Wei Xuan saw it too. "Why's that kid running so fast?"
"Looking out for his junior, maybe?" Jiang Lele added with a half smile.
Xie Weishui's face turned green.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yang seemed to be in a good mood as he asked Chi Li, "Why weren't you watching me dance just now?"
Chi Li couldn't be bothered to spare him a glance. "Didn't have time."
"You just didn't want to watch, did you?" Zhou Yang crouched down, bringing his gaze level with Chi Li, who was sitting cross-legged. "Hmph."
Chi Li: "?"
He had no idea why this guy was getting so giddy out of nowhere.
"Was I supposed to want to watch?" he asked flatly.
"Exactly, so why didn't you want to?" Zhou Yang's tone was light, with a teasing edge.
Chi Li narrowed his eyes slightly, seeming to catch Zhou Yang's implication.
...Did this guy actually think he was jealous?
His narcissism really was unmatched.
"I don't like watching monkey shows," Chi Li said without any inflection.
"Tch..."
"Junior-"
Before Zhou Yang could get his teasing words out, another sudden call of "junior" cut him off.
He shuddered, slowly rising from his crouch, his expression turning slightly unnatural. "What is it, senior?"
He'd already gone along with the dance. Why did this guy have so many demands?
Just hearing "junior" was annoying.
"Practice some other dances with me."
"Sure." Zhou Yang forced a smile, still not daring to fall out with Xie Weishui. "What else do you want to dance, senior?"
The people in the dance studio split into two groups.
On one side were Xie Weishui, Zhou Yang, and Jiang Lele and Wei Xuan, who had been called over to join them.
Not only did they dance to a hugely popular boy group song together, they even catered to short-video users by learning several Douyin dances on the spot.
On the other side, Chi Li was teaching Shen Xunye the basics.
Shen Xunye's movements were a little stiff, his arms moving with an obvious sluggishness, like a rusty robot.
"Hold this position. Don't move." Chi Li held Shen Xunye's forearm in both hands and raised it a little.
Shen Xunye really had no talent for dancing, but he made up for it by being obedient, never arguing with or questioning his teacher.
"You need to learn to engage different areas." Chi Li placed his hand on Shen Xunye's shoulder again, giving it a squeeze while he was at it. "Here. You generally engage this when moving up and down."
"To move forward, you need to tighten the muscles at the front of your shoulder."
"..."
Chi Li rattled off all sorts of technical terms, his hand touching each corresponding area as he spoke.
At first, Shen Xunye could just about follow his explanations and engage the corresponding areas.
Later, he slacked off, thinking only about where Chi Li would touch him next.
His shoulders, his upper arms and forearms, even his chest had been touched...
So next-
"Tighten your core." Chi Li laid his hand over Shen Xunye's lower abdomen.
Shen Xunye didn't know where his core was. He only instinctively tightened his lower abdomen to make the muscles there more defined to the touch.
Chi Li's hand paused as he was about to pull it away, then openly slid along the grooves of his abs toward the side of his waist.
Perfect. Yesterday, he'd barely gotten a touch in before being punished, without even getting a proper taste...
If he openly copped a feel today, surely this guy couldn't do anything to him?
[Is this legitimate teaching? [blank stare]]
[Wifey! What are you doing-[wailing]]
[It's only human to want to touch Shen Xunye... even if you're Chi Li. [hands on hips, nodding]]
[I want wifey to touch me too...]
[Baby, don't feel Shen Xunye up until he gets hard...]
Without being touched anywhere crucial, Shen Xunye wasn't that easy to get hard.
But his mind was bound to wander.
"Teacher Chi... what does this mean?" Shen Xunye's voice was low and husky, as though steeped in desire.
"Checking your body." Chi Li's expression didn't change, his hand still lingering on his lower abdomen. "You have a great physique."
"Probably because I eat well."
Shen Xunye wasn't particular about food and would eat anything, so Shen Yu had arranged a dedicated nutritionist and a personal trainer for him to ensure he stayed healthy.
"Mm." Chi Li reluctantly withdrew his hand and returned to proper instruction. "When you sway your hips from side to side, you need to engage the glutes on the same side. Give it a try."
With a tense expression, Shen Xunye lifted each side in turn.
His movements were so stiff that Chi Li could almost hear creaking.
At that moment, he finally confirmed that Shen Xunye really didn't have the slightest talent for dance.
"Give up." Chi Li had never been patient. "By the time I teach you, I'll probably have one foot in the grave."
Shen Xunye stressed, "I want to learn."
Chi Li didn't indulge him at all. "Forget the basics. I'll teach you that dance later."
He couldn't very well reject Shen Xunye's kind offer to sell their ship.
"All right, then." Shen Xunye sounded a little regretful. "You haven't even touched my lower half yet."
"Cough, cough, cough-" Chi Li nearly choked on his own saliva.
How could this guy say something so outrageous so casually?
[Shen Xunye's disappointment is written all over his face.]
[Touch mine too.]
[You may be handsome, but I still have to say it. You came on this show just to pick people up, didn't you? [smile]]
[That's no hint. I'll eat it right up.]
[What are you looking forward to?!]
[It's only human to want my wifey to touch you too...]
[No dirty talk here.]
Shen Xunye reined in his ill-intentioned smile and raised a leg, feigning confusion. "Maybe I'm a genius at using my legs?"
"You certainly are a genius, but at choosing your words." Chi Li caught his breath.
"Really? I lived abroad for a while." Shen Xunye spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face. "I might not be very proficient in Chinese."
The corner of Chi Li's mouth twitched, and he declined to comment on that claim.
That might fool the audience, but it wasn't nearly enough to fool him.
Shen Xunye glanced over at the other side, where the others were still enthusiastically filming Douyin dances.
"If you're done teaching me, what are you going to do?" Shen Xunye gestured toward them with his eyes. "Join them?"
"It's too crowded over there." Chi Li stretched. "I'll go outside and play with Chestnut instead."
With that, he headed for the door first.
Shen Xunye hurried after him. "Who's Chestnut?"
Chi Li drawled, "A little dog."
"Do you like playing with dogs that much?" Shen Xunye asked pointedly.
Chi Li chuckled. "Different dogs offer different kinds of fun."
[Woof, woof, woof! Wifey, play with me!]
[Are we signing up to be played with now? [expectant] I'll get in line first.]
[After all these years, I never thought I'd see the day I'd envy a dog...]
[I'm wifey's simp. [drooling]]
While Chi Li and Shen Xunye were walking Chestnut around the yard, they discovered several plots of land that had been tilled but now lay abandoned.
Only after searching on a phone did they discover that a member had grown vegetables here two years ago.
"Keeping dogs, growing vegetables..." Chi Li crouched down, pulled a weed from the soil, and toyed with it in his hand. "Were they settling down here?"