“What have you guys been up to?” Mu Nianwen leaned back, his eyes wide.
Xiao Can hurriedly shook his head, “It’s not—”
Before he could finish, the excited Mu Nianwen interrupted, “You slept together, right? You definitely did! Only after sleeping together would you say something like that?!”
“We didn’t—”
“I can’t believe it! Isn’t he impotent? How did you manage it? Did you drug him?” Mu Nianwen stood up, “You’re amazing!”
“Will you let me finish—”
“Wait, doesn’t he have a partner?” Mu Nianwen slapped his thigh. “Are you being the third party? You’re actually being a third party! Xiao Can, how could you be the third party?”
“Can you let me speak!” Xiao Can shouted at him.
Mu Nianwen’s expression twisted, and after scrutinizing him for a moment, he hesitated before sitting back down.
“We didn’t sleep together!” Xiao Can emphasized seriously.
“Then why did he say…” Mu Nianwen glanced at Xiao Can’s phone.
“He’s crazy! He doesn’t speak like a normal person!” Xiao Can said, “He was drunk that day, I just took him back to his room!”
“Why do I feel like it’s more than that…” Mu Nianwen muttered.
He was right. If it weren’t for He Xingzhou’s actual inability, something might have happened between them.
But even so, Xiao Can didn’t consider himself a third party.
To avoid trouble, he decided to use some misdirection in his explanation: “And besides, Tan Zhen has already broken up with him.”
“Huh?” Mu Nianwen was indeed surprised.
“They just haven’t announced it yet,” Xiao Can said, “Don’t spread it around.”
“Is it true? They announced it less than half a year ago,” Mu Nianwen looked skeptical, “Did He Xingzhou tell you? He’s not lying to you, is he?”
“Tan Zhen told me the same,” Xiao Can said.
“What’s going on with these two?” Mu Nianwen couldn’t understand, “They’re good one moment, breaking up the next… Did He Xingzhou get drunk because of the breakup?”
“Cough,” Xiao Can cleared his throat, his face a bit red, “I intentionally got him drunk.”
Though embarrassed, he was willing to be honest with Mu Nianwen.
Mu Nianwen raised an eyebrow.
“You denied it so firmly earlier, I thought you were innocent. But you actually got him drunk, how are you going to complete the mark now?”
“It’s just… while he was… um… drunk,” Xiao Can couldn’t bring himself to say it so bluntly, “I took advantage of the situation…”
“People usually get a little loose when they’re drunk, it’s the alcohol giving them courage,” Mu Nianwen said, “If they’re really drunk, they can’t even stand, especially him being impotent, a double debuff, no wonder you guys didn’t do anything in the end.”
Xiao Can was dumbfounded.
Was that so? Couldn’t stand up even when drunk?
He had drunk quite a bit himself that day, but still felt fine. Was it because he wasn’t drunk enough?
As they conversed, Xiao Can’s phone vibrated again.
This time, he was highly alert, avoiding Mu Nianwen before activating the screen. Mu Nianwen, visibly displeased, deliberately clicked his tongue twice.
It was another message from He Xingzhou.
—I’ve never been so drunk before, I was confused and very rude, but it wasn’t intentional.
Of course, Xiao Can knew he wasn’t being rude intentionally. After all, he was the one who initiated it, so he was the rude one.
“Your face is red,” Mu Nianwen said.
Xiao Can put down his phone and whispered, “Are you sure it’s because he drank too much that he… couldn’t…”
“Really being drunk makes it impossible,” Mu Nianwen frowned, “But the reason he couldn’t… I can’t say for sure.”
Xiao Can rubbed his nose, leaned closer to Mu Nianwen, and lowered his voice even more, “He told me he’s fine.”
“In his public statement, he said…”
“It’s fake,” Xiao Can blushed, “He’s lying.”
Mu Nianwen glanced at Xiao Can’s phone again, then nodded slowly after a moment, “I understand now, I understand…”
“Do you understand now?” Xiao Can asked.
Mu Nianwen pointed at his phone. “He’s here to hook up with you.”
“No!” Xiao Can hastily denied, “We didn’t discuss that!”
“But you clearly wanted to—” Mu Nianwen was interrupted halfway as Xiao Can forcefully covered his mouth.
“The doctor said I need to complete the mark, you know!” Xiao Can blushed furiously, covering the lower half of Mu Nianwen’s face with his hand, and said seriously, “I just want to remove the mark!”
“Mmm—mmm—” Mu Nianwen struggled in pain.
Xiao Can let go, and he took a deep breath.
“My side effects are so severe, it will definitely affect my work in the future,” Xiao Can justified, “For long-term considerations, I can only sacrifice for now! Isn’t this a very rational judgment?”
Mu Nianwen’s gaze shifted to the other side as he muttered, “I think you’re just feeling frisky.”
“I’m not telling you anymore, we can’t communicate at all,” Xiao Can pursed his lips, “You can’t understand my difficulties at all.”
He glanced at Mu Nianwen and saw him rolling his eyes.
Xiao Can poked him. “You don’t think I have feelings for him, do you?”
“I don’t know if you have feelings for him,” Mu Nianwen said, “But one thing’s for sure, I shouldn’t be wrong.”
“What?”
Mu Nianwen smiled at him, “Didn’t you feel good when it happened last time?”
“…” Xiao Can turned away from him, “I don’t remember.” After a pause, he added, “I shouldn’t have been so honest with you. I won’t talk to you about these things anymore.”
Seeing that he was genuinely upset, Mu Nianwen quickly pleaded, “My bad, I was just kidding. I was just teasing you, don’t be mad at me.”
“I totally made a rational decision, thinking I could give it a try…” Xiao Can muttered.
“Yeah, yeah,” Mu Nianwen nodded, “Go ahead, give it a try. But…”
“What?”
“You should let him know what happened that day,” Mu Nianwen said, “Tell him, so you can reasonably make demands on him. Why bother drugging him?”
“…”
Just then, the phone vibrated again.
He still didn’t reply to the messages, and He Xingzhou misunderstood.
“Should I not have brought up that day?” he asked.
Xiao Can replied, “Let’s not talk about it.”
“Ah, it’s starting!” Mu Nianwen sat up excitedly. “It’s the debut of our Xiao Big Beauty in a variety show!”
Xiao Can felt a bit nervous, clasping his hands together and whispering softly, “I hope I don’t get scolded too harshly.”
“What did you do exactly?” Mu Nianwen was puzzled.
Xiao Can awkwardly smiled at him.
On the screen, the opening credits quickly finished, and several regular guests appeared.
Another message from He Xingzhou popped up on the phone.
“It’s starting. Are you watching?”
Xiao Can replied, “Yeah.”
As the new guests were introduced one by one, it was Xiao Can’s turn, and Mu Nianwen burst into laughter.
“The Ambassador of Warmth! What a stupid name! Hahahaha!”
Xiao Can gestured with his hand, “This stupid name is worth this much.”
Mu Nianwen’s expression froze. “Oh crap!”
Then, a new message arrived on the phone, this time with a photo. Charlie was sitting on someone’s lap with his back to the camera, and in the background was a large TV screen.
“Charlie and I are watching together,” He Xingzhou wrote.
Xiao Can was delighted to see Charlie.
“Say hi to him for me,” Xiao Can replied.
“Are you still chatting?” Mu Nianwen asked. “Are you talking about completing the mark?”
Xiao Can nudged him with his elbow. “Shut up!”
After all the guests were introduced, it was time for the grouping segment.
“Who are you in a group with? Tan Zhen?” Mu Nianwen asked.
Xiao Can remained silent.
“It’s not bad to be in a group with Qin-ge. I quite like him,” Mu Nianwen continued.
Xiao Can pretended to be busy on his phone and didn’t reply. He Xingzhou’s new message appeared at just the right time.
“Tan Zhen said something inappropriate in the program interview. I wonder if it will be aired.”
Xiao Can was puzzled.
Tan Zhen was usually more sensible than He Xingzhou. What could he have said that was inappropriate?
He replied with a question mark.
Before He Xingzhou could respond, the program had already reached the part where Tan Zhen was choosing someone.
Mu Nianwen finally realized something. “Are you in a group with He Xingzhou?”
“I had no choice,” Xiao Can explained, “This isn’t a script, I was forced.”
The camera focused on Tan Zhen.
After a brief hesitation, Tan Zhen smiled and chose contestant number seven, Yumi.
“Outrageous!” Mu Nianwen almost jumped up. “Does he want you to be scolded to death?”
Xiao Can sighed inwardly, thinking, not really, this guy is just being clueless.
The camera then switched to the interview scene.
Tan Zhen sat in front of the camera, with a shy smile on his face. “Choosing someone? Actually, I originally wanted to choose Can Can, but if I did that, Yumi would end up in the same group as He Xingzhou, which would be a bit too pitiful.”
“Why not choose He Xingzhou? Actually, it’s because… we had a fight last night.”
“Yeah, it’s true. The three of us went out for dinner, me, Can Can, and him. He ate all the boneless duck feet I ordered, the last serving! I told him I was going to have it later, Can Can remembered, but He Xingzhou didn’t care.”
“It’s very important, of course it’s important. I care a lot about this,” Tan Zhen said seriously, “He thought I was making a fuss over nothing, and we ended up arguing. I really wanted to break up with him, I’ve even blocked him.”
“Sigh, poor Can Can. He has a good temper and has always been very tolerant of me.”
The camera cut back to the live scene, and Xiao Can’s surprised face appeared on the screen.
Mu Nianwen, in front of the screen, was also surprised. “What is he talking about? Is this really happening?”
Xiao Can recalled it for a moment, and indeed it had happened.
The boneless duck feet from that skewer restaurant was the number one signature dish. They arrived late that day, and there was only one serving left.
One serving had three pieces, just enough for one each.
Who knew He Xingzhou quietly ate two, leaving Tan Zhen with nothing in the end.
He complained a bit at the time, but he definitely wasn’t angry. He Xingzhou also apologized, his attitude was quite sincere, but then he went on to emphasize unnecessarily at the end that “it wasn’t that tasty,” prompting Tan Zhen to yell, “Spit it out for me!”
“Could it be that he really broke up with He Xingzhou because of the duck feet?” Mu Nianwen looked puzzled.
“It might have had something to do with it…” Xiao Can evaded.
He Xingzhou’s message finally arrived.
—”See, this is it. I’m really misunderstood.”
On the screen, He Xingzhou was smiling as he stood next to Xiao Can, exuding an unusually gentle aura.
“Don’t they take arguing with your partner seriously at all?” Mu Nianwen sneered. “He’s all lovey-dovey with you right after. What a terrible Alpha!”
