Ti Shen

Reflected on the surface of the full-length mirror was a man’s bare body—broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with delicate collarbones, a chest that appeared muscular but not too rugged, and legs both slender and straight. The flawless lines of the man’s body traced out an alluring figure; his fair, unblemished skin was free of bruises and scars. He was as perfectly formed as a sculpture.

Ran Feng Ge lifted a hand, his fingertips slowly trailing an invisible path from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. He stared past his reflection in the mirror and seemed to gaze into the moments of his hidden past.

“I never expected you to have this kind of fetish.”

Hearing those frosty words, Ran Feng Ge returned to the present. He looked in the mirror to see Su Yi Mo standing by the door.

It seemed Su Yi Mo hadn’t expected to be met with such a sight after pushing open the door. The surprise in his eyes had yet to dissipate, but he had already walked into the room without permission. His gaze, however, did not linger on Ran Feng Ge’s body.

Ran Feng Ge rubbed his nose and felt that it would be a bit awkward if he didn’t say something. He replied while grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist. “That’s right. After accidentally catching my own reflection in the mirror, I became enthralled by my own charms. Do you want to take a look? I’ll let you have a peek, free of charge.”

Su Yi Mo looked at the towel around Ran Feng Ge’s waist with the shadow of a smile on his face. His gaze settled on Ran Feng Ge’s crotch and he raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t mind showing me, why did you cover yourself up?”

Ran Feng Ge didn’t expect Su Yi Mo to play along with his joke and reply with a quip of his own. He paused for two seconds, and then responded, feigning nonchalance, “I’m just worried that you’ll develop an inferiority complex after seeing it.”

Su Yi Mo did not reply to Ran Feng Ge’s flippant remark. Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned against the bookcase. Changing the topic, he asked, “Have you finished taking care of your personal matters?”

“…Mm,” Ran Feng Ge answered.

“Good.”

Ran Feng Ge couldn’t tell from Su Yi Mo’s voice whether he was pleased or irritated.

“Since you’ve already dealt with your personal matters, stop looking so preoccupied. Don’t forget that you are currently working for me. I don’t want you to slip up due to your inattention.”

Preoccupied? Inattention?

Ran Feng Ge was sitting on the bed with his head lowered, toweling dry his hair. When he heard Su Yi Mo’s words, Ran Feng Ge couldn’t resist lifting his gaze to look at the other man. Su Yi Mo had actually noticed that he was acting differently after returning from the meeting with Lan Kuang?

Su Yi Mo didn’t look at Ran Feng Ge and turned around to leave after he finished speaking. He paused slightly at the doorway. “Come down to eat after you tidy up.”

Ran Feng Ge stared blankly, then nodded and replied, “Alright.”

Only after Su Yi Mo had gone downstairs did Ran Feng Ge recall that he had cheerfully told Su Yi Mo that he would bring back something tasty for him to eat in the evening. But because of An Mu’s sudden appearance and Lan Kuang’s suspicions, Ran Feng Ge had returned in a hurry, completely neglecting his promise. He had returned empty-handed.

He hadn’t managed to completely dry his clothes at the clubhouse, so as soon as he’d gotten back he’d ducked into the bathroom for a shower. Afterwards, he stood in front of the mirror, so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed Su Yi Mo coming in.

In the end, Su Yi Mo probably hadn’t taken his words seriously. As a wealthy young master, what kind of delicious foods had Su Yi Mo not eaten before?

But Su Yi Mo had actually noticed something was off about him…

It appeared that he hadn’t been too good about controlling his expressions lately.

Ran Feng Ge’s cell phone suddenly rang, snapping him out of his musings. Seeing that the caller was An Mu, he adjusted his state of mind and answered the phone. “Hi, An Mu.”

“You know who I am?” As always, An Mu’s voice was kind and gentle. “You didn’t even tell me you changed your phone number. If I didn’t ask An Chen, I wouldn’t be able to call you.”

“You know the drill. In our line of work, we slip away the minute after receiving our payment. It’s all to make sure that no one picks up on the small inconsistencies. If I waited too long, then I wouldn’t be able to leave even if I wanted to. That would stir up all kinds of trouble.” Ran Feng Ge wasn’t being entirely truthful in his reply.

“Looks like you’re not short on excuses!” An Mu couldn’t resist teasing.

Ran Feng Ge laughed softly and then spoke in a lowered voice, “Thanks for today.”

An Mu replied resolutely, “You don’t need to be polite with me! Back then, if it wasn’t because of me, you and Lan Kuang would never have…” An Mu paused, but then continued, “I still feel guilty about it even now. If I’d known that Lan Kuang would treat you that way, I would never have hired you to disguise yourself as me and stay hidden in the family for that long. You even became involved with him later on…”

“There’s no need to bring up things that happened in the past. You don’t need to feel guilty either.” Feigning nonchalance, Ran Feng Ge changed the subject. “I never knew you were that good at acting. How about it, do you want to consider joining our line of work? As the top body double in the field, I’ll make sure to look out for you!”

An Mu laughed. “No thanks, I’m afraid I would steal your livelihood.”

“He didn’t suspect anything, did he?” Ran Feng Ge was slightly worried, so he pressed An Mu for more information.

“He didn’t. It’s a good thing you told me the entire story after you escaped from Chasing Hawk. I made a scar on my body exactly like the one you had back then. He was suspicious of me, but after seeing the scar with his own eyes, he had no choice but to believe me. I don’t think he’ll trouble you again.”

“It really wasn’t necessary for you to go so far…” Ran Feng Ge sighed. He knew the scar on An Mu’s body was the real deal. Unlike body doubles, An Mu didn’t have various props and medications to assist him in creating realistic artificial scars.

If Cheng Xi Ran hadn’t made a scar removal ointment especially for him at the time, Ran Feng Ge’s body would still be riddled with enough scars to be a horrific sight.

“I owe you this much at least.” An Mu replied quietly, a hint of sorrow in his smile.

Ran Feng Ge did not reply to that for a long while. On the other end of the line, An Mu cheered up and chuckled. “Alright, I still have things to do, so I won’t keep you any longer. Let’s go out to eat sometime.”

“Sure.”

After hanging up, Ran Feng Ge went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. Facing the mirror, he schooled his expression. Afterwards, he changed into pajamas, slid his feet into slippers, and went downstairs.

Body doubles, after all, were experts at reconstructing their expressions. Anytime and anywhere.