Chapter 53

When Mu Xingyu returned to Gu’s residence, it was already 3 in the morning.

He instructed the bodyguards to remain quiet, not to disturb anyone.

Returning to the fourth floor, he went to his original room, freshened up, changed into pajamas, and quietly pushed open Gu Yunzhou’s door.

Dim light seeped in from outside the window, allowing Mu Xingyu to see the room’s layout. He slowed his steps, approached the bed, and saw Gu Yunzhou sleeping. Although he felt immensely happy, he carefully lay down, trying not to disturb Gu Yunzhou.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he settled, the peacefully sleeping person turned to face him.

“You’re awake?” Mu Xingyu asked, surprised.

“Knowing you were coming back, how could I sleep?” Gu Yunzhou replied.

Mu Xingyu was even more surprised, “How did you know I was coming back?” He had previously lied to Gu Yunzhou, saying he wouldn’t return due to late filming.

Gu Yunzhou smiled, “I guessed.”

Mu Xingyu was speechless, not expecting Gu Yunzhou to understand him so well. But this mutual understanding made him even happier.

“I wanted to give you a surprise,” he said.

“For me, your return is the biggest surprise,” Gu Yunzhou replied.

Mu Xingyu really wanted to praise Gu Yunzhou’s charming way of flirting. At that moment, Gu Yunzhou suddenly drew closer, close enough to feel each other’s breath.

Leaning down, Gu Yunzhou placed a gentle kiss on Mu Xingyu’s forehead, then slowly moved downwards until their lips met.

Mu Xingyu was startled but soon responded to Gu Yunzhou’s kiss.

Both had missed each other in the two weeks they hadn’t seen each other. Initially, they were reserved, but the kiss grew more intense. Mu Xingyu had never imagined that a kiss could make someone feel so passionate; he felt every cell in his body come alive.

After the kiss ended, both Mu Xingyu and Gu Yunzhou’s breathing became rapid, and it seemed the temperature around them rose.

Mu Xingyu reached out to touch Gu Yunzhou’s cheek, but Gu Yunzhou grabbed his hand, saying, “It’s too late, let’s rest.” His voice was slightly husky, incredibly charming.

“You…” Mu Xingyu hesitated to speak, but Gu Yunzhou lightly chuckled and kissed him once again.

” Tomorrow, we’re going to see your parents. Rest early,” Gu Yunzhou said.

“Alright, then you…” Mu Xingyu wanted to say something but stopped.

Gu Yunzhou smiled gently, “You sleep first,” and then he got up and went to the bathroom.

Listening to the gushing water sound, Mu Xingyu’s face reddened. They were all adults, how could he not notice Gu Yunzhou’s reaction just now? Thinking about what Gu Yunzhou might be up to, Mu Xingyu felt both annoyed and amused. Annoyed because Gu Yunzhou had deliberately sparked the fire, amused because Gu Yunzhou ignited it and was now facing the consequences.

Mu Xingyu wanted to wait for Gu Yunzhou to return, but it took too long, and he started feeling sleepy. Finally, when Gu Yunzhou returned to bed, Mu Xingyu hurriedly moved closer to him.

Gu Yunzhou adjusted the sheets, pulled Mu Xingyu into his embrace, and then kissed Mu Xingyu on the forehead. “Sleep.”

Feeling the warm atmosphere around him, Mu Xingyu quickly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Mu Xingyu woke up and was extremely surprised to find himself embracing Gu Yunzhou.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Yunzhou had already been awake but kept his eyes closed, enjoying their rare moment together.

Mu Xingyu looked at their sleeping positions and realized why he had slept so comfortably—it was because he had used Gu Yunzhou as a human pillow.

Although they had been sleeping on the same bed all along, this was the first time they had slept under the same blanket, making Mu Xingyu very happy.

“Time to get up. Aren’t we going to see my parents?” Mu Xingyu emerged from the warm blanket and suddenly realized, “Why didn’t you go to the office today?” Mu Xingyu remembered today wasn’t a weekend.

“Yeah, deliberately kept a day off to go see your parents.”

“President Gu, I think you’re taking the opportunity to slack off,” Mu Xingyu joked.

Gu Yunzhou followed along, “Yeah, you’re back, and I have no motivation to work.”

Mu Xingyu was left speechless by Gu Yunzhou’s teasing and quickly urged him to go freshen up.

When they both came downstairs dressed, Grandpa Gu had already finished breakfast and was reading the newspaper.

“Xingyu, when did you come back?” Grandpa Gu asked.

“Last night, but it was too late, so I didn’t want to disturb Grandpa,” Mu Xingyu replied.

“Okay, hurry up and eat. You look much thinner,” Grandpa Gu said, while Gu Yunzhou nodded in agreement.

Mu Xingyu chuckled, “No way! I even have late-night snacks on set.”

Mu Xingyu chuckled awkwardly, displeased with Gu Yunzhou’s teasing, and quickly dragged him to the dining room.

……

After dinner, Mu Xingyu and Gu Yunzhou headed to Mu’s family home.

Gu Yunzhou had kept the incident of Mu Xingyu’s kidnapping secret from Mu’s parents all this time. Thankfully, Andre had already passed away, and both Gu Yunzhou and Mu Xingyu had no intention of revealing the kidnapping incident to avoid worrying their parents.

This time, Gu Yunzhou didn’t use a wheelchair. When he got out of the car, both Mu’s father and mother were extremely surprised.

“Yunzhou, your…” Mu’s mother looked at Gu Yunzhou’s legs, speechless with surprise.

“Mom, Yunzhou’s legs have almost recovered,” Mu Xingyu smiled.

“Great, that’s wonderful!” Mu’s father was very pleased and invited Gu Yunzhou and Mu Xingyu inside the house. Auntie served tea, and the family gathered in the living room chatting.

Mu’s mother hadn’t seen Mu Xingyu for a while and noticed that Mu Xingyu seemed to have gotten a bit darker, which made her feel quite distressed.

“Mom, it’s not that serious. I just went out and shot a movie for two weeks,” Mu Xingyu reassured.

“Oh, I saw in the news that you went to Hong Kong for filming. What were you shooting?” Mu’s mother immediately turned into a fan and started asking about her idol’s recent activities.

“It’s Director Song’s new movie. I had a cameo role in it.” Mu Xingyu smiled.

“Director Song? Is it really Director Song?” Mu’s mother immediately asked.

“Yeah, the one you’re interested in, Director Song,” Mu Xingyu knew that Mu’s mother followed many directors, and Director Song was one she had recommended to him before.

“Wow, Director Song’s movies always have good ratings and high box office numbers. Son, you’re amazing!” Mu’s mother exclaimed excitedly.

While Gu Yunzhou and Mu’s father discussed work over tea, watching Mu Xingyu and Mu’s mother getting all worked up, they couldn’t help but smile helplessly at each other.

……

In the following days, Mu Xingyu rested at home, sometimes accompanying Gu Yunzhou to the company, and occasionally visiting his own studio—life was indeed quite leisurely.

……

Soon, Director Song’s movie completed filming, and the film title and release date were officially announced.

The movie was titled “Special Mission,” set to premiere on August 5th next year, right in the midst of the summer break—a competitive yet high-grossing period for movies.

Then the official announcement of the movie’s cast began. Mu Xingyu’s role was revealed in the fifth announcement.

Because of the good secrecy beforehand, Starry Rain’s fans were extremely surprised.

[“Wow, was our XingXing born in a secret agency? If not for the official announcement, I wouldn’t have known he was in ‘Special Mission’.”]

[“Exactly, it’s XingXing’s first movie appearance; I must watch it multiple times!”]

[“Looking forward to XingXing’s charm on the big screen.”]

The Starry Rain fans were very excited, but soon they were overwhelmed by a new piece of good news.

VAICO China Magazine is the country’s first fashion magazine that hosts the VAICO Fashion Festival every December.

It’s a gathering in the fashion industry where many big shots and popular celebrities are invited. This time, Mu Xingyu was among the invited names. Apart from five more experienced stars, Mu Xingyu was the sixth on the list. This showed the magazine’s emphasis on Mu Xingyu but also placed him in the limelight.

Mu Xingyu has not yet appeared on a magazine cover since his debut. Some fans of stars behind Mu Xingyu began to question this, including fans of Zhou Ruxuan and Tong Lingling.

Initially, when Zhou Ruxuan intentionally stirred rumors with Mu Xingyu, although Zhou Ruxuan clarified it herself, some of her fans still believed that Mu Xingyu, being a newcomer, was trying to increase his fame using Zhou Ruxuan’s name and blamed him for the controversy.

In the list of invited guests this time, Mu Xingyu’s order was ahead of Zhou Ruxuan, making her fans very unhappy and creating a substantial force to question Mu Xingyu.

Tong Lingling and Zhou Ruxuan were both popular actresses. Some of their fans were unhappy that Mu Xingyu was placed ahead of Tong Lingling. Moreover, in the just-announced lead roles for “Special Mission,” Tong Lingling was the female lead, while Mu Xingyu only had a cameo. The comparison naturally drew attention to which role carries more weight.

However, other stars were unaware of Mu Xingyu’s identity and let their fans question him. But Tong Lingling knew. She quickly had her publicity team control fan comments and even deleted some negative comments. This left Tong Lingling’s agent puzzled.

Tong Lingling was in a difficult position. She couldn’t reveal Mu Xingyu’s identity to her agent, so she claimed she was friends with Mu Xingyu and didn’t want her fans to insult her friend.

Soon, insiders revealed that Mu Xingyu had already shot the cover for VAICO magazine, set to be released in January.

VAICO is different from other magazines. Among its twelve issues per year, at least six feature world-renowned models on the cover. The remaining covers are allotted to celebrities from both China and abroad. However, the majority are given to international stars, leaving very few opportunities for domestic stars to grace the cover. That’s why very few domestic stars get the opportunity to grace the cover of VAICO magazine.

Mu Xingyu’s appearance on the cover of VAICO magazine’s January issue surprised both the fashion and entertainment industries.

This piece of news immediately dispelled all doubts. After all, those fans who questioned Mu Xingyu had never seen their idols on the cover of VAICO Magazine.

Mu Xingyu’s fans, on the other hand, were ecstatic. They immediately organized to buy the magazine and were determined to break sales records of other celebrities.

After the announcement of the participating stars at the fashion festival, VAICO magazine tweeted about inviting a special guest, a young and handsome Hollywood heartthrob. People were speculating about who this person might be.

Some quickly deduced, based on clues, that it was An Xiangwan, as An Xiangwan matched the official description and had recently been filming a domestic TV series.

Through internal connections, Mu Xingyu obtained precise information: An Xiangwan was indeed the special guest.

He couldn’t help but frown. Since An Xiangwan arrived in China, he often sought out Gu Yunzhou, his intentions quite evident. Fortunately, Gu Yunzhou’s stance was resolute. Except for the first encounter with An Xiangwan, he kept him at bay,relieving Mu Xingyu of further concern.

Suddenly having to attend the same event as An Xiangwan wasn’t something Mu Xingyu was particularly keen on.

But he had already accepted the invitation from VAICO magazine and couldn’t change his decision because of An Xiangwan. Moreover, as Gu Yunzhou’s lawful partner, why should he avoid him?

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