Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 28

Chapter 28: A Movie

After a few days, just like Chen Lian Dong revealed, Huo Yuan Guang started to claim that he was sick and found an excuse to hand over the Huang Yi Yin Xiang construction project back to Huo Ming Cheng. The latter accepted it, a decision made to beat him at his own game.

A few days later, the meeting for the board members arrived. Huo Ming Cheng thought about it and then ordered down the chain of command,

“The construction can pause for today. Let the workers get their pay and have a day off.”

If Huo Yuan Guang was smart, he would choose this time to move. As long as it didn’t involve any human lives when the construction site collapses, when he succeeds the Huo business, with all his power and all the resources at hand, he could recover from the situation, keeping the losses minimal.

Feng Jie’s company finally completed their interior renovations, and the program Lu Qi designed was budding with growth. The APP design had a dusty blue background with M&E in white letters, making it look very sleek and easy on the eyes.

Lu Qi put the majority of the focus on the opening display, using sci fi art to create a galaxy of stars, making it so that when you first open the app, meteor showers would fly past the screen in 1.5 seconds, which were perfectly timed, not too short, not too long.

“You did it kid! Just a few days and it’s already this brilliant. It’s the first time that I thought I’m really good at picking people.”

Feng Jie patted Lu Qi’s shoulder, obviously in a satisfied mood, so satisfied that he could not be more satisfied. Each person that he hired had their own faults and strengths, but only Lu Qi, only he seemed like he could do anything. From the small issues to the big ones, he can clear all of them.

“It’s not that your eyesight is good, it’s my panda eyes that are good.”

Lu Qi took a sip of coffee to stay awake. There was indeed some blackness under his eyes. Chang Xuan’s desk was next to Lu Qi’s, so when he heard this, he scooted closer to point at the budding beard on his chin and his eyes that were blacker than a panda’s,

“Qi-Ge, you’re the best, you can even brew coffee. These past two days, I’ve just been chewing on the coffee powder.”

Chang Zuan had asked for exemption from his classes and is now calling the office his home. Who knows how long he has not brushed his teeth or his hair for? You couldn’t tell that he used to look like a refreshing student before this. Lu Qi emotionlessly pushed him aside,

“Please use all the years before you die young to remind yourself in your next lifetime to never touch a computer.”

Feng Jie said,

“Come on, don’t say that. Choose one path, love that path.”

He ordered take-out from a restaurant for everyone at the office, to pay back their hard efforts these past couple of days. Everyone gathered together, conversing and eating, laughing and talking, making it extremely lively in the office. Someone turned on their computer to catch up on their tv shows, and a news article popped out at them. Looking at the headline, they couldn’t help but gasp,

“The construction site for Huang Yi Ying Xiang collapsed? I was even planning to use my savings to buy an apartment there. Seems like the quality isn’t that good.”

Hearing this, Lu Qi, who was eating, paused his movements and heard the people beside him say,

“The Huo’s are the head of the capital real estate business. They couldn’t have a problem right? This is such bad luck, thankfully no one was hurt, otherwise….. huhu.”

Shen Yang Yang said,

“This was only the site collapsing, and the media reported it like this. If there were actually human lives involved, it’d probably be the headline for a good many days. I just looked it up, the stocks for Huo’s have dropped quite a bit.”

As they were talking, they suddenly saw Lu Qi put down his box of food and stand up,

“Sorry, I just remembered that I had something to do at home. I’ll take my leave first, you guys keep eating.”

He has always been polite, and after he said that, he grabbed his coat, phone and laptop and left, leaving everyone glancing at each other in confusion as they stare at his back.

Lu Qi sent Huo Ming Chen a message, and then sat in a coffee shop near the Huo family business, waiting for him. He looked it up himself and found that it was like what Shen Yang Yang said; the stocks had dropped quite a bit.

This entire time, anything about the Huo’s he had heard about was passed along by Lu Yuan in broken pieces. Huo Ming Chen was always disappearing these days, and Lu Qi believed that they should already be alert and so did not give them too much attention. Who knew that this could still happen?

In these kinds of public places, he has always chosen to sit by the windows. He was browsing through the latest news when he suddenly heard something close by his ear, “Dok Dok”. Two knocks on the window. He turned around and saw Huo Ming Chen smiling at him through the window.

The other had bent down, with one arm holding himself up and the other knocking on the glass. Looking quite youthful while smiling with his head tilted, he was like a big giant child. Lu Qi could not help but tug a corner of his mouth up and closed his laptop to walk out of the coffee shop.

“What a rare sighting. Prince Huo, the busy man himself, has finally come out.”

Lu Qi sat in the passenger seat, not knowing whether to tease him or to compliment him. Huo Ming Chen’s eyes were focused on him, looking from his hair to his feet, feeling like there would never be enough time in the world to look, and used one hand to hold up his chin,

“No matter how busy I am, do I not come out immediately when you give me a call?”

Lu Qi snapped his head towards Huo Ming Chen and unexpectedly met Huo Ming Chen’s eyes that were full of laughter. He suddenly had the interest in mind to ask,

“Are you that obedient to me? You will do whatever I tell you to do?”

“That’s only what kiss-asses do,”

Huo Ming Chen glared at him, eyes black,

“I’m not a kiss-ass.” They must die.

But thinking back on it, was there a difference to what he was doing now to ass-kissing? No, it was not the same, Huo Ming Chen thought in his heart, being good towards the one you like, that is not called a kiss-ass.

Lu Qi seemed to want to laugh but held it in. He tugged on a piece of Huo Ming Chen’s hair,

“Right, you are not a kiss-ass.”

Obviously a ferocious wild cat, with a bad temper no one can beat.

He didn’t know how to approach the topic and after running a few scenarios in his mind, he finally said,

“Your family…… is not in big trouble right? I saw on the news that said something like Huang Yi Yin Xiang’s construction seemed to have collapsed.”

Hearing this, Huo Ming Chen looked at him in surprise and couldn’t help but bite his lips. Revealing a smug smile, he said,

“You aren’t worrying about me, are you?”

Lu Qi asked in return,

“Can I not be worried about you?”

After he said that, he placed a hand on his heart to feel it, and used it as evidence, telling Huo Ming Chen,

“It’s still hot, still beating.”

His heart was not stone.

This was the first time Lu Qi was so honest in showing his feelings towards Huo Ming Chen. Even if it was just worry, it was enough for Huo Ming Chen to be happy enough to forget which way is north.

Curiously enough, this shameless Huo Ming Chen is always teasing Lu Qi, and trying to make him lie with sweet talk to make himself happy. But when the other actually said it out loud, he felt weirdly embarrassed. He ducked his head and started to fix his shirt collar, coughing lightly twice before saying,

“I didn’t say that you couldn’t worry about me……”

And with his voice like a tiny mosquito,

“I’d be too happy.”

Although Huo Ming Chen did not want to bring Lu Qi into this turbulent storm of a fight, he still hinted at it, an exemplary example of an idiot dazed with only love in mind,

“My brother has a plan for Huang Yi, otherwise the construction site collapsing would have had deaths involved. Don’t worry. The reason why the Huo’s can come this far today is absolutely not because of those tiny profits. Besides, we always earn money, just because it’s a little less doesn’t mean anything.”

Lu Qi thought that perhaps this was the legendary saying that a bloated man does not know how a starving man feels. Besides he didn’t have a steel heart like Huo Ming Cheng, gambling with such a big project. Lu Qi was very stingy; if it’s his, it’s his. If it’s not his, then he’ll think of a plan to make it his. Everything that is his, don’t think that you can pry it out of his hands.

Of course the person beside him was a special case. Considered an outlier.

Since the two finally met after being apart for so long, it would be a bit unfortunate if they don’t roll around the bed sheets. And this thought was also shadowed by Lu Qi. But Huo Ming Chen seemed to have woken up today with a spring loose as he tentatively asked,

“Why don’t we go see a movie?”

Following Huo Ming Chen’s eyesight that was looking out the window, Lu Qi found that the back door of a movie theatre was right in front of them. Couples were coming out, all kissing and hugging and being lovey dovey.

Lu Qi was silent and did not answer. But he used his actions to show his attitude instead. He took out his phone to check for the newest movie that came out and asked for Huo Ming Chen’s opinion,

“What do you want to watch? Comedy, mystery or romance?”

Lu Qi was really good at hiding his feelings, not easily revealing his likes, but Huo Ming Chen could tell that there was some priority in preferences through his asking order, and stroked his chin, pretending to think about it,

“Mhmm…… Why not comedy.”

That was just to Lu Qi’s taste, and he looked at the schedule,

“Alright, there is a showing just fifteen minutes from now.”

The two of them stepped out of the car, and through the back door, went up to the second floor. This side was an entertainment center, with a movie theatre attached. The sickly sweet smell of the popcorn was in the air, and it smelt overly sweet and greasy. Huo Ming Chen did not like to eat them before, but when Lu Qi came back with the tickets, he could see Huo Ming Chen sitting at the waiting area, holding two big bags of popcorn in his hands,

Surprised as he walked over, Lu Qi said,

“Do you have a fever?”

“Ah?”

Huo Ming Chen dazedly looked up, hands full. Lu Qi glanced down at him, and actually thought that this version of him was a little cute and obedient. He repeated his question,

“Why did you buy so much popcorn?”

Huo Ming Chen had seen those couples buy popcorn at the counter, and his brain short circuited and followed them and bought two big bags. Seeing Lu Qi ask him, he pulled out a random excuse,

“I bought some cause I was hungry, as a snack.”

Lu Qi shook his head, hummed out “huh”, as if to sigh and sat down next to him. He grabbed some melon seeds on the table,

“Living just like the saying of an idiot with money.”

This kind of popcorn was about 10 kuai for one big bag outside. The movie theatre jacks up the prices to more than five times that. In any case, Lu Qi would never buy it; those who would buy it are those who are missing a screw in their brain.

Just as he thought that, the idiot beside him suddenly pushed him and hurriedly said,

“Let’s go, we can go in now.”

And then arrogantly held the two bags of popcorn in front of him,

“Help me hold them.”

“The one who bought them should be the one who holds them.”

Lu Qi ignored him, smiling fakely while looking at Huo Ming Chen. Seeing that no one was nearby, he crossed his arms, saying,

“I can hold you, but not the popcorn, no. I have no interest.”

And then he threw the husks of the melon seeds away into the garbage can, patted his hands and walked away.

Huo Ming Chen was stunned for a moment after hearing that before coming to his senses. Inside, he wanted to laugh and be angry at the same time. He quickly ran up to Lu Qi, using his shoulders to push him, only feeling sweetness in his heart. He lowered his voice, saying friskily,

“If you wanted to embrace me, then just say it. It’s not like I won’t let you……”

He did not finish as when they walked into the theatre, his eyes were surrounded by darkness, and the carpet beneath his feet was soft. He did not know what he stumbled on, and as his two hands were holding something, he had no way to balance. Just as he was about to fall down, a muscular arm caught him by the waist in the dark and stabilized him.

He was surrounded by the aura of someone familiar, and with his heart still in shock, he said,

“Fuck me, almost tripped myself like a dog eating poop.”

Hearing him unconsciously cursing himself as a dog, Lu Qi almost laughed. He grabbed the popcorn out of Huo Ming Chen’s hold. With only one hand pinching the edges of the two bags of popcorn together, he used the other to drag Huo Ming Chen to their seats. Even if it was in the darkness, he was walking without fear.

Huo Ming Chen let him lead, feeling safe in his hands as they felt strong and gave him a feeling that even if he closed his eyes, he would not fall. Like a baby just learning to walk, the parents would be behind closely following and protecting the child. It doesn’t matter if he couldn’t stand up properly or stably, because there would always be someone behind him to hold him up.

The seats Lu Qi chose were by the aisle in the back row. Holding the popcorn, he wanted to sit in the inner chairs, but he only took one step forward before he was pulled back by Huo Ming Chen. Confused, Lu Qi looked at him,

“You sit on the outside.”

Huo Ming Chen coughed lightly twice and didn’t look at him as he went to sit inside. On the right side was an attractive female with a seductive body and big curls, probably a 36D. Lu Qi paused for a moment as he realized the situation and chuckled before taking his seat. He threw popcorn into his mouth and Huo Ming Chen heard a word ring in his ear,

“Childish.”

Huo Ming Chen did not feel embarrassed at all and relying on the darkness, warned Lu Qi by tapping on his leg, quietly saying,

“This is called being precautious.”

Lu Qi had the face to say that Huo Ming Chen was childish when he was the one who kept saying 36D everyday.

The movie just started playing and Lu Qi was fully concentrated on watching, as was Huo Ming Chen. But sitting in front of them was a couple, and the girl had her hair tied in a high ponytail, and the two of them were always talking to each other by putting their heads together and trading kisses.

The ponytail was blocking their view and Huo Ming Chen’s bad temper wanted nothing more than to have a pair of scissors in his hand. Annoyed, he moved his eyes away and switched to a different position to sit. Lu Qi seemed to feel his irritation and quietly reached out. In the dark theatre room, he held his hand, and patted it twice in assurance.

Suddenly Huo Ming Chen was not angry anymore. He scooted closer and rested his head sideways onto Lu Qi’s shoulder, continuing to watch the movie this way. There was a scene where the main characters were being kidnapped and the male character was using his body to hold back the kidnappers, yelling loudly for the female character to run. The female ran three steps and turned her head back, and then took another three steps forward before looking back. Then she turned to run back and pulled on the male character, crying out with the cliché lines, “Run away quickly!”, “No! I won’t go! I won’t leave you by yourself!”

Huo Ming Chen used to think that these kinds of scenes were idiotic, but when he reached out to grab a handful of popcorn from the bags in Lu Qi’s hands, he stared at the other. Under the lights from the screen, Lu Qi’s face shifted with the shadows, covered in light and then dark. Huo Ming Chen suddenly couldn’t help but think about the scenario from the movie.

Once his imagination started, it could not be stopped. If Lu Qi was the main male lead, and he was the female lead… putting themselves in that situation, to be honest, Huo Ming Chen thought he would not be like the female lead. She could run three steps, he……

He probably wouldn’t be able to run even one step.

Maybe he would even fight with a knife against the kidnappers. If nothing else, they would die together.

Hmm? Huo Ming Chen thought about it, dying together with Lu Qi, it sounds…… not bad???