LHKE Ch50

Epilogue – The Real Bonus

“Good news or bad news first?”

Lu Changting came home, taking off his suit jacket and hanging it on the coat rack, while untying his tie and walking towards the living room.

Shen Li was sitting on the sofa, a pile of this quarter’s profit and loss statements in front of him. Hearing Lu Changting’s question, he looked up and said, “Let’s hear the bad news first.”

“The bad news is that I have to go on a business trip again,” Lu Changting said, pouring himself a glass of water and sitting down next to Shen Li, leaning back tiredly against the sofa. “This weekend, to City N. There’s been an issue with a project there that needs my personal attention.”

Shen Li asked, “How many days will you be gone and when will you leave?”

“I have a high-speed rail ticket for Friday night, and how many days I’ll be gone is uncertain,” Lu Changting said, pulling Shen Li closer and laughing softly. “Aren’t you even a little curious about the good news?”

Shen Li played along, asking, “What’s the good news?”

Lu Changting took out two tickets from his briefcase and handed them to him. “Tickets for the premiere of ‘The Vast Land,’ front row VIP seats.”

Seeing the tickets for He Ting’s new movie premiere, Shen Li was a bit surprised. “How did you think of preparing premiere tickets for me…”

These tickets aren’t just something you can buy with money, especially not front-row seats. Since Lu Changting doesn’t usually have connections in the entertainment industry, it must have taken some effort to get such good tickets.

“I saw you watching the trailer a few days ago and thought you might want to go,” Lu Changting said, frowning lightly. “Don’t you like him?”

Shen Li reached out and gently smoothed the furrowed brow. “Yes, I do like He Ting.”

“Then you’ll just let me go with someone else to see his movie premiere?”

“I was planning to go with you,” Lu Changting said apologetically, “but I have to go on a business trip this weekend…”

“Then who should I go with?” Shen Li pretended to ponder. “Jiang Chifeng, Du Heng, Chang Xu, Chang Yin, Chang Ge…”

Shen Li listed a bunch of names, and Lu Changting, showing no particular reaction, responded generously, “Any of them would be fine.”

Shen Li looked at him and suddenly smiled. “Xiao Gege.”

“You’re so generous, I’m a bit unaccustomed to it.”

It felt like his lover was going on a business trip, working hard to provide, while he was left feeling like he was having a great time out in the world. The more Lu Changting was generous, the more Shen Li felt he shouldn’t be.

Lu Changting held his hand, their fingers intertwined, the ring on his ring finger very noticeable. “You can only go see his movie because you like him.” He paused, raising his eyebrows slightly. “If you like me, you should go see movies with me for the rest of your life.”

Shen Li smiled and hugged him, resting his head on his shoulder. “Then we’ll go see it when you come back from your trip.”

“I’ll give the tickets to Xiao Yao and Jing Yu.”

Jing Yu and He Ting were good friends, and Xiao Yao and Jing Yu were in a relationship, so it would be perfect to give the tickets to them.

Shen Li added, “I like He Ting because I liked ‘Clouds Without Joy,’ liked Feng Jiang, so I ended up liking everything related.”

“But ultimately, it’s because I like you.”

Because he liked him, he could empathize with such unrequited love and feel a deep affection and sorrow for the big boy in the movie who yearned for something he couldn’t have.

Lu Changting understood the unspoken words and turned his head to kiss the corner of Shen Li’s lips.

“I have another piece of good news.”

“Mm?”

Lu Changting looked at him with a gentle gaze. “Fang Zhi and Feng Jiang are together.”

Shen Li was a bit stunned and didn’t immediately understand what he meant.

“Yan Ruhui and He Ting,” Lu Changting said slowly. “They’re together now.”

Shen Li blinked in astonishment. “Wasn’t He Ting engaged to Fan Jingling…”

“That night at the engagement banquet, I spoke up for He Ting,” Lu Changting said. “Xiao Yao must have done the same for He Ting because of Jing Yu.”

“The result was that Fan Jingling let He Ting go and even gave him several good resources.”

Shen Li sighed in relief, as if a small stone that had been pressing on his heart for a long time was lightly kicked away by Lu Changting: “You didn’t tell me about this.”

Although it was a small stone, not heavy and not affecting his mood, he couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful when he thought about the promising future of He Ting… At that time, he had even considered asking Lu Changting for help, but he didn’t speak up and didn’t expect that Lu Changting would voluntarily help He Ting behind the scenes.

Because of him.

Shen Li leaned in and kissed Lu Changting: “Xiao Gege, you’re meddling again.”

Lu Changting didn’t like taking credit, and at that time he had only spoken to Fan Jingling briefly. He and Fan Jingling had no personal relationship; Fan Jingling’s leniency toward He Ting was probably due to his respect for Xiao Yao, and he had no credit for it.

However, he still enjoyed the embrace of his lover.

Lu Changting tightened his embrace and smiled: “Anything related to you isn’t meddling.”

…

After showering in the evening, Shen Li was engrossed in Weibo, watching various fan-made clips of Yan Ruhui and He Ting, and indulging in sweet shipping.

By the time Lu Changting finished his shower, Shen Li was still watching.

Ignored thoroughly by his lover, Lu Changting had no choice but to use his iPad to read documents and handle some simple affairs. One was sitting at the head of the bed reading documents, and the other was sitting cross-legged on the side scrolling through Weibo. Occasionally, Lu Changting looked up and saw Shen Li smiling at the videos, which made him smile unconsciously as well.

After a long time of scrolling through Weibo, Shen Li’s neck hurt from maintaining the same sitting position, so he put down his phone and lay down on the bed, resting his head on Lu Changting’s lap.

“Yan Ruhui and He Ting must have fallen in love because of the drama!”

Lu Changting casually replied, “Probably.”

“That’s wonderful. It’s so great that lovers can end up together.”

Shen Li looked at him and chuckled: “I remember the first time you watched ‘Yun Hu Bu Xi’ with me, you were upset about the open ending.”

“That was because…” Lu Changting hesitated, unsure how to continue.

Should he say it was because he was jealous of himself?

He put down the iPad and gently touched Shen Li’s eyes.

Shen Li always looked at him with eyes full of stardust, always smiling and full of affection.

“Because I always misunderstood that you had a secret crush on Xiao Gege,” Lu Changting said in a deep voice. “At that time, I didn’t know Xiao Gege was me. Just thinking that you once liked someone so much made me feel uncomfortable.”

Shen Li held his hand and kissed the ring on his ring finger.

“Why are you so silly, Xiao Gege.”

Lu Changting smiled: “Yes, I was quite silly.”

When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s easy for those involved to be confused. At that time, how could he dare to imagine that Shen Li’s Xiao Gege was him?

Shen Li drew a heart in his palm, as if unconsciously, repeatedly tracing the shape of the heart. His eyes didn’t look at his hand but seriously looked at him: “So when did you find out that I had a very favorite Xiao Gege?”

Feeling a bit itchy in his palm, Lu Changting looked at the heart he drew, feeling soft-hearted: “When you were drunk for the first time.”

“Drunk for the first time…” Shen Li paused, uncertainly asking, “Was it on your birthday…?”

Lu Changting smiled and answered, “Yes.”

Shen Li’s Adam’s apple moved: “So, what happened that night…”

Lu Changting touched his lips.

“You were drunk, and you were really clingy.”

“You wouldn’t let me go, and when you kissed me, you were both fierce and harsh. When you cried…” Lu Changting’s fingers lightly brushed his cheek, as if gently wiping away the tears, “It was especially heart-wrenching.”

“You cried and called me Xiao Gege, saying you missed me.” Lu Changting looked at him, his tone somewhat complex, “How long had we known each other at that time? I thought you might have mistaken me for someone else. Later, you kept teasing me, and I didn’t know when I had fallen for you. At that time, your ‘Xiao Gege’ really made me very jealous.”

Shen Li looked at him, his eyes a bit red.

He always felt that although his unrequited love was painful and hard, it was worth it, and he could talk about it with a sense of relief. But how could he not be sad? Over the years, he missed Lu Changting so much. Those moments of longing and infatuation tortured him over and over.

Even now, thinking about it makes his heart ache.

Shen Li sat up and hugged him.

Sitting on his legs, he pressed his whole body close to him, their foreheads touching, intimately: “Xiao Gege, all these years… I really missed you.”

“All these years, it’s been hard.” Lu Changting said softly, “From now on, let me handle the hard things.”

“I want you to have joy and happiness for the rest of your life, and to always see me in your eyes.”