Proofreader: Kazuha

Du Yun Xiu heard a rumbling sound in his ears.

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion, everything happened in a very short period of time. It happened so fast that Du Yun Xiu wasn't able to react quick enough, it was as if he did not know how to move his legs, how to cross...

The light feeling on his feet felt completely bizarre. His whole body was losing its body mass, not even an ounce of strength in it.

The shops on both sides of the streets had some billboards and flowerpots falling down around him.

Although he could see what was happening, he could not avoid those objects. Du Yun Xiu saw that a flower pot was about to hit his head ---

A strong hand fiercely grabbed his arm just before it forcefully yanked him forward; Du Yun Xiu only felt a strong force pulling him as his body involuntarily leaned towards the force.

--- the pot that he saw falling did not hit him!

"Run!" A loud voice sounded in his ear, this strangely familiar voice is --- Fu Zi Han!

"Run, run to the open space! You won't get smashed!"

Fu Zi Han actually came back! Du Yun Xiu's eyes widened in disbelief.

Why did he come back? ...is it to save him?!

While the other man pulled on him to run as fast as possible without saying a word. They both started desperately running forward as they were surrounded by falling objects that were dropping on all sides, causing dust to engulf them.

The ground was shaking violently making it impossible to stand on top of it.

However, it was very strange ---

Even though Du Yun Xiu was in such a terrifying situation, with Fu Zi Han's arms secured around his shoulders, guarding his head and running forward with surprising speed...

As if nothing happened.

No matter how bad a situation is, or how dangerous it is.

As long as the man next to him was anxiously guarding him, all the dangers were no longer that scary...

In his many years of living Du Yun Xiu had always been the one protecting the others.

When Lin Xuan was forced to accompany the wine with an underworld lord, he came forward and was badly beaten up; when his sexual orientation got exposed, obviously this incident involved two people, yet he stood alone to take the blame; during the filming with Liu Yi, when the car accident happened, he used his whole body to protect her face from any injuries...

In those situations with the addition of Xie Yi's incident, he really wanted people to help him, wanted them to support him, even if they just cheered him up silently from behind.

Subconsciously, he would have borne any and all the hardships to protect the others.

It was not that he wanted to gain a good name for himself...it was his character to protect others.

With his outlook on life he would not allow himself to run away like a weakling from those things.

Du Yun Xiu is a person that can bear everything. He can endure through everything.

After such a long time, he had forgotten that in this world, there are people he can rely on. For a long time, he had forgotten that...there will be someone to protect him.

Not always him protecting the other person.

But it was the other person protecting him.

It seems that.

The feeling of having someone wrapping their arm around his shoulders and then proceeding to protect him from all harm...is this wonderful.

The other man's chest is so strong and powerful.

During the time he was being embraced by Fu Zi Han, he noticed the other man was surrounded by a unique temperament and a strong atmosphere, mixing that together with the other man's temperature.

Safe. Reliable. A warmth that he had been missing...

Du Yun Xiu used to think that his own shoulders were sturdy and strong enough.

However...until the time Fu Zi Han tried to protect him with his arm and felt his body temperature on him; he realized in that moment that he has always been lonely, everything was only his illusion of trying to cover up his loneliness with a strong will...

In fact, he has never been a strong person.

Just that it has been so long that he has forgotten that fact.

*** *** ***

"...Alright! It should be fine!"

They ran for a long time until they had escaped the dangerous area, standing in the open space; when the shaking was not as strong as before, Fu Zi Han stopped and moved his arms from Du Yun Xiu's shoulders and placed them on his knees as he was gasping for air.

Beads of sweat kept rolling down the other man's forehead.

Fu Zi Han panted for a few more seconds and then raised his head up, a pair of deep and charming amber eyes looked at Du Yun Xiu with traces of concern in them, "Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Du Yun Xiu wiped the dust from his face.

The two of them were completely covered in dust from the earthquake.

There were some minor bruises on their hands and faces, but no serious injury anywhere else.

"I'm fine, you?" Du Yun Xiu replied.

"That's good!" Fu Zi Han looked at him, finally showing a relieved expression, "I was scared, I was really scared..."

After looking into his eyes it was as if they were saying "I can rest assured when nothing happens", this caused an unknown feeling to start occurring within him.

But Du Yun Xiu vaguely knew this kind of feeling.

The relationship between the two of them at this time was slightly different than the beginning. Before, their relationship stopped at being two colleagues participating in the same drama, but now it has crossed that line and at the most dangerous moment in his life, the other man had just saved his life!

Fu Zi Han.

Why is it in the moment of crisis he still turned back and saved him?

A subtle atmosphere was starting to spread between the two of them...

*** *** ***

After people had learned that they met with an earthquake while filming in Japan.

The domestic media had a chance to do some gimmickry on the above news, they spent several days spreading headlines of special reports on the incident; the fans were getting very worried for their idols as they posted their prayers for their idols on the artist's forum message board.

In the mid of the craziness.

Fu Zi Han's manager, Liu Zhang, immediately left everything behind to accompany Elder Fu on a private jet to the hospital in Japan.

Fu Zi Han and Du Yun Xiu did not receive any serious injuries.

The filming crew still made them go to the hospital for a thorough checkup and to also have the scratches taken care of. It wasn't just because the two are very popular artists, but most importantly, it was due to Fu Zi Han's identity.

Not many people would dare to neglect his identity as the crown prince of Glorious Crown.

Elder Fu is a hale and hearty man that owns a very lively pair of eyes.

This Elder Fu, as a youngster he had gained the king title for himself on every street in the underworld, being the most powerful man of his own territory; later on he built Glorious Crown from the ground up and this company kept on thriving. Over the years, some artists in the company had a turning point in their career, which was a boost for the company to become the top of the top.

Although in the present this person has some convergence of the edge, whoever gets to see him in person would have these four words as their impression of him: treacherous, knife, without and aging.

His whole body still had that aura of a wise calm tolerance, the kind of insight and willpower that was honed through turbulent experiences that not everyone can go through.

Following him from behind were the two skilled and meticulous bodyguards.

Liu Zhang had an astringent beard, a lazy look and his hands were in his pants' pockets, he stood beside Elder Fu.

"In exchange for you to inherit Glorious Crown, I let you do as you pleased and became an actor to participate in that movie of yours. Now you even encounter an earthquake." Although Elder Fu was scolding Fu Zi Han, his words still revealed his deep concern for this grandson.

Of course he felt distressed because this is his own grandson.

"Grandpa Fu in Beijing heard that you met with an earthquake while filming, he was so worried that he did not eat and did not sleep at all and immediately boarded the plane to come see you." Liu Zhang still wore his lazy smile but his words were just right.

He was able to coax Elder Fu and still gain his trust.

Over the years, only Liu Zhang was able to stay by his side.

"Grandpa..." Fu Zi Han gently called out.

Fu Zi Han had always been generous and polite.

However, now standing in front of Du Yun Xiu, for the first time he was showing a different expression than before --- revealing a deep affectionate feeling between grandparent and grandchild, it gave off the kind of feeling where there was no need to be pretentious in front of the family.

Du Yun Xiu suddenly felt a bit envious towards this pair: grandfather and grandson.

Elder Fu deliberately sounded a hum.

He put on a facade of not particularly caring much about this grandson.

People like them are just like that, they always show a cold front to cover up their true feelings. They try to bury their real emotion in the deepest part of their heart, they won't openly express their feelings through words.

"What happen to your previous training?" Elder Fu asked as he thumped the carved rosewood cane down on the floor producing a very dull yet subtly majestic sound.

At the same time, Elder Fu glanced over to Du Yun Xiu with a deep meaning in his look.

Elder Fu originally came from the underworld.

In order to prevent the enemy from taking revenge or being abducted by others, his offspring from a young age were trained to defend themselves.

Especially the boys, the training was even more stringent.

They were trained for field survival and to build up a willpower to be able to solve any problem under any crisis or situation needed for surviving. Therefore, their reaction speed, their body's agility and their instantaneous power are continuously being trained with practical exercises.

Not any ordinary person can be compared to them.

This is the biggest difference between someone who is born into the underworld and someone who is born into a regular business family.

According to the reports from his sources when the earthquake occurred, his grandson Fu Zi Han was with this man, Du Yun Xiu.

Elder Fu turned his attention to Du Yun Xiu and took a good look at him up and down.

It was a look from a pair of keen eyes that were full of insight and carried a severely dangerous pressure, making it almost unbearable for the other person...

If it was not for Fu Zi Han who had started to greet him --- not mentioning in front of his grandfather that he came back to save him.

Du Yun Xiu felt that if that stare still lingered on him for another second, without Fu Zi Han having to say anything, he would have honestly confessed the truth to him.

However.

Although Fu Zi Han did not say it, Du Yun Xiu understood that it must have always been the Fu Family's highest policy --- under any dangerous situation they must put their own personal safety first. Do not bother with other people's life.

It might sound cruel, but it is very reasonable.

Thinking about this point, a strange feeling was circling around Du Yun Xiu's heart.

No wonder the earthquake at that time, Fu Zi Han's reaction was very quick and he did not get hurt at all...since it was like that, why did the other man go back to save him?

It wasn't that he hadn't already thought about many different kinds of reasons.

But in the end, they were all rejected by Du Yun Xiu. Including...towards him, Fu Zi Han...

The other man is the crown prince of Glorious Crown.

Du Yun Xiu ah Du Yun Xiu, do you think that all men are gay, and they are interested in you?

This idea was still fleeting.

But Du Yun Xiu shook his head to shoo the idea away.

Many people are trying to flatter Elder Fu to please him.

In the entertainment business, Elder Fu's words still has power like thunder, no one dares to not respect him. There was an MC on some program who had ridiculed a Glorious Crown singer saying she was not pretty enough, the result of his actions gifted the MC with a severe beating. This MC's reputation in the entertainment world was not lightly judged.

But Du Yun Xiu did not have the same mindset (of flattering him) when facing Elder Fu.

He did not need to ask anything from the other man and he did not think of getting anything from Elder Fu.

To put it simply, it was just that he had no desire for power.

This reasonable manner of Du Yun Xiu made Elder Fu have a different view of him.

This was Du Yun Xiu and Elder Fu's first and last time meeting...because a year later, Elder Fu died of a heart attack.

In this world, even if one has the greatest power and stays high above everyone else; in the end, no one can escape the fate of humankind, which is to be born, to grow old, to get sick and to die.

The filming of 《G.I.B》took more than a month.

Du Yun Xiu and Fu Zi Han's relationship kept getting closer with each passing day...

A lot of things had changed since they had been in the earthquake together, as a life and death experience can change many things. In this world, no one can ask for other people to sacrifice themselves for anyone. During the earthquake, Fu Zi Han instinctively escaped to safe ground, but in the end, in such a dangerous situation where he could get killed at any moment, he ran back to save him...

No one can do such a thing.

Fu Zi Han's thick black eyebrows were like the silhouette of the seabirds, along with his charming and sexy amber eyes.

When talking with other people, he obviously has a different accent with an exotic stress in his speech...it made Du Yun Xiu find that Fu Zi Han became even more special.

He had not had this type of feeling for a long time.

Before 《G.I.B》 was broadcast.

The idol drama that Chu Feng filmed this year was broadcast first; although the producer had Chu Feng as a guarantee to help the ratings, the idol drama was still being overshadowed by another TV series called 《Dynasty》 which was scheduled to show at the same time slot.

The drama 《Dynasty》 was a historical drama being produced by the other television station. It had an excellent script, talented actors, beautiful costumes and a lovely soundtrack.

The storyline followed closely to historical events, the shooting was very tactical and the target audience of this drama was ranging between 25-40 years old. At the beginning, the other station did not think this drama would become very popular, but it was like a dark horse with its sudden emergence; the ratings only got higher with each episode and it even overwhelmed the idol drama Chu Feng was starring in.

Later on, the other production personnel sighed.

Even though the idol drama is currently occupying the market, it does not mean this drama with such a high amount of cultural heritage has no audience. Especially to a country or more so a region with such a high appreciation for their history and culture, this historical piece of work will be naturally appealing to them.

In this situation.

Whether 《G.I.B》 can get high ratings to set a rating miracle or not, it is not something everyone can be certain.

But Du Yun Xiu is not Chu Feng.

Combining Fu Zi Han's own popularity and the strength of Glorious Crown the publicity that was garnered was quite aggressive!

All the other idol dramas before were being pressured by 《Dynasty》.

But 《G.I.B》's ratings were not so bad, it took the second spot in the ratings on its first broadcast. It is said that other artists in Glorious Crown also joined in to support Fu Zi Han's drama by mentioning it on their personal blogs, so that their fans also supported this drama. The Glorious Crown's predecessors, the gang member squads, also squatted down in front of the TV to rally for the crown prince; there was even a rumor that "the brothers in the Fu family will help each person to buy two TVs, one is for them to watch and the other is to help the prince gain ratings."

When 《Dynasty》 broadcast its last episode and 《G.I.B》 broadcast its third episode, 《G.I.B》got first place in the ratings!

Glorious Crown and ESE joined their hands for hosting a celebratory party for 《G.I.B》's filming crew, they even handed out red envelopes to everyone.

Du Yun Xiu also participated even though he did not have a special liking for his role in this drama.

He always felt that this character was somewhat of a weakling, in the drama he is an undercover agent who was always hunting down Fu Zi Han to kill him, but at the most critical moments he always got weak and couldn't go through with it. Fu Zi Han on the other hand seemed to enjoy his role, whether it was the use of guns or the demolition, he was extremely handy. Only Du Yun Xiu felt a little powerless.

He was not so much into action movies, he fell that it seemed to limit his own ability.

"Do you still remember this?" After the opening session, Fu Zi Han did not stay to greet other people but instead went to Du Yun Xiu's side, with a smile on his handsome face as he shook the red envelop in his hand.

"This?" Du Yun Xiu smiled gently, "that time my whole body was soaked in it, how could I not remember?"

*** *** ***

At that time, they were filming the second episode for 《G.I.B》.

Because Du Yun Xiu was not able to finish off Fu Zi Han and his identity was exposed, the undercover organization gave the order to eliminate him; his whole body was covered in gunshot wounds causing the once white shirt he wore to become a deep red dyed in blood. The only place that was not covered in blood was his white colorless lips, he gave out a faint smile as if he was about to be set free...

Finally, Fu Zi Han rescued Du Yun Xiu.

Du Yun Xiu was at the edge of hell, but after looking into Fu Zi Han's eyes, he felt faintly happy. He didn't know if it was because he was remembering the time they were training together to be enlisted in the Special Forces or if it was because he knew he didn't have to kill Fu Zi Han anymore. Regardless of the reason in that moment he felt faintly happy.

"You must hold in there! Hold in there...you're not allowed to die, you hear that..." Fu Zi Han roared in his hoarse voice as he helped to load Du Yun Xiu into the ambulance and then followed him to the operating room.

As Fu Zi Han followed Du Yun Xiu after seeing such a life and death experience it shook him so much even a man should shed a tear.

At the moment, tears started to rush out of him.

"We promised to become lifetime brothers! You promised, you promised...not allowed to die...do not die!"

The door to the operating room was tightly closed.

Fu Zi Han was whimpering and hissing faintly as he stood silently outside of the operating room...

Despite the fact that this drama has a very sad storyline.

During the shooting period, the atmosphere within the studio wasn't that said. For one part in the drama, Du Yun Xiu's body was splashed with "blood". The blood had a very pungent odor, it was so strong that it gave one a horrible taste. It was so bad that the staff deliberately covered their noses and stood to the side as he was being sent to the hospital in that state.

Du Yun Xiu only smiled helplessly, "I got shot...then abandoned."

The hospital is no different than a cemetery.

According to the old saying it would "cast off the good fortune from the actors" since it is a place that is associated with blood and death.

So when shooting these kinds of scenes, the director will give the actors and the staff red envelopes in advance, to replenish the good fortune that will shoo away the bad luck!

When they were given their envelopes, Fu Zi Han handed his share of the red envelop to Du Yun Xiu.

Du Yun Xiu was a little surprised.

Fu Zi Han laughed charmingly, "Your little assistant holds up that water tank every day in order to ask for your "donation", is it not? I am just simply using this red envelope to provide for* you! So that other people will stop fancying you..."

"Hm? To adopt*?" Du Yun Xiu got slightly doubtful with Fu Zi Han's pronunciation...

[T/N: The word he used here is 包养/Bāoyǎng - it means to keep a mistress or to provide for someone. This term usually refers to a financial arrangement in which one party takes care of the expenses of the other party in exchange for a sexual relationship. Some of these extra-marital relationships are based on love, especially in traditional societies where arranged marriages are common.

Now to the confusion that Du Yun Xiu has. Fu Zi Han is a foreigner speaking Chinese, so he didn't pronounce some of the words clearly. So when Fu Zi Han said bāoyǎng/包养/, Du Yun Xiu thought he said 抱养/bàoyǎng - to adopt.]

And now Fu Zi Han waved his red envelop in front of him.

For a moment, it let Du Yun Xiu reminisce of their dialogue at that time; he could not help but laugh.

"This time it is not to adopt, but to provide for you."

"..."

"You seem to be in a good mood, eh?" Feng Jing held up the Champagne, the corners of his lip curved up into an almost perfect smile, waist-length hair touching his slender body. 

"Not too bad." Du Yun Xiu turned to Feng Jing, smiled and greeted him.

A trace of vigilance appeared in Fu Zi Han's heart. 

Perhaps Du Yun Xiu did not notice it himself, but from watching Du Yun Xiu's subconscious reaction, Fu Zi Han faintly found the relationship between the two not a simple one...

Du Yun Xiu smiled a greeting, all of his defenses immediately tumbled down and it was the kind of familiarity that you would show to your most trusted family member.

It was not an attitude you show towards an ESE Executive.

"Being in a good mood is good. Well, in order to make you feel even better, I'll tell you even better news --- the French director, Luc Rohmer, came to China to look for actors to participate in his movie; he wants you to come to the audition."

"Me?" Du Yun Xiu was a bit surprised. Luc Rohmer was a well-known Hollywood director with several masterpieces under his name, a very famous French director indeed!

"Unless there is a second artist named Yun Xiu." Feng Jing's narrow eyes looked over as his lips curved up, "Guess who recommended you to him?"

"You?"

"I would like to hope so, but I have no connection with him. It is Lin Xuan. Lin Beauty."

---

End of Chapter 30