Laughing Heartily

"Everyone knows I previously went to film Full Speed Ahead! During the first episode, Teacher Xiao Ming was very proactive with the missions. He kept helping us hold off the Hunters and saved me twice."

[Thanks, Xiao Ming. Looks like our Anbao had a great time on this show.]

[You only knew each other for one morning, and you were already going out to lunch together at noon?]

"About that meal, after filming ended, we were still talking about that episode. Teacher Xiao Ming runs really fast and shook off the Hunters several times. And Brother Xiao Da too—he runs incredibly fast. There was one mission we only completed thanks to him."

"Everyone was exhausted after filming, so we all went back to rest on our own. Teacher Xiao Ming said he'd teach me some tricks, about how to shake off the Hunters. Because I was just a little bit away from... Ah, I probably can't say that. It'd be a spoiler, and the production team would come talk to me. Everyone can watch the show tomorrow."

[What? What? Why stop talking when it gets to the important part?!]

[I get the feeling everyone was pretty spread out while filming. That venue was huge. I looked it up—it's very close to Bird's Nest Stadium in size.]

[It was specially built for international events, after all.]

[After filming, everyone went their separate ways. Is that what he means?]

[Looking forward to tomorrow night's episode! I want to see our Anbao dominate!]

[The show wasn't banned even after something like this happened?]

[YYM only filmed two episodes. It's not like he brought drugs over there to use them. And filming was two weeks ago; he hasn't had contact with anyone from the show since then.]

Xiao Ming understood what Qu An meant after hearing those few remarks. He had aroused everyone's curiosity while also distancing himself from Yuan Yangming.

And...

Qu An was helping him. Although Xiao Ming himself did not care much about his reputation or what people online thought, Qu An had still spoken up for him and indirectly clarified the "rumors" between them.

Even though what they had discussed had all been about "credits" and "scholarships." But Qu An probably did not want anyone else to know about that. Xiao Ming felt that he was rather low-key.

Qu An chatted a little more, then stopped once the discussion about the show had piqued everyone's curiosity.

"There have been a lot of typhoons recently. Be careful on your way to school or work."

[Okay, got it!]

[Understood, understood. I'll listen to my husband.]

[Is Anbao going to stay in this house for a while?]

[Can you give us a tour of the house? Let us see if you're hiding a beauty in a golden house.]

[You can't order takeout during a typhoon. How are you eating?]

"Xiao Le can cook, and my friend can too."

[What about you?]

[Is Anbao the one who just sits back and enjoys the results?]

"As for me, I help out."

[Come to think of it, can Anbao even cook? We've never heard about it or seen him cook.]

[Didn't Best Actress Qu marry into a pretty good family back then? Didn't people say she married into a wealthy family?]

[Qu An must have been pampered since childhood. How could a young master possibly cook for himself?]

[More than a young master—he feels like a little prince.]

"Young master" was actually a derogatory nickname for Qu An. In the entertainment industry, one had to be prepared for some people to like you and others to dislike you. Qu An had started acting at a very young age, and after returning to the industry, his films and television dramas had mostly been big productions. Otherwise, he had been the male lead carrying the entire production.

So some people called him the entertainment industry's young master. With Best Actress Qu as his mother, there was no way his career could be bad.

However, because Qu An had acted in many roles like those of a young master, the insulting nature of that nickname had gradually become unclear.

Still, Xiao Ming could tell at a glance that some of those comments were full of malice. Fortunately, Xiao Le had been watching the chat the whole time and blocked all the unpleasant comments.

[Anbao, can you give us a tour of the house? /starry eyes/]

[Forget about seeing the house.]

[Didn't the authorities just post about resisting sasaeng fans last time? Sasaeng fans have already made it right to someone's doorstep.]

Nowadays, many sasaeng fans were extremely brazen, so artists generally did not dare let their home addresses become public.

Qu An clearly thought the same way. Not only was this a house where he often stayed in Yue City, but they were still living here. It would not be good if something happened.

But he did not directly tell the fans and viewers that they could not have a tour. He merely checked the time, told everyone it was about time to end the stream, and switched off the livestream equipment.

Only when Xiao Ming saw that the screen in his hand had gone black, displaying the words "Livestream Ended," did he come back to his senses.

His understanding of the entertainment industry was still limited, mostly involving matters related to Qu An. He had not understood what sasaeng fans meant when he saw the term, and only after looking it up did he realize they were a cancer among entertainment-industry fans—or rather, they could not even be considered fans. At most, they were a group of idiots trying to show off by following traces of someone's private life.

When Xiao Ming left the screening room, Qu An was making a phone call by the floor-to-ceiling window beside the living room. Xiao Le was putting away the livestream equipment, and Xiao Ming went over to lend him a hand.

The floor-to-ceiling window was not far away, and Xiao Ming could intermittently hear words like "Sister Fei," "I know," and "I know my limits."

The last time he had accidentally heard the entire conversation, he had already felt it was impolite. Once they finished packing up the equipment, he hurried away, afraid that his sharp hearing would pick up something he should not hear.

After ending the call, Qu An saw Xiao Ming hurrying upstairs beside the staircase and felt puzzled. When he turned and saw that Xiao Le was equally confused, he did not think much more about it.

With the clarifications from other guests and their livestreams, along with Qu An's, viewers were not very resistant by the time the show aired the next day. Quite a few people who had watched Qu An's livestream or its replay were curious about the things he had "let slip" and could not wait to see what the show was actually like.

The first episode was released at different times as the main episode, behind-the-scenes footage, and an extended edition. The main episode aired first, followed by the other content.

The show partnered with Xiang City Satellite TV and Green Mango Entertainment. It aired first on Green Mango Entertainment every Saturday at 19:00, then aired on Xiang City Satellite TV two hours later.

Viewing on the first and second days required VIP access. It became free to watch on the third day.

Because the high-speed rail from Yue City basically had to pass through several areas in the typhoon's path, and the typhoon had not completely passed yet, while Minzhou had been experiencing heavy rain, Xiao Ming stayed one more day at Qu An's suggestion.

The show was airing today, and Xiao Le said they had to celebrate properly. After talking about it for quite a while, he decided to make a cake.

Xiao Ming had not expected Xiao Le to know how to cook desserts as well, and he looked forward to it. He even offered to help.

However, once they truly got started, he discovered that Xiao Le's dessert-making skills were unexpectedly completely unrelated to his cooking skills.

They worked in the kitchen for quite a while, but when the cake came out of the oven, all they saw was a black, hard, unidentifiable... thing.

And because Xiao Ming was still not very good at cooking, accidents happened while he was beating eggs and rolling out dough, leaving flour on his face and hands.

Their antics even affected Qu An, who had come over to watch the excitement.

Xiao Ming had not noticed when Qu An came over. He had been busy with what he was doing, but when he turned around, he bumped straight into him.

"Careful!" Xiao Le caught sight of their movements and shouted, but it was far too late.

They had truly crashed into each other. A huge bowl of flour slipped from their grip and spilled everywhere.

The fine powder hung in the air for a moment, then seemed to hesitate between the two sides before each going to its "death." Most of the flour rushed toward Qu An opposite them, mainly hitting his chin and neck, while quite a bit drifted backward and stuck to Xiao Ming.

But because Xiao Ming already had plenty of flour on him, it was impossible to tell where the new flour had gone.

Xiao Ming barely managed to save what little flour remained. White powder covered his eyebrows, and he looked as though he had not yet reacted, blank and somewhat foolish.

Quite a bit of flour had gotten onto Qu An's chin, and some had even entered his mouth, leaving his lips and teeth deathly pale. Yet there was nothing wrong with his eyes, making him look even more ridiculous.

The two of them looked thoroughly disheveled. After watching them for a moment, Xiao Le quickly came to his senses... and pulled out his phone to record how they looked.

Xiao Le said, "Brother Qu, Brother Qu, look over here. Hahahaha, Brother Qu looks like he rolled around in flour."

Xiao Le said, "We've been short on vlog material lately anyway. Let the fans admire Brother Qu's heroic appearance while making a cake."

Normally, Xiao Le would not dare treat Qu An like this. But over the past few days, with Xiao Ming around, he had accidentally discovered that Brother Qu cared quite a lot about his image in front of Xiao Ming. So whenever Xiao Ming was around, Xiao Le made the most of the chance to torment Brother Qu.

As for when Xiao Ming was no longer here... they could worry about that later. Opportunities to see Brother Qu suffer were not common, after all.

Qu An's tone turned cold, though it was more from embarrassment than anything else. "Xiao Le! Delete that video."

Xiao Le shook his head. "No, no. I have to report in. I need to send the video to Sister Fei so she can know how you're doing right now, right?"

Watching the two of them react, Xiao Ming could not help laughing. Then he laughed louder and louder. Seeing Xiao Ming like that, Xiao Le could not hold it in either, and their hearty laughter echoed through the kitchen.

But when Qu An saw Xiao Ming laughing so freely, covered in white flour and looking foolish without realizing it, knowing only to laugh at him, his mood improved as well. The discomfort from his embarrassment faded. Infected by the laughter of the other two, he laughed too, and then laughed louder and louder.

The happier they laughed, the more miserable they were when it came time to clean up.

Only after cleaning the kitchen did the three of them go clean themselves up. And because flour kept falling off them as they walked, they practically had to clean the entire house.

By the time they had mostly finished cleaning, Xiao Le collapsed onto the sofa and suddenly cried out.