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Not Bad, Mr. Xi (2)
Bai Qi was afraid of the cold, so he wrapped himself tightly with the blanket, from his head to his feet. He had a hard time whenever he had to move a chess piece. He would stretch his hands out and bend himself over to reach for the board.
After some time, Bai Qi couldn’t take it anymore. He licked his lips and looked up, staring at Xi Chengyun longingly. His gaze was so sincere and clear, Xi Chengyun hardly saw anything like this. He felt as if the darkness within him would spread towards Bai Qi whenever Bai Qi looked at him that way.
Xi Chengyun looked away unnaturally. “Mn, what’s up?”
“The Elephant*, move it towards the upper left.”
*The Elephants (è±Ą) move exactly two points in any diagonal direction and may not jump over intervening pieces or cross the river.
Oh, so it was for this?
Xi Chengyun couldn’t help but laugh. He picked up the chess piece and moved it towards the upper left.
Bai Qi smiled. “Thank you.”
From then onwards, sounds like these could be heard from within the tiny wooden cabin ——
“The Horse* on the bottom right, move it towards the upper left please.”
* The horse (é©Ź) moves one point horizontally or vertically, and then one point diagonally. It cannot move in a direction where there is a piece blocking it along the path of movement.
“Move the Soldier across the River*.”
*Soldiers (捒) move and capture by advancing one point forward. Once a pawn has crossed the river it may also move and capture one point horizontally. A pawn may never move backward, thus retreating.
*The River (æČł) divides the two opposing sides.
“My Chariot, quickly, drive it over there
”
*Chariots (蜊) move similarly to the rooks in international chess. The chariot moves as many points as it wishes horizontally or vertically. It cannot jump over pieces in its path.
Bai Qi continued, his mouth a little parched; it was as if it was the first time he’d found pleasure in playing chess ——
To instruct others to beat themselves.
Though, Xi Chengyun didn’t display any impatience throughout the whole process. To be fair, Xi Chengyun wasn’t even distracted by Bai Qi’s orders. He continued to make his moves steadily when it was his turn.
Mr. Xi has a very good temper. Bai Qi thought, licking his lips. He completely forgot about all that bullshit that Jiang Fangcheng’s father told him, about him being a psycho and all.
“Mr.Xi
”
“Mn, what move do you wanna make next?”
“The thermos, I’m a little thirsty.”
Xi Chengyun’s gaze shifted a little.
Bai Qi treated him unceasingly well in front of the camera. However, they both knew that it was all for show.
Unknown to the eyes of the audience, Bai Qi would ask for help to move chess pieces, and for him to pass him things
 This seemed to bring a sense of realness to their relationship, rather than being two individuals from different worlds that were forced to be together.
The feeling was truly strange.
Someone would always think of him, even if it was all an act, and in return, that person would also naturally shoot demands at him.
“Give and take. A relationship like that is what is normal and healthy.”
Xi Chengyun couldn’t recall who told him this
 perhaps his previous psychiatrist?
“Hold on,” Xi Chengyun said.
His long arm stretched towards the bottle on the shelf and fetched the bottle over.
He opened the cap with a twist and passed the thermos over to Bai Qi.
Bai Qi filled the cap to the brim and finished it all. Glug, glug, glug.
Not bad, Mr. Xi!
My perfect employer!
“Move the Cannon,” Bai Qi said as he passed the bottle back to him.
*Cannons (炼) move exactly like the chariot. To capture, however, a cannon must jump over exactly one piece, friend or foe, along its line of movement.
And then soon after
, they reached a stalemate.
When he looked up at the clock, he realized that less than 10 minutes had passed since he moved the Cannon.
Xi Chengyun held onto the round chess piece, not putting it down. “You don’t have to lose to me on purpose,” he said.
“I’m not doing it on purpose, I just really suck at this.”
“...”
“Oh right!” Bai Qi said as he reached out and pinched the chess piece out of Xi Chengyun’s hand.
Xi Chengyun quickly released his grip on the chess piece, but his mind was wandering. “Mn?” he replied.
“Mr. Xi, if you want my pictures, next time, you can just ask me! I can take them for you myself.”
So, it wasn’t that Bai Qi didn’t mind after all. It was just that he was able to use a subtle way to change the nature of the situation.
“Okay,” Xi Chengyun answered.
He would need to tell Shang Guang to stop taking photos and acting on his own.
“All the mics have been turned off, right? Hmm, nevermind
” Bai Qi said as he kept the chessboard away. He smacked his lips and said, “Xi-ge.”
“Less likely to slip up if I address you this way,” Bai Qi said.
Xi Chengyun nodded. It does sound a little better than ‘Mr.Xi’.
The two played another few rounds. Bai Qi was slightly better at Weiqi. He still had no idea why he was so bad at Chinese chess.
After 9, Bai Qi threw a piece of chess towards the board and said, “Time to sleep!”
“Go bathe, I’ll tidy up,” Xi Chengyun said.
Bai Qi didn’t try to snatch that job away from him. He happily stepped over Xi Chengyun’s legs and walked over to wash up in his fluffy slippers.
Bai Qi finished in a few minutes and quickly snuggled into the comfort of the comforter. He began to fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.
Xi Chengyun’s hair was plated on his face and he was breathing shallowly when he’d finished washing up. By then, Bai Qi was already obediently asleep.
Xi Chengyun had never slept in the same bed with anyone.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time they’ve ‘slept together’ since they started filming.
He pinched his nose bridge.
He remembered why he had to get into a contractual marriage
 Other than the reason he told Bai Qi, there actually was another reason which he’d never told outsiders ——
He couldn’t feel the realness of this world.
He’d felt emotions in the past, through his mother who passed away very early on. However, ever since his mother’s death, any connection he felt towards this world seemed to vanish.
He felt like a spinning top, spinning down the line step-by-step. He couldn’t feel any meaning in the life he was living in this world.
He knew that as a human being, he had to go through the following experiences: being born, going to school, graduating, going to work, getting married, having children, and dying of old age.
He wanted to know if he could accept getting married and having someone laying next to him.
Xi Chengyun flipped open the blanket and laid down beside Bai Qi. The two of them were squeezed on the little bed, and he had nowhere to put his long legs. However, the experience wasn’t as bad as he had thought.
Bai Qi seemed to have noticed the movement, but his eyelids were too heavy for him to open his eyes. He hugged the blanket tightly and said, “Sigh, it's so cold! Mu Dong, stop crawling into my blanket
”
“...”
But, the experience wasn’t that great either.
Xi Chengyun did not sleep well. He wasn’t sure if it was the bed, or if it was because it was a little cold due to the fact that they turned off the heater to avoid a fire.

 Who is Mu Dong?
3 to 4 in the morning was truly the coldest time during the night.
The clock was ticking away.
Xi Chengyun tugged on the blanket that was slipping down. Just then, a warm ‘thing’ suddenly rushed into his arms. Bai Qi was half asleep. He gave a satisfactory compliment, “Electric blanket, you’re amazing!”
“...”