18. The Con Artist

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Cen Wu felt a slight fever creeping up on him; he didn’t lift his head again after school until everyone had left the classroom and all footsteps had faded away. Only then did he finally sit up.

His eyelashes were wet, clumped together and sticking out haphazardly as he slowly packed his schoolbag.

The class monitor always liked to hand out test papers after school. Cen Wu had intended to glance at them, worried that Xie Guilan had forgotten to take some papers again and that someone might tear them up. But when he turned his head, he was startled to see that Xie Guilan was still there.

It was past seven in the evening when the rain finally started pouring heavily, drumming down on the outer corridor. The entire Grade 11 building was dark except for the classroom of Grade 11 Class Three, which was still lit.

Xie Guilan looked up and met Cen Wu’s red-rimmed eyes. Cen Wu had been bent over for so long that the ends of his hair curled slightly from being pressed down, a stray lock fell over his pale nose.

He looked completely disheveled.

Cen Wu’s eyelashes trembled as he hugged his bag and turned away. After filling his water cup, he stood and left the classroom. He wasn’t so self-indulgent as to think Xie Guilan was waiting for him.

Sure enough, Xie Guilan didn’t call after him.

Xie Guilan’s dark eyes lowered, his face expressionless. He continued working on the last additional math problem but halfway through, his pen scratched the paper, leaving a gouge.

He stopped writing, packed up the paper, and left for Blue Night.

Both Grade 10 and Grade 11 students had already left for the day. Grade 12 was still attending evening self-study sessions; it was dinner time, and most people were eating in the cafeteria. The rain kept the area outside the teaching building deserted.

Cen Wu finally felt less tormented. He put on a black mask and zipped his school uniform jacket all the way up, covering his pale chin. Then he lowered his head, holding his umbrella, and walked out of the school.

At the school gate, he lifted his umbrella slightly and, like a cautious animal leaving its nest, looked left and right but couldn’t spot the car his driver usually used to pick him up.

He wanted to wait but the discomfort was unbearable; he just wanted to leave quickly.

Clenching his mask tightly, he headed towards the bus stop, his peripheral vision catching sight of something that made him freeze.

Not far away was a somewhat familiar Maybach parked, beside which stood a tall woman holding an umbrella.

She wore a very understated black long dress, but her skin was extremely pale and cold, her long curls spilling over her shoulders. In the rainy night crowd, she did not stand out flamboyantly, yet it was impossible to look away.

Despite his social anxiety, Cen Wu had been the youngest Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival and had met hundreds of actors. Some possessed innate talent and camera presence that others couldn’t match.

Especially when she turned her head, those almond-shaped eyes dark and distant, they suddenly curved into a smile upon seeing him.

Cen Wu recognized her instantly.

Guan Xingxue.

!!!

His heart, which had just calmed down, began trembling again. His face turned pale; he instinctively gripped the strap of his schoolbag. Weren’t his parents abroad? How had they suddenly come back?!

He wanted to run but couldn’t escape. He could only stiffly take a few steps toward the Maybach.

His parents had died in a car accident when he was thirteen. He had been living with his aunt since then. As for Cen Xiao, that was one thing, but he truly didn’t know how to face his parents.

He couldn’t even speak properly. Even if others noticed something was wrong, they wouldn’t say anything because they didn’t care much about him. But his parents certainly cared deeply.

No matter how outstanding an actor, it’s hard to fool a parent’s eyes.

Cen Wu’s palms were slightly sweaty. Guan Xingxue already reached out and hugged him gently. Looking up, she saw his red-rimmed eyes and clumped eyelashes and paused before cautiously asking, “What’s wrong, little treasure?”

Cen Wu thought he should call her “Mom” to avoid suspicion. But he hadn’t spoken all day; his throat was hoarse. His lips moved but no sound came out.

Seeing this, Guan Xingxue didn’t press further. She put her arm around his shoulders and led him into the car.

Cen Xiao was driving. After picking up Cen Wu’s parents at the airport, he had brought them to pick up Cen Wu.

Inside the car, Cen Wu saw his father, Cen Junshan. Cen Xiao was already over twenty. In truth, both Cen Junshan and Guan Xingxue were no longer young.

But they were well-maintained, looking like they were in their thirties or forties. Cen Junshan wore a black suit and an antique wristwatch on his wrist. Having weathered many storms in the business world, his aura was far from gentle. Yet when he saw Cen Wu, a faint smile softened his usually stern expression.

“Little treasure,” Guan Xingxue exchanged a glance with her husband, then stroked Cen Wu’s hair and asked, “Who bullied you?”

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Cen Junshan frowned, displeased, and said in a deep voice, “Was it that Xie Shangjing again?”

Xie Shangjing always had companions around him, often bringing them to banquets. Cen Wu’s parents assumed he had a girlfriend and never suspected he was gay—or that he liked Cen Wu.

Cen Wu hated Xie Shangjing with a passion. If he weren’t afraid of death, he wouldn’t want to get entangled with him.

Cen Wu was not a crybaby by nature, but almost every time he was brought to tears, it was because of Xie Shangjing.

Growing up pampered in the Cen family, if he wanted a star, his parents could buy him one and name it after him. He had never suffered this kind of grievance.

Nor could he bear such a heavy secret.

His personality was already somewhat unstable; under this unspeakable pressure, he had completely turned into a madman.

The pouring rain soaked his school uniform, cold and damp. But Guan Xingxue’s palm and embrace were soft and warm, carrying a comforting scent. As she stroked his hair, Cen Wu’s eyes inexplicably grew moist.

His cheeks and nose glowed with a misty flush. When he opened his mouth, his hoarse voice startled even himself.

“No… nobody bullied me.”

Cen Wu felt embarrassed and lowered his head to wipe his eyes. Guan Xingxue looked both sympathetic and amused, pinching his cheek to take a closer look.

His ears flushed deep red. Guan Xingxue was not his mother after all, and he was socially anxious around both sexes, especially unfamiliar adults.

She firmly held his face and rubbed it. As he struggled and raised his head, he caught sight of Xie Guilan walking by outside, holding an umbrella.

Xie Guilan’s umbrella was tattered, damaged in the horse field earlier. He had patched it up slightly, but the ribs pierced through the canopy, leaving most of one shoulder wet.

Rainwater trickled down his pale neck, reflecting the cold neon lights of the night in his slender black eyes.

Cen Wu quickly rolled down the car window to call out to him, but Xie Guilan moved fast and was already at the bus stop in a few steps.

Guan Xingxue glanced outside. The Cen and Xie families had many business dealings. She had met Xie Guilan before, but to Xie Guilan, she was insignificant.

She looked away in less than a second, took a beautifully wrapped box from the front passenger seat, and said to Cen Wu, “Little treasure, Mom bought scarves for you and your brother. See if you like them?”

Without waiting for a response, she wrapped one around him and folded her hands together, tilting her head to study him.

Cen Wu’s eyelashes were wet and thick, curled up. The scarf was thick, covering half his face, leaving only his wide, panicked, reddened eyes visible.

It made Guan Xingxue’s eyes moisten as well.

She had retired from acting over a decade ago but managed several companies and co-managed the Cen Group with her husband, so she spent little time with Cen Wu.

She always worried that he might suffer in places she didn’t know about.

Thankfully, Cen Wu was good at being affectionate, unlike Cen Xiao who put on a tough front. If he scraped his knee, disliked dinner, or had nightmares, he would call her to tell her.

But today, looking into Cen Wu’s eyes, she suddenly felt her child was troubled.

Cen Wu clutched the scarf, feeling uneasy. Xie Guilan was growing fast but had no money for clothes. Fortunately, he wore the school uniform most of the time.

Xie Guilan was an excellent student. The school waived his tuition and fees and provided free uniforms, preserving a shred of dignity for the boy.

But winter was harsh. The cotton-padded winter uniform wasn’t thick, so Xie Guilan could only wear a cheap thin sweater or a worn jacket underneath.

Who would buy him a scarf? Certainly not Song Lingwei.

Even if Xie Guilan hated him and mocked him, what could that do? Cen Wu regretted not greeting Xie Guilan before leaving.

He took out his phone and secretly sent Xie Guilan a sticker of a cat wrapped in a paper bag, with only a pair of eyes peeking from a hole.

Xie Guilan didn’t reply. Cen Wu pressed his lips and kept typing.

“So what happened at school, little treasure?” Guan Xingxue gestured to Cen Xiao to drive, then hugged Cen Wu and asked.

Cen Wu hastily put down his phone, calmed down a little, and embarrassingly recounted how he and Lu Wang had gone to the internet cafe to play and were caught and punished with a self-criticism.

He was so unruly he expected Guan Xingxue to be angry.

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But Guan Xingxue gently stroked his head as if soothing a little animal and tentatively asked, “Little treasure, was there a reason you went to the internet cafe?”

Cen Wu: “…”

Not really, just for fun.

Only then did Cen Wu realize how much his parents loved him. When trouble arose, their first reaction was never to scold him. It was no wonder that the scandal of the usurpation had surfaced, causing Guan Xingxue’s hair to turn white overnight.

Her love and indulgence for him had become a whip striking her own biological children.

Cen Wu spoke sheepishly, growing quieter, “No… no, I just… wanted to play.”

Cen Xiao gripped the steering wheel, raised his eyebrows after hearing this, and couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s fun about an internet cafe? If you want to play, I’ll take you to the youth training base to watch their practice.”

Cen Xiao’s biggest rebellion was when he was fifteen, wanting to quit school to become a pro gamer and even ran away from home. Cen Junshan packed him off to the youth training base.

Cen Xiao stayed there for half a month, getting thoroughly beaten, before realizing it wasn’t for him and sheepishly returned home with his luggage.

Unable to play himself, he invested in a team. Now he manages one of the country’s hottest PUBG teams.

“Drive properly,” Cen Junshan, already frowning, grew even more stern when Cen Xiao spoke.

And now Cen Wu was caught up in it.

Cen Junshan turned to Cen Wu with an authoritative tone, “You should be doing self-criticism. You barely passed and went to the internet cafe. When we get home, I’ll find you a tutor. No going out if you can’t pass.”

Cen Wu: “…”

Fatherly love crumbling like a landslide.

Guan Xingxue shot him a glance. Cen Junshan shut his mouth and handed Cen Wu a card with a fifty-thousand limit.

“That’s enough. It’s no big deal. You wanted new sneakers, right? Let your brother take you.”

Cen Wu: “…”

Fatherly love restored.

“Thank you, Dad,” Cen Wu obediently took the card.

He was already suspicious in every way. If he refused money, Cen Wu’s parents would doubt him. Better to accept it—even if he wouldn’t spend it—and keep it somewhere, maybe save it for Xie Guilan.

The rainy night made the bar much quieter. When Xie Guilan arrived at Blue Night, he finally saw Cen Wu’s messages.

[Cen Wu: Cat sneaking around.jpg]

[Cen Wu: You ignored me today.]

[Cen Wu: I’ll come find you again tomorrow.]

Xie Guilan: “…”

He lowered his eyes coldly. After staring at that little cat emoji through the screen for a moment, he put away his phone and went to change clothes.

Then the next day at school.

One class.

Two classes.

…

Cen Wu still hadn’t shown up.