Over the next hour, Luke sat down with Yuffie and her mother to go over the specifics—including moving Yufei's talent contract over to his own agency.
When the three of them finally stepped out of the room, Director Li David greeted them with a smile. "All finished with your meeting?"
"Yeah. Thanks, Director. Actually, I have one more favor to ask."
"Anything! Name it."
"I have to head out tomorrow, so I was hoping Yufei could take the afternoon off to spend some time with me."
"Of course, of course! You two go ahead. We'll just make up her scenes tomorrow," Director Li replied enthusiastically.
Seeing the director's eagerness to please, Luke felt reassured that Yufei would be well taken care of on set in the coming weeks. After saying his goodbyes to the crew, he led Yufei and her mother away from the filming courtyard.
Once they were gone, Dong Jie—who had been looking sour all day—finally piped up. "I guess I totally misjudged her. I thought she rejected Mr. Fei because she was too innocent for romance. Turns out she was just holding out for a bigger fish."
The rest of the crew gave her strange looks, visibly distancing themselves. Everyone's sympathies were already firmly with Luke; her comment just felt like a petty buzzkill.
The director shot her a sharp, displeased look before announcing loudly to the group, "Keep your mouths shut about Luke and Yuffie. Don't go gossiping and bringing unnecessary trouble on yourselves!"
Li meant well. Since the couple hadn't made an official announcement, he assumed they had career concerns. The last thing he wanted was for a leak from his set to piss off someone as influential as Luke. The crew members nodded in agreement. In this industry, everyone knows the stars' business, but you don't talk if you want to keep working.
---
As Luke walked toward the car, he actually overheard the director's warning. He appreciated the gesture but gave a nonchalant smile. He didn't really care if the media found out. He wasn't some manufactured teen idol; a relationship wasn't going to tank his fan base. If anything, it might even give Yufei's career a boost through the association. His plan was to let nature take its course—if the paparazzi caught them, they'd just go public then.
"I have a few things to take care of, so I'll leave you two to it. Yufei, make sure you show Luke a good time today," Yuffie's mother said, making a timely exit.
After saying goodbye, the two of them hopped into Yufei's red Volkswagen Beetle.
"I need to tell you something," Yufei said as soon as she got in.
"I'm listening," Luke replied, taking the wheel.
"Remember that guy who's been pursuing me? I called him again last night to make things clear, but he won't let it go. He's actually waiting downstairs at my place right now."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him I have a boyfriend, but he didn't believe me. He said he didn't think anyone out there was better than him."
"Let me handle him. Give me the rundown first."
Luke felt a spark of excitement. Was he about to get a classic 'humiliate the arrogant rich kid' moment?
"I met him last year..."
As Yufei explained, Luke realized this wasn't the "spoiled brat forces himself on girl" trope he expected. Instead, it sounded like the epic saga of a simp.
In the world of elite colleges, everyone knows the hierarchy. Fei Yang attended one of the top-tier Ivy League-caliber tech schools. He'd run into Yufei while she was prepping for exams at the Beijing Film Academy and had been obsessed ever since.
"Why didn't you just shut him down?" Luke asked.
"I've tried a million times! I told him, 'Stop liking me, it's never going to happen. You're wasting your life.' He just said, 'Even if I waste my whole youth, I still have the rest of my life to waste on you.'"
Pathetic, Luke thought. He'd never seen someone so thick-skinned. This guy had zero dignity.
But as Yufei continued, he realized Fei Yang wasn't your typical loser. Usually, guys like that aren't "Tall, Rich, and Handsome." A quick look in the mirror or a bank statement usually answers the "Why not me?" question for most people. But Fei Yang was the exception: he was the perfect "Golden Boy" straight out of a romance novel. At his university, he was the king of the dating scene, with girls constantly throwing themselves at him.
And yet, his winning streak ended the moment he saw Yuffie. Luke started to realize that this "Super Rich Kid" he was about to face was a total weirdo.
---
The car soon pulled into Yufei's gated community.
"Hey, Mr. Qin, could you open up?" Yufei called out to the security guard.
"Back already, Yufei? Be careful, that guy is lurking by your building again! Wait... who's this?"
"My boyfriend."
"Haha! Give him hell, kid. I'm rooting for you," the guard said, giving Luke an encouraging wink.
"Will do," Luke chuckled.
The Beetle rolled toward Yufei's villa. The afternoon sky was overcast, matching the gloomy mood of a figure hiding behind a parked Bentley.
"Is that him?" Luke pointed. Yufei nodded. "Act like you don't see him. Let's see what he does."
As the car approached, the figure started to step out to intercept them—but then he saw Luke in the driver's seat. He froze, then ducked back behind the Bentley.
As the Beetle came to a stop, Yufei leaned over and tenderly unbuckled Luke's seatbelt, lingering to straighten his collar. The tall figure behind the Bentley seemed to wither.
She really has a boyfriend? Everything she said last night was true? Fei Yang thought, panic rising. Did they see me? Did they see how pathetic I look?
He was terrified of being spotted. They were about to get out of the car, and there was nowhere left to hide. In a moment of pure desperation, he gritted his teeth and crawled under his own car.
Just then, a song started playing loudly from the Beetle's speakers:
"As you walk closer, I hear two voices. Caught off guard, I can only stand frozen..."
"I should be under the car, not inside the car, watching how sweet you two are..."
The man under the car: "..."
The couple in the car: "..."
---