I'm always ready

Huh? Wait a minute.

"Director Zhang, doesn't this reality show only invite married couples? Sun Liang and Yuan Zizhen aren't married yet, are they?" Wei Zisu asked.

Director Zhang said, "I can tell you just woke up. Check the trending topics on Weibo."

Wei Zisu quickly opened Weibo.

#Yuan Zizhen and Sun Liang post their marriage certificate#

So the two of them had gotten married. What wonderful news. There was no need to worry about them going out and ruining anyone else's life.

Wei Zisu couldn't help feeling a little impressed by Yuan Zizhen. Even after learning Sun Liang's true colors, he was still willing to marry him. A true ninja turtle of endurance!

He skimmed the comments under their Weibo posts. He wondered whether they had paid for the most popular ones, which praised the alpha's talent and the omega's looks while making snide remarks about Wei Zisu viciously slandering Yuan Zizhen by accusing him of being a homewrecker.

"Zisu," Director Zhang asked, "with those two there... are you still willing to go?"

"I have no problem with it, but I need to ask Zhengchuan again," Wei Zisu said.

"Of course, of course. Let me know as soon as you've asked him. My old classmate is eager to announce the guest list."

"All right," Wei Zisu said, then asked, "Director Zhang, weren't there supposed to be three couples? Besides the four of us, who's the other couple?"

"Zhu Zhu and Shen Huaiqing."

Wei Zisu raised his eyebrows slightly. They were one of the entertainment industry's rare celebrity-manager couples. They had been married for over a decade, with no end of conflict. Just a while ago, they had trended for unfollowing each other on Weibo, and everyone had thought they were getting divorced.

But no response had come for the longest time. He hadn't expected them to agree to appear on a couples' reality show several months later.

There would certainly be plenty of viewers watching specifically for those two.

It was already easy to imagine how much attention the show would get.

After hanging up with the director, Wei Zisu got up. He finished washing up in the bathroom and was about to head into the courtyard when he heard Yin Zhengchuan's impatient voice.

"I already told you Zisu's still sleeping. Can't you understand plain language?"

"Get out of the way. Stop getting underfoot!"

"You're not going in. Don't you know anything about keeping a proper distance? Have you finished your homework? Coming into my courtyard to bother me!"

"Go, go, go! Get back to your own courtyard! Ow, damn it! You little brat, just try kicking me again!"

A series of clatters followed.

Wei Zisu hurriedly opened the door and went outside. Yin Zhengchuan was watering the little neglected garden with a hose. There were two clear footprints on his trousers, presumably from Yin Baozhu's kicks.

In a fit of anger, he turned the hose on Yin Baozhu.

Poor Baozhu was instantly drenched, but she didn't run away. As though used to it, she nimbly dodged the stream, crouched down, scooped up mud from the water-softened ground, and flung handful after handful at Yin Zhengchuan.

Yin Zhengchuan was agile, dodging perfectly every time.

Wei Zisu laughed. How could these two siblings be so childish?

He walked over to break it up, but had only managed one word. "Don't..."

Smack!

Yin Baozhu couldn't open her eyes through the spray. After Yin Zhengchuan perfectly dodged a clump of mud she had thrown at random, it landed squarely on Wei Zisu's face.

Wei Zisu, the innocent bystander: ...

Yin Zhengchuan, regretting his dodge: !!!!

Yin Baozhu, the culprit: "Aaaaaah!!"

She ran over to pick the mud off Wei Zisu's face, but Yin Zhengchuan stopped her. "Your paws are filthy. Don't touch him."

Wei Zisu wiped the mud off himself and smiled. "Giving me a facial first thing in the morning?"

Then he cupped some water from Yin Zhengchuan's hose and bent over to wash his face clean.

Yin Baozhu gestured guiltily. Although Wei Zisu couldn't understand, he guessed she was apologizing.

"It's all right, Baozhu. You didn't do it on purpose."

Yin Baozhu reached out a filthy little hand to tug on his clothes, but Yin Zhengchuan slapped it away.

"Go on, go wash up!"

Yin Baozhu glared angrily at her brother.

Wei Zisu patted her head. "Go wash up first. I'll change my clothes too. Come back and play with me in a little while, all right?"

Yin Baozhu nodded vigorously and skipped away.

Looking at the flecks of mud on Wei Zisu's pajamas, Yin Zhengchuan said, "If I'd known you were behind me, I wouldn't have dodged."

"Not dodged? You'd just let the mud hit you in the face?" Wei Zisu asked.

"I'd rather Yin Baozhu had hit me in the face," Yin Zhengchuan said.

Wei Zisu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then he told Yin Zhengchuan, "There's something I need to discuss with you."

"What is it?" Yin Zhengchuan turned off the hose and went inside with him.

Wei Zisu washed his face again and repeated what Director Zhang had told him.

Then he asked, "Are we still going on this show?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't we? We absolutely have to!"

Yin Zhengchuan seemed rather excited.

But Wei Zisu didn't ask any more questions. He simply said, "All right, I'll message Director Zhang, then."

"Sure. Tell him we're ready anytime!" Yin Zhengchuan said.

At last, an opportunity!

He had only met Yuan Zizhen once in Hengdian. Although a few words had been enough to infuriate Yuan Zizhen, afterward, the more he thought about it, the more he felt he hadn't performed well enough.

Heaven had eyes. It had given him another chance, with a punchable Sun Liang thrown in as a bonus.

You little punks. This time, he had to show them the consequences of bullying Zisu!

If they could make it through filming with their sanity intact, he would count it as his loss.

While Yin Zhengchuan was happily planning how to torment those two on the show by reasonable, legal means, Wei Zisu emerged from the dressing room in a fresh set of clothes.

He was wearing the casual outfit Yin Zhengchuan had prepared for him beforehand.

A simple white T-shirt and black trousers, paired with stylish, comfortable casual shoes. On Wei Zisu, the whole outfit had a youthful freshness.

At first glance, he looked just like a college student.

Yin Zhengchuan nearly stared himself silly again.

But Wei Zisu's next words nearly made his eyes pop out!

"My heat's coming soon," Wei Zisu said calmly.

Yin Zhengchuan: !!!!

He shot to his feet.

"I'm not ready yet! No, that's not it. I'm ready! What I mean is, I'm always ready!"