AAUMOBIP C32

Chapter 32

Yun Jingqiu dropped him off at the entrance of the research institute, waiting until Liu He disappeared into the gates before driving away.

Liu He’s first day went smoothly. The institute’s atmosphere was much more relaxed than he’d imagined; he had thought research workers would all be stern and rigid, but his colleagues turned out to be quite easygoing.

Since he was only starting and still an intern, the first day consisted of being given a stack of materials to read through slowly.

There were some workplace regulations among them, as well as some experimental data from earlier projects.

Taking out his personal notebook, Liu He sat down at his desk and began reading.

“Relax, no need to be nervous. Everyone starts this way,” the PhD student supervising him said. She, too, had entered the institute in a way similar to Liu He.

Liu He smiled and nodded: “Okay.”

“If there’s anything you don’t understand, ask me,” she added.

Liu He agreed softly, then continued looking through the materials.

He skimmed the regulations quickly, since he had seen similar ones before, then moved on to project data.

Much of the content couldn’t be learned just by reading papers—actual lab work was necessary for deeper knowledge.

Finishing one project’s data, he jotted down what he didn’t understand and went to ask his colleagues.

Everyone at the institute was warm and friendly, patiently answering his questions.

“This is a type of catalyst…” she explained, then suddenly stopped and asked, “Xiao He, do you have a cat at home?”

Liu He froze for a second. He was wearing a black T-shirt and black pants today, which made the white strands of Cream’s fur stand out clearly. They weren’t inside the lab at the moment, so he hadn’t put on a lab coat.

Looking down at his clothes, Liu He admitted, “Not a cat, a rabbit.”

“Rabbits are adorable—can I see a picture?”

There was nothing wrong with that request.

Liu He pulled out his phone. His lock screen was a photo of Yun Jingqiu—a selfie that Yun Jingqiu had secretly taken one time while Liu He was sleeping. Afterward, he had chosen the picture he was most satisfied with and set it onto Liu He’s lock screen. That particular photo existed only in Liu He’s phone.

His home screen was another picture—this one of Yun Jingqiu with Cream, the two pressing close together affectionately.

To Liu He, there was nothing strange about it—he unlocked his phone many times a day; the pictures had become so familiar that he no longer thought about it.

Opening the photo album, Liu He quickly found some of Cream’s pictures and showed them to his colleague: “This is my rabbit.”

“Looks a bit like Cream,” the colleague muttered under her breath.

Well, of course—it was Cream.

Only then did Liu He realize how careless he had been.

“I accidentally saw your lock screen earlier—are you a fan of Yun Jingqiu? Did you start raising a rabbit because you saw his was so cute?”

Liu He followed the lead she offered, nodding: “Yes, I’m his fan. I’d already wanted to raise a rabbit before, but after seeing Yun-ge’s rabbit, I couldn’t help but finally get one.”

“I knew it,” she laughed, then pulled him into conversation about the recent big news—Yun Jingqiu winning Best Actor at the Golden Taro Awards.

Liu He knew more than most people about it, but to avoid revealing anything, he just went along with her comments, pretending to be merely another fan.

With his colleague’s lead, he ended up slacking off with them quite naturally.

When she went to monitor data, Liu He returned to studying his materials.

At lunchtime, he ate in the institute’s cafeteria, which turned out to be surprisingly good—and free of charge.

He sent Yun Jingqiu the happy update.

The days of consecutive night shoots were over now. Yun Jingqiu only had a few remaining scenes left in the current production, and since the director had prioritized his schedule, he would wrap soon.

Of course, his company wasn’t about to let such a money-making star get too much rest. His next project was already scheduled to begin filming in two months.

Between these, they arranged sponsorships, commercials, endorsements, and even a mystery-solving variety show.

In short, his life was packed.

When Liu He finished work that afternoon and came out of the institute—not needing to work overtime—he was stunned to see a familiar car waiting at the front gate.

“A luxury car. Must be worth a million yuan or more.”

“Did the director get a new ride?”

“Never heard about it.”

Nearby colleagues muttered curiously about the car.

Forcing a stiff smile, Liu He walked straight over, pulled open the passenger-side door, and climbed in.

His face burned so hot it could have cooked an egg.

“Why did you come to pick me up?”

He could still feel the heated stares of his colleagues as they watched him climb into that luxury car.

Those looks seemed to say: Liu He had been pretending all along—wasn’t he secretly a rich second generation? Why else come here pretending to be an ordinary intern?

“Aren’t you busy filming?” Liu He’s tone carried a little complaint. “Now my coworkers all saw you pick me up.”

“I can’t pick you up?” Yun Jingqiu’s voice was low, his hand tightening on the steering wheel.

There was a faint edge in his tone that gave Liu He goosebumps. Quickly, he explained: “That’s not what I mean. It’s just this car is too expensive. When my colleagues see me being picked up in it, they’ll think I’m rich too. What if I can’t fit in later…?”

“Xiao He, you are rich.” Yun Jingqiu started the engine. “What’s the point of worrying so much? If they ask, just say it was a ride-hailing car. Tomorrow, I’ll switch.”

But their garage only had two cars—and both were luxury cars worth over a million yuan. No matter which one, it wouldn’t exactly be “ordinary.”

Liu He cherished natural relationships. He worried that if his coworkers knew his partner was a movie star, they would no longer treat him with the ease they did now. He didn’t want to live under other people’s ulterior motives, didn’t want his relationships tainted.

Just like Yun Jingqiu fiercely protected him, hiding his identity from the media.

So naturally, Liu He didn’t want colleagues to know he was the ordinary boyfriend of Best Actor Yun Jingqiu.

Even if one day they could no longer hide it, that was for the future.

[Ying-jie]: Xiao He, just now, was that your boyfriend picking you up or your family’s chauffeur?

[fon]: Kind of like a chauffeur?

[fon]: It was just ride-hailing. How would I know it’d be such a car? I was shocked too.

[fon]: Didn’t expect someone would drive a luxury car to do ride-hailing—I really learned something today.

[Ying-jie]: I see.

[Ying-jie]: Maybe it was a rich man playing around, experiencing commoner life.

He managed to cover things up for now.

Liu He shot Yun Jingqiu a glare.

But Yun Jingqiu was driving, oblivious to the reproach in his eyes. “I already signed you up at the driving school near our place. Go when you have time.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t want me to be your driver? Fine, once you get your license, you can be my driver then,” Yun Jingqiu said lightly.

“I didn’t say I minded,” Liu He muttered, turning to look out the window.

Outside was the evening rush hour—crowded metro stations, food stalls popping up at the roadside, bustling crowds weaving between backed-up cars.

At a red light, they stopped briefly. When it turned green, the car rolled forward slowly with the stream.

The streetside stalls were lively—couples browsing skewers, laughing together. Liu He felt a pang of envy.

He wanted to be like ordinary couples—wandering the night market with Yun-ge, eating street food.

But Yun-ge’s status meant they could never truly move about so freely.

“Want barbecue?” Yun Jingqiu asked suddenly. “We can set up a grill in the yard and make our own.”

That was a good idea.

Liu He nodded with excitement: “Yes!”

Back in the community garage, their car pulled in.

There was a new vehicle in the garage—a plain-looking white SUV, nothing flashy, but roomy inside and very low-key.

“Song-ge’s here?” Liu He recognized the car.

“Here to cook dinner,” Yun Jingqiu confirmed.

Then Liu He noticed the small electric scooter parked there. “Tomorrow I’ll just ride this to work—you don’t have to pick me up.”

Yun Jingqiu sounded regretful: “Really can’t?”

“No.” Otherwise, how could he explain showing up in luxury cars two days in a row? Today he had barely brushed it off as “ride-hailing.” Tomorrow, no excuse would hold. Thankfully, he’d left early that morning, so nobody had noticed him arrive in one.

As they entered the villa, a rabbit hopped out in welcome.

Yun Jingqiu, fast as lightning, scooped Cream up and locked him back in the cage.

“He’s still in mating season—I can’t let him near you.” Yun Jingqiu looked deadly serious.

“I told you, that behavior wasn’t harassment…” Liu He felt helpless, eyeing poor Cream now trapped in the cage.

From the kitchen came noise—Song Zhiyuan emerged in an apron, spatula in hand, booming cheerfully:

“Sister-in-law! I heard you’re working nearby? Want me to drive you to work? The company’s got a luxury car—we could pull up in style!”

“And did I hear you mention crabs? You craving some? I’ll cook crabs tonight for you!”

Rattling off one thing after another, he looked at Liu He expectantly.

Having just dealt with the “luxury car problem,” Liu He wanted no part of another flashy ride.

“No, I’ve got a vehicle,” he waved his keys quickly.

“What car?” Song Zhiyuan asked curiously.

“Just… a commuter vehicle.” His vague answer couldn’t be faulted—all cars were commuter vehicles, technically.

Song assumed Yun Jingqiu had bought Liu He a new car and didn’t question it further.

“Then, crabs tonight?”

The mention made Liu He suddenly hungry. He nodded eagerly: “Yes!”

“Great~” Song shouted happily and dashed back into the kitchen.

While they chatted, Yun Jingqiu stood silently in the living room, staring at Cream’s cage.

Inside was Cream’s bedding and various toys—along with the… unusual damage from his “season.”

Liu He followed Yun Jingqiu’s gaze and, after a pause, explained quietly: “Well, rabbits are famous for… short intervals and high frequency.”

One corner of the bedding was damp—it wasn’t hard to imagine what the rabbit had been doing.

“I already arranged with the pet hospital. We’ll take him for neutering in a few days,” Yun Jingqiu pressed his brow.

Since they didn’t plan to find Cream a mate, neutering was the best choice.

“Will it be on the weekend? I’m off then.” Liu He said quickly, with excitement. “I want to go!”

“Then weekend it is.”

While he had often lost weekends buried in experiments at school, this time he would spend it with Yun-ge. The thought thrilled him.

“Shall we make it a date too?” Yun Jingqiu took his hand, voice low.

A date…

It was what Liu He had been thinking of on the way back—he wanted to go on a proper date with Yun-ge, without concerns.

But obviously, that was impossible. They would probably need disguises for their outing—but to him, that was still good enough.

So he agreed softly: “Alright, a date.”