Hurry Up

Third floor.

Pantry.

"Is it done?"

"It's a little tight. Wait a bit longer."

"Wait for what? Hurry up. Just use more force and shove it in."

"No, that'll hurt. Bear with it. I'll widen it a little more."

"There's no time. Hurry!"

When Shen Yan and Pei Heng's alternating voices drifted intermittently out of the pantry, Lu Xingchuan felt as though he had been struck by lightning.

His mind buzzed.

What were they doing?!

"Xingchuan, I'm a ghost now too!" Xie Li ran upstairs from below, an innocent smile on his well-behaved face. "Bai Jing caught me right away and even kissed my forehead."

Xie Li had sprinted all the way up from the first floor, his cheeks flushed red and tiny glistening beads of sweat dotting his forehead.

But Lu Xingchuan did not even turn around. As though he had heard nothing, he strode straight toward the pantry.

A dark anger welled up in Xie Li's eyes, though his face still wore a smile. "Xingchuan, Xingchuan, wait for me... Ah!"

He missed a step and slipped on the stairs, crying out as he stumbled and fell.

[Oh my god!]

[Xiao Li, be careful!]

[Baby Li, be careful!]

Bai Jing hurried up from behind and reached out to help Xie Li.

"How are you? Are you hurt?"

Xie Li stared fixedly at Lu Xingchuan ahead of them.

Lu Xingchuan did not turn around even once.

At this distance, there was no way Lu Xingchuan could not have heard him.

Seeing that Xie Li ignored her, Bai Jing followed his gaze and happened to see Lu Xingchuan stop at the pantry door on the third floor.

[What is Lu Xingchuan doing?!]

[Xie Li fell, and he didn't even look back!]

[Lu Xingchuan, get it together! Go back and help Baby Li!]

Bai Jing smiled. "Teacher Lu must have noticed someone in the pantry and was too eager to catch them, so he didn't hear us behind him. Can you stand? Did you hit anywhere?"

Bai Jing gave Xie Li an out.

Xie Li smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine. I just twisted a little. I can stand. Let's hurry over too. What if Xingchuan can't catch them alone? After changing from a human into a ghost, he's a little excited."

Bai Jing pulled Xie Li to his feet. "Right? When Teacher Lu caught me, my first thought was that now that I was a ghost, I had to go catch Shanshan."

The two chatted and laughed as they headed toward Lu Xingchuan.

Outside the pantry.

"All right, all right, hurry! I can't hold it in anymore! Hurry up, faster, ahhhhh~"

The instant Shen Yan's voice drifted from the pantry—

Lu Xingchuan felt as though someone had set his heart ablaze with burning oil.

He shoved open the pantry door and rushed inside. "What are you doing?!"

Inside.

Shen Yan looked at Pei Heng with a resentful expression. "I told you to hurry, but you kept dawdling. Now look, we can't eat it."

Pei Heng held a durian in his hands, with a pair of scissors stuck into its tip.

He said to Shen Yan, "Ancestor, be reasonable. This thing stabs your hands, okay? It's already pretty impressive that I managed to pry open such a big gap."

Then he turned to Lu Xingchuan and sighed. "Teacher Lu, couldn't you catch someone else first? We just found a durian, and we haven't even opened it yet!"

[President Pei called Shen Yan "ancestor." Damn, he spoils him so much!]

[HAHAHAHA, Lu Xingchuan looks exactly like he came up here to catch them cheating!]

[He even ignored Xie Li falling behind him just to come catch them cheating.]

[Why do I feel like Lu Xingchuan is especially angry?]

[Shh, don't say nonsense like that. Teacher Lu's fans will call you a delusional man again. Those who get it, get it. We can just laugh at him quietly.]

[HAHAHAHAHAHA!]

Amid the flood of laughing comments, the anger on Lu Xingchuan's face froze for a moment.

So they were opening a durian.

"Oh? President Pei and Shen Yan found a durian? Um... did you ask the staff? Don't make another misunderstanding like Xingchuan and I did."

Having taken the initiative to bring up how he had taken the tomatoes and eggs from someone else's refrigerator without permission, Xie Li's already flushed face was covered in awkward embarrassment. Then he seemed to realize something, and his eyes lit up as he looked at Lu Xingchuan.

"I forgot. This is Xingchuan's house. Did Xingchuan have someone prepare the durian especially?"

[Xie Li likes durian. Lu Xingchuan must have prepared it especially for Xie Li.]

[Pei Heng and Shen Yan are way too inconsiderate, aren't they? Even if this is Lu Xingchuan's house, they can't just touch someone else's things.]

Lu Xingchuan froze. Just as he was about to deny it, Xie Li looked up at him with a smile filling his eyes.

"I haven't had durian in ages. I really am craving some."

Meeting Xie Li's gaze, Lu Xingchuan's expression softened. "Then have some later."

Pei Heng immediately said, "No way. I specifically asked the staff to buy this durian for Shen Yan. I'm not sharing it with you guys!"

Xie Li froze. Pei Heng had specifically asked someone to buy it for Shen Yan?

Jealousy was like a flame doused in burning oil, raging wildly through Xie Li's heart.

A slightly disappointed smile appeared on his face. "You just said you found a durian, so I misunderstood and thought you had found it in the villa. I didn't expect you to have bought it especially for Shen Yan."

Lu Xingchuan immediately stiffened his face and asked, "The production team never said food could be brought in from outside, did they? If outside food is allowed, then some people can eat breakfast while others can't. What's the point of that? President Pei, you really don't take the production team's rules seriously!"

[Exactly. If everyone gets special privileges, how can the game continue?]

[I'm speechless. Pei Heng and Shen Yan are getting special treatment and bullying the other guests. So boring.]

[A perfectly good dating show has been ruined by Shen Yan, a rat dropping.]

Shen Yan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Lu Xingchuan.

"Just now, when Xie Li thought you bought that durian, why didn't you deny it?

"When he said he was craving it and wanted some, why didn't you righteously tell him that takeout wasn't allowed? Why did you tell him he could have some later?

"Now that you know you can't have it, suddenly we're the ones getting special treatment?

"Teacher Lu truly deserves to be called Teacher Lu. You immediately found the moral high ground! But you've climbed up there—do you even have any morals to stand on it?"

[That's right, Lu Xingchuan didn't deny it just now!]

[Not only did he not deny it, he even told Xie Li to have some!]

[Is this the classic kind of dog that turns on you and starts cursing when it can't take advantage?]

[The moment Lu Xingchuan mentioned President Pei, Shen Yan started firing back. What is this, everyone? This is defending his husband!]

After Shen Yan's sarcastic barrage, Lu Xingchuan's expression darkened again.

Xie Li hurriedly said, "Shen Yan, don't misunderstand. Xingchuan didn't mean that. He was just reminding us, in case we run into another production team rule..."

Bai Jing timidly raised her hand. "When Lu Xingchuan came to catch me just now, I was actually hiding in a cabinet eating durian. Um... when Teacher Lu pulled me out, the durian fell out too. Teacher Lu, didn't you notice?"