After dropping him off at the hotel, he left soon after.
Not long later, Hu Xiaoyu's phone rang. Unknown number.
Ever since last time, unknown numbers have made him think of Li Yu. He ignored it—until it rang three times in a row, insistently.
When he finally picked up, a male voice said, "Hu Xiaoyu? I'm Yu Wenhe. We should meet."
Hu Xiaoyu froze. "I'm not in Dragon City."
"I know," said Yu Wenhe. "I have something to tell you. About Yu Tan. I'm in the capital too."
He hadn't dared approach Hu Xiaoyu in Dragon City—but fate had brought them both here, and Yu Tan had just left. It was, he thought, destiny.
Hu Xiaoyu didn't like this man. Especially the way he said Yu Tan's name, heavy with disdain. "If you're planning to speak ill of him, don't bother. He's a good person. I don't want to hear it."
He was about to hang up when Yu Wenhe blurted, "I'm not his father!"
Hu Xiaoyu paused. "Where are you?"
Yu Wenhe gave the name of a restaurant nearby, laughing under his breath.
The show wouldn't start filming until the next day. He told Chu Yin he was stepping out for a bit, put on a mask, and left the hotel.
The restaurant was quiet and upscale, nearly empty between meal hours.
As soon as he saw Hu Xiaoyu walk in, Yu Wenhe dialed another number—Yu Tan's.
Yu Tan answered coldly, "What is it?"
"You haven't visited your mother," Yu Wenhe said, her voice thick with false sorrow. "She's seriously ill. I'm heartbroken… She resents me for not bringing you to her."
Yu Tan said, "Is that so? My condolences."
"You—!" Yu Wenhe's voice twisted with rage. "If I'm miserable, you don't get to be happy either. Don't hang up. You're going to know what it feels like to claw at your own heart. You'd better stay quiet too, or I can't promise what I'll say. After all… the person I'm meeting is that precious pet of yours. Which of your dirty secrets should I start with?"
Yu Tan's reaction was instant. "Hu Xiaoyu's with you? You bastard!"
Yu Wenhe ignored him, his voice dropping. "I'm turning on speakerphone. Don't make a sound."
Then Yu Tan heard it — a familiar, clear voice.
"Mr. Yu," said Hu Xiaoyu calmly.
Yu Wenhe glanced at the phone lying face-down on the table and smiled, brittle and manic. "Sit down. May I call you Xiaoyu, like Yu Tan does?"
Hu Xiaoyu's expression chilled. "No."
Yu Wenhe's pupils constricted at that familiar indifference — the same cold distance as Yu Tan. "Like master, like student," he muttered. Then, with a tilt of his head: "You like him, don't you?"
Hu Xiaoyu frowned. "I do. So what exactly do you want to say?"
Yu Wenhe's smile widened. "You like him? Do you even know him? Do you know how many people hate him—fear him—want him dead? Do you know where he really comes from—"
He stopped, savoring the suspense.
Across the line, Yu Tan's eyelashes trembled. He knew exactly what Yu Wenhe was about to say.
Strangely, he felt no anger—only a weary sort of calm. Maybe even acceptance.
If the little fool learns the truth, he thought. If he knows the secret the Yu family has buried for twenty years—how filthy my birth really is—what will he do?
Will he fear me? Shun me? Look at me like I'm a monster and walk away…?
Hu Xiaoyu didn't know the details, only that Yu Tan and Yu Wenhe weren't truly father and son.
But whatever his past was, it wasn't Yu Wenhe's place to say it. That was something Yu Tan himself should tell, when he was ready.
So he cut him off. "You don't have to say it. I already know."
Yu Wenhe froze. "You… know? He told you?"
Hu Xiaoyu kept his face calm. No matter what Yu Wenhe's goal was, he couldn't let the man use Yu Tan's pain as a weapon. "Yu Tan's told me everything."
At the other end of the line, Yu Tan gave a quiet, soundless laugh. Little liar.
In the airport lounge, two girls walking by caught sight of the man by the window. He was smiling faintly, and they couldn't look away.
They whispered to each other, blushing. They had never seen anyone smile like that.
Back at the restaurant, Yu Wenhe's face turned red. "Impossible!"
But the boy in front of him — with his flawless beauty, his calm pride — didn't look like someone lying.
Hu Xiaoyu stood up to leave. His fingers flicked slightly, releasing a thin wisp of spiritual energy that sank into Yu Wenhe's body.
It would bring him misfortune — poetic justice for insulting Yu Tan.
Hu Xiaoyu was a gentle spirit. If someone had insulted him, he might not have cared. But Yu Tan was different.
Watching the boy's back retreat, Yu Wenhe shouted, voice cracking, "You know he's a bastard, born of my wife and my brother's disgrace—and you still stay with him? Aren't you afraid of people laughing at you?"
That was the wound he'd carried for decades — that his beloved wife had slept with his own brother, bearing a child that had shattered the family's honor.
Hu Xiaoyu froze. So… that was it.
Shock rippled through him, but instinct told him something else: if he faltered, if he showed weakness here, he would be trampling Yu Tan's dignity.
He turned, fox-like eyes glacial and sharp. "If anyone should be laughed at, isn't it you?"
With that, he left — as calmly as he could.
Still, Yu Wenhe had shouted loudly enough to attract attention. If anyone had overheard…
Hu Xiaoyu swept the restaurant with a wave of spiritual power, erasing the last thirty minutes from everyone's memory. He placed a binding spell on Yu Wenhe as well — the next time he tried to speak of Yu Tan's parentage, pain would wrack his chest until he could say no more.
When it was done, his face was bloodless. He'd overdrawn his strength.
Slowly, he walked back to the hotel, mind replaying each step, making sure he hadn't missed anything.
The human world was so complicated.
Good thing Chu Yin had taught him how to face the media — he hadn't expected to use it against Yu Wenhe instead.
Back in his room, he texted Chu Yin not to call him for lunch, then collapsed into sleep.
When the knocking woke him, he didn't know how long he'd been out.
He stumbled to the door, half-asleep, and blinked his eyes wide. "Yu Tan?"
Yu Tan hummed in acknowledgment and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Hu Xiaoyu's room was on a high floor, the setting sun burning red against the windows.
He asked softly, "Why didn't you go back to Dragon City?"
Yu Tan didn't answer. He'd been sitting all afternoon in the café downstairs, waiting.
He knew the first thing Hu Xiaoyu would do after waking was look for water. So he took him by the hand, sat him down on the sofa, and handed him a bottle of mineral water.
"Ran into a friend," he said lightly. "Had a little chat."