{Let me see what the scumbag is supposed to say now… "I'm caught in the middle too. It's difficult for me. I don't want you to get hurt because of me…"}
Lin Yu had still been blaming himself, blaming himself for not being good enough and for failing to keep pace with Gu Yiming.
But now, hearing Song Yanqiao think words almost identical to Gu Yiming's, Lin Yu went blank.
Song Yanqiao's inner voice had repeated what Gu Yiming had just told him word for word, without even getting the punctuation wrong.
Could Gu Yiming really have been lying to him?
{Reawwy or fakey? What the heck-y? What kind of poisonous nonsense is this scumbag saying?}
Song Yanqiao was clearly furious. He had already torn the tangerine peel into eight pieces, as though, if Gu Yiming were in his hands instead, he might rip the man apart alive.
Lin Xuan's lips curved. Such a small-looking thing, yet he had quite the temper.
{He's obviously manipulating you into thinking you're terrible. He's manipulating you while acting as if he's the one in a difficult position. What's so difficult for him? Lin Yu, put yourself in his place. If you were the famous one right now, would you refuse to make your relationship public? Would you flirt with someone else right in front of Gu Yiming?}
Lin Yu knew his answer. He would make it public, and he would never flirt with someone else.
Lin Yu raised his head and looked at Gu Yiming with a pale face. "Do you really love me? Do you genuinely want us to go public?"
"I feel like… you're not quite the same as you used to be."
Gu Yiming frowned. Lin Yu seemed unusually difficult to handle today.
In the past, all Gu Yiming had to do was emotionally manipulate him, and Lin Yu would spend half the day sunk in misery.
He would keep saying that he was the one holding their relationship back and promise that he would work harder so he could catch up with Gu Yiming sooner.
Usually, at that point, Gu Yiming only needed to comfort him with a few words and tell him not to rush.
Even if Lin Yu truly was inadequate, even if Lin Yu could not keep up with him, Gu Yiming would still love him.
Yet today, Lin Yu had actually turned around and asked whether he loved him?
Gu Yiming smiled. "Of course I'm still the same as before, baby. Don't let jealousy make you emotional and stop trusting me, all right? I promise you that we'll build chemistry as a couple on the show. Once we have enough fans shipping us, we can go public."
"That should be enough, right?"
This was the first time Gu Yiming had ever spoken to him about going public. Gu Yiming did intend to make their relationship public. Gu Yiming still loved him.
A little happiness sprang back into Lin Yu's eyes as he looked up at Gu Yiming. "I'll work hard."
After they finished talking, the two returned indoors at separate times. Lin Yu went in first.
When Song Yanqiao saw the smile at the corner of Lin Yu's lips, he instinctively pressed his own lips together. {It's over. The scumbag manipulated him again. This part of the plot is where the scumbag tells Lin Yu they'll go public and says they'll build couple chemistry together, right?}
{It sounds nice, but the scumbag already ran off to coax Shen Zhou. In the end, Lin Yu only gets chased around and cursed for shamelessly throwing himself at Gu Yiming, while everyone calls him a homewrecker. Where exactly is this supposed couple chemistry?}
{The scumbag just wants to make sure Lin Yu can't even remain a minor internet celebrity. Once Lin Yu loses his source of income, he'll have no choice but to write songs for him. He won't even have another option.}
Lin Yu lifted his head in disbelief and looked toward Song Yanqiao. H-how could that be?
No. Song Yanqiao was wrong.
Gu Yiming would never treat him that way. Gu Yiming could not possibly be that calculating. He had always treated Lin Yu well. He would never do something like that to him.
Whenever Lin Yu livestreamed too long, Gu Yiming would tell him not to tire himself out. He would say it hurt him to see Lin Yu exhausted and promise that even if Lin Yu stopped livestreaming entirely, he would support him.
But the more Lin Yu thought about it, the more things started to feel wrong.
His feelings, however, made him instinctively reject Song Yanqiao's thoughts.
He should trust Gu Yiming. If you loved someone, you had to trust him.
【Ugh, can Lin Yu just get lost? Can't he see my brother is pursuing Shen Zhou?】
【Lin Yu isn't seriously rushing forward to be the other man, is he?】
–
Shen Zhou had watched Gu Yiming and Lin Yu go outside. He had remained in the house the whole time and had also heard Song Yanqiao's thoughts.
He was beginning to waver now, but the moment he noticed himself wavering, his face practically hurt from the imagined slap.
Just a short while ago, he had refused to believe Song Yanqiao and had even changed the person he selected.
Xiao Chen had not come onto the show for gossip, but this particular piece of gossip was simply too entertaining.
He could not resist anymore. Little by little, Xiao Chen shifted toward Song Yanqiao, determined to occupy the best possible position for watching the drama.
Only after sitting near Song Yanqiao did he understand why Song Yanqiao had chosen this place. From here, he could clearly see the entire room. There was no gossip he could possibly miss.
And with Song Yanqiao, the live gossip commentator, sitting right beside him, it was almost absurdly satisfying.
Xiao Chen shot Lin Xuan a dissatisfied look that seemed to say—Bro, you're seriously disloyal. If this spot was so good, why didn't you say something earlier?
Without drawing attention to himself, Lin Xuan continued handing Song Yanqiao freshly shelled pine nuts.
Song Yanqiao was completely absorbed in the gossip and accepted everything Lin Xuan gave him without question.
He ate with impeccable manners, somehow both refined and adorable.
The way he was currently lifting pine nuts to his mouth made him look like a little squirrel who had gone out gathering food for winter, only to discover some juicy gossip along the way and settle down to nibble his provisions while watching the show.
Whenever the drama made him angry, the little squirrel even puffed out his cheeks as though he wanted to tear the scumbag apart with his bare hands.
So well-behaved.
Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Xiao Chen: "?"
Why did Lin Xuan keep feeding Song Yanqiao? And why did it look kind of fun?
His hands were itching.
Control yourself.
He kind of wanted to feed him too.
Looking like that, did Song Yanqiao even deserve to be fed by him?
Xiao Chen restrained himself for a while, but eventually failed. "Lin Xuan, give me a tangerine."
Lin Xuan lifted his eyelids and glanced at him coolly. His tone was not friendly. "You don't have hands?"
Xiao Chen: "…"
Why had Lin Xuan not asked whether Song Yanqiao had hands when he was feeding him? Double standards, was it?
Xiao Chen gritted his teeth. Lin Xuan simply did not want him feeding Song Yanqiao, right?
Well, he was going to feed him anyway!
He was going to insert himself between Song Yanqiao and Lin Xuan. He wanted to see what Lin Xuan could possibly do about it.
Song Yanqiao had barely finished accepting Lin Xuan's nuts when Xiao Chen stuffed a handful of tangerine segments into his palm.
Song Yanqiao: "?"
{Wait, what are they doing?} Song Yanqiao wondered in confusion. The two men beside him simultaneously curled their fingers in guilty embarrassment.
Xiao Chen looked up at the ceiling. He had no idea what he was doing either.
At first, he had only wanted to oppose Lin Xuan out of spite. Yet now he could not stop himself from feeding Song Yanqiao.
Song Yanqiao obviously looked extremely ordinary, so why did Xiao Chen think he was cute?
【What are those three doing?】
【I'm dying. Are they collectively feeding Song Yanqiao now?】
【Song Yanqiao: Can't keep up. I literally can't eat fast enough.】
【Still, though, Song Yanqiao really is adorable when he eats.】
【Little squirrel in black-framed glasses!!! Lord Little Squirrel deserves to eat more!!!】
{The scumbag is going to trick Shen Zhou again, isn't he?}
{The scumbag really works hard. A true master of time management. If I worked this hard, I wouldn't still be nothing but a pathetic gossip eater.}
Shen Zhou: "…"
To be fair, a certain someone worked quite hard at eating gossip too.
Shen Zhou did not have the best temper. He was a pampered young master who had been spoiled by his family since childhood.
If he liked someone, he might treat them a little more pleasantly. If he did not, Shen Zhou could not even be bothered to offer them a polite expression.
At the moment, he was clearly in the latter mood. "It took you that long just to get water?"
The young master's expression was chilly, practically stamped with the words not easy to fool.
Gu Yiming was somewhat surprised. Shen Zhou had been perfectly pleasant while they were talking earlier.
But now Shen Zhou was obviously unhappy, almost as though he knew exactly what Gu Yiming had done outside and was waiting to hold him accountable.
Gu Yiming quickly steadied himself. How could Shen Zhou possibly know what he had done? Gu Yiming had arranged everything flawlessly.
He coaxed Shen Zhou in a gentle, accommodating voice. "Lin Yu called me outside just now. I didn't think it was appropriate to go out alone with him either, but since he asked me, I felt it would be ungentlemanly not to."
"Don't be angry, okay?"
As if Shen Zhou's anger had thrown him into a panic, Gu Yiming became visibly flustered. "Shen Zhou, in my heart, I really…" Only have you.
Gu Yiming began to stammer, looking exactly like an honest but clumsy man desperately trying to soothe someone he cared about.
The small seed of suspicion in Shen Zhou's heart disappeared again. How could an honest man like Gu Yiming possibly be two-timing anyone?
He could barely get out a sentence when trying to coax someone. Cheating on two people at once would require skill he clearly did not possess.
Unfortunately, Song Yanqiao's gossip-filled inner voice chose that exact moment to sound again. {What an actor. Gu Yiming picked the wrong career path. He should be acting. If he'd gone into acting, he'd be a Best Actor at the very least.}
Shen Zhou: "…"
Shen Zhou finally lost his patience and glared at Song Yanqiao. Why did Song Yanqiao keep thinking things he did not want to hear?!
Gu Yiming was not some scumbag.
{Daddy, he's not some poor boy at all.} Looking at the scene, Song Yanqiao automatically inserted a melodramatic line into it, only to meet Shen Zhou's glare in the next second.
Song Yanqiao: "?"
{Did Zhouzhou just glare at me?}
{Did I make Zhouzhou angry?}
{Can Zhouzhou hear what I'm thinking!? w(Д)w}
{No, no. There's no way other people can hear someone's thoughts. Otherwise nobody would have any privacy at all.}
Song Yanqiao was utterly confused, but he still began reasonably reflecting on his own behavior. {47, have I been getting too carried away with the gossip?}
