Shen Li enlarged the screenshots Qian Xingzhi had sent and stared at them silently for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Instinctively, he sighed and sent Qian Xingzhi the System’s [Like] reaction.
This back-and-forth looked a little like a conversation in a family group chat—one person sending an awkward image, the other replying.
Even better, half a minute later, Qian Xingzhi sent back a yellow-bean [Pout] emoji.
Shen Li fell speechless.
Even the way Qian Xingzhi chatted had changed a great deal.
In the past, whenever Qian Xingzhi believed he had done something important, he would bombard Shen Li with dozens of messages.
First, he would describe the entire event in painstaking detail. Then he would explain his purpose and motivation, usually including his current emotions and mood as well—
Not one long essay-like report, but one text bubble followed rapidly by another.
He used more exclamation marks than commas, and altogether it could easily run past three hundred characters.
So in the past, whenever Shen Li opened Qian Xingzhi’s chat window, he would usually be greeted by a whole chain of messages.
Mixed in between were plenty of goofy-dog stickers.
Come to think of it, Qian Xingzhi’s most frequently used sticker back then had been a big golden retriever wagging its tail, happily launching itself into its big brother’s arms and knocking all the other puppies away with its butt.
And now…
Shen Li silently looked at Qian Xingzhi’s little yellow-bean [Pout]. Even though he had long known Qian Xingzhi had changed a lot, he still felt briefly at a loss.
Over these seven years, Qian Xingzhi really had matured almost too much.
Xiao Zhang drove very quickly. The scenery outside swept backward at high speed, unfolding before Shen Li’s eyes and vanishing almost instantly.
Trees, utility poles, and houses became streaks of afterimages. Even time itself seemed compressed in that moment.
Shen Li sat expressionlessly for a while longer, then finally deleted the words he had spent a long time typing:
[Do you still have a fever?]
Qian Xingzhi’s side also showed “typing,” but after a long while, no message arrived.
Forget it.
Leave it like this.
Shen Li’s long fingers swiped upward on WeChat. Just as he was about to lock the screen, another new message popped up.
But it was not from Qian Xingzhi.
[Zhou Yulin]
[Xiao Li, I’ve been watching your show recently.]
Shen Li’s brows drew together slightly. He opened it at once and saw that Zhou Yulin’s messages were as concise and polite as always.
Two more arrived beneath the first.
[I’m returning to China the day after tomorrow.]
[I heard you can use your phone after 11:30 every night. If you’re not busy tonight, can I call you?]
Seeing that, Shen Li’s brows tightened another degree.
He had only seen Zhou Yulin once half a year ago during the New Year. He had not expected Zhou Yulin to return again after only six months.
Without thinking much about it, Shen Li tapped out a simple reply.
[Mm, okay.]
Shen Li’s chats had always been this efficient.
Zhou Yulin did not mind his coldness at all. Instead, he added another message.
[I saw that Qian Xingzhi just dissolved his fan-support club? Did you see it?]
[Mm, I saw it.]
[That’s good.]
[I just read his PR statement. He seems to have changed quite a lot too.]
[Mm, he has.]
[Haha, Xiao Li, you still chat exactly the same way.]
[I checked the time in China and originally thought there was a chance someone else had your phone and was replying for you. But the moment you sent those two lines, I knew it was you.]
Shen Li’s fingertip paused.
He did not quite know what to say, so he sent a very simple text emoticon made from punctuation.
[==,]
Fortunately, Zhou Yulin did not start another topic. He only added that he would wait to call Shen Li that night.
Shen Li did not reply again, and before long he had completely put the matter out of his mind.
By the time he returned to the cottage, it was already past eleven thirty and nearly lunchtime.
The sky was overcast today and looked as though it might rain.
Because the livestream would begin at noon, staff hurried back and forth through the cottage in quick, orderly movements, as though every second mattered.
The camera Jiang Nan had smashed that morning had originally been one of the heavy-duty fixed units. In less than two hours, a backup had already been brought in to replace it.
But Shen Li glanced at the replacement. It was obviously older and not as good as the one that had been broken.
“Shen Li! You’re back?!”
The moment Lin Xu saw him come in, he hurried over in a few strides.
When they had left earlier, Lin Xu had still been sleeping in. Now he was finally awake and had clearly heard about “Shen Li taking Jiang Nan to the police station.” He peered behind Shen Li.
Other than the driver, Xiao Zhang, no one else was there. Jiang Nan and Director Xiao Chen had not returned!
Lin Xu’s eyes immediately widened, his soul of gossip blazing. “…Holy shit. Wait, where’s Brother Jiang?”
Shen Li gave him a mild glance. “Do you need him for something?”
“No, of course I don’t! But—did Brother Jiang really get locked up?” Lin Xu’s booming voice drew practically half the people in the cottage out. “Damn, that’s brutal, Shen Li. I thought taking him away was just to let him cool down, or maybe fine him a little, or at most give him a lecture!”
Shen Li could actually tell Jiang Nan was not the only one who had thought that.
Li Weiwei looked surprised too. Ke Jiujiu’s mouth fell open. Yang Zhiqi had been secretly eating one of the quail eggs meant for plating; halfway through, even the egg dropped from his hand.
A whole group crowded around, instantly forming a loose oval around Shen Li, who stood at one focus of the oval and also became the focus of everyone’s attention.
“Xiao Shen, what exactly happened? Tell us.”
Yang Zhiqi clapped his hands and came over asking like a leader conducting an inspection.
Shen Li gave him a mild glance without speaking. Then Cao Sheng’s voice sounded from behind and took over the explanation for him.
“Ahem. Xiao Chen is giving her statement. She called just now and said Jiang Nan has agreed to compensate double the original price of the camera and has shown a good attitude in admitting fault. He probably won’t be held for too long. But the officers at the station said they still need to give him some ideological education. His exact release time hasn’t been decided yet. He most likely won’t be able to participate in today’s filming.”
The instant Cao Sheng finished, the whole room fell silent.
Including many staff members.
The main reason was that, working themselves to the bone in the entertainment industry, they had seen far too many guests smash things, throw tantrums, or even hit people. Anyone with status, connections, or enough popularity would take out any bad mood on ordinary workers like them.
Being cursed at was considered mild. If worse bullying landed on their heads, the vast majority had no choice but to endure it.
If they truly could not bear it, they could resign, but then the bully would only feel even more triumphant.
At worst, they would simply find another punching bag. They would not even have to pay the slightest price.
But someone like Jiang Nan—who had merely smashed a few things and was immediately dragged to the station, and apparently could not even get released the same day…
It was practically cathartic.
Several camera operators and follow-up directors exchanged glances after hearing Cao Sheng’s explanation. They could barely suppress the upward curl of their mouths. Someone even muttered, “Fucking awesome,” under their breath, though half the room definitely heard it.
Since everything that could be explained had already been explained, Shen Li had nothing to add. He took a few steps and quietly slipped away from the center of the crowd.
He was about to return to his room and give his aching knee a simple massage after it had been swollen and sore all morning.
Then Ke Jiujiu stuck to him again and grabbed his arm.
“Brother Shen, come eat with us! I just made caviar mini truffle potato towers, lemon-foam sea-urchin pasta, and Truffle Cheese Mousse with candied figs~ Come try them!”
Shen Li narrowed his eyes. He felt full just hearing the names.
His head was a little dizzy, his stomach was sour and unsettled, and the knee he had ignored all morning because too much was happening now felt so swollen it was almost unbearable.
Frowning coldly, Shen Li let Ke Jiujiu drag him to the dining table and at least sat down.
Ke Jiujiu sat on his left, Lin Xu on his right, and Yang Zhiqi across from him—noise coming from three directions like he was surrounded on all sides.
But Shen Li was actually not very good at refusing people.
He had hardly participated in the recent breakfast and lunch cooking segments. He either ate finished bread or whatever someone else had prepared, at most washing some dishes afterward. He did not want to dampen everyone’s mood. Since they had dragged him over, he simply picked up a fork and ate a little.
The moment he took one bite of a pickle, his churning stomach rebelled even more violently.
His entire body felt wrong. Even his awareness was somewhat hazy. He could barely keep himself upright while listening to the table conversation, doing his best not to look too unwell, yet there was no avoiding other people speaking to him.
As the meal continued, noon arrived without anyone noticing.
At the exact scheduled time, every camera in the cottage silently began livestreaming.
[Holy shit! They’re eating! Let me scan the table!! Is Qian Xingzhi in there?!]
[Nope. Wasn’t Qian Xingzhi supposed to move in today? Observation room, please hurry up and say whether he’s coming or not. Keeping us hanging all night is seriously annoying!]
[Yao Shuang is hosting the observation room today. Neither Qian Xingzhi nor Su Xilan is there.]
[Refund, refund, refund, refund. Please refund the stuff I bought in the livestream yesterday. I only bought it because of Qian Xingzhi. Now that he dissolved the fan group, I don’t want it anymore.]
[Upstairs, just contact customer service for a refund. If it hasn’t shipped, shouldn’t the money be back in like ten seconds? What good does shouting here do?]
[What happened? What happened? What did Qian Xingzhi do? I haven’t checked Weibo yet!]
[Just now, Qian Xingzhi got furious on behalf of the shippers pairing him with Shen Li and dissolved his own solo-fan group.]
[Six out of six. Today’s headline writers should hire you.]
[..As a fangirl, I’ll be honest. If I were one of Qian Xingzhi’s “Piggy Banks,” I’d break down too. What he did really hurts the fans, especially with how absolute his wording was.]
[Really? I’m a complete passerby, and I think responding this quickly earns major points. It was ridiculously cool.]
[I’m just someone who watches Chinese entertainment for gossip, and even I kind of want to become a fan now. [scratching head]]
[I think the relationship between fans and celebrities should just be a light kind of appreciation. Qian Xingzhi dissolved his fan group because he doesn’t want people getting too fanatical over him.]
[Ahhh~ Holy shit! Yao Shuang is about to announce it!!!!]
In the livestream observation room.
Yao Shuang looked somewhat tired from maintaining her on-camera persona. She stared at the teleprompter and professionally followed the program flow.
“All right. The next thing after we begin today’s broadcast is to reveal whether everyone’s guess yesterday about the ‘ex-husband guest in the observation room’ was correct—Zhen Tian, what do you think?”
Zhen Tian smiled and delivered a long string of polished remarks, his expression sour as he gazed passionately at the screen and said how much he envied Qian Xingzhi.
Yao Shuang waited for him to perform for three minutes, discreetly rolled her eyes, then passed the question to the next person.
“All right. What does Jiang Cheng think?”
Another two minutes.
Only when the viewers had been tortured by the program’s pacing to the point of nearly cursing and the moderation bots had already deleted a large number of comments containing profanity did Yao Shuang, at the peak of audience agitation, slowly take a sip of tea and ask the director to switch shots.
On the large public screen—
Ink-drop shapes spread outward.
First, a blurred ID-style photograph appeared. Looking more closely, it really was Qian Xingzhi from the chest up!
Even though the other half was completely covered, anyone could tell this was clearly a photograph from a marriage certificate.
Qian Xingzhi’s deep-set, distinctive features were unmistakable. He still looked absurdly handsome.
But the familiar firmness was absent from the usually cold set of his brows, and his eyes did not carry their customary calm, aloof nobility.
In the photograph, those cool, distant peach-blossom eyes were smiling so brightly they almost looked like puppy eyes.
The corners of his lips were lifted in open happiness, revealing a cheerful, infectious smile.
His whole person radiated a joyful, carefree energy.
The online discussion board remained silent for roughly ten seconds before new posts erupted like a geyser.
The livestream comments froze for three seconds too, then began filling with a continuous stream of single-character exclamations.
[Fuck]
[Shit]
[Damn]
[I’m fainting]
[Huh?]
[…]
Then Yao Shuang calmly took another sip of flower tea and continued with the program.
“Ahem. All right. As everyone can see, Qian Xingzhi was indeed married before. However, we have concealed the date of his marriage and the identity of his spouse, mainly because our next public guessing event is to guess which person is Qian Xingzhi’s ex. At the same time, the civilian guests in the cottage will also conduct a short-term guess, with a two-hour time limit.”
As Yao Shuang announced the rules, the comments were already laughing.
[Huh? Qian Xingzhi’s ex… isn’t this just choosing between Shen Li and Kris?]
[How is this different from asking whether 1+1 equals 2?]
[I’m dying. They’re treating the audience like idiots.]
[Will anyone actually be stupid enough to choose Kris?]
[Ahhhhh! The cottage doorbell rang!!!]
The instant the cottage doorbell rang on the livestream, time itself seemed to stop.
Everyone inside the cottage turned toward the sound almost simultaneously. Ke Jiujiu trotted over excitedly to open the door—
Tall.
Extremely tall.
Even after he took two steps inside, the fixed camera could not fit both his face and Ke Jiujiu’s into the same frame.
So a mobile camera hurried over. The instant the comments exploded, the director cut to a close-up—
It was Qian Xingzhi’s face.
Qian Xingzhi seemed hot. Sweat dotted his forehead.
The droplets hanging on his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed, like snowmelt falling from a glacier, because his expression…
Was still exceptionally noble, cold, and languid.
He wore a luxury-brand linen short-sleeved shirt on top, buttoned only to the third button. A pair of sharply defined collarbones showed above the opening, and beads of sweat slid down through the open collar toward his taut chest.
The camera shifted. Qian Xingzhi strode toward the dining table. The linen pulled into subtle folds over the muscles of his shoulders and back, then suddenly fell straight at his narrowing waist, where a belt cinched it into a powerful line.
He nodded once to Ke Jiujiu in greeting, then crossed the room toward the table with long strides.
At the same time—
Everyone who had been sitting around the table shot to their feet almost in unison.
Amid enthusiastic applause, several people left their seats to warmly welcome Qian Xingzhi’s arrival.
Ever since sitting down to eat, Shen Li had felt rather dazed.
Now that Qian Xingzhi had arrived and everyone around him suddenly stood, Shen Li had not yet decided what he should say when Lin Xu tugged on him from the right. “Stand up already! Why are you still sitting?!”
Shen Li: ?
“—If I tell you now, you won’t get criticized yet. Better than the audience criticizing you later…”
Shen Li: …
Lin Xu could tell Shen Li really disliked surface-level social performances. He felt Shen Li was somewhat impossible to coach.
So he could only make sure he himself behaved properly first. He stood too and moved a few steps forward, waiting to shake Qian Xingzhi’s hand.
In truth, he liked Qian Xingzhi quite a lot. He could practically say he had grown up watching Qian Xingzhi’s films. Now that he saw him in person, Qian Xingzhi was even better-looking than on-screen. He looked devastatingly handsome even from a distance.
“Oh, wow, this really is Best Actor Qian!” Yang Zhiqi’s voice was bright. “Come, come, let me look at you. I finally get to see a living one this time.”
“Really, really. It really feels like a dream.” Ke Jiujiu followed too.
Little Zhao was clearly delighted as well. He squeezed forward and worked up the courage to say, “Brother Qian, hello! C-can I shake your hand?”
“Hello. Just call me Qian Xingzhi.”
Qian Xingzhi extended his hand and politely shook Zhao Yunzhi’s, who barely reached his chest.
His movement was crisp and forceful, but his tone was polite and distant.
Nearly everyone both inside and outside the screen could sense the distance in his every movement, an almost innate quality like an iceberg—
Cold and severe.
“Hello, everyone. No need to be formal. You can call me Xingzhi or Qian Xingzhi.”
When his extremely deep voice fell silent, Qian Xingzhi had already gone around shaking hands.
Without drawing attention, his footsteps also carried him to the edge of the dining table.
Lin Xu was smiling brightly and about to point out Jiang Nan’s now-empty seat when Qian Xingzhi extended a long arm, spread his slender fingers, and lightly pressed the fingertips against the table, blocking Lin Xu from squeezing through from the other side.
Before Lin Xu could speak, Qian Xingzhi sat directly in the seat Lin Xu had just occupied—on Shen Li’s right.
Lin Xu: ?
The next second, Shen Li’s brows furrowed slightly and he cast Qian Xingzhi a cold glance.
After one look at Qian Xingzhi’s arrogant, nobody-else-exists attitude, Shen Li stopped meeting his gaze and instead looked at the plate Lin Xu had already used, indicating it with his eyes.
“Can’t you see the tableware has been used? Someone was sitting here.”
“Oh.”
The corner of Qian Xingzhi’s mouth curled upward wickedly for a fraction of a second, then immediately flattened again.
His gaze crashed into Lin Xu with a faintly vicious edge.
“You were sitting here?”
“Mm-hm.”
Lin Xu nodded repeatedly, still carrying traces of the admiration he had felt for the actor back in high school.
But the very next second, Lin Xu felt considerably less impressed.
Because Qian Xingzhi showed absolutely no intention of standing. He stretched out his long fingers, picked up the plate Lin Xu had used—
And handed it to him.
“Sorry to trouble you. I want to sit next to him—thank you.”
The comments exploded instantly!
Discussion board:
[Uh…?]
[Do we still need to guess who Qian Xingzhi’s ex is? [smile]]