Chapter 58

In Room 2, Duan Yihua got up to take his medicine, coughed twice, and kept apologizing to Lin Qingning.

Lin Qingning said, 'What are you apologizing for? You're miserable enough already.'

'Afraid I'd keep you up,' Duan Yihua said.

Lin Qingning said: 'We're hitting the market tomorrow. Can you make it?'

Duan Yihua shook his head, hugging the blanket: 'I'll rest one more day.'

Lin Qingning nodded. 'Fair enough.'

With cameras rolling, Lin Qingning wanted to make some conversation, so he brought up Pei Xu and Hu Ying's Room 3: 'Their place is really run-down. Yard's full of weeds and snow.'

'Who's rooming with Xingchen? Yan Zhi?' Duan Yihua asked.

Lin Qingning hummed. 'We did rock-paper-scissors. Yan Zhi won.'

Lin Qingning glanced at Duan Yihua. 'Duan-ge, can I ask you something?'

Duan Yihua looked at him.

Lin Qingning lowered his voice a little. 'About Zhai Xingchen...'

Duan Yihua froze, then coughed twice more.

Lin Qingning knew Duan Yihua was actually pretty old-fashioned. Talking feelings with him was awkward for Lin Qingning too, so he just said: 'I feel like he's been getting pretty close to Hu Ying lately...'

Duan Yihua didn't say anything, just rubbed his eye.

Being sick made Duan Yihua look more worn. Lin Qingning glanced at him: 'Time's flying. The show's only a month, and we're already in week two.'

He was starting to feel a little anxious.

He'd known Pei Xu for a long time, their circles overlapping—sometimes they'd run into each other at family gatherings during the holidays—but before the show, they barely spoke more than a few words a year. Too many people at those gatherings, no real chance to talk. This Love Variety Show month was his best shot.

He'd figured it out too. Face? Who cares. What kind of love is it if you don't even have the guts to fight for it?

Duan Yihua was smart—he'd get the message. No need to spell it out. Lin Qingning and Duan Yihua weren't close enough for heart-to-hearts.

He thought Duan Yihua was pretty closed off, deliberately suppressing his own desires.

Being sick already had Duan Yihua in a heavy mood. After Lin Qingning's words, he sank even deeper.

He closed his eyes. Zhai Xingchen's face filled his mind. Thinking about it made him anxious.

He didn't know if it was his personality or just getting older—more things to consider. He couldn't be like Hu Ying, doing whatever she felt like, chasing Yan Zhi one day and clinging to Zhai Xingchen the next.

'The show's pretty hot right now,' Duan Yihua said. 'Lots of people watching.'

Including his relatives, friends, and company employees.

Lin Qingning knew exactly what he was worried about. 'Look, whatever our reasons for being on this show, putting yourself out there beats being invisible. Nobody mocks someone who's genuinely trying, especially on a Love Variety Show. You carry too much baggage. The fallout's not as bad as you think.'

Duan Yihua let out a soft laugh.

'But Xingchen's the most popular guy here. At least four people probably like him—you, Wen Nu, Hu Ying, and Huo Cheng.' Lin Qingning caught himself, worried he was making Duan Yihua more anxious, and quickly joked: 'Not me. Don't worry.'

'You like Pei Xu, right?'

'Is it that obvious?' Lin Qingning asked.

'Not super obvious. But you can tell.'

Lin Qingning flopped back on his pillow, propping himself up on his arm. 'He just feels like the same guy I liked when I was younger. Don't you think he's handsome?'

Duan Yihua smiled and nodded. 'Very.'

Actually, he's the type who hasn't been able to show his full potential on this show. He's even more impressive in real life—fencing, chess, basketball, piano, and he speaks five foreign languages. He's very well-known in the fund industry. He often goes with his mother Pei Huahong to remote mountain areas for charity work, and just last year he donated an elementary school. You know Huaxu Fund Company? It's named after his mother and him. If you ever see a Dance School or building called Huaxu Fund Company, that's something he funded and built.

Even Duan Yihua looked surprised.

Lin Qingning stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. 'He never goes clubbing, never does parties. Simple life. He's the poster child for the perfect kid.'

Aside from being cold, he's basically flawless.

But that coldness is its own kind of self-preservation. He's cold to everyone, keeps his social life and his heart locked up. There's something irresistible about a man like that—like if you win him over, he's yours for life.

How could anyone not fall for a man like that? He doesn't have to do anything. Just standing there, people fall for him.

Lin Qingning was just summing it up, and his heart was already blooming. He turned to look at Duan Yihua beside him and couldn't help laughing.

Duan Yihua laughed too. The anxiety in his chest faded.

But Huo Cheng wasn't so lucky.

Wen Nu was introverted and shy—not the type to open up to him.

Yan Zhi and Zhai Xingchen were probably soaking in the bath right now.

Yan Zhi, that respectable-looking beast in human clothing—his eyes were probably trying to eat Zhai Xingchen alive.

Fine, maybe he was projecting. But men know men—Yan Zhi wasn't any better. If that guy didn't have some dirty thoughts, Huo Cheng would write his name backwards!

Huo Cheng thought.

He lay on his arm, staring into the dark for a while, then turned to look out the window.

He kept tossing and turning. Wen Nu heard it, his heart tight with nerves. He didn't dare move.

Of course he wasn't worried Huo Cheng would do anything to him. He was just nervous. Shy. Since lying down, he hadn't moved once.

Then he saw Huo Cheng sit up suddenly, swing his legs off the bed, throw on some clothes, and head out.

Wen Nu let out a long breath and quickly took the chance to roll over.

His arm had gone numb.

He hoped next time he'd get to sleep next to Zhai Xingchen.

He still felt most at ease around Zhai Xingchen.

Ugh, Zhai Xingchen.

Huo Cheng went outside, pulled out a cigarette, and lit up.

The hallway was silent. It was a six-story building with no elevator—they were on the second floor. He leaned against the railing, looking toward Xiaobeiji.

The biting north wind blew away the heat in his chest. He calmed down.

In real life, if the person he liked went traveling with his rival, got a hotel room together, sure, he'd be stressed. But right now they were filming a Love Variety Show. A bunch of crew, a bunch of cameras. Even if they were bathing, so what? Just talking. Maybe not even physical contact. What was he afraid of?

After talking himself down, the tightness in his chest finally eased. He tilted his head back and exhaled a long stream of smoke. The stars in the distance were dazzling—he hadn't seen this many since he was a kid in the mountain hollows.

All the stars in the sky couldn't compare to the one in his heart.

Zhai Xingchen. Zhai Xingchen.

Huo Cheng bit down on the filter.

If he got the chance, he'd take Zhai Xingchen back to his hometown.

Huo Cheng tilted his head back, cigarette dangling, and watched the stars.

This was Pei Xu's first time sleeping on a kang.

Just lying there a while, the half of his body against the kang was getting too hot.

But for him right now, the mental torment was far worse than the physical.

If it weren't for Zhai Xingchen and Yan Zhi, he wouldn't have known his usually indifferent self could be this possessive.

Unlike Huo Cheng's wild imagination, he didn't think Yan Zhi and Zhai Xingchen would actually do anything.

But he was worried Zhai Xingchen might develop feelings for Yan Zhi.

Even a brief, slight attraction would pierce his heart.

Zhai Xingchen's whole heart and love should belong entirely to him.

Just like his did to Zhai Xingchen.

His emotions were a desert. Everything he had belonged to Zhai Xingchen. He'd never felt a single flutter for anyone else.

He pulled the hat he'd been meaning to give Zhai Xingchen over his head, covering his entire face.

Soon he was sweating.

Pei Xu sat up and poured himself a glass of water.

He'd barely taken two sips when he heard Hu Ying call out: 'Xingchen, look at this...'

The rest was muffled, hard to make out.

Pei Xu froze, then realized Hu Ying was talking in her sleep.

She was dreaming about Zhai Xingchen?

What were they doing in the dream?

He'd better be having a normal dream. If it was a... spring dream...

The darkness in Pei Xu's heart deepened.

Hu Ying had also brought along the pink rabbit Zhai Xingchen had given her.

That pink rabbit was eye-catching.

Hu Ying was dreaming.

In the dream, she was shopping with Zhai Xingchen. She saw a pink rabbit that looked exactly like the one he'd given her.

'Xingchen, look at this rabbit—it's just like the one you bought me! I want this one too, so we have a pair.'

In the dream, Zhai Xingchen said indulgently: 'Hold on, I'll claw it out for you!'

She was excited, watching Zhai Xingchen drop in the coin.

Zhai Xingchen was amazing—he grabbed it on the first try. She was thrilled, about to cheer, when she heard a loud clang.

Hu Ying jolted awake, took a moment, sat up, and saw Pei Xu standing by the bed. The dim light and the run-down room pulled her back to reality. She squinted her dry eyes: 'What's that noise?'

'Kicked the basin by accident,' Pei Xu said flatly. 'Nothing. Go back to sleep.'