CH 26

As soon as he voiced this doubtful question free of politeness, everyone immediately froze in place.

Evidently, no one expected that a little low-tier artist with no background would dare to speak to Mr. Li with such an attitude.

And it sounded suspiciously like he was accusing Mr. Li of pretending?

The scene froze, and everyone thought that this was the courage of “acting recklessly and without scruples,” and ruining his stardom by the minute.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengyuan was actually not as sullen as everyone predicted, and just maintained his cold face for a long time without saying a word – it seemed that there was some faint embarrassment and bewilderment.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the film team hurried up to mediate, fearing that the two would quarrel on the spot in front of the cameras. Then what was originally a life experience show would become a couples mediation segment.

“Ai, that’s right!” The assistant director bit the bullet and stepped forward to ease the atmosphere. “Mr. Li, think again, Xingchi is hinting that you should use psychological suggestion……maybe if you think about it, you’ll feel better! Right!”

Everyone: ?

It didn’t do anything to adjust the atmosphere, and the strange scene froze even further, which made the assistant director so embarrassed that he immediately wanted to fidget with anxiety on the spot.

Fortunately, Xia Xingchi realized that he was still in front of the cameras, and just now he had opened his mouth in a fit of anger and lifted half his disguise.

He promptly deescalated. His eyes still stared at Li Chengyuan, but his mouth said: “Yes, that’s what I meant. Mr. Li, think again?”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly, and there was a faint burning sensation on his ears. He naturally knew that this was just smoothing things over – but how did Xia Xingchi know that he wasn’t faint?

Or did the little liar recognize him and remember the previous incident?

[Fuck, Xia Xingchi’s words really scared me, how dare he]

[Help, Xingchi, what’s wrong with you, don’t mess with the boss! Wu wu wu I don’t want my baby to be shunned!]

[No, ah, why do I think that Li Chengyuan is a little afraid of Xia Xingchi? His expression was obviously stunned just now]

[Isn’t this comical? Why don’t you say that the earth is bigger than the sun?]

[It’s real! I also think so! As soon as Xia Yu approached, Boss Li impatiently told him to leave, but Xia Xingchi questioned him with this attitude and he just didn’t speak?]

[Knock it, knock it! I just said they had something between them! Hahahaha I didn’t expect Xingchi to be the one who has the final say in the family!]

[I don’t believe it. Please, President Li, what is all of this?]

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips, and after a while, gave a faint “En,” accepting the way out that the film team tremblingly handed the two.

The film team immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Although they had accepted Mr. Li’s suggestion to help expose the relationship between the two during the reality show, it would be too scary if the official announcement was made in the form of a quarrel.

Mr. Li’s little fiance was a prickly head at first glance, and dared to offend anyone with his hair-trigger temper after being annoyed.

Xia Xingchi was stained with iodophor, and really wanted to press the wound on the back of Li Chengyuan’s hand in revenge for his deceitful behavior, but in the end he still couldn’t bear it.

Finally, he just bumped Li Chengyuan’s leg with his knee to express his anger. After applying the medicine and treating the wound, he quickly got up and left to continue washing.

Among the six people, none of them knew how to cook, so this heavy responsibility fell on the jack-of-all-trades Xia Xingchi.

Everyone looked over eagerly, and Xia Xingchi didn’t evade, rolling up his sleeves and saying straightforwardly: “Somebody come and help me start the fire in the kitchen, and the rest will do the washing up later, ba.”

After the few people gradually got to know each other, the atmosphere became lively, and they immediately rushed to help the cook.

As soon as Li Xiu put down the egg that hadn’t hatched after waiting for a long time, he raised his hand enthusiastically and then saw a figure stand up from the corner of his eye.

Li Chengyuan got up and rolled up his sleeves: “I’ll do it.”

“Ah?” Xia Xingchi didn’t expect him to come forward like this, and quickly said, “No, don’t……”

The closer he was to Li Chengyuan, the easier it was to have an accident. Not to mention that “actively accompanying him to cook” was itself a very ambiguous topic, which greatly increased the suspicion.

Li Chengyuan raised his finger and pointed at his own right hand: “I can’t wash the dishes.”

He spoke with conviction, but after hearing this, Xia Xingchi just wanted to yell at him:

Then you can do nothing, ah! Who asked the gold master to do something?!

But now he dared not call him out anymore. The more he engaged him, the more suspicious he would appear, so Xia Xingchi could only plaster on a service industry smile and say: “Mr. Li, you should rest. In fact, I can do this myself.”

Before he finished speaking, Li Chengyuan strode into the kitchen assertively and not to be questioned.

Everyone wore doubtful expressions. They didn’t understand why he insisted on working, but didn’t dare to fight him for it in any case.

Li Xiu slowly put down his raised hand and held the egg silently again without speaking. There was suddenly a huge guess in his heart.

Xia Xingchi: “…….”

[Shocked! Ahhhh I have a bold idea!]

[I have one too, I have one too! Who would have thought that the hidden treasure is actually my Xingchi baby]

[Ah, this? Things haven’t even begun to take shape, isn’t it normal to help the chef cook?]

[Yes, ah, Mr. Li is right. His hand is injured, so he can’t wash the dishes. Isn’t it appropriate for him to help the cook now?]

[The logic is sound, but I still wonder what’s going on (just a passerby checking the pot)]

[There can’t be anything between them! No hookup, no hookup!]

[Yes, ah! If you don’t believe me, take a look at the camera in the kitchen, the two are nothing at all!]

Unexpectedly, the fans that were still repeating “nothing” received a slap to the face very quickly —

The camera in the kitchen abruptly went black. It was evident that the power supply was cut off, as even sound didn’t come through.

As soon as Xia Xingchi entered the kitchen, he turned around and saw Li Chengyuan casually unplugging the camera

“You……?”

After being at a loss, Xia Xingchi suddenly became furious. Was this person afraid that everyone didn’t know what was going on between them?

Trying to hide it by unplugging the camera made it even more conspicuous, and when the screen went black, everyone would come to their own conclusions.

The bottom line of his patience had been brushed by the big villain’s various antics, and Xia Xingchi shut the kitchen door with force.

He wished he could take advantage of the lack of monitoring to beat him to death with three punches and jump ahead to inherit his fortune.

It had already come to this point, and Xia Xingchi did away with the pretensions. Now that there was no camera, Xia Xingchi no longer had to pretend he didn’t know him, so he turned hostile straightaway and asked:

“What on earth are you trying to do, ah! Not discussing this matter first, are you trying to scare me to death?”

It was so different from the original score. The big villain just wanted to find a substitute to show his affection for his White Moonlight, but Xia Xingchi’s job also included acting as a substitute in front of the whole population of the country?

“Must I report to you in advance before “experiencing life?” Li Chengyuan calmly replied, looking down at him condescendingly.

This sentence was a bit familiar. Xia Xingchi remembered that he had said the same thing when “running away from home”……so this person had held a grudge for so long?

He took a deep breath and felt that he really couldn’t stop himself from beating up the boss. He really couldn’t figure out what was wrong with this person, that he wanted to force his hand and officially encourage speculation about cp.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but start to mentally replay the audio from that interview. That slightly smiling voice was the complete opposite of its usual indifference, obviously only for the sake of one sweetheart.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn’t calm down. Feeling agitated, he wanted to quickly plug in the camera and make Li Chengyuan leave, but suddenly heard this person’s subtle tone of voice as he asked without haste: 

“Xia Xingchi, are you jealous of ‘him’?”

It appeared to be a question, but the end was so flat that it seemed to be an affirmative sentence.

“……Nonsense! Of course not!”

This sentence was like a series of sparks, and the little firecracker that was ready to explode was ignited!

Xia Xingchi was furious from embarrassment, and couldn’t help but raise a hand to punch Li Chengyuan.

Although he had often committed the “atrocity” of beating lecherous customers in the past, even his clothes being lifted up and his waist being touched never made him as upset as he was now.

But contrary to expectations, he couldn’t find a reason for his anger and was subconsciously reluctant to hit him hard. Rather than punch him, it was more accurate to say that he pushed him with his fist.

Incidentally, Li Chengyuan didn’t avoid it, and happened to get punched in the chest. Then he took half a step backwards, bumping his back against the rough and crumbling wooden door, and there was a loud creaking sound.

“Cough cough……” Li Chengyuan held his chest with one hand, and then began to cough in discomfort.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback. He had never seen someone use an injury to gain the advantage like this. He had definitely held back his strength, so how could this person be so weak, as if he wasn’t full of strength just before?

But seeing that Li Chengyuan’s lips were actually turning pale, believe it or not, he was still going to be deceived as the other cried wolf yet again. Xia Xingchi had no choice but to assume it was real at first, and hurriedly went to help him.

“You, you stop pretending, ah.”

He regretted it the second he made the move. Even if it was just a little push, this was his family’s own delicate and frail big cat, an untouchable glass-like breed.

Li Chengyuan covered his lips and coughed with his head down. His chest felt a little cramped, probably because his fluctuating emotions made his heart feel uncomfortable.

The question of “jealousy” just now was not intended to annoy Xia Xingchi, but to test whether he remembered the past and had already recognized him.

Otherwise, how on earth did he know for sure that he didn’t feel faint?

The result was disappointing, but despite that disappointment, Xia Xingchi did actually seem a little jealous.

This discovery at once gave Li Chengyuan a hint of secret ecstasy, and for a moment, he wanted his heart to be tugged up and down by someone any number of times.

But this “performance” was also a little exaggerated, 70% true and 30% false.

Because Xia Xingchi was poked by the matter of “jealousy,” he was clearly very angry, and Li Chengyuan didn’t know if he could calm him down if he didn’t act.

He had found himself doing this before, time and time again.

The movement from the kitchen was moderate, and the people outside the door could faintly hear the two arguing, but they couldn’t hear the content of their quarrel.

That someone could argue with Boss Li was amazing enough, and by the sound of it, Xia Xingchi had the upper hand, as Li Chengyuan hardly spoke.

Fortunately, only those on the scene could hear anything from this distance. The live broadcast equipment didn’t receive a sound, and netizens were unaware of this disharmony.

An Jing turned her head to listen, and couldn’t help but look at Han Yuanhe. After sharing a tacit glance, they clearly came to an incredible and shocking answer as to Xia Xingchi’s identity.

Shortly after, they heard Xia Xingchi’s snarl and a bang as something hit the other side of the door, followed by Li Chengyuan’s coughing —

Shocking, when there was domestic violence between this couple, it was actually Xia Xingchi who took one-sided action?

A group of people had discovered a whole new world. They exchanged glances of shock and were quite happy to eat melons.

Only Xia Yu had been left alone and ignored since just now, and couldn’t be happy at all. He just gritted his teeth with resentment that he couldn’t show on the outside.

– – –

Xia Xingchi cooked very quickly, and plates of stir-fried vegetables and stews were served one after another. The barrage immediately exclaimed:

[Wow, wow! These dishes look too delicious! Xingchi is so powerful, this is proof he’s a jack of all trades]

[Wu wu wu I really want to eat it too. As expected of a foodie brother, anyone who knows how to eat knows how to cook!]

[Speaking of which, during the time when their screen was black just now……hehehehe (dog head.jpg)]

[Hehe what? The film team already explained that the equipment lost power. This kind of old-fashioned house has few electrical sockets, and it’s normal that it wouldn’t be fully charged]

[I don’t believe it. It’s such a coincidence that the power was cut off immediately after they entered the door, and Li Chengyuan happened to be standing in front of the equipment at that time?]

[Stop guessing, stop guessing, hurry up and eat! Bah, hurry up and watch them eat!]

“This seems to be the most precious meal I’ve ever eaten,” Li Xiu sighed with emotion.

The meal cooked by the boss and his wife was completely analogous to eating the meal cooked by the emperor and empress themselves.

Xia Xingchi calmly placed a few light dishes in front of Li Chengyuan.

This was specially made for him, in hopes of soothing the injured cat’s heart.

After all, who would have thought that just pushing him could make him “miserable” to the point of chest pain?

Although it wasn’t serious and there was no need to take medicine, it still made Xia Xingchi completely afraid to provoke this glass-hearted person, and he didn’t care about drinking vinegar for the time being.

As soon as they finished their meal and put down their chopsticks, they heard the director tap the microphone to test the sound, as if they had an announcement to make.

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, thinking that today was just a warm-up, so there should be no tasks, right?

He guessed that nothing good would happen, and heard him say:

“I have some bad news to tell you —”

“Due to special circumstances, the rooms we have prepared are two less than the number of people, so two of you will need to share a bed with others temporarily.”

Han Yuanhe breathed a sigh of relief:

“That’s all, ah, it will be warm to sleep together in this cold weather. The director scared me to death when he paused, I thought there was another surprise mission.”

For example, in the last season, people were pulled out of bed to pick corn in the middle of the night, and all the contestants were so sleepy that they almost passed out hanging on the corn stalks.

Of course, because this bad idea didn’t take into account whether there were any viewers watching the live broadcast in the middle of the night, and whether the listlessness of the contestants the next day would affect the show, the final response was mediocre.

Learning from the past, this season should not be so twisted and inhumane.

“Yes, ah, it’s very simple to share a bed, and it’s warm,” Li Xiu followed with a sigh of relief.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help feeling doubtful, and wondered what kind of conspiracy this was.

Although he knew that the reason for the lack of two rooms was likely due to his and Li Chengyuan’s successive appearances from nowhere, logically speaking, it shouldn’t be too difficult to prepare another residence, right?

There were six people and four rooms. First of all, An Jing must not be with a male artist, and even her boyfriend Han Yuanhe was not suitable. The two were not married, after all, so they should be more conservative in front of passers-by looking to find fault.

Then, Li Chengyuan, who was as precious as gold and jade, should also be assigned to a separate room —

As soon as Xia Xingchi had this thought in mind, he saw Li Chengyuan raise his eyes and look over. The expression in his eyes that seemed to be a false smile clearly revealed his intentions.

Xia Xingchi: …….

Save me, ah, please don’t come over here, okay?

No wonder he didn’t agree when he said, “we won’t sleep together now, we’ll make it up later,” a few days ago. He was actually waiting here.

However, they had been sleeping together during this time, and Xia Xingchi was indeed a little used to this warm humanoid pillow.

Sometimes when he woke up in the middle of the night and found himself clinging to Li Chengyuan, he would quickly slip away from him in shock.

But he became bolder after a while, semi-consciously rubbing his head against him as he continued to hug him to sleep. In the end, he was never caught and beaten.

And he didn’t know if it was due to sleeping together, but in any case, Xia Xingchi never saw Li Chengyuan taking sleeping pills before going to bed again.

Although there were many benefits……it was in front of the camera, after all, ah!

[I bet a dime that Boss Li will sleep with Xiao Yu! They must be the real thing!]

[Laughing to death, then he’ll kick him onto the ground in the middle of the night and say “Get lost.” (Li-style Get Lost.gif)]

[Why is your family so stubborn? With it like this, can there still be friendly communication? Can’t you see how much Li Chenguan loathes Xia Yu?]

[You don’t know shit, this must be to avoid suspicion! The more real they are, the more they have to avoid suspicion]

Xia Yu’s fans were trying hard, then heard Li Chengyuan say indifferently under Xia Xingchi’s murderous gaze: “Xia Xingchi, come share a room with me.”

Xia Xingchi: “…….”

Although he had expected this result for some time, he had never been speechless and wanted to hit someone so many times in one day.

[ ! ! ! ! ]

[There’s definitely something going on between these two! Gathering goose eggs, cooking together, and sleeping together?]

[OMG! OMG! Mr. Li took the initiative to extend the invitation to sleep! The boss said “Come to bed with me ” Hehehe]

[Knock it, knock it, I’m starting to suspect that they’re actually a couple]

[Han Yuanhe is also sleeping with Li Xiu, ah, what’s the big deal? It’s just sharing a bed, what’s so exciting about it?]

[But Mr. Li took the initiative to share the bed with someone! The gold master has the right to sleep by himself, of course, but he chose to sleep with Xingchi!]

[Isn’t this showing his affection for Xia Yu? This way, Xia Yu can sleep comfortably by himself! He sacrificed himself to let Xiao Yu sleep well!]

[ ? ? ? What logic is this? Are Xia Yu’s fans all psychos?]

[Hello, I am a plum wholesaler, ready to send plums to Xia Yu’s fans. Issuing query: Are you OK? You close your eyes and ship blindly?]

. . . . . .

Fans from all sides were still in the midst of a melee. The cp fans and the fans of each idol were in a mess, insisting on their own opinions even after hours of debate.

Xia Xingchi lay down hugging his pillow, ready to file his teeth and bite Li Chengyuan to death.

This person performed all kinds of tricks in one day, and it was as if he had been grabbed by the back of the neck and lifted out of his safe and secure den. He couldn’t resist no matter how hard he struggled.

The weather was extremely cold in late autumn, and there was no heating here.

During this time, Xia Xingchi had stayed comfortably in Li Chengyuan’s “greenhouse,” and became accustomed to the temperature control system that worked at all times.

It was presently very cold after taking a shower, so he could only shrink into the covers and shiver, hoping that a certain person would come back from washing up and hug him to keep warm.

Because Li Chengyuan was so fussy about cleanliness, the room was thoroughly cleaned and thicker bedding was laid.

Although it wasn’t as good as the big bed at home, they were luckier than the other contestants.The only downside was that the hard kang bed was a bit narrow, and it may not be easy to keep a distance with two people sleeping together on it.

When Li Chengyuan dried his hair and opened the door to come in, he saw Xia Xingchi emerging from the nest like a mushroom, watching him silently with wide eyes as he maintained a state of cold war.

Li Chengyuan: “Are you waiting for me?”

“Who cares to wait for you.”

After speaking, Xia Xingchi shivered and quickly covered himself with the bedding, rolling to face away from him.

After the lights were turned off, the night was extremely dark. There were no street lights outside the curtains, only blackness.

In the dark and quiet, the minutes and seconds passed.

Xia Xingchi shrank into a ball from the cold and couldn’t fall asleep on the chilly kang. His mind wandered, and it was as if he had returned to the times when he was hungry and cold.

When he was so poor that he couldn’t bear to pay the heating bill, and had no money to buy thicker bedding, he just curled up under the blanket and shivered……but it was different now, and there was a large heated pillow next to him.

Although Li Chengyuan’s body temperature was slightly lower than that of ordinary people, it was still warm, after all. Xia Xingchi stared at him in the dark without moving, planning to stick to him for warmth after he fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Chengyuan remained motionless, and his breathing was very even. Xia Xingchi assumed that he had fallen asleep.

Thus, he moved over slowly bit by bit, and carefully tucked himself into his arms. He tried to retract his head into the blanket and place it against Li Chengyuan’s chest, so that he would be completely surrounded by the warm pillow. However, the arm lying in front of him was somewhat in the way. Xia Xingchi cautiously grasped the sleeve of his pajamas, trying to pick it up himself and get inside.

Li Chengyuan opened his eyes and watched Xia Xingchi’s clumsy adjustments for a long time, but he still couldn’t get it right, and he couldn’t bear it anymore.

He simply hugged the person in his arms and achieved the position he wanted in order to block the air and keep warm: “Cold?”

Xia Xingchi was startled by the sudden talking from the humanoid pillow. This person was actually awake!

It was not good to use his own boss to block the wind, so he hastened to put on a show of respect: “I, I thought sticking together would be warmer……I was afraid you would freeze!”

“Good. I’m afraid of the cold.” Li Chengyuan’s voice was a little hoarse and a little languid.

Maybe he had fallen asleep and was awoken by his behavior just now.

Xia Xingchi felt a little sorry when he thought about this. It was too sinful and regretful to wake someone up when they didn’t sleep well.

Li Chengyuan held the back of his neck, not annoyed. He only ordered: “Hurry and sleep.”

The less angry he was, the more guilty Xia Xingchi couldn’t help feeling.

He wondered if the other forgave him because he wasn’t irritable upon waking up – or if for his White Moonlight’s sake, he forgave the double who looked like him?

Thinking about this topic that had not only made him angry from embarrassment during the day, but had also nearly caused him to beat up his benefactor, the word “jealous” inadvertently came to Xia Xingchi’s mind. He quickly tossed it away without acknowledgement.

The atmosphere between the two was silent for a long time. He knew that Li Chengyuan wasn’t asleep yet, and with his ear pressed against his warm chest, he could hear a slightly faster heartbeat than usual. This was obviously not like a person sleeping, but rather like this person was thinking about something.

“Li Chengyuan.” Xia Xingchi dithered for a long time, and finally tried to remove the sourness from his voice as he asked jokingly, “Where did your White Moonlight go, ah?”

Normal dog-blood plots were written like this, and the White Moonlight would always suddenly appear from abroad or wherever.

Then Li Chengyuan would “fire” him. He would no longer pay him, stop retaliating against others for him, and would no longer hug him to keep warm.

But after asking this question, Xia Xinghci regretted it. Not to mention that it seemed a bit embarrassing, maybe Li Chengyuan didn’t want to answer this sad question.

Most importantly, he suddenly remembered that……the plot should not develop like this?

After all, Li Chengyuan was about to die, so it was obvious that the villain script should be followed first —

Just as he was thinking, Li Chengyuan continued to hold him in his arms in the darkness and calmly replied:

“Xia Xingchi, what if I said that the person I’ve been looking for is you?”