When the members saw Yan Jiajia, they were also a bit caught off guard; due to the way she was dressed and from her temperament, they thought that she was a partner Wang Chao had brought along. They all stayed away from her.
She was a bit embarrassed, evident through her tight expression.
Wang Chao felt delighted at seeing her make a fool of herself; he didnât introduce her as he gave her the cold shoulder.
Xie Zhuxing couldnât do such a thing, so he did the introduction. âThis is Yan Jiajia. Sheâs my friend. Coincidentally, she had nothing to do, so she tagged along.â
Although the members didnât understand why a girl came to Liang Xiâs house, no matter how you looked at it, Xiao Xie wasnât an ill-mannered person; when they realized this girl wasnât someone Wang Chao had brought along, their attitude towards immediately became amiable â especially Cheng Yao. He felt this was a fresh opportunity and even went up to her to banter since he didnât often have chances to come in contact with such a pretty older girl.
When they arrived at the place, they needed a card swipe to get in. Wang Chao gave Liang Xi a call but the man said that he was still running some errands outside.
Liang Xi added, âArenât we going to eat hotpot? Take your friends along and go buy some meat and vegetables. Make sure to buy some alcohol, too. By the time you guys are done, Iâll probably be home too.â
The supermarket was just outside the gate of the community. Wang Chao parked his car downstairs and took the rest of the group along to the supermarket to buy the hotpot supplies. They bought vegetables, meat, fish balls and shrimp dumplings, along with drinks and fruits. Everyone carried a huge bag in their hands. The boys all showed consideration towards Yan Jiajia and didnât let her carry anything since she was wearing heels.
After Wang Chao paid for everything, he wasnât planning on doing any more laborious work. However, when he saw he and Yan Jiajia were the only ones not carrying anything, he took a bag of vegetables from Xie Zhuxing and carried it in his hands. Ever since he was a kid, the only hardship heâs had to suffer was his piano lessons; he usually never did any physical work. But after only carrying this bag of vegetables for 100 meters, he felt his hands were starting to be strained by the plastic bag. He didnât want to carry it at all, but he could only endure it as he didnât want to be made fun of by Yan Jiajia. He switched the bag to his other hand as he had a stinky expression plastered on his face.
Cheng Yao and Yan Jiajia seemed to have gotten acquainted with each other as he surrounded her like a spinning top. He addressed her as âJiajia- jieâ, his tone sweet and cute. Wang Chao felt annoyed by her. Adding on Cheng Yaoâs current behavior, he felt even more annoyed. He was also in a bad mood, so his words became nasty as he said, âCheng Yao, are youââ
âYou should give Liang-ge another call.â Before he could say anything, Xie Zhuxing cut off his words.
Wang Chao vented his anger towards him. âCall him for what? Didnât I just call him before?â
âCall him again to ask him if heâs back yet. Is your phone in your pocket? Give me the bag. Iâll carry it. Go call him,â Xie Zhuxing said.
Wang Chaoâs mood immediately brightened as he passed the bag to him and took out his phone. He said a few words on the phone, then hung up. âHeâs back. Heâs parking his car right now.â
The rest of the group members and Yan Jiajia had walked off, leaving Wang Chao and Xie Zhuxing behind them. There was about a 500 meter difference between them.
He bumped Xie Zhuxing with his elbow and said while smiling mischievously, âTurns out I really wasnât good to you for nothing. I knew you cared for me.â
Xie Zhuxing, ââŚ.â Care for you my ass- youâre thinking about it too much.
Wang Chao spread out his hand for him to see as he shamelessly tried to provoke Xie Zhuxingâs pity. âLook at the strain on my hands.â
Xie Zhuxing took a look. The pale fingers had red marks on them due to the heavy plastic bag causing momentarily blood congestion.
âŚ.So useless. What can he possibly do?
When they arrived at the door of the apartment complex, Liang Xi had also arrived after coming up from the parking lot. They greeted each other.
Liang Xi noticed Yan Jiajia and asked, âYou guys have a girl in your group?â
Before Yan Jiajia could even open her mouth, Wang Chao said, âThis is Xiao Xieâs girlfriend.â
Liang Xi gave an âohâ. He didnât seem to care, as he didnât ask anymore about it.
However, the members seemed to all have different expressions of surprise.
Liang Xi walked up and swiped his card, everyone following behind him like ducks in a line.
Cheng Yao was a gentleman, letting Yan Jiajia walk in first. He didnât call her âjieâ anymore. Instead, he called her âsister-in-lawâ.
Wang Chao smacked Cheng Yaoâs head, expelling, âFuck are you saying?!â
Cheng Yao looked at Xie Zhuxing, clearly feeling aggrieved.
When they walked inside, there was also another man there waiting for the elevator. He was holding the leash of a white chow chow.
Yan Jiajia felt it was awkward, so she pretended to be excited as she said, âWoah, such a handsome doggie.â
Wang Chao seemed to be annoyed at everything she said, he added on, âLooks so fat, perfect for hotpot.â
The man turned around and looked at him.
Liang Xi kicked Wang Chao as he yelled, âDo you know how to fucking speak properly? Youâre pretty fat too. How about I use you for hotpot later, too, huh?!â
Wang Chao, who wasnât fat at all, had suffered two kicks. He hid behind Xie Zhuxing, not daring to speak despicably again.
But he wasnât really scared of Liang Xi kicking him again. It didnât hurt that much.
Now he finally realized why Liang Xi suddenly moved to this small neighborhood, and he finally understood why Liang Xi, who was scared of dogs, suddenly said he wanted to raise one.
The owner of the fat chow chow was the male lead of the movie that Liang Xi was wholeheartedly masturbating to when they were at the spa: Bai Tu. He was the film emperor: handsome, reserved, the ideal man of the country, and Liang Xiâs dream lover.
But from the looks of it, it seems Liang Xiâs plan to capture the film emperor didnât seem to be going well. The other seemed to not pay attention to him at all.
The film emperorâs face was cold. The members hadnât debuted yet, so they didnât dare to strike up a conversation with him. They all quietly entered the elevator, keeping their heads down as they pretended they didnât hear anything.
Only Wang Chao took a closer look at Bai Tu. He seemed to be more handsome in real life than in the movies, but Xiao Xie was much more pleasing to the eye in his opinion.
That night, they were going to eat hotpot. Everyone sat together. Yan Jiajia was also working hard as she fumbled busily in the kitchen. The members especially left the seat next to Xie Zhuxing vacant for her.
When Yan Jiajia walked out from the kitchen, Wang Chao, who had gone to the bathroom to wash his hands, also coincidentally walked back at the same time. He stole her spot as he sat down next to Xie Zhuxing.
Ji Jie, who was sitting to the right of Xie Zhuxing, made room for her as Wang Chao inexplicably glared at him a few times.
They began to start the meal. The pot was very large, but there were only a few things being cooked in the pot. When Yan Jiajia went to get something, Wang Chao would persistently take the piece of food she was trying to get. When he snatched it, he would also make sure to eat it extra loudly. In the end, Yan Jiajia put down her chopsticks angrily, deciding to not eat anymore.
Other than Xie Zhuxing, the table of guys felt that their leader was really being intolerable.
Liang Xi seemed to be having some personal issues. He didnât pay them any mind, and he didnât seem to eat a lot either. He went to the side to take a call. The call seemed to be something about him asking a friend to buy a dog for him, but after a few days, he still hasnât found a suitable one.
When 8 oâclock rolled around, the company Weibo released Wang Chaoâs personal promotional poster. Everyone stopped and put down their chopsticks, they opened their phones and started scrolling. Even Yan Jiajia couldnât resist as she took a few peeks.
The comment section of the Weibo post was a mess as usual.
âHis piano skills are so bad and heâs saying heâs a level 10? His certificate must be bought.â
âLooked at him from the corner of my eye, identification complete.â
âIs there anyone in this group whoâs even remotely pleasing to the eye?â
All the members, as well as Xie Zhuxing, quieted down. They waited for Wang Chao to get upset. According to his temper, not only would he flip the table, he could probably curse a few times too.
Wang Chao put his phone down with a dark face as he picked up his chopsticks to go pick up a fish ball. But it turns out that the fishball was very slippery, he tried to pick it up a few times, but he just couldnât.
Everyone stared at the fishball that was unwilling to cooperate.
Wang Chao got mad as he threw his chopsticks.
Everyone, ââŚâ Here it comes!
âI have to announce something,â Wang Chao said.
Everyone thought back to when he was tirelessly dancing, singing, and training. During that period, he often had the phrase âDaddy doesnât wanna debut anymore!â on his lips. PerhapsâŚ
Xie Zhuxing seemed to also think he was going to say something like this as he said, âAlright, donât say nonsense.â
Wang Chao put his hand on his shoulder as he said seriously, âWhoâs spewing nonsense? You guys listen up carefully.â
The members all looked at him with uniform expressions.
âXiao Xie,â he said as he patted Xie Zhuxingâs shoulder and then pointed to Yan Jiajia, âand her, have already broken up. From now on, their weddings and funerals will have nothing to do with each other.â
Everyone was silent. ââŚâ
THE MAN WAITING FOR THE ELEVATOR WITH THE FAT DOG WAS BAI TU AAHHHHHH. I LOVE HIM.