The Flower Of The High Mountain Is Pregnant With The Son Of The Sand Sculpture Ceo Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Clashing Roles

With the remaining one and a half steamed buns left untouched, Lu Shangyan sighed and tossed them back onto the table in front of him. He struggled to swallow the mouthful he had been chewing for a long time before finally asking, “What is it?”

After swallowing, his stomach began to feel sour. He pressed his stomach, feeling that his body had been acting strangely these past few days.

After eating the spicy hot pot previously, he would usually have digested it almost completely by the time he walked back to school. But yesterday, he couldn’t digest it at all. In the past, he would have devoured these two small buns in two or three bites, but this time, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t eat them.

He even started to confuse whether he was extremely hungry or overly full, and at one point, he felt like his stomach function had failed, as if his stomach were dead.

Xia Li was about to speak, but seeing him lower his eyes after asking the question, looking preoccupied, the words on the tip of her tongue changed to: “Did you have a fight with your boyfriend?”

Lu Shangyan frowned. He couldn’t understand why Xia Li would suddenly say such a thing.

Xia Li stared at him, as if determined to get an answer from him.

He shook his head. “Not a boyfriend.”

Xia Li glanced around and noticed many people secretly watching them. The confusion in her heart was instantly suppressed. She winked at him, unilaterally and tacitly responding, “I understand.”

Outside, they had to say they were roommates living together. She added this silently in her mind.

“We didn’t fight either,” Lu Shangyan said, no longer confused. He asked her again, “What did you need me for?”

Xia Li said, “Are you still looking for a part-time job? My friend recently needs a few models. She’s not very famous and can’t afford professional models, so she asked me to find a few handsome guys to help fill the space.”

Lu Shangyan took a deep breath. This was a type of part-time job he had never done before. “What’s the job content?”

Xia Li took out her phone and forwarded him the details and precautions. “The job content is basically taking a few photos wearing her designs, and then standing at a booth to sell clothes and such. You also get a commission for the clothes you sell. It starts on the first of next month and is needed for ten days.”

Lu Shangyan hesitated. “I can’t spare that much time. I have other part-time jobs.”

Xia Li immediately said, “Don’t worry. The models she hires are mostly university students. She takes classes into consideration, so you only need to work half a day every day. However, you need to confirm three days in advance whether that half-day will be in the morning or the afternoon. She needs to plan your work schedule beforehand, and you can’t change it arbitrarily afterward.”

Lu Shangyan reviewed his class schedule and part-time jobs. If he squeezed his time, he could manage it. But his body felt strange now, and he wasn’t sure if he could keep up. He was afraid of dragging others down.

Xia Li added, “I showed her your photo. She said you’re very handsome and is willing to increase your pay for the job.”

Lu Shangyan’s pupils slightly widened. He quickly said, “I’ll take it.”

Xia Li was stunned for a moment, then slowly added, “Eight hundred a day.”

After saying this, afraid he might change his mind, she immediately added him to the part-time job group chat.

Lu Shangyan had at least fifty, if not a hundred, part-time job group chats. Afraid of missing messages, he immediately pinned the chat to the top after joining.

After doing all this, she lowered her voice and said very seriously, “You need to be careful of Chen Shuo recently. I heard him talking on the phone with someone yesterday, saying that in a while, you won’t be able to appear at Z University anymore. I suspect he’s planning to do something bad to you.”

Chen Shuo had been up to something lately, often waiting for her downstairs of her classroom building. Sometimes, when she saw him from afar, she would immediately take a detour.

When she couldn’t avoid him, Chen Shuo would shamelessly approach her, asking to eat or watch a movie together. She usually pretended not to hear him or scolded him fiercely. Chen Shuo would lose face and stop following her.

But the next day, he would appear in front of her on time again. This was completely unlike Chen Shuo’s usual style, making Xia Li suspect that he was plotting some new dirty trick.

When she ran into Chen Shuo yesterday afternoon, she originally intended to walk around him, but then she heard him mention Lu Shangyan’s name. As she got closer, she vaguely heard those details.

When she saw Lu Shangyan yesterday, she wanted to tell him about this, but someone was standing next to him, and it clearly wasn’t the time to discuss such things. She also worried that sending a message might interfere with Lu Shangyan’s “roommate’s” friendly communication that evening, which was why she ran out early this morning, despite not having class, to find Lu Shangyan.

But before she could discuss a countermeasure with Lu Shangyan, Chen Shuo came running over, as if he had smelled them out.

Seeing Xia Li and Lu Shangyan sitting so close, an irrational anger flared up in him. He rushed over, punched the remaining bun Lu Shangyan had been eating flat, and threw it out the window. “You homosexual, have you no shame?! You clearly like men, yet you waste Xia Xia’s time! You are deceiving her feelings!”

The photos and videos related to Lu Shangyan had already spread like wildfire on campus, and many people were talking about them freely. However, despite the uproar, Lu Shangyan seemed completely unaffected, and the gossip that was once their after-dinner conversation was strictly forbidden from being discussed openly.

However, a large portion of the people involved were just following the crowd in condemnation, and since the incident was nearly a month old, most people had already been distracted by new gossip.

Now that Chen Shuo shouted it out openly again, bringing up the old matter, a few people belatedly let out short bursts of laughter.

Xia Li pursed her lips and fiercely threw the flattened bun at Chen Shuo. The bun’s juices stained his short-sleeved shirt, leaving a red and yellow mess.

Chen Shuo saw her fierce look, as if she wanted to rush up and hit him, and recalled how Xia Li usually treated him. She was completely different from how she had been smiling and talking to Lu Shangyan just now.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. His face darkened, but he didn’t dare vent his anger on Xia Li. So, he snatched the half-eaten bun Lu Shangyan was holding and threw it at him in the same manner.

Oil stains marked the chest of Lu Shangyan’s pure white short-sleeved shirt—it definitely wouldn’t wash out. Lu Shangyan stood up and looked at him. “Pay for it.”

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Chen Shuo’s back. “…”

“Not only do you seduce Xia Xia, but you also string along other girls. What? Do you enjoy the feeling of being sought after?”

Lu Shangyan’s expression remained unchanged. “So, I’m that charming in your eyes.”

Chen Shuo felt a chill run through him, once again witnessing the depth of Lu Shangyan’s ability to disgust people. “Stop talking nonsense here!”

Lu Shangyan said, “I have never deceived anyone’s feelings. Xia Li and I are just ordinary friends.”

“Exactly!” Xia Li glared at Chen Shuo. “Only someone with a dirty mind like you sees everything as dirty!”

It wasn’t time for class yet, and many people rushed out of the classrooms when they heard the commotion.

Lu Shangyan’s morning class was in a large lecture hall, which was spacious, so the crowd surrounding them grew larger and larger.

If it were just him, being watched was fine, but Xia Li was standing next to him, and Chen Shuo was spouting crazy nonsense. If the words spread and were twisted, it might affect Xia Li.

Lu Shangyan walked out first. “If you have something to say, let’s go find a quiet place and settle it privately.”

Chen Shuo finally found an opening to regain face and said sarcastically, “Want to talk to me alone? Could it be that you’ve fallen for me and want to seduce me?”

Hearing this, Lu Shangyan seriously scanned him up and down twice. “No, because I possess correct aesthetic judgment and would never like an ugly man like you.”

Chen Shuo’s remaining shred of dignity was completely shattered. The people watching the show inside began to secretly mock him because of that remark.

Just as class time was approaching, Xia Li seized the opportunity to fiercely stomp on his foot in revenge, then grabbed her bag and ran off.

Chen Shuo, having lost face, didn’t dare stay there. He pretended to chase Xia Li and ran off with her. The remaining people, with no more excitement to watch, scattered in a rush.

However, this incident reached Pei Yumin in less than an hour.

It was still Tang Suichen who heard the gossip from the new young man he was pursuing. Since it concerned Lu Shangyan, he quickly called to inform him.

Pei Yumin initially wanted to skip work and go to Z University, but after learning that Chen Shuo hadn’t gained any advantage, he gradually calmed down.

That evening, he used the same tactic, saying he had to work overtime and could conveniently pick up Lu Shangyan from the hotel after his shift.

He was worried that Lu Shangyan might be in a bad mood and planned to take him out for a late-night snack after work. But when Lu Shangyan got into the car, his eyes were bright, showing no sign of being upset.

Lu Shangyan didn’t mention Chen Shuo causing trouble again, only talking about the high-paying modeling job.

Pei Yumin made a mental note, asking for the person in charge and the specific address, preparing to find someone to investigate first.

Since Lu Shangyan didn’t bring up Chen Shuo, Pei Yumin didn’t want to deliberately mention him and make him unhappy. So, he pretended not to know anything and went along with Lu Shangyan’s words. “As expected of you. You’re good at everything. Now you’re even earning extra money with that beautiful face.”

Lu Shangyan involuntarily narrowed his eyes, but his mouth restrained itself to say something cold. “Stop flattering me.”

Ever since Pei Yumin discovered that Lu Shangyan was quite susceptible to this tactic, he often watched kindergarten videos, always seizing every opportunity to use a soft voice and say pleasant things.

“It’s not flattery. I genuinely think our little beauty is amazing.”

Lu Shangyan sat up straight. This was praise he had never heard since he could remember.

–

A message arrived on his phone just as they were waiting at a traffic light.

It was from someone he didn’t know, asking him:

[Do you really like men? I like them too. I think you must be the top, and I’m the bottom. Should we find a chance to get to know each other?]

Lu Shangyan stared at the simple message several times.

Pei Yumin’s gaze was fixed on him during the seconds they waited. He leaned his head slightly, taking the opportunity to see the message on the cracked, eye-straining screen.

As Lu Shangyan looked, his brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

Pei Yumin pretended not to care and quickly turned his head back. “What?”

Lu Shangyan shoved the screen, which was shedding bits of glass, in front of him. “Look. What does he mean by this?”

Pei Yumin gasped inwardly, then lightly coughed and said, “No, you two aren’t compatible. You’re clashing roles.”

Lu Shangyan had only recently decided that he “might like men” and didn’t understand many things. Hearing this, he became even more confused. He looked at the steady flow of traffic outside the window and retorted, “We’re not clashing.”

Pei Yumin was completely immersed in the panic of having many potential rivals and didn’t hear him.

For safety reasons, Lu Shangyan didn’t ask again. Instead, he used his limited mobile data to painstakingly search for the knowledge he wanted.

Although the old phone ran slowly, Lu Shangyan learned quickly.

When the car finally stopped in the parking spot, Lu Shangyan turned off the screen, took a deep breath, and then looked up again.

Pei Yumin saw his face flush red and then pale. “Are you feeling unwell?”

Lu Shangyan’s gaze settled on him. As if having made a certain decision, he slowly rolled up his shirt, stopping just below his chest.

“If you look at me like this, do you feel anything for me?”