I won't let you go hungry

"Want some seafood hot pot?" Huo Xingye crouched on the carpet beside Nan Zhou. "A mushroom and ginseng broth, with some black truffle. We could buy some sea crabs and scallops, too..."

"You know how to make it?" Nan Zhou's eyes lit up.

But before Huo Xingye could answer, the cameraman spoke again. "Mr. Huo, each pair has a budget of two hundred yuan."

Two hundred?!

For that one second, Nan Zhou seemed to see sea crabs and crayfish waving their pincers as they crawled out the window, one after another.

"Tsk. Why make a variety show if you're this stingy?"

The entire directing team: "..."

"Darling, our family's too poor. I'll skip eating. Save a little so you can have more." Nan Zhou lay back down.

If he didn't eat, he wouldn't have to go out.

He could even save some for his on-screen partner.

Judging by the other man's build, he could probably eat quite a lot.

Huo Xingye stood up from the carpet and looked toward the camera. "Shall we talk?"

Though his expression was mild, Pei Feng could feel that intense pressure even through the screen.

"...Fuck."

Did he have to spoil him that much?!

For Nan Zhou's sake, he was even willing to challenge the directing team on camera!

But what could they do?

The show's biggest sponsor was H Group...

Outsiders didn't know, but Pei Feng knew perfectly well that H Group's heir apparent was the very alpha before him who wanted to have a talk.

[Talk? About what?]

[Has Film Emperor Huo finally had enough?! This partner is absolutely ridiculous. I would've snapped ages ago. Only Film Emperor Huo has such a good temper.]

[What kind of cosmic joke is that person telling?! Do you actually know Film Emperor Huo? LMAO, those who get it are already losing their minds over this ship, okay? He's so in love!]

[Yes!!! As a fan of five years, I can confirm he's so in love, hahaha.]

[Nan Zhou called Huo Xingye darling! So sweet, sob sob!]

Although the microphones were muted during Huo Xingye's negotiations with the directing team, the cameras were still rolling.

The viewers had no idea what they discussed. When the microphones came back on a while later, Pei Feng announced that they would make an exception and raise the guests' starting funds to five hundred yuan.

Five hundred yuan still wasn't enough for seafood hot pot, but Huo Xingye asked Nan Zhou, "Want crab roe noodles?"

"Tsk, let's get this straight first. I'm only agreeing because you're working so hard, not because I'm afraid of going hungry!" Nan Zhou finally agreed to get up from the sofa.

As he followed Huo Xingye toward the door, he continued lecturing him. "Don't talk to them next time, or people might accuse you of acting like a diva afterward. Let me handle it. I'll make sure they learn you get what you pay for!"

"Mm." Huo Xingye stopped at the door, took off his own scarf, and wrapped it around Nan Zhou.

"Hey..."

"Comfortable?"

"..."

The alpha's personal belongings carried the lingering scent of his pheromones, enveloping Nan Zhou along with the soft cashmere.

So comfortable.

"If it's comfortable, keep it on properly." Huo Xingye tugged the scarf up for him, covering nearly half his face.

The two left the apartment and happened to run into Jiang Zhen and Xu Xiao.

Jiang Zhen kept glancing at Nan Zhou. Finally, she couldn't resist asking for gossip. "Mr. Huo, I read an interview of yours before. In it, you said you had someone you liked. Could that person be Nan..."

As she spoke, her gaze stayed firmly fixed on Nan Zhou, like a fox about to sneak a treat.

The instant Jiang Zhen mentioned Huo Xingye having someone he liked, even though nearly half Nan Zhou's face was buried in the cashmere scarf, the cameras and everyone present still caught his eyes suddenly widening.

[Sister Jiang, you're my sister! If you know what to ask, keep asking!]

[Nan Zhou doesn't know Huo Xingye has someone he likes???]

[What's fake can never be real. They weren't a real couple to begin with. How could my idol actually like him?!]

But before he could speak, Huo Xingye smoothly cut off Jiang Zhen's unfinished question. "Mm."

Wait, I haven't finished asking. What are you saying "mm" to?

Jiang Zhen pressed on. "That 'mm' is pretty ambiguous! Do you mean there is someone, or that the person you like is right beside you?"

Huo Xingye broke into a smile. "Want to know?"

Jiang Zhen: "..." Why did this feel strangely familiar?

"That costs extra."

"..."

Beside her, Xu Xiao quickly started a new topic. "What roles did you draw?"

Between him and Jiang Zhen, one was a gaming companion, while the other was a barista at a café.

Honestly, both of them had been quite surprised to draw the gaming companion role, which made them even more curious about what roles Nan Zhou and Huo Xingye had drawn after choosing the room with the high-spec computers.

"Surely this doesn't cost extra, too?" Xu Xiao said.

"Bar workers," Nan Zhou answered.

Xu Xiao's eyes widened in shock.

High-spec computers, and that was it?!

The production team really was devious!

Just then, Lu Zhou and Wen Yu also arrived downstairs, followed by Gu Tang and Zhang Shi, who appeared to be flirting.

Seeing the four of them, Gu Tang immediately asked, "What are you planning to eat for lunch?"

Without waiting for an answer, he quickly continued, "Zhang Shi said he wanted home cooking, so I'm planning to throw together a few dishes. Just steamed sea bass, cold tripe salad, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, and three-delicacy tofu soup."

"Zhenzhen's trying to lose weight lately, so I'm planning to make her a vegetable salad as a weight-loss meal," Xu Xiao added.

[Our darling Tang is so modest! He clearly knows how to make so many dishes! Such a perfect homemaker!]

[God Xu, I'm crying. Sister Jiang is so lucky, sob sob.]

[Poor Film Emperor Huo, having to wait on that scheming bitch.]

[LMAO, how is Gu Tang any different from someone who secretly studies all night, then says the next day that they didn't revise anything?]

[Who needs your pity? Save it for your own precious idol.]

There were four pairs, and neither Lu Zhou nor Wen Yu had said anything, yet Gu Tang asked Nan Zhou, "Mr. Nan Zhou, can you cook? You're not going to make Mr. Huo eat some culinary monstrosity, are you?"

With both hands in his pockets, Nan Zhou was pondering the information in Jiang Zhen and Huo Xingye's conversation.

Huo Xingye had someone he liked, but Nan Zhou didn't know whether he was dating that person.

If he was, wouldn't that make Nan Zhou the other man?!

He, Nan Zhou, had no interest in getting tangled up in the trouble of coming between someone else's relationship.

No, I need to find a chance to ask him and clear this up right away.

"No," Nan Zhou answered.

That was exactly what Gu Tang had been waiting for. He immediately opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Nan Zhou said, "You seem pretty good at cooking. Make a few imperial banquet dishes and show your big brother what you've got."

A faint snicker came from Wen Yu's direction.

Lu Zhou glanced beside him in surprise, only to find Wen Yu looking as cool and indifferent as ever, without even the slightest extra upward curve to his lips.

"Little Tang's cooking is only for me," Zhang Shi stepped in to defend him at just the right moment. "Everyone else can keep away."

Gu Tang quickly adjusted his expression and mindset. "Every omega needs to know how. You can't let your own alpha go hungry, can you?"

The next second, he saw Nan Zhou quickly look him up and down with the expression of someone examining a strange new creature.

Nan Zhou said, "If you insist on thinking that way, there's nothing I can do."

Then he leaned over, rose onto his toes, and asked beside Huo Xingye's ear, "Is he serious, or is he doing it for the show?"

Huo Xingye: "..."

He explained quietly, "A lot of people do think that way, but I don't. Besides, here, you don't need to know how. I won't let you go hungry."