Hot, so hot-he was pulling out all the stops

Yun Chuan answered and tipped his chin toward the street corner. "Let's go."

Yu Xiuyuan followed him through turn after turn until they reached a barbecue restaurant tucked deep inside an alley.

"How did you find a place like this?" No matter how he looked at it, an otherworldly award-winning actor like Yun Chuan hardly seemed the type to duck into alleys for barbecue.

Yun Chuan slid the door open and stepped aside to let him enter first. He found a quiet table, pulled out a chair for him, and made sure he was settled before sitting down himself. Only then did he look into his eyes and answer unhurriedly, "I knew you liked barbecue, so I did some research beforehand."

Yu Xiuyuan leaned back against his chair. What was that look? Those eyes were practically whispering sweet nothings. This was bad.

The charcoal grill arrived soon afterward, and Yun Chuan picked up the tongs, leisurely turning the slices of beef tongue.

As if it were nothing, he extended his arm in front of Yu Xiuyuan. "Roll up my sleeve for me."

Yu Xiuyuan didn't think much of it and simply undid his cuff and rolled up his sleeve.

Only when his fingers accidentally brushed Yun Chuan's warm skin did he notice the raised veins on his forearm. He swallowed involuntarily. Wasn't this a little too intimate?

He didn't notice Yun Chuan lowering his head to hide the smile tugging at his lips.

"What are you thinking about?" Yun Chuan's voice suddenly came closer.

Yu Xiuyuan looked up and found Yun Chuan leaning over to place a cooked slice of beef tongue in his bowl.

The distance between them was unreasonably close. Yu Xiuyuan could even make out the fine lines on Yun Chuan's lips.

"Thinking it should feel pretty good," Yu Xiuyuan murmured.

"Really? Then give it a taste," Yun Chuan said.

Yu Xiuyuan nearly choked on that bite of beef tongue.

At that moment, the show's livestream chat had completely exploded.

[Aaaaaah, God Yun, stop flirting! Yu Beauty is fine, but I'm about to explode!]

[Aaaaaah, God Yun is grilling meat for him himself, and even putting it in his bowl!!]

[And you made Yu Beauty roll up your sleeve? Don't you have hands? Are you serious, Best Actor Yun?!]

[The vibe between these two is off. Very, very off.]

[Are you new here? These two have been like this for ages.]

The comments kept scrolling wildly, but Yu Xiuyuan knew nothing about it. He was busy handling Yun Chuan's next round of feeding-beef short ribs, pork belly, king oyster mushrooms, grilled prawns. Yun Chuan grilled every item, dipped it in sauce, and set it in front of him.

Yu Xiuyuan had done his best. "I really can't eat any more."

Yun Chuan looked at him, then at the last piece of shiitake mushroom on his plate, and checked, "You really can't eat any more?"

"Not even one bite," Yu Xiuyuan confirmed.

Yun Chuan nodded, picked up that piece of mushroom, and put it into his own mouth.

Yu Xiuyuan's eyes widened as he stared at him like he'd seen a ghost. He wanted to ask, Have you lost your mind? Aren't you a germaphobe? Do you really have to go this far? Did your family threaten you with their lives?

Yun Chuan chewed slowly and even asked, "What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?" He even took a leisurely sip of tea.

Yu Xiuyuan was genuinely stunned.

Hot, so hot. This guy was pulling out all the stops. He'd thrown shame out the window.

Yu Xiuyuan frantically psyched himself up:

Yu Xiuyuan, get a grip. You're both men. There's no reason to let him outdo you.

The livestream chat was just as shocked as Yu Xiuyuan.

[God Yun, aren't you a germaphobe?]

[God Yun, have you gone mad? Have you been possessed?]

[This is insane. He won't even eat food someone serves him with communal chopsticks, and now he's eating Yu Beauty's leftovers?]

[They really are dating, right? Who could force God Yun to do this?]

[That look in God Yun's eyes-it's definitely not the mushroom he's savoring.]

[I knew it. Nobody can resist Yu Beauty's charms.]

[At this point, anything short of marriage won't cut it.]

By the time they finished dinner, darkness had fully fallen. The show's cars were waiting in the parking lot outside the old town, marking the official end of filming for this episode of the dating reality show.

Yu Xiuyuan was nimbly preparing to get into his car when Yun Chuan's voice came from behind him.

"Yu Xiuyuan, add me on WeChat."

Yu Xiuyuan clenched his fist, then calmly took out his phone. Fine, let's add each other. Who's scared of whom?

"I'm off." Having gotten the friend request he wanted, Yun Chuan put away his phone, opened the car door, and got in.

The car soon pulled away. His manager sat in the front passenger seat, considered it for a moment, then finally turned around and asked, "You and Yu Xiuyuan are..."

"Tell them not to ask, not to interfere, and not to do anything unnecessary. Don't scare off my man." Holding his phone, Yun Chuan looked at the salted-fish avatar he'd just added and, in a rare display, curled his lips into a smile. "If I need you all later, I'll let you know."

His manager was his older cousin, Yun Yin.

Seeing Yun Chuan smile at his phone, Yun Yin took out his own phone with trembling hands and dropped a bomb into the family group chat:

[Our Yun Chuan has finally figured it out!]

[He's fallen for a... person!]

[A living person!]

Within two minutes, Yun Chuan's grandparents, parents, aunt, and uncle had all erupted into the chat.

Even his brother, who was usually run off his feet, surfaced.

They all clamored to ask Yun Yin what had happened and how he could be sure Yun Chuan had fallen for someone.

Yun Yin hurried to warn them that Yun Chuan had said, in his exact words:

"Don't ask, don't interfere, and don't do anything unnecessary. Don't scare off my man. If I need you all later, I'll let you know."

The family chat fell silent for a long moment, then burst into celebration, practically banging drums and setting off firecrackers.

He really had fallen for someone!

There was no way they would hold him back. If he didn't want questions, they wouldn't ask. Interfering was even more out of the question. Even if he'd fallen for a capybara, they would approve and support him. They absolutely wouldn't do anything unnecessary. They would only follow along in secret, quietly waiting for their Yun Chuan to call on them.

If he needed them, they would do anything!

Swindle, cheat, play crazy, act dumb-they would do it all!

Meanwhile, Yu Xiuyuan got into his own car and took out his phone. Yun Chuan's WeChat avatar was just distant mountains and drifting clouds, nothing special, and his display name was simply his own name.

Yu Xiuyuan pursed his lips and changed his contact name to: 42 degrees.

He had just arrived home when his manager, Sister Man, called.

"When did you write another song?" Sister Man was baffled. "If you had this talent, why didn't you show it sooner?"

"Just think of it as me suddenly discovering my extraordinary natural gifts."

"Fine. Get some rest tonight. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. We'll record it and release it as soon as possible. Next time you have a new song, discuss it with me first. We can't give all that buzz to a dating reality show."

"Okay, Sister Man. Got it." Knowing wouldn't help, though. Who could stop themselves from unconsciously humming?

On Monday morning, Yu Xiuyuan was woken by a call from his manager, Sister Man.

"Hurry up and get out of bed. It's time to record. Also, you remember promising to write a song for Lin Xi, right?" Sister Man's voice carried the certainty of someone thinking, I knew you'd forget.

He really had almost forgotten. Once he got home and hit the bed, who could still remember work?

"I'm leaving now to pick you up for the recording. We're meeting Lin Xi at her company at three this afternoon. I'll go with you to negotiate the revenue split. Does that work for you?" Sister Man asked briskly.

"No, Sister Man. I'm meeting Su Ziming this afternoon. Let's reschedule Lin Xi for tomorrow."

Sister Man paused, her tone turning odd. "You're quite busy, aren't you? Tomorrow? All right, surely the timing won't be that unlucky..."

After hanging up, Yu Xiuyuan lingered in bed for another five minutes before reluctantly climbing out.

At the recording studio, everything went as smoothly as last time, and "Golden Wind and Jade Dew" was soon recorded.

Sister Man went off to handle other business, while he went to see Su Ziming on his own. He spent the afternoon helping him run through the song several times, and they agreed that once Su Ziming released "The Lonely Brave," he would give him a second song.

At nine on Tuesday morning, Sister Man brought Yu Xiuyuan to Lin Xi's company. Yu Xiuyuan gave his name, and the young receptionist led him inside.

Lin Xi had originally planned to come downstairs and greet him herself, but Yu Xiuyuan found that too much trouble and declined.

As he passed a corner in the corridor, he caught a somewhat familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. He paid it no mind and kept walking.

"Yu Xiuyuan? You really do keep haunting me."

That voice made Yu Xiuyuan pause.

He turned and saw a man standing a short distance away, his hair slicked back to a glossy shine. His air reminded Yu Xiuyuan a little of Fang Yi.

The man's features could be considered handsome, but the condescending scrutiny in his eyes made Yu Xiuyuan deeply uncomfortable.

Yu Xiuyuan frowned and studied him for a moment before realization dawned. This man... was Lu Jinming.

The bastard the body's original owner had once pursued like a man possessed.