Chapter 187: Condoms and Xin Zixing

Lu Yan He has thin skin. Lu Yan He didn't dare to cover this up from the beginning because he couldn't cover it up.

Shame is something that exists if it exists, and doesn't if it doesn't. It's innate. To practice it, you have to go up a mountain of knives and down a sea of fire.

Lu Yan He doesn't know what he will be like in the future, but anyway, he doesn't have the face to be a city wall now, pretending that he doesn't know anything and hasn't heard anything.

After Jiang Yuqian finished filming the last scene, Lu Yan He stood on the side waiting for her.

Luo Xiaoyu stepped forward and handed Jiang Yuqian a tissue.

After a scene, Jiang Yuqian was sweating on her face and neck.

"Sister Yuqian." Lu Yan He called her.

Jiang Yuqian looked at Lu Yan He with some surprise, somewhat unexpected, and asked: "Anything for me?"

Lu Yan He looked around, hesitated, but still said: "There have been some voices in the crew recently discussing you and me. Do you know?"

Jiang Yuqian was stunned for a moment, then laughed, and nodded, "This matter? I know, it's been two days. Did you just find out?"

"Yeah." Lu Yan He nodded, his expression somewhat uneasy, saying: "Sorry, Sister Yuqian, I caused you to be misunderstood too."

"Misunderstanding is too common, don't take it to heart," Jiang Yuqian gave him an appeasing look, "Don't think too much, it's not easy to finish work, go back and rest early."

Jiang Yuqian didn't mean to talk to him much about this matter. After speaking, she took Luo Xiaoyu and prepared to leave.

The crew assigned her a car, so she didn't need to wait for the shuttle bus and could go back to the hotel directly after getting on the car.

Lu Yan He saw that Jiang Yuqian didn't seem to take this matter to heart, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look, did you see?"

On the bus parked nearby, Cao Yong sat in the driver's seat and raised his chin at someone next to him.

Following his gaze, one could just see Lu Yan He.

"Look at that look in his eyes. If you say he doesn't like Jiang Yuqian, who would believe it?" Cao Yong said with the posture of an experienced person, old and steady, "Those actors who have acted for a long time can't avoid falling in love because of the play, let alone a young person like Lu Yan He who is acting for the first time. He acted as a couple with Jiang Yuqian in the play, do you think he won't be moved? I don't believe it."

The person next to him heard Cao Yong say this and felt it made sense.

"Except for the big age gap, the two of them are actually quite suitable, and they look compatible."

"That's your woman's view. What level of star is Jiang Yuqian, and what level is Lu Yan He? A combination of a weak man and a strong woman, how many pairs can go to the end?" Cao Yong immediately retorted.

"What you said is also true."

Cao Yong looked at Lu Yan He who was still standing stupidly in front, and tsked twice.

This young man who is just beginning to know love.

Lu Yan He followed the shuttle bus to the hotel, didn't go in directly, and went to a convenience store nearby first, preparing to buy something to eat.

He had a scene to film at night and missed the meal time. By the time he could eat, the cafeteria didn't have much food left, only leaving a few boxed meals packed for them.

Lu Yan He ate one box, but he wasn't full. Today he filmed in one breath until after eleven o'clock at night, and he was hungry early.

As soon as he entered the convenience store, Lu Yan He bumped into Huang Kai.

He was wearing a hood and a mask, making it almost impossible for people to recognize him.

But because Lu Yan He bumped into him at the door, he happened to see his eyes and recognized him.

"Brother Ren!" Lu Yan He greeted him with surprise.

Huang Kai moved quickly to put the things he bought into his pocket.

Lu Yan He only vaguely saw that it was a dark blue thing; he couldn't even tell what he bought.

Huang Kai looked at him, smiled, and asked: "Did you finish work?"

"Yeah." Lu Yan He nodded.

"Rest early." Huang Kai nodded at him, "I'll go up first."

"Oh, okay." Lu Yan He nodded, moved aside, and Huang Kai hurried away.

Lu Yan He felt a bit strange.

Feeling that he was in a hurry, as if something was very urgent.

But in the middle of the night, what else could be urgent.

Lu Yan He went to get a sandwich, went to the counter to check out, and out of the corner of his eye, he glanced and was stunned.

On a small shelf next to the counter, there was a row of small boxes with dark blue packaging, with the words "Double Lubrication" written clearly on it, the brand name below, and a line of small white characters below that, among which were the three words "Condom."

"..." Lu Yan He looked down, stunned for a long time.

Did he see it wrong?

He must have seen it wrong, right?

Lu Yan He's mind recalled the blurry shadow that flashed before his eyes the moment he bumped into Huang Kai just now.

Not sure.

Brother Ren... isn't he single?

After sending everyone off the bus, Cao Yong drove back with several other drivers, then found a small restaurant on the side of the road, several people sat together, ordered a plate of edamame, plus a dish of peanuts, each opened a can of beer, drinking and chatting while chatting, and ended up talking about the rumors online again.

"You didn't see that innocent look of that kid Lu Yan He." Cao Yong said with a firm tone, "Don't guess blindly, he definitely likes Jiang Yuqian."

"Then according to what you said, is it true that he and Jiang Yuqian are dating?"

"Isn't this nonsense!" Cao Yong nodded immediately, "Look at Jiang Yuqian's reaction, the news online has been spreading for several days. If they didn't have that thing, would Jiang Yuqian not avoid Lu Yan He? Lu Yan He is a young kid, he doesn't understand anything, doesn't she understand?"

"The main thing is that they don't look like it at all." A big guy next to him didn't believe it, "Jiang Yuqian is such a high-minded woman, how could she like a young kid like Lu Yan He."

"Who told you they wouldn't like young kids? Now rich and powerful women also like fresh meat." Someone immediately said.

Cao Yong: "Exactly, these people in the entertainment industry, looking at everyone glamorous, men handsome and women beautiful, are all clean and simple. How many are really clean and simple? Don't they all say that those few queens often date male models together? It's like an emperor choosing a concubine. Once they have money, regardless of men or women, they all see color and rise, maybe now in that hotel, there is someone lying in someone's room."

Huang Kai looked at the woman in front of him.

The woman in front was also looking at him.

In the room, the curtains were closed, they were lying on the bed, skin to skin.

It was already after finishing, covered in sweat, but neither was willing to separate, still holding each other, breathing messing up each other's breath.

"If the exposure online is really talking about us, what should we do?" Xin Zixing opened a pair of wet eyes, looked at the man in front of her, and asked.

Huang Kai didn't speak, was silent for a long time, and then said: "Then admit it."

Hearing Huang Kai say this, Xin Zixing's eyes seemed to have water flowing.

She hugged Huang Kai and whispered: "It doesn't matter, even if you deny our relationship to the outside, it doesn't matter, Kai, I just hope you are well."

Huang Kai sighed.

"Sorry, I've wronged you all these years."

"As long as you love me, I won't be wronged." Xin Zixing laughed, her eyes full of Huang Kai.

Midnight.

Huang Kai was already asleep.

Xin Zixing opened her eyes suddenly, borrowing a little faint light from the window, silently watching the man in front of her.

They have been in love for four years, four years, which can be counted as a long run.

She is not an artist, not working in front of the screen. When they met, Huang Kai was not as popular as he is now, just a small actor, most of the time without work, so he could only stay in the room. At that time, they had a lot of time together and were very in love.

Later, Huang Kai became popular.

After becoming popular, Huang Kai's agent required them not to make the relationship public. Because this would affect Huang Kai's career development. After that, they have been hiding it from everyone, and Xin Zixing didn't even tell her family that she had a boyfriend.

Xin Zixing has tasted all the bitterness and sweetness of dating an artist.

She also changed from a confident girl to someone who is worried about gains and losses.

Huang Kai became the perfect male god in the hearts of countless girls. In contrast, Xin Zixing, even if she is a standard big beauty in reality, has become much dimmer.

Xin Zixing glanced at the sleeping Huang Kai, got out of bed, picked up the phone that was charging on the bedside, and walked toward the restroom.

She logged into Weibo and switched accounts.

It showed successful login soon.

There are still many new comments today, and private messages are almost exploding.

Countless people ask her every day who the person she wants to break the news about is, who is pretending to be single.

Xin Zixing glanced at these private messages, then looked at the content of the new comments, and she looked up to the right.

On the right is a frosted glass, blocking her view of the bedroom, but her gaze seemed to be able to penetrate this glass wall, seeing the person on the other side.

—It doesn't matter.

—Even if you deny our relationship to the outside, it doesn't matter.

—Kai, I just hope you are well.

—As long as you love me, I won't be wronged.

When saying it, it was sincere, but the long-term anxiety, worry, and panic made her unable to keep rational at all times.

She sat in the restroom for ten minutes and finally hardened her heart to cancel the account.

The day after returning from Nanhe University, Lu Yan He slept in for a rare time.

However, his so-called sleeping in was actually waking up at 8:30 in the morning.

For the previous few days, he had to get up early to film almost every day, and returned late at night, so he was already tired.

Today there is no Lu Yan He's scene, not only today, but also tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Lu Yan He's main scenes are those scenes at school, and later he will film a conflict scene in the classroom, as well as his most important scene of protecting Guan Zhu. His filming in this play will end.

Simply put, it is a role with very few scenes.

But the character setting is too good, and it is too important for the heroine Guan Zhu of this play, so it is valued so much.

These two days there is no scene to film, Lu Yan He decided to walk around the city of Langhua by himself.

Always had a dream of traveling around the world, and hadn't realized it before crossing over.

Don't know if it can be realized in the future.

Lu Yan He went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast first.

No need to rush for time, can eat breakfast calmly, this feeling is too cool.

There are quite a few people in the hotel restaurant, coming and going.

Quite a few people recognized Lu Yan He.

"The Golden Age" booked three floors of rooms in this hotel, and guests living in this hotel know there are stars.

Different from the "stars are surrounded by fans wherever they go" that appears in many film and television dramas, in most cases, unless you are popular to the top level, your daily travel is at most being recognized, and others ask to take a photo with you or ask for your autograph.

Lu Yan He was also recognized. He was asked to take a photo halfway through breakfast. Lu Yan He was in a good mood, so he readily agreed, but what was embarrassing was that a mother with a junior high school student suddenly came over, pointed at Lu Yan He and said to her son: "This brother's grades are so good, he scored 657 in the college entrance exam, which is the grade for Zhenhua and Yuming. You should learn from this brother, don't play games all day long."

It's not very strange to be told such things to your face, but what made Lu Yan He embarrassed was that the mother didn't say to greet him in advance, just treated him like a display, pointed at him and started educating her child. He didn't know whether it was better to give a reaction or not.

There are many such things, and Lu Yan He is getting more and more used to it.

But just at this time, a woman with long black hair and a bright and moving appearance suddenly sat down opposite Lu Yan He, holding a plate in her hand, with toast and jam on the plate, and a fried egg.

She smiled slightly at Lu Yan He and asked: "No one else is sitting here, right?"

Lu Yan He looked at her, her smile made him distracted for a moment, and he came back to his senses when he heard the voice, nodded, and said: "No."

"Don't be nervous, I'm not a reporter, nor am I here to ask for your autograph. Of course, I know you, you are Lu Yan He, you are a star, I know."

Xin Zixing said this generously, and the posture she gave was calm and frank, which made Lu Yan He feel a bit of pressure for no reason.

Lu Yan He nodded, smiled, and continued to eat his noodles.

Xin Zixing was a bit curious, pointed at the noodles in front of Lu Yan He, and said: "I see online that you star artists rarely eat staple food and carbohydrates in order to maintain your figure. Do you actually eat noodles?"

Lu Yan He said "uh," and shook his head, "I didn't do that."

"It seems that the news online is not true." Xin Zixing laughed, "I heard you are filming now, don't you need to film today?"

Lu Yan He: "I don't have a filming task today."

"So that's it." Xin Zixing chatted with Lu Yan He while eating the toast and fried egg in front of her, wiped her hands, and said: "Then you eat slowly, I'm done, bye."

Xin Zixing stood up, smiled at Lu Yan He, and turned to leave.

After the person had been gone for five minutes, Lu Yan He was still in a state of inexplicable confusion.

He was confused about why a stranger would use such a familiar posture with him from the beginning, chatting with him generously for ten minutes.

Moreover, he actually chatted with her with questions and answers.

Lu Yan He is not

Lu Yan He finished breakfast, put on his backpack, donned his fisherman hat, and left the hotel.

He did not notice that he was being followed by a tail.

Xin Zixing's interest in Lu Yan He was purely accidental.

Huang Kai had gone off to film and was not at the hotel; she was alone.

Xin Zixing had originally planned to leave today; she couldn't keep spending the night at Huang Kai's place. When she left his room this morning, she had been extremely cautious, feeling like a thief, terrified that someone from next door might see her coming out of Huang Kai's room.

But the moment she saw Lu Yan He in the restaurant, Xin Zixing had another thought. She had always hidden by Huang Kai's side as a transparent figure, not even daring to appear near him when others were around. Why not give herself a legitimate reason?

Xin Zixing knew of Lu Yan He because he was truly very popular lately.

She followed Lu Yan He because she wanted to manufacture a chance encounter with him.

Too much of a good thing is bad; after a few chance encounters and some familiarity, she could naturally get to know Lu Yan He better.

Xin Zixing was a website editor who had once worked at a fashion magazine. Later, the magazine stopped selling and ceased publication, so she changed jobs and went to work as an editor for a website, in charge of its fashion and clothing section.

Because of her work and her connection to Huang Kai, Xin Zixing knew much more about the entertainment industry than the average person.

For an academic idol like Lu Yan He, who had suddenly become popular this summer, Xin Zixing wanted to get to know him even without the Huang Kai factor.

Because he had a story.

Lu Yan He had his first chance encounter with Xin Zixing at a second-hand bookstore.

He was surprised, and the expression on Xin Zixing's face was even more surprised.

"This is too much of a coincidence. Did you come to this bookstore specifically to browse?" Xin Zixing asked Lu Yan He.

She was holding an old fashion magazine in her hand.

Lu Yan He shook his head and said, "I just happened to walk here. What a coincidence."

His mood was filled with an indescribable sense of doubt.

Xin Zixing nodded. "I thought you were like me, specifically here to hunt for old books. I've watched your livestreams and heard that you really like reading novels."

"I... I do read novels when I'm free." Lu Yan He's gaze fell on the fashion magazine in Xin Zixing's hand. It was a magazine from over a decade ago. He was somewhat surprised and said, "You still read fashion magazines from over ten years ago?"

Xin Zixing said, "Oh, this is for my work. I used to work at a fashion magazine, and now I've switched to being a website editor, but I'm still in charge of fashion and clothing. I'm working on a topic recently, trying to dig up some classic fashion elements from old magazines."

A look of sudden realization appeared on Lu Yan He's face.

"So that's how it is."

Xin Zixing took the magazine to the owner to pay.

"I'm off, bye." Xin Zixing nodded at Lu Yan He and left.

Lu Yan He watched her departing figure thoughtfully. She was very thin and wore a white, form-fitting tank top; as she walked into the sunlight, she looked so white she seemed almost ready to melt into it.

The phone rang at this inopportune moment, interrupting his train of thought.

"Old Lu, are you filming on set right now?" It was Li Zhibai.

Lu Yan He: "I don't have any scenes today, I'm out for a stroll."

"That's a huge coincidence! Yan Liang and I have come to Langhua, ready to visit you on set," Li Zhibai said. "Where are you now? Send me your location, and we'll come find you."

Lu Yan He was pleasantly surprised.

Half an hour later, Li Zhibai's car appeared on the side of the road.

Lu Yan He got in the car, feeling quite excited.

"You two are pretty decent, picking this time to visit the set," Lu Yan He chuckled.

Yan Liang sat in the passenger seat and said, "We were originally planning to go to the set to find you, bring a carload of milk tea and snacks for the crew to eat and drink, and boost your standing, but we didn't expect you wouldn't be filming today."

On film sets, it is common for friends of actors to visit and bring tea, snacks, and drinks for everyone.

At such times, there would also be banners saying "XXXX treats everyone to XX/drinks XX."

Lu Yan He had seen it once on the set of *The Golden Age* when a friend of Huang Kai's came to visit and brought everyone iced plum juice and fried chicken.

But more often, it was the leads themselves paying out of their own pockets to treat everyone.

After listening to them, Lu Yan He smiled and said thanks, then added, "Better not spend the money. It's just for show, it's too much of a loss."

He wasn't a lead in *The Golden Age*, so there was no need to steal the spotlight from them.

Because Li Zhibai was driving, Lu Yan He's range of activity suddenly expanded.

He searched online for places worth visiting in Langhua, but the results were all tourist attractions or landmark buildings.

These were not places Lu Yan He wanted to go.

He would rather go to places like the old bookstore he had stumbled upon that morning.

"Do you two not have work these two days? How do you have time to come here?" Lu Yan He asked.

Yan Liang said, "It just so happens that neither of us has work today or tomorrow, and with nothing to do, we came. But we have to go back tomorrow afternoon; Li Zhibai has a shoot the day after."

"The timing is really a coincidence; I also happen to have no filming these two days," Lu Yan He said. "Have you two been to Langhua before?"

"No."

"Then it's perfect to explore together."

"By the way, didn't someone named Victor post news online saying that the lead of your *The Golden Age* isn't single? That person deleted their account late last night," Li Zhibai said. "Everyone says they were successfully PR'd. You're on the set, did you hear any news?"

Lu Yan He shook his head and said, "Don't even mention it. Many people on set actually think this news is about Sister Yuqian and me, just because Sister Yuqian usually takes care of me, and it ended up becoming the 'ambiguity' in other people's mouths."

"You and Jiang Yuqian? Huh? Who said that?" Li Zhibai asked, incredulous. "I saw this claim online before, but isn't that just them talking nonsense?"

"The people on set don't think so," Lu Yan He sighed helplessly.

Li Zhibai looked even more confused.

"I thought since you were on set, you would know more about this," he said.

Lu Yan He also found it strange: "Why are you so curious about this?"

Li Zhibai was actually not that gossipy about people and things that had nothing to do with him; most of the time he was too lazy to listen.

This time, he was actually so proactive in wanting to know the details.

Li Zhibai: "Just asking."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Liang came to tear down his facade.

"He's so curious about this because Officer Qiu Ling asked him," Yan Liang said immediately. "Officer Qiu is a fan of Huang Kai, and she really wants to know if this person who is no longer single is Huang Kai."

Lu Yan He had originally wanted to say it was impossible, but the dark blue object from yesterday suddenly flashed through his mind, and the words stuck in his throat.

It might not be impossible for it to be Huang Kai.

Lu Yan He clicked his tongue and immediately looked at Li Zhibai with disdain.

"Why doesn't Officer Qiu Ling come to ask me, someone who is on the *The Golden Age* set, instead of asking you?"

Li Zhibai sighed impatiently and said, "Just asked casually, why so many whys."

Yan Liang came to tear him down again.

"That's because he chats with Officer Qiu every day."

Lu Yan He looked at Li Zhibai in disbelief. "Do you have to be so exaggerated?"

The age gap between Li Zhibai and Qiu Ling wasn't that big, but... they really looked like a terrible match.

Li Zhibai was like a bristling terrier; he and an image like Officer Qiu Ling, who was sometimes a cold queen, were just too ill-suited to appear in the same frame.

Lu Yan He had known before that Li Zhibai was somewhat interested in Qiu Ling, but he didn't expect him to be *this* interested.

Sending messages every day?

Li Zhibai glared at Yan Liang in embarrassment and anger.

"No one will think you're a mute if you don't speak!"

Yan Liang laughed and made a gesture of zipping his mouth shut.

At this moment, Lu Yan He finally found a place online that he was actually interested in.

"There's a place here called Qingshi Bridge, a stone arch bridge over two hundred years old. Shall we go take a look?"

Li Zhibai and Yan Liang had no objections.

Qingshi Bridge was just a twenty-minute drive away.

Langhua wasn't very developed to begin with, and the area around here looked even less developed.

It was even a bit desolate.

The roadside was lined with low, flat houses.

When they arrived at Qingshi Bridge and took a look, it was actually just a small stone bridge about five meters long. You couldn't even call what was under the bridge a river; it was just a wider stream, the water depth probably no more than half a meter, and the stones and water plants at the bottom were clearly visible.

They were somewhat disappointed.

However, at least they had been there.

The three of them still took a selfie together in front of this two-hundred-year-old Qingshi Bridge, smiling brightly.

When they were together, it didn't really matter if the place they went to was that amazing.

As long as they were together, anywhere was fun.

For lunch, they went back to a more prosperous part of the city.

Yan Liang chose the restaurant.

It was by the river, a replica of an ancient building. As soon as they stepped up the stairs, a figure in the outdoor atrium looked exceptionally familiar.

Lu Yan He looked at her in surprise; his overly surprised expression left Li Zhibai and Yan Liang confused.

Although that woman was beautiful, they didn't know her; why was Lu Yan He so surprised?

At this moment, the woman seemed to sense their gaze. She had been looking down at her phone, but she raised her head and looked over with some confusion.

Her gaze met Lu Yan He's.

This time, even she herself was somewhat surprised.

After watching Lu Yan He get into the car, Xin Zixing had originally wanted to hail a taxi to follow him, but after failing to get one for a long time, she gave up. She came here alone to have lunch and read for a while, planning to go back in the afternoon; she didn't expect Lu Yan He to appear here.

This fate was so coincidental that she momentarily wondered if he had been following her while she was following him?

He wouldn't have fallen for her, would he?