Aside from Xu Qingqing, who had gone back to her room and sworn off dinner, the other guests were all milling around the kitchen counter.
The production crew focused their cameras on the kitchen. Rao Mengmeng and Zhou Zichuan were working together to make pan-seared steaks. Zhou Zichuan was clumsily chopping vegetables, while Rao Mengmeng offered a gentle smile from time to time, a truly picturesque scene.
Yin Beilin had said he wouldn’t cook, but it seemed a waste not to use the fish. In the end, Lu Ren prepared a Coral Fish dish and was now making Pineapple Beef for him.
The male lead written by Dongfeng Zhizhu is both aloof and commanding, yet who would have thought he’d be such a picky eater? Lu Ren thought, speechless.
He won’t eat this, he won’t eat that… Where’s the “domineering aura” I was promised?!
As Lu Ren grumbled inwardly, someone suddenly and subtly poked him in the waist.
That spot was incredibly ticklish for him.
Startled by the unexpected touch from behind, Lu Ren shuddered violently and nearly leaped up with a yelp.
He glared up resentfully, only to meet Yin Beilin’s cool, sidelong gaze.
Following his line of sight, he realized Luo Jiuge had approached without him noticing.
She was holding a plate of food, which she must have just finished preparing, ready for Yin Beilin to taste.
Lu Ren took one glance and immediately understood the “subtle” meaning behind Yin Beilin’s gaze.
Luo Jiuge was holding a Western-style creamy chicken stew. It looked delicious and smelled even better, clearly having taken a lot of effort to prepare.
But… Lu Ren shook his head in despair. Goddess Luo, oh Goddess Luo, why did it have to be chicken?
Yin Beilin didn’t eat chicken!
Well, not exactly. It wasn’t that he didn’t eat chicken; he just hated chicken skin. Lu Ren was utterly speechless again. He had discovered this while earning his 110,000th yuan at Yin Beilin’s house.
Luo Jiuge, still holding the dish, looked over with a bright smile. “Beilin, ”
“Teacher Luo, you’ve finished cooking too!”
Lu Ren forced himself to be cheerful, holding up his own freshly made pineapple beef. “My dish is ready just in time! Shall we all eat together?”
Luo Jiuge froze. Before she could say a word, Rao Mengmeng approached with a plate of steak, smiling warmly. “Sister Jiuge, Zichuan and I are done too. Why don’t we all eat together?”
The cameras were still rolling. What else could Luo Jiuge say?
She stared at Lu Ren’s foolishly eager smile, her teeth gritting as she forced a smile onto her beautiful face. She nodded. “Sure, it’ll be more lively to eat together.”
Silver foil-covered candlesticks flickered on the long table, their light reflecting off the crystal platters and silver cutlery.
Though Lu Ren and the others had prepared a hodgepodge of dishes, coral fish, pineapple beef, pan-seared steak, and creamy stewed chicken, the spread looked surprisingly impressive once laid out.
Lu Ren was starving and began to eat like a whirlwind.
Zhou Zichuan, just as hungry, spoke with his mouth full of coral fish. “Teacher Lu, you’ve really got a talent for this!”
Luo Jiuge, focused on her own stewed chicken, scoffed inwardly.
Lu Ren chuckled. “No need to call me Teacher Lu. It’s too formal. Just call me Lu Ren.”
At his words, Rao Mengmeng shot him a curious glance from across the table.
Lu Ren, however, didn’t notice.
Zhou Zichuan swallowed his food and asked bluntly, “Huh? Teacher Lu, didn’t you say before that you didn’t like being called that?”
Lu Ren froze. “I…”
When did I ever say that?
Then again, he realized, the original owner of this body probably hated it. He cleared his throat and quickly added, “…My mindset was just poor back then. I’m feeling much better lately, so I don’t mind it anymore.”
“That’s just her name, anyway…” Lu Ren chuckled. “It’s not about whether I like it or not.”
Rao Mengmeng smiled softly. “It’s true. Lu Ren is much more cheerful than when we first met.”
Zhou Zichuan looked surprised. “Mengmeng, you and Lu Ren knew each other before?”
Mengmeng?
Lu Ren, who was just about to put a piece of pineapple in his mouth, froze.
Damn, Zichuan’s smooth, Lu Ren thought. This morning he was still ‘Teacher Rao,’ and now he’s already on a first-name basis with her.
…Yin Beilin, oh Yin Beilin, Lu Ren cursed inwardly, look at you! You’ve been bossing me around every day on this show, and you’re not even paying attention! Your future wife is about to get snatched away!
Rao Mengmeng smiled innocently. “Yes, we were classmates. Later, Lu Ren, Teacher Yin, and I ended up in the same production. Maybe it’s fate.”
The people around them let out a collective “Huh?”
The next second, Lu Ren felt a pinch on the back of his neck. He flinched as Yin Beilin hummed, “Hmm?” His voice was low and lingering. “So, it seems Lu Ren and you really do have a lot of fate.”
Lu Ren immediately choked on the pineapple in his mouth and burst into a coughing fit.
“…Bro, what’s wrong with my classmate?”
“It’s not like I’m the one who calls her Mengmeng, and it’s not like I’m the one cooking with her. Besides, you’re the one in the same production crew with her!”
“Why are you humming at me instead of Zhou Zichuan?”
Lu Ren coughed so hard that tears almost streamed down his face. In his struggle, he accidentally knocked over his wine glass, spilling the red wine all over Yin Beilin.
Fuck, how can I be this unlucky?
Lu Ren continued coughing as he reached out, his expression a mix of desperation and regret, to wipe the wine off Yin Beilin.
Yin Beilin’s brow furrowed instantly.
Luo Jiuge raised an eyebrow.
Back when she and Yin Beilin were in the same production, there was an actress who had a lot of scenes with him. Whether on or off set, she never stopped calling him “Teacher Yin.”
At the time, her and Yin Beilin’s “CP” was being aggressively pushed by the media.
And then what happened? Luo Jiuge sneered inwardly.
Mistaking Yin Beilin’s disdain for silent permission, the actress, overconfident as ever, pulled a move at the wrap party that was remarkably similar to Lu Ren’s. She “accidentally” spilled wine on Yin Beilin and then tried to press a napkin against his stomach to wipe it off, all in front of so many A-list stars and reporters.
What did Yin Beilin do back then?
Oh, he took off his coat. He casually tossed the expensive jacket to the waiter. “Throw it away.”
Luo Jiuge shook her head inwardly.
Lu Ren was trying the same old trick again.
He was coughing so miserably, and Yin Beilin had a germ phobia and hated physical contact. Even if Lu Ren had managed to get Yin Beilin to sing with him before, what did that matter? With Yin Beilin’s temperament, how could he possibly tolerate Lu Ren?
At this thought, the malice in Luo Jiuge’s heart swelled almost instantly. She couldn’t wait to see Yin Beilin throw away his coat and coldly reject Lu Ren.
Sure enough, Yin Beilin’s displeased gaze lingered on Lu Ren for two seconds.
The next moment, just as she had predicted, Yin Beilin frowned and stood up, leaving the coughing Lu Ren behind.
The corners of Luo Jiuge’s lips curled slightly.
But less than two seconds later, her expectant expression froze.
Yin Beilin actually came back.
And he hadn’t even taken off the wine-stained coat.
Luo Jiuge stared blankly, her fork holding a piece of her own creamy stewed chicken forgotten as she watched Yin Beilin without blinking.
Luo Jiuge watched as the usually aloof Yin Beilin brought over a glass of water and a napkin, walked up to Lu Ren, and leaned down slightly.
“No one’s rushing you. Why are you eating so fast?”
Luo Jiuge heard Yin Beilin say this.
She even saw him reach out and gently pat Lu Ren’s back.
Luo Jiuge: “…?”
She felt a momentary sense of disorientation.
Is this really the Yin Beilin she knew?
Lu Ren’s back grew pricklier from Yin Beilin’s gentle patting. After a few more coughs, his body seemed to tactfully decide to stop coughing altogether.
By the time they finished cooking and eating, it was already late. After chatting and drinking for a while, the evening drew to a close.
Director Qian finally brought out Xu Qingqing, who had refused to join them in their “debauchery.” After a brief, perfunctory chat in the living room, everyone packed up and got ready for bed.
But it was only when it came time to sleep that Lu Ren realized there was a problem.
Earlier that day, when he’d come to change, he’d been so preoccupied with the paintings on the walls that he hadn’t paid much attention to which room they would be staying in.
Still, this was a manor, however small. It surely had side wings and annexes, meaning there were plenty of rooms. Lu Ren hadn’t given their sleeping arrangements a second thought.
Who would have thought Director Qian would actually say the other rooms were reserved for the crew?
The three of them would have to squeeze into one room.
A single room shouldn’t have been an issue; after all, each one was still luxurious and spacious.
Take the room they were eventually assigned, for example. It had cream-colored silk wallpaper, paintings of various sizes adorning the walls, a floor lamp draped in silk, and a cream-white upholstered sofa. But…
Why were there only two beds?
Lu Ren: “…”
Only two beds.
A double bed, and right next to it, a slightly taller single bed.
Wait, what? Lu Ren felt like he was about to faint.
You have room for a rug, a sofa, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, and all this other stuff, but you can’t fit in one more single bed?
And that double bed…
Lu Ren’s face darkened.
The double bed wasn’t even that big. It had four bedposts, and the fancy bed curtains had been untied and let down. They were pink and billowed softly, stirring the imagination.
The single bed beside it, by contrast, was utterly plain, just a pillow and a blanket, and nothing else. It was separated from the double bed by a distinct boundary, looking like a lonely wolf.
Lu Ren: “…”
He had a strong suspicion that the production crew had done this on purpose.
Yin Beilin walked up to the petrified Lu Ren and asked in a calm tone, “Why aren’t you moving?”
Lu Ren pointed tremblingly at the room. “There are only two beds…”
Hearing this, Yin Beilin glanced inside.
Seeing the “suggestive” double bed, Yin Beilin merely raised an eyebrow and turned his head back with an indifferent expression.
“I see,” Yin Beilin said. “Which one do you want to sleep in?”
…Which one do I want to sleep in? Of course I want the single bed!
The words got stuck in Lu Ren’s throat. After struggling for a moment, he finally managed to say weakly and sensibly, “I… I’ll just sleep in the double bed…”
A satisfied smile curved Yin Beilin’s lips.
Just as he was about to speak, Zhou Zichuan suddenly threw an arm around Lu Ren’s shoulders from behind.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Zhou Zichuan said, clenching his other hand into a fist. “Teacher Yin, don’t you worry. Lu Ren and I will just squeeze into that double bed together. You can get a good night’s rest!”
Yin Beilin: “…”
Lu Ren: “…”