ASFSODS 99

The next day, there were no scenes for Wen Chi in the morning or afternoon, so he didn’t need to wake up as early as his boyfriend did. Yet for some reason, Jiang Siheng could be really annoying sometimes. It wasn’t enough that he woke up early, but he also called Wen Chi early in the morning, asking him to wake up and come out to get breakfast.

Wen Chi sat up with messy hair, groggily walked over to the small thermos box, took out a breakfast, and then went to freshen up.

The breakfast, which had been received four hours ago, was still warm in the thermos box. Wen Chi took a bite of the meat bun and sipped the soy milk. His phone, lying beside him, beeped every few seconds with a new WeChat message. Wen Chi glanced at the name on the screen—it was Chen Li, who had sent him four exclamation marks.

Wen Chi freed up one hand, opened WeChat, and scrolled through the messages Chen Li had sent. They were full of trivial things, but when Wen Chi saw the second-to-last sentence and an image, he immediately became fully awake.

[Chen Li: Ahhh Wen Chi, stop sleeping!]

[Chen Li: It seems like something big has happened!]

[Chen Li: [Picture]]

[Chen Li: !!!!]

The photo Chen Li sent showed Jiang Siheng and Xu Zhouwei standing together, looking very close as they talked. A moment later, Chen Li sent another message: [It’s just an angle problem, they’re not actually that close]

[Chen Li: But I feel like Xu Zhouwei has some feelings for Jiang Ge. In just a few hours, he’s already come up with so many excuses to get close to Jiang Ge]

[Chen Li: Even though Jiang Ge hasn’t responded, I’ve never seen someone so shameless like this Chen Li]

Even though Wen Chi didn’t need to go to work yet, he quickly finished his breakfast, grabbed a set of clothes, and left. If he didn’t hurry, his boyfriend might get “defiled.”

The staff in the studio were busy with their heads down when suddenly someone hurriedly passed by in front of them, a faint citrus fragrance filling the air. They instinctively looked up and only had time to catch a glimpse of the person’s back.

“Is that… Teacher Wen?”

“Ah? Doesn’t seem like it, right?”

“Not sure, the back looks a bit like him.”

Wen Chi walked into the studio where the crew was already filming. By the time he arrived, shooting had already started, so Wen Chi’s steps, which had been full of energy earlier, now slowed down. He quietly walked up to Xiao Pang and tapped him on the shoulder. Xiao Pang jumped in surprise. “Teacher Wen? What are you doing here?”

Before Wen Chi could respond, Xiao Pang suddenly realized, “You’re here to find Jiang Ge.”

Wen Chi mumbled a vague “mm” in acknowledgment, neither confirming nor denying it. He shifted his gaze to the set, just in time to meet Jiang Siheng’s eyes.

The man raised an eyebrow, seemingly asking how Wen Chi had arrived.

Xiao Pang moved a small stool over for Wen Chi to sit on. He looked around and asked, “Isn’t Sangsang here?”

“No.” Wen Chi glanced at him. “I’m not here for work, no need to call her.”

Xiao Pang said “oh” with a hint of regret, feeling bored without anyone to gossip with.

Director Xu saw Wen Chi arriving on set and waved for him to come over. Wen Chi moved a small stool and sat next to Director Xu. As soon as he sat down, he heard Director Xu ask, “Came here to look for someone?”

Although not young, he was particularly gossipy.

Wen Chi had already become quite familiar with Director Xu and was no longer as reserved as when he first joined the team. Hearing this, he rested his chin in his hand and replied, “Yeah.”

Their voices were low, and with the sound of machines and other background noise on set, no one else could hear what they were saying.

“You’ll wrap up tomorrow morning’s scenes, and then what do you plan to do?” Director Xu asked.

“I’m not sure. If there’s no other work, I guess I’ll choose to go home and rest,” Wen Chi said seriously.

Director Xu nodded in understanding.

Wen Chi turned back to look at the set, and as he sat in his spot, he noticed a middle-aged man he had never seen before on set. Once he got a clearer look at the man’s face, he held his breath slightly.

“Director Xu! Director Xu!” Wen Chi tapped Director Xu’s arm several times.

Director Xu hissed and turned his head, looking at the brat, “What is it?”

Wen Chi turned his head, his eyes sparkling as he looked at him. “You actually invited Teacher Zhen Wei to join the set?”

Director Xu looked at Wen Chi’s expression and thought for a moment, “Are you a fan of his?”

“Not exactly, but I really like his movies. I’ve watched every single one of his works,” Wen Chi said, full of admiration for Zhen Wei, to the point that he had even stopped paying attention to his boyfriend.

Zhen Wei’s status in the entertainment industry was like a towering mountain; even Jiang Siheng had to call him ‘senior’ in this circle.

“I have some connections with him, so I invited him to make a cameo,” Director Xu explained.

Wen Chi nodded.

After a while, he remembered something and turned back to wave at Xiao Pang. “Pang Ge, bring over a chair and sit down. I have something to ask you.”

“Huh?”

Xiao Pang was flattered by being called “Pang Ge.” He looked around and finally chose to bring over the assistant director’s chair and sit down. The assistant director, who was standing nearby, was momentarily speechless but didn’t say anything in the end.

“What’s up, Teacher Wen?”

Wen Chi took out his phone, tapped on the screen, and then held the phone up in front of Xiao Pang. “Within five steps?”

Xiao Pang looked closely and was startled, quickly defending himself with a grievance, “They were filming inside. I couldn’t just rush in and kick him out.”

Wen Chi raised an eyebrow, took the phone back, and said, “I was just joking with you, don’t worry.”

Xiao Pang gave Wen Chi a long, meaningful look and said, “Teacher Wen, don’t joke with me.”

Wen Chi nodded, “Mhm, mhm, okay.”

As Jiang Siheng walked closer, he heard the all-too-familiar dismissive words. He raised his hand and patted Wen Chi’s head. When the boy looked up at him, he asked, “Have you had breakfast?”

“I ate,” Wen Chi replied, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chen Li waving vigorously at him from a distance. His mouth twitched.

“Siheng, is this the kid you were talking about?” Zhen Wei walked over with a smile. Although his appearance was no longer young and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were obvious, it was easy to tell how handsome he had been when he was younger.

Kid? Who? Me?

Wen Chi suddenly stood up, hands behind his back, looking extremely obedient.

His clear, clean voice rang out, “Hello, Senior Zhen Wei.”

Although Zhen Wei was a senior, he didn’t have the air of arrogance. When he heard Wen Chi greet him, he smiled warmly and nodded. “Hello, you’re Wen Chi, right? I know you. You’re quite well-known in our industry.”

For a moment, Wen Chi couldn’t tell whether Zhen Wei was complimenting him or belittling him. He turned to look at Jiang Siheng.

Luckily, Zhen Wei added, “The story about you helping others and saving a life, my assistant was repeating it in my ear for quite a long time.”

Wen Chi bit his lip, quickly glanced at Zhen Wei, and said somewhat awkwardly, “No, no.”

“…” Jiang Siheng saw the shy expression on Wen Chi’s face and suddenly felt a little pain in his teeth.

After a few minutes of rest, they resumed filming. Wen Chi suddenly left for a while and didn’t return until much later. When Xiao Pang saw him come back, holding a piece of paper and a pen, he curiously asked, “Teacher Wen, what did you go get paper and a pen for?”

“I’m going to ask Senior Zhen Wei for an autograph later.”

Xiao Pang: “…Oh, I see.”

Finally, after the scene wrapped up, Wen Chi heard Director Xu say that Zhen Wei had finished his scenes for the day. He immediately grabbed the paper and pen and walked over quickly, completely unaware of the conflicted expression on his boyfriend’s face.

Before Jiang Siheng could even say anything, he saw the boy standing obediently in front of Zhen Wei, handing over the paper and pen.

Jiang Siheng: “…”

Director Xu walked over to Jiang Siheng, hands behind his back, and saw the scene. He said, “You still say you’re not a fan. You’re even getting an autograph.”

Jiang Siheng glanced at Director Xu. “What?”

“I just asked Wen Chi if he’s a fan of Zhen Wei, and he said he just likes Zhen Wei’s works,” Director Xu replied, then saw Wen Chi taking a photo with Zhen Wei. “Looks like he really likes Zhen Wei.”

A little later, Wen Chi came back happily, holding the paper and pen while also clutching his phone. He immediately noticed that both Jiang Siheng and Director Xu were looking at him.

He paused. “…What’s wrong?”

Jiang Siheng glanced at the paper in the boy’s hand for a second before quickly looking away. “Let’s go eat.”

Xiao Pang came back carrying several bags. Wen Chi and Jiang Siheng sat in the car, with a small table set up between them.

Before leaving, Wen Chi sent a message to Sangsang, letting him know that he was at the set, so there was no need to worry about not finding him at the hotel.

While eating, Wen Chi was scrolling through videos on an app. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. He exited the video app, opened WeChat, and sent a photo in their group chat.

[Huo Yinshi: ?]

[Qiao Congnan: ! No way!]

[Qiao Congnan: You actually took a photo with my idol!]

[Qiao Congnan: Did you get an autograph for me?]

[Huo Yinshi: Add one]

[Wen Chi: Hehe, didn’t get one for you, but I already have an autograph, hahaha]

Wen Chi watched as Qiao Congnan went into a fit of rage in the group chat, biting his chopsticks and smiling with his eyes narrowed into crescents.

Xiao Pang suddenly coughed heavily a few times, drawing Wen Chi’s attention back.

Wen Chi looked at Xiao Pang with concern. “Is your throat uncomfortable? Do you want some throat lozenges?”

Xiao Pang: “…”

“Thank you for your concern, Teacher Wen. I just accidentally choked on some rice.”

Xiao Pang frantically gave him eye signals. Wen Chi took a while to catch on, and finally realized what Xiao Pang meant. It seemed like… his boyfriend hadn’t said a word this whole time.

Wen Chi pressed his phone off, turned his head to look at Jiang Siheng. The man was looking down with his eyelashes lowered, quietly eating without saying a word.

Xiao Pang quickly grabbed his rice and left, leaving the space for the young couple.

Anywhere is fine for eating. Xiao Pang had just found a spot to sit and eat when someone sat down next to him.

“Why are you eating here? Aren’t you usually with Teacher Jiang?”

Xiao Pang immediately recognized the voice and didn’t turn to look. He simply said, “I like eating here.”

Xu Zhouwei glanced at the blazing sun overhead and the scattered equipment around, knowing that Xiao Pang was just giving him a casual answer. Yet, he still smiled and said, “I think I saw Wen Chi arrive just now. To be honest, I didn’t expect those two to stay in touch after the variety show ended.”

It seemed that Xu Zhouwei anticipated Xiao Pang’s reaction. Xu Zhouwei met Xiao Pang’s gaze and smiled.

Xiao Pang put down his spoon and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything,” Xu Zhouwei said, still smiling, “It’s just that many artists, after appearing on dating variety shows, choose to avoid any contact with their show partners or CPs, afraid of rumors that might negatively affect their careers.”

Xiao Pang sneered inwardly, not intending to engage with him further.

Xu Zhouwei stood up to leave. As he passed by the black business van parked outside, he paused for a moment. The van’s privacy features were well-designed, and people outside couldn’t see inside at all.

With no one else around, Wen Chi boldly reached out and poked Jiang Siheng’s shoulder. “Teacher Jiang? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Jiang Siheng helplessly grabbed Wen Chi’s hand to stop him from causing trouble and said, “Eat your food.”

Wen Chi snorted softly and pulled his hand back.

Not saying anything, Wen Chi just stared at him. After a while, Jiang Siheng looked up at him and asked, “Director Xu said you’re a fan of Zhen Wei?”

Wen Chi froze for a moment. “Huh?”

Jiang Siheng glanced at the paper that Wen Chi had carefully placed to the side, which had Zhen Wei’s autograph on it.

Wen Chi noticed Jiang Siheng’s gaze and saw that he was looking at the paper. He quickly said, “It’s nothing much, I’m not really a fan of Teacher Zhen Wei. I just enjoy watching his films.”

Jiang Siheng let out an “oh” and said, “I thought you liked me the most.”

Wen Chi blinked and suddenly realized. He teasingly looked at Jiang Siheng. “Teacher Jiang?”

Jiang Siheng looked up.

Wen Chi grinned mischievously. “Are you jealous?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Siheng pinched Wen Chi’s face and sneered, “Your boyfriend here is not the kind of guy who gets jealous.”

Wen Chi scrunched his nose. Jiang Siheng released his grip and looked at him leisurely. “Anyway, you’re already mine.”

Jiang Siheng took out a box of fruit salad from the small fridge and handed it to Wen Chi.

Wen Chi lowered his gaze at the navel orange in front of him and bit into it without hesitation.

“Chichi, how about we go visit your parents sometime soon?” Jiang Siheng asked.

Wen Chi: “Huh?”

“The last time we met was too sudden, I didn’t have a chance to show my intentions.”

Wen Chi chuckled. “So how do you want to show it, my Film Emperor Jiang?”

“At least let your parents feel at ease handing their son over to me,” Jiang Siheng replied.