[Are you sure Shen Li even remembers you?]
[When Shen Li was dating me, you were probably off somewhere playing in the mud.]
The moment Qian Xingzhi sent those two messages, he watched Su Xilan immediately send new ones back, firing several little-rabbit-cursing-“grass” memes in a row:
“Grass! (a kind of plant)”
At the top of the conversation box appeared a long-lasting [The other party is typing…]. No one knew what kind of essay he was composing now.
Seriously unhinged.
Perhaps birds of a feather repelled one another, or perhaps it was because of Su Xilan’s reminder during the day—“But he hasn’t been your wife for a long time”—but several traces of deep impatience finally flashed through Qian Xingzhi’s dark eyes. His long fingers tapped the screen several times like he was playing a piano. His movements were crisp and decisive as he blocked the other person with one tap. Then he stretched out a long leg, stepped on the accelerator, and started the battered car he had spent fifty yuan renting.
The engine let out a long, droning “zooooom~.” The next second, the little wreck turned around and shot away in a cloud of dust along the empty rural road, utterly unlike the stately twenty-kilometer-per-hour crawl he had used while bringing Shen Li back.
Just then, however, his phone buzzed again. It was his assistant and the program supervisor, repeatedly asking whether Shen Li was with him, whether it was getting too late, and whether he could hurry up and release Shen Li back to them—
They made it sound ridiculously serious.
Like a high-school discipline director catching students fooling around in the grove and hauling them in for a lecture.
Annoying.
…
Qian Xingzhi amused himself with his own thought and lifted the corner of his mouth.
Back then, after every evening self-study session, he would ask Shen Li to come out and meet him.
But Shen Li, that rigidly well-behaved model student, usually had to be begged for an entire semester before reluctantly agreeing once. Normally, forget going into the grove together—even if they happened to go to the restroom at the same time, Shen Li insisted on keeping an empty stall between them.
Replying to notes was the same. Either “Mm,” or “1.” If he said a little more, it was three characters’ worth: “Got it.” If Qian Xingzhi annoyed him too much and he became irritated, the answer was simply “Scram.”
If that word came out of Shen Li’s actual mouth instead of appearing in a message, it naturally sounded much better.
But when it was only a message, Qian Xingzhi could merely imagine Shen Li’s pale face and cool voice, sitting upright and rigid while looking at the blackboard or straight ahead.
Although that looked very good too.
The loose hair falling over Shen Li’s forehead and tracing his temple and profile always seemed to carry some invisible magnetic pull, making people want to turn that beautiful face toward them by force, until those cool, tranquil eyes could only meet their own in astonishment.
Divorced for seven years.
Seven years without seeing each other.
Qian Xingzhi rested one hand against the car window and, for some reason, slowed the second half of the drive back down to twenty kilometers per hour.
And so, on this long summer night, moonlight spilled through the window onto the passenger seat, scattering patches of light and shadow.
Qian Xingzhi irritably glanced at the completely empty passenger seat. With a sweep of his large hand, he simply tossed the phone in his right hand onto the seat beside him.
He used too much force.
The phone clattered and fell into the gap between the seats.
Qian Xingzhi ignored it and let the phone make trouble in the crack by itself. He increased his speed slightly and drove toward the staff’s temporary accommodations.
—
“President Qian, you came over so suddenly! I didn’t reserve a room for you here! Didn’t they communicate with you already? Tonight you’re supposed to stay connected with your ex. Didn’t anyone over there tell you?”
The program supervisor looked up and down at Qian Xingzhi’s mud-splattered vehicle. He kept feeling that this depreciated secondhand car—which might not even sell for ten thousand yuan—was completely incompatible with the status of a major movie star like Qian Xingzhi.
Yet the man in the understated sunglasses stood close to two meters tall. With his mask pulled halfway down, his high nose bridge, smooth facial lines, and three-dimensional bone structure that looked like Nüwa’s graduation project made him unmistakable.
It really was Qian Xingzhi.
So when Xiao Chen had just reported that Shen Li needed to leave on his own for a while to handle an urgent private matter, had he gone to handle it with this man…? But at this point, if Qian Xingzhi still had to return to the room arranged by the production team, would he even make it in time for the call?
While the supervisor was still shocked, he heard Qian Xingzhi say:
“I don’t need a good room. Any random storage room is fine. You don’t even have something like that?”
The supervisor looked troubled too. He thought carefully, then hesitated. “There are rooms that haven’t been cleaned. There could be rats, and there isn’t even hot water… ah, no, no, that won’t do. We can’t let you suffer like that. If you really need somewhere to sleep, how about I have some of the other staff squeeze together and let them give you a room?”
The corner of Qian Xingzhi’s mouth turned downward.
The supervisor had phrased that very artfully. Either way, he was leaving the option of being the bad guy to Qian Xingzhi. Whether Qian Xingzhi chose it would depend entirely on his character.
Qian Xingzhi had seen far too many arrogant, overbearing people in the industry. Unfortunately, he was not that kind of person himself. He genuinely could not bring himself to force someone else out of their room, nor did he enjoy the supervisor’s cautious flattery and probing. So his refusal was decisive:
“No. I’ll sleep in the one with the rats.”
The supervisor bowed repeatedly and gave an awkward smile. “Oh, why put yourself through that? Besides, aren’t you supposed to stay connected with Teacher Shen tonight… If you stay here, then what about the call?”
Qian Xingzhi looked at his phone. It really was almost time for them to connect, so he narrowed his eyes and told the supervisor:
“I won’t use your equipment. We’ll use our phones. Don’t trouble yourselves with the recording either. I’ll handle it myself.”
The supervisor looked extremely troubled because they had originally agreed to use the program’s equipment…
But seeing that there was absolutely no room for negotiation on Qian Xingzhi’s side, he could only bite the bullet and agree.
He said he still needed to ask Chief Director Li for approval. Qian Xingzhi let him go.
This variety show had essentially been brought into existence by Qian Xingzhi himself, but he was not a professional variety-show producer after all, so he still needed a capable partner.
After weighing all sides, he had selected Li Zhiming.
Li Zhiming was an extremely shrewd businessman who had produced many S-tier variety shows and had even pioneered the industry of “livestream variety shows.”
Judging by his résumé, someone capable of openly breaking with WCC, striking out independently, and still achieving enormous success definitely had real ability.
But no one could see into another person’s heart. Qian Xingzhi did not completely understand or trust Li Zhiming’s character. So for overall security considerations, when facing a suddenly added segment like this, it was safer to keep the initiative in his own hands. Using his own phone to connect with Shen Li was the only way to completely eliminate the possibility of secret recording and ensure that anything they did not want heard would never be heard by anyone.
The supervisor therefore went to make a call. He walked a few steps away, covered the receiver, murmured several things into it, then returned and handed Qian Xingzhi the phone. “President Qian, Director Li.”
Qian Xingzhi put his mask back on and answered expressionlessly, immediately putting his imposing manner back in place:
“Mm? What is it, Director Li?”
The voice on the other end was deep and resonant, laughing like a bell:
“Xingzhi, you… ah, we’ve known each other so long. You don’t trust your brother’s character?”
Qian Xingzhi did not expose him directly. He seemed to give a cold laugh, his voice cool. “You suddenly added a segment like this to exploit Shen Li and me. Why didn’t you discuss it with me first?”
“Oh, come on, you don’t know what happened. A police officer suddenly came to us and said one of our guests is a criminal suspect. They haven’t finished collecting evidence so they can’t arrest him yet, and we were asked to create some segment that would stop him from using his phone, so his accomplices can’t tip him off. I was confused too. He’s right here with us—where could he even run? But the police said it was still best not to alert the snake in the grass. So, well, this was the desperate measure I came up with.”
Qian Xingzhi said, “You banning his phone has nothing to do with making me stay connected on a call. I thought adding content outside our agreement required you to inform me first.”
“Hehe.” Director Li laughed knowingly. “Xingzhi, look how worked up you are. Don’t you know who I’m doing this for? I’m just adding some fuel to the fire for you. Tsk, if you won’t appreciate your buddy’s kindness, nobody’s helping you next time.”
The corner of Qian Xingzhi’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly. He gave no answer about whether he wanted to stay connected on the call and only said:
“We’ll use our own phones. After recording is finished, we’ll send you whatever parts can be released. I won’t guarantee thirty minutes. Also, making viewers pay eighty-eight yuan just to watch it again needs to be renegotiated.”
With Qian Xingzhi already stating it this way, the person on the other side could only laugh a few times.
They were both shrewd people.
Some things did not need to be said too plainly.
Besides, Qian Xingzhi was one of the co-investors and therefore had a certain amount of authority.
Director Li gave a laugh and compromised. “Fine. Could I really say no? Just make sure you actually record something, okay? Having to reshoot it later would be a pain.”
“Mm.”
Having achieved his goal, Qian Xingzhi had no other demands.
The supervisor on this side led him into a room. The instant the man left, Qian Xingzhi kicked out his long legs, dropped boldly onto the broken bed, removed his sunglasses and mask, and reviewed the internet at top speed.
Like an emperor approving memorials.
After replying to several key people, he returned to his Weibo backend and enabled visitor access to the list of [Accounts Followed by This Blogger] on his account.
—
[Whoa, I was just browsing Qian Xingzhi’s Weibo. Look what I found! [screenshot.jpg]]
[Holy shit?! He followed Shen Li that early too?? Is this picture edited?]
[Edited my ass. Anyone who doesn’t believe it can go look for themselves.]
[Oh my god. It looks like he followed him even earlier than Su Xilan… my god, he followed him right after registering the account???]
[AAAAAAAH I’M ALIVE AGAIN! I knew the ship I just started liking couldn’t sink that easily!]
[Shen Li definitely has history with both of them. As for which one is actually the ex, that’s still uncertain.]
[Anyway, Shen Li being the real sister-in-law is basically confirmed beyond doubt. Now we just don’t know which one he dated.]
[I lean more toward Qian Xingzhi. They’re closer in age, right? Broccoli is only twenty-two. Even if it was a flash marriage and flash divorce, there wouldn’t have been enough time, would there?]
[Either way… both of them rushing to open visibility on their following lists is extremely delicious.]
[Hahahaha, so is there a possibility! That two people are fighting over one person?!]
[Stop thinking right now. Qin-Lian shippers are already about to have their hearts broken…]
Shen Li was brushing his teeth with one hand while scrolling through his phone with the other.
When he saw these comments, his finger paused slightly. He searched the name “Su Xilan” on Baidu and finally confirmed that it really was the same person as “Lian Xiaoqi.”
When he had been in the car with Qian Xingzhi, he had not had time to check any messages at all. Now, after the System announced that the gift-giving period had ended, Shen Li confirmed that he had received absolutely no gifts and therefore no longer needed to rack his brain socializing in return. Only then did he relax completely and take an early shower.
Once phone use was allowed again, he finally had time to brush his teeth while checking how public opinion around the program had developed—naturally including the clipped segment of Lian Xiaoqi’s monologue from the afternoon.
Because what Lian Xiaoqi had said was so bizarre, Shen Li actually froze in front of his phone for two seconds with his mouth still full of toothpaste foam.
Only after confirming that he had not lost his memory, had not transmigrated, had a clean personal history, and genuinely had never been a scumbag to anyone did he expressionlessly drag the progress bar back and watch it two or three more times.
He scraped his gums bloody with the disposable toothbrush and still could not make sense of it.
What was this supposed to be?
Was it scripted?
Shen Li licked the gum that tasted of blood, genuinely somewhat unsettled. Could the dozens of messages that had popped up on Qian Xingzhi’s phone have something to do with this too?
Shen Li, a former criminal investigator, thought for a long time and still could not understand the man’s motive. So he simply replayed the video again, this time looking at Lian Xiaoqi a few more times too.
He had to admit the kid had grown into his features more than he had in the film several years ago.
People said popularity nourished a person, and apparently that was true. The young man before him now was indeed brighter and more dazzling in both temperament and bearing than he had appeared in the movie.
When Shen Li had originally gone to see that film, he had remembered Qian Xingzhi’s scene partner vividly. Perhaps the plot of Creation of the Gods had simply been too well written, the film too fluidly shot, and the emotions too delicate. Even a viewer like Shen Li, who did not like watching movies, had become completely immersed.
But Shen Li truly had not noticed that Lian Xiaoqi would be joining the show this time. Even though he had seen the program’s promotional material and the official account had tagged many guest names, he had already forgotten Lian Xiaoqi’s real name. At the beginning, he had not even noticed the man was one of the observers in the observation room.
So had this person been specially given a script for that performance in the afternoon?
But why would there be a script like that? Wasn’t everything he said basically Qian Xingzhi’s lines? Then what was Qian Xingzhi supposed to say later?
…Forget it.
They could say whatever they wanted.
Whether there was a script or not would not affect Shen Li’s three million yuan.
Shen Li yawned and, with wet fingers, swiped the clip away and returned his phone screen to the home page.
He first wiped his face clean, casually rubbed on some Dabao moisturizer, then sat back down on his little bed.
He replied first to messages from the teachers at the university, then asked Lin Jie about progress on the case, and finally told Geng Qiuqiu good night. After that, he opened his chat list, which no longer had any unread messages, and stared expressionlessly at one contact icon.
Waiting for Qian Xingzhi to call him.
Xiao Chen had just told him that tonight they would still be using their own private phones for the call.
Although nobody had clearly explained exactly how the call was supposed to work or what they were supposed to say, there were definitely no fixed lines.
So Shen Li waited in complete boredom, comfortably reclining against the soft cushion at the head of the bed.
The warm yellow lighting fell over him like a thin veil, making his face look exceptionally soft.
Even time itself seemed to slow down and become gentle around him.
The feeling of waiting for Qian Xingzhi to call was a little strange and a little familiar.
It suddenly made Shen Li remember the evenings before every rest day in the past. After washing up and showering, he would sit on the bed and go through Party-course materials while waiting for Qian Xingzhi to finish showering too.
At first it had been fine. When they were young, both of them had enthusiasm, and kissing would turn into sex.
Later, life really had become something like this… like the feeling of waiting for Qian Xingzhi’s call now.
One-tenth awkwardness, one percent impatience, one-thousandth nervousness.
As for the remaining 88.9 percent, it was perfunctory cooperation born from having to complete a task.
Thinking back on it now was actually a little funny.
Because he really had tried to pretend back then, but in the end he still could not fake looking as though he enjoyed that sort of thing. It probably really had hurt someone’s pride a little.
But what could he do?
Work during the day already exhausted him to death. Besides, he was the one on the bottom, and it simply was not very comfortable for him—or rather, he basically had never found it physically pleasurable. When they were younger and did it more often, he had participated willingly, but the psychological satisfaction had always outweighed the physical.
It seemed that only when they were doing that sort of thing would Shen Li suddenly realize just how much he loved Qian Xingzhi.
Otherwise, if it was that uncomfortable and he could still endure it, what else could that be but love?
Shen Li drowsily thought about this and waited a full fifteen minutes. When it was already 23:50, Qian Xingzhi still had not called.
Following the work principle of “If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain,” Shen Li decided to call him first and ask what was going on.
Beep. Beep. Beep—
The ringtone played for nearly half a minute, but no one answered.
Shen Li frowned coldly and placed a WeChat call instead.
This one was rejected immediately.
Shen Li wanted to send a question mark, but he restrained himself and did not.
He typed for a long time. Finally, half a minute later, he sent three standard, utterly emotionless words—barely better than a question mark:
[Are you busy?]
Still no reply.
Shen Li drew a deep breath. He genuinely felt some anger now. He immediately turned off the light, shut off his phone screen, turned his back to the phone, and lay down fully dressed.
However—
Three minutes later, the instant the WeChat notification sounded, he still turned his face back and expressionlessly picked up the phone.
A single lonely message appeared in the notification box:
[(Coin Symbol): [image]]
Because Shen Li knew all too well Qian Xingzhi’s habit of obsessively using reaction images, he did not think much of it and tapped into the chat with a cold face.
There he saw…
a wet photograph of abdominal muscles.
It came with one line of text and a blank-faced dog reaction image:
[I wasn’t ignoring your call on purpose. I had Do Not Disturb on because I was taking pictures.]
[[Little dog stands up and begins showing off little dog belly].gif]
Shen Li’s fingertip paused. Expressionless, he tapped [View Original].
After a long moment, he sent one reply:
[Average.]