After a “lengthy” wait, there was finally some movement. In the video, Yan Chi and Gu Qingtong emerged one after the other from the closet.
Yan Chi hadn’t changed much, but Gu Qingtong’s face had a hint of crimson. It wasn’t clear if it was from being confined in the closet or from the closeness to Yan Chi. It seemed to perfectly confirm the barrage she had sent earlier.
As a result, many viewers watching online gave this comment a thumbs-up, unexpectedly propelling it to the top of the popular comments. The nickname “Tong Tong, what did you eat today?” even appeared prominently in the barrage, making Gu Qingtong feel a bit embarrassed.
This nickname was novel and cute, and many viewers quickly recognized it. Gu Qingtong consoled herself, thinking that even though her comment had been liked, no one knew it was her, Gu Qingtong, who had posted it. It was just a bit embarrassing!
Little did she know that later on, this nickname would become associated with her for everyone to know.
Now it was quite late, and Gu Qingtong chose to watch only the segments featuring herself and Yan Chi. After finishing that part, she fast-forwarded to the breakfast task scene. She couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious, as there were some scenes in there that were quite embarrassing and she didn’t know how the director had handled them in the final cut.
The breakfast task was shown from a bird’s-eye view, and all netizens knew the tasks of all the participants from the beginning. Almost as soon as they saw the task “Stare at all participants for 30 seconds” that Yan Chi had drawn, fans immediately recalled the passionate one-minute eye contact challenge during today’s couple livestream.
Initially, viewers were looking forward to seeing whether Yan Chi and Gu Qingtong would be forced to get close due to the task again. They expressed their regrets, saying things like: [Oh no, Silent Gaze have already stared at each other for a minute. The show isn’t fun anymore. It’s not as exciting as planning a cover for certain pairs.]
Gu Qingtong remembered that Yan Chi had refused to do the task but had willingly accepted the challenge with her, even if it was for a minute. She suddenly realized the blatant double standards she had applied. She didn’t want to stare at others for 30 seconds, but she was willing to do it with her.
She…was different in Yan Chi’s heart!
This sentence lingered in her mind, and Gu Qingtong felt her heart was as sweet as if she had eaten honey. She couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Yan Chi, and her eyes shone brightly.
Yan Chi almost instantly sensed the deer-in-headlights look and the joy of a young girl in Gu Qingtong’s gaze when she looked at her. Instead of turning her head to scare her away, she restrained the urge and let her gaze linger on her for a while longer.
Each of the seven people had their own unique tasks, but the most thrilling one was undoubtedly Deng Dongjun’s task: “Make a pair of CP1Couple Pairing sleep together except for yourself.”
Everyone was guessing which CP would get this opportunity. After all, it was essentially like sleeping together!
Gu Qingtong could almost imagine the scene when she and Yan Chi were placed in the same bed, with the barrage of comments filling the screen. However, it was clear that the production team was using this as a suspense element, and they would reveal which CP it was after all the tasks were completed.
While there were some spoilers in the comments, there were also plenty of people pretending to spoil the outcome just to create chaos. So, after all this discussion, nobody would know for sure that it was Silent Gaze who would sleep together until they watched further.
In the task storyline, Wen Ziyao had the least screen time. After all, all his offensive language had been cut out, leaving only the scene where he failed the task and had his hair returned to Gu Qingtong.
It was even less impactful than Yu Xi, who chose to sleep through the entire ordeal at the beginning of the task. The production team even captured six different sleeping positions of his as a humorous contrast to the others who were actively trying to complete their tasks.
Netizens were laughing hysterically and taking screenshots of the sleeping images, captioning them with “Facing difficulties, sleep it off.” Yu Xi’s comedic character remained unshaken.
It was only when Gu Qingtong rewatched this edited clip that she discovered the reason why Yan Chi was able to obtain the plastic bag with Bai Jin’s hair. It was because when they were sitting on the sofa waiting for an opportunity, a bag had slipped onto the sofa, and Yan Chi quietly took it.
The barrage of comments didn’t know that Yan Chi was going to help Gu Qingtong with her task and assumed that Yan Chi was intentionally causing trouble to prevent her from completing it.
Even though the fans of the CP always managed to find their own humorous angles:
[Teacher Yan, you’re so naughty. Are you trying to prevent Tongtong from completing her task so that you can feed her breakfast the next morning?]
But there were always outsiders and trolls who didn’t understand the situation and started criticizing Yan Chi without knowing the full story:
[Aren’t they on the same team? Why would they even sabotage their own teammate? It’s strange to forcibly create program effects without any variety show sense.]
[So, it’s not just me. I always feel that Yan Chi never cooperates with the production team when participating in variety shows. Every time, she cools down the atmosphere. Has she become addicted to her aloof persona?]
Yan Chi looked at these barrage comments without any reaction. Over her fifteen-year career, she had experienced more than just applause and cheers. Her works had even been falsely accused of plagiarism. After seeing so much….her heart was no longer moved by any disturbances.
But Gu Qingtong was not happy about it.
Seeing Yan Chi being misunderstood, Gu Qingtong felt even worse than being criticized herself. She calmly took out her phone and directly responded in the barrage:
[What do you mean by not cooperating with the production team? Teacher Yan has completed almost every task the best way possible. According to your logic, there would be no need to film anything! And how do you know she took the bag to sabotage others? I can’t stand people like you who start arguments without knowing the full story.]
Not only Gu Qingtong but also Yan Chi’s fans in the barrage were refuting the few troublemakers who had jumped in earlier. Gu Qingtong’s comments was drowned out among the many fans, and even she couldn’t find her own words on the projection screen.
This is probably for the best… Gu Qingtong had mixed feelings. She both feared Yan Chi seeing her response and hoped that she would.
Yan Chi’s peripheral vision landed on Gu Qingtong, who had just been typing on her phone. She didn’t say anything but directly opened her phone, located the segment of the video from earlier, pulled up the list of all the barrages, and opened each one, looking at the nicknames one by one.
Among the barrages, some were insulting her, while others were defending her. However, Yan Chi almost ignored them all, focusing only on one name. Finally, after going through dozens of barrages, a familiar nickname appeared before Yan Chi’s eyes.
Yan Chi could almost imagine the fierce expression on Gu Qingtong’s face as she uttered that sentence. She smiled softly and saved that sentence as a screenshot.
Gu Qingtong, hearing Yan Chi’s laughter, looked puzzled and asked: “Someone is spreading nonsense, and you’re not angry, but why are you laughing?”
“If behaving this way will make me worthy of being cared for and protected by you, isn’t that something worth smiling for?” Yan Chi’s gaze fell on Gu Qingtong, who looked increasingly baffled, and in that moment, the usual coldness in her eyes seemed to soften.
“You saw it?” Gu Qingtong suddenly became alert, carefully examining the barrage on the projection screen, but it had disappeared long ago. “That’s impossible; I saw it, but it didn’t show up on the screen!”
Watching Gu Qingtong, who was about to spill everything, Yan Chi finally spoke: “I guessed.”
“You…you won’t help next time!” Gu Qingtong, feeling tricked by Yan Chi once again, looked at her with a touch of resentment.
Yan Chi glanced at the screenshot of the sentence she had saved, secretly cherishing this moment of affection.
At this point, the video had already progressed to the scene where Yan Chi confronted Bai Jin.
The production team had clearly put in a lot of effort to handle this silent confrontation. They quickly glossed over it in a brief segment.
The main purpose was to let the audience know that Bai Jin had failed her task because Yan Chi discovered it, and Yan Chi went to find her to clarify the situation about Bai Jin’s hair. Otherwise, the outcome of the breakfast task couldn’t be explained.
Viewers had long known about the confrontations between Yan Chi and Bai Jin. At first, everyone thought the battleground was between Deng Dongjun and Yu Xi fighting for Bai Jin’s attention. However, these two male guests quickly turned into comedians, revealing that the real battleground was among the three female guests.
But because Silent Gaze were the main couple of the show, even in the midst of these confrontations, people saw Bai Jin as a valuable assistant to Silent Gaze. After all, if we were to say that Gu Qingtong kept her distance from Yan Chi, then her desire to stay far away from Bai Jin was clearly visible. Her survival instincts seemed about to overflow from the screen; it really wasn’t a good idea to ship this CP.
The confrontation scene was quite brief, but the tension between the two was palpable. It wasn’t until Yan Chi plucked a strand of hair that the audience suddenly realized that the reason Yan Chi had taken the bag earlier was to help Gu Qingtong with her task.
Seeing this development, the chat exploded with excitement. Fans of Silent Gaze were ecstatic because it was like the main couple was handing them sugar on a silver platter. They continued to mock the earlier naysayers in the chat:
[For those who were criticizing earlier, are you eating your words now? Our Teacher Yan is spoiling Tongtong, do we really need your unsolicited advice?]
[Ah, it must be possessiveness! Teacher Yan didn’t want Tong Mei to interact with her love rival, so she just completed her task!]
[Teacher Yan is incredible. How did she know about Tong Mei’s task? Her doting on her is truly admirable!]
“Hey, when did you find out that my task was to collect everyone’s hair?” Gu Qingtong asked as she watched the chat.
“Isn’t it obvious? I didn’t know you had a thing for collecting people’s hair,” Yan Chi replied, still focused on the chat.
During the recording of the show, although Gu Qingtong intentionally ignored Yan Chi’s gaze, under Yan Chi’s habit of “watching over her wife,” every look and gesture she made fell into Yan Chi’s eyes, and she had almost instantly figured it out.
Gu Qingtong pouted and muttered: “You don’t know everything, you know.”
For example, she liked it when Yan Chi wore golden-rimmed glasses, something Yan Chi had never known until she saw that video today!
“But every time you’re seduced by me, Tongtong, it’s quite obvious,” Yan Chi said playfully. As she spoke, she lazily leaned against the sofa, her slender fingers, with distinct knuckles, resting at the collar of her robe. She intentionally or unintentionally tugged it down at the point where her robe met, revealing more of her fair skin, with the contours of her collarbone and a tantalizing hint of something hidden beneath.
Gu Qingtong was sitting on the other side, and she could clearly see that shadowy area. While they didn’t often strip completely during their intimate moments, each time they revealed a little more, it had the power to completely captivate Gu Qingtong.
The cold and restrained highborn beauty, with her icy and frosty gaze, was tainted by the almost otherworldly sensuality that she couldn’t resist. It was just a minor experiment, but Gu Qingtong couldn’t restrain her gaze from wandering once again.
When she realized she had lost control again, she let out a frustrated groan. Yan Chi, on the other hand, wasn’t about to repeat the same action for the third time today. After adjusting her collar, she half-closed her eyes and smiled, saying: “I knew it, Tongtong can never resist.”
Once Gu Qingtong had calmed her emotions for a moment and refocused her attention on the variety show, they were at the part where Silent Gaze would be sleeping together. Clearly, the audience in the live chat already knew that the cp assigned to this challenge was Silent Gaze.
They were overjoyed:
[Dongjun is quite something! He’s been clever since he was a child! I declare him the second benefactor of Silent Gaze fans after Bai Jin.]
[Hehehe, they’re going to sleep together, hehehe.]
[Perhaps no one cares, but the progress bar is on the edge. If the production team dares to cut off the first episode at the sleeping scene, I’ll assassinate them!]
With this comment, everyone smelled a conspiracy from the production team. As expected, the scene cut to Gu Qingtong filming herself, and after a disclaimer filled with survival instincts before leaving in the middle of the night, she quietly left her room.
When she arrived at Yan Chi’s door, she noticed a gap left open. The camera froze at the door gap…..and that’s how it ended!
[Why did the production team have to do this? I’m really going to thank them!]
[Teacher Yan left a gap at the door, knowing that Tongtong was coming. That means she’s awake, right?!]
[Silent Gaze Super Fans, gather! Although the production team is as dogged as ever, this episode’s sweetness will last us for a week.]
Gu Qingtong looked at the chaotic barrage of comments and felt that the production team had gone too far. Cutting it off at this point was excessive, even from her perspective as the person involved.
She made a clicking sound and entered a certain social media account, intending to see if there were any hot trends related to the latest episode. However, as soon as she clicked in, she was startled by the real-time top trending hashtag, #SilentGazeComesOut#, causing her to hold her breath.
What’s going on with ‘coming out’?
With a thousand possibilities racing through her mind, Gu Qingtong’s face turned pale, and she couldn’t bring herself to click on it. She instinctively looked at Yan Chi, her voice trembling: “Yan Chi, go check the current top trending hashtag. We, we’ve been ‘outed’…..”
She could only say the word “outed” after taking a deep breath. When Yan Chi heard this, her eyebrows furrowed. Her initial reaction was to think of the paparazzi at the parking lot. If something major had really happened, Hua Yan wouldn’t have failed to call her and ask how to handle it.
She clicked on it and quickly understood the situation. She then said to Gu Qingtong: “The trending topic is discussing the content from the variety show we just watched.”
Gu Qingtong exclaimed with an “Ah!” and finally dared to tap on the hashtag. She saw that netizens were discussing the scene where the two of them emerged from the closet. It was a well-known internet joke that coming out of the closet equated to coming out as LGBTQ+.
The production team at the company certainly wouldn’t dare to create such a trending topic intentionally. It was the result of internet users making memes and jokes, but because the topic was so sensational, it had quickly gained the top spot, making it look like a public coming-out.
[Wait? Did Silent Gaze just come out? Hahahaha!]
[The first openly out LGBTQ+ couple in love variety shows. Well, well, we’ve won again, folks!]
Gu Qingtong looked at these comments with a mix of laughter and exasperation. Reflecting on her marriage to Yan Chi, even though it was a low-profile one, they had easily come out to friends and family. However, coming out in front of the public was an entirely different matter.
Not to mention marriage, just the exposure of her intimate relationship with Yan Chi would likely attract various opinions, right?…
As Gu Qingtong thought about it, she shook her head. What was she even thinking? They had agreed from the beginning, even before their marriage, that they would keep it low-profile. So why would there be a day when they had to come out?
At that moment, Yan Chi suddenly asked: “Tongtong, if one day our relationship gets exposed, would you choose to go public?”
This question fell on Gu Qingtong’s ears, and it seemed like the first time Yan Chi had asked her about their future. It caught her off guard, as she had always been in a passive position, following Yan Chi’s guidance and arrangements every step of the way. Whether it was their arranged marriage or all the things they should or shouldn’t do, Yan Chi had always taken the lead.
Now, Yan Chi was asking her, “Would you choose to go public?” It wasn’t about actively coming out but assuming a scenario where their relationship was exposed. Gu Qingtong didn’t know how to respond.
From this question, Gu Qingtong suddenly realized that Yan Chi seemed to have no intention of coming out publicly. Both of them understood that this was merely….a business marriage, nothing more.
This realization weighed heavily on Gu Qingtong’s heart, much like when she discovered Yan Chi’s ideal type was a perfect movie character. Even though these were facts she had known for a long time, when she actually saw and heard them, it felt like she had fallen into a silent quagmire.
What made it even more difficult was that she couldn’t let anyone know, as nobody knew that their marriage was driven by such selfish motives.
Gu Qingtong keenly felt her sudden sense of desolation. But why was she so upset? Was this the kind of feeling a fan should have?
This question was like a sharp thorn, breaking through the barriers of her emotions and piercing into the hidden places that she had repeatedly almost discovered but deliberately ignored and concealed.
It forced Gu Qingtong to confront all her emotions and secrets that she had been avoiding for so long. It was evident that this question had been building up for a while, carrying with it the things she had refused to think about or consider deeply. It erupted within her heart.
Gu Qingtong realized, albeit belatedly, could it be that she wished Yan Chi had no ideal type, or that her ideal type was related to herself?
Did she want to become Yan Chi’s partner who could be openly acknowledged and accepted?
All signs pointed to her falling for Yan Chi, but Gu Qingtong still didn’t fully grasp that this was infatuation, that it was love. She only knew that she was falling deeper and deeper for Yan Chi, hoping for more, and desiring to possess all the intense emotions hidden beneath Yan Chi’s cool exterior.
The business alliance was just an excuse she had given herself. Allowing Yan Chi to go further each time was clearly what she desired. Now, she had no way to cool her heart, which was beginning to warm up due to her falling for Yan Chi.
She had cautioned herself before, but all her reservations and retreats disappeared when she saw Yan Chi. She became so unprincipled. Seeing Gu Qingtong’s slightly pale face, Yan Chi concealed the smile at the corner of her mouth without a trace.
She had expected this, but it was too soon for Gu Qingtong. Once again, she was deceived by Gu Qingtong’s docility and dependence, thinking that she could take advantage of the situation.
Yan Chi’s voice remained calm:
“I understand. Don’t worry, I just happened to want to ask your opinion. If it ever gets exposed, Hua Yan’s PR team will handle it.”
“……Alright.”
Gu Qingtong’s thoughts were interrupted by Yan Chi, and she could only utter this sentence. She smiled bitterly in her heart, realizing that Yan Chi had been prepared to handle the situation all along.
Indeed, if Yan Chi hadn’t been so well-prepared, how could she continue this intimate relationship, which no one knew about, so recklessly with her?
Gu Qingtong was dull-witted, not understanding what it meant to like or to love someone. She only knew how to collect her dependence, excitement, and dissatisfaction in the corner.
But she had truly tasted it for the first time. Even though the person she desired was right there, she couldn’t become their one and only, which was a source of bitterness.
It turned out that since Yan Chi had come so close, she was no longer the unattainable figure she used to be. Gu Qingtong’s admiration and desire for her had grown. From the moment she started feeling insecure, the young girl’s secret crush was destined to expand in her heart.
Gu Qingtong didn’t know how to deal with this sudden fall. The current her was no longer the same as the past. She couldn’t simply close her eyes, cover her ears, and engage in those intimate acts with Yan Chi without any psychological burden. Even though the seeds of desire had long been buried in her heart during that time, she had been misled repeatedly due to her slowness and lack of understanding.
Gu Qingtong was just like before, retreating into her comfort zone whenever she faced something she couldn’t solve, letting those around her push her as they pleased. If her actions with Yan Chi were driven by desire, then why was Yan Chi so obsessed with her body, treating her as if she were a lover each time?
She had no answer, or rather, because of her own compromised position, she didn’t dare to make any definitive statements to Yan Chi. Gu Qingtong still didn’t understand Yan Chi.
How could such a cold and distant person show such intense desire in front of her, igniting her own desires in the process? Should she express her feelings to Yan Chi?
This idea suddenly struck Gu Qingtong and left her breathless for a moment. She instinctively wanted to avoid it. Over the past dozen years, she had become accustomed to hiding her feelings for Yan Chi, which no one knew about despite Yan Chi’s pursuit.
Now, it seems even more difficult to speak about it. The emotions she had accidentally discovered felt like a burning fire, constantly reminding Gu Qingtong that everything was different from before.
“I… I need to go to sleep,” Gu Qingtong suddenly realized she was still in front of Yan Chi. She hurriedly excused herself, instinctively wanting to escape, afraid that everything would be written on her face, allowing Yan Chi to discover everything in an instant.
At this moment, the atmosphere between the two was somewhat strange. Perhaps the question of whether or not to go public had punctured the balance that had been maintained between them all along. Although they had long crossed the boundaries of their business marriage, both were used to hiding their feelings, and neither had taken the initiative to advance their surface relationship and emotions further. As a result, everything now felt a bit awkward.
“So….do you want to sleep with me tonight?” Yan Chi’s voice lingered around them, and her tone somehow carried a hint of dampness, which was rarely seen in someone as proud as Yan Chi. Gu Qingtong’s jumbled thoughts momentarily cleared. She was like a moth to a flame, knowing that the fire lay ahead, that it was where she had fallen, yet she finally responded: “Yes.”
