Chapter 32: Guan Yaoming
To be fair, Zhao Mian’s presence really was excellent. His looks were the kind that could turn heads even in the entertainment industry.
However, when he stood next to Guan Yaoming, Li Dong’s eyes could only see one person. He had to admit it that this second-generation heir was stunning and charisma leaking from every line of his body.
Standing onstage, Guan Yaoming’s aura filled the space. No one here could outshine him.
Such a good head of cabbage, handed over to a scumbag like Zhao Mian… You could only say the man had terrible taste, the kind who liked digging for boyfriends in the trash. Unbelievable.
Li Dong did not accept that. He straightened his collar and with a pleasant smile walked forward.
“Yao-ge…” He picked up a glass of champagne in passing and stepped to the man’s side to borrow the spotlight.
Every reporter present froze. Who is this? What qualifies him to stand next to Guan Yaoming?
Yet…
“Long time no see.” The moment Guan Yaoming noticed Li Dong, his eyes refused to move away from the young man.
“Yes.” Li Dong’s smile lit up. He put himself on full display for Yao-ge: his face, his build, even the soft stickiness of his gaze, all aimed at monopolizing the man’s attention.
“You’re dressed to kill today,” said Guan with a slight smile, continuing to enjoy this unexpected reunion with the little fresh meat. Absolutely delicious.
“Mhm. As long as you like it…” Li Dong breathed a quick whisper by his ear and drew back. To an outsider, it looked like no more than a private remark.
“Ahem, Lin Mo?” Zhao Mian interjected. This was his and Guan’s stage. What was this kid doing here? As an eighteenth-tier nobody, how could he have so little sense?
“Hi, Mian-ge. Sorry about that. I’ll head down right away.” Li Dong looked apologetic and then promptly stumbled. He was fine, but the champagne sloshed all over Guan Yaoming’s suit.
“Sorry, Yao-ge.” Li Dong hurried to apologize and pulled out a handkerchief to dab at the fabric.
“It’s fine.” Guan caught his wrist and spoke low, then took the handkerchief himself and wiped.
“The pants are wet too. Looks like you should hit the restroom,” Li Dong murmured. He gave a sunny goodbye and turned to leave.
“Yaoming?” Zhao Mian called, cheeks tight with embarrassment. “The reporters are still taking photos. Cooperate a little.”
“You’re the celebrity. Let them shoot you,” Guan said. “I’m going to clean up.”
Ignoring Zhao’s attempt to hold him back, he went after the little fresh meat who had just stolen his soul.
“I thought you wouldn’t come,” Li Dong said, leaning against the door frame. When Guan stepped inside, he closed the men’s room door and hung a “Temporarily Out of Service” sign outside.
“Who was it that told me not to look for him anymore?” Guan’s eyes were amused. “And now? You came to seduce me yourself?”
“Are you seduced?” Li Dong looked up at him with a cocky tilt, as if one “no” would set him off.
“Otherwise why would I be here?” Guan replied.
From that point on, no more words were needed in the restroom. Physical communication was enough. Their passion threatened to burn down the entire bathroom. It was intense.
The faucet turned on, water rushing.
A trash bin toppled and rolled loud across the floor.
Zhao Mian, on his way out, stopped short at the noise. He came back and pressed an ear to the door.
Muffled sounds came through, suspicious ones that were hard to believe.
He knocked at once, his face dark. “Someone in there? Yaoming, are you in there?”
Two minutes later, the handle turned.
Chaos greeted him. The floor was a mess. Guan stood at the sink, washing his face.
“Yaoming… why didn’t you answer me?” Zhao asked. “And the floor… what happened?” His gaze slid, unbidden, toward a closed stall.
“You called? I didn’t hear it,” Guan said, toweling off. “I knocked over the trash by accident. Let the cleaners handle it.”
“Only you in here?” Zhao asked, still suspicious.
“What is it?” Guan pulled a few more tissues to dry his hands and said, “Go back to your event. I’m using the restroom and then I have something to take care of tonight, so I won’t be keeping you company.”
Zhao stood in the doorway, unable to fight his curiosity. He walked straight to the closed stall and pushed it open.
But found nothing inside.
“What are you looking for?” Guan Yaoming passed by Zhao Mian and walked into the adjacent stall. “Don’t waste time. Go.”
With a snap, the pale yellow door closed before Zhao Mian’s eyes.
Li Dong was in this stall. He looked at Guan Yaoming entering and showed a fox-like smile.
…
“Dachuan, keep an eye on Zhao Mian for me,” After spending a long time in the restroom with Li Dong, Guan Yaoming finally released him and called Jin Dachuan.
“Huh? Why watch Mian-ge?” said Jin Dachuan. A beat later he caught the odd edge to his boss’s breathing and understood instantly. “Oh, oh. Got it.”
A few minutes later, Guan hung up. “Let’s go.”
Li Dong sat disheveled on the toilet seat. His clothes had been torn to shreds by Guan Yaoming. Damn it, do you know how much effort it took me to rent this outfit?
Only then did Guan notice how thoroughly he had wrecked it. “My apologies.” He shrugged off his own jacket and tossed it over without expression.
“Thanks.” Li Dong accepted it without fuss. “Do you think us sneaking around behind Mian-ge’s back is… not good?”
“What do you think?” Guan returned.
Wide-eyed, Li Dong said innocently, “I don’t know. I just go where my feelings lead me.” The classic mistress’s true-love argument, everyone innocent, of course.
The man in front of him chuckled. In that instant his charm spiked, and Li Dong felt short-circuited by the jolt.
Someone who had lived in privilege since childhood, held a high position, and been shaped by special circumstances had an aura that was different from anything cultivated later in life.
On personal qualities alone, Li Dong felt Zhao Mian was not worthy of the male lead.
The sting was that in this world Li Dong was at best male support number three, not even up to Zhao’s level.
“Do I need to confirm something?” Guan asked as they got into the car. “Tomorrow morning you won’t be throwing a tantrum at me?”
“I just moved. I live nearby. Come to my place,” Li Dong grumbled. “I really don’t want to walk a long way to catch a ride.”
“No one told you to walk,” Guan said with a hint of helplessness. Finally he asked, “What’s the address?”
Li Dong told him, and while he was at it, he sold a bit of misery. “Renting here is pressure every day. The other night I went out with my senior-jie to hype a little buzz. She paid for dinner because I’m broke. Finally I get to show up at an event and it’s out of pocket. Not even clothing sponsorship.”
He pinched the shredded shirt and clicked his tongue. “And in the end, you tore it up like this.” Was he not losing big time?
“Didn’t I already ask what you wanted? Car or house?” Guan said. “What did you do instead? Threw a fit and walked out.”
This was typical young people’s spirit: willful, spoiled, immature temperament.
“Can’t I ask for both?” Li Dong countered. “Buy the unit I live in now. I’m too lazy to move.” As for the car: “Forget a Porsche. I’m just an eighteenth-tier rookie. No need to drive something flashy.”
Mr. Guan, who had no misconceptions about unknown small-time stars: “…”
He arrived and saw the place Li Dong was staying and nearly lost it. A big three-bedroom in a premium location, luxuriously finished.
To buy it would run no less than twenty million.
Come on. With Guan’s wealth, Li Dong didn’t believe he couldn’t swing twenty million.
“So. Buying or not?”
“I can buy you whatever you want,” said Guan. “On one condition, that temper needs work.” He touched Li Dong’s face. “If you keep throwing fits at me, I won’t let it slide.”
Li Dong’s smile turned sweet. “Of course. Treat me well and my temper is sweet.” He leaned in with a little “mwah,” bright-eyed and dazzling.
The contrast melted Guan completely. He loved the feeling of being in control and then getting grabbed hard by the other person.
This childish, well-built younger man suited him to a tee.
Sneaking around like this was an addictive drug. One taste and you wanted more.
Guan Yaoming loved this feeling so much that in this instant, he was willing to give him anything. Want a car? Have a car. Want an apartment? Have an apartment. Want money? Have money.
For people at the top, money was rarely the real concern.
Someone who can be bought with money is not frightening. Someone who cannot be bought that way, now that is dangerous.
By asking for this and that, Li Dong quietly gave him a sense of safety.
This way, the other person would invest in this financial relationship without reservation.
When a person enjoys a sexual relationship without any psychological burden, that’s when feelings most easily develop.
“Yao-ge, I’ve missed you these days,” Li Dong said. “But I couldn’t swallow my pride to come find you.” Translation: the bratty little fresh meat who is in your bed now needs to be handled gently in the future.
“Is that so?” Guan looked relaxed, a little hazy from indulgence. “Then why could you swallow it tonight and come seduce me?”
“I saw you and couldn’t move another step. Wanted to do you,” Li Dong said frankly.
“Naughty,” Guan chided. His mouth said “don’t go too far,” but his heart had already decided to claim the kid. No one else would lay a finger on him.
Another night that left the big boss very satisfied. A night of being well-fed.
The big boss, smiling but exhausted, and his young man lay down intimately together, welcoming the morning sun.
To be honest, the kid looked very good asleep. Early that morning, President Guan stared, kissed, stared again, and kissed again, caught in a loop like he was addicted.
In the past, after staying over with Zhao Mian, the latter would be up early to make breakfast.
Now, seven or eight o’clock came and went, and the fresh meat was still asleep.
“Morning, Yao-ge,” Li Dong mumbled at eight-thirty, bleary-eyed. “There’s a great breakfast shop next door. If you go, bring me one too.”
“Up,” Guan said, pinching his cheek.
It turned into a very busy day. Everything Li Dong had asked for arrived in short order. He was busy enjoying the results and considering what else he might need.
Braving paparazzi risk, Guan accompanied his new favorite out and about. Buy this for the little fresh meat. Buy that for the little fresh meat.
“Tired, Yao-ge?” When the crowd thinned, Li Dong would push the big boss into a corner to “talk about life”… and the big boss’s butt.
Guan was very willing to communicate, and more than once hoped to take it further.
“Be good,” Li Dong murmured, feeling a little overwhelmed by this male-lead shou.
“I’ve been with you all day. I have to go,” Guan said, still unsated. Before leaving he handed over all the cash on him, the affection obvious. “Go out and eat dinner. No takeout.”
“You won’t eat with me?” Li Dong pinched his chin and kissed him. “I thought we’d keep the party going tonight.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” Guan said. “I need to go back and be with Zhao Mian.”
“Cast me in a film,” Li Dong said. “I want to earn my own money.” He did not want to be kept. “You know I feel very unsafe like this.” With a legitimate partner at home, he could walk away whenever he wanted.
If one day Guan decided Zhao was more important and cut him off, he would have nothing.
“What kind of ‘safety’ do you want? I can give you enough money to spend a lifetime. And…” Guan added, “stop cooking up fake romances. I hate that.”
“I’m only trying to get famous,” Li Dong said, letting go and lighting a cigarette. “He’s your lover. You’ll go back to him sooner or later. He has everything. What about me?”
Guan snatched the cigarette immediately. “If you’re quitting, stick to it. Don’t just talk.”
“Aren’t you leaving? Then go,” Li Dong said, as if the moment Yao-ge walked out he would light up a whole pack.
“No going downstairs to buy cigarettes,” Guan ordered, annoyingly sweeping up every pack and pocketing them. “You want a movie? You’ll have one.”
“Thanks, Yao-ge.” Li Dong turned, smiled, and blew him a kiss. “Drive safe. Call me. I only have you.”
Seeing him smile like that made Guan’s mood lift. A smiling little fresh meat was the best.
“Just a blown kiss?” Guan pointed at his cheek. “Not coming over to kiss me properly?”
Li Dong grinned wickedly, yanked him into his arms, and kissed him silly, so dizzy he could not find the way home.
“Alright, really go. Otherwise Mian-ge will get suspicious,” Li Dong said. “Call me every day, okay? I’ll miss you.”
Big bosses needed sweet talk too. Li Dong guessed that scumbag Zhao Mian did not say much of it. Poor big boss, let me say it to you.
“Mm,” Guan answered. He straightened his clothes and left with his usual flair.
The first night without the big boss: miss him.
The first night without the little fresh meat, Guan lay in bed with his Best Actor lover, chatting under the covers.
He had spent the previous night tangled up with the kid and spent today flirting and teasing. He felt full, satisfied, in a very good mood.
Taking the opportunity, Zhao Mian brought it up. “Yaoming, Director Yang has a big production coming up. The script looks good.” Subtle by nature, he left it at that.
Normally, Guan would secure him the male lead.
“You mean the script for Peerless Patriot? It is good,” Guan said. “I already spoke to them. A company rookie will audition. If nothing goes wrong, it’ll be his.”
Zhao Mian blinked. “A rookie?”
“Mm. His name’s Lin Mo. You should know him,” said Guan.
Know him? Try “makes me want to scream.”
A newcomer for the male lead of a major production? Then what about him?
Had Guan not understood what he was hinting at?
“I really like that script. I just won Best Actor and need to broaden my range. The role fits me,” Zhao said directly.
“It doesn’t suit you. The character is a flamboyant, arrogant young beauty,” Guan said. The moment he described it, Li Dong’s face rose in his mind.
“What?” Zhao’s expression turned ugly. “What are you implying? That I’m old now?” He was only 28.
Sorry. The fresh meat was 22, and his face was dewy enough to squeeze water from.
“The role is basically set. If he blows the audition, you can try,” Guan said. “The company spent a lot to sign him. He has good potential. It wouldn’t make sense for him to bring in nothing after half a year.”
“So because he has ‘good potential,’ you want to push him?” Zhao asked, suspicion thick. He did not believe Guan would suddenly notice Lin Mo and throw him a major project.
Why not throw one to him?
“You’re the company’s number one. That doesn’t mean you get every good resource,” Guan said. “You won’t miss one script. No need to fight a newbie for it.” In his mind, Li Dong had asked first. No matter how senior Zhao was, he should give some room to a junior from the same company.
If you only ever think of yourself, that is too selfish.
“Okay. It’s come to this. Nothing I say matters,” Zhao said. Guan’s words infuriated him. Fight a newbie? As if the distribution wasn’t entirely Guan’s call.
“Do you really love me?” Guan asked suddenly, doubts filling his mind. He could not feel Zhao’s love.
“Of course I do. We’ve been together three years and you’re asking that?” Zhao said irritably. “Next Friday is our third anniversary. You remember, right?”
“…” Guan Yaoming had actually forgotten. His suspicions about Zhao Mian dissipated because of this statement, and he was even quite moved. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.” He even felt a faint prickle of remorse for going out to look for “freshness.”
“Morning, Yao-ge. When are you coming to see me? Miss you so much, love you so much, want to sleep with you so much~ from your Lin Mo didi~.” The WeChat friend request he had accepted the other day buzzed to life with a gym selfie. Sweat-beaded muscles. Very tempting.
So much for guilt. Guan’s morning reaction intensified. He hurried into the bathroom, phone in hand.
“I’m at Zhao Mian’s place. Not convenient to call,” he typed.
“Then get out of there and come to me,” Li Dong replied at once. “You didn’t eat dinner with me last night. I had no appetite. Worked out this morning and discovered I’ve lost weight.”
“You think I am stupid?” Guan wrote back. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Fine, don’t believe me then. I’m angry,” Li Dong shot back. A second message flew in. “I’m going fishing for a new sugar daddy.”
“I’ll break your legs,” Guan typed.
“Come quick, come quick. Pants are off and I’m waiting,” Li Dong replied.
Nothing could be more stimulating. Guan came out of the bathroom and told Zhao, who was cooking breakfast, “I’m not eating. I have to go now.”
“So urgent?” Zhao asked, surprised.
“Something came up,” said Guan. He could not keep talking to Zhao or the man would notice what had changed.
As a second-generation heir, handling sudden emergencies was familiar. “Alright then. Go quickly,” Zhao said. “We’ll do dinner for our anniversary next Friday. I’ll cook a big spread.”
“Thanks.” Guan slipped on his shoes and left like the wind.
Li Dong spammed him. “Are you here yet? Ten minutes, and if you aren’t here, don’t bother.”
“I’m on the road,” Guan answered. “It takes that long to your place even normally. You want me to fly?” Could the kid be reasonable?
“Not my problem. Fly or whatever. All I know is I want you now, so figure it out,” Li Dong sent in a voice message, bratty and bossy, like I’m about to do you.
“Fine. I’ll fly over, happy?” Guan replied. “One minute late and I owe you a hundred thousand…”
“Dearest Yao-ge, take your time. No rush at all. I’ll wait for you till death,” Li Dong typed back.
“…” The money-grubber act should have been infuriating, but somehow it just made Guan itch from the skin down into the bone. Hopeless.
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