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 twisted it open and gulped down more than half in one go.

He got up and moved around a little, as though he had drawn another burst of energy from within himself, suddenly full of vitality again.

But Jiang Tingxu watched with a slight frown.

The most expensive and cheapest apples had sold better. There were still some left in the other two piles, but it was not a big problem. At this rate, they would be able to sell everything before time was up.

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

The sun had come out. Red Mountain was basin-like, surrounded by mountains on all sides like a sunken furnace. Even the slightest summer sunlight made people feel hot and restless, 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.

More and more tourists gradually arrived in the ancient town.

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

The young man stared at Si You and casually pointed at the most expensive pile. "Give me four or five. There isn't much room in my bag."

Si You said, "Okay," and specifically picked out large ones with even coloring. Once he had weighed them and handed them over, he realized the other person was still staring at him.

Si You's first thought was: A Shen Chuan fan? Don't tell me he recognized me?!

The young man set down his backpack and asked Si You to help put them inside, then scanned the code to pay.

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

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

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 looked a little embarrassed, though he was otherwise open and composed. "To be honest, I noticed you the moment I came over. You've got a really great figure."

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

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

Si You did not understand.

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

Some handsome guys could be recognized at a glance in a crowd even if they wore both a mask and a hat. From head to toe, Si You had instantly struck a nerve in the young man, giving him the illusion that their meeting in this ancient town had been destined.

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

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

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

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

This young man probably was not involved in fandom circles. If he had been a Shen Chuan fan, he would have pinned Si You to the ground already. He froze for two seconds, the amazement in his eyes growing even stronger. Si You hurriedly pulled his mask back up and was just about to say, "Bro, that's pretty rude," when someone gently tugged him backward. Jiang Tingxu then stepped between him and the young man.

"Is there something you need?" Jiang Tingxu asked in a cool voice.

As Jiang Tingxu spoke, his gaze dropped to the young man's phone screen, where he saw the WeChat QR code. He said blandly, "He isn't adding you."

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

"I do," Jiang Tingxu said.

Si You said, "..."

Xue Boyu said, "!!!"

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

Si You shook his head.

Although Si You was now hated across the internet and had faded into obscurity, he could still make the trending topics several times over. Even if his agent had not reminded him, he knew better than 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, "..." They were a show CP. In a sense, they really were a couple.

The young man immediately put away his phone, bowed slightly, and said, "Sorry." Then, with a mix of unwilling anger and desperate urgency to flee the scene, he turned and left.

Si You sighed. My freshly blossoming romance...

"He saw your face?" Jiang Tingxu asked.

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

Jiang Tingxu nodded. "Mm. If you run into something like this again, be more cautious."

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

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

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

The cameraman said nothing, busy working 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 any fruit."

Sure enough, several passersby were looking their way. The cameraman reluctantly left.

In the bullet comments, a viewer with the ID "Jiang-Si" flamboyantly gifted the livestream a Kaleidoscope. This gift came with the privilege of sending a Blessing Rain: the giver could write one sentence, which would scroll across the screen with the bullet comments for seven seconds. "Jiang-Si" wrote only one line: Sob, sob, who understands?!

The viewers said, "..." They had not understood at first, but the ID combined with that sentence made them understand instantly.

This was obviously a CP fan of Jiang Tingxu and Si You, using a name 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 shipping him with several other male actors. But without exception, Jiang Tingxu had always been the top... His presence was too steady and powerful. He simply could not pull off being the bottom.

[That's enough. Don't insult the Best Actor. Is Si You even worthy?]

Jiang-Si was clearly a viewer with serious spending power and immediately sent another Kaleidoscope. The whole screen exploded: I'll ship whoever the hell I want. What business is it of yours?

Someone in the bullet comments sighed: [It's nice to be rich.]

That person seemed determined to argue with Jiang-Si and posted another comment: [Heh, obviously not a Best Actor fan. All you think about is forcing random pairings.]

Jiang-Si kept sending Kaleidoscopes: I've bought every endorsement and piece of merchandise the Best Actor has had since his debut. I have hundreds of 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 well known to fan-site managers. Even though nobody had identified this person yet, they were definitely not someone to mess with.

Someone had a bright idea and opened Weibo, only to discover in shock, Holy shit, the Jiang-Si supertopic had already been created.

Although Si You had a terrible reputation, he had never had any conflict with Jiang Tingxu. In fact, since this season began airing, Si You had openly and subtly looked after Jiang Tingxu. This made Ginger Powder fans treat him like a neutral passerby. If people wanted to ship them, then as long as they did not shove it in the faces of the people involved and cause trouble, they would turn a blind eye.

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

Si You's throat had started hurting, and the sunlight on his face made him dizzy. Along the way, he saw Fei Chang and Xu Ke. Fei Chang was shouting sales pitches with great effort, and they had just under half left. They would probably complete their task. Then he saw Jiang Yao and Zhang Jianlin. They still had more than half a basket of apples left. Zhang Jianlin sat on the steps drinking water while Jiang Yao was holding apples and trying to sell them.

Even Si You could not help sighing that Jiang Yao had truly been unlucky to get paired with Zhang Jianlin.

None of the three had eaten lunch. When they returned to the small apartment, Si You immediately cooked three bowls of noodles. Jiang Tingxu's and Xue Boyu's were heaping portions, each topped with an egg, while he only had half a bowl.

"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. Uh, Best Actor Jiang, you can handle exchanging the points card later. Make do with dinner, and don't call me. I want to go upstairs and sleep for a bit."

That last sentence was actually said in a negotiating tone. Jiang Tingxu brought over some medicine. "Take it after you finish your noodles. Leave the rest to me."

Jiang Tingxu was dependable, so Si You was relieved.

The bed was still damp. Si You slept on the sofa, and in his haze, he mistakenly thought he was still in his previous life. He wanted to say, Little assistant, this break room you prepared is really not great, but when he turned over, he 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 out hoarsely, "Just a moment."

The person outside seemed very patient.

Si You found his phone and checked it. It was already nearly nine at night. Everyone had probably returned. 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. Seeing Si You, he softly asked, "What fell and hit the floor?"

Si You was a little embarrassed. "Me. I fell down just now while I was asleep."

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

Jiang Tingxu sensed something was wrong. Without Si You's permission, he pushed open the door and walked in.

Si You said, "Hey?"

Then the mess on the sofa came into view. The stools that had been added on made Si You's circumstances look even more miserable.

Jiang Tingxu watched silently for several seconds. He did not ask Si You anything and simply stepped forward to lift the blanket.

The mattress had sunk, and the moisture stains spreading across it were extremely obvious.

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

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

Jiang Tingxu looked toward the sofa. "You sleep here?"

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

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

Si You froze. "Bring them where?"

"My room," Jiang Tingxu said.

Si You said, "!"

I can't go. If I go, won't that be a disaster? Si You thought.

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

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

No exaggeration—his toes curled instantly!