Chapter 58: Huo Chen Responded to Him
Fan Fangfang didn’t make another move.
After all, with a scapegoat scouting the path ahead, she could better judge whether the road was passable.
“Hey!”
Zhou Mi walked up to El. Although his words were proposing a mutually beneficial exchange, coming from his mouth, they were filled with blatant arrogance and bossiness.
“Swap food with me!”
In front of El was a plate of bitter melon. This was a food he still couldn’t accept even after living in China for five or six years.
He was practically certain that this plate of boiled, sliced bitter melon was his Baby’s punishment for him joining the romance variety show without a word.
But for his Baby, what was a little bitter melon?
El was still mentally preparing himself when a male voice suddenly sounded beside him. The commanding tone made him a bit unhappy, but instead of looking at the person, he reflexively looked at Dai Keqing.
Dai Keqing was also looking at him with a sneer.
“I won’t swap with you! I’m going to solve it myself!” El shuddered under the gaze, picked up his chopsticks, and shoveled the bitter melon into his mouth.
That posture completely dumbfounded Zhou Mi. Moreover, from start to finish, El hadn’t spared him a single glance.
The feeling of being ignored made Zhou Mi furious. He couldn’t bear it anymore. “Hey! I’m talking to you! What do you mean by ignoring me? Can you show some respect?”
El chewed a few mouthfuls of bitter melon, his whole face scrunching up in bitterness.
Hearing Zhou Mi’s words, he looked over impatiently. “China is a land of etiquette. I’m a foreigner and haven’t learned this quality yet, but can’t you, a native born and raised here, have some manners?”
Zhou Mi was stunned by this retort, looking completely incredulous. “What? I’m talking to you, and with that attitude, I’m the one without manners?”
El was a sunny, warm guy.
He didn’t deliberately craft a persona. Except when filming, he was generally like a big, sunny dog—especially in front of Dai Keqing, where his tail could wag like a propeller.
But that didn’t mean he had no temper.
“That wasn’t called talking to me; that was ordering me. And I already refused you.”
[What is this thing! This is the first time I’ve seen someone ask for a swap so self-righteously! He even wants to bully our Baby El! Keep dreaming!]
[Zhou Mi isn’t anything good either. Before in “Tomorrow’s Rap,” he played big without the cards to back it up. Singing like that, I don’t know how he got on a rap show. And he even PK’d with others. Laughing my head off.]
El honestly continued eating his bitter melon.
Watching this scene, Fan Fangfang ultimately decided not to go up and ask for a snub, choosing to solve the problem herself.
Zhou Mi scanned the surroundings. No one was paying attention to him. He gritted his teeth and finally slammed the plate back onto the small cart—calling it “placing” was generous; it had the flavor of smashing.
Quite a few cut mango chunks flew out.
“I give up.”
Dai Keqing stared at him, his dark eyes revealing no emotion. “Allowed.”
…………
The “Strong Demand” game came to an end.
Aside from Zhou Mi, all other guests finished their food. Since the task was completed, the ranking had to be based on speed.
From high to low, the order was: Xu Qiao, Hu Xiaoxu, Lin Huaizhi, Huo Chen, Su Rui, El, Chu Xiaoran, Fan Fangfang, Fang Mo, and Zhou Mi, who gave up the game.
Dai Keqing held his small loudspeaker.
“Guests who swapped food are mutually each other’s dating partners for this episode. As for the four who didn’t swap food, you can form teams on the spot.”
The happiest person was Xu Qiao.
She didn’t wear a wig for this episode. She had worn one before because her team members strongly suggested it, saying that attending a romance variety show with pink hair made her look like a jingshen xiaohuo (hooligan/spirit guy). True enough, before coming to the show, she not only wore a wig but also dyed her hair black.
In short, the short-haired Xu Qiao looked very handsome. Ignoring her voice, at first glance, she looked like a boy.
However, she didn’t try to hide anything.
Today, wearing a white midriff-baring short-sleeved shirt and long pink jeans, even with short hair, no one would mistake her for a boy.
Xu Qiao directly picked Hu Xiaoxu up in a hug. “Sister, we can date this episode!”
Hu Xiaoxu was startled.
The atmosphere between the two seemed to bubble with pink hearts.
Lin Huaizhi followed closely behind. However, he wasn’t as blatant. He just leaned close to Huo Chen and said, “To celebrate our date again, how about a kiss?”
Huo Chen looked over at him, his gaze indifferent.
Lin Huaizhi just couldn’t control himself; he wanted to say something flirty to tease Huo Chen, never expecting Huo Chen to give any response.
But Huo Chen leaned in.
Lin Huaizhi only felt a warmth assault his lips, which then quickly vanished.
He reached out and touched his mouth, looking stunned. “Huo Chen… did you just… kiss me?”
The man’s voice came from beside his ear.
“I did.”
Lin Huaizhi’s eyes lit up instantly. He looked at Huo Chen, his face full of surprise and excitement. He was truly too excited. After chasing Huo Chen for so long, it wasn’t that Huo Chen hadn’t responded—he had—but it was rare.
He could sense Huo Chen’s care from small details.
For example, visiting him when he had a cold, buying flowers when he saw he was angry, and being abnormally persistent about blacklisting Chu Xiaoran…
Huo Chen definitely had possessiveness toward him.
But Lin Huaizhi wasn’t sure if this possessiveness stemmed from him constantly hovering in front of Huo Chen—making Huo Chen unable to stand seeing him close to others—or if Huo Chen truly liked him.
That night they crossed the line, Lin Huaizhi had indeed feasted well.
Huo Chen had been crazy too.
From that madness, Lin Huaizhi had glimpsed a corner of this man’s heart and truly felt the man’s accelerated heartbeat because of him.
But that was just that one night.
And now, Huo Chen had responded to him. Although it was just a kiss, it gave him infinite motivation.
Unable to control his wildly beating heart, Lin Huaizhi reached out to cup Huo Chen’s face and kissed him back. Since they were still livestreaming, this kiss was also a mere touch before separating.
However, this scene wasn’t missed by everyone.
The livestream room was screaming that they were “shipping it like crazy.”
[I declare! The Forced Love CP is the sweetest!! I accept no rebuttals!!!]
[In broad daylight, under the bright sun! You guys actually started kissing back and forth! You actually kissed back and forth! Why not just doi (have sex) right now!! Tell us!]
Xu Qiao was shipping the CP right to their faces. If Hu Xiaoxu hadn’t held her back, she would have been screaming by now, but looking at her expression, her eyes were definitely shining.
Chu Xiaoran’s expression wasn’t very good.
Fan Fangfang’s was the same.
Huo Chen, however, glanced at Fan Fangfang after Lin Huaizhi finished kissing him.
Dai Keqing really didn’t want to eat any more “dog food” (PDA), especially his boss’s dog food, and especially his boss’s dog food right after he had quarreled with his own lover.
He picked up the small loudspeaker. “Everyone quiet down for a moment. Regarding the team formation rules for this episode, I have one more point to add—”
Seeing everyone look at him, Dai Keqing continued with his unfinished words, “The newly joined guest, El, possesses a special card.”
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