MFW 11

Breakfast consisted of fried bacon and fried eggs, smelling delicious. 

But as fragrant as it was, they were actually a bit burnt. 

Li Fei couldn’t cook. 

To be precise, he wasn’t “completely incapable,” after all, he had personally prepared these simple white dishes. Fry some bacon, add an egg, and then some milk, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and the like. 

But even with such a simple dish, the meat and egg were burnt. Fortunately, Fu Siting didn’t mind and ate it very seriously and with relish. 

…High school student Xiaoting was as easy to feed as he was at twenty-eight. 

Li Fei looked at him, smiled slightly, and couldn’t help but remind him again: “Okay, eat slowly, don’t overeat, or you’ll have a stomachache later.” 

The boy’s emotions changed quickly. 

One moment he was secretly happy because he was being cared for, and the next moment his expression suddenly darkened. 

“I,” he silently finished the last bite, then asked in a low voice, pretending to be casual, “Later, although I recovered from my illness, I still get stomach aches easily… I have a lot of minor ailments?” 

So sensitive… 

Li Fei looked at him with his dark eyes: “Yes.” 

“You do have quite a few minor ailments. You get dizzy, have tinnitus. You’re anemic, and it’s hard for you to fall asleep. You’re a bit difficult to take care of.” 

“…” 

Fu Siting lowered his eyes and pursed his pale lips. 

Apart from his limp, he had indeed been in poor health in other aspects since childhood. He had always been very thin, prone to colds and fevers, and easily tired. Fortunately, although he had many minor illnesses, except for that stomach cancer, he could usually get through them by taking medicine and enduring them. 

But… 

He was already twenty-eight years old, and he had clearly gained weight and looked quite healthy. Couldn’t he at least be a little better than he was back then… 

“It was a bit difficult to take care of before,” Li Fei smiled, “but under my supervision these past few years, you’ve improved so much. All sorts of minor ailments are decreasing, and if you take good care of yourself for a few more years, you’ll definitely be much better.” 

As he spoke, he rested his chin on his hand and squinted at him. 

In private… Li Fei is quite different from his aloof and noble image on screen. 

Especially since he’s laughed a lot. His dark eyes looked dazzling when he laughed, like stars scattered across the night sky. 

Fu Siting silently lowered his head and continued eating with his fork, oblivious to the fact that his plate was already empty. 

Li Fei, resting his chin on his hand, laughed even more unrestrainedly. 

After laughing, he suddenly remembered something: “Oh, there’s something important I forgot to tell you.” 

“You’re still in your recovery period, so I should be spending more time with you. I could have canceled all my previous work.” 

“But there are two scheduled appointments that I just can’t cancel.” 

“…” 

“Fortunately, it’s only tonight and tomorrow morning. If you don’t mind, Fu Xiaoting, could I… temporarily send you to our mutual friend’s house for a day?” 

“…” 

“Or, if you don’t want to go to our friend’s, I can find a housekeeping company we work with and have the housekeeper who knows you best take care of you.” 

“They’re all very nice and reliable.” 

“I’ll finish work as soon as possible and come back. You can just stay home and wait for me for a day, okay?” 

Fu Siting: “Okay.” 

Li Fei: “…” 

“Fu Xiaoting, if you don’t want to, you can say ‘no’.” 

Fu Siting: “No, there’s no ‘no’…” 

Li Fei couldn’t describe the feeling at that moment. He sighed, rubbed his forehead, and pulled the man up from his seat to the white sofa. 

Then, he reached out and pulled Fu Siting close, his arms encircling Fu Siting’s waist. 

“…” 

“Leaving amnesiac Fu Xiaoting alone at home is cruel, I know you don’t like it.” 

“But, if I take you with me, it’s almost a four-hour drive each way, it’ll be tiring. And the schedule is tight, you just got out of the hospital, the cast on your hand was just removed, your body might not be able to handle it…” 

“No.” 

“…” 

“You won’t be able to handle it.” 

“So, you’d rather go with me?” 

This time, Fu Siting finally nodded clearly. 

“Okay, then I’ll take you.” 

… 

Then, Fu Siting spent the entire morning carefully studying Li Fei’s detailed schedule for tonight and tomorrow. 

Tonight, Li Fei had to attend the Miami Film Festival red carpet. Because of the important awards ceremony he had previously turned down, he already owed the organizers a huge favor and couldn’t keep canceling. 

The day after tomorrow morning, he was going to Viscaya Gardens, a landmark in Miami, a venue that a famous candy company had painstakingly booked for, where Li Fei would be shooting their latest autumn/winter chocolate commercial. 

“We’re currently in Orlando, Florida, USA. Miami is a little further south in Florida, not too far by car.” 

Seeing Fu Siting’s blank expression at these place names, he had to add, “Orlando… is the city where Disney World is located. It’s less than a ten-minute drive from our house.” 

Fu Siting nodded. 

He had studied geography and heard of these cities. He just didn’t have a concrete understanding of them. Now he knew. 

America, Disney. It sounded so far away. 

Was he really standing on such a distant and unfamiliar land? 

Twelve years later, Fu Siting also had a cell phone, but the screen shattered when it fell down the stairs with him. It had been repaired and returned to him by Li Fei. 

He turned on the phone, and a flood of apps and messages popped up. It took Fu Siting a while to figure out this futuristic phone from twelve years in the future. 

Then he carefully searched for what the Miami Film Festival and Vizcaya Gardens were. And then, he secretly searched for “Li Fei.” 

Twenty-eight-year-old Li Fei is already a renowned film emperor both domestically and internationally, with countless entries on the subject; clicking on them reveals a plethora of works, too many to scroll through. There are also many exceptionally beautiful stills and photos. 

Fu Siting secretly saves them. After saving for a while, he selfishly searches for “Fu Siting.” 

Unexpectedly, he also has a Weibo page, and surprisingly, nearly a million followers. 

It seems the twenty-eight-year-old quite enjoys documenting his life. And beneath those trivial snippets of his life are comments from his fans:

“President Fu looks so handsome today!” “But when will President Fu’s new game finally be released?” “It’s been three years! Three years after three years, how many three-year periods do I have left, boss!” “President Fu, get to work!” “Waiting for dinner…” “If President Fu keeps being this lazy, the company will go bankrupt!” “If President Fu’s company really goes bankrupt, he’ll have to rely on Li Fei to support him.” “He probably thinks Li Fei can support him, so he doesn’t want to work hard anymore?” “Love is a curse, President Fu has lost his speed!” “No, no, no, President Fu, you should pull yourself together. A gigolo may be tempting, but…” 

“…” 

Fu Siting didn’t understand. 

He didn’t even understand what “when will it finally be released” meant. 

He looked it up and realized that everyone was referring to his company’s new game being delayed repeatedly. 

But why were so many people mentioning Li Fei in his comments section? 

Had his relationship with Li Fei become so public that everyone knew about it? So many people were joking that he wasn’t working because he was being kept by Li Fei, and wishing him a happy life as a kept man… 

For a moment, not only were his ears burning, but his phone screen also felt incredibly hot, making it hard to hold. 

Fu Siting kept tapping on his phone, while Li Fei was on the other side, typing away on his laptop. 

He was having a video conference, diligently handling work. 

Li Fei wasn’t just a movie star; he was also the heir to all the assets and family companies of his wealthy grandparents. He owned at least a dozen companies and was extremely busy. 

So, at this moment, Li Fei was President Li. 

Almost the entire morning passed like this. Fu Siting summarized his chat history at age twenty-eight. Besides his “wife,” he had about six people he contacted most frequently. 

One was a woman named Ji Cai, whom he looked up online; she was Li Fei’s agent. She seemed to be a relative from Li Fei’s mother’s side of the family, making her Li Fei’s cousin. 

There was also Cheng Yun and Yin Yihao, whose information was also available online. 

Both were male celebrities, and they were probably Li Fei’s friends first, before becoming his friends as well. 

Cheng Yun is a veteran and accomplished actor in China. Fu Siting saw a short scene with Cheng Yun in Li Fei’s drama “Rebirth” when he was thirteen. 

Yin Yihao is the loud, tiger-toothed boy. He’s only nineteen this year and a member of a popular boy band. 

There’s also a girl named Qu Zhifan, but you can’t find her online. 

“Who is… Qu Zhifan?” 

“Your high school classmate, and you’ve always been good friends.” 

Fu Siting was silent. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“There’s no one like her in our class.” 

Li Fei laughed upon hearing this: “You’re only in your first year of high school. Maybe she’s in another class, or maybe you met in your second or third year. Isn’t that normal?” 

That makes sense. 

“Then, what about Bai Peihao and Chang Aoyu?” 

“These two were your college roommates. Emo Bai has now inherited the family company, mainly dealing in import and export to the African and South American markets. Chang Aoyu started working at your game company shortly after graduation; he’s that… capable and selfless kind vice president who diligently handles all the business during the president’s illness and amnesia.” 

“…” 

Fu Siting fell silent again. 

He seemed to be deep in thought, or perhaps daydreaming. 

He really did have college roommates? One of them was even the vice president of his company? 

It felt more unreal than a dream. 

… 

A little after 1 p.m., the van arrived at the door. 

Li Fei gave Fu Siting a thick blanket. 

When he was wrapped in it in the van, Fu Siting felt terrible, he really found it hard to get used to this kind of all-encompassing care and attention. 

The four hours weren’t as difficult as he had imagined. 

Because the van was large, the seats could be reclined so he could lie down anywhere. Li Fei even massaged his temples, a technique he didn’t know he had learned from somewhere, and he quickly fell asleep. 

When he woke up, it was a different world. 

Miami was similar to Orlando, but the streets were lined with taller palm and coconut trees. The streets were vibrant with color, and the graffiti-covered buildings gave the city a lively and artistic atmosphere. 

The car sped past a beach; the azure water sparkled in the sunlight, and people in brightly colored swimsuits lay on beach chairs sunbathing. The sea breeze, carrying a salty, damp scent, blew in through the car window, mingling with the guitar music of street performers, creating a unique pulse of the city. 

“Did you sleep well?” Li Fei asked him. “It’ll be noisy backstage at the film festival. Do you want to go to the hotel and wait for me? I’ll be back in a few hours.” 

His wrist was grabbed. 

Fu Siting’s eyes were clear this time. He didn’t want to. 

Li Fei thought about it and agreed. 

Leaving his amnesiac boyfriend at home for a day was cruel, but leaving him alone in a hotel for three or four hours, wasn’t that cruel too? 

“Then you’ll come backstage with me, but you’re not allowed to wander off while I’m at the event, and you absolutely can’t go with anyone else. Can you promise me that?” 

Fu Siting nodded solemnly, but Li Fei was still a little uneasy. 

After all, America, this godforsaken place, might seem peaceful at first glance. But in recent years, both its economy and culture have been declining, with mass shootings, street robberies… it’s becoming increasingly unsafe. 

So even though the film festival was packed with stars and had excellent security, he didn’t dare to let his guard down. 

What if sixteen-year-old Fu Xiaoting got lost backstage? What if he was taken away by bad guys? 

Li Fei thought about it seriously. 

His red carpet invitation was actually for Li Fei and plus one. 

“…” 

“Fu Xiaoting, do you want to go on the red carpet with me?” 

Fu Siting froze, while Li Fei thought the idea was increasingly feasible. 

“Since we’re already here, let’s go together!” 

***

Author’s Note: 

Fu Siting: Huh? Huh? Red carpet? 

A kind-hearted company vice president… is probably equivalent to the kind-hearted protector in traditional literature, the one who diligently and loyally works for the sect leader while he’s out chasing after his wife in a chaotic mess, single-handedly keeping the crumbling sect afloat… 

Why would such a kind-hearted protector work for a sect?