Mr. Lu Was Devastated After I Left - Chapter 23

Xu Zhuoyang’s eyes were bloodshot as he asked with a self-destructive intensity, “If I become your lover, then who is your official boyfriend?”

Lu Beiye did not hold back. “Mu Yuan. Although I am currently pursuing him, we should be together very soon.”

Xu Zhuoyang let out a mocking laugh. “You are already living together and you have not succeeded yet? What game is Mu Yuan playing? Does he want to have his cake and eat it too?”

Lu Beiye’s expression turned chillingly cold. He clenched his fists and said in a sharp, icy voice, “I do not want to hear a single word against Mu Yuan from anyone. If I hear such things again, I will not hesitate to strike, even if it is you.”

Xu Zhuoyang felt his heart turn to ice. He was not heartbroken by the threat of violence; he was heartbroken that Lu Beiye would raise a hand against him for the sake of someone he had only known for a few days. Perhaps, as the old saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side.

Accepting his fate, Xu Zhuoyang slipped the bank card into his pocket. “If you do not want me to speak ill of your sweetheart, then I will not.”

He sighed and walked over to the chair opposite Lu Beiye, sitting down heavily. “If you want to be my benefactor, I will be your lover. I will do whatever you want me to do. I will be a perfectly compliant lover, and I will do as you wish and stay out of sight when you are with Mu Yuan. You can summon me or dismiss me as you please, but I have one condition: our relationship ends the day you successfully win Mu Yuan’s heart.”

He reached for a pack of cigarettes Lu Beiye used to keep in the apartment, took one out, and lit it. He inhaled deeply, watching the pale blue smoke swirl, thicken, and then dissipate. Suddenly, he felt a sense of lightness, as if all his heavy emotions were vanishing along with the smoke.

Lu Beiye disapproved of him smoking. Although he was a smoker himself, he had always disliked it when his partner smoked. Xu Zhuoyang had quit for his sake years ago, yet now he had picked it up again right before his eyes, as if to provoke him.

Lu Beiye reached out, snatched the cigarette from Xu Zhuoyang’s hand, and crushed it into the ashtray. “Why must our relationship end when I win Mu Yuan over? Is that all your acting career is worth to you?”

Xu Zhuoyang looked at his empty fingertips and silently lowered his hand. “My mother committed suicide by jumping from a building because a mistress intervened in her marriage. I will never stoop so low as to interfere in someone else’s relationship. This is my principle and my bottom line. Even if it costs me my career, I will not compromise.”

“Besides,” Xu Zhuoyang said, staring quietly at the ashtray, “Mu Yuan is unlikely to say yes to you anytime soon. That gives you more than enough time to get bored of me.”

Silence stretched between them. Lu Beiye looked at Xu Zhuoyang, unable to name the complex bitterness he felt in his heart.

Xu Zhuoyang had agreed to be his lover and had promised not to cause scenes between him and Mu Yuan. He should have been happy, but he found he could not feel the slightest sense of satisfaction.

Xu Zhuoyang sat motionless, eyes downcast, staring at the floor, lost in thought.

Lu Beiye did not stay any longer. Before leaving, he tossed out one final sentence, “Our relationship begins tomorrow.”

After Lu Beiye left, Xu Zhuoyang finished half the pack of cigarettes. With hollow eyes, he stared at a framed photograph on the entryway stand and whispered, “This period of time is an opportunity for me, and it is also one for you.”