Jiang Yumiao met Ning Chunchi's gaze and couldn't help freezing for a moment.
Why was the second male lead suddenly looking at him with such burning intensity? This was bad for his heart...
The second male lead's gaze had changed after he looked at his phone. Jiang Yumiao glanced at Ning Chunchi's screen, but all he could make out was a passage of text. Was it an article?
Ning Chunchi turned off the screen and slipped his phone back into his pocket. His voice betrayed no emotion, giving no hint of pleasure or displeasure. "There's still half an hour before the light show. Let's look around nearby first."
Jiang Yumiao had been thinking the same thing. They headed toward the central plaza, passing a souvenir shop along the way. Jiang Yumiao wanted to buy something as a keepsake, so he mentioned it to Ning Chunchi.
They entered the shop, and Jiang Yumiao was immediately drawn to Little Wave, the Water Kingdom's mascot. He first picked up the largest plush, which was almost half as tall as he was-the perfect size to cuddle in his sleep. But Jiang Yumiao hadn't forgotten his four-digit bank balance. He checked the plush's price: this size cost nearly a thousand, and even the smaller thirteen-inch one was 459.
...He could afford it if he stopped eating and drinking after the dating show ended.
Jiang Yumiao awkwardly put it back, consoling himself that he could return for it once he had more money, and chose a Little Wave plush keychain instead.
On the other side of the shelves, Ning Chunchi watched the Omega pick up the plush, study it for a long while, then put it back.
He frowned slightly and took out his phone to send another message. Afterward, Ning Chunchi looked up at the white-and-pink cat-ear headband in front of him. He hesitated for a moment before taking it down.
Jiang Yumiao had paid and been waiting outside for a while before Ning Chunchi strolled out, one hand casually tucked behind his back.
He stopped in front of Jiang Yumiao with a gentle smile on his lips. His black trench coat emphasized his tall, slender frame. He looked as refined and elegant as he had at their first meeting, and Jiang Yumiao nearly lost his soul staring at him.
The dignified, elegant second male lead brought his hand out from behind his back. He was actually holding a cat-ear headband.
Jiang Yumiao: ???
The corner of Jiang Yumiao's mouth twitched. It was hard to describe the sight. It was like a princess in a Western fantasy fairy tale waving to the crowd from her carriage one moment, then putting on sunglasses to go clubbing the next. That was how jarring it felt.
Jiang Yumiao knew President Ning probably hadn't bought it to wear himself, but he still clung to a last shred of hope and asked, "President Ning, are you going to wear that?"
Ning Chunchi paused, a soft chuckle rising from deep in his throat, though his eyes regarded Jiang Yumiao as if he were an idiot. "Do you think I'd wear this? Or... do you want to see me wear it?"
With that, Ning Chunchi narrowed his eyes and actually put the cat ears on his own head. He was in a good mood today and had decided to grant Jiang Yumiao's every wish.
Jiang Yumiao was as shocked as if he'd been struck by lightning. He stood rooted to the spot, mouth open, unable to speak.
The livestream chat felt exactly the same.
[Holy shit, am I in the wrong livestream? That's President Ning, right?]
[...You're in the right one.]
[Heroes of old bowed for beauties; today, President Ning dons cat ears for love.]
[Let's see anyone call Yuyu's love one-sided now!!!]
[I'm fainting. Wasn't President Ning supposed to be the refined, cold-hearted, abstinent CEO? Who's this guy?]
[Fine, I'll ship them, okay? Today I'm shouting it from the rooftops: Ning and Jade Together is real!]
Ning Chunchi suddenly moved, still at his leisurely pace, drawing closer to Jiang Yumiao bit by bit until he crossed into his personal space.
He looked down at the stunned Omega, his lips curving into a wicked smile he showed only in front of him. Then, in a flash, he took off the cat ears and gently slid them into Jiang Yumiao's hair, settling them on top of his head.
Only then did Jiang Yumiao come to his senses. He reflexively touched his head, feeling the headband's soft fuzz beneath his fingers.
Fuck, he'd fallen for the second male lead's beauty trap again and been ambushed!
With white-and-pink cat ears atop his long hair, the Omega's almond-shaped eyes misted over. He puffed out one cheek in indignation and forced out the words, "President Ning, you distracted me on purpose! You wanted me to wear this all along!"
Ning Chunchi's smile was breezy, but his pupils widened slightly as he etched Jiang Yumiao's vivid expression into his heart.
Yes, this was how he should be-not smiling to please him, not trembling with nerves. He wanted to see even more of those different expressions.
Ning Chunchi said, "Still calling me President Ning? Didn't you call me Ning-ge once before?"
Led astray, Jiang Yumiao spent a long time trying to remember when he'd called him Ning-ge. At last, a vague memory surfaced. It seemed to have been... on the first day, after answering the questions. He had been so excited that he'd called the second male lead that while thanking him.
Wait, why was he thinking about this? The second male lead had sidetracked him again.
Jiang Yumiao's almond-shaped eyes widened. "You're changing the subject!"
Ning Chunchi gave his usual soft chuckle at first, then seemed unable to hold back and actually laughed aloud twice, his eyes brimming with the pleasure of teasing his prey.
This little fool...
Once he'd finished laughing, Ning Chunchi looked at the puffed-up Omega and said, "All right, I did buy the cat ears for you. They look strange on me, but they suit you perfectly, don't they?"
A kitten ought to wear cat ears.
Jiang Yumiao's face flared with heat. Then he heard Ning Chunchi add, "Don't call me President Ning anymore. I don't like it."
He asked blankly, "Then what should I call you?"
Ning Chunchi didn't answer. He gave him a look that told him to figure it out himself, then strode away on his long legs.
Jiang Yumiao: "..."
[I get it now. President Ning just loves teasing his wife.]
[Yuyu really looks so easy to bully. Who wouldn't want to tease him a little?]
[Skip straight to the end and call him hubby.]
[I second the motion.]
[Me too.]
After all their back-and-forth, the light show was about to begin.
Jiang Yumiao hurried after Ning Chunchi, and they only just reached the central plaza before eight.
By now, more than a thousand visitors had gathered in the plaza. Fortunately, the area was vast, and it was a weekday outside peak tourist season, so it hadn't reached the point of being packed shoulder to shoulder.
Jiang Yumiao glanced around. Every face was unfamiliar; he couldn't see any of the other guests from their show.
He wondered where everyone was now.
The nearby crowd suddenly stirred. The plaza's large screen lit up with numbers. It was almost eight, and the countdown had begun.
As the countdown ended, tens of thousands of LED lights came on in sequence, radiating outward from the buildings at the center of the plaza. The dreamlike light show officially began.
Lights of every color shifted constantly, coming together in all sorts of shapes across the buildings. The exquisite interplay of light and shadow, paired with carefully chosen music, drew everyone into a fairy-tale world poised between dream and reality.
Jiang Yumiao kept gasping in wonder. The scene before him was simply too beautiful. He'd looked it up on the way here and learned that the light show had been designed by a director who had worked on the Olympics and the Spring Festival Gala. It truly was a feast for the eyes and ears.
He watched tirelessly for two hours. Toward the end, the music shifted into sacred, warm chanting, and the lights softened too. Something about the atmosphere made him inexplicably want to cry. On so many nights, Jiang Yumiao had kept going only by imagining beautiful scenes just like the one before him.
For as long as Jiang Yumiao watched the light show, Ning Chunchi watched him.
Unlike Jiang Yumiao, Ning Chunchi had never believed in fairy tales. To him, there wasn't a trace of beauty in this world, only brutal struggles full of scheming, where the strong preyed on the weak. He had no interest in the light show. If Jiang Yumiao hadn't wanted to watch it, he would have left long ago.
Numbers suddenly appeared on the large screen again. This time, it was the time: "21:59:50."
In ten seconds, the light show would end.
At that moment, brilliant fireworks would bloom overhead, and Jiang Yumiao would kiss him.
He was already ready to receive that kiss.
Before you continue