Early in the morning, the Meteor Garden chat group exploded—
Twelve Ye: I’m preparing to write the bed scene between Shen An and Duan Ruxing. I estimate it’ll take at least 2-3 chapters. Once Fox finishes updating today, I’ll take over, and after the bed scene, Zhao Zhao can continue.
Tian Gai: !!!!! Finally!!!!!
Tian Gai: @Sleepy Fox, come out! Our Ruxing is finally going to have his wedding night!
Sleepy Fox: Haha, Twelve Ye, be gentle with Ruxing.
Qin Hai: Have you decided how you’re going to write it?
Twelve Ye: No.
Twelve Ye: What kind of trope do you guys want?
Sleepy Fox: …Could it be?!
Tian Gai: We can just suggest tropes, and you’ll write them?!
Qin Hai: Sexy Twelve Ye, online taking trope requests.
Tian Gai: [dancing with joy.jpg]
Qin Hai: @Twelve Ye, seems like you’re in a good mood today.
Tian Gai: How about Shen An and Duan Ruxing under the stars and sky?
Sleepy Fox: Make it beautiful; it’s for the girls to enjoy, after all.
Qin Hai: Since it’s a cultivation world, why not let Twelve Ye unleash his true nature and get creative?
Sleepy Fox: What true nature? [suspicious glance.jpg]
Tian Gai: Did you mean beastly nature, not true nature?
…
Seeing the chat veering into teasing him, Ye Luan decided to ignore it. Just as he was about to lock his phone, he received a private message from Tian Gai—
Tian Gai: Did you suddenly decide on a bed scene because you’ve gained some experience? [side-eye]
Twelve Ye: I could write it even without experience.
Tian Gai: That bad, huh? [DOGE]
Twelve Ye: Bad? Worse than you, a single guy?
Tian Gai: …Goodbye!
After chatting with Tian Gai, Ye Luan casually tossed his phone onto the bed. The noise was loud enough to disturb Zhao Yijia, who had been buried under the covers, causing him to murmur sleepily and then roll over to hug him, “Ye Luan~”
His voice was hoarse, half-awake and murmuring, making it sound very affectionate.
Ye Luan held his hand and spoke softly, “Do you want to get up? Sleep a bit longer.”
Zhao Yijia’s body ached all over, and with his eyes still closed, he mumbled, “Mm… Wind and Sand Chronicles needs updating… got to rewrite the draft…”
Ye Luan kissed his forehead, “I’ll write it for you.”
“No, I can’t…”
“Be good, sleep a bit longer~ I’ll go write it for you~”
Ye Luan’s voice was too gentle, and soon Zhao Yijia was back asleep. Seeing him like this, Ye Luan couldn’t resist kissing him again.
After finishing the updates for Zhao Yijia’s Wind and Sand Chronicles, Ye Luan turned his attention to The Villain’s Guide to Conquest. As he typed out the scenes between Shen An and Duan Ruxing, his mind wandered back to last night’s intimacy. Tian Gai wasn’t wrong—having the experience from last night made writing the bed scene feel as smooth and satisfying as driving on an empty highway. Just as he finished a chapter, Zhao Yijia woke up.
Perhaps because they had already been physically close, Zhao Yijia was less shy upon waking up and seeing Ye Luan. “I thought I’d wake up to see you smoking a post-coital cigarette.”
Ye Luan turned his head and kissed him, “No cigarette, but how about a post-coital kiss?”
Having slept well, Zhao Yijia felt energized after brushing his teeth and washing his face. Seeing Ye Luan busy writing, he leaned over, “What are you writing, Wind and Sand Chronicles?”
Ye Luan was sitting on the bed as he wrote, and when he saw Zhao Yijia wanting to read, he pulled him over to sit in front of him, wrapping his arms around him from behind, resting his chin on Zhao Yijia’s shoulder.
Zhao Yijia, feeling tickled by Ye Luan’s hair, laughed and pushed him away slightly, but his eyes stayed glued to the screen as he read aloud:
“…Shen An whispered into Duan Ruxing’s ear, ‘Duan Qing, the first step is undre—’”
The voice abruptly cut off.
Then Zhao Yijia frantically began hitting the backspace key, gritting his teeth as he muttered, “I told you to write! Told you to write!”
Ye Luan laughed as he wrestled the manuscript from Zhao Yijia’s hands. After a playful struggle, he pinned Zhao Yijia down beneath him, surrendering, “I swear I just borrowed the idea of Shen An teaching Duan Ruxing how to make love. The process of undressing, deep penetration, and ultimate pleasure is completely different.”
Zhao Yijia glared at him, his face red.
“Really, I don’t have the hobby of turning our bed scene into smutty writing.”
Zhao Yijia still didn’t say anything.
Ye Luan raised his hands in defeat, “Alright, Duan Ruxing did get his eyes blindfolded too. But the process is truly different; you can check.”
Their faces were close, and Ye Luan could clearly see that Zhao Yijia’s eyes were filled entirely with him.
So good, Ye Luan thought. So good.
He lowered his head and shared a long, lingering kiss with Zhao Yijia.
That afternoon, Ye Luan had to fly to S City while Zhao Yijia was heading back to Y City. At the airport, as they were about to part ways, Ye Luan told Zhao Yijia he’d be back in no more than half a month.
Zhao Yijia was confused, “Back where?”
Ye Luan zipped up his bag, “Home.”
Zhao Yijia looked at him, smiling. After a moment, he said softly, “I want to kiss you.”
People hurried by all around them, but to Ye Luan, the world suddenly grew quiet in that moment. His throat bobbed slightly, but he said nothing, just gazing at Zhao Yijia.
Zhao Yijia, noticing the look, asked curiously, “What are you thinking?”
“Do you think we’re moving too fast?”
Zhao Yijia was startled.
“From getting to know each other to confirming our relationship and then… do you think we’re progressing too quickly?”
Ye Luan’s expression was serious, but Zhao Yijia saw the underlying anxiety.
He’s actually anxious, Zhao Yijia realized, finding it hard to believe.
In this relationship, Ye Luan was the dominant one. He controlled the pace of their relationship—fast or slow, it wasn’t something Zhao Yijia could refuse. But perhaps because of this, Ye Luan began to worry: Is Zhao Yijia really sure? Has he really thought this through? Will he regret it?
With love comes fear. The happier you are, the more scared you become.
“Ye Luan, I don’t remember what happened sixteen years ago,” Zhao Yijia paused, “But one thing I’m sure of is that from the moment I first saw you, I liked you.”
Zhao Yijia knew himself too well. If he hadn’t liked Ye Luan from the very first moment, he wouldn’t have eagerly sought out this somewhat aloof “brother” to play with every day. Even if childhood “like” didn’t involve romantic feelings or desire, it was a natural attraction that couldn’t be controlled. Whether those sixteen years existed or not, as long as they met, he would be drawn to Ye Luan.
“So when it comes to our relationship—”
Ye Luan looked at Zhao Yijia, his gaze flickering.
Zhao Yijia smiled, “There’s no ‘too fast or too slow,’ only ‘destined.’”
Feeling as if he had been injected with adrenaline, Ye Luan managed to rush out a chapter of writing before his flight after seeing off Zhao Yijia. If it weren’t for Tian Gai’s text interrupting his good mood, he felt like he could have written several thousand more words.
Tian Gai:
Tian Gai: Click to read about the big love triangle drama in the Yue Si writing circle!
Twelve Ye: …
Tian Gai: [DOGE]
Ye Luan clicked the link, leading to a seemingly ordinary person’s long Weibo post, but the title made him pause—
San Sheng Wan Wu: After attending the Lies press conference, I stumbled upon a toxic CP in the writing circle! [Proceed with caution] [No real-person shipping] [Content is based on my reasonable speculation + a little YY, no fan wars please]
A sense of foreboding rose within Ye Luan as he hurriedly began reading:
As a double fan, I brought my new camera to yesterday’s Lies press conference to take pictures of Gu Gu and Ye Er Ye. Unfortunately, my spot wasn’t great, so I didn’t get many of them and ended up with a bunch of random shots. While going through them last night, I discovered something shocking—I’ll explain step by step.
*First, everyone probably knows that Lies was co-written by Mo Li (Mao Lizi) and Twelve Ye. But what you might not know is that Zhao Zhao also attended the press conference.*
【Picture】
Guess who invited Zhao Zhao? No need to say—his seat was right behind Twelve Ye’s.
【Picture】
It seems like Twelve Ye and Zhao Zhao are really close now, like they’re besties overnight. But after the press conference, Mao Lizi and Zhao Zhao met privately.
【Photo】
I use the word ‘privately’ for two reasons: First, it was just the two of them, no one else. Second, the location is quite secluded.
【Photo】【Photo】
The first photo shows the venue’s floor plan, with the red-circled area marking the location. It’s at the side exit near a fire escape, a place that not even staff would normally walk by. They must have specifically arranged to meet there. So, why meet in such a secluded spot? (I was in the green zone upstairs, just looking for a good angle.)
To be honest, I was taken aback when I saw them together. My thoughts went like this: ‘So, Mao Lizi and Zhao Zhao know each other? They’ve never interacted, not even on Weibo. Did Twelve Ye introduce them?’ I thought about it for a while and figured it was just colleagues chatting. But then I captured this sequence of photos—
【Photo】【Photo】【Photo】【Photo】【Photo】【Photo】
I took these photos out of boredom, capturing their entire meeting. Do you notice anything? Yes, the eyes! The way they look at each other speaks volumes!
In the third photo, the way Zhao Zhao looks at Mao Lizi—wouldn’t you call it tender? And in the fifth photo, Mao Lizi’s gaze at Zhao Zhao is nothing short of forlorn.
Of course, I didn’t think much of it at the time, just appreciating how good-looking they both are. But when I looked at the photos, something felt off. Plus, now that I think back, although they both had smiles on their faces while talking, the atmosphere felt oddly tense.
I told my friend about this, and she joked that Mao Lizi has a popular side character in his book with the surname Zhao. What if it’s based on Zhao Zhao? She was kidding, but I took it seriously and got curious enough to dig around, and guess what—
【Photo】【Photo】
The first screenshot is from Mao Lizi’s Spring Breeze Intentions: the little marquis Zhao Yang—lively, talkative, loves cooking.
The second screenshot is from Mao Lizi’s Throne of the Gods: the destiny-telling master Zhao Qianyu—known for his accurate prophecies and language control.
Now let’s look at Zhao Zhao: real name Zhao Yijia, a writer (specializing in language), nicknamed Little Gongzi, personality appears outgoing based on Weibo, loves cooking.
Isn’t this a bit too coincidental? And having a cooking hobby in a historical court setting—when I first read that, I felt like… emmmmmmm. So here’s my bold guess: Zhao Yang and Zhao Qianyu’s character inspirations might really be Zhao Zhao! Moreover, let me tell you, these two characters have eerily similar and tragic storylines in their respective books:
Zhao Yang has a childhood friend who, after growing apart due to political differences, is eventually killed by Zhao Yang in their last meeting (the friend always carried a jade pendant Zhao Yang had given him).
Zhao Qianyu has a senior brother with whom he was very close, but after separating for certain reasons, they reunite ten years later, only for the senior brother to die saving Zhao Qianyu (at the time, Zhao Qianyu was trying to save someone else).
I think by now the picture is pretty clear: Zhao Zhao and Mao Lizi knew each other a long time ago and were quite close, but they fell out for some reason, likely due to Mao Lizi. They became strangers, but Mao Lizi couldn’t forget Zhao Zhao, and repeatedly used him as inspiration for characters in his books. Mao Lizi might have agreed to work on Lies in an attempt to reconnect with Zhao Zhao, especially now that Zhao Zhao is close to Twelve Ye. After the press conference, Zhao Zhao met with Mao Lizi… It’s just too much—a mix of regret, heartache, and the passage of time that’s impossible to resist.
Lastly, here’s a bonus. I edited two photos where they look at each other. Just want to say: everything is conveyed without words.
【Photo】【Photo】
The Weibo post already had over 2,000 shares, and Ye Luan felt like he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t resist opening the comments:
CM48_Si Feng: Holy crap! These photos have so much emotion in them!
I Want To Be Cute Cute Cute: …Why does this feel so convincing? That gaze is full of true feelings?!
Xi San_Po Jun: I went to check Mao Lizi’s Weibo, and he liked Twelve Ye’s comment on Zhao Zhao’s Burning Clothes. If it’s really like the poster says, it’s kind of tragic—new love versus old love…
Gu Family Army: …What the heck? Is Zhao Zhao the little flirt of the online writing world?
Melted In NIC’s Arms: [Photo] This is a screenshot from Zhao Zhao’s Dance of the West and East, where the male lead’s favorite flower is jasmine. Could Jasmine be a play on Mao Lizi’s name?
It’s Peter Rabbit, Not Peter Pan: The photos have so much story in them!!! I’ve already mentally written a hundred thousand words!!!
…
Tian Gai seemed to have timed his message perfectly, sending Ye Luan another text just as he finished reading: Need me to buy some bots and report this post? [laugh-crying]
Ye Luan calmly replied: No need.
Tian Gai: You sure? In a few days, there might be R18 fanfics of Zhao Zhao and Mao Lizi. [laugh-crying]
Ye Luan: …
Tian Gai: Twelve Ye, it’s time for you to jump in and start fanning the flames of the CP!