Love at First Sight with Si You

Si You coughed lightly twice and let go of Jiang Tingxu.

"Do you have any water?" he asked.

Jiang Tingxu took a bottle of mineral water from the backpack he carried with him and handed it to Si You.

Si You unscrewed the cap and downed more than half in one go.

He got up and moved around a little, as if he had drawn another burst of energy from within himself, instantly becoming full of vigor again.

Jiang Tingxu, however, watched with a slight frown.

The most expensive and cheapest apples were selling relatively well. There were still some left from the other two piles, but it was not a big problem. At this rate, they would sell everything before time was up.

"I'll do it. Sit down and rest for a while," Si You told Xue Boyu.

The sun had come out again. Red Mountain was a basin surrounded by mountains on all sides, like a sunken furnace. Even a little sunlight in summer made the heat unbearably stifling, and a thin layer of sweat had already formed on Xue Boyu's forehead.

Xue Boyu did not stand on ceremony. They had just sold some apples, and he was very happy.

There were gradually more tourists in the ancient town.

Suddenly, a young man with a hiking backpack stepped forward. Si You instinctively asked, "Want some apples?"

The young man stared at Si You and casually pointed at the most expensive pile. "Give me four or five. I don't have much space in my bag."

Si You said, "Sure," and specifically picked out large ones with even coloring. After weighing them and handing them over, he noticed that the other person was still staring at him.

Si You's first thought was, A Shen Chuan fan? Did he recognize me?!

Instead, the young man set down his backpack and had Si You help put the apples inside, then scanned the code to pay.

"Um..." The young man leaned closer slightly and lowered his voice. "Could you come over here with me for a moment?"

Si You did not hear any hostility in his tone. He assumed the man wanted help with something but found it awkward to say, so he replied, "Okay."

Si You followed him about five meters away. Just as he stopped and was about to ask what was going on, the young man took out his phone, pulled up his WeChat QR code, and said, "Add me."

Si You said, "Huh?"

The young man seemed a little embarrassed, yet he still appeared composed and open. "To be honest, I noticed you the moment I came over. You have a really great figure."

Si You felt inexplicably uneasy. "Get to the point."

"Your eyes are beautiful," the young man continued to praise him. "Like stars beneath a misty night sky."

Si You did not understand.

"I believe in feelings," the young man said. "You could add me, and we can chat and get to know each other better."

Some handsome men could be recognized at a glance in a crowd even with masks and hats fully covering them. From head to toe, Si You had instantly struck a nerve in the young man, giving him the illusion that their encounter in this ancient town had been destined.

Si You finally got the message. He had no issue with same-sex relationships, and they were legal in this world too, but this was just too ridiculous. "Bro, don't mess around. You haven't even seen my face, and you're already in love at first sight?"

"Why not?" The young man shrugged. "There are plenty of people who feel their heart race just from seeing someone's back, then try to find them online."

Si You waved his hand. "No, no, no, I..."

Before he could finish, the young man suddenly raised a hand and tugged Si You's mask down partway, revealing most of his face.

The young man probably was not involved in fan circles. If he had been a Shen Chuan fan, he would have pinned Si You to the ground long ago. He froze for two seconds, the amazement in his eyes deepening. Si You hurriedly pulled his mask back up. Just as he was about to say, "Bro, that's pretty rude," someone gently tugged him backward, and Jiang Tingxu stepped between him and the young man.

"May I ask what you need?" Jiang Tingxu's voice was somewhat cold.

Jiang Tingxu lowered his gaze and saw the WeChat QR code on the young man's phone screen. He said flatly, "He isn't adding you."

The young man grew anxious. "Why won't he add me? Do you get to decide for him?"

Jiang Tingxu said, "I do."

Si You said, "..."

Xue Boyu said, "!!!"

Jiang Tingxu then turned to Si You. "Do you want to add him?"

Si You shook his head.

Although Si You was currently hated across the internet and had faded from popularity, he could still make the trending topics several times over. Even without his manager reminding him, he knew not to casually add strangers as friends.

Their back-and-forth was far too smooth. Thinking of Jiang Tingxu's tone just now, the young man suddenly understood. "Oh, oh, you two are a couple!"

Si You said, "..." A show CP. In a sense, they really were a pair.

The young man immediately put away his phone, gave a slight bow, and said, "Sorry." Then, with a mixture of unwilling anger and an urgent desire to flee the scene, he turned and left.

Si You sighed. My freshly blossomed romance...

"He saw your face?" Jiang Tingxu asked.

Si You said, "...He did, but he obviously didn't recognize me. He probably doesn't follow celebrities."

Jiang Tingxu nodded. "Mm. If something like this happens again, be more vigilant."

Si You humbly accepted the lesson. "I'll remember that."

When the two turned around, they found the cameraman already filming right in their faces.

Si You said, "...Weren't you supposed to be filming secretly?"

The cameraman said nothing, too busy moving the camera.

Jiang Tingxu found it amusing. "If you keep filming like this, you'll draw people over, and we won't be able to sell fruit."

Sure enough, several passersby had looked their way. The cameraman left reluctantly.

In the comments, a viewer with the ID "Jiang-Si" flamboyantly sent a Kaleidoscope gift to the livestream. The gift came with the privilege of launching a Blessing Rain. The sender could write one sentence that would scroll across the entire screen with the comments for seven seconds, and Jiang-Si wrote only one sentence: Sob, who gets it?!

Viewers: "..." They had not gotten it before, but with that ID and that sentence, they instantly got it.

This was obviously a Jiang Tingxu and Si You CP fan. The name was made from their surnames.

Couldn't it be Si-Jiang instead?

No.

Put it this way: ever since Jiang Tingxu debuted, there had been fans who shipped him with several other male actors, but without exception, Jiang Tingxu was always the dominant one... His presence was too steady and powerful. He simply could not pull off being the "bottom."

[That's enough. Don't insult the Movie Emperor. Is Si You worthy of him?]

Jiang-Si was clearly a viewer with "money power." Another Kaleidoscope immediately exploded across the screen: I'll ship whoever the hell I want. What's it to you?

Someone in the comments sighed: [Having money is great.]

That person seemed determined to pick a fight with Jiang-Si and sent another comment: [Hehe, clearly not a Movie Emperor fan. All you think about is forcing random pairings.]

Jiang-Si kept sending Kaleidoscopes: I've bought every endorsement and piece of merchandise the Movie Emperor has had from his debut until now. I have hundreds of his posters. If I can show them to you, will you call me daddy? Will you call me daddy? Will you call me daddy?

That person did not dare say another word.

Fans with exceptionally strong spending power were usually major fans known to fan-site admins. Although nobody had matched the identity yet, this person was definitely not someone to provoke.

Someone had a sudden idea and opened Weibo, only to discover in surprise, damn, a Jiang-Si supertopic had already been created.

Although Si You had a terrible reputation, he had no feud with Jiang Tingxu. Ever since this season began airing, Si You had even shown signs of taking care of Jiang Tingxu both openly and subtly. As a result, Ginger Powder had a neutral, passerby-like attitude toward him. If someone wanted to ship them, as long as they did not shove it in the actual celebrities' faces and cause trouble, they would simply turn a blind eye.

At four in the afternoon, Si You and the others had sold all their apples.

Si You's throat had started to hurt, and the sunlight on his face made him dizzy. Along the way, he saw Fei Chang and Xu Ke. Fei Chang was shouting enthusiastically, and they had less than half left, so they would probably complete the task. Then he saw Jiang Yao and Zhang Jianlin. They still had more than half a basket of apples left. Zhang Jianlin was sitting on the steps drinking water, while Jiang Yao was holding apples and trying to sell them to people.

Even Si You could not help sighing. Jiang Yao had truly drawn the short straw by being paired with Zhang Jianlin.

The three of them had not eaten lunch. When they got back to the small apartment, Si You immediately cooked three bowls of noodles. Jiang Tingxu's and Xue Boyu's portions were piled high, each with an egg cracked on top, while he only had half a bowl.

"Are there not enough noodles, Brother Si You? Eat mine," Xue Boyu quickly said.

"No, no." Si You smiled. "I don't have much of an appetite. Um, Movie Emperor Jiang can decide how to exchange the points cards later. Make do for dinner, and don't call me. I want to go upstairs and sleep for a while."

His final sentence had actually been spoken in a negotiating tone. Jiang Tingxu brought over some medicine. "Eat the medicine after your noodles. Leave the rest to me."

Jiang Tingxu was reliable, so Si You was at ease.

The bed was still damp. Si You slept on the sofa, and in his grogginess, he mistakenly thought he was still in his previous life. He wanted to say, Little assistant, the rest room you prepared really isn't much good. Then he rolled over and fell off the sofa with a thud, nearly knocking his soul out of his body.

Si You sat in the gap between the sofa and coffee table for a while before gradually remembering what was going on.

Then someone knocked on the door.

It was already dark outside, and the room was dim. Si You called hoarsely, "Wait a moment."

The person outside seemed very patient.

Si You found his phone and turned it on. It was already nearly nine at night. Everyone had probably returned by now. Si You turned on the light, quickly washed up, and opened the door while droplets of water still clung to his face.

Jiang Tingxu stood at the door. When he saw Si You, he softly asked, "What fell on the floor?"

Si You was a little embarrassed. "Me. I fell asleep just now and fell off."

Jiang Tingxu thought, You can fall off a bed that big? Then he raised his eyes and saw that the bed was perfectly neat. There was no sign that anyone had slept on it.

Jiang Tingxu sensed something was wrong and pushed open the door to enter without Si You's permission.

Si You let out a startled, "Hey?"

Then the mess on the sofa came into view. The chair that had been added onto it made Si You's situation look even more miserable.

Jiang Tingxu watched silently for several seconds. He did not ask Si You anything, simply stepping forward and lifting the blanket himself.

The bedding had sunk in, and the damp marks spreading across it were extremely obvious.

Jiang Tingxu's expression changed. He turned and asked Si You, "Who did this?"

"Huh?" Si You understood and hurriedly explained. "No, the room is damp. Nobody did it. It's because of the weather."

Jiang Tingxu glanced at the sofa. "You slept here?"

Si You gave an awkward smile. "It's fine. I can sleep there."

"Take your toiletries, and bring the blanket too."

Si You froze. "Bring them where?"

Jiang Tingxu said, "My room."

Si You said, "!"

I can't go. If I go, that'll be the end of it, Si You thought.

Five minutes later, Jiang Tingxu walked in front carrying the blanket, while Si You followed behind with a toothbrush and towel in hand.

Xue Boyu had just been about to enter his room when he saw this scene.

No exaggeration—his toes curled instantly.