Soon, the director blew the whistle to signal the end.
Si Chen immediately ran out of the pigpen. Breathing in the fresh air, he let out a huge sigh of relief.
Shen Ting sat in the same pose as the aunties, legs crossed, eating peanuts and cracking sunflower seeds.
"Auntie, where's the trash can?" Shen Ting looked at the sunflower seed shells filling his hands and turned his head from side to side, searching for a bin.
"Oh, it's a concrete floor. Just spit them on the ground. I'll sweep them all up with that big broom over there later. That's what we all do. No need to be so fussy." The auntie waved dismissively.
Shen Ting looked around at the aunties and grannies, found that they really were all doing that, and gently set the shells in his hands on the ground.
Shen Ting glanced at the broom nearby. It really was enormous-standing upright, it would be almost as tall as a person.
After saying goodbye to the aunties and grannies, Shen Ting ran happily toward the courtyard without so much as looking at Si Chen, who had finally caught his breath. Lunch, lunch, my lavish lunch!
Si Chen stared in disbelief at his retreating figure and chased after him, brimming with resentment.
When Shen Ting reached the courtyard, he found that all the other teams had arrived. Their faces made it clear that some were happy and others were miserable.
Shen Ting sat beside Yan Yi and nudged him with his arm, signaling for him to look at Wen Nuannuan, who was resentfully yanking out grass.
"What happened? Why's she so resentful?"
"Probably angry because she had a teammate dragging her down." Yan Yi tilted his head to the left, leaned close to Shen Ting's ear, and recounted what had happened when he found the two of them.
When Shen Ting heard that Su Yu had been scared into jumping all over the place by a newly hatched chick, he couldn't help widening his eyes. He was that hopeless?
That was what Shen Ting was thinking, but the warm breath against his ear made him involuntarily shrink his neck.
Looking at the fair, tender earlobe before him, Yan Yi couldn't resist rubbing his fingers together again. It looked as though it would feel very nice to pinch.
Soon, lunchtime arrived. The production crew brought out three round tables laden with an abundant spread of delicious dishes.
The aroma instantly filled the courtyard.
Su Weiwang looked at Shen Rui, who remained seated without moving, with a hesitant expression. He wanted to get Shen Rui some food, but he was afraid his teammate wouldn't allow it. After all, they had earned this together, and the other man had a say in how it was distributed.
Just as Su Weiwang finally managed to convince himself to go and discuss it with Pei Ming, he suddenly discovered that Pei Ming had already taken food over to Su Yu. The other man clearly had no intention of consulting him, so it seemed there was no need for him to consult Pei Ming either.
Su Weiwang let out a breath of relief. As far as he was concerned, if he could avoid talking, he would.
Su Weiwang picked up the bowl in front of him and added a balanced selection of vegetable and meat dishes. Then he quickly walked over to Shen Rui, placed the bowl in his hands without a word, and turned to leave.
Shen Rui was briefly stunned as he looked at the food in his hands. He raised his head to look at Su Weiwang, who was quietly eating with his head lowered nearby, and a trace of joy passed through his heart.
[This pair just keeps getting sweeter.]
[I love couples who don't say much but are so easy to ship.]
[A cold, aloof CEO × a socially anxious young heir. Now that's the vibe.]
Shen Ting had been planning to take food to his older brother himself, only to turn around and find that he was already eating.
Shen Ting nodded with an indulgent shipper's smile. Not bad, not bad. At this rate, Shen Rui would leave the ranks of the hopeless simps any day now, Shen Corporation wouldn't head toward bankruptcy, and I was one step closer to a life of eating and lazing around.
Shen Ting set down the food in his hands, picked up another bowl, filled it to the brim, and walked toward Wen Nuannuan. This girl was actually quite adorable too.
Yan Yi also carried some food over to Wen Nuannuan. After all, she was his mother's goddaughter. If she went hungry, his phone would be ringing off the hook tonight.
Beside Wen Nuannuan, Su Yu had also received two servings of food.
Sparks seemed to fly as Si Chen and Pei Ming battled with their eyes.
Crackle, crackle. Crackle, crackle. Neither gained the upper hand.
Su Yu thanked them both with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the looks passing between them.
After thanking them, Su Yu looked at the two men before him with a troubled expression.
Si Chen and Pei Ming noticed at the same time and asked in unison, "Yu, is something wrong?"
"Well, today was all my fault. I made such a fuss over nothing that Sister Nuannuan ended up without lunch. Since Brother Si Chen and Brother Pei Ming were both so kind as to get me lunch, I'd like to share a bowl with her as an apology." As Su Yu spoke, he looked at them both bashfully.
Sure enough, at those words, the two thoroughly brainwashed men felt even sorrier for Su Yu and nodded at the same time.
Su Yu smiled in satisfaction, then picked up the two bowls of food in front of him and walked over to Wen Nuannuan.
"Sister Nuannuan, I'm really sorry. Everything today was my fault. Here are two servings of food that Brother Si Chen and Brother Pei Ming prepared especially for me. If you don't mind, pick one. That way, you won't have to go hungry at lunchtime." Su Yu smiled and held out both hands.
Wen Nuannuan turned her head, looking utterly speechless. "Are you showing off to me?"
"No, how could I? Sister Nuannuan, you've really misunderstood me." Su Yu put down the bowls and chopsticks and waved his hands nervously.
Si Chen and Pei Ming both stepped in front of Su Yu.
"What? You two want to stand up for him? Don't think I'm scared of you just because you're tall." Wen Nuannuan pushed up her sleeves, her expression declaring that she wasn't afraid of anyone.
[Our Su Yu didn't even say anything wrong, did he? Wen Nuannuan is being ridiculous!]
[Exactly, exactly. Wen Nuannuan was obviously reading too much into it.]
[Reading too much into it, my ass. Every word out of Su Yu's mouth is about how his two wonderful brothers prepared it especially for him. Seriously, is that something worth showing off?]
[Exactly. Before, he couldn't go two sentences without mentioning Si Chen. Now it's one sentence for Si Chen and one for Pei Ming.]
[Right? It's not like nobody got Nuannuan lunch. Yan Yi seems to have known her for a long time, and both he and Shen Ting take good care of her.]
It was at that moment that Shen Ting came over. He had heard what Su Yu said too.
Shen Ting looked speechlessly at the two self-appointed protectors before him. Are you two really sure you're protecting a delicate flower, not a fake-innocent white lotus-or even a man-eating flower?
"Wen Nuannuan, Yu brought you lunch, and you're still talking to him like that. You really don't appreciate kindness," Si Chen accused with a frown.
"As if I need his fake kindness." Wen Nuannuan looked disdainful. Other people might not know, and the netizens might not know, but as a young lady from their wealthy social circle, how could she not know about the Su Family's sordid affairs?
"Sister Nuannuan, did you misunderstand me because of what you saw online? Actually, Father, Mother, and I all really like my little brother Weiwang. It's just that he doesn't like crowded places, so we kept him out of the public eye to accommodate him." Su Yu lowered his head and tugged sadly at his clothes.
Shen Ting laughed in anger at the side, pulled Wen Nuannuan over, and pushed her toward Yan Yi. Then he took up a stance for an argument and stood before the three of them.
Open fire!!!
"Su Yu, that mouth of yours must be the most valuable part of your whole body. You could talk the dead back to life, make the ugly sound beautiful, and even make things up out of thin air. Let's talk about your return to the country. Fine, you went running to your adoptive parents' house, but after visiting them, you should at least have gone to see your birth parents, shouldn't you?"
"But what happened? You never went, never even asked after them, and settled comfortably back into your adoptive parents' home, attending all sorts of banquets. Who was it who said he was voluntarily going abroad so he wouldn't interfere with Su Weiwang's place in the Su Family? So you spent the Su Family's money abroad, and now that you're back, you still insist on living with them. What are you, some kind of sticky plaster? They can't shake you off." Shen Ting only paused after that long speech. Not only had he left the three people before him stunned, but everyone around them was listening in a daze too.
"You really do hog all the nice words while doing absolutely nothing worthwhile," Yan Yi added from the side, striking precisely where it hurt.
Wen Nuannuan excitedly pushed Yan Yi aside and gazed at Shen Ting with admiration. As expected of the soul she liked. That spring-loaded tongue of his was amazing!
[Holy crap! Shen Ting talks like a machine gun. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. He's making my head spin.]
[I remember Shen Ting posted about this before.]
[Looking at it this way, Su Yu really does want to have it both ways.]
[Everyone, let's get the Su Family trending again.]
[His fans have gone quiet too. Usually, they're the loudest ones.]
Before you continue