A kiss sealed his lips.
Jiang Chiyan, the old rogue who had just had the flirting turned back on him.
His eyes instantly widened, his pupils quaking.
Xiao Cheng quickly pulled away, reached down to pick up the folder on the floor, and mouthed two sentences at Jiang Chiyan.
"Behave."
"Keep messing around, and I'll force myself on you."
Jiang Chiyan: "..."
Fuck.
His little boyfriend actually had the makings of a troublemaker.
A troublemaker-a little imp courting disaster.
Who knew how much time had passed? Jiang Chiyan's legs had gone so numb that his head was spinning.
Until...
He heard Lu Ting say, "I'll go confirm the schedule with the production team for you. I'm heading out."
Then.
Came the soft clicks of heels against the marble floor.
After Lu Ting left.
Xiao Cheng moved his chair back a little and held out a hand to Jiang Chiyan, intending to pull him up.
Jiang Chiyan didn't get up.
He poked his head out from under the desk, opened his mouth, and caught Xiao Cheng's fingertips between his lips.
The tips of Xiao Cheng's ears flushed red. "Stop messing around."
Jiang Chiyan gave a muffled chuckle. "Didn't you say you were going to force yourself on me?"
"I won't resist. Force yourself on me however you like."
Xiao Cheng rolled his eyes at Jiang Chiyan.
He bent down and pulled Jiang Chiyan out from under the desk.
Jiang Chiyan promptly commandeered his chair and rubbed his legs, which had gone so numb he couldn't feel them.
Xiao Cheng asked, "Want me to massage them?"
A trace of a smile entered Jiang Chiyan's eyes. "Don't. That wouldn't be helping me. It'd be hurting me."
Xiao Cheng: "Huh?"
Jiang Chiyan said, "The weather's been getting colder lately. If I have to take a cold shower... my body won't be able to handle it."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
Five minutes later.
Jiang Chiyan's legs were no longer numb.
He picked up the invitation on the desk and turned it over in his hands.
The five large, gold-stamped characters spelling out "The Warmth of the Law" were beautifully written.
Xiao Cheng was grinding coffee beans at the coffee machine.
He looked up and glanced at the invitation in Jiang Chiyan's hands. "Are you coming?"
Jiang Chiyan crossed his legs.
His long, straight legs were crammed rather pitifully beneath the long desk.
He drawled, "Mm. Husband leads, husband follows."
"The Warmth of the Law" was an extremely popular legal variety show.
When the first episode aired.
The number of applicants for law programs at major universities doubled outright.
On "The Warmth of the Law."
There was one host, three lawyer guests, three celebrity guests, and six interns.
The show was filmed around the six interns' work at a law firm.
After reading it, Jiang Chiyan put down the invitation.
He and Xiao Cheng talked some more about Shen Yunxing, and before they knew it, it was noon.
Xiao Cheng needed to watch his weight, so he took two tomatoes, a few heads of lettuce, a cucumber, and a few slices of chicken breast from the fridge to make a weight-loss meal.
He washed the vegetables under the tap.
His slender fingers deftly washed the leaves, so beautiful they were a treat to watch.
A little belatedly, Xiao Cheng remembered that Jiang Chiyan was still in his room. He turned and asked him, "I'm cooking. What do you want to eat?"
Jiang Chiyan shook his head, took the greens from Xiao Cheng's hands, and tossed them aside. "You have a bad stomach. Don't keep eating cold meals."
Xiao Cheng hesitated.
The camera added ten pounds.
At 185 centimeters tall, he already weighed 65 kilograms.
He needed to lose weight.
Jiang Chiyan saw right through Xiao Cheng's thoughts. "Be good. Come with me yourself, or I'll carry you out."
Without another word, Xiao Cheng immediately stuffed the greens back into the fridge.
He opened the notes app on his phone, glanced over the densely packed schedule, and calculated the time.
He had two ads to shoot that afternoon.
A livestream that evening.
By the time he finished, it would be around ten thirty at night.
His flight was after four the next morning. He had to fly back to Hengdian to continue filming, and the director was urging him to hurry.
Xiao Cheng thought for a moment.
His fingers tapped the phone keyboard, adding a line to his schedule.
[Time: 22:30-00:00 tonight] [Task: Night run]
After his run, he could still sleep for two hours before going to the airport.
Jiang Chiyan glanced at Xiao Cheng's phone screen and froze for a moment.
This kid, Xiao Cheng, was so disciplined it made his heart ache.
Noticing Jiang Chiyan's gaze, Xiao Cheng put his phone away. "What are we going to eat?"
Jiang Chiyan leaned close to Xiao Cheng's ear and lowered his voice, saying with a wicked smile, "Running at night is too exhausting. A friend told me about a better way to lose weight. It can also make you feel good, body and mind."
"What way?" Xiao Cheng asked.
Jiang Chiyan: "A two-person workout for couples. We could try it."
Xiao Cheng kicked at him.
Jiang Chiyan deftly pinned Xiao Cheng's long leg, then gently pushed him into the corner with his other hand, pressing his knee between Xiao Cheng's legs. "Want to try it right now?"
Xiao Cheng didn't dare speak anymore and shot Jiang Chiyan a fierce glare.
In broad daylight.
In his studio's office.
With people coming and going.
Jiang Chiyan might have no shame, but he did!
Looking at the embarrassed and annoyed Xiao Cheng, Jiang Chiyan stopped teasing him and took him out.
Jiang Chiyan got into the driver's seat and, without hesitation, had Xiao Cheng sit in the back, tossing him a blanket.
"Sleep for a bit in the car. I'll wake you when we get there."
Jiang Chiyan drove very smoothly.
The faint fir scent in the car smelled lovely.
Xiao Cheng fell asleep soon after lying down in the back seat. He slept for over half an hour before waking groggily.
When he woke, Jiang Chiyan already had his laptop in his lap and was working.
"Awake?" Jiang Chiyan asked.
Xiao Cheng sat up clutching the blanket and glanced at the private restaurant outside the window. His voice was slightly husky from sleep. "Why didn't you wake me?"
Jiang Chiyan smiled and said, "Let's go."
While Xiao Cheng was asleep.
He had already reserved a private room and ordered the food.
Jiang Chiyan closed his laptop, got out of the car, and opened the rear door for Xiao Cheng.
As the two walked toward the private room, one behind the other, a female fan recognized Xiao Cheng despite his mask.
"Brother Cheng?" the young woman called tentatively.
"Brother Cheng!" The young woman was certain it was Xiao Cheng.
"Brother Cheng!! Hubby!!!!!" The young woman grew excited.
Xiao Cheng stopped and raised a slender index finger to his lips. "Shh."
The young woman covered her mouth and nodded frantically, her face so red it looked ready to bleed. "C-can I take a picture with you?"
Xiao Cheng looked around.
The private restaurant Jiang Chiyan had chosen was very upscale, with an entry fee alone of over ten thousand. There weren't many people coming and going, so no one would notice them taking a picture.
Xiao Cheng nodded at the young woman. "Sure."
The young woman looked at Jiang Chiyan beside him, who was wearing the same style of hat as Xiao Cheng. "Sir, could you please help take a picture?"
Jiang Chiyan: "Sure."
Excited, the young woman stood beside Xiao Cheng, tilted her head, and made a heart over her head with both hands.
Perhaps she was too excited.
The female fan's calves were even trembling slightly.
Xiao Cheng briefly took off his mask. In seamless coordination with him, Jiang Chiyan immediately pressed the shutter and took two photos.
"Thank you!" The female fan took her phone back from Jiang Chiyan.
One look left her dumbfounded.
In both photos, Xiao Cheng's face was covered by a little yellow laughing-with-tears emoji.
Jiang Chiyan had even deleted the original photos taken by the camera-permanently.
The young woman reached out in a dramatic pleading gesture, watching resentfully as Xiao Cheng and Jiang Chiyan entered the private room.
She wanted to claw at the wall!
She wanted to burrow through the wall into the private room and eat with her hubby.
Inside the private room.
Xiao Cheng tossed his phone and wallet to Jiang Chiyan. "I'm going to the restroom first."
When Xiao Cheng came out of the restroom and was washing his hands under the tap, someone suddenly patted his back, and an excited male voice rang out beside his ear.
"Xiao Cheng!!"
Xiao Cheng turned around and froze too. "Yin Xiaomo?"
Yin Xiaomo was his buddy who had slept in the lower bunk beneath him in college, a musical theater major.
Yin Xiaomo wore a simple white T-shirt, his tall figure carrying itself well.
He excitedly hugged Xiao Cheng, squeezing so hard he nearly choked the breath out of him. "Did you come alone? Want to share a table and eat together??"
Xiao Cheng shook his head. "Another day. My friend's still waiting for me in the private room."
Yin Xiaomo froze, then clutched his chest with an expression of angina. "In four years of college, I could count the number of times we brothers ate in the cafeteria together on one hand, and now you're actually eating with a friend in a private room??"
Yin Xiaomo grinned slyly and suddenly slung an arm around Xiao Cheng. "It's not your girlfriend, is it??"
Xiao Cheng: "No." It's my boyfriend.
Yin Xiaomo looked utterly unconvinced and began earnestly lecturing him. "Xiao Cheng, don't let anyone fool you. I saw how that Song Qiao screwed you over on Weibo's trending searches. In a relationship, whoever falls in love first loses. You have to keep your heart in check. As your brother, I'm telling you... (three thousand words omitted here)"
Ten minutes later.
Yin Xiaomo was still rambling on.
Xiao Cheng yawned, pinched the bridge of his nose, and casually made up a lie. "I'm just playing around. I'm not serious about it. Once I get bored, I'll dump them."
He just wanted to shake off this chatterbox brother as quickly as possible and go back to eat.
He paused.
Xiao Cheng continued lying without batting an eye. "I only date for the novelty. I have no intention of getting married."
Only after hearing that did mother-hen Yin Xiaomo breathe a sigh of relief.
He was just about to say something when he saw, behind Xiao Cheng...
A man who could only be described as stunningly beautiful striding toward them, coldness radiating from him.
Yin Xiaomo thought the man looked a little familiar.
He looked quite like the man being promoted as a couple with Xiao Cheng on Weibo.
Yin Xiaomo stared a little blankly.
Xiao Cheng was just about to ask him what was wrong when, in the next second, his wrist was seized hard.
Xiao Cheng turned around and saw Jiang Chiyan's dark expression.
Grinding his teeth, Jiang Chiyan stared coldly at him. "Just playing around, not serious, dumping me once you get bored, and no intention of getting married?"