Dark Fire chapter 20
Ling Zhuo, Good Night
Ling Zhuo didn’t want to stay long in the hospital. By evening, his fever had subsided enough that he planned to leave. Yang Ming was still trying to persuade him when Lu Chixie appeared at the door of his hospital room.
He had just finished filming the night scene and came straight from the set.
“You want to leave the hospital?” Lu Chixie asked as he entered.
Ling Zhuo sat on the edge of the bed, adjusting his clothes uncomfortably. “It’s inconvenient here. I want to go back and take a shower.”
“Just recovered from a fever and you want to shower? Don’t relapse tomorrow. I’ve arranged for you to have two days off, no rush to get back to work,” Lu Chixie said.
“I want to leave the hospital,” Ling Zhuo insisted.
Lu Chixie bent down, one hand on the end of the bed, the other on the bedside next to Ling Zhuo, meeting his gaze.
Ling Zhuo frowned involuntarily. “What are you doing?”
“With your complexion like this, you want to leave the hospital now?” Lu Chixie said with a smile.
“My fever is gone. No need to occupy hospital resources,” Ling Zhuo replied.
Lu Chixie chuckled. “Alright, let’s go then.”
He stood up straight and casually brushed Ling Zhuo’s temple with his hand, but Ling Zhuo turned his face away.
He pretended not to see Lu Chixie’s suggestion from this morning to “marry him” and didn’t reply. But with the debt of gratitude for saving his life, he didn’t feel right giving Lu Chixie a cold shoulder, so things remained awkward.
In the car, Ling Zhuo leaned back in his seat, feeling sleepy. The person beside him asked softly, “Ling, I heard someone from your group wants to leave. What will you do? Disband?”
Ling Zhuo, eyes closed, didn’t want to discuss this. “Where did you hear that from, Teacher Lu?”
Lu Chixie: “It’s not a big secret. Why is it surprising to hear about it?”
Ling Zhuo, half asleep, remembered that Starlight (Xingyao Media) was under Shangxun, so Lu Chixie knowing wasn’t surprising. It seemed pointless to discuss it further. “Hmm, maybe.”
“Will you disband?” Lu Chixie continued.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Ling Zhuo said.
Lu Chixie smirked slightly and didn’t say more.
Back at the hotel, it was nearly eleven o’clock. Lu Chixie walked Ling Zhuo to his room door. Before Ling Zhuo went in, Lu Chixie stopped him. “Give me your phone.”
Ling Zhuo asked, “What for?”
Lu Chixie reached out his hand. “Just give it to me. You’re right in front of me. What could I possibly do?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Ling Zhuo handed over his phone.
Lu Chixie took it, swiped the screen, and reminded him, “Unlock it.”
Ling Zhuo looked at him, and Lu Chixie raised an eyebrow.
Under Lu Chixie’s gaze, Ling Zhuo had no choice but to use his fingerprint to unlock it. Lu Chixie opened the dial pad, entered a number, and made a call. Ling Zhuo’s own phone rang, and Lu Chixie quickly hung up, returning the phone to him. “Save my number. If you feel uncomfortable at night again, call me anytime. My phone won’t be turned off.”
Ling Zhuo didn’t know what to say and nodded, “Thank you.”
He closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. After taking a shower, he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling for a moment. Thoughts of the troublesome matters in the team crossed his mind. He blinked a couple of times, forcing himself to clear his thoughts, then turned over and quickly fell asleep.
He slept soundly through the night and woke up at around nine in the morning, drenched in sweat. His body no longer felt weak and he felt much better.
After another shower, Ling Zhuo walked out of the bedroom. Yang Ming came in at the same time, bringing breakfast prepared by someone on Lu Chixie’s orders.
He sat at the dining table, watching Yang Ming take out the various, abundant dishes. Ling Zhuo felt a bit awkward, sensing that he owed Lu Chixie more and more favors, which seemed increasingly difficult to repay.
“Zhuo Ge,” Yang Ming glanced at him, “When I came up this morning, you were still asleep. I ran into Teacher Lu, who specifically came in to check on you.”
Ling Zhuo just responded with an “Oh.”
After breakfast, with nothing to do, Ling Zhuo sat down to quietly read the script. Since the crew had given him two days off, he wasn’t in a hurry to return to work and decided to rest as much as possible.
Before noon, Zhong Yiran called to check on his condition.
Ling Zhuo said, “Much better, I’ve been discharged after the fever subsided.”
Zhong Yiran was relieved and talked about the matters in the team’. Zhang Xun would leave once his contract expired. The company still wanted to release the new album under the five-member group’s name and would not announce the news of anyone leaving until after the promotion period.
Also, the concert would proceed as planned, but without Zhang Xun.
Ling Zhuo was not surprised. Concerts were profitable, especially for a popular group like theirs. Even if one member left, the company would insist on going ahead.
He didn’t feel particularly happy or unhappy. If having a grand concert with his teammates was once a dream, now that the dream was being weighed and measured for profit, he didn’t seem to care as much.
Ling Zhuo said, “It’s fine, at least our early efforts were not wasted.”
After chatting with Zhong Yiran for a while, he hung up the phone. Lu Chixie sent a WeChat message: “Are you up?”
Ling Zhuo felt speechless. It was already quite late, he wasn’t a pig after all.
Half a minute later, another message came: “Someone will bring food over later. I told your assistant this morning.”
Ling Zhuo replied, “Thank you, but maybe it’s better not to trouble you in the future. I’ll just eat the hotel food.”
There was no further reply.
Ling Zhuo thought for a moment and guessed that Lu Chixie was probably angry again.
Too lazy to say more, he idly played with his phone.
Twenty minutes later, a new notification appeared on Weibo. Lu Chixie had reposted Ling Zhuo’s thank-you message from the previous day: “How about considering my proposal?”
Ling Zhuo: “…”
Taking a deep breath, he told himself to tolerate it. This was how Lu Chixie had always behaved, even before they met. He decided to ignore it.
But he still opened the comments on Lu Chixie’s Weibo. Most were asking about the proposal, with some fans shipping them together. Fortunately, Lu Chixie didn’t make any further cryptic remarks.
Ling Zhuo sent him a message: “Why do you talk about these things on Weibo?”
Lu Chixie replied, “What are you worried about?”
Lu Chixie: “Don’t worry, it won’t ruin your top-tier reputation.”
Ling Zhuo didn’t bother responding.
Lu Chixie returned to the hotel in the evening and knocked on Ling Zhuo’s door.
“Ling, it’s time for dinner.”
Ling Zhuo was slightly surprised to see him, “You’re back early today?”
Lu Chixie: “Didn’t you check the schedule? I don’t have any night scenes today, so I came to eat.”
Seeing Ling Zhuo’s momentary hesitation, he quickly added, “Let’s eat in your room.”
Ling Zhuo realized he didn’t even have the nerve to turn him away, so he let him in. Fortunately, their assistants were there, preventing any awkwardness.
During dinner, Ling Zhuo brought up something he had been thinking about all day and asked Lu Chixie, “Teacher Lu, is there any gift you would like?”
Lu Chixie raised an eyebrow, “You want to give me something?”
Ling Zhuo nodded, “Yes, to thank you for your help.”
Although he felt Lu Chixie probably lacked nothing and would likely not appreciate whatever he chose, he decided to ask directly.
“Help?” Lu Chixie chuckled, “If you say so.”
Ling Zhuo maintained his composure, “So, is there anything you want?”
Lu Chixie looked at him but didn’t answer.
Ling Zhuo waited patiently for him to speak.
Yang Ming and Xiao Qian kept their heads down, eating as if they didn’t exist.
Lu Chixie continued to eat slowly, ignoring the question. Ling Zhuo felt a bit disheartened, realizing how difficult it was to please him.
As dinner was ending, Xiao Qian reminded them that the episode of the film they had filmed together was airing that night. Yang Ming turned on the TV in the living room.
Ling Zhuo sat in front of the TV and made some tea.
He handed a cup to Lu Chixie, “Would you like some tea?”
Lu Chixie sat next to him, the show already starting on the screen. He took the cup, their fingers brushing, and smiled as Ling Zhuo pulled his hand back.
Ling Zhuo pretended not to notice, sipping his tea and focusing on the TV.
The show began with Lu Chixie’s remark, “Don’t cheat,” followed by the tension between him and Ling Zhuo and the rivalry with Zhong Yiran, which the show used as highlights throughout the episode.
Ling Zhuo watched absent-mindedly. The person beside him suddenly asked, “Ling, have you decided what to give me?”
Ling Zhuo turned to him. Lu Chixie was still watching the screen, seemingly casual, “Didn’t you want to give me a gift?”
Ling Zhuo: “What do you want?”
Lu Chixie: “You decide. At least show some sincerity, Ling.”
Ling Zhuo awkwardly shut his mouth.
He looked down at his phone. Several hot topics related to tonight’s show had trended, one of them being #LingZhuoLuChiXieZhongYiRanShuraField#, obviously promoted by the production team. Inside, apart from marketing accounts stirring the pot, there were fans of both CPs (couple pairings) fighting fiercely, and it was a draw.
“ZYR, a useless vampire who gets beaten up by the great demon king, doesn’t deserve to be tied to a top star.”
Someone suddenly leaned in close, reading these words from the screen one by one.
Ling Zhuo swiped the screen away, frowning tightly.
Lu Chixie turned his head to look at him.”Does this comment bother you?”
Ling Zhuo held his breath, remaining silent.
Lu Chixie clicked his tongue. “Why are you so soft-hearted? If someone dared to insult my friends like that online, I’d definitely curse them back.”
Ling Zhuo responded, “You have nothing to lose; not everyone can be like you.”
From the day he became famous, such harsh words targeting him and his friends had never stopped. At first, he was really angry and wanted to explain and clarify, but Zhong Yiran told him it was unnecessary and to ignore it. So he slowly learned to endure and overlook them, though he didn’t want to discuss this with the person in front of him.
Lu Chixie smiled at him, and Ling Zhuo turned his gaze away.
At ten o’clock, the show ended.
Xiao Qian left first, and Yang Ming had something to do downstairs ten minutes ago, leaving only the two of them in the room. Ling Zhuo hinted it was time for Lu Chixie to leave. “It’s late, and we have filming tomorrow. Teacher Lu should go back.”
Lu Chixie smiled and stood up. Ling Zhuo escorted him to the door. Just before it closed, Lu Chixie said, “If you can’t think of a gift, just owe me one for now. No rush.”
“Asking you to marry me was a joke, but if you’re willing, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Ling Zhuo, good night.”
Ling Zhuo was stunned, and the door closed in front of him.