Perfect Divorce [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 32

Although Yuan Xingzhou understood and had grown accustomed to Ye Huai’s brand of possessiveness, there were moments when such expressions could easily be misconstrued.

Like right now. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, and the sky had shifted from a clear azure to a deep indigo. The distant skyscrapers were mere black silhouettes punctuated by a checkerboard of scattered lights. Nearby, diners murmured in low voices, and a gentle breeze carried the rich aroma of roasted mutton. As the two walked side-by-side, Yuan Xingzhou couldn’t suppress the heat rising in his cheeks, and his mind grew hazy for a moment.

Fortunately, the walk was short. Before his fluttering thoughts could fully take shape, they were met with a warm, boisterous welcome from his classmates.

Yuan Xingzhou busied himself with greetings, but as he looked around, there were no children in the crowd, nor did anyone seem to have brought a spouse. After taking his seat, a quick, whispered inquiry revealed that the male classmate who “brought his wife” was part of a couple where both were actually their former classmates.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“I didn’t expect you to bring a family member,” a female classmate chirped with a smile. “Looks like we’re in for some eye candy today.”

Yuan Xingzhou glanced awkwardly at Ye Huai, but the man acted completely out of character—he actually started chatting quite naturally with the group.

The conversation, of course, began with the entertainment circle.

Everyone held a natural curiosity toward celebrities, and the questions came thick and fast: Can you really pay to remove hot searches? Did Miss XX really sleep her way to a lead role? There’s a rumor that a certain starlet has a secret child—is it true or false?

Yuan Xingzhou felt a surge of anxiety at these questions; answering poorly could make him seem stuck-up, or worse, land him in legal trouble.

To his surprise, however, Ye Huai handled them exceptionally well—polite without being perfunctory. Seeing how seriously he answered, the classmates, driven by curiosity, quickly developed a favorable impression of him.

Within minutes, before Yuan Xingzhou had even figured out who was who at the table, Ye Huai could already accurately call every person by their name.

“Your husband is very impressive,” Zhu Yueming said, sitting on Yuan Xingzhou’s other side. After observing for a while, he leaned over and whispered with a smile, “I watched the variety show yesterday. His culinary skills are quite extraordinary. Why don’t you learn from him?”

Yuan Xingzhou froze, remembering his accidental encounter while buying a chicken. He could only say, “I just did it on a whim. I didn’t actually manage to cook anything.”

Zhu Yueming chuckled. “So he’s usually the one who cooks at home?”

Yuan Xingzhou thought, Not at all! If it hadn’t been for the show, he wouldn’t even have known the man could cook. In fact, since the filming ended, Ye Huai had barely stepped foot in the kitchen. As he struggled to find words that wouldn’t blow their cover, he felt someone lean in close beside him.

“Yes. I do the cooking,” Ye Huai answered with a face full of smiles, beating him to the punch. “I’m always the one handling things at home. Occasionally, if I’m tired, we just order takeout.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “??”

“Three meals a day, every day… that must be very busy,” Zhu Yueming remarked. “It must be quite tiring.”

“It can’t be helped. Xingzhou doesn’t know how to cook, and I can’t bear to see him in the kitchen,” Ye Huai nodded quite naturally. “So it has to be this way.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…” Yuan Xingzhou was nearly wide-eyed. He thought, Not even a Movie King could act this well! Are you completely ignoring the laws of logic while bragging?

However, the guests—ignorant of the truth—believed him implicitly. A collective “Wow” went up as they looked at Yuan Xingzhou with envy.

Yuan Xingzhou could only give a professional fake smile, then turned back to shoot Ye Huai a meaningful glare.

Ye Huai looked immensely proud and gave him a knowing nod.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“The two of you are so affectionate,” a female classmate across the table laughed. “I really want to ask ‘Little Flower’—how did you manage to land this male god? When the news first broke, we didn’t dare believe it…”

Yuan Xingzhou smiled at her, thinking, You were right not to believe it.

He knew Ye Huai’s looks were too outstanding and his popularity too high; most stars standing next to him would be instantly reduced to “background noise.” Therefore, everyone naturally assumed Ye Huai was the one being pursued.

Ye Huai clearly shared this sentiment, looking at Yuan Xingzhou with an amused glint in his eyes.

“Actually, he was the one who pursued me,” Yuan Xingzhou countered. “He chased me for a very long time before I finally agreed.”

Ye Huai: “??”

The crowd was stunned again. Another “Wow” erupted as they all turned to look at Ye Huai.

“Well, not exactly,” Ye Huai cleared his throat and addressed the group. “It was a mutual crush. Both ways.”

“Mm, but he was the one who confessed first,” Yuan Xingzhou followed up seamlessly. Then, with a look of mock helplessness, he smiled. “It couldn’t be helped. I was actually a little bit hesitant at the time, but I couldn’t bear to disappoint him, so I reluctantly agreed.”

Ye Huai: “…”

Yuan Xingzhou had won this round. He gave Ye Huai a friendly smile—an expression that looked exceptionally tender to the onlookers.

“Wow!” the female classmate said, moved. “How unexpected! I was starting to lose faith in love, but you two are truly enviable.”

“Is that so?” Ye Huai looked at Yuan Xingzhou and smiled. “I’m quite surprised myself.”

Before coming this afternoon, Yuan Xingzhou had worried that since he wasn’t very close to everyone, things might be awkward. But now, with Ye Huai there, the man had naturally become the star of the show.

Everyone wanted to come over and drink goat-milk wine with him. On the rare occasion someone approached Yuan Xingzhou, Ye Huai blocked them using the excuse that Yuan Xingzhou was the designated driver. Before long, these people were calling him “brother,” reminiscing about the old days as if they were the ones who had gone through university together.

With the pressure lifted, Yuan Xingzhou focused all his energy on eating. The owner personally delivered the roasted whole lamb and performed a simple ceremony before taking it back to the kitchen to be carved. Yuan Xingzhou polished off half a leg of lamb by himself and sat to the side, clutching his stomach. It wasn’t until Ye Huai had also eaten and drunk his fill that they bid everyone farewell and left early.

Both of them were full of praise for the roast lamb. Ye Huai even began considering when he should come back to eat it again.

“Are you going to invite friends?” Yuan Xingzhou asked, amused. “A whole lamb—how many people would it take to finish that?”

“Just the two of us is fine. We can pack up what we can’t finish,” Ye Huai smiled, then added, “We can include Wen Ting. We’ll skip Li Yu; he looks like he wouldn’t enjoy it.”

Since Yuan Xingzhou hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol at the reunion, he took the wheel.

“Why do they call you ‘Little Flower’?” Ye Huai asked as he climbed into the passenger seat, turning his head. “Is it a childhood nickname?”

“No. They just call me that randomly.” Yuan Xingzhou saw that his cheekbones were slightly flushed and asked with concern, “Are you alright? Are you drunk?”

“I’m not drunk,” Ye Huai persisted. “Then why do they call you ‘Little Flower’? Does it mean you’re the ‘Class Flower’ (prettiest girl)? Why aren’t you the ‘Class Grass’ (cutest guy)?”

Yuan Xingzhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Do I look like a ‘Class Flower’ to you?”

He pulled the car slowly out of the lot, observing Ye Huai’s expression to make sure he wasn’t feeling sick while explaining, “They said I always had a floral scent on me but couldn’t figure out where it came from, so they gave me that nickname.”

Ye Huai gave an “oh.” “Let me smell.”

Yuan Xingzhou had already pulled onto the main road. He was startled by the request, but Ye Huai was already struggling to lean over.

“Stop it!” Yuan Xingzhou was frightened and hurriedly tried to stop him. “I’m driving!”

Ye Huai froze, startled by the shout.

Yuan Xingzhou suddenly realized he had been too loud. Fortunately, Ye Huai’s temper had mellowed slightly with the alcohol. After being stopped, he made no further moves and didn’t protest. He simply sat with his face turned, occasionally looking at Yuan Xingzhou and then looking at the road ahead.

The night drive was unusually smooth. When Yuan Xingzhou pulled into the parking lot, he was still marvelling at how he had hit every green light along the way. His luck was too good. Could today be his lucky day?

In terms of his career, today was indeed lucky enough—he was actually going to play the lead. Moving from a supporting role to the lead was a massive leap. He was going to sign the contract tomorrow; he wondered who he would meet. Should he put on a bit of a performance? Just to make sure the crew didn’t change their minds?

The more Yuan Xingzhou thought about it, the more nervous he became. He decided that if all else failed, he would stay up tonight to look at the script and write a character biography to earn some favor with the director.

He parked the car and turned to grab the folder containing the script from the back seat. At the same time, Ye Huai unbuckled his seatbelt and lunged straight toward him.

Yuan Xingzhou was startled and instinctively tried to shrink back, but Ye Huai was too fast. His arm reached out and hooked around Yuan Xingzhou’s shoulder, pulling him into a full embrace.

“What are you doing?” Yuan Xingzhou’s head buzzed, and he instinctively struggled.

Ye Huai was very dissatisfied. “Stop moving. Let me smell!”

With his entire shoulder held fast, Yuan Xingzhou couldn’t break free and could only tilt his head away with effort.

“Smell what? What is there to smell?” Yuan Xingzhou said, exasperated. “We’re already home, Great Master!”

Ye Huai insisted stubbornly, “I haven’t smelled it yet!”

Yuan Xingzhou: “I’ve sprayed perfume! How could you possibly smell anything else!”

He felt his logic was sound, but Ye Huai wasn’t listening to his chatter. While he was talking, the man moved in even closer, burying his head in the side of Yuan Xingzhou’s neck, his nose sniffing forcefully back and forth.

Hot breath puffed against his ear, and the skin of his neck was periodically grazed by the tip of the man’s nose. Knowing he couldn’t reason with a drunkard, Yuan Xingzhou closed his eyes in despair. He thought, This is too much torture. If I had known Ye Huai would be like this when drunk, I would have been the one drinking.

Was the after-effect of goat-milk wine really this strong?

His mind was a mess. He could only swallow hard, trying to control his own ragged breathing.

However, in the next second, Ye Huai suddenly opened his mouth and, without any warning, bit down lightly on the side of his neck.

Yuan Xingzhou was completely unprepared. He felt as if he had been struck by an electric current, and his body trembled with a sudden numbness. By the time he regained his senses a moment later, Ye Huai still hadn’t let go, and his own face was already flushed deep red.

“That’s enough,” Yuan Xingzhou said, his voice husky and a bit irritable. “Get off me, quickly…”

“That’s enough!” A security guard outside suddenly rapped on the car window and scolded almost simultaneously, “If you two have business, go home and settle it! If you act like this in public, I’m calling the police!”