Chapter 31: The Small-Time Star and His Short-Tempered Sugar Daddy (Part XXXI)
In Xiao Ji’s memory, the Phoenix had always been domineering.
Born as an auspicious omen, with boundless mana and an unruly nature, the Phoenix was not listed among the Martial Gods, yet was harder to deal with than any of them.
More than a hundred years ago, when the Changming Immortal Lord, who was in charge of slaughter, went into seclusion for a tribulation, the Phoenix single-handedly suppressed an army of three thousand demons. Just out of spite, he would rather perish together with them than bow his head and ask other Martial Gods for help.
When Xiao Ji heard the news and fished the Phoenix out of the sea of fire littered with corpses, the Phoenix who had once pierced Xiao Ji’s chest with his right wing no longer existed.
All that remained was a fiery red chick, holding its head high after nirvana rebirth.
Xiao Ji never expected that such a proud and stubborn person would one day lean on his shoulder and say, “Don’t leave me.”
As the Xiao Ji being kept by Fang Yinnian, he could follow the mission instructions and accompany Fang Yinnian through his short life as a human.
But as Xiao Ji himself, he could not make any promises to the Phoenix.
Xiao Ji didn’t respond to Fang Yinnian’s words. He just turned his head and kissed his temple, coaxing him, “My little baby is tired and wants to sleep.”
Fang Yinnian laughed out loud and pinched Xiao Ji. “F*ck your ‘little baby’.”
When going downstairs, they passed the triple room where Xiao Ji was originally staying. Just as Xiao Ji was about to ask Fang Yinnian if he should make do with him tonight, Fang Yinnian pulled Xiao Ji and pushed open another bedroom opposite the triple room.
It was the double room that hadn’t been drawn during the day.
“Is this against the rules?” Xiao Ji asked.
Fang Yinnian pushed Xiao Ji onto the bed. “Do you think the program team would really let me sleep on the sofa?”
Xiao Ji thought for a moment. “But if I don’t go back tonight, Su Yu…”
Fang Yinnian pinched Xiao Ji’s face, ordering him to shut up.
“I’m not in a good mood tonight. Be sensible, Xiao Ji. Don’t mention other people in front of me.”
Compared to Fang Yinnian, the program team’s rules seemed much less important. Xiao Ji knew what mattered, and he would always prioritize his mission target.
So, he took Fang Yinnian to shower.
He also asked Fang Yinnian what he meant by the words he said before going to see Cheng Nuo.
Fang Yinnian was a man of his word; there was no reason to go back on what he personally promised. Amidst the rising steam, he knelt on one knee in front of Xiao Ji…
Being away from home was inconvenient in many ways.
Fang Yinnian had been tossing and turning non-stop for two days and was exhausted. After showering, he curled up in Xiao Ji’s arms and soon fell silent.
Xiao Ji wanted to sleep on the floor.
But Fang Yinnian held him very tightly, showing no intention of changing posture or letting go.
Xiao Ji didn’t want to wake him, so he quietly waited for Fang Yinnian to fall into a deep sleep. Unexpectedly, while waiting, he dazedly fell asleep himself.
At 5:20 the next morning, Xiao Ji woke up on time, quietly left Fang Yinnian’s room, and returned to his original room to wash and change.
It wasn’t fully bright outside yet. Hearing the movement, Su Yu groggily turned over, extending a long, slender white leg from the blanket. Her sleeping shorts were too short, leaving her skin nakedly exposed to the air.
Unfortunately, Xiao Ji didn’t even glance at her. After washing up, he opened the door and left straight away to go downstairs and make breakfast.
Hearing the door sound, Su Yu opened her eyes, tutted, and retracted her leg.
Normally, at this time, no one would be awake.
But just as Xiao Ji put the whole wheat toast into the toaster, someone hugged his waist from behind and rested their chin on his shoulder, saying to him:
“Add two more slices of bacon for me, thanks.”
The hoarse voice still carried some fatigue.
Xiao Ji turned his head and kissed Fang Yinnian’s forehead. “Why not sleep a bit longer?”
Fang Yinnian was listless. “The live broadcast starts at eight. We have to maintain distance. Besides, I was afraid you’d miss me. I said I’d accompany you more last night, but couldn’t help falling asleep.”
Xiao Ji felt that although Fang Yinnian was a large man, acting spoiled like this made him soft and clingy, which was strangely endearing.
“If you’re sleepy, sleep more. You don’t need to accompany me.”
Fang Yinnian hummed. “Come on, your mouth says pretty things, but if I really didn’t accompany you, who knows when you’d feel unhappy and give me a sour face again.”
Xiao Ji was mute. “I wouldn’t.”
Fang Yinnian didn’t believe it. “Stop denying it. Why are you always so duplicitous? How many times have I told you? If you miss me, just say it. No need to hold it in. Would I not spoil you?”
Since things had reached this point, if Xiao Ji said anything else Fang Yinnian didn’t like to hear, he probably wouldn’t escape a scolding.
Unable to refute, he could only shut his mouth and accept Fang Yinnian’s words by default.
Fang Yinnian hugged Xiao Ji’s waist, leaning his entire soft body against him. Watching Xiao Ji turn on the stove, pour oil, and fry bacon in such a virtuous manner, the little desires that weren’t satisfied last night began to stir again.
Just as he was about to greet Student Xiao and say good morning, Xiao Ji’s ear twitched. He then pressed down on Fang Yinnian’s wrist and quickly broke free from Fang Yinnian’s embrace.
Seeing Xiao Ji dodging him, Fang Yinnian immediately became unhappy. “You’re dodging me?”
Xiao Ji made a shushing sound. “Don’t fuss.”
As soon as he said this, Fang Yinnian immediately realized that Xiao Ji must have heard something.
Sure enough, a second later, a female voice rang out from behind them:
“President Fang, Teacher Xiao, why are you up so early?”
Fang Yinnian turned around and saw Su Yu coming downstairs in her pajamas. He instantly became angry. Without saying a word, he left the kitchen, sat at the dining table, and began taking out his phone to scroll through the news.
Since Fang Yinnian didn’t speak to Su Yu, Xiao Ji dared not speak even more.
He stood silently in the kitchen, stuffing the fried bacon and eggs into the toast slices, cutting and plating them. He then heated two glasses of milk, brought them to the dining table, sat opposite Fang Yinnian, and began to eat breakfast.
Ignored, Su Yu suddenly realized at this moment that she seemed to have come at a bad time.
She hadn’t seen anything specific, yet a sense of awkwardness, like stumbling upon a secret, rose from the bottom of her heart.
She stood in front of the refrigerator, took out a bottle of milk for herself, and surreptitiously looked back and forth between Xiao Ji and Fang Yinnian.
From beginning to end, there was no verbal or physical interaction between the two, not even a collision of gazes.
But Su Yu intuitively felt that something was wrong.
She didn’t speak. Holding the milk, she silently went back upstairs and observed downwards from a hidden spot at the stairwell for a while.
Seeing no interaction between the two, she thoughtfully returned to her room.
Fang Yinnian didn’t dare speak for a long time. It wasn’t until Xiao Ji spoke first, telling him the person was gone, that he whispered irritably:
“I told you long ago not to come to this broken show. My own person, I have to be sneaky just to say a word, and I have to guard against others coveting you like guarding against thieves. Let’s just pack up and go home early. It’s not like I can’t afford to keep you; why suffer this cowardly anger here?”
He wanted to say that the pittance Xiao Ji earned from filming one episode wasn’t even as much as he usually threw away.
But afraid of hurting Xiao Ji’s self-esteem, he forcefully swallowed the words back.
Xiao Ji himself had absolutely no interest in being a star.
To put it bluntly, in all his long life, the things that interested him could be counted on one hand.
Seeing Xiao Ji silent, Fang Yinnian thought his words had made Xiao Ji unhappy. He suppressed his anger and added:
“After this show is done, I’ll tailor a script for you. You go act properly, and I’ll send you to the top position, to be the Best Actor.”
Unexpectedly, Xiao Ji shook his head.
“No, after this show is done, I’m retiring from the industry.”
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