Part 5
Liu Xichao slung an arm around his shoulder. “Let’s chat.”
Tang Yue paused. “About your wedding?”
He even smiled, and Liu Xichao pinched his cheek. “That? You might get married before I do.”
Tang Yue was led to a stool by the staff. The two of them sat by a small bonfire.
Liu Xichao shared his scarf, draping it over Tang Yue.
They used to have moments like this when they lived together, sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, watching movies.
“I won’t be getting married that soon,” Tang Yue said.
“Jiang Shulu has dropped a lot of hints, hasn’t he?”
Tang Yue nodded.
“Can I ask?”
The young man sitting beside him seemed a little more mature than when they had first met.
But Tang Yue just had a natural air of vulnerability that made people want to give him their all.
Liu Xichao considered himself a sharp, calculating person, but in front of Tang Yue, he just wanted to be very, very good to him.
“Ask what?”
After a few seconds, he let out an “oh.” “I gave birth to him.”
Liu Xichao swore under his breath.
Tang Yue pursed his lips, his hands fidgeting with the drawstring of his hoodie, wrapping it around his finger, then unwrapping it, then wrapping it again.
“Right,” Liu Xichao said. “Somehow, that’s not as hard to accept as I thought.”
Tang Yue pursed his lips and asked in a small voice, “When did Third Brother find out?”
He paused. “Did Shulu-ge tell you?”
Even though he knew the two of them weren’t what he had thought, Tang Yue still felt a strange twinge…
He thought: I’m being ridiculous. Why should I be jealous about this?
Tang Yue didn’t realize he was subconsciously furrowing his brow. The next second, Liu Xichao flicked him on the forehead.
Tang Yue let out a small “hiss” and covered his forehead.
“What are you thinking? Why are you still suspicious of me now?” Liu Xichao said.
“He didn’t tell me. That big mouth Yao Lixin did, and he said it wasn’t confirmed.”
After saying that, Liu Xichao sighed and took out his phone to check the time. Tang Yue noticed that his lock screen was a selfie of him and Jiang He.
The two of them under a blanket of snow, sharing an umbrella. A single glance was enough to see the romance.
“I’m really curious,” Liu Xichao said.
He paused. “Xiao Yue, why were you so convinced that Jiang Shulu and I were dating before?”
He had the typical features of someone from his hometown. The girls there were pretty and vibrant, and most of the boys were tanned.
But Liu Xichao was an exception. It was as if their genders had been swapped. He had the same vibrancy and gentle eyes, but it was just a facade.
Underneath, he was fierce.
He had a deep desire for material things, a thorough opportunist.
But the atmosphere in Away made Liu Xichao feel like he had a family. Even though Jiang Shulu was a fake person, at least he wasn’t as fake in the dorm.
Yao Lixin was loud and boisterous, the best at getting along with people, making their time together pleasant.
Tang Yue was naive and innocent, but fun to tease, which was relaxing.
Liu Xichao was certain he had never crossed any lines with Jiang Shulu. At most, he would say a few things to liven up the atmosphere on necessary occasions.
It was normal for fans to believe it, since they hadn’t had any private contact. But why did Tang Yue seem to believe it more than the CP fans?
The bonfire crackled. Tang Yue squeezed his fingers, hesitating for a long time before finally saying, “I had a dream a long time ago.”
“You dreamed that Jiang Shulu and I were a couple?” Liu Xichao asked. “Did you secretly read the fanfiction fans wrote?”
“It definitely wasn’t written by a fan,” Tang Yue said.
He left out the part about transmigrating and haltingly described the plot of the book in the form of a dream.
Liu Xichao’s face contorted as he listened. Tang Yue’s voice got quieter and quieter, feeling like Liu Xichao’s fingers were about to knead his own brow into a wrinkle.
“In the dream, I die a horrible death…”
“Okay, stop,” Liu Xichao said.
He took a deep breath, feeling a mix of anger and helplessness.
Tang Yue held his face. “And it all lined up with our activities, I…”
“Did you steal Jiang Shulu’s underwear?”
“Of course not!”
He almost jumped to his feet to argue.
“Then that’s that.”
Even though Tang Yue left out the R-18 content, Liu Xichao still found the plot a little familiar.
He sent a message to Yao Lixin right in front of Tang Yue.
Yao Lixin was still at the card table in his tent, though he had just switched out. He saw Liu Xichao’s question—
[Do you remember that famous anti-fan article about me and the Captain? The one the assistant sent you? What was it called again?]
Yao Lixin had a terrible memory for other things, but he remembered this kind of gossip very clearly.
[Something like Please Get Closer to My Heart, the title was so normal. But the inside was incredibly raunchy. It was one thing for me to read it alone, but you actually wanted to join in. Liu Xichao, you’re pretty twisted.]
Tang Yue was a little dazed.
That book couldn’t be found anymore, but you could still find some snippets of people complaining about it.
Liu Xichao handed his phone to Tang Yue. “Is this the plot?”
On it was a large screenshot of a webpage.
—So ridiculous!! If you’re going to ship Jiang Shulu x Liu Xichao, can you not slander Tang Yue!
—How could our Tang Yue possibly be a vicious male supporting character!!
—What kind of crappy plot is this! I respect everyone’s right to ship, but this clearly has too much personal bias!!
—Old man on the subway looking at his phone.
Tang Yue stared at the title for a long time.
—Please Get Closer to My Heart.
It was the one he had read on Planet 9787! How could this be?
Liu Xichao was also in despair. “Originally, it was Yao Lixin who was secretly reading it. I found out, and the writing was just… I couldn’t bear to look at it for long, but I flipped through a few pages.”
Liu Xichao: “Did you secretly read it, so you thought about it during the day and dreamed about it at night?”
“I really dreamed it,” Tang Yue insisted.
Liu Xichao took him for being stubborn. “A prophetic dream, huh? You and this author really have similar minds.”
He poked Tang Yue’s forehead again, like a parent who couldn’t believe his child’s poor performance. “What were you thinking? Don’t you have any idea what you’re like? If you had gotten close to Jiang Shulu during our time in the group, it’s impossible that you wouldn’t have gotten a response.”
“Huh?”
Liu Xichao shrugged. “I think you two were probably in love without knowing it back then.”
The next second, he looked like he had been carrying a black pot for years. “Xiao Yue, I feel like you kind of hate me. I’d rather be with Yao Lixin than Jiang Shulu. He’s such a boring guy.”
Tang Yue was incredibly guilty. “No.”
Then he silently added, “The Captain is a very good person.”
Tang Yue’s heart was still pounding, his entire being in a state of shock.
Liu Xichao rubbed his hair. “Seriously, you should have said something sooner, always keeping it to yourself. This misunderstanding is really too hurtful.”
“I’m sorry.”
He bowed his head and searched for the novel, finding that it had been renamed.
It was written at the end of Away’s second year as a group. Tang Yue didn’t like to read the news online, so he had no way of knowing.
Yao Lixin, who loved to watch the drama and secretly eat melons, wouldn’t have told his youngest brother how vicious his persona was in the anti-fan community.
“I’m going back. You should go back early too,” Liu Xichao said.
He added, “If you have something you’re afraid of in the future, just say it. It’s okay. Even if it’s a real prophecy, that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed.”
After Liu Xichao left, Tang Yue sat for a while longer.
When he returned to the tent, Tang Mian was already asleep.
The tent provided by the production team was quite high-end, and even had a sleep light, enough for Tang Yue to see the expression on the face of Jiang Shulu, who was sleeping with his child in his arms.
He carefully went in, and just as he zipped up the tent, a hand grabbed his.
Tang Yue asked in a small voice, “Is the camera off?”
Jiang Shulu hummed in acknowledgment.
“Where did you go?”
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