I'm Dying from Shipping Them

Wen Shuang had said that because he had seen through Dilanda's intentions and desperately wanted to get away from him. He never imagined that, after so long, Xuan Zhe would bring it up again. More importantly, this man's pronunciation in G Country's language was extremely standard. He clearly...

"Y-you understand it?" Wen Shuang trembled.

Xuan Zhe admitted generously, "I understand most of it."

Wen Shuang blurted out, "If you understand it, why do you need an interpreter?!"

"If the boss does the work himself, what are the employees for?" Xuan Zhe tugged at his tie and leaned back. His expression sank into shadow, and Wen Shuang could no longer read his emotions. He only felt an invisible net descending over him from all directions. He was not afraid, but his heart beat a little too fast, leaving him with mixed feelings.

At last, Wen Shuang took a deep breath and felt that he had to make things clear. "President Xuan! Back then, Mr. Dilanda was interested in me. I just simply wanted to... wanted to..." The rest of the words seemed lodged in his throat, impossible to say.

Xuan Zhe finished for him. "You wanted to reject his pursuit?"

"Yes!" Wen Shuang nodded fiercely.

But he did not know that his attitude carried a hint of trying to hide what was obvious. The young man's ears and neck had turned completely red, and the tear mole on his earlobe was such a vivid red that it seemed ready to bleed. He was clearly so flustered, yet somehow alluring. Why did he not dare face it? Was he afraid, or did he have some other psychological burden?

After a long while, Xuan Zhe spoke in a low voice. "Enough. Drive me back."

Wen Shuang nodded hurriedly, but his state of mind had changed, leaving him restless and unable to sit still. Some things were like that. Before anyone pointed them out, he could remain perfectly at ease. But there was only one thin layer of paper over the window; once it was pierced, it was pierced. And Wen Shuang had no ability to paste it back up. The moment Xuan Zhe took the initiative, he immediately became the passive party.

The car drove steadily down the road. Wen Shuang had never been in a relationship. He merely felt that Xuan Zhe was a good person. Perhaps the man had only asked because it had been a lingering question for a long time. Relax, relax!

When they arrived at Clear Day Manor, Xuan Zhe was still asleep. His brows and eyes no longer held their usual clear, sharp beauty; instead, they revealed a faint exhaustion. Seeing this, Wen Shuang instinctively turned on the car's air conditioning. At that tiny change, Xuan Zhe slowly opened his eyes.

Wen Shuang became like some little animal under threat again, unconsciously bristling.

Xuan Zhe saw it clearly and felt somewhat helpless. He had not seemed so timid when he was flirting. Xuan Zhe had never liked forcing people into anything, so he remained composed and acted as though nothing had happened. "Drive the car home. Bring it to the company on Monday." With that, he pushed open the door and got out without even looking back.

That instead made Wen Shuang feel a little sour inside. He was leaving just like that? When he had exposed Wen Shuang for pursuing him earlier, he had not acted like this...

These completely normal reactions were far too unfamiliar to Wen Shuang. His parents had died young, and it was as though he had been born missing a certain string when it came to love. In the past, men and women had come to confess to him. No matter how attractive they were, he rejected them all because he did not feel his heart stir. He clearly only appreciated Xuan Zhe's looks, but if it was only an appreciation of his looks... what did this resentment in his heart mean?

Wen Shuang drove home with a gloomy expression. He did not know that, troubled by this question, he had lingered outside Clear Day Manor's entrance for over ten minutes while Xuan Zhe stood on the second floor watching him for over ten minutes.

So he was shy? Xuan Zhe raised a brow, feeling that he had grasped the truth.

On Monday, Wen Shuang drove to the company early, afraid of being seen. After parking the car and informing Cao Nanyu, he lowered his head and rushed toward the office. Over the next few days, he deliberately or unconsciously avoided Xuan Zhe. He still had no clue about his own unusual behavior and instinctively buried his head in the sand.

Sometimes, the two ran into each other at the company entrance. The moment Wen Shuang met Xuan Zhe's deep eyes, he was always the first to look away, even though most of the time Xuan Zhe had merely glanced at him casually. Cao Nanyu noticed and quietly asked Xuan Zhe, "President Xuan, did you and Wen Shuang have a falling-out?"

"Could he still remain at Power One if we had?" Xuan Zhe asked in return. Then a faint smile appeared in his eyes, one filled with anticipation for prey entering the trap. "He's tying himself in knots. It has nothing to do with me."

Cao Nanyu: "..." Why did President Xuan sound a little indulgent?

He left without even pausing... Wen Shuang did not know when he had started paying special attention to every move Xuan Zhe made. It felt as if that man only cared about making others restless, then acted as though nothing had happened afterward. Perhaps he believed Wen Shuang's explanation, or perhaps he simply did not care.

Indeed, there was nothing to care about. Who was Xuan Zhe, after all?

Wen Shuang took a deep breath and told himself to focus on work. In the blink of an eye, the show began airing. Wen Shuang did not need to record tomorrow, since the third episode did not require ordinary participants. The cameras were all on the celebrities, and he was happy to have some peace.

Wen Shuang did not watch the show himself. For some reason, he felt embarrassed, as though he were admiring himself in a mirror in public. He stared blankly at his computer until the laughter of several female coworkers pulled him back.

The women across from him could laugh if they wanted, but they kept glancing at Wen Shuang with flushed faces. One of them was especially excited and spoke rather loudly. "I'm shipping them so hard!!!"

Wen Shuang: "..." Shipping what?

Since he had nothing better to do, Wen Shuang opened the show with a frown. It had already reached the part where he and Jiang Ning returned the last bicycle. Before Wen Shuang could understand the flood of "so shippable" comments, Jiang Ning's sun-reddened face immediately made the fans feel heartbroken. But in the next second, everyone saw Wen Shuang remove the hood from his sweatshirt and place it directly over Jiang Ning's head.

The comments seemed to freeze for a moment.

[I don't want to ship them anymore, let me out!!!]

[I just climbed out and you dragged me back in?!]

[I'm dying from shipping them, I'm dying from shipping them!]

Wen Shuang crossed his arms, unable to understand what was so special about that.

In the office, Xuan Zhe lit a cigarette. Every glance at the comments made his expression turn a shade colder, yet he insisted on continuing to watch.

When it reached the part where Wen Shuang, relying on sheer luck, caught two crabs and got the uncle to ferry them across the river over an hour early, the comments were already spamming "666" together. #LivingKoi# shot onto the trending searches at lightning speed. Wen Shuang knew nothing about it, but Zhu Lian watched the follower count of the Weibo account created in Wen Shuang's name soar wildly and began planning how to bring this promising talent under her wing.

When it came to the part where Wen Shuang helped Jiang Ning later on, there was no need to say anything. The comments shipped them so hard they were practically out of breath, and plenty of people claimed they had fainted from it. Wen Shuang wore the expression of an old man on the subway staring at his phone, deeply feeling that he had fallen out of step with the times. Especially when he saw one comment saying something about a sunny popular celebrity top versus a gentle, cheerful ordinary participant bottom, he immediately gave a soft snort. Absolutely impossible, okay!

Everything had been harmonious until Chen Zong appeared. Chen Zong running all the way over was nowhere near as interesting as Wen Shuang leading Jiang Ning through the challenge like they had cheat codes. Whenever the camera cut to him, aside from his fans offering a few words of encouragement and praise, everyone else was urging the show to switch back to Jiang Ning's side. When Chen Zong saw that Jiang Ning had come in first, not even the ugly-face effect could hide his expression. Everyone tolerated him ordering Wen Shuang around, but when they saw Chen Zong brace himself on Wen Shuang's shoulder to climb ashore, forcing him underwater for several seconds, the comments and discussion section instantly exploded.

[Is Chen Zong sick or something?!]

[Don't put it like that, okay? Chen Zong had been running all the way and had no strength left. When someone falls into the water, they instinctively grab whatever is around them. That's normal. Haters, get lost.]

[No strength? Does he look like he has no strength with that high-and-mighty posture?]

The two sides began fighting. Jiang Ning's fans charged first. Damn it, he kicked the ordinary participant away first, then made that ugly face when Jiang Ning came in first. What the hell was that! On top of that, Wen Shuang had already accumulated a great deal of goodwill from passersby. Chen Zong's stunt left an extremely bad impression, and his fans were quickly overwhelmed and all went silent. But the real slap in the face came afterward. Someone dug up a video of Chen Zong winning first place in swimming as an athlete years ago. Originally, Chen Zong's fans had used those videos to sing his praises, but they never imagined that one day they would become evidence. In the video, Chen Zong swam several laps back and forth without showing any fatigue. So why did he have to hold Wen Shuang down in a thirty-meter shallow-water section? Those who understood, understood.

Ever since recording began, Chen Zong had dreamed of trending, but he never imagined he would trend because everyone was cursing him out.

Wen Shuang did not understand any of this. He only felt that the internet's impact was enormous, crashing down on him like a giant wave.

The production team was ruthless. They even edited together the scene where Wen Shuang finally helped Peng Shanshan ashore, then fell back into the water from "exhaustion." With Cao Nanyu handling things, Xuan Zhe naturally did not appear on camera. Thus, Wen Shuang became a pitiful little thing who had run himself ragged. A huge broken-heart effect appeared on-screen, showing that they had run out of time. The viewers immediately disliked it. The comments and discussion section were flooded, and people even went to the official Weibo account demanding that Wen Shuang not be eliminated, because fundamentally, Wen Shuang had arrived first. Why was Chen Zong not eliminated for deliberately causing trouble?

[Just a passerby here. If Wen Shuang gets eliminated, I'm not watching this show anymore. What the hell is there to watch?]

It became the top-liked comment and stayed there.

In order to "comply" with the audience, the production team quickly came out to clarify, saying that after a unanimous discussion, Wen Shuang had indeed reached the shore together with Jiang Ning and would participate in the subsequent recordings.

Everyone immediately cheered and praised the production team for having a conscience.

Wen Shuang stared blankly. Act! Keep acting! When I begged the director to let me go, he had already refused!

Then, in a tone of secretly leaking information, the production team announced that the celebrity-and-ordinary-participant pairings would soon change. Everyone shipping couples popped up, pushing Jiang Ning versus Wen Shuang into first place. Normally, celebrity pairings were easily criticized, but this pair was different. Even Jiang Ning's own fans shipped them with relish. They were seasoned veterans of the entertainment industry and could tell at a glance who was sincere and who was fake. Wen Shuang was not affected or pretentious in the slightest. Just ship them!

Wen Shuang watched the production team's outrageous maneuver and was speechless for a moment.

Boom! Boom! The wind shook the glass, and drifting raindrops landed on Wen Shuang's face. He wiped them away casually, then heard a passing coworker say, "I heard there's going to be a once-in-a-decade rainstorm. I wonder if it's true."

A once-in-a-decade rainstorm... The keywords struck Wen Shuang's sensitive nerves, and his heart tightened. Wait! The original novel mentioned this rainstorm. It seemed connected to a turning point in someone's life. Who was it?

Suddenly, Wen Shuang's heart sank hard. A chill mixed with fear shot straight to his scalp. He sprang to his feet and rushed out of the office!