Xie Weishui had real skills, too.
In fact, aside from someone like Shen Xunye, whose face and figure were beyond reproach, everyone who made it into the Raising House had solid skills.
After all, their ultimate goal in entering the Raising House was to debut.
In most cases, it would have to be a solo debut, too.
Without some real ability to back them up, even if they reached the "spending threshold" in the Raising House, their popularity would quickly plummet afterward, leaving them a nobody.
But the Raising House guaranteed ability, not character.
"Phew... I'm done singing." Xie Weishui panted lightly. "That also means our 'welcome ceremony' is over. So, on behalf of all the existing members, let me once again formally welcome you to the house. Let's get along in the days ahead, Chi Li, Shen Xunye."
"Of course." Chi Li's smile was utterly harmless. "I look forward to learning from you."
With the welcome ceremony over, Gao Yuan took Chi Li upstairs to his room, while the others scattered and divided up the work of preparing dinner.
This was another Raising House tradition-on the night a newcomer moved in, all the members had to share a meal.
They could cook for themselves or eat out, but going out required advance notice.
"What do you think of Chi Li?" Jiang Lele, who was in charge of chopping the fruit and vegetables, asked Wei Xuan, who was washing them beside him.
"Nasty personality. Not someone who's easy to get along with." Wei Xuan curled his lip.
"Then have you ever wondered why he's so hostile toward us?"
"How would I know?" Wei Xuan thought Jiang Lele's question was downright bizarre. "We're the victims here. Are we supposed to make excuses for him, too?"
Jiang Lele gave him a speechless look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wei Xuan bristled immediately. "Are you going to start dissing me, too?"
"No." Jiang Lele kept chopping distractedly. "I'm just curious."
"What's there to be curious about? Use your brain. He's only doing this for attention!"
Jiang Lele: "..."
Wasn't that face enough to attract attention already?
"All he knows is how to pull underhanded stunts. He's probably got nothing going for him besides his face." Wei Xuan's tone was sour.
Mindful of the cameras, he left out how he had sneaked a look at Chi Li's solo livestream channel in the bathroom earlier, only to find its viewer count was higher than his and Jiang Lele's combined.
...Seriously, what had he done to deserve that?
"All right." Jiang Lele accepted that explanation and changed the subject. "Why aren't you squeezing into the kitchen anymore?"
Instead of answering, Wei Xuan asked, "Aren't you doing the same thing?"
Jiang Lele choked. "...I suddenly got tired."
If his solo channel's subscriptions weren't doing so poorly, who would want to squeeze in with that many people to leech traffic off the main livestream?
"I... I'm tired, too." Wei Xuan copied Jiang Lele's answer outright.
In truth, he had been planning to squeeze in.
But the moment he eagerly handed Xie Weishui an apron, Chi Li's remark had involuntarily echoed through his mind: "A simp ends up with nothing."
...Looking at it that way, he really did seem like a simp.
He had deflated at once and simply come out to slack off with Jiang Lele at the beverage counter.
"Sigh..." Jiang Lele sighed.
"Sigh..." Wei Xuan joined him.
An hour and a half later, the eight of them sat down in the dining room.
"All right~ Let's clink glasses before we eat~" Xie Weishui was still the one directing things.
"Cheers-"
"Cheers!"
After a sip, dinner officially began.
"Fang Jin and I made the dishes." Xie Weishui smiled. "We didn't ask what you liked, but we made our specialties, so the taste should be pretty reliable."
The Jinshui CP had first broken out of its niche because the two of them often cooked for each other.
"Then why didn't you ask?" Chi Li picked up a small cube of beef and spoke as casually as if they were making small talk. "No mouths, or no legs?"
[Exactly, why didn't you ask?]
[The ingredients were already bought in advance. How were they supposed to ask?! Has Chi Li made you all start nitpicking, too?]
[There are still plenty of ways to cook them. What's wrong with asking?]
[Exactly. At least ask if there's anything they can't eat.]
[Seems thoughtful, but it's actually disregard... How did I never pick up on this before?]
Xie Weishui's face contorted for a moment before quickly returning to normal. "That was inconsiderate of me."
"It's fine." Chi Li accepted the apology without the slightest qualm. "As long as there's food, I'm not picky."
"..." Xie Weishui really wanted to punch him.
Fang Jin said, "Then eat more."
"This is delicious!" Zhou Yang made an exaggerated face. "Senior, your cooking just keeps getting better."
Fang Jin glanced at him. "I made the dish you just ate."
Zhou Yang: "..."
Nothing gets past you, does it.
Zhou Yang put on a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "...Senior Fang, your cooking just keeps getting better."
Fang Jin said, "Mm."
Meanwhile, Shen Xunye began his main quest-making small talk with Chi Li.
"Can you cook?"
Chi Li said, "I can eat."
"What a coincidence. I can eat, too." There was a slightly exaggerated note of pleasant surprise in Shen Xunye's voice. "What kind of food do you like?"
"I like spicy food, but I can't eat it often because I need to protect my voice... What about you?"
"I'm pretty indifferent to all of it." Shen Xunye wasn't someone with much appetite for good food; it held no appeal for him. "As long as eating it won't kill me."
"You're that easy to feed?" Chi Li bit his chopsticks as he pondered. "...Would you eat pig feed?"
Shen Xunye shook his head earnestly. "However easy I am to feed, you can't raise me like a pig."
Chi Li lowered his head. "Sorry."
"Are you apologizing to me or the pigs?" Shen Xunye asked.
"Uh, I'm very sorry to both."
Shen Xunye said, "It's fine. I know you're mean."
Chi Li said, "You know too much."
Shen Xunye said, "Then what now? Are you going to assassinate me?"
"It's fine. Just pretend you don't know." Chi Li gave him a smile. "Assassination isn't very cost-effective."
Gao Yuan, who had listened to the entire exchange from across the table, said, "...You know your conversation is really weird, right?"
"I thought it was fine." Shen Xunye was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Talk about something I can join in on." Gao Yuan wanted to get to know the two of them as soon as possible, so he took the initiative to start a topic. "Chi Li, what's your position?"
"I'm decent at everything, but dancing is my strongest suit." Chi Li smoothly slipped out of his weird mode.
"That's nice. I dance like a rusty robot." Gao Yuan casually demonstrated a few moves. "But if we got to debut as a group, I'm guessing you wouldn't get the dancer position?"
Chi Li pulled out a tissue and pressed it to the corner of his mouth, wiping slowly. "Why?"
Gao Yuan smiled brightly. "Because you'd have to be the visual."
The visual was usually the prettiest member of a group.
[It's been ages since I've seen Gao Yuan smile this happily.]
[Fuck, I'd be this happy too if I had two hot guys sitting across from me at dinner.]
[Just shipping visual × little rapper a tiny bit.]
Chi Li raised an eyebrow as he looked over, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from lifting. "Gao Yuan, you really know how to give a classy compliment."