It's because I'm broke

"Holy shit, pink..."

"Ah-"

Lin Sui crouched in a corner, covering his eye and drawing circles. It wasn't as if he'd looked on purpose.

He'd come to pick Lin Fengmian up today to report to the set, only to be told he was at Xia Qinghe's place.

But Xia Qinghe treated the company as his home and had made himself a home atop the Xia Group building. Lin Sui couldn't even get in.

He'd only made it up by contacting Secretary Su. He rang the doorbell forever and practically blew up Lin Fengmian's phone before the door finally opened.

Lin Sui had been waiting right outside. The moment the door opened, a shirtless Xia Qinghe came into view. He'd blurted out a comment on instinct and gotten punched.

Besides, they were all men. Was Xia Qinghe's flesh somehow more precious? What was wrong with taking a look? It wasn't as if he'd lost a chunk of it.

"Sui, come have breakfast. Stop sulking. Xia Qinghe didn't mean it."

Fully dressed, Lin Fengmian sat at the table eating breakfast, snickering as he ate, laughing like a boiling kettle.

Xia Qinghe looked utterly aggrieved. "I've been defiled, and you're still laughing."

Lin Fengmian laughed even louder. "I told you ages ago that yours were pale. You wouldn't believe me."

Xia Qinghe scoffed, scooped a fried egg out of the pan, and put it on Lin Fengmian's plate. "Yours are paler."

Lin Fengmian choked on his milk. He was utterly speechless. Dude, you don't have to drag me into this just to make yourself seem less pink.

Lin Sui and Secretary Su kept their eyes lowered, ears pricked as they shoveled down breakfast.

They hadn't expected Xia Qinghe to be such a good cook. It felt as though he'd taken lessons. Even his fried eggs were beautifully shaped.

Of course, the prettiest ones all went onto Lin Fengmian's plate. They got whatever Xia Qinghe had left after picking through them, but they were already more than satisfied. After all, getting to eat breakfast personally cooked by President Xia was something they could brag about for a lifetime.

Xia Qinghe dished up the hand-rolled noodles from the pot, mixed in the sauce he'd just prepared, added a blanched broccoli floret and a rose carved from a carrot, sprinkled on some cumin powder, and set the bowl in front of Lin Fengmian.

The other two didn't get such good treatment. Their broccoli was tossed in haphazardly, their carrots were scraps left over from the carving, and the sauce was merely poured on top without being mixed in.

The only thing that made Lin Sui and Secretary Su feel better was that Xia Qinghe's bowl was the same as theirs.

Only Lin Fengmian's was special.

As Xia Qinghe mixed his noodles, he kept looking at Lin Fengmian, wanting to say something but holding back.

"If you've got something to say, spit it out, okay?" Lin Fengmian had already polished off half his bowl. It had been a long time since he'd eaten Xia Qinghe's cooking, and it was as delicious as ever.

"Why do you suddenly want to work? Don't have enough money to spend? I'll give you some." As he spoke, Xia Qinghe began pulling out his phone to transfer him money.

Lin Fengmian hurriedly snatched his phone away. Will this ever end? "I'll work if I want to. What, you won't allow it?"

"It's not that I won't let you work. It's just too complicated out there. I'm afraid someone will scam you." Xia Qinghe was too worried to eat. The thought of Lin Fengmian working himself to death for a few hundred thousand made his heart ache.

He might as well stay home and lie around. Xia Qinghe would give him a million a day.

"Could it be more complicated than the cases I studied?" Lin Fengmian wasn't some sheltered flower who knew nothing of the world. He'd studied law, and although he hadn't gone into the profession, the cases he'd encountered during his studies had given him some insight into the complexities of human nature.

"You shouldn't have studied law in the first place. Music would've been so much better. If you studied music, you wouldn't have to go to work. You could just hold a concert and make money. How comfortable would that be?" On this subject, Xia Qinghe had plenty to say.

Lin Fengmian closed his eyes and stopped responding to Xia Qinghe's nagging, protesting through his actions.

Ever since they were little, Xia Qinghe had never been able to do anything about Lin Fengmian. Seeing him resist with silence again, he was so annoyed that he deliberately made loud huffing noises as he ate, hoping Lin Fengmian would look at him a little more.

But by the time they finished eating, Lin Fengmian hadn't looked at him once. Xia Qinghe was even angrier.

When they parted at the elevators, Xia Qinghe had to restrain himself for a long time to keep from hugging Lin Fengmian.

Secretary Su's expression didn't change in the slightest. He was long accustomed to President Xia acting one way around Lin Fengmian and another around everyone else.

Poor Lin Sui, though. His jaw nearly dropped out of its socket in shock, as if he'd seen a ghost.

He looked completely dazed.

Lin Fengmian took Lin Sui down to the underground parking garage in the elevator, while Secretary Su followed Xia Qinghe to work on the 107th Floor.

The moment Xia Qinghe returned to his office, he pressed himself against the glass curtain wall and looked down. "Secretary Su, why can't I see the exit to the company parking garage from here?"

Secretary Su took out a tablet, opened an app, and handed it to Xia Qinghe.

Seeing that it showed the security feeds, Xia Qinghe happily hugged the tablet and began searching the various camera windows for Lin Fengmian. "Why do you think he insists on going out to work? Isn't it good to have me support him? It's not as if I can't afford it."

Secretary Su didn't answer questions like that, because he knew President Xia wasn't looking to him for an answer. Or rather, he didn't want to hear an answer he wouldn't like.

Xia Qinghe held on to the tablet until the van left the company. Then he handed it back to Secretary Su and instructed, "Order a van he can lie down in. The newest, most luxurious one, with the most features and the most comfortable place to lie down."

Secretary Su went to carry out his orders.

Lin Sui drove Song Su's van to the airport. They would leave it parked there so they could drive straight home when they returned, without needing anyone to pick them up.

Each pulling a suitcase and carrying a backpack, the two went through the VIP lane and flew to Xiaoshan, then transferred to a coach to Hengdian.

Fan Jing had gotten their arrival time from Lin Sui and drove to the coach station early to wait for them.

When Lin Fengmian appeared with a backpack on his back, pushing a suitcase and covered in sweat, she recognized him in the crowd at once.

Lin Fengmian was simply too easy to recognize. Even with his cap and sunglasses keeping his face from clear view, his bearing still stood out from everyone around him.

People kept looking at him, but he paid them no mind and went about his business.

A young woman asked him, "Are you a celebrity?"

Lin Fengmian lowered his eyes and took off his sunglasses and mask. "See? I'm not."

The young woman's eyes had just lit up, only to dim again. "Sorry, that was presumptuous of me. But you really are handsome."

Lin Fengmian smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. Thank you." He put his mask and sunglasses back on and headed toward the exit.

Lin Fengmian also spotted Fan Jing in casual clothes and walked toward her. Lin Sui followed behind him, likewise carrying a backpack and pushing a suitcase.

Fan Jing took two handheld fans out of her bag and gave them one each. "First time here, right? Look how hot you both are. Here, one each."

Fan Jing was driving a vehicle belonging to the production, a seven-seater van normally used to shuttle staff around.

The air conditioning had been running the whole time. Lin Fengmian let out a breath of relief as soon as he got in, but even with the fan blowing right against his face, he was still hot.

"I've been here before," Lin Fengmian said.

Fan Jing paused, then quickly realized he was correcting what she'd said earlier. "Really?"

She suddenly remembered that when Lin Sui signed the contract with her, he seemed to have used Perching Parasol Tree Studio's official seal.

And Perching Parasol Tree Studio belonged to the award-winning actress Song Su. Everyone in the industry knew the studio was named after her eldest son.

She looked at Lin Fengmian. He hadn't taken off his sunglasses after getting in, only his mask, revealing a stretch of beautifully defined jawline as he slumped in his seat.

Lin Fengmian's surname was Lin, and Song Su's husband was also surnamed Lin. Holy shit. "You wouldn't happen to be Ms. Song Su's other son, would you?"

Lin Fengmian gave an affirmative hum, so quiet it was indistinct.

Fan Jing: "..." That gave her quite a shock.

She looked at Lin Sui. Don't tell me you are too.

Lin Sui waved his hands repeatedly. His looks didn't qualify him.

Fan Jing breathed a sigh of relief. True, he didn't look much like them. After all, with Song Su's and Mr. Lin's genes, they couldn't possibly have a child who was only moderately handsome.

Fan Jing remained dazed throughout the drive to the set. She took them around to meet the director, the producer, and the others.

Director Huang Shihua looked at Lin Fengmian. "...Why is it you?"

Lin Fengmian hadn't expected to run into someone he knew either. "Uncle Huang, long time no see."

Huang Shihua rolled his eyes at him irritably. "I asked you to take the role back then, and you refused. Now, after all those twists and turns, it's still yours in the end. Do you know what this is? It's fate."

Lin Fengmian didn't agree. With a serious expression, he countered, "No, it's because I'm broke."

The day his best buddy got married would be the day he fell back into poverty. He had to plan ahead so he wouldn't end up embarrassingly broke.

Everyone: "..."