Completely unaware, Ming Qi couldn’t help but laugh.
The content creator was also quite impressive. He studied in the same overseas university as Yu Qinzhou two years below him, so his understanding of Yu Qinzhou was deeper than most other gossip bloggers.
“I’m serious. I was two cohorts below him, and the moment I entered school, I kept hearing his name everywhere. Of course, it always came with another exaggerated label: ‘the love-killer.’ There were countless people who liked him across the entire school, but his answer was always the same: ‘Sorry.’ I don’t know how many fragile young hearts he shattered.”
“Besides proper confessions, there were also people throwing themselves at him, but he never paid them any attention. You can still find posts on our school forum complaining about how emotionally indifferent Yu Xuezhang was.”
“One of my friends even told me he suspected Yu Xuezhang’s emotional indifference wasn’t voluntary, and that there was a high chance—he just couldn’t perform. I argued with him for ages. I absolutely refused to accept that someone with that face and a 188cm height couldn’t perform! Thankfully, after seeing his photos in the film city, we can now at least confirm that Yu Xuezhang has no physiological issues at all!”
“Do I have any physiological issues… do I really need other people analyzing it?”
The suddenly familiar voice cut through the video’s narration like a knife.
Ming Qi’s hand jerked. His phone slipped from his grasp and fell—smacking right into his nose.
A sharp sting shot through him. Tears immediately welled up at the corners of his eyes. He let out a muffled whimper and buried his face into the pillow.
Yu Qinzhou looked at him with amusement, walked over, lifted the blanket, and set the phone aside. He glanced at the still-playing video but didn’t care, instead turning Ming Qi over.
The young man was holding his nose, eyes slightly red, looking both wronged and pitiful.
“Why didn’t you make any sound when you came in?” Ming Qi complained.
“If I made noise, how would I hear such interesting commentary?” Yu Qinzhou said lightly. Then he lowered his voice, “Let me see.”
“It just hit a little, it hurts for a second.”
Even so, Yu Qinzhou lifted his chin and examined him carefully. After a moment he said, “Mm. No bleeding.”
As the pain gradually faded, Ming Qi sat up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the still-lit phone screen—now switched to another video discussing who Yu Qinzhou’s ‘little lover’ might be.
Embarrassed and mortified, he quickly turned the phone off and avoided eye contact.
“Done with your documents?” he asked softly.
“Mm.” Yu Qinzhou didn’t miss his little actions. He raised a brow. “Finished. Now I’m going to deal with something else.”
Ming Qi blinked. “What?”
Yu Qinzhou pointed at the phone. “About my physiological condition.”
Ming Qi: “……”
He silently lay back down, pulled the blanket over his face.
“I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight.”
Then he closed his eyes in peaceful resignation.
He firmly ignored Yu Qinzhou.
But Yu Qinzhou had no intention of letting him off. He pulled the blanket down again and, with long fingers, slowly pinched his nose. Within a few seconds, Ming Qi had to open his eyes because he couldn’t breathe.
How was he still using this trick!
Shameless!
Ming Qi frowned and glared at him. Yu Qinzhou remained calm and composed, asking once again: “After interacting for so long, do I still need to listen to outsiders analyze whether I have any problem?”
When he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the words “outsiders.”
Ming Qi pressed his lips together, and his mind immediately flashed back to the first time Yu Qinzhou came to the film city to visit the set—when things had nearly spiraled out of control in the hotel suite. Even though he had been dizzy at the time, the sensation of being pressed against was still extremely vivid.
Yu Qinzhou not only had no problem, he was exceptionally… gifted.
As Ming Qi thought about it, he started to feel a little embarrassed, and said vaguely, “No, no need. I just accidentally came across that video and watched it for a bit…”
He quickly changed the topic. “That creator said he’s your university classmate, so I got a bit curious.”
“If you’re curious about me, you can ask me anytime.” Yu Qinzhou’s gaze landed on his increasingly red ears. “I would be very willing to share everything about myself with you.”
To him, this was a privilege.
Ming Qi mulled over those words and blinked. He took the opportunity to ask, “Then… you really didn’t date anyone in university?”
Yu Qinzhou let out a low laugh. “No. I wasn’t interested in dating at the time.”
Then he shifted slightly. “But I’m interested now. Would you like to try dating me, Qi Qi?”
…
Even after Yu Qinzhou went to the bathroom to shower, Ming Qi’s mind was still stuck on that sentence: “Would you like to try dating me, Qi Qi?”
He lay there staring blankly, his face buried under the blanket as he replayed Yu Qinzhou’s expression when he said it. It wasn’t very serious—more like casual teasing, with the same relaxed tone Yu Qinzhou always used when teasing him.
But Ming Qi could clearly feel that the moment those words were spoken, his heart had subtly trembled.
He didn’t dare take it seriously. He could only murmur softly, “We can’t date… we’re already past that stage.”
That wasn’t wrong either—they were already married.
When Yu Qinzhou came out of the bathroom, only the back of Ming Qi’s head was visible. But that head soon moved, revealing half his face. His expression carried a hint of embarrassment.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Want some water?”
Ming Qi shook his head and pulled out a tube of ointment from the drawer. “My neck is really sore. Can you help me apply this?”
—He had been using his phone too much.
It felt like his cervical spine was about to snap. Thankfully, Meng She had been worried about possible injuries during filming and had bought him many kinds of medicated ointments.
When Yu Qinzhou’s warm palm pressed against the back of his neck with ointment, the strong scent of mint instantly filled his nose. Ming Qi shivered slightly.
Yu Qinzhou noticed immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“It’ll get on the blanket, don’t—” Before he could finish, the hand pressed down again firmly.
Yu Qinzhou slowly kneaded the back of his neck, as if he were holding a small cat. Ming Qi’s whole body softened under the pressure.
Half-lidded, Ming Qi’s voice rose and fell softly with each press. Occasionally, he let out small, involuntary hums. Even in that dazed state, he still remembered the mint scent.
“You’re going to smell mint all night. Don’t you mind?”
“I don’t mind.”
“But I saw in that video they said you hate strong smells.” Ming Qi recalled the creator’s anecdote—how Yu Qinzhou once left a gathering early because he couldn’t tolerate messy perfume smells.
Yu Qinzhou couldn’t even recall such trivial things anymore.
His fingers slid beneath the area below Ming Qi’s neck, near his shoulder blades. Ming Qi didn’t notice at all.
He answered calmly, “It’s different.”
“Huh?”
Yu Qinzhou smiled silently.
How could Ming Qi be the same as anyone else? He could accept everything about him, good or bad. But for everyone else, even being near them was irritating.
“This smell is fine. It’s not too strong.”
Ming Qi tilted his head slightly, half his face pressed into the pillow, the other half facing Yu Qinzhou. He smiled faintly. “I think it smells pretty good too.”
Applying ointment eventually turned into a massage, and Yu Qinzhou’s technique was excellent. Ming Qi grew drowsy. When he struggled to stay awake, a soft “sleep” sounded in his ear, and he obediently fell asleep.
The bed at home was far more comfortable than the hotel’s. Ming Qi slept all the way until ten in the morning the next day. When he woke up and checked his phone, he immediately saw a message from Meng She:
Eight ships capsized!
77.: ?
What is that supposed to mean?
When he walked into the bathroom, Ming Qi suddenly realized Meng She was referring to Qiu Tuo. He took the toothbrush Yu Qinzhou handed him and quickly finished washing up, then flopped back onto the bed and opened Weibo.
Sure enough, the top trending topic was #QiuTuoCheatingOnEightPeople#, and right below it at sixth place was #QiuTuoImpotent#.
Meng She called him. “I’m dying laughing. Qiu Tuo’s scandal blew up just in time—whatever was trending about Mr. Yu got completely buried.”
Ming Qi looked up at Yu Qinzhou and silently asked, “Did you do this?”
Yu Qinzhou patted his head. “It has nothing to do with me.”
Oh.
Then he must have simply reaped what he sowed.
Meng She was clearly enjoying the gossip to the fullest, and Ming Qi didn’t bother searching further. He just asked, “How did it blow up?”
“A rich second-generation young lady exposed him. She seems to be his current girlfriend. She found out he was sleeping with fans and had multiple regular hookups. Oh right, remember that horror film director Zhuo Jin mentioned before? Qiu Tuo originally said he only had a two-month schedule and kept urging Zhuo Jin to start filming quickly. It turned out it was because that rich girlfriend wanted to marry him and scheduled a premarital checkup. But his impotence issue still hadn’t been treated, so he rushed off to film instead.”
At that moment, Ming Qi said, “……”
“Right now, that rich second-generation young lady has teamed up with Qiu Tuo’s previous girlfriend. The two of them are going crazy exposing his scandals on Weibo. Qiu Tuo is completely finished this time.”
Ming Qi gave a concise verdict. “Serves him right.”
“If you’ve got nothing to do, you should check the netizens’ comments. It’s hilarious.” Meng She laughed loudly on the other end of the call. “Oh, and there’s something else—a niche perfume brand wants you as their ambassador. I bought several of their products to try, and I also did some research. The reviews are really good, lots of people call it a hidden gem brand. I’ll send you the info later. If it works, we can take it. What do you think?”
Given Ming Qi’s current status, it was impossible for him to even be in contact with luxury brands. Meng She wasn’t someone who aimed unrealistically high either, so the fact that this brand had come knocking already felt like a pleasant surprise.
“I’m fine with it.”
After finishing the work discussion, it was already getting late. Yu Qinzhou asked Ming Qi, “A-Yue knows you’ve wrapped filming. He invited us to dinner. Do you want to go?”
Ming Qi thought about it. He hadn’t seen Min Zhengyue in a while, and with the “eight-boat capsizing” scandal being so explosive today, they’d probably have plenty to talk about. So he nodded.
Considering Ming Qi’s injury, Min Zhengyue booked a light-flavored Chinese restaurant in the suburbs. The environment was elegant, with winding corridors and excellent scenery.
Ming Qi followed Yu Qinzhou inside. As they walked, he suddenly paused slightly and gave a soft “hmm,” the rising tone catching Yu Qinzhou’s attention.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I just saw someone I know.”
The profile looked a bit like Wen Yulan.