When he left home, Qin Xin opened the delivery app, and over there, the order had just been marked as received.
It would be great if he could stay in constant contact with Lin Fanxing… Once that thought formed, it became impossible to control. Qin Xin realized his patience threshold was hanging by a thread. In the past, he could lock himself in a room for a month without speaking to anyone, without needing any physical contact.
But Lin Fanxing’s arrival had changed all of that.
More precisely, the real Lin Fanxing had changed him.
Riding his motorcycle again, Qin Xin’s hands actually began to feel warm. The thought of seeing him again made even the motorcycle feel unusually easy to handle. The post-rain city was also exceptionally clean and fresh, almost luminous, and even the leaves looked semi-translucent; if you looked closely, you could see their veins.
Even the street vendors under the streetlights suddenly felt strangely interesting. As he rode, Qin Xin gradually slowed down, his gaze lingering on one of them.
Meanwhile, Lin Fanxing had eaten himself into a stupor and was lying on the sofa, unable to get up. His appetite was actually not that big; after all, being a celebrity meant always controlling his weight. Today at noon, he had simply been starving and went overboard while ordering food.
Outside, the sound of rain had stopped, so he went out to the balcony to get some air; in old residential buildings like this, balconies were usually not enclosed, and when you looked up, you saw the moon directly overhead.
Moonlight washed over his face as Lin Fanxing seriously looked up at the sky for the first time.
The night sky, in truth, wasn’t anything special. The vast starfield of the universe was impossible to truly see with the naked eye; what people could observe were only scattered, ordinary little stars. Now, covering his right eye with his hand and looking at the night sky with his left, he suddenly realized that even ordinary stars had their own kind of charm.
So this was what it felt like to see from the left side… He had almost forgotten. Lin Fanxing waved his left hand near his left temple and murmured under his breath, barely audible: “It’s good to have you, left eye.”
Modern prosthetic eye technology was already advanced, and artificial eyes could be made almost indistinguishable from real ones, each one custom-built. But even if the naked eye couldn’t tell the difference, cameras could, especially in high-definition footage. For actors, the eyes were the window of emotion; authenticity was obvious at a glance.
Losing one eye was equivalent to cutting Lin Fanxing’s acting career in half. If it hadn’t been for that one film having a character with a prosthetic eye, he would have spent his life as an 18th-tier extra, filming formulaic commercials, desperately socializing for any possible job.
His drinking tolerance had been built up that way, eventually leading to a stomach hemorrhage, after which he began to value his life more. But there was no helping it; in the entertainment industry, not being famous was a sin. If you weren’t popular, all the suffering and hardship you endured were seen as deserved. And even if you were already on set, you could still be replaced before filming began at any time.
Without fame, there was no dignity, not even a basic human one.
Thinking of this, Lin Fanxing’s mind once again conjured Qin Xin’s face. He didn’t know if this counted as love turning into hatred, but he really did feel a bit of hate. Not only hatred for being deceived emotionally, but also jealousy of his perfect starting point and career foundation.
Envy, jealousy, and resentment, Lin Fanxing had gone through all three stages.
Honestly, with such a good life path, how did he still manage to be such an insufferable person?
Good thing he saw through him in his previous life. This life, he had escaped that misery.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Dong dong dong, dong dong dong.
Unlike the hurried knocking of a delivery rider, this was steady, rhythmic, as if the person already knew someone was inside and would definitely open the door. But after what had happened before, Lin Fanxing didn’t dare make a sound. He tiptoed to the peephole, but the only thing outside was…
…A sheet of black?
Had someone blocked it?
An enemy? Had they come for him this quickly?!
His breathing quickened without him realizing it, as he pressed his nose against the door, afraid to move even slightly. Then, just as he was panicking, the black suddenly receded like a tide, and faint stairwell light seeped in around the edges of the peephole.
The darkness retreated one step further, and he realized it was just a black motorcycle helmet pressed too close to the peephole, filling the entire view.
“…”
“Phew…” Lin Fanxing let out a breath of relief and opened the door. “You’ve worked hard, Ge, come in, come in!”
He didn’t care how many things his benefactor was holding. He grabbed his wrist and pulled him straight inside, but the younger man’s footing was unsteady; before he could even react, he was already pulled into the room, followed by the crisp sound of the door shutting.
They got in too fast, so fast that Qin Xin didn’t even get to use any of the opening lines he’d been preparing all the way here. He could only stand there, looking cool and silent.
“Is the fever gone?” Lin Fanxing hadn’t noticed his silence at all. Still worried about the fever from when he left, he reached out and touched his neck.
Qin Xin stood frozen for a second, looking down at that hand. They were touching again. That was good.
“It’s fine, no fever anymore. But you still need to be careful, too,” Lin Fanxing nagged while poking his stomach. “You need to eat more. Being picky isn’t allowed.”
Qin Xin held it in for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence: “I’m not picky…”
“You’re not picky, and you’re this thin? Come on, I can tell you’re one of those kids who struggles with eating.” Lin Fanxing took the bag from his hands. “I’ve seen a lot of kids who don’t like eating. Especially in summer, if you want to get strong, you have to eat well first.”
Qin Xin was still standing at the door, his gaze locked onto Lin Fanxing’s hands, hitting a key point in his mind.
“You’ve seen a lot? Have you seen many people? What kind of people?”
“A lot. Just kids.” Lin Fanxing opened the bag and immediately spotted salvation. “My phone! Thank god!”
“Where did you meet so many kids…” The person behind him still wouldn’t let it go.
There was more in the bag besides the phone: new clothes and a charger. Lin Fanxing grabbed the cable and went looking for a socket, casually revealing his past as he spoke.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t live in the city, but in a small county. I was a left-behind child. We used to fight over food; if you didn’t keep an eye on your bowl, it’d be gone.”
A small county?
Qin Xin imagined it, but couldn’t picture what that place looked like, for he had no experience traveling. The only times he left for filming were strictly within the limits approved by directors and production teams.
He had never participated in normal crew trips or location scouting.
“I only moved to the city in middle school. Back then, I was like a total bumpkin; you can’t even imagine how rustic I was,” Lin Fanxing said exaggeratedly. He plugged in the charger, but the phone stayed black for a few seconds before finally showing the charging icon.
At least it wasn’t broken. Lin Fanxing sighed in relief and asked, “The rental place… is it already completely wrecked?”
Qin Xin nodded.
He had never seen it before it was destroyed, but when he arrived, everything was already smashed. The people who trashed it were furious after Lin Fanxing ran, and even the door had been kicked inward.
Fortunately, Lin Fanxing’s phone had been hidden inside the mattress seam; otherwise, it wouldn’t have survived either. It had been hard to find, and Qin Xin almost missed it.
“How rustic was it?” But Qin Xin ignored the previous topic and returned to that question.
“You…” Lin Fanxing rested one foot on the chair. Those years were his self-proclaimed dark history, so he was reluctant to say more than “Can you imagine… in school, all the other boys wore branded sneakers, and I wore plastic slippers?”
Qin Xin tried to imagine it, but… He really couldn’t.
“In the countryside, I was used to slippers. No one told me city schools didn’t allow it. Haha, but that’s all in the past,” Lin Fanxing said, then fell quiet for a moment.
“If I had known earlier…” After a pause, he smiled and shook his head. “I’ll go take a shower. Do you want to take your helmet off and rest a bit?”
“No need. I’m comfortable like this.” Qin Xin tapped the helmet and pointed toward the bathroom. “Don’t worry, I won’t peek.”
“We’re both men. What am I afraid of?” Lin Fanxing laughed again. After being reborn, even though life wasn’t easy, he still smiled a lot more than before.
When he went into the bathroom, Qin Xin went into the bedroom. He lifted the helmet visor slightly to let some air in.
It was a bit suffocating… But Qin Xin didn’t want to risk being disliked by Lin Fanxing. The room was still the same as before, and it had been a long time since Qin Xin had last come here.
This place was the old house left behind by Yang Su, the woman who, in Qin Xin’s life so far, had been the warmest light he had ever known. Ever since he could remember, Yang Su had been by his side. She was a nanny, a postpartum nurse, an auntie, but also, in his mind, the embodiment of tenderness and maternal love.
But good people rarely live long, and Yang Su died of cancer half a year ago. Before her death, Qin Xin, as the only relative by her sickbed, hesitated for a long time before finally asking the question he had never dared to face in his heart.
“Auntie Yang… can you tell me… whose child I really am?”
The seed of doubt had long since sprouted in his heart, and Qin Xin instinctively believed that Yang Su must know something. Yet Yang Su looked at the child she had raised with deep reluctance, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes onto the pillow.
“Xiao Xin, remember this. No matter whose child you are, you are a good child. And… don’t blame Madam.”
Qin Xin remembered her last words. He was also the only person who attended her funeral. She left him this house, as if she had foreseen everything in advance, leaving him a place to hide and a place where his star could temporarily take shelter.
……………..
Lin Fanxing enjoyed a comfortable hot shower, washing away the smell and coldness of rain from his body. After changing into clean clothes and drying his hair, he returned to the living room just in time to see his benefactor comingback inside, carrying the daily necessities delivered by the courier.
This feeling was strange. It really felt like he had become a kept canary in a rental apartment. Then he checked his phone again.
It could finally turn on!
With a phone, he could reach out to the whole world, but the first thing Lin Fanxing did was still contact Zhao Xiaobai.
Xiaobai: [Holy shit, bro, where have you been?! I couldn’t reach you at all! I thought something happened to you!]
Lin Fanxing sent a message: [Long story. Anyway, I’m fine now. By the way, got any good jobs lately? Hook me up!]
According to the original timeline, Zhao Xiaobai would only officially become his assistant a year later, after Lin Fanxing signed with Shengxi Entertainment. But now, Lin Fanxing was nudging the timeline forward a bit.
After experiencing the ups and downs of the entertainment industry, he had run into more than a few backstabbing assistants, but Zhao Xiaobai was the exception. But in his previous life, things had gone off track, and he had even argued with Zhao Xiaobai a couple of times.
“…”
Sorry, bro.
Xiaobai: [Didn’t you say you weren’t taking jobs recently?]
At first, Lin Fanxing had planned to avoid creditors and stay out of sight. But now he had to make money, so whatever he could earn, he would take.
Lin Fanxing: [Changed my mind. I’m taking everything. Especially that inner spread in “Urban Star Magazine.”]
Xiaobai: [Didn’t you say you didn’t like that magazine?]
Indeed. In his last life, he didn’t like it at all; he even looked down on it. But who would’ve thought that the next issue’s cover of Urban Star Magazine would feature Zhao Yin’ang? The only son of the famous top actress Zhao Yiwei from the previous generation of acclaimed actresses!
Zhao Yin’ang single-handedly boosted that issue’s circulation of Urban straight into the stratosphere. And that undervalued inner spread became the highest-value page in the magazine’s entire publishing history.
Xiaobai: [Alright, that editor from Urban is my classmate. I can book it for you easily. But honestly, this magazine has been kind of unlucky; they always just miss big opportunities and can’t book top-tier talent. Just saying, that inner spread doesn’t pay much. At most, two or three thousand as a “fire-fighting fee.”]
Lin Fanxing: [I’ll even pay them twenty or thirty thousand if needed. Just book it!]
After settling the work arrangement, Lin Fanxing started thinking about where to find his troublesome little brother…
Meanwhile, not far away, Qin Xin was also contacting Fang Feiyu.
Fang Feiyu: [I didn’t sell the stocks. You don’t understand stocks; how would I dare listen to you? And about what you said earlier, I don’t think it’s reliable. Urban has always been kind of off. If you go there, it’ll lower your status.]
Qin Xin just wanted to take off his helmet and press his temples. This guy simply didn’t listen to advice.
No pain, no gain, ah!
Qin Xin: [Just help me arrange it. I think this magazine has potential.]
Fang Feiyu: [Fine… anyway, the Urban editor is my friend. If you say you’re going, they’ll cry with joy. But your fee definitely won’t be high, not even hitting double digits.]
Qin Xin: [Arrange it.]
After sending it, Qin Xin looked up and saw Lin Fanxing staring at his phone with a worried expression. He walked over coldly and sat down opposite him, equally cold and composed.
“I can’t find my brother,” Lin Fanxing said, spilling everything the moment he was stuck. Anyway, the person across from him wasn’t from the industry, so he probably wouldn’t recognize who his brother was.
Qin Xin thought for a moment and casually suggested, “At your parents’ place?”
“No. I already checked the last lif-… I mean, before. He wasn’t there.”
“People who run away from home usually don’t go far,” Qin Xin added. “He might be at a classmate’s house.”
“Classmates… classmates?” Lin Fanxing suddenly stood up. Right! Classmates. His brother had several classmates in this city, so maybe he was hiding there.
“If you want to find your brother, I can help. I’ll go with you,” Qin Xin said casually, straightening his back slightly.
“Sure. More help is better. Don’t worry, Ge. After I finish an ad shoot, I’ll get a few thousand, and I’ll give you a couple hundred,” Lin Fanxing said, just as his phone suddenly vibrated wildly.
New message sender…
Xiao Xin.
He had almost forgotten! He was still chatting with Qin Xin online!
Xiao Xin: [Fanxing Ge, why didn’t you reply to me yesterday and the day before? Did I do something wrong…?]
As for the real Qin Xin, noticing how quickly he grabbed his phone, he asked with clear displeasure:
“…Who’s messaging you?”
T.N: So he’s just planning on living the rest of his life with that motorcycle helmet glued to his head? :)) Also, I have decided to use “Ge” every time Lin Fanxing talks cutsey to Qin Xin, and not translate it to “bro” or something. I just think “bro” doesn’t sound sexy or romantic at all :))
T.N: If you like his novel, you can read up to chapter 20 on my Patreon, with new updates coming every week!
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