Chapter 6#
The Self-Deceiving Liar#
Lin Xiamian is back.
This news spread throughout Wanxiao in just half a day.
Peers were both envious and jealous of this guy who was lucky enough to be favored by Gu Xi. Some bet he would lose favor within a month, while others felt his methods were extraordinary, having made a name for himself by acting aloof and pure.
However, not a single person believed that Gu Xi would actually be with Lin Xiamian.
“Always talking about being a student,” a male waiter at Wanxiao stood in the hallway with a colleague, applying lipstick in front of a mirror on the wall while speaking sarcastically. “Would a proper student come to a place like this?”
“You don’t understand,” the other person shook their head, raising a finger with Barbie-pink nail polish and saying meaningfully, “Rich people nowadays like that feeling of a little bit of taboo. Once Lin Xiamian graduates, he probably won’t be worth a damn in President Gu’s eyes.”
“Exactly…” The male waiter wanted to say more but suddenly shut his mouth tight.
The person they were talking about was leaning against the corner with his head tilted, watching them with a face full of interest.
“Continue,” Lin Xiaodong raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to hear the whole process of how I’m ‘discarded’ by Gu Xi and thrown into the cold palace. Why stop?”
The two looked at each other, both a bit embarrassed.
But Lin Xiamian was usually a pushover, so the male waiter assumed he wouldn’t have the guts to complain. Suppressing that strange sense of incongruity, he sneered: “We aren’t wrong. Lin Xiamian, it seems President Gu didn’t pick you last time he came? Was doing your homework pleasant?”
“Pleasant, of course it was pleasant.” Lin Xiaodong smiled and slowly approached until his nose was almost touching the other’s face. “With fruit, air conditioning, and a sofa, plus someone whose eyes are turning green with envy—how could it not be pleasant?”
The male waiter involuntarily took half a step back, his voice suddenly rising to a shrill pitch that made Lin Xiaodong’s scalp tingle:
“W-w-what are you doing, Lin Xiamian? Did you take the wrong medicine today? Want to fight?”
Lin Xiaodong’s gaze shifted down, spotting the sexy fishnet underwear under his white shirt at a glance.
He sighed deeply in his heart. No wonder people said there were only two kinds of people in Wanxiao.
Women, and 0s.
“I’m not fighting you,” he looked at the other with a look of pity. “Work hard, and try to find a good family to marry into early.”
Male waiter: “…………”
Lin Xiamian really did take the wrong medicine today!
After staying idly at Wanxiao for a night, Lin Xiaodong suddenly began to understand why Lin Xiamian felt working here was no big deal—
Because of Gu Xi’s instructions, he really didn’t have to do much of anything.
Just occasionally pour some wine for those big bosses and say a few flattering words to suck up.
Lin Xiaodong was well-versed in this, but he was surprised to receive countless shocked looks from his peers after leaving the private booth. This made him even more curious about what state Lin Xiamian was in when he worked here.
A few more days of calm life passed like this.
On the weekend, Lin Xiamian told him that he had successfully been selected for the provincial competition team and was about to go to the national competition.
But until the moment he reluctantly left home, Lin Xiaodong didn’t tell him about staying at Wanxiao. Still as usual, he helped Lin Xiamian pack his luggage, gave him an “encouraging” hug, and saw him all the way downstairs.
System: “Spoiling him?”
Lin Xiaodong: “Spoiling him.”
At eight o’clock that evening, Manager Hu found him in a frantic state and told him to hurry to Booth 709 to serve a guest.
His eyes flickered as he spoke, his words vague. When Lin Xiaodong asked if Gu Xi had come, he hemmed and hawed without answering. He was suspicious as hell.
“It couldn’t be an enemy of Gu Xi or something, could it?” Lin Xiaodong said nervously while going upstairs. “Then I’d be an innocent bystander getting caught in the crossfire.”
But when he entered the booth, he found the atmosphere even stranger than he had imagined.
Several big bosses who often appeared in newspapers and news were sitting on the sofas, each accompanied by one or two beautiful women or young men pouring wine for them.
This was the norm at Wanxiao, and Lin Xiaodong didn’t find it uncomfortable.
What made his heart race most was the man sitting on the white sofa in the center.
The lighting in the booth was very dim.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Gu Xi, holding a glass in his hand, lazily lifted his eyelids. His dark, indifferent eyes stared unblinkingly at Lin Xiaodong standing not far away. His thin lips curled slightly, God knows what he was thinking.
The amber liquid in the glass melted the ice, making a crisp clinking sound.
Lin Xiaodong involuntarily swallowed his saliva.
Gu Xi was wearing a thin black shirt today, with the top few buttons casually undone. Because the man maintained a posture of sitting hunched over on the sofa, Lin Xiaodong could even clearly see the shape of his abdominal muscles.
“No male virtue,” he said to the system with grief and indignation, while his eyes seemed glued to the other person. “Too terrible! Must be condemned!”
The system gave a “hehe,” its flat voice somehow forced into a sarcastic tone:
“Better not, otherwise what are you looking at?”
Lin Xiaodong thought for a moment and affirmed: “That’s true.”
“President Gu, President Wang, I’ve brought the person to you,” Manager Hu said with a bow and scrape.
He threw Lin Xiaodong a “good luck” look and then quickly left the booth.
“President Gu,” a middle-aged man sitting to Gu Xi’s left was the first to break the silence after the door closed, “Is this the youngster you’ve taken a fancy to?”
His look was somewhat incredulous, and the gaze he fixed on Lin Xiaodong involuntarily carried a hint of mockery.
His looks were barely okay, his frame was thin as a rail, his temperament was terrible, he had no posture… This was it?
Gu Xi didn’t even spare him a glance.
He just stared at Lin Xiaodong, who seemed to be daydreaming, and suddenly asked: “Finished your homework?”
“What?” Lin Xiaodong snapped back to reality, not reacting for a moment.
But Gu Xi didn’t seem to want his answer. He said: “If you haven’t finished, go back and do it. Don’t waste time here.”
Now Lin Xiaodong understood; Gu Xi was chasing him away.
He quickly scanned the scene in the booth. Although the atmosphere wasn’t yet “swords drawn and bows bent,” it was tense enough.
Other booths were full of laughter, wine, and decadence, but these truly rich and powerful big bosses gathered together, each as tense as if they were in a war.
Lin Xiaodong looked at these people and suddenly felt like laughing.
Since Gu Xi had spoken, he naturally had no intention of staying.
But just as he turned to leave, that President Wang spoke again: “Hey, don’t go.” He released his hand from around the waist of the woman beside him and squinted, waving at Lin Xiaodong with a drunken appearance. “It’s Saturday today, what homework. Come, have a few drinks with me.”
He was provoking.
But the provocation wasn’t directed at him, Lin Xiaodong thought, but at Gu Xi’s authority.
Lin Xiaodong wasn’t constrained. After all, what did Gu Xi’s authority have to do with him? He walked over from the door quite openly, but before he could take two steps, he heard the man not far away say in an unquestionable tone:
“Come here.”
Lin Xiaodong’s mouth twitched.
He took a quick look at Gu Xi, then at President Wang, sighed, and changed course halfway to walk to Gu Xi’s side.
President Wang’s face immediately turned quite unpleasant.
But he endured it and said nothing more.
“Sit,” Gu Xi said.
Lin Xiaodong looked down at the single sofa occupied entirely by him alone, thinking where the hell can I sit?
Could it be I’m supposed to sit on your lap?
Gu Xi patted his thigh, signaling to Lin Xiaodong that he was right—it was on his lap.
Lin Xiaodong: Great!
He trotted over, but still put on a face of enduring humiliation and heavy responsibility, sitting very reservedly on Gu Xi’s lap.
…Only half a buttock’s worth of sitting.
Through the crisp fabric of the suit pants, the man’s burning body heat was transmitted through the skin to the neural centers. Lin Xiaodong’s heart immediately raced. Before he could adapt, Gu Xi stretched out a hand and seemingly unintentionally put it around his waist.
Lin Xiaodong focused his eyes and mind, thinking Amitabha, this is truly a sin.
It seemed that Heaven couldn’t bear his recent life of vegetarianism and prayer, so it had a change of heart and bestowed upon him a robust man.
Thank you, Buddha. Good people really do get rewarded.
System: Buddha is so angry at you he can’t stay alive.
For some reason, Gu Xi suddenly gave an inexplicable shiver.
He thought it was because of the air conditioning, so he tightened his grip.
The man’s hand was large, while Lin Xiaodong’s build was thin.
But he never expected that Gu Xi’s single palm could actually wrap around most of his waist.
His current posture was with one hand on the back of the sofa and one hand in front of him. Because it was hard to maintain balance with only half a buttock, he shifted his body slightly. As a result, the man beneath him had his breathing hitch from the stimulation and pinched him punitively, signaling with his eyes not to move around randomly.
Lin Xiaodong immediately straightened his back and sat upright: obedient.jpg.
Gu Xi saw all his reactions. He gave a low laugh and asked Lin Xiaodong: “How much does Wanxiao pay you a month?”
Lin Xiaodong was stunned. What did this have to do with his salary?
“Just… a few thousand,” he answered cautiously.
In fact, it was hardly anything at all, as Manager Hu had threatened him into coming here just to serve the big shot in front of him.
Gu Xi nodded: “No wonder.”
Lin Xiaodong: ?
This person asked such a strange question.
Seeing them “chatting happily,” President Wang gave a dry laugh: “It seems I was wrong. President Gu and this little student have a very good relationship.”
Gu Xi held Lin Xiaodong in his arms with one hand and raised his wine glass with the other, leaning against the back of the chair and gesturing coldly toward him.
The atmosphere on site gradually relaxed.
The secretaries beside the big bosses also let out long sighs of relief and restarted their tasks—pouring wine, acting coquettishly. Some even started picking songs. Anyway, they maintained a superficial liveliness.
Only Lin Xiaodong kept this posture of sitting upright on Gu Xi, feeling his waist, legs, and neck aching. Even high school military training wasn’t this grueling.
Seeing him gritting his teeth and struggling to persevere, a trace of an unnoticeable smile flickered in Gu Xi’s eyes.
“You can lean on me,” he said in a low voice.
The man’s warm breath brushed past his ear. Lin Xiaodong’s ear tips turned slightly red, thinking why didn’t you say so earlier? But before he had time to adjust to a beautiful leaning posture, a force came from his waist, leading him to topple over onto the man’s shoulder.
Lin Xiaodong’s mind went blank. He subconsciously reached out to hug the other’s neck, but his nose caught a faint scent of cold fragrance.
Looking at the child’s feigned calmness and blood-red earlobes, the corners of Gu Xi’s lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly. He suddenly really wanted to tease him.
“Grapes,” he lifted his chin, signaling to Lin Xiaodong the fruit platter placed in front of him.
“Grapes?” Lin Xiaodong didn’t understand and even repeated it blankly with wide eyes.
Only after staring at Gu Xi for a few seconds did Lin Xiaodong realize the man meant for him to feed him.
Truly a troublesome little temptress.
He sighed in his heart and obediently peeled one and brought it to the man’s mouth.
With Lin Xiaodong’s feeding, Gu Xi’s mood became visibly wonderful. A boss nearby who was good at reading expressions took the opportunity to probe: “President Gu, it’ll be the low-water season next quarter. Regarding the business at the pier…”
He looked at Gu Xi eagerly, but the man didn’t look at him. Instead, like petting a kitten, he lazily stroked the back of Lin Xiaodong’s neck. His rough fingertips gently rubbed in circles on the skin, bringing about a wave of involuntary trembling.
Lin Xiaodong’s breathing became erratic.
He lowered his eyes, his fingers trembling slightly. The grape almost rolled out of his hand.
Gu Xi finally showed a satisfied look. He came back to his senses and said indifferently to the boss: “Follow the regulations. It’s not up to me.”
“You must be joking. If it’s not up to you, then who is it up to?”
The boss was rebuffed and smiled sheepishly.
While they were chatting, Lin Xiaodong also stopped peeling grapes.
Gu Xi: “Tired?”
“…No. Do you want more?”
The man shook his head, peeled an orange himself, broke it open, and brought it to Lin Xiaodong’s mouth.
Although it was out of a kind of fun in feeding a small animal, this overly intimate action had already stunned everyone in the booth into silence.
Since when did President Gu actually peel oranges for others?
Amidst the deafening music in the booth, Lin Xiaodong didn’t notice the surrounding gazes. He didn’t like oranges, wrinkled his nose, and reluctantly swallowed a segment, only to be so soured that he immediately spat it into the trash can nearby.
“Tastes terrible,” he said with a frown.
“Really?” Gu Xi broke off a segment for himself and put it in his mouth, subsequently knitting his eyebrows too. “Okay, it really is a bit.”
The interaction between the two, as if no one else were around, left the others dumbfounded. President Wang and another boss who came along exchanged a look. They were both old foxes who had been in the business world for many years; how could they not see that Gu Xi was clearly using the excuse of flirting with his little lover to shut them up?
And on the other side.
Gu Xi asked him: “Good performance tonight. What reward do you want?”
Lin Xiaodong swallowed and showed a look of longing: “Money.”
“No,” Gu Xi continued to tease him, “You’re still in school. What do you need money for?”
Lin Xiaodong’s eyes flickered.
Sure enough, Gu Xi still mistook him for Lin Xiamian.
“True,” but Lin Xiaodong had no intention of explaining, so he just went along with the man’s words. “My brother manages all my money; it’s useless even if I ask for it.”
“Your brother is very fierce?” Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. “It feels like you’re quite afraid of him.”
“Not at all,” Lin Xiaodong cleared his throat and told a lie without blushing or a racing heart. “My brother is amazing. He’s a top student at a 985 university, can play the guitar and compose his own music, gets the national scholarship every year. Many big companies are scrambling to hire him even before he’s graduated, and an annual salary of a million is just a small matter.”
Gu Xi curled his lips and said indulgently: “Is that so? Not lying to me?”
Lin Xiaodong felt inexplicably guilty: “Of course not.”
“Then let me meet him sometime. I happen to like kids with good grades.”
Lin Xiaodong huffed: “Don’t you go getting any ideas about my brother. He’s 1.8 meters tall and covered in muscle. Don’t look at how you’re taller than him—he could knock you down with one punch!”
Gu Xi looked over Lin Xiaodong’s thin, “white-cut chicken” physique and remembered this little liar lying on the ground at the hotel entrance wailing. He couldn’t help but find it amusing.
He didn’t know about anything else, he thought, but this build was certainly very suitable for “touching porcelain” (staging an accident for compensation).