Are You Sure You Can Do It?

The other three at the table all looked over. Gu Yanting's face had turned livid, his gaze fixed on Song Mingzhou and Duan Xun before he coldly stared at Song Mingzhou. "Come with me. I have something to tell you."

Song Mingzhou: "???"

He could hardly believe his ears, so he chose to ask 527.

[Little 7, was he talking to me just now?]

527 nodded.

[Yes, he was asking you to come out. He has something to say to you.]

Damn.

What nerve.

Song Mingzhou was this close to throwing down his chopsticks and following him out.

[Ding! Plot point triggered. The host chooses to go out with Gu Yanting.]

[...]

If he went out with him so openly, what if Duan Xun got mad? What excuse should he make?

Just as Song Mingzhou was struggling with this, Duan Xun quietly took his hand beneath the table and gave him a reassuring look. "Go. It's fine."

"???"

An angel. Duan Xun really was an angel.

Song Mingzhou nodded, touched. "Okay, I'm going." He wanted to say, Trust me, but with other people present, he did not say it aloud.

Song Mingzhou followed Gu Yanting out of the private room, closing the door behind them and leaving Shen Qing looking utterly bewildered.

[Ding! Host Song Mingzhou's critical plot point has been successfully repaired. Current task progress: 36/100.]

Violence seemed to radiate from Gu Yanting. He had seen Duan Xun's little gesture perfectly clearly. Fury shot straight to his head, and the two of them had been exchanging looks at the dinner table as if he were dead!

With his hands in his pockets, Song Mingzhou lost all trace of his obedient demeanor the moment he left the private room. He looked like a carefree young master, arrogant and uninhibited.

"What exactly do you want to say? Here's fine. There aren't many people around, and I can't be bothered to walk any farther."

Song Mingzhou stopped by a window.

There was hardly anyone around.

Gu Yanting had no choice but to stop as well.

He turned and stared fixedly at Song Mingzhou's exposed eyes, lowering his voice. "What's going on between you and Duan Xun right now? What is your relationship?"

"?"

Song Mingzhou looked at him strangely. "What does that have to do with you?"

Gu Yanting choked on his words. Perhaps he knew he had no standing, but he shamelessly added, "We're friends."

"Really? How come I didn't know we were friends?"

"Do you have to make such a big deal out of this? What happened between us has nothing to do with anyone else. You wanted money, and I paid you back. I know you helped me a lot before, and I'm grateful, but—"

"Stop." Song Mingzhou took a deep breath and gave him one final warning. "Don't force me to beat you up in public. I don't give a damn about my reputation. If you have nothing to say, go back."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Wait." Gu Yanting grabbed him and gritted his teeth. "Are you dating Duan Xun? Or are you chasing him? Did you switch targets after hitting a setback with me?"

Song Mingzhou curled his lips, suddenly amused. He looked at Gu Yanting with a half-smile. "Don't flatter yourself. That's right, I'm pursuing him. I like him."

"You..."

"Duan Xun is better-looking than you, taller than you, has a better body than you, is more famous than you, more capable than you, and richer than you. What's wrong with me liking him?"

Song Mingzhou said it with perfect confidence. Gu Yanting had not expected him to admit it so openly.

Then he added, "Oh, right. He's great in bed too. I wonder whether you..."

Song Mingzhou's teasing gaze drifted downward. Gu Yanting suddenly felt a chill between his legs and instinctively wanted to clamp them together. Only after realizing what he was doing did he glare at Song Mingzhou in embarrassed fury. "What do you mean by that? Have you two done it?"

Song Mingzhou clicked his tongue and mocked him. "Haven't you and Shen Qing done it? Or are you sure you can do it?"

"You..."

"Don't tell me you really can't. From the way Shen Qing looks, he practically wants to stick himself to Duan Xun. Looks like you haven't satisfied him. Tsk, useless."

Gu "Useless" Yanting was so furious his teeth ground together audibly.

He and Shen Qing had indeed been intimate, but they had not gone all the way.

As the male lead, he was always saddled with strange settings. For example, he had been ambiguous with the original owner for years, yet he still had a perfectly untouched body.

Now he and Shen Qing were practically together. They loved each other, had even slept together, yet he still had to hold on to some kind of principle.

What restraint.

Song Mingzhou's mind wandered at the worst possible time. If it were him, he would not be able to hold back.

Duan Xun could not either.

Tsk.

Why was he thinking about him again?

Song Mingzhou patted his own face and said seriously, "Anyway, whatever happens between Duan Xun and me is none of your fucking business. And you'd better keep your Shen Qing in line. If I find out he's eating from one bowl while eyeing another, playing both sides, I won't let him off."

Gu Yanting frowned. "This has nothing to do with you. I'll ask you one last time: are you really going to be with Duan Xun?"

"My business has nothing to do with you either."

"Song Mingzhou! Duan Xun isn't someone you can afford to provoke. He's only playing with you. I'm giving you advice—you'd better not get yourself killed playing around. He isn't a good... ah..."

Gu Yanting clutched his thigh, his face twisting in pain as he bent over.

Song Mingzhou stretched his limbs and looked down at him. His eyes were dark and chilling. "Is Duan Xun someone you get to talk about? Say it once more, and I'll hit you once more."

"You..."

"I'm warning you: you'd better keep your tail tucked. I've never had much patience." Song Mingzhou's voice was vicious as he stepped forward.

Gu Yanting recoiled in fright. "Don't hit me. If someone sees, it won't do you any good either!"

More importantly, he was afraid tomorrow's headlines would say Song Mingzhou had pinned him to the ground and beaten him senseless. Song Mingzhou was not as tall as him, but he was much stronger.

There was always a competitive streak between men. He could not afford that kind of humiliation, so he could only suppress his anger and try to reason with Song Mingzhou.

Song Mingzhou's lips curved as he smiled. "My reputation is already terrible. I'm not afraid."

With that, he used all his strength to leap up and stomp viciously on Gu Yanting's foot, driving his heel down to make the pain as intense as possible. Gu Yanting could not dodge in time. His pupils contracted, and a scream nearly escaped his mouth, but he clamped it shut at once.

Footsteps sounded nearby. It seemed someone was coming.

[Ding! Host Song Mingzhou's critical plot point has been successfully repaired. Current task progress: 37/100.]

The attack had landed, much to Song Mingzhou's satisfaction. He calmly withdrew his foot and lightly tossed out a few words. "Don't let it happen again."

Then he turned and headed back to the private room first.

Everything he had said just now was only meant to fool Gu Yanting. He still cared quite a bit about the original owner's terrible reputation, as well as his lowly status.

With the ability to become Best Actor, who would be willing to remain a nobody?

Song Mingzhou had already left, and Gu Yanting did not dare linger either. It would be another hassle if someone discovered them. He stood up, but after taking just one step, a piercing pain shot through the top of his foot, while his thigh burned fiercely too.

"Song Mingzhou! Just you wait!"

He had really been asking for it, coming here to meddle in Song Mingzhou's affairs and even trying to warn him about Duan Xun. What an ungrateful bastard.

Madman.

Gu Yanting shook the water out of his brain, gritted his teeth, and dragged his injured foot back to the private room. When he entered, Shen Qing was saying something to Duan Xun, his expression animated and delighted.