Chapter 7 – Heart-flutter Message

Being hungover felt terrible. When Cheng Yichi woke up the next morning, his head was still spinning. He lay in bed, letting out a soft murmur, covering his eyes with his hand, and stayed quiet while lying flat. The curtains were drawn, and the person in the bed next to his was gone.

Cheng Yichi let himself stay dazed for a while before finally checking his phone. It was already ten o’clock.

Luckily, he didn’t have work today. He felt relieved.

To prepare for this dating show, he had crammed by watching a bunch of previous seasons. Usually, the earlier you got up, the better your chances of making a move during the car ride. But guys who slept in were often judged by the other contestants.

But it’s fine, Cheng Yichi thought. It’s not like I’m here to fall in love anyway.

He tidied up the room a bit and casually freshened up before stepping out.

Cheng Yichi was good-looking. Even in a fuzzy pajama-like loungewear set, he looked like he was about to walk a runway. The outfit made him look even younger and cuter. The living room was quiet—everyone must have already gone to work. But thinking about it, some of them looked pretty young. Maybe they were students?

He wandered into the kitchen looking for something to eat, but when he passed the dining room, he saw a row of breakfast items laid out on the table.

He walked in and realized—everyone had saved him breakfast! So sweet, he was touched to the point of tears.

He touched the food—most of it was still warm. The iced coffee and avocado sandwich were cold. That’s when he noticed the house had the heat on. No wonder he didn’t feel cold in his thin fuzzy outfit—it was warm inside.

Each breakfast came with a note, clearly left by whoever prepared it. The soy milk and fried dough sticks were from Bai Ruyu. The sandwich, which was half a portion, came from Wei Buyan. The note by the iced coffee was from Gu Zichen—probably something to wake him up for work, very “corporate vibes.” Jiang Heng left him three soup dumplings and three pan-fried buns, with a note that said: “These buns are as cute as you!” Tang Yinuo left some candy—just like himself, sweet and adorable. His roommate Li Yi made him a bowl of small wontons, which smelled amazing. The dried shrimp and seaweed on top looked super appetizing, and best of all—no cilantro!

As someone who hated cilantro, Cheng Yichi was so grateful to Li Yi!

Even Fang Yunshi left him something—crispy bacon, ham, and eggs, all golden and tender on a plate.

Cheng Yichi carefully peeled off each note and stored them in a secret little box. These were everyone’s heartfelt gestures—he was truly touched! And it seemed like they’d coordinated it ahead of time. Each portion was small, just enough for one guy’s breakfast, but all together it was perfect. Cheng Yichi slowly ate the wontons, then added the bacon to his sandwich. Mmm, so good!

Eventually, he finished most of the food. He wiped his mouth with a wet napkin and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. Sunshine streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow on him as he bent over to wash his hands. The water was pleasantly warm. Just like that, a cozy morning began.

Cheng Yichi was filled with gratitude. These housemates are all too sweet!

—

Around noon, everyone was still out. Suddenly, his phone dinged—it was a message from the production team:

“Before the end of the workday, please take a photo of yourself at work. During dinner tonight, everyone will try to guess each other’s job and age based on the photos.”

So… they were going to guess jobs and ages.

Cheng Yichi stretched lazily. This, I’m good at. He used to be a lead actor and had helped directors cast roles before. It was easy to tell someone’s general age based on their behavior, even if not their exact age.

He scrolled casually through his phone—until his eyes widened in shock.

He—he actually sent Li Yi the heart-flutter message last night?!

Cheng Yichi had no memory of what happened after drinking—he forgot everything. But once he saw something that triggered his memory, it all came rushing back like loading a saved file in a game.

He covered his face. Even though no one else was around, he was still embarrassed.

He actually asked Li Yi if he could touch his abs last night. Oh god!

And the heart-flutter message he sent was also to Li Yi. It read:

“Even though you wouldn’t let me touch your abs, I’ll definitely become stronger than you next time, hhhuhshjhbu…”

The string of gibberish at the end was probably from when he drunkenly collapsed onto the bed and just mashed the keyboard before hitting send and passing out. Thank goodness he’d showered and changed into pajamas first. As a straight guy, Cheng Yichi wasn’t embarrassed about asking to touch abs—he just felt so ashamed for being that drunk. How could he let himself get so ridiculous?

So immature.

Of course, he also got two heart-flutter messages from others.

One was very simple—just a single word: “Ge.” (Big brother)

At first, Cheng Yichi assumed it was from Tang Yinuo. But then he realized Tang Yinuo usually called him “gege” (the full version), not just “ge.” And this message felt too cold to be his style.

The other message was subtle, but Cheng Yichi had a pretty good guess about who sent it:

“So happy we met! I like your movies. Let’s keep our secret (until tomorrow).”

Reading that line, he could almost see Fang Yunshi grinning like a bunny, letting him touch his leather jacket again and again.

But what secret? Cheng Yichi blinked in confusion.

Thinking about the embarrassing message he had sent, he wanted to delete it. Then again, since he hadn’t really decided who to message anyway, maybe being drunk was a good excuse to skip the round. Not a bad outcome.

Since no one else was home, Cheng Yichi packed up and drove off to his side job.

—

Jiang Heng was the first one home.

At least, by the time Cheng Yichi arrived, Jiang Heng was already in the kitchen washing vegetables.

The sound of running water came from the kitchen. Cheng Yichi walked in holding a bag and peeked inside. “Huh? It’s you?”

Jiang Heng looked up in surprise and smiled shyly. “You’re back!”

He was wearing an apron and saying “you” in such a polite way that it felt a bit strange. Cheng Yichi shook his head to clear the weird thoughts and said, “Wasn’t it supposed to be me and Li Yi cooking today? You can just relax.”

“It’s fine. I had nothing to do, and I came back a little early,” Jiang Heng said, drying off the lamb chops with a clean towel. “Fang Yunshi mentioned yesterday that he knows how to cook this, so I bought some. We can make it tomorrow.”

Cheng Yichi squinted. “Do these need to be marinated?”

“Whatever works. I’ll just put them away for now. You brought something yummy back, Yichi-ge?”

Honestly, Cheng Yichi felt a bit guilty. He’d fallen asleep last night without discussing dinner with Li Yi, and he didn’t know what to buy today, so he called his assistant for a few random suggestions. He wasn’t sure if Li Yi could cook them.

He opened his bag to show Jiang Heng. “Tomatoes, eggs, corn, cantaloupe, tofu, steak… and rosemary.”

That’s… quite the range. Jiang Heng thought: Is this going to be a Chinese-Western fusion dinner?

He said warmly, “Ge, let me help you wash the veggies.”

That word—Ge—suddenly reminded Cheng Yichi of the heart-flutter message. Could it have been Jiang Heng who sent it? He wasn’t sure, but he nodded, and there was a hint of curiosity in his gaze toward Jiang Heng.

“Thanks for the little dumplings this morning,” Cheng Yichi said with a satisfied smile. “They were really good!”

“I’m glad you liked them!” Jiang Heng looked like an excited puppy, his eyes sparkling. He seemed honored by the compliment. “We all went to buy breakfast together. Everyone wanted to leave you a little something.”

“They were delicious! Every one of them.” Cheng Yichi grinned. “But, Jiang Heng…”

“Yeah?” Jiang Heng turned to look at him.

Cheng Yichi playfully pretended to be mad. “I’m not that old. Why do you keep using such polite language with me?”

Jiang Heng quickly corrected himself, “Okay! I’ll use casual ‘you,’ alright?”

“Perfect.” Cheng Yichi burst out laughing. This kid is so easy to tease. “Relax, you don’t need to be so formal with me.”

“Okay!”

The kitchen was small. Turning around, they kept bumping into each other’s arms or waists. Jiang Heng carefully washed the veggies, sneaking glances at Cheng Yichi with every chance he got.

Yichi-ge is so good-looking, he thought for the 101st time. Totally my type.

When he accidentally brushed against Cheng Yichi’s waist again, Cheng Yichi flinched and laughed. “Stop poking me. That spot’s super ticklish.”

“Huh? That sensitive?” Jiang Heng realized how it sounded and quickly added, “I mean sensitive like a mimosa plant! Just a little touch makes it curl up!”

“You’re not wrong,” Cheng Yichi said helplessly. On set, he could handle it, but in real life, even a light touch made him jump. There was nothing he could do about it.

Suddenly, the front door opened and shut—someone had come home.

Cheng Yichi thought, I hope it’s Li Yi. I’m not sure if these ingredients will be enough.

Sure enough—it was Li Yi.

As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, Li Yi saw Jiang Heng standing very close to Cheng Yichi, washing veggies. Cheng Yichi was smiling, and the two of them looked like they were getting along perfectly. Jiang Heng’s gaze was intense. He had to admit—the two of them side by side made quite the picture.

Li Yi licked his back teeth.

When Cheng Yichi saw him, his eyes lit up like he’d been waiting for him all day. He quickly greeted him, acting all dependent: “You’re finally back! I had no idea what to do with these ingredients without you.”

Li Yi suddenly felt like Cheng Yichi was playing the role of a doting wife, waiting at home for her husband to come back and cook dinner.

As for Jiang Heng… maybe the clueless son who kept getting in the way?