Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun had been chilling at the “Zero” bar for a few hours and didn’t return to the hotel until 11 PM.

There was no bathroom in the bar, and Zuo Qiu, feeling sticky all over from not having showered, quickly walked towards the hotel as soon as he got out of the car. Xiao Baijun thought they had been too rough earlier and that Zuo Qiu was angry with him, so he kept chasing after him.

“Don’t be angry. I’ll help you clean it all out later, absolutely nothing left.” Once in the elevator, even though they were the only two people there, Xiao Baijun didn’t dare to be too forward. He just leaned in and coaxed Zuo Qiu, without any other physical contact.

The two had fooled around twice at the bar. The last time, Xiao Baijun couldn’t hold back and hadn’t used any protection, which was why Zuo Qiu was feeling very uncomfortable now.

Zuo Qiu ignored him. The moment the elevator door opened, he immediately stepped out and quickly ran towards his room, pulling out his key card to swipe the door as soon as he reached it.

Xiao Baijun arrived just then, placing both hands on Zuo Qiu’s shoulders and whispering softly, “I was wrong, I was wrong, I won’t dare to do it again.”

The door opened with a “beep.” As Zuo Qiu walked inside, he said, “Your words have zero credibility. You said you’d only do it once, but you couldn’t control yourself.”

Xiao Baijun rubbed his nose, took a step inside the door, grabbed Zuo Qiu’s hand, and his tone was slightly pleading, “I really was wrong…”

Just as Zuo Qiu was about to say something to the adorable Xiao Er, a familiar female voice came from behind them.

“Jun-jun?”

The tone carried the disbelief that follows a shock.

Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun turned their heads simultaneously upon hearing the voice. Xiao Baijun was relatively calm, but Zuo Qiu was instantly dumbfounded. Realizing that the person opposite was staring at their joined hands, Zuo Qiu forcefully shook off Xiao Baijun’s grip.

Seeing Zuo Qiu startled, Xiao Baijun looked helplessly at the room across the hall, “Grandma, Mom, when did you arrive?”

…

Five minutes later, Zuo Qiu sat in front of Yin Qiushui and He Can, unable to lift his head.

Xiao Baijun leaned back on the sofa in the room. Although this moment came very suddenly, he was not afraid.

The two elders hadn’t yet recovered from the shocking discovery. Ever since Jun-jun re-entered the film crew, Yin Qiushui had been clamoring to visit the set. As the weather had recently turned cooler, He Can couldn’t say no to her mother-in-law and brought her along. Before setting off, she had originally wanted to greet her son first, but her mother-in-law acted like a child, insisting on coming to surprise her grandson. After asking Zhao Zhixian for his room number, she had planned to book the room across from Jun-jun’s, but the front desk said it had been long-term reserved. Thus, she had to settle for the empty room opposite Zuo Qiu’s room.

Everything had been meticulously planned, but in the end, there was no pleasant surprise, only shock.

A few days ago, there were news articles online about her son and Zuo Qiu. He Can didn’t believe it at all and even told the story to her mother-in-law as a joke. At the time, her mother-in-law even said that if Zuo Qiu were a girl, she would immediately have Xiao Baijun marry him. Now, He Can looked at Yin Qiushui. Her usually cheerful mother-in-law had a stern face, intimidating without even getting angry. This made He Can feel as if she was seeing the formidable businesswoman who dominated B City thirty years ago.

“What is going on with the two of you?”

Yin Qiushui’s rare authoritative voice made Zuo Qiu flinch. Although there was nothing wrong with two people in love being together, at this moment, Zuo Qiu’s heart still uncontrollably felt timid—after all, it was he who had “stolen” Grandma Yin’s grandson.

Xiao Baijun: “It’s exactly what you see. Zuo Qiu and I are together.”

Yin Qiushui asked again, “Have you thought this through?”

“We are both adults, and we will take responsibility for our actions.”

Yin Qiushui glanced at her determined grandson, then at the silent, head-bowed Zuo Qiu, and sighed.

“You two may leave.”

Without another word, Xiao Baijun grabbed Zuo Qiu and walked out the door.

Outside the room, Zuo Qiu asked Xiao Baijun uneasily, “What does your grandma mean by that?”

She neither accepted nor rejected it; her ambiguous attitude made it impossible to guess.

Xiao Baijun patted Zuo Qiu’s shoulder to comfort him, “It’s fine. You go back to your room and take a shower first. I won’t be coming over tonight.”

Zuo Qiu naturally knew it wasn’t appropriate for them to be too conspicuous right now. He nodded and went into his room. His performance just now was too poor. Zuo Qiu cheered himself up: I must think hard about how to win over Xiao Baijun’s grandma and mother!

After Zuo Qiu entered his room, Xiao Baijun didn’t return to his own room. Instead, he re-entered the door they had just exited.

Yin Qiushui was not surprised to see her grandson return. She sat on the sofa, her gaze deep.

Xiao Baijun walked up to Yin Qiushui and immediately knelt down without saying a word.

“Grandma, I know it’s hard for you to accept this right away. I understand and empathize. To be honest, when I suddenly realized I was in love with Zuo Qiu and couldn’t pull myself away, I also couldn’t accept myself. I spent half a year trying to get over him, and during that time, I selfishly dated two girlfriends to verify my orientation.”

“I struggled, but it was all in vain. During that time, I was very unhappy. I couldn’t sleep or eat well, and my heart was restless.”

“It wasn’t until I shamelessly pursued and won Zuo Qiu that I found meaning in life. I love him; I can’t live without him.”

He Can listened to her son describe his half-year of unhappiness, and tears instantly fell. Although she had two sons, she secretly doted more on this naughty, unacademic younger son. Compared to her eldest son, for whom she had high expectations, her demands for her younger son were simple: as long as he was healthy and happy, that was enough. Even if he had no survival skills, it didn’t matter; she and her husband would plan more for him.

But it turned out that even such a low requirement, she failed to realize for her son. Moreover, she hadn’t noticed at all when her son was lonely and lost. At this moment, He Can felt very guilty, so much so that she quickly accepted the existence of Zuo Qiu as her son’s lifelong partner from the bottom of her heart.

Yin Qiushui was also deeply moved by these words, but she considered more than He Can.

“Do you know what the consequences would be if your relationship were known to the outside world? Especially since you are both public figures now. The more attention you receive now, the more insults and boycotts you will face later.”

The attention of a celebrity has always been a double-edged sword: it can elevate you to the heavens or trample you into the abyss.

Xiao Baijun nodded, “I know.”

Yin Qiushui looked at the determination in her grandson’s eyes and instantly understood the meaning of her elder grandson’s “unintentional” remark in her ear once, “Jun-jun has been learning management lately.” It seemed he had started preparing for this a long time ago.

Xiao Baijun met Yin Qiushui’s sharp eyes without showing any fear.

He Can watched the confrontation between her mother-in-law and son, contemplating how to convince her mother-in-law.

Before He Can could speak, Yin Qiushui told him to get up, “You can stand up now.”

Having been kneeling for a while, Xiao Baijun stumbled slightly as he got up.

“Since you’ve made up your mind, then be prepared to have no children to look after you in your old age.”

Upon hearing his grandmother say this, Xiao Baijun knew she had consented to his relationship with Zuo Qiu, so he grinned and made a joke.

“That’s not necessarily true. I’ve decided to raise two Huskies with Zuo Qiu and then go to T Country with him to find a surrogate mother for two children. When I think about it that way, the entourage for my final years will be quite spectacular.”

Yin Qiushui laughed upon hearing this. Although the person who mentioned “final years” was her, hearing these words from her grandson’s mouth felt extremely jarring. So she scolded, “You’re just a kid, don’t talk nonsense!”

Xiao Baijun took advantage of the momentum, quickly sat beside Yin Qiushui, and put his arm around her shoulder, saying, “As you command, Great Empress Dowager, your grandson will never say such things again.”

Yin Qiushui patted his hand, “Treat Xiao Qiu well from now on. He’s a good child.”

Because of what Xiao Baijun had said earlier, coupled with the cheeky remarks he made at the door, Yin Qiushui had inwardly concluded that Xiao Baijun was the one who had relentlessly pursued Zuo Qiu, “turning him gay” and forcing him to be with him. Therefore, she felt a little guilty towards Zuo Qiu.

Xiao Baijun didn’t over-explain, readily promising, “I will be good to him, and only to him, for a lifetime.”

…

At one AM, just as Zuo Qiu was still tossing and turning, he suddenly heard movement from the balcony. He looked up and saw Xiao Baijun push open the hidden door and enter his room, walking straight to his bed, lifting the duvet, and sliding in.

Zuo Qiu let Xiao Baijun hold him and asked, “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming over to sleep?”

Xiao Baijun buried his face in Zuo Qiu’s neck, taking a deep breath of his scent. His troubled heart finally settled down.

“My exact words were, ‘I won’t be coming over tonight,’ but now it’s already the next day, isn’t it? Besides, if I really didn’t come, you’d be up all night.”

Zuo Qiu didn’t deny it. He had grown used to sleeping together these days, and the sudden appearance of his grandmother and mother earlier had made him very uneasy, so he really couldn’t sleep. Now that Xiao Baijun was back, with the familiar scent around him, Zuo Qiu felt genuinely sleepy.

“Mmm, you’re right,” Zuo Qiu snuggled closer into Xiao Baijun’s arms. “I want to sleep.” He had to get up early tomorrow morning!

Xiao Baijun held Zuo Qiu tightly and slowly drifted off to sleep as well.

…

The next day, Xiao Baijun was woken up by his alarm. He blindly felt around the spot next to him and realized Zuo Qiu was no longer in bed. After getting up and looking around, he found Zuo Qiu making breakfast in his own room.

“Why are you making so much?”

On the table sat a large pot of porridge, a plate of pickles, a plate of stir-fried baby greens, a large platter of fried noodles, and Zuo Qiu was currently deep-frying strips of steamed buns. This lavish breakfast was more than enough for three people!

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Xiao Baijun reached out to sneak a piece of golden-fried steamed bun, but Zuo Qiu smacked his hand away.

“Go brush your teeth first!”

Xiao Baijun swallowed and obediently turned to brush his teeth. While shaving in front of the mirror, Xiao Baijun suddenly had an epiphany and smiled.

So, someone got up early to be busy, preparing to use his culinary skills to show off his “good wife and loving mother” qualities, and coincidentally win over hearts!