What a Coincidence

The hairy crabs were indeed plump and delicious this season, though they were a hassle to eat.

Qi Si did not even glance at the crab-eating utensil set beside him and simply dug in with his hands.

Compared to Qi Wang, who was methodically using the tools across from him, Qi Si's manner of eating could only be described as wild.

Qi Wang merely glanced at Qi Si and said nothing.

Such obviously improper table manners would certainly have earned anyone else Qi Wang's disdain. But this was Qi Si, so somehow, everything was acceptable.

Other than harming himself, Qi Wang tolerated every mistake Qi Si made.

Though the hairy crabs were delicious, Qi Wang did not let Qi Si eat too many.

They were cooling in nature, and too much was bad for him.

After finishing the few hairy crabs allotted to him, Qi Si glanced at Qi Wang across the table, who was still leisurely picking apart a crab shell.

"Brother, I'm going to the restroom. Take your time eating."

"Mm."

Although he had worn gloves while eating the crabs, Qi Si still felt that his hands were dirty. His intermittent cleanliness obsession had struck, and he had to wash them thoroughly.

He lathered his hands with soap, rubbing them over and over before rinsing away the foam.

Once he was sure his hands were clean, he was about to turn off the tap when he sensed someone in the corner of his eye. He instinctively looked up at the mirror before him.

The moment he saw who was beside him, Qi Si froze.

The person beside him seemed equally surprised to see Qi Si here.

"You..."

"What a coincidence. You came here to eat too?" Qi Si smiled at the person in the mirror.

Surprised as he was, he had not expected his luck to be this good. He had run into the male lead, Bo Fuyu, just by going to the restroom.

Bo Fuyu's gaze traveled up and down Qi Si's body.

"You're all right now?"

Qi Si paused, then realized he was asking about when he had fainted in the private room before.

"I'm fine now. Thanks for asking. I must have frightened you all that day, huh?"

"It was all right." Bo Fuyu's expression was indifferent.

When Qi Si had fainted that day, Bo Fuyu had been busy comforting Shen Shuyu.

Xiao Chou had called and sent Qi Si to the hospital. Bo Fuyu had only learned the details afterward.

Besides, he had never gotten along with Qi Si. He did not care what happened to Qi Si afterward, so he had not called to check on him.

Yet he had unexpectedly run into him here.

From the looks of it, this person was already fine.

While Bo Fuyu was sizing Qi Si up, Qi Si was also observing Bo Fuyu.

He was very curious about this male lead from the original novel.

In the private room at the club before, he had not had time to properly observe him. A flood of memories had suddenly rushed into his mind, and before he could even clearly see what the male lead looked like, he had been sent to the hospital.

Qi Si slowed as he dried his hands, thoroughly looking Bo Fuyu over from head to toe before tossing away the paper towel.

"I'll be going now. Take your time washing up." With that, Qi Si turned and left.

Bo Fuyu said nothing. His gaze remained fixed on Qi Si's reflection in the mirror, his eyes full of scrutiny.

Qi Si seemed different somehow.

Only after Qi Si's figure disappeared did Bo Fuyu withdraw his gaze. He dried his hands and left the restroom.

Returning to the dining table, he looked at the man across from him, who was far more mature than himself, and his attitude became noticeably more respectful.

"Uncle."

"Mm. Why were you gone so long? I thought you'd fallen in and was about to send someone to rescue you."

Bo Fuyu's mouth twitched. "That won't be necessary."

If anyone else had said something like that to him, they would have been taught a lesson long ago.

"I just ran into an acquaintance in the restroom." Bo Fuyu felt it was necessary to explain himself, or his uncle might actually think he had some unspeakable problem.

Bo Yanqi looked at Bo Fuyu. "Your friend?"

"Not really. You know, the young master from the Qi Household."

Bo Yanqi's gaze darkened. "Him."

"Mm. Last time, when I went out with them, I don't know who invited him along too. Then something happened midway through, and he suddenly had an episode and fainted. Xiao Chou called for an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital."

After Bo Fuyu finished speaking, Bo Yanqi recalled seeing that young master in the hospital parking lot before. His complexion had not looked very good.

He had just recovered from a serious illness and was painfully thin.

He had looked as though a gust of wind could blow him away, truly fitting the phrase "delicate and frail."

"What illness does he have?" Bo Yanqi's question was purely out of curiosity, but it somehow sounded like an insult.

Bo Fuyu felt like laughing.

"I don't know. I didn't ask." Bo Fuyu shook his head. "But from how he looked just now, it probably isn't anything serious."

Bo Yanqi said nothing, lowering his head to pick apart the hairy crab in his hands.

Seeing that his uncle was not speaking, Bo Fuyu tactfully skipped over the topic.

"Um..."

Bo Yanqi raised his eyes to look at Bo Fuyu.

Bo Fuyu swallowed and said hesitantly, "Uncle, it's like this. I heard you acquired the IP rights to The Wind Rises. So... have you decided which actors you want to cast?"

The Wind Rises was an especially popular novel this year.

It had been completed for some time and had originally only been popular within a small circle.

But at the beginning of the year, an online recommendation account had promoted it.

That account already had a great deal of traffic, and the novel itself was high-quality. Whether it was the author's writing or the plot, it was top-tier.

After that recommendation account promoted it, the novel exploded in popularity without much surprise.

Bo Fuyu had previously heard that several companies were competing for the film and television rights to The Wind Rises, but the author had refused to budge.

He had no idea what method his uncle had used to secure the rights to the book.

And they were exclusive rights at that.

If someone else had bought the rights, he had planned to throw money at them until he got a role.

Money could make the devil turn millstones; no one would turn down money.

But then he discovered that the rights had fallen into his uncle's hands. Wasn't that just a case of floodwaters washing into the Dragon King's temple?

Bo Fuyu had feared this uncle of his since childhood, so unless he truly had no choice, he would never bother Bo Yanqi.

But this time, he had no other option. He could only brace himself and come to his uncle.

Bo Yanqi put down the tool in his hand, picked up a wet wipe beside him, and wiped his hands. With a soft laugh, he said, "I thought you could hold out until the meal was over."

Bo Fuyu's face reddened as he looked awkwardly at Bo Yanqi.

"Go on. Who do you want to slip in?"

"Uh..." Bo Fuyu had not expected his uncle to be so direct, and for a moment, he was too embarrassed to speak.

Bo Yanqi looked at Bo Fuyu with a half-smile. "I've given you the chance. Are you sure you don't want to say it? If you don't say it now, then when you come looking for me later, you won't have even the slightest chance."

"No, no, no! It's a friend of mine. Her acting is especially good! So... Uncle, could you give her a role? It doesn't have to be the lead!"

"It doesn't have to be the lead? That's easy. There are plenty of minor roles in the script."

"Huh? A minor role? How could it be a minor role?" Bo Fuyu grew anxious.

Bo Yanqi said unhurriedly, "Didn't you say yourself that she didn't have to be the lead, and that any role would do?"

"That's not what I meant. At the very least, give her something like the second or third female lead!"

Bo Yanqi smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes.