Shen An'an?!

While Shen Rui'an and Su Tingbai were heading to the town market, the online debate over Shen Rui'an's true appearance finally began to spread. The reason was still that everyone who insulted Shen Rui'an had been warned by Su Tingbai, which only sparked the netizens' curiosity.

They did not harbor much malice. The more Shen Rui'an refused to show his face, the more curious they became.

People were like that—the more tightly something was hidden, the stronger their curiosity grew.

Some even started discussion threads to dig into Shen Rui'an's identity, but after comparing everything they could, they still found nothing. It had been hidden too well.

Thus, a topic thread was created: #Searching for the Legendary Shen An'an#.

Someone compared the videos on Shen Rui'an's account and discovered that many locations appeared to be scenic, upscale sanatoriums. Photos resembling hospital rooms also appeared rather frequently, while the most common were scenes from a certain villa.

The netizens displayed all their talents. Once the topic gained traction, some eventually realized they had seen those places before.

[This looks like the famous sanatorium in X Province. Everyone living there is either rich or powerful, but it is far from the city. If I hadn't delivered food there once, I wouldn't even have known a place like this existed near me. What an eye-opener.]

[This scenery looks like somewhere near a private hospital. Medical expenses there are insanely expensive, but there are a lot of top doctors. I visited a wealthy relative once and saw the inpatient ward. If nobody had told me it was a hospital, I would have thought it was some luxury villa complex...]

[No wonder he and Su Tingbai are childhood friends. That villa seems to be part of some private estate, and everyone inside is either rich or powerful. It is not somewhere you can move into just because you have money. But judging by it, Shen An'an's family seems to own quite a large share of the place. His captions are basically all about walking around at home. So it is his home? I thought it was some sort of park.]

[Young Master Shen, no doubt about it. So does nobody know Shen An'an's background yet? Is he really that good-looking?]

After a morning of fermenting, some insiders finally emerged.

[If it is that Shen Household, then I know. But the Shen family's young master rarely goes out or shows his face. He is extremely mysterious.]

[...He really is very beautiful.]

More and more people came across the topic. After seeing the whole story, some compared the clues, and one person came to mind. A bold thought surfaced.

[Our hospital once had a very special patient. Every time he came in for treatment, he caused a sensation. It was not because his medical case was unusual, nor because of how noble his status was. It was purely because... he was too beautiful!] The moment this comment appeared, it was instantly pushed to the top.

[???? After all these days, has Shen An'an's identity finally been revealed? Is a face reveal still far away? Sis, do you have a photo?]

[No photos. The hospital does not allow pictures of patients, but he really is gorgeous. I cannot describe it. Let me put it this way: basically every nurse and doctor in our department would take turns using ward rounds as an excuse to see him. If the hospital had not restricted the number of people allowed into his room, people from other departments would probably have made excuses to drop by too.]

[I am getting more and more curious about what Shen An'an looks like.]

[My mom is a caregiver at some sanatorium. She was once hired by a particularly generous employer—lots of money, barely any work, and most importantly, the patient she was assigned to care for was incredibly beautiful. When she came home after that, she suddenly could not stand the sight of me and thought I was ugly as hell. P.S. I am actually fairly handsome. Before she cared for that patient, she was so proud of having such a fair and handsome son. Ever since she started caring for that mysterious patient, everything changed. Sadly, security was strict, so there was no way to take photos. But my mom is a total looks enthusiast, a serious one. She says that anyone she calls good-looking is usually stunning! I am really curious what that person looks like!!]

[Shen An'an? I've heard of him. He is frail and sickly, so he rarely appears in public. The elders in his family who have seen him all say he looks adorable. I remember attending the same kindergarten as him when I was little. He was very cute. Everyone fought over being his friend, and our parents even had to be called in. But later, he got sick and attended school on and off, so we rarely saw him.]

One comment after another drew countless passing netizens into the rabbit hole, making them increasingly curious about what kind of heavenly beauty Shen Rui'an actually was.

The more likes the posts received, the wider they were recommended. People who knew nothing about it thought they had stumbled across a newly debuted celebrity when they saw such widespread discussion.

Shen Rui'an's fans sent people that screenshot about drinking it diluted for three years, and they fell straight into the fandom. Another sister had joined the ranks.

A group of people waited eagerly beneath Shen Rui'an's videos. They did not even ask him to post a photo anymore—posting Baisui would do. At least they could see a hand and satisfy their hand-fetish cravings.

Meanwhile, Shen Rui'an, the eye of the topic storm, sat excitedly in the passenger seat beside Su Tingbai, with Baisui, already wearing a collar, cradled in his arms.

"Su Tingbai, is the market big? What do they have there?" Watching the forests and grasslands recede on both sides, Shen Rui'an's heart had long since flown toward the market he had never seen before.

Su Tingbai tilted his head to glance at him, a little reluctant to shatter Shen Rui'an's fantasy. "That town market is not very big, just a few streets. The streets cannot compare to those in the city. It looks lively, but it might not be quite like the shopping trips you imagined."

Most of the villages here had many elderly people and children left behind. The young people had gone out early to find work and only came back around the beginning or end of the year. It was a relatively underdeveloped area.

But because of that, every market day was especially lively and full of everyday life, unlike the markets in the city. The local mountains and forests were rich in produce, so many people brought vegetables from home to sell during the market.

Su Tingbai quite liked wandering around. It felt like opening blind boxes.

Shen Rui'an was not disappointed after hearing him. Instead, he became even happier. "Really? Then that is great! As long as it is lively!"

Seeing that he was still excited, Su Tingbai's lips curved upward as well. "We can buy some things to take back later. Stay close to me and do not get lost."

"Okay!" Shen Rui'an agreed at once.

When they reached the market, it was indeed as lively as Su Tingbai had said. After parking the car, Shen Rui'an let Su Tingbai hold his hand while he led Baisui down the street. There were stalls lining both sides, selling all sorts of things. Most were run by elderly people, with few young vendors in sight.

Shen Rui'an looked around curiously, unaware that he himself had become part of the scenery in everyone's eyes.

Two men holding hands on the street was not particularly unusual, but two exceptionally handsome men holding hands while walking a yellow puppy? That was eye-catching.

"Oh my, this young man is really handsome!"

"I've lived most of my life, and this is the first time I've seen someone so beautiful. He looks like a celestial fairy!"

"Young man, want some fruit? This old man picked it in the mountains this morning. It is sweet!"

"This little pup is handsome too. He will definitely grow into a fine-looking dog!"

Shen Rui'an was far too striking. After walking only a short distance, the grandpas, grandmas, uncles, and aunties at the roadside stalls insisted on stuffing food into his arms. Shen Rui'an had never faced such a situation before and was so frightened that he did not know what to do. His arms were filled with fruit and flowers, and when he could not hold any more, he made Su Tingbai carry them. Before long, they were laden with bags and bundles.

Even Baisui had a large bone clamped in his mouth and a basket of flowers hanging around his neck.

The two of them truly could not withstand everyone's enthusiasm and fled in disarray. Only after returning to the car did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"That was terrifying!" Shen Rui'an still had not quite recovered.

Su Tingbai was shaken as well. Fortunately, he was large enough to block much of the enthusiasm from the elderly men and women.

"Do you still want to keep looking around?"

Shen Rui'an hesitated. He did, but he did not want to be fed anymore.

Su Tingbai saw through his thoughts and suddenly remembered that there were masks in the car. He took out a black mask for Shen Rui'an, then put a baseball cap on him as well. With that, Shen Rui'an's face was almost completely hidden.

"How about going out like this?"

Shen Rui'an nodded hesitantly and followed Su Tingbai down another street. At first, he was still a little nervous. Later, he found that aside from a few curious glances, people were not nearly as frenzied as before. He finally let out a breath and fully relaxed.

Most of the shops along this street were run out of private homes, though there were also a few stalls selling flowers and plants.

But there was even more food.

Shen Rui'an looked left and right, finding everything novel. His gaze was drawn to the succulents at a small stall, and he pulled Su Tingbai over.

The stall owner was unusually young. He lounged about while scrolling through his phone, and had just yawned when he noticed a shadow above him. He looked up—and froze.

Holy shit, wasn't that Su Tingbai, the food blogger he followed? He had actually run into him?!

The young man froze for a moment before his attention was drawn to the boy beside Su Tingbai. The boy wore a mask and baseball cap, making his face difficult to see, but he had on short sleeves that exposed a stretch of especially pale arms. His hands in particular were beautiful, like works of art, and the young man was captivated by them.

Then it suddenly hit him. This was Su Tingbai, so the person beside him had to be...

Shen An'an?!