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Chapter 70: Found It and Took It as a Wife
Xie Shibai’s fair fingers paused slightly, staring at the face Lu Ciheng leaned over. Although he had long realized Lu Ciheng was sick in the head, it was the first time he felt so viscerally that the person in front of him was truly a bit perverted.
To be this excited from getting slapped. One slap wasn’t even enough; he actually wanted another slap.
Punishment had turned into a reward for him.
Xie Shibai pinched Lu Ciheng’s face which was close at hand. The corners of his eyes lifted slightly; the slight hook of his lips broke the icy feeling of keeping people a thousand miles away on his beautiful face. Like being illuminated solely by a high-hanging bright moon, a single look was enough to drive one crazy.
He asked softly, “Want the other side too?”
Generous as if as long as he nodded, the wish would really be granted.
Lu Ciheng’s breath was scorching. His Adam’s apple pressed down as he nodded, his eyes full of expectation.
Meeting Lu Ciheng’s expectant gaze, Xie Shibai withdrew his hand and said unhurriedly, “Get lost.”
The expectation of another slap fell through. Lu Ciheng was visibly disappointed; it seemed as if a pair of nonexistent ears on his head drooped down. Like an abandoned pitiful big dog, he whined.
“One hit is enough?” Lu Ciheng wouldn’t give up, holding Xie Shibai’s hand with his cheek pressed against the palm. “I bit such an obvious tooth mark, Teacher Xie should teach me a lesson again.”
Xie Shibai looked at Lu Ciheng and sneered. “Is what you want a lesson?”
This pervert.
Lu Ciheng laughed in a muffled voice. His cheek rubbed against Xie Shibai’s palm as he admitted frankly, “Of course.”
Xie Shibai stared at Lu Ciheng for a few moments. The corner of his lips hooked into a tiny arc. His fair finger pads touched Lu Ciheng’s face, while his knee pressed against Lu Ciheng’s abdomen. Through the fabric, he could feel the abdominal muscles underneath suddenly tense up.
Lu Ciheng’s breath hitched and his Adam’s apple rolled. Feeling the touch grazing his abdomen, unexpectedly, he was even more excited than being hit. The next second, he was kicked away completely defenseless.
He grunted and sat on the floor, covering his eyes with one hand. After a few seconds, he laughed helplessly.
A trace of pleasure flashed across Xie Shibai’s eyes, like a cat that successfully snatched a fish from its own kind. “Is this lesson enough?”
Lu Ciheng licked his dry lips, a smile on his face. “Teacher Xie, you should have stepped a little lower.”
Xie Shibai’s eyes lifted slightly. Gritting his teeth: “Lu Ciheng, you really are a pervert.”
It was already late at night when they landed in California.
When they arrived at the hut, some groups had already arrived first. The landing times chosen by the production team were almost all similar.
The production team let those who arrived first choose rooms in order; the rest would go through the process uniformly the next day.
The hut’s location wasn’t much different from the coastline hut, being an ocean-view villa next to Manhattan Beach.
When they took the keys and went in, the early arrivals were in the study worrying over a pile of pots and pans.
Li Lechi: “I said already, just order takeout.”
Su Xingran was helpless. “Where can we get takeout at this hour? If you don’t eat instant noodles, fine, I’ll eat by myself.”
Li Lechi obviously wanted to eat instant noodles too, but had heavy baggage, worried about water retention during filming the next day.
While the two were entangled, the sound of keys opening the door came from the entrance.
Su Xingran immediately turned his head to look. Seeing Xie Shibai outside the yard through the floor-to-ceiling window of the living room, his eyes instantly lit up. “Brother Xie is here!”
Li Lechi ignored the instant noodles and craned his neck to see. “Where? Where?”
Su Xingran ran over to open the door, a perfect smile on his face. “Brother Xie—”
As soon as he opened the door, he came face-to-face with Lu Ciheng holding the keys opening the door.
Su Xingran’s face fell.
Li Lechi stopped in his tracks.
Lu Ciheng tsked. “Don’t block the doorway.”
Xie Shibai held the sleepy Potato Puppy. The puppy dozed off in his arms wearing the adventure hat, head nodding little by little. Hearing the sound, it looked up to see people. Finding they were acquaintances, it continued to nestle in Xie Shibai’s arms and sleep soundly.
The living areas were on the second and third floors. There was an indoor small elevator, so no need to carry luggage.
The two didn’t have much luggage. Lu Ciheng didn’t let Xie Shibai lift a finger, sending it up alone.
Su Xingran looked curiously at the adventure hat on the Potato Puppy’s head. The hat exposed the ears separately and fit the round head; touching the ear would make it twitch non-stop.
He chatted with Xie Shibai: “Brother Xie, the sunset at the beach nearby is very beautiful. Want to go see it together tomorrow?”
Xie Shibai glanced at Lu Ciheng moving luggage. “Mn, we can go together.”
Joy appeared on Su Xingran’s face as he chatted ramblingly: “It was unlucky when we came, the sun had already set, but the afterglow was still very beautiful.”
Just as Li Lechi prepared to speak, he found Su Xingran had already said everything he wanted to say, leaving him no chance to perform. He changed tracks and spoke: “Brother Xie, coming so late you definitely haven’t had time for dinner right? What do you want to eat? We were just preparing to cook, perfect to eat together, saves trouble.”
Su Xingran immediately hid the instant noodles in his hand behind his back and nodded frantically.
When Lu Ciheng came down after moving the luggage, he saw two rivals circling Xie Shibai, asking what he wanted to eat and offering to cook for him. After getting the answer that Xie Shibai was fine with anything, the two rivals acted like little bees—one serving tea and water, the other helpless facing a kitchen full of utensils.
[Laughing to death at this scene. Dog Lu came back after working to find the sky collapsed.] [But Su Xingran and Li Lechi’s cooking skills emmmmm.] [Their cooking in the previous phase was also terrible. Teacher Xie and Dog Lu left early and didn’t eat it right? They only ate what Su Xingran made. If Li Lechi cooks, better not eat it. Calling an ambulance in California is very expensive.] [As a fan of Li Lechi, I think the person above is very right. What if they give our Teacher Xie a bad stomach?]
Lu Ciheng stood behind Xie Shibai. “Teacher Xie, you’re hungry?”
Xie Shibai turned his head and shook it gently. “Alright. They said they prepared to cook, just right to eat together.”
Lu Ciheng scrutinized Li Lechi’s cooking steps. He thought he’d pick some faults, but found no need to pick—it was all faults. In terms of cooking skills, he didn’t need to have too much sense of crisis.
Following a burst of clanging sounds and a burnt smell, Lu Ciheng endured for a while, then couldn’t endure anymore.
“I’ll do it, you go rest on the side.”
He absolutely wouldn’t allow Xie Shibai to eat this kind of food.
Li Lechi scratched his face, knowing his cooking skills were poor so he couldn’t say much.
Although the food was just a few packs of noodles they brought, Lu Ciheng added the instant food he brought himself, and the taste turned out pretty good.
[Dog Lu is truly 2.8 meters tall in this moment.] [As expected of a simp dog, proficient in everything.] [Brother, cooking with this face is really a contrast!] [Sigh, Li Lechi, gave you a chance but you’re useless!]
After the meal, Lu Ciheng, having defeated two rivals with overwhelming cooking skills, had his tail cocked very high. His appearance drew hatred exceptionally well, making Su Xingran and Li Lechi find him an eyesore yet have no way to deal with him.
The other two groups arrived at the hut after they finished dinner. After allocating rooms, everyone went to rest early. The next morning, the production team came to announce their living expenses for this time.
Considering the cost of living, the production team raised the living expenses to 2500 dollars.
Mu Zhenzhen was shocked. “So generous this time?”
Compared to the first two phases, the living expenses practically doubled.
Production Team: “Half of the expenses come from the seafood you sold last phase. This recording leans more towards free travel, so please arrange funds reasonably.”
Su Xingran asked, “This time it’s not just food expenses but covers other expenses too?”
Production Team: “Yes.”
[I remember last season, the overseas trip produced the biggest conflict right?] [Budget travel around the area, plus everyone’s schedules didn’t match so they forced it. Two couples broke up on the spot.] [Feel like this kind of travel really tests the relationship between husbands or couples.] [LCH and XSB won’t quarrel right?] [? How is that possible, they are good!] [Exactly, even if other groups quarrel they won’t! Only XSB unilaterally beating LCH.]
The four groups calculated the remaining money after deducting daily food expenses. Like the previous two phases, it was still tight. Wanting to go out to play meant choosing the cheapest projects; mostly they could only wait in the hut for the production team’s arrangements.
Finally, everyone unanimously decided: the first stop was the beach—zero cost, close distance, and could buy groceries to cook at the hut.
As for entertainment projects, coming back to play small board games was also fulfilling.
[Laughing to death, this is very slice-of-life.] [None of the guests this phase clamored to go out to eat.] [After all, it’s hard-earned money from everyone working hard to catch seafood.]
After deciding, the group went to the beach.
It was only a short walk from the hut to the beach.
Su Xingran: “I remember we can rent surfboards right.”
Mu Zhenzhen: “This we can do. Go ask how much, see if they can give us a discount.”
…
Accompanied by the discussion of several people, they arrived at the beach.
When Xie Shibai stepped onto the beach, he was in a trance.
There weren’t many people on the white sand beach. Children gathered together building castles, wailing in regret after white waves washed them down.
Combined with the information Chen Qisheng investigated, revisiting the old haunt vaguely recalled some childhood events.
…
Young Xie Shibai stood in the sunlight, his cheeks fair and beautiful, soft black hair hanging slightly long by his ears. Round like an exquisitely crafted doll, when looking at the beach, those beautiful round eyes were filled with yearning. He held the nanny’s hand and looked in Ming Yu’s direction.
They were far away. He could only see Ming Yu’s gentle face looking icy cold, arguing with Xie Huacheng as usual.
Xie Shibai pursed his lips, wanting to go play, but dared not speak at such a time. He didn’t cause trouble, just stood watching the children by the sea building castles.
The nanny glanced at the message on her phone and said, “You go play. Your dad said to let you play. I’ll call you when we leave.”
Young Xie Shibai’s eyes sparkled. His round, beautiful cheeks flushed red with happiness. “Mn!”
The nanny glanced at Xie Huacheng, let go of his hand, and found a rest area to sit and play on her phone, indifferently leaving young Xie Shibai alone to stomp water on the vast and dangerous beach.
On the white sand beach, various castles could be built. The six-year-old boy’s English wasn’t very good yet; stumbling, he barely managed to play with other children—stomping water, building castles, and burying themselves in the warm sand for a nap together.
Xie Shibai played very happily. With flushed cheeks, he lay on the sand for a nap with his new friends, until he was woken up by a strange white woman.
The beach after sunset was icy cold. Young Xie Shibai looked at the beach in confusion. His brain couldn’t process the long string of English sentences, only hearing a few words clearly.
“Where is your family?”
Xie Shibai reacted sluggishly, immediately looking around. The shore was empty, without a familiar figure.
The little boy panicked. Crawling out from the sand, he looked for people hurriedly. The blue-hour night seemed capable of swallowing people; fear gradually spread from his heart to his whole body.
Xie Shibai broke into a thin sweat from anxiety. His round cheeks were completely red. He was so panicked he would run up hurriedly to grab the hand of any familiar back figure he saw.
Suppressing his unease, he looked up with a smile and whispered that he couldn’t find them just now: “Mom, I fell asleep on the beach just now—”
The strange adult woman turned back to look at him in confusion, opening her mouth to speak an unfamiliar language.
Xie Shibai’s body went cold. Stiffly, he let go of the other’s hand.
He ran desperately to the parking spot, but there was no one.
Forgotten.
Panic crushed the only six-year-old Xie Shibai. His round eyes were red, his beautiful cheeks dirty with tears and sand. The sea breeze blew on his small arms under the short sleeves, making them ice cold. The surrounding temperature was frighteningly cold. A strange country, a strange language—he could only curl up on the spot, waiting for someone to find him.
“Why are you crying?”
Familiar Chinese was like a life-saving straw. Xie Shibai’s tear-filled eyes looked at the little boy in front of him who was as tall as him.
“You are so pretty, like a doll.”
“Can’t find your home? Then come home with me.”
Lu Ciheng held Xie Shibai’s hand, his expression serious and persistent: “I picked you up, you are mine now.”
…
The memory was a bit blurry. Xie Shibai tried hard to recall, only remembering the other party was about the same age as him.
Lu Ciheng looked at the beach and said softly, “I picked up a very beautiful doll here before.”
Xie Shibai was stunned for a few seconds. He didn’t expect such a coincidence; he had just recalled the doll. “What kind of doll?”
Lu Ciheng curved his eyes. “As beautiful as Teacher Xie.”
Xie Shibai hesitated slightly.
Could that child be Lu Ciheng?
Lu Ciheng chuckled lightly. “But that doll was quite heartless. Said he’d be my wife, but turned around and forgot me.”
He licked his canine tooth with the tip of his tongue, staring straight at Xie Shibai. His tone was somewhat dangerously pointed: “Teacher Xie, what do you say should be done if I find him?”
Xie Shibai: “……”
Then it seems it wasn’t him. How could he have said such things as a child?
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