“What did you say……”

Xia Xingchi didn’t react, but felt that the heartbeat close to his ear seemed to be much faster.

It was so fast that he had to wonder whether Li Chengyuan’s heart could bear this speed, and whether it would make him uncomfortable.

But apart from his heartbeat, Li Chengyuan’s voice was still calm, with a low, hoarse tone: “Xia Xingchi, the person I am looking for is you.”

After a moment of silence, Xia Xingchi finally recovered and confirmed what Li Chengyuan was talking about.

He didn’t say a word for a long time, and finally let out a long “oh.” This utterance didn’t contain any special emotion.

In order to prevent someone’s fragile glass heart from malfunctioning, Xia Xingchi raised his hand and gently stroked Li Chengyuan’s chest, hoping that his fast-beating heart would slow down a little:

“Understood. Boss Li, go to sleep quickly. Staying up late can result in sudden death.”

Li Chengyuan frowned. He naturally hadn’t foreseen that Xia Xingchi would have such an ordinary and calm reaction.

It was like hearing someone say “The weather is fine today,” as if he didn’t care, and it didn’t deserve affirmation or negation.

Li Chengyuan then raised his hand and grabbed the groping hand on his chest without saying a word, staring at him quietly in the dark and obviously waiting for him to say something.

This was the matter that Xia Xingchi didn’t understand:

Although he heard that his benefactor may call the substitute by the White Moonlight’s name, the abusive text had also mentioned that this happened in bed – not this kind of bed, but the one that was not suitable for children.

Li Chengyuan was wide awake now, and he wasn’t joking. His tone was firm as he insisted on forcing the issue and saying that he was the White Moonlight……so in the end, should he play along or avoid the topic?

His wrist was clenched tightly, and clearly someone was intent on hearing an answer.

Xia Xingchi tried to struggle, but couldn’t break free. He couldn’t help being a little sour when faced with this problem, and also very irritable and angry.

He answered perfunctorily:

“Oh, I see. Then I am very honored to be the person Mr. Li is looking for! I really want to cry with joy!”

As he spoke, he reached out angrily and pushed Li Chengyuan with force, then pulled his wrist out with even more strength and simply turned over with his back facing him.

“Xia Xingchi, you —”

Li Chengyuan watched Xia Xingchi instantly erect the thorns all over his body, as if he would stab anyone who got close to him and then bite them twice. He couldn’t help being puzzled, never having expected him to have such a reaction.

He had imagined before that he might be surprised, happy, in disbelief……but why was he angry?

Was this the reflexive counterattack after a petty liar reunited with his defrauded victim?

“Hurry and go to sleep! Stop talking, okay? Otherwise, Mr. Li, you can sleep by yourself tomorrow night, ba. I’m sleepy!”

Xia Xingchi rolled over angrily and buried his face in the pillow.

If Li Chenyuan wasn’t his boss, he would have definitely kicked him away hard.

On account of his poor health, Xia Xingchi didn’t care to talk about the matter of “jealousy” anymore, yet he lost his mind at night and directly escalated to treating the double as the White Moonlight?

In other words, he had been misidentifying him all this time, and he was actually regarded as the “White Moonlight” in his eyes. No wonder he suddenly laughed during their quarrel that day. It was obviously because of this deep-rooted misconception.

“You can’t even recognize your White Moonlight. Li Chengyuan, you are so blind.” In the end, Xia Xingchi couldn’t hold back. He lay sullenly on the pillow and said, “Are you worthy of him like this?”

Li Chengyuan was observing whether or not he would smother himself if he continued to lay on his stomach like this, and whether he should be turned over. Now he was relieved that he could still talk, and tranquilly replied: 

“I recognized him as soon as we met.”

“That shows even more that you’re blind!” Xia Xingchi said angrily.

He had thought he was looking for a substitute, but he had actually recognized the wrong person as soon as they met.

It seemed that there were indeed more uncomfortable things than being a substitute. If everything was wrong in the beginning, then the cohabitation, the annual salary of tens of millions, and Li Chengyuan’s instances of protection and tolerance were obviously paid to the wrong person.

Even though the stand-in was still working and being paid in an upright manner, now it seemed that he was a mistake who was taken as the wrong person, and couldn’t even be counted as a substitute?

Li Chengyuan was not angry upon being scolded, and just said seriously: “I’m saying, it’s you.”

Seeing him so convinced and unrepentant, he finally couldn’t bear the rage on the heels of the sourness:

“Idiot! Laozi will suffocate you to death! Whatever, it’s all wrong. You fire me, ba! I quit!”

With that said, he popped up and took the pillow to cover Li Chengyuan’s face.

Li Chengyuan was smothered by him with a pillow, but he didn’t struggle. He just closed his eyes and reached out to grab his collar.

Xia Xingchi was straddling him to press the pillow down, and he fell directly into his arms after being yanked like this. He heard his heart beating more and more rapidly. Perhaps this was the legendary expression of a “heart being moved.”

Xia Xingchi lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling extremely sad for no reason. So much so that he didn’t want to do anything anymore, and just lay quietly atop the other’s body and listened to his heart, not knowing for whom it was beating.

Xia Xingchi was very sure that he was not the person Li Chengyuan was looking for. He was struck to death by lightning not long ago and came to this strange world. How could he be missed by Li Chengyuan since he was seven years old?

Not to mention not being in the same time or space at all, assuming that he was five years old eighteen years ago, being kicked around like a football by everyone with nobody to take him in, it was impossible for a rich and noble son to notice such a low-level brat.

The atmosphere was filled with a silence that stretched indefinitely.

Li Chengyuan lay still on his back and let Xia Xingchi lay on top of him. Neither of them said anything for a while.

In the end, Li Chengyuan was the first to break the silence, and said spoke a rare string of words:

“Xia Xingchi, I never said I was looking for a lover……I was just looking for a little liar. I want to ask him why he lied to me and make him fulfill his promise.”

Xia Xingchi sighed and asked: “How old was he if he was able to fool you?”

Children grew up very fast, both in size and mentality. It would be difficult for a five-year-old to fool a seven-year-old.

What’s more, he knew that the big villain in front of him had an outrageously high IQ since he was a child, far surpassing his peers, and had won various awards.

“Ten years old……or a bit older, just slightly short.”

Li Chengyuan narrowed his eyes, remembering the way someone patted his chest and asked him to call him brother, and how he always wanted to touch the other’s head because of his height.

Perhaps due to the way he was lying on his chest, the voice Xia Xingchi heard seemed particularly melancholy and low.

That chest vibrated slightly from the sound, and even Xia Xingchi’s heart seemed to shake faintly. It was an indescribable feeling, slightly astringent.

Obviously, apart from being shorter than his peers due to a lack of nutrition, he and this “White Moonlight” had nothing in common.

Xia Xingchi bit his lips, rolled away from Li Chengyuan’s body, and finally made a decision to pretend to be relaxed:

“Li Chengyuan, you know I’m two years younger than you. Are you blind or stupid?……It’s obvious that you’ve got the wrong person, so it’s up to you to fire me or break off the engagement.”

After speaking, Xia Xingchi turned over and ignored him. All of a sudden, he didn’t want an annual salary of tens of millions and a huge inheritance. He just wanted to get away from this person and stop feeling like his chest was stuffed with lemon-soaked cotton.

Thinking of being fired, the worker conscientiously scolded the boss: “You’re an idiot.”

Li Chengyuan: “…….”

He had no answer to the question of age, but he knew he wouldn’t recognize the wrong person.

It was just that if he insisted on saying “it’s you” in front of Xia Xingchi now, this irritable little hedgehog might not merely curse, but also jump up and hit people.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips and had to remain silent for the time being.

In the dark, he stared at the lump of Xia Xingchi’s back for a long time. After confirming that he was asleep, he silently stretched out his hands to wrap him in his arms, lest he get so cold that he leaned into someone’s arms like a thief.

Xia Xingchi didn’t sleep well that night. He fell asleep in a sour mood, thinking about what the seven-year-old Li Chengyuan would be like.

He had half a night of bizarre dreams, and actually dreamt of him when he was a child.

In the dream, Li Chengyuan was rather thin and pale, like a fragile and beautiful porcelain doll. Xia Xingchi couldn’t help worrying that he would pass out if he stood for too long.

Perhaps his subconscious made what he was worried about happen, because the porcelain doll wobbled for a moment, then fell straight down in front of him.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi rushed forward to catch him, but found that he had also become smaller in the dream.

What’s more, even in the dream, Li Chengyuan was very strong, indifferent, and unfriendly.

Even though his consciousness was muddled and he was about to pass out, he still ordered with a young, beautiful face: “Go away.”

As soon as he finished speaking, before the Xia Xingchi in the dream could react, he began to cough painfully without stopping.

Xia Xingchi’s eyes widened upon seeing that his pale lips were smeared with glaringly bright red blood, never having expected that he was so seriously ill.

But before he could do anything, the sudden shock traveled over from the dream.

The sky was getting brighter now, and Xia Xingchi found himself hugging his “idiot ex-employer” with his hands and feet, so he quickly and silently climbed off of him.

It was clearly extra embarrassing to be so intimate after a fight.

After thinking about it, he couldn’t help recalling how the dream had been so real. He stared at Li Chengyuan’s sleeping appearance for a while, making sure that he wouldn’t suddenly get sick and cough up blood like in the dream.

Just as he was lost in thought, he saw Li Chengyuan move. Then he subconsciously took Xia Xingchi, who had slipped away just now, back into his arms and hugged him again.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback and quickly reached out to push him, thinking, this person has the habit of hugging the pillow when he sleeps?

But maybe because this warm embrace was so comfortable, he raised his hand but didn’t touch him in the end, and just let himself bury his head in Li Chengyuan’s arms, falling asleep again in a daze.

Little did he know that Li Chengyuan had woken up some time ago and was watching him with his eyes open. After a while, he raised his hand and gently touched his disheveled head.

– – –

Xia Xingchi woke up after going back to sleep, and as he stared dazedly at the primitive ceiling that was worn down to slag, he reached out to find that there was no one next to him. Even the bed was cool.

Thinking of the dispute and showdown when they clarified things the night before, it was not unimaginable for Li Chengyuan to directly leave.

It was no wonder that the boss as precious as gold and jade could come here to accompany the little stand-in to endure hardships. Li Chengyuan must have regretted it to death that he had exposed his identity after misidentifying a cannon fodder passer-by. Now people all over the country knew what the male god who had always kept a low profile looked like.

Xia Xingchi sighed. Seeing that no one was urging him to get up for the time being, he took out his phone from under the pillow and checked Weibo casually, wanting to see how yesterday’s show had been received.

At the same time, he would see if he was really dragged into the water and included as a suspect for Li Chengyuan’s other half.

He opened the hot search list and #Li Chengyuan’s lover suspected to be exposed# suddenly came into view.

Xia Xingchi was so frightened that his hair stood on end. He rushed to tremblingly click it.

The internet in the remote backcountry mountain village was rather poor, and his heart beat wildly as the results loaded with difficulty.

Various thoughts flashed through Xia Xingchi’s mind, but the most common one was, “God! What a big loss!”

If he had a monthly salary of one million, and on the basis of having the money and ability to handle public relations well without affecting his income as an artist, he could still consider meeting his employer’s demand for an official announcement.

But now that he had no money and no job, the love affair still had to be exposed?

Xia Xingchi poked at the gray-white loading screen, and had to suspect that it was because he called Li Chengyuan an idiot last night, and he was deliberately taking revenge.

Otherwise, without human intervention, how could this entry suddenly rise to such a high position?

Just as he was thinking this, the picture finally loaded successfully, and Xia Xingchi quickly clicked on it  —

Only to find that the one in the picture was not him!

Although it was a blurry candid shot, it would still be easy for him to recognize himself.

In the photo was a person who was about the same size as him, arm in arm with the tall man beside him and leaning intimately into him.

The image quality was a bit blurry, and only half of the man’s side profile could be seen, but even Xia Xingchi really thought it looked like Li Chengyuan.

He was stunned. Didn’t this bastard only have the White Moonlight on his mind? How could he let other people stick to him like this?

[Damn! So President Li’s lover is really a boy? I didn’t believe that revelation at first]

[Which one? Which one? To be able to tell the gender so accurately, it seems this person knows something, ah. Why else did this guy get so much attention?]

[They also said that the other party was a young master from a rich family, and that he was not a lover, but a fiance, the kind that is about to get married]

[Ahhh! I found out yesterday that Mr. Li was wearing a ring on his middle finger. At that time, the hand of the male god was so beautiful, so this is an engagement ring?!]

[This divinator who broke the news hit a strike, ah. The gender is male, and they are fiances……If they deduced this much, then ‘young master of a rich family’ must be true]

[In this reality show, there is only one young master from a rich family, so the situation is quite clear. It must be Xia Yu]

[Yeah yeah yeah! I knew it was Xia Yu ! ! ! Those who said our family shipped too hard, you’ve been proven wrong ~ Dying of laughter ~ Mr. Li and Xiao Yu are real!]

Seeing this, Xia Yu couldn’t help but frown and go back to look at the photo……it seemed that the person really was Xia Yu.

If it was Li Chengyuan’s real White Moonlight, that would be fine, but if the other party was Xia Yu, Li Chengyuan would have to have lost his mind to let him stick to him like this.

Yesterday he had told him to go away in disgust. How could he suddenly fall in love with him today and take pictures with him on the spot?

Although Xia Xingchi suspected that the man might not be Li Chengyuan, the melon-eating people from all walks of life obviously didn’t know the inside story.

So he could only watch helplessly as he was directly dragged into the water for no reason. Yesterday’s live broadcast became very outrageous under the malicious guidance and editing of the water armies.

[So President Li and Xia Yu are really a couple? So what were Xia Xingchi’s fans doing yesterday? Is this a slap in the face?]

[God, why is Xia Xingchi so shameless? What did he do next when the young couple went out to gather goose eggs? He deliberately waited for Mr. Li to protect him, and scolded Xia Yu angrily. What a self-righteous boy mistress]

[Damn, how did he have the face to sleep with Li Chengyuan last night? The couple was trying to avoid suspicion, Xia Xingchi is a psycho, right?]

[You’re the psychos! You didn’t watch the original broadcast, you only watched the clips and comment blindly? It didn’t happen that way at all!]

[The task of gathering goose eggs was assigned by Xia Yu. Li Chengyuan took the initiative to help in the kitchen, and said “Xia Xingchi, you come sleep with me.” I hope everyone knows (soybean sweating.jpg)]

[Really, really? It’s none of Xia Xingchi’s business, and you want to say that Li Chengyuan took the initiative? Don’t even look at Mr. Li’s worth, and Xia Yu is rich, self-restrained, and popular. What is your idol?]

. . . . . .

Xia Xingchi frowned. This situation was even scarier than the position of “Mrs. Li” being exposed and being eaten alive by Li Chengyuan’s fans. Now it had directly become a mistress script.

With a mistress like himself around, the firepower of Mr. Li’s crazy girlfriend fans was not entirely directed at Xia Yu, the “first wife,” and a considerable part of it was directed at him.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath. Sure enough, he had underestimated the disgusting character of the vicious protagonist who must retaliate.

Xia Yu was embarrassed and ashamed yesterday, so he came back with a vengeance.

The instigator of this business must be Xia Yu. Anyway, the heat was not in vain. Even if he was unmasked in the end, since he himself had never taken part, it was no big loss.

He would still be a pristine white lotus, innocent and misunderstood, and would perhaps be seen as a lovely and pitiful victim.

But when he thought about it carefully, Xia Xingchi still felt that something was off.

Although Xia Yu was an idiot, he had a powerful “Military Advisor” manager. The last black hot search was obviously because he jumped the gun in a hurry to avoid Feng Yingxu and overturned the car in the end.

So what happened this time? Feng Yingxu actually let him be so stupid and ridiculous just to retaliate? Or was there a bigger conspiracy?

Xia Xingchi took a few glances at the overwhelming insults in the comment area. Obviously, they were more horrible and damaging than last time.

“Mistress” was already pretty much violating the bottom line of morality. In addition, there were the new and old grudges with Xia Yu’s fans, and Li Chengyuan’s powerful fans also joined the battle.

Greetings to the 18 generations of ancestors abounded. They could criticize him from head to toe, make all sorts of bad cuts devoid of context, and photoshop pictures……

Xia Xingchi frowned, and closed Weibo without giving it a second glance.

Li Chengyuan had still regarded him as his White Moonlight the last time he was on a black hot search. At that time, he gave him clothes and peeled crabs for him, removed the hot searches, and helped him strike back.

Now even if he was cursed at by the entire internet, he could only endure it. After all, he didn’t have a public relations team, and he wouldn’t get help from the management company.

With this in mind, Xia Xingchi turned his head and once again glanced at the empty pillow. The sour feeling not only failed to disappear with Li Chengyuan’s departure, but instead, it intensified.

It was likely that he would never see that person again in the future. This might be the fate of the innate cannon fodder. He had thought that life would change after his death, instead of suffering from poverty and being bullied by others.

In fact, he still had no relatives or friends, and that hard-won protection and care was just due to the ridiculous and embarrassing mistake of being recognized as the wrong person. Li Chengyuan might also feel embarrassed, and not spare this stranger a glance in the future.

The sourness and grievance was getting stronger and stronger.

Under his optimistic appearance, the difficulties and hardships, resentment and grievances accumulated for more than twenty years were like a silent volcano, and it seemed to finally be set off by this last straw.

Xia Xingchi’s eyes became hot, and then tears blurred his vision.

— Damn, how shameful.

It was only being cursed at by various anti-fans and losing an inconsequential gold master boss. This was nothing but drizzle compared to his previous life, so what was there to cry about?

With this in mind, Xia Xingchi quickly got under the covers and wrapped himself up tightly.

But he didn’t expect that the bedding would be covered in the familiar light fragrance of Li Chengyuan’s body. So the unreasonable sourness in his heart became stronger, and he couldn’t stop crying even if he wanted to.

There were footsteps at the door at this moment, and then someone pushed the door open and entered.

Xia Xingchi was desperately fighting against the flood of unstoppable tears, trying to stem the flow to no avail, and didn’t hear these movements at all.

Therefore, he was unprepared when the covers were suddenly lifted off, and he happened to be gritting his teeth and silently wiping his tears.

Li Chengyuan was taken aback for a moment. He obviously didn’t foresee that when he went out to make a phone call to take care of the Weibo hot searches and take a shower to wash up, Xia Xingchi would hide alone in bed and silently cry.

Xia Xingchi hurried to wipe away the tears on his face. With blurred vision, he tried to see clearly who was so hateful to enter his room without permission and lift his blanket.

The two stared at each other, and Li Chengyuan’s normally calm face revealed a somewhat bewildered expression. It was obviously his first time seeing him cry, and he didn’t know what to do for a second.

Xia Xingchi had come to his senses, and it was really embarrassing to be caught crying in secret.

He instantly flushed and snarled: “Li Chengyuan, what the hell are you doing! You —”

Before he finished speaking, Li Chengyuan quickly and skillfully re-wrapped him into a small rice ball with the blanket, making a quick fix as if nothing had happened.

After a while, he patted him on the head again and relaxed his voice as much as possible to ask: “Why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying! There’s an eyelash in my eye!”

Xia Xingchi roared sullenly through the blanket as he struggled to expose his head: “You haven’t left already? Boss, you have already been fired by me!”

Li Chengyuan saw that his eyes were red from crying, looking like a rabbit’s against his fair skin. He couldn’t help but be distressed and feel that it was a bit laughable.

“You thought I left……so you felt sad and cried?”

“Bullshit, I ordered you to go last night,” Xia Xingchi replied forcefully, trying to save some face.

Besides, it wasn’t all for him in the first place. Maybe it was because of the group of brain-dead fans who personally attacked him? 

But this big villain may actually have magical powers. Seeing him sitting here now, even though he knew that he would no longer be protected as his White Moonlight, Xia Xingchi felt inexplicably at ease.

“En, you let me go. You fired me.”

There seemed to be a bit of a smile in Li Chengyuan’s tone as he looked down at him mildly and asked: “Then can I pay double the price to get back to work?”

---

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Chapter Twenty-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Eight

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?”

---

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Chapter Twenty-Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Seven

The government office was brightly lit and noisy, which alerted people all around, and they all ran to the gate to watch the excitement.

Magistrate Yin donned his official uniform and ran to the lobby in a panic. Seeing the wounded assassins lying on the ground, his legs were so weak with fright that they went limp. Pretending to be calm, he looked at Yan Mingting, who was standing in the hall: “General Yan, who are these? 

“Magistrate Yin, don’t play stupid now,” Yan Mingting said sternly.

“This official doesn’t understand what General Yan means.”

“Of course you understand. We’ll just wait here for the Imperial Envoy to handle the case.” Yan Mingting sat down on the chair next to him and watched him intently, as if staring at prey.

Magistrate Yin dripped with cold sweat and looked down at the assassin on the ground, still alive and moaning in pain. He had a feeling that something was wrong, and his palms began to sweat.

Clearly, Yan Mingting and “Zhao Yelan’s” relationship wasn’t good, so why did he rush to save the other in time?

“Lord Imperial Envoy, you……” Magistrate Yin walked to the other side with heavy steps, looked at the silent Gao Tan, and made a pretense of concern, “Why is there blood all over your body? Who did it? Was it these people? I’ll put them in prison now!”

“Wait a moment.”

There was a sudden clear voice at the door. Magistrate Yin looked over and saw the two young masters from the capital walking in with Yin Pinglu.

Yan Mingting immediately rose to meet them, and began to converse with their leader.

Magistrate Yin clenched his fists. When matters reached such a point, either the fish would die or the net would split. To temporarily distract the Imperial Envoy, he raised his voice: “Zhao-daren, I want to expose to you the fact that General Yan had an affair with someone!”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent and collectively looked at him.

“Zhao-daren, there is something you don’t know. During your absence in Huaizhou, General Yan and this Fu-gongzi expressed affection to each other, colluding in secret. This official saw it with his own eyes! Even at this moment, my lord, you were almost killed, but the General’s primary concern is that gongzi! I’m really looking out for you, my lord!” Magistrate Yin’s words were sincere and his tone was animated, as if he really felt sorry for Zhao-daren.

But after he finished speaking, the person in front of him just looked at him indifferently, then took a step to the side, and another step……

Magistrate Yin watched helplessly as he moved step by step to stand behind the young master, and then handed over the token of the Imperial Envoy to him.

Magistrate Yin’s eyes went wide and blank.

“Are you finished?” Zhao Yelan took the token, avoided the duo lying on the ground, and walked to the table at the front of the lobby to sit upright and still. “Will you honestly confess your crimes now?”

“You!” Magistrate Yin came to a belated realization and pointed at him with a trembling finger, his legs weakening. “You are……you are Zhao Yelan?!”

Zhao Yelan gave him a cold look and hit the gavel: “Bring Kuang Sheng to the hall.”

Kuang Sheng was escorted in by several soldiers. When he entered the lobby, he was a little surprised to see the person sitting in the main seat, but soon calmed down. Ever since he discovered that the group of people obeyed this person’s orders, he had guessed that he was of high status. He had not, however, expected that he was the real Imperial Envoy.

“Zhao-daren, I want to sue the prefectural magistrate for raping civilian women and colluding with higher authorities!” After Kuang Sheng finished speaking loudly, County Magistrate Wu was brought up by Yu Dali.

“My lord, this person sent people to Kuang Sheng’s house in a futile attempt to silence him, but we captured them alive. The assassins all confessed,” Yu Dali said.

“The criminal has been caught in the act. If you don’t want to be punished, County Magistrate Wu, then obediently sign your confession.”

County Magistrate Wu’s hair was scattered, and he was unbearably humiliated. Glancing at Magistrate Yin, he signed his name.

“Now, who is the person who sent others to murder a court official?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“It was me,” County Magistrate Wu choked out.

“Magistrate Yin is your father-in-law, and he has accepted a lot of bribes from you. Why must you take the blame for him at this time? Do you know that this crime can destroy your family? Is he worth your entire family’s lives? Even if you don’t take your wife into consideration, are you willing to lose your child’s life and cause your Wu family to have no descendents?” Zhao Yelan said.

These words really hit County Magistrate Wu’s weak point. His biggest fear was having no heir. The veins on his forehead throbbed, and he turned to look at Magistrate Yin.

Magistrate Yin knew that the matter was over. His knees softened, and he knelt down on the ground: “My lord, please forgive me, this official was just confused for a moment!”

“You were confused? You were afraid that the Imperial Envoy would find evidence of collusion and bribery between you and other officials. You were just afraid. In addition, you thought that Yan Mingting and I did not have a good relationship, so you planned to murder me and then spread word of Yan Mingting’s affair in order to divert attention and cause confusion,” Zhao Yelan said.

Magistrate Yin knelt on the ground, his hands continuing to tremble.

“Now write down the list of all the officials you secretly bribed, and I can fight for a lighter sentence for you.” Zhao Yelan handed him the brush and paper. Seeing that he was still unwilling to move, he smiled slightly. “These assassins lying here haven’t died yet, but they are living a life worse than death. Write quickly while you are still able to do so, lest you be punished later worse than them.”

He looked back at the two assassins whose hands and feet were still bleeding, and then couldn’t bear to look anymore. He turned back around and quickly signed.

After more than half an hour, Zhao Yelan finally got an indictment, including the list of embezzlers: “Send these two people to Dali Temple immediately.”

“My lord, didn’t you say that you would lighten the punishment?!” Magistrate Yin stared at him in shock.

“I have lightened it, ah, did I touch you?” Zhao Yelan said, “The investigation of this case will of course be left to the people from the Ministry of Justice and Dali Temple. If you want someone to intercede, ask them.”

Magistrate Yin slumped to the ground and was lifted up. When passing through the door, he turned to look at Yin Pinglu.

“I will take good care of my younger siblings,” Yin Pinglu said.

“Pei!” Magistrate Yin spat at her. “You traitorous leech! How did I bring a daughter like you into this world!?”

Yin Pinglu froze in place, staring at him in disbelief.

Yan Mingting was about to step forward, but Zhao Yelan got there first and slapped the man hard: “You don’t know the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth,^[1] you old thing. What you have today is purely your own doing.”

“Precisely!” Li Yucheng had been unhappy with this old man for a long time, so he went up and kicked him several times to vent his anger. 

Xiao Gao also took advantage of the opportunity and punched him a few times.

“Take him out.” Zhao Yelan waved his hand.

“Are you okay?” Yan Mingting looked at Yin Pinglu, and she shook her head, quickly wiping her fingertips over the corners of her eyes.

“It’s nothing, I don’t feel any guilt at all now. Do whatever you want, the two of you don’t have to worry about my reputation.”

The Imperial Envoy had the right to try this case locally, and went through so much trouble, probably so that she would not be implicated in it. 

“Sending it to the capital for trial is not just to save face for you, but to make a big show of it so that officials in other places can be more apprehensive and well-behaved.” Zhao Yelan said, “Moreover, there are too many people involved in this, and it is most appropriate to hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple.” In order to prevent the Imperial court from suspecting him again.

On the second day, Zhao Yelan interrogated Magistrate Yin and County Magistrate Wu overnight, and the news of a lot of related personnel was spread through the streets and alleys, causing a sensation in the entire Jiangnan area.

Officials from several surrounding prefectures were also involved, and everyone was in danger of being thoroughly investigated.

The common people were all delighted, discussing this major event over dinner and tea. Some felt that it was unthinkable, and there were also those who felt that they deserved death.

In addition, many people knew that the so-called “most beautiful man in the capital” had turned out to be Zhao-daren, and while praising his conduct of punishing corrupt officials, they also praised his good looks.

When Zhao Yelan went out to buy stuffed steamed buns in the morning, he was surrounded by people. Some asked how he would deal with the officials, and some bold women spoke out and declared that they wanted to marry him.

Yan Mingting started to get sour from a long distance away, and pulled him out of the crowd. Holding his hand, he said: “The matter of the officials will be handled by the court, and a new magistrate will arrive soon, so see to your own business and don’t even think about my wife! We have been married, the kind with three matchmakers, six ceremonies, and an eight-carrier sedan chair!”

Everyone was amused by him, and laughed while praising the General for also being very handsome. The two were really a good match!

“Girl, what did you just say?” Yan Mingting asked.

“I said that General Yan and Zhao-daren are really a good match!”

“I didn’t quite hear that.”

“Both General Yan and Zhao-daren are great heroes. General Yan helped us catch the bandits, and Zhao-daren caught corrupt officials for us. You are the perfect match!”

Yan Mingting and everyone else laughed together.

Zhao Yelan glanced helplessly at the proud Yan Mingting.

“Be careful that the Imperial Censor doesn’t accuse you of the crime of inciting the masses.” Back at the inn, Zhao Yelan put down the paper bag in his hand, which contained a few big steamed buns fresh out of the oven.

“Then I’ll give him a good beating. Not thinking about the common people, and hanging onto the words and deeds of officials all day long, he’s really idle.” Yan Mingting sat down beside him heavily.

“Again with your vulgar language.” Zhao Yelan laughed.

Yan Mingting laughed too, saying with emotion: “In my opinion, when comparing Jiangnan to the capital, it’s like heaven and earth. The people here are really sensible.”

There were many officials in the capital, and many different parties and interests. Common people without a keen sense of judgment would follow others’ opinions when they heard about turmoil in the court.

Yan Mingting still remembered the time when he had just returned to court. He heard gossip about Zhao Yelan outside all day and didn’t care much at first, but after getting along with Zhao Yelan for a length of time, it was inevitable that he would be fed up with these voices.

In Jiangnan, these peoples’ first impression of Zhao Yelan was that he was cruel and merciless, but since they were far apart in distance, they didn’t care how cruel he was. Now in their hearts, it was Zhao-daren who was a decisive and resolute person who had captured corrupt officials for the sake of the common people. He was a good official who did practical things for them!

Yan Mingting stood up suddenly, called a few people, and ordered: “You spread what the common people said today in the capital, preferably in other places as well.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Their mouths can’t be blocked, so why care about others’ opinions?”

“I care, I don’t want to hear them say bad things about you.” Yan Mingting sat back down in a huff.

Zhao Yelan looked sideways with a slight smile in his eyes. He slowly approached his cheek, pinched his earlobe lightly, and whispered: “Then will you listen to my words?”

Yan Mingting had already frozen completely when the other party got close. Now his face was even redder, and he turned his head, wanting to kiss his lips.

But the other party took a light step back and pressed his index finger against his lips.

“Not right now.”

“Why?” Yan Mingting stared blankly.

Because I just ate a steamed bun filled with chives, and the taste is strong.

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows and didn’t give the real reason, but got back to business as usual: “I received an urgent letter from the Imperial court saying that the trial of the governor’s collusion with officials and bandits has been completed, and he has been detained in prison, waiting to be dealt with. The new governor is about to take office.”

“En.” Yan Mingting listened seriously, but his heart itched unbearably when he looked at him. “What else?”

“In addition to County Magistrate Wu, there are several other important officials on their way to the capital. Those other small officials will stay in Jiangnan for investigation. You send people to guard the rest of the people on the list, and wait for the new governor to deal with them in turn. Someone who has just arrived in office must be eager to make some political achievements. This is a great opportunity. I won’t participate, so we can set off for the capital as soon as that person arrives.”

“Going back so soon? Don’t you want to relax for a few more days?”

“The new governor will arrive in a few days, that’s enough time for us to have some fun.”

“All right.” Yan Mingting looked at him with burning eyes. “Is there anything we should do?”

“En, I haven’t bought any Jiangnan silk yet.” Zhao Yelan took his purse and prepared to go downstairs. “I’ve heard that Jiangnan silk is exceptional, so I will go and take a good look.”

Next door, Li Yucheng heard movement and ran out excitedly: “Are you going to look at silk? I can accompany you, ah, I’ll take you to the best silk shop!”

“Let’s go,” Zhao Yelan readily agreed.

Yan Mingting looked at the backs of those briskly departing figures and silently covered his face.

“General, what’s wrong with you?” Yin Pinglu came out to the sight of his melancholy face, then saw the two figures going downstairs. The sound of their discussion about clothing could be heard from here, so she could guess what they were going to do.

“Tell me……is it the clothes or the man that is most important?” Yan Mingting asked.

“This….. If the General is jealous, he can follow suit.” Yin Pinglu smiled and said, “Nothing is more important than being happy, so why make Zhao-daren choose? How about making him a little happier?”

Yan Mingting thought for a moment and suddenly realized: “You’re right. Come on, you come too.”

“What am I going to do?”

“You divert the attention of that brat Li Yucheng and chat with him for a bit so that he doesn’t follow Zhao Yelan around the whole time.”

Yin Pinglu smiled and followed.

The group of people arrived at a silk shop with a large storefront, and Li Yucheng yelled: “Shopkeeper, take out your best silk, these masters have plenty of silver!”

Someone soon took out several materials for them to choose from. Zhao Yelan touched the material. It was as thin as a cicada’s wings, soft and comfortable, and was indeed a good product. As soon as he took out his purse, Yan Mingting pressed it back down.

“I’ll pay the bill.” Yan Mingting was full of pride.

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows, picked out one of the beautiful brocade handkerchiefs, and looked at him with a half-smile: “I want this handkerchief too.”

“Buy fifty of them!”

“This garment is pretty good.”

“Buy!”

“This color is unique.”

“Buy, buy, buy!”

The shopkeeper was completely overjoyed, and hurried to pack up the goods.

“The total is one hundred and fifty-eight taels.”

Yan Mingting took out his purse and tossed it over. The shopkeeper happily counted the money, but said awkwardly: “Gongzi, this……is not enough.”

The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth twitched, and his voice immediately weakened: “How much is it?”

“Forty-three taels.”

Yan Mingting usually didn’t carry much money when he went out. This was really embarrassing. He looked down at the accessories on his body, and just when he touched the jade pendant on his waist, his hand was held down by Zhao Yelan.

“We won’t pay with this,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Isn’t such a thing good?” Yan Mingting whispered to him. “My piece of jade is just an ornament and doesn’t have much use. Just give it to him.”

“You don’t need to give it.” Zhao Yelan called, “Li Yucheng, pay the bill.”

Yan Mingting immediately became unhappy: “Why let him pay?”

“Because this is his uncle’s silk shop, and he still owes me more than nine thousand taels of gold. Isn’t letting him pay such a small amount just a fraction of that?” Zhao Yelan looked back at Li Yucheng. “What do you think?”

Li Yucheng grinned: “Sure enough, I can’t hide it from you, ah. Not only will I give you all these things, but I also want to give you a piece of clothing as long as you promise to wear it for a few days.”

“Only one?” Zhao Yelan asked him.

Li Yucheng came to his senses and said, “Yan Mingting and Miss Yin can have one too!”

In the end, the four of them changed into new clothes in the store, and almost everyone turned their heads to look at them as they walked down the street.

Zhao Yelan finally wore a new fan, and when someone asked where they had bought their clothes, Li Yucheng immediately replied: “The Cheng family silk shop!”

Within half a day, everything in the Cheng family silk shop was wiped out.

After dinner, Yan Mingting and Zhao Yelan went for a stroll together. This time, there were finally no other people around.

“There are masks.” Zhao Yelan felt that this was novel. The masks sold here were all in the shape of animals. He took a few glances, picked up the dog-face mask in front of him, and placed it on Yan Mingting’s face.

“……” Yan Mingting put his hand on the mask and was about to remove it, but then saw Zhao Yelan laughing. As if he couldn’t stop, he laughed louder and louder, his eyes curved into half moons. He laughed without any scruples, without melancholy, and without concealment.

Yan Mingting was infected by his laughter, and also couldn’t help but laugh: “Is it so funny?”

Zhao Yelan smiled and nodded, almost unable to stand up straight, and grabbed his arm to borrow his strength. He said: “Take out the money.”

Yan Mingting paid for two, then picked up a cat-face mask and quickly put it on his face, laughing loudly: “So good-looking!”

Zhao Yelan smiled and asked: “What are you talking about?”

“You and your cat face, of course.” Yan Mingting ran away after speaking.

“You’re the one who’s good-looking!” Zhao Yelan automatically chased after him. “You and your dog face are the ones that look good!”

The streets were bustling and full of light, and many people saw two tall men wearing ridiculous masks chasing each other and happily quarreling.

A child was standing on the side of the road licking tanghulu. Seeing this, he said in a babyish voice: “Mother, I don’t play these things anymore. Why are those two still playing, ah? They add up to half a hundred years old, they are so childish.”

---

[1] To not know the “heights of the sky and the depths of the earth” is to be arrogant and conceited. ⮐

---

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Chapter Fifty-Seven <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Nine

The moment Li Chengyuan appeared, both the guests present and the netizens went silent almost simultaneously.

Evidently, no one could have imagined that a person who was so low-key that he didn’t even post pictures online might show up here without any warning.

This variety show was said to let one “experience life,” but to put it bluntly, this just meant suffering hardships. Everyone was popular and brought in money, so what was the purpose of this kind of high-ranking and pampered rich man?

[Wtf?! This is Li Chengyuan?!]

[Isn’t this the fugitive hero of some comic? This face, these legs, this whole body, is this something that mortals can have?]

[Holy shit, the body proportions are perfect, and his legs are so long. He has to be 1.9 meters, right? It turns out that this is the real high-quality male god]

[I don’t believe it! Everyone hasn’t seen the last season, it involves a lot of hardships. A person with this kind of status is crazy to participate]

[I doubt this is the actual fucking male god. Could this be the emperor’s face double?]

[No no no! Go to the hot search, upstairs! All the photos of Mr. Li at the financial summit were posted! It’s him!]

[Dude, dude, I called it. Then I wonder who Li Chengyuan participated in the show for.]

[+1, for example……is there a lover among these guests?!]

At this time, Xia Xingchi’s mind was filled with tens of thousands of grass mud horses^[1] galloping past. No matter what, he never imagined that Li Chengyuan could be so outrageous that he would make an impulsive decision and immediately appear here.

Up until his death in the book, his fans never knew what he looked like, so he was caught off guard when he showed up and disrupted the original plot.

Xia Xingchi had to try his best to control his expression first, otherwise the Sherlock Holmeses from all walks of life on the screen would notice the clues in minutes.

Seeing that everyone politely called him “Mr. Li,” he promptly pretended not to know him, and said nonchalantly: “Hello, Mr. Li.”

Li Chengyuan glanced at him with an inexplicable smile in his eyes.

Upon seeing this, Xia Xingchi suddenly had a bad feeling, and hoped that the big villain wouldn’t go crazy in front of the cameras.

Fortunately, Li Chengyuan didn’t do anything in the end. Except for the brief smile, he just nodded expressionlessly.

The director spoke at just the right time: “Welcome to the filming of <<Experience Life In Progressive Time>>. In the coming week, we will experience a different kind of life together!”

“So first of all, let’s release some simple small tasks to warm everyone up —”

[Hahaha who is “together” with his director? This bald old man is evil!]

[Let me see how they create difficulties for even the simplest tasks this season]

[According to this experienced old fan, the first day is just a warm-up and will indeed be a little easier]

[Then I’m relieved. Don’t get tire out our Mr. Li! Don’t make things difficult for him! (super loud)]

[Li Chengyuan probably invested money in this show, they dare not embarrass their benefactor]

Regardless of whether it would be difficult the next time, the first task was really not difficult. Xia Yu took the initiative to step forward and take the task card to read it: 

“Gather the necessary ingredients for dinner and cook it on your own.”

“The guests will be divided into three groups to carry out the work of picking vegetables, gathering goose eggs, and making purchases.”

Then, without waiting for anyone to speak, Xia Yu arranged it in a very “gentlemanly” way: “I think that shopping is relatively simple, and isn’t dirty or tiring. It is very suitable for girls, so shall we let An Jing do it?”

Turning to Han Yuanhe and Li Xiu, he spoke again: “So Han-ge and Li-ge will pick vegetables, ba? I feel like this shouldn’t be too much work.”

Li Xiu still held the egg that was about to hatch: “Then you and Xingchi will go to pick up goose eggs? Geese are not like chicken and ducks. It is said that they are very powerful and can guard the home.”

In the end, this was theoretical knowledge that came from a certain text in elementary school. No one had seen with their own eyes whether or not geese were easy to mess with.

Xia Yu sent Xia Xingchi an inexplicable glance and then smiled innocently: “It’s okay, Xingchi-ge must be very experienced, I’ll just count on him!”

Xia Xingchi was inexplicably given a cue. Everything had been forcibly arranged by someone before he could say a word, and he knew that there was another bloody storm in the barrage without even looking at it:

[Anyway, Xia Xingchi came from a remote area, so for him, this is not a new life experience at all, but a return to his roots]

[Our baby Yu is a rich second generation, so he must have never experienced such hardship. The best point of this low-tier artist is that he will do all the work]

[Ah, this, I think they are all human beings, so why does Xingchi have to work so much? Is this a status thing? How great.]

[Do Xia Yu’s fans talk like this? You usually get beaten a lot, right? Morons.]

[Xiao Yu is just telling the truth, and he’s being very friendly. Xia Xingchi just came from a mountain village, isn’t that right? Are you worried?]

Ever since the two of them were on the same frame, the barrage had been full of gunpowder. Xia Yu’s fans were numerous and their fighting power was superb, so things that were obviously unreasonable could also spark off an unreasonable quarrel.

Xia Xingchi was speechless, and wanted to kick Xia Yu. Picking goose eggs was a trivial matter, but the question was, what combination of ghosts and snakes was this?

On one side was the big green tea spirit that induced nausea at first sight, and on the other side was a crazy man who had appeared out of nowhere. He just wanted to shout “Save me, ah, don’t come over here!”

He would rather pick goose eggs by himself and let the two of them cool their heels.

Everyone was unwilling to be at odds with Xia Yu on camera. Although they were a little dissatisfied with these forced arrangements, they still accepted the tasks one after another.

Even Li Chengyuan just stared at Xia Xingchi indifferently for a few seconds, then looked away and nodded slightly in agreement.

Xia Xingchi: …….

It wasn’t only Xia Xingchi who didn’t want to team up with Li Chengyuan. When the tasks were assigned, An Jing was also clearly afraid that everyone would arrange for Li Chengyuan to join her team.

After all, the procurement task was leisurely, and not dirty or tiring, and she happened to be in a group by herself. This group was very suitable for the rich and esteemed businessman to join.

At present, it was suspicious for Li Chengyuan to associate with anyone. With his behavior of appearing out of thin air, fans were almost certain that “Ms. Li” was among the participants.

Although many young artists were chasing popularity just a few days ago, An Jing, for example, already had an official boyfriend, so she didn’t dare take part.

[Xia Yu arranged it so naturally, eh? It’s as if he knew Mr. Li would definitely be in this group]

[En en en? Raising gossip ears!]

[They were saying before that Mr. Li’s other half is a boy, a young master from a rich family]

[Wtf! Could it be that Mr. Li came to this reality show to……]

[Ahhh! Is it really our family’s Xiao Yu?! Xiao Yu is worthy! The wealthy young master is worthy of the boss!]

[If so, Xia Xingchi is redundant here, ah. Those who can’t read the room hinder Xiao Yu from sprinkling sugar]

[Laughing to death, your family really knows how to leech off Li Chengyuan. You cross out Xingchi as superfluous when things haven’t even started to take shape?]

[Are you OK? If you have nothing to do, just eat plums.^[2] Not everyone ships blindly, we don’t speculate on Mr. Li’s love life]

. . . . . .

Twenty minutes later, the odd trio of monsters, ghosts, and snakes reached the border of the goose pen.

Xia Xingchi didn’t dare to say a word to Li Chengyuan, for fear that he would say something crazy and shocking, so he stripped off his “Mrs. Li” vest on the spot.

And he didn’t want to take care of the green tea spirit, lest Xia Yu once again do something immoral to gain popularity.

As for Li Chengyuan, he didn’t talk much, so it was impossible for him to bother to take the initiative to say something to Xia Yu.

For a while, the strange atmosphere felt like a funeral procession, not as lively as the geese squawking at each other.

“Xingchi-ge must be very powerful and experienced.” Xia Yu felt no shame at all, and continued his green tea talk, “This is the first time I’ve seen a goose with my own eyes!”

Xia Xingchi shrugged. It was fine for this guy to repeatedly highlight his wealthy young master character and step on the “bastard” from the mountain valley on the way.

The problem was that he didn’t do any work and let the “experienced” one do it all, but his pay was a whole zero more than his own?

The little money-grubber was considering his reply when Li Chengyuan, who had been silent all along, abruptly said with indifference: “If you have no experience, go see more of the world. Don’t talk nonsense.”

Xia Yu was taken aback, never having thought that Li Chengyuan would speak for Xia Xingchi, and was stunned speechless for a long moment.

[Hahahaha it turns out that the tyrant will also diss people, ah! It’s so satisfying, someone finally dissed that green tea. I can’t wait to give Xia Yu a slap]

[Upstairs is Xia Xingchi’s water army, right? Is this called dissing? This is obviously very sweet, ah!]

[Yeah, he didn’t talk to Xia Xingchi, he just asked Xiao Yu to see more of the countryside. Isn’t this just a normal conversation?]

[My dude, I think Xia Yu’s fans all need to eat plums wholesale, are you okay? Did you receive a knock to the head? You have a problem with your brain?]

[Open your eyes, today he can be counted as going to the moon and leeching off fame. Should my Mr. Li have to endure that green tea?]

Xia Xingchi didn’t expect Li Chengyuan to insult people, and wanted to laugh wildly.

In order to prevent himself from gloating too much, he picked up the basket and decided to go in first so that he could complete the task early and clock out of work early.

But with his hands on the fence, he also felt a little uncertain.

Although Xia Yu had mentioned his “experience,” he had never actually gathered goose eggs. After all, no one hired people to do this, and they wouldn’t make much money.

Such huge geese must be scarier than dogs, and they could also fly up to peck people. Perhaps he would be chased and pecked while stealing their eggs.

But considering the weird atmosphere between the funeral trio, Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and finally opened the gate to enter the enclosure. In any case, the goose pen was livelier, and some geese “talked” to each other.

Everyone thought that Li Chengyuan would watch from the sidelines, but unexpectedly, this pampered boss rolled up his cuffs slightly and then strode in to follow Xia Xingchi.

Although it was scary to snatch eggs from under the noses of geese, the big geese were taking a leisurely stroll at this time and didn’t have a care for the whereabouts of their eggs at all. Only a few were staring vigilantly at the uninvited guests.

Xia Xingchi remained motionless and stared back at the three aggressive geese for a long moment. When he finally confirmed that he wouldn’t be chased and pecked for the time being, he continued to walk slowly.

“Li Chengyuan, I’m going to gather the goose eggs, you go and lure them away, and make a little noise when you get there,” Xia Xingchi said softly.

After speaking, he realized that he was so nervous that he forgot to pretend not to know a certain person, so he quickly added: “Thank you, Mr. Li, please remember to be safe.”

Hearing this, Li Chengyuan gave him a cold half-smile, as if he was a little dissatisfied with the second half of the sentence.

But he turned around and did as he was told, walking a few steps further away and coughing lightly.

As expected, the geese guarding their nest turned their heads when they heard this sound, and Li Chengyuan deliberately took a few steps back, causing them to immediately switch to the fleeing target and move forward.

Xia Xingchi heaved a sigh of relief, and quickly lowered his head to fumble for a goose egg.

The two cooperated tacitly, while Xia Yu was left alone with no one paying attention to him.

[Hahahaha this is the cp you want to force? I think Mr. Li likes Xia Xingchi more]

[Ha. Xia Xingchi is able to do farm work, it’s normal for our little master not to be able to. What are you so proud of?]

[Is this called showing one’s skill before an expert? Mr. Li is a real nobleman with a golden spoon in his mouth, and he’s still working. What can your family be proud of?]

Xia Xingchi was bending over to gather seriously, but suddenly sensed Xia Yu walking over from behind him with light steps.

A bad premonition flashed through his mind, and Xia Xingchi immediately straightened up, turning his head as he said: “Stop! What are you doing?”

“I’ll help you gather them together,” Xia Yu said with an innocent expression. “May I, Xingchi-ge?”

Xia Xingchi let out an “oh,” thinking that maybe he was being too suspicious, and he was only here to show his presence. Thus, he bent down again and continued to feel around: “Whatever.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as his fingers touched a smooth egg, he heard a big goose behind him let out a very aggressive “honk!” 

Startled, Xia Xingchi quickly raised his head —

As soon as he looked up, he saw a white figure soar into the sky like lightning, rushing towards him!

The incident happened so suddenly that he could only think: “Fuck! It can really fly so high?!”

Looking at Xia Yu again, this grandson had already run away quite innocently, as if this was none of his concern.

Xia Xingchi was filled with fury. He must have invisibly provoked this group of firecrackers just now, and ran away after lighting them up.

As if responding to its call, the aggressive behavior of this goose immediately attracted countless companions.

In just a few seconds, the scene was thrown into chaos. More than a dozen big geese besieged him at the same time, and goose feathers flew around in an instant.

It was too late for Xia Xingchi to run. He didn’t forget to grab the last goose egg in the confusion, and then hurriedly covered his head with his arms and tried to crouch down to hide.

At this time, his wrist was grasped by a cold hand, and then his whole person was buried in a familiar embrace.

Protecting his head with one hand, Li Chengyuan picked him up from the ground neatly and ran all the way out of the goose pen, throwing off the fierce geese that were chasing after him.

[ ! ! ! ! ]

[Fuck, geese are really not cute, they’re too fucking scary, the kind that can leave a psychological shadow!]

[Wu wu wu Mr. Li is so cool, ah! So handsome! So handsome!]

[ (whispers) There seems to be such a smug look?]

[Oh my god, when the goose flew up just now, Mr. Li’s expression changed and he rushed up to protect Xia Xingchi without even thinking about it]

[Actually, I have a bold guess…….]

Contrary to common belief, geese did not lack teeth when they bit people. In fact, the edges of their upper and lower beaks were covered in them, scalp-numbing, thin, and densely serrated. They could even directly draw blood with a peck.

Xia Xingchi held the basket in one hand and quickly closed the gate with the other to block the jumping geese, then quickly turned to look at Li Chengyuan’s hand.

Sure enough, he was right. The back of his hand was bleeding, especially conspicuous against his cold white skin. The bright red blood ran all the way down his slender fingers, dripping from his fingertips to the ground.

“Damnit……”

Xia Xingchi held Li Chengyuan’s bloody right hand, and all at once felt his heart tremble with distress.

After a long moment, he couldn’t bear it and roared: “Xia Yu! What the hell are you doing! Is this fun for you?!”

Xia Yu suddenly appeared frightened and pitiful: “I, I didn’t do it on purpose. I’m sorry, Xingchi-ge, I’m sorry, President Li.”

As he spoke, the edges of his eyes were turning red with grievance.

[Wu wu wu Mr. Li’s hand, ah! His hand! It’s bleeding!]

[There must be something wrong with Xia Xingchi. Xia Yu didn’t do it on purpose, what’s with this attitude? How does he deserve to talk to Xia Yu like this when he’s such a jerk?]

[Didn’t do it on purpose? Didn’t I see him step on a goose’s foot and run away afterwards, just leaving our Xingchi where he was?]

[Cut it out with all this Xia Xingchi shit, what does he have to do with Li Chengyuan? Besides, wasn’t it all for him?]

[Although, don’t you think he is skillful in holding Mr. Li’s hand? There seems to be something between them]

[Don’t be ridiculous, your family is the one who went to the moon and rubbed shoulders with fame, so he deserves it? He’s a low-tier pauper, is he stacking debuffs?]

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips. Seeing Xia Xingchi genuinely worried for him, he couldn’t help being a little happy.

But he also knew that an artist needed to maintain their image, so he gently grasped the back of Xia Xingchi’s neck with his other hand, where the cameras couldn’t see.

He comforted in a low voice: “It’s okay, it’s just a small wound. Don’t worry.”

With cool fingertips stroking the back of his neck, the little hedgehog finally calmed down.

Xia Xingchi glared at Xia Yu angrily for a moment, and realized that what Xia Yu might want was for his image to collapse when he lost his composure.

Forget it, after a dog bit someone, they couldn’t bite it back in front of the camera.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and said coldly: “Fine, we’ve collected enough goose eggs. Let’s go back and get the wound treated.”

– – –

When they returned, the vegetable-picking team had also completed their task. Only An Jing, who was in charge of shopping, needed a little more time as she tried to buy all the daily necessities on the list in the small shops where supplies were scarce.

It stood to reason that for this kind of accidental injury, participants were required to purchase first aid supplies by themselves, so as to experience the real hardships of life.

But Li Chengyuan was not a normal participant, after all, and it would be courting death to deliberately make their employer suffer. The program team hurriedly brought the medicine kit and stuffed it into Xia Xingchi’s hands.

When Li Chengyuan dropped in, they were aware of the relationship between the two and knew who the real master was, so this set of actions was performed naturally.

However, Xia Xingchi’s anger had subsided, and let alone gently holding the big cat’s injured paw, he wished he could be far away from Li Chengyuan.

He didn’t pretend to have a good attitude when the accident happened, and now he was probably included on the “Mrs. Li” suspect list.

If he gave Li Chengyuan medicine in an ambiguous manner right now, he would simply be incriminating himself.

He quickly set the medicine kit in front of Li Chenyuan as if it were dynamite: “Boss Li, hurry and apply the medicine……I’m going to choose vegetables and prepare to cook.”

Li Chengyuan looked at Xia Xingchi with a slight frown, not saying a word.

Like a willful and arrogant big cat, he insisted on someone treating his wound, otherwise he would never do it himself and just sit there with a cold face.

Pretending he didn’t see it, Xia Xingchi walked into the simple kitchen and used a primitive water tank to scoop up water and wash the vegetables.

At the same time, he couldn’t help pricking up his ears to hear if Li Chengyuan had opened the medicine box.

But it seemed that he had caught a chill from the late autumn wind, and had a cough at this time that was obviously uncomfortable.

With Li Chengyuan’s cough, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being worried and wanted to go out to see him.

But outside the kitchen, there were cameras all around slapping him in the face, and an increasing number of fans had come to see the male god after hearing the news.

Just as he was considering it, Xia Yu asked in a manner that implied they knew each other well: “Are you all right, Mr. Li? I went to pour a glass of warm water, why hasn’t the injury on your hand been treated yet? I thought Xingchi-ge would……”

“Get lost,” Li Chengyuan said angrily.

He had coughed half-fakely for a long while but failed to fish out his little hedgehog, and he was getting irritable when Xia Yu leaned over to obstruct his view again.

He had thought to sow dissension, and his original intention was to imply “Xingchi-ge doesn’t feel sorry for you at all, he is not as considerate and caring as I am.”

But Li Chengyuan only paid attention to the first half of the sentence, and was offended when provoked by the delicate topic.

After all, whether it was the cameras or Xia Yu, it was all undermining his purpose of tricking Xia Xingchi back out to feel sorry for him.

[Hahahaha I laughed so hard! This “get lost” is very aggressive]

[I’ve already made a gif. Hehehe, special green tea emoticon pack]

[Ah, this, Xia Yu showing concern? Isn’t being rich amazing, ah]

[Oh, it’s really amazing to be rich. Xia Yu made a play and was directly banned]

[Che, Xia Yu is also a rich second generation, so can he be easily shut out?]

[In the eyes of ordinary people, he might be called “rich,” but the assets of the Xia family may be less than a few tenths or even one percent of Mr. Li’s, understand?]

[Hey, hey, hey, Mr. Li seems to be upset? He looks so pale]

Li Chengyuan raised his eyes and stared in the direction of the kitchen for a few seconds, then slowly lowered his head to stare unblinkingly at his wound.

A few seconds later, Xia Xingchi, who had pricked up his ears and continued to listen, suddenly heard an exclamation: “Mr. Li, what’s wrong?!”

“Quickly help! Help!”

Xia Xingchi was startled, and rushed out of the kitchen before he could shake off the water on his hands, almost tripping over the old threshold.

Li Chengyuan’s face had turned pale, and he frowned as he pushed away the team doctor, sitting on the chair with pursed lips and not saying a word. He was obviously very uncomfortable, and it was a bit difficult for him to brace his body and sit upright.

“What’s going on?” Xia Xingchi rushed forward anxiously. “What’s wrong?”

Li Chengyuan was silent for a long time before whispering: “I get sick at the sight of blood.”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback upon hearing this. He hadn’t expected him to have such a problem, and he clearly heard a bit of blame and……grievance from his tone?

But obviously no matter how he thought about these words, they should have nothing to do with this terrible and crazy villain.

In any case, Li Chengyuan obviously didn’t want others to help him deal with the wound, and he couldn’t deal with it himself if he was feeling faint.

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to open the medicine box and pretend that the two of them didn’t know each other: “Mr. Li, may I help you treat your wound?”

Fortunately, the wound was not too deep, but there was a lot of blood, so it looked a bit scary. He could only see that this paw that could be used as a hand model should not scar.

For fear of hurting Li Chengyuan, Xia Xingchi couldn’t use too much force. He could only concentrate and carefully wipe off the blood, and then gently apply iodophor with a cotton swab.

Finally feeling a little happier, Li Chengyuan pursed his lips and silently gazed down at Xia Xingchi’s concentration expressionlessly.

[Fuck, this scene. Knock cp, knock cp!]

[Look at Mr. Li’s eyes, ahhhh I’m dead, I won’t believe it if you say these two aren’t a thing]

[Applying medicine is a matter of course, but this doesn’t look like brotherhood. Sworn brothers wouldn’t look at each other with such affectionate eyes]

[Boldly guessing, Xia Xingchi didn’t want to admit the relationship, so Mr. Li tried to find a way to make him show his affection hahahaha]

[Oh my god, isn’t President Li chasing after him! I ship it even more!]

Xia Xingchi didn’t look up, unaware that Li Chengyuan was staring at him.

It was only that while applying the medicine, he felt that something was off. Why did he get sick at the sight of blood?

Wait……

Wasn’t this wrong, ah? When this big villain became crazy and warped in the later stages, wasn’t he able to meticulously bleed someone without changing his expression, and then throw them into the sea to feed the sharks?

This was fucking called getting sick at the sight of blood?

Was it so selective that he only got sick at the sight of his own blood, or did he just choose this period of time in front of the camera to grow faint?

Only then did Xia Xingchi realize that he was clearly being deceived. He gnashed his teeth, and the strength in his hand suddenly increased!

Li Chengyuan was caught off guard and gasped. Xia Xingchi raised his head gloomily and asked with a smile: “Mr. Li, think about it again, do you really feel sick?”

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[1] “Grass mud horse,” 草泥马 (cǎonímǎ), is a near-homophone of the profanity phrase, “Fuck your mother, ” or 肏你媽 (cào nǐ mā). It is used to circumvent internet censorship. ⮐

[2] This phrase dates back to a Chinese commercial for the plum preserves brand Liuliu Mei (溜溜梅). It became an internet meme/insult. ⮐

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Chapter Twenty-Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Six

Yin Pinglu took the people assigned to her and went straight to the government office.

Those relatives of the Yin family were still staying in the Yin residence. They were sitting together in discussion about how to deal with the Imperial Envoy, when they heard a servant come to report: “My lord, Sixth Young Lady is back!”

“Pinglu?” Magistrate Yin put down his teacup and stormed out. When he saw Yin Pinglu, he pointed at her in a fit of rage and cursed, “You unfilial daughter, you still know to come back?!”

Yin Pinglu: “I came back to do business.”

“What business can you do? You unfilial daughter, I’m going to beat you to death today! This old man has lost all face because of you!” Magistrate Yin stepped forward and raised his hand, but a thick bronze token appeared before his eyes. The words “Imperial Envoy” came into view.

“Who dares to strike me?” Holding the token, Yin Pinglu looked at him with cold eyes, and the people behind her quickly prepared to protect her in the center.

“Why do you have this token?” Magistrate Yin lowered his hand and looked at her in astonishment.

“I am here to investigate the case for Zhao-daren. He is busy and cannot spare the time, so he asked me to come in his stead.” Yin Pinglu showed a letter. “Third brother-in-law, this is Kuang Zhimei’s last letter, which records all of your crimes. Do you plead guilty?”

“What crimes? What Kuang Zhimei? I don’t understand what you’re talking about!” County Magistrate Wu shouted.

“Kuang Zhimei is the woman you raped last year. You don’t seem to remember her. Is it because there are other victims?” Yin Pinglu said.

“How is this possible! You show me that letter!”

Yin Pinglu handed the letter to him, and the county magistrate hurriedly opened it. Magistrate Yin also leaned over to take a look. After a while, both of their faces sank more and more.

With trembling hands, County Magistrate Wu suddenly crumpled up the paper and swallowed it.

“Brother-in-law, what you just ate is a copy that I made.” The corners of Yin Pinglu’s mouth twitched without humor, and she took out a wrinkled envelope. “This one is the original.”

“Yin Pinglu! I never harmed you! Why do you cause trouble for me like this?!” County Magistrate Wu stared at her viciously, wishing to tear her apart.

“You didn’t harm me, but what kind of disgusting eyes did you look at me with all the time?” Yin Pinglu raised her chin, took a deep breath, and said calmly, “It is not me who harmed you, but yourself. You hurt good women and innocent people, and spun a cocoon around yourself.”

“Enough!” Magistrate Yin interrupted them. “Isn’t it a trivial thing to convict someone with one letter? Who knows whether it has been fabricated out of thin air?”

“Yin-daren, don’t worry, Zhao-daren has already found other evidence. You should hurry up and think about your other crimes, so you can explain them and strive for leniency.” After Yin Pinglu finished speaking, she turned around and led the people away.

“Yin Pinglu! You are of the Yin family’s blood! If you dare to step out of that door, you will no longer be part of the Yin family!” Magistrate Yin shouted.

Yin Pinglu turned her head and said word by word: “I have never been happy to belong to the Yin family.”

She strode out the door and looked up at the sky. The corners of her eyes were moist, but she quickly stabilized her emotions and left with her head held high under the eyes of the watching crowd.

The purpose of her trip was not to anger this group of people, but to emancipate herself from the Yin residence. Only when she completely drew a line between her and the Yin family could she try to escape being convicted later.

“Father-in-law, what should we do now? Zhao-daren is coming to find me soon, you have to save me!”

“Save you? I can’t even protect myself, what can I do to save you!” Magistrate Yin shoved him away in a rage.

“If you can’t save me, there is really no way out.” County Magistrate Wu said, “Kuang Zhimei’s younger brother reported me to you, but you drove him away. They are sure to investigate you, do you think you can get away with it?”

Magistrate Yin was horrified: “That person……didn’t you say that person framed you!”

“Yes, ah, I just gave you some money and you believed my words. You drove that person away without even checking.” County Magistrate Wu said in a low voice, “Afterwards, I found someone to take revenge on him. If you don’t save me, I will say you did it yourself. Think about it carefully, the governor and I both had accidents. Do you have any other way out?”

“Useless thing, why did I recruit you as a son-in-law!” Magistrate Yin was so furious that he passed out.

Yin Pinglu returned to the inn and sought out Zhao Yelan: “My lord, it is already done.”

“Thank you for your hard work. You should go back and have a rest first,” Zhao Yelan said.

“All right.”

Zhao Yelan opened some letters on the table, which were other evidence that Yan Mingting brought back from Kuang Sheng’s house. There were also signed letters from other victims. Some of these people, such as Kuang Zhimei, gave up redress because of tragic retaliation, and some of them did not want to be known by outsiders and refused to show their faces.

In addition to these letters, there was also a list of officials whom Kuang Sheng had investigated and found had financial transactions with County Magistrate Wu.

“Eat something, ba.” Yan Mingting came in with some snacks. “The dessert in Jiangnan is exquisite and looks really good.”

The four rabbit cakes on the plate were very cute, as if they were actual rabbits.

Yan Mingting picked on up and examined it carefully, saying with emotion, “I wonder how Hongshao is doing now.” After speaking, he took a bite of the rabbit cake.

“……” Zhao Yelan asked, “Want to go back?”

“It’s fine. Anyway, you’re here, so it doesn’t matter if I go back or not.” Yan Mingting picked up another rabbit cake and fed it to his mouth.

Zhao Yelan reached out to grab it, but Yan Mingting refused to give it to him. He would have to open his mouth to eat it. He lowered his eyes and said: “I can’t eat it in one bite.”

“Then you can eat it in several bites.”

Zhao Yelan imagined that scene of eating it bite by bite. This pastry was soft, glutinous, and sticky. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if it stretched?

“It’s improper, I won’t eat.” Zhao Yelan still cherished his image, especially now.

“You really won’t eat?”

“En.”

“Then I’ll get you something else.” Yan Mingting put down the rabbit cake, got up, and left the room.

After but a moment, Yan Mingting approached the door lightly, and when he abruptly pushed it open, he caught Zhao Yelan stealing food.

Zhao Yelan was startled, and stuffed most of the remaining rabbit cake into his mouth in a panic.

“Ha! I caught you!” Yan Mingting walked over, put his hands on his knees, and bent down to look at his bulging meat bun face with a smile. “And you said you didn’t want to eat it.”

They looked at each other for a moment and Zhao Yelan was rather embarrassed. Neither eating it nor spitting it out, he could only stare at him fiercely: Get out.

Seeing his appearance, Yan Mingting was overjoyed. He thought he was really cute, and subconsciously kissed him on the mouth.

Zhao Yelan: “……”

Yan Mingting: “……”

The two froze at the same time, but their hearts were very turbulent. The soft touch stunned Yan Mingting. It was more fragrant and soft than the rabbit cake. He couldn’t help licking it, and it was like fireworks had gone off in his head, making him dizzy.

Zhao Yelan gulped, but the thing in his mouth got stuck in his throat.

“Oh my dear mother, why don’t you close the door.” Li Yucheng passed by and covered his face in fright, only showing his eyes.

Zhao Yelan suddenly felt unwell: “Urgh……”

Yan Mingting: “ ? ”

“What happened? Yan Mingting, why are you making someone vomit?”

Yan Mingting: “……”

Zhao Yelan patted his chest heavily, choking. His face flushed red and he hurriedly hid behind the screen, vomiting out the rabbit cake into a brocade handkerchief. His face was unsightly.

He stepped out from the screen and looked at Yan Mingting in a daze. For a long moment, he didn’t know what to say. No matter what was said, he would lose face.

“Go, go, go, what are you doing in my room, do you have nothing to do?” Zhao Yelan drove the two of them out of the room, locked the door, and went to deal with the vomit just now with a headache.

Indeed, he didn’t even have time to reminisce about that shallow kiss. It was his bad luck.

“General, why do you look preoccupied?” When Yin Pinglu came out to eat, she found that Yan Mingting had been sitting motionless. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Yan Mingting shook his head and looked at her helplessly: “You can’t help with this matter.”

“What made you look so worried?”

I kissed my wife and he vomited. Can this be spoken? Of course not, ah!

Even though he knew that Zhao Yelan was choking, this was their first kiss and it may have left a bad impression on the other party. He regretted it so much that he wanted to die.

He should not have been so reckless.

Under the premise that both of them were ready, another extremely romantic kiss would become an unforgettable memory for a lifetime.

The question was, what should he do to have a romantic kiss without leaving any regrets?

This was much more difficult than contemplating military tactics.

Yan Mingting went to take care of business that evening, and when he returned to the inn, he saw a couple kissing under a willow tree by the roadside. Their heads were turning back and forth, and it was very odd.

He walked up curiously and was spotted by the man, who cursed at him and took the other person away.

Yan Mingting resentfully continued to walk forward, and suddenly saw smoke coming out of the inn as people in a crowd shouted. Surprised, he immediately ran over.

Someone shouted that there was a fire, and the guests rushed out through the gate.

Looking around urgently, Yan Mingting found no trace of Zhao Yelan. He jumped onto the roof and then down into Zhao Yelan’s room, but found nothing.

In that moment, he felt as if his body was encased in ice.

“Zhao Yelan! Zhao Yelan!”

Yan Mingting searched from room to room, unable to imagine what he would do if the other party had an accident.

Just when the search seemed fruitless, a figure suddenly ran in the wrong direction through the lobby, shouting: “I’m here! Come down quickly!”

Yan Mingting looked down and rushed to descend the stairs in just a few steps, hugging him tightly in his arms. He said hoarsely: “Where did you go?”

“Let’s go out first.” Zhao Yelan’s voice was a little rough from the smoke.

When Yan Mingting took him out, Li Yucheng and Yin Pinglu were there to meet them, and they all retreated several tens of meters away.

“Are you all okay?” Yan Mingting asked.

“We’re okay, the three of us went to drink tea upstairs on the opposite side of the street, and it didn’t take long to notice smoke coming out of the inn. While we were watching, we saw you, General, rushing inside. You were running so fast that you didn’t even hear my lord calling out to you.” Yin Pinglu explained the situation just now and was afraid to even think about it. If he had really caught fire, what could they do?

Hearing this, Yan Mingting covertly squeezed Zhao Yelan’s palm: “The next time something like this happens, don’t rush in.”

“It’s fine, it’s not really on fire anyway,” Zhao Yelan said.

Yan Mingting studied the smoky inn and felt that something was wrong. He had never seen the source of the fire. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just a smoke bomb.” Zhao Yelan coughed and said, “In order to disperse all the people inside, they used hidden agents.”

Yan Mingting glanced at the subordinates who went to help rescue the inn, and then at the rest: “The target is Xiao Gao?”

“En, the dog has jumped the wall,^[1] and they made up their minds to act,” Zhao Yelan said.

When all was said and done, it had been a year since the case of the woman’s rape, and the only evidence was those letters since the victims who were still alive did not want to testify in public. Even if County Magistrate Wu and others were arrested and went through the interrogation process, it would be time-consuming and labor-intensive. In addition, the officials in this area were in collusion, and if something went wrong, it would be easy for them to escape.

However, to plot against the life of a court official who was acting under Imperial decree was naturally different. When the time came, the combined punishment of several crimes would definitely eradicate this group of moths.

“I had Xiao Gao over there pretend to let two people tail him. You go and check the situation, he fled along the alley,” Zhao Yelan ordered.

Yan Mingting nodded, and wanted to have the others protect Zhao Yelan, but the remaining two were thin and weak, and it was difficult for them to even protect themselves. He could only go to the inn and gather his subordinates to protect Zhao Yelan and the others before setting out to search for Gao Tan.

When he arrived, Xiao Gao was fighting with the assassins in a blind alley. Yan Mingting joined in, and within a short while, they knocked the two people to the ground.

At this time, Xiao Gao crouched down and grasped the man’s jaw, breaking it with a crack. Then he cut the tendons in his hands and feet, and went to the other person to do the same.

Yan Mingting was astonished.

“My lord said that I should cut off all the ways for them to kill themselves first, so that they can suffer and be able to confess quickly during interrogation.”

Not long after, Zhao Yelan received news that the assassins had all been captured alive and were being sent to the government office.

“Let’s go and see a good show.” Zhao Yelan opened his fan, waved it twice, and then glanced down at the writing on it.

He had never had the time to buy a new fan, and the weather was especially hot, so he could only carry it with him. Apart from being irritating, it still had some practical use.

Li Yucheng also opened his new fan and walked swaggeringly, looking very grandiose.

Yin Pinglu looked at their two fans. One was “The Most Beautiful Man In the Capital” and one was “The Number One Dandy In the Capital.”

She was silent for a moment, then slowed down her pace wordlessly so that she was not walking side-by-side with them. Lowering her head, she pretended not to see the mocking eyes of the passers-by around her.

“I think a lot of people have gone in the direction of the government office to watch the excitement. It should be that Yan Mingting and the others have already arrived,” Li Yucheng said.

Zhao Yelan stopped abruptly in his tracks.

“Why aren’t you moving?” After Li Yucheng asked this, the other went over to the small loch next to him.

Li Yucheng followed him without knowing why, and seeing him stare at the water, he asked: “What are you looking for? What’s in this loch?”

Zhao Yelan turned his head to the left, then to the right.

Li Yucheng observed for a long while, then realized in surprise: “You can’t be looking at your face, right?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him and asked straightforwardly: “I just ran into smoke, is there anything on my face?”

Li Yucheng: “There doesn’t seem to be, it’s still good-looking.”

Only then was Zhao Yelan satisfied, and his expression immediately became shrewd and cold: “Let’s go.”

Li Yucheng: “……”

---

[1] The idiom is “a cornered dog will jump over the wall,” which means someone has been driven to desperate measures. ⮐

---

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Chapter Fifty-Six <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Eight

Xia Xingchi blinked in the dark for a long time with his eyes open under the blanket, still in disbelief that Li Chengyuan had made such a domineering decision.

Moreover, it set off such a big storm, driving his countless fans crazy, and the topic exploded by the minute.

[Official announcement!? I can’t believe that Mr. Li suddenly fell in love!]

[Ahhh, help me, I’m heartbroken now! But I still don’t know what my male god looks like]

[For a moment, I didn’t know whether to laugh for cry, but I was finally able to hear Mr. Li’s voice. It was so sullen! That voice said such cruel words]

[Since his voice is so nice, I couldn’t help listening to this heart-wrenching interview many times. QAQ ]

[I don’t believe it! This must be fake. What evidence is there that this was said by Li Chengyuan?]

[That’s right, maybe the reporter who claimed to “interview Mr. Li” is hyping it up? President Li never accepts gossip interviews!]

[Although……Li Chengyuan has been really abnormal recently. I wondered if he had a lover yesterday (crying.jpg)]

[Upstairs, I too, from his sudden appearance at the fashion soiree to his suddenly opening a Weibo, find it really abnormal]

[Impossible! This is definitely fake. I don’t believe anyone can be worthy of Mr. Li! A male god must be single and handsome!]

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath and tremblingly poked at the screen to find this voice-only interview, deciding to check the authenticity himself.

Because after reading all kinds of descriptions from the netizens, he, as a person involved, almost felt that this might just be hype and forgery.

After all, even if Li Chengyuan’s crazy brain circuits suddenly wanted to self-destruct, Xia Xingchi didn’t believe that he could say all kinds of affectionate words. On the contrary, it was more likely that someone was pretending to be him.

Contrary to expectations, as soon as he turned on the audio, he heard a deep and familiar voice coming from the phone, indifferent and arrogant, with just the right amount of magnetism:

“Taking part in the fashion soiree is just to accompany my lover.”

“Yes, we’re engaged.”

“They’re the person I care about the most.”

“Of course they’re very cute.”

. . . . . . 

A slight smile gradually tainted that indifferent tone, as if anticipating that a certain someone would hear it at this moment.

When Xia Xingchi heard this tone, Li Chengyuan’s chuckle automatically appeared in his mind as if these words were spoken into his ear. It was like these words were spoken directly in front of him.

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t completely sobered up yet, but Xia Xingchi touched his slightly hot face and felt as if he were slightly drunk again. There was a blush on his face, and his thoughts were as messy as if he had been struck by lightning.

So he held his face in his hands and kneaded it hard, then turned around to bury his head in Summer’s fur and rubbed it vigorously.

Startled and dissatisfied, it gave a loud “Meow!” and quickly jumped up to move away from this abruptly strange human being. It squatted nearby with wide eyes to observe what was happening to him.

The cell phone set aside was still playing the interview content. After Xia Xingchi failed to forcibly stroke the cat, he simply turned over and lay down flat, staring at the ceiling as countless thought appeared in his mind:

For god’s sake, Li Chengyuan is crazy!

Why would he do this for no reason?

How did he achieve such realistic acting that it sounds genuine rather than fake?

Or……he really thinks I’m cute and cares about me?

He was thinking about many complex possibilities when he heard the interview recording continue to play:

“Business marriage? I certainly don’t need to rely on marriage to consolidate strength.”

“Yes, we have known each other for many years.”

“I was seven years old.”

“I’ve been searching for them for many years.”

Xia Xingchi was surprised.

The hand that was trying to catch Summer paused in the air, and then slowly retracted after a moment.

It seemed that drinking was harmful to people, and he still hadn’t sobered up.

To such an extent that he had completely forgotten he was a stand-in, and was still thinking wildly and passionately here.

No wonder the ruthless villain could say such uncharacteristic words. He truly wasn’t acting. Li Chenguan was really expressing his love for his White Moonlight.

A trace of indescribable sourness filled his heart.

Xia Xingchi blinked, and finally curled his lips indifferently, thinking that this subtle displeasure must just be the irritability of a single dog being slapped with dog food.

These days, even the big villain had a sweetheart, and after living twice, he was still a permanently alone cannon fodder.

But it was nothing. Xia Xingchi tilted his head and thought that a man would only affect the speed at which he made money. It was better to work hard to make money and strive to get rich quickly than to waste the time wanting more but being unable to obtain it, like finding a substitute.

There was no problem in the world that money could not solve. If there was, it must be because there was not enough money.

While he was considering this, Lin Meng called. He answered quickly, only to hear her yell: 

“Little ancestor, you finally answered the phone!”

“Weibo has been exploding since the early hours of yesterday until now, and you are still sleeping!”

Xia Xingchi could only tell the truth with embarrassment: “I drank too much last night……the phone was muted by Li Chengyuan.”

When it came to Li Chengyuan, Lin Meng was even less calm:

“Xia Xingchi, you little bastard! Not only did you lie to me that Li Chengyuan was just your benefactor behind the scenes, the two of you are already engaged!”

“The most important thing is, you were childhood sweethearts?!”

“My god, he has been looking for you for so many years?! What kind of soulful romance is this about a runaway sweetheart?”

Having said that, Lin Meng gradually became excited again, pricking up her ears and wanting to knock CP.^[1]

Since the moment she met Li Chengyuan yesterday, she was so scared that she quickly stopped being a fan.

Although the male god was more perfect than she had imagined, distance created beauty, after all. Having personally encountered an extremely terrifying and fierce aura, the male god filter shattered from the shock, and all that remained was to tremble before the boss.

Unexpectedly, this shocking official announcement came out as soon as she swiped her phone that night. “Lin-Professional Imagination-Meng” immediately visualized a sweet reunion love story, and proceeded to fall into the arms of cp fans.

“What was Mr. Li like when he was a child? Was he this scary back then?”

“You were willing to abandon such a godly man and leave him. Now look how infatuated he is!”

The question was fine, but when the unaware Lin Meng asked, the sourness in Xia Xingchi’s heart that he had finally suppressed became more intense.

He was also faintly aggrieved, although he himself couldn’t figure out what was so sad about being a happy, well-paid wage worker.

Facing Lin Meng, who treated him very well, Xia Xingchi couldn’t hold back, and decided to tell the truth instead of lying to her:

“Sister Mengmeng, in fact, I didn’t know him before……the person he talked about isn’t me, but maybe I look like them?”

“Li Chengyuan is really my benefactor. He hired me to marry him. We aren’t lovers.”

Hearing these words, Lin Meng’s expression froze just as she had knocked on cp until she was all smiles: “What did you just say?”

She was slow for a few seconds before finally digesting the huge amount of information. Then she said angrily: “So he’s using you as a substitute? This is too much!”

Now everything had an explanation – the good and bad resources, Xia Xingchi’s stiff and unnatural behavior in front of her, as well as those unspeakable expressions and secrecy……

Xia Xingchi’s original intention was to stop lying to her, but he also didn’t want her to be angry, so he quickly said with a chipper smile: “It’s okay, Sister Mengmeng. It’s nothing more than a paid service. With food and lodging included and a monthly salary of one million, I’m definitely making a lot of money!”

This was also the truth. The boss neither delayed wages nor beat and scolded employees, and he didn’t have to sell himself in bed like other substitutes.

Although there was an occasional moment of abject terror, it was indeed a rare good job. After half a year at most, he could still tearfully inherit a huge inheritance.

With such self-comfort, the sourness and sadness in Xia Xingchi’s heart gradually disappeared, and the little money-grubber temporarily regained his footing.

Lin Meng hesitated for a moment, but decided to ask cautiously: “Then do you……like Li Chengyuan?”

“I don’t!” Xia Xingchi blurted out without thinking.

Unless he was crazy enough to fall in love with a cruel and ruthless villain who was about to die. Wouldn’t liking Li Chengyuan just be looking for pain?

Lin Meng was at last relieved by this answer. An inspirational story about an hourly worker was better than a story about a tortured substitute.

The moment she breathed a sigh of relief, she remembered that this call was not for gossip, but because she had something to say:

“Yes, great news! After Xia Yu made a fuss yesterday, many people asked our company for an explanation – and we got resources like never before! It’s the most popular recent reality TV show!”

When all was said and done, Xia Yu’s rollover car crash was so ugly and unsightly that the momentum dragged Dingming Entertainment into the water with him, making them a big joke inside and outside of the entertainment circle.

Now the company had no choice but to “refute the rumors” by proving that it would give resources to Xia Xingchi.

“However, the bad news is that you have to participate with Xia Yu, and prove to the cameras that the relationship between you two is actually ‘very good.’”

In the end, it was to save Xia Yu’s image as Dingming’s Number One Male Idol, the company’s cash cow. Otherwise, Dingming would be reluctant to give such a sought-after resource to a low-tier unpopular star.

“Xingchi, did you and Xia Yu know each other before?”

If it wasn’t for the thunderstorm last night, Lin Meng never would have thought that Xia Yu would be the one who was secretly suppressing Xia Xingchi.

After all, the two were very distant and had no intersections……the only thing they appeared to have in common was the surname Xia?

This surname could not be regarded as common, and the two did collide mysteriously, so many netizens were also trying to dig deep.

Hearing this, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but release a sigh for the original owner. Then he simply told the whole story of living the wrong life, the true and false young masters, and the grievances of being forced to conceal his identity.

After hearing this, Lin Meng was truly angry. It was simply unheard of in this world to have such stupid, snobbish parents and vicious adopted sons.

She asked furiously: “Then do you want to go to this reality show?”

As an innocent victim who was robbed of his life, he was still being used to whitewash the evil person who occupied the magpie’s nest?

Furthermore, it was estimated that participating in this program was just to act as a foil.

Seeing as it was going to start up the day after tomorrow, it was only now that they temporarily forced Xia Xingchi into it, regardless of whether he was prepared or not, or whether he would succeed or fail.

“Of course I’m going,” Xia Xingchi replied firmly.

First of all, if he didn’t participate, he would just give the company room to say, “We gave him resources, but he didn’t want them.” In addition, he had to go on account of the salary.

Just now, he had hastily flipped through the quote. It was indeed a popular reality TV show. Even for those at the bottom of the barrel, it was a full three hundred thousand per day.

The speed at which the entertainment industry accumulated wealth was unimaginable, and a little money-grubber obviously could not live without money.

What’s more, who said that Xia Yu would be whitewashed by participating in a reality show? It was hard to say if his next rollover crash would be even worse.

– – –

Li Chengyuan made an exception today and left the company very early to go home.

He said it was due to a light workload. After all, he would never admit that he was eager to hear Xia Xingchi’s reaction after saying those words.

When he lowered his eyes and placed his hand on the electronic door lock, his heartbeat slightly accelerated due to the emotional turbulence –

What everyone said was a “confession of deep love,” he naturally would not acknowledge. He only said that he “cared.” He cared about that little liar he hated, and wanted him to pay the price.

But even thinking about it this way, Li Chengyuan’s heart was still throbbing for some unknown reason. Thinking of facing Xia Xingchi so soon, the tips of his ears felt a little hot.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he opened the door, he saw his little domesticated hedgehog puffed up with thorns all over his body as he packed his luggage.

Even when seeing the “gold master” entering the door, he just gave him a hard look and ignored him.

Li Chengyuan just frowned slightly and said in an indifferent tone: “What are you doing?”

“Packing my things, ah.”

Xia Xingchi blinked, then turned his head with an expression of, “Can’t you see even this?”

Li Chengyuan: “……”

This puffed up appearance was completely different from when he was drunk and sticking to his body last night, refusing to let go.

Xia Xingchi folded another piece of clothing and put it in the suitcase, adding politely with a professional smile: 

“Mr. Li, I was very angry and preparing to leave home, but I didn’t expect you to come so early. So is there anything else?”

Li Chengyuan’s frown deepened upon hearing this, and those subtle palpitations were cooled by a bucket of ice water. This was obviously not the reaction he expected Xia Xingchi to have.

He asked blankly: “Xia Xingchi, did I allow you to leave without authorization?”

“Does running away from home need to be reported in advance?” Xia Xingchi said angrily. “Then should you discuss it with me before you make an official announcement without authorization?”

Ever since he hung up on Lin Meng’s call, Xia Xingchi couldn’t help thinking about it again, and the more he dwelled on it, the angrier he became.

He listened to the interview recording several times. Every time he heard Li Chengyuan’s voice carrying a satisfied smile, he became a little angrier, and his heart became increasingly and indescribably sour.

But if asked what he was angry about, Xia Xingchi couldn’t say.

He thought furiously for an entire afternoon before coming up with a reasonable excuse —

It’s fine for this person to confess his love to his White Moonlight, but why drag me into the water? Now the entire internet is digging deep to find someone.

Thinking about it this way, his anger was quite reasonable.

After all, Xia Xingchi suspected that once this group of crazy “girlfriend fans” really picked him out, they would promptly sharpen their knives and affect his money-making.

Li Chengyuan didn’t seem to understand: “Are you so angry because of the official announcement?”

Xia Xingchi was shocked when he heard this. What kind of irresponsible scumbag was this speaking?

Even if he “cared about” his dear White Moonlight the most, he shouldn’t completely ignore the reasonable interests of the innocent stand-in and treat it as a trivial matter, right?

In dire contrast between the two, a certain kind of secret sourness in the bottom of his heart grew even worse.

The anger that Xia Xingchi had accumulated all day finally erupted, and he he said in rapid succession:

“Li Chengyuan! You actually sacrificed your poor little double’s career just to show love to your White Moonlight?”

“You, a boss who tramples on employees and exploits human rights! It’s fine if you fall in love, but why delay my getting rich for no reason! Isn’t this an important matter?”

Seeing the little hedgehog jumping up and down angrily, baring its teeth and claws, Li Chengyuan felt even more baffled: “Who am I showing love to……? What White Moonlight, what substitute?”

The two of them were not on the same page from the very beginning. Li Chengyuan never expected that Xia Xingchi’s imagination would be so rich, and that this was how he positioned himself with a job that paid a monthly salary of one million.

When he was ill and unconscious, it seemed that he did vaguely say a few words that implied that the two of them knew each other before.

But this actually made Xia Xingchi imagine a non-existent person out of thin air and come up with such a big drama?

Xia Xingchi just continued to angrily glare at Li Chengyuan.

He thought to himself that he would directly reveal the truth behind the contract marriage and the substitute, and if the big villain became angry and wanted to beat him up, he would definitely pick up his luggage and run away.

Li Chengyuan didn’t get angry. Instead, he pursed his lips in silence with a strange expression – after a long silence, the man finally laughed.

It wasn’t the usual indifferent chuckle, but instead seemed that he found something so funny that he couldn’t hold back.

Xia Xingchi: “…….?”

Shouldn’t you be arguing a little more seriously, sir?

What does it mean that you’re laughing out loud?

Xia Xingchi opened his mouth, at first determined to continue being angry, but the way Li Chengyuan was laughing for no reason was really strange and terrifying.

So much so that he forgot to be angry. On the one hand, he was disappointed to find that the man smiled so beautifully, and on the other hand, he was horrified at his reason for smiling like that.

After all, the big villain was completely crazy. After he became a complete outlaw, each time he laughed, it meant death.

“You, you……” Xia Xingchi opened his mouth, lacking confidence. “Why are you laughing!”

He faltered, and the tense atmosphere disappeared at once. The angry little hedgehog with its teeth and claws turned into a little hedgehog ball, hugging himself tightly.

It took Li Chengyuan a long time to hold back his smile, and he asked in a cold voice: “So where are you going?”

“To a reality TV show.” Xia Xingchi told the truth in anger, then thought for a moment and asked with wide eyes, “How much will you deduct from my salary?”

Although the hourly salary for this film was more than Li Chengyuan’s salary, it was very distressing to have wages deducted by the boss, and he must fight for it: 

“You didn’t say you wanted me to stay at home all the time. And you’ve slept with me……bah, you have been sleeping with me for half a month, and I owe you what is left over. At worst, I will pay you a few days’ interest when I come back.”

Li Chengyuan was noncommittal. He seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while, he got up and went to the study.

Xia Xingchi blinked, and realized that he had tacitly consented.

– – –

As a person used by others, who was forced into it temporarily, the preparation time left for Xia Xingchi was ridiculously limited.

In one day, he had to complete all sorts of work, such as purchasing necessities, packing his luggage, and even ordering his own air tickets at the last minute, along with connecting with the local program group for various jobs.

Lin Meng was a manager and an assistant all by herself, so she was very busy. She had to get Xia Xingchi on the plane first, and stay in the capital to handle various business for the time being.

For the original owner, this was his first time traveling alone, and Lin Meng was very anxious about it.

Although the children of poor families took charge early, the original owner had been isolated in a remote village before coming to Beijing, and some things that were “common sense” to everyone else were very strange to him. Just traveling by plane was a difficult problem.

But for those who were trying to make money due to poverty, such as the versatile Xia Xingchi, this small matter was nothing to worry about.

Up until he picked up his checked luggage and got into the complementary car that the program crew came to pick him up in, Lin Meng was still worried, and sent messages to ask if everything had gone well.

Xia Xingchi laughed, and freed his hands to reply seriously to each one. After all, he cherished such hard-earned care.

Sitting in the car as he finished replying to Lin Meng’s messages, he saw that there was still an unread message sent by Li Chengyuan:

“Tell me when you get off the plane.”

Xia Xingchi went hmph! in his heart.

Ever since they quarreled the day before yesterday, when someone laughed for no reason, the two had been in a cold war until now.

Or maybe it was a one-sided cold war. After all, Li Chengyuan had always been cold and reticent, and he seemed to be in a bad mood about him leaving the capital.

If there was anyone more anxious than Lin Meng, it was the villain with a terrifying desire for control —

Li Chengyuan actually wanted him to keep making video calls or voice calls after he got off the plane?

After being flatly rejected, he was silent for a long time before he said commandingly: “Then turn on real-time location sharing.”

Forget it, for the sake of a monthly salary of a million, it was better not to get angry with the sponsor.

Xia Xingchi really couldn’t do anything about such a paranoid man who would get angry if he didn’t make a phone call, and couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

He casually opened the location sharing function, but didn’t notice where Li Chengyuan was at this time.

He was only thinking about finding an opportunity to make it clear that he really wouldn’t disappear for no reason. He didn’t know any magic tricks that could make a person appear or disappear at will, or he would have used it to get rich.

Presently, Lin Meng sent another message:

“Don’t be anxious, Xingchi. You have such a likable character, just relax and be casual.”

“If you don’t like Xia Yu, you don’t have to pretend to like him. If you do, you’ll be scolded for acting fake. If you really can’t do it, stay away from him.”

She sent more than a dozen messages in one breath, carefully instructing him on everything she could think of.

Xia Xingchi blinked. He knew that Lin Meng was very nervous now, because the filming would start in about an hour, and his every move would be broadcasted live in real time for tens of millions of viewers to see.

A large part of why this reality show called <<Experience Life in Progressive Time>> was so popular was because it was quite novel and boldly adopted the form of real-time live broadcast.

As the name suggested, “experience life” meant cooperating with various game activities to experience the poor and primitive valley life.

This let the fans see the human side of their glamorous idols, which greatly satisfied everyone’s curiosity.

As for the “progressive time,” it was quite hardcore.

The whole process was broadcasted live. Once someone made a mistake, there was no chance of editing it, and their character design would collapse on the spot. All kinds of outrageous live broadcast accidents could happen.

Whether it was “village life” or “live broadcast,” these terms were obviously very unfriendly to the original owner. It was obvious that Xia Yu hadn’t given up trying to pit him.

After all, the fantasy of transmigration would never occur to anyone. From Xia Yu’s perspective, although he had become difficult to deal with, he was still a person who would get so nervous that he couldn’t speak. He was also a person with an inferior background and was very sensitive to words such as “poverty” and “village life.”

Therefore, the long-running live broadcast could easily reveal his true colors and expose his shortcomings, and it was also convenient to entrap him.

Xia Xingchi shrugged, thinking that he truly deserved to be a green tea spirit. This vengeful character obviously couldn’t walk away without pitting others.

In the end, he had cut in line, and the announcement of his inclusion was only made yesterday. The broadcast was about to begin at this time, and the barrage came fast as people rushed to discuss this matter:

[Oh my god! How did it come out of nowhere that Xia Yu and Xia Xingchi are going to be in the same frame?!]

[Who is Xia Xingchi?]

[He’s the handsome guy who was innocently victimized a few days ago! I can’t explain it clearly, the key words are “Xia Yu, real evidence.”]

[That’s all just to frame our family’s Xia Yu! It must be because of that cheating coffee’s manipulations!]

[That’s right, ah, isn’t the company also giving him resources? It’s nonsense to say that he was being frozen out by Xiao Yu!]

[Ah, this, can’t you see that this is a forced restoration of dignity? Just stop. I can only say that Xia Xingchi is truly pitiful, being used as a pawn]

[What is all this about, ah? Who the hell is Xia Xingchi? I just want to ask him, is the popularity of this passer-by really worthy of participating in “progressive time”?]

. . . . . .

Xia Xingchi saw that the crowd was about to fight again, so he decided to retreat first, and then routinely took a peek at Li Chengyuan’s super chat, where people were searching high and low.

Since a certain hateful person made his own official announcement, his fans were still casting about for someone, wondering who his lover was.

So Xia Xingchi was terrified for two or three days, scared that he would be grabbed by the nape of the neck by this group of crazy Sherlock Holmes impersonators, then chopped up to be boiled and eaten with dipping sauce.

Fortunately, Li Chengyuan still kept his word. According to the promise of “letting everyone know little by little,” he didn’t even mention his gender during the interview.

In this way, the scope was too big. There were many people attending the fashion soiree, and every young, single artist seemed to be a suspect.

There were also some people who boldly jumped out to gain popularity, and led everyone to speculate on themselves with vague words. After the water was muddied, it was even more difficult to distinguish between true and false.

Seeing the huge list of suspects, Xia Xingchi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he was fairly unknown, and only had a momentary surge in popularity, so he wouldn’t be noticed.

He scrolled through it casually, but suddenly saw another Weibo post which was quite popular:

[Inside news! President Li’s lover is a boy, a young master from a wealthy family!]

Startled, Xia Xingchi wondered who had broken the news.

There was a sudden sense of tension, as if he had been stripped of half his clothes, and the likes and popularity continued to climb. It was simply terrifying.

But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that there was something wrong with this description.

The car stopped at this time and the electric door slowly slid open. A team of program staff were already waiting at the door.

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to focus on the matter in front of him first, and put the suspicious revelation aside for the time being.

– – –

Having arrived a little late due to a temporary delay, when Xia Xingchi opened the door and entered the lounge, the other four had already arrived.

There was a young idol couple, a young but capable popular actor, and a certain big green tea spirit.

Xia Xingchi at once thought about the information he had hastily read. He knew that the tall, handsome man in the couple was Han Yuanhe, and the female artist was called An Jing. She was indeed as quiet and graceful as her name suggested.

At this moment, the two were talking in low voices. It must have been a pleasant topic, as An Jing had a smile on her face.

The young actor’s name was Li Xiu. When Xia Xingchi entered the room, Li Xiu was lowering his head and carefully studying an egg that was said to soon hatch a chick.

Upon his arrival, everyone looked over and greeted him familiarly. Xia Xingchi also said hello with a smile.

Xia Yu looked over immediately, and called more enthusiastically and happily than anyone else: “Xingchi-ge!”

— Who are you calling “ge?” You should be recognizing that old-fashioned teapot next to you as your ge, you belong to the same family. Xia Xingchi muttered these things in his heart, almost wanting to roll his eyes.

The other three had naturally heard the previous big news. Xia Yu stabbing someone in the back made everyone reluctant to get close to him, but things on the surface should always look good.

It was estimated that Xia Xingchi would put on a show, but he just sat down without even giving Xia Yu a look.

Xia Yu was suddenly in an awkward position.

The outstretched hand of “friendship” retracted in anger, and the fake smile on his face hovered between staying or withdrawing.

He originally thought that after Xia Xingchi suddenly “upgraded” recently, he would definitely improve his superficial appearance skills. Therefore, he never expected that Xia Xingchi would make him lose face in public, and became angry from embarrassment.

The barrage witnessed the sudden appearance of the battlefield, and exploded instantly:

[Wtf? Who the hell is this, can’t you see our Xiao Yu saying hello? Why are you being so rude?]

[Laughing to death, it’s not the first time this scumbag Xia Xingchi has played a big game, so he’s going to be unreasonable?]

[The two upstairs are so funny. When you are repeatedly stabbed by someone and moved around as a pawn, and have resources withheld for more than half a year, let’s see how polite you are]

[There is such a thing? I like this little brother with a real attitude. It’s no fun to pretend to be one of those fake people]

[Like real attitude +1, one should be polite when it’s time to be polite. The response is beautiful!]

[Look how intimately Xia Yu calls him “ge.” Calling ge while buying people’s black hot searches and pouring dirty water?]

[Can you speak? Our Xiao Yu is so polite. As expected, those were all rumors!]

[Your idol is just being whitewashed, ba. See if you can talk nonsense with your eyes wide open when you see the real evidence. What a braindead fan]

. . . . . .

Xia Xingchi blinked and looked around. This so-called “lounge” really fit the name of the reality show. It really let one “experience life.”

The ceiling was nothing more than a thatched roof, and even the floor inside the house was uneven and pitted, not even cemented or tiled.

Seeing that the crowd had assembled, the director spoke in a timely manner:

“Good morning, everyone! Good morning, everyone on the internet! Welcome to <<Experience Life in Progressive Time!>>

Everyone applauded to warm up the scene, and the brisk and lively director continued:

“We also have a special guest who will be dropping in to join us in filming this episode. I believe everyone will be very, very surprised!”

[Wow, there’s a special guest? Bring them quickly, I want to see what kind of surprise it is (dog head.jpg)]

[I don’t believe it. If they are famous and popular, they would definitely do various marketing promotions in advance. It is impossible to drop in out of nowhere at the last minute, it would be a waste.]

[This is true. For example, Xia Xingchi’s only attraction is his feud with Xia Yu, and he didn’t advertise much before dropping in.]

[Don’t talk about our little brother. I just want to see him, ah, I don’t want to see Xia Yu, that dead green tea.]

The director could see the doubts of everyone on the screen, so he continued to keep people guessing:

“I promise he’ll make everybody scream – after all, this is a national-level male god!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Xingchi had a sudden and ominous premonition in his heart, and a certain villain he was in a cold war with appeared in his mind.

Just before he got out of the car, Li Chengyuan had suddenly sent the word “wait,” with no context.

[Ahhh! Let me dream, could it be Mr. Li?]

[Impossible, if it’s Mr. Li, I’ll eat fried chicken upside down.]

[But besides him, who else could the director describe like this, so sure that we will scream?]

[I just think it’s Li Chengyuan! President Li! Am I going to see the male god?]

[For real? Save me, ah, I’m ready to take screenshots, hurry up!]

[Don’t be too optimistic, maybe he looks average. You know, many outsiders who boast about “good looks” are not as good as the people in the entertainment circle.]

[I also think this handsome guy is too good to be true. He has money, but also a good voice and good looks? How can there be such a good thing?]

[I don’t care! In my eyes, Mr. Li is a god!]

The director then followed up very well to enhance the atmosphere:

“I see that many people have already guessed it. Come on, everyone put his name on the public screen, maybe he will really appear in the next second!

As soon as he spoke, the staff pushed open the door for the visitor.

The man was tall, and wore a slim black casual suit. With broad shoulders and long legs, his body proportions were quite perfect, his bearing was extraordinary, and his aura was particularly strong.

His face was even more stunning and handsome, making one suspect that god had some kind of partiality toward him to have made him so good-looking.

Xia Xingchi stared at this familiar person in disbelief, immediately speechless.

God, ah, why did Li Chengyuan, who was supposed to work in Beijing with peace of mind, appear here?!

---

[1] 磕CP is a trendy phrase that means “following couples on social media and hoping they will get together romantically in reality.” (CP mean “Couple.”) So, basically shipping. ⮐

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

Chapter Twenty-Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Five

The object of everyone’s curiosity and inquiry finally appeared by the gate, followed by eight attendants. The leader was a young man who looked at the people present with a blank and indifferent expression.

“You are Zhao-daren?” Magistrate Yin stepped forward and asked, “I wonder if Zhao-daren has a token?”

The man arrogantly handed the token to him, and the group hurriedly gathered together to verify the authenticity. But that person looked at Zhao Yelan and Yan Mingting covertly, with a trace of eagerness in his eyes.

With a smile at the corners of his mouth, Yan Mingting nodded at him.

Li Yucheng opened his mouth wide, staring at the so-called “Zhao-daren.” Wasn’t he the little servant next to Zhao Yelan?

“It really is Zhao-daren, this is the Imperial envoy token.” After speaking, Magistrate Yin hurriedly led the group of people to salute. “We didn’t know Zhao-daren was visiting today, and failed to welcome you. Please take a seat inside.”

Gao Tan nodded. Walking into the lobby, he cleared his throat and said pompously: “The others are excused. I only came to inform you that I was ordered to investigate this matter. You just need to cooperate with me.”

“Naturally, I don’t know which matter Zhao-daren came to investigate? Is it related to the governor?” Magistrate Yin asked.

Gao Tan waved his hand, signaling him not to ask again: “You only need to follow orders, and I will make arrangements myself. It is getting late, I’ll go back to the inn to rest. Where is your best inn?”

“General Yan is staying at that inn,” Magistrate Yin said.

Only then did Gao Tan look at Yan Mingting openly, but he didn’t step forward.

Magistrate Yin observed the expressions of these two people. They were not close at all, and he could tell at a glance that their relationship was not good. But even so, how could someone as proud as Zhao-daren allow Yan Mingting to cheat behind his back?

“Why don’t I send my lord and the General back together?” Magistrate Yin’s eyes darted as he led the way.

These people also followed, and when they arrived at the inn, Magistrate Yin asked Gao Tan if he needed an extra room or if he would be residing with Yan Mingting.

Gao Tan naturally wanted to live separately!

Magistrate Yin immediately understood that these two people had their own separate lives, so he smiled and asked for another upper room for him, both on the third floor. He deliberately stayed and waited for the others to go back to their rooms before starting to talk to Zhao-daren.

“Zhao-daren has worked hard on his journey, rest well tonight and be energetic tomorrow,” Magistrate Yin said.

Gao Tan nodded indifferently.

“General Yan has been in Jiangnan for some time, is my lord aware?”

Gao Tan nodded indifferently.

“Then there is that Fu Qian-gongzi who claims to be the most beautiful man in the capital, is my lord aware?” Magistrate Yin hinted a bit.

Gao Tan nodded indifferently.

“The General has a very close relationship with that Fu-gongzi, is my lord aware?”

Gao Tan nodded indifferently, then shook his head vigorously: “Fu Qian?”

“Exactly.” Magistrate Yin was secretly delighted, and promptly began to lament, “My lord, you don’t know that General Yan and this Fu Qian are actually having an affair!”

“An affair?” Gao Tan was at a loss.

“Yes, behind your back, it’s true!”

Gao Tan was shocked: “Where is Fu Qian? I’m going to beat him to death!”

“He’s next door!” Magistrate Yin quickly grabbed him. “My lord, don’t be hasty. There is no need to rush. Fu Qian is at fault, so is General Yan not at fault?”

“Next door?” Gao Tan’s eyes turned, and he adopted a forbidding appearance. “That’s fine.”

“That – that’s fine?” Magistrate Yin looked at him in surprise. “My lord, are you sure it’s fine?”

“Oh, what I mean is that it’s none of your business. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Family strife should not be publicized. Magistrate Yin knew this quite well, and said with a smile: “Good, if you need anything, my lord, you can come to me at any time.”

In the middle of the night, the inn returned to silence.

Zhao Yelan’s room was not silent at all. First a black shadow sneaked in, and then another black shadow jumped in from the roof.

“My lord, General, I’m here,” Gao Tan whispered.

“Good boy, ah, you didn’t reveal our secrets.” Yan Mingting smiled and patted him.

Gao Tan scratched his head with a smile: “As my lord said, as long as I keep silent and cherish words like gold, and don’t show any expression, I can deceive many people. No one would dare to pretend to be an Imperial envoy at this juncture.”

Moreover, Gao Tan had followed Zhao Yelan for many years, and he had long been influenced by his temperament, so no one was more suitable than him.

“What did Magistrate Yin tell you just now?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“He kept saying that although he and the governor are in-laws, he was completely unaware of his collusion with the bandits. He also said……about the General and……” Gao Tan intermittently glanced between Yan Mingting and Zhao Yelan.

Zhao Yelan: “He said that Yan Mingting and Fu Qian were cheating behind your back?”

“Right!”

Yan Mingting: “……” Why did these words sound so awkward?

“My lord, is it true?” Gao Tan asked in a low voice.

“Fu Qian is me,” Zhao Yelan said.

“Yeah, I guessed right!” Gao Tan immediately beamed with joy. “Then should I pretend to be very angry?”

“Remain the same as before. If you can’t talk, don’t talk. If you can’t show your face, don’t show your face.”

“Okay.”

After Gao Tan left, Zhao Yelan looked at Yan Mingting and saw that there was still some dirt on his clothes, and asked him to take a bath first.

The sound of water came from behind the screen, and Zhao Yelan asked from his seat outside: “You hurried back from Quzhou?”

“En.”

“How many days did it take?”

“Two days.”

According to the distance, it would take four or five days at the least, but this fellow came back so quickly. Zhao Yelan asked: “What are you doing coming back so early?”

“You ask what you already know.”

“I insist on asking.”

“Okay, ba.” Yan Mingting smiled. “It’s because I missed you and I was afraid something would happen to you, so I wanted to see you soon. Is this answer satisfactory?”

However, he didn’t receive an answer, only slight footsteps as Zhao Yelan came around the screen and looked straight at him. 

Yan Mingting subconsciously covered the key parts. Then he thought, in the end, it was all covered by water and they were husband and wife, so what were they afraid of ah!

The water vapor was so dense that Yan Mingting’s face began to turn red. He pretended to be calm and said: “What, do you want to take a mandarin duck bath together?”

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, then he walked behind him and looked down at his back. There were no new injuries, so he breathed a sigh of relief, then walked outside the screen as if he was just there for a casual stroll.

“You’re just leaving?” Yan Mingting poked his head out, staring desperately at the situation outside the screen. “Shouldn’t you stay a while?”

“What’s there to stay for?”

“Just……” In Yan Mingting’s mind, the gorgeous scene of the other party helping him dry his body suddenly appeared. His blood surged up and his face flushed as he said, “Help me dry off.”

“Don’t you have hands?”

Yan Mingting dried his body dejectedly. This person clearly came to tease him on purpose, and then didn’t care to put out the fire! Damnit!

Fine, since you are heartless, don’t blame me for being unrighteous!

After Yan Mingting got dressed, he sat down beside the bed without saying a word. Zhao Yelan was already lying down at this time, and he raised his eyelids and looked at him idly.

The next moment, Yan Mingting grabbed his own sleeve and slowly pulled it down, exposing his shoulder.

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched.

Yan Mingting pulled down the sleeve on the other side, and finally reached down to untie his belt, licking his lips in a pretentious manner.

“Don’t.” Zhao Yelan suddenly pressed his hand down, got up, and held the bronze mirror to face him. “Take a look at yourself, does it look good?”

Yan Mingting took a closer look and saw that his clothes were partly undone, revealing his muscular arms, which was incongruous and not at all like the half-exposed, lively appearance he had imagined.

“……” How shameful.

He pulled off his clothes awkwardly and stiffly, and silently prepared to make the bed. As soon as he took out the blanket, Zhao Yelan held his hand and led him to the bedside: “Forget it, for the sake of your hard journey, you are allowed to sleep in bed tonight.”

Yan Mingting immediately threw away the blanket in his hand and got into bed, for fear of being kicked out if he wasn’t quick enough.

The candles were extinguished, and the two lay side by side on the bed. Having been separated for a few days, they had many things to say, but at this time they didn’t speak, and only listened quietly to each other’s breathing.

After a long time, Yan Mingting turned sideways and hugged him in his arms without any explanation. The other party struggled slightly, and seeing that he couldn’t push him away, he just acceded to him.

Yan Mingting had succeeded. In the darkness, the corners of his mouth quietly rose, and he touched that waist with his hand, letting out a ‘hiss’: “Are you losing weight again?”

Zhao Yelan remained silent.

“So thin.” Yan Mingting said so, but what he thought in his heart was that if he was too thin, would it hurt him badly? It was a physical activity, after all. “This won’t do, you should eat more and take care of your body. You will look better if you are fatter.”

Zhao Yelan’s face instantly collapsed. Who wasn’t good-looking?!

Suddenly, Yan Mingting was kicked hard on the thigh and was almost kicked off the bed. Fortunately he managed to stabilize himself, but the other party obviously didn’t let him get away with it, and said coldly: “Get out your bedding!”

The cool wind blew, and Yan Mingting stood outside the door with his bedroll in his arms and an indescribable expression on his face. An undercover life was so miserable.

The next day, Yin Pinglu learned that Yan Mingting had returned to Huaizhou and immediately went to him and asked: “Where is Zuo Ran? Did she come back with you?”

“No, she returned to Beijing with the team escorting the governor. She said that she didn’t want to be a person who has to sneak around. This time, she followed me to arrest people and put in a lot of effort. I plan to let her go to the capital to show her face first, and then make up for her military merits. With He Cuizhang taking care of her, there will be no danger, and the capital is much safer than here,” Yan Mingting said.

Yin Pinglu nodded and breathed a sigh of relief: “Thank you, General.”

“I still need to ask, do you want to leave Huaizhou now?”

Yin Pinglu shook her head: “If I leave now, I can’t do anything but be protected by you. If I stay here, perhaps I can help you, as long as you don’t think I am a burden.”

“How will you help?”

While they talked, a thin old man ran into the lobby and shouted: “Imperial envoy! Where is the Imperial envoy? I want to see the Imperial envoy!”

“Who is this person?” Yan Mingting whispered.

“Kuang Sheng,” Yin Pinglu said. “A few days ago, my lord took me to watch from a distance, and suspected that he was acting on his own in regard to the water report letter.”

“Acting on his own?” Yan Mingting looked at the person in the lobby with surprise. Kuang Sheng was asking the shopkeeper which room the Imperial envoy was staying in.

The upstairs door opened. Zhao Yelan walked out slowly, and Li Yucheng and Gao Tan also came out one after another.

Zhao Yelan glanced at Gao Tan, who immediately got into character and deliberately lowered his voice: “Who is looking for me?”

Kuang Sheng raised his head to look, trotted upstairs, and knelt down in front of Gao Tan. He said agitatedly: “Imperial Envoy, I have something to say to you!”

“Come inside before speaking,” Zhao Yelan said, then told Li Yucheng in a low voice to take care of the other people present and not let the news spread outside.

Then the group of people entered Gao Tan’s room, and Kuang Sheng knelt in the middle, kowtowing continuously: “Imperial Envoy, you must take care of this one!”

“Tell me what happened, in detail,” Zhao Yelan said.

Kuang Sheng found that it was this person who spoke every time and had some doubts in his heart, but he still told his story in front of everyone: “This one is a water reporter, and is responsible for observing precipitation and changes in the water volume of the Huaihe River. I added some numbers to the water report I submitted to the Imperial court last month, and this one is willing to accept the punishment, but before I die, there is one more thing that I hope my lord can take care of for this one.”

“What is it?”

“This one wishes to report on the Pi County Magistrate, who preys on the people, bullies men and women, and disregards human life!”

“The Magistrate of Pi County?” Zhao Yelan looked at Yin Pinglu. If he remembered correctly, Yin Pinglu seemed to have mentioned this person. He was her third brother-in-law. The relationship between husband and wife was not harmonious, but he got along very well with Magistrate Yin.

Yin Pinglu nodded slightly at him.

“Do you have evidence?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“This one has a letter, which was written by my daughter herself.” Kuang Sheng took out a badly worn letter, and his tears overflowed.

Zhao Yelan took the letter, and the several other people gathered around to read it together.

This was her last letter.

The Kuang family was originally from Pi County, and Kuang Sheng moved to Huaizhou alone because he was awarded the post of Water Reporter.

The daughter married into an ordinary family with a clean background in the local area, and the two ran a shop, but unexpectedly, the magistrate saw the daughter’s beauty and secretly sent someone to take her away, tarnishing her innocence. She already had a fetus in her womb, and she accidentally miscarried.

After her husband learned this, he rushed to the magistrate’s office with a knife, but was accused of attacking a court official and was given eighty strikes with a board, resulting in his lower body becoming disabled. He passed away within a few days.

Her own brother was furious, and in order to ask for an explanation for his sister and brother-in-law, he reported to Magistrate Yin. But he was tricked by Magistrate Yin, and when he returned home that night, he was retaliated against, resulting in not only serious injuries, but blindness.

The daughter thought that everything that happened was her fault, so she wrote a final letter and committed bitter suicide. At the same time, she hoped that her father would stop seeking justice for her, so as not to incur a murderous disaster. They were just commoners, and could not escape the grasp of these powerful people at all.

This group of people looked at the weeping old man in astonishment. His back was hunched over, and his hair had already turned gray in his forties.

Yin Pinglu’s eyes reddened in empathy, and she helped the old man up, assisting him to sit down on a chair.

For a while, only the crying of the old man could be heard in the room.

Some time later, Zhao Yelan said slowly: “You knew that the officials in this area were colluding with each other and reported their crimes to no avail, so you deliberately tampered with the water report in hopes that the Imperial court would send an envoy to investigate their corruption? This way, you could report their crimes in person to the Imperial court?”

Kuang Sheng nodded: “Exactly.”

As a water reporter, although he received a salary from the Imperial court, this official position was very unenviable. For one thing, it was a new position and there was only one water reporter within several prefectures, so he was fighting alone. Secondly, he worked for the Imperial court but was usually restricted by the local government. This small official position seemed to be very useless, and wasn’t valued by the government and the people at all.

He thought about secretly writing his grievances directly in the letter, but the letter had to be approved by the government before it could be reported to the Imperial court. 

Thus, he prepared in advance for the opportune moment. It must rain at a time when many people traveled to the capital city, so that the Emperor could discover the falsified letter and then suspect that some officials had tampered with it.

Fortunately, when the local government approved it, they didn’t understand the difference in precipitation at all. After checking that there was nothing unusual, they had the courier send it to the capital. It also coincided with the concubine draft in the palace, and there were many ladies of officials in Jiangnan, along with their entourages, so the Emperor would definitely discover a clue.

“I arrived in Huaizhou half a month ago. Why didn’t you come to me?” Yan Mingting asked. “Did you not know I was here?”

“How could I not know? As soon as General Yan arrived in Huaizhou, everyone knew about it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to look for you, but that I dared not.” Kuang Sheng had waited for the people from the capital every day, but he heard that Yan Mingting had arrived and immediately gone to the Magistrate’s house, and then it was rumored that the general and Magistrate Yin’s daughter had met at the border and would be married. He was worried that Yan Mingting would be won over by Magistrate Yin, so he didn’t dare to act rashly.

“What marriage?” Yan Mingting was even more depressed. “How dare Magistrate Yin spread rumors!”

Yin Pinglu also frowned, and intuitively explained to Zhao Yelan: “There is pure conduct between the General and I.”

“En.” Zhao Yelan could naturally guess Magistrate Yin’s thoughts, and asked Kuang Shuang again, “Do you have any other evidence besides this letter?”

“Yes, but I didn’t bring it with me.” Kuang Sheng didn’t dare bring all the evidence, fearing that the Imperial Envoy would also be swayed, so he hid the rest.

“All right, you go back now. Be sure to return in an obvious way and let everyone know that you have been to see the Imperial Envoy.” After speaking, Zhao Yelan glanced at Yan Mingting.

Yan Mingting understood. “Okay, I will escort him back personally.”

Seeing this, Kuang Sheng became more and more confused about who the Imperial Envoy was.

After the two left, Zhao Yelan took the letter and handed it to Yin Pinglu: “It is up to you, the daughter of the Yin family, to act.”

“Don’t worry, I know what to do.” Yin Pinglu took the letter and turned around to go back to her room.

Only then did Xiao Gao lean forward: “My lord, it’s my turn. What should I do?”

“You just stay in your room and eat and drink.”

“Ah……okay.” Gao Tan also wanted to immediately guess what his lord was thinking like those others, then go to work with a swish. How smart he would look!

“Go back to your room, ba.”

After Li Yucheng saw to the people in the inn, he went upstairs to find Zhao Yelan. He was the only one left in the room, and asked: “Where are the others? They left?”

“En.” Zhao Yelan poured himself a cup of tea.

Li Yucheng sat down next to him in boredom, then glanced over at him and said: “Why do you look a little haggard today?”

The teacup that was brought to his mouth halted at once, and Zhao Yelan looked at him in disbelief: “Haggard?”

“Yes, ah. Your face is so pale, and there are still bruises under your eyes. Is it because you’re too tired these days and haven’t rested well?” Li Yucheng asked.

Zhao Yelan walked to the bronze mirror incredulously. The more he looked, the more he felt that he really was haggard and worn-down. No wonder Yan Mingting dared to say that he was ugly last night!

“Do you want to try this?” Li Yucheng took out a copper box from his sleeve. “This is the Cheng family’s best-selling powder cream. After applying it, the skin will be pale and smooth, and no traces of smearing can be seen at all.”

“Are you using women’s things to mock me?” Zhao Yelan gave him a blank look.

“Hey, you’re too short-sighted. It was only when I arrived in Jiangnan that I realized there are also men who wear powder and makeup. Beauty should not be divided between men and women. I thought in vain that you had the widest vision of all. You even like men, so are you afraid that others will say that you enjoy wearing powder?” Seeing that he was unmoved, Li Yucheng gave him a final blow, “Don’t you want to be a little more beautiful? No one would reject a beauty, including Yan Mingting.”

Zhao Yelan remained motionless.

Realizing that his persuasion was ineffective, Li Yucheng walked to the door resentfully, but heard the other party call: “Wait.”

Li Yucheng was overjoyed. It seemed that his uncle had taught him well! To sell something, one must first find a suitable buyer, then make them feel anxious, so that they are willing to spend a lot of money!

He turned around and smiled: “It is ten taels of silver, but considering our relationship, I will only charge you at cost, eight taels.”

Zhao Yelan threw a silver ingot over directly: “Don’t say anything.”

“Okay!” Li Yucheng was satisfied with earning his first profits, and suddenly felt that the sky was bright. “Wahaha! The next richest man in Beijing is me!”

Zhao Yelan stayed in the room for a while before he heard Yan Mingting’s footsteps coming back. The other party pushed open the door and said: “That person has been sent home, and some more people have been sent to stand guard.”

“En.” Zhao Yelan hurriedly hid the thing in his sleeve.

“What are you doing?” Yan Mingting walked in front of him curiously and stared at his face, his head getting closer and closer.

Zhao Yelan blinked at lightning speed, turning his face away: “What are you looking at?”

Yan Mingting held his cheeks, rubbed his thumbs under his eyes for a moment, and said doubtfully: “What did you get on your face? Wall dust?”

“……” Zhao Yelan choked up. He had forgotten that the other party had excellent eyesight. He was so angry that he threw out the copper box in his sleeve, and it happened to hit Li Yucheng on the head as he was eating wontons outside.

“Ah! Who is it? Who dares to assassinate this young master!”

---

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Chapter Fifty-Five <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Seven

Xia Xingchi stared at the hot search for a long time, dumbfounded, before he finally confirmed with shock that Xia Yu was actually put on various black searches one after another.

After all, this was the favored protagonist of the original book. He had never been blasted like this even as he happily did evil all the way to the finale.

It wasn’t just Xia Xingchi who never expected it. Even melon-eating netizens from all walks of life didn’t foresee such a big, fresh, hot melon and such a slap in the face —

Xia Yu had just finished buying black searches and water armies, which were splashing dirty water, but in less than half an hour, it was like his underwear had been exposed.

The behavior of maliciously withdrawing Xia Xingchi’s hot search was directly revealed, including the screenshot evidence of criticizing, buying black searches, and buying water armies.

Even the various marketing accounts changed sides collectively. While withdrawing the original Xia Xingchi scandal, they all blew up their previous transaction records with Xia Yu.

They showed Xia Yu’s bad attitude as he urged, “Post this content up now!” and “Hurry up, stop dawdling!” All his chat records were exposed.

His character design of a cute, wealthy young master was shattered all over the place.

[Ah, this, personally I can’t whitewash this or blame the company, even though I want to. Drip ~ Idiot card!]

[He’s worried, he’s worried, Xia Xingchi is better than him in endorsement resources, looks, and cuteness! Xia Yu is worried!]

[So Xia Yu, an “innocent baby,” even bought so many black searches for Xia Xingchi just because of the brand’s new seasonal style?]

[It’s too horrible, is he mentally twisted?]

[Laughing to death, look how skillful he is. He must have done such immoral things led by water armies before]

[Such heavy jealousy and desire to win. Brainless fans, don’t brag all day long that “entering the entertainment industry is just playing casually.” The collapse of this character design is really disgusting.]

[Remember how that little handsome guy said “finally appearing” on the red carpet? I just found out that they are in the same management company, Dingming Entertainment!]

[Yeah, isn’t Xia Yu known as their “Number One Male Star?” This famous celebrity is really something, ah. Is he suppressing newcomers out of jealousy?]

[@Dingming Entertainment, don’t pretend to be dead, won’t you give us an explanation for this matter?]

The cause and effect became clear in an instant, and even Xia Yu’s fans, who had always been known for their combat prowess and mania, were struck speechless by the ironclad evidence.

After holding back for a long time, they could only repeat, “This must be photoshopped, he’s being falsely accused!”

And they were easily reprimanded by one sentence, “If it’s really a false accusation, then why doesn’t he send a lawyer’s letter to sue for defamation?”

As that side was torn apart, Xia Xingchi’s fans began to increase again:

[Where is the little brother? He didn’t come back after leaving just now?]

[Xingchi baby, hug hug. It’s too miserable to be bullied all the time. Those black searches are all fake, we won’t scold you.]

[Come back, come back, I haven’t seen enough of this handsome guy]

[Hahahaha I bet fifty cents that he went to the buffet! Let him eat well, the child is starving to death]

Xia Xingchi finally laughed again, realizing how stupid he was being just now —

He’d actually felt a little sad about the nasty words being thrown his way, but they were all fake.

Everyone’s love was real. Although Xia Yu’s fans were not reconciled, after searching everywhere, they didn’t find any marketing traces of him buying hot searches. He really was relying on the enthusiasm of the crowd to push him up little by little.

At this time, Lin Meng also sent a message: “Great opportunity! Just in time for business, your Weibo hasn’t been updated for half a month!”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head. Seeing the word “business,” he subconsciously wanted to find Li Chengyuan. After a three-second pause, he realized that Lin Meng meant for him to post on Weibo.

He saw that everyone was clamoring for his high definition photos, and were very concerned about whether he had eaten or not.

Xia Xingchi thought about it, and tried to take a selfie first. Then he took the photos of the crab meat peeled by Li Chengyuan that he had taken earlier, along with the various delicacies, uploading them together.

[Just the selfie in the middle, and the eight surrounding ones are all food pictures? What a foodie, ah Hahahaha]

[Although his selfie skills aren’t very good, he is handsome and fearless! Want to see more of this handsome guy!]

[Fuck! There are so many delicious foods this evening, I’m hungry, I’m hungry]

[The crab is peeled meticulously. According to my Sherlock Holmes experience, if you eat and peel these yourself, you wouldn’t be able to pile up this much crab meat!]

[Could it be that some kind-hearted person helped Xingchi peel them? Hehehehe]

[This selfie technique, hmmmm. Who will come save Xingchi, ba? The camera angle is too bizarre. Fortunately, he looks good and has no blind areas.]

. . . . . .

On this side was the joy of sharing all kinds of delicacies, but Xia Yu’s side was still engulfed in a violent storm, its members in an all-out melee amongst flashes of scorching lightning.

No matter how professionally the fans controlled the black materials, cleaned up the comment areas, and monitored posts, it was a rare occasion where this had no effect at all.

Even if his public relations team came forward, it was completely impossible to withdraw the black hot searches first if he wanted to post on Weibo.

[Did he offend someone, and they’re messing with him on purpose?]

[They didn’t do anything, it’s nothing more than showing everyone what he’s done]

[It can only be said that if you don’t want people to know about something, don’t do it. This is what he deserves]

But this damn fashion soiree wasn’t over yet. The dancing on stage was full of spirit, and although Xia Yu’s face was nearly contorted, he had to keep a smile in front of the camera.

So more people conveniently scolded him directly in real time during the live broadcast:

“Why is he still putting on this green tea performance? His character has collapsed.”

“Is he not going to explain why he hurt someone?”

Feng Xingyu sent a message: “Act normal for now, and I will figure out what to do afterward.”

Xia Yu gritted his teeth: “Why do you want me to act normal?! Can’t you see what they’re saying about me online? This group of morons are too easily swayed! This Xia Xingchi is setting me up!”

Feng Yingxu was extremely busy dealing with these matters, and anyone’s anger would boil over at this time:

“Didn’t I say to wait and see first, and not to smear Xia Xingchi right now?”

“What did he say to set you up? What part of this evidence is wrong, and which part was not done by you?”

“Even if you were set on doing it, why did you have to contact those marketing accounts in person? They can take your money today and then sell you for money tomorrow, let alone the other party being Li Chengyuan!”

“Do you think I wanted this!” Xia Yu said furiously. “Isn’t it because you refused to help me? I had to deal with him myself!”

This “had to” was justified and well-founded, as if harming people was really something that must be done at once. He was an expert at shifting the blame.

The role of a scapegoat fell from the sky onto Feng Yingxu, but he could only suppress his anger, knowing that this turmoil was only the cusp of the storm, and he couldn’t let himself get distracted.

It was not the first time that he had witnessed Xia Yu’s selfishness and viciousness, and he should have gotten used to it long ago.

He had no choice but to say: “Don’t do anything else tonight, just bide your time. I may have a possible solution.”

– – –

When Li Chengyuan returned, Xia Xingchi had transformed into a happy little hedgehog with his belly exposed again, staring contentedly at his phone while nibbling on a straw as he drank.

“You’re back, why were you gone for so long?” Xia Xingchi tilted his head.

It had been half an hour, and he almost set off to find his family’s missing big, precious cat.

Li Chengyuan thought of the question and answer session he took the time to do just now, and just smiled without answering. After all, Xia Xingchi would know soon.

Xia Xingchi was unaware that revelations had just been made, so he quickly pulled him to sit down. Then he stood behind him and put his arms around his shoulders as if it was something he normally did, and whispered excitedly in his ear: “Dear boss, did you bully him back for what happened today?”

The only person with the strength to forcibly make Xia Yu admit defeat was this big villain.

Xia Xingchi’s good mood was not only due to his fans, but also because he had guessed that it was probably orchestrated by Li Chengyuan – this seemed to be the sense of happiness that came from thinking that “I also have the support of my parents.”

He always liked to lean into his ear and whisper like this. The faint smell of alcohol and the sweetness of his breath swept over Li Chengyuan’s ear.

Perhaps because he was a little drunk, he got extra excited and drew closer.

Li Chengyuan’s brow trembled slightly. He was vaguely worried that if he moved a little more, his earlobe would touch those soft, warm, moist lips.

With just that one thought, the tips of his ears began to feel hot and red again.

“Stay farther away.” He was slightly self-conscious, and after a moment, he gave a blank and indifferent denial: “You think it has something to do with me?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t want to admit that he continued to become soft-hearted toward the little liar again and again. Obviously he was full of resentment and had planned his revenge for many years, but every time, he couldn’t help but become his protector.

However, Xia Xingchi was so close that he couldn’t even maintain the indifferent expression of “it has nothing to do with me.”

From Xia Xingchi’s perspective, he looked like a cold and arrogant big cat.

Perhaps drinking made timid people bolder, because drinking half a glass of whiskey sweetened with Sprite was enough to make Xia Xingchi’s little head lose its sense of danger —

He tilted his head and stared at Li Chengyuan for a few seconds, then abruptly raised his hand and rubbed Li Chengyuan’s hair!

Those at the table who dared not disturb their intimacy were startled, and stared dumbfoundedly at Li Chengyuan’s messy hair. Clearly they had never seen Mr. Li like this before.

Li Chengyuan: “……”

Sooner or later, he would be angered to death by this little brat’s boldness.

Xia Xingchi was still standing behind his chair, laughing unrestrainedly while patting his shoulder.

Li Chengyuan reached out to grab his wrist without looking back. At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly came from behind with a smile:

“Xiao Yuan? Hahaha, your hairstyle is really unique – then this must be Xingchi. I can finally see this child with my own eyes.”

Seeing someone approaching, Xia Xingchi thought they sounded like an elder, so he quickly stopped his wanton laughter and switched to a dignified look.

When he turned around, he saw a very beautiful and elegant lady with a friendly smile and an approachable appearance.

Li Chengyuan stood up and said in a rare gentle tone: “Aunt, why are you here?”

“I came to catch that little Zhao brat, and I heard you were here, so I followed,” Liu Xian said with a smile. “I’m not here for you, but to see Xingchi.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, wondering why Li Chengyuan suddenly had an aunt.

But he knew that the big villain had never recognized his relatives and didn’t acknowledge blood relationships, so maybe this elder felt some sort of kindness toward him.

So Xia Xingchi obediently followed his fiance’s lead to call: “Hi, Auntie.”

As he spoke, he swiftly tidied up Li Chengyuan’s messy hair.

Liu Xian nodded, then said with a smile: “The real person looks better than the gifs! Xingchi’s character is good at first glance. Xiao Yuan, you should learn from others – speaking of which, this really shows that everyone has a weakness, ah.”

There was actually someone who could subdue Li Chengyuan’s arrogant and indifferent character.

A few days ago, Zhao Yinhe had told her excitedly about this at home, but she didn’t believe it at the time.

After all, the little brat came to the conclusion that he should pick more flowers, and that maybe he would meet his true love after picking them. It was just absurd.

Getting back to the point, although she couldn’t figure out why Li Chengyuan would suddenly be tempted……could this be the rumored love at first sight?

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Zhao Yinhe hurrying toward them, shouting as he ran: “Mom, mom, mom! Mom, help! Quickly save me, ah!”

Following behind him was an unscrupulous old man of the same type, chasing vigorously after his son as he roared loudly: “Little bastard! Still not stopping for laozi! Today laozi is going to break your dog legs!”

Seeing this, Liu Xian felt resigned and didn’t even look at how many people were around. It was simply embarrassing, and the father and son were obviously owed the same beating.

Fortunately, most of these people were either familiar with this spectacle, or knew that Zhao Ting was a man with a temper even in the business field, so beating his son in public was indeed expected.

Zhao Yinhe quickly shrank behind Liu Xian and whispered: “Mom, I want to report Old Man Zhao for entrapment, so please take care of him!”

While subconsciously playing with Li Chengyuan’s hair, Xia Xingchi came to the sudden realization that this was Dr. Zhao’s mother.

It was said that the two families used to be close friends, and it was likely because they used to take good care of Li Chengyuan in his troubled youth that the ruthless villain could show this rare attitude toward his elders.

Zhao Ting, who had chased his son all this way, strode over while cursing. Li Chengyuan said calmly: “Uncle Zhao.”

“Xiao Yuan is here? It’s been a long time since I saw you, ah!”

As Zhao Ting spoke, he finally gave up on beating his son for the time being and turned to Xia Xingchi at his side, asking boldly: “This is the son of the Xia family? How good is this, ah, much better than that fish.^[1] You can tell this is a good boy just by looking at his eyes!”

Zhao Yinhe whispered: “That one is called Xia Yu, didn’t you see today’s hot searches? Old man, you are out of touch!”

“Shut up, you little bastard!” Zhao Ting yelled again.

The father and son were like a comedy act, and Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He also felt that Dr. Zhao had been badly beaten, and laughing would be unkind, so he simply hung on Li Chengyuan’s body and buried his head in his back, trembling for a while.

Li Chengyuan pressed the little hedgehog’s paw on his left shoulder with his right hand, smiling faintly.

Liu Xian feigned anger and reprimanded her husband: “You shut up too! Your voice is louder than anyone else’s, are you the reincarnation of a megaphone?”

Zhao Ting at last remembered his volume problem after being scolded, and scratched his head while he said with embarrassment: “Anyway, this isn’t the first time Xiao Yuan has watched people make fools of themselves……”

Then he changed the topic again: “Never mind, we haven’t seen one in a while, and we’re meeting the other for the first time. The three of us should grab a drink first!”

With that said, he quickly picked up wine glasses from a passing waiter’s tray and handed them to Li Chengyuan and Xia Xingchi.

Zhao Ting had sincerely promised his wife that he would only find his son and not drink alcohol. He was not good at holding his liquor, and after drinking, he would jump up and down like an acrobat. Liu Xian wanted to slap him for his disrespectful appearance.

Now that he had finally found a good excuse to indulge his greed for alcohol, he naturally couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by.

This was clearly a bad idea. Liu Xian couldn’t bear it anymore and pulled his ear: “Don’t give Xiao Yuan liquor! He has a bad stomach and can’t drink alcohol. Do you want to leave the room and sleep by yourself tonight?”

Zhao Yinhe was laughing and gloating on the sidelines. Fearing that the world was not chaotic enough, he urged Xia Xingchi: “Xiao Xiaxia, why don’t you drink for Li Chengyuan?”

Xia Xingchi thought this was reasonable. Blocking alcohol for the boss was of course a basic operation.

Thus, his worker’s antenna sprung up and he volunteered quite readily: “Uncle, let’s have one, I’ll drink for him!”

Zhao Ting gave a toothy smile as his wife tugged at his ear, and gave a thumbs up in surprise when he heard this, saying: “Good boy! Uncle will take good care of you!”

Xia Xingchi had a young man’s youthful and harmless appearance, looking a bit soft and cute at first glance. But as soon as he opened his mouth, one would find that this was a strong-willed and quick-tempered little prickly head, not an indecisive embroidered pillow.

Xia Xingchi picked up the glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp. After finishing the half glass of whiskey mixed with Sprite, he happily went on to drink red wine.

The unpretentious and approachable elder gave him a good feeling, and so many happy things had happened in one night, so he inevitably wanted to drink more.

Zhao Ting obviously also felt that Xia Xingchi was a good match, so he boldly expressed his affection for the junior with a “friendly toast,” and continued to stuff wine into Xia Xingchi’s hands.

Seeing that Xia Xingchi’s face had turned red, Li Chengyuan immediately frowned and stopped him: “Enough. Uncle Zhao, don’t make him drink anymore.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head with a smile when he heard this, and said slowly: “It’s fine, it’s fine, I only had a couple of drinks. This wine must be very expensive, it’s really delicious.”

He had worked as a bartender before, and knew good wine when he tasted it.

Zhao Ting patted him on the shoulder upon hearing this: “Come to our house for a drink in a couple of days, I have more good wine there! Xiao Yuan should also come, I want to give you two big red envelopes! Hurry up and prepare to get married and give birth to children, ah!”

“This won’t work! I don’t have this function.” Xia Xingchi’s head shook like a rattle: “Li Chengyuan, if you want a child, even if you double my salary, it won’t work, ah……or you can give birth to it.”

He looked quite sober, and his speech was still articulate, but he was obviously a little drunk, and something he shouldn’t say tumbled out when he opened his mouth.

Liu Xian at the side turned around and asked: “What salary?”

“He’s the one who told me to fake – wu!” Before Xia Xingchi could finish speaking, Li Chengyuan covered his mouth with a cool palm, and at the same time removed the wine glass from his hand.

What was with this poor drinking capacity? For a moment, he feared that he would leak his background all by himself.

Who would have thought that the little drunk would still struggle to grab the glass. Li Chengyuan had no choice but to hold him in his arms and cover his mouth with one hand, while holding the wine glass in the other hand and raising it high.

With the height gap, Xia Xingchi couldn’t reach it. After a few seconds of being at a stalemate, he simply gave up and bit Li Chengyuan’s fingers like a puppy, not letting go.

Even if his mind was confused, he still knew that he couldn’t hurt his big cat’s paw, and only held it lightly, licking it dishonestly with the tip of his tongue.

The warm and slightly wet touch swept across, soft and a little ticklish.

Li Chengyuan was stunned for a moment, and found that the touch felt as if his fingers were connected to his chest, traveling all the way through his limbs and bones, and finally into his heart.

There was a familiar hot, palpitating sensation, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

Zhao Yinhe wasn’t aware of the subtleties in this silence, so he just smiled and said: “Xiao Xiaxia is drunk? You’re a fool, ah, why did you let him drink? When someone gets drunk, things might happen that can’t be described……”

“Little brat, you want to be beaten again, don’t you?” Zhao Ting exhorted.

It was this child’s wayward character that earned him a pummeling. How dare he bring up such a delicate subject! “Are you thinking only with your lower body!”

Seeing that Zhao Ting’s voice was about to grow louder after drinking too much wine, and it was such an embarrassing topic, Liu Xian’s expression was horrified: “Enough, you two! Hurry up and go home!”

After sending the junior and the elder away to get into the car first, Li Xian paused and turned to Li Chengyuan again

At this time, her expression gradually became solemn, and her tone was slightly hesitant: “Xiao Yuan, it will be the eighteenth year soon…..”

Li Chengyuan frowned slightly upon hearing this. He knew what she was going to say.

She continued: “It’s been so many years. Don’t visit the grave this year, and don’t think about it again in the future. It’s not your fault, it’s over.”

It was indeed unheard of to persuade someone not to go to their mother’s grave.

But Liu Xian believed that if her best sister saw this from the netherworld, she would not want her child to live in torment forever.

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak for a long time. In the end, he was noncommittal, and calmly said with a blank expression: “Xiao Chi is drunk. I’ll take him back first.”

– – –

Xia Xingchi changed his posture to lie in his arms, and the dead weight caused him to be unable to move.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes: “Let go. Walk properly by yourself.”

“Why?” Xia Xingchi analyzed seriously in a solemn tone, “Why are you talking about me walking? Don’t you really like carrying me?”

Just by looking at his demeanor and tone, one couldn’t tell that he was drunk, but Li Chengyuan didn’t know when he would have acquired this unwarranted hobby.

Not only did Xia Xingchi make a show of being very much in earnest, he even put on an expression of being generous enough to tackle a difficult job and allow him to hug……clearly, he was very drunk.

“Do you want people to know about our relationship?” Li Chengyuan asked lightly. “There are a lot of people, and the media are outside.”

Xia Xingchi was even more puzzled when he heard this, and looked at him as if beholding a fool: “Then why don’t we just close our eyes?”

He seemed to be saying, “Aren’t you aware of such a simple method?”

Li Chengyuan frowned. He really couldn’t do anything about his shameless behavior, and he didn’t want to reprimand him and order him around like he would with others, so in the end he just picked him up horizontally.

After some thought, he wrapped him tightly in a coat and pulled the hood up to cover his face so that he wouldn’t be photographed by the media.

“See! You just like to carry me!” Xia Xingchi’s muffled voice sounded from under the hood. “For the sake of being a nice person, I’ll let you carry me for free.”

Li Chengyuan denied it coldly: “I don’t like it.”

“You like it!”

Xia Xingchi persisted, and after a few seconds’ pause, he muttered again, “All right, it’s me who likes it.”

“No one has carried me before. I just think that it’s quite comfortable, and I like the smell of you too.”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly when he heard these words. He carried him to the car without speaking, then removed the hood covering his face.

Presently, Xia Xingchi drew near and said quite earnestly: “Li Chengyuan, you are so kind to me……I seem to be a little bit reluctant for you to die.”

Li Chengyuan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Even if he was drunk, there should be some subconscious logic – Xia Xingchi thought he was going to die?

Drunk people were bound to be extra emotional. He was obviously still giggling just now, but after speaking two sentences, he was the first to feel aggrieved.

Xia Xingchi promptly reached out to hug his neck, looking up at him with misty eyes: 

“Don’t die, okay?”

“Otherwise, I would be left alone again, with no one to give me clothes, back me up, or accompany me to eat and sleep.”

“I usually don’t even have anyone to talk to, and no one likes me either.”

Li Chengyuan saw that he was about to cry, as if he had been bullied to tears, so he could only touch his head as gently as possible and reply: “I won’t die.”

“No, you’re lying! You are obviously going to die!”

This manner of confident certainty was almost like a curse.

Li Chengyuan almost laughed angrily at his troublemaking appearance. He couldn’t figure out why he had such an idea, and as a little liar, how he could justifiably accuse others of deceit.

The journey was silent all the way. Xia Xingchi had gone quiet when he started to feel sleepy. After being drunk, he was very clingy. He insisted on lying on Li Chengyuan’s lap to sleep, and also insisted on holding his hand to prevent him from dying.

After finally letting the little brat fall asleep, Li Chengyuan pulled his hand away and picked up his phone.

He looked indifferently at the huge storm on Weibo’s hot search. After a while, he smiled faintly.

– – –

Xia Xingchi was woken up the next morning by his cell phone.

He had drunk too much the night before and couldn’t remember what happened, much less how he got back.

Today, he didn’t wake up until after ten o’clock, and Li Chengyuan was no longer beside him. As usual, Summer was lying beside him leisurely while staring at him.

Xia Xingchi glanced at the closed door, and suddenly suspected that Li Chengyuan had carried it quietly inside to accompany him before he left.

Seeing that the phone was continuously vibrating, Summer seemed to find it very novel, so the whole cat lay on top of his phone and remained motionless.

As a result, Xia Xingchi could only hear the vibration, but couldn’t find the phone. He pulled back the blanket and pillow and searched for a long time before finding it.

Wait……

He always put his phone under the pillow, so who put it next to him on the bed?

Who took off his clothes last night?

Xia Xingchi looked down and realized that he wasn’t wearing clothes, but simply a pair of underwear, and the strong smell of shampoo in his hair reminded him that he had taken a shower last night.

Xia Xingchi abruptly turned pale with fright. It was hard to picture the crazy villain giving him a bath, but it was easy to imagine the horrifying scene of Li Chengyuan stripping him naked and throwing him in a cooking pot.

The phone was still vibrating, so he had to check the news first. For a moment, he tried to remember if he had washed himself and then forgotten.

First, he picked up his phone and saw that it was Lin Meng who was frantically poking him with WeChat messages, telling him to hurry up and look at what commotion was occurring on Weibo.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback, feeling that Lin Meng’s attitude was not excited and happy, but rather anxious and frightened.

Could it be that bastard Xia Yu did something wicked again?

He clicked on the hot search, but found that it had nothing to do with that green tea spirit, and his name didn’t appear.

But Xia Xingchi took a closer look and was suddenly frightened out of his body by the string of entries on the screen, so frightened that he almost smashed his phone on his face —

#Li Chengyuan’s first interview#

#Li Chengyuan officially announces his love affair#

#Li Chengyuan: Today I am accompanying my lover to a dinner party#

#Li Chengyuan’s mysterious lover is suspected to be a star in the entertainment circle#

#Li Chengyuan: they are a very cute person#

Xia Xingchi stared at the hot search for a long time, speechless, and finally made haste to shrink back into his bed and hide, suspecting that he hadn’t woken up yet.

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[1] Zhao Ting is pronouncing Xia Yu’s name wrong, using the Yu for fish (鱼) instead of the name Yu (喻). ⮐

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Chapter Twenty-Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Four

In the early morning, after Zhao Yelan finished washing up, Li Yucheng came to the room to ask him to have breakfast and gave him several mischievous glances.

“What are you looking at so sneakily?” Zhao Yelan said mildly.

“Where’s Yan Mingting?” Li Yucheng glanced around.

“What are you looking for him for?”

“I’m afraid I’ll see something I shouldn’t see again,” Li Yucheng said, covering his face.

Zhao Yelan gave him a sidelong glance. When Yan Mingting left and returned last night, he didn’t have time to close the door and had caught a glimpse of Li Yucheng’s figure passing by. Before he had time to speak, Yan Mingting had kissed him on the forehead, and he didn’t bother to care what Li Yucheng thought.

“You two……” Li Yucheng organized his words and said cautiously, “Are you together?”

Zhao Yelan replied flatly: “Thanks to the Emperor, everyone knows we are together.”

“Aiya, you know I’m not talking about that sort of ‘together’……” Li Yucheng scratched his head, held up two thumbs, and said, “It’s the heart-to-heart kind……”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes dimmed: “Why are you asking this?”

“I’m just a little curious……” Li Yucheng couldn’t tell what it was like. From the beginning, he felt that the relationship between the two was not simple. They might be friends or confidants, but he didn’t expect it to be the kind of relationship between a husband and a wife.

He inevitably thought of his sister, and looked at Zhao Yelan with a sense of loss: “To be honest, I have actually regarded Yan Mingting as my brother-in-law these days.”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes flashed as he shot him a sharp look, and he swiftly added: “But I also know that he can’t be my real brother-in-law, so I also treat you as my sister!”

“Fuck you.” Zhao Yelan slapped him on the forehead and said sharply, “Let’s go eat.”

Li Yucheng’s eyes kept falling on him during the meal, and Zhao Yelan said flatly: “If you look again, I’ll dig out your eyeballs.”

Averting his eyes immediately, Li Yucheng turned his head and asked in a low voice: “Did you kiss last night?”

Zhao Yelan paused.

“I listened for a long time last night, but I didn’t hear anything. Is Yan Mingting not good…..mm mm mm……” Li Yucheng had a bun stuffed in his mouth, and when he saw Zhao Yelan get up and go upstairs, he immediately followed while eating the bun.

The two had just walked to the second floor when they happened to meet Yin Pinglu opening her door.

Yin Pinglu had changed into clean clothes, but was still dressed as a man. She nodded in greeting, but Li Yucheng thought she was Yan Mingting’s subordinate. After telling Zhao Yelan to go to the Cheng residence, he left.

Zhao Yelan glanced at Yin Pinglu, who had a dark complexion, and said in a whisper: “Your hands are too white.”

Yin Pinglu looked down and her face turned red. She turned and went into the room to continue to smear color on her hands, and then pretended to be delivering a snack as she went to Zhao Yelan’s room.

“Are you really willing to help me investigate the affairs of Magistrate Yin?” Zhao Yelan sat at the table and got straight to the point.

“En.” Yin Pinglu set down the snacks and sat opposite him, neither humble nor overbearing. “He has shown me no kindness. If he really did something to wrong the people and the court, I am willing to bear the infamy and send him to the execution grounds with my own hands.”

“But you are from the Yin family, so you will be implicated. Aren’t you afraid?” Zhao Yelan asked.

Yin Pinglu shook her head: “I’m alive now, but what is the difference from being dead? I worry all the time that I will be captured back, then married to someone I have never met before, and I will only be imprisoned in someone else’s birdcage for the rest of my life. If they are happy, they will give me something to eat. If they are unhappy, they will beat and curse me. There is no self, no freedom.”

Her expression and eyes were soft with the gentleness of Jiangnan women, and her tenderness was like water, but there was a firmness in her eyes that said perhaps this water was not that which lingered in Jiangnan, but the water of the Yellow River that could break through its embankments.

Zhao Yelan examined her, then told her the details of his coming to Jiangnan.

After hearing this, Yin Pinglu frowned and said: “I don’t know Kuang Sheng, as I escaped from Huaizhou a few years ago. As for my father, although he is only interested in profit, he can only think of marriages, and would never dare to do such a bold thing.”

“Because he is soliciting contacts everywhere, perhaps someone will use his name to do things.” 

Yin Pinglu nodded: “For example, my third brother-in-law is a county magistrate. He doesn’t have a good relationship with my third sister, and flirts with women all day long, but he is very close to my father.”

“Tell me about the situations of your brothers-in-law.”

With the help of Yin Pinglu, a person who knew the inside story, a lot of effort was saved in enquiring about information. After one morning, Zhao Yelan had almost mastered the network of Magistrate Yin. If one didn’t check carefully, they would not know that Magistrate Yin was more or less connected to all the officials in this area by virtue of his in-law relationship. And he was obviously not the only one who used this method, as many of them were close relatives. Everyone had the same network and common interests, which would automatically form a situation where officials would shield each other.

It was no wonder that no Jiangnan officials had reported any adverse situations when they went to Beijing to report on their work every year.

Yin Pinglu escaped from Huaizhou and her death, keeping her name anonymous since then, just because she was afraid of being noticed by people in Jiangnan. These officials were colluding and covering for each other, and it was difficult to escape from their reach.

“My lord, how do you plan to deal with it?” Yin Pinglu asked.

“Wait for good news from Yan Mingting.” Zhao Yelan smiled slightly. “Let him open the first incision.”

A few days later, Yan Mingting captured all the leaders of the bandit group and took advantage of the situation to find out that the Jiangnan governor colluded with the bandits to rob some of the disaster money. The news spread like wildfire, shocking the entire Jiangnan area.

“Is the news reliable?” Magistrate Yin asked the messenger in a panic.

“En, the governor is already on his way to the capital!” The servant replied. “Originally, the governor had already arrested these bandits and was about to silence them. Who would have thought that Yan Mingting would suddenly bring people to take over, and deliberately interrogate them over the disaster funds, exposing it……”

“Foolish, ah!” Magistrate Yin slapped the chair heavily. This governor was his eldest son-in-law, who was at the height of his powers all these years. Only six years younger than him, he had taken the position of governor. “Call the others quickly, we need to discuss a solution!”

Not only the Yin Mansion, but many other officials were like ants on a hot pan, beginning to urgently discuss countermeasures.

There was also a lot of discussion about this matter in the inn, and there were voices conversing everywhere.

Zhao Yelan was playing chess with Yin Pinglu leisurely, while Li Yucheng scratched his head and looked at the ledger.

Li Yucheng’s trip was not entirely to accompany Zhao Yelan on business. He listened to Yan Mingting’s suggestion – since he was no good at writing or martial arts, he would rely on his own advantages to do business. Therefore, he came to Jiangnan to discuss business with his uncle, and Li Jinyu naturally supported him. It was rare that he was interested in doing something serious.

“I just saw a few brothers-in-law passing by downstairs, and they all went to the Yin residence,” Yin Pinglu whispered.

“En.”

“It’s really wonderful to use generals as chess pieces to break the game.” Yin Pinglu smiled faintly.

Only Yan Mingting had such power. On the surface, he was going to wipe out the bandits, but caught the governor by surprise. Before anyone could react, he sent him to court with thunderous force, saving interrogation and investigation time in Jiangnan. Others wanted to save themselves but were at their wits end, and it was even more impossible to recruit people from the Yan family army.

“Those bandits in Quzhou should have been taken into custody by the governor long ago, only the two people in Huaizhou didn’t go back to Quzhou to be arrested as planned, and we caught them first by mistake,” Zhao Yelan said.

At this moment, a messenger entered the inn and called: “May I ask who Fu Qian is?”

“It’s me.” Zhao Yelan poked his head out, and the messenger ran upstairs to hand him the letter.

He opened it to have a look, and a wooden hairpin rolled out of it.

“What is this?” Li Yucheng leaned over curiously.

Zhao Yelan pushed his head away, unfolded the letter paper, and read –

Mengting, I carved this wooden hairpin myself. I know you don’t like to use such simple things, but I just miss you. Every time I missed you, I carved a little bit, and it took shape unknowingly. I’ve never made one of these before, don’t be disgusted. At worst, you can decorate it with gold before returning to Beijing.

Now let’s speak of business. I have already grasped the evidence of collusion between the governor and the bandits, and I will go to arrest people soon. Wish me the best.

I really want to finish things quickly and come to see you.

“Ah, don’t mess around,” Yin Pinglu said abruptly.

However, Li Yucheng had already picked up the wooden hairpin under Zhao Yelan’s eyes and looked it over carefully: “What an ugly thing, it’s worth no money at all.”

Zhao Yelan kicked at him and snatched the hairpin back: “Go mind your own business.”

Li Yucheng rubbed his thigh and said aggrievedly: “What’s the matter, don’t you usually only wear gold and silver? I don’t believe you will still wear this garbage hairpin – uh……”

Li Yucheng watched him calmly put on the hairpin, his mouth slowly opening wide: “Are you possessed by a poor wretch?”

“Great extravagance is unacceptable,” Zhao Yelan taught the fool seriously.

Li Yucheng: “I think you’re possessed. What you said……does it have the slightest credibility? Get rid of your expensive outfit first!”

Yin Pinglu lowered her head and smiled, then asked about business: “Do you want to inquire about the situation in the Yin mansion next? But for what reason can you enter? Direct visits will be rejected, right?”

“The Yin family will come to pay respects.” Zhao Yelan pointed to Li Yucheng, who was dazed from reading the accounts, and said in a low voice, “You may not know yet, but this fool’s father is the Prime Minister.”

Yin Pinglu was surprised: “I really wouldn’t have thought it.”

Li Yucheng: “……Hey! Can you keep your voices down? I can hear everything!”

In the evening, the Yin residence sent someone to invite Li Yucheng over. A few days ago, they were ignoring him, but today they remembered his identity as the Prime Minister’s son. It would be the best way to inquire about news from the capital and ask for help.

Li Yucheng was the guest of honor. He had quite the power and prestige, and let it be known that he would take a good brother with him. Zhao Yelan cooperated with his performance without saying a word.

And “Fu Qian” was actually a person invited by the Yin family. After all, he was the son of Dali Siqing, so he should be able to find out some information.

As soon as the two entered the mansion, Magistrate Yin led a group of people to greet them. Yin Pinglu couldn’t follow them on this trip, so she only gave them rough outlines of those people’s characteristics.

Zhao Yelan looked around covertly, and found that the two younger brothers and several sons-in-law of Magistrate Yin had come. The battle array was quite large, ah.

The dining table was much richer than when Yan Mingting was hosted last time. Perhaps it had been to impress Yan Mingting with their frugality, or maybe this was to cater to the dandyish habits of these two people. In short, the food was pretty good, but the people they were eating with ruined the atmosphere.

While eating, one must also pay attention to the mood.

He was sitting at the same table with a large group of crooked melons and split dates,^[1] which made Li Yucheng look handsome in comparison, and he really lost his appetite.

“Why does Fu-gongzi not eat? Is it not to your taste?” The man opposite him asked with a smile.

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes, and Li Yucheng on the side replied: “Oh, he’s just……homesick.”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him, and Li Yucheng smiled.

“It’s normal to be homesick, when does Fu-gongzi plan to return to the capital?” The man said, “Since you came out to play, your family must be worried about you. It’s only that just recently, Fu-daren may be busy and not be able to take care of you, so why not play in Huaizhou for a while?”

Zhao Yelan smiled: “He is busy every day, I am used to it.”

“There are so many cases in Dali Temple?”

“En, not only are there many cases, but they are all serious cases. Almost none who enter Dali Temple come out.” After Zhao Yelan finished speaking lightly, everyone present had a change in expression.

Magistrate Yin stabilized his breathing and said with a smile: “The governor’s case that has been handed over to Dali Temple in the past two days?”

“I don’t know about that. I’m so far away from the capital. How can I know any news that none of you know?”

In fact, Magistrate Yin wanted to know if he would be interrogated in Dali Temple and the Ministry of Criminal Justice, or if people would be sent to Jiangnan for a thorough investigation. However, seeing that he didn’t know what he was asking, he had no choice but to turn his target to Li Yucheng again. After drinking several cups of wine with him, he patted him on the shoulder earnestly: “Nephew, I’m ashamed to say it, but if it weren’t for my daughter’s age difference, we might have become in-laws too. There is something I have to tell you. Although the governor is married to my eldest daughter, they seldom interact with one another. We didn’t even know that he had done such a stupid thing, ah! You see, can you ask your father to help speak for us?”

Li Yucheng glanced at Zhao Yelan, following his instructions and saying perfunctorily: “It is useless for you to tell me about this. Since you have nothing to do with it, just wait until the truth is found out.”

The others were taking turns to show favor and talk, when someone shouted outside: “General Yan is here!”

Everyone was startled, and they looked over at the gate together to see Yan Mingting stride through it. He went straight to the lobby and came to them in a hurry.

Zhao Yelan was also a little surprised, and watched him intently.

“General, you are back so soon?” Magistrate Yin was taken aback, and quickly asked someone to add a stool.

“Don’t bother, I’ll just squeeze in.” Yan Mingting inserted a foot between Zhao Yelan and Li Yucheng and then sat down.

Li Yucheng’s body tilted and he fell to the side. Then, under everyone’s mocking gazes, he stood up and made a pretense at composure: “Let’s add a stool, I have a big butt.”

Everyone laughed, and only Magistrate Yin wore a strange look as he glanced between the two of them, becoming more and more sure that they were secret cut-sleeves!

Fortunately, he had already sent someone to the capital to inquire about Fu Qian on the night of the Ghost Festival and would have answers soon. Then he would have a handle on Yan Mingting, and may be able to escape.

“General Yan, are you here late at night for something important?” Someone asked.

“I heard that you guys were having a banquet, and just came to have a quick meal since I was hungry. You don’t mind, do you?” Yan Mingting said with a smile.

“Don’t mind, of course we don’t mind. It is our honor that the general is willing to show his face.”

Because of Yan Mingting’s visit, this group of people no longer dared to openly discuss the governor, but just secretly observed his expression. They found that the other party was smiling all the time, and didn’t know if this was beneficial or unfavorable to them.

Ever since Yan Mingting had caught a glimpse of the wooden hairpin he made on Zhao Yelan’s head, the corners of his mouth had not lowered.

Magistrate Yin accidentally knocked his chopsticks to the ground and he bent down to pick them up, only to find that Yan Mingting was secretly holding the hand of the person next to him under the table.

Magistrate Yin: “ ! ”

The case was settled, the two really were having a clandestine affair!

It couldn’t be forgotten that Yan Mingting was the one who received an Imperial decree and married Zhao Yelan!

And who was Zhao Yelan? Even if they had never met before, he had heard about him. If Zhao Yelan knew about this, could Yan Mingting still have a good life?

He thought for a while, and when he raised his head again, a smile finally appeared on his face.

“I want to……hiccup, go back.” Li Yucheng lay on the table, obviously drunk.

Magistrate Yin was asking someone to escort them back, but at this moment, the servant at the door suddenly rushed in: “My lord! Someone is here!”

Magistrate Yin rebuked: “Why are you in a panic and afraid of meeting guests? Who is here?”

“The Imperial envoy from the capital, Zhao Yelan. Zhao-daren!”

Everyone was taken aback, including Yan Mingting and Li Yucheng.

The others walked to the gate in surprise, but the two looked at Zhao Yelan in unison.

Zhao Yelan signaled for them not to act rashly, and the two withdrew their gazes. After a moment, Yan Mingting walked out behind him and whispered something into his ear. Zhao Yelan nodded.

There was a sound of footsteps outside, and the hearts of the others were on edge.

Magistrate Yin didn’t know why, but he looked back and saw Yan Mingting standing behind “Fu Qian,” whispering something and even brushing his hair back.

He got a toothache when he saw this. He had never witnessed such a blatant affair. The wife of the main house has just arrived at the door, and you are still here flirting? I will expose you!

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[1] Crooked melons and split dates (歪瓜裂枣) are ugly/repulsive people or things. ⮐

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Chapter Fifty-Four <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Six

The streets were very lively that night, and every family came to the market and released river lanterns.

The two walked against the current and were carried around by the crowd many times. Zhao Yelan was a little annoyed and walked into a nearby alley, planning to take a detour.

Yan Mingting followed closely behind, and just as he was about to hook his hand again, he heard someone shout: “Child, where is my child?! My child is missing, can anyone help, ah?”

The crowd started to riot, everyone looking around for the child, but not a trace was found. The woman became even more flustered, saying that someone had stolen her child.

Yan Mingting glanced at Zhao Yelan, who said: “Go, ba.”

“There are many people here, you go back to the inn first. I’ll be back soon.” After Yan Mingting gave the order, he turned around and ran back.

Zhao Yelan continued walking along the alley. However, the alleys in this canal town in Jiangnan were many and winding. After walking and walking, he reached a dead end.

He turned around to go back, but stopped abruptly, turning his head to look at the house next to him. There was no light, but there was a muffled grunt from inside, followed by the sound of a head striking the door or window.

When he went to listen carefully again, it was too quiet.

He knocked on the door, then went into the courtyard and called out: “Mother Yun, are you at home? I’m here to bring you something.”

There was a sound inside, and then a candle was lit and a man replied: “Mother Yun has already fallen asleep, come back tomorrow.”

Zhao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly. It really wasn’t the owner’s house.

He made a gesture under the moonlight, and after a moment, Yu Dali and the others appeared quietly.

Zhao Yelan gave them a meaningful look, and everyone stood guard around the house in an orderly manner.

“Mother Yun, why is there a man in your room? Do you have another lover? Let me see who it is.” Zhao Yelan stepped forward and kicked the door open.

“Don’t move!” A black shadow appeared behind the door, strangling his neck from behind. His voice sounded hoarse, as if he hadn’t had a full meal in a few days. “Who are you?”

“I’m Mother Yun’s good friend, who are you?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” The person behind raised his knife and was about to make a move, but he was stopped by another person.

“Don’t do anything, he looks like he might be somebody. Maybe this is a fat sheep.” A woman came out of the shadows and questioned, “What are you giving Mother Yun?”

Zhao Yelan said: “I brought some money. Mother Yun’s life is too hard.”

“Where is the silver?” As the woman spoke, she started to take out the money on his body and there was a sudden pause. She looked down at her waist, where a short, sharp arrow protruded. Blood flowed from the wound, and she looked at the expressionless man before her in astonishment.

“Ah-Li!” The man behind hurriedly helped the woman cover her wound, and then looked at Zhao Yelan furiously. “I’m going to kill you!”

At this time, a wooden stick hit the man’s back fiercely, and Zhao Yelan realized that there was another person in the room. It was a woman, but she was wearing men’s clothes. Her face was filthy, and there was a broken rope under her feet. She should be the girl who was kidnapped by these two people.

The man was so angry that he turned around and decided to kill the woman first. However, a large group of people poured through the surrounding doors and windows, knocked the knife out of his hands, and subdued him to the ground in two or three moves.

Zhao Yelan lit a candle, and the room brightened up. He went up to the man and said: “The arrow is poisonous. If you still want to save this woman, tell me honestly, who are you? What are you doing hiding here?”

The man struggled for a long moment. Looking at the dying woman, he gritted his teeth and revealed their identities. They were the first and second masters who had escaped the bandit’s den.

The two of them were about to flee to the border of Quzhou, but then thought that the most dangerous place might be the safest place, and sneaked back. Unexpectedly, as soon as they returned here, they were discovered by a person who was also sneaking around. That person saw that something was wrong and wanted to send them to the government, and after they kidnapped her in a fit of anger, they found out that she was the Magistrate’s daughter. They were discussing whether to exchange the hostage for money or just dispose of the corpse when they heard footsteps outside.

Zhao Yelan said: “Who else is with you?”

The man held back.

Zhao Yelan picked up the knife and stabbed it into his leg. The man immediately screamed: “Ah –! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

After he explained everything in detail, Yu Dali asked what should be done. Originally, Zhao Yelan wanted to silence them after getting his answers, but thinking that this was Yan Mingting’s responsibility, he said: “Take them back first and hand them over to Yan Mingting for disposal.”

“Ah-Li’s poison……” The man asked hesitantly.

“There is no poison.” Zhao Yelan waved his hand and Yu Dali took the two away, leaving only a few people to protect him.

“Yan Mingting……do you know General Yan?” The woman who had been silent up to now suddenly approached and looked at him vigilantly.

“En.” Zhao Yelan also observed her. “Are you Yin Pinglu?”

“You know of me?”

“You asked Zuo Ran to go to the General’s Mansion to seek help. It would be difficult not to know of you.”

Yu Pinglu was a little surprised. Seeing that he knew everything and had an extraordinary bearing, she said: “You are that Zhao Yelan……Zhao-daren?”

Zhao Yelan nodded and glanced around: “Where are the people of this family?”

“They should have gone out to set off river lanterns. These two thieves randomly found an open house. I had wanted to go to the inn secretly to find the General and the others, but I didn’t expect to meet these two thieves on the way,” Yin Pinglu replied.

“Then let’s go back together.”

Yin Pinglu nodded. Noticing a little blood on his hands, she asked: “Are you injured?”

“No.”

“Wash them first, ba, it won’t be good if others see.”

Yin Pinglu swiftly fetched a basin of water. Zhao Yelan didn’t refuse, and saw that she was going to wash the blood from the room in the meantime, likely afraid that the owners would be shocked when they returned to this scene. He asked: “You were the one who made the knocking sound just now?”

“En, when I heard footsteps, I took desperate measures to hit the window.” When Yin Pinglu said this, her expression was polite and indifferent.

She was saved tonight thanks to this man, so she answered all of his questions. However, she also knew that this man’s reputation outside was not very good. She had learned at the border that General Yan had married him, but she still didn’t know what their true relationship was, so she dared not let down her guard easily. Everything could be discussed after meeting General Yan and Zuo Ran.

Fortunately, Zhao Yelan didn’t intend to communicate further with her. The two exited the gate in silence, and Zhao Yelan’s expression froze. He said somewhat awkwardly: “You lead the way.”

Yin Pinglu was taken aback, smiled inwardly, and then led the way without a change in expression: “The alley back here is a bit difficult to traverse. Be careful, my lord.”

“Call me Fu Qian.”

“All right, Fu Qian.”

“……” Zhao Yelan hadn’t met such a sensible person for a long time. She never voiced a word of doubt.

In the inn, as soon as Yan Mingting sat down after helping to find the child, he received a message from Yu Dali. After ordering the two to be sent to prison first, he rushed out of the inn anxiously, but was lucky enough to see Zhao Yelan’s figure right away. Relieved, he stepped forward and asked: “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, we’ll talk when we get back,” Zhao Yelan said in a low voice.

Yan Mingting watched until he entered the building before turning around to do something, but unexpectedly ran into Yin Pinglu, who wasn’t looking very good. He said in a daze: “Why are you here?”

“……I’ve been here for a while,” Yin Pinglu said. “It is only that your attention has been focused on others.”

Yan Mingting smiled in embarrassment: “It’s great that you’ve returned safely. I’m going to the prison now, you go to Zuo Ran first. She’s in the opposite room.”

Yin Pinglu nodded, glanced at his back, and then looked up at a certain room on the third floor, thinking to herself that these two seemed to get along very well, and she had been worried for nothing.

When the restaurant closed, the waiter went to the drinking table in the lobby and said: “My lords, we are going to close. You should go back to rest early.”

“I know, I know.” Li Yucheng waved his hand, looked at the closed door, and said in a low voice, “Are you going to go back to your room? You are comfortable drinking tea, but I am about to throw up after drinking so much wine.”

Zhao Yelan got up, and Li Yucheng quickly followed with a burp: “Don’t worry, with his martial arts, no one can hurt him, ah. He will be back soon, so you can go to sleep in peace.”

Ignoring his words, Zhao Yelan went back to the room, undressed, and took a bath.

About a quarter of an hour later, he heard the sound of a door. He subconsciously grabbed the weapon that was set to the side, and only withdrew his hand when he heard Yan Mingting’s voice.

“You even left the door open for me?” Yan Mingting walked into the room with ease and saw the unfolded glass screen. He could vaguely make out the figure of the person inside, and paused. Sitting down at the table, he finally couldn’t hold back, and looked over steadily. 

Anyway, it was so opaque. The other party would never know.

Zhao Yelan wiped off his body and put on his inner robes. He stepped out from behind the screen, but suddenly stopped in his tracks, saying with a strange look: “You peeked.”

“No, no, no, what nonsense are you on about? Now could I peek?” Yan Mingting firmly denied it.

“Come here.” Zhao Yelan walked over to tug him by the sleeve toward the bronze mirror. “See for yourself what you look like now.”

Yan Mingting only felt two streams of heat billowing out of his nose, and smiled awkwardly: “It’s so hot, it’s easy to get overheated.”

Zhao Yelan gave him a sharp glance and picked up a handkerchief to staunch the bleeding, asking: “What did the interrogators find out?”

Yan Mingting raised his face and replied: “Their accomplices have been recruited. This matter may be related to the officials in Quzhou. I’ll have to go there in person.”

“When are you going?”

“Tonight.”

Zhao Yelan paused: “Why don’t you go sooner?”

“There’s no hurry, my men are preparing horses and dry food.” Yan Mingting’s bleeding stopped, and he pressed the other down on the stool, picking up a new dry handkerchief to wipe his hair. He said, “I’m leaving some people here for you. You must pay attention to your safety these few days.”

Zhao Yelan: “The terrain in Quzhou is dangerous. Those bandits have not been wiped out entirely, and are taking advantage of the terrain, so don’t be careless.”

“I know, I will take these two thieves as bait, and Zuo Ran will also go with me. She is very familiar with the terrain in Quzhou.”

“Will that Yin Pinglu also go with you?”

“She won’t, we’re going to catch bandits, and it would be inconvenient to take her with us. Aren’t you checking on the situation of the officials in Huaizhou? I have spoken to her, and she is willing to stay and assist you.”

“She listens to you, it seems that your relationship is very close, ah,” Zhao Yelan said inexplicably.

“Don’t slander my reputation, she is doing it to get herself out of trouble. If she can’t rid herself of the Yin family completely, she won’t be able to escape her fate and will be captured sooner or later, becoming a society-climbing tool in the hands of Magistrate Yin.”

Zhao Yelan let out a long sigh.

Yan Mingting spoke again: “You probably won’t be able to hide your identity for long. It’s not like there are people like you everywhere in the capital, so be more cautious.”

The two made themselves clear and Zhao Yelan’s hair was almost dry. He lay down on the bed and saw that the other hadn’t left. He said: “Still leaving?”

“Why are you urging me so hard?” Yan Mingting sat down beside the bed unhappily. “You want me to get lost so much?”

“Exactly.”

Yan Mingting choked: “You’re so cruel!”

Zhao Yelan smiled and patted the seat next to him: “Let’s lie down.”

Yan Mingting glanced at him, flattered, and his face beamed with joy. Without saying a word, he took off his outer robes and lay beside him. He didn’t seem to know where to put his hands. At first they were tightly pressed to the outside of his thighs, and then they were folded across his chest.

Catching this sight from the corner of his eye, Zhao Yelan turned sideways, propped himself up, and stared openly at his embarrassment.

Yan Mingting: “……”

The atmosphere was very good at this time, and he felt that something should be done. Yan Mingting slowly looked at Zhao Yelan and grinned: “Are you going to sleep yet?”

Zhao Yelan raised his eyebrows. His gaze lingered on his face, and he slowly opened his lips: “Not sleeping.”

“Then why don’t we……get to know each other better?” Yan Mingting suggested, swallowing.

Zhao Yelan glanced at him and asked in a low voice: “How do we get to know each other better?”

Yan Mingting’s ears itched, and he asked what he had kept in his heart for a long time: “Can you tell me about your past?”

Zhao Yelan paused.

Yan Mingting waited for a while, inexplicably feeling that the atmosphere had been ruined, and as expected, he was kicked out of bed the next moment.

Ever since confirming their intentions, he wanted to know more about the other party. Even though they had met previously, they hadn’t had much interaction, and he was a little disappointed that he hadn’t been able to participate in the other’s past.

His mentality had changed unnoticeably. At first, he was unwilling to take the initiative to investigate because he feared that Zhao Yelan would be hurt, but now, Zhao Yelan had completely become his other half in his eyes. It was reasonable to want to know more about the other party’s past, and even bear the pain together.

Even though the past may be painful, it was like pus, painful when squeezed out, but more conducive to recovery, ah.

“I was wrong, I won’t ask you in the future.” Yan Mingting got up and sat in front of the bed, and was quick to admit his mistake. He stretched out his hand aggrievedly. “You hit me, ba.”

Zhao Yelan sat up, stepped on his shoulder with one foot, and pinched his chin. Looking down into his eyes, he asked calmly: “Is this what you meant by getting to know each other better?”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t want me to know,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan kicked his shoulder: “You’d better sleep on the floor, it’s cooler.”

Yan Mingting knew he was wrong and went to make the bed bitterly, but when he passed by the table, his eyes accidentally stopped on the bronze mirror.

It was facing the person on the bed. Two lotus root arms in their blue silk sleeves rested beside the pillow, and he lazily tried to hook the blanket up with his feet, but couldn’t do it for a long time.

Yan Mingting turned around to cover him with the blanket, looking down at him silently.

“……” Zhao Yelan stared at him. “You have a nosebleed again.”

Immediately covering his nose, Yan Mingting picked up the handkerchief and wiped it: “This weather is really terrible, hehehehe……”

At this time, there was a loud whistle outside as Zuo Ran signaled him.

“I have to go, you have a good rest.” Yan Mingting put on his clothes, took one last look at him, and softly walked out the door.

Zhao Yelan’s lips curved when he heard the sound of the door closing, and he got up to lock it.

Unexpectedly, when he was just a few steps away, the door was suddenly pushed open. Yan Mingting rushed in again in a hurry, stopping abruptly in front of him as if he hadn’t expected him to be up.

The two looked at each other. Zhao Yelan glanced at the door and was about to speak, when suddenly Yan Mingting cupped his cheeks, short of breath.

Zhao Yelan: “ ? ”

“I will miss you.” After saying this, Yan Mingting kissed him forcefully on the forehead. Afraid of being beaten, he turned around and ran away after the kiss.

Zhao Yelan was stunned for a moment. After locking the door, he touched his forehead and muttered: “Blockhead.”

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Chapter Fifty-Three <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifty-Five