Chapter 31 – Old Friends

Su Quan didn’t organize the event for the actual day of Qiu Qian’s birthday but instead picked a day close to it when most people were free. He said he wanted to use it as an opportunity so that the old friends could catch up.

Because of this reason, when Qiu Qian gave him Su Quan’s invitation he didn’t say much and only gave a brief introduction of the people that would be there. They were all people who had left Xindao together to make their fortunes. Other than Su Quan and himself, there were two others. These four people would get together a few times every year. Whoever thought of it would be the one responsible for organizing the meetup, just like this time.

It was unknown whether it was a coincidence but Bai Lang didn’t even need to look at his schedule before knowing that on that day he had a public fans meeting. The event was organized for 3-4PM in the afternoon. So since it was an gathering of old friends, Bai Lang thought it was unnecessary for him to squeeze his way in and make others uncomfortable. Right now it was more important for him to work.

However unexpectedly Qiu Qian insisted. “I’ll ask Su Quan to change the date. We should go together.”

Bai Lang felt a bit surprised.

He saw Qiu Qian’s face was quite matter-of-fact. He couldn’t help but recall his suspicion regarding Qiu Qian’s past life and was unable to stop himself asking, “Is it because Su Quan asked so it’s not good to not go?”

Qiu Qian laughed lowly. He looked even happier. “Hahaha, very good. Finally you’ve learned to express jealousy.” After that he gave Bai Lang a heavy kiss. “Deserving of a reward.”

Because right now they were already lying on the bed to chat before going to sleep, Bai Lang was very easily pressed down by Qiu Qian and didn’t put up much of a fight. When Qiu Qian finally let him go, Bai Lang’s lips felt a bit swollen. There was a little bit of wetness around his beautiful eyes and his breathing was somewhat shallow. The subconscious allure this gave off made Qiu Qian decide to keep pressing his person down.

Qiu Qian licked Bai Lang’s lips, smiled and explained, “It’s because of the other two people. Wang Yun and Lin GongCheng. It would be good for you to meet them. One is a doctor and the other person is in the security business. They’re useful people to know. Also, Lin GongCheng was also Fang Hua’s husband. They’re not together anymore however they still keep in touch.”

Bai Lang couldn’t help but be surprised.

Introducing their friends to each other, this type of event was something that Bai Lang would never have thought of happening in his previous life.

In regards to his suspicions before, Bai Lang felt a rush of warmth in his heart as well as a bit of guilt. He lowered his eyes. “Then don’t change the date. It’s not easy to get everyone together. My event isn’t the whole day. After it finishes, I’ll run over to find you.”

“If you feel uneasy,” Qiu Qian smiled and kissed him again. “Then I’ll wear the watch that day.”

Bai Lang had a premonition that he was going to be teased the entire night. He cleared his throat and changed the subject matter.

“What do you want to eat on your birthday? I’ll prepare it.

“Do you even need to ask?” Qiu Qian said in an evil tone.

Bai Lang’s danger instincts rose. There was movement on his lower body and the next minute there was the sequence of him being eaten clean.

Tonight the heat and temperature of Qiu Qian’s body warmed Bai Lang more than ever before.

***

On the day of the gathering, the entire poolside club was reserved by Su Quan.

{T/N: I feel like I forgot to mention it but a lot of times when I say club I mean like a member’s club or sort of like a country club. Not a nightclub although most probably do have entertainment facilities/bars etc.}

Inside there was a swimming pool, a basketball court, billiards room, karaoke facilities and a massage spa. All sorts of leisure and entertainment facilities under one roof. There was also  carefully curated greenery around the club and it was a place where people could come to enjoy and relax the whole day.

Inside the club, there was also a specific area for children. They were guaranteed not to be bored. Because of the special VIP guest Qiu XiaoHai, Su Quan had spent quite a lot of effort.

It was because at previous gatherings, Qiu Qian almost never brought Qiu XiaoHai to attend. The biggest reason was because he was too young, and also because the previous locations for the gatherings was not suitable for children. This time if not for Su Quan’s purposeful arrangements, these people who only met a few times a year would not have had a chance to see the Qiu XiaoHai who clung tightly to Qiu Qian’s neck and looked scared of strangers.

This was also outside Qiu Qian’s expectations. Usually the carefree and full of bravado Qiu XiaoHai wasn’t scared of anything. How come once he came here he transformed into a wilted little bean sprout when being stared at by these people? He couldn’t even be pacified, especially when Su Quan smilingly reached out his hand to touch his head. Qiu XiaoHai twisted and hid, burrowing his head into Qiu Qian’s body as though he wanted to dig a hole to hide in.

Qiu Qian patted his his son’s bum. He said to Su Quan, “This kid is a bit scared of strangers.”

Su Quan’s smile was both warm and a little bit helpless. “I even held him when he was younger. How come he doesn’t remember.”

Qiu Qian pinched Qiu XiaoHai’s ears. “This kid probably only remembers what to eat. What are you doing, say hello to Uncle Su.”

Qiu XiaoHai shrank back, twisted his head and finally said, “Hello Uncle Su.”

“Hello.” Su Quan bent over to reply. Then he smiled and turned to Qiu Qian. “Where’s Bai Lang? How come he didn’t come with you?”

“He has work. He’ll come at night.” Qiu Qian replied.

Su Quan nodded in an understanding manner. “That’s right. Right now is a very important time for him. He needs to grasp every opportunity given to him, and shouldn’t get distracted by other things.”

Qiu Qian only smiled. “Outside people are saying that you have a knot in your heart. Seems like it’s really true?”

“You listen to those rumors?” Su Quan looked at Qiu Qian in a disbelieving manner. “I just feel a bit regretful that’s all. It’s rare that everyone can get together. If he agreed to come, wouldn’t you feel happier?” With these words it was even more obvious that he was pointing out that Bai Lang placed more importance on getting famous.

“It’s good to work harder when you’re young.” Qiu Qian’s smile faded slightly as though his mood had been affected.

Su Quan saw it and smiled. He considerately didn’t say any more. He only called Wang Yun  and Lin GongCheng who were walking ahead and happily began hosting the day’s activities.

***

However Su Quan’s plan to help the birthday boy have a relaxing and fun time ran into some problems.

Because ever since Qiu Qian carried Qiu XiaoHai into the club, Qiu XiaoHai clutched him tightly and refused to leave his side.

The adults saw that Qiu XiaoHai was so clingy and thought it was quite amusing. They accompanied this father and son to do everything they could inside the club. After playing for a while, it was finally discovered that Qiu XiaoHai was interested in the warm water pool. Thus he changed into his swimming shorts and leapt into the water with a loud splash. At this time Qiu XiaoHai finally stopped frowning and began smiling. He held onto his inflatable donut and began to play in the water.

So when Bai Lang finished his fans meet and came to the club around sunset time, Qiu XiaoHai had already swam for the entire afternoon and was now lying on Qiu Qian’s stomach and snoring away. The adults also finally had time to sit down and have a proper chat.

When Qiu Qian, who was sitting with Qiu XiaoHai on his stomach, saw the server bring in Bai Lang he waved at him to come sit beside him.

Right now in the couches on the lounge, there was also Su Quan as well as two men that Bai Lang didn’t know.

One was approximately as tall as Qiu Qian however his dark and tanned muscle mass was about twice as big. His features were somewhat rough. The other was white and cultured looking and he was wearing a pair of gold rimmed glasses, his aura was calm and intellectual. When these four people sat together, although they weren’t all good looking, however the feeling they gave off was very eye-catching.

When Bai Lang came in through the door, he heard laughter coming out. These people seemed very relaxed and the atmosphere was clearly very comfortable and familiar. When Bai Lang came in, other than Qiu Qian the other people got quieter and the previous relaxed atmosphere disappeared.

Bai Lang sat next to Qiu Qian. He turned and looked at Qiu XiaoHai’s hanging little head.

Qiu Qian patted Qiu XiaoHai’s back. He didn’t say anything special but only simply said, “Let me introduce you guys. This is Bai Lang. The one on the right is Wang Yun. The one on the left in Lin GongCheng.”

Bai Lang followed Qiu Qian’s gaze and greeted the other two people.

Su Quan suddenly smiled and asked, “How come you skipped over the host, me?”

At this time Su Quan was sitting to the right of and in front of Qiu Qian on a single person couch. His legs were crossed elegantly and he looked as comfortable and as relaxed as if he were in his own home. His exquisite features didn’t have its usual in front of camera fierceness and it was also different to the gentle and obedient look he assumed in front of Hong Yu. Right now he looked both free and spirited.

Bai Lang thus voluntarily made a polite greeting. “Hello Mr Su, thank you for your invitation today.”

Su Quan smiled and nodded. “We’ve been waiting for Mr Bai. Ah Qian doesn’t say it but he’s definitely wanted to wait for you before cutting the cake.”

The words sounded both admonishing and at the same time playful. Bai Lang smiled and added, “I’m sorry for being late.”

“Don’t worry, work is more important ma. Right now you should treasure this break and tell us more about you and Ah Qian.” Su Quan said. “I heard that Mr Bai is a good cook? Just before Ah Qian was praising you greatly.”

“I’m okay.” Bai Lang smiled and responded simply.

He didn’t know why but in this inconsequential chatter, Bai Lang couldn’t feel any friendliness or kindness so he kept his replies short.

The other two people seemed to be observing and so kept their silence.

“The fact that someone as busy as Mr Bai is willing to personally cook is really rare,” Su Quan smiled and said. “In this day and age even married wives don’t necessarily want to do this kind of thing so the fact that you do is really very hard to come by.”

{T/N: Not so obvious in translation but SQ is putting Bai Lang in a different category to “wife”, vaguely pointing out the fact that he is a kept man aka mistress. It’s very subtle/vague though. Can easily be said to be a misunderstanding.}

The smile on Bai Lang’s face froze slightly. When the sensible Wang Yu saw this he spoke up, “We should ask the married before Ah Cheng about this. Have you eaten ex sister-in-law’s cooking before?”

“Of course I have. Be envious to death you single dog!” The outwardly rough looking Lin GongCheng said immediately. “But glasses, what are you trying to imply? Why emphasize  “married before” and “ex sister-in-law”. That’s so ugly to hear. You should say she’s my lassie’s mom!”

“You’re already divorced and still don’t want to admit it?” Wang Yu adjusted his glasses. “Until you chase her back, she’s still your ex.”

“Hei, the divorce wasn’t my idea. Isn’t it just Xiao Hua got angry and needs to be pacified?” Lin GongCheng opened his eyes wide and defended himself.

Bai Lang looked at Lin GongCheng with some surprise. In his past life he didn’t remember hearing about Fang Hua getting married again. Fang Hua was also someone who was very self-protective. Bai Lang vaguely knew that Fang Hua had a daughter that was around seven or eight years old. This must be the “lassie” that Lin GongCheng was talking about.

“Right,” Wang Yu said mockingly. “Using divorce to pacify your wife. In this world you’re the only one.”

Qiu Qian went along to mock him, “If you want to get back together with Fang Hua, I have to say that your chances are slim.”

“What, is there someone I don’t know about next to Xiao Hua?” Lin GongCheng asked in a panicked manner.

“Right now your manner of asking about her when you remember, and completely disregarding her when you forget,” Su Quan shook his head. “Isn’t this just like before you got divorced?”

“That’s because I’m busy working to build a future, isn’t it also so that my wife and daughter can have money to spend?” Lin GongCheng’s face was very self-righteous.

“So you should learn from Ah Qian and don’t just think about earning money all the time.” Su Quan raised his beautiful eyebrow. “He knows when to spoil and can keep everyone happy and content, isn’t that right?”

The last sentence was specifically spoken to Bai Lang. Su Quan smiled at him and made it seem as he was referring to Bai Lang with his words.

However Bai Lang was also able to clearly hear the hidden meaning which was to tell him that before him, Qiu Qian had had a lot of previous relationships.