Chapter 10: Your Cupid’s Arrow, Is it…
Perhaps due to some strange telepathy, Lin Zhile’s phone started vibrating the moment he thought of Gu Jingxiu. Opening it to look, it was exactly a call from the man himself.
Lin Zhile said sorry to Bai Yue and walked to the side to answer the call.
“Wrapped up for the day?” Gu Jingxiu’s gentle tone drifted over from the other end of the phone.
Lin Zhile subconsciously nodded through the phone, then realized and said, “Mm, recording is done for today. I was just about to head out and catch a cab.”
Gu Jingxiu replied on the other end, “But I’m on my way to pick you up. Do you want to reconsider?”
Lin Zhile was a bit surprised. He pulled the phone away and glanced at it; two ‘2’s were lined up side-by-side on the screen.
It was already very late at night.
“Don’t overthink it, I’m just on the way.” However, Gu Jingxiu’s next sentence made Lin Zhile swallow his unspoken gratitude back down.
Still, he was very thankful that the man had made a detour to pick him up. At the very least, it saved him over a hundred yuan in taxi fare: “Thank you, Ge! Then where should I wait for you?”
Afraid that Lin Zhile wouldn’t be able to figure out the exits, Gu Jingxiu said, “Wait for me at the spot where Caroline dropped you off this morning.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Lin Zhile hung up the phone and turned back around. Seeing his happy expression, Luo Ming asked, “So you have an older brother?”
Lin Zhile said, “Mm, he’s my older cousin, but we aren’t blood-related.”
Luo Ming: “Oh~”
The place Lin Zhile arrived at this morning happened to be on the same route as the VOXI members, so they simply walked out together. However, the moment they reached the entrance, they were startled by the spectacle outside.
The street opposite them was crowded with fans who had come to see them off from work, all chanting their support slogans in unison.
More than a dozen security guards formed a human wall opposite them, not allowing them to cross.
Lin Zhile saw them holding up light boards, but the name on them didn’t belong to any of the more famous teachers. Instead, the words read: “Musical Genius Xu Zhuxun”.
He had a vague impression of this name, but he really couldn’t remember clearly.
Since VOXI’s nanny van hadn’t arrived, the group had no choice but to wait together in the lobby. They picked a secluded spot and sat on the floor behind a potted plant.
Lin Zhile looked at the layers upon layers of people outside. It seemed they weren’t entirely Xu Zhuxun’s fans; there were also boards mixed in for ‘White Sun’.
That was another boy group participating in the show.
An incredible number of fans had come, some even climbing up the trees, but none among them were for VOXI.
Hearing his words, Luo Ming pointed a trembling finger at him: “H-how can you use a 37-degree mouth to speak such ice-cold words.”
Lin Zhile: “Ah?”
Xie Ziqian suddenly interjected coolly from the side: “Where would VOXI get any fans now.”
Leo looked outside, feeling a bit emotional: “We used to be like this too, oh. But now everyone dislikes us and scolds us.”
“Yeah!” Luo Ming sighed. “Every day when I open my DMs, it’s just various greetings that manage to avoid using swear words.”
The moods of these once-spirited youths instantly plummeted. Even Bai Yue’s mouth was pulled down at the corners.
Lin Zhile instantly felt a bit embarrassed. It seemed he had unintentionally peeled back the rotting wound beneath VOXI’s glamorous surface.
And VOXI reaching this stage was undoubtedly heavily related to the main vocalist who had left.
Bai Yue raised his hand and knocked on Xie Ziqian’s head: “We do have fans. Stop speaking such depressing words.”
“The production team doesn’t allow fans to welcome or see off contestants. Someone must have intentionally leaked the news to build hype. When White Sun’s fans found out, they came running over too,” he added.
Luo Ming looked at the crowd through the glass curtain wall, his usually optimistic face utterly devoid of smiles.
Lin Zhile suddenly said, “Actually, I’ve seen your stage performances.”
“Leader truly deserves the title of main dancer. And Luo Ming, your vocal mechanics are far better than the previous main vocalist; your mixed voice and explosive power are incredibly strong.”
“With the most precious talent grasped in your hands, the day you shine and emit heat will come sooner or later.”
At Lin Zhile’s words, all four members of the group fell silent.
Bai Yue looked at Lin Zhile, his gaze flickering slightly.
They had constantly held a probing attitude toward Lin Zhile, yet this person wasn’t just a greenhorn university student who didn’t understand anything either.
Being praised, Luo Ming blinked his eyes, concealing his previous desolation. Returning to being that optimistic maknae, he wore a bashful expression: “Oh my, your praises are making me embarrassed~~”
Leo rubbed the goosebumps on his arms: “Ming-ge, your tone of voice when you say that is so gross, oh.”
Lin Zhile: “…”
The group waited for over a dozen minutes, but the nanny van remained nowhere to be seen.
At this time, a few more people came from the corridor into the lobby.
They were dressed entirely in black, with many accessories clinking and clanking on their bodies; it was precisely the members of White Sun.
They were probably also waiting for their nanny van. Unable to wait any longer and not wanting to go to the upstairs lounge, they found a place to stand for a bit. Coincidentally, they were standing with their backs turned to VOXI.
Not long after they sat down, Lin Zhile heard them seemingly gossiping about him: “Coming to participate in a show as a sophomore… Does he even know all his musical notes?”
“Tsk, who said he came here to make music? He can debut entirely based on his face.”
“That’s true. But the way he was standing there with no one choosing him was pretty pitiful.”
“Coincidentally, no one chose VOXI either, so they make a perfect match.”
The four members of VOXI heard it too. With Xie Ziqian’s temper, he shot up, stepped out from behind the potted plant, and said to the White Sun members: “Why don’t we chat face-to-face?”
The White Sun members were scared half to death by him. Letting out a howl, they nearly tripped and fell to the floor.
They completely hadn’t expected their trash talk to be overheard. The faces of the members went pale, and they bowed frantically: “Seniors, we’re sorry! We’re sorry!!”
Then, under Xie Ziqian’s cold, imposing glare, they went to stand on the completely opposite side of the lobby.
Luo Ming curled his lip in disdain: “The juniors these days really have no manners.”
Glancing at Lin Zhile, who was the main subject of their gossip, he added: “They can’t even dance a perfectly synchronized group dance. With such poor professional skills, they actually have the nerve to talk about others.”
Yet Lin Zhile, the actual target of their insinuations, looked entirely calm, seemingly completely unaffected.
In reality, for Lin Zhile, who had been called a short-lived ghost and a little bastard since he was a child, these words were nothing at all.
Thinking he was hiding his true emotions, Bai Yue comforted him in a half-joking manner, saying that if he wanted to hit someone, he could help. Lin Zhile waved his hand and said, “Using our results to trample them under our feet on the stage is the best counterattack.”
Bai Yue was momentarily speechless.
Luo Ming seized the opportunity to mock him: “Leader, take a look at his level of enlightenment.”
As they were chatting inside, a burst of exclamations suddenly erupted from outside.
A Maybach Pullman turned in from the driveway at the far end of the crowd and stopped at the building’s entrance.
Luo Ming let out a “Wow”: “That car is worth a whole apartment in Jinghua City.”
Leo said, “Is it here to pick up Xu-something-xun? The fans outside look so excited.”
Bai Yue corrected, “The fans held the light boards in the wrong order. His name is Xu Xunzhu, don’t read it wrong.”
“He’s around the same age as Zhile-didi. A lot of press releases describe him as a musical genius who handles both singing and composing. He was coincidentally chosen by He Yixin during this pairing. A while ago, it was ‘accidentally’ dug up that his family is very wealthy. It’s said his own personality is gentle, but his fans’ combativeness is notoriously strong.”
It seemed Xu Xunzhu was one of the hot favorites to win the championship. He Yixin might have come just to elevate him.
Luo Ming nudged Lin Zhile’s shoulder: “Coming to snatch our jobs when he’s already so rich, it really makes no sense, right Zhile-didi.”
Lin Zhile was getting sleepy from waiting. His eyes stung, and he hadn’t heard clearly what was said at all, only knowing to nod in agreement.
However, the long-awaited Xu Xunzhu did not appear. Instead, Lin Zhile’s phone rang.
It was Gu Jingxiu calling: “I’ve arrived.”
Lin Zhile’s drowsiness vanished instantly.
He bid farewell to the VOXI members. Bai Yue pulled him back and stuffed a face mask into his hands to prevent him from having weird photos taken of him.
Lin Zhile thanked him and walked out under their watchful eyes.
There was more than just the Maybach parked outside the building; there was also a black car positioned further back. Without a second thought, Lin Zhile stepped forward and walked toward the back.
Just then, he saw the driver standing beside the Maybach wearing white gloves walk straight toward him: “Mr. Lin, right this way.”
Lin Zhile: “?”
Half-believing and half-doubting, he walked over. The driver opened the back door, and Gu Jingxiu was sitting inside.
The back of the cabin was separated by a display screen, forming its own private world. This was Lin Zhile’s first time seeing Gu Jingxiu wear a suit.
The impeccably tailored black fabric wrapped around the other man’s young and robust body. Sitting in the back seat, the man gently closed his work laptop. His gaze as he looked over was deep, making it hard to fathom his thoughts.
Lin Zhile didn’t understand anything about the different classifications of suits. He only felt that the current Gu Jingxiu was completely different from his usual self.
This feeling was hard to describe, as if as long as Gu Jingxiu desired it, there was nothing he couldn’t control.
In that very instant, the bitter scent of arborvitae wood suddenly drew near.
Gu Jingxiu reached out a hand toward him, the ruby cufflinks at his wrist refracting a faint light: “Where else do you want to go? Get in the car, let’s go home.”
In the lobby, the VOXI members watched helplessly as Lin Zhile was invited into that Maybach Pullman by the driver.
Luo Ming’s voice trembled as he said, “What was it that I just said…”
Bai Yue patted his shoulder: “Rest in peace.”
The night was deep, and the Maybach Pullman drove all the way back to the villa.
Lin Zhile had even forgotten how he buckled his seatbelt. His gaze lingered around the car’s interior before finally landing back on Gu Jingxiu beside him.
Dressed so formally, was he attending some important occasion?
Gu Jingxiu was holding an iPad and reading a script. The script was very well-written, but being stared at by Lin Zhile, it was truly impossible to focus his attention.
Gu Jingxiu said, “Lin Zhile, if you keep staring like this, people will truly get the wrong idea.”
“…” Lin Zhile immediately turned his head to the side, muttering, “What wrong idea?”
The hand Gu Jingxiu used to tap and turn the pages paused briefly: “The wrong idea that your Cupid’s arrow… is about to be shot at me?”
Recommended Reads
![Those Years When the Son of Destiny Was Severely Scammed [Quick Transmigration]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/QUICK-TRANSMIGRATION1-214x300.jpg)
