After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 15

“I have no interest in Shen Shiqin right now.”

“What three hundred thousand?” Shen Shiqin asked, feeling a bit sluggish. “What are you going to do tonight that would earn you three hundred thousand?”

As he said this, his pupils contracted slightly, and his eyes gradually revealed a hint of disbelief. The expression clearly spelled out that he thought He Lan was going to do something scandalous.

He Lan did not even need to think to know that this man’s thoughts had wandered off to some very crooked places. He reached out in front of Shen Shiqin and snapped his fingers.

“Teacher Shen, what exactly are you thinking about all day? I have not fallen to the point where I have to come to a foreign land to earn money by doing that.”

Although his motives were indeed not entirely pure, the money he earned would not be from selling himself. However, on second thought, he could not earn that three hundred thousand now anyway, and the culprit was currently wrapped in a quilt sitting on the bed and still busy slandering him in his mind.

The thermometer was still clutched in Shen Shiqin’s hand. He Lan snatched it away and gave an order: “Lie down.”

These two words were spoken too precisely, sounding more like he was trying to hide something. His train of thought interrupted, Shen Shiqin stared at him for a while before lying down as told. He was not obeying He Lan; it was just that the previous sentence had shocked him slightly, and he needed to lie down to think it over properly.

Teacher He waited until he was lying flat, then ordered again: “Open your mouth.”

Shen Shiqin frowned, looking at him from inside the quilt: “Let me tell you, do not dare take advantage of the fact that I am currently…”

Before he could finish, He Lan stuffed the thermometer into his mouth. With a sudden foreign object in his mouth, the rest of his words were blocked. Shen Shiqin retracted into the quilt, uncomfortable and muffled: “You, you get out.”

He Lan glanced at him and let out a huff: “I am not getting out.”

The fever-reducing medicine and the freshly poured water were placed on the bedside table, within Shen Shiqin’s reach. He Lan had not forgotten their current relationship, so he could not bring himself to serve the man diligently as he once had. Furthermore, He Lan tilted his head slightly toward the bedside table.

There was a spot on it where the medicine sent by the newcomer actor had been placed earlier. It seemed he was not needed to serve anyway; Shen Shiqin was never short of people wanting to take care of him. Look, even far away in a foreign country, someone was there to peel crab shells for him.

He folded his arms across his chest, his fingertips subconsciously twisting his sleeves, watching the person on the bed with pursed lips. The usual high-and-mighty coldness Shen Shiqin displayed was mostly gone, and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed from discomfort. He lay on his side, curled up in the quilt, with only his fluffy hair visible. The man obediently held the thermometer in his mouth but kept his eyes closed. He Lan guessed that the man probably knew he could not drive him away, so he chose to keep his eyes shut to save himself the trouble of looking at him.

He just stood by the bed, watching Shen Shiqin, without saying a word.

A big guy like this looming by the bedside was hard to ignore. After enduring for as long as he could, Shen Shiqin finally opened his eyes. He saw the person standing there, the light from the desk lamp illuminating only half of his body, while the other side was hidden in darkness. The sight made various suspense movie scenes flash through Shen Shiqin’s mind; the person looked a lot like a killer planning something.

He squinted, following the light upward to meet the gaze of the person standing there.

“Are you going to get out or not? I am going to call someone!”

It was clearly a warning, but because of the thermometer in his mouth, the words were slurred and lacked any intimidation.

“Did you let that newcomer leave this afternoon as well?” He Lan blurted out.

“What newcomer?” Shen Shiqin did not understand what he meant for a moment.

However, He Lan did not care about Shen Shiqin’s current expression. He kicked off his shoes and braced his hands on the edge of the bed to climb up. Before he could process He Lan’s words, Shen Shiqin wrapped the quilt tightly around himself, looking vigilant: “What are you doing!”

However, He Lan did not even give him a look; he just tapped his bent knee through the quilt: “Teacher Shen, make some room.”

A sick person might be dull in the head, but their body reacts with heightened sensitivity. Even though the hand did not touch his knee, Shen Shiqin reflexively straightened his legs and hugged his arms to his chest. It was a very peaceful posture. He Lan climbed over his body and lay down beside him.

Feeling the other person’s breathing, Shen Shiqin remained stiff and motionless.

“Beep.” The three-minute alarm He Lan had set went off. He Lan turned off the alarm, turned his head to look at Shen Shiqin, who was lying flat, staring peacefully at the ceiling as if he had not heard the sound.

He Lan raised an eyebrow, took the thermometer out of Shen Shiqin’s mouth, and checked it against the light. Once he saw the reading, he said in an emotionless tone: “Oh, Teacher Shen.”

With his mouth finally empty, Shen Shiqin was speechless at the sarcastic tone. Forget it, no need to even look at the thermometer. He turned his head and noticed the medicine on the bedside table.

The person behind him had not made a sound after that remark. Shen Shiqin kicked off the quilt, sat up on the edge of the bed, and prepared to take the fever medicine. Seeing his movement, He Lan turned away and then turned back. He looked at the back sitting on the edge of the bed and could not help asking: “Have you eaten?”

“Teacher Shen should know that one should not take medicine on an empty stomach.”

Shen Shiqin’s hand holding the cup paused. He fell silent for a moment, put the pill in his mouth, and swallowed it with the water. The tablet grazed his tongue and slid down his throat, bringing an unavoidable bitterness. He wiped the water from his lips and said, “The staff brought some over this afternoon.”

He Lan nodded, then heard Shen Shiqin ask again: “Are you not going to the recording tonight?”

He Lan was stunned, then replied: “Tonight? They said it is a livestream dinner. It is a boring occasion; I will skip it if I can.”

The two’s conversation ended there. They were always like this; if outsiders were present, they would look at each other with disdain and easily get into arguments. But if they were left alone in a space, the atmosphere would always become a little subtle. And this subtlety was always mixed with a hint of awkwardness.

The fever medicine would not take effect that quickly. Shen Shiqin lay back under the covers, closed his eyes, and turned his back to He Lan. Seeing that he was going to sleep, He Lan propped himself up, reached an arm across Shen Shiqin’s front, and clicked the desk lamp off. The room plunged into darkness.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, He Lan’s phone screen lit up. He tapped it and saw that many messages had popped up.

An hour ago, Meng Yichun sent a message: [You guys have to come! Ahhh! You do not have to come, but Brother Shen has to! Otherwise, his fans will tear me apart!]

Half an hour ago: [He! Lan! You guys hurry up! The chat is full of people asking where you went. How would I know! I do not know either!]

Ten minutes ago: [Little Meng: Hey… He Lan, did you guys do something? It is not right, tell me! What did you do to Brother Shen!!]

One minute ago: [Little Meng: Great, Brother He, you guys contributed to another trending topic for me. Both of you do not come anymore.]

He Lan frowned while reading them one by one. After seeing the last one, he decisively switched to the background and logged into his alt account to check the trending list. Without even needing to search, the moment He Lan opened the list, the word “Explosive” next to a certain topic hit his eyes.

Trending #1: #ShenShiqinHeLan

Still the two simple names, still without any suffix. He Lan clicked on the topic, and a line of large text instantly caught his eyes.

It read: Relevant media reports: After the game, the two entered the guesthouse together. It is reported that Shen was too tired to leave the guesthouse all afternoon, while He went out happily for a walk.

Netizens speculated about what the two were doing inside the guesthouse. Are they still in love, or… What is all this garbage?!

He Lan immediately flipped his phone over, but hearing Shen Shiqin’s mumbled murmur next to him, He Lan stayed silent for a moment and then turned the phone back over.

Looking down, the third trending topic made his eyes widen again: #HeLanSecret

What on earth? What secret of his had been unearthed?!

He Lan entered it nervously, looking only at the top picture. The person in the picture was only seen from behind, wearing a black windbreaker, the figure tall and straight, standing in front of a counter picking out items.

Isn’t this me?!

He Lan subconsciously patted his chest and let out a soft sigh of relief. He thought some big secret had been discovered.

Scrolling down, the comments section was a high-rise building. The top comment read: [Little He told us himself that these souvenirs were bought for a special person. It is a sec…ret… QwQ]

Someone underneath followed up: [As we all know, there is no need to say who is the most special person in this show…]

Below that, a stream of: [ShenHe 99]

Scrolling further down, an inharmonious comment popped up: [HeShen 99], with the image of the two signed photos he signed today. The two photos had similar compositions and colors. In the photos, both were smiling at the camera, and the two signatures in the bottom right corner were completely different.

He Lan watched as this comment climbed to the top with lightning speed. Looking at this comment, his heart, which had been turbulent, gradually calmed down. He reached out and silently pressed “dislike” on the [ShenHe 99] comment.

He only needed to glance down to see that there were several more trending topics related to He Lan. But he had no desire to click on any of them.

He switched back to the background, clicked on the conversation with Meng Yichun, and replied: [Why do you not ask what your Brother Shen did to me?]

The other side was clearly waiting for information; as soon as he replied, they answered in the next second: [Little Meng: He Lan! You finally replied!!]

[Little Meng: What could Brother Shen possibly do to you!]

[It is you! What did you do to Brother Shen! He does not even reply to my messages!!]

[Tell me quickly, did you do anything to him during this time!]

[I knew it, I knew you still could not let go of Brother Shen. You have already broken up and you still… still!! You beast!!]

Seeing that the topic was drifting, the person who had been inexplicably branded a “beast” finally could not watch anymore and cut off his imagination:

[Please control your useless imagination? I have zero interest in your Brother Shen right now, thanks.]

He was about to retort something else when Zhong Wei suddenly sent him messages. His agent had not responded to him at all since he arrived…

He Lan suddenly smelled something ominous in the air. His hand trembled as he clicked the chat box. New messages popped up:

[He Lan! What did you “like”?!]

[I am asking you, what did you click!!]

[Ancestor! Where the hell are you?]