Chapter 31

Fang Pingping’s voice was choked with excitement, “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you, kid?”

“…” Yu Lan immediately regretted his previous thoughts and muttered, “I’m aware…”

Fang Pingping was about to tearfully tell Yu Lan how hard he had been searching for him this whole time. He wandered around the outside of the mall every day, causing the security guards to become suspicious. They watched him closely and labeled him a pervert in their hearts.

He was treated with disgust every time he approached someone with a similar profile to this kid. He paced back and forth between all the shops in the mall, receiving judging stares from the store clerks for his efforts.

He didn’t expect this kid to already know about it!

Fang Pingping stumbled and almost fell over.

“You’re aware?” He was shocked.

“…I saw you.” Yu Lan said softly.

“How cruel! You saw me and pretended you didn’t?” Fang Pingping felt heartbroken.

Confronted with this man’s sudden accusation made Yu Lan very uncomfortable. He felt that he shouldn’t associate with this strange uncle any more and he moved as if to get up and leave.

With his recent experience of chasing after people who wanted to escape, Fang Pingping immediately moved to block his way. A cold sweat formed on his brow.

“Please just listen to me! Give me a chance!”

Yu Lan silently looked at the man, not speaking.

“To express my sincerity,” Fang Pingping took a deep breath, “let me take off my sunglasses.”

Yu Lan froze, confused.

The man stood up straight and took two more deep breaths as if bracing himself.

Yu Lan squinted his eyes up, his expression serious as he waited. Was there a real reason why this uncle always wore dark sunglasses? Was there something wrong with his face?

It grew darker around them, the street lights flaring to life.

Under the street lamp, the uncle raised a trembling hand to pinch the side of his sunglasses. Yu Lan held his breath, his eyes unblinking.

The man slowly lowered his hand holding the sunglasses to reveal…

A pair of beautifully shaped Danfeng* eyes. The ends of the eyes were slightly curved with long and thick eyelashes.

Yu Lan was shocked and silent for a long while.

Fang Pingping suddenly raised his hands to cover his face and his voice trembled as he spoke, “Ugly! These eyes of mine are too disgusting!”

“…” Yu Lan stood up and wanted to leave, “Goodbye.”

Fang Pingping stopped him, looking surprised, “I sincerely exposed my worst feature and you’re leaving without a word!?”

Yu Lan suddenly felt very tired, “Uncle, these eyes of yours are very beautiful.”

“How are they any good!?” Fang Pingping roared, “Look at my appearance! I’m obviously a tough and intimidating guy! Now look at my eyes! These nasty eyes are nothing but a curse. I can’t wait to save up enough money for plastic surgery to make them single eyelids!”

Yu Lan looked at him again. Yes, these eyes were indeed very beautiful but they didn’t match this uncle’s overall appearance. But did he have to go so far as to get plastic surgery?

“Is it even possible to turn double eyelids into single ones?”

After hearing Yu Lan’s question, Fang Pingping was heartbroken.

“It can be done but the process is difficult. A very experienced and talented doctor must be found. Naturally, that would be very expensive. So I need to make a lot of money!”

Finally coming to his main point, Fang Pingping placed his hand on Yu Lan’s shoulder, “My child, you and I have to get rich!”

Yu Lan, “…”

How did this have anything to do with Yu Lan?

Fang Pingping patted his own chest proudly, “If you don’t believe this uncle is trustworthy, how about I give you my ID card? You can write down all my information and see that I have no criminal record.”

Yu Lan felt the pressure of this man’s expectations and couldn’t bear it, “But uncle, I don’t know anything about being a model and moving in the fashion circles.”

“Do you really need to know much to do a photo shoot? Just learn some poses and rely on this amazing face of yours. You don’t even have to learn different expressions! Your face naturally is so eye catching! You’ll advance quickly, I promise.”

Yu Lan was very skeptical that being a model was so ‘easy’.

Seeing his doubt, Fang Pingping said bitterly, “It is easy! Just take a job and then the money will be directly divided between us with no delay! Just think about it. Are you a student right now? Where else can you make such easy money-”

Fang Pingping stopped talking abruptly as the memory of that big alpha bodyguard invaded his mind. Although there was no intimidating alpha bodyguard hanging around today, Fang Pingping knew that it was no ordinary family that could hire such a man.

He swallowed roughly, “Anyway…it’s all up to your own work ethic. If you can work hard and succeed, you will have money, fame, status, everything you could want! I can definitely take you to the top and I’ll keep your best interests at heart. This is my personal guarantee!”

“Kid,” Fang Pingping looked at Yu Lan earnestly, “What do you say? Let’s work together!”

Yu Lan was silent.

In fact, Yu Lan had never thought that this strange uncle was a bad person.

His over the top actions were just too silly.

He seemed too naive and straight forward to be a bad person.

But the fashion circle…what kind of place was it?

In this vast world, there were many things that Yu Lan was ignorant of.

Deep down, Yu Lan was not a timid person. When presented with something unknown, he was brave enough to try his best.

But this time, his decision felt more important than choosing between working in a milk tea shop or a bakery.

Fang Pingping held his breath as he waited. Finally, he blew out his breath and anxiously asked while panting, “Kid, what do you think?”

Yu Lan tilted his head, “Is it really just posing for the camera?”

Seeing an opening, Fang Pingping widened his eyes and spoke quickly, “It will be like that in the beginning. After you get more experience and skill, you may even get a brand contract. Or you could walk in fashion shows, shoot commercials…the possibilities are endless!”

Yu Lan thought for a moment then said, “If someone tried to make trouble for me, can you take care of it?”

Fang Pingping was surprised but then he held his fingers up and made an oath, “Are you involved in a celebrity feud? Don’t worry, no matter who comes looking for trouble, I’ll protect your reputation and well being with my life!”

“But what about your family? Didn’t they give you a good bodyguard for protection?”

Yu Lan nodded, “The bodyguards don’t follow me all the time. I’ll talk to my family about anything bad that may happen when the time comes. I just thought you should know that I have a mysterious enemy targeting me.”

It was impossible to only rely on Mister Shao. Yu Lan had to become stronger and protect himself.

Before Fang Pingping had appeared, Yu Lan had talked himself into concealing all this from Mister Shao. But he changed his mind after talking with this strange uncle.

Becoming stronger was not something that could happen overnight. If the mysterious enemy made moves against him and Yu Lan got hurt, Mister Shao would be furious at being kept in the dark.

Mister Shao had already made Yu Lan promise to be honest about these things. Yu Lan didn’t want to make any more mistakes when it came to his relationship with Mister Shao.

So Yu Lan would find a good opportunity to talk with Mister Shao about everything that had happened and what he was feeling. Hopefully, in the future, Yu Lan would improve himself at a rapid pace and no longer be a burden to his loved one.

Decision made, Yu Lan looked up at Fang Pingping with a determined glint in his eyes. He suddenly saw a light in the darkness, a sudden positive change in his hopeless life.

Although he had been warned by Yu Lan’s words, Fang Pingping felt invigorated.

He couldn’t imagine what kind of enemy a child of an influential family could attract but it didn’t matter to Fang Pingping. He was a man who would never retreat!

Fang Pingping said loudly, “Don’t worry! I understand! I will never let anyone influence my work. You don’t need a 24 hour bodyguard!”

Yu Lan pursed his lips into a small smile.

He didn’t know how many words Fang Pingping said were true or what he could truly accomplish but he still felt comforted by the man’s promises.

The fashion circle, huh?

Yu Lan took a deep breath and curiously asked, “So how would this work? I usually have tutoring in the day and I work at a tea shop in the evenings. It would be hard for me to adjust my schedule for now.”

Yu Lan was willing to give this modeling thing a try with Fang Pingping but it was impossible to quit school or work. He didn’t want to disappoint his kind manager.

Fang Pingping was surprised to have Yu Lan’s full cooperation so quickly.

“Are you free tomorrow? Let me take you to meet a friend of mine. They are desperate to find models at the moment. There seems to be a shortage.”

Yu Lan happened to have the day off at the milk tea shop.

“I’ll be free tomorrow afternoon.”

“Good,” Fang Pingping took out his phone, “let’s exchange contact information. Speaking of, I don’t even know your name…”

*

It was a little late when Yu Lan returned to the manor. He ate a quick dinner and then ran upstairs to take a shower.

After the shower, he slipped into Mister Shao’s room. Although there had been no thunder the past few days, Yu Lan still slept in Mister Shao’s bed.

Yu Lan had tried to resist the urge to sleep there at first but eventually, he just gave in.

Fortunately, in the evenings, Uncle Liu and Aunty Jiang had no reason to go upstairs and see Yu Lan sleeping in Mister Shao’s room. Otherwise, he would be too embarrassed to sneak in every night.

In the mornings, Yu Lan would wake up early to make the bed and straighten up the room, hoping to hide his presence.

Yu Lan felt ashamed of his sneaky behavior but he always comforted himself with the memory that Mister Shao had given his ‘permission’. Even without the excuse of thunder, Mister Shao probably wouldn’t mind…

Yu Lan lounged in the bed and got on his phone to surf the internet. He looked up the fashion circle, popular models and how to pose for photographers.

Yu Lan didn’t know how capable Fang Pingping was as a model agent but if the man was even a little bit reliable, Yu Lan would make more money modeling than working at the milk tea shop!

Yu Lan thought about his new career for a long time and then he turned off the light to go to bed early. He fell asleep tightly hugging Mister Shao’s pillow.

After Yu Lan had fallen asleep for half an hour, his phone vibrated.

Yu Lan had fallen asleep very quickly and was groggy when the phone woke him up. It took him a moment to realize that Mister Shao was video calling him. He pressed ‘accept’ in a daze.

Immediately, Mister Shao’s handsome face appeared on the screen.

In the background, Yu Lan could see his hotel bed with a laptop sitting on it. The sound of blowing wind came over the speaker and the light was dim. Was he on the balcony?

Shao Mingyu was still wearing his usual white button up and suit jacket but a few buttons of the shirt were undone, revealing a hint of his collarbone. HIs black hair was messy. His whole look was very casual but it didn’t distract from how handsome he was.

After their call was connected, Shao Mingyu looked surprised, “Were you sleeping?”

“I hadn’t fallen asleep yet. I just went to lay down…” Yu Lan lied, feeling embarrassed, “Did you just get back to your hotel?”

“Yes,” Shao Mingyu’s lips quirked up and he said in a low voice, “I was calling because it’s been three days and you haven’t messaged me at all…”

Yu Lan froze, his eyes wide, “I-I wasn’t sure what to send you…”

He thought about sending Mister Shao a message. He agonized and edited and erased his words many times but eventually decided not to press ‘send’. Nothing felt natural and in the end he gave up.

“You can ask me where I went that day, if I’ve eaten, what time did I wake up, when will I get back to the hotel,” Shao Mingyu said slowly, a lazy smile on his face, “Anything is fine. Or you could just give me a call like this.”

This was the care and affection between lovers.

Yu Lan’s heart was touched by his words and he felt like he was floating. Wanting to make a joke and deflect, he said, “But there’s no thunder here. I’m not scared.”

“En. Remember to call me right away when you’re scared.”

The day before he left, Mister Shao had said similar words.

Shao Mingyu slightly narrowed his eyes, looking serious.

Yu Lan laughed at his expression and hugged the pillow in his arms closer. He turned over onto his stomach, bringing the phone with him.

Shao Mingyu waited a beat and then smiled back, “Are you sure you’re not afraid?”

Yu Lan shook his head, an earnest look in his eyes.

Shao Mingyu hummed and then asked slowly, “Then why are you hugging my pillow?”

Yu Lan froze.

Shao Mingyu continued to tease, “Whose bed are you in right now?”

Yu Lan, “…”

Shocked, Yu Lan quickly pressed the phone screen against his chest to hide Mister Shao’s face, feeling a cold sweat on his back.

t/n:

Danfeng eyes, sometimes called ‘phoenix eyes’, from Baidu: long and narrow, thin but not small, with smooth and slightly upturned eye tails.

Example: ” A Dream of Red Mansions “, Bei Jing Wang and Liu Xianglian actor Hou Changrong