Chapter 35

Translator: Abo Dammen

Chen Lu was unaware of the undercurrents swirling beneath the surface. After meeting Fang Qizhi’s gaze, he swiftly closed his eyes, pretending it was a misunderstanding. He stubbornly kept up his wailing for over two minutes, giving Fang Qizhi no opportunity to rush over and accuse him of fake crying.

As it turned out, Fang Qizhi never came to disturb him, even after Chen Lu had cried himself out. Feeling slightly reassured, Chen Lu slowly extricated himself from Qin Guchuan’s embrace. 

In the original plot, after ‘Chen Lu’ finished crying, the scene at the banquet hall ended, jumping the timeline directly to the next morning. But in reality, the timeline wouldn’t skip ahead so neatly, as if a fully grown man crying his eyes out in public had never happened.

He still had to face the strange looks from everyone else.

Good thing his face had long been tempered into thick skin.

Chen Lu acted as if he was suddenly embarrassed after his emotional outburst, lowering his head and shyly hiding behind Qin Guchuan. He cautiously peeked at his surroundings, ready to receive those odd stares. However, when Chen Lu finally looked up, he discovered the expressions directed at him were indeed strange. 

Just not the kind of strange he had expected. They were all looks of profound distress and exasperation.

Chen Lu: “?”

Was my crying that moving? Chen Lu began to wonder if he truly had such acting talent.

But the facts proved otherwise. 

Chen Lu quickly realized those pained, exasperated gazes weren’t fixed on him. Or rather, these stares were all directed at his outfit, which was now completely ruined. It was as if some legendary, awe-inspiring artifact had shattered before their eyes, that kind of heartbroken feeling.

Just how many people had been secretly watching him earlier?

…He actually felt kind of guilty.

But the moment he took off this formal wear, the world consciousness’s powerful filter would vanish. What he wore was merely a lie destined to be exposed. 

Chen Lu looked at ‘Chen Lu’s’ mentor, whose eyes were now red-rimmed.

Maybe he should just give this outfit which the world had already stopped applying its filter to the old gentleman… as a memento.

The Mona Lisa became the Goddess of Beauty only after losing her arms. Venus’s smile became a classic for the same reason. So, why couldn’t this world’s painting, now stripped of its filter, become a classic too?

Piling excuse upon excuse for himself, Chen Lu finally found a reason to take off the formal wear jacket. 

“Teacher, I’m sorry. I promised to give this outfit to you later, but I didn’t protect it well,” Chen Lu said to the old man in a tone full of remorse. Then, awkwardly, he held out the garment he had just removed. “Do you… still want this piece of clothing?”

The old man looked at the utterly ruined formal wear before him with sorrow in his eyes.

Half of it was heartache over the loss of the original mesmerizing painting. The other half was because… after being messed up into a complete mess, the filter-less outfit was truly ugly in a uniquely spectacular way.

It made one especially nostalgic for its original appearance. 

But the old man couldn’t blame Chen Lu. Falling into the water wasn’t something Chen Lu had wanted, especially after hearing his tragic wails.

As the creator of that piece, who could be more heartbroken by its destruction than Chen Lu himself?

Moreover…

The old man’s gaze fell on the clothes Chen Lu offered him. 

Who could say that being ugly to the extreme wasn’t another form of art?

The old man accepted Chen Lu’s clothes. Watching Qin Guchuan, who stood behind Chen Lu, take off his own formal wear jacket and drape it directly over Chen Lu’s dripping form, he smiled somewhat gratuitously, feeling slightly more at ease.

He naturally knew Qin Guchuan. It was only two months ago that the man had suddenly and bizarrely developed an interest in art. Everyone had been speculating why, but now it seemed there was no need to guess anymore.

“You were originally the student I worried about the most. But seeing you now, I can finally feel at ease,” the old man said kindly. “Life will always have its difficulties, big and small. Being able to cry is always a good thing.” 

Being able to cry meant there was still a place where one could cry.

Chen Lu listened, only half-understanding, but his response was very obedient.

The old man smiled faintly. Seeing Qin Guchuan’s gaze fixed on Chen Lu, a slight frown on his face, he didn’t say anything more. He waved his hand, indicating for the two to go attend to their appearance. He himself needed to hurry and discuss with his old friends the artistic principle behind this clothing’s painting transforming from extreme beauty to extreme ugliness.

Naturally, the banquet hall wasn’t prepared with high-end clothing for Chen Lu and Qin Guchuan to change into. They only managed to change into some simple, casual outfits. 

Such clothes were naturally unsuitable for continuing to attend the banquet. Besides, the main purpose for both Chen Lu and Qin Guchuan was to follow the plot here. Since that was done, they certainly didn’t plan to stay longer. They chose to take the car directly back to the Qin residence.

Qin Guchuan’s omni-competent assistant, Zhou Ji, was also in the car. He always appeared when Qin Guchuan needed him to do something and vanished when he wasn’t needed. It was hard to say how many world buffs this guy had to make that possible.

Zhou Ji prepared two cups of hot ginger tea for them to warm up.

Drinking the ginger tea, Chen Lu looked with a strange expression at the spot where Zhou Ji had concocted the tea. He could only acknowledge that Zhou Ji truly lived up to being an omni-competent assistant who could handle anything, managing to produce ginger tea even in these circumstances. 

After drinking the ginger tea, Chen Lu felt a bit better.

Although the weather in May was already somewhat warm, staying in wet clothes for so long after the pool incident had actually left him feeling quite cold.

I wonder how Fang Qizhi is doing, Chen Lu thought.

He hadn’t seen Fang Qizhi afterward, so he probably had already dealt with his clothing situation before them. Since he remembered Fang Qizhi, Chen Lu naturally also recalled the other person associated with that part of the plot. 

“President Qin, about what happened earlier… were we seen by Madame Feng?” Because Zhou Ji was present, Chen Lu didn’t ask too explicitly.

He had been so focused on Fang Qizhi after opening his eyes that he hadn’t dared to peek around later, worried about giving himself away. He wasn’t entirely sure about the completion status of that plot point.

Hearing Chen Lu’s question, Qin Guchuan also fell silent for a moment.

He hadn’t paid attention to that either. 

His mind had been full of the image of Fang Qizhi jumping into the pool without hesitation to rescue Chen Lu. After Fang Qizhi surfaced, he had only remembered to keep an eye on that guy.

“Yes,” Qin Guchuan stated calmly, without blushing or his heart racing, facing Chen Lu.

After all, if his stepmother hadn’t been present to witness it, the plot would definitely have collapsed. They would have felt it immediately. Since they felt nothing unusual the whole time, it must have gone smoothly.

Receiving Qin Guchuan’s affirmative answer, Chen Lu felt much more at ease. He relaxed completely and began to have the mood to observe Qin Guchuan, who was rarely dressed in casual clothes. 

This guy usually maintained his domineering CEO look even at home, perpetually in a suit. Even when resting, his pajamas were of the domineering CEO bathrobe style.

In short, the guy embodied the domineering CEO down to the last detail, flawlessly and perfectly matching everyone’s stereotypical image of one.

So this was actually Chen Lu’s first time seeing Qin Guchuan in casual wear. It felt oddly novel, making Qin Guchuan seem several years younger.

“What are you looking at?” Qin Guchuan glanced at Chen Lu. Being stared at like that by Chen Lu, and not with the usual look of someone planning mischief, but with a gaze of pure appreciation, made Qin Guchuan feel somewhat uncomfortable. 

Since Qin Guchuan asked, and not really aware he had been staring appreciatively, Chen Lu voiced the question on his mind, “Why is there a red patch on the side of your neck? An allergy?”

Qin Guchuan’s hand, holding the cup, trembled slightly. Immediately after, he heard Zhou Ji, who had been choked by Chen Lu’s question, burst into coughing. The spot on his neck, which had felt fine moments before, began to itch again with a fine, dense sensation.

After a few seconds, Qin Guchuan took a deep breath and looked deeply at Chen Lu. “Someone bit me.”

The identity of that ‘someone’ was self-evident. 

Chen Lu, finally understanding: “……”

Actually, this acting business was originally no big deal. But with Zhou Ji’s dramatically loud cough making a fuss, Chen Lu also started to feel somewhat awkward looking at the spot on Qin Guchuan’s neck.

To dispel the awkwardness, Chen Lu opened his mouth, using his most righteous tone, “Actually, it felt pretty strange when you were stroking my back too.”

As soon as Chen Lu finished speaking, he heard Zhou Ji’s coughing intensify even more. The man curled up, wishing he could disappear. 

Even Qin Guchuan’s gaze toward him became awkwardly strange for an instant after hearing this.

Chen Lu: “……..”

Forget about Zhou Ji, but Qin Guchuan, what’s with the ambiguous look in your eyes?!

What he meant was that they were both amateurs, inexperienced, so having minor mishaps was normal!!!!!