Chapter 57

Lu Tianyan is hanging by a thread.

He is barely holding on to life, and the side branches of the Lu family and the shareholders of the group are all coveting his family assets.

As the heir to the Lu family's vast fortune, Lu Jiuxu has been frequently targeted by them recently.

To keep things under control, he has been pulling late nights almost every day lately.

Today, there was an issue with the bidding for the Xiangwan land, which had been driving him crazy.

But Su Xingyao's sudden appearance snapped him out of it.

He lowered his gaze and focused ahead.

The person standing with his back to him at that moment was as defenseless as a kitten.

His voice was soft and soothing, and he carried the pleasant scent of shower gel.

Su Xingyao's slender fingers deftly rolled up the hem of his clothes.

The fair, delicate waist beneath the clothes was now fully exposed to Lu Jiuxu's gaze.

The lower end of the concave waist was tucked into the loose sleep pants.

Connected to the waistline were a full, rounded curve and slender, straight legs.

Noticing no movement from the person behind him, Su Xingyao turned his head and spoke in a pleading voice.

"Mr. Lu, could you help me apply the medicine? I can't sleep because of the itch..."

Su Xingyao's tone was perfectly normal.

But to someone's ears, it inexplicably sounded a bit like a flirtatious plea.

It felt like a kitten's paw had gently scratched his heart.

Lu Jiuxu snapped out of his thoughts and reached out to take the ointment and cotton swab from the other's hand.

After a glance at the small red bumps on the fair skin, he said in a deep voice.

"Allergic?"

As he spoke, the cotton swab dipped in ointment gently applied to Su Xingyao's skin.

Lu Jiuxu's touch had never been so gentle in his life.

The cotton swab quickly touched the delicate skin, and the cool sensation instantly soothed the original itch.

Su Xingyao squinted comfortably, his shoulders lightly contracting.

Perhaps because Lu Jiuxu's movements were too gentle, he felt as if a feather was lightly brushing over the areas touched by the cotton swab.

The sensation was subtle.

It even spread rapidly from the areas being treated to other parts of his body.

"From being covered..." Su Xingyao whispered, "There was a power outage during the recording today."

Lu Jiuxu noticed the faint trembling in Su Xingyao's shoulder and stopped his hand.

"Does it hurt?"

"No..." Su Xingyao replied sheepishly, "It actually feels nice, just a little itchy."

"It's not the wound that's itchy, it's just... I'm a bit ticklish."

Lu Jiuxu didn’t reply right away but dipped a fresh swab in ointment and kept applying it.

"I’ll go faster, then."

"Okay."

Thinking Lu Jiuxu was nearly finished, Su Xingyao tried to pull up his shirt.

But with his hands behind his back, it was difficult to move.

After finishing the lower back, Lu Jiuxu helped by grabbing the hem of his shirt and gently tugging it upward.

In under two seconds, Su Xingyao’s slim, elegant back was nearly fully exposed to Lu Jiuxu.

It was a strikingly beautiful and flawless figure.

Not overly thin, but with extremely graceful lines.

The only imperfection was the scar on his shoulder blade.

Lu Jiuxu’s gaze settled on the scar and lingered there for a while.

Noticing Lu Jiuxu’s pause, Su Xingyao recalled the scratch on his back from the mascot costume and passed him the iodine bottle.

"Is there a scratch on my back? Has it scabbed over? Could you please apply some iodine to it as well?"

Lu Jiuxu gave a soft hum, switching to a fresh swab and dabbing iodine on the wound.

But his gaze remained fixed on the scar.

His gaze was so intense that Su Xingyao could feel it even with his back turned.

He could casually talk about this scar with number 77, but for some reason, he didn't want Lu Jiuxu to see it now.

Just as he was about to ask if Lu Jiuxu was done, he felt the swab lightly brush against his skin.

Though the touch was feather-light, the skin under Lu Jiuxu’s gaze started to burn unnaturally.

Su Xingyao’s body seemed to react as if some strange heating mechanism had been activated.

The surrounding pale skin instantly flushed with a rosy hue.

Even the unsightly scar seemed to take on a faint blush out of nowhere.

"Does this need to be treated?"

Lu Jiuxu’s voice was even quieter than before.

Su Xingyao shook his head, taking a light breath, "No need there..."

"Did I hurt you?" Lu Jiuxu asked, his brow furrowed.

Su Xingyao, realizing Lu Jiuxu had misunderstood, explained vaguely, "No, that's an old wound, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Lu Jiuxu stayed silent, lips pressed tight, his gaze meticulously tracing the scar.

If Su Xingyao was a flawless white jade, this scar was its sole flaw.

And the person who caused this accident.

He deserved punishment.

Where Su Xingyao couldn't see, Lu Jiuxu's eyes darkened, but his tone carried a hint of pity.

"Such a large wound must have been very painful."

It must have been very painful...

After six years, Lu Jiuxu was the first to consider how he must have felt back then.

Su Xingyao, who had already considered this wound insignificant, suddenly felt his heart skip a beat because of Lu Jiuxu's words.

A very strange feeling surged through his heart.

Su Xingyao couldn't quite understand where this feeling came from, only lowering his eyes and nodding slightly, "It was very painful."

"But it's all in the past now."

Sensing that Su Xingyao didn't want to talk about the scar, Lu Jiuxu suppressed all his emotions and didn't ask any further questions.

He adjusted Su Xingyao's clothes tighter and waited until the medicine was absorbed by the skin before gently letting go.

The medicated back felt cool, easing Su Xingyao's discomfort.

Turning to thank Lu Jiuxu, he caught a glimpse of fatigue shadowing the other's usually lively face.

"Mr. Lu, has work been keeping you busy lately? You come back so late every day."

Lu Jiuxu unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt with one hand and replied indifferently, "It's nearly finished."

Looking up at Su Xingyao, still standing and watching, he smiled.

"I'm okay, you should hit the sack, it's late."

Su Xingyao nodded, returned the ointment and cotton swabs to the medical kit, then turned to bid Lu Jiuxu goodnight, "Then you should get some rest too."

"I will, indeed."

Despite agreeing to sleep early, Lu Jiuxu restlessly tossed all night.

Closing his eyes, he saw the unsightly scar marring Su Xingyao's fair skin.

With skin so sensitive, even a cotton swab's gentle touch made it quiver.

So how deep must the wound have been when it was scorched like that? How much pain must he have endured?

The more Lu Jiuxu dwelled on it, the more unbearable the scar seemed.

He wished to contact the world's best doctors to remove Su Xingyao's scar permanently.

*

The small red bumps on Su Xingyao's back disappeared quickly, free from pain, itch, and swelling by the next day.

Free from these concerns, he began to prepare how to sing the cute song he drew yesterday using a falsetto voice.

After searching online for how to use falsetto, all he found were videos of 180-pound boys pretending to be cute little lolitas, so Su Xingyao chose to give up directly...

The next day, the show's producers told all the contestants to go to the studio to record new content.

There wasn’t much time left before the third live performance.

Everyone knew that this recording session would surely reveal the next competition's theme.

When Su Xingyao arrived at the scene, he found that the rapper, usually in black, was dressed in a trainee uniform today.

His group mates crowded around him, hooting and hollering.

"Yo~~~~~~ Who's this hottie?"

"What's a trainee doing here?"

The rapper, borrowing a singer and dancer's uniform, was so embarrassed he couldn’t look up.

When he spotted the singer about to perform acrobatics, he quickly grabbed him.

"Bro, how's your acrobatics preparation going?"

The other confidently pointed to the rope hanging in mid-air.

"Want a live demo?"

The rapper quickly waved him off and hid behind Su Xingyao's bear costume.

Seeing that he didn’t succeed, the acrobatics guy then invited Su Xingyao, "Hey kitty, wanna fly? I'll make you a flying kitty!"

Su Xingyao, terrified, backed up three steps, ducked, and used the rapper as a shield.

"No way, bro, I'm scared of heights!"

From his mentor's seat, Fu Qingyan watched the contestants mess around as two messages popped up on his WeChat.

They were messages from Shen Huaixi.

Shen Huaixi: Qingyan, did you get in touch with Director Zhang for me?

Since the last incident, Shen Huaixi's reputation had completely tanked with the audience.

Because this incident involved suppressing Su Xingyao, he couldn’t face complaining to Shen Liangyu and Wen Ningshu about his troubles.

After finally brushing off his adoptive parents, Qin Mingchuan also cut ties with him and shut down the star agency.

In the past, he had the star agency, backed by Qin Mingchuan and the Shen family, and never worried about any resources.

But now, without Qin Mingchuan, who had been quick to supply him with resources, he didn’t dare to leverage the Shen family's connections now, fearing it would backfire.

Therefore, he could only rely on Fu Qingyan, who still hadn’t abandoned him.

Once stars and artists have tasted fame and seen the heights, they won’t settle for being forgotten.

So Shen Huaixi had been thinking about how to make a comeback.

Thus, during this downtime, he planned to follow Fu Qingyan's lead and pivot to acting.

After the storm has passed, when Su Xingyao makes a comeback, he will directly use these big directors' works to awe fans and netizens.

So, upon hearing that Director Zhang was going to shoot a new movie, he immediately asked Fu Qingyan to help him secure a role.

But after waiting for a long time without any news, he had to reach out himself today.

After reading Shen Huaixi's message, Fu Qingyan immediately typed a reply.

[Director Zhang said he wants you to audition next Wednesday]

After sending this, Qin Mingchuan's words from two days ago suddenly came back to him.

Compelled, he typed another message.

Fu Qingyan: Shen Huaixi, do you remember the fire six years ago?

The 'typing...' indicator vanished instantly.

Two minutes later, Shen Huaixi responded.

Shen Huaixi: What's wrong?

It's usually difficult to determine the true emotions of the other person through text messages, but now, Fu Qingyan sensed Shen Huaixi's nervousness and impatience in those three words.

Fu Qingyan: It's nothing. I just had a dream about that fire again last night.

Fu Qingyan: I dreamed that you rushed into the fire without hesitation and carried me out.

After sending this, Fu Qingyan closed his eyes gently.

That awful memory came rushing back.

The fact that Shen Huaixi carried him out was something he heard from people around him after he woke up.

Ban Yang mentioned he briefly woke from a coma and saw himself and Shen Huaixi lying together.

Others at the scene also told him that it was Shen Huaixi who saved him and even got injured in the process.

Fu Qingyan's own memory of the incident is hazy.

He only recalls Shen Huaixi running towards him in panic through the flames before everything faded to black.

Remembering that moment, Fu Qingyan typed a message.

Fu Qingyan: It must have been tough for you, with your small frame.

Shen Huaixi surprisingly did not reply immediately.

After a long pause and several edits, he finally replied, "I didn't think much about it then."

Fu Qingyan read the message twice, then asked the question that had been nagging him since his talk with Qin Mingchuan.

Fu Qingyan: Do you know where Su Xingyao went during that time?

This time, Shen Huaixi responded quickly.

Shen Huaixi: Huh?

Shen Huaixi: Why are you suddenly asking this?

Fu Qingyan also felt that suddenly asking Shen Huaixi this was a bit pointless, so he wanted to send a "never mind."

However, Shen Huaixi quickly sent a third message.

Shen Huaixi: Have you seen Qin Mingchuan?

Fu Qingyan didn't know why Shen Huaixi suddenly brought up Qin Mingchuan, but he still answered truthfully, "Yes."

Seeing these two words, Shen Huaixi's heart sank immediately, and he quickly warned Fu Qingyan.

Shen Huaixi: He's been acting very strange lately, as if he has a grudge against me.

Shen Huaixi: And he's constantly slandering me everywhere, so don't listen to him.

After sending these messages, Shen Huaixi asked again.

Shen Huaixi: Did he say anything to you?

Fu Qingyan looked at Shen Huaixi's rapid-fire messages.

After hesitating for a moment, he chose, for some reason, to hide the content of his meeting with Qin Mingchuan.

He replied after a moment, "No."

After sending these two words, Fu Qingyan glanced from his mentor's seat toward the stage.

Just then, he saw Su Xingyao frantically waving his hands at the acrobatic singer, shouting that he was afraid of heights.

Watching this scene, he felt it was vaguely familiar, as if he had heard something similar before...

Something suddenly crossed his mind, but Fu Qingyan couldn't quite grasp the key information.

Just then, Sheng Yan walked past him, and he grabbed his arm.

"Hey, do you know who number 78 is?"

Sheng Yan shrugged. "No."

Although he was Su Xingyao's mentor, he had never bothered to dig into gossip.

However, Xu Beizhou, who overheard their conversation, chimed in with some useful info.

"I heard from the staff a few days ago that he was a songwriter who went viral online six or seven years ago."

Sheng Yan was surprised and added, "No wonder he sings so well but has no fans figuring him out. Turns out he's a behind-the-scenes creator."

"I'm not entirely sure either," Xu Beizhou smiled, "But in this round of performances, all the contestants' identities will be revealed."

"Then you'll finally know who he really is."