After Breaking Up, I Married A Top Alpha Movie Star And Fell In Love - Chapter 18

The carved wooden window was half-open, carving out a room of silence.

Lu Mingchuan and Qiu Ye pushed open the door to the private booth.

The Xuan paper lanterns overhead cast a soft, warm glow, illuminating the old elm wood tea sea positioned right in the center.

Qiu Ye had met Director Lai once before at the Yunchuan Drama Festival, but he hadn’t expected to meet him again so soon.

“Director Lai, hello.”

In his early years, Director Lai had become famous in the industry for filming aesthetic, humanistic scenes. His gaze rested briefly on Qiu Ye, and a clear flash of amazement flickered in his eyes.

After the three of them shook hands, they sat down.

Qiu Ye sat quietly beside Lu Mingchuan. He was wearing a soft, cream-colored knit sweater; the lines of his profile were clean and elegant.

When his eyelashes drooped, that tear mole seemed to appear and disappear amidst the curling mist of the tea.

Director Lai subconsciously categorized Qiu Ye as an Omega—the quiet, beautiful, and delicate type that needed protection.

“Mingchuan, I finally understand why you didn’t agree before,” Director Lai said with a smile and a shake of his head, his tone carrying a perfectly measured touch of teasing.

“If I were you, hiding away an Omega like this, I wouldn’t be willing to let him show his face in public either.” After Director Lai finished speaking, he lowered his head to take a sip of tea.

“You’ve misunderstood.”

“Qiu Ye is a Beta, just like you.” Lu Mingchuan leaned forward slightly, offering an explanation.

“Sor… Sorry… I thought Mr. Qiu was…”

In an ABO society, it was a traditional public perception that Alphas and Omegas attracted each other through pheromones and established marks.

Since Qiu Ye’s identity had not yet been exposed, the vast majority of people naturally assumed that Lu Mingchuan’s flash-marriage partner was an Omega with a high compatibility rate.

Director Lai reached out to stroke his beard, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he poured a cup of golden, translucent tea for Qiu Ye.

Qiu Ye accepted it with both hands and took a sip.

“I have done travel variety shows and emotional interviews before. This year, I want to combine the two,” Qiu Ye said softly. “We have looked at the preliminary proposal for The Diary of Love’s Journey. I personally have some unpolished ideas and would like to hear your opinion.”

Director Lai picked up his teacup, his smile deepening as he looked at Qiu Ye. “Let’s hear them.”

Qiu Ye slowly raised his eyes, his gaze clear and focused, his voice gentle yet clear and powerful: “In the past two years, the country has placed great importance on cultural soft power. I think we can add a segment where the guests experience the local intangible cultural heritage.”

“We should let the audience see not just us, but also the beauty of the mountains and rivers, and the pulse of our culture.”

Lu Mingchuan’s gaze remained fixed on Qiu Ye, naturally resting his arm on the back of Qiu Ye’s chair.

Qiu Ye’s insights and ideas far exceeded Director Lai’s expectations for a “vase Omega.” He listened intently, the creative spark in his heart ignited by these words.

The two of them began a very professional discussion regarding the show’s early-stage planning.

The tea mist continued to curl.

Lu Mingchuan temporarily left the second-floor booth. Just as he reached the courtyard, a familiar voice drifted from behind a partially closed bamboo curtain.

“Young Master Qiu, you can rest easy. Even if Shen Miaoyin saw that I was cheating, what could she possibly do about it?”

This was Ding Zhao’s voice.

“Those jewelry pieces, and the house her son bought for her—the notarization has already been redone. Even if Shen Miaoyin wants to back out, she can’t.”

Qiu Ying nodded and giggled. “As long as we hold Shen Miaoyin in our grasp, we don’t have to worry about Qiu Ye not falling into line.”

Lu Mingchuan stood to the side. Hearing this, he unconsciously clenched his fists, his eyes filled with an anger that saw through everything.

“The set of imperial green jade… who did you say gave that to Shen Miaoyin?”

He couldn’t hear the words that followed clearly.

Lu Mingchuan turned around expressionlessly. On the way back to the second-floor booth, he pulled out his phone without hesitation and dialed a number he rarely contacted.

The call was quickly picked up, and a steady, majestic middle-aged male voice came from the other end: “Mingchuan?”

Lu Mingchuan took a deep breath and said succinctly: “It’s me. I need you to help me check two people.”

His voice was low, devoid of extra emotion. “I want to know all their recent financial transactions and private contacts. The more detailed, the better.”

Sunlight pierced through the clouds, spilling over the black body of the Rolls-Royce as the vehicle drove steadily along the wide highway.

Lu Mingchuan held the steering wheel, his gaze lightly brushing over the passenger seat as he recalled how Qiu Ye had looked that night.

Everything now had an answer.

At the time, he only thought Qiu Ye was in an inexplicably bad mood. Now, knowing the foul schemes Ding Zhao and Qiu Ying had pulled, he realized with a shock just what kind of humiliation and difficulty lay behind it.

A sharp pang of heartache suddenly gripped Lu Mingchuan’s heart, making it somewhat difficult for him to breathe.

The car happened to drive slowly past Nanhua High School at that moment. The massive playground was completely empty.

“At this time, the students should all be on winter break,” Qiu Ye suddenly remarked.

“Have you ever returned to the school since you graduated?” Lu Mingchuan intentionally slowed the car.

Qiu Ye replied, “Not unless you count just passing by.”

“What about you?”

Lu Mingchuan nodded.

Over the past ten years, whenever Lu Mingchuan received honors of various sizes, or whenever the school and media did any publicity, he would politely cooperate.

Qiu Ye lowered his head and said softly, “That makes sense. You are the legendary figure of Nanhua, after all.”

Lu Mingchuan brought the car to a steady stop and turned his head, his gaze burning bright. “Then, do you want to go back and see the school with this ‘legendary figure’?”

“But we haven’t fully gone public yet. If we get photographed…”

“What is there to fear? We are a legal couple.” Lu Mingchuan reached out and shook the wedding band on his finger.

Lu Mingchuan slowly leaned over to unbuckle Qiu Ye’s seatbelt.

He smelled the cool, moist scent of cedar.

“Qiu Ye, you need to get used to me being close.”

Qiu Ye backed away slightly, unable to handle that overly handsome face being so near.

It was so close that the tips of their noses almost touched.

The shops at the school gate were no longer the original ones; the middle-aged couple selling egg waffles had been replaced by a young couple.

Back when he was in school, he would first buy a piping hot egg waffle and then go to the school convenience store to buy a can of iced lemon tea for breakfast.

After registering their personal information at the security post, Qiu Ye and Lu Mingchuan walked into the school side-by-side.

Memories of the past came rushing back like a tide.

Qiu Ye looked through the window glass into a classroom and discovered that the whiteboards had been replaced by electronic projectors, and even the desks and chairs had been upgraded.

“This wishing well is actually still here.” Qiu Ye pointed to the now-dry fountain and looked up at the statue of the goddess.

Nanhua had always had a legend: if you made a sincere wish to this fountain and threw in all the coins you had on you, the wish would surely come true.

“The coins inside seem to have been fished out. I wonder if their wishes came true.”

The pool, which was now empty, had once been piled with small mountains of coins, glittering in the swaying ripples of the water.

Lu Mingchuan’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he said softly, “Perhaps they are about to come true.”

The two of them walked side-by-side through the flower gallery arch. In this season, only bare vines remained, with no sign of green leaves.

“I remember that in the summer, it was very beautiful here.”

Lu Mingchuan tilted his head back, watching the weak winter sunlight filter through the irregular gaps.

The first time he had seen Qiu Ye was right here.

Overhead were leaves of a deep, rich green, and the mottled light and shadows were stepped upon by a youth.

Qiu Ye had been wearing the blue-and-white short-sleeved school uniform, holding a stack of books, and wearing a pair of silver glasses very similar to the ones he wore now, facing an insincere confession from someone else.

“Qiu Ye, why don’t you give it a try with me?”

Those arms holding the books were thin but not weak. The mottled light and shadows reflected in Qiu Ye’s dark, grape-like eyes.

Qiu Ye looked steadily at the person in front of him and spoke slowly, “I’m sorry, I already have someone I like.”

The person took a few steps closer, their tone turning unfriendly.

“Why are you, a Beta, chasing after an Alpha? You don’t really think you can break the attraction of pheromones, do you?”

Qiu Ye frowned slightly, his voice remaining steady: “Precisely because I am not affected by pheromones and cannot be marked by anyone, I am free.”

“Whether I choose to chase or give up on someone is entirely my own decision.”

Amidst the shade of the greenery, Lu Mingchuan’s movement of flipping a page paused slightly. Qiu Ye’s name entered his heart without any warning.

The pages of the book in his hand rustled against his palm.

At that time, Lu Mingchuan thought this person was very special—possessing a clarity beyond his years, yet a desperate, all-or-nothing bravery.

Perhaps everyone in Nanhua thought Qiu Ye was following behind He Yuchen, living a dream that would never come true, but Lu Mingchuan did not think so.

Only he knew that the true weaver of the dream was Qiu Ye.

A snow-white bird seemed to be startled by something, flapping its wings as it suddenly bolted from the bare treetops.

Qiu Ye suddenly turned his head.

Thin light and shadows flickered across his face.

The tip of Qiu Ye’s nose was slightly red from the wind. He had a faint smile on his face as he called Lu Mingchuan’s name.

In that second, Lu Mingchuan was truly dazed, struck hard by something called fate.

His heart suddenly tightened, feeling both sour and swollen.

Lu Mingchuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, his voice low and raspy as he spoke: “Hmm?”

Qiu Ye walked over slowly—walking past the desolate spring, summer, autumn, and winter—and naturally reached out to brush away a withered leaf that had fallen on the other man’s chest.

“There, it’s gone now.”

Lu Mingchuan felt as though the silent heart in his chest had returned to his youth.

The heartbeat that had grown silently like green vines and ended without a result, the suppressed thoughts that were not allowed to see the light of day, the love he couldn’t stop holding onto even knowing there was no possibility—it had silently spanned ten years of time.

The wind swirled the fallen leaves on the ground, making a soft rustling sound.

Xu Zilang stepped over the withered leaves and walked upstairs.

Technicians sat in front of computers, their fingers rapidly tapping on keyboards as various privacy data and relationship network diagrams flashed across the screens.

The work of investigating Qiu Ye’s mysterious “marriage partner” was not going smoothly.

All information on the surface had been deliberately erased, clean enough to make one increasingly suspicious.

After several twists and turns, Xu Zilang finally pieced together several blurry fragments of clues, finally obtaining a lead to continue the investigation.

All the clues were like silent streams, eventually merging like a hundred rivers into the sea, faintly pointing toward the same person.

Xu Zilang sat there and ran a hand through his hair, wondering if he had made a mistake.

The phone screen suddenly lit up.

A private detective had sent a series of newly captured high-definition photos.

In the frames, Lu Mingchuan and Qiu Ye were walking out of Nanhua High School together.

Xu Zilang was only one step away from the truth.

In the last few photos, Lu Mingchuan stood to the side, opening the passenger door of the Rolls-Royce for Qiu Ye, one hand considerately guarding the top of the door frame.

Xu Zilang’s pupils constricted sharply. He remembered that Qiu Ye had gotten into this very car on the day he resigned.

There weren’t that many coincidences in this world.

He used two fingers to zoom in on the photo, his eyes locking onto the hands resting on the car door.

On the ring fingers of both Qiu Ye and Lu Mingchuan sat plain band rings. They appeared to be the same style, reflecting a bright silver light.

Xu Zilang muttered to himself, his voice full of disbelief: “How did these two… get together?”

Qiu Ye’s marriage partner was actually Lu Mingchuan!