Looking at Xie Zhuzhou's thoughtful, icy little face, he knew he couldn't afford to offend him or tell anyone.
"All right, all right, I won't tell. Don't be mad."
"Oh."
Li Yankai felt a little guilty under his brief glance. Although he hadn't spread the word, everyone in their dorm knew.
"Everyone in our dorm knows..."
"Mm."
"Don't you have anything to say? Dude, you're on TV."
"It's just a livestream."
"But it'll air on some channel afterward, too."
Xie Zhuzhou looked at his smiling face, then turned his gaze forward again. "Then, thanks for keeping it secret for me."
"You seem really tired?"
"No."
"Then how about eating together? You haven't been back to the dorm in ages."
Xie Zhuzhou glanced at Li Yankai. He felt that Li Yankai was going to a lot of trouble, didn't find it awkward, and was even willing to coax him, so he finally nodded.
"Let's go."
Li Yankai thought Xie Zhuzhou seemed different today. He couldn't say exactly how, only that he felt harder to approach.
In the past, when they suggested going out to eat, Xie Zhuzhou wouldn't necessarily agree, but he wouldn't keep such a stiff expression, either. Now he felt very distant.
Had something happened?
Jealous as he was, Li Yankai still thought spending more time with Xie Zhuzhou was pretty nice. After all, they only had these few years of college.
Li Yankai and Xie Zhuzhou walked close together, with Li Yankai telling him campus gossip the whole way.
At first, Xie Zhuzhou remained impervious, but he grew a little curious when he heard how complicated the relationships in one of the men's dorm rooms were. Two guys had actually started fighting because they were romantic rivals, only to end up kissing as they fought.
He found it unbelievable.
Humans really were bizarre.
Xie Zhuzhou finally laughed, too, though the upward curve of his lips was barely noticeable. "Then what about the girl? Her ex and her current boyfriend got together."
Li Yankai sighed. "She ended up being their matchmaker."
Xie Zhuzhou thought that even if the girl wanted to call the police, she wouldn't know what to say. "All right."
Xie Zhuzhou only watched the path ahead, completely missing a certain campus heartthrob pretending to pass by beside him.
Meanwhile, alarm bells were already ringing inside Li Yankai, who feared Xie Zhuzhou would run off with An Xinian again.
It wasn't as though they didn't know Xie Zhuzhou was interested in An Xinian.
In fact, the whole university knew a junior was pursuing An Xinian, and everyone knew that junior was Xie Zhuzhou.
Given Xie Zhuzhou's flawless face, nobody had thought to object. Some had even quietly started shipping them.
Over time, though, people began to feel something was off. Why was Xie Zhuzhou always waiting for An Xinian after class, while An Xinian never showed any response?
Those who had once liked the campus heartthrob without any hope of success rose up, mocking Xie Zhuzhou both openly and indirectly on the forums, calling him shameless for refusing to stop clinging to the campus heartthrob.
The campus heartthrob was straight.
And Xie Zhuzhou was gay.
Bending a straight man deserved a thunderbolt from heaven. Many people began to detest Xie Zhuzhou, finding his behavior disgusting.
Many girls and boys with secret crushes on the campus heartthrob felt that way, though very few discussed it in public.
Xie Zhuzhou was listening to Li Yankai's enthusiastic chatter and completely failed to notice An Xinian passing beside him.
Only after they had missed each other did he raise his head. "Want some fish? Shall we have the cafeteria cook a big one?"
"S-sure."
Xie Zhuzhou used to eat fish often. After going without it for the past few days, he was really craving it.
Besides, he couldn't finish one by himself.
Li Yankai thought Xie Zhuzhou was being generous and felt touched. This rich second-generation roommate of theirs really seemed innocent.
Still, they wouldn't let him lose out. They usually split the bill.
An Xinian glanced back at Xie Zhuzhou and discovered that he hadn't reacted at all??
Had he already grown tired of pursuing him?
An Xinian frowned, deeply irritated. In the past, Xie Zhuzhou had always followed him shamelessly and even helped him resolve most of his problems.
Now he wouldn't even look at him. Had he fallen for someone else so quickly?
Some people had witnessed Xie Zhuzhou and An Xinian's chance encounter. They didn't dare discuss it loudly, exchanging looks instead, feeling that something was strange.
Had Xie Zhuzhou taken the wrong medicine? Or had someone transmigrated into his body? He actually ignored An Xinian as though he genuinely didn't know him.
Everyone found it odd and only gossiped in their group chats. In the end, they unanimously concluded that Xie Zhuzhou had upgraded his tactics! He was starting to play hard to get with An Xinian!
Although this trick was terribly clichéd, it would definitely work!
Xie Zhuzhou had no idea these people loved imagining things so much. In his world, there was only enjoying life.
When faced with setbacks, give up decisively.
That was his philosophy of life.
Ultimately, part of the reason was that Xie Zhuzhou had never suffered society's harsh beatings growing up.
After having lunch with his roommates, Xie Zhuzhou felt fairly comfortable. They occasionally exchanged a few words during the meal, but it never felt awkward.
Xie Zhuzhou rarely shared a table with others. In the past, even when attending palace banquets, he had simply hidden in a corner.
Everyone was looking after him now, which left him feeling rather overwhelmed by the favor. After all, they barely knew one another... yet they treated him sincerely.
After they said goodbye, Li Yankai added Xie Zhuzhou to their dorm group chat.
Previously, Xie Zhuzhou had been impossible to track down, so there had never been a chance to bring it up. He didn't like replying to WeChat messages, either, and Li Yankai had forgotten about it.
This time, they had finally caught him.
But none of them knew why they liked someone like Xie Zhuzhou. They simply felt good around him and got along with him.
Xie Zhuzhou rode his bicycle through campus. His morning classes were over, but he had another assignment. After this experience, Xie Zhuzhou no longer dared slack off and decided to study hard. At the very least, he needed to graduate with his diploma.
Xie Zhuzhou's expression remained unchanged all the way back to the dating show villa. After returning his bicycle to its parking spot, he saw Director Wang looking at him with a smile.
Xie Zhuzhou nodded.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Director Wang called out to stop him. "Little Xie, would you be interested in..."
Based on Xie Zhuzhou's many years of experience, Director Wang definitely wanted something from him, and he could tell it would be extremely troublesome. So before Director Wang could finish, he firmly refused.
"Sorry, Director Wang, I'm not interested."
Director Wang: ...
Watching Xie Zhuzhou stride back to the villa and disappear through the front door, he turned his shocked gaze toward the assistant director.
"Damn, how did he know what I was going to say?!"
Director Wang's good friend, Director Li, had recently wanted to shoot a drama and was currently looking for investors.
With a quick turn of thought, he had immediately remembered Xie Zhuzhou, who seemed to have more money than sense. Yet before he could even finish speaking, the other man had delivered a crushing blow!