Wanting a Song Was One Thing, but You Wanted Him Too?

Yu Xiuyuan was waiting expectantly, while the live comments had already started cursing:

[What is wrong with these people?! Why does everyone turn off their mic whenever they're with Yu Beauty?!]

[Person above, if you were with Yu Beauty, wouldn't you want to talk about something they couldn't broadcast?]

[...All right, fair enough.]

[Stop making things up. Obviously they're talking business. You think they'd let you listen in on a song commission? Dream on.]

Seeing him cooperate and turn off his microphone, Lin Sen's expression eased a little.

Lin Sen took a deep breath, suppressed his discomfort, and put his smile back on. "You seem very confident. Though you have good reason to be. 'Golden Wind and Jade Dew' is already number one on the trending songs chart."

Oh, come on. Half of Yu Xiuyuan's newfound excitement vanished. He'd thought the man was about to unleash his ultimate move.

"It's not confidence. I wasn't planning to release a song in the first place. I just accidentally sang it without thinking..." He stopped halfway through.

That did, perhaps, sound a little like showing off.

Lin Sen certainly felt he was showing off. He nearly ground his teeth to pieces and couldn't keep up the small talk anymore, cutting straight to the point. "You seem to have quite a talent for songwriting, Xiuyuan. You even wrote one for Ziming a few days ago." He stretched his shoulders and lowered his voice. "I'd like to commission a song from you too. Something similar to that one would do."

Yu Xiuyuan picked up his teacup and took another sip, feeling thoroughly bored. This man really couldn't get to the point.

"You're a leading figure in our music industry, Mr. Lin." He set down his cup and tried to sound as sincere as possible. "It's truly an honor that you'd ask me to write a song. Unfortunately, I really haven't had any inspiration lately, so I'll have to regretfully decline."

Yu Xiuyuan gave him every courtesy. After all, the man looked rather petty, and he didn't want to make him so angry that something happened to him.

Unfortunately, their leading figure didn't appreciate it. Lin Sen stopped smiling altogether.

"Xiuyuan," Lin Sen said in a low voice, "don't be so quick to refuse. I'll offer compensation you'll be happy with."

"I really don't have any inspiration." Yu Xiuyuan blinked innocently.

Lin Sen's expression darkened further. "I'll stop beating around the bush. I heard Ziming didn't pay you anything for 'The Lonely Brave'?"

Yu Xiuyuan raised his eyebrows. That well-informed, huh?

"Of course he did. Do I look like I run a charity?" Yu Xiuyuan denied it.

"Don't worry. I won't pry into whatever's going on behind the scenes." Lin Sen narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned forward. "But I can guarantee that I can help you. As far as I know, you haven't signed a contract. You wrote the song, so you have the right to decide who gets it. And I can offer compensation you'll be absolutely satisfied with."

Yu Xiuyuan couldn't hold back a laugh.

So that was his plan all along? I thought I'd get to see how ruthless the world could be.

That's it?

Still, the method seemed simple, but it was effective.

Someone else might really have agreed. After all, who would turn down money?

He alone was different. He had plenty of songs, could afford to give them away, and could even pick his buyers.

"Your information might be wrong." Yu Xiuyuan picked up his teacup, his tone languid. "I signed a contract with him. I didn't give it to him for free."

Seeing him smile, Lin Sen had thought this was a sure thing. He was just about to drink his tea when the unexpected rejection nearly made him scald his mouth.

He guessed Su Ziming might have something on Yu Xiuyuan, leaving him afraid to tell the truth. There was no rush. He could take his time; sooner or later, he'd show Yu Xiuyuan what he was capable of.

He raised a hand toward Yu Xiuyuan. "Have some tea. It's getting cold."

Seeing that Lin Sen had finished unleashing his ultimate move... or rather, his minor move, Yu Xiuyuan finally relaxed and settled down to enjoy his tea.

A light sip left a lingering fragrance in his mouth. Good tea. Drink up.

Once they'd emptied the pot, Yu Xiuyuan raised his hand. "Let me brew the next pot."

Lin Sen readily agreed.

Yu Xiuyuan eagerly fished the little figurine out of the cold water, rinsed the tea leaves, added water, then poured it over the tea pet's little forehead.

Then a stream of water shot out. Yu Xiuyuan's eyes lit up, and his lips curved into a smile. That went pretty far.

Fun.

Seeing Yu Xiuyuan focus entirely on drinking tea and ignore him, Lin Sen's face darkened. Who in the entertainment industry didn't fall over themselves to curry favor with him?

After much deliberation, Lin Sen decided he still needed to show him who he was dealing with and make a threat or two. Yet when he opened his mouth, what came out was, "Actually, you could choose someone else to promote a pairing with."

"What?" Yu Xiuyuan looked baffled. Where on earth had that come from?

Lin Sen regretted it the moment he said it. But looking at Yu Xiuyuan's beautiful face, he reconsidered. That's right! Once he's mine, why would I worry about getting songs?

"What I mean is..." Lin Sen stretched his neck. "Yun Chuan is too boring, and he doesn't know how to play along. Besides, he has fame but no backing. If anything goes wrong, he won't be able to protect you."

He lifted his head confidently. "I'm different. My family can give me all the support I need. As long as you're with me, I guarantee I'll make you a huge star."

Yu Xiuyuan sucked in a breath. He dares to say Yun Chuan has no backing? He's the main character's top's younger brother!

Pfft, off track. This man actually dares to set his sights on me?

Wanting a song was one thing, but he wants me too?

Fine. I'll remember him.

"No." Yu Xiuyuan couldn't even be bothered to humor him anymore and rolled his eyes. "I'm not promoting a pairing, and I don't want to be a huge star. I want to retire."

What a dumbass.

Seeing that he wouldn't budge, Lin Sen's expression turned grim.

Yu Xiuyuan ignored him and kept pouring water over the tea pet.

This time, it had soaked up enough water to send the stream even farther. Yu Xiuyuan grinned at the sight. "It went even farther! Pretty impressive."

Feeling humiliated, Lin Sen wore a stiff expression as he said disdainfully, "Vulgar!"

Yu Xiuyuan was stunned. A little bare-bottomed kid figurine was vulgar?

Had it touched some sensitive nerve?

Yu Xiuyuan's scrutinizing gaze landed on Lin Sen, unconsciously drifted downward, and stopped there...

"Hiss..." He abruptly looked away, realization dawning on him. "Did it bring back painful memories? I'm terribly sorry. I'll stop playing with it."

There was no mistaking the significance of that look.

Lin Sen's face turned completely black.

What was that look Yu Xiuyuan was giving him?

He was obviously reading too much into it-and getting it wrong!

"It didn't bring back any painful memories!" Lin Sen said through gritted teeth.

Yu Xiuyuan nodded hastily. "Right, right, right. It didn't. It didn't."

Lin Sen was practically steaming with anger. How was he supposed to explain this?

Was he supposed to say outright that he had no problems in that department?!

Fuck!

Thank goodness the microphones were off. Otherwise, who knew what rumors would spread online!

Yu Xiuyuan kept his head down and drank his tea. Before long, he couldn't hold it anymore.

As everyone knew, tea was a diuretic.

He spoke awkwardly. "Um, I've had too much tea... Shall we head back?"

Breathing heavily, Lin Sen forgot even the threats he'd prepared earlier. He got up first, climbed into the car, and planted himself in the driver's seat.

When they finally reached the guesthouse, Yu Xiuyuan rushed back to his room, taking the steps two at a time.

After attending to that pressing matter and washing his hands, he emerged feeling thoroughly relieved, only to see... a handsome man lying on his daybed.

Woken by the sound of him entering, the man slowly opened his deep-set eyes. His hazy gaze gradually focused and settled on Yu Xiuyuan.

Feeling a little guilty for waking him, Yu Xiuyuan shook the water off his hands and was just about to apologize when he realized-this was his room!

"Why are you here?" he demanded in a strong, ringing voice.