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When Xia Rong took a look at the time after sending Shu Yi off to reject Han Lianghao, he found that it was already late into the night. Xia Rong held his cell phone and looked at it silently for a long while. Su Chi’s side should have received their response already, but the other person hasn’t taken the initiative to send a message over. The other should have, already understood his intentions, right?
After tossing around for so long since his shower, Xia Rong felt as if his body was a bit sticky again. So he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a simple wash again.
Because the water temperature wasn’t that high, there was only a thin layer of fog on the bathroom mirror. With a swipe of his fingertip and Xia Rong could see his figure inside.
Jet black eyebrows, a big, round pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, a straight nose, and lips that were naturally quirked at an angle such that whenever he’s looking at someone, it would seem as if he was smiling. He had always known that he was good-looking. Since he was a child, he would always be the school grass1. Then, ever since he started playing basketball in sixth grade, he started receiving the treatment of girls screaming by the side as he played, sending him water when there was a break. And when it came to the entertainment circle, it also brought him quite a bit of affinity with the audience. From the singing competition to turning to film idol dramas, his popularity had never been poor, such that no matter where he went, he would always be surrounded by admirers, be sought after.
He knew very clearly all the benefits that this appearance could bring to him. But Su Chi, such a Su Chi… would also fall in love with him so easily because of his face?
Before he came to participate in the variety show, accidentally turning into a cat, towards Su Chi, he had even held hostility…
He can’t continue to ask Su Chi why exactly he came to like himself. Xia Rong pushed back his wet hair and exhaled a deep breath. This will only lead Su Chi to feel and if he was giving him hope.
That clever and well-behaved, beautiful silver gradient seemed to emerge before his eyes. It jumped up onto his knee, fawningly licked his fingers, and then with a single shake, turned into that calm and gentle, handsome man…
He had to admit that he was slightly moved.
But in that one moment, he did not… have the psychological preparation to be able to safekeep [such a relationship] for life2.
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During the program the next day, even Ye Mang could see that Xia Rong was hiding from Su Chi, and he poked at the other in between the tasks. “You two quarreled?”
“Haven’t quarreled, what’s there to quarrel.” Xia Rong completely focused himself on his props for the task. “After going back, I went to sleep right after watching the program. Where would there be time to quarrel.”
“Oh, I watched the show as well.” Ye Mang continued with a smile, “The program’s play this time was truly unexpected. You two’s romance going public has already even climbed the hot searches yesterday, right?”
“Going public a yarn3.” Xia Rong corrected him with all seriousness, “That was because there’s a problem with Weibo’s keyword crawl!”
“Fine, fine.” Ye Mang laughingly responded, “Either way, the heat on the matter is quite high. The program team will probably start deliberately editing you two as a fixed CP from now on. Su Chi一” With a mind on watching this excitement without caring about the consequences of the matter, he called out, “Come, come, come give us a hand, give us a shot of you two being in the same frame!”
“Stop making trouble. If a scandal breaks out, I’ll be sure to go look for you.” Xia Rong in part seriousness and part falsity warned him, and after a brief contact with Su Chi’s gaze, moved his own eyes away. “…He and I are just friends.”
Ye Mang laughed out loud, then teased him with a sentence. “Don’t you think you’re rather revealing something you intend to hide4?” Fortunately, he didn’t have Kang Yifan’s character of liking to get to the very bottom of things, adamant in getting Xia Rong to admit that he had something going on with Su Chi. After making these few jokes, he turned back around to continue with the next task.
Su Chi then went over and asked Xia Rong in a low voice, “After this episode’s finished filming, let’s go home together?”
Xia Rong knew which “home” the other was talking about and gave a light affirming hum in response.
Su Chi’s eyes had just lit up when he heard Xia Rong say: “…I’ll go back and get my luggage.”
There was the sound of wind blowing through the “forest” as the sunlight calmly and quietly sprinkled down. Su Chi could see there was a clear stubbornness in Xia Rong’s eyes.
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This recording of the episode continued until later than 11 PM before the “children” of Fairy Tale Kingdom finally escaped from the ‘Witch’s Forest’. However, of the two teams, only Xia Rong’s was actually successful, whereas the other team “has been left behind in the forest forever,” according to the program group.
In this way, even within the winning team, the mood wasn’t very light or relaxing as the three of them stood all fragilely alone outside the ‘forest’. It was only when they received the script of the final portion that they found out that this episode was going to be used to promote the ‘prevention of child abduction and trafficking’. So it was no wonder that the character cards had all been set up as Young Princess, Young Hunter, Young Prince… But now, among all the children abducted by the witch, some of them had to fight with their lives to escape, while the less fortunate children had already laid down in eternal rest in the castle.
The two-day struggle allowed the surviving members to slip into character exceedingly well, and they were especially serious and solemn as they promoted knowledge to prevent abductions and the precautions people should take note of.
The heavy atmosphere at the set still didn’t manage to relax much after the scene ended and the episode’s recording being finished was announced. The director laughed and raised his voice to ask, “It’s been hard on everyone to be shooting until this late today. But we finished the recording a day in advance, so tomorrow you guys will have an entire day of vacation. Are you guys happy? Surprised?”
Holidays and vacations would always be able to pick up a person’s mood, and everyone started talking at once “I’m so exhausted, finally there’s a break at last.” “Tomorrow I’m going to sleep till I wake up naturally.” and so on. Kang Yifan came out after changing back from the previous costume and called out to XIa Rong with a grin. “Xia Rong, why are you leaving with Su Chi?”
Regarding the jokes made about the two of them, Kang Yifan had made no shortage of them. In fact, it was because he really didn’t think there was anything between the other two that he dared to ask so openly. However, Xia Rong just had to carry a guilty conscience at this point. “…No need for you to care.”
Kang Yifan stared with wide eyes as Su Chi pulled on Xia Rong, getting into the same care. Xia Rong then threw off the other’s hand and closed the car door heavily. The two seemed just like a small pair of lovers who were in an argument. Still standing in the same place, he rubbed his eyes, muttering in disbelief, “This, they really did get together…”
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In fact, Xia Rong didn’t have much luggage since he was used to being able to sleep anywhere. Disregarding the luggage he had brought with him to the hotel, it didn’t take him even half an hour to pack everything up at Su Chi’s house.
Su Chi had tried to help him carry things several times, but Xia Rong avoided the other every time.
The other finally sighed and stood aside, then apologized, “I’m sorry.”
Xia Rong’s hand faltered. “Why are you saying sorry, it’s not like you’ve done anything wrong against me.”
Su Chi said, “Did I scare you? Caused you to be annoyed?”
“No.” Xia Rong blurted out with almost no hesitation. After a moment’s pause, he also added, “… But I can’t just, knowing that you… but still uncaringly lived under the same roof with you. Can’t accept you, yet still keeping you hanging. Like that… what’s the difference between that and being a green tea b★tch5?”
“I don’t mind you hanging me.” Su Chi calmly said, “We also can’t talk about hanging or not. You had only been in heterosexual relationships before, so you need more time to think about it. That’s normal. I’m also willing to wait, you don’t have to make it sound so serious.”
“…I’m leaving.” Xia Rong didn’t know why, but hearing the other say this made his heart feel both sour and soft. Instinctively, he hurriedly dragged the suitcase and turned to walk out.
“…I know I should give you time.” Even with his back to Su Chi, Xia Rong could feel that the other person’s gaze was staring at him quietly and gently. “The original plan was to cook the frog in warm water. Slowly treat you well, so that you would slowly become enlightened. But unexpectedly, you seemed to have enlightened a bit too early… I suppose the blame should be on me for hiding it poorly.”
As if in self-mockery, Su Chi softly laughed and said, “I also hope you can know one thing. No matter what it is, as long as you ask me, I will tell you.”
“一I don’t ever want to lie to you.”
“…I know!”
Xia Rong turned his head around, his chest was rising and falling rapidly, and his eyes under the moonlight appeared glossy and clear. Almost imploringly he said, “…So, give me time. Let me think about it on my own.”
“Don’t follow!” Xia Rong saw that Su Chi still wanted to step forward and quickly added, “一Stay three meters away from me.”
“If you come over again, I won’t think about it anymore!”
Xia Rong’s “stop at three” had an extraordinary effect, especially the last sentence. He was simply like a carbon copy of a kitten whose entire body’s fur had exploded from being riled. Su Chi’s lips couldn’t help but quirk up into a smile when he heard it. After Xia Rong had walked away some distance, he secretly turned back and found that the other really did stop in place and did not follow.
After Xia Rong left Su Chi’s residence, he waved down a taxi. Originally he had planned to casually find a hotel to stay at, but with a sudden stirring in his heart, recalling that he had an entire day of rest tomorrow, he thought of the small villa left in the suburb. Although he didn’t live there often, there was someone responsible for its cleaning year-round, so it can be lived in at any time.
With this in mind, he changed his plan and gave the driver the address. He didn’t get off until he was outside the community the villa was part of.
After getting out of the car, with a look around, he felt a bit of regret about his whim. The villa community in the middle of the night deserted, cold and quiet, and he would still need to walk through a part of the garden area to get to his front door. With it being so troublesome, he might as well have gone to find a hotel to make do with for the night.
But the taxi was already slowly driving away and Xia Rong didn’t want to bother with touring another round of the city, so he simply dragged the suitcase towards the direction of his villa.
Soon, he found that he didn’t have to worry about whether this was troublesome or not anymore一 There was suddenly a gust of strong wind behind him. At the moment he was forced to the ground, his mouth and nose got covered by some handkerchief-like soft cloth.
Between his breaths, there was a strong-to-the-point-of-suffocating smell of [diethyl] ether.