TBSDRA 24: Act First, Explain Later

…

The bed at Yan Yushan’s house was easily ten times softer than the one at the hotel. When Xu Xishuang lay down, it felt like he was sinking into a cloud.

For once, he had a deep, dreamless sleep, and when he woke up the next day, he felt totally refreshed—like he could punch out two Jiang Yangze at once.

Just kidding.

After washing up, Xu Xishuang followed his usual routine and took a photo of his baby bump.

Last night, while doing laundry, Xiao Wang had found some large clips in the laundry room meant for hanging bulky clothes. That gave Xu Xishuang an idea—he asked Xiao Wang for one and now used it to clip up the lower half of his shirt, holding it in place just right to reveal his slightly rounded belly. Perfect for taking photos.

He sent two copies of the photo, one to Dr. Xu and one to Yan Yushan. Then, after greeting Xiao Wang, he called Zhao-jie and took a cab to her office.

The driver who picked him up couldn’t help sneaking a few glances at him—masked and capped—and wondered why someone rich enough to live in a villa was taking a cab instead of using a private car. Soon enough, the driver shrugged it off. Rich people probably just had their quirks.

When Xu Xishuang arrived at the company, he followed Xiao Wang’s directions to Zhao-jie’s floor and office number. He knocked politely and entered when he heard “Come in,” then took off his mask and hat then sat down across from her.

Zhao-jie put down the files in her hand and looked at him with a complicated expression. “You look a lot better… Maybe even a little rounder?”

She remembered the last time she saw Xu Xishuang—it was over three months ago. Back then, he looked like a walking skeleton. Still beautiful, yes, but so fragile it seemed he might vanish into thin air at any moment.

She knew his health was poor and most of his income went to medical bills, but it still hurt to see him living in such a cramped, gloomy apartment.

Out of pity for a beautiful soul, she had encouraged him to move to a bigger, sunnier place. If he couldn’t afford it, she was willing to front the money because he would be able to repay it after finishing the film Yan Yushan had invited him to star in.

She had gone to see him just to deliver that news about the film offer. She thought he would be thrilled but the expression he gave in response, she’d never forget it.

It was like someone who had already given up on life—utterly disinterested in everything. There was no light in his eyes, no spark, just cold detachment like a block of ice no one could melt.

That moment filled her with dread but Xu Xishuang kept saying he was fine and didn’t reveal a single detail. Before she left his apartment, she glanced back and caught him pouring pills from one bottle into a vitamin container.

Those didn’t look like vitamins at all. It’s more like… something else. Zhao-jie tried not to assume the worst. Xu Xishuang wouldn’t seriously take sleeping pills to end things, would he?

Later, when he officially joined the production and even started posting actively on Weibo, then called her too, she finally let go of the worry. Seeing him so lively and full of energy now, she was sure she had been overthinking it.

Xu Xishuang was still so young, with a bright future ahead of him.

“Gaining a little weight is good. You were way too skinny before,” she said with a smile. Then casually added, “By the way, are you still taking that old bottle of vitamins?”

“No, I stopped,” Xu Xishuang replied. “I’ve switched to a new doctor. I’m on a new prescription now. The old ones had all expired so I threw them out.”

“That’s good,” Zhao-jie nodded. “You called yesterday asking about new work. I filtered through some options—take a look.”

She handed him a stack of papers. Xu Xishuang sifted through them and immediately ruled out the competitive sports variety show. No way could he go wrestle with other male celebs while pregnant—he might end up in the ER.

There were also two drama scripts, but they didn’t appeal to him. The roles were forgettable, with no character arc or growth. They’re barely more than glorified extras.

Then he saw the last invitation and raised an eyebrow.

It was from the popular dating variety show Can I Like You, inviting him to appear as a guest in one episode. He set it down in front of Zhao-jie and asked, “Why would a trending show like this invite me?”

Xu Xishuang knew exactly how the original novel had positioned him. He was a third- or fourth-tier actor with solid acting skills and some representative works, but never truly popular. That dating show only invited high-traffic celebs as guest stars to boost visibility and engagement. There was no reason for them to reach out to him.

Zhao-jie looked more surprised than he was. “Xiao Xu, don’t you check Weibo?”

Xu Xishuang paused. He had spent all of yesterday binge-watching Yan Yushan’s historical drama. He has no time for Weibo.

“You should check,” Zhao-jie said. “Your CP with Yan Yushan has already gained traction. You two even trended, though it was suppressed quickly. Since you didn’t say anything, and no one from Yan Yushan’s side contacted me, I thought it was some kind of coordinated PR stunt…”

Xu Xishuang took out his phone and opened the Weibo app he’d neglected all day.

Their trending topic had already been pushed down, but when he searched, the top liked and commented post was from Bitter Summer’s official account.

Xu Xishuang: ?

Bitter Summer, the film Yan Yushan directed, was a literary film and not the kind of holiday blockbuster that needed to compete for release dates. Once it passed review, it could be released anytime.

Given Yan Yushan’s strong connections, the editing and review process would be fast, so the production team decided to capitalize on the buzz by releasing a wave of behind-the-scenes clips to maintain momentum until the film’s premiere.

What no one expected was that this seemingly ordinary footage would spark widespread CP shipping between Yan Yushan and Xu Xishuang.

Curious, Xu Xishuang clicked on the video and saw that it started with scenes showing how strict Yan Yushan was with Chi Siyuan and how unusually gentle he was with Xu Xishuang. A blatant double standard.

The rest of the video was normal BTS footage. One clip showed a scene where the characters Yu Xiang and Xia Qinglang retrieve homework from a teacher’s office and hand it out to classmates. Chi Siyuan, trying to emphasize Xia Qinglang’s cheerful personality, bounced around and even walked backward but the hallway had just been mopped, and he slipped, flopping to the floor with papers flying everywhere. Xu Xishuang, startled, reached out to help but missed—Chi Siyuan went sliding across the floor. It was all caught on camera.

Everyone in the background laughed, and now, watching it again, Xu Xishuang couldn’t help chuckling too. He wondered—based on this footage, shouldn’t people be shipping him and Chi Siyuan? Why were they latching onto Yan Yushan?

He scrolled through the comments. The thread had been taken over by Yan Yushan fans, clearly trying to steer attention away but scattered among them were CP-shipping comments tagging a familiar username.

He had a bad feeling. He backed out and scrolled down. Sure enough, the second most-liked post was a fan edit from 【I Can Stay Single But My CP Must Go Three Days and Three Nights】, captioned:

【Wife-Staring Maniac, online again!】

In this fan edit, the content was completely different from the original footage.

Chi Siyuan had once again been edited out. From the start, it was only Yan Yushan being gentle and attentive to Xu Xishuang, with sweet background music, and eyes full of warmth and tenderness.

Even though most of the raw footage was Xu Xishuang’s scenes with Chi Siyuan, the crew had widened the shots to include Yan Yushan whenever possible and to make the most of his star power.

This sharp-eyed editor had noticed that every time Xu Xishuang interacted with Chi Siyuan, Yan Yushan would always look over with his gaze locked on Xu Xishuang.

Once or twice could be coincidence but in this long stretch of footage, Yan Yushan’s attention was always on him. Especially in the final clip, when Chi Siyuan fell and Xu Xishuang tried to catch him, nearly falling too—Yan Yushan had immediately stood up and even taken a step forward.

Top comments included:

【Wife-staring maniac and double standard king—no one but Yan Yushan fits the bill.】

The fan editor broke it all down frame by frame. Analyzing Yan Yushan’s glances, micro-expressions, and body language in a way that would make any psychologist or behavior expert cry with admiration.

To Xu Xishuang, it was all pure fantasy but the video gained massive views. Some netizens mocked the edit as delusional, suggesting it was just paid hype from Xu Xishuang’s team. Others were fully onboard, saying the editor made a strong case. After all, no one had ever dared to spread a CP with Yan Yushan before but now it was practically “officially endorsed.” Why not ship it?

Whether it was love or hate, all that attention pushed their names onto the trending list.

They didn’t stay long on the hot search, but it was enough to catch the dating show producers’ attention. This was the first time someone had publicly CP’d with Yan Yushan without getting “shut down.” They figured Xu Xishuang had great potential and sent an invitation to Zhao-jie that very same day.

Now that everything made sense, Xu Xishuang: …

Still, he was kind of interested in joining the show, not because of the romance stuff, but because he wanted to meet the minor villain Tang Min from the novel. Ideally, he would cause some trouble and get Tang Min booted from the industry before he could harm more women.

The CP hype would blow over eventually. The audience was just having fun. There was nothing going on between him and Yan Yushan. Once Yan Yushan’s official pairing came out, everyone would realize they’d shipped the wrong people.

He put his phone away and looked at Zhao-jie. “I want to join this show.”

“Got it.” Zhao-jie was actually happy he chose this one. The show had great exposure and could help boost his popularity.

Xu Xishuang already had the potential to blow up—he just needed the right moment to be discovered.

“I’ll arrange it right away,” she said. “If all goes well, you’ll be in the studio the day after tomorrow, and your episode will air next Friday.”

Xu Xishuang was surprised by the speed, but it made sense. These fast-paced shows were partly scripted and meant to deliver emotional beats quickly. As long as each episode gave the audience a little drama, they’d keep watching.

“Okay, thank you,” he said. “I’ll head out now.”

“Take care,” Zhao-jie replied offhandedly. “and make sure to tuck in that belly on camera. It’s too late for abs, so just wear something loose.”

Xu Xishuang: …

“Okay.”

He put his mask and hat back on and left the building, catching a cab back to the villa.

In the car, a message from Yan Yushan popped up: “Got the photo.”

Today’s picture was very normal, but the memory of yesterday’s pink-tinted one still lingered in Yan Yushan’s mind. He took a sip of coffee and sent another message: “Let me know right away if you’re feeling unwell.”

Xu Xishuang moved his fingers and replied: “Okay.”

He didn’t tell Yan Yushan about the variety show. He knew for sure Yan Yushan wouldn’t let him go. He didn’t want to argue, stress out, and risk affecting the baby so he decided to act first and explain later. Once the episode aired, it would be too late for Yan Yushan to do anything.

Xu Xishuang had noticed that Yan Yushan seemed overly protective. In the parts the camera didn’t show, no one knew that after he’d nearly slipped trying to catch Chi Siyuan, Yan Yushan had rushed into his room that night and wordlessly driven him to Dr. Xu for a full check-up.

Of course, nothing was wrong.

Xu Xishuang remembered the look on Dr. Xu’s face. He seemed this close to punching Yan Yushan.

Since Yan Yushan was his big-spending VIP client—and Dr. Xu knew he couldn’t win a fight against him—he swallowed his irritation, politely asked them to leave, and gently reminded them that Xu Xishuang wasn’t made of jade, porcelain, or ice. A little bump wasn’t going to break him.