Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.
With no livestream cameras around, Fu Zhi boldly sprawled in a corner of Ning Xi’s courtyard, waiting to see when Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen would come back.
“Eat, eat, eat. How late are they planning to keep eating?”
“Damn that Xie Lanchen. All he knows is how to spoil Ning Xi and let her eat more. It’s so late-can she even digest that much?”
“And Ning Xi is a female celebrity. Does Xie Lanchen not know she needs to manage her figure?”
Fu Zhi kept muttering curses under his breath, having clearly already decided that Xie Lanchen was his number one enemy.
After spending the whole day on edge preparing for rehearsal, then squatting here deep into the night feeding mosquitoes for hours, Fu Zhi unknowingly dozed off.
Only when his head suddenly bobbed did Fu Zhi jolt awake.
Then he discovered that the lights in both Ning Xi’s and Xie Lanchen’s rooms were on!!!
When had they gotten back?!
What had they been doing all night?!
It was nearly early morning and they still weren’t asleep-what else were they planning to do?!
Fu Zhi held his breath, lowered himself to the ground, and prepared to crawl toward their rooms.
Just then-
A nimble figure swiftly pinned down the creeping Fu Zhi and spoke into a walkie-talkie:
“Security Team, assemble! A stalker fan is approaching Teacher Ning Xi’s courtyard in the middle of the night!”
As the person spoke, they twisted Fu Zhi’s hands behind his back to keep him from struggling.
Fu Zhi, who had only wanted to eavesdrop: “?”
What kind of lunatic security was this?!
He was one of the guests, not a stalker fan!
Fu Zhi: “I ahm…”
“Quiet! Save your excuses for the police!”
“I’m Fu Zhi!!!”
“?”
At that exact moment, the Security Team, the assistant director, and the others all arrived on the scene, just in time to hear Fu Zhi’s “confession” and “excuse.”
“I couldn’t sleep, so I got up to exercise, and then I happened to exercise my way into Ning Xi’s courtyard. Is that not allowed? What’s with those looks? Was it really necessary to make such a big fuss?!”
Fu Zhi shook out his clothes, sounding bold despite having absolutely no leg to stand on.
Everyone from the Program Team: “…”
Fine. Great. Wonderful.
This variety show really should be livestreamed twenty-four hours a day so the audience could see just how ridiculous Fu Zhi was!
“What the hell was that noise?”
Ning Xi had just come out of the bathroom when she heard rustling outside the courtyard.
She narrowed her eyes and yanked the door open.
But everything was silent. Nothing was happening.
“Are my ears broken?”
Ning Xi glanced around, suspicious, before closing the door again.
Fu Zhi let out a soft breath. Good thing he and the Program Team had dodged in time! Good thing there was a tree here!
“Teacher Fu Zhi…”
“Quiet!” Fu Zhi quickly covered the assistant director’s mouth, looking as if he were facing a deadly enemy.
The assistant director was confused. The assistant director did not understand.
The next second-
With a whoosh, Ning Xi opened the courtyard door again.
Everyone’s butt instinctively clenched.
The assistant director and the Security Team were dumbfounded. No, wait-why were they hiding together with Fu Zhi? They had clearly come openly and honestly to catch a stalker fan!
“Looks like I really was overthinking it.” Ning Xi had opened the door a second time, but after finding nothing unusual, she finally returned to her room in peace.
Hearing her footsteps fade farther away, Fu Zhi finally took a huge breath and relaxed, letting go of the hand he had clamped over the assistant director’s mouth. “I knew that damn girl would still-”
“Whoosh-”
The door opened again.
The Security Team, the assistant director, and Fu Zhi all stiffened and looked toward the sound.
There stood Ning Xi with her arms crossed, smiling brightly as she looked over at them. “Having fun?”
Xie Lanchen stood beside Ning Xi, his expression carrying an offhand kind of casualness. “Don’t tell me everyone just happened to be unable to sleep in the middle of the night and exercised their way over here?”
Everyone: “…”
The two of them both looked perfectly amiable, so why did everyone feel such an overwhelming sense of pressure?!
The assistant director let out two dry laughs and tried to explain. “Well, actually, the Security Team discovered Fu Zhi-”
At a time like this, better someone else die than him.
“…They discovered me exercising, and, inspired to become the man with the best physique in the entire Program Team just like me, they came along to work out with me! Then I exercised and exercised, and somehow ended up at the entrance to your courtyard. What a coincidence, right? Hahahaha!” Fu Zhi quickly picked up where the assistant director left off and explained to Ning Xi.
Ning Xi gave an enlightened “oh,” then fixed Fu Zhi with a death stare. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
Fu Zhi: “…”
He swallowed, his gaze drifting away of its own accord-only to meet Xie Lanchen’s half-smiling eyes again.
Thinking back to what Xie Lanchen had just said about “being unable to sleep in the middle of the night and exercising over here,” Fu Zhi suddenly realized that Xie Lanchen might have noticed he was here and even overheard what he had said to security.
This Xie Lanchen had been provoking him all along!
The assistant director keenly sensed the change in the atmosphere. He exchanged a look with the Security Team, and everyone said goodbye to Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen before leaving.
And so, only Ning Xi, Xie Lanchen, and Fu Zhi remained.
Ning Xi crossed her arms. “Still not leaving? Waiting to stay and sleep with us?”
She regretted it the moment the words left her mouth.
After all, Fu Zhi really was the kind of person who couldn’t tell a jab from an invitation.
Sure enough.
Fu Zhi’s eyes lit up. “Sure! I’ll go move my things over right now. I mean, I saw you still have empty rooms in this house anyway…”
Since Ning Xi had invited him into this courtyard too, that proved she and Xie Lanchen currently had no relationship beyond friends.
Otherwise, they would definitely want more private space…
Fu Zhi had only just thought of that when, in the next second, the courtyard gate was shut.
Inside the courtyard.
Xie Lanchen looked at Ning Xi, his tone cool. “Sorry, my hand slipped. I accidentally closed the gate. Do you still want to chat with him?”
There was no trace whatsoever of apology in his voice.
There was, however, more than a little jealousy.
Ning Xi chuckled and chose to skip right over that topic. “You couldn’t fall asleep either?”
Originally, after she and Xie Lanchen had come back, she had planned to rest early. But she had kicked around excitedly in bed for ages, and the more she thought about it, the more excited she got. She had no sleepiness at all.
She liked Xiao Xie so much!
Lying in bed, she had thought back on so many little details of her interactions with Xie Lanchen that she had overlooked before, and she had been so happy she couldn’t sleep at all!
Xie Lanchen looked at Ning Xi, a gentle smile gathering in his eyes. “I couldn’t sleep either-”
“Xiao Xie, Xiao Xie, how are you so adorable?!”
Before he could finish speaking, Ning Xi cupped Xie Lanchen’s face in both hands and rubbed it.
As if she were rubbing some little puppy.
Xie Lanchen: “.”
Even though he knew Ning Xi’s thoughts tended to jump around, the topic’s sudden leap from insomnia to this still left Xie Lanchen blank for a moment.
Then he took hold of Ning Xi’s hands as they wreaked havoc on his face, the corners of his lips curving slightly. “Xixi is adorable too.”
Xie Lanchen’s hands were well-defined, his fingers long and strong. Even his nails were trimmed cleanly and neatly, and faint blue veins disappeared into the cool white bones of his wrists, brimming with sensual tension.
At this moment, they completely covered Ning Xi’s slender, luminous hands, their palms pressed tightly together.
If any shippers had been present, they would have passed out on the spot from the sweetness.