Chapter 101

Despair

Noticing Song Xu sneaking glances at himself and Xu Chenzhu, Chao Musheng assumed he had reservations about the plan. "Do you have a different idea?"

"No!" Afraid of being misunderstood, Song Xu explained hastily. "I just couldn't stop looking because Mr. Xu and you look so good standing together."

Xu Chenzhu's eyelids flickered. He looked at Chao Musheng.

At that, Chao Musheng's brow went up and he turned his head toward Xu Chenzhu. Their eyes met. Chao Musheng's were full of amusement. "If no one has a different idea — let's move quickly."

"Right." Song Xu, knowing the seriousness of the situation, cinched the belt of his bathrobe, set aside any thought of his image, picked up his phone, and went to knock on the floor below.

Old He walked quietly toward the fire exit, heading upstairs.

"If anyone gives you trouble, say I sent you," Chao Musheng said after him. "If you run into anything you can't handle, come find me downstairs or contact Xiao Juan."

Industry people could be temperamental and difficult — but most of them knew who they couldn't afford to antagonize. Xiao Juan had been near him for the past two days; they'd give her face on his account.

"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Chao." Old He's feelings were tangled in a way he couldn't straighten out. This NPC — he was too considerate, too genuinely kind. He barely resembled a boss at all.

He pushed through the fire exit door and found a player hiding inside.

The player looked up at him, still shaky from the wind, voice rough. "I saw everything. You and the NPC — you betrayed the player organization."

He had watched three players fail to attack the boss, watched their tools become toys.

"Leave now or die here." Old He had no patience for this.

The player went white and hunched his way downstairs at a jog. Can't kill the boss alone. Need to find others.

*

After Chao Musheng's group left, Curly Hair's expression vanished. She looked at the three injured players coldly. When she saw them trying to use the moment to slip away, she cut it off. "When the medical staff come for you, don't resist and don't run. You won't die in hospital."

"What do you mean by that?" The three could hear that she was warning them.

"Exactly what I said." She kept her voice flat. "The people in this instance world are much better at saving lives than they are at ending them."

"Why should we trust you?"

"You don't have to." A short, cold laugh. "But my job is to hand you over to the medical staff. Until you're in an ambulance, I'm not letting you go."

"You're a player too. Why are you doing what the boss tells you?"

The three of them couldn't understand it.

"Because I feel like it. What's it to you?" She lifted her gaze, unhurried. "Don't try to get anything out of me. You're not up to it."

Faced with that, the three players had nothing left to say.

And beyond that — they owed the boss a life. It was hard to say anything against him.

*

"Wind's stopped — into the affected area now!"

The rescuers waiting at the compound gates surged forward the moment the wind died. "Move, move — every second counts!"

Inexplicable arrival. Inexplicable end.

Nobody could be certain the gale wouldn't start again. They couldn't waste time.

Downstairs, the remaining players used the lull to slip into the VIP building.

Once inside, they were afraid to encounter the man who had walked through the gale as though it were nothing. They hid in corners and didn't move.

Nothing in the player group chat. Everyone suspected everyone else of planning to turn them in.

Most of the artists had already left. Few people remained in the VIP building. Chao Musheng knocked on several doors before anyone answered — a Nangua Video executive, looking irritable until he saw who it was.

"Mr. Chao — are you all right after that wind?"

"I'm fine." Chao Musheng noticed the glass in the executive's room had cracked, but strips of tape held it together so it hadn't shattered. "Do you have any injured colleagues? The rescue team will be here very shortly."

"Thank you for asking — let me check with the team right away." The executive, still coming down from shock, turned to find his work phone.

He had taken two steps before he remembered the masked man behind Mr. Chao, and couldn't help turning back to peek at the retreating figures. Who followed Mr. Chao around wearing a mask? An artist?

Though that height, that bearing, that walk — even by entertainment standards, extraordinary. He genuinely couldn't think of an artist who matched.

"This is the last one." Chao Musheng glanced back at Xu Chenzhu with a smile, then knocked.

The door opened promptly. A familiar face.

"Luo Yixuan?" He was surprised. "What are you still doing here?"

At Luo Yixuan's level of popularity, his schedule should have been packed — barely time for sleep. Why was he still in the compound?

"Mr. Chao." Luo Yixuan was pressing his arm. He recognized the man behind Chao Musheng immediately. "Good evening, Mr. Xu."

He lowered his head and didn't look at Chao Musheng. "Mr. Chao — why did you come?"

"You've hurt your arm?" Chao Musheng saw him holding his arm and glanced past him into the room — glass covering the floor, bedsheets in disarray.

"The wind hit while I was catching up on sleep." He smiled. "But I reacted quickly and got flat on the floor into the bathroom."

He took his hand off his arm. Several fine cuts. "These were from moving across the floor in the rush. Nothing serious."

"There's a cut on your face too." Chao Musheng looked carefully — a scratch perhaps three centimetres long across Luo Yixuan's forehead. Not deep. "Where's your manager?"

Luo Yixuan glanced at Xu Chenzhu, and only when the other man seemed uninterested in the question did he answer carefully. "I don't have one at the moment."

That brought it back. Luo Yixuan's contract had been sent to Kunlun entertainment — but the transfer paperwork hadn't been processed. Luo Yixuan was currently unmanaged.

It also meant he'd been sent as a gift — to him. Chao Musheng glanced back at Xu Chenzhu involuntarily.

"Zhaozhao?" Xu Chenzhu took off his mask and gave him a light smile. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." He turned back to Luo Yixuan. "Your room is covered in glass — you can't rest in there properly. Go to Song Xu's room and get the cuts treated first."

"Won't that be an imposition on Song Xu?" Luo Yixuan had no prior relationship with him. Two months ago a brand had dropped Song Xu's endorsement at renewal and picked up Luo Yixuan instead — Song Xu probably didn't have warm feelings toward him.

"You'll be colleagues soon." Chao Musheng bent to pick up a script lying by the door, its pages dense with annotation. "Better to get comfortable with each other now. Less awkward when you end up at events together."

He handed the script back. "Welcome to Kunlun entertainment."

"Mr. Chao!" Luo Yixuan's eyes lit with something vivid and deep. "I'm signing with Kunlun?"

These past two days there had been rumors online that Mr. Chao was keeping him. His manager had also walked away.

When he'd seen the gossip about Mr. Chao and Xu Chenzhu, he had already prepared himself for Kunlun entertainment to put him on ice indefinitely.

"Mr. Chao — I can still act?" He couldn't contain it.

"Of course." Chao Musheng glanced at the annotated script in his hands. "We're signing you because we want you working — producing return value for Kunlun."

Luo Yixuan's joy subsided the moment he met Xu Chenzhu's eyes. "Mr. Chao — all you did was help me out of a difficult situation. You had nothing to do with anything, and you still got pulled into the gossip because of me. I'm sorry."

"The person who spread the rumors was wrong. The person who harassed you was wrong. You were an innocent victim. What's your fault in any of this?"

"But without me, you wouldn't have been caught up in it."

There were even private whispers that Mr. Chao was developing certain habits at a young age — that it would eventually displease the boss.

He was choosing this moment to apologize deliberately — wanting to explain things to Xu Chenzhu directly, in person: Mr. Chao is not that kind of person.

"Mr. Luo doesn't need to worry." Xu Chenzhu spoke. "Kunlun's legal department will not permit rumors to harm anyone in the company. And most importantly — I trust Zhaozhao's character."

If Zhaozhao had wanted to be reckless, he wouldn't have been waiting with such care until now.

"I see." Luo Yixuan paused, then felt something settle.

The fact that Mr. Chao hadn't suffered for helping him — that was already the best possible outcome.

"Come on." Chao Musheng raised his brow with a smile at Xu Chenzhu, then turned to Luo Yixuan. "I'll walk you to Song Xu's room."

In the moment of turning, he stepped a little closer to Xu Chenzhu's side.

Xu Chenzhu looked at Chao Musheng, now less than twenty centimetres away, and quietly shifted his own footing. The gap between them dropped to ten. One slight lean and their shoulders would touch.

Luo Yixuan walked behind, watching the two of them side by side. When their sleeves brushed, he found himself catching something in it — a warmth so settled it couldn't be entered from the outside.

He watched the sleeves brush and separate, separate and return, and quietly pressed down on what stirred in him.

"Here." Chao Musheng stopped. "Go in and sit — there are three others in there already who need attention."

Xu Chenzhu looked back at Luo Yixuan, then reached out and lightly put his arm around Chao Musheng's shoulder, drawing him a step sideways to let Luo Yixuan pass.

Luo Yixuan's gaze skimmed across Chao Musheng's shoulder. He quickly looked away and kept his eyes down.

*

Hurried footsteps on the stairs — rescue workers arriving.

"Where are the injured?"

"This way." Chao Musheng waved them over.

The medics came in and saw that the three casualties had basic bleeding control in place and exhaled. "Fortunate they were attended to. Their condition is much better than the two downstairs."

"The downstairs casualties are serious?" Chao Musheng was puzzled. The staff injury list his assistant had sent him hadn't indicated anything severe.

"Two people who'd sneaked in as paparazzi." Song Xu, returning from his circuit below, looked slightly unwell. "One had a femoral artery severed by glass, one took a hit to the eye. Both taken away by ambulance."

Paparazzi.

The three players understood — the injured were probably players.

They couldn't make themselves trust the medical workers who had appeared. But they had no chance of escape. In the end, they let the medics help them out of the VIP building.

Downstairs: multiple ambulances, police vehicles, fire engines, civil response vehicles, and responders with equipment moving in every direction — a scene none of them had ever witnessed after an instance disaster.

"Three more out here!"

"Any other injured?"

Looking at the urgency in the responders' faces, the three players went slightly dazed. It had been so long since they'd seen anything like this.

This was an instance world. But somehow this scene gave them the feeling of being back in reality.

Someone helped them into an ambulance. The siren started. Traffic and pedestrians cleared ahead.

It was like—

Like what they remembered of the world they had once lived in.

*

"Zhaozhao — let's go back to the white building and collect your things. You'll stay at my place tonight."

Xu Chenzhu stood in the corridor; his gaze passed across the fire exit.

"All right." Chao Musheng looked at the wreckage around him and sighed. "At least no one was in serious danger."

The player hiding at the fire exit was shaking violently.

That man — the man who could make a player vanish with a glance. He was beside the boss.

How was he here?

*

Because of the risk of a second wave, everyone in the compound had to evacuate. Chao Yin, reached at the restaurant, came back at a run. She didn't even open her own room — she went straight to Chao Musheng's building.

"Sheng-sheng!" She was out of breath, high heels in hand, her carefully dressed hair loose. The moment she saw Chao Musheng coming downstairs she dropped the shoes, grabbed him, and checked him from head to toe. "Are you all right — are you hurt?!"

"Mom — I'm fine, completely fine." He turned in a slow circle so she could see all of him. "Satisfied now?"

She confirmed he was safe, then finally let out all the breath she'd been holding and leaned back against the wall. "Your phone wouldn't go through. I thought—"

When she'd arrived back and seen the compound full of emergency vehicles, her legs had nearly given out. She finally understood why he had called to ask about the weather.

She'd redialed him the entire drive back. Nothing. The workers who'd stayed in the compound were all unreachable too.

"The extreme weather probably disrupted communications." He saw her hands and feet still shaking, saw her bare feet covered in dust, and guided her to the sofa. "Mom — I'll get a basin of water. Let me wash your feet."

"Don't." She caught his hand, palm cold. "Just sit here with me. Don't go anywhere. This isn't safe — I've already arranged for a friend to come get you."

"I..." He looked up toward the upper floor. "Mom — my friend already came for me. Come stay with us tonight."

"Your friend?" She followed his glance toward the stairs. "Who?"

The corridor above was empty.

"Zhaozhao." Xu Chenzhu came down with a bag in one hand, bodyguards behind him. "Everything's packed. When should we tell Auntie Ch—"

"Auntie Chao."

He set the bag down with a bodyguard, walked to the sofa, and bent toward Chao Yin with an extended hand. "Hello. I'm Zhaozhao's friend, Xu Chenzhu."

"Mr. Xu." Chao Yin's brief surprise lasted no more than a moment before her professional composure came back. She rose and shook his hand. "Good evening, Mr. Xu."

"Auntie Chao doesn't need to be so formal with me." He remained slightly bent at the waist. "I'm Zhaozhao's friend — you're Zhaozhao's mother, which makes you my elder. Please, sit."

Friends.

Chao Yin's gaze dropped to the watch still on Chao Musheng's wrist. The jewelry, the watch, the outfit Zhaozhao wore tonight — had Xu Chenzhu prepared all of it?

"Thank you, Mr. Xu." She sat, smoothed the loose hair behind her ears, and gave Chao Musheng a brief significant look.

Chao Musheng immediately went to find a pair of clean slippers and set them by her feet.

"Thank you for taking time out of everything to look after Sheng-sheng." Chao Yin placed her feet into the slippers. "After tonight's events, I need to stay and see to 时光's staff and the remaining artists. I'll trust Sheng-sheng to your care."

"Zhaozhao is my most important friend. Looking after him is something I'm glad to do." Xu Chenzhu took a glass of water from a bodyguard and offered it to Chao Yin. "And it's late — I have a hotel in Linhai. May I suggest putting your staff and the artists there? It would save the trouble of finding accommodation."

Chao Musheng looked up. "You have a hotel in Linhai as well, Mr. Xu?"

"Yes." He nodded. "The facilities and security are solid. Suited for artists."

Chao Musheng moved a step and stood beside Xu Chenzhu. "Mom — the artists and staff have had a frightening night. Xu Chenzhu's hotel would be better than anything else we could find on short notice."

Chao Yin held the glass, turned it in her hands twice, looked at the two of them standing side by side, and after a moment said: "Thank you very much, Mr. Xu. With your help — that's a great relief."

*

Moving this many people at once had the organizers' leads rubbing their temples. The fashion charity event had drawn fans from other cities, and most of the better hotels nearby had few rooms left.

Staff could squeeze together, but the remaining artists and certain distinguished guests couldn't reasonably be expected to do the same.

When they received word from Chao Yin that the accommodation issue was resolved, everyone exhaled.

Then she told them the hotel's name and address, and their eyes nearly left their sockets. That wasn't Kunlun's flagship luxury hotel?

Clearing this many rooms on short notice — what had Chao Yin done for Mr. Chao to deserve this?

"Sheng-sheng — you and Mr. Xu have already done so much." Chao Yin had smoothed her hair back into order; the panic was gone from her face. "What's left, I have to handle myself. Go with Mr. Xu and get some rest."

Her phone had been going constantly. She reached up and touched Chao Musheng's hair with gentle fingers, her expression soft as a March afternoon. "Thank you, Sheng-sheng. You're my pride."

"You're embarrassing me, Mom." His face went slightly red. "Are you really sure you don't need me to stay?"

"Go." A light laugh. She drew her hand back. "If there's genuinely something I can't manage, I'll call you."

"All right." He nodded. "Go on, Mom. Don't worry about me — I'll look after myself."

"Good." She put on her high heels and walked into the night.

Chao Musheng watched her go until she was no longer visible, then turned to Xu Chenzhu. "My mother is incredible."

"She is." Xu Chenzhu agreed.

"You really think so?" He was pleased. "Mr. Xu — thank you. Genuinely, tonight."

"Are you thanking me too?" Xu Chenzhu came down the steps and looked back up at Chao Musheng still standing above him. "Zhaozhao. Let's go."

Chao Musheng jumped down from the steps and stood beside him again. "I'm not thanking you for myself — I'm thanking you on behalf of my mother."

"That's not necessary either." The corner of Xu Chenzhu's mouth lifted. "This is how it should be."

"How it should be?" Chao Musheng laughed. "Oh."

"Yes." Xu Chenzhu took the bag from the bodyguard and held it himself. "How it should be."

They walked side by side, their shadows pooling together under the streetlights.

*

Song Xu, cap pulled low and mask on, was dragging several large cases through the compound grounds with his manager when his feet suddenly stopped.

"Don't move — don't move. We can't keep going."

"What's wrong?" His manager couldn't understand.

"Look who's in front of us." Song Xu hunched his neck, squinted — even in the dark, he immediately recognized the two figures ahead. Chao Musheng. And Xu Chenzhu.

"That's..." His manager stared, lowered his voice. "Mr. Chao!"

The man with Mr. Chao clearly isn't Luo Yixuan.

So Mr. Chao really does have someone on the side — though the build on this one... wait, isn't that silhouette familiar?

"I didn't tell you to look at that." Song Xu's eyes gleamed with pure gossip energy. "Look at who's next to him."

"Is that his boyfriend?" The manager's voice went smaller still. "Does he know about Mr. Chao and Luo Yixuan?"

"Luo Yixuan and Mr. Chao have nothing to do with each other." Song Xu, impatient at the manager's failure to grasp this, said it directly. "The person next to him is Xu Chenzhu. As in, that's Xu Chenzhu. Do you understand?"

Look at those two silhouettes — how well they fit together.

"Oh my—" His manager was stunned. "Xu Chenzhu and Mr. Chao — those two are... a couple?"

"You see it too?" Song Xu finally felt some relief. He'd been sitting on this enormous discovery and the pressure had been immense. "I'm telling you — tonight, in that wind, Xu Chenzhu came all the way here for Mr. Chao. If that's not love, what is?"

The manager stared, speechless for a long moment. "But... isn't Mr. Chao supposed to be interested in Luo Yixuan?"

"Absolutely impossible!" Song Xu said with conviction. "Tonight when Xu Chenzhu stood next to Mr. Chao, Luo Yixuan didn't stand a chance in comparison — he looked like a little squash next to Xu Chenzhu. How could Luo Yixuan possibly match?"

The manager's expression turned to one of complete horror. "Xu-ge — you're shipping Mr. Chao and Xu Chenzhu? Xu-ge, you are a Kunlun artist. What are you doing? This will ruin you!"

"Don't say that — I've spent years watching every kind of calculated scandal in this industry. I would never ship real people." Song Xu rejected the accusation entirely. "I'm telling you — Xu Chenzhu and Mr. Chao are different from any of that. They're real."

The manager's face was a portrait of despair.

It's over. Everyone who ships real people says exactly that.

Song Xu, oh Song Xu. Your acting is ordinary, your head is worse, your rich-young-master persona is long gone, and now you've picked up a shipping habit. What's going to become of you?

Chao Musheng heard faint voices behind him. He turned — Song Xu and his manager.

Remembering how Song Xu had been running between floors all night helping, giving up any thought of his image — he stopped and called back: "Song Xu — what are you talking about? Do you want to come with us?"

"I was saying that Mr. Chao and Xu Chenzhu are definitely—" Song Xu had been earnestly trying to persuade his manager that Xu Chenzhu and Mr. Chao were a couple, and answered on reflex.

The moment he realized what he'd just said, he stood completely still.

His manager, in full despair: "..."

It's over!

If I'd known it would come to this, I never should have signed an artist just for the face.