The guests who could hear Song Yanqiao's inner voice were all shocked to varying degrees.
A man. Having a baby!!!
Shen Zhou understood every word in that sentence individually, yet when they were put together, he could not understand a single thing.
Not even a little.
Had Song Yanqiao fried his brain by reading too many novels?
Only someone who could no longer distinguish fiction from reality would say something about a man getting pregnant.
Then were the things he had said earlier about the scumbag fake too? Maybe there was no scumbag among them, nobody would go insane, and nobody would jump from a building.
Most of the guests reached the same conclusion as Shen Zhou. They stopped dwelling on Song Yanqiao's thoughts, put away their luggage, and began interacting with the others.
Song Yanqiao sat rather stiffly where he was. {Why is Lin Xuan still here? Isn't he going to go fall in love?}
{Oh. Right. I guess he really doesn't end up with anyone on this show. He's basically immune to romantic ambiguity. Anyone who gets near him loses their spark.}
Listening to Song Yanqiao's thoughts, Lin Xuan curled his lips into a smile.
Lin Xuan was extraordinarily handsome. He had a high nose bridge, thin lips, and long eyes. Refined and aristocratic, his beauty still carried a sharp, aggressive edge. When he was not smiling, he looked almost impossible to approach, as though everyone he looked at might as well be a dog.
That sudden smile, however, had an indescribable pull to it—elegant and roguish at once.
Song Yanqiao saw the man's smile too and could not resist muttering inwardly, {47, was that gossip you just told me actually true?}
Lin Xuan waited with great interest to hear the rest of Song Yanqiao's thoughts.
Instead, he heard a sentence he would remember for the rest of his life.
{Is his d.i.c.k really twenty centimeters long? Is it really as thick and long as a baby's forearm?}
"Cough—" Lin Xuan nearly choked to death when he heard that.
The other guests had clearly heard it too. They all turned to look at him meaningfully, half amused and half investigative, as though the only thing stopping them from asking whether he really was twenty centimeters was basic decency.
Lin Xuan: "…"
Song Yanqiao was confused. Why was Lin Xuan still looking at him?
{Don't tell me this gossip isn't reliable!? Does Lin Xuan not have twenty centimeters!? w(Д)w}
Lin Xuan: …
To stop Song Yanqiao from continuing to think about anything else rated eighteen-plus, Lin Xuan peeled a tangerine and handed it to him.
"Want some tangerine?"
Lin Xuan's action took Song Yanqiao completely by surprise.
He remembered that, in the original plot, he and Lin Xuan had absolutely no interaction. Even when they occupied the same room, they stayed in opposite corners, two kings of eternal singledom each ruling his own territory.
But since Lin Xuan had taken the initiative to be friendly, Song Yanqiao had no reason to reject him.
Besides, Song Yanqiao had never been very good at refusing people.
He turned his head and smiled at Lin Xuan, accepting the tangerine Lin Xuan offered him. "Thank you."
Lin Xuan fell briefly silent.
When Song Yanqiao thanked him, Lin Xuan had caught a glimpse beneath those black-framed glasses of eyes so beautiful that they seemed almost absurd. Clear and translucent like amber, yet as precious as gemstones, they drew the gaze without conscious effort.
But in the next instant, Song Yanqiao lowered his head again, and those eyes were once more completely concealed behind his black-framed glasses.
Even after hearing all those thoughts from Song Yanqiao, Lin Xuan still gently and attentively found topics to keep the conversation going.
【Some people look all elegant and roguish, like they specialize in doing bad things and ordering people to call them Daddy in bed, but they're actually pretty gentlemanly.】
【Seriously, what exactly does this guy see in Song Yanqiao? He just keeps talking to him.】
【Could he have discovered Song Yanqiao's beautiful inner qualities?】
—
After chatting with Gu Yiming for quite a while, Shen Zhou felt like eating some fruit.
But Shen Zhou had only flicked his gaze in that direction and had not even reached for anything when Gu Yiming noticed what he wanted.
Gu Yiming picked up an apple. "Sorry. I was so interested in the paintings you were talking about that I made you speak for ages. You must be thirsty, right? I'll peel an apple for you first, then go get you some water."
Gu Yiming was currently a very popular singer, and his voice was pleasant to listen to.
Combined with the way he constantly paid attention to Shen Zhou's feelings while they spoke, his actions now made him appear both gentle and considerate.
Not only were his practical needs being taken care of, but his emotions were being looked after the entire time as well. Shen Zhou's favorable impression of Gu Yiming kept rising.
Shen Zhou had always believed he had a good eye for men.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, if there really was a scumbag among them as Song Yanqiao had said, it could not possibly be Gu Yiming.
Gu Yiming was gentle and thoughtful. Where was there even the slightest sign that he might use the silent treatment, much less become physically abusive?
Shen Zhou would observe him a little longer. Maybe he really could date Gu Yiming.
Song Yanqiao had chosen an excellent seat, one that let him see the entire room.
Whether it was Shen Zhou and Gu Yiming interacting sweetly or Lin Yu being unable to stop himself from looking at Gu Yiming, Song Yanqiao could see everything.
{The scumbag still managed to hook Shen Zhou.}
{Can Gu Yiming please stay farther away from Shen Zhou? Emotional manipulation, then the silent treatment, then domestic violence—he has an entire set of methods for tormenting people. Shen Zhou eventually gets tortured until he loses his mind.}
Shen Zhou: "?"
So… Gu Yiming was the scumbag Song Yanqiao had been talking about?
Distracted, Shen Zhou studied Gu Yiming as he stood to fetch water.
Then he gave a cold little laugh. How could that be possible?
He refused to believe such nonsense. His judgment of people had never been wrong.
Song Yanqiao was capable of saying he wanted to watch a man get pregnant. How could anything he said have even the slightest credibility?
–
{Lin Yu, stop looking at Gu Yiming. That scumbag really isn't worth this. Gu Yiming already tricked you into writing songs for him before, and now he even plans to date two people at once.}
Lin Yu's gaze was still discreetly and restrainedly following Gu Yiming.
The instant he heard Song Yanqiao's thoughts, Lin Yu's back went rigid and his face turned slightly pale.
When Gu Yiming went to get water and separated from Shen Zhou, Lin Yu finally made up his mind to go find him.
The two avoided everyone else and went outside, where they switched off their microphones before speaking.
Lin Yu looked at Gu Yiming anxiously. "Do you really like Shen Zhou? If you like Shen Zhou, then I… I…"
In the end, Lin Yu still could not bring himself to say that he would leave Gu Yiming.
He truly could not bear to. He had met Gu Yiming when he was only sixteen.
They had once squeezed together into a tiny rented room, writing songs and singing them.
Gu Yiming had been the first person to hear the songs he wrote and the first to tell him they sounded good.
Lin Yu had known perfectly well that the chances of ever realizing his dream were tiny, but with Gu Yiming's support, he had begun to believe that he might actually have a future.
In this vast, glittering city, Gu Yiming was the only place that felt like home.
It was painfully difficult for him to say that he did not want Gu Yiming anymore. He did not want them to separate.
Yet reason kept telling him that, if Gu Yiming truly no longer loved him, he should let go.
{You're asking the scumbag whether he still loves you. Of course he'll say he does.
He still needs you to write songs for him. He has no creative ability of his own.
Your songs have such a distinctive personal style, so how could he possibly say he doesn't love you? He still needs you so he can keep marketing himself as a genius composer!}
{He'll only tell you that whatever he's doing with Shen Zhou is just for show and that they're only manufacturing a ship for publicity.}
Song Yanqiao's voice sounded again. Lin Yu reached for his microphone in a panic, only to discover that it was switched off. The color slowly drained from his face.
His microphone was off. Did that mean Song Yanqiao truly knew this so-called "plot"?
At that moment, Lin Yu almost hoped Gu Yiming would not comfort him and would not say that he loved him.
No. Gu Yiming was not that kind of person. Whatever Gu Yiming said would definitely be different from what Song Yanqiao was thinking. Maybe Song Yanqiao was deliberately trying to sow discord between them.
Gu Yiming looked at Lin Yu with eyes full of heartache. "Xiaoyu, of course I love you, but I don't have a choice either. You know what the entertainment industry is like now. Popularity rules everything. Without traffic, you have nothing."
"I'm only creating a publicity ship with Shen Zhou for the attention."
Gu Yiming's answer was almost identical to Song Yanqiao's thoughts. Lin Yu's heart turned cold.
Gu Yiming continued manipulating him. "Xiaoyu, I want us to go public too, but I'm a very popular singer now."
"You're only a minor internet celebrity nobody takes seriously. If I got together with you publicly, my fans definitely wouldn't be happy. They would definitely attack you."
"To be truthful, Xiaoyu, sometimes you really aren't considerate enough."
"On one side are the fans who made my career possible, and on the other is the person I love most. I'm caught in the middle too. It's difficult for me. I don't want them to hurt you."
Gu Yiming's words made Lin Yu's eyes turn red.
He was not good enough. He was the one who could not keep pace with Gu Yiming.
If he could only move faster, Gu Yiming would not be placed in such a difficult position.
It was all his fault.
He was the one dragging Gu Yiming down.
"Xiaoyu, you're just too sensitive. If it weren't for me, probably nobody could tolerate someone like you who constantly overthinks everything."
