Take off my clothes

Everyone else turned to look at Su Wanyue. Even Wang Zihua looked over.

Su Wanyue sat blankly on the sofa without moving.

Her distracted state drew strange looks from the guests.

"Yueyue, Yueyue..."

Gu Yanzhou called her several times.

"Ah..." Su Wanyue came back to her senses. "Yanzhou, did you call me?"

Gu Yanzhou frowned slightly. "Xie Yuan was talking to you."

Su Wanyue instinctively looked at Xie Yuan. "Teacher Xie?"

Gu Yanzhou explained, and realization dawned on Su Wanyue. Just the right amount of lingering fear and concern appeared on her face.

"Yes, a child got carried away playing and almost fell from somewhere high. Fortunately, a teacher noticed in time, so no accident happened."

Many viewers watching the livestream already knew about this, so there was no need to hide it.

Gu Yanzhou had no experience looking after children, and he had not been there when it happened.

His eyes filled with concern. "You must have been terrified. Why didn't you tell me something so serious happened?"

Su Wanyue shook her head weakly. "No, I just blame myself for seeing a child nearly have an accident."

"If I'd paid more attention, been more attentive, and kept that child in sight at all times, this wouldn't have happened."

Gu Yanzhou's expression softened with concern. "It wasn't your fault. You're only human. It's perfectly normal that you can't watch every child."

Xie Yuan cut in. "So the child who nearly had an accident was in your class, Teacher Su?"

Su Wanyue faltered and replied quietly, "No."

"Heh." Xie Yuan chuckled. "If he wasn't in the class you're responsible for, why were you so concerned?"

Disappointment appeared in Su Wanyue's eyes. "Teacher Xie, how could you say that?"

"As a preschool teacher, isn't it normal for me to worry about children?"

"Even if he isn't in my class, am I not allowed to worry about him?"

"He's so adorable. If anything happened to him, how heartbroken would his parents be? You have no compassion at all."

Her three consecutive questions and accusations immediately prompted viewers in the livestream to attack Xie Yuan.

[Xie Yuan is so heartless. Is she not even allowed to worry?]

[Exactly. Whenever I see news about children being killed or injured, I can't help feeling sad.]

[Even if the child isn't in her class, there's nothing wrong with a preschool teacher worrying about him.]

[I used to like this Young Master Xie quite a bit. Now I see he really wasn't worth it.]

[Yueyue is as kind as ever.]

[If you have no compassion, keep your mouth shut. Her worrying doesn't affect you.]

[Get Xie Dog off the show.]

All at once, it was as though Xie Yuan had stirred up a hornet's nest of viewers. Many of their comments were very unfriendly toward him.

Xie Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Teacher Su, why are you reacting so strongly?"

"Did I say you weren't allowed to worry?"

"Or does that child have some special background, which is why you're particularly concerned about him?"

Panic flashed through Su Wanyue's eyes before she put on a puzzled expression. "Teacher Xie, I don't quite understand what you mean."

"That was my first time meeting that child. I don't know him, so how could I possibly know his background?"

"Even if you dislike me, you can't insult me like this."

Su Wanyue's eyes brimmed with tears, her face full of hurt.

Gu Yanzhou frowned, anger creeping onto his face. "Xie Yuan, don't go too far."

"Yueyue was just worried about a child. What are you trying to do, making baseless assumptions like that?"

"Does a teacher need a reason to worry about a student?"

Xie Yuan yawned. "Why are you so worked up?"

"Did I say that child had any particular background?"

"Xie Yuan." Gu Yanzhou raised his voice. "Don't try to laugh this off. Weren't you just implying that Yueyue wanted to use the opportunity to cozy up to someone?"

Xie Yuan looked utterly innocent. "Did I say that?"

"I was just worried the child might have some sort of background and that Teacher Su might get dragged into it."

Gu Yanzhou's anger stalled, then faded by more than half. He stared at Xie Yuan suspiciously.

"Is that really what you were thinking?"

Su Wanyue secretly lowered her head. For the first time, she felt a trace of dissatisfaction with Gu Yanzhou.

Outwardly understanding, she tugged on Gu Yanzhou's clothes. "Yanzhou, I overthought it and misunderstood. It's not Teacher Xie's fault."

Watching the two of them go back and forth, Xie Yuan no longer wanted to bother with them.

After enjoying the drama, Tan Yaya leaned toward Xie Yuan. "Teacher Xie, come to the bar with us."

"You promised yesterday."

Xie Yuan stood up. "I'm going to take a shower."

Mu Ze followed Xie Yuan into the bedroom and leaned against the door, watching him look for clothes.

"Are you really going?"

Xie Yuan took out the clothes he intended to wear. "Can't I?"

Mu Ze's expression was gentle, but inside, he was screaming.

Not really. I don't want you to go.

What if you fall for someone else at a place like a bar?

Without waiting for Mu Ze's answer, Xie Yuan carried his clothes to the bathroom door. "If you're worried, you can come along."

Seeing the bathroom door about to close, Mu Ze hurriedly called, "Wait."

Xie Yuan poked half his head out of the bathroom. "Need something?"

"You do." Mu Ze strode to the bathroom door. "Your wound can't get wet. Can you manage on your own?"

Xie Yuan stared at the cut on his index finger and held it up. "I injured my finger. I didn't lose my hand. I can still take a shower."

"Or..."

Xie Yuan looked straight into Mu Ze's eyes. "Do you want to help me shower?"

Mu Ze's ears instantly turned scarlet. His voice was so quiet only he could hear it. "It's not like I couldn't."

"What did you say?" Xie Yuan frowned slightly.

Mu Ze's gaze wandered. "Nothing. I said, wait a moment. I'll find something to wrap your wound."

Mu Ze fled the bedroom in a fluster.

In the livestream.

[Mu Ze's lips moved just now. What do you think he said?]

[Hahahaha, he fled in panic.]

[Mu Ze is such a coward. Why didn't he just say yes? Then we could watch them bathe together.]

[There are no cameras in the bathroom. How would we watch? With our imaginations?]

[Exactly, with our imaginations. Imagination has always been the deadliest thing. Hehehe...]

[Whoa, that laugh is so sleazy. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?]

The comments started getting dirty again.

A little later, Mu Ze returned to the bedroom with plastic wrap.

Sitting on the bed, Xie Yuan looked at the roll of plastic wrap in Mu Ze's hand and raised his index finger. "Isn't that a bit excessive?"

The contrast between the plastic wrap and his index finger really was excessive.

Mu Ze gave nothing away as he walked over and sat beside Xie Yuan. "I'll just cut it down to size."

Two minutes later, Xie Yuan looked at his entirely wrapped hand and fell silent for a moment. "Anyone who didn't know would think my whole hand was out of commission."

"Don't talk nonsense," Mu Ze chided softly. "If I wrap too little, water could easily seep in."

"Put up with it so your wound can heal sooner."

"Fine." Xie Yuan stood up and held his hands apart. "Take off my clothes."

Mu Ze froze for a moment. When he understood what Xie Yuan meant, much of his face flushed red.

As his hands touched the clothes, he came to his senses and pushed Xie Yuan into the bathroom.

The livestream comments scrolled.

[You dog, Mu Ze. Why are you being so stingy?]

[Mu Ze, you stingy little miser.]

[It's just his upper body. He's not stripping naked. What are you being so stingy about?]

[Suddenly, I don't think Mu Ze is that suitable for Young Master Xie. He even has to control him taking off his clothes.]

[Why treat us like outsiders? We're all family. What's wrong with letting us see his abs?]

Pushed into the bathroom with a scorching palm against his back, Xie Yuan asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"