You like forced love, right?

Early the next morning, everyone was called to the beach by the PD, who was ready to announce the rankings for the previous night's intimacy task.

Before the announcement, the guests also had to score one another.

The big screen lit up, playing footage of Chen Mingyi and Du Yuesi completing the show's "first kiss."

"Wait! You're showing replays too?!" Chen Mingyi could no longer keep her face from flushing red.

She glanced at Du Yuesi. The two of them usually stood together, but ever since that kiss yesterday, things between them seemed to have turned strange. Du Yuesi also seemed to be deliberately keeping her distance, and the feeling was very unpleasant for Chen Mingyi.

Watching the footage on the screen, Yu Xinyan immediately clicked his tongue twice and laughed. "Of course they have to replay it. How else are we supposed to score you? Anyway, I'm giving it zero. No atmosphere whatsoever. Bad review, bad review."

The moment he finished speaking, the screen flashed, then began playing footage of him and Yuan Man.

In the footage, Yu Xinyan had just returned from his shower, his hair soaking wet. Who knew what he was in such a hurry about, but he kept looking at his wristwatch, then at Yuan Man, who was blow-drying his hair.

Finally, seemingly unable to stand it anymore, he snatched the hair dryer from Yuan Man's hand, braced one hand on the table, and said with a hint of anger, "What's your problem? Are you trying to make me do those punishments?" As he spoke, he added a very quiet, indistinct mutter. "I've waited this long and you still haven't kissed me. What are you doing..."

Yuan Man slowly raised his eyes to him. After a brief moment of confusion, he broke into a radiant smile. "You'll accept it if I kiss you?"

"Yes!" Yu Xinyan answered very quickly, but afterward, his eyes blinked frantically, betraying his unease. "No! What I mean is, in principle, I wouldn't accept it, but this is a task, isn't it? I don't like losing, mmph..."

Before he could finish, Yuan Man pulled on his collar, making him bend farther down, then tilted his head up and kissed his lips.

"Then let's win together."

The instant Yuan Man's and Yu Xinyan's lips parted, a bead of water gathered at the tip of the hair over Yu Xinyan's forehead. One second, two seconds... it fell beneath Yuan Man's eye.

Then Yu Xinyan pressed their lips tightly together again.

Light passed between them, shining on that droplet and refracting a shimmering glow, like rain and dew bestowed by a heavenly deity, or a tear shed by a god.

The footage ended there, and a chorus of teasing "Ooh!" sounds immediately rose around them.

"I saw Yuan Man pull back to finish. Why did you chase after him for another kiss?" Si Bonian teased him mercilessly.

After all, nothing in the world was more delightful than getting the gossip on your own buddy.

"It wasn't because I thought his lips were really nice to kiss! I... I was just completing the task! Him kissing me counted as his task, so I had to do mine too. Right, that's all it was. Definitely not because his lips were soft and sweet!"

Yu Xinyan answered rather heatedly.

Shen Siyi clicked his tongue in disgust. "Who asked whether his lips were nice to kiss? Bad review, bad review. Zero."

"Senior Shen, you can't do that, can you? Didn't ours have atmosphere? Yuan Man, say something!" Yu Xinyan dealt with Shen Siyi while signaling Yuan Man with his eyes.

Song Nianxing snickered briefly, then backed Shen Siyi up. "Someone just said we needed replays to give scores, but now that we've actually watched his replay and scored it, he's unhappy?"

Shen Siyi immediately joined the attack, nodding in agreement. "Exactly. With a performance like that, I even think they should kiss again."

Song Nianxing and Shen Siyi chimed in with each other, and the next second, their own clip appeared on the screen.

The moment he finished watching it, Yu Xinyan, who had just been beaten down by the two of them, immediately grew cocky.

"Is this crap? Sorry, wrong words. What is this?! Seriously, I've already taken my pants off and this is what you two show me? How did you dare give Yuan Man and me zero?!"

This time, Yuan Man immediately clicked "follow" too. "Exactly. Little Star and Senior Shen are the ones who should kiss again. Negative points, negative points. Enough said."

Even Chen Mingyi and Du Yuesi kept shaking their heads regretfully. "True, there's really nothing to say about this one. Star and Senior Shen, start over."

"I thought it was pretty good. You just don't understand pure love, do you? I'm giving it ten!" Ji Yu said with a cheerful laugh.

"Director Ji, are you serious? Is this the kind of heart-wrenching stuff a big-name director likes?" Chen Mingyi looked at Ji Yu, dumbfounded.

At that moment, Xu Sui, who was beside her, actually echoed Ji Yu. "I thought it was very good too. You have to look past the surface of all that love and hate to see the deep affection and devotion between Senior Shen and Nianxing. I'm giving it ten too."

"Senior, you! You're into this?" Yu Xinyan asked in disbelief.

Si Bonian, however, gave a cold snort. "If two people really shared such deep affection and devotion, how could they bear to put each other through all that love and hate? I'm not happy about rewarding them for it either. Zero."

At those words, Xu Sui briefly lowered his light brown eyes.

At that point, the screen shut off completely.

Everyone let out a puzzled question. "That's it?"

The PD's voice sounded right on cue. "Yes. Since Ji Yu, Qi Huan, Xu Sui, and Si Bonian did not complete the intimacy task, they will automatically take the bottom two places. Now we'll announce the rankings given by the livestream viewers."

Yu Xinyan sighed with an "Ah." "The production team really made things difficult for them. Those guys don't know each other well. Kissing right off the bat really wouldn't be good. Besides, there are two singers and a director among them. Only one actor can act out a kissing scene and kiss freely. The others can't."

Qi Huan's brows immediately furrowed slightly. "Actors can't just kiss freely either. Besides..."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted over Ji Yu, then he gave a cold smile. "Besides, some directors are very capable. They can even direct bed scenes, let alone kissing scenes."

Hearing this, Ji Yu immediately raised his eyebrows. His brightly colored lips curved into a bold smile, and he laughed without the slightest anger. "Right, directors like me are particularly capable~ Any good actors are welcome to come to me for guidance~"

Song Nianxing's gaze moved between the two of them. Seeing Qi Huan's darkening expression, he couldn't help thinking again of the explosive things he had heard in the laundry room last night. Combined with their conversation now, they led him to form a guess about their relationship.

Ji Yu was the one who no longer wanted Qi Huan.

Seeing him frown in concentration, Shen Siyi found him so cute that he couldn't help reaching out to smooth the crease between his brows. "What are you thinking about so seriously?"

Song Nianxing came back to himself, moved a little closer to him, and covered the microphone at his collar. "I'm thinking about why Director Ji divorced Qi Huan. I keep feeling like Qi Huan really cares about Director Ji. Isn't it good to have someone who cares about you?"

Shen Siyi followed his gaze and glanced at Qi Huan and Ji Yu too. "He certainly cares. So much that he has to manage and control everything, and has to cling to Ji Yu every moment. Someone like that is bound to be disliked and abandoned, right?"

Shen Siyi did not spell out that the control he mentioned included, but was not limited to, installing a tracker on his phone.

Coming home even one second late meant being locked to the bed for a "thorough interrogation" and a comprehensive "inspection."

Any young man who exchanged so much as a few words with Ji Yu would be threatened, warned, intimidated, and so on by Qi Huan the very next second.

After hearing Shen Siyi's answer, Song Nianxing let out an "Ah." After a brief silence, he looked at Shen Siyi and said somewhat timidly, "Maybe Director Ji doesn't like that sort of thing, but I think it's pretty good. Being kept in check also means being cared about."

Shen Siyi's eyes immediately lit up. "Do you really think so, Ah Xing? You approve of what he does?"

Song Nianxing did not notice the excitement almost bursting from the depths of Shen Siyi's eyes. Taking it as an ordinary conversation, he nodded obediently. "I do. But maybe Director Ji doesn't like that sort of thing. I actually think it would feel very... safe."

"Okay," Shen Siyi replied, raising a hand to rub his head with an extremely gentle expression. "I understand."