I'll get you trending, you buy me a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts

"Why?"

"I'm not used to changing my plans."

Yu Xiuyuan choked. "Then what do we do?"

Yun Chuan gazed at the little swell in the center of his upper lip. "You can be even more brazen. Give me the freebie when you buy a gift, make me peel your shrimp when we eat, make me pay when you shop. Be as unreasonable as you like."

"Wouldn't that be a bit much?" Yu Xiuyuan scratched his earlobe. Imagining those scenes made his face grow warm.

How could that be a bad thing? Letting the whole world know you're mine-what could possibly be bad about that?

Yun Chuan leaned closer. "What's wrong with it?"

Yu Xiuyuan muttered inwardly, It's bad for my willpower.

He ventured a suggestion. "Or maybe you could find someone else, God Yun?"

Yun Chuan's chest tightened, and he laughed at himself inwardly.

He really had been far too confident. Just now, he'd actually thought this man had come to...

Instead, he'd come to draw a line between them.

Doesn't he like me at all?

He frowned, looked into Yu Xiuyuan's eyes, and said each word deliberately:

"Once an arrow is loosed, there's no taking it back. We've already exchanged gifts. There's no one more suitable."

It can only be you.

It's fine if you don't like me now. You will eventually.

Feeling a little guilty, Yu Xiuyuan could only grasp at an excuse. "But I can't go too far. It's fake, after all."

Yun Chuan clenched his fists. His chest felt even tighter, but he could only endure it and keep coaxing him:

"Why not? If you don't act a little more brazen, who'll believe I'm really trying to woo you?"

"Woo me?" Yu Xiuyuan's voice rose. Why has the script changed again?

Of course I'm wooing you. If I don't, how will you become mine, little by little?

There's no rush. Take it slowly.

The process is wonderful too, isn't it?

"Right! Aren't you worried my family will pressure us to marry if we're officially dating? Then let's just say I'm pursuing you."

"No, that's..."

Seeing that Yu Xiuyuan was about to refuse again, Yun Chuan turned away and changed the subject outright:

"Lin Qingnuan was behind the cross-dressing incident. Don't worry. She won't be in the next episode."

Sure enough, Yu Xiuyuan lost his train of thought. "How do you know it was her?"

"She wasn't very discreet." Seeing that he'd forgotten to refuse, Yun Chuan curled his lips.

With the crisis averted, Yun Chuan rubbed his fingers together and began calling him to account:

"Li Rou wants to introduce you to men?"

"What?" Yu Xiuyuan was still thinking about Lin Qingnuan and didn't catch on.

"You said it over lunch." Yun Chuan looked at Yu Xiuyuan expressionlessly again, his voice a little cold:

"You're going to look for other men while we're working together?"

Yu Xiuyuan caught on and waved his hands in explanation. "No, that was just an act to clear up the shipping rumors about me and Li Rou."

"Is that so?" Yun Chuan's expression eased, though his tone remained cool:

"Good, then. I hope you'll keep your distance from other men while we're working together."

By the time Yu Xiuyuan returned to his room, he was thoroughly bewildered.

How did things end up like this?

Wasn't I planning to keep some distance from Yun Chuan?

How did it turn into me having to keep my distance from everyone else?

He held his head and rubbed his hair into a bird's nest, but still couldn't figure it out.

Forget it. Let it be. It's nothing major.

It's only a few episodes of a variety show. I'll grit my teeth and get through it.

Early the next morning, Yu Xiuyuan emerged from his room yawning and went down to gather in the first-floor living room.

Director Liu smiled, holding his cue cards. "Everyone, today's activity is a little special. The theme is earning money."

"The rules are simple. Whatever each team earns today will be your budget for lunch and dinner.

"The production team won't provide any meals or startup funds. Figure it out yourselves. Eat according to what you earn. If you earn nothing, you go hungry."

Yu Xiuyuan sighed. All he wanted was to laze around. "I can't earn a single cent. I'm fine with not eating."

Li Rou was different. Her eyes lit up. "Making money is so much fun."

This was far more interesting than being stuck making awkward conversation in the living room over the past few days. "I've already got an idea."

Lin Xi leaned against the wall and gave her a mild glance. "Your idea wouldn't happen to be freeloading at the street stalls, would it?"

"Of course not! You're biased against me." Li Rou huffed, brimming with righteous indignation.

"You may set off now," Director Liu announced.

Yun Chuan walked over to Yu Xiuyuan. Finding his utterly defeated expression rather cute, he curled his lips slightly and snapped his fingers at him:

"Let's go. Leave the money-making to me. Your job is to relax."

His attention drawn to Yun Chuan, Yu Xiuyuan finally remembered they were on the same team. Fine, then. He'd be a little brazen and wait for Yun Chuan to earn money for him to spend.

Once they reached the town center, Yun Chuan led Yu Xiuyuan straight into a very upscale-looking restaurant.

After exchanging a few words with the manager, he sat down at a grand piano in a corner of the dining room.

"You're going to play piano here?" Yu Xiuyuan was a little surprised. An award-winning actor was willing to do this?

Yun Chuan smiled and leaned close to Yu Xiuyuan's ear, whispering, "Mm. It's my restaurant. I won't lose out."

His voice was low and pleasant, sending a tingling sensation through Yu Xiuyuan's ear. He raised a hand to rub it, thinking he'd wasted his sympathy on this rich heir.

Yun Chuan glanced at his reddened ear tips, tilted his head with a smile, and coaxed him gently, as though soothing a child:

"Go have fun. Don't wander too far. Come back at lunchtime."

Yu Xiuyuan refused. "Don't worry about my lunch. I'll sort it out myself and come find you for dinner."

With that, he walked out of the restaurant without looking back and began wandering the streets.

The old town's shopping street had plenty of charm. Handicraft shops and snack stalls lined the bluestone paving, and the aromas of grilled skewers and sugar-roasted chestnuts drifted through the air.

I want some. Too bad I have no money.

As he walked, a familiar figure appeared ahead.

It was Li Rou, drawing portraits for ten yuan apiece. She'd already made her first sale.

There wasn't much fun in browsing without money, so Yu Xiuyuan walked over and, not caring about the dirt, sat cross-legged on the ground to watch Li Rou draw.

Li Rou looked at him in distaste. "Could you watch your image? I still see you through rose-colored glasses."

"Then you'd better take those glasses off yourself. That was a one-time-only edition. You'll never see it again." Yu Xiuyuan rejected her outright.

"Why? You look so beautiful dressed as a woman. You could get all the attention you wanted! So many people can only dream of that."

Li Rou couldn't understand and refused to give up, trying every possible way to summon her perfect goddess.

Yu Xiuyuan planted both hands on the ground and leaned back, his tone casual. "Getting attention is easy. Why go to all that trouble?"

Li Rou wouldn't let it go. "Do you have any idea how much effort a regular publicity team puts into getting something trending?"

"You don't know how lucky you are."

Smelling the sugar-roasted chestnuts, Yu Xiuyuan glanced at the ten yuan she'd already earned and said solemnly:

"Want to get trending right now?"

"What are you planning?" Li Rou eyed him suspiciously, her face full of wariness.

"I'll get you trending, you buy me a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts."

Li Rou was speechless. What on earth was he saying? Trading a spot on the trending list for sugar-roasted chestnuts?

She pointed a short distance away. "Look over there. Lin Xi's set up a stall and is singing. Get her trending, and I'll buy you two bags."

"No problem. Hurry up and finish drawing. That money isn't enough for two bags yet."

Yu Xiuyuan wasn't picky about whom he helped. As soon as he finished speaking, he got up and walked toward Lin Xi.