Chapter 25 — Xi Xingling
At Xi Xingling’s birthday party, Li Dong could not withstand the nonstop toasts. Reluctantly, he downed a few extra drinks.
He woke up groggy, head spinning, and realized the room around him was pitch-black.
“Xingling? Why are the lights off?” he asked. He also noticed he was not lying on a bed at all, but on a hard floor.
Creepy. His sleeping posture was not that bad. He would not roll onto the floor in the middle of the night.
“Hello, Mr. Li Dong.” A metallic, synthesized voice sounded right by his ear.
“Who are you?” Li Dong frowned at once.
“I am the force that brought you into the book. For the moment, you have been pulled out. You are temporarily yourself again,” the voice said. “Have you been wondering why you suddenly crossed into a novel?”
“Because I thought the protagonist was a f*cking idiot?” Li Dong shrugged. He could not think of another reason. “What I am even more curious about is whether that author is broken in the head. Why write something so brainless? Do people like this really exist?”
“In a vast world, nothing is impossible. People like that do exist. What do you think of them?”
“I want to choke them.”
And yet this Mr. Li Dong had treated the protagonist kindly. That made him look like someone all bark and soft heart.
“Is there no love at all?” the voice asked. “You have been gentle and attentive, dealing with the protagonist in good faith.”
“What did you come here for, a sex-and-relationships survey? Whether I love him or not is none of your business,” Li Dong snapped.
His brow creased. A chill crawled across his back. This was all too damn eerie.
“Mr. Li Dong, consider this your formal notice: you have advanced to the second round of observation. Now choose whether to return to the book’s first round, or proceed directly to the second round.”
Li Dong was not stupid. He understood at once. “You are saying I am being observed? You people control all of this?” To what end?
“No comment. Choose: go back to the first round, or advance immediately. If you advance now, the first-round world will continue along its original track with its original characters.” A pause, then a clinical explanation. “In other words, the protagonist Xi Xingling’s fate will follow the original tragedy.”
Just as Li Dong opened his mouth, a massive screen flickered on in front of him. On the screen was a bed with two naked men. He knew those bodies: Han Yubai and Xi Xingling.
Both had been drinking the night before, playing hard.
Xi Xingling had clung to Li Dong, begging to go all the way. Li Dong had been too tired and ignored him.
On the screen, dawn crept in. Xi Xingling woke first and, as always, burrowed into the man beside him for kisses and cuddles.
A crease formed between Li Dong’s brows. He had a bad feeling.
“Dong-ge, it is already noon. You still are not getting up?” Xi Xingling clung to Han Yuebai stickily., unafraid of being scolded for waking him, because his boyfriend’s temper was always so good.
“F*ck…” Li Dong finally understood why they were showing him this.
His worst fear was playing out. Han Yubai opened his eyes and stared in shock at the face beside him. “Chen-ge?”
It mirrored the scene in the original book when Han Yubai first saw Xi Xingling. Then he realized quickly this was not his white moonlight Gu Xichen at all. “Who are you? Why are you in my bed?”
Xingling froze. He thought Li Dong was teasing him. He lunged in with a pout. “Dong-ge, what are you doing, messing with me first thing in the morning?” They had just had the sweetest day yesterday.
“Get off,” Han Yubai said with a frown. A flirt who looked uncannily like Gu Xichen was throwing his naked body at him. He shoved him away without a thought.
He flipped back the quilt and got up to dress.
“Second Young Master?” The confusion finally set in. Sitting on the bed with a heavy look, Xingling said, “What is wrong? Do not scare me…” Had he done something to make him angry?
A realization flickered through Han Yubai’s eyes. He must have seen someone at the club last night who looked like Gu Xichen and brought him home.
Tsk. Someone with the face of the man he loved, but cheap and showy, nothing of Gu Xichen’s aura.
He grabbed his wallet, pulled out a stack of bills, and tossed them on the bed. “Your overnight fee. Do not appear in front of me again. I hate that face of yours.”
“Dong-ge…” Xingling was stunned. What did he just say?
Li Dong could feel Xingling’s heartbreak through the screen. In the next second, the brat would start crying.
He was right. Xingling watched Han Yubai leave and then tears cascaded down his cheeks.
“What is happening?” He could not understand it. One night, and the man who had been so kind suddenly turned cold.
“You want to use this to make me go back?” Li Dong looked away, face dark. He honestly could not bear watching Xingling cry. But compared to anything in the book, his own real world mattered more. He could not return.
“No. I hope you choose to advance directly. It will save time.”
Li Dong’s scalp prickled. Was he possessed?
“Whether you advance now or return to continue the role, you will ultimately be able to go back to your real world,” the voice said. In truth, if any world failed to meet the intended threshold, the subject would be repatriated.
“Is that so? Then why haul me here to choose at all?” Li Dong snapped. “What is your purpose? Why bring me into this?”
“Is it really pointless? I thought you would not be able to watch the first-round protagonist suffer malice.” The synthesizer was almost mild. “You complained about several novels you read. Why not play the game and correct what dissatisfies you?”
“What? You mean I have to cross into every single book?” Li Dong’s face said he was already dead inside. He ground out, “Do I look stupid?”
One Xi Xingling was headache enough. The rest of those protagonists were nightmares.
“Then watch the screen.” If you can bear it.
A tear-bright close-up of Xi Xingling filled the frame, heartbreaking. He went to Han Yubai, crying and apologizing, begging forgiveness.
“Second Young Master, what did I do wrong? Tell me, please.” Before he finished, Han Yubai kicked him. Xingling crumpled to the floor.
And at this moment, the person accompanying Han Yuebai was actually Gu Xichen.
That aristocratic gentleman smiled faintly and said, “I dislike this person. I do not want to see him again.”
“I understand.” Han Yubai stepped to the groveling Xingling and nudged up his chin with his shoe tip. “Did I not say it that morning? I hate your face.”
He lifted his foot and kicked, hard, sending the thin body skidding.
“Ah!”
The sole caught him square in the nose. Xingling screamed, both hands flying up as blood streamed out.
“This is my last warning. Do not let me see you again.”
Han Yubai and Gu Xichen walked away together, perfectly composed, passing the wreck that was Xi Xingling.
Xingling lay on the ground, clutching his nose. He turned his head, his face still filled with dogged yearning for Han Yubai. Li Dong wanted to grab him by the neck and shake some sense into him.
“Idiot. I told you from the start. Even if you love someone, do not throw away your dignity. Get up and live your own life.” If he chased after them now, begging for forgiveness, he would truly be beyond saving.
“It hurts…” Xingling sobbed. He did not chase. He stayed kneeling on the floor, crying until he could not catch his breath.
With a busted nose and a broken heart, work was impossible.
He called in and took two days off, then went to a clinic about his nose.
Hours later he was home on the couch, crying until the sky went dark, his eyes swollen like two bruised walnuts.
A whole week crawled by. He had no idea how he survived it.
He did not dare contact anyone, did not want to face the fact that he had been discarded.
“Xi Xingling, you have everything you need now. You will not starve. All you lack is a boyfriend,” Li Dong muttered at the screen, defeated. “If you lost a boyfriend, go find one. What good is crying here?”
People on the screen could not hear him. Xingling stayed curled on the bed, hugging his knees and hiccup-sobbing.
The scene cut to Han Jewelry’s design department.
Xingling dragged himself in, haggard enough to frighten.
“My god, Xingling, what happened to you?” Xia Bailun wanted to laugh. He was delighted to see Xingling this ugly.
The boy who always loved looking good did not even respond. He snuck a tissue to wipe the wet corner of his eye and tried to sound tough. “I had an allergic reaction. So what. Everyone has ugly days.”
“Sure, yours are just rare,” Xia drawled. Even his voice sounded awful today.
He wanted to needle Xingling further, but Teacher Zhang was approaching, so he snapped open a file.
“Xingling, come to the office,” Teacher Zhang said, face solemn, fingers tapping his desk.
“Yes, Teacher.” Xingling’s heart stuttered. Had he performed poorly these days and was about to be scolded?
He walked in tight-shouldered, dread curling in his stomach.
A printed image slid across the desk to him. “There is an accusation that you plagiarized someone else’s concept. The decision is to withdraw your design and terminate your employment.”
Xingling stared, stunned. “Impossible. This is my concept. I did not plagiarize anyone.”
He remembered sending the base sketch to only one person. Aside from that, only Teacher Zhang had a copy.
“I believe you. But…” Teacher Zhang’s expression was pained. She spoke gently. “Resign of your own accord. If Han Group fires you, it will ruin your future.”
If Xingling wanted a career in this field, he could not offend Han.
A termination from Han would be a permanent stain.
“Is that the only way? Teacher Zhang…” He clutched the sheet in a white-knuckled grip. Tears gathered again.
Blow after blow. He was not just sad. He hurt. He hurt like he was being torn apart alive.
“Idiot. Staying at Han will do you no good. Resign and walk away…” Li Dong said, moved despite himself. He could only sigh.
On the screen, Xingling went back to his desk in tears and typed up a resignation letter, submitting it with a breaking heart.
“That is better. Rest a while, then look for another job. You have everything you need now, so you will not starve,” Li Dong murmured. When the breakup passed, he could find a man who treated him well.
He was grateful now that he had given Xingling so much. Even if he never worked again, he would not go hungry.
But he had underestimated just how rotten Han Yubai could be.
No sooner had Xingling submitted his resignation than a lawyer appeared, claiming to represent Han Yubai, and demanded the return of all expensive gifts.
A house. A car. And that diamond necklace worth a fortune.
Xingling wept until he was a dripping mess, clutching the necklace. “Dong-ge, my heart hurts so much I could die. Do not be this cruel to me. I really do not know what I did wrong. I really do not know.”
By law, he did not have to give them back. But if Han Yubai demanded them, did he dare refuse?
Within the grace period, Han’s lawyer ordered him to vacate his home.
Aside from the clothes and shoes Li Dong had given him, he lost everything in just a few days.
Li Dong had nothing left to say. He still thought the situation was not hopeless. Xingling could live on, if he summoned his strength.
“What? Dumped by Han Second Young Master again? Seriously?” Qian Xiaozhun picked up at midnight to hear Xingling say he had nowhere to go and wanted to stay with him. Headache. “My place is tiny, and my boyfriend lives here. Where will you sleep? You have money, no? Get a hotel and rent a place tomorrow… What? You lost your job too? F*ck…”
How did you take in a refugee like this?
In the end, he could only ask his boyfriend to stay elsewhere for a while.
“Thanks, Xiao Zhun…” Xingling stumbled into the apartment and collapsed on the sofa, crying again.
“You have not even got a place to stay? They actually threw you out?” Qian clicked his tongue. Second Young Master was vicious. Host a birthday party and days later take back the house and car. Ugly did not begin to cover it. “What about your designer bags and clothes? Did he seize those too?”
“No. I had a dealer sell them,” Xingling said, rubbing his nose. “I have no money and no job. I do not want to go home and freeload.”
“How can you be this miserable? What karma is this?” Han Second Young Master had just thrown him a party and now this. Not even the first time. The whiplash was terrifying.
As they say: when he loves you, you are a treasure. When he does not, you are a piece of sh*t he wants flushed away.
Right now, Xingling was that piece of sh*t. All that glitter from the party was gone. He was just a pitiful stray.
“I do not know. I truly did nothing…” His voice was wrecked. For days he had racked his brain and could not think what mistake he had made.
He tried to call Han Yubai, but the man either cursed him out or did not pick up.
His number was blocked. Every social app blocked. Reaching Han now was harder than climbing the sky.
“What happened to your nose?” Qian suddenly noticed the bandage across the bridge.
“Oh. Second Young Master kicked me…” Xingling touched it, devastated. “Why would he do that? He told me he would never hit me.”
The happy memories made him sob even harder. He was falling apart.
Qian spread his hands. “It is late. I have to open the shop tomorrow. I cannot stay up with you. Cry it out on your own.”
Xingling knew he was a burden. He stopped making noise, though the tears would not stop.
Watching him curled up helplessly on the sofa, soul scraped raw, Li Dong could not claim he felt nothing.
But life is never smooth. No one can accompany anyone through every storm. In the end, Xingling would have to walk out of this himself.
Li Dong fell silent and waited for the chapter to run its course.
The screen shifted. Xingling collected the cash from the reseller, moved out of his friend’s place, and rented a cheap unit in a remote neighborhood.
For the Spring Festival, he went home to his parents, pretending he was still employed.
So the brat did have some pride.
After the holiday, he hauled his suitcase back to his little rental and began sending résumés.
Every interview started the same way: “Why did you resign from Han?”
Everyone knew Han was the best firm in the city. Designers would kill to get in.
So why would a promising young designer quit after barely a year?
Each time, Xingling gave the same blunt answer: “I had a broken heart.”
Li Dong wanted to laugh and cry. It was probably how the interviewers felt too.
Young and emotional, a risky hire. Every company passed after discussion. Who knew if he would attempt something extreme at the office after his next breakup?
The only offers came from small shops he would never have considered before.
He had won awards. He had a bright road ahead. He refused to settle.
Unable to find a job, he stayed home every day. He did not want to go out or even pick up a pencil.
He missed the man who had discarded him like crazy but did not dare change his number to harass him.
At night, listening to the faint sobs from the screen, Li Dong sat on the floor and spoke to the darkness. “You will get through it. Hold on.” He was glad Xingling had not crawled back to Han Yubai to debase himself. At this rate, he would come out the other side.
Just as Li Dong hoped, Xi Xingling slowly emerged from the shadow of heartbreak and picked up his tools again.
Watching him grit his teeth and carve a path, submitting works to competitions, Li Dong felt warmth brim his eyes.
Watching him get disappointed again and again hurt too.
Finally, a mid-sized competition recognized his piece and shortlisted him for the final.
But the sponsor was Han Tianlin. The event existed to promote Han Jewelry. The winner had already been decided: a Han designer.
Xingling’s entry arrived like a thunderclap. The jury could see it was stronger than the preselected winner.
If they all rejected him, their reputations would be shot.
Nearly a year later, Xingling stood before Han Tianlin again. He no longer admired or feared him. He stood as a designer.
“You really are a cockroach who will not die,” Han said, rubbing his brow. He knew how much his brother despised Xi Xingling now. “Two choices. One, withdraw yourself. Two, we help you withdraw.”
“You can deny me a prize, but you cannot strip my right to display my work,” Xingling said. “I followed all procedures. I broke no rules. Why should I quit?”
“Why are you demanding a why from me?” Han chuckled. “In this world, not every ‘why’ has an answer.” Seeking fairness here? “Be grateful I am not erasing you entirely.”
“Why treat me like this…” Xingling still chased an answer.
“Blame your face,” Han said, voice flat. “You were not meant to have it.” He added, almost idly, “Looks like I need one more condition. You are not allowed to use this face again.”
“What?” Xingling’s eyes flew wide.
Over the phone, Han Yubai heard his brother’s idea and lifted a brow. “Leave that to me.”
Xingling did not expect to meet Han Yubai again like this.
The man had not changed, still devastatingly handsome, enough to make his heart tremble.
But as he approached, there was none of the warmth that had once made Xingling feel safe.
In Xingling’s eyes, Han Yubai was unfamiliar and cruel.
“You still want to compete? Fine. Get plastic surgery and I will have Han hire you back,” Han said. If Xingling won then, so what. He would be a Han employee anyway.
“Plastic… surgery?” Xingling’s lips quivered. He shook his head. “I refuse. If that is the condition, I would rather withdraw.” Their plan was monstrous. This was persecution.
“I care less about the competition than I do about your face,” Han said coolly, pinching Xingling’s chin hard enough to bruise. “Chen-ge loathes you. Understand?”
Personally, Yubai did not feel strong disgust. But Gu Xichen seemed to hate this man, so he would not be gentle.
The image cut. Li Dong watched Xingling flee in panic.
He pretended to agree to surgery, then slipped their control and left the city.
On the train, his phone rang. Han Yubai’s voice carried a threat. “Think of your parents. They have been teachers for decades. It would be a shame for them to lose their jobs now.”
Frame by frame, Li Dong watched Xingling crying alone on the train.
“Do you find this fun?” Li Dong asked through his teeth. “Torturing him like this?”
“If you had not interfered, this would be his destined ending. Besides, his situation now, while miserable, is still better than before.”
“No sh*t,” Li Dong said coldly. “At least he was not passed around and did not develop ulcers and half a dozen illnesses.” He swore. “What is the point of writing this garbage? Even fictional people are still people. They can weep and suffer.”
“You are kind. Then why not save him?”
“I am not the Virgin Mary.”
“And yet you are angry for him.”
Anyone would be, Li Dong thought bitterly. He kicked the floor in frustration, knowing full well it did nothing at all.
Author’s Note:
[Made some adjustments to the setting.]
Major plot twist ahead — lots of angst for the shou, so read with caution.
There are two more chapters left, and it’s a happy ending (HE).
IsitRo: Omg, I remember reading the MTL of this and even then, I was heartbroken for Xingling. Broooo, author really did the twist near the freaking end.
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