The icy slap paddle struck Pei Ming so hard that he was stunned, falling from his crouch onto his backside.
"What did you hit me for?" Pei Ming tried angrily to get up and argue.
But Shen Ting gave him no chance. He stood up and brought the slap paddle down on the top of his head.
Smack!
Pei Ming dropped right back onto his backside.
"You're exactly who I meant to hit. Have you ever considered that the person who saved you back then might not have been Su Yu?" Shen Ting lifted Pei Ming's chin with the slap paddle.
"Not Su Yu?" The question left Pei Ming stunned.
"Impossible. He was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes. There was no one else around me then. He must have saved me." Pei Ming shook his head.
"Why is it impossible? Tell me, were his clothes dry or wet at the time?" Shen Ting stared straight into Pei Ming's eyes.
"I think they were... dry? I can't remember." Pei Ming held his head and thought back.
"Exactly. How did he save you if he was dry? With magical pretty-boy powers? One spell, and whoosh, you popped out of the water? Then if he wasn't happy, another spell, and whoosh, back in you went, right?" Shen Ting looked at Pei Ming with disgust.
[Hahaha, magical pretty-boy powers!]
[Shen Ting has a point. He fell into a swimming pool, and someone who was completely dry saved him?]
[I have a bold theory. Could someone else have saved him, and Su Yu took the credit?]
[That theory above is possible too. Wow, here comes the twist.]
[The more you think about it, the scarier it gets.]
"No, impossible. Maybe I remembered wrong, and his clothes were wet then. I need to ask him myself." Pei Ming still could not overturn what he had believed all these years.
Shen Ting was speechless at Pei Ming's words. Ask him yourself? Look how thoroughly he's fooled you. Even an idiot would almost be smarter than you.
If I actually let you ask him, you'd be even more grateful to him tomorrow, guaranteed. I'm not making a losing deal like that.
"Pei Ming, do you know something?" Shen Ting stood up and looked down at the man before him.
"Know what?" Pei Ming looked up in confusion.
"Su Yu can't swim." Shen Ting's words struck like a bolt of lightning right in front of Pei Ming.
"W-what did you say?" Pei Ming stared blankly at Shen Ting.
"I said Su Yu can't swim. He's said publicly more than once that he can't swim and is afraid of water. Are your ears blocked?" Shen Ting sighed as he looked at Pei Ming. That protagonist halo really is something. Look how it's got this supporting character running in circles.
"Then... who saved me?" Pei Ming looked utterly lost. In that moment, everything he had believed for almost six years was overturned.
"You could search far and wide, but the answer's right before your eyes. All right, that's all the hints I can give you. If you still think Su Yu is your savior after everything I've said, then you're probably beyond saving. Go in peace." Shen Ting turned around and continued picking mushrooms from the ground.
Where Shen Ting could not see, a ring of the thick white light deep within Pei Ming's soul vanished.
Not far from Shen Ting, Su Yu suddenly felt cold all over, as though something bad had happened without his knowledge.
Si Chen put an arm around Su Yu, took off his coat, and wrapped it around him. "Yu, are you all right? Are you a little cold? Is that better?"
"Thank you, Si Chen."
Clutching the black coat around him, Su Yu shook his head to shake away those uncertain thoughts, then smiled and thanked Si Chen.
"It's all right. Stay close to me. Whatever happens, I'll protect you." Si Chen reached out and ruffled Su Yu's hair.
"Mm, I believe you, Si Chen." Su Yu's face was filled with a trusting smile.
[Aaah, so sweet, so sweet! I'm going to cry.]
[Baby Su Yu is such a sweetheart.]
[Best actor Si is such boyfriend material too.]
Fans flooded the chat in their livestream.
Meanwhile, in an upscale apartment in downtown City A.
A boisterous young woman lay on the sofa, holding a phone that was playing Shen Ting's livestream.
The young woman cursed as she looked at Pei Ming's face. What a lousy man. All he does is upset my youngest uncle. Pah!
Seeing Shen Ting's disgusted look, she nodded in agreement. A man like that deserves his disgust.
But then Shen Ting brought up the time Pei Ming had fallen into a swimming pool at fifteen.
The young woman's eyes flew wide. She leaped off the sofa, jogged over, and pushed open the study door.
"Uncle! Look at this!!!"
Dressed in sapphire-blue silk pajamas and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Xia Qing was examining the clothing designs on his desk.
Hearing his young niece's flustered voice, he could not help sighing. He rubbed his temples and looked up toward the door.
"What is it?" Xia Qing looked at his young niece, who had already clambered onto his desk on all fours.
"Uncle, look! Someone seems to know the truth about the swimming pool." The young woman excitedly shoved her phone right in front of her youngest uncle's face.
Xia Qing froze at her words and stared blankly at the livestream on the phone before him.
He kept watching until Pei Ming sat blankly on the ground, muttering to himself about who had saved him.
Only after the subject on the phone ended did the young woman slowly climb down from the desk. Then she cautiously watched her silent youngest uncle.
"Uncle?" she called softly.
"Mm, it's nothing. I understand. Go out and have some fun for a while." Xia Qing smiled gently.
The young woman obediently nodded, but suddenly stopped at the door and cautiously looked back at Xia Qing again.
"Then are you still planning to go abroad?"
"Not necessarily." Xia Qing gave no definite answer. His feelings were in turmoil now.
"Yay!" The young woman jumped excitedly on the spot and happily closed the door. Whenever she had asked before, her youngest uncle had always given a firm answer. Now it had become a question, which meant he might not go abroad.
Inside the study, Xia Qing picked up his clothing designs, only to find that he could not focus on them at all. He sighed, tapped his index finger against the desk, and finally picked up the phone beside him to call a friend.
"I want to join 'Love in the Next Moment.'"
In the mushroom forest, perhaps Shen Ting's luck was simply too good. After only a few steps, he stumbled into a patch of mushrooms and picked them with great delight. Soon, he had not only filled his own basket but also half of Pei Ming's.
Looking at Pei Ming, who seemed to have lost his soul, Shen Ting had already given up counting on him.
The sky grew darker and darker. Combined with Shen Ting's nearsightedness, he could practically no longer see his hand in front of his face.
Shen Ting decided to pick a few more right where he was, then pull the big idiot beside him down to sit and wait for the game to end.
Not far away, Su Yu spotted Shen Ting and tugged Si Chen's sleeve.
"What is it?" Si Chen looked at Su Yu.
"I think I see Ting." Su Yu pointed at Shen Ting nearby. His eyesight was excellent, and he was absolutely certain it was Shen Ting.
Si Chen narrowed his eyes and examined him carefully. Once he confirmed it was Shen Ting, he took Su Yu with him and slowly approached.
Shen Ting had just finished picking and was about to sit down for a rest when he suddenly heard rustling in the grass.
His expression changed. Holding the slap paddle in front of his chest, he swung it toward the sound.
Smack, smack, smack!!!
Shen Ting's hand did not pause at all. The unending slaps rang out conspicuously through the mushroom forest, and the other teams farther away hurried over at the sound.
"Ting, how could you hit Si Chen? We saw you and just wanted to say hello!"
"Shen Ting! Stop!" Si Chen felt pain across his face, and even a burning heat.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Shen Ting struck from the left and right, standing and jumping, until he beat Si Chen straight to the ground.
"H-help!"
Not far from the two of them, Yan Yi arrived first with Wen Nuannuan. Yan Yi aimed his flashlight at the pair before him, and the powerful light instantly revealed them.
Shen Rui and Su Weiwang approached from another direction. They stared blankly at the scene before them. Shen Ting was thrashing Si Chen?
[Holy crap! That startled me. I was wondering why Shen Ting suddenly got nervous. Turns out he heard something.]
[How can Shen Ting hit someone like that? That's way too violent.]
[Exactly! Su Yu and Si Chen only wanted to say hello, and they got beaten like this.]
[If there's something wrong with your brain, commenter above, I don't mind refreshing your memory. Shen Ting said right at the start not to approach him if you ran into him, okay?]
[Exactly. He already warned you, and you still came closer. Isn't that just asking for a beating?]
Yan Yi handed the flashlight to Wen Nuannuan, who was watching the scene beside him with stars in her eyes. He stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Shen Ting's waist, and gripped the hand holding the slap paddle, separating the two men.
Only then did Shen Ting finally make out the person before him in the light. He let out a relieved breath. I thought it was some kind of animal. That gave me a fright.
Si Chen painfully got up from the ground and lowered his hands. His face was red and swollen, and his cheeks bulged.
"Pfft, hahaha-hic! What kind of look is that?" Meng Yun and Bai Yuanyuan, who had just followed the sound over, burst out laughing.
"Y-you've gon' too fah! (You've gone too far!)" Si Chen had taken a couple of hits to the mouth as well. It felt numb and began to turn red and swell.
Before you continue