Had a Nightmare

Xiao Ming and Qu An discussed the lodging fee for a long time before finally settling on 600 a day. Xiao Ming had originally suggested 2,000 a day, since housing prices in this area were truly not low.

But Qu An firmly disagreed and told him to calculate it based on the price of an ordinary hotel room for one night.

The two discussed it for a long time. Since neither of them was the type to start arguing, the calmer their discussion became, the more terrified Xiao Le felt watching from the side.

"Then leave all the housework to me for the next few days." During the typhoon, housekeeping services could not come, so they could only handle the chores themselves.

Qu An thought about it for a while before agreeing, though when it came down to it, he could not possibly let Xiao Ming handle everything alone. The house was far too large.

To prepare for the typhoon, Qu An had people secure the doors and windows early on. In the afternoon, the few of them checked everything over again.

The villa had its own generator, so they did not need to worry about the typhoon affecting the electricity. It also had a special water supply. After all, the service was proportional to the price.

Xiao Ming did not have much luggage, so he finished unpacking in no time.

Xiao Le made dinner, with half the dishes mild and the other half more heavily seasoned.

The dishes placed in front of Qu An were all rather low in oil, making Qu An look pitiful.

"Brother Qu, Sister Fei said you'll be auditioning again soon, so you need to watch your diet."

Qu An looked at Xiao Ming, his gaze saying, I'm really miserable. Xiao Ming returned a look that said, Nothing I can do about it.

Xiao Le's cooking was unexpectedly good. They did not follow any rule about keeping quiet while eating, and Xiao Le alone made the house much livelier.

"Brother Xiao, try this spicy chicken. It's definitely got enough kick. Half the reason I got to be Brother Qu's assistant was because of my cooking. I'm not just bragging—my dad runs a restaurant himself."

Xiao Ming took a bite, and his eyes lit up. "It really does taste great. Xiao Le, you're amazing."

As Qu An ate boiled cabbage and chicken breast, he watched them chat and eat with such enjoyment, and everything in his mouth seemed even more tasteless.

"I can cook too," he suddenly said.

Xiao Ming immediately looked at Qu An, admiration in his eyes. "Then you're amazing too. I can't cook." He had never had the time to learn.

Qu An finally felt better. Smiling, he took a big bite of vegetables and said, "I'll cook for you tomorrow."

Xiao Le looked at Brother Qu, and the more he looked, the more something felt off. Why did Brother Qu look so much like a peacock spreading its tail feathers? Bright and flashy. Brother Qu had not seemed like this before, had he?

As for the man himself, he was completely unaware that anything was wrong. He and Xiao Ming were discussing what dishes he could make.

Qu An said, "My mom's tastes are similar to yours. She likes sweet and spicy food, but she isn't much of a cook, so my dad learned how to cook. After my mom had me, he made me learn too, so I could cook for her."

Xiao Ming said, "That's nice. Neither of my parents can cook. They're both researchers and basically stay at the research institute all the time. They only come home during the New Year, so no one in our family knows how to cook."

Qu An said, "If you want to learn, Xiao Le and I can teach you starting tomorrow. We happen to have nothing much to do anyway."

Seeing that Qu An had finally remembered him, Xiao Le spoke up at once. "Exactly, exactly. Brother Xiao, I'll definitely teach you until you learn. Guaranteed instruction, guaranteed results!"

Xiao Ming was in a good mood, so he ate a little more than usual. Afterward, he consciously took the dishes and chopsticks away to clean up. Xiao Le politely protested for a while but did not insist, then ran to the living room sofa to scroll through his phone. Qu An went upstairs.

After washing the dishes, Xiao Ming went upstairs to take a shower. On his way to his own room, he passed the room between his and Qu An's and discovered that it was a study.

Qu An was inside reading something, though Xiao Ming did not know what. The door was open.

Xiao Ming only paused long enough to take a glance before walking straight to his room without disturbing him.

Every room had its own bathroom, so Xiao Ming did not need to worry about any awkwardness outside. He finished showering quickly.

When he went downstairs, Qu An was still sitting in the same position, looking at whatever he held in his hands with great focus.

Xiao Ming remembered that they had bought grapes when they went fruit shopping that day. Since he had been catching up on Qu An's materials, he knew that Qu An liked grapes and disliked blueberries.

He went downstairs and washed some grapes. Xiao Le was on the sofa watching TV and eating potato chips.

Qu An really treated people well. Xiao Ming had been browsing Weibo lately, and he occasionally saw gossip about how certain celebrities treated their assistants. Qu An was definitely not as indulgent with Xiao Le as those people were.

Xiao Ming carried the washed grapes upstairs. Qu An now wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses, which made him look a little more youthful and scholarly.

Under the play of light and shadow, Qu An's eyelashes looked even longer. Shadows fell beneath his eyes, obscuring his expression, yet somehow making him seem a little lonely.

Xiao Ming hesitated, then knocked on the door. Qu An looked up at him and removed his glasses, setting them aside.

"What is it?" Qu An asked.

"Your door was open. When I passed by, I saw you'd been reading for a long time, so I went downstairs and washed some grapes for you." After pausing, he continued, "Your fans said you like grapes. That should be right, shouldn't it?"

It was not Qu An himself who had said he liked grapes. His fans had noticed it from the small number of variety shows he had appeared on.

After hearing that, Qu An looked up at Xiao Ming. His eyes held a little more depth, though his face still wore that gentle, warm expression. "I do like them."

Xiao Ming relaxed. "Okay, I'll leave the grapes here. Have some. I won't disturb you anymore. Oh, should I close the door for you? Xiao Le is downstairs watching TV."

"Okay." As Xiao Ming set down the plate, Qu An could see his fair fingers, long and clearly jointed, beautiful in shape.

Xiao Ming's complexion was a cool, pale white. Because he usually wore a cold expression, he always gave people an icy impression. But once someone truly spent time with him, they would discover he was very different from how he looked.

After Xiao Ming left, Qu An stared at the plate of grapes for quite a while before picking one up and putting it in his mouth.

It was sweet. Very sweet.

A while later, he took out his phone and sent a message. He remembered Xiao Ming casually mentioning over dinner that he had been watching Qu An's works.

[Qu An: There's a screening room beside the stairs on the first floor. You can watch movies there.]

[Xiao Ming: Okay (^_^).]

They could not go sightseeing for the next few days, and Xiao Ming had nothing much to do, so he could catch up on more of Qu An's works.

Qu An had not appeared on many variety shows in recent years, nor had he filmed many television dramas. He mainly made movies, and movies were exactly what Xiao Ming had not watched much of.

The screening room used a projector, and the sofas inside were soft and comfortable. It truly was a great place to watch movies.

It contained every movie Qu An had made. Although Xiao Ming had not watched many of Qu An's films, he still remembered the ones that remained online.

Several of the films here were not available online. It seemed they had been filmed but never released due to various accidents.

Such things were not uncommon in the entertainment industry. The broadcasting authorities had become increasingly strict in recent years, and there were always issues involving actors, directors, or others from the same production. Some films never even got the chance to make a ripple after being completed.

Xiao Ming was very curious about the films that were unavailable online, but he still asked Qu An whether he could watch them before opening one.

One of them was about assassins and contained rather a lot of bloody scenes. After watching it, Xiao Ming understood why it could not be released.

Qu An's character was not the male lead. He was more of a villain, and his fate was not very good either.

That night, Xiao Ming had a nightmare. In the dream, he and Qu An were being hunted. They ran for a long time, only to suddenly reach a cliff with nowhere left to retreat.

Qu An looked at Xiao Ming, then moved a little closer to the people chasing them.

A series of gunshots rang out. Right in front of Xiao Ming, Qu An became a mangled mass of blood and flesh, his eyes still fixed on Xiao Ming.

"Ha!" Xiao Ming jolted awake from the dream. The room was pitch-black. He took out his phone and checked the time. It was already seven in the morning.

Outside, it was dark. Fierce winds howled, and the windows trembled and knocked as the wind battered them.

Xiao Ming got up, opened the door, and went downstairs for water. Qu An was sitting on the living room sofa. Hearing the movement, he turned to look at him.

"Did the noise outside wake you?"

Xiao Ming shook his head. "No. I had a nightmare."

Qu An poured him a cup of warm water and handed it over, then explained the current situation.

"The typhoon made landfall last night, then turned toward Yue City. Right now, only the outer edges are affecting us, but the winds are already strong. It should pass through Yue City."

As they spoke, torrential rain began falling outside, the sound so loud that it was unnerving.

"Where's Xiao Le?" Xiao Ming asked.

"He's still asleep. He sleeps deeply and isn't easily woken by noise."

"The wind is really strong today. You can still hear it howling now." Xiao Ming drank his water. The lingering palpitations from the nightmare had yet to fade, and he spoke aimlessly.

"Yes. Are you hungry? I'm toasting bread, and the milk is warming. I'll fry an egg in a bit, then we can eat."

"Okay."

Qu An had not lied. He really could cook, and he was quite good at it.

The fried egg was golden and crisp. Some kind of sauce had been spread over the toast, with fried bacon sandwiched inside. It smelled delicious even before it was eaten.

The breakfast was fairly simple, but Xiao Ming enjoyed it very much.

The two chatted on and off, discussing the typhoon's path and how it had turned during the night.

Later, the wind outside suddenly intensified, and the doors and windows rattled even more violently.

"It feels like the wind's gotten stronger again, and it's louder too. It sounds a little like someone crying." Qu An was joking slightly.

Xiao Ming replied, "The howling is really loud."

"The howling? It does sound a little like that." Hearing Xiao Ming use such a reduplicated word, Qu An found it somewhat cute.

When Xiao Ming heard those words from Qu An's mouth, he responded instinctively. Once he realized what had happened, he felt a little embarrassed.

Why did he always seem to embarrass himself in front of Qu An?

Though the sounds of the torrential rain and fierce wind outside were chaotic, Qu An clearly heard Xiao Ming's response. He looked at him in confusion, almost instinctively.