CH 13

Chapter 13

“Xiao Ruan, do you need to go to the bar tonight?”  Lu Bai asked in the morning, looking at the quite tempting breakfast on the table.

Ruan Jiangjiu pulled out a chair and sat opposite Lu Bai. He was silent for a few seconds before he thought of a good excuse: “The boss has ordered me to take a vacation.”

Lu Bai smiled on the surface while inside, alarm bells rang in his heart – he knew that bastard of a boss was not well-meaning. He was still not thinking about Ruan Jiangjiu’s well-being, the same as the scum who would later go pursue him.

In the original, Ruan Jiangjiu became a canary raised by Lu Bai, but to Lu Bai, he was just a prop to insult Qu Xueyu. Everyone knew that Lu Bai didn’t place much importance on him and barely even cared for him. So after being thrown into the entertainment industry, Ruan Jiangjiu continually attracted the attention of countless scum. His good-looking face, paired with his stubborn personality, made it easily arouse the desire of those who wanted to conquer and abuse. At the same time, he was a great substitute for Qu Xueyu. Those who did not dare to mess with the Qu family or Qu Xueyu, naturally put their thoughts on Ruan Jiangjiu instead, who had no support at all.

Lu Bai sat looking at the young man seated casually in the morning light. He could not let those other things happen. They were almost irrelevant to the story anyway, barely even minor details in the plot, and the original story was a stand-alone, so he should be able to circumvent it.

Ruan Jiangjiu smiled when he noticed Lu Bai’s expression as if he was facing a big enemy, “What’s with this look?”

Lu Bai solemnly replied, “Xiao Ruan, not everyone in this world is as good as you.” That bastard boss definitely has ulterior motives towards Ruan Jiangjiu to give out small favors, but at this time, the not-yet-blackened Ruan Jiangjiu was just a poor college student. One who, despite his disadvantaged background, was very simple and has not experienced the dark side of the real world.

Ruan Jiangjiu: “…”

Ruan Jiangjiu gave a rare “cough” with a guilty conscience, and the tips of his ears turned red. He was not as good as the young man thought – just because of curiosity and a little interest, he acquiesced that the young man regarded him as Ruan Jiangjiu, which was an out-and-out deception.

“Xiao Bai,” Ruan Jiangjiu seriously called Lu Bai’s name and met his eyes: “Actually-“

Lu Bai’s cell phone suddenly buzzed, interrupting Ruan Jiangjiu’s words. Lu Bai showed an apologetic expression to the other party as he picked up the phone.

“Second Uncle?” Lu Bai huffed, “Why are you calling me?”

“Xiao Bai, I need to talk to you this afternoon. Come see me.”

Lu Bai heard the seriousness in the words of his second uncle, who had never been in any kind of proper manner and played with the world. He was shocked and then asked seriously, “Second uncle, just what exactly is the matter?”

“You’ve been photographed by the paparazzi.” Lu Zhi on the other side of the phone answered, “Anyway, you better come over this afternoon.”

Although he did not understand the implications of his second uncle’s words, Lu Bai still said, “Okay…?”.

“What’s wrong?” Ruan Jiangjiu asked, seeing Lu Bai put down the phone with a somewhat strange expression. 

Lu Bai twitched his lips: “I’m not really sure.” This was the truth, if his second uncle had not called him by name, he would have wondered if the other party had been drinking too much and had mistaken him for one of his company’s starlets. This kind of creature, paparazzi, has nothing to do with a fellow like Lu Bai who has no interest in the entertainment industry.

Ruan Jiangjiu had heard Lu Bai call the other ‘second uncle’. Lu Bai’s second uncle was Lu Zhi, a rather unrestrained and rebellious man who was simply not interested in the Lu family business. He only loves good-looking beauties, so he simply opened a film and television company to enjoy a variety of flowers. For the past two years, he has flourished, bringing out many talented individuals.

Ruan Jiangjiu furrowed his eyebrows slightly, he just faintly heard the word paparazzi. Was it because of him? While he asked his grandfather for help so that he wouldn’t be disturbed by the paparazzi during this time, it was inevitable that some things would slip through the cracks. In any case, he should find someone to confirm the situation later; he can’t bring trouble to Lu Bai because his identity is exposed.

“It’s probably nothing,” looking at Ruan Jianjiu’s somewhat pensive face, Lu Bai smiled, and a small dimple appeared in the corner of his mouth: “My second uncle just wants to see me later.”

Ruan Jiangjiu remembered Lu Zhi’s personality and nodded. According to Lu Zhi’s protective and ruthless character, Lu Bai will not suffer any losses.

~~~That Afternoon~~~

Lu Bai sat on the sofa in Lu Zhi’s office, receiving his Uncle Lu Zhi’s merciless treatment.

“You kid, you really have grown up, ah.” Lu Zhi chewed out the words while rubbing his nephew’s hair into a bird’s nest before relenting. Lu Bai could not easily escape from his clutches and huffed, the corners of his mouth twitching, “Second Uncle, what the hell happened?”

Lu Zhi gave a cold snort, “I told you. Your picture was taken by the paparazzi.”

Lu Bai: “What are the paparazzi doing photographing me?”

Lu Zhi showed a bright fake smile towards Lu Bai, grinding his teeth: “To photograph you hiding your big secret from your family, you raising a wild man outside, ah.”

Lu Bai’s eyes widened: “???” What kind of mysterious development is this? Even if he had wanted to raise, he had not done so yet! Besides, what wild man! That’s a fashionable canary!

“Stop trying to play tricks with your second uncle,” Lu Zhi took out a stack of photos from his drawer, and with a cold snort, remarked, “Take a look.”

Lu Bai’s throat twitched as he hastily picked up those photos, one by one, flipping through to the end, his eyes widened. These were all photos of him and Ruan Jiangjiu! From the time Ruan Jiangjiu rubbed his hair to when he followed Ruan Jiangjiu home. When he walked down the alley last night, Ruan Jiangjiu knew he was afraid of the dark, so he took his wrist. At the time, he didn’t think it was appropriate, but the feeling of being in contact with anyone in the cramped, scary darkness was too good to refuse.

The photos showed his face clearly, and Ruan Jiangjiu’s face was blurred instead.

“Second uncle,” Lu Bai said, “If I said I just went to sleep at Xiao Ruan’s house, would you believe me?”

Lu Zhi huffed a laugh: “Apart from sleeping, what else were you going to do? Play something more exciting?”

Lu Bai was stunned, then he reacted and said, “Not that sleep! Just pure sleeping! Xiao Ruan and I don’t have that kind of relationship!”

Seeing his nephew’s red face when he denied it, Lu Zhi sighed, “It’s okay to have fun, just don’t get tangled up in it.” He then rubbed Lu Bai’s hair again, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the photos, and I won’t tell your father.” These photos are not too serious, his nephew has always been well protected by his brother, rarely being exposed to the public but who dares to touch his silly nephew in Jinghai? This is a slap in the face of the Lu family, he will not be satisfied until he digs out the person behind it.

These photos were almost published in the papers before he pulled them at the last minute.

“No,” Lu Bai said seriously, “Second Uncle, Xiao Ruan and I really don’t have that kind of relationship, and Xiao Ruan is not that kind of person.”

“Tsk, every breath is ‘Xiao Ruan’ – alright, as you say.” Lu Zhi obviously did not believe him and shrugged his shoulders. “Then, tell me. What happened to your face?” As soon as his nephew came in, he saw the fresh bruise on his face.

Lu Bai’s eyes twinkled with a smile, “Second Uncle, in addition to the matter of the photos, can you please help me keep this a secret?”

~~~~~The Lu family.~~~~~

Father Lu has been looking at the latest headlines on his tablet, and his face was covered in dark clouds.

Under a hot topic on a certain platform, his son’s face, which he had always protected well, was hanging out on countless marketing accounts, together with another man, with headlines that were full of attention-grabbing drama.

#Shocking! The son of a luxurious family met privately with his male lover in the middle of the night and stirred up a sea of love#

#The rich man and his Cinderella canary#

#The luxurious playboy’s extreme affairs are exposed#

These headlines, coupled with the ambiguous photos, made people think about the wrong things. All these eye-catching details of gossip about high-class families and their male lovers were brought together, and the popularity exploded in a flash.

Father Lu’s hand slapped fiercely against the table, the tablet was dropped to the ground, and his face was full of dark clouds: “Where is that brat?”

Sheng Mei looked at Father Lu, her delicate eyebrows furrowed: “Xiao Bai is being pitted.”

Father Lu replied, “I know, where is he?”

Sheng Mei answered, “I’ve already called him, and I’ve sent Uncle Liu to pick him up.”

~~~~~~

Ruan Jiangjiu’s phone buzzed, and when he answered, Qu Xueying’s voice burst out from it: “Young master, be honest with me. The other man in Lu Bai’s topic is you, right?”

Ruan Jiangjiu’s fingers tapped on the desktop, his face cold: “It’s me.”

Qu Xueying took a deep breath and said, “Well, the old master even greeted them, and that group of grandsons still dare to photograph you.”

Ruan Jiangjiu’s eyes filled with cold intent, “The one they wanted to photograph was not me, it was Lu Bai.” The person who caused this drama didn’t want to offend the Lu family and the Qu family at the same time.

Qu Xueying huffed: “What’s the point of photographing Lu Bai?” He isn’t in the entertainment industry, and although he doesn’t have many friends and has offended many people, the Lu family is too powerful, so no one dares to pit him.

Ruan Jiangjiu’s eyes lowered without answering. Such a complete exposure, even with the Lu family behind the scenes, the little liar’s daily life will still be affected. However, at least the impact should be minimized. Thinking about this, he simply ended it: “I’ll hang up first, there’s something that needs my attention.”

~~~~~

Qin Gu expressionlessly picked up a stack of photos and was about to go out when Xiao Yang called his name: “Brother Qin, where are you going?”

Qin Gu turned to look at him: “To find a friend. Then,” he lowered his eyes to look at the man in the photos whose face was blurred out, his tone was unexplainably cold: “to find the man who dared to calculate Lu Bai.” This is an obvious matter, although that guy has always acted very domineering, he has always been simple and easily cheated. This time, he has been pitted like this, he better learn to be more careful in the future.

“Brother Qin, those photos are not fake.” Xiao Yang exclaimed, “Maybe that’s Xiao Bai’s friend?”

“I don’t recognize this friend of his,” Qin said before he turned around and strode out the door.

When Qin Gu’s figure had completely disappeared, Xiao Yang took off his gentle mask. His phone rang, and he picked it up without any expression, “You did a good job this time. I’ll forgive you for screwing up last time.”

~~~~~

Lu Bai sighed as he lay on his bed, he had been locked up by his father.

He understands that they’re saying he is ‘locked up’, but in fact, it is just disguised protection. Right now, there is a lot of gossip flying around about him, and his glorious deeds as a vicious male character from childhood are being dug out of the ground. Fortunately, the bruise on his face has been reduced after using the medication that Ruan Jiangjiu had bought him, and his family’s focus was on the incident that just happened, so he didn’t create another storm because of his injury.

He was pitted, and his suspects can be numerous people – for he has offended many people since childhood, and the number of people who look at him with displeasure is considerable.

But the strangest thing is – Lu Bai frowned slightly, his face was pure puzzlement – this matter never happened in the original.

Logically, apart from the fact that he, an outsider, could cheat and change some minor details, other parts of the plot happened in a step-by-step manner. So what happened this time…?

He picked up his phone, and as soon as he pressed the key a popular news item popped up: #The identity of a certain wealthy prince’s canary remains a mystery#, Lu Bai looked at the nonsensical headline with his lips twitching, then he froze. Canary… Now almost everyone knows that he has a canary, just like in the original. In the original, Lu Bai did not conceal the existence of Ruan Jiangjiu from the public, and almost everyone knew. After all, the more people were aware of him, the better he could achieve the purpose of insulting people. Lu Bai didn’t care about Ruan Jiangjiu’s life or death.

But, Lu Bai suddenly rose and opened his eyes, he was trying to protect Ruan Jiangjiu. Lu Bai forcing Ruan Jiangjiu to be his canary is an important plot, but he has been avoiding it, and avoiding it is different from completely changing the plot, so the world has no way to launch a punishment mechanism on him…

“So…” Lu Bai looked at his palm and muttered, “…the world itself pushed the plot to happen…” In the eyes of everyone, Lu Bai still raised Canary.

———

Edit: Krone

Proofread: Mao