The third and fourth "eyebrows" had to be drawn symmetrically above Ji Hanchuan's lips.
Ji Hanchuan's face was so handsome that Shi Wei thought he absolutely had to add a sexy tear mole once he finished drawing the "eyebrows." The bigger, the better.
Just as the marker tip was about to touch Ji Hanchuan's skin, Ji Hanchuan opened his eyes, as though sensing danger approaching.
Shi Wei: ...Fuck!
Ji Hanchuan's gaze shifted from the marker to his face, a trace of anger in his eyes. "Trying to set me up?"
"No." Shi Wei's voice was barely a whisper. "Just touching up your makeup, Teacher Ji."
Ji Hanchuan took the marker straight out of his hand and turned the tip toward his face.
"You look so pale it's a little ugly. How about I touch up your makeup?"
Shi Wei panicked. "It's the streetlight outside reflecting on me. Reflecting."
He didn't dare speak loudly, and his explanation sounded utterly unconvincing.
Ji Hanchuan pinned his hand down and warned in a low voice, "Don't wake the others."
Shi Wei: ...
In the dim light, Ji Hanchuan drew several precise strokes on his cheek.
Shi Wei lost all will to live.
Tomorrow's trending topics had changed: #ShiWeiDisfigured, #ShiWeisUnknownHobbies...
Ji Hanchuan tossed the marker aside. "Go to sleep."
Who could sleep now?!
Shi Wei decided to glare at Ji Hanchuan. If I can't sleep, neither can you.
Ji Hanchuan looked at him. "Want more?"
Shi Wei immediately turned over. Countless ways to torment Ji Hanchuan ran through his mind, and as he thought about them, he fell asleep again.
The next day, he was the last to wake up and watched the others get dressed through narrowed eyes.
Zhuo Xiao tugged at him. "Come on, get up."
"Mm-hmm." Shi Wei stood up and raked his fingers through his hair twice.
"Huh? Shi Wei, what happened to your face?" Zhang Shuyi suddenly asked, looking at his face.
Shi Wei felt it. "Did I get even more handsome today?"
"No." Zhuo Xiao pointed at his cheek. "Why is there a butt on your cheek?"
"What the hell?!"
Shi Wei immediately looked at Ji Hanchuan, who was sitting in a chair.
What a devious man!
"Brother Xiao, did you see it wrong?" Zhang Shuyi studied Shi Wei's face in all seriousness. "That's a peach."
Shi Wei glanced at Zhuo Xiao. Zhuo Xiao took a few more looks and gave an awkward laugh. "It really does look like a peach. Why did you draw a peach on your face? Reliving the alt-fashion days from ten years ago?"
"I'm gonna bring both my clans and beat you to death!" Shi Wei raised both fists and chased after him to pummel him.
After getting ready, everyone went downstairs for breakfast.
Xu Xirui's manager suddenly gave him a meaningful look, so Xu Xirui made an excuse to use the restroom.
No one would follow him with that excuse. Xu Xirui asked what was going on.
His manager was troubled. "You didn't make much of an impact yesterday. Everyone's either discussing the Moonlight CP or Shi Wei and Ji Hanchuan. There's too little discussion about you."
Xu Xirui pursed his lips. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Stir something up! If nobody talks about you, wasn't coming on this variety show a waste? You're on the same variety show as Ji Hanchuan," his manager said. "Besides, aren't you good at this? That time you fell into the pond won you a huge wave of goodwill."
"Wasn't Shi Wei the one who benefited from that? Not only did he clear his name, he even got cast in Zhang Zixiang's production."
"Aren't you and Ji Hanchuan childhood friends? You filmed together for so long, so why haven't I ever seen him repost any of your ads?"
Xu Xirui clenched his fists. "Are you done?"
After Ji Hanchuan called what he did a "clumsy imitation," he had never found another way to get close to him.
His manager sneered and said quietly, "Why not make sure he can never get cast in anything again?"
Recently, Ma Xianbei had been showing faint signs of making a comeback at the company. If someone like that got above him, he would rather die.
"Got it," Xu Xirui answered coldly.
When he returned to the restaurant, he wore a sweet, obedient smile and said brightly to everyone, "Has everyone finished eating? Let's head out. Taking the subway at this hour will save us money."
"Young people really know so much." Hu Huihui was very pleased, then poked Xiong Wen. "You should learn more from him."
Xiong Wen playfully pouted at her.
Their first check-in destination was a music museum, where the exhibition hall had a piano anyone could play.
Seeing someone playing the piano, Chen Yutong looked nostalgic. "Ah, I haven't touched one of these in years. I'm sure I've forgotten how to play."
Shi Wei, however, saw the eagerness on her face.
Because of what had happened yesterday, Shi Wei felt that Sister Yutong didn't seem quite as straightforward as he had imagined.
If you want to play the piano and show off, just do it. Why bother with all this setup, right?
Sure enough, everyone urged her to give it a try.
"Ah, you just want to see me embarrass myself." Chen Yutong sat down, her ten fingers flying over the keys.
Shi Wei couldn't help yawning.
"Didn't get enough sleep?"
Zhuo Xiao suddenly leaned over to talk to him.
Shi Wei shook his head. "Sister Yutong's playing is just so beautiful that it relaxed my whole body. Even the foul air inside me couldn't help escaping."
Zhuo Xiao: ...
"I have something to tell you."
"Hm?"
Zhuo Xiao lowered his voice. "Shi Wei, did you and Teacher Ji... do something last night?!"
"No." Shi Wei shook his head guiltily. "Teacher Ji and I both slept very peacefully... very quietly!"
"I heard everything. You said something about being 'hard,' and 'don't wake the others,' and 'want more,' or something."
Shi Wei: ...
Ji Hanchuan had indeed said, "Don't wake the others."
But what he himself had said was "reflecting," not "hard"!
Fuck!
So I was the real sucker all along!
Shi Wei flushed with embarrassment.
A faint trace of the washed-off peach still lingered on his face, making it look like a real peach, pink and dewy.
Zhuo Xiao's heart stirred, but resentment immediately took over again. "You and Teacher Ji..."
"Nothing happened." Shi Wei explained last night's events to Zhuo Xiao.
"Why would you prank Teacher Ji?"
Was life not precious? Was life not beautiful? Why did you insist on drawing "eyebrows" on Ji Hanchuan's face?
Shi Wei answered as though it were only natural. "Because it's fun."
Zhuo Xiao: ...
Zhuo Xiao sighed. "Good thing I was the only one who heard."
"Heard what?"
Shi Wei and Zhuo Xiao turned their heads at the same time. "Teacher Ji?!"
The melodious piano music continued.
Chen Yutong looked up and smiled at the camera, searching for Ji Hanchuan out of the corner of her eye.
If they could capture her exchanging a look with Ji Hanchuan now, it would be just like in Skylark Moonlight...
Hm?
Where was he?!
That tall figure was walking toward Shi Wei, then started chatting with him without looking at her at all.
Clang!
Chen Yutong's fingers slammed down on the keys, and the piano let out an ugly noise.
Everyone was startled. Even the foreigners present frowned.
Chen Yutong's smile stiffened. "Sorry, I played the wrong notes."
Could you hit the wrong notes with all ten fingers at once?
"Let's not get in anyone else's way." Chen Yutong stood up and pulled Ji Hanchuan away. "I've been to this museum before. Hanchuan, there's something over there that'll definitely be a lovely surprise for you."