Reward

Su Yue went to the garage to get his car, but when he drove up to the main courtyard entrance, he found several people standing there.

He lowered the window and rested his arm on it.

Shi Zhou and Xie Jiali were already back.

Seeing him in the car, Shi Zhou said something to the others. Xie Jiali glanced his way, then went inside first.

Shi Zhou came over and asked with a smile, "Are you heading out?"

Su Yue pressed his lips together and murmured, "Yeah."

He volunteered, "To the hospital."

Then he asked, "Is Brother Xie okay?"

Concern appeared on Shi Zhou's face. His skin looked even more luminous beneath the overcast sky as he leaned closer and asked, "What's wrong? Where do you feel unwell?"

Only then did he say, "Brother Xie's fine. He just has a slight fever. Some medicine will take care of it."

Had Someplace Little Burger written these scenes of the male leads getting sick in the original novel?

Or had they been skipped because they weren't important?

Su Yue let out a breath. "Good, as long as he's okay. My shoulder's bothering me a little."

The others came over to ask, too. Su Yue said nothing, so Shi Zhou explained for him.

Everyone assumed it was an old injury from his time on the defense line. They all remarked on how poorly the day was going, with two people feeling unwell already.

Since Su Yue was sitting in the car, Shi Zhou bent down slightly and spoke to him very gently, seemingly because he wasn't feeling well.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"I was just there, so I know the procedure."

Su Yue suddenly raised his hand and touched his shoulder. The faintest curve broke across his lips, like warm sunlight melting the ice, light suddenly flooding through the cracks.

"No need. Go back inside."

"It's cold out here. You feel a little chilly."

His voice was quite gentle, too.

Shi Zhou stepped back. Su Yue turned down the others as well and drove off alone.

Everyone said, "He's actually a pretty nice guy. He just keeps to himself."

It really was rather cold outside. No one knew why the production team had chosen this planet. They went inside and shut the door.

Su Yue drove alone, his expression calm and his features refined, speeding off in the opposite direction from Shi Zhou.

Director Zhang and the others were watching in the control room. Editor Liu sighed.

"Honestly, that boy. Shi Zhou and the others are back already. What's he still going for?"

He had spent ages coming up with an excuse to chauffeur them, only for them to return before he could.

Director Zhang said, "He has his own ideas. We don't need to worry."

They could leave him to figure it out himself.

After going back inside, everyone checked on Xie Jiali again. With a cooling patch on his forehead, he looked a little more down-to-earth than his usual impeccably groomed, beautiful self, and less unapproachable.

The live chat was flooded with people asking how he was doing.

Although the guests couldn't see the comments, they were all concerned about the same thing.

Xie Jiali kept smiling, his phoenix eyes looking much softer than usual. "I didn't even realize I had a fever. Zhouzhou noticed it."

He hadn't been ill in a long time. He had been juggling the show and his other work lately, and the past two days had been especially busy. All that running around had probably brought on the fever.

Of course, his emotional ups and downs might have played a part, too.

"I thought I was just excited about making breakfast, and that feeling a little warm was normal."

Zheng Yu teased him. "What's so exciting about cooking?"

Xie Jiali smiled faintly without explaining, but plenty of people understood what he meant.

Anything you did for someone you liked was exciting.

Actually, Xie Jiali also wanted to say that this was nothing. He got excited when he practiced shooting, too, and even more excited when he thought about Shi Zhou.

But he didn't dare say it, afraid he would scare Shi Zhou.

Even though these were perfectly normal desires for a man.

Still, they clashed rather sharply with his image. It was better to hold back for now.

"It's all right. I'll be fine after some rest." His voice was gentle, a little low and hoarse from being ill.

The fact that Shi Zhou cared about him left him so happy that his physical discomfort no longer mattered.

Once he had taken his medicine, everyone left and told him to get some proper rest.

The production team had nothing scheduled that morning, so Shi Zhou simply went back to work on his unfinished drawing. Immersed in it, he lost track of time until he heard a knock at the door.

Knock, knock-

Shi Zhou assumed it was a staff member, but when he opened the door, he found Su Yue.

He still carried a trace of the cold from outside, and his hair was a little damp. Shi Zhou said, "Is it raining again? Why didn't you use an umbrella?"

What would they do if another person got sick?

Su Yue handed him a bag containing an insulated food container. "You took Brother Xie to the hospital this morning, so you probably haven't had time to eat. I brought you something."

Shi Zhou was a little overwhelmed by the kindness. "Thank you."

Who said the author had made the second male lead cold through and through? Look, he'd barely been on the show, and the ice was already showing signs of melting.

He really did need to spend more time with friends!

He opened it and found warm pastries, all varieties that weren't too sweet.

But Su Yue's change made him even happier than the food in his hands, so Shi Zhou smiled and said again, "Thank you."

Su Yue hesitated before saying:

"This box is for you. I brought one for Xie Jiali, too."

He had carefully selected everything in this box. The other one was merely an afterthought.

His nature wouldn't let him leave someone else out, but more importantly, he wanted Shi Zhou to eat this box all by himself. That was why he'd bought one for Xie Jiali, too.

Shi Zhou said, "He's probably still asleep. Want to leave it with me? I'll take it to him."

He didn't want to hold Su Yue up.

Su Yue said, "No need. Just eat yours."

Shi Zhou said, "Then remember to change your clothes first and take a hot shower. Don't catch a cold."

The pastries were in an insulated container, so they would stay warm for a long time.

Su Yue smiled again.

He had actually smiled quite a lot today.

"How's your injury? What did the doctor say?"

Su Yue said, "It's minor. Nothing to worry about."

As they were talking, the door across the hall opened, too. Yu Manman said, "You're back?"

Su Yue turned and answered her. Yu Manman noticed as well. "Goodness, you're wet! Go warm yourself up."

She urged Su Yue to leave.

Su Yue stood there for a couple of seconds, tightened his grip on what he was holding, then left after all.

Shi Zhou felt that Su Yue still had something he wanted to say to him. Why hadn't he said it?

While he was puzzling over it, Yu Manman asked, "Zhouzhou, are you drawing?"

Shi Zhou's door was open, and his drawing board stood on the little balcony, directly facing the doorway. Yu Manman had spotted it and asked out of curiosity.

Seeing that she wanted a look, Shi Zhou opened the door wider and smiled. "It's fine. Come in and take a look. There's nothing to feel awkward about."

Yu Manman went in, took a look, and said delightedly:

"This-isn't this our first day on the show?"

It had been evening then, the sun sinking in the west, gilding the mountains and dividing the landscape between light and shadow.

Yet somehow, although it depicted a sunset, the painting gave her no sense of loneliness or sorrow. All she saw was tranquility and a faint joy.

So she said, "It's incredible."

Interstellar photography and storage technology were so advanced that paintings needed soul and emotion to surpass them.

Shi Zhou smiled. "It's all right. I still have a long way to go."

For some reason, Yu Manman brought something up. "Zhouzhou, I have an opportunity for you. Would you like to give it a try?"

The system suddenly spoke:

[Zhouzhou, say yes. This is a reward from the male leads' affection points.]