baby it's cold outside (WangXian FF)

5

Lan Wangji entered the bar, and he was surprised with the robust atmosphere and the many people inside.

Sure, lunchtime was always full here with the residents and sometimes a few tourists who wanted to experience the real hotpot from the hotpot master. But never this crowded – or this lively.

He quickly scanned the crowd and found Xie Lian was talking to a bunch of men who looked like they were not the average tourists. They looked like some kind of rich and famous people. Especially the one with the all black clothes and the most easy going manner, but still exuded the power.

He observed the crowd silently, and noticed that almost all people were leaning toward the man in black, while he apparently told them all a fascinating story.

Then Xie Lian looked up from where he was talking to the handsome man in the red jumper, smiled, and waved him to come join them.

"Wangji! Here!" Xie Lian looked excited and his face was blushing. Lan Wangji quirked his brow in question, wondering what caused his dearest friend to become like that.

The man in the red jumper turned to look at him and sized him up very blatantly, then he subtly frowned, but he quickly put a smile on his face. The other one in a dark green jumper also sized him up but he didn't show any expression. 

He only sighed.

It was a common occurrence with the newcomers – female or male – that they needed to label him as someone safe or not, and usually he didn't pay too much attention to them. But his attorney was engaging in a very heated argument with the man in red and he wondered what this was all about.

He didn't want to sit with that crowd, so he picked a corner booth and Liu Qingge came with a big mug of hot drink and a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, Wangji, the usual?" He grinned widely. Lan Wangji only ate tasteless food which he always made especially for him. He didn't eat salt, sugar, or any artificial flavoring. He said it was to preserve his mental and physical health, and judging from his ethereal appearance, Liu Qingge agreed that the man had a point.

"Sure. What's with the crowd?" He pointed his chin at the commotion.

"Oh that?" He pointed at the direction of the long-haired man in all black. "It's the famous author, Wei Wuxian."

"Who?" Lan Wangji took a sip of his hot drink and sighed in contentment.

"A famous author, you know, the one who wrote the Lingyun series? The uhm, erotica action book that's always out from the library, and the hero of many young women all around the world? Not for his heroic action for sure, that I can tell you." Liu Qingge chuckled.

"Mm, never heard of that book, or the author." 

Lan Wangji was always busy with a million things, and he only thought about how he could do better for everyone, so he rarely got a chance to sit and rest, and read books – especially erotica books. 

But then again, anything contained explicit sex would be selling like hotcakes.

He watched the newcomers with his keen eyes, and when he saw the author laughing, he couldn't help but smile. His laugh was so infectious, no wonder everyone gathered around him like bees to flowers.

Then for a split second, their eyes met. 

Lan Wangji was surprised to see the unique silver eyes on the man, and he could see that the man was intrigued too by the way he tilted his head as if to question why he didn't come and admire him just like the others. 

Lan Wangji only nodded politely and continued to drink his hot cider, when he saw Luo Binghe enter the door and looked around in confusion. But then he saw Lan Wangji and approached him.

"It's Wei Wuxian!" He whispered loud enough to be heard by Lan Wangji and the approaching Liu Qingge. "You know, the famous erotica author? I doubt you know since you rarely read fiction, but hey, he's like, very famous!" 

"No way, you too Binghe?" Liu Qingge came and gave Luo Binghe a bottle of cold beer. The man always drank cold beverages no matter how the temperature was.

Luo Binghe only grinned and drank his beer while his eyes scanned the crowd.

"I would like to have his autograph, do you have paper Qingge?"

"Yeah sure." Liu Qingge laughed and he gave him his notepad and the pen, which Luo Binghe took and brought to Wei Wuxian.

"Oh wow, I never knew that you guys… like to read." Lan Wangji said with a very serious face that caused Liu Qingge to blush.

"You know, cold weather, minimum entertainment…" He shrugged nonchalantly and put down the bowl of the fish soup, cold tofu, boiled eggplant, and a bowl of rice. "Enjoy, Wangji."

Lan Wangji nodded and he started to eat, when suddenly he could feel someone was sitting in front of him. He glanced at the person and saw as the man – who shone bright like a sun – was sitting in front of him, beaming.

"Hey, Lan Wangji, right? My name is Wei Wuxian, and I heard from Xie Lian that you have a palace for sale?"