Borrowing a car

Su Yue woke up first. After finishing his usual training, he went downstairs for breakfast.

Everyone ate breakfast at different times. They could have a bite if someone had cooked, or find something instant in the fridge themselves.

Most of them were there today. Su Yue glanced around. Xie Jiali and Shi Zhou were absent, while nearly everyone else was gathered around the table eating. The atmosphere was fairly subdued, though, rather than lively.

Su Yue said nothing. He quietly took two small plates, helped himself to some side dishes, and filled a bowl with plain congee.

"Good morning," everyone greeted him.

"Morning." Su Yue was back in uniform today, and it was all black.

Yu Manman had an eye for clothes. She glanced at him but said nothing.

Asta came down last. He slumped over the table, holding his head and complaining of a headache.

Zheng Yu asked with a laugh, "Did you go back and keep drinking last night?"

The little Asta had drunk during the games barely counted as an aperitif for him, let alone enough to get him drunk.

Zheng Yu was the complete opposite today, positively glowing. He had done his makeup differently from usual, even putting on false lashes and drawing on eyeliner.

He had the regal air of a queen who knew her worth, and sipped his congee happily.

He was probably in the best mood of anyone today.

Asta gave a casual grunt in reply and helped himself to some side dishes. "One bite and you can tell Zhou made these. Where is he?"

He had been in a bad mood last night and had drunk quite a lot.

But the thought of Shi Zhou cooking and him not showing up made him feel even worse, so he had come downstairs anyway, only to find Shi Zhou absent.

He had planned to learn to cook from him today...

Lin Yuxi put down her chopsticks, a complicated expression on her face.

"...Brother Xie seemed to have a bit of a fever. Zhouzhou went with him to see a doctor."

"What happened? Why did he suddenly get a fever?" Everyone was surprised and a little worried.

In the kitchen that morning, she had noticed that Xie Jiali did not want her getting too close to Shi Zhou.

But Lin Yuxi refused to back down.

On a dating reality show, everyone had to use their own abilities.

Xie Jiali had found an excuse to call Shi Zhou over. Before she could think of an excuse to call him back, Shi Zhou had noticed that Xie Jiali's face looked a little flushed.

Then he had felt his forehead and found that he seemed to have a slight fever.

How could someone notice whether another person's cheeks were flushed unless they cared that much?

He had looked perfectly normal to her, no different from usual.

Lin Yuxi squeezed the bun on her head. She was not very good at styling her hair and had gotten up at six to do her makeup. After all that effort, Shi Zhou had not even complimented her.

At the thought, she poked dejectedly at the pancakes on her plate.

She explained what had happened in a dispirited voice, then gestured toward the table with her chin. "Brother Xie made the shrimp cakes, and I made the pancakes. Zhouzhou was helping with the side dishes when Brother Xie went over for a taste, and that was when he noticed he was sick."

Asta straightened out of his lazy slouch a little. How close did they have to be for him to notice something was off about the other man's complexion?

Who got that close to a buddy?

His tone sounded a little strange as he said, "Why didn't he call his personal doctor if he was sick? What if going out in the wind makes him worse?"

No one responded to that. Bai Shen was more practical and asked:

"Zhouzhou doesn't have a license. How did the two of them get to the hospital?"

Lin Yuxi said, "They took a cab."

Su Yue ate quickly. While everyone was chatting, he had already finished. He handed his bowl and chopsticks to the robot and went upstairs to read.

A staff member sitting in the monitoring room said with a laugh:

"He didn't seem to eat any shrimp cakes today?"

Another said, "He didn't eat any pancakes either."

That was less than he normally ate. There was only one explanation:

His romantic rivals had made them, so he did not want to eat them.

Unexpectedly, Su Yue had barely been reading for any time at all before he came over to their logistics area.

He told the production team, "I want to go to the hospital."

Director Zhang and Editor Liu were both friends of his father. When their staff told them, they immediately stopped what they were doing and came over to ask:

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Su Yue was someone who could endure fractures and sprains without a word. Why did he suddenly want to go to the hospital?

Su Yue kept both hands in his pockets. His Adam's apple bobbed before he finally said:

"When Xie Jiali helped me up last night, he gripped my shoulder hard enough to bruise it."

Director Zhang and Editor Liu sat down opposite him and exchanged a glance. Neither could hold back a snort of laughter.

What kind of ridiculous excuse was that? How had Su Yue even come up with it?

Under his expressionless stare, Editor Liu struggled to suppress his laughter and asked:

"That's all?"

Su Yue's handsome face remained cold. "Yes."

He had not brought a car and rarely called for rides. He wanted to borrow one of the production team's cars. They were roomy and comfortable, with plenty of space for three or four people on the way back.

Director Zhang chuckled and deliberately said:

"We have some medicine for bruises and sprains here too. How about we let you use some? Would that work?"

Some of the equipment was heavy, not to mention expensive. Certain shots still required someone to keep an eye on it because of their timing and angle, so they always kept medicine like that on hand, just in case.

Su Yue seemed to have prepared his answer already.

"...I'd better have it checked at the hospital. If it leaves a mark, it'll be hard to explain when I take my clothes off at the hot springs."

His voice was unhurried, with no hint of urgency. He was simply stating a fact.

Well, look at that. He had even learned to turn the tables on them.

What he meant was that if the medicine was not right and the bruise did not heal properly, the mark on his shoulder might cause viewers to argue when they went to the hot springs, creating unnecessary controversy.

After all, how much force did someone have to use while "helping someone up" to leave a bruise?

And second, didn't they want ratings?

That meant the guests had to take their clothes off.

If the injury did not heal, he would refuse to undress. That was his point.

Editor Liu could not help asking, "How did you know we were planning a trip to the hot springs?"

Su Yue lifted his chin slightly, his gaze sharp. "I've seen through your tricks."

It was always the same: a stick first, then a carrot.

On Spaceship, the production team must have told Shi Zhou to go find him too.

Editor Liu was not angry. If anything, he was amused. "All right."

So what if he had seen through it? Their schemes were out in the open.

Once someone had caught feelings, they had caught feelings. As if they could hide it.

Hadn't he come running over to borrow a car already?

"Are you sure you don't need our help?"

This time, a few seconds passed before Su Yue said:

"No."

Director Zhang called someone in. "Liu, give him the car keys."

The driver came in, took a look, and asked, "Should I drive him, Director Zhang?"

Su Yue took the keys and strode out. He had not even sat down since coming in. For the second time, he declined:

"Thank you, but no."

Once everyone had left, the two men finally burst out laughing. "Look how impatient he is."

Su Yue went to the garage and took out the car. But when he drove up to the entrance of the main courtyard, he found two people standing there.