Fans' comments scrolled across the livestream.
"Celebrities' homes are so big."
"No kidding. They've made so much money—how could they not be?"
"Aaaah, I never thought I'd get to see Xu Chun's home in my lifetime. Round it up and I've basically been inside his house."
Xu Chun stood his suitcase upright, and the female director asked, "Are you done packing?"
Xu Chun glanced at the folded clothes on the sofa and smiled. "Almost."
"What are you bringing?"
Xu Chun slowly showed them the contents of his suitcase. "A towel, a teacup, books..."
He listed them one by one. His manager, Su Li, kept giving him meaningful looks from beside the staff, and only then did it click. He pulled a facial cleanser from deep inside the suitcase.
"I almost forgot the most important thing: the facial cleanser I use most often." Xu Chun adjusted its position, making sure the cameras could capture it from every angle.
He broke into a cold sweat inwardly. Luckily, someone had reminded him; he had almost messed up his endorsement deal.
Then the female director spoke up. "But it really startled me when I found out you two were neighbors."
Xu Chun's heart skipped a beat. So it's finally come up. The production team was supposed to film their preparations before departure, so there was no way to keep his being Xie Jianyuan's neighbor under wraps. The team certainly wouldn't pass up such explosive news.
"Did you two know each other before this?"
Xu Chun pursed his lips awkwardly. "No. We just had the same idea when we bought our homes."
The staff played along and laughed. "Must be fate. Look, you're even appearing on the same show this time."
Xu Chun knew the production team was keeping them in suspense. There was no way they wouldn't reveal such a major selling point, so he might as well bring it up himself.
He feigned surprise. "Xie Jianyuan is coming too?"
Although the artists had been told the cast list before filming, the production team had asked them to pretend they didn't know for the sake of the show.
As soon as he said that, the comments in the livestream began scrolling frantically, nothing like the volume before.
"Xu Chun and Xie Jianyuan are neighbors?! Holy crap, that's explosive."
"Wasn't Xie Jianyuan called 'Little Xu Chun' when he debuted? They must run into each other all the time. Don't they find it awkward?"
"This is so exciting. Will they tear into each other when they're on screen together?"
The staff waited another seven or eight minutes, then, judging the timing about right, shut down the livestream and began filming in earnest.
They flew from a domestic airport to Italy, where filming would take place. After landing at the local airport, they headed straight for the place where they would be staying together.
Their shared accommodation was a small, standalone apartment. When Xu Chun pushed open the door, he saw that several people were already sitting on the sofa.
"Brother Chun, you're here."
They all stood up when they saw him. Wei Jiahe, who was at the front, warmly took the things from Xu Chun's hands.
Xu Chun's gaze swept over their faces. He knew the tall one, Wei Jiahe, and had met both of the other two women. One was an actress he had worked with before, the one Sister Su had mentioned he would be paired with in dating rumors. Her name was Bai Lingling.
The other was Yang Xiaoxuan, who came from a girl group. She had plenty of scandals, and rumor had it that she had once been a delinquent girl. But she was an outstanding singer and dancer, and her good looks had kept her popularity high.
Xu Chun silently counted heads, then smiled and asked, "Is everyone here?"
Bai Lingling took the initiative to answer him with a smile. "Brother Yuan and Xiao Xian went to the market to buy groceries."
A little over ten minutes later, Xie Jianyuan and Lu Xian returned carrying bags of all sizes.
"Senior." When Xie Jianyuan saw him, he put the plastic bags in his hands on a cabinet, changed into slippers, and walked in, looking to be in a very good mood. "When did you get here? Have you eaten?"
Hearing Xie Jianyuan take the initiative to greet him, the people in the room each had their own thoughts. They had assumed Xie Jianyuan and Xu Chun were on bad terms. After all, they played similar types of roles, and their fans had clashed unpleasantly before. They had thought that even if there were no obvious hostility, things would still be a little awkward between the two. Now it seemed the rumors had been wrong.
The comments were scrolling frantically.
"Boo hoo hoo, declaring my love for my precious Yuanyuan from all 365 degrees, every angle, no blind spots."
"Once again showering this pretty little brother with rainbow farts today."
"Now that they're on screen together, Xie Jianyuan and Xu Chun really do look quite alike."
After dinner, a problem arose when it was time to assign rooms. To create some drama, the production team had arranged an apartment for five people, which meant one person was bound to be left without a room.
Faced with such a predicament, the artists were actually all unwilling to share with someone else. But they were on camera, so to appear kind, they would usually make a few insincere offers, however unwilling they were.
At the thought of the contest in politeness that might break out, Xu Chun sighed helplessly to himself. "I'll sleep on the sofa."
He knew that nobody there was used to sleeping with someone else. Even he wasn't used to it and would suffer from insomnia otherwise, so he might as well sleep on the sofa and be done with it.
Yang Xiaoxuan breathed a sigh of relief and said bluntly, "Anyway, I don't want to sleep with anyone else."
"How can we let you do that?" Bai Lingling seemed not to have heard her. She looked at Xu Chun worriedly. "What if you catch a cold? We still have several days of filming left, and afterward we have to go to so many attractions to complete our tasks. What if you ruin your health?"
The comments sensed something afoot.
"These two are so well matched, a talented man and a beautiful woman. This might just be a match made in heaven, huh?"
"I bet ten packs of spicy strips that Bai Lingling is definitely interested in Xu Chun."
Lu Xian stayed close to Xie Jianyuan, his head lowered and silent, giving the impression of being well-behaved and shy.
Xie Jianyuan narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze fell first on Xu Chun's face, then shifted to Bai Lingling. He curled his lips into a smile. "That's right. What if you get sick? How about you sleep with me, Senior?"
Xu Chun froze for a moment and looked at him in surprise.