Strip Off the Underpants Business Consulting Company

"Star Rush Rush Rush" was an outdoor adventure variety show, divided into a celebrity team and an amateur team.

The so-called amateur team consisted entirely of veterans, including Alphas, Omegas, and Betas.

"Heartbeat Time Difference" had consistently topped the trending searches lately, pulling in tons of traffic.

The director of "Star Rush" had his eye on that traffic and approached the director of "Heartbeat." After discussing it, they decided to do a crossover.

The original outdoor adventure format was changed into a team competition, too.

At that moment, the bus was heading to the designated location to meet up with them.

Leaving the smooth road behind, the bus drove onto a rugged mountain road.

The bus jolted and swayed, banging Xie Lin's head against the window.

Even so, he didn't wake up.

Lu Ye slipped his palm between Xie Lin's head and the window, his gaze settling on his profile.

In the dappled light, the fine hairs on Xie Lin's skin were gilded with a faint glow. His raven-feather lashes cast small, fan-shaped shadows beneath his eyes, trembling slightly with his breathing.

Tenderness unwittingly rippled through Lu Ye's eyes.

He reached out a finger and popped the little bubble emerging from that pink nose.

With every bubble he popped, the corners of his mouth rose a little higher.

Sitting beside them, Fu Yunxi couldn't stand it anymore and gave a cold snort.

"Could you stop disturbing his sleep?"

Lu Ye raised his eyebrows and curled his lip.

"Triggered again? Why are you so fragile?"

As he spoke, he gently shifted his palm, letting Xie Lin's head rest on his shoulder.

He looked smugly at Fu Yunxi.

"Film Emperor Fu, please have some manners and stop staring at my wife, OK?"

Fu Yunxi stared at the two of them for quite a while longer.

Only when Lu Ye was about to lose his temper did he reluctantly turn away, clenching his hand into a fist.

He Jianing yawned, two enormous dark circles hanging beneath his eyes.

Xie Lin had put him through hell yesterday.

Even after the staff took him back to his room and he lay down in bed, he still felt as though the ceiling was spinning.

He had gotten up and vomited twice more during the night, bringing up not only everything he'd eaten that evening but almost his bile, too.

He had gotten up so early this morning, yet still hadn't had anything to eat.

Now, with the bus rocking from side to side, he was starting to feel sick again, his face deathly pale.

Normally, when Fu Yunxi suffered a setback, he would have gone over to offer a few comforting words.

But now he could barely fend for himself and couldn't be bothered to say a single word, silently slumping against his seat and playing dead.

After an unknown amount of time, the bus drove onto a gravel road, the trees on either side blocking out the sky.

Xie Lin took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and stretched.

As he extended his arms forward, his head tilted to the side, his lips lightly brushing across Lu Ye's neck.

Lu Ye went rigid, his entire face beginning to burn as the tips of his ears gradually turned red.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.

"You're awake?"

"Mm~"

Xie Lin's voice was soft and thick with sleep.

Lu Ye felt as though a kitten's paw had scratched his heart, and his body gave an involuntary shiver.

"Where are we?"

Xie Lin rubbed his eyes and looked out the window.

There was nothing but trees!

"We should be almost there."

"Ah! Is there no breakfast? I'm starving!"

"There is!"

As though presenting treasure, Lu Ye pulled a bag of snacks from his backpack and set it on Xie Lin's lap.

Xie Lin took out a packet of vegetarian tripe in sesame sauce and began eating, his eyes narrowed.

The aroma made He Jianing even hungrier, but all he could do was swallow.

He hated Xie Lin's guts. How could he have the nerve to ask him for food?

Fu Yunxi's brows knitted. Unable to stand watching any longer, he looked at Lu Ye in displeasure.

"If you had food, why didn't you take it out sooner?"

Lu Ye looked at him in puzzlement.

"I bought it myself. Why should I take it out? Are we kindergarteners? Do we have to share?"

"..."

Fu Yunxi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but held it back and looked toward the director in the front row.

"Director, is there no breakfast?"

"There is, but we have to get there first. Don't worry, we're almost there!"

Feeling rather frustrated, Fu Yunxi turned to He Jianing.

"Hang in there a little longer. There'll be food soon."

He Jianing gave him an understanding smile.

"I'm fine, Yunxi. Thank you!"

[Ah, what kind of little angel is our Ning? He's so kind.]

[Ning, can you stand up for yourself a little? You'll get taken advantage of if you keep giving way to others like this. My heart hurts for you!]

[Seriously, Xie Lin. Nobody on the bus has had breakfast, and he's sitting there enjoying his food all by himself. Has he no shame?]

[??? You're guilt-tripping him over this? Lu Doggy bought that for him, okay? If you want food, buy your own!]

[Throwing away every last scrap of fucking dignity for a bite to eat!]

After swaying along for nearly four hours, the bus finally stopped in a flat clearing in the forest.

Having eaten his fill, Xie Lin got off the bus, took a deep breath, and pulled out his phone to search through his contacts.

A few seconds later, he rubbed his chin and sank into thought.

He turned to Lu Ye.

"Do you know anyone at a business investigation company?"

"I do. What do you want to ask about?"

"Don't worry about that. Send me their contact, and I'll ask them myself."

"...Sure!"

Lu Ye asked no further questions, lowering his head to tap his phone twice.

Xie Lin walked aside and dialed the number.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away.

Zhan Ying looked shocked, his finger trembling as though he had Parkinson's as he pointed at his phone screen.

Qin Zheng looked up from a pile of documents and shot him a thoroughly disdainful glance.

"Look at you, acting like you've never seen anything before. Answer it!"

Zhan Ying cleared his throat and pressed the answer button, immediately switching to an announcer's voice.

"Hello, you've reached Strip Off the Underpants Business Consulting Company. How may I help you?"

Xie Lin froze, then his eyes lit up.

What a badass name. It sounded reliable already!

He lowered his voice.

"I want to investigate a family, down to the smallest detail. Can you do that?"

Zhan Ying smiled slightly.

"Guaranteed!"

"How much do you charge?"

Zhan Ying glanced at Qin Zheng, his grin widening.

"Sir, our company is celebrating its anniversary, and you're the 8,888th customer to call this week. This investigation is completely free. You're quite the lucky one!"

The smile instantly vanished from Xie Lin's face.

Covering the microphone, he looked blankly at Lu Ye.

"This isn't a scam company, right?"

"Of course not. What's wrong?"

Looking odd, Xie Lin scratched his chin.

"They said I won a prize, and this job is free."

Lu Ye remained perfectly calm.

"Oh, that sounds right. They run promotions all the time. I won once, too."

"Really?"

Lu Ye nodded solemnly.

"Really!"

Hearing silence on the line, Zhan Ying looked anxiously at Qin Zheng and forced out a whisper.

"Did I give us away?"

Qin Zheng pushed up the glasses on his nose.

"Relax. Boss is over there. There won't be a problem."

With that confirmation, Xie Lin was so happy he nearly jumped.

He cleared his throat.

"Is this promotion of yours real? You're not going to rip me off for a huge sum at the end!"

"Rest assured. If you don't believe us, you can look up our registered capital on Qichacha. Our company absolutely has the resources to meet your requirements."

After hanging up, Xie Lin swiftly added Zhan Ying as a contact and sent over the people he wanted investigated and the key matters to look into.

Once he had finished, he put away his phone with a sinister grin.

"Heh heh heh heh... That's what you get for cursing me out. Just you wait until I'm done filming this show and get back..."

[Wait, is there anyone here who can read lips? What's Tao Miaomiao grinning like an idiot about over there?]

[Aaah, who's that over there? A new guest? Or someone from "Star Rush"?]

[Holy shit, he's gorgeous. Definitely a top-tier Omega!]

Xie Lin turned around, only then noticing an extra person among the guests.

The director rubbed his hands together with a smile.

"Let me introduce our new guest, Wu Xinyou, an S-Class Omega, a jewelry designer, and twenty-three years old! At last, we finally have an even number of guests!"

Xie Lin stared, dumbstruck.

Wu Xinyou stood beside the director, wine-red, medium-length hair falling loosely over his shoulders. On his exceptionally exquisite face, a pair of beautiful foxlike eyes curved slightly, the corners of his lips raised.

He wore an army-green camouflage uniform and was waving at them with one hand in his pocket.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Wu Xinyou. It's a pleasure to meet you."

As he finished speaking, his gaze casually swept over Lu Ye in the crowd.

Lu Ye, meanwhile, looked at him with a strange expression.

"What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't I come?"

"..."

Xie Lin's gaze darted between the two of them.

He discreetly nudged Lu Ye in the side.

"You know each other?"

"Yeah. My Omega father's good friend's son."

"Oh! That's a pretty close connection!"

As everyone chatted, another bus stopped at the junction, and a large group of people piled out.

At their head, a man with a tiny ponytail strode over, laughing.

"Director Sha Mao, welcome to all the guests of 'Heartbeat Time Difference'!"

"..."

"!!!"