Choosing Rooms

Even the director's cue card fell to the floor.

Wasn't this conversation getting a little too explicit?

Duan Xun calmly looked around, as if he had merely said something as ordinary as having eaten yesterday.

He was God Duan, after all. He could say whatever he wanted. The others, not so much.

Who would dare raise their hand and admit they had done it?

So, with remarkable unspoken coordination, everyone said no. In the end, only Shen Qing and Song Mingzhou had yet to state their position, and everyone's eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them.

Xiao Ziyu fired again. "Fuck, the person who slept with him couldn't have been you, right?? Shen Qing, not bad."

Shen Qing: "?"

Gu Yanting defended Shen Qing unhappily. "Shen Qing isn't that kind of person. Don't talk nonsense."

Xiao Ziyu looked disdainful. "You're already defending him?"

"I'm merely stating the facts."

"You're not him. How do you know he hasn't?"

Seeing the two about to start arguing, Shen Qing timidly raised his hand. "I didn't."

And so—

"It was me."

Song Mingzhou interrupted them with the grim resolve of someone facing death.

If he did not admit it, wouldn't Duan Xun's one-man show become so awkward his toes would curl?

A man had to be loyal.

He would preserve his patron's dignity.

The moment he said that, the entire scene fell silent. Everyone wore a different, wonderfully expressive look.

Song Mingzhou looked gratefully at Duan Xun and said, "Last time, I had a fever and got forced to drink at some banquet. I had nowhere to stay, so I asked Teacher Duan to take me in for the night."

"Right, Teacher Duan?"

Duan Xun crossed his arms and revealed a meaningful smile. "Yes. If you can't hold your liquor, you'd better not drink too much."

Song Mingzhou obediently nodded. "Okay. I really shouldn't have drunk so much."

"Huh??" Xiao Ziyu sounded rather disappointed. "Not that kind of sleep?"

Duan Xun shrugged. "I never said it was."

"..."

Shen Qing let out a breath of relief.

The director secretly sighed in relief too. The livestream had nearly gotten banned.

Once everyone realized it was a play on words, the atmosphere livened up again. Guan Luo, standing nearby, stared without blinking at the two men.

Qin Xuewei noticed and quietly gossiped, "Why are you staring at Teacher Duan and the others?"

Guan Luo blushed a little and withdrew her gaze. "Huh? Was it that obvious?"

"Yeah."

"I just think the two of them, um, have a lot of CP chemistry."

"???" Qin Xuewei did not understand.

Next, they took turns one by one.

When it was over, Duan Xun unsurprisingly took first place, Gu Yanting came second, while Song Mingzhou, Xiao Ziyu, and Shen Qing occupied the bottom three.

The director brought out photos of the rooms. "The second and third floors of this manor will be open. The four rooms on the second floor have already been cleaned, while the four rooms on the third floor will need to be cleaned by yourselves."

Duan Xun directly took the photo of the double room, 302, on the east side.

He waved the photo. "I like staying upstairs."

—'As expected of the prince of the entertainment industry. So gentlemanly.'

—'Why do I feel like it isn't that simple? In his last candid footage, he didn't treat girls like girls at all. He didn't choose upstairs just to leave rooms for the women, did he?'

Gu Yanting was second. Seeing Duan Xun choose the third floor, he unhesitatingly took room 303 across from him.

"I quite enjoy cleaning. The clean rooms should be left for the girls."

—'Ahhh, Brother Yanting is so handsome too! So cool and badass, I'm in love.'

As expected, the three women chose the second floor. Song Mingzhou was sixth, and both Duan Xun and Gu Yanting looked at him.

Gu Yanting gave him a friendly warning. "Mingzhou, I don't li—"

"I choose 301."

Song Mingzhou chose without much thought, then turned his head in confusion and asked Gu Yanting, "What did you just say?"

Gu Yanting: ...

He nearly crushed his back teeth, yet still had to put on a tolerant, magnanimous act. "Nothing. I was saying you can choose whatever you want."

"Oh."

Song Mingzhou turned back and gave Duan Xun a broad smile. "Teacher Duan, I still haven't thanked you for before. How about I take care of cleaning your room?"

Looking at his smile—

It felt as though fireworks had exploded inside Duan Xun's heart.

He wanted to ruffle this person's hair, press his head into his arms again, pour him milk, and command, "Lick it clean."

Just imagining it made heat pulse through his lower abdomen.

His throat felt dry and itchy, and even his voice deepened slightly. "No need."

—'Ahhh, this is so good! My new CP is sleeping next door to each other. Rounded up, that means they're sleeping together. Tonight, will they...'

—'Can you livestream inside the rooms too? I have money!'

—'Don't make me beg you. Turn on a twenty-four-hour livestream, put cameras in the bathroom too, and let me watch!!'

The director continued, "All right, there's only one spot left on each floor now. Ziyu is ahead, so Ziyu gets to choose first."

Xiao Ziyu rubbed his hands together.

Shen Qing was so nervous that even his breathing softened. He wanted to be closer to Gu Yanting, but he did not want to be under Duan Xun's watchful eye.

It was very conflicting.

Sure enough, he did not disappoint.

Xiao Ziyu picked up the room number for 304 and grinned. "I like the liveliness of men, so I won't disturb the girls."

Shen Qing swayed.

He instinctively looked at Duan Xun. "Brother Xun."

The unspoken meaning was: I don't want to sleep on the first floor.

[The tea stench is drifting ten miles away. Why are you calling out? Your Yanting is next door, bro. Why are you looking for our brother? So annoying.]

[I can sleep with Brother Xun in the dirty sense. Can you?]

[With me here, I absolutely won't let you ruin my abs duckie. My man is protected by me. Die mad about it, nya nya nya.]

Duan Xun lowered his head slightly. A low, decadent laugh spilled from the corners of his eyes, staining his brows and gradually creeping across his entire heart, setting his heart ablaze.

He had never felt this way before.

For the first time, someone had said they wanted to protect him.

Even though they regarded him as a duck with excellent service.

That was not bad either.

Duan Xun still could not resist reaching out to ruffle Song Mingzhou's hair. Amid Song Mingzhou's startled gaze, he turned to Shen Qing and said, "No need to clean. It's fine."

At those words, Shen Qing's heart sank.

Duan Xun had rejected him again.

Duan Xun had never rejected him before. No matter how outrageous or excessive his demands were, Duan Xun would run himself ragged fulfilling them without saying another word.

Rules?

What kind of person was Duan Xun? He had never been someone who followed rules. Being carefree was who he was.

He had not expected that in only one short day, his Brother Xun had changed. He had rejected him twice in a row, and Song Mingzhou had been there both times.

Shen Qing looked toward Song Mingzhou, concealing a cold chill in his eyes.

After choosing their rooms, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. The broadcast would resume in the afternoon.

Duan Xun jingled his keys and turned to call out to Song Mingzhou, who was watching the show. "Not leaving?"

Song Mingzhou immediately smiled. "Coming."

The two went upstairs one after the other. Rooms 301 and 302 were next door, and Gu Yanting and Xiao Ziyu came up as well.

Gu Yanting walked past behind Song Mingzhou. To prevent Song Mingzhou from going crazy and pestering him, he deliberately shifted closer to the wall. Yet by the time he reached his door, Song Mingzhou had not even turned his head.

Click.

The doors to 302 and 301 opened. Duan Xun stepped inside first, and Song Mingzhou entered his own room too.

The doors closed.

Gu Yanting's face darkened. What a promising Song Mingzhou. He had actually managed to restrain himself from harassing and pestering him for an entire day. Gu Yanting wanted to see how long he could keep it up!

Xiao Ziyu poked him. "What are you looking at?"

Gu Yanting hurriedly turned back. "Oh, nothing. I saw Song Mingzhou take a broom and mop. It seems like we didn't take any."

"Oh right, we forgot."

The two turned around and went back downstairs to find the production crew.

Ding-dong.

Song Mingzhou's phone rang. It was a WeChat message from Duan Xun, whom he had added today.

There were only two words: Come over.

Song Mingzhou's heart immediately grew warm. He quickly opened his door and slipped into the room next door.

"Mmph..."

The moment he entered, Song Mingzhou was pressed against the door. The man's body, brimming with masculine hormones, pressed against him and trapped him in his arms.