After work, Shang Siru’s assistant found a hot pot restaurant that was still open at midnight near the recording site and reserved a private room. The five of them headed straight to the restaurant’s private room, where Shang Siru confidently ordered a bunch of signature dishes. “I’ve been here a few times with the crew before, and this hot pot is authentic, with a genuine Sichuan flavor.”
“Are you from Sichuan?” asked Ruan Xiao.
Shang Sirui smiled broadly, “I’m from Beijing.” He looked up at everyone, “Do you drink?”
Chen Chen shook his head, “We have a tour coming up soon, so we need to take care of our voices.”
“I don’t drink.” Zhou Ziheng took off his jacket, poured himself a glass of water, and said, “No need to order for me.”
From the moment he took off his jacket, Xia Xiqing’s eyes never left him. Wearing only a white T-shirt, he looked fresh and clean, like a college student.
The prominent veins on the back of his hand as he held the cup, his long, slender fingers with clearly defined joints, his thick eyelashes when he lowered his gaze, his sharp jawline, his high, prominent eyebrow bones—every detail was perfect.
His gaze followed Zhou Ziheng’s side neck, almost intertwining with the muscle texture, from the loose cotton collar all the way down to where it couldn’t be seen.
This guy is just too damn perfect for me.
“Xiqing, do you drink?”
Shang Sirui’s question interrupted Xia Xiqing’s daydreaming. “Me?” As he snapped back to reality, Xia Xiqing noticed that Zhou Ziheng, sitting across from him, was still holding the glass, but his gaze had briefly shifted toward him. However, it was only for an instant, as he quickly looked away again, his brows slightly furrowed.
How interesting. Xia Xiqing rested his right elbow on the table, his palm supporting his chin, and turned his face toward Shang Sirui. “Yes, I’ll have red wine.”
“Hot pot with red wine?” Shang Sirui laughed. “You really know how to pair things.”
“I’m not really that hungry,” Xia Xiqing said, still tilting his face toward Shang Sirui and smiling, “I just want to drink some wine to ease the tension from earlier.”
Eating together at the same table is almost the fastest way to build intimacy between strangers, especially since the five of them had already been locked up together on a reality show for several hours, bringing them even closer. Without the tension and mutual suspicion of the game, everyone chatted much more freely.
Chen Chen couldn’t eat spicy food because he was training his voice for a tour. He was surprised to see Zhou Ziheng not touching the spicy pot either. “You don’t eat spicy food?”
Zhou Ziheng shook his head. “I can’t really eat it.”
“Ziheng has an extremely healthy diet. When I recorded the show with him, I noticed he doesn’t smoke or drink at all, eats very lightly, and even soaks goji berries in his thermos.”
“What an old-fashioned official’s style!” Xia Xiqing couldn’t help but laugh.
No, it’s more like the style of a model student.
Ruan Xiao was dipping beef tripe in the hot pot while asking Shang Siyi through the steamy mist, “Is your personality usually this different? I have a friend who really likes your group, but her favorite member is someone else. She’s been to a lot of your live shows, and she said you’re pretty clumsy both on and off stage.”
Shang Sirui bit the end of her chopsticks and hummed for a long time, “Actually, I’m not that confused in everyday life. How should I put it? the members of our group are all pretty young, and many fans treat us like their sons. Especially my fans—they always shout things like ‘Mom loves you’ when picking me up at the airport. So the company intentionally highlights our cute, childlike side in some daily behind-the-scenes footage. Over time, we’ve been forced into this ‘dazed and cute’ persona.”
He scooped a beef ball out of the hot pot and put it in his own bowl, then reminded Ruan Xiao, “Oh, your beef tripe might be tough.”
“Oh, right, right.” Ruan Xiao hurriedly picked up her beef tripe, and Chen Chen spoke up, “Don’t you find it tiring to act like someone else?”
As soon as he said that, Xia Xiqing felt someone looking at him. He looked up and sure enough, Zhou Ziheng was staring at him.
How could something so interesting be tiring? Xia Xiqing’s lips curled slightly, and he looked away from Zhou Ziheng, picking up his cup and taking a sip of wine.
“It’s okay. Actually, I’m usually pretty clueless.” At this point, Shang Sirui began to sigh again, “I rarely get to play the villain, and I was so close to winning. It’s such a pity. I had planned everything perfectly, but then Xiqing messed things up halfway through, and I panicked.”
Xia Xiqing chuckled, “You can only blame yourself for being so easily influenced.”
“What was your original plan?” Chen Chen asked.
“I was doing a good job of pretending at first. I was trying to convince you and Ruan Xiao that Xi Qing was the main suspect, and you believed me. Once the first round of voting began, our votes could eliminate Xi Qing. Xi Qing is too powerful; keeping him around is a隐患. Once Zi Heng had gathered most of the clues, I would use the killer’s privilege to kill Zi Heng, reaping the benefits and breaking through the city gates in one fell swoop! Perfect~”
Shang Sui, who had been enthusiastically explaining the original plan, suddenly changed expression, slumping back in his chair like a wilted eggplant. “Ah, what a pity. My plan was exposed by Xi Qing. As soon as he discovered it, he went looking for clues to expose my identity. The vote was about to begin, so I was naturally anxious. Without thinking, I killed Xi Qing.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Xiqing couldn’t help but laugh, “Did you regret it right after you killed him?”
“Of course I did. I regretted it so much.” Shang Sui shook his head. “But it was too late to regret it, so I thought, ‘Why not just go all out and confront Zi Heng?’” but by then, Zi Heng had already obtained all the clues and knew I was the killer. I hadn’t even started yet.“ Shang Sui stuffed another piece of rice cake into his mouth and looked at Zhou Zi Heng, who had been silent the whole time. ”By the way, Zi Heng, how did you know I was the killer? Did Xi Qing tell you?”
When mentioning Zhou Ziheng, Xia Xiqing deliberately did not turn to look at him, but continued to gaze at Shang Siru with an extremely gentle expression.
Zhou Ziheng hummed in response, and Cen Cheng, who was sitting to the side, smiled rarely, “You just believed him?”
“…,” Zhou Ziheng was once again at a loss for words, not knowing what to say.
Ruan Xiao also joined in, “Logically speaking, the clue to unlocking the door should have been given to Ziheng by Xi Qing as well.”
Shang Sirui suddenly realized, “Ah, I know! It’s that painting!” He excitedly waved his chopsticks and turned halfway toward Xia Qing, “It’s the one with the rose, right? Ah, ah, ah, how frustrating! I should have taken that painting back then.” He slapped his forehead hard, “How could I be so stupid!”
Xia Xiqing was thoroughly amused by Shang Sirui’s dejected expression, still maintaining his lazy posture with his hand propping up his chin. He reached out with his left hand to grab Shang Sirui’s hand that was slapping his forehead and laughed, “Stop slapping it; the more you slap it, the more foolish you look.”
“Oh my god, it really was that painting.” Shang Siru grabbed Xia Xiqing’s outstretched hand and shook him vigorously, “No way, I’m too upset. You have to compensate me. Draw me a painting! I want a huge one, two of them! One to hang in my dorm and one for my mom!”
Having already had some alcohol, though not yet drunk, Xia Xiqing felt dizzy from the shaking and could only laugh and agree, “Alright, alright, it’s just two paintings. I’ll draw them for you tomorrow.”
Such indulgent behavior was nothing new to Xia Xiqing, especially when dealing with someone with a temper. Before he grew tired of them, Xia Xiqing would always indulge them. As long as the other person saw the gentle smile on his face, they would always think they held a significant place in his heart. Little did they know it was all fake.
But Zhou Ziheng could see right through it.
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand, but Zhou Ziheng just couldn’t figure it out. This person was clearly his fan, always saying how much he liked him and professing his loyalty. Logically speaking, as a fan who had finally managed to have dinner with his idol, shouldn’t he seize every opportunity to talk to his idol?
But Xia Xiqing didn’t even glance at Zhou Ziheng properly the entire evening.
An inexplicable sense of frustration.
This womanizer must, without a doubt, have set his sights on Shang Sirui. Indeed, a fan’s feelings are the most unreliable. When they say they love you, they’d give you their heart, but once they’ve moved on, not coming back to kick you while you’re down is already considerate.
Zhou Ziheng held his chopsticks, unable to eat a single bite, his ears filled with the laughter and chatter of the two people across from him.
The late-night meal lasted nearly two hours. As it was about to end, Shang Sirui suddenly remembered something. “Let’s create a WeChat group,” he said, pulling out his phone. “That way we can chat anytime, how great is that?”
Zhou Ziheng didn’t want to join the group at all, but Shang Siru dragged him in anyway. His phone kept vibrating. When he opened it, a group named [Let me guess who the killer is today] kept flashing new messages.
“Everyone, change your nicknames,” Ruan Xiao reminded them.
Reluctantly, Zhou Ziheng changed his nickname and glanced at the group members as he exited. He immediately spotted Xia Xiqing. In fact, Xia Xiqing hadn’t changed his nickname yet, but his profile picture made Zhou Ziheng recognize him at a glance.
It was a painting of him wearing a red jersey while playing basketball.
For some reason, the uneasy feeling in his chest suddenly dissipated. Zhou Ziheng frowned as he stared at the small avatar, afraid that others would notice him staring, so he dared not click on the larger image to look at it, but could only squint at it.
He was slumped in his chair, his head tilted to one side, his hair covering most of his face, making it hard to tell whether his eyes were open or closed.
He seemed pretty drunk.
Shang Sirui noticed Zhou Ziheng looking over and turned his head to look too. “Hey, Xiqing, are you drunk? Are you okay?” He pushed Xia Xiqing’s hair to one side, revealing his slightly flushed face.
Xia Xiqing hummed in confusion, as if he hadn’t heard what Shang Sirui said. The sound of his humming was tortuous, his voice hoarse from drunkenness.
You’re so drunk, I wonder how you’re going to get home. Zhou Ziheng almost rolled his eyes.
“Where is Xiqing’s hotel?” Chen Chen asked, “I think I saw him with an assistant today, but it’s so late…”
Ruan Xiao took out her phone to call a car, “Why don’t you let him stay at my place? It’s not far from here.”
“No way. That’s easy to misunderstand. There might be reporters outside, and with you two, a man and a woman, it’s easy for them to write something wrong. He should just go to the hotel where I’m staying. We can share a room for one night.” As soon as she finished speaking, Shang Sirui began to worry, “Oh no, I have a flight early tomorrow morning. I’ll be leaving him alone then.”
Everyone was discussing where Xia Xiqing should stay, but Zhou Ziheng remained silent.
He suddenly felt like he was in class, afraid of being called on by the teacher to answer a question.
“Ziheng, why don’t you take Xiqing to your place? I remember your hotel is pretty close to here, and you still have your car, right?”
What you fear will come to pass. Murphy’s Law never fails me.
Zhou Ziheng resignedly nodded, accepting the challenge fate had thrown at him.
Shang Sirui helped carry Xia Xiqing into Zhou Ziheng’s car and closed the passenger door. “I’m leaving now. I have another event tomorrow. You should get some rest too.” “
Zhou Ziheng nodded.
“Don’t forget to buckle his seatbelt.” Shang Sirui called back to him after walking a good distance away.
Xia Xiqing, completely unconscious from drunkenness, was slumped in the passenger seat like a sleeping cat. Zhou Ziheng struggled to straighten him out, leaning over to pull the seatbelt out for him. This position made it difficult to apply force, and after trying for a while, he still couldn’t succeed.
What a pain.
The cunning, shameless, lying, and debauched Xia Xiqing had become a little puppet in Zhou Ziheng’s mind, and he had just slapped a new label of “trouble” on his forehead.
After recording the program, he really didn’t want to see this person again.
Zhou Ziheng muttered this to himself, not knowing who he was talking to.
Suddenly, the person who was drunk and unconscious let out a whimper like a small animal and then hugged him from the front.
His head buried itself in Zhou Ziheng’s neck.
Zhou Ziheng suddenly felt his side neck being gently rubbed by a pair of soft lips. His whole body felt like it was electrified, crackling from his neck to his fingertips, tingling and numb. This unexplained current finally exploded into his chest.
It numbed his heart.
For the first time in twenty years, Zhou Ziheng felt this mysterious sensation, and once again forgot who this person was—the one who had drunk himself into a stupor and clung to him, refusing to let go.
He had always been a liar.
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