[Apple, I order you to charge into their cabin right now!]
Song Tiantian asked cautiously, "...May I ask why?"
Shen Xingcan said, "If you barge in early, you'll get to see a live version of Xie Linchuan and me brawling."
Song Tiantian said, "...Hahaha, so that's what it was."
She felt relieved, but also a little disappointed.
Shen Xingcan grinned wickedly. "So that's what it was? What did you think we were doing, Tiantian?"
Song Tiantian said, "..."
I thought you were going at it so hard you'd forgotten what world you were in. Ahem.
Song Tiantian kept her expression natural. "But whatever it was, I don't think you two could possibly get into a brawl. Yifeng told me you'd already made up."
Shen Xingcan said gravely, "That was last night. We had indeed made up last night, but this morning, we became mortal enemies again."
Song Tiantian went blank. "Huh?"
Was that something you could switch back and forth at will?
Shen Xingcan poured out his grievances. "Xie Linchuan deliberately wouldn't let me sleep in. He threw a really cold towel at me and pinched the back of my neck with his freezing hands."
It could be said that he was extremely wicked.
Xie Linchuan glanced at the crown of black hair in front of him. "Be reasonable, Shen Xingcan. You were the one who asked me to wake you half an hour early."
Shen Xingcan retorted, "But you could clearly have woken me more gently!"
Xie Linchuan said coldly, "Well, I'm terribly sorry. I haven't figured out how to gently wake a little pig."
[Wake a little pig. Aaaah, I can't take it! That sounds so doting.]
[Piggy Shen? Hehehe.]
[Feeding us dog food first thing in the morning? You two really are something.]
[So sweet. I'm getting a little sugar dizzy.]
As he finished speaking, Xie Linchuan tied a pretty bow at the end of Shen Xingcan's hair.
Realizing his hair was done, Shen Xingcan quickly stood and glared at Xie Linchuan. "I'm not the one who made you stay awake all night! What gives you the right to call me a little pig? Xie Linchuan, this is blatant jealousy!"
Xie Linchuan said, "...Jealous of what? Of you being a little pig?"
Shen Xingcan declared righteously, "Of how well I slept, obviously. You're the little pig."
Song Tiantian looked at Xie Linchuan, then at Shen Xingcan. For a moment, she wondered if she had misheard last night. Wasn't Xingcan the one with insomnia?
As though he had noticed her confusion, Shen Xingcan said, "Xie Linchuan can't take much. I said a few things to him last night, and he ended up like this."
Song Tiantian said, "...Could you share a little of what you said?"
Shen Xingcan said, "Of course. I told him he was the reason I needed sleeping pills to fall asleep. He felt so bad for me that he couldn't sleep. As for me, seeing him feel bad for me was like taking an entire bottle of sleeping pills, so I slept especially well last night."
Song Tiantian said, "...I see."
Shen Xingcan instructed the director behind the equipment, "Make sure this part goes into the versions aired on all the satellite channels. Otherwise, people won't know how earth-shakingly moving yet fraught with love and hatred the brotherhood between Xie Linchuan and me is."
The director said, "Got it."
Xie Linchuan said, "..."
Just as Shen Xingcan had said, Xie Linchuan certainly hadn't lost sleep over something like being a straight man whose good buddy secretly loved him.
Unable to control his feelings, Xie Linchuan had chosen to distance himself from Shen Xingcan, yet forgotten to consider how the Shen Xingcan left behind would feel.
When he learned that Shen Xingcan had been plagued by nightmares because of him, the word "regret" was no longer enough to describe how Xie Linchuan felt. If Shen Xingcan didn't like him, then so be it. Why had he insisted on distancing himself?
And so Xie Linchuan watched Shen Xingcan all night. He feared Shen Xingcan would wake from another nightmare, but Shen Xingcan slept especially well that night, as though dreaming of something good. Even his lips held a faint smile the whole time.
Just as Shen Xingcan had said, he was by his side, and he had realized he could change everything, so those nightmares had all vanished without a trace.
If not for the bottle containing only four sleeping pills in Xie Linchuan's hand, there would not even have been a trace of evidence that the other man had once needed sleeping pills to fall asleep.
Xie Linchuan knew very well that, from last night onward, no matter what Shen Xingcan wanted, he could not and would not break free of these shackles called Shen Xingcan again. Anything was fine with him, as long as Shen Xingcan stayed happy.
[Xingcan needs sleeping pills to fall asleep because of Teacher Xie?]
[Xingcan is probably teasing Best Actor Xie. He's so full of energy that he really doesn't look like someone who needs sleeping pills to fall asleep.]
[I actually think it's true, because there was something very different about the way Xie Linchuan looked at Shen Xingcan just now... He was clearly hurting for him.]
[If you really want to know, just ask under Apple's Weibo posts.]
[It's easy to understand why Xingcan would end up like this. Don't forget, these two very likely grew up together. All those years together were real. How could falling out not leave them sad and hurt at all?]
This time, the production team had not prepared a cruise ship for the guests, but a cargo boat specifically used to transport mangoes.
Space on the cargo boat was limited, and there were not enough seats, so everyone had to sit with the mangoes.
The sea was cold in the early morning to begin with, and the cargo boat was moving fairly fast. Only a few minutes after it set off, Shen Xingcan sneezed uncontrollably.
Jiang Yifeng muttered to his captain, "It's way too cold. We should've worn jackets too. Our youngest was smart enough to bring a jack-"
His voice stopped abruptly, because he saw that the jacket their youngest had been holding was already draped over their captain.
Jiang Yifeng was stunned. "...Our youngest brought that jacket for Captain?"
Shen Xingcan glanced at Jiang Yifeng. "Got a problem with that?"
Jiang Yifeng said aggrievedly, "...No. I just feel like a bit of a clown, because I only just realized I'm the only one who needed to bring a jacket."
Their captain clearly did not need to, because someone would bring one for him.
[Jiang Yifeng: turns out I was the clown all along.]
[Xie Linchuan really is beautiful and kind. He even brought a jacket for his former colleague.]
The jacket around him carried a deep, cool woody scent, much like the impression Xie Linchuan gave.
Shen Xingcan was nearly ten centimeters shorter than Xie Linchuan. Coupled with the difference in their builds, Xie Linchuan's jacket looked excessively large on Shen Xingcan, like a child who had secretly put on an adult's clothes.
Shen Xingcan looked down at the oversized jacket, then turned to the man beside him with an exaggerated air. "Xie Linchuan, why did you bring a jacket for your mortal enemy?"
Xie Linchuan's expression was indifferent. "Because I don't want to catch a cold from Shen Xingcan."
Shen Xingcan looked at Xie Linchuan seriously. "...Xie Linchuan, that expression of yours is a little hateful."
Xie Linchuan said, "Telling the truth makes me hateful? What do you want to hear, then? That I specifically brought you a jacket because I care about you?"
Shen Xingcan said, "But that's the truth!"
Xie Linchuan suddenly smiled. "Then you really are a little too thick-skinned. Don't forget, we're mortal enemies. How could I be that kind?"
Shen Xingcan was annoyed. He tossed the jacket straight onto Xie Linchuan's head. "I'm not wearing it!"
Jiang Yifeng eyed the jacket covetously. He badly wanted to ask whether he could have it if nobody needed it, but his animal instincts made him swallow those words.
Xie Linchuan reached up and wrapped the jacket that had landed on his head around Shen Xingcan. Then, when Shen Xingcan tried to throw it off again, he tied the sleeves into a tight knot behind Shen Xingcan's back.
Shen Xingcan was just about to struggle when someone caught his wrist. "No throwing it off again."
"Then say you brought this jacket especially for me."
Xie Linchuan's tone barely varied. "Mm. I brought it for you."
Though he had received a satisfactory answer, Shen Xingcan still felt a little stifled. "...That sounds a little perfunctory. I don't like it. Say it in a different tone."
Xie Linchuan said, "...Shen Xingcan, you should just stop wearing the jacket."
As he spoke, Xie Linchuan made to reach out.
Shen Xingcan clutched the jacket and scolded loudly, "Once it's on me, it's my jacket! You no longer have the right to take it away!"
[Hahahaha, I can't take it. This married couple is going to make me die laughing.]
["That sounds a little perfunctory. I don't like it." Best Actor Xie, your wife is so cute.]
[How long are Shen Xingcan and Xie Linchuan going to cling to this mortal-enemies script?]
[Didn't you hear Xie Linchuan say he brought the jacket so he wouldn't catch a cold? He's already made it so obvious. I really don't know how you can keep shipping them.]
[Sigh, Xie Linchuan fell in just two days. I knew Shen Xingcan was no pushover.]
[Does anyone know where they're selling mangoes? I live near Chongshan Island. I want to run into them, aaaaah.]
After sitting for a while, Shen Xingcan spoke again. "Xie Linchuan, help me undo the knot at the back. It's a little uncomfortable like this."
Xie Linchuan's voice was light, but his words were thoroughly sarcastic. "Mortal enemies don't provide that service."
On the receiving end of that sarcasm, Shen Xingcan began fending for himself. He struggled to turn the jacket around, then began undoing the knot.
Soon, Shen Xingcan undid it. He spread the jacket open, shifted closer to Xie Linchuan, and finally draped it over both of them.
Xie Linchuan looked at Shen Xingcan.
Shen Xingcan said solemnly, "Although you're very hateful, I'm a generous person. The generous Shen Xingcan has decided to share half his jacket with you. No need to thank me."
[So ownership of this jacket has already changed hands, right? Hahaha.]
[Very generous indeed.]
[When Shen Xingcan draped the jacket over himself and Xie Linchuan just now, I saw an embroidered R. That should be R Brand, right? Going by R Brand's ready-to-wear prices, this jacket costs at least thirty thousand, and Xie Linchuan actually twisted such an expensive jacket into a fried dough twist.]
[You're underestimating it. That embroidered R means this jacket isn't ready-to-wear, but couture. For a brand like R Brand, couture often costs five to eight times as much as ready-to-wear, so that fried dough twist Best Actor Xie made costs at least a hundred thousand or more.]
[Shen Xingcan really knows what he's doing. He's so cute I'm about to pass out through the screen. I can barely imagine what it feels like for Best Actor Xie to experience it firsthand.]
[Xie Linchuan, how can you stay unmoved with such a cute wife right in front of you? Go kiss him senseless for me!]
[Can Shen Xingcan stop seducing people? Aaaah, stay away from Xie Linchuan.]
[Seducing people? Seducing Xie Linchuan? Xie Linchuan? Xie Linchuan would jump at the chance to be our little princess Cancan's simp, okay!]
[Sigh, I really don't get it. Xie Linchuan and Shen Xingcan's third child is practically old enough to run errands, and you solo fans are still arguing away.]
Jiang Yifeng looked sourly at the two sitting opposite him, then addressed the director at the back of the cargo boat. "Director, can you get the whole TS Boy Band together next time? I feel a little lonely. It's clearly a movie for three, yet I don't even deserve a name."
The director said, "I'd like to... But getting the three of you together already took a blessing from my ancestors. I wouldn't dare dream of all five."
Song Tiantian cleared her throat and got straight to it. "We'll reach our destination port in another ten minutes. The local market is not far from the port. The three pairs of guests will need to choose their own spots in the market to sell mangoes. The base price is two yuan per jin. Guests may not sell below the base price or above the market average of five yuan."
Ye Ran said, "So our selling price has to fall between those two numbers?"
Song Tiantian nodded. "Yes. Also, our cargo boat will return to Chongshan Island after eleven at midday, so guests must return to Chongshan Island before eleven. The production team will award points according to the order in which guests board."
Jiang Yifeng decided immediately, "I'll sell my mangoes for two yuan a jin, then. I'm definitely getting on the boat first this time!"
Song Tiantian said, "I wouldn't recommend it. If you sell them for two yuan, you won't make a penny. The money earned from selling mangoes this time will fund our trip to France. To avoid being strapped for cash in France, everyone should try to sell the mangoes for a little more."
Lin Cen said, "Time to put our fanbase sizes to the test."
Ye Ran said, "...Oof. Too expensive and they won't sell; too cheap and it's a shoestring trip to France..."
Jiang Yifeng scratched his head. "...Captain, how much are you and our youngest planning to charge per jin? How about I charge five yuan?"
Shen Xingcan looked at Jiang Yifeng. "Check what everyone else at the market is charging. We'll charge what they charge. Today, we're simply fruit farmers, not celebrities."
Not cheap, nor expensive. Just selling mangoes.
Jiang Yifeng quickly caught on. "Holy shit, thank goodness Captain's here. Otherwise, wouldn't all the media accounts take turns bashing me? They'd definitely say I was using my fame to sell outrageously overpriced mangoes."
Shen Xingcan smiled. "It wouldn't go that far. Didn't the production team set a maximum price of five yuan? At most, the media accounts would make a few snide remarks. Our production team is pretty good."
[Wuuu, Xingcan is always the best captain.]
[I suddenly remembered Jiang Yifeng saying he never needs to bring his brain when he goes out with Captain. I thought he was exaggerating back then, but after seeing this today, he really doesn't need to.]