When Lu Yiwen saw Jin Zhihan’s message, he immediately sent a reaction meme. It was a picture of Chu Yao’s fall from earlier that day, captioned—My Date with the Earth.
Chu Yao secretly ground his teeth. And here he had actually thought Teacher Lu was a good person.
But only a few seconds later, Lu Yiwen recalled the message.
[Sorry, sent the wrong one just now.]
[The internet is not beyond the reach of the law. Please obey traffic regulations while driving.jpg]
This was the image Lu Yiwen had actually meant to send. What else could two husbands possibly be “studying” together late at night? They really were not treating the rest of them like outsiders at all.
[Teacher Lu really is a reaction-meme tycoon. [thumbs-up.jpg]]
[But could you please delete the ones of me?]
When Lu Yiwen saw Chu Yao ask that, a wicked smile slipped onto his lips.
Immediately afterward, he fired off seven or eight images to Chu Yao in rapid succession. Every one was a reaction meme of Lu Yiwen himself, made by netizens back when he had appeared on the dating show.
[You can use my reaction memes too! Isn’t that fun?]
Chu Yao: […I’m kneeling before you.]
For a habitual night owl like Chu Yao, ten o’clock was merely when the nightlife began.
He had not played games in several days. After finishing his conversation in the group chat, Chu Yao called up the teammates he usually fought alongside, curled up on the sofa, and started a match.
“Sixty degrees southeast. Take him out.”
“You push. I’ll cover you.”
“Just go for it. Don’t be scared.”
Just as he was getting fully absorbed in the game, the bedroom door suddenly opened.
Chu Yao swiped down on his phone screen to check the time and discovered it was already eleven.
Jin Zhihan heard that he was gaming but said nothing. He took his pajamas and went to shower.
The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom, strikingly clear in the dark, quiet night.
After spending the entire day outside, Chu Yao lost interest after only two rounds. He quit the game and stopped playing.
Suddenly, a notification popped up at the top of his phone. Chu Yao instinctively switched to WeChat and opened it, only to be greeted by a reaction meme of himself.
Wen Yan: [Sending you an early New Year greeting.jpg]
Three imaginary black lines of speechlessness appeared across Chu Yao’s forehead. He jabbed hard at the phone screen. [Can you behave like a human being for once?!]
Wen Yan immediately sent a voice message. “You and President Jin haven’t actually turned the fake act into something real, have you? The two of you don’t look like you’re acting to me!”
He was one of the very few friends who knew about the contract marriage.
Chu Yao knew how nosy he was. After listening, he pressed down on the voice-message button and replied directly, “Stop overthinking it. If it looks real to you, that only proves I’m a professional actor. There is absolutely no way I’d fall in love with Jin Zhihan because of acting. Don’t ask questions like this again.”
Behind him, Jin Zhihan abruptly stopped just as he stepped out of the bathroom.
Before they returned to the villa, he had planned to have an honest heart-to-heart with Chu Yao tonight. Now, it seemed there was no need.
Bringing it up at a moment like this would only make things more awkward.
Chu Yao turned his head and suddenly discovered Jin Zhihan standing behind him.
His guilty conscience immediately began pounding like a drum. Jin Zhihan hadn’t heard what he had just said, had he?
But judging by his expression, there was nothing particularly unusual.
Maybe, to him, it did not matter whether he had heard it or not.
–
The next day, the third day of filming.
Chu Yao had been tormented by nightmares all night and woke before dawn. Normally he would have gone back to sleep, but when he picked up his phone and checked the time, it was already past six. He might as well get up and make breakfast.
He truly felt embarrassed always eating food someone else had prepared. Sandwiches should not be too difficult.
Rubbing his eyes, Chu Yao made up his mind and got out of bed, then tiptoed into the bathroom.
What he did not know was that the instant his body left the bed, Jin Zhihan opened his eyes.
Chu Yao usually loved sleeping in. Why was he up so early today?
Jin Zhihan remained lying still. Soon he heard the bathroom door open, and after Chu Yao came out, he went straight out of the bedroom.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Jin Zhihan remembered what Chu Yao had said the previous night and irritably raised an arm to cover his eyes.
He had thought that after they married, their relationship would gradually soften. But Chu Yao spent all his time on film sets, sometimes going three months without seeing him. Even if Jin Zhihan wanted more contact with him, he had no opportunity. That was why Jin Zhihan had used this reality show as a chance to get closer to him.
He wanted to use fifteen days of close, constant interaction to deepen their relationship. Only two days had passed so far. He should not become discouraged.
Jin Zhihan let out a breath, got out of bed, washed up, and went straight downstairs.
Chu Yao’s attempt at making breakfast went fairly smoothly this time.
With his previous experience in mind, he kept the flame very low. Slow was fine—as long as nothing burned.
When Jin Zhihan entered the kitchen, he saw Chu Yao plating the food. One sandwich had mayonnaise squeezed over it and cherry tomatoes arranged beside it, while the other had neither. It was obvious which one had been made for him.
He actually remembered Jin Zhihan’s tastes.
Noticing such a small detail, Jin Zhihan could not help thinking that perhaps Chu Yao did care about him and was not as indifferent as he seemed.
“Thanks for the hard work.” Jin Zhihan carried the plates to the dining room and smiled at him.
“Why are you being so polite? Didn’t you make breakfast for me yesterday?” Chu Yao sat down. “Try it first and see if it tastes good.”
Jin Zhihan heard the implication in those words.
So Chu Yao had felt uncomfortable that Jin Zhihan had made him breakfast yesterday and had deliberately made breakfast today to return the favor.
The two sat facing each other and silently finished breakfast.
“You’ve improved a lot.” Jin Zhihan did not forget to praise him. “You have a talent for cooking.”
When he noticed a bread crumb stuck at the corner of Chu Yao’s mouth, he instinctively reached out with a tissue and wiped it away for him.
Chu Yao froze. Then he suddenly realized there were no cameras filming them right now. So why had Jin Zhihan done that?
His gaze darted aside, and Chu Yao deliberately changed the subject. “There aren’t many vegetables left in the refrigerator. Why don’t we go look around a market today?”
Surprised that Chu Yao had invited him, Jin Zhihan immediately agreed. “Sure.”
“Then let’s go upstairs and change. We can head out afterward.” Chu Yao looked excited as a child.
He longed for the everyday lives of ordinary people. A market, with its bustling, down-to-earth atmosphere and sense of ordinary life, was naturally somewhere he wanted to visit. Filming a show was about the only time he could go openly without worrying.
–
At nine o’clock, viewers entered the livestream to find Chu Yao and Jin Zhihan already sitting in the car.
[Good morning, everyone! Why is Baby Yao heading out so early today?]
[Where are they going? Are the two of them going on a date alone?]
[AAAAAH!! I’m so excited!! Raise the Flag and Cheer, please give us lots and lots of sugar today!!!]
It was only when the car stopped outside the entrance to a large wholesale market that the viewers finally realized where they were going.
A domineering CEO and a top male celebrity going on a date at a market—now that was a uniquely odd picture.
As soon as Chu Yao got out of the car, he spotted a frozen-food wholesaler. A sign listed chicken wings, drumsticks, lamb skewers, steaks, and more, and an idea immediately occurred to him.
“Jin Zhihan, how about we organize a barbecue buffet tonight? We can do it in the villa courtyard. It looked pretty spacious to me.”
“Sure.” Jin Zhihan nodded cooperatively. “Then let’s think about what ingredients we need to buy.”
Planning as he went, Chu Yao walked into a shop.
Since they would need to pay for things on this outing, Jin Zhihan had naturally brought his phone with him.
He then asked Chu Yao, “Should I ask in the group chat what everyone likes to eat? It’s our first time hosting them, so we should try to take everyone’s preferences into account.”
“Go ahead. I’ll put what we need into the basket first.”
The shop was self-service. As Chu Yao took ingredients from the freezers, he felt for the first time as though they were really living an ordinary domestic life together.
“Teacher Lu and Teacher Wen said they want grilled prawns. We can stop by the seafood stalls later.” Jin Zhihan walked up behind Chu Yao as he spoke.
Chu Yao instinctively turned around. He had not expected Jin Zhihan to be standing so close, and his forehead smacked straight into the man’s chin. He cried out in pain.
“Are you okay, wife?”
The intimate form of address slipped out before Jin Zhihan even realized it. Chu Yao instantly panicked and pretended to look around for anything else they still needed.
Noticing that the tips of his ears had turned red, Jin Zhihan’s lips silently curved upward.
The two made a circuit of the market and bought almost everything they needed. The place had nearly everything, though deep-sea seafood was relatively scarce, probably because they were far from the coast. Chu Yao could not even find the green crabs he wanted.
It was not as if he absolutely had to eat them. He had merely noticed how small the crabs at the stalls were and casually mentioned that when he had filmed on East Dike Island, he had eaten freshly caught seafood there every day.
By the time they returned to the villa, it was almost noon. Since dinner would be the main event that day, the two simply ate something light for lunch.
Chu Yao was exhausted. He had slept only five hours the night before, so after lunch he yawned his way back to the bedroom for a nap.
Half asleep, Chu Yao had no idea how long he had been out when a faint roaring noise woke him.
He opened his eyes and looked out the window. An airplane was circling in midair, apparently only a little over a hundred meters away. The sight jolted him fully awake.
The villa district was normally home to the very wealthiest of the wealthy, so naturally it had private landing facilities.
Picking up his phone, Chu Yao saw that Lu Yiwen had posted a video in the group chat a few minutes earlier. It was of that very plane.
The video even came with Lu Yiwen’s excited voice-over—
“I took my wife out for a walk and happened to pass by here, and I actually saw an A6130! Only three of these private jets exist in the whole world. Look how smooth the lines of those wings are, and that gorgeous tail—this thing is unbelievably cool! Don’t tell me the production team rented it to take us sightseeing?”
Bai Jishen: [The production team is spending that much money? Renting one for a day must cost a fortune.]
Lu Yiwen: [I was just saying that. I doubt the production team is that generous. No idea which tycoon it belongs to.]
Bai Jishen: [It couldn’t be President Jin’s, could it?]
Among the people here, Jin Zhihan was the only one who could afford a limited-edition private jet like that.
Rubbing his eyes as he went downstairs, Chu Yao saw Jin Zhihan preparing to go out and instinctively asked, “Where are you going?”
“Come with me and you’ll find out.” Jin Zhihan had not expected him to wake up at exactly the right moment. He took Chu Yao’s shoes from the rack and crooked a finger at him. “Come here.”
“Why are you being so mysterious?” Chu Yao muttered as he changed into his sneakers.
The two went outside. A sightseeing cart was parked there, with the driver and cameraman already waiting inside. Jin Zhihan had clearly arranged this with them in advance.
Chu Yao blinked in confusion. “Did you call this?”
“It belongs to the property management. They can drive us over.”
Even after getting onto the cart, Chu Yao still had no idea where they were going—until it stopped in front of that plane.
Had Teacher Bai actually guessed right…? Was this really Jin Zhihan’s private jet?
Chu Yao naturally knew what his husband was capable of. Jin Zhihan not only owned a private jet, an airline had even specially opened a flight route for him. Just thinking about the kind of treatment that represented was astonishing.
But why had he summoned his private jet here?
While Chu Yao was still baffled, the cabin door opened. Two men in white shirts and black vests descended carrying a blue box. They strode over in matching, confident steps and came to a stop in front of Chu Yao.
“Madam, we’ve brought the East Dike Island green crabs you wanted.” After the man on the left finished speaking, the man on the right added, “They were just caught in the South Brocade Sea six hours ago. We guarantee they’re fresh and delicious.”
The moment they received Jin Zhihan’s orders, they had not dared delay for even an instant and had immediately begun making arrangements.
The two employees were thoroughly committed to the performance. After their explanation, they opened the lid together.
What entered Chu Yao’s vision were enormous, plump crabs. Their shells gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight; one look was enough to tell how fresh and lively they were.
[Just because Chu Yao casually mentioned wanting East Dike green crabs, President Jin specially sent a private jet racing over with them??? He really is a domineering CEO. There’s no limit to how much he spoils his wife. What else can I even say besides I’m jealous?]
[Sisters, this isn’t an ordinary private jet. I work for an airline. This model costs at least three hundred million on the market.]
[Thanks for the educational moment. I still can’t afford one, but somehow knowing the price makes me feel even more dead inside.]
[President Jin’s move hit me straight in the heart. He spoils his wife this much—how could anyone not ship them? If I were Chu Yao, I’d be bawling on the spot.]
[Replacing a mattress for love, sending crabs from a thousand miles away… President Jin, how many more surprises are you hiding from me? You’ve completely embodied the domineering-CEO archetype.]
[President Jin really understands romance. Money truly lets you do whatever you want. I’m tired of even saying the word jealous at this point.]
After completing their mission, the two employees bowed respectfully to Chu Yao. “Madam, if there’s ever anything you want to eat in the future, just give the order. We guarantee the mission will be accomplished.”
At that moment, one cameraman gave the fuselage a close-up. As the lens swept over the tail, the character representing “Chu” suddenly leaped into the viewers’ sight.
High-end private-aircraft manufacturers engraved the owner’s surname on the tail. So the plane’s true owner was Chu Yao—Jin Zhihan had actually bought this jet as a gift for his wife?!!
