Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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That night, Xue Jue did nothing but sit in front of the computer and read Qiao Yang’s Weibo over and over again.
Despite Xiao Zhao’s careless appearance, he was actually very thoughtful. After Xue Jue asked him about Qiao Yang, he immediately compiled all Qiao Yang’s information into a document after finishing his work and sent it to Xue Jue’s mailbox.
So Xue Jue checked Weibo and checked his email. When he finally read through everything, the clock on the wall had already moved towards eleven o’clock at night.
At this time, the sky outside the floor-to-ceiling window had turned into a dark deep blue, with no starlight visible, and a pale crescent moon hung far away on the horizon.
Xue Jue sat silently in front of the computer, his eyes seemingly swollen from watching. He sighed and slowly leaned back on the seat, put his right hand on his forehead, and gently rubbed his eyebrows.
There were no lights on in the room, and he was in dim darkness. Only the computer screen in front of him emitted a faint blue fluorescent light. Xue Jue did not rush to turn on the lights but fumbled for the cigarettes and lighters placed in the drawer.
Clicked slowly.
Took a deep breath.
Then he exhaled smoke.
Xue Jue didn’t like smoking, but he always kept cigarettes and lighters in his study and office for backup. He had a lot of worries, and sometimes smoking could indeed relieve anxiety.
He just wanted to throw all his worries into the smoke and watch them disappear.
Unfortunately, Xue Jue still didn’t feel better until the cigarette burned to the end. All he could think of was the intimate photo of Qiao Yang and Zu Qi.
He suddenly remembered what Director Wang said, and suddenly he didn’t understand whether he was right or wrong to do those things he secretly said. Even though he and Zu Qi had expressed their feelings to each other, he still felt vaguely uneasy in his heart.
He didn’t know if he was thinking too much, but he always felt that his future life did not seem to be developing in the right direction, and unknowingly, it had deviated from the direction.
Xue Jue sighed and put out the burned cigarette butt in the ashtray. In the blink of an eye, he saw the mobile phone lying quietly on the table, and he suddenly remembered that they seemed to not have contacted each other for a while.
Obviously, they would video chat every night before…
Originally, Xue Jue didn’t want to disturb Zu Qi’s work, because he was afraid that just after confirming the relationship, he would give him a bad impression of being clingy.
He was a little hesitant, put his fingertips on his phone and tapped it lightly, and then he caught a glimpse of a photo of the two of them on the computer screen – Qiao Yang was holding Zu Qi’s shoulder affectionately with his right hand, their heads next to each other, both facing the camera and showing a bright smile.
“…”
Xue Jue’s hands clenched into fists instantly, the corners of his mouth collapsed into a straight line without the slightest arc, and a cold color appeared in his eyes.
He had to admit that those group photos were really eye-catching. He even had an inexplicable urge to fly to Qiao Yang and order him to delete the photos.
Thinking of this, Xue Jue no longer hesitated, picked up the phone, stood up and walked to turn on the light in the study while making a quick WeChat video call.
Soon, a beep sounded.
Xue Jue’s heartbeat quickened and he clenched his phone involuntarily. He sat back on the chair, looked down at his face on the screen, and almost subconsciously raised the phone to a 45-degree angle.
He still remembered being teased by Zu Qi because of the angle.
After waiting for a long time, the video was finally connected.
Xue Jue’s face was immediately reduced to the small frame in the upper right corner, and Zu Qi’s profile was replaced on the screen. Zu Qi’s brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something. He glanced at the camera in his busy schedule and shook his head. He smiled and said, “Good evening. Have you had dinner?”
“I have eaten.” Xue Jue lied, “What about you?”
Zu Qi said, “I ate already. I finished work early today, so I came back to take care of some things.”
Zu Qi was still typing on the keyboard as he spoke. He picked up the phone and leaned it upright in front of the computer, shining his upper body into it.
“Oh…” Xue Jue followed Zu Qi’s words and continued to ask, “What are you dealing with?”
“Help my friend get a new website.”
Obviously, Zu Qi had no intention of going into details, and Xue Jue was too embarrassed to ask shamelessly, he just silently looked at Zu Qi’s focused expression on the screen, and suddenly couldn’t help himself from starting to think wildly.
Which friend was Zu Qi talking about?
Xiao Dengzi?
Duan Kai?
Heng Jingchen?
No, the three of them had careers that didn’t require them to create specific websites.
There was the newly acquainted Qiao Yang…
Xue Jue remembered that the document sent by Xiao Zhao mentioned that Qiao Yang was developing side businesses in many aspects besides acting, not only opening a number of restaurants, but also involving online retail businesses.
Thinking that Zu Qi might be helping Qiao Yang, Xue Jue couldn’t calm down for a while. Although he knew that Zu Qi and Qiao Yang were just ordinary friends, he couldn’t control his wild thoughts at all.
Perhaps this relationship came too easily, and so he began to worry about gains and losses.
He didn’t like Qiao Yang, and he didn’t like Qiao Yang taking up so much of Zu Qi’s time, not to mention that the time should have belonged to him.
Xue Jue was thinking a lot in confusion, but Zu Qi across from him didn’t seem to notice, and was still concentrating on tinkering with the computer. His state lasted until the knock on the door rang.
“Wait a minute, I’ll open the door.” Zu Qi said quickly to the camera, got up and ran away in his slippers.
Xue Jue leaned back in his chair and gently pressed his aching temples twice. He had never been so anxious before. He thought he should take some quiet time alone and manage his emotions.
If this continued, he was afraid he would really rush to the set, take Zu Qi back with all his clothes tied up, and lock him up at home so that no outsider could see him again.
At this moment, Zu Qi returned to the camera.
“You’re back?” Xue Jue said, “Otherwise you’re busy, we’ll video chat another day…”
Before he finished speaking, Xue Jue suddenly heard another person’s voice coming from Zu Qi’s side, and that person’s voice was very familiar.
In just a moment, Xue Jue guessed who the owner of that voice was.
Qiao Yang…
The careless Zu Qi didn’t even notice that Xue Jue’s face had gradually darkened. A bright and flowery smile bloomed on his face, completely devoid of the depression and annoyance he had felt when he was tinkering with the website. He picked up his phone and put it in front of his face.
“My friend is here.” Zu Qi said with a smile. After asking for Qiao Yang’s consent, he switched the video to the rear camera, pointed it at Qiao Yang, and introduced Xue Jue with a smile, “This is Teacher Qiao. The big shot in our crew, he taught me a lot, he is very powerful!”
Speaking of this, Zu Qi’s admiration for Qiao Yang was beyond words, and he couldn’t help but look at Qiao Yang with starry eyes.
“Teacher Qiao’s acting skills are superb!” Zu Qi couldn’t help but add, “No wonder he is the 700 million actor. Compared with a novice like me and Teacher Qiao, there is still a big gap.”
Qiao Yang was praised by Zu Qi’s continuous words of praise which made him want to both laugh and cry, and he was a little embarrassed. So he smiled, waved his hand and said, “Thank you.”
After finishing his words, Qiao Yang said to the camera again, “Mr. Xue, when I heard your name, I didn’t expect that the first time we would meet was on WeChat video.”
Zu Qi turned on the speakerphone, and after a long time, Xue Jue’s hard voice came from the phone: “Hello” and then nothing.
The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.
Now, no matter how slow Zu Qi was, he noticed something was wrong with Xue Jue. He quickly turned the camera back. Before he could speak, he heard Xue Jue calmly say: “You guys can talk, I won’t disturb you.”
“…”
Zu Qi secretly thought that was bad. His intuition told him that Xue Jue, the stingy man, was angry again. But in front of Qiao Yang, he couldn’t ask anything, so he could only grit his teeth and say: “Okay. Let’s go and have a rest…”
Before he finished speaking, Xue Jue simply hung up the video call.
Zu Qi: “…”
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