Ye Cheng quickly hung up the phone: “Why did you change your mind again?”
Jiang Li answered calmly, “Just don’t want to pay the breach fee, that’s all.”
Ye Cheng, worn out from exhaustion: …damn it, he wanted to smack this kid.
Meanwhile, online discussion about the “chills-you-to-the-bone” ship was going insane, not only was the Weibo atmosphere running high, various forums were also fiercely debating it.
“Chills-you-to-the-bone” was the newly coined ship name. Everyone had already given up hope, resigned to living off fanfic and tears.
But Duan Zhihan’s Weibo post acted like a shot of adrenaline, the previously defeated crowd instantly sprang back to life.
“Did I just get into this fandom… this isn’t like joining a losing cause at the last minute, is it?”
“The people at rock bottom are watching you”
“Let’s analyze this objectively, would you ever call your ex-spouse ‘wife’? Teacher Duan clearly has feelings, and he’s even gloating that Jiang Li loves him”
“The first part sounds pretty reasonable, but the second part has nothing to do with being objective, where do you even see him gloating?”
“Weak suggestion here, maybe he’s just used to calling him wife and hasn’t broken the habit—Teacher Duan doesn’t seem like the type to show emotion outwardly”
“Feels like everyone’s got a point, comments are all over the place, if the show doesn’t air soon I’m going to die”
The second episode began amid this exact kind of discussion.
The livestream started at eight in the morning, but viewers had already been camping out since eight the night before, the livestream room’s popularity only kept climbing.
“I got here at seven last night”
“I’ve been on guard duty for a week”
“The weekend’s the only thing keeping me alive, waiting for this livestream. Director Xia, you know what I mean, right? I want to see something adults should see”
“Sigh, what good stuff can you even see on CCTV, might as well go browse Haitang instead, there’s a great Jiang Li intersex fic that’s really something”
“I need the title within three seconds”
Jiang Li had no idea his livestream room had become a fanfic-swapping hub. He got into the production team’s car.
He usually didn’t pay much attention to routes since he always had a driver, but looking at the surroundings, he sensed something was off.
“Not going to the airport?”
“Picking up the other guests first,” the driver explained, somewhat flustered.
Jiang Li had no objection to this, slowly scanning the cramped car interior, only concerned it might be awkward for the other guests.
The car stopped in an upscale villa district in Yancheng, and Xu Jiawen walked out of a villa, wearing nothing but a plain white T-shirt.
“Xu Jiawen lives in a villa? Turns out he’s secretly rich”
“You’d never guess it from how he dresses”
“I couldn’t even tell he was gay, everything about him screams straight guy, curious how he ended up marrying Ruan Yan”
“I’m curious what Ruan Yan did to make him hate him this much, that reflection entry almost had me thinking it was written by Teacher Duan”
“Are you trying to say it’s normal for people to hate Jiang Li this much”
He sat in his seat and sneezed. At that moment, Xu Jiawen got in the car and sat behind him.
If the next person to board were Qi Hui or An Zhiqing, everyone would be happy. But instead, the next person to get in was Ruan Yan.
“What a coincidence!”
“The production team’s definitely stirring up drama”
“Who’s Ruan Yan going to sit next to”
“Should be Jiang Li, sitting next to Xu Jiawen would be way too awkward”
Ruan Yan felt a surge of anger just seeing that hothead Xu Jiawen, if he’d known the man would be this uptight, he never would have flirted around so carelessly back then.
He’d originally wanted to sit next to Jiang Li, but seeing the boy’s skin was flawless as snow, worried he’d be outshone, he chose to sit next to Xu Jiawen instead.
“Never expected this”
“Didn’t see this development coming at all”
“Xu Jiawen’s face has gone dark”
“Even I feel awkward just watching”
The little robot perked up his left ear too, but sadly no one spoke behind him, so he began looking forward to the next guest.
The next one to get in was Qi Hui, who glanced at the back seats before sitting to his right, asking gently how his week had been.
He gave a dry “fine” in response.
Just as the two were chatting, the car stopped by the roadside, and An Zhiqing opened the door.
An Zhiqing had a stomach full of things he wanted to say to Qi Hui, but under her glare, he could only sit in the front passenger seat.
“An Zhiqing’s really spineless”
“Being afraid of your wife isn’t the same as being spineless”
“That’s definitely An Zhiqing himself commenting right now”
“She’s his ex-wife now”
Ruan Yan didn’t expect there’d be a front passenger seat available and felt a pang of regret, though that regret didn’t last long.
Because Duan Zhihan still hadn’t arrived.
Only two seats remained in the car, one next to Jiang Li, and one next to him.
He didn’t think Duan Zhihan would want to get tangled up with Jiang Li, as for the anonymous reflection entries, they were probably just a hype gimmick released by the production team. How could someone like Duan Zhihan possibly like Jiang Li?
Amid the car’s eerie silence, they arrived at the filming location, and the little robot craned his neck curiously to look outside.
Duan Zhihan wore a steel-gray overcoat, silver wire-rimmed glasses framing his straight nose bridge, making his striking peach-blossom eyes appear even more mysterious, a silver eyeglass chain dangling at his chest, practically seductive.
“This is probably what they mean by ‘killed by good looks'”
“Never seen old Duan dress this meticulously before, honestly, are you trying to seduce someone”
“I’m more curious where Teacher Duan’s going to sit, will he sit next to Jiang Li?”
“Probably not, there are other seats available”
Jiang Li thought the same thing.
Although Duan Zhihan didn’t seem to dislike him quite as much anymore, sitting next to him would only invite gossip, he’d probably sit next to Ruan Yan instead.
Besides, he wasn’t particularly bothered by Duan Zhihan’s arrival either, just treating him as an ordinary guest.
The little robot looked away, and Ruan Yan smiled brightly: “Teacher Duan, there’s a seat over here.”
Jiang Li sensed Duan Zhihan’s gaze lingering on Ruan Yan for a moment. Just as he assumed Duan Zhihan would go sit there, he caught a whiff of that deep, woody fragrance.
He turned his head, and Duan Zhihan sat down right beside him.
The light flickered for a moment, and he found himself face-to-face with that strikingly elegant face, his own reflection captured in those dark pupils.
Jiang Li hadn’t known a human’s gaze could burn like that. Feeling his face heat up under the stare, he quickly turned back around.
But that gaze showed no sign of leaving. The little robot said through a clenched jaw, “So cramped.”
Duan Zhihan took in Jiang Li’s reaction fully, letting out a light “oh”, yet the two of them ended up sitting even closer together.
“The pretty one and the gorgeous one together, I can’t handle this!”
“Which stray dog is smiling like an auntie in front of the camera”
“That’s me”
“Same here”
The car drove from the rustic old city of Yancheng to Jiuzhuang, where neon signs lit up everywhere, as if entering a vibrant, colorful world.
Jiuzhuang was a famous tourist city, not so much for its scenery, since summers were scorching and winters brought harsh sandstorms.
Its fame came from its abundance of food, drink, and entertainment, not only were there numerous star-rated hotels, but three Michelin-starred restaurants as well.
As the guests got out of the car, Director Xia announced the plan for this episode: “Welcome to Jiuzhuang, everyone. Please arrive at the Class A destination by 7 PM tonight.”
“I’ve figured out the rating system,” An Zhiqing declared confidently. “The more tourist-friendly a place is, the higher the rating.”
“Only you’d know that”
“Qi Hui just gave him a sideways glare”
“An Zhiqing demonstrating to the audience how to say nothing at all”
“IQ hits rock bottom for the whole group”
Director Xia smiled at An Zhiqing and handed him a map: “The endpoint on this map is everyone’s destination. Hope you won’t be late.”
Before leaving, he added, “This trip also requires everyone to surrender their phones and wallets.”
Hearing this, Jiang Li shot Xu Jiawen a look, see, told you they’d confiscate stuff on the show, while Xu Jiawen, still baffled, could only stiffly nod in acknowledgment.
“Little baby Jiang Li is such a smart cookie”
“Now THIS is the real IQ rock bottom of the group”
“To be honest, last episode not bringing a tent would’ve come off as pretentious for anyone else, but somehow he never gives off that vibe”
“Is it because he’s too dumb to think of it that way”
The foolish little robot, seeing that Xu Jiawen still hadn’t caught on, felt deeply worried for this generation of humans, was mankind doomed?
After Director Xia left, Ruan Yan casually grabbed the map from An Zhiqing’s hands: “The destination’s twenty kilometers away, walking there would take at least four or five hours, our stamina couldn’t handle it.”
What he was really thinking was that they could ask passersby for help.
Jiang Li and Duan Zhihan definitely wouldn’t bother asking for help, Xu Jiawen was too tight-lipped, and An Zhiqing and Qi Hui were older and wouldn’t be recognized by younger people, so the task of asking passersby fell to him.
Knowing how important camera time was, Ruan Yan prepared to make a suggestion.
But before he could speak, Qi Hui offered: “I have a friend who runs a restaurant in Jiuzhuang, we could eat there and then get a ride from him.”
“The ‘I have a friend’ series”
“Qi Hui really does have a lot of connections”
“Is that the Michelin place that’s impossible to get a reservation at?”
“That restaurant doesn’t seem to allow filming though”
Since Qi Hui had already spoken up, Ruan Yan had no choice but to swallow his own words and follow her to the restaurant.
As he turned, he heard Xu Jiawen let out a mocking scoff.
Ruan Yan could barely maintain his smile. He was curious just what kind of restaurant this was.
Because Qi Hui had disrupted his plan, he’d been cold toward her, and she wasn’t the warm type either, so the two walked the whole way in silence.
Ruan Yan assumed it would just be an ordinary restaurant, but once they arrived, he realized it was the extremely renowned restaurant Songyu.
Songyu’s owner was no small figure.
“It’s actually this big shot!”
“Sister Hui’s friends are all impressively powerful”
“So this is what the circle of elites looks like”
“Sister, would you consider dating women?”
Ruan Yan quickly gathered close to Qi Hui, but she didn’t even glance his way, instead speaking gently to Jiang Li.
He suddenly regretted not building a better relationship with Qi Hui, forced to watch helplessly as she smilingly introduced Jiang Li to Songyu’s owner, letting Jiang Li reap all the benefits for free.
Jiang Li, uninterested in human social occasions, just greeted everyone and sat down to zone out.
He didn’t hear Duan Zhihan, who had removed his microphone, speaking quietly with Songyu’s owner.
“Your father’s very disappointed in you.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Duan Zhihan glanced toward the boy sitting in his chair. In his past life, he’d thought leaving was for Jiang Li’s own good, but Jiang Li had ended up dying in a hospital bed. In this life, he would never let go of the boy’s hand again.
Jiang Li merely sensed a burning gaze behind him, suspecting someone was badmouthing him. When he turned around, he only saw Duan Zhihan’s calm face.
He wasn’t sure if the man had said anything bad about him, but given how good-looking Duan Zhihan looked today, the appearance-obsessed little robot decided not to hold it against him.
Knowing they were pressed for time, the owner broke his usual one-dish-at-a-time rule, filling the table with all sorts of dishes at once.
Jiang Li identified the ingredients, the appetizer was a small bowl of black truffle steamed egg, seasoned with wasabi, and the main course was tuna sashimi along with charcoal-grilled Wagyu beef.
Once he’d identified everything, he felt satisfied, forcing himself to eat a third of the Wagyu, but since the dessert looked especially appealing, he finished off the entire sour plum cake.
Across from him, Duan Zhihan quietly observed the boy.
No wonder he’d been so weak last time, eating this little each day was nowhere near what someone his age should be consuming.
“Not a still image”
“Teacher Duan’s been secretly staring at Jiang Li for a full minute now”
“That’s not secret staring, that’s openly staring”
“Teacher Duan’s definitely into Jiang Li!”
“No one dares answer this question, last time I swore up and down they’d get married, and then they went and got divorced”
Just as Jiang Li was about to set down his spoon, Duan Zhihan suddenly pushed his own portion of sour plum cake over to him.
He hadn’t originally intended to eat it, but sniffed and caught the sweet-tart scent, then lowered his head and finished off the cake anyway.
Ruan Yan noticed Jiang Li had barely eaten anything, worried the audience might think he himself had eaten too much, so he only ate a little as well.
Once he left the restaurant, he regretted it, because everyone went to explore the bustling night market, and with an empty stomach, he could barely walk.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before they got into the car heading to their destination.
With plenty to eat and drink along the way, An Zhiqing couldn’t help discussing the destination: “Jiuzhuang’s hotels are so famous, our destination’s got to be a star-rated hotel, right?”
“At worst, a nice guesthouse,” Ruan Yan said weakly. “The production team wouldn’t make us sleep outdoors.”
Qi Hui questioned the accompanying cameraman.
The camera guy was an inexperienced young man, and unable to withstand the gentle question from the older woman, he answered with reddened ears: “Director Xia was worried everyone wasn’t getting along well, so he specially arranged a place to help build connections.”
“Hahahahahahahaha ‘not getting along well'”
“The production team’s finally realized they’re not getting along, so they’re setting up a heart-to-heart session?”
“A hot spring would be a good place for that kind of chat, there are several hot spring hotels around here”
“A street food stall would be nice too, Jiuzhuang’s street food is legendary, don’t miss the cold-tossed rabbit if you come here”
Not only were the comments speculating about the destination, the guests were imagining it too, until the car stopped in front of a sinister-looking building, and An Zhiqing’s face turned green instantly.
“Isn’t this a fucking haunted house???”
“The scariest haunted house in the whole country, no less”
“You’re taking us here to ‘build connections’?”
“The production team really has no shame at all”