RBNR Ch16: Fishing

After seeing Tu Yisen off, Qin Bao completed a few jobs, celebrated a birthday, and before he knew it, it was the end of the term. Busy with exams, he barely had time to catch his breath before he had to fly to an island nation for his first event as a model.

Xu Tangzhou was also there, but he was just tagging along on his mom’s business trip and came to visit Qin Bao.

When they finally met, Xu Tangzhou’s face was swollen, and Qin Bao almost didn’t recognize him. After some questioning, he found out it was because his mom bought some pastries in the morning that contained cranberries.

Qin Bao scolded angrily, “What’s with Auntie Xie? She was too careless! And you, are you a pig? You know you’re allergic to berries and didn’t check what you were eating?”

Xu Tangzhou, shrinking into his scarf, usually loved looking good, so coming to see Qin Bao with a swollen face was a true testament to their friendship.

“I was hungry,” Xu Tangzhou said, aggrieved. “We didn’t recognize the writing here and didn’t know what was inside. Don’t scold me.”

Eating something without knowing what it is?

Qin Bao couldn’t even bother to retort. He took out a Tupperware container and waved it in front of Xu Tangzhou. “Don’t always complain that I only wash strawberries for others. This yogurt parfait I made by myself today, I cut the fruits myself too. But with your face like this, you shouldn’t eat it.”

He was about to put it back in the mini-fridge when Xu Tangzhou pounced on it and hugged it tightly, saying, “I’ve already taken medicine; it’s fine. This I can eat!”

Qin Bao was exasperated, “You only think about eating!”

Like his own, Xu Tangzhou’s family was also falling apart. Mr. Qin and Ms. Rong had a peaceful breakup; there was still some love left between them, or at least Qin Bao felt Mr. Qin still cared about Ms. Rong. But Xu Tangzhou’s parents were different; they fought loudly when they met and bickered even when they didn’t. His father was an alcoholic, so Xu Tangzhou followed his mother everywhere. When things got tough, his mother would leave him with his older brother.

Qin Bao didn’t want Xu Tangzhou to end up in a situation like his own, but besides getting angry, there wasn’t much he could do.

The emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is.

Xu Tangzhou was worried about something else, holding his scarf and fretting, “Qin Bao, do you think my face will go down by tonight? I have a flight back, and I look too ugly to see my brother.”

Qin Bao said, “If he only likes your face, then there’s nothing worth stressing over!”

Xu Tangzhou, the hopeless romantic, blinked shyly, “You mean he kind of likes me?”

Can’t take this anymore.

Qin Bao: “…I don’t know!”

He hadn’t even figured out his own situation, so how could he understand someone else’s? What was going on with Feng Chengyu, anyway? He couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Was he fishing for attention with that talk of minors and pursuing, or did Feng Chu misunderstand?

Qin Bao had been troubled for almost a month.

Suddenly, the door of the nanny car opened, and Li Nanyue stood outside, looking surprised to see someone inside, especially Qin Bao, making his expression awkward.

Since they were in the same company, running into each other was inevitable, especially since they were attending the same event this time.

Qin Bao had seen him on the plane, but their seats were far apart, so there was no need to greet each other. However, there was only one car after landing.

Now that they were face to face, Li Nanyue couldn’t just close the door and leave, so he forced a smile, “Qin Bao, you’re here early. I thought I was the earliest.”

Qin Bao frowned slightly and said, “Yeah.”

Li Nanyue then turned to Xu Tangzhou and asked, “Zhouzhou, long time no see. Are you here for work too?”

Because of Qin Bao, they used to be quite familiar.

If it were before, Xu Tangzhou would have been very enthusiastic, but this time he turned his face away, pretending not to hear.

Li Nanyue got into the car and headed straight for the back seat.

Xu Tangzhou only stayed for a moment, realizing that Qin Bao and the others were about to leave. He whispered to Qin Bao, “I’ll call you,” then left with the yogurt parfait.

The others hadn’t arrived yet, so the car only had the two of them left.

Li Nanyue somehow overcame the awkwardness and started chatting, “I heard you switched to modeling. You’ve been doing well recently; even An Qingyan asked you to shoot an ad. Congratulations.”

Qin Bao couldn’t tell if he was sincere or sarcastic.

Logically, Li Nanyue should be happy that he switched to modeling. After all, he had once said he was “relying on his youth.” In his eyes, switching to modeling meant being “picked apart by brand representatives.”

Qin Bao had an advertisement to shoot. Last time, because of half a shrimp, An Qingyan owed him a favor. He didn’t expect this connection to lead to further collaboration.

After leaving the entertainment circle, An Qingyan started his own beauty brand, which developed very well. The new high-end perfume they were launching seemed to suit Qin Bao’s image, so they contacted Brother Lu.

The advertisement would be broadcasted online, on TV, and in physical stores. Qin Bao had only done print ads before, so this was his first time appearing on screen.

“I actually envy you. You have many fans and a good public image,” said Li Nanyue. “Everyone says you’re genuine. They don’t know you say you don’t like eating crayfish just because you hate peeling the shells. I used to peel them for you.”

Qin Bao, playing with his phone, didn’t look up. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Li Nanyue seemed to smile bitterly and didn’t mention the past anymore. Instead, he asked, “Do you plan to enter the entertainment industry in the future?”

Qin Bao didn’t understand what Li Nanyue meant by “also” until the job was done and Brother Lu mentioned that this might be Li Nanyue’s last event as a model.

Li Nanyue and Su He had terminated their contracts together, planning to sign artist contracts with the same company. However, in the upcoming reality show, only Li Nanyue was cast, with no sign of Su He, for unknown reasons.

Facing the same scheming scenarios again, with the same main players behind them, Qin Bao felt fortunate to have overheard that conversation back then.

After returning to China, Xu Tangzhou indeed went to his brother’s house in the capital. Qin Bao managed to meet him once amid his busy schedule, mostly staying in touch through phone calls and messages, unwillingly fed with their lovey-dovey moments.

Xu Tangzhou, who had poor grades and hated studying, often complained about his brother supervising his homework.

Qin Bao, also having several papers to write, could only threaten his friend, “If you don’t do your homework, you might get your ears pierced again like last year!”

With no time to deal with his friend, he had to finish everything to attend the fashion week in February.

After writing endlessly, he finally checked his phone and saw another message from Xu Tangzhou: [My brother fell asleep here while watching over me. Look, he looks like an eyelash spirit.]

[Photo jpg]

On the notebook was half of an alpha’s face, with a nice contour and indeed long eyelashes, like a mixed-race person.

Qin Bao: “…”

These annoying couples!

Closing the notification, he searched Feng Chengyu’s name on the web. It had been a long time since he had seen Feng Chu and heard nothing about Feng Chengyu.

The other party wasn’t a celebrity or a public figure. He searched out of boredom, not expecting to find anything.

Clicking on a link, the webpage jumped to Flow.

It was news about a new overpass being built in the capital and a new ski resort being constructed at Chunshan, mentioning the names of those in charge, including Feng Chengyu.

There was only a name, no photo.

Feeling a bit disappointed, Qin Bao opened his photo album and scrolled to the candid graduation photo of Feng Chengyu he had taken.

He had looked at it so many times that he almost memorized the background trees.

Months had passed, and the irritation in his heart had subsided, leaving him calm. Secretly liking someone much older was tough; after all, age couldn’t grow overnight. He couldn’t rush to confess his feelings.

Besides, he might stop liking Feng Chengyu after a while.

His tastes changed often, and feelings were unpredictable.

Staring blankly at the photo for a while, he returned to Flow and was shocked.

Damn.

He had forgotten to switch accounts and accidentally liked the news.

Fans quickly noticed.

[BB is also interested in the capital’s current affairs?]

[Guessing Bao Bao wants to go skiing, haha.]

[The plans really look beautiful. With this, the roads will be interconnected, and the Chunshan Reserve will be expanded invisibly!]

[Liking the plans +1. I hope to run into my Bao at the ski resort in the future!]

A heart that was lifted slowly settled down. No one knew his slip of the hand was just because of a name in the news.

In June of the following year, the renovation of the Feng family’s old mansion finally began.

According to tradition, early that morning, they first worshiped heaven, earth, and ancestors, and then hung red cloth on the statues before allowing machines and workers to enter the site.

The scorching summer weather changed suddenly, with a heavy rainstorm at noon.

Feng Chengyu and Shu Helan stood in the rain wearing raincoats, observing the foundation continuously sinking due to the storm.

“If we hadn’t moved forward, it would have been hard to see the problem was this serious,” Shu Helan said. “You should take a video and send it to those uncles and aunts to shut them up completely.”

Feng Chengyu put away his phone. “I’ve already sent it.”

Shu Helan laughed.

The younger generation of the Feng family was not far away. In such situations, the young people were still laughing and playing cards with the workers under a shed to avoid the rain.

A reporter ran out of the shed and trudged through the muddy path to the higher ground.

“Mr. Feng! The rain is so heavy; please use an umbrella!”

The downpour was intense, and despite the raincoats, their heads and faces were still getting soaked.

The reporter was an omega, and in the short distance, his umbrella was nearly blown inside out, and he was already drenched, looking pale and somewhat pitiful.

Feng Chengyu didn’t take his umbrella, simply saying, “No need, we were just about to head inside. Thank you.”

With that, he turned and walked towards the main house.

Shu Helan had no choice but to take the reporter’s umbrella and follow Feng Chengyu. “What’s wrong with taking an umbrella? The reporter didn’t do anything out of line. At most, it was a brave gesture. You’re too ungracious.”

Feng Chengyu said, “You took it just fine. I could see you wanted to.”

Shu Helan: “…With so many eyes watching, I couldn’t just leave the reporter hanging.”

The main house was a mess but much drier than outside.

Feng Chengyu took off his raincoat, his wet eyebrows and eyes looking dark and cool as he glanced at Shu Helan. “Central air conditioning.”

“Yes, unlike you, who starts cultivating gentlemanly behavior before anything is even settled,” Shu Helan retorted. He changed the subject, “By the way, did you see that perfume ad?”

Feng Chengyu: “I saw it.”

It was everywhere, even on the opening screens of mobile apps. How could he not see it?

Feng Chu had even delivered a gift, a beautifully packaged bottle of perfume, saying it was a special thanks from Qin Bao for his previous hospitality.

“He’s thanked us multiple times already. This is obviously a gift for you, but he’s too embarrassed, so he had to give me one too.”

Feng Chu had told him mysteriously.

“But I know it’s different for you. Look, only your bottle has a limited edition number. Qin Bao thought I wouldn’t notice!”

Shu Helan added, “And the dance video he posted on Flow, which drove a bunch of his fans crazy. Do you think he really wants to become a celebrity?”

The main house was quiet, and the plaque was solemn. Feng Chengyu stood inside, looking up at the high beams with unreadable emotions in his eyes.

The modeling circle doesn’t necessarily connect with the real entertainment industry, but in a family like theirs, having an artist was unprecedented. Shu Helan’s implication didn’t need to be stated.

Feng Chengyu turned back, his usual calm expression unchanged. “What dance video?”