After thinking it over, Shen Xingcan decided it made some sense. "Not a bad idea. Once the show ends, I'll have my team send out press releases along those lines."
After a pause, Shen Xingcan seemed to remember something else. "But what if you suddenly change your mind? Your family's legal department won't sue me, will they?"
"Your godmother runs the Xie Group's legal department."
Shen Xingcan instantly relaxed. "Oh, then I've got nothing to worry about."
[Oh my god, that line from Xie Linchuan gave me full-body tingles.]
[I thought Shen Xingcan would kiss him, but he didn't. I thought Xie Linchuan wouldn't kiss him, but he did.]
["You can tell everyone that Xie Linchuan has a one-sided crush on you"... that's practically a straight-up confession.]
[Let's give this lovely couple our blessings!]
[@Linchuan fans, look! Look how your precious boy is trying to please our Xingcan. Could it be any more obvious who's the simp? Ha!]
[Xie Linchuan, I really misjudged you.]
[Oh, stop fighting, stop fighting, everyone stop fighting. I'm the simp. I'm the simp, okay?!]
Song Tiantian smiled. "Looks like Brother Xingcan and Brother Linchuan's mother are more than just acquaintances."
Xie Linchuan spoke indifferently. "My mother prefers her lively, cheerful little boy who's so good at acting cute to me. When Shen Xingcan and I were little, she even suggested swapping sons, but Auntie Shen politely turned her down on the grounds that her home wasn't Antarctica and couldn't accommodate four icebergs."
At that, everyone burst out laughing.
Song Tiantian said, "Pfft, hahaha, four icebergs..."
Ye Ran said, "...Brother Xingcan's mom has such a good sense of humor."
[I can't. One family can't hold four icebergs, hahaha. I can just imagine the exact expression Empress Shen wore when she said that.]
[Wait, are you all that sure Shen Xingcan is Empress Shen's son? I still don't think he could be her son. If he really were, wouldn't someone as flamboyant as Shen Xingcan have said so ages ago?]
[What does being flamboyant necessarily have to do with telling people who your mom is? Maybe Xingcan just doesn't want to ride his mother's coattails in the Chinese entertainment industry.]
Shen Xingcan tilted his head. "...In a way, Xie Linchuan's personality is more like our family's third child's than mine is."
[Third child. Circle that ranking; it'll be on the test.]
Jiang Yifeng, who had visited Shen Xingcan's home, nodded in wholehearted agreement. "True... let me pick a white ball."
Jiang Yifeng quickly opened the white ball in front of him. "Wow, this one's actually mine, but this viewer is asking whether I like our leader or our youngest more? How's that any different from asking a kid whether they like Dad or Mom more? They're practically trying to drive a wedge between our family of three!"
Song Tiantian was delighted. "What a question. So are you going to answer?"
Jiang Yifeng looked grave. "Our family might fall apart after tonight, but this is twenty points we're talking about... so I choose our leader."
After making his choice, Jiang Yifeng didn't forget to explain his thought process to everyone. "You might think that was a simple choice, but there's actually some wisdom behind it. Choosing our leader looks like it'd offend our youngest, but really, it offends neither of them. Choosing our youngest would offend both."
[Looks like even someone as dense as Jiang Yifeng knows Xie Linchuan is henpecked.]
Ye Ran picked up the next ball. "Mine is for Bai Lin. A viewer called Kitten Loves Eating Fish wants Bai Lin to drink five glasses of bitter melon juice."
Bai Lin said, "..."
Shen Xingcan nearly laughed out loud. He cleared his throat and put on a serious air. "Five glasses of bitter melon juice for twenty points. Sounds like a decent deal."
Bai Lin said, "..."
If it's so decent, why don't you drink it? I have reasonable grounds to suspect this viewer is a Shen Xingcan fan.
[Hahaha, he's enjoying his misery so much.]
Lin Cen said, "Twenty points on one side, five glasses of bitter melon juice on the other. This viewer really gave Bai Lin a tough choice."
Bai Lin gritted his teeth. "I'll drink it."
Bai Lin said, "My ball is for Xingcan. A viewer called Additive wants to know whether you're still holding a concert this year."
Why does Shen Xingcan get such a normal question?!
Shen Xingcan answered seriously. "If I do, it'll be at the end of the year. I've been feeling really inspired lately, so I'm planning to work on new songs first."
Song Tiantian cheered. "New songs? Wow!"
Shen Xingcan said, "Mm-hmm, and these new songs will be a completely different style from before."
"I can't wait."
[Translation: I'm in love, so I'm planning to give you fans a taste of some little love songs.]
[Fine, be in love. At least we'll get new songs. Trying to comfort myself here...]
Lin Cen said, "My ball is for Linchuan. A viewer called Radish Rabbit asks when Linchuan is joining a production."
Xie Linchuan said, "I don't have any plans to do that for now."
[Hahaha, Xie Linchuan's fans must be desperate to shove him onto a film set right now. Preferably one cut off from civilization, with no electricity or running water.]
[Linchuan fans: Can the directors in the Chinese entertainment industry step it up?! Will you take responsibility if our boy falls in love?!]
[Even if there's an element of luck in picking the balls, these few really have shown just how popular Xie Linchuan and Shen Xingcan are.]
Shen Xingcan chimed in. "No plans for now? If you had any, I was planning to go hang out on set with you for a while."
Xie Linchuan said, "What's fun about a film set? You'd get bored after a day."
Shen Xingcan disagreed. "It'd be plenty interesting. I could watch you act every day, then scrutinize your acting from every possible angle."
Xie Linchuan said, "Are you sure? Filming often takes us deep into remote mountains and forests."
Shen Xingcan was unconcerned. "So what? I'll just treat it as a chance to cultivate my mind. Maybe being there would give me even more inspiration for writing songs!"
Xie Linchuan gave Shen Xingcan a long look. "...Shen Xingcan, remember what you're saying right now. If you change your mind later, I'll tie you up and take you to the set if I have to."
Shen Xingcan scoffed. "I'm not going to change my mind."
[Linchuan fans: So you're hunting us down now? Even hiding on a film set won't help?!]
[I hereby declare that no one in the entire Chinese entertainment industry is more addicted to playing the sister-in-law than Shen Xingcan.]
[Xie Linchuan, if you actually dare lure our Cancan into some remote mountain forest to film, I'll fight you.]
[Oh, don't panic, Xingcan fans. Even in some remote mountain forest, Shen Xingcan's husband definitely won't let him suffer. Being on an island hasn't stopped Shen Xingcan from having desserts and ice cream.]
The guests continued picking little balls from the moving train.
Perhaps the CP fans were afraid their balls wouldn't get picked, because the guests next drew several more balls asking Shen Xingcan to kiss Xie Linchuan, or Xie Linchuan to kiss Shen Xingcan.
Xie Linchuan complied with every request, while Shen Xingcan answered each of his with a glass of beer. He seemed determined to keep things perfectly innocent between himself and Xie Linchuan, and to cement the impression that Xie Linchuan had a one-sided crush on him.
Although Shen Xingcan wasn't such a lightweight that one drink would knock him out, his alcohol tolerance couldn't be called good, either.
"Xie Linchuan, I'm a little dizzy. I think I'm drunk."
Shen Xingcan grumbled discontentedly to the person beside him.
"You refuse to drink bitter melon juice. Isn't it perfectly normal that you're drunk?"
Shen Xingcan answered without thinking. "If I drank bitter melon juice, how could I have a perfectly good excuse to act drunk and make a fuss with you?"
Xie Linchuan looked at Shen Xingcan expressionlessly.
Realizing he'd said the wrong thing, Shen Xingcan fell silent. "..."
Stupid mouth, why did you go and say what I was really thinking?
Song Tiantian said, "It'll be seven thirty in ten minutes, so this little ball in my hand is tonight's final task ball. Let's see exactly what's written inside."