Love Contract chapter 15
Special
The meeting spot was behind the library at the National Arts University, where the lush greenery was filled with the loud chirping of cicadas. Normally, few students passed by this area, and that day, because of Chi Lianxi and He Yujing, most people had gone to the auditorium, leaving this place nearly deserted.
As Jiang Liusui got out of the car, Lu Zhun, who had been waiting for a long time, walked up to him with a smile and said:
“It wasn’t easy to see you. I wandered around the auditorium for ages before someone told me you had already left.”
Lu Zhun, who was in the same graduating class, was also wearing a black graduation gown and holding a large bouquet of Pearl Snow Mountain roses in full bloom. Jiang Liusui was straightforward: “What do you want?”
Lu Zhun dodged the question and instead handed over the fragrant bouquet. “Happy graduation. These are for you.”
Jiang Liusui didn’t take them, but Lu Zhun wasn’t pushy, just smiled again. “Last time, you didn’t agree, did you? I still like you, and I just… wanted to confess to you once more.”
Meeting Jiang Liusui’s gaze, Lu Zhun’s expression remained steady, but inside, he was less certain.
Though he changed partners quickly, he always took relationships seriously, and because he was considerate and generous to his lovers, he was never short of company. Initially, he was just struck by how stunningly beautiful Jiang Liusui was and thought his personality might be the type he liked, so he confessed once on impulse.
He rarely faced rejection, but this time he had. It made Jiang Liusui stand out to him, becoming increasingly attractive.
“I really like you.” Lu Zhun recalled his friend’s words, guessing that Jiang Liusui might dislike his flirty history. “Those past things are over… If you agree, I promise to be devoted to only you.”
“It’s not because of that.” Jiang Liusui waited for him to finish, then shook his head. “It’s just that…”
Reading his unsaid words, Lu Zhun’s expression darkened. Jiang Liusi gave him some face and didn’t say directly that he wasn’t interested, but indirectly refused: “Sorry you came for nothing, and congratulations on your graduation too.”
“Wait a minute!”
Seeing him about to leave, Lu Zhun, in a panic, grabbed his hand. Jiang Liusui was momentarily stunned, then quickly shook it off.
He flexed his wrist, frowning, and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Sorry,” Lu Zhun quickly stepped back, showing he meant no harm. “I got too excited. I didn’t mean to.”
“Would you reconsider?” He paused, subtly hinting at the benefits his background could bring. “If you ever need anything, I might be able to help—”
Suddenly, the black sports car that had been silent opened its door, causing Lu Zhun to instinctively turn his head to look.
The man who got out of the car was young and handsome, with sharp features that carried an inherent aggressiveness. When he put on a cold expression, there was an air about him that was not to be trifled with.
“Have you said enough?” Seeing Lu Zhun still stunned, he slammed the car door shut, “If you say any more, it’s going to be annoying, got it?”
He Yujing’s disdain was completely unmasked, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere.
Originally, Lu Zhun’s reflex was to retort, but as soon as he saw who was speaking, his voice caught in his throat.
The surrounding silence almost made him forget there were other people around. Realizing this, the reckless impulse in his heart felt like it had hit a cold, heavy iron wall, giving rise to a feeling of suffocating frustration.
He had encountered He Yujing a few times before. Although they weren’t familiar, they had exchanged a few words. Back then, he thought He Yujing had some character, but now, facing him, he found him arrogant and overbearing.
Lu Zhun was also irritated and forced a pretentious smile, “Well, it’s not just about whether it’s annoying or not, Yu Ge. Whether people find it annoying or not depends on whether the person involved is willing.”
At this point, he looked at Jiang Liusui, who was just a few steps away, and spoke bluntly, “You know there are several popular gigs this year, right? Pick whichever you want, and also those magazines under Tianyuan.”
This was rather generous. Lu Zhun added, “I don’t want to just talk empty words. These are the resources I can get, and it’s my sincerity. I’ve had more experience in relationships now and only now realize how special you are to me. Blame me for being too slow before.”
After saying this, Lu Zhun thought Jiang Liusui might reconsider, and indeed, he heard Jiang Liusui call his name.
Jiang Liusui said, “Rather than whether it’s special or not, isn’t it more about the fact that you’ve never been rejected and can’t accept this?”
“…What?”
“It’s fine. No matter what you think, I don’t mind,” Jiang Liusui said, slightly elongating his voice. “But if you keep pestering, it really will get a bit annoying.”
Hearing this, Lu Zhun was momentarily stunned.
He had always seen Jiang Liusui as a pure, innocent flower, carefully suggesting resources to avoid misunderstanding. But now, this guy didn’t seem innocent at all.
He usually preferred people who were compliant, and meeting someone with hidden stubbornness for the first time made his heart race unexpectedly. Out of a strange impulse, he said, “No, actually I—”
He Yujing, who had been silent, couldn’t listen any longer and sneered, “Give it up, are you going to start a long-winded speech again?”
Interrupted once more, Lu Zhun couldn’t take it anymore and snapped, “What does this have to do with you?”
He Yujing couldn’t be bothered to reason with someone like him, looked Lu Zhun up and down, and revealed disdain in his gaze, “He’s got a good temper to still be willing to meet you. If I had known you were this persistent…”
Lu Zhun’s face turned red with anger, but he couldn’t offend He Yujing, which made him feel even more puzzled.
Were these two really close?
He knew they had collaborated, but had they become this familiar from just one MV shoot? If he wasn’t certain that Jiang Liusui and He Yujing hadn’t known each other before, he would almost think He Yujing was his love rival.
But Lu Zhun noticed Jiang Liusui next to him was indeed disinterested and even too lazy to glance at him.
In an instant, he felt that continuing to persist was pointless, “…Forget it.”
“Happy graduation, Jiang Liusui.”
Holding the exaggerated bouquet of roses, Lu Zhun left dejectedly.
Contemplating the implied meaning in “If he had clearly stated it as a transaction from the beginning, it wouldn’t have been so annoying. Turning a confession into coercion, he really is something.”
Jiang Liusui didn’t like Lu Zhun’s frivolous attitude, but he didn’t care how the other saw him.
“Forget it, let’s ignore him.”
He spoke lightly, drawing a clear line with Lu Zhun. Yet the “we” pulled He Yujing closely beside him.
Jiang Liusui seemed to remember something, “By the way, didn’t you have a gift for me? What is it?”
Shen Sijia chose a barbecue place near Guoyi, which was always bustling. With many graduates dining out that day, Zhou Xun had gone ahead to reserve a table.
He saw Jiang Liusui getting out of a black sports car. The person in the car called him over and handed him a dark-colored fisherman hat. The person’s fingers were long and slender, obviously belonging to a man.
Recognizing the car’s logo and model, Zhou Xun raised his eyebrows and waved to Jiang Liusui, “Here.”
When Jiang Liusui came over, he put an arm around his shoulder and asked, “Who gave you a ride?”
Jiang Liusui adjusted the hat on his head, “He Yujing.”
Zhou Xun was surprised, still seeing their relationship as merely colleagues from a collaboration, “How did you two run into each other?”
Jiang Liusui explained the graduation ceremony. Zhou Xun felt that He Yujing’s attitude was a bit subtle but couldn’t pinpoint what was strange. He could only say, “Looking at it this way, he seems worth getting to know.”
Jiang Liusui looked up at the deep gray brim of the hat. He Yujing had given him the hat out of concern that he might run into trouble after seeing him off for a meal.
Recalling that He Yujing had also given him a baseball cap the first time they met at the club, Jiang Liusui smiled, “Seems like we have a bit of a fate with him.”
“Shen Sijia’s parents have arrived. She’s taking photos with them at school and will be over soon.” Zhou Xun glanced at Jiang Liusui while speaking. Usually, for local students, their family members would attend graduation. He vaguely remembered Jiang Liusui’s mother was also in the city but had not seen her all day.
Jiang Liusui rarely mentioned his family. Zhou Xun only knew that his parents were divorced, and he wasn’t close to either side. Throughout the four years of university, he either stayed on campus during holidays or alone in his apartment.
Thinking of this, Zhou Xun tightened his arm around Jiang Liusui’s shoulder and changed the topic, “Let’s not wait for her, let’s go in first.”
Shen Sijia arrived at the restaurant close to eight o’clock. Bursting through the door, she immediately complained, “I got stuck in traffic! There were cars everywhere on the way today. I should have taken the subway… Oh? Suisui, did you buy something from this brand?”
She looked a bit surprised at the gift bag on the table. It was from a luxury brand that wasn’t very famous domestically but was quite expensive. Since He Yujing often wore jewelry from this brand, she had bought some herself.
“From someone else.”
Shen Sijia was very perceptive: “Is it from Lao gong?” Seeing him nod, Shen Sijia covered her mouth with her hand and exclaimed, “Wow! What is it? Can I see it?”
“It’s a bracelet. Go ahead and look.” Jiang Liusui watched her carefully open it as if it were a sacred object, then her eyes lit up: “Oh my gosh, it’s this model! I wanted to buy it before, but it was too expensive… This delicate bracelet with half-diamonds is really beautiful and versatile!”
Jiang Liusui usually didn’t wear much jewelry, and when He Yujing gave him the gift, he only said he thought it was nice and that it was an opportunity to wear it. He originally thought it wouldn’t be too pricey: “Is this very expensive?”
Shen Sijia nodded and gave an approximate figure. Jiang Liusui was taken aback. Zhou Xun finally couldn’t hold back: “He… what’s going on? Does he just start at six figures for any gift?”
Once Shen Sijia calmed down from her excitement, she also found it strange that the congratulatory gift reached this price range: “I’m not sure, but I don’t think he would give something too cheap…”
Her tone was uncertain, and just as Jiang Liusui wanted to ask more, Jiang Chuan’s call came in.
The manager first asked where he was, his words revealing uncontrollable joy: “Did you see Weibo today? It’s all news about you and He Yujing! After dinner, it’s best to go home. If you’re going out, be careful not to get photographed.”
The MV for “The Faded Color” was released at midnight. Jiang Chuan was using another phone to scroll through Weibo while talking, seeing that everything was looking good, and began to imagine the future: “Do you think we might get a big boost this time? I even saw fans shipping us. I swear, I didn’t do anything, and this isn’t us riding on his popularity.”
“I’ve heard that this guy has quite the temper, and it turns out he really can cause a stir… No, it turns out that a superstar’s perspective is different! They don’t care about these rules.” Jiang Chuan said with satisfaction, “This is good, very good.”
Jiang Liusui followed up: “Then, Jiang Ge, if we’re buying trending topics and press releases tonight, let’s not buy these things.”
Hearing the implication, Jiang Chuan asked with a smile, “What, you don’t want to be linked with He Yujing? Do you know how many people want to latch onto him but can’t?”
Noting the good relationship between the two in the Weibo photos and videos related to the graduation ceremony, Jiang Chuan said: “If you don’t want to offend anyone, just push everything to me. If you talk to him privately, these are all company arrangements.”
“I think it’s more appropriate to go with the flow, no need to be too deliberate.” Jiang Liusui’s voice was soft but firm, “Like you said, everyone wants to be associated with him, and if we seem too eager, it might backfire.”
Jiang Chuan was originally planning to push in that direction, as the other side hadn’t explicitly forbidden CP promotion, but hesitated upon hearing this. Besides Jiang Liusui, he also managed one of the hottest boy groups from Gallery. While he didn’t pay much attention to the former, he respected the artist’s opinions when Jiang Liusui spoke seriously.
Moreover, with such a large gap in status and He Yujing’s famously fierce fanbase, cooperating honestly with the promotion seemed more appealing and safer.
“You make a good point…” Jiang Chuan pondered for a moment and then agreed, “Alright, I’ll handle it on my end.”