, but when he was suddenly in the spotlight, he actually felt a little uncomfortable. While he was fine with acting in films, participating in variety shows or similar activities felt forced to him. Moreover… Xia Qi leaned against the car window; his face slightly flushed as he recalled Lu Xuan’s orders that day. He wondered what would happen if he returned this time…

“Xia Xia, are you okay?” Yao Miaomiao looked at Xia Qi with concern. “You can’t afford to get sick these days.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Xia Qi shook his head vigorously. “I’m fine, really. I just feel a bit hot.” He pressed the back of his hand against his face and silently recited “Color is emptiness.”

Yao Miaomiao had work to do, and Xia Qi needed to go to the company to confirm the details of the endorsements. They returned to the company together and immediately sensed an unusual atmosphere.

“Sister Miaomiao, ” a colleague who got along well with Yao Miaomiao hurried over, looking hesitant and casting a glance at Xia Qi. In a low voice, the colleague said, “You… It’s better for you to go to Brother Qin’s office.”

Yao Miaomiao was surprised. “Isn’t Qin Le not coming to the company today? Why is he looking for me?”

“It’s not…” The colleague forced a laugh. “It’s about that endorsement… the one for Xia Xia. Qin Le also helped Bai Mu Chuan fight for it before, and it was eventually given to you. But for some reason, Qin Le went to talk to them again, and now the organizers are calling the company’s higher-ups, requesting a change of person.”

Upon hearing this, Yao Miaomiao was furious. “The organizers had already agreed to let Xia Xia take the endorsement. How can they suddenly switch?”

The colleague sighed helplessly, “Yes, it’s unfortunate. I don’t know if someone intentionally caused this. In any case, it’s quite embarrassing. Bai Mu Chuan has also found out and contacted the organizers. Since they’re from the same company, the higher-ups want to settle the matter quietly to avoid media speculation. They don’t want it to be seen as internal conflict within our company, and… and if things escalate, they might dig up… they might dig up President Lu’s involvement. It would be difficult to handle by then.”

Lu Xuan was well aware of how much he disliked media attention on Xia Qi, so when he heard the news, he quickly responded, “Alright, give it to him. I don’t mind.”

“Why?!” Yao Miaomiao, Xia Qi’s current assistant, considered herself on equal footing with Qin Le. She had put in a lot of effort to secure opportunities for Xia Qi. “It was Qin Le’s fault for letting the actors know about these matters. Moreover, everything was already decided. Why the sudden change?”

The colleague sighed and said, “Bai Mu Chuan is about to release his EP(extended play), and he needs the exposure. Qin Le is also in a hurry…”

“He’s in a hurry, but I’m not?” Yao Miaomiao laughed. “Our Xia Xia is about to make his big screen debut. It was Mr. Lu’s instructions to me to increase Xia Xia’s exposure recently. The company invested money in ‘Chaos Era,’ and promoting it should be a priority. Who is the one that doesn’t understand the rules?”

Xia Qi had a splitting headache, but Yao Miaomiao was relentless. Soon, Qin Le and Bai Mu Chuan arrived. Qin Le, knowing he was in the wrong, awkwardly pulled Yao Miaomiao aside to talk. Bai Mu Chuan, with a fake smile, looked at Xia Qi and said, “Congratulations. You managed to get a powerful assistant thanks to Miss Lu.”

Xia Qi remained silent. Yao Miaomiao was specially assigned to him by Lu An Qi. In Lu An Qi’s words, Xia Qi was too soft-tempered, and he needed a capable assistant to take care of him. Of course, Xia Qi already knew that Bai Mu Chuan would not believe anything he said.

Bai Mu Chuan grew increasingly displeased as he looked at Xia Qi, sneering, “You’re quite proud of snatching the supporting role in ‘Chaos Era,’ aren’t you? I’m curious to know what you’ve been doing behind the scenes all this time to make Lu Xuan give you this role.”

Xia Qi sighed inwardly. It was true that Bai Mu Chuan had also auditioned for the role in ‘Chaos Era,’ but Qin Le had informed him beforehand that the role had already been internally assigned and was not available to him. The company’s actors were sent mainly to familiarize themselves with Director Fei and the film set. At that time, six people had gone, and it was made clear that the role was already taken. Xia Qi could not understand how Bai Mu Chuan had turned him into a supposedly “role-snatcher”.

Having grown used to not competing or fighting for things, Xia Qi did not want to say much and simply wanted to wait for Yao Miaomiao and their arrangements. However, Bai Mu Chuan continued to pester him, making sarcastic remarks. “By the way, it’s been almost half a year, hasn’t it? Why hasn’t Mr. Lu gotten tired of you yet?”

Xia Qi frowned and whispered, “The company has rules. We’re not supposed to discuss the personal lives of the higher-ups.”

“Hah?” Bai Mu Chuan was momentarily stunned, then bursted into laughter. “Alright, I get it. It seems like I hit the nail on the head.”

Bai Mu Chuan leaned closer to Xia Qi’s ear and winked his beautiful peach blossom eyes. He lowered his voice and said, “Don’t be too upset. Sooner or later, it’s bound to happen. Facing the same face every day, even I would have grown tired by now. Lu Xuan’s endurance is commendable.”

Xia Qi looked up and calmly responded, “That’s a matter between him and me.”

Bai Mu Chuan grew irritated, about to say something when Yao Miaomiao, who had just arrived, interrupted him. Yao Miaomiao clearly had won the argument with Qin Le. Qin Le had an unpleasant expression and said to Bai Mu Chuan, “I didn’t consider everything properly this time. I’ll go talk to them. It’s not like this is the only endorsement opportunity. We’re all part of the same company, and there’s no need to fight over such trivial matters and let others make fun of us.”

“How did you present it in the first place?” Bai Mu Chuan had felt confident about securing the endorsement opportunity, but seeing Qin Le’s sudden change of attitude, he became anxious. “The organizers were clearly more interested in me initially.”

Qin Le was feeling quite overwhelmed, regretting why he had told Bai Mu Chuan in advance. Just as he was panicking, his phone rang. He turned around to answer the call, and Yao Miaomiao, rolling her eyes, grabbed Xia Qi’s arm, intending to leave. But before they could go, Qin Le stopped them. Yao Miaomiao had completely run out of patience and irritably asked, “What else?”

“Just now…” Qin Le’s expression showed that he had not fully processed the information from the previous phone call. He turned back, looking at Bai Mu Chuan with disbelief, and hesitated as he said, “Just now… President Lu’s secretary called and said the endorsement opportunity was given to Bai Mu Chuan.”

Yao Miaomiao’s eyes widened in shock, and she anxiously said, “Give me the phone, I’ll talk to President Lu myself…”

“It wasn’t Miss Lu!” Qin Le, unsure whether it was good or bad news, spoke in a hushed voice. He glanced at Xia Qi and continued, “It was Lu Xuan’s secretary who called. It was Lu Xuan’s decision.”

As the words fell, everyone in the room was stunned.

Xia Qi’s face turned pale in an instant. It felt as if he had been slapped in the face in front of a crowd, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Even if he lost the opportunity to act in the film, it would not affect him much. But if it was Lu Xuan’s decision…

Yao Miaomiao looked at Qin Le in disbelief. Bai Mu Chuan was the first to react. He bursted into laughter, stood up from the sofa, and playfully hooked his arm around Qin Le’s neck. With a smile, he said, “Oh well, I didn’t expect such a small matter to catch Lu Xuan’s attention, and Lu Xuan believes that the endorsement should be given to me.”

Bai Mu Chuan made a helpless expression towards Xia Qi, then walked out with a laugh. Qin Le, afraid of Yao Miaomiao, quickly followed suit.

Xia Qi stared blankly at Yao Miaomiao and murmured softly, “Could Qin Le have misheard? Lu Xuan… Did he really… get tired of me, as Bai Mu Chuan said?”

Yao Miaomiao felt a pang of heartache. She suppressed her anger and immediately called her friend who worked alongside Lu Xuan. The call was quickly answered, and Yao Miaomiao gritted her teeth as she spoke, “Who has been by Lu Xuan’s side these past few days while Xia Xia was filming?”

Yao Miaomiao’s friend was not a high-level employee and had limited knowledge. Besides, Lu Xuan was always discreet and had someone like Yan Zhuo Yi as his personal assistant. Even the higher-ups at Lu Corporation knew very little about his personal affairs, let alone others. Frustrated, Yao Miaomiao’s hand trembled as she hung up the phone. She even considered contacting Lu An Qi. However, Xia Qi held onto her hand, preventing her from making any more calls.

“Xia Xia!”

Xia Qi let out a soft sigh and smiled reassuringly at Yao Miaomiao. In an attempt to comfort her, he spoke in a gentle voice, “It’s okay, whatever decision Mr. Lu has made, there’s no use in begging President Lu.”

“Besides, don’t you have other matters to attend to?” Xia Qi smiled and said, “I’m fine, to be honest, I didn’t really want to take on those endorsements. That’s the truth.”

Yao Miaomiao clenched her lips in frustration and whispered, “It’s fine, we can still strive for better opportunities.”

“Yes,” Xia Qi smiled and said, “I’ll still rely on you, Miaomiao.”

Yao Miaomiao knew that Xia Qi was trying to cheer her up, but she could not help feeling more upset. She was well aware of Lu Xuan’s usual behavior. She had hoped to use his support to propel Xia Qi to fame, but just as things were starting to look up, this happened…

Yao Miaomiao forced a smile and nodded, “Okay, go home and rest for now. I’ll call you later.”

Xia Qi made a soft “Hmm” and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Let’s not argue about this anymore, I… I’m also not sure what’s going on, but I don’t want the situation to become too ugly, so… Actually, I was already mentally prepared for this, so let’s just act natural, and please… don’t make it too difficult for me, okay?”

Xia Qi’s voice trembled a bit, and his words seemed disconnected. However, Yao Miaomiao understood his meaning completely. Yao Miaomiao knew that despite Xia Qi being soft-hearted, he was actually a person with a strong sense of pride. Suddenly, Yao Miaomiao felt her eyes welling up with tears, but she managed to force a smile and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t pursue this matter any further. I won’t make things difficult for you.”

“Thank you, Sister Miaomiao.”

Xia Qi packed his things and took the company’s car back to his own apartment. Along the way, he pondered many things.

In fact, Xia Qi had already imagined this scenario countless times. There were even more humiliating situations than this, but he knew it would come to an end sooner or later. Whether or not he used Lu Xuan’s popularity as a pretext was not important. He had only used the guise of being Lu Xuan’s sugar baby as an opportunity to get close to Lu Xuan. Lu Xuan has not done anything wrong to him. It was clear from the beginning that Lu Xuan was only  giving him fame in exchange for using his body for intimate purposes.

Just because Xia Qi liked Lu Xuan did not mean that Lu Xuan had to like him back.

Xia Qi did not know if it was like how Yao Miaomiao had described, maybe a problem came up during the days he was away, or if Lu Xuan had already found someone he liked more, or if Bai Mu Chuan had approached Lu Xuan again and reignited their old relationship… He had never been clear about Lu Xuan’s affairs, and he could not ask him, just like at this moment.

Xia Qi had always kept his place, not asking too many questions, not saying too much.

But… As Xia Qi turned his head around and looked out the window, his tears accidentally fell from his eyes.

Just a few days ago, Lu Xuan had called him and visited the set to see him. He brought his favorite hazelnut cream cake and told the director to take good care of Xia Qi.

Xia Qi was not so self-absorbed as to mistakenly believe that Lu Xuan treated him differently from others, but he thought… at least this relationship could last for a while longer, even if it was just a little more time.

There was always a crazy thought in Xia Qi’s mind that he did not dare to speak out.

He hoped that one day, through his own efforts, he could stand before people normally, openly, and without fear. He did not dare to compare himself to Lu Xuan, but at least he wanted people to recognize his hard work and acknowledge his success. By then, he could have enough confidence to confess to Lu Xuan, to pour out his mad love for him since their first meeting three years ago.

He worked hard, dedicated himself to acting, all in the hope that when he confessed, Lu Xuan would know that he already had enough confidence. He was not trying to please or flatter Lu Xuan anymore. He did not need any benefits from Lu Xuan anymore. He had become strong enough. He just wanted to tell the person he had secretly loved for years, “I fell in love with you a long time ago.”

Only then would Lu Xuan believe that his love for him was genuine and had nothing to do with being Lu Xuan’s sugar baby.

Unfortunately, Lu Xuan did not want to wait for him.

The car soon entered the neighborhood where Xia Qi’s apartment was located. Xia Qi thanked the driver and got out of the car with his luggage.

It was already late at night, with a cool breeze blowing. Xia Qi took a deep breath… Life had to go on. He would not throw a tantrum or pester Lu Xuan. Even if they were to meet in the future, he would pretend that nothing had happened. He had always been strong. He had already cried once just now, and that was enough.

Like how every time his hopes were dashed before, Xia Qi quickly built a solid fortress in his heart, enveloping all his vulnerabilities, ensuring that no knives or bullets could penetrate.

Dragging his suitcase, Xia Qi walked towards his home. Not far ahead, a car turned on its high beam headlights. Squinting uncomfortably, Xia Qi narrowed his eyes. When his eyes adjusted to the light, Xia Qi froze.

Lu Xuan took a deep drag from his cigarette and flicked the butt to the ground. He approached with a furrowed brow and asked, “Where did you go? Why was your phone powered off?”

Xia Qi stared at Lu Xuan, and in that moment, the impenetrable fortress that covered his heart crumbled instantly.