TSBDRA 36: Yan Yushan and Xu Xishuang are Actually Real

Yan Yushan’s gaze fell on the screen of Xu Xishuang’s phone.

Due to confidentiality agreements, Xu Xishuang didn’t show him any of the script’s content—only the title on the cover and the director’s name.

Who’s Standing Behind the Door, Yan Yushan raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw the title. It looked vaguely familiar. Then he looked at the director’s name…

Confirmed. It was the crime drama his studio had invested in. Several newly signed actors from his company had small roles in it.

The director had insisted on choosing the two lead actors personally. Word was, one of the lead roles had already been decided—was Xu Xishuang the one he chose?

Yan Yushan let out a breath of relief. After thinking it over, he said to Xu Xishuang, “Go for it.”

Since it was a show funded by his studio, he had every reason to visit the set under the guise of checking on his artists. This way, Xu Xishuang would be right under his nose. It’s safer that way.

Xu Xishuang raised his eyebrows, a little surprised that Yan Yushan agreed so easily. He had a whole list of arguments prepared to convince him, and it turned out he didn’t need any of them. Something fishy?

But whatever the reason, as long as he could keep working and stay active in the industry to keep messing with the plot, Xu Xishuang didn’t care.

Satisfied with the outcome, Xu Xishuang yawned and turned to head upstairs for some rest.

It had been a long day. Although the heat online hadn’t died down yet and netizens were still gleefully trashing Tang Min, the matter was settled. Tang Min wouldn’t be making a comeback, and Xu Xishuang could finally get a good night’s sleep.

“There’s white fungus soup warming in the kitchen,” Yan Yushan said, catching up with him. “Have some before you go upstairs.”

Xu Xishuang had been about to drag himself straight to bed, but the mention of sweet soup perked him up. He changed direction and headed to the kitchen.

Behind him, Yan Yushan chuckled quietly.

A bowl of warm white fungus soup went down quickly. Xu Xishuang looked longingly at the now-empty porcelain bowl, then at the pot with more inside. He clearly wanted another serving, but Xiao Wang quickly guarded the pot, glanced once at the calm-looking Yan Yushan, and firmly told Xu Xishuang, “No seconds.”

Xu Xishuang regretfully set down his spoon and headed for the elevator.

Yan Yushan followed him in and stood beside him as they rode up.

Looking at Yan Yushan’s blurred reflection in the elevator wall, Xu Xishuang suddenly thought of the first day he went to set—when they had ridden the elevator together.

He had been nervous when he stepped in that day. Even though he had already accepted the reality of being inside a book and the possibility of ending up as cannon fodder like in the original plot, facing a brand-new environment and meeting more people from this world still made him uneasy.

Yet once Yan Yushan stepped into the elevator too, the awkwardness completely overshadowed the nerves.

Although the original Xu Xishuang had also slept with Yan Yushan, he was sure that version had never been nearly as forward. That night, he had reacted to Yan Yushan so eagerly, it was hard to tell who had really been drugged.

He had gone so overboard that afterward, he hid from Yan Yushan for days, terrified the man would remember something and come confront him about it.

Yet Yan Yushan never did.

It’s already been three months.

The elevator reached the second floor. Xu Xishuang snapped out of his thoughts and stepped out. Yan Yushan followed, stopping in front of the room across from his.

“Good night,” he said warmly.

“Good night,” Xu Xishuang had gotten used to Yan Yushan telling him this every evening. He used to blush at the sound of that low, gentle voice, but now he was used to it. He waved casually and opened his door.

——

It had been four days since Guoguo had bravely exposed Tang Min’s actions. As more scandals popped up, public attention began to shift, and discussion around Tang Min had cooled.

The day before Xu Xishuang’s audition, a professional paparazzi team finally dropped a bombshell—one that sent the trending list into chaos again.

At first, no one wanted to believe that those publicly graceful, charity-loving, highly respected big-name directors and tycoons were secretly keeping multiple celebrities, evading taxes, and even holding drug-fueled parties…

But when official sources confirmed the crimes and announced arrests, the public finally believed it. What followed was a new wave of furious discussion and condemnation.

This was the real domino effect. Very few people realized it all stemmed from the Tang Min scandal because compared to these powerful names, Tang Min was a nobody.

That day, the shockwaves spread far beyond the entertainment industry.

【It’s disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.】

【Am I even living in a law-abiding country…? Did no one dare report them before now?】

【With their connections and power, would you report them? Easy to talk when you’re not the one at risk.】

Yan Yushan had timed the release perfectly. Tang Min was already taken care of, and public focus had shifted from the victims to the bigger fish. The victims were finally free to move on without scrutiny.

Xu Xishuang thought to himself—he really had to admit, Yan Yushan was brilliant.

On the way to the audition that day, he glanced at Yan Yushan, who was sitting beside him. The man had said he was just giving him a lift to the set, but something about it felt… off.

Xu Xishuang opened Weibo and noticed that one of the accounts he followed,【I Can Stay Single But My CP Must Go Three Days and Three Nights.】,had posted something new.

The blogger didn’t update often, and hadn’t posted anything in nearly two weeks. Curious, Xu Xishuang clicked in and found that instead of a video, this time they had uploaded a long image full of text.

He was just killing time anyway, so he tapped “View Original Image” and started reading.

【Hey everyone, I’m back. I haven’t been lazy—just scared. I think Yan Yushan and Xu Xishuang are actually real. Like, really real. I’m terrified, you guys. Here’s some insider info I’ve gathered.】

Xu Xishuang shifted in his seat, continuing to read. He was curious what kind of “insider info” this blogger thought they had that made them so sure the two of them were a real couple.

【A friend of mine works at Fruit Channel. You all probably know that Xu Xishuang and Yan Yushan weren’t originally both invited as guest stars on Can I Like You? At first, they only invited Xu Xishuang. Yan Yushan showed up later—and he came with Xu Xishuang.】

That didn’t rattle him too much. There had been plenty of online speculation about Yan Yushan’s surprise appearance. Maybe the blogger had just guessed right.

【Yan Yushan was staring at Xu Xishuang the entire time. Total ‘wife-watcher’ energy… (cough, sidetracked). Anyway, the important part according to my friend, during filming, Tang You-Know-Who provoked Xu Xishuang. He didn’t hold back—yelled at him on set, exposed his secrets, didn’t even care about the cameras. Everyone was stunned.”】

【Filming stopped immediately. And then it got even crazier—Xu Xishuang coughed up blood on the spot, scaring everyone. Yan Yushan just scooped him up and walked out. But before he left, he shot Tang a look.】

【Guys like Tang are a dime a dozen in the industry. There are way worse ones you haven’t seen (picks nose). The only reason Tang got iced so fast is because he messed with Xu Xishuang—and Yan Yushan took action for love. As for the directors and tycoons that got exposed later? Also Yan Yushan’s doing. You don’t have to believe me, but I swear this is all true.】

Then came a bunch of screenshots and analyses of Yan Yushan’s subtle expressions, all trying to prove how much he liked Xu Xishuang. But Xu Xishuang didn’t bother reading that far. He reread the earlier paragraphs several times, his fingertips starting to feel cold.

Whoever this blogger was—if they weren’t someone from the set, they really had a friend who worked there. There was no way they could’ve gotten that much detail otherwise.

It wasn’t the shipping that bothered Xu Xishuang. It was the idea that more and more people might start believing it. Start digging deeper into their relationship and while he trusted Yan Yushan to protect both him and the baby, and to keep his secrets—his ability to get pregnant, to give birth—hidden…

What if something slipped?

His fingers trembled. He rubbed at his knuckles too roughly, leaving the skin red. His phone slipped out of his hand, clattering to the floor and sliding under the seat.

Yan Yushan immediately looked over. “What happened?”

“My phone fell,” Xu Xishuang said, supporting his waist as he leaned down to reach for it.

“I’ll get it. Don’t bend—don’t squish your belly.” Yan Yushan reached out his strong, clean-cut arm and easily retrieved the phone from under the seat, handing it back before Xu Xishuang could stop him.

Thankfully, the screen had already gone dark before it hit the ground. He hadn’t seen what was on it.

Xu Xishuang exhaled in relief, softly thanked him, and sat properly with the phone cupped carefully in both hands to avoid dropping it again.

Feeling uneasy, he opened the comments section on that post to see what people were saying.

【Your storytelling skills are next level, I almost believed it.】

【Sounds fake. Their public personas don’t match that at all. Ice-cold beauty Xu Xishuang cursing people out on set? That’s more like something Yan Yushan would do. No way he’d act out of love like that. Get real.】

【Even if Yan Yushan has a strong background, I doubt Yan Corp could take down that many people at once. It’s probably the government’s doing—nothing to do with him.】

【Ugh, I’m still mad about Can I Like You? Tang Min ruined everything! I hadn’t even collected all the CP moments between Xu Xishuang and Yan Yushan before they took it offline!】

【Please, can the Bitter Summer crew post more behind-the-scenes stuff? I’m starving for content】

Reading the highly upvoted replies, Xu Xishuang finally relaxed his fingers. He had been overthinking it. Sometimes, the more real something looks, the more fake it seems. Most people just laughed it off. Few people truly believed it.

He turned off his phone and quietly reviewed the script in his head to settle his nerves.

The director of Who’s Standing Behind the Door had sent him two roles to choose from. One was a protagonist character—the leader of a special ops unit. The other was the antagonist—the mastermind behind the whole case, disguised as a language teacher with the codename “X.”

Zhao-jie had advised him to play the good guy because villains tend to get criticized no matter how well you play them. But in the end, Xu Xishuang still chose the villain.