Early in the morning, Mu Zhengqing was still dreaming when his phone rang, waking him up.
With his eyes still closed, he set the phone to silent mode, turned over, and continued sleeping. Although he wasn’t fully awake, he remembered that he was on vacation. Even if the sky were falling, there were people taller than him to handle it. No way was anyone going to interrupt his sleep-in.
By the time Mu Zhengqing woke up again, it was already past ten o’clock. He found his phone, which he had tossed aside, and was shocked by the number of missed calls.
There were over fifty missed calls—some from his manager, Gu Da, and others from the person he had labeled in his contacts as "shield".
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to call his manager back first. Gu Da wouldn't be trying to reach him so urgently if it weren't for something important.
But before he could make the call, his phone rang again. The moment he answered, Gu Da was already shouting on the other end, “Oh my god, you finally answered! If you hadn’t picked up soon, I would’ve shown up at your front door!”
Hearing how panicked Gu Da was, Mu Zhengqing’s heart sank. Could something serious have happened while he was sleeping? Maybe the sky really had fallen.
He glanced out the window and saw a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds—it looked like the perfect day to go out and enjoy some fresh air.
"My public image is ruined?"
This was the only possibility he could think of. Aside from a slight difference between his "noble young master" persona and his real self, he could be described as a law-abiding, patriotic, and diligent citizen.
In fact, the "noble young master" persona wasn’t something he or his company had actively promoted. It started with fans praising his refined appearance, and eventually, the nickname "the noble young master of the entertainment industry" spread.
He knew that one day, the persona would collapse, and he had been prepared for that, so he wasn’t panicking. He relied on his skills to stand firm in the entertainment industry, not on the "noble young master" persona.
"Don’t you realize your words are like a prophecy? Is ruining an image something you should be saying?" Gu Da scolded Mu Zhengqing, while inwardly thinking, "pei, pei, pei, good luck, good luck, good luck!"
Gu Da wasn’t really superstitious, but Mu Zhengqing’s words had an uncanny tendency to come true, especially the negative ones. This is what people called “crow’s mouth”(1)
"Do you actually have anything important to say? If not, I’m hanging up."
Remembering that he still had important matters to attend to, Mu Zhengqing decided not to waste time with his long-winded manager.
As it turns out, Gu Da really didn’t have anything urgent. He called so many times just to wake Mu Zhengqing up. The reason for waking him up was simple - since Mu Zhengqing's "shield" couldn't reach him, he had called Gu Da instead.
Although that person had told Gu Da not to disturb him after learning that Mu Zhengqing was sleeping… Who is Gu Da? He is someone who can annoy people to death even with a phone.
After asking Gu Da not to come over, Mu Zhengqing called his "shield" back.
As soon as the call connected, he sincerely apologized. Although he hadn’t specified the time they were supposed to meet to reissue the marriage certificate and then get a divorce, it was still unreasonable for him to ignore calls and messages at this point.
He thought that Lu Yiwei, whom he had saved as "shield" in his contacts, would be angry after being unable to reach him.
He remembered Gu Da once mentioning that Lu Yiwei was extremely efficient with his time and would never waste a second on irrelevant matters.
However, to Mu Zhengqing’s surprise, Lu Yiwei wasn’t angry at all. In fact, he even invited Mu Zhengqing over for dinner.
Just as Mu Zhengqing was about to refuse, Lu Yiwei blocked his rejection with the argument that it would save time.
Save time?
Even though Mu Zhengqing, who didn't want to waste time himself, didn't feel like going, he had no choice but to agree.
Agreeing was just a matter of saying a few words, but deciding whether to bring a gift or not left Mu Zhengqing in a dilemma.
Even though he and Lu Yiwei had been living next door to each other for several years, they had never been to each other's homes. He paced in front of Lu Yiwei's house with a watermelon in his hands for a while, before deciding to knock on the door.
The door was quickly opened, and standing in front of him was Lu Yiwei, wearing an apron.
His looks, indeed, had the power to make fans scream, turn passersby into fans, and silence haters.
Hmm, it’s just that the apron… didn’t quite match his overall aura.
Mu Zhengqing had originally thought that Lu Yiwei called him over for some takeout, but who would have thought he was actually cooking himself.
“The food is almost ready, feel free to look around,” Lu Yiwei said, stepping aside.
After entering, Mu Zhengqing didn’t wander about, but went straight to the couch and sat down.
"Feel free to look around" was probably just a polite phrase from Lu Yiwei. If Mu Zhengqing really took it seriously, he would have been way too naive.
Even though they had a marriage certificate, they really weren’t close. Just sitting there already made him feel awkward.
He shouldn’t have come.
Should he go to the kitchen and help out? Forget it. He'd rather just sit there.
“Give it to me,” Lu Yiwei said. Just as Mu Zhengqing was feeling so awkward that he wanted to scratch at the floor, Lu Yiwei's voice came from above him.
“Give... give you what?” Mu Zhengqing stuttered, and as soon as the words left his mouth, he noticed Lu Yiwei's gaze falling on his arms.
To be precise, Lu Yiwei was looking at the watermelon Mu Zhengqing was holding tightly with both hands, sitting upright on the couch. His posture was even more proper than that of a schoolboy in class.
If Mu Zhengqing had only felt awkward enough to scratch at the floor earlier, now he wished he could dig a hole and bury himself in it.
This was just too embarrassing.
Lu Yiwei struggled to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. After taking the watermelon from Mu Zhengqing, he pointed to a room and said, “That is the gaming room I renovated. Do you want to take a look?”
“Sure, I’ll go check it out. Call me when you’re done,” Mu Zhengqing said and immediately dashed into the closed room.
Originally, he had just planned to hide in there, but once he saw what was inside, he was completely stunned.
What shocked him wasn’t the expensive-looking equipment, but the room's decor.
Fluffy carpets, fluffy sofas…
It could be said that aside from the computer screen, everything in the room was covered in fluffy material.
Even the keyboard and mouse were no exceptions.
After his initial shock, the first thing Mu Zhengqing did was take out his phone to snap a picture of the keyboard.
He wanted to "get" the same model(2). However, after scanning the picture, he couldn’t find the exact same keyboard. Not only could he not find the same model, but there was also nothing like it being sold online at all.
Unwilling to give up, he tried several different apps, but still couldn’t find anything similar.
By the time Lu Yiwei called him for dinner, he had already downloaded a bunch of apps.
He believed that as long as he downloaded enough shopping apps, he would definitely be able to get the same fluffy keyboard as Lu Yiwei.
When Mu Zhengqing saw Lu Yiwei, he couldn’t help but ask, "Why did you decorate the room like this?"
"Because I love giant pandas. If possible, I wish that each one of us gets a national treasure in their hands," Lu Yiwei said seriously.
After speaking, he added, "This is my secret. I hope you can help me keep it."
Knowing that Lu Yiwei liked pandas, Mu Zhengqing’s first thought was that he should have brought a giant panda plush toy with him.
"Don't worry, I’ll keep your secret," Mu Zhengqing replied.
Looking around the room again, he noticed that the decor was all black and white. Upon closer inspection, many of the designs did look like giant pandas.
But decorating a room like this just because of a love for pandas—it felt a bit off to Mu Zhengqing.
Shouldn’t it be decorated with bamboo, and then maybe have a few realistic panda models?
But this was Lu Yiwei's house after all, and how he wanted to decorate it was his business, so Mu Zhengqing didn’t ask further.
It's just that, since Lu Yiwei didn't want others to know that he was a Panda Otaku(3), why did he let him find out? Couldn’t he just keep it a secret? Didn’t he know that no living person could guarantee they’d keep a secret forever?
Mu Zhengqing didn’t understand.
But then again, there were a lot of things in the world that he didn’t understand. If he tried to find the answer to every single one, he would tire himself out.
When Mu Zhengqing saw the dishes on the dining table, he exclaimed, "What a feast!"
“I didn’t know what you liked to eat, so I made a bit of everything,” Lu Yiwei explained as he pulled out a chair, gesturing for Mu Zhengqing to sit.
Seeing Lu Yiwei act so gentlemanly, Mu Zhengqing felt that the fans shouldn’t call him a noble young master. Clearly, Lu Yiwei suited that title much better than he did.
“It’s really delicious, but making all this must’ve been a lot of work, right?” Mu Zhengqing commented after trying a bit of each dish.
He hadn’t expected much from Lu Yiwei's cooking, since Lu Yiwei had the kind of face that didn’t look like it belonged to someone who knew how to cook. But to his surprise, the food was exceptionally good, far beyond his expectations.
Actually, Mu Zhengqing could make some simple dishes, but compared to Lu Yiwei’s cooking, his own barely qualified as edible.
“It wasn’t too much trouble. If my cooking suits your taste, you’re welcome to come over for meals in the future,” Lu Yiwei said, putting down his chopsticks and looking at Mu Zhengqing as he extended the invitation.
“Uh... we can talk about that later. Hurry up and eat; we have things to do afterward. I don’t want to hold up your upcoming activities because of me,” Mu Zhengqing said, feeling a bit uneasy under Lu Yiwei’s gaze.
He knew Lu Yiwei was just being polite, but judging by his expression, Mu Zhengqing couldn’t shake the feeling that Lu Yiwei was quite serious about it, like he genuinely wanted him to come over for meals.
He couldn’t help but think, An actor like Lu Yiwei truly lives up to his reputation as a movie star. Not only was his on-screen acting great, but he was equally impressive in everyday life.
“I don’t have any other activities today,” Lu Yiwei said with a hint of regret, as if he was disappointed by Mu Zhengqing’s non-committal response.
“No activities? I saw you did your hair and thought you had an event to attend,” Mu Zhengqing said, puzzled.
From the beginning, he’d noticed Lu Yiwei had styled his hair. Originally, Mu Zhengqing assumed Lu Yiwei had just come from an event, but when he saw the time Lu Yiwei took to prepare such a lavish breakfast, he figured the event might be in the afternoon, and Lu Yiwei styled himself early to save time.
“I did my hair because we need a photo for reissuing the marriage certificate. We don’t have a suitable one,” Lu Yiwei explained.
“Oh, you really put thought into it,” Mu Zhengqing replied, feeling slightly guilty, especially since he hadn’t even bothered to blow-dry his hair.
He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but Mu Zhengqing sensed a hint of grievance in Lu Yiwei’s tone when he said that. It has to be a misperception, Mu Zhengqing thought. Lu Yiwei couldn’t possibly have such emotions.
Because the breakfast was so abundant, even after both of them were stuffed, there was still a lot left over.
Lu Yiwei packed up the leftovers and then asked Mu Zhengqing if he wanted to go feed the stray cats and dogs.
“We should probably take care of the important business first,” Mu Zhengqing said.
Although Mu Zhengqing really wanted to go feed the stray cats and dogs with Lu Yiwei, after some internal debate, he decided that the main task at hand was more urgent. After getting the divorce done, he could always go feed the stray cats and dogs on his own.
“If we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau now, we’ll just catch them closing. Even if we go, we won’t be able to get anything done,” Lu Yiwei said.
Mu Zhengqing checked the time and realized Lu Yiwei was right. With no other option, he agreed to go feed the stray animals first.
As someone who loves fluffy creatures, Mu Zhengqing naturally enjoyed petting cats and dogs. However, because his work often kept him away from home, he was reluctant to adopt any pets, fearing he wouldn’t have enough time to spend with them.
Although pet boarding services were convenient, he didn’t want to leave them spending their lives in countless days of waiting for him to return.
In their community, to prevent the stray cats and dogs from disturbing residents, a designated area had been set aside for them to roam. Residents could come by whenever they had time to feed or play with the cats and dogs. If no one came to feed them, the property management team would arrange for someone to do so.
This was also the main reason why Mu Zhengqing had chosen to live here in the first place. Could it be that Lu Yiwei also picked this place for the same reason?
"Want to pet?"(4)
While petting the cat, Mu Zhengqing noticed that Lu Yiwei had been staring at his hands. Assuming Lu Yiwei wanted to pet the cat too, he moved over and made space for him.
"No, I'll just watch you," Lu Yiwei declined.
"Oh."
Mu Zhengqing could tell that Lu Yiwei liked cats and dogs, but he guessed that Lu Yiwei either had misophobia or was allergic to cat fur, which is why he enjoyed watching Mu Zhengqing pet the cat but didn’t want to do it himself.
Mu Zhengqing felt a deep sympathy for Lu Yiwei.
…and happy. Today was the day his hands were envied.
Author's Note:
Lu Yiwei: Is it possible that what I envy is not your hands, but the cat you stroke (Want to be stroked)
Mu Zhengqing: ...
Footnotes:
烏鴉嘴 (wū yā zuǐ) – lit. "crow's mouth"; jinx.
The phrase “他要get同款” (tā yào get tóngkuǎn) is an example of Chinglish, where English words are directly integrated into spoken Chinese. "Get" in this case means "obtain" or "acquire," similar to its English usage.
大熊貓迷 (dàxióngmāo mí): Panda fan or panda enthusiast.
要撸麽？(yào lū ma?): lit., “You want to pet it?” or “You want to stroke it?”, is used especially when talking about small animals like cats and dogs. [T/N: But it’s also used in a more “ambiguous” way. So, when I was trying to translate, I kept getting “this violates our community guidelines” messages. It wasn’t until I tried Bing MTL that I realised why. So, thanks Bing for saving my butt]
潔癖 (jiépǐ): Misophobia or Cleanliness obsession, often referring to an extreme preference for cleanliness.
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