As soon as the two closed the door, locked alone in the room, Mulu started to cry out.
Mu Zhengqing stood at the doorway without moving for a long time. Eventually, it was Lu Yiwei who opened the door and picked Mulu up.
Mulu, now held in Lu Yiwei's arms, looked pitifully at Mu Zhengqing.
"Fine, let's just bring it along for now," Mu Zhengqing sighed, unable to resist Mulu’s gaze.
Maybe he shouldn't have rushed things like this. After all, Mulu had only been with him for a few days, and it was normal for it to lack a sense of security. Once it feels more secure, it probably won't be so clingy anymore.
The guests’ first dinner was scheduled at the seaside.
Because they had been delayed a bit, by the time the two arrived at the seaside, everyone else was already there.
"Shi ge, there's a spot over here," Long Cheng called out to Lu Yiwei. [Shi ge = senior brother]
Lu Yiwei ignored Long Cheng's words and instead sat down next to Mu Zhengqing.
"Are you and Long Cheng from the same school?" Mu Zhengqing asked curiously after they sat down.
"No, we work for the same company," Lu Yiwei replied.
"Then how’s your relationship normally?" Mu Zhengqing continued to ask.
From Lu Yiwei's attitude, it was obvious the two weren’t familiar with each other. However, from Long Cheng's attitude, it didn’t seem like they were strangers, so Mu Zhengqing was curious about what their relationship was really like.
"Before today, we’ve met no more than three times," Lu Yiwei explained.
Hearing this, Mu Zhengqing didn’t ask further.
He had encountered people like Long Cheng before—people who acted like they were very familiar with you right away. However, these people only started appearing after he became popular.
As for his attitude toward these types of people, he remained polite enough, at least on the surface.
Perhaps this is why he became the pengpeng che (bumper car), while no one dared to "bump into" Lu Yiwei.
"Yeah, you don’t often meet someone as thick-skinned as Long Cheng."
"Long Cheng, how old are you this year?" Shang Jinwei, trying to save Long Cheng from embarrassment, asked proactively.
"I'm 28 this year, 24 years younger than you, Teacher Shang, and 4 years older than shi ge," Long Cheng loudly announced as soon as someone showed interest in him.
After he finished, there was a brief silence.
You know you're four years older than Lu Yiwei, yet you keep calling him “shi ge” (senior). Even Shang Jinwei didn’t know what to say.
Don’t even ask how he’s feeling now—if you ask, it's regret. Although he doesn’t have age anxiety, he didn’t want to compare his age with young people in their twenties.
Mu Zhengqing hadn’t expected Long Cheng to be 28 either. He thought Long Cheng just looked a bit older than his age.
Seeing everyone fall silent, Long Cheng, thinking he looked really cool, flipped his hair and asked, "Why’s everyone suddenly quiet?"
"Haha, the scenery here is really nice."
"I should have known to wear more. I didn’t expect the evening sea breeze to be this cold."
"Look, you can actually see the stars in the sky here."
…
Hearing this, everyone quickly scrambled to make conversation.
"Since it’s my first time meeting everyone today, let me sing a song for you," before long, Long Cheng started seeking attention again.
Since someone took the initiative to perform, everyone politely applauded.
Long Cheng sang his signature song, “Yin”. [隐; meaning “hidden” or “concealed”]
To be honest, the lyrics of this song were truly good. Even though Mu Zhengqing didn’t like him as a person, he still acknowledged Long Cheng’s talent for songwriting.
It’s just that maybe he was too tired today—Long Cheng’s voice lacked strength while singing, and his high notes cracked a bit.
"Teacher Mu, why don’t you sing a song too?" Long Cheng said to Mu Zhengqing after everyone finished applauding.
"I'll pass," Mu Zhengqing immediately declined.
Alright, whatever slight goodwill he had toward Long Cheng just vanished. If you want to be in the spotlight, no one’s stopping you, but dragging others into it isn’t cool.
"Teacher Mu, sing a song…" Long Cheng started egging him on when he saw Mu Zhengqing was unwilling.
He originally thought others would join in, but after calling out for a while, he realized he was the only one speaking. Everyone else was busy eating, and no one paid him any attention. Even Fu Kaile wasn’t looking at him like before.
"Long Cheng, come over and eat before the food gets cold," Di Jiaxun, who couldn't stand it any longer, called out to Long Cheng.
Seeing no one was going along with him, Long Cheng had no choice but to sit down and eat.
No wonder the production team was so arrogant and extravagant—the food they made was delicious, though just a bit worse than Lu Yiwei's cooking.
The thought of not being able to eat Lu Yiwei's food anymore put Mu Zhengqing in a bad mood while eating. If he had known, he would have learned how to cook from Lu Yiwei.
Overall, everyone was fairly satisfied with the meal.
As for why only "fairly," it was because throughout the meal, one arrogant and boastful person wouldn’t stop talking.
Mu Zhengqing had never seen someone who could keep talking endlessly, even without anyone playing along.
Long Cheng shouldn’t have been a singer—he should’ve done stand-up comedy.
After the meal, the production team informed them that this was the last free meal they’d be having here.
Starting tomorrow, all their expenses would need to be earned by collecting points.
The production team would distribute points through games or other activities, and they could use the points to exchange for necessities.
After hearing this, even though he was already full, Mu Zhengqing stuffed a few more bites of food into his mouth.
"Who knows, we might not have any food tomorrow. I’d better eat a few more bites while I can."
Seeing Mu Zhengqing frowning, Lu Yiwei said, "Don’t worry, as long as I’m here, I won’t let you go hungry."
"We’re not on the same team anymore. I can’t rely on you for everything. You’re not obligated to help me," Mu Zhengqing glanced at the cameras and then leaned in to whisper softly.
He had actually wanted to say this ever since he found out Lu Yiwei didn’t like Liang Qi. But he hadn’t found the right moment.
It wasn’t because he liked Liang Qi that he dragged him to join this show. It wasn’t to make Liang Qi jealous that he was being so good to him. Then what was it for?
He didn’t want to think about it further.
He also didn’t dare to, because he was afraid of discovering an answer he didn’t want.
Hearing Mu Zhengqing’s words, Lu Yiwei’s gaze darkened.
In fact, he had already noticed—Mu Zhengqing had been avoiding him these past couple of days.
The two remained silent for a while, and Mu Zhengqing started feeling a little awkward. Holding the cat Mulu, he moved over to sit beside Fu Kaile .
He wanted to ask Fu Kaile if there was a way to stop Mulu from meowing all night.
Fu Kaile hesitated for a moment before saying, "One of you could stay with Mulu until he falls asleep, then leave."
Actually, he had already thought about this problem before. The simplest and most direct solution would be to force Mulu to adapt on his own.
But it’s not just Mu Zhengqing who couldn’t bear to do that—Fu Kaile couldn’t either.
Mu Zhengqing thought about it and felt like this could work, but he wasn’t sure if Lu Yiwei would be willing to cooperate.
After chatting for a bit, the production team announced it was time to disperse, and everyone returned to their respective places.
Since Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei lived together, they walked back together.
Long Cheng originally wanted to walk with them, but Wu Pandan dragged him away.
"Want to take a walk by the beach?" Lu Yiwei suggested.
Mu Zhengqing thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.
He also wanted to discuss the issue of Mulu's sleeping problem with Lu Yiwei.
Seeing that Mu Zhengqing had agreed, Lu Yiwei gave the cameraman a look, signaling him to stay where he was and not follow them.
The two of them hadn’t been walking long when Lu Yiwei directly asked, "You’re avoiding me."
"No… no, I’m not," Mu Zhengqing replied guiltily.
Although he was indeed avoiding Lu Yiwei, the reason he was doing so couldn’t be said, so he could only deny it.
"Does my being close to you make you uncomfortable?" Seeing that Mu Zhengqing wouldn’t admit it, Lu Yiwei changed the question.
"Just a little bit." This time, Mu Zhengqing didn’t deny it.
"Can you tell me why?" Lu Yiwei stepped in front of Mu Zhengqing and looked at him as he asked.
"Once the show finishes filming, we’re getting divorced," Mu Zhengqing reminded him.
"And so?" Lu Yiwei continued to ask.
Even if they were really going to divorce, they could always remarry. Besides, they weren’t divorced yet, so Lu Yiwei didn’t understand why Mu Zhengqing was avoiding him.
"I’ve always been on my own, and I’m used to being alone. I plan to continue being alone after this," Mu Zhengqing said, looking up at Lu Yiwei.
It was important to say it three times.
Since he’d put it that way, if Lu Yiwei had any other thoughts, he should understand what Mu Zhengqing meant, right?
"I…"
"Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s head back," Mu Zhengqing hurriedly said before Lu Yiwei could finish speaking.
He didn’t want to know what Lu Yiwei was going to say.
Whatever it was, he didn’t want to hear it, because he was afraid of hearing something he didn’t want to hear.
Some things, once said, can never be taken back.
He didn’t want their future meetings to be awkward. Whether Lu Yiwei would feel awkward, he wasn’t sure, but he was certain he would.
After returning to their place, as soon as Mu Zhengqing entered his room, he noticed that Lu Yiwei had followed him in.
"Why did you come in?" Mu Zhengqing asked, puzzled.
"I’ll wait until Mulu falls asleep before I leave," Lu Yiwei explained.
"Did you hear my conversation with Lele?" Mu Zhengqing said, somewhat surprised.
Actually, on the way back, he had been hesitating about whether or not to tell Lu Yiwei about this.
But in the end, he didn’t bring it up.
After all, right after saying that he was used to being alone, if he asked for his help, it would be somewhat contradictory.
He didn’t expect that Lu Yiwei had actually heard his conversation with Fu Kaile.
If he remembered correctly, wasn’t Lu Yiwei discussing a movie with Shang Jinwei at that time?
"Lele?" Lu Yiwei didn’t answer his question but looked at him and asked.
He and Fu Kaile had just met today and called each other Lele, but after all these years of marriage, Lu Yiwei still called him by his full name.
Right now, he felt like a pickled cabbage soaking in a barrel, both sour and bland.
"Lele is Fu Kaile." Mu Zhengqing had no idea what Lu Yiwei’s current feelings were, and he still thought that Lu Yiwei didn’t know who Lele was, so he kindly explained.
"Well, as Mulu's father, I still have to care about its problems."
In order to avoid hearing the word "Lele" from Mu Zhengqing's mouth again, Lu Yiwei shifted the topic.
Since Lu Yiwei had said that, what could Mu Zhengqing say? He could only look at Lu Yiwei, both of them staring at each other in silence, waiting for Mulu to fall asleep.
This was the first time he felt that spending time with Lu Yiwei was so difficult.
When they were together before, even if they didn’t talk, it was still very relaxing.
He missed his phone.
"I told you that I only came to join this show because of a person. Do you remember?" Lu Yiwei suddenly asked.
"I remember," Mu Zhengqing hesitated before answering.
A few days ago, he had thought that person was Liang Qi, but now he knew that it wasn’t Liang Qi.
As for who that person actually was, Mu Zhengqing () didn’t want to know and didn’t want to continue the topic.
"Aren’t you curious about who that person is?"
Although Mu Zhengqing didn’t want to continue this topic, Lu Yiwei didn’t seem to intend to stop there and continued asking.
"I’m not…"
"That person is Gu Da,” Lu Yiwei interrupted Mu Zhengqing's words and said.
"Who did you say?"
After hearing Lu Yiwei's words, Mu Zhengqing asked uncertainly.
"Gu Da. Your manager, Gu Da," Lu Yiwei repeated.
"Gu Da? What does he have to do with this?" Mu Zhengqing asked, confused.
He felt like his brain wasn’t working properly.
Gu Da!? How could it be Gu Da?
He still thought it was him.
So, he had been tangled up in this for so long, and it turned out it was all his own delusion.
"Gu Da said we should get married, and he hoped I could convince you to join the variety show," Lu Yiwei explained.
"That's it?" Mu Zhengqing wasn’t convinced with this explanation.
If it was just because of this, then Lu Yiwei was being too kind.
Their marriage was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Lu Yiwei didn’t owe him anything. There was no obligation for him to help like this, let alone drag himself into it.
"If you don’t believe me, you can ask him after the show ends." Seeing that Mu Zhengqing didn’t believe him, Lu Yiwei replied.
The reason he was so confident was because the production team had confiscated their phones. If they wanted to contact the outside world, they would have to wait until the show was over.
"Gu Da contacted you, and you just agreed?" Mu Zhengqing still kept his doubts.
"Actually, there’s another reason. The role in my next movie is a marriage counselor, so joining this show will help me understand the issues that arise in marriage up close,” seeing that Mu Zhengqing still had doubts, Lu Yiwei continued.
"Didn’t you say you didn’t have any schedule after this?" Mu Zhengqing asked, puzzled.
"My next movie is very important to me. I signed a non-disclosure agreement with the director, so I can’t reveal anything to the outside. I hope you can keep this secret," Lu Yiwei said.
"Don’t worry, I will definitely keep it a secret," Mu Zhengqing nodded and replied.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Mu Zhengqing immediately felt that being with Lu Yiwei wasn’t as difficult to endure anymore.
"Alright, Mulu is asleep now. I’ll leave first," seeing that Mu Zhengqing believed him, Lu Yiwei got up and said.
After Lu Yiwei left, Mu Zhengqing reviewed the conversation they had just had.
He felt that something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what felt wrong.
Never mind, as long as it wasn’t because he liked him, that was fine.
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