AAMIBBSBY 11

The expensive sedan was very eye-catching on the film set. Xia Zhi was afraid of people gossiping, and asked in a low voice, “Are you here to inspect?”

Shen Shixiao gave a sound of agreement. He placed the roses on the car seat and said, “Seeing that today is your first time being a lead actor, I wanted to give you a bouquet of flowers to express my congratulations.”

The exquisite, dew-dripping red roses were blocked by Shen Shixiao’s body. Xia Zhi grinned. “Thank you, can I take a look?”

Shen Shixiao paused. “However, seeing that I was buying flowers for you, the assistant ordered red roses on my behalf. I don’t know if you mind.”

Hearing this, Xia Zhi’s eyes widened. Then, tilting his head, he curiously peeked at them and broke into a smile. “It doesn’t matter, the sentiment is the most important thing.”

“Mm.”

Visually estimating, there were over a hundred red roses inside. Looking at the packaging, they should have been provided by that flower shop known as the luxury brand of flowers.

Xia Zhi touched them fondly.

Wuwu… how much must this have cost!

Suddenly remembering Yan Wenqing inviting him to dinner, after Xia Zhi told Shen Shixiao, he followed behind him, walking towards the film set.

At this time, the trainees had already mostly left, leaving only the staff cleaning up the set. Xia Zhi quietly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and didn’t deliberately try to avoid suspicion.

Yan Wenqing saw Shen Shixiao from afar and enthusiastically came over to greet him, “Here to see your wife again?”

The named wife, Xia Zhi, guiltily rubbed his hands together.

Not a wife.

Shen Shixiao swept a glance at the figure behind him. “Inspecting the work.”

Yan Wenqing put on an “I understand” expression. He pointed to the distance and asked, “We are planning to go to a dinner party, I wonder if President Shen would do us the honor of joining?”

Shen Shixiao: “Okay.”

Xia Mingxuan was already unsurprised by Shen Shixiao’s arrival.

He was highly dissatisfied with today’s screen time and plot, especially after learning about public opinion on the internet, he flew into a rage.

He was in no mood to dine with everyone, he was already full from being angry. However, considering he still had to act alongside these people in the future, he had to maintain good relationships, and could only feign friendliness while chatting with everyone.

While walking, he looked at Xia Zhi walking right in front of him, and whispered sarcastically, “Why bring him along to a mentors’ dinner?”

Wu Linxi raised his eyebrows. “I heard his starlight value increased quite a bit again today, it’s normal for the director to like him.”

Xia Mingxuan sneered coldly. “The role of the courtesan really suits him.”

The group walked to a famous seafood restaurant near the film and television city. The mentors weren’t overly surprised upon seeing Shen Shixiao. After all, Shen Shixiao was the variety show’s title sponsor, and it was very common for the financial backer to have a meal with the cast and crew.

Before the meal, Yan Wenqing raised a glass of wine. “Our variety show broke records for online views again this episode. Thank you everyone for your hard work, and also thank you to President Shen for investing in us, allowing us to buy so much equipment.”

Shen Shixiao replied in a deep voice, “It’s all due to everyone’s contributions.”

The table in the private room was rectangular. Shen Shixiao sat in the seat of honor, with Yan Wenqing sitting beside him to keep him company. As for Xia Zhi, because he was the last to come in, only the seat next to Film Emperor Liang was left.

Shen Shixiao drank his wine in silence, his gaze casually landing between the two of them.

Xia Zhi was in a good mood today, and uncharacteristically took a sip of wine, a pretty shade of pink dyeing his face. At this moment, he raised his head and asked, “Miss Waitress, could you lend me a pen?”

The waitress quickly brought him a pen. He took out a small notepad from his pocket, handed them over with both hands, and asked Film Emperor Liang, “Could you please give me an autograph? I’m your fan.”

Film Emperor Liang was very accommodating. “Ok.”

Xia Zhi gently tilted his head, watching Film Emperor Liang as he signed, his slender, thick eyelashes blinking lightly, his eyes brimming with a misty moisture. “I really like your movies.”

Film Emperor Liang looked up and smiled at him. “Thank you, my little fan.”

Hearing this, Yan Wenqing’s eyelid twitched; he had a rather bad premonition. Sure enough, when he slightly turned his head, he felt Shen Shixiao’s suffocatingly cold aura.

Xia Zhi carefully put it back into his down jacket pocket, his delicate features brimming with joy.

Um, Film Emperor Liang’s autograph is super valuable! He should have asked for two—he could even sell one!

Xia Mingxuan looked at him with disgust. “Seductive fox.”

With a “bang,” it was the sound of chopsticks snapping.

Shen Shixiao silently put down the two halves of the chopsticks, stood up, and left. “Excuse me.”

Yan Wenqing gave Xia Zhi a look of pity, silently wishing his butt good health.

Xia Zhi’s gaze quickly fell on those two snapped halves of chopsticks.

He thought to himself, How much force did that take?

Is the gold master daddy in a bad mood?

Ugh! He has to take some action!

Taking advantage of everyone chatting passionately, Xia Zhi used a stomachache as an excuse, and trotted out eagerly to look for Shen Shixiao’s figure.

In the restaurant’s backyard, Shen Shixiao was sitting alone on a pavilion bench, holding a cigarette between his fingers.

“Are you cold?”

Xia Zhi’s voice appeared behind him. Shen Shixiao raised his head stiffly, then his darkened eyes lowered. “Not cold.”

“Your hands are frozen red.” Xia Zhi clearly noticed Shen Shixiao’s low spirits. He leaned over and, emboldened, covered his palm, blowing a breath of hot air into it and rubbing vigorously. “Is it a bit warmer?”

Xia Zhi’s palms were very soft, and toasty warm.

A trace of surprise flashed through Shen Shixiao’s eyes, then he replied muffledly, “Mm.”

There we go! The gold master daddy’s mood recovered a bit—he really is a little angel.

“Should we head back then? It’s really too cold here.” Xia Zhi mumbled, “It will be awful if you catch a cold later.”

Shen Shixiao seemed to listen to his words, put out his cigarette, and stood up. “Let’s go back.”

On the way, Shen Shixiao suddenly asked, “Do you like Liang Siyue a lot?”

Xia Zhi told the truth, “Mm.”

Shen Shixiao’s thin lips parted slightly. “How much do you like him?”

Xia Zhi thought seriously. “His status is about the same as the three little kittens at home.”

A low chuckle escaped from above his head, and Shen Shixiao asked again, “What is my status in your heart then?”

It wasn’t until this moment that Xia Zhi realized the point Shen Shixiao cared about.

He was so stupid, wuwuwu.

No matter what, he was his husband in name. Showing so blatantly that he was another man’s fan, Shen Shixiao must feel like his head was completely green¹Refers to the classic Chinese concept of wearing a “green hat” (戴绿帽子), which means being cuckolded or cheated on. to be so angry!

The gold master daddy is angry. He needs to be coaxed.

Seeing Xia Zhi not answering for a long time, Shen Shixiao asked, “Is this question very difficult for you?”

Xia Zhi shook his head like a rattle-drum, darted over to stand up straight in front of Shen Shixiao, and cleared his throat. “In my heart, you are equivalent to the existence of a dad.”

Shen Shixiao: “???”

Returning to the private room, Yan Wenqing noticed that Shen Shixiao’s expression seemed even uglier than before he left the room, and Xia Zhi, who walked in right after, was shrinking his neck, looking like he had committed a mistake.

Yan Wenqing tsked.

Look at this! A family disharmony caused by a single autograph.

The dinner party ended. Everyone took a group photo as a souvenir, and Film Emperor Liang specially posted it on Weibo, tagging the other mentors one after another. What was worth noting was that the last person he tagged was Xia Zhi.

Following the trail, the fans quickly found Xia Zhi’s Weibo.

The skyrocketing number of fans was visible to the naked eye. Xia Zhi thought to himself that Film Emperor Liang was a pretty good person, actually not looking down on him for being an 1800th-tier minor star.

However, after returning home, he began to feel troubled.

What should he do about Shen Shixiao, who had been thoroughly irritated by him?

He also didn’t understand why Shen Shixiao was angry?

A father! A holy halo! What a lofty status?

That was his little treasury for three years from now!

Um, can’t figure it out, can’t figure it out.

His Weibo direct message inbox was overflowing. Xia Zhi clicked open the dinner party photo posted by Film Emperor Liang, and found that Shen Shixiao was super photogenic, those who didn’t know would think he was some model or star.

That night, his follower count skyrocketed by 100,000. To give his fans a bonus, wearing his milky-white pajamas and flashing a peace sign, he took a selfie and posted it on Weibo, accompanied by the text: Friends, how do you coax a friend when you’ve made them angry? Seeking answers online!

Fans came flocking upon hearing the news.

[Zhizhi is so cute, holy sh*t!]

[What friend? Could it be Zhizhi’s husband?]

[Ah! Is Zhizhi really a taken man? Let us see photos of the husband?]

Xia Zhi replied: [It’s not my husband. My friend made his husband angry.]

The answers below were all kinds of varied. The netizens and fans tacitly provided answers, without exposing Xia Zhi’s lie.

[You just need to act spoiled with your husband… no wait, you just need to have your friend act spoiled with his husband!]

[Husbands don’t hold grudges overnight, fighting at the head of the bed, making up at the end of the bed.]

[Zhizhizi²Affectionate way to call someone by adding -zi into their name., just have your friend give his husband a kiss and it will be fine.]

Even though there weren’t many comments, only a little over two hundred, Xia Zhi still read them with great relish—this group of fans was really cute.

Sigh, but none of these tactics will work.

Having eaten too much seafood tonight, Xia Zhi’s digestive system was fragile, and in just this short while, he had run to the toilet several times.

Sitting on the toilet, he noticed the style of the comment section suddenly changed, with many people coming in to scold him for hyping himself up and shamelessly clinging onto others.

Dumbfounded, he followed the trail of people cursing him, only to discover that the top comments on Film Emperor Liang’s Weibo actually had people shipping the two of them as a couple!

Xia Zhi: I-I-I’m already married!

At the same time, Shen Shixiao was sitting in front of his desk wearing a bathrobe, holding today’s dinner party group photo in his hand. On the computer screen was Liang Siyue’s Weibo comment section.

In the group photo, he sat in the center, Xia Zhi sat on the far left, separated by Liang Siyue in the middle.

He forcefully folded it, covering up Liang Siyue and the others, and bringing his and Xia Zhi’s figures slowly closer together.

His heartbeat pounded harder and harder, gradually losing control. Shen Shixiao quickly opened the first drawer, took out a bottle of white pills, and swallowed them whole.

His emotions hadn’t been like this for a long time.

Raising his hand to make a call to his assistant, he instructed, “Don’t forget the main character’s name.”

—

At one o’clock in the morning, Xia Zhi was so hungry his chest was sticking to his back. Whimpering, he ran to the kitchen to find something to eat. There was a lot of food in the refrigerator, but it was all semi-finished and frozen goods.

Do you wealthy families not keep leftovers?

Wuwuwu.

At this time, Shen Shixiao’s voice suddenly rang out from behind him. “What are you doing?”

Xia Zhi clutched his stomach, his face looking sickly. “Got diarrhea, hungry.” Because of the diarrhea, his legs were a bit weak, and his face was deathly pale as he pitifully raised his head.

“Move aside.” Shen Shixiao gently rolled up the sleeves of his bathrobe. “Is beef noodle soup okay?”

Xia Zhi felt a little embarrassed. “I’ll do it myself, you go rest.”

Shen Shixiao didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. After waiting for the hot water to boil, he asked, “Is the food you make even edible?”

Xia Zhi curled his lips slightly. His cooking skills from before were indeed not very good. His study abroad journal mentioned that the cola chicken wings he made almost poisoned his classmates to death.

Eh? That’s not right? How did Shen Shixiao know his cooking was terrible?

Fifteen minutes later, a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup was brought to the table. Shen Shixiao wiped his hands clean. “Eat up.” After saying that, he lifted his legs and went upstairs.

Xia Zhi slurped the noodles and shouted, “When I called you dad today, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you are old. What I meant was, you are very important in my heart…” His voice grew increasingly lacking in confidence, as he observed Shen Shixiao’s reaction.

“Mm, I understand.”

As the footsteps faded away, Xia Zhi bit into his beef noodles. “Wuwuwu, so delicious.”

Not having to record the variety show these two days, Xia Zhi slept in every day. Anyway, he was by himself for breakfast and lunch, so it didn’t matter.

However, at noon that day, Shen Shixiao uncharacteristically came home for lunch, and called him into the study.

Fear arose in Xia Zhi’s heart. Just how serious of a matter is this? It needs to be discussed in the study?

He saw Shen Shixiao unhurriedly take out two novels. “I went to see the doctor this morning. The doctor conducted an individual screening on me, and tailor-made this treatment plan for me, which can effectively help treat my narcolepsy.”

After Xia Zhi gently picked up the novel: ???

The opening of the novel:

【”Shizun³A highly respectful term for a martial arts or cultivation master. “Master and Disciple” is a massive, incredibly popular trope in Chinese Xianxia (immortal cultivation) BL novels, heavily associated with angst, forbidden love, and eventually getting tied up with bells (as seen in Shen Shixiao’s “custom” book)., are you truly thinking of him?” The Demon Lord pinched his chin, his gaze paranoid and bone-chillingly cold.

Xia Zhi, wearing a collar with a bell, closed his eyes in despair. “Shixiao, I won’t let you have your way.”】

Shen Shixiao softly said, “Reading this kind of book can awaken the slumbering me, so I’ll have to trouble you.”

• 1
  Refers to the classic Chinese concept of wearing a “green hat” (戴绿帽子), which means being cuckolded or cheated on.
• 2
  Affectionate way to call someone by adding -zi into their name.
• 3
  A highly respectful term for a martial arts or cultivation master. “Master and Disciple” is a massive, incredibly popular trope in Chinese Xianxia (immortal cultivation) BL novels, heavily associated with angst, forbidden love, and eventually getting tied up with bells (as seen in Shen Shixiao’s “custom” book).