Gu Qingtong was visibly relieved that it ended so quickly. However, as she left, she was so focused on Yan Chi that she forgot about her sore back and legs. She took a large step out of habit, aggravating her discomfort. This instantly shifted her thoughts back to the “aftereffects” of their fanfiction role-play.
The mild soreness she felt was the same as when she sat down during the live stream. Normally, she could conceal this well in front of others, but with Yan Chi so close, she felt she could let her true self show. Only in front of someone who cared for her deeply did she fully expose her pampered side.
After spending the whole day without a private moment with Yan Chi since their morning at the hotel, Gu Qingtong had no chance to act spoiled or seek comfort. The travel and work had made her ignore her body’s signals, but now that they were alone, her need for her lover’s comfort overwhelmed her. She let out a small gasp and looked at Yan Chi with a hint of grievance in her eyes.
Yet, upon seeing the staff and cameras in the hallway, she swallowed her urge to whine.
“Just hold on a bit longer, we’re almost to the lounge,” Yan Chi reassured her, noticing that Gu Qingtong had forgotten her own limits again. Her tone and gaze were full of comfort. The more Yan Chi indulged her, the more entitled Gu Qingtong felt to be pampered. Even though she knew Yan Chi was taking her to the lounge to help relieve her pain, the overwhelming care made her feel her soreness even more acutely.
Despite wanting to whine, she knew she had to wait until they reached the lounge. The anticipation made her think, ‘Ugh, if no one was watching, Yan Chi would just carry me over…’
Feeling incredibly wronged, Gu Qingtong’s clingy mood wouldn’t be soothed until she got her way with Yan Chi. As soon as they entered the empty lounge, she quickly scanned the room to ensure there were no cameras. With no one watching, her emotions surged, and her eyes reddened with grievance as she looked at Yan Chi. She pointed to her waist and softly complained, “I told you today’s recording made my back ache all day…”
Her complaint, though, was more of a soft, coquettish plea than an actual grievance. Anyone could see she was asking for comfort and attention from Yan Chi.
Gu Qingtong’s pampering was meant solely for Yan Chi, but what she didn’t realize was that countless viewers were witnessing this tender moment. Yan Chi’s negotiation with the production team meant the live stream was still running, capturing footage from the hidden cameras in the lounge. Although staff had initially monitored these cameras to prevent live stream accidents, no one was paying attention now.
Due to this unexpected twist, everything that happened from the moment Gu Qingtong and Yan Chi entered the lounge was broadcast live by the hidden cameras! The fans watching the pre-live stream were a mix of supporters from both sides and their CP fans. They were all eager to ensure that the highest level of funding for the couple’s trip was achieved through their likes.
The production team, knowing the immense popularity of the duo, had set an exceptionally high bar for the likes needed. So even after the two had left the live stream, the number of viewers didn’t drop significantly. Fans continued to work together to increase the like count.
There were even jokes in the comments about how this might be the most harmonious day between Yan Chi’s fans, Gu Qingtong’s fans, and CP fans. No one expected that less than ten minutes later, the door to the lounge would open, and the two who had just left the live broadcast would appear again.
Initially, fans thought this was a surprise return arranged by the production team, and they were delighted, eager to greet them in the comments. But as they watched, they noticed something off about the situation. This…..this seemed like another hidden camera scenario.
[Isn’t this just like before when they used hidden cameras?]
[It’s possible. The production team was probably caught off guard by Yan Chi’s smooth handling of the challenges and is now trying to catch them off guard.]
Given the production team’s reputation, fans believed that after the seamless completion of the compatibility challenge, the team wouldn’t let them off so easily and had resorted to this tactic to regain the upper hand. If any team members had been watching the live stream, they would have protested their innocence. Unfortunately, they had turned off the monitor screen, unaware that the live broadcast was still running with the couple in view.
Some new fans, who had recently started following the couple after watching the edited scenes of “Bai Mei Sheng,” were concerned.
[Isn’t there a risk of them slipping up with hidden cameras? It’s easy to see how close they are off-camera.]
Long-time fans were quick to reassure the newcomers.
[Haha, when have Silent Gaze ever been afraid of hidden cameras?]
[Last time on the island, they were so sweet during the heartthrob mission! I highly recommend new fans watch the recorded broadcast—it’s the holy grail of Silent Gaze moments!]
[Absolutely, I’m looking forward to seeing how they act when they’re off-duty and not tasked with a mission!]
Just as these comments floated by, the viewers watched as Gu Qingtong, who had been scanning the room, turned red-eyed as soon as Yan Chi closed the door and walked over. She pointed at her waist, whining softly, “I told you today’s recording made my back ache all day…”
The audience had never seen Gu Qingtong, who was always poised and polite, reveal her true, spoiled nature like this. Especially when her whining was directed at Yan Chi.
Even the CP fans who knew the two were even sweeter in private were nearly left speechless. This… this interaction was way too much like they were already dating!
[??? Is this really for me to see? Is this really a hidden camera and not some acting task?]
[Backache? Why is her back aching?]
Their subsequent actions and dialogue answered this question. Yan Chi sat on the sofa, and without needing to say anything, Gu Qingtong naturally sat on her lap, looking up at Yan Chi with a pitiful expression. Yan Chi placed her hand on Gu Qingtong’s lower back, her long fingers massaging in a practiced manner, clearly not the first time she had done this. While massaging, she softened her tone and soothed Gu Qingtong, saying, “My bad, I won’t let Tongtong act in fanfiction again.”
This conversation, paired with the back massage, caused an explosion in the comments, with almost everyone typing question marks and exclamation points.
[What?! What kind of fanfiction are we talking about? Explain!]
[Is this really free to watch? Everyone knows what kind of content Silent Gaze’s fanfictions are. If she’s having backaches, it must have been quite intense, right?]
[This… this is basically a public confession. Isn’t this a live broadcast accident?]
Clearly, this level of shock couldn’t simply be described as sweet. Everyone expected the broadcast to cut off immediately, but neither the couple nor the production team realized there had been a live broadcast accident.
With Yan Chi’s meticulous massage, the soreness in Gu Qingtong’s back eased significantly. Feeling satisfied, Gu Qingtong clung more tightly to Yan Chi, wrapping her arms around Yan Chi’s neck and gazing into her eyes with wet, peach blossom eyes. After being comforted, Gu Qingtong’s earlier anxious and pouty attitude dissipated considerably:
“Actually, when I don’t see you, I can bear it… But it’s because you spoil me so much that as soon as I see you, I become all whiny and just want to be hugged and comforted.”
This naturally obedient Gu Qingtong, who was completely reliant on Yan Chi, made a gentle, spring-like smile appear on Yan Chi’s lips. Her free hand stroked Gu Qingtong’s head:
“Why are you so well-behaved today? Whether you’re well-behaved or whiny, I like you all the same.”
If the earlier revelation startled everyone, seeing their private interaction nearly fed the fans a mouthful of dog food. The sweetness seemed to dilute the initial shock.
Everyone now assumed the couple had gone public. The earlier numerous discussions in the comments were replaced by excited messages.
[Ahhh, so sweet! Silent Gaze has been secretly dating for a long time! Why treat us like outsiders? They should have gone public earlier!]
[Tongtong is so obedient, and Yan Chi is so doting. This is a divine love! Whether it was intentional or accidental, it’s such a great ship to sail!]
Silent Gaze had always been a rather ambiguous couple. While Gu Qingtong and Yan Chi’s solo fans weren’t as dedicated to shipping them as the CP fans, they weren’t entirely unprepared for this development. Especially seeing such intimate and sweet interactions, everyone knew they were each other’s true love. The sweetness evoked blessings and relief from almost everyone.
Yan Chi’s fans were particularly emotional, shedding tears of joy. After all this time, finally, someone could accompany the once solitary Yan Chi. The longstanding mystery ofSilent Gaze’s relationship was finally resolved. Everyone took the opportunity to enjoy the sweetness before the live stream ended.
Meanwhile, this explosive news spread like wildfire, with the media scrambling to report it. Within just ten minutes of the hidden camera broadcast, the hashtag #YanChiGuQingtongRelationshipRevealed accidentally skyrocketed to the top of trending topics, accompanied by a flood of related discussions. The live broadcast’s popularity soared, with netizens eager to catch this hot scoop, whether or not they shipped Xiang Gu Wu Yan. The audience rapidly grew from millions, heading towards tens of millions.
Despite the outside frenzy, the two people involved were still cozying up in the lounge. Gu Qingtong, recalling Yan Chi’s identical answers during the compatibility challenge, finally had the chance to ask her about it. However, due to resurfacing guilt and self-reproach, her words were hesitant and tinged with sadness:
“Because of the compatibility challenge just now, how…how did I only realize now that you’ve always been accommodating all my habits… I’m such an idiot, always failing to notice your kindness, thinking I knew you well, but in reality, I knew nothing.”
“So, my little dummy was overthinking this, huh? How is it accommodating?” Yan Chi placed her other hand on Gu Qingtong’s waist, holding her close. “It’s because I like Tong Tong that I like the same things as you and have the same habits.”
The last sentence was whispered in Gu Qingtong’s ear like a secret between them: “It’s Tongtong who turned my world colorful.”
Gu Qingtong understood all of Yan Chi’s feelings. She looked at Yan Chi, blinking her still red eyes. Always shy about expressing her feelings, she once again felt the urge to confess.
“I also like you, very, very much! I want to know everything about you, but I’m so stupid and careless that I know nothing…”
Yan Chi gently placed her finger on Gu Qingtong’s lips, interrupting her. Word by word, she said, “All of me belongs to Tongtong.”
As she spoke, she moved her hand to the back of Gu Qingtong’s head, leaning in as if to kiss her lips. The barrage of blessings in the comments erupted into frenzied screams at the sight of them about to kiss:
[Ahhh, kiss already!]
[They’re going to kiss! How can this be so sweet?!]
Even the passersby who came for the drama were won over by the sweetness, abandoning their initial intentions and joining in the excited screaming.
But no one expected the live stream, which had held on so long, to suddenly cut out. As the screen went black, a system message appeared on everyone’s devices: “The live broadcast has ended.”
Why end it now, of all times? Right at such a crucial moment?! They were just about to kiss!
All the viewers almost spat out a mouthful of blood and rushed to Weibo’s trending topics to wail. Clearly, the production team had finally realized the live broadcast accident. They found out through Weibo’s trending list while slacking off, only to realize the magnitude of their blunder. Seeing the two almost kissing on the surveillance screen, their blood pressure soared, and they hurriedly cut off the live broadcast and cameras.
Director Bu only learned about the whole situation after cutting the feed, nearly fainting at the realization. This mishap had forcibly outed Yan Chi and Gu Qingtong’s relationship, and he was doomed! It wasn’t just a matter of whether “Love Game” could continue filming; knowing the trouble he’d caused, Director Bu didn’t even have the courage to inform the two.
After hesitating outside the lounge for a long time, Director Bu finally knocked softly, ready to face the consequences. Was it his imagination, or did he hear the sound of someone hurriedly getting up and bumping into the table inside? After a moment, Yan Chi’s voice called out, “Come in.”
No matter how scared he was to face Yan Chi alone, Director Bu didn’t dare let anyone else from the crew see the couple’s embarrassment. Remembering the kiss on the live stream, he couldn’t resist his curiosity and glanced at Gu Qingtong’s face, noticing her suspicious blush.
Gu Qingtong had no idea everything had already been exposed during the live broadcast. Startled by the knock, she quickly got off Yan Chi’s lap like a frightened rabbit and accidentally bumped into the table. Already weak in the knees, she almost fell back into Yan Chi’s arms and now had tearful eyes, trying to act like nothing had happened.
“Teacher Yan, Qingtong…there’s been an incident.” Director Bu took a deep breath, gritting his teeth as he explained. Both Yan Chi and Gu Qingtong focused on him.
“There was an accident with the live broadcast. After it ended, we connected the idle camera feed to the hidden camera in this room. Since you entered this lounge, the camera has been filming and broadcasting to the ongoing live stream, visible to everyone.”
He swallowed hard, struggling to continue, “In other words, your relationship… has likely been unintentionally revealed.”
Gu Qingtong was stunned for half a minute before her brain could process Director Bu’s words. They had been live since they entered the lounge? That meant her whining about her sore waist, Yan Chi’s comments about “fanfiction,” and her sudden heartfelt confession were all…
Indeed, under such a shock, it was impossible to quickly accept and react. Realizing what had happened, Gu Qingtong was paralyzed with fear, staring blankly at Yan Chi.
“We noticed too late and cut the live stream just before you were about to kiss. Now the trending topics are dominated by this incident; you can go check.”
Yan Chi’s expression remained unchanged, becoming even calmer in the face of the unexpected situation. She didn’t respond to Director Bu immediately; instead, she held her clearly panicked wife’s hand, gently squeezing it and comforting her softly, “Tongtong, weren’t you always hesitating about going public? It’s okay.”
Finding her anchor, the still-terrified Gu Qingtong nodded at Yan Chi, though still biting her lip. They were in Hua Yan headquarters, where PR and Yan Chi’s team were already preparing to discuss a response plan.
Gu Qingtong’s first instinct was to check Weibo’s trending topics, only to find that Weibo had crashed, and other operations were extremely slow. Obviously, their accidental outing, involving Yan Chi and a same-sex relationship, had caused an online uproar. As one of the culprits behind Weibo’s crash, Gu Qingtong felt helpless and turned to U-Station to watch the recorded live stream.
Netizens had the same idea, and the only uploaded recording showed 20,000 people watching simultaneously. Despite the chaos in her mind, Gu Qingtong remembered the scenes that had just been broadcast. The thought alone was mortifying, but actually watching it felt even worse.
The recording on U-Station also included the original and current live comments, filling the entire screen. From the moment she entered the room and started whining, acting all soft and aggrieved like a wronged wife, Gu Qingtong felt the urge to dig a hole and hide in it.
The act of whining meant only for Yan Chi being exposed to everyone was as mortifying for Gu Qingtong as if she had gone out without clothes! Yan Chi’s comforting words further revealed why her back was sore, leaving no doubt that they had been enacting some indescribable fanfiction the previous day.
The screen was filled with yellow question marks as everyone discussed the fanfiction. Gu Qingtong felt like banging her head against the wall. The entire nation could see this! From now on, she would be seen as someone with strange hobbies.
Although Gu Qingtong had considered going public with their relationship, she never imagined it would happen in such a socially devastating manner. After watching just a little, she already felt like she wanted to leave Earth.
The rest, though less mortifying, still revealed everything about their relationship. Everyone had seen how she and Yan Chi interacted as a couple. Even the almost-broadcasted kiss was nearly shown!
The screams and blessings in the comments couldn’t heal Gu Qingtong’s heart, already riddled with embarrassment. She looked up dazedly at Yan Chi, her expression resembling a tearful cat emoji.
❖❖❖❖❖
After nearly half an hour of downtime on a certain platform, the programmers finally managed to revive it.
The trending topic of the couple’s relationship remained highly popular, still marked with the bright red “explosive” icon. Hua Yan had yet to make a move or respond this time. After all, everyone knew that in such a publicly disastrous live stream, whether the parties involved responded or not didn’t make much of a difference. It wasn’t until late at night that both their studios released a joint statement confirming the authenticity of their relationship. At least there was now an official acknowledgement. However, unlike previous relationship exposes of various idols, which often led to backlash, the online discussions this time were mostly filled with well wishes for the couple. Even though it was a same-sex relationship and revealed in such a dramatic way, the two were simply too sweet together. It was as if netizens were being force-fed sugar—they couldn’t help but ship them. The key difference was that both were actors who relied on their own talent and acting skills, so there wasn’t really any kind of scandal. They seemed like a match made in heaven, no matter how you looked at it. Even their fans didn’t mind, and other shippers and casual viewers were even more enthusiastic about it. The buzz continued for three days before new trending topics finally took over, largely due to both parties keeping a low profile. Still, this brought renewed attention to shows like “Love Game” and “Bai Mei Sheng”, as people were eager to know when their relationship actually began. Many “CP shippers” emerged, analyzing footage from dating shows and other activities frame by frame, trying to deduce the timeline. From being joked about as a “Silent Gaze CP” to becoming a real ship, fans who shipped them clearly felt like they had won big. And if anyone was embarrassed, it was probably the influencers who had posted airport photos that morning, claiming the couple was faking their interactions out of disdain for each other. As it turns out, the internet does have a memory.
Netizens mocked the influencer under their Weibo post:
[Haha, you said they broke up in the morning, but they made it public in the evening—this has to be the fastest backtrack in history.]
[It’s that time again where I dig up old posts to see others embarrass themselves—this confident tone is killing me with laughter!]
Eventually, the influencer, after being relentlessly ridiculed, deleted the post in a panic. Now, everyone finally understood why Gu Qingtong had cast that resentful glance at Yan Chi. It was definitely because of that “unspeakable” fanfiction performance.
Although the latter half of the live stream was tooth-achingly sweet, the viewers clearly hadn’t forgotten the explosive start with phrases like “back pain” and “acting out fanfiction.” Many rushed to find out what kind of fanfiction it was. As a result, fanfiction within the “Silent Gaze Couple” fandom became a viral sensation beyond the usual circles. Everyone knew now that the fanfiction written by these talented authors was not only read by the real people it was based on, but the two had even acted it out together.
Fans were delighted, laughing without a care, while no one noticed that Gu Qingtong was utterly mortified to the point of wanting to disappear. It was evident that the company only confirmed the relationship because Gu Qingtong had yet to recover from the aftermath. Her skin was naturally thin, and at this point, all she wanted was to vanish from the public eye, something that Yan Chi clearly noticed.
Still, no matter how embarrassed she felt, Gu Qingtong remained professional, not letting it affect her work. But every time she had to go to a scheduled event, she would be fully disguised with a hat, sunglasses, and a mask, wishing that no one would recognize her.
It wasn’t until a few days later, when the internet’s attention on the couple had died down, that Gu Qingtong finally began to bury this most humiliating moment deep in her heart. Despite being rocked by the live stream incident, Gu Qingtong hadn’t forgotten that the weekend marked Yan Chi’s 15th-anniversary film exhibition.
As the date neared, she secretly made plans with Xiao Jun. Though they called it a “strategy,” the plan was simply for Xiao Jun to wait for Gu Qingtong at the staff entrance and escort her in. During the dark screening, she could sneak into a corner seat that Xiao Jun had reserved for her and leave before the lights came on. In the pitch-black theater, not even Yan Chi’s fans, or Yan Chi herself, would be able to recognize her.
Gu Qingtong was quite satisfied with the plan, but knowing her tendency to get into trouble, she didn’t want to jinx it, quietly hoping the day would go smoothly. It wasn’t just Gu Qingtong; Yan Chi’s fans were also eagerly looking forward to the event. Besides the hundred or so invited fans attending in person, the film exhibition would also be streamed online.
The night before the exhibition finally arrived, and Gu Qingtong’s schedule for the day was over. To ensure she could attend the event unnoticed, she had deliberately told Yan Chi that her shoot would run late and she wouldn’t return to City A until the day after tomorrow.
News about Yan Chi’s film exhibition was everywhere, and Gu Qingtong couldn’t pretend to be oblivious. So, during a phone call before bed, she sweetly said:
“Sister, good luck at your exhibition tomorrow! If I have a break during the shoot, I’ll watch the live stream too!”
On the other end of the line, Yan Chi let out a soft chuckle:
“Mm, Tongtong, make sure to work hard too. Sleep early—tomorrow’s an important day. Don’t oversleep.”
Gu Qingtong thought Yan Chi was referring to her own filming schedule, not realizing that Yan Chi was quietly orchestrating her entire plan from behind the scenes. While Gu Qingtong lay in bed, tossing and turning in anticipation of the next day, Yan Chi sat alone in her study, scrolling through that old TT Weibo account, reading every post from the beginning.
