Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 24

What are the basic principles of human interaction?

Lu Yiyao might not be able to list them all, but respect is certainly one of them. He believes that if respect is coupled with some understanding and tolerance, anyone would be willing to interact with such a person.

Ran Lin was exactly that kind of person.

Of course, this was Lu Yiyao’s subjective judgment. He didn’t impose it on anyone but kept it to himself.

Throughout his life, Lu Yiyao has heard too many such remarks:

“Just try it. You’ll know it’s not that scary.”

“Just accompany me this once. See, I’m not scared.”

“It’s just you we’re missing. Just bite the bullet and do it. Everyone is watching. Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

“If you’re a man, go for it. I don’t believe you’ll really die!”

When he was younger, Lu Yiyao would indeed waver, often embarking on these ventures with shame and guilt. But invariably, the outcomes were terrible enough to be classified as childhood traumas or adolescent nightmares.

At best, it was embarrassing; at worst, it led to breathlessness. Those who previously encouraged him either laughed at his disheveled state or panicked at his near-death experience. Like the time in his freshman year when he was blindfolded and tricked into a Ferris wheel. The prankster had to call an ambulance because Lu Yiyao nearly fainted from lack of oxygen when the Ferris wheel landed.

Compared to roller coasters, the slow climb of a Ferris wheel was more terrifying, like Lingchi*, excruciating but not fatal.

*Also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE up until the practice ended around the early 1900s. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.

After that, no one mocked or pranked him about it again. The British classmate who tricked him into the Ferris wheel was beaten up by Huo Yuntao and didn’t utter a word.

Shaking off these memories, Lu Yiyao looked at Ran Lin, who had fallen asleep as soon as he boarded the plane. His previously cold gaze softened.

When sleeping on the plane alone, Ran Lin could sleep in all sorts of positions. But now, with someone sitting beside him, he slept peacefully and obediently. Occasionally, if his head tilted to the side, he seemed to sense it, vaguely nudging himself awake, straightening his neck, and continuing to sleep.

The sunlight above the clouds was blinding, shining in through the window and making Ran Lin frown in his sleep.

Lu Yiyao tried not to look out the window. He carefully reached over Ran Lin and pulled down the window shade halfway.

The sunlight vanished from Ran Lin’s face, along with the slight frown. Ran Lin’s long eyelashes now cast beautiful shadows on his face in the dim light.

Over two months ago, he thought this person was desperately craving fame, using such low tactics that even becoming a D-list celebrity would be a stroke of luck.

More than two months later, by coincidence, they ended up on the same flight back after a recording, and he found himself inexplicably in a good mood.

In front of Disney’s Tron Lightcycle Power Run, Ran Lin had spent half an hour preparing with him. During those thirty minutes, Ran Lin had every reason to get angry or question him, but he didn’t.

Perhaps Ran Lin didn’t just realize Lu Yiyao’s fear of heights in the thirtieth minute. With his keenness, he might have connected it to the high-altitude bridge and spicy noodles from the first episode and concluded that Lu Yiyao was acrophobic. Yet, he pretended to be oblivious and quietly accompanied him.

Lu Yiyao believed that if he had followed the path Ran Lin laid out, Ran Lin would never have exposed the truth. If the episode was edited by a devilish editor, it might have been portrayed as “Lu Yiyao giving up the task to accompany his teammate to watch the parade.”

Post-production was always unpredictable.

Ran Lin, once tricked, still chose to be considerate of his friend. Only those who have been shown such consideration can understand its value.

Then there was Xia Xinran, Gu Jie, and the others’ loyalty.

Before signing up for this variety show, Lu Yiyao never thought he could make friends on a job. But now, Xia Xinran was snoring in the row behind them, and Gu Jie, who didn’t return to Beijing but flew straight to another job, had shared a selfie of the six of them taken after the recording in their group chat.

All six faces were squeezed into the frame, making it a little distorted.

Less handsome, but more amusing.

When the plane began to descend, Ran Lin woke up. Lu Yiyao remained in the same position, making Ran Lin suspect he hadn’t moved during the entire flight.

The window shade had been opened by a flight attendant, but Ran Lin was unaware. To him, it had always been open, with the clouds looking refreshing and the sun shining brightly.

Most people tense up during a plane landing, especially at the jolt of touchdown, since statistics show that takeoff and landing are the most accident-prone times.

But Lu Yiyao was the opposite.

At the moment of the jarring touchdown, he relaxed completely. Ran Lin, sitting closest, saw it most clearly. Lu Yiyao’s normally erect posture slackened. His back was no longer straight, and even his clenched hands loosened, radiating a sense of “Thank God.”

When Lu Yiyao opened his eyes, he saw Ran Lin’s smiling face.

“What’s up?” Lu Yiyao asked, puzzled.

“Nothing.” Ran Lin shook his head, his eyes still smiling.

Lu Yiyao quickly realized what Ran Lin was laughing at and openly admitted, “I told you, I still get nervous on planes.”

Seeing him so honest, Ran Lin decided to express his true feelings. “I know you’re nervous, but your reaction is different from when facing roller coasters. It’s more… cute?”

Lu Yiyao had no words for this description.

Ran Lin derived sweet joy from teasing a paper tiger.

The joy Ran Lin got from Disney and Tigger continued until the weekend night, when the second episode aired.

Wang Xi, as usual, called him in advance, reminding him to remember to watch the show on time and communicate any issues bi-directionally. However, Lu Yiyao had a feeling—perhaps it was just an illusion—that Wang Xi seemed a bit less stern and gentler than during the first episode.

This uncertain feeling was confirmed after the broadcast of the show.

When Wang Xi called again, she only asked one question. “How was the feeling of recording the third episode compared to the second?”

Ran Lin didn’t know how the final presentation of the third episode would turn out, but regarding the recording, he felt he had a say: “Yes, I think it was better.”

This “better” didn’t just refer to their growing chemistry but also because Lu Yiyao had offered his private villa for the third episode, making the program with surprises even more appealing.

“That’s good.” Wang Xi seemed relieved and mentioned another matter. “This week, several brands contacted us, wanting you to shoot commercials for them. But after some consideration, the company still feels these lesser-known brands are too low-end. Now, the company prefers to find you brands that are younger in their positioning, not necessarily well-known or prestigious, but definitely with a healthy, positive, and sunny image. So, I wanted to discuss this with you first. There’s no rush on this matter. The variety show has only aired two episodes, and more sponsors will approach you in the future.”

Ran Lin was a bit surprised, not expecting the reality show’s effect to manifest so quickly, especially considering his still controversial reputation.

“I’m not in a hurry. I’ll follow the company’s arrangements,” Ran Lin responded calmly and honestly.

Wang Xi was pleased and briefly talked about some fitness and beauty maintenance matters before hanging up.

Ran Lin sat on the couch, blankly watching the commercials on TV.

Coincidentally, just a few seconds into watching, the previous commercial ended, and the next one was the latest one that Lu Yiyao shot for a men’s cosmetics brand. On the screen, Lu Yiyao looked radiant and spirited, his face clean yet sexy, and his peach blossom eyes smiling, charming the camera throughout the commercial.

Ran Lin felt a bit tempted to buy the product.

After the commercial ended, XX Satellite TV began replaying the second episode.

Ran Lin, not feeling sleepy, decided to watch it again.

This time he watched more carefully than the first time, knowing what would happen and how the post-production would edit and subtitle it. Therefore, he was less anxious and expectant and calmer and more detailed.

Surprisingly, the style of the second episode was completely different from the first. The director seemed to have changed his approach, not forcibly creating misunderstandings or selling fan service. The entire program shifted from the pink-bubbled male god style of the first episode to a straightforward and youthful style, shedding the idol baggage. The post-production also appeared rejuvenated, with subtitles and background music leaning towards a passionate and exciting direction, focusing on building a sense of team spirit.

Although the interactions between the five guests still showed politeness and some segments revealed the production team’s lack of consideration, compared to the first episode, there was a noticeable improvement.

Combined with the beauty of Jiuzhaigou and the irresistible charm of the baby pandas, the second episode felt more fluid and natural. Although it didn’t reach the level of hysterical laughter or blood-pumping excitement, it was comfortable enough for casual viewers and delightful for fans.

Of course, there was still conflict.

Even in the most popular variety shows, and even if the guests had become as close as one person, die-hard fans could still find discordant hints to exploit.

But these things didn’t concern Ran Lin.

He was now a happy ostrich, burying his head in the sand, neither seeing nor hearing. Although curious about the outside world, the thought of not just the gentle breeze, bright moon, mountains, and streams but also the raging wars and gunfire was enough to suppress his curiosity.

At the same time, in a certain hotel.

“Lu Ge, if you have another cup of black coffee, you might as well forget about sleeping tonight.” Li Tong held a freshly brewed cup of black coffee, hesitating to put it down on the table, trying to make a last stand.

Lu Yiyao didn’t even glance at him, his eyes still fixed on his phone screen, only tapping the table with his other hand.

Li Tong knew his words fell on deaf ears again. Not bothering to argue further, he just put down the coffee and sat back in the corner to stay awake.

Lu Yiyao took a sip of coffee and seemed to finally remember there was another person in the room. He put down his phone and rubbed his brow lightly. “Don’t worry about me. You can go rest.”

Li Tong muttered under his breath, “No more coffee refills?”

Although he depended on Lu Yiyao for his salary, because Lu Yiyao was usually approachable and good-natured, Li Tong dared to be a bit bold with him occasionally.

As expected, Lu Yiyao wasn’t angry at the teasing and even seriously replied, “I can refill it myself.”

Li Tong was speechless, realizing Lu Yiyao intended to continue drinking coffee.

When work got hectic, Lu Yiyao liked to drink black coffee. If possible, he would carry a simple filter coffee pot and ground coffee in his luggage, which Li Tong knew.

But firstly, Lu Yiyao usually drank coffee in the morning and afternoon, as sleep was the first guarantee of health—one of his life principles. So, unless he was working overnight, he rarely drank coffee in the evening to stay awake. Secondly, Lu Yiyao didn’t have any work that required staying up late today!

They had flown here today to shoot additional scenes for a movie Lu Yiyao had already wrapped up. In fact, a body double could have been used for this scene, but the director had just contacted Lu Yiyao to explain the situation, and he immediately agreed. The reshooting was scheduled for the next day.

This meant that what Lu Yiyao should be doing now was reviewing the scenes for the next day and then resting.

But in reality, he had completed the scene review in the afternoon and spent the entire evening watching the second episode of the variety show he participated in while drinking coffee and scrolling through his phone, seemingly ready to do so all night.

Li Tong, unable to stay up, decided to obediently go to sleep. But as he reached the door, curiosity got the better of him, and he turned back to ask, “Lu Ge, what exactly are you scrolling through?”

Lu Yiyao, who had just picked up his coffee again, took a leisurely sip before realizing the question, looked up at his assistant. “Hm?”

Li Tong sighed and decided to rephrase the question for better understanding. “Lu Ge, you’ve been watching TV and scrolling through your phone all night. Your thumb hasn’t stopped. What exactly are you scrolling through?”

“Oh.” Lu Yiyao finally understood the question, casually putting the coffee back on the table and lifting his phone screen towards his assistant at the door, as if that was enough explanation. “Something meaningful.”

Li Tong: “…”

Unable to see the phone screen clearly or understand the answer, Li Tong stood dazed for a moment, then turned, opened the door, and considerately closed it from the outside for his boss.

……

After watching the rebroadcast and going to sleep, Ran Lin didn’t wake up until nine o’clock the next morning.

The double-layered curtains in the room only blocked one layer of gauze, leaving the heavy fabric curtains parted at the sides. The sunlight easily penetrated through the thin gauze, illuminating the refreshing bedroom.

The first thing he did after getting up was to grab his phone, check the time, look for any missed calls, and finally turn on the data connection and Wi-Fi.

Ran Lin didn’t turn off his phone when sleeping, but he liked to disconnect from all networks. This way, if someone urgently needed to reach him, they would call, and the automatic pop-up messages from apps or communication software wouldn’t disturb his sleep.

Once the data was turned on, he casually clicked on WeChat, thinking that since the show aired last night, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang might have stayed up late discussing it in the group chat.

And he was right.

As soon as he entered the group chat, the delayed messages flooded in due to the network connection. Fortunately, Ran Lin had turned off WeChat notifications, so he quietly watched the messages scroll up, patiently waiting until all eighty-plus discussions appeared, finally stopping at Xia Xinran’s “Going to sleep” and Gu Jie’s “Hurry up”.

Ran Lin scrolled back to the first message and read them one by one.

It started with Xia Xinran at around two in the morning, praising the overall style change of the second episode and then complaining about why it was still awkward even in the second episode. Then Gu Jie jumped in to retort. Later, Lu Yiyao also briefly appeared, but only exchanged a couple of words and then disappeared.

The conversation finally ended with Xia Xinran and Gu Jie’s “goodnight”, timed at 2:59 a.m.

Ran Lin read through the entire conversation with a smile, then exited the chat group and returned to the WeChat list. He suddenly noticed that Lu Yiyao’s avatar had appeared in the recent list, right below the pinned Chen Sheng and Wu Guang group, with a red number “58” in the top right corner.

Ran Lin had never privately chatted with Lu Yiyao outside the group chat after exchanging WeChats. It was already shocking enough that Lu Yiyao sent a one-on-one message, let alone dozens of them. Ran Lin thought it was likely a sleepy mistake made in the middle of the night.

Curiously, he opened it and scrolled to the top. All fifty-eight messages were images, and the thumbnails looked very similar.

But the small images were too blurry, so Ran Lin opened the first one, which was sent at 3:20 a.m.

The clear, full-screen image quickly loaded…

Ran Lin was stunned and took a long time to recover.

They were screenshots of comments from his Weibo, selectively retained through a mosaic effect.

The mosaic was so crude it was almost like an abstract painting, obviously drawn directly with a finger in some software, but the information the creator wanted to preserve was very clear.

The one Ran Lin randomly opened had two comments retained:

Lin’s Little Burning Noodles: [I like the boy who took his friend who couldn’t ride in Yangshuo, the boy who was witty during the quick Q&A on the Li River, the boy who got distracted by the scenery in Jiuzhaigou and had his spoils stolen, the boy who gave the last skewer of Bobo chicken to his friend in Kuanzhai Alley. Ran Lin, I like you, and many others do too. You don’t need to respond to us. Just continue to be happy.]

When Will Beautiful Xia Show Up Again: [What you sow is what you reap. As long as you are guilt-free, there’s nothing to fear from slander. Xiaxia went through the same. You can learn from him 233333*.]

*Internet slang that represents laughter (like lol or hahaha). The number 233 refers to the 233^rd emoticon on Baidu Teiba, which depicts a character laughing. Adding extra 3’s to it just extends the laughter (like lololol).

His eyes brimming with tears, Ran Lin quickly closed the image and opened another.

Still Weibo comments:

Gargamel’s* Cat: [Honestly, the show isn’t that great, but the second episode was much better than the first, so I’m still looking forward to the third. Also, I like your awkward yet sincere manner. There’s no need to fake familiarity. Relationships take time to develop 🐱🐱]

*A fictional character and the main antagonist of the Smurfs show and comic books. He is a wizard and the sworn enemy of the Smurfs. His main goals are to destroy the Smurfs, eat them, or transform them into gold.

Kihara’s Family¹ Scummy Top²: [Thank God the post-production finally stopped forcing the issue. But why does the passionate second episode feel more heart-fluttering to us old ladies than the romantic first episode? How do you match with everyone? What’s going on?!]

¹Referencing the Kihara Family from the anime Toaru Majutsu no Index.
²(渣攻) This is a specific term in Chinese BL that is basically referring to a scum gong/seme/top.

All fifty-eight images.

Lu Yiyao must have sifted through countless comments to select these for him.

[I uninstalled it… If our show turns the tables in the future, you can help me check the comments, haha.]

The joke made in the Disneyland hotel had been taken seriously.

Ran Lin couldn’t imagine how long it must have taken to sift through thousands of negative comments to find these, or how much time it took to blur out upsetting comments, leaving only the ones that would amuse him. He was afraid to think about it, worried that his emotions would become uncontrollable.

No, they were already uncontrollable.

“Nutcase.”

Ran Lin smiled and cursed, wiping away the water stains on the screen.

Keeping the full-screen view, he swiped through each image, not knowing how much time passed until he finally reached the last one.

This image was completely different from the others—not a Weibo comment but a screenshot of a personal memo with only two lines—

[Block out rumors and you might miss encouragement and praise. The above comments are what I found meaningful, and I would like to share my encouragement with you.]

Looking at the last magical part of the sentence, Ran Lin couldn’t help but repeat the curse again—

“You’re such a nutcase!”

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Kinky Thoughts:

Seems like he’s crazy about you. But for real though, that’s super sweet and they’re not even together yet.

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