Li Yi? What are you doing here!

Qiao Qianqian blinked adorably. "Thank you, then, handsome."

"I'll have a serving too. Little bro, I'll come get it with you." Like an older brother, Cheng Qing walked beside Li Yi and chatted with him. "Little bro, you look like you only just graduated, right?"

"Yeah, I just took the Gaokao this year."

"At this point, you should have just submitted your university choices, right?" He leaned closer and asked quietly, "Is it okay to ask about that?"

"Sure."

"Which university did you apply to, then? I'm pretty curious too."

"Beiqing University."

"Bei... Beiqing University?"

"Yeah." Li Yi picked up a shumai with the tongs and asked, "Cheng Qing, want some shumai?"

"Yes!" Cheng Qing seemed to snap out of it and immediately laughed. "This is shumai served to me by a Beiqing academic ace! Will eating it make me smarter?"

"What makes you smarter if you eat it?" Hearing them, Qiao Qianqian turned around and called over, "I want some too!"

"Shumai served by a Beiqing academic ace! Eating it makes you smarter," Cheng Qing called out loudly.

"Wow!!! That's amazing!" Qiao Qianqian looked admiring. "I never thought I'd get to film a variety show with a Beiqing academic ace."

"Li Yi, you're like a heifer in Class Three-not your average class of awesome!" Su Xia had a fried dumpling between his lips as he gave him a thumbs-up.

"Who compliments someone like that?" Qiao Qianqian couldn't stop laughing. Seeing Li Yi and Cheng Qing returning with plates, she quickly stood up to take hers. "Thank you, Li Yi."

"You're welcome. I didn't know what you liked, so I just picked out a few things."

"That's fine. I'm a big eater. I can finish it all~"

Li Yi smiled, returned to his seat, and continued eating breakfast.

[Holy crap! This guy's seriously impressive. Being handsome wasn't enough-he had to be a top student too! I'm so jealous I want to randomly pick a few lucky viewers and bite them to death.]

[The person above has a raging case of green-eyed envy. Quick, drag them out and poke their eyes out.]

[Does nobody suspect this is staged? Saying he applied to Beiqing doesn't mean he's been accepted.]

[Another rich family's young master trying to get famous through a variety show.]

[Some people are so stupid. They know how to post comments but not how to look things up online. Li Yi ranked third in Beicheng's Gaokao with 706 points. That's his raw score, too. The two ahead of him had bonus points. With those grades, his phone's probably been ringing off the hook these past few days.]

[Is 706 that impressive? My Sesame Credit score is 760. Why isn't anyone calling me?]

[I love a fun soul like the person above. Sent you a friend request. Please reject it.]

"Xingluo, hurry. Everyone else is here. We're the only ones missing." Her assistant hurriedly opened the door for Lu Xingluo to get out.

"Seriously, doesn't the livestream start at nine? Why is everyone here so early?" Lu Xingluo grumbled inside the car, then immediately changed her expression after getting out, putting on a sweet smile.

"Sorry I'm late." She searched for quite a while before finding the others in the cafeteria, only to see the four of them sitting together, chatting and enjoying a leisurely breakfast.

It nearly infuriated her to death.

Had she known, she would have come along for breakfast too and gotten more time on the livestream!

"Xingluo, come sit here." Qiao Qianqian waved her over. "Have you had breakfast? If not, shall I get you something?"

Lu Xingluo smiled and waved a hand. "I had some bread on the way, so I'm a little full. I'll just sit and chat with you for a while."

Only when she went over and sat beside Qiao Qianqian did she notice Li Yi sitting opposite her. She immediately exclaimed, "Li Yi? What are you doing here!"

"Why can't I be here?" Li Yi took a bite of his spring pancake, glanced at Lu Xingluo, then lowered his head and continued eating.

"You two know each other?" Su Xia looked from one to the other and asked the question everyone present wanted to ask.

"No."

"Yes."

They spoke in unison.

"Uh... so do you know each other or not?" Qiao Qianqian asked.

"I think it'd be best to act like we don't." Li Yi finished the breakfast on his plate and wiped his mouth with a tissue before continuing, "What do you think, Miss Lu?"

Lu Xingluo had never imagined that Li Yi could actually get on a variety show-and say on the show that he didn't know her!

This was live!

If he exposed what she'd done at home, she could forget about ever clearing her name!

For now, the best option was to do as Li Yi said and pretend they didn't know each other!

"We know each other, but not very well. I was just so surprised when I first saw him." Lu Xingluo immediately changed her answer.

"Oh~" Su Xia stuffed the last half of his chive pocket into his mouth and said indistinctly, "From your expression just now, I thought you had a grudge against Li Yi."

"Of course not. I'm very friendly." Lu Xingluo gave an awkward smile.

"Chives leave a smell. Want some mouthwash?" Li Yi suddenly turned to ask Su Xia.

"Does my breath smell already?" Su Xia opened his mouth and breathed into his palm, then shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Give me mouthwash."

"Me too. Chive pockets are delicious, but they leave such a strong smell afterward," Qiao Qianqian said.

"I'll have one too. The shumai stuck to my teeth," Cheng Qing said.

"Follow me." Li Yi stood and led them to the rinsing area.

The seats emptied, leaving Lu Xingluo sitting awkwardly alone, furiously tugging at her skirt, nearly seething to death.

[There's gossip here, there's gossip! I feel like Lu Xingluo and Li Yi definitely aren't just acquaintances.]

[This is hilarious. Did Lu Xingluo come on this show to clean up her image? She got famous through charity work before. Is she planning to use the same old routine again?]

[Taking our Luo Luo away from this. People like you and your prejudices are exactly why charity work is so difficult these days!]

[Whether she genuinely wants to do charity work or has other intentions, you can decide for yourselves. Some Nation's Daughter-with all that dirt on her, even her big-name fans have jumped ship.]

[My grandparents used to really like her, but they haven't mentioned her at all lately. I don't know why.]

The nursing home paid close attention to the residents' oral health. As people aged, the gaps between their teeth widened, making it easy for food particles to get stuck after meals. Over time, their teeth could become inflamed.

So single-use mouthwash was provided beside the sinks for elderly residents who had difficulty brushing their teeth.

Li Yi handed each of them one. "One little cup at a time. Keep it in your mouth for a few seconds, then spit it out."

Su Xia took the mouthwash and asked, "Little bro, do you know this nursing home well?"

Li Yi gave a calm hum of assent. "Yeah, I grew up in the orphanage across the street. I used to come here to play a lot as a kid."

"You're... an orphan?" A little embarrassed, Su Xia touched his hair and apologized. "Sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay." Li Yi smiled. "I suppose this counts as coming home now."

"That's pretty nice." Su Xia chuckled. "It's good to be home. There's no place like it."

"Yeah."