When Lin Shuqiu answered Xia Wennan’s phone call, he sounded floored. “A concert? Li Xin’s concert?”
Worried that Lin Shuqiu might refuse to go, Xia Wennan said, “Yeah. He’s an omega star who’s been really popular recently. He’s good-looking, and he’s great at singing too.”
“I know!” Li Shuqiu’s excitement was audible over the phone. “I’m a big fan of his!”
“……”
“He’s so cute!” Lin Shuqiu’s fervour had yet to recede. “And his new song Everyday is a Sweet New Day is super nice!”
“…really.”
Lin Shuqiu then asked, “Is it the Saturday concert?”
“Yes,” replied Xia Wennan.
“All right, I’ll find someone to swap shifts with me,” said Lin Shuqiu. “I’ll definitely be on time this Saturday!”
“That’s great.”
On Saturday afternoon, Xia Wennan clocked out and left the company right on the dot, taking a taxi to the vicinity of Li Xin’s concert venue, where he met up with Lin Shuqiu and stopped for dinner nearby.
The restaurant was within a spitting distance away from the venue; there was over half an hour before the concert began, but they noticed that droves of young men and women had already congregated in the area. The majority of them were betas, and they were all holding support kits as they chatted and took pictures with each other in high spirits.
Lin Shuqiu was similarly elated. During the meal, he kept prattling on about the idol drama Li Xin starred in as well as his newly released song.
Seeing how thrilled Lin Shuqiu was, Xia Wennan said, “I had dinner with Li Xin some time ago. If I’d known that you were his fan, I would’ve invited you.”
Lin Shuqiu adjusted his glasses, his eyes widening. “Really?”
“Yeah, he’s the spokesperson for Ming Yan’s new fall products,” said Xia Wennan.
Hearing this, Lin Shuqiu inquired, “Did you go with Ming Luchuan?”
Xia Wennan nodded.
“Your relationship seems pretty good these days?”
“We’re okay,” said Xia Wennan.
“Have you remembered anything?”
“Actually, I can’t say that I’ve remembered something, exactly,” said Xia Wennan. “But there’s definitely been some progress.” He then proceeded to tell Lin Shuqiu about what happened on the night he visited the old lab.
Lin Shuqiu nodded and said, “Progress is always good. You should come by the hospital for your scheduled therapy sessions as soon as you can though.”
Xia Wennan had been too caught up in work recently. He’d postponed his therapy sessions twice already, and Lin Shuqiu clearly disapproved.
“I’ll go once I’m less busy,” Xia Wennan said with a smile.
Lin Shuqiu shook his head. “You have the time to go to a concert.”
Xia Wennan suddenly whispered, “I didn’t actually come here to watch the show.”
“Eh?” Lin Shuqiu was taken aback.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Xia Wennan.
They entered the venue through the VIP passage, so they didn’t have to waste time queuing. The VIP seats were quite near to the stage; they looked for their seat number, and when they located them in the second row, Lin Shuqiu couldn’t resist pulling out his phone and snapping a picture, which he then posted to his WeChat Moments.
There were around twenty or so minutes before the concert was due to start, yet most of the seats around them were still vacant.
After posting to his Moments, Lin Shuqiu refreshed the comments, then stored his phone and turned to Xia Wennan, asking, “Earlier, when you said that you didn’t come to watch the show—what did you mean?”
Xia Wennan whispered, “Have you ever heard of Lu Wenxing?”
“Of course,” said Lin Shuqiu. “‘Heavenly King’ Lu. It’s been quite a long time since he appeared on the big screen though.”
Xia Wennan continued, “Then do you know Ming Qin?”
At this, Lin Shuqiu was momentarily confused, and he eventually shook his head.
“Ming Qin is Ming Luchuan’s omega dad and the founder of Ming Yan. He’s the one who created Ming Yan’s first perfume line.”
Lin Shuqiu genuinely had no clue what Xia Wennan was going on about, but he listened intently and gave a nod.
“There are rumours on the internet that say that Lu Wenxing and Ming Qin were involved, back in the day,” Xia Wennan continued. “And that’s how Ming Luchuan came to be.”
Lin Shuqiu’s expression instantly morphed into shock. “Really?”
Xia Wennan said, “None of this is a secret, you can find detailed gossip posts about Ming Qin’s past on the internet.”
Lin Shuqiu said, “I had no idea…”
Xia Wennan inwardly thought, it’s normal for you to not know. He patted Lin Shuqiu’s shoulder and asked, “Do you think Ming Luchuan and Lu Wenxing look alike?”
Lin Shuqiu contemplated his answer with a serious look on his face, and after a while, he said, “Now that you mention it, they do look alike, sort of.”
Xia Wennan gazed intently at the presently empty stage and softly hummed in assent.
“But what’s that got to do with Li Xin?” asked Lin Shuqiu.
Xia Wennan moved closer to Lin Shuqiu’s ear and lowered his voice. “What I’m going to tell you next can’t be found on the internet, so don’t tell a soul.”
Lin Shuqiu promptly nodded.
Xia Wennan said, “Lu Wenxing and Li Xin are having a fling.”
After that day, Xia Wennan checked the internet yet failed to find any scandals concerning Lu Wenxing and Li Xin. The only recent news that mentioned their names together was of Li Xin taking part in a movie. The director of that movie came from an acting background, and was also a good friend of Lu Wenxing’s, so the movie had invited Lu Wenxing, who had long vanished from public view, to make a guest appearance.
Lin Shuqiu looked a little like he’d received a huge blow. It was only after some time did he dazedly say, “Isn’t Lu Wenxing married?”
“Would an alpha like Lu Wenxing, who wouldn’t even take responsibility for his kid, stay faithful to a marriage?” said Xia Wennan.
Lin Shuqiu looked towards the stage. The concert hadn’t started yet, but the big screens on the sides of the stage were showing Li Xin’s MV and drama trailers. It was a long while before he spoke, “I thought Xinxin was the innocent type.”
When Xia Wennan heard the disappointment in his tone, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
At this time, the lights in the venue suddenly dimmed, signalling that the concert was about to begin. The entire arena erupted in excited cheers, and the seats around them were slowly filled.
White fireworks erupted along the edge of the stage, followed closely by Li Xin and his backup dancers’ appearance, slowly rising from below the stage. With the intense beat of the music bursting to life, the concert officially began.
Xia Wennan couldn’t say a word to Lin Shuqiu. Since their seats were near the stage, they were also near the sound system, and with the vivid and intense music continually pummelling their eardrums, they were deaf to anything else. If they really wanted to communicate with one another, they would have to yell directly into the other’s ear.
Lin Shuqiu had a light stick in his hands, which he’d brought when they entered the venue. Now, he was waving it dispiritedly. He truly had been a fan of Li Xin.
Midway through the first song, Xia Wennan spotted a lofty figure entering the venue and sitting in the first row, which was closest to the stage. His seat was incidentally diagonally across from Xia Wennan’s.
The man wore a cap, the brim pushed low to conceal half his face, but from his figure, it was glaringly obvious that the man was an alpha.
When the stage lighting illuminated his face, Xia Wennan saw that the lower half of his face that wasn’t obscured by the cap was near-identical to Ming Luchuan’s—which meant that this alpha was none other than Lu Wenxing.
When the music cut off and Li Xin completed the performance of his first song, he grabbed a microphone and started expressing his thanks to today’s audience.
Lin Shuqiu shifted closer to Xia Wennan’s ear and asked in a volume that only the two of them could hear, “Is Lu Wenxing here tonight?”
Xia Wennan nodded as he stared at Lu Wenxing’s back.
“What are you going to do once you find him?” Lin Shuqiu asked again.
This question made Xia Wennan subconsciously furrow his brows. He shifted his gaze away from Lu Wenxin’s back and looked up at the sky over the open-air stadium.
From the day he first laid his eyes on Lu Wenxing, he was compelled to seek the man out—but he had no idea what it was he wanted to do if he were to ever meet him. Ming Luchuan didn’t even acknowledge this father of his, so… if Xia Wennan found him, what would he ask him then? ‘Did you know that you have a child?’ What then? Lu Wenxin definitely knew—even passersby on gossip forums knew, didn’t they?
One was a son who had no want for a dad. One was a dad who had no want for a son. Why was he, an outsider, getting himself involved?
But he was here anyway. Sitting behind Lu Wenxing, he stretched out a hand and formed the shape of a gun with his fingers, pointing it at Lu Wenxin’s back from a distance as if to say, ‘don’t move!’. However, he had no answer for Lin Shuqiu’s question, and could only say, “I want to throw an egg at his head.”
When Lin Shuqiu answered Xia Wennan’s phone call, he sounded floored. “A concert? Li Xin’s concert?”
Worried that Lin Shuqiu might refuse to go, Xia Wennan said, “Yeah. He’s an omega star who’s been really popular recently. He’s good-looking, and he’s great at singing too.”
“I know!” Li Shuqiu’s excitement was audible over the phone. “I’m a big fan of his!”
“……”
“He’s so cute!” Lin Shuqiu’s fervour had yet to recede. “And his new song Everyday is a Sweet New Day is super nice!”
“…really.”
Lin Shuqiu then asked, “Is it the Saturday concert?”
“Yes,” replied Xia Wennan.
“All right, I’ll find someone to swap shifts with me,” said Lin Shuqiu. “I’ll definitely be on time this Saturday!”
“That’s great.”
On Saturday afternoon, Xia Wennan clocked out and left the company right on the dot, taking a taxi to the vicinity of Li Xin’s concert venue, where he met up with Lin Shuqiu and stopped for dinner nearby.
The restaurant was within a spitting distance away from the venue; there was over half an hour before the concert began, but they noticed that droves of young men and women had already congregated in the area. The majority of them were betas, and they were all holding support kits as they chatted and took pictures with each other in high spirits.
Lin Shuqiu was similarly elated. During the meal, he kept prattling on about the idol drama Li Xin starred in as well as his newly released song.
Seeing how thrilled Lin Shuqiu was, Xia Wennan said, “I had dinner with Li Xin some time ago. If I’d known that you were his fan, I would’ve invited you.”
Lin Shuqiu adjusted his glasses, his eyes widening. “Really?”
“Yeah, he’s the spokesperson for Ming Yan’s new fall products,” said Xia Wennan.
Hearing this, Lin Shuqiu inquired, “Did you go with Ming Luchuan?”
Xia Wennan nodded.
“Your relationship seems pretty good these days?”
“We’re okay,” said Xia Wennan.
“Have you remembered anything?”
“Actually, I can’t say that I’ve remembered something, exactly,” said Xia Wennan. “But there’s definitely been some progress.” He then proceeded to tell Lin Shuqiu about what happened on the night he visited the old lab.
Lin Shuqiu nodded and said, “Progress is always good. You should come by the hospital for your scheduled therapy sessions as soon as you can though.”
Xia Wennan had been too caught up in work recently. He’d postponed his therapy sessions twice already, and Lin Shuqiu clearly disapproved.
“I’ll go once I’m less busy,” Xia Wennan said with a smile.
Lin Shuqiu shook his head. “You have the time to go to a concert.”
Xia Wennan suddenly whispered, “I didn’t actually come here to watch the show.”
“Eh?” Lin Shuqiu was taken aback.
“I’ll tell you later,” said Xia Wennan.
They entered the venue through the VIP passage, so they didn’t have to waste time queuing. The VIP seats were quite near to the stage; they looked for their seat number, and when they located them in the second row, Lin Shuqiu couldn’t resist pulling out his phone and snapping a picture, which he then posted to his WeChat Moments.
There were around twenty or so minutes before the concert was due to start, yet most of the seats around them were still vacant.
After posting to his Moments, Lin Shuqiu refreshed the comments, then stored his phone and turned to Xia Wennan, asking, “Earlier, when you said that you didn’t come to watch the show—what did you mean?”
Xia Wennan whispered, “Have you ever heard of Lu Wenxing?”
“Of course,” said Lin Shuqiu. “‘Heavenly King’ Lu. It’s been quite a long time since he appeared on the big screen though.”
Xia Wennan continued, “Then do you know Ming Qin?”
At this, Lin Shuqiu was momentarily confused, and he eventually shook his head.
“Ming Qin is Ming Luchuan’s omega dad and the founder of Ming Yan. He’s the one who created Ming Yan’s first perfume line.”
Lin Shuqiu genuinely had no clue what Xia Wennan was going on about, but he listened intently and gave a nod.
“There are rumours on the internet that say that Lu Wenxing and Ming Qin were involved, back in the day,” Xia Wennan continued. “And that’s how Ming Luchuan came to be.”
Lin Shuqiu’s expression instantly morphed into shock. “Really?”
Xia Wennan said, “None of this is a secret, you can find detailed gossip posts about Ming Qin’s past on the internet.”
Lin Shuqiu said, “I had no idea…”
Xia Wennan inwardly thought, it’s normal for you to not know. He patted Lin Shuqiu’s shoulder and asked, “Do you think Ming Luchuan and Lu Wenxing look alike?”
Lin Shuqiu contemplated his answer with a serious look on his face, and after a while, he said, “Now that you mention it, they do look alike, sort of.”
Xia Wennan gazed intently at the presently empty stage and softly hummed in assent.
“But what’s that got to do with Li Xin?” asked Lin Shuqiu.
Xia Wennan moved closer to Lin Shuqiu’s ear and lowered his voice. “What I’m going to tell you next can’t be found on the internet, so don’t tell a soul.”
Lin Shuqiu promptly nodded.
Xia Wennan said, “Lu Wenxing and Li Xin are having a fling.”
After that day, Xia Wennan checked the internet yet failed to find any scandals concerning Lu Wenxing and Li Xin. The only recent news that mentioned their names together was of Li Xin taking part in a movie. The director of that movie came from an acting background, and was also a good friend of Lu Wenxing’s, so the movie had invited Lu Wenxing, who had long vanished from public view, to make a guest appearance.
Lin Shuqiu looked a little like he’d received a huge blow. It was only after some time did he dazedly say, “Isn’t Lu Wenxing married?”
“Would an alpha like Lu Wenxing, who wouldn’t even take responsibility for his kid, stay faithful to a marriage?” said Xia Wennan.
Lin Shuqiu looked towards the stage. The concert hadn’t started yet, but the big screens on the sides of the stage were showing Li Xin’s MV and drama trailers. It was a long while before he spoke, “I thought Xinxin was the innocent type.”
When Xia Wennan heard the disappointment in his tone, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
At this time, the lights in the venue suddenly dimmed, signalling that the concert was about to begin. The entire arena erupted in excited cheers, and the seats around them were slowly filled.
White fireworks erupted along the edge of the stage, followed closely by Li Xin and his backup dancers’ appearance, slowly rising from below the stage. With the intense beat of the music bursting to life, the concert officially began.
Xia Wennan couldn’t say a word to Lin Shuqiu. Since their seats were near the stage, they were also near the sound system, and with the vivid and intense music continually pummelling their eardrums, they were deaf to anything else. If they really wanted to communicate with one another, they would have to yell directly into the other’s ear.
Lin Shuqiu had a light stick in his hands, which he’d brought when they entered the venue. Now, he was waving it dispiritedly. He truly had been a fan of Li Xin.
Midway through the first song, Xia Wennan spotted a lofty figure entering the venue and sitting in the first row, which was closest to the stage. His seat was incidentally diagonally across from Xia Wennan’s.
The man wore a cap, the brim pushed low to conceal half his face, but from his figure, it was glaringly obvious that the man was an alpha.
When the stage lighting illuminated his face, Xia Wennan saw that the lower half of his face that wasn’t obscured by the cap was near-identical to Ming Luchuan’s—which meant that this alpha was none other than Lu Wenxing.
When the music cut off and Li Xin completed the performance of his first song, he grabbed a microphone and started expressing his thanks to today’s audience.
Lin Shuqiu shifted closer to Xia Wennan’s ear and asked in a volume that only the two of them could hear, “Is Lu Wenxing here tonight?”
Xia Wennan nodded as he stared at Lu Wenxing’s back.
“What are you going to do once you find him?” Lin Shuqiu asked again.
This question made Xia Wennan subconsciously furrow his brows. He shifted his gaze away from Lu Wenxin’s back and looked up at the sky over the open-air stadium.
From the day he first laid his eyes on Lu Wenxing, he was compelled to seek the man out—but he had no idea what it was he wanted to do if he were to ever meet him. Ming Luchuan didn’t even acknowledge this father of his, so… if Xia Wennan found him, what would he ask him then? ‘Did you know that you have a child?’ What then? Lu Wenxin definitely knew—even passersby on gossip forums knew, didn’t they?
One was a son who had no want for a dad. One was a dad who had no want for a son. Why was he, an outsider, getting himself involved?
But he was here anyway. Sitting behind Lu Wenxing, he stretched out a hand and formed the shape of a gun with his fingers, pointing it at Lu Wenxin’s back from a distance as if to say, ‘don’t move!’. However, he had no answer for Lin Shuqiu’s question, and could only say, “I want to throw an egg at his head.”
