Chapter 26.3: Cohabitation is over

---

When they returned home after eating their fill, they saw Liang Qi waiting for them with a longing gaze.

Although they had sent him a message earlier saying they would be back late, coming back after dark was indeed a bit too much.

"You guys... you know your punishment for today isn't over yet." Liang Qi had just started speaking when he saw Lu Yiwei's warning, and he abruptly changed his words.

He couldn't afford to offend his sugar daddy. However, he wasn't completely helpless against Lu Yiwei, his sugar daddy.

At this point, if he was still narcissistic enough to think that Lu Yiwei had joined this show because of him, then he might as well quit the entertainment industry.

As soon as Mu Zhengqing heard that the punishment wasn't over, without being urged by Liang Qi, he turned on the camera himself.

After turning on the camera, Mu Zhengqing took out his phone and started reading the content Gu Da had sent him.

Mu Zhengqing: "You have a devilish figure, an angelic face, and you're the coolest guy on Earth."

Lu Yiwei: "You're the brightest guy in the universe."

Mu Zhengqing: "You're both eloquent and capable, obviously the number one."

Lu Yiwei: "You're my top 1."

Liang Qi listened to the two of them engage in mutual flattery for over half an hour.

He had been taking care of Mulu for most of the day and just wanted to go home and rest.

If you asked why he was personally taking care of Mulu instead of just finding someone else, it was because Mulu was now the rising star of their show, his popularity surpassing even Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei, and he didn't trust anyone else to look after him.

"Why are you still here?" after cooperating with Mu Zhengqing to complete the punishment, Lu Yiwei saw that Liang Qi was still there, and said with dissatisfaction.

"I..."

"You two chat, I'll go check on Mulu," Liang Qi was just about to explain why he hadn't left when he was interrupted by Mu Zhengqing.

Looking at Mu Zhengqing's departing figure, Lu Yiwei immediately realised his reason for doing so. He still thought Lu Yiwei liked Liang Qi. No, I have to take this opportunity to settle this matter.

"Tomorrow is the last day of you two living alone. There will be no more tasks or punishments, so if there's nothing else I'll be going now." Liang Qi said, as he was about to leave.

The reason he stayed behind to specifically say this was also due to his own doing.

Because of today's hidden mission, the guests directly lost trust in the program team, and they insisted that he come and announce that there would really be no tasks or punishments tomorrow before they believed it.

"Wait, don't go yet." Lu Yiwei called out to Liang Qi who was about to leave.

Liang Qi looked at Lu Yiwei with a bit of confusion, wasn't the person who wanted him to disappear on the spot just now, him? How come now that he was about to leave, he didn't want him to go.

"There's something I need you..."

"Baby, don't come over yet..." 

Before Lu Yiwei could finish his sentence, he heard Mu Zhengqing's voice coming from the room. He immediately got up to find Mu Zhengqing, and Liang Qi quickly followed.

When Liang Qi walked to the door, he saw Mu Zhengqing hiding behind Lu Yiwei, while in front of Lu Yiwei was their show's new top star - Mulu.

"Are you scared of it?" Lu Yiwei asked worriedly, standing in front of Mu Zhengqing.

He thought Mu Zhengqing was afraid that Mulu would scratch him again, so he was hiding from it.

"No, it's just that it smells so bad, and it insists on me holding it." Mu Zhengqing said, hiding behind Lu Yiwei.

He saw Mulu next to the litter box, and was about to go over and hold it, but he smelled a very unpleasant odour first.

Mulu ran towards him as soon as it saw him, and thinking of the smell just now, Mu Zhengqing shouted and dodged.

"It's okay, Mulu doesn't smell, don't you believe me, smell it," after hearing Mu Zhengqing's words, Lu Yiwei bent down and held Mulu in front of him. 

Mu Zhengqing lowered his head and sniffed, and found that it didn't smell at all, and happily took Mulu over. He didn't know if his behaviour just now hurt Mulu's feelings, no matter how much he apologised, it ignored him.

"You go out first, I'll clean up here."

Mu Zhengqing walked out with Mulu, leaving Lu Yiwei to clean the litter box.

"It's not easy to find someone as good as Lu Yingdi(1) these days," Liang Qi said this based on the idea that helping his sugar daddy was helping himself.

"It's indeed hard to find, so you should cherish him." Mu Zhengqing replied.

"Cherish what?" Liang Qi asked, confused.

Hearing Liang Qi ask like that, Mu Zhengqing glanced at the camera with a knowing expression.

Liang Qi was even more confused when he saw him like that, but because he was live-streaming, he didn't ask any more questions.

The netizens in the live chat room were also very confused about their conversation. What should Liang Qi cherish? Why should Liang Qi cherish him? Did they miss something?

However, their attention was quickly diverted, and the cat owners in the live chat room started to send bullet comments saying that Mu Zhengqing's reaction just now was exactly like them.

However, when they realised the problem was with the cat litter, they could only hold their noses and change it, unlike Mu Zhengqing who was lucky enough to have someone else do it for him.

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Chapter 26.4: Cohabitation is over

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When Lu Yiwei came out after changing the cat litter, he saw Mu Zhengqing and Liang Qi sitting on the sofa.

He looked around the room, then took a basketball and said to Liang Qi, "A gift for your son."

"Son? You have a son?" Mu Zhengqing asked in shock when he heard that Liang Qi had a son.

"That's right, my son just started elementary school this year. He's been pestering me to buy him a basketball, so I'll thank you both on his behalf,” as soon as he mentioned his son, a smile appeared on Liang Qi's face.

"Your son is already in elementary school." Mu Zhengqing said, shocked again. ‘If he's in elementary school, he must already be old enough to remember things, and I wonder how good Lu Yiwei would be as a stepfather.’

It seems like Lu Yiwei really likes Liang Qi, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically sent a gift that his son likes after knowing that he has a son. If this isn't love, then… 

Lu Yiwei could tell from Mu Zhengqing's expression that he was still misunderstanding, so he had to continue, "Director Liang is one year older than you, he and his lover are childhood sweethearts, and they got married as soon as they reached the legal age."

“I didn’t expect Director Lu(2) to care about me so much,” Liang Qi didn’t expect Lu Yiwei to know so much about his family, and said with a moved expression.

Lu Yiwei didn’t explain. In fact, after realizing that Mu Zhengqing had misunderstood that he liked Liang Qi, he had someone investigate Liang Qi’s family background, just waiting for the right opportunity to clarify things with Mu Zhengqing. 

Finally, he had waited for this opportunity, how could he let it slip away.

After knowing that Liang Qi had a child and was married, Mu Zhengqing didn’t say anything else.

It was all a misunderstanding.

Thankfully, no one knew what he was thinking, otherwise he wouldn’t know how to face Lu Yiwei and Liang Qi.

After Liang Qi left, Mu Zhengqing looked at the netizens’ comments and realised that the cat litter actually didn’t have much of a smell. The reason it had a smell just now was because the cat litter the program team bought for them was wrong.

To make amends, Liang Qi, who had just left, quickly bought new cat litter and sent it over.

Although the misunderstanding was resolved, Mulu was still mad at Mu Zhengqing. No matter how much Mu Zhengqing coaxed him, Mulu just ignored him.

In the end, it was Lu Yiwei who couldn't stand it anymore. He carried Mulu over and massaged him, which made Mulu meow at Mu Zhengqing.

Seeing that Mulu was paying attention to him, Mu Zhengqing quickly apologized to Mulu and promised that he would never dislike him again, no matter how smelly he was, and he took out a cat toy to tease it.

After an hour, Mu Zhengqing finally coaxed Mulu into a good mood. He happily hugged Mulu and kissed it, raising it high. Meanwhile Lu Yiwei was on the side, cleaning up the toys that had been scattered everywhere by the man and the cat.

Seeing Lu Yiwei silently cleaning up, Mu Zhengqing felt that he was a very unqualified father.

Lu Yiwei fed the cat, changed the cat litter, cleaned up the cat toys, and even clipped the cat's nails.

That's right, after Mulu scratched his hand, Lu Yiwei did three things. The first thing was to disinfect his hand, the second thing was to call Liang Qi and ask him to find someone to help take care of Mulu, and the third thing was to clip Mulu's nails.

Mu Zhengqing was a little worried about whether he could take good care of Mulu in the future. No, he couldn't let Lu Yiwei help him with everything.

Taking advantage of the last day of living alone, he planned to get a head start on adapting to living alone with Mulu.

"I want to discuss something with you," Mu Zhengqing said to Lu Yiwei beside him before going to bed.

"Hmm, go ahead," Lu Yiwei put down his phone and said.

"Can you pretend that Mulu and I don't exist tomorrow?" Mu Zhengqing said. Seeing Lu Yiwei frown, Mu Zhengqing quickly explained his thoughts to Lu Yiwei.

"I can take care of Mulu with you," after listening to Mu Zhengqing's explanation, Lu Yiwei frowned even deeper.

"I have to be alone sometimes. Now you're watching me from the side. If you're not around in the future, I won't even have anyone to ask," Mu Zhengqing said.

"I understand," Lu Yiwei thought for a moment and said. 

The reason he agreed was because what Mu Zhengqing said made sense. He needs to work, and there will always be times when he's not around, and that's when Mu Zhengqing will have to rely on himself.

The next morning, Mu Zhengqing didn't eat breakfast with Lu Yiwei, instead, he cooked noodles himself.

Although the taste wasn't very good, he still finished all the noodles.

After breakfast, he fed Mulu and then changed his litter.

Although Lu Yiwei wanted to help several times, he held back.

To get used to living with Mulu alone ahead of time, Mu Zhengqing treated Lu Yiwei as if he were invisible.

He cooked alone, ate alone, played with the cat alone, and cleaned up the cat's toys alone.

If it weren't for the fact that Mulu couldn't bathe frequently, he might even have given him a bath.

The netizens in the live chat room quickly noticed something was off with the two of them.

But after thinking about it for a long time, they finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with it.

Other guests, when they didn't have any tasks, treated each other as if they were invisible, just like them now.

Lu Yiwei endured for a whole day, and finally waited until ten o'clock at night.

After Mu Zhengqing carried Mulu into the bedroom, he immediately looked over expectantly. However, as if he didn't see him, Mu Zhengqing put Mulu down and lay on the bed.

"It's been a whole day, and you've only said three sentences to me," Lu Yiwei said. 

And all three sentences were questions.

If he had known it would be like this, he wouldn't have agreed yesterday no matter what.

"It won't be a whole day until eight o'clock tomorrow," Mu Zhengqing reminded him.

He remembered that Lu Yiwei was a time management master, the kind who couldn't stand even a minute less.

So a day is a day.

Lu Yiwei could only grit his teeth and bear the fruit of his own sowing.

It's not like it's going to be eight o'clock tomorrow.

Just one sleep and it will be over.

It's just that he forgot, tomorrow he would end his cohabitation with Mu Zhengqing and start living with other guests.

---

Footnotes:

1. 陸影帝 (Lù yǐng dì): not a typo, it lit. means, “Mainland Movie Emperor”, a title given to extremely talented and accomplished male movie actors.

2. “Director Lu”: Weird Chinese titles, part 3. Not an actual director, but more like a person in position of authority. It’s used by fans to denote actors or celebs they think of as role models.

And with this, the first arc, co-habitation arc, is finally over. We are almost half-way done. Next chapter onwards, new characters and new drama will be introduced.

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Chapter 26.2: Cohabitation is over

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Because it was a weekday, there weren't many people in the amusement park.

The two of them, wearing masks and hats, blended into the crowd. Apart from being able to tell they were two handsome guys by their figures, no one recognized them.

No one would expect that the two people who were still live-streaming just now would suddenly appear in front of them.

After buying tickets, Lu Yiwei took Mu Zhengqing to the roller coaster.

"Are you okay with this?" Mu Zhengqing asked Lu Yiwei beside him.

Although Lu Yiwei didn't look like someone who was afraid of heights, he also didn't look like someone who was afraid of ghosts. Didn't he still fear ghosts?

"I'm fine. Let's go," Lu Yiwei said, grasping Mu Zhengqing's wrist.

Until they both sat down, Lu Yiwei didn't let go of his hand.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mu Zhengqing confirmed again.

From Lu Yiwei's sweaty hands, he guessed that Lu Yiwei might actually be afraid of heights.

"Being afraid of heights yet still going on a roller coaster? Is it because you're a thrill-seeker, or is there some other reason?"

"No problem," Lu Yiwei nodded affirmatively.

Seeing Lu Yiwei's resolute attitude, Mu Zhengqing said nothing more. He simply moved his arm closer to Lu Yiwei, allowing him to grip it more comfortably.

When the roller coaster reached its highest point and began to descend, Mu Zhengqing shouted "Mom!"

However, because everyone around him was shouting, no one noticed Mu Zhengqing's voice, except for Lu Yiwei, who had been silent.

After Mu Zhengqing shouted, most of the discomfort in his heart disappeared. 

After getting off the roller coaster, Mu Zhengqing quickly checked on Lu Yiwei.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed that Lu Yiwei was fine.

After that, the two of them played all the exciting and thrilling rides in the amusement park.

Lu Yiwei never let go of Mu Zhengqing's hand.

It wasn't until they got off the drop tower that Mu Zhengqing had a chance to check his phone. Seeing Liang Qi's more than twenty missed calls, he remembered that they were participating in a variety show.

Mu Zhengqing hurriedly said, "Let's go back quickly. Director Liang is still waiting for us at home."

"Let's go to one last place," Lu Yiwei said.

Mu Zhengqing didn't refuse. It could be said that all the previous projects were Lu Yiwei accompanying him to play. How could he refuse when Lu Yiwei finally had something he wanted to play?Even if Lu Yiwei wanted to ride a carousel, he would be willing to accompany him for a round.

However, when he reached his destination, he asked uncertainly, "Are you sure you want to play this?"

"Definitely," Lu Yiwei said affirmatively.

"Okay, let's go," Mu Zhengqing said, glancing at the haunted house overhead.

As soon as the two entered the haunted house, Mu Zhengqing felt his clothes being tugged.

He stood still, and only when he felt the familiar warmth on his wrist did he start walking inside. However, he had only taken a few steps when Lu Yiwei pulled him behind him.

"Are you sure you want to walk in front of me?" Mu Zhengqing asked again, uncertainly.

"Definitely," Lu Yiwei replied affirmatively.

Fine, they say someone with low skills but high addiction is describing you.(1)

Soon, the two of them arrived at a morgue.

Mu Zhengqing observed the area under the dim light and confirmed that if they wanted to get through, this morgue was the only way.

Actually, the scariest part here was the NPC on the bed suddenly sitting up. Just as he was about to pull Lu Yiwei to the side, Lu Yiwei pulled him towards the bed.

Sure enough, as soon as they reached the bedside, the NPC, who had been covered by a white sheet, suddenly sat up.

Before Mu Zhengqing could see the other person's face, his vision was blocked by Lu Yiwei.

"Are you okay?" Because his vision was blocked by Lu Yiwei's hand, Mu Zhengqing didn't know what was going on and asked in confusion.

"I'm fine. Just give me a moment, I need to calm down," Lu Yiwei said, covering Mu Zhengqing's eyes with one hand and wrapping his arm around his shoulders with the other.

Hearing Lu Yiwei say this, Mu Zhengqing didn't continue asking, but kept his posture still, allowing Lu Yiwei to calm his emotions. Worried that his voice would startle him, he didn't dare let Lu Yiwei take his hand away.

Three minutes later, Lu Yiwei let go of him.

As he was about to look at what the NPC on the bed was doing, he was pushed forward by Lu Yiwei.

So he didn't see the dumbfounded NPC staring blankly at their backs.

Is this how young people date nowadays? So sweet!

After walking for a while, they came to an abandoned building. Mu Zhengqing looked at the winding roads with some worry.

NPCs could appear anywhere and anytime, and he didn't know if Lu Yiwei could hold on.

"Let me go first," Mu Zhengqing said.

"No need," Lu Yiwei tightened his grip on his wrist and replied.

Seeing Lu Yiwei being so stubborn, Mu Zhengqing was already prepared to carry the fainted Lu Yiwei out.

However, what he didn't expect was that although they encountered many unexpected NPCs in this abandoned building, Lu Yiwei, apart from turning around to cover his eyes and wrapping his arm around his shoulders, didn't even scream once.

Could it be that Lu Yiwei screams silently when he's scared?

That must be it, otherwise, why would he cover his eyes first?

He didn't expect Lu Yiwei to care so much about his image. Even with a mask on, he didn't want people to see his distorted facial features.

Being covered by Lu Yiwei again, Mu Zhengqing couldn't help but say, "If you're scared, you can shout it out. Don't worry, I won't say a word about today's things."

"Me too. I won't say a word about today's things either," Lu Yiwei said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Hearing Lu Yiwei say this, Mu Zhengqing was stunned for a moment. So Lu Yiwei knew everything. He knew he was worried that others would find out about today's events, so he took this opportunity to tell him.

"Thank you,” after a long time, Mu Zhengqing finally spoke.

His "thank you" wasn't just for keeping his secret, but also for bringing him to the amusement park.

No one knew that the top idol's childhood dream was to go to an amusement park with his mom. But until his mom passed away, they never got to go to one. Although the person with him today wasn't his mom, he could still be considered as having fulfilled his childhood dream. 

When they were on the roller coaster, he called out for his mom not because he was scared, but because he was truly calling for his mom.

For the rest of the trip, Lu Yiwei would turn around and cover his eyes whenever he saw something scary.

If you didn't know any better, you would think he was the scared one.

However, when Sadako(2) suddenly appeared in front of him, it was impossible to say he wasn't scared at all. He was just brave, not fearless.

After the two of them came out of the haunted house, they left the amusement park.

---

Footnotes:

1. 人菜瘾大 (rén cài yǐn dà): lit., "skill is low but addiction is high" meaning someone who enjoys doing something even though they're not very good at it

2. Sadako - the ghost from the Ring franchise. She is characterised by a full-length white robe-like dress and long black curtain of hair covering her face and upper torso. 

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Chapter 26.1: Cohabitation is over

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After hanging up the phone, Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei exchanged a glance.

This punishment, it could be said, was simple. It was just about complimenting someone, who doesn't know how to say a few flattering words?

But it was also difficult. How should he start? He couldn't just come out and say, "You're so handsome."

Well, there was nothing wrong with that. After all, the show's production team didn't require their conversation to be logical. It was fine if their words didn't make sense.

To avoid breathing the cold morning air at five o'clock, Mu Zhengqing was the first to speak: "Mr. Lu, you are truly handsome and dashing. You're exceptionally attractive."

"Do you like someone who looks good from head to toe, and is charming from afar?" Lu Yiwei asked, looking at Mu Zhengqing.

"Of course I do," Mu Zhengqing said solemnly, spouting nonsense. "Especially your polite and humble attitude, I simply can't love it enough."

"I also like you, the one and only, unique you in this world," Lu Yiwei said with certainty.

"You're still the best. You're so honest and reliable. I feel very secure being with you," Mu Zhengqing continued, forcing a smile.

"In my eyes, you're the best. Your charm radiates from within, and you're consistent inside and out. Just one glance and I'm captivated for life," Lu Yiwei said with a serious expression.

Uh... Mu Zhengqing didn't know what to say. It wasn't that he was at a loss for words, but rather that he was embarrassed by Lu Yiwei's words. It was just a simple exchange of compliments, but Lu Yiwei made it seem like he was speaking from the heart.

As expected of a movie star, his acting skills were evident in every aspect. Mu Zhengqing felt inferior in comparison.

Not only did Mu Zhengqing admire Lu Yiwei's acting skills, but the netizens in the live stream were also praising his performance. He could say such exaggerated words with so much emotion. As expected of him.

The hashtag "#LuYiweiActing" quickly topped the trending search. [roflmao!]

Seeing that Mu Zhengqing had nothing else to say, Lu Yiwei also stopped talking.

Although he had a lot of compliments for Mu Zhengqing, he was in no hurry. There was still a whole day for him to express them.

Mu Zhengqing picked up his phone and saw hundreds of compliments from Gu Da.

From his appearance to his personality, from his personality to his temperament, from his temperament to his quality, from his quality to his ability, it was even more exaggerated than what Lu Yiwei had said earlier.

If he had seen these earlier, he wouldn't have thought for a moment that Lu Yiwei was being sincere.

He realised that he was simply inexperienced, and he didn't know that people now complimented each other in such an exaggerated way.

With the groundwork laid by Gu Da's messages, Mu Zhengqing could remain calm no matter what Lu Yiwei said.

Lu Yiwei: "Your singing is like heavenly music, thought-provoking and deeply moving."

Mu Zhengqing: "Your hearing is quite good."

Lu Yiwei: "Your dancing is as graceful as a wild goose and as agile as a dragon."

Mu Zhengqing: "Your taste is excellent."

.....

“#MuZhengqing'sThickSkin” this hashtag also trended.

For a time, Lu Yiwei's acting skills and Mu Zhengqing's thick skin were neck and neck in the trending search.

Mu Zhengqing's fans wanted to keep "#LuYiweiActing" in the first place.

Lu Yiwei's fans wanted to make "#MuZhengqing'sThickSkin" number one.

Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei were completely unaware of the trending battle online because they were on their way to the hospital.

While playing with his cat, Mu Zhengqing accidentally scratched his hand. 

Because his cat was up-to-date with its vaccinations, Mu Zhengqing didn't think much of the wound on his hand. But when Lu Yiwei saw the wound on his hand, he insisted on taking him to get a vaccination.

Seeing Lu Yiwei's firm attitude, Mu Zhengqing could only agree to get the vaccination. Although he hated the smell of disinfectant, Lu Yiwei was doing this for his own good.

He originally thought he could just go to any nearby vaccination station, but Lu Yiwei took him directly to the largest hospital nearby.

"We're just getting a vaccination, there's no need to come here," Mu Zhengqing said reluctantly while sitting in the car.

He really didn't want to come to the hospital. He had sworn to himself before that unless he was so sick he couldn't get out of bed, he would never go to the hospital again.

"You don't like hospitals?" Seeing the resistance on Mu Zhengqing's face, Lu Yiwei asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I don't like them," Mu Zhengqing replied sincerely.

To avoid causing congestion, the live stream had been temporarily stopped, so there was only Lu Yiwei and him in the car.

Upon seeing the hospital, his mood soured. If the live stream was still on, he would have put on a show, but now he just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

"Okay."

After confirming that Mu Zhengqing really didn't like hospitals, Lu Yiwei didn't ask why, but simply drove away. He found a nearby vaccination station, and Mu Zhengqing went in to get the rabies vaccine.

At first, he thought Mu Zhengqing was afraid of needles or something, but seeing Mu Zhengqing get the injection without changing his expression, he knew there must be other reasons why he didn't like going to hospitals.

Although no one likes going to the hospital, there are few people who are as resistant as Mu Zhengqing.

He could feel that Mu Zhengqing was in a low mood. He wanted to cheer him up, and it seemed his decision was right.

---

T/N: This is an extra EXTRA long chapter, almost 4 times the length of the regular (4.5K words to the usual 1K). I tried to break it up in 2 parts, but they were still too big, so I'm breaking it in 4 parts.

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