Chapter 62

To Steal the Spotlight in Your Story, You Have to Be a Bit Domineering

Ma Liang was incredibly attentive. He had anticipated the number of people coming and had ordered five cups of milk tea in the middle of the night, thoughtfully choosing different flavors and sweetness levels. When changing clothes, he even helped the girls organize their clothes, folding them neatly and stuffing them into bags. Li Ai’s crutch was propped up by the changing room, and he held it patiently at the door, waiting: “To come even with a crutch, you’re so hardworking. I also had a bad leg before. Back then, in Fengxian, I insisted on getting up at four every morning to run, rain or shine. I ran for two years and my knees were filled with fluid, and if I ran again, I wouldn’t be able to walk.”

A native of Fengxian, with dark skin from the sun and two horizontal lines on his cheeks like Native American markings, he looked particularly simple and honest.

He was especially protective of Zhao Xiaorou. When they entered the escape room, he actively stood in front of her, even though it was a mechanical escape room and the music wasn’t even very scary.

The science fiction setting was abroad. Three professors were researching a brain chip that could bring the dead back to life. Two of them had the chip implanted and their bodies were sealed in nitrogen tanks in the attic, while the third escaped with the chip. They had 70 minutes to escape, or they would also be made into brain chips.

The five of them spent fifteen minutes rummaging through boxes and touching the ceiling at the entrance but couldn’t find the key. Finally, Ma Liang moved a step, and there was a key hidden under his foot pad.

“I just felt something under my foot.”

When they encountered an English puzzle, Ma Liang picked it up, glanced at it, and put it down, pretending to look around the study, and then went back to Zhao Xiaorou’s side. When he saw Li Ai solve the puzzle, he spread his hands, “I thought the same thing just now, but I was afraid it was wrong so I didn’t say it.”

Diao Zhiyu saw this as nothing unusual and focused on looking at the murals to find the password. The four old eagles on the wall were facing different directions, corresponding to the four wooden birds on the music box.

When they opened the door and entered the bedroom, the puppet in the closet startled Zhao Xiaorou, and she almost jumped into Ma Liang’s arms: “What is that, it’s so real!”

“Don’t be afraid...” Li Ai searched the puppet for clues, and the phone next to it could be dialed. He called the doctor in the plot and obtained a travel chart. The latitude and longitude on the globe could correspond to the navigation route, and he recorded it very seriously.

Aside from research, he seemed to really enjoy playing escape rooms. Compared to murder mystery games, men seemed to prefer brain-burning puzzles and confined spaces.

Diao Zhiyu was busy filling the fish tank with water to get the key tied to the ping pong ball.

Hu Xiu compared the latitude and longitude on the globe to the diary on the wall, racing against time. Only Zhao Xiaorou and Ma Liang were sitting on the bed chatting: “Your grape milk tea looks delicious.”

“Zhao Xiaorou, come help me solve the puzzle.” Li Ai called Zhao Xiaorou to get up: “We don’t have enough time, there are still three diaries that haven’t been matched.”

“Coming...” Zhao Xiaorou stuffed the milk tea into Ma Liang’s arms, with her usual ambiguous gesture.

They opened the ladder and the five of them climbed up. Hu Xiu and Zhao Xiaorou went upstairs first, and Hu Xiu asked Zhao Xiaorou, “Hey, you’re not flirting with this Ma Liang, are you?”

“Of course not. To prove my charm, I have to accept the advances, don’t I?

These flirting tactics are not as good as Ning Zechen’s, I don’t like brainless brothers, but... I kind of miss it.”

“Why don’t you pay attention to Li Ai?”

“Because of the Xu Meng incident, I haven’t gotten over it in my heart.”

“It’s a shame that Lee Ai almost spilled the beans about their reconciliation. But Lee Ai would rather endure the silence at the dinner table than wait for a formal occasion. Perhaps he doesn’t want someone else to scoop him.”

Watching Ma Liang climb up and greet Zhao Xiaorou, Hu Xiu said, “Lee Ai is probably used to giving silently. Compared to someone who wears their eagerness on their sleeve, he’s at a disadvantage.”

“What are you thinking of me as? He’s just Diao Zhiyu’s friend. Lee Ai has done so much for me, I’m not stupid. It’s just that I remember a saying, ‘A sincere person will always meet a boyfriend in their lifetime; but without a conscience, they can have more relationships.’ It’s a pity that I still have a conscience.”

She looked at Lee Ai who was climbing up and pulled him up. Their hands clasped together as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Luck was always just a little bit out of reach for Zhao Xiaorou and Lee Ai.

Before they could fully understand the structure of the attic, a prop corpse dropped from the sky right in front of everyone. Ma Liang screamed and was caught by Lee Ai in time.

Zhao Xiaorou jumped back and bumped into Diao Zhiyu who was guarding against other mechanisms, and subconsciously hugged Hu Xiu. In the escape room, where physical contact was common, they were almost squeezed into a ball in an instant.

“Damn it!” Zhao Xiaorou stood firm and started cursing, “I was scared to death. I want to have one of these in my escape room too!”

The plot narration was terrifying. This was the last researcher of the brain chip, whose brain information had been taken over by the machine and hidden in the laboratory.

If the players did not stop the machine from running, humanity would gradually fall into an era controlled by machines.

The scene’s countdown came faster than expected. There were still six mechanisms, and only a few minutes left. Diao Zhiyu folded his arms and stood by, watching Hu Xiu busy with a half-abandoned attitude. She opened a box and then opened two doors, and he was a bit surprised, “You’re almost done, and you’re still opening.”

“Why give up until the last second? I hate losing...”

“It’s just a game.”

“No...”

Diao Zhiyu looked at her in bewilderment, and Lee Ai smiled: “That’s just how she is, she’s serious about everything.”

Time was up, and the iron door behind them opened. Once again, they had failed to escape. Hu Xiu patted the dust off her body: “If it were the previous Hua Rong Dao, maybe I could have solved it faster. What are these four complex symbols? Each has numbers stacked together, do they need to be added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided?”

“You stand a little further. It’s just simple pictograms, 4326.”

“My God. Why didn’t you tell me when you figured it out?”

“It’s an old trick in escape rooms—I just wanted to see how serious you were.”

Hu Xiu punched Diao Zhiyu’s arm angrily: “Too much!”

The staff replayed the footage and pointed to the computer: “Everyone, we have some captured moments, that is, the moment when you were scared by the fake person that fell from the sky.”

“Because the reactions to the photos are so interesting, you can connect via Bluetooth and save them.”

Zhao Xiaorou rolled her eyes in disgust, “Is that me? It’s like Munch’s ‘The Scream’—I don’t want it.”

The other four were already connecting via Bluetooth. Zhao Xiaorou persisted, “Even if you save them, don’t post them! I only post photos that have been specially edited, this will affect my ability to get ads. Little brother, can you take another group photo of us in front of this scene outside?” She pointed to the red ancient costume background next to her.

“You have good taste. This is the scene for our new escape room, ‘锦衣卫’ (Jin Yi Wei, meaning Embroidered Uniform Guard).”

The five of them stood in front of the red glazed tile palace gate, with a navy blue backdrop, making their faces appear more saturated.

The moment she picked up her phone, Hu Xiu felt like a bird had pecked the back of her head, causing her to not look at the camera; Ma Liang said he was so scared by the escape room that he couldn’t stand beside it, and he squeezed between Lee Ai and Zhao Xiaorou.

So, in the photo, there was Diao Zhiyu wearing black-framed glasses, teasing Hu Xiu and then looking at her with a mischievous smile; Hu Xiu, who was also looking at him with reproach; Lee Ai, who was inadvertently pushed aside but pushed back gently, with Ma Liang foolishly squatting between the two; and Zhao Xiaorou, who had avoided Ma Liang’s amorous arm and managed to strike the best photogenic pose.

The sci-fi look was frozen in front of the Qing Dynasty scene, but Zhao Xiaorou was very satisfied.

In the photo, she looked sweet and lovely, and Lee Ai was not looking at the camera, quietly and gently looking at her.

Everything was uncertain, yet it was a good start.

After going out, Ma Liang looked at his watch, “Diao ge, can I sleep at your place? I can sleep on the floor, it’s too late to go back to Fengxian now.”

Diao Zhiyu seemed accustomed to this, “You can only sleep on the floor.”

“What’s going on?” Zhao Xiaorou asked.

“He played too late and couldn’t go back, and taking a taxi is too expensive.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal, how much is your taxi fare, I’ll pay for you.”

Ma Liang’s eyes lit up, but he suppressed his excitement: “No need, Sister Zhao, I can just crash at my brother’s place. But what do you actually do, you seem to be so rich.”

“You don’t know who I am?”

“I don’t pay much attention to things around me, I just bury my head in work.” He scratched the back of his head, “Usually the only friend I know is Diao ge, I rely on him a lot.”

Diao Zhiyu was expressionless. Hu Xiu kindly squeezed Diao Zhiyu’s palm, why don’t you let him stay at my place and you sleep at your own?

Diao Zhiyu gave him the key. Ma Liang said, thank you, Diao ge, I won’t sleep on the bed, don’t worry.

After everyone dispersed, Diao Zhiyu said, he has been staying at my place for almost half a year.

“Ah?”

“He often stays temporarily when he can’t go home. Sometimes he will disappear for a while, staying at a woman’s place, and then come to find me when he is heartbroken, which is a bit annoying.”

“Then... why don’t you refuse?”

“I can’t refuse. He’s the kind of person who can’t understand rejection. As long as I don’t kick him out, he will come. Or maybe he will come even if I kick him out, as if he has identified someone’s kindness. And what’s equally incomprehensible is that he is particularly attentive. Once, in the middle of the night, Geng Zhongliang and I got off work and had no food to eat. After hearing about it, he took a taxi from Fengxian to deliver two bowls of spicy noodles to us.”

“Ah...” That didn’t sound like someone who was reluctant to spend money.

“You’re right, I couldn’t make sense of his actions either. Today, I didn’t really want to introduce him to you all, but he clearly doesn’t want to go back to Fengxian. With such a skilled actor, it’s hard not to be moved. But—”

Diao Zhiyu carefully tucked her bangs behind her shoulder. “Can you tell me why you’re upset?”

“It’s much better now that we’ve played escape rooms.”

“Is it because I’m going to shoot a movie?”

“No...”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s just a small film. Until they finish editing and decide on the final cut, I’m basically just backup for them.”

“Are you nervous about it?”

“Why would I be? It’s just acting. I’ll do my usual thing and give it my best shot. I’m more concerned about your mood—if you’re upset, it’ll distract me.”

When they got home, Diao Zhiyu had arrived unexpectedly. There were no clean T-shirts for him to wear, except for some underwear drying on the line.

The boy, freshly showered, sat on the carpet playing games. As usual, he died embarrassingly. He’d never reach the ‘king’ level at this rate.

Hu Xiu’s hair was still damp as she asked, “How did you manage that pentakill?”

Two thin scars crossed his neck as Diao Zhiyu sneezed, not even turning around. “I just focused on playing. When I’m in a bad mood, I vent it out in the game, so of course I win quickly; now my relationship is too sweet, affecting my gaming progress.”

“Oh, then we can take turns.”

Before she could finish her sentence, Diao Zhiyu had pinned her down beside the pillow, determination on his face. He said sternly, “Take back those words.”

“Why...?”

“Don’t joke about things like this.”

“I wasn’t...” She suddenly felt an urge to tease him.

Seeing their conversation going nowhere, the frustrated boy began kissing her. His body, no longer feverish, now brimmed with energy, as if he could stay up all night waiting for her to take back her harsh words.

Do men always have higher body temperatures than women? As Diao Zhiyu gripped her face between his thumb and forefinger, there was no gentleness—she felt real pain, signaling his genuine anger.

The once fragile yet distant manga protagonist from their first encounter had transformed into a forceful presence, boldly asserting himself within her story once again.

The stubble on his chin scratched her skin as he bit her earlobe and licked inside her ear. Come on, she thought, if this keeps up, you’ll give me an ear infection...

He didn’t even let her prepare herself; his sudden attack seemed like revenge.

Diao Zhiyu was no longer gentle—his eyes showed only conquest. He really was angry now. Each wave of his breath dried out her throat. She blamed the sweet milk tea, the intense pleasure, and herself for getting into this mess.

He waited until she was anxious before suddenly thrusting without warning, eliciting gasps from her. He was clearly playing with her too.

Her hair was wet, her body was wet, and his kisses were wet too. The waves refused to retreat easily. Hu Xiu silently thought to herself: Well, aren’t we something.

After tormenting each other well into the night, they finally stopped from sheer exhaustion. Hu Xiu’s muddled mind cleared briefly: Oh man, I have work tomorrow.

Diao Zhiyu whispered in her ear, still sulking, “What scares me most is that we might see different emotional traces between us. I’m so serious about this, afraid it won’t feel right to you. It’s like our relationship could be just a game.”

“Do you love me or not? Jokes are fine, but you can’t joke about leaving me.

I’m not some free person who can spend all day with you. If you just want to play with me, I’m not playing along.”

“I didn’t...”

“Do you love me or not? How much is acting, and how much is sincere?”

Hu Xiu forcefully fixed her angry face in front of him, “I was wrong, I won’t say that again.”

“You promise...”

“I swear...”

Diao Zhiyu, angry and frustrated, leaned over her, his arm still resting on their chests. Hu Xiu’s hand was between his eyebrows, her index finger and middle finger gently rubbing his eyebrows, as if trying to smooth out two strands of twist. “Your way of resolving conflicts is so...sexual...”

“It’s your fault for inviting a wolf into the house.” He hadn’t left her body yet.

“Actually, I’m not very confident about going to act in a movie. I still enjoy acting in small theaters and facing the audience directly, it’s free; being recorded in a film, everything is controlled by the crew, it’s like a puppet show, I’m a bit resistant.”

After saying this, he fell asleep. The screen lit up, and a message suddenly came on the phone: “How are you recently?”

It was Pei Zhen. It had been almost a month since the last message, and the last time was at the farewell party.

The breathing behind her seemed to pause for a moment. Hu Xiu deleted the message and decided not to reply.

Burrowing into the bare embrace, she buried her head in the boy’s neck, her hair was still wet.

She was tired, but she craved this damp warmth, wanted to sink into it forever, and didn’t want to get up.

Hu Xiu’s workload at the hospital was increasing, the documents on her desk were getting thicker, and she was spending most of her time on administrative work, compressing her energy for translation.

She became a dedicated manager. Former foreign personnel she had translated for often bypassed her senior sister and contacted her directly. Thinking of the complex interpersonal relationships in the hospital, she reported all invitations to Director Cai in the hospital’s work content email to avoid unclear responsibilities.

When sending the duty roster, Director Cai and the head nurse were chatting, and although it was in Shanghainese, she could understand. Little Pei would be back in mid-March, and the project had ended early.

Pretending not to hear, Hu Xiu left the office. After work, she had to go out to eat with Diao Zhiyu first, and then record a translation class for Bilibili.

“I’m at Shangxi...” the boy on the phone said roughly, “I’m doing some acting training on my own, and I’m not very confident. Are you coming over?”

“Will it be a disturbance? It’s okay if I’m in the office.” Hu Xiu twirled her hair with her hand, “I don’t really want to see you.”

“You come to me now.”

He was no longer willing to play along with this joke.

Diao Zhiyu was rehearsing a script in the rehearsal room, and Hu Xiu was sitting in the corner with her canvas shoes stretched out, as if she was stretching.

He recited his lines regardless of others, the sound of hitting the table was very real, and when he reached the emotional part, tears fell to the floor, and his recitation was trembling.

“In that script, the young man loves a woman who is already married. He faces unrequited love, and there’s a line that says: ‘Being too persistent about status is useless. As long as there is interaction, there is emotional exchange, and I can’t grasp the boundaries of morality.’

I was deeply moved by that line. A boy like Diao Zhiyu, even if I were married, would build a fortress for him in his heart.

Love transcends right and wrong, it has nothing to do with gender. Anything that can be bound by rules is not love.”

The sound of the rain pattering on the umbrella in the night was like a chaotic, intertwined heartbeat. Hu Xiu felt her thoughts disturbed, and she felt at a loss when facing the people around her.

As they turned a corner, Diao Zhiyu switched her to the inside of the road, as if it were the most ordinary thing, and he didn’t say a word.

A play that had nothing to do with the two of them had caused their thoughts to ferment at the same time.

“You were more dazzling in your performance today than in ‘Snowpiercer’. It’s like you were lit up.”

“That environment was relatively more commercial, and we mainly interacted, so the plays were more formulaic.”

“But I think... you were very serious.”

“It’s acting...”

“Looking at you like that, I felt the same shock as when I first saw Qin Xiaoyi throw roses. Acting is really a fresh profession. I can probably understand why you couldn’t get out of the role of Lin Qiu Mei. When there is emotional exchange, it’s difficult to treat someone as a stranger.”

“Why are you suddenly mentioning her?”

“I’m just talking about the play. I’m not bringing up the past.”

“The lines in this script moved me a lot, so I really wanted to act it out, even though it’s another story about unrequited love—it’s so difficult, I think I’m stuck in this character.”

“But it’s...heart-stirring. If you had played Feng Youjin from the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have liked you—to be honest.”

“I’ve always wanted to ask you a question.” Even as boyfriend and girlfriend, Diao Zhiyu would still be shy when mentioning their first meeting, “Why did you single me out from that group of people? I mean, there were more handsome guys than me on Snowpiercer.”

“In that scene, I noticed that you would often be happy for a while and then become gloomy. Even though I was so insignificant, you would try to make me happy by taking care of me a little more.

When those wealthy ladies came, you weren’t as annoyed as I imagined, and you even took care of their feelings.

So I think you might be very sincere to anyone who comes to you.

I originally thought that a handsome actor would treat me as a joke, ignore my existence, or even be annoyed by me. But later, I didn’t expect...” Hu Xiu smiled, “I didn’t expect you to care more than I imagined.”

“I’m not as good as you think.”

“But you... to me, are very precious.”

“You are too. My life has been illuminated twice, once when I got my acceptance letter to Shanghai Theatre Academy, and the other time when I met you.”

“You see, not having enough rings isn’t a good thing.”

“Don’t joke, I’m serious.” Diao Zhiyu leaned closer to her, “This city is exquisite everywhere, but emotions are crude. I ignore the vulgar rules and flattering players around me, and treat everyone with courtesy, thinking that not hurting is also a kind of love, until I was hurt by you -

I didn’t expect that being a murder mystery actor would actually have to suffer the pain of love. Don’t always joke about my youth and say that I have no money, no status, and not enough experience. I can accept all of that, but if I can’t give you a sense of security, then what kind of man am I?”

Under the umbrella, the lovers embraced each other. The air was enveloped by the thick, humid night, and the surrounding lights were soft, silently intersecting.

Hu Xiu’s heart pounded. The initial fervor she had felt when she first met Qin Xiaoyi had faded, replaced by a complex, underlying attachment that flowed through her body.

Hu Xiu couldn’t understand where Diao Zhiyu got all his courage to insist on forever; she only felt that it was okay to temporarily put away her cowardice and not find a way out. For this journey, she could dock here.

Although she didn’t know when fate would change course.