"...Right." Xie Weishui almost failed to keep the smile on his face. "Deep down, he's still kind."
...What was Zhou Yang playing at?
Wasn't he supposed to get furious and argue? Why was he agreeing with his polite platitudes instead?
Did being called a dog actually feel good to him?
"He's not kind at all." Perhaps sensing Xie Weishui's resentment, Zhou Yang finally began to argue. "Yesterday, he nearly..."
"Nearly what?" Xie Weishui pricked up his ears.
Yesterday, Zhou Yang had volunteered to invite Chi Li to the "meeting," but had failed to bring him back.
It didn't take a brain to figure out that the two of them must have clashed.
Seeing his sour expression, Xie Weishui had been considerate enough not to ask exactly what had happened.
If he could get him to describe their clash in front of the audience now, perhaps...
"Nearly...#￥%@" Zhou Yang mumbled something even he couldn't make out.
Xie Weishui asked again, "What?"
"Senior...don't ask." A trace of bashfulness actually appeared on Zhou Yang's face. "I'll tell you later."
Xie Weishui didn't know he had dated Chi Li. For the time being-at least until he got back together with Chi Li-he wasn't going to tell anyone about it.
So something like "murdering your own husband"...was something he could only say to Chi Li himself.
"Oh." Xie Weishui was too disgruntled to muster any more pretty words.
It was one thing for insignificant supporting characters like Wei Xuan and Jiang Lele to hang around Chi Li, but why did Fang Jin and Xie Weishui also react in unexpected ways when they encountered him?
...Something was seriously wrong.
Zhou Yang didn't mind Xie Weishui's sudden coldness. He watched the person in the center of the room intently.
"What are you going to dance to?"
Jiang Lele opened his music app, found a playlist where he had saved plenty of dance tracks, and showed it to Chi Li, who had finished warming up.
"Which ones can you do?" Chi Li gave it a quick scan.
He had learned the choreography for several of those songs.
"Me?" Realizing Chi Li might want to dance with him, Jiang Lele immediately began backing out. "I'm actually not that good..."
He knew his own level. If he shared the frame with Chi Li, he would only serve as a foil.
He didn't want that.
At least, he didn't want to be the only foil.
"I have a suggestion." Wei Xuan raised his eyebrows slightly and leaned in between them. "Didn't you say yesterday that you'd done girl group dances in women's clothes? How about doing a girl group dance now?"
Shen Xunye was the first to respond. "I'll order you women's clothes right now."
Chi Li: "..."
He refused, his expression stiff. "No, thanks."
Wei Xuan pressed his palms together and pouted pitifully. "Please."
Jiang Lele gave him a strange look. "...There's something wrong with you."
Didn't this guy like Xie Weishui? Why was he so determined to make Chi Li do a girl group dance?
"I'll be honest." Wei Xuan gave him an ingratiating smile. "The viewers in my livestream said...if I could get you to do a girl group dance, they'd bring me at least five hundred channel members."
Jiang Lele resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "...So you're bowing down to money."
Chi Li found it amusing. "Aren't you afraid they're lying?"
"Probably not. I believe the viewers of our show are all kind people." Wei Xuan turned it right back on the audience. "If they really do trick me...I'll accept it. At least I'll have given the audience a laugh."
"All you're contributing is talk?" Jiang Lele shot him a contemptuous look. "Aren't you going to split the profits?"
"Yes! Of course I will..." Wei Xuan looked pained. "Thirty percent for me, seventy for Chi Li!"
After all, whether he could earn this money depended on Chi Li.
Getting thirty percent would be a pretty good figure, too.
"No need to split it. It's just to give the audience a laugh." Chi Li took Jiang Lele's phone and began searching for songs by a hugely popular girl group. "But let me make this clear first. I don't know many girl group dances, I'm not wearing women's clothes, and I'm only doing one song."
Wei Xuan quickly glanced at his phone. "They said it's fine as long as you're willing to dance."
Zhou Yang spoke sourly. "You sound like a eunuch relaying messages."
Wei Xuan's face twitched slightly. "...Don't make me slap you while I'm happy."
"Audiences really have peculiar tastes these days." Chi Li was willing to dance, but he still didn't quite understand where their enthusiasm for girl group dances came from.
He picked a song and handed the phone back to Jiang Lele. "This one."
Jiang Lele connected the phone to the speaker and waited for Chi Li to get into position.
Ten seconds later, the intro began.
Shen Xunye circled the dance studio, found an excellent viewing angle, and raised his phone to record.
The song was one of a veteran girl group's most iconic tracks.
Unlike the "energetic" style currently in vogue, their dances were known for being "sexy."
Chi Li stood sideways to the mirror. As he extended his arms, his T-shirt rode up, revealing a stretch of lean waist.
His hips swayed gently, every movement carrying just the right amount of force.
It was seductive without being vulgar.
Even more eye-catching was his control over his expressions.
His body was clearly sending signals of "invitation," yet his gaze was clear and challenging, as though asking, "How long do you dare to look?"
[Why hasn't it grown out yet? I'm seriously getting impatient. [pulls it open to inspect]]
[Everyone keep your underwear dry!]
[[fire][fire][fire][fire][fire]]
[Wifey, you're so hot...]
[Excuse me, which frame isn't an invitation to me? [takes off pants]]
[Slim shoulders, a slender waist, straight legs, a full ass, tempting red lips...a queen's gaze looking at a dog...sorry, I've ascended.]
[Am I the only one watching everyone else's expressions? 0.0]
[Shen Xunye looks like he wants to carry him back to his room and rail him.]
[Zhou Yang looks like he's about to drool.]
[Xie Weishui and Jiang Lele must have a lot on their minds. They look a little distracted.]
[All Wei Xuan has in his eyes is the frenzy of making another fifty...]
The song ended.
Chi Li panted with his mouth slightly open, his lips moist and red.
A thin sheen of sweat covered his face, giving his skin the luster of warm jade.
Zhou Yang couldn't wait to be the first to approach him. "How come I've never seen you dance to this before?"
Chi Li casually swept aside his stray hair, his tone still impatient. "There's plenty you haven't seen."
"All right." Zhou Yang wasn't annoyed. Instead, his voice was affectionate. "Seeing it later works just as well."
A smile of anticipation appeared on Jiang Lele's face as he looked toward Xie Weishui. "Weishui, weren't you going to practice dancing with Zhou Yang? Which song are you doing? I'll play it for you."
Xie Weishui gave him a fleeting glance and walked toward the center of the room.
"Junior." He patted Zhou Yang's shoulder, his tone as gentle as ever. "You haven't forgotten what I told you, have you?"
"Uh, no!" Zhou Yang immediately responded.
He was really done for...
He didn't know why, either, but whenever Chi Li was around, he always unconsciously overlooked Xie Weishui.
"Then let's go warm up over there first." Xie Weishui caught Zhou Yang's sleeve and led him away from Chi Li.