You Scheming Man!

At that, Jiang Lan instinctively glanced at Wen Zhiyan.

Wen Zhiyan asked nothing. He simply opened the fridge and took out a handful of bok choy, two eggs, and a handful of plain dried noodles, then said to Jiang Lan:

"Fifteen minutes. Can you be back by then?"

Jiang Lan answered and turned to leave the villa.

He followed the path and had just stepped beyond the production crew's camera coverage when he saw Ji Wanxing waving at him a short distance away, a huge cardboard box in her arms.

Jiang Lan jogged over and asked in surprise, "What's all this? Why so much?"

Ji Wanxing looked around and only spoke after making sure no one was there:

"I've been watching the livestream these past two days. Who have you got your eye on? You've kept that well hidden. How come I didn't know?"

At the moment, things between Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan had barely begun.

Although he couldn't deny his feelings for Wen Zhiyan, he still wasn't ready to commit to repeating his past mistakes.

Simply put, his head was a complete mess, and he was terrified. He didn't dare.

So he hadn't figured out how to bring this up with Ji Wanxing either.

"Can we leave the questions for now? If filming ends and I haven't won him over, it'll be embarrassing. Let's talk once it works out."

Jiang Lan brushed her off casually.

Ji Wanxing looked Jiang Lan up and down and reminded him:

"The show is meant for you to date, sure, but you'd better tell me beforehand who you're dating and how you plan to go about it, so I can prepare early."

Jiang Lan understood what Ji Wanxing meant. He was a public figure, after all. If he really dated someone in the industry, it would inevitably affect them both.

The effects would differ depending on who his partner was. Whether those effects were negative or positive, serious or otherwise, as Jiang Lan's manager, Ji Wanxing had the right to know and prepare measures to address any potential impact.

Jiang Lan said he understood, but silently sighed to himself.

He wondered whether, if Ji Wanxing found out about him and Wen Zhiyan, she would fly into a rage on the spot, twist the top of his skull off with her bare hands, and pour sulfuric acid inside.

Ji Wanxing knew nothing of Jiang Lan's concerns at that moment. She handed him the box in her arms.

"Clothes, a lighter, and your medication, just in case."

Jiang Lan nodded. "Thanks."

He paused, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, then added, "Oh, right. The livestream stops after midnight. My phone..."

Ji Wanxing glanced at the box and whispered, "It's in there."

After saying goodbye to Ji Wanxing, Jiang Lan hurried back to the villa with the box in his arms.

Seeing that Wen Zhiyan was still busy in the kitchen, with hot steam rising from the pot, he quickly took advantage of Wen Zhiyan's inattention to bound up the stairs and return to his room.

First, he unpacked his lighter and put it in a drawer. Then he placed the figurine gift box Wen Zhiyan had given him on the bedside table and put the bag of underwear wrapped around his phone into the wardrobe. Only then did he emerge from his room, composed once more.

As soon as he came downstairs, he saw Wen Zhiyan in an apron, holding an appetizing bowl of noodles in clear broth in one hand and a dish with two peeled boiled eggs in the other, looking up at him.

"You're back?" he asked.

The scene looked just like a gentle, devoted wife who had cooked at home and was waiting for her husband to return from a busy day at work.

It was also a scene Jiang Lan had dreamed of countless times.

As he looked at Wen Zhiyan, his heart couldn't help softening, and a little warmth crept into his voice without his noticing.

"That was quick."

Wen Zhiyan checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes. Right on time."

Jiang Lan walked over to the dining table and sat down. He took a sip of broth before picking up his chopsticks, spearing a white egg, and taking a big bite.

At that moment, he seemed to have trouble remembering again what that boiled egg that had burst open all those years ago had tasted like.

Jiang Lan wolfed down an egg, then lowered his head and noisily slurped up big mouthfuls of the noodles in clear broth.

He was halfway through before he remembered to ask Wen Zhiyan:

"Aren't you eating?"

Wen Zhiyan sat opposite Jiang Lan, watching him eat with relish, and shook his head.

"Watching my figure. No dinner."

Jiang Lan frowned at that. "With a body like yours, you still need to watch your figure? Can't you give anyone else a chance?"

Wen Zhiyan smiled. "How would I have a good figure if I didn't watch it?"

Jiang Lan first silently cursed Wen Zhiyan. He didn't make his living off his face or body. As a perfectly good CEO and a great designer, what did he need to watch his figure for? Going hungry for no reason really wasn't worth it.

But as soon as he finished cursing, another thought occurred to him, and the noodles in his mouth suddenly didn't taste quite so good.

He narrowed his eyes at Wen Zhiyan.

"You scheming man! You're watching your figure, but you make me this huge bowl of carbs? That's downright underhanded."

Wen Zhiyan knew Jiang Lan was joking. Owing to their genetic makeup, male alphas usually had faster metabolisms and lower body fat, making fat less likely to accumulate.

Before middle age, they generally had no need to watch their figures.

Someone like Jiang Lan could eat four steamed buns from the cafeteria in one sitting back in school, and it had never seemed to affect his six well-defined abs.

He looked at Jiang Lan, his eyes curving with his smile.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to eat? I cooked for you, and instead of thanking me, you accuse me of having ulterior motives."

"Lan-ge, beating the cook once you've had your fill isn't very decent of you."

Jiang Lan set down his chopsticks and pushed the remaining half bowl of noodles in front of Wen Zhiyan.

"Eat this, and I won't hit you."

Wen Zhiyan refused. "I'm not hungry."

Jiang Lan said, "Then I'll beat you up."

Wen Zhiyan pressed his lips together, looked at the half bowl of noodles that no longer looked particularly appealing after Jiang Lan had eaten from it, and asked, "Are you full?"

Jiang Lan nodded. "Hurry up. Stop dawdling."

Only then did Wen Zhiyan pick up the chopsticks Jiang Lan had just used, lower his head, and finish the half bowl of leftovers Jiang Lan had deliberately saved for him, looking utterly natural.

In the public chat:

[I honestly can't tell right now. Are they close or not?]

[I'm confused too. If they're close, Lan-ge's attitude toward President Wen is a mystery. He seems kind of mean, but there's something else mixed in. If they aren't, I feel like he just genuinely wants President Wen to eat something.]

[But he shouldn't make President Wen eat his leftovers, right? Couldn't he have gotten another bowl and portioned out half first?]

[Why did I suddenly think of school bullying? Lan-ge looks like a bully to me. Did he used to bully President Wen?]

[Surely not? That's President Wen. Wen Corporation. A top-tier alpha! Apparently, Lan-ge's family was really strapped for cash before his debut. That's not realistic.]

[A mystery. Such a mystery.]

[Does anyone else think President Wen is especially tolerant of Jiang Lan?]

[I think maybe they used to be buddies, then President Wen did something to wrong Lan-ge and they fell out. Now they've reunited, and that's why things are so weird between them.]

[I don't get it. Anyway, as an alpha, I would absolutely never eat another alpha's leftovers.]

After they finished eating, Jiang Lan got up of his own accord to clear the dishes and was about to wash them in the kitchen, only for Wen Zhiyan to stop him.

"Just let me do it."

Jiang Lan dodged Wen Zhiyan's hand as he reached for the dishes. "Go back and shower, Wen Zhiyan."

Wen Zhiyan was about to say something else when Jiang Lan leaned toward his ear and whispered, too quietly for the recording equipment to pick up:

"You smell strange all over. Attracting admirers."