After a D-List Celebrity and Their A-List Ex-Partner Join a Travel Reality Show - Chapter 23

You will lead the children astray!

Zuo Jiaxi immediately stopped in his tracks, almost tripping headfirst into the snow. He gave a dry, awkward laugh and shifted his feet. “It is hard to say. Never mind then.”

“There is nothing hard to say about it.” He Lan rubbed his earlobe, feeling a bit uncomfortable. “Did you, did you have a fight with your family?”

“It cannot really be considered family.” In the freezing weather, Zuo Jiaxi’s face turned bright red.

He Lan thought this kind of squabbling from a kid was quite amusing. He gave a long “Oh” and asked, “Girlfriend, then?”

“No, no!” Zuo Jiaxi waved his hands repeatedly, denying it in a panic.

“Oh,” He Lan continued to tease the kid, “Boyfriend, then?”

“…”

Unexpectedly, Zuo Jiaxi kept his head down, staring at his own toes, and went silent.

The smile on He Lan’s face froze. The next second, he scanned his surroundings vigilantly, only relaxing once he confirmed there were no cameras or accompanying cameramen. A passing remark to tease a kid, and it seemed he had discovered something incredible.

He deliberated for a moment before asking tentatively, “A boyfriend, then?”

Zuo Jiaxi hesitated for a while and nodded. “I suppose so, but it also seems like it does not count.”

He raised his hand as if to grab his hair, but remembered he had styled it, so he gave up. He said quite distressed, “But he told me to ask someone else how to coax him. He wants me to learn it myself.”

Although he did not quite understand why modern kids had such weird ways of dating, and had not expected that a casual question would lead Zuo Jiaxi to come out to him so carelessly, He Lan still conscientiously took on the role of a supportive big brother. He asked, “So you two fought? Is he in the country?”

Zuo Jiaxi scrunched up his face and said, “He was in the country, but he said he was going to book a flight to find me.”

“Well, at least he is resolving the problem in time; the attitude is acceptable.” He Lan approved of the other party’s approach. “Did he say when he would arrive? Teacher Shen and I can go with you to pick him up.”

Zuo Jiaxi was silent for a moment. He looked up, blinking toward the distance with a guilty conscience. “I logged into his account and I cancelled the ticket. I did not think it was a big deal, so there was no need for him to come. Then, he ignored me for the whole afternoon. I sent him a message asking if we could avoid this kind of cold war, and he told me to go ask someone how to coax a person.”

Zuo Jiaxi said earnestly, “So, Brother He, how did you used to coax Teacher Shen when you provoked him?”

As they spoke, they arrived at the homestay where Zuo Jiaxi and Duan Nan were staying, so they had to temporarily end the topic.

The two entered one after another. When He Lan saw the layout of the homestay, he slowly raised his eyes. “Why do you have two bedrooms? Why do you have a small balcony? Why do you have a sofa in your living room?”

Zuo Jiaxi was inside the house looking for chairs and, hearing his indignant voice, briefly snapped out of his distress. “We originally thought everyone’s homestay had the same configuration, but after visiting yours, Brother He, we discovered that they are actually a bit different.”

“You call this a little bit?” He Lan toured the homestay, gradually realizing that Meng Yichun was most likely messing with them, intentionally arranging them into a homestay with only one bedroom.

Zuo Jiaxi brought a few chairs out from the room and looked around with He Lan. “It is not that, really. We were not living in this one at the beginning.”

He Lan walked over to help him carry them together and suddenly remembered that he seemed to be staying with Yuan Kuanglun at first. He asked, “Right, I remember you drew the room with Xiao Yuan, right?”

As soon as these words were out, a faint worry appeared on Zuo Jiaxi’s face. “That seems to be the fuse that made him angry.”

Realizing that this so-called “he” was likely Zuo Jiaxi’s boyfriend and had something to do with Yuan Kuanglun, He Lan immediately became interested. “Then tell me why you two are angry so I can prescribe the right medicine.”

After they finished carrying the chairs, they headed out to the path they had come from. Listening to the tone He Lan used, which was clearly more attentive than before, Zuo Jiaxi looked at him suspiciously. “Brother, why are you suddenly…”

“Oh.” He Lan retracted his gaze as if nothing had happened. “I am just listening to you and feel that this is not a small matter.”

“Okay.” Zuo Jiaxi agreed, half-doubting. He walked side-by-side with He Lan, carrying the chairs, and explained, “It is just that after Yuan Ge and I returned to the homestay that night, although there were two beds, one of them was broken and could not be slept on. One bed was enough for two, but considering practical factors, I asked the program team to change the room for me. It just so happened that Brother Duan Nan had two rooms here, so I moved over.”

He Lan listened carefully and caught the key word. He asked, “Practical factors? What practical factors?”

“Brother, you actually do not know?” Zuo Jiaxi asked, a bit surprised.

He Lan was stunned. “What should I know?”

Zuo Jiaxi looked around and whispered, “Yuan Ge seems to like boys, too.”

“What!”

He Lan did not hold back his voice.

“Brother, have you not been watching the news these past few years?” Zuo Jiaxi retorted.

He Lan did not respond for a while. He had only taken a glance at the basic information and the brief acting career of this person at the time. He had just thought he was an ordinary, minor actor with a bit of background. Who would specifically go to check the gossip news about this person?

However, Yuan Kuanglun’s performance at the dinner and that “Brother Shen” he called after the recording ended, he had felt something was a bit strange back then.

He was lost in his thoughts and did not hear Zuo Jiaxi’s words until Zuo Jiaxi freed up a hand to snap his fingers in front of him. “Come back to your senses, Brother He!”

“Hmm?” He Lan pulled himself out of his thoughts. “You say it, I am listening.”

Zuo Jiaxi nodded and continued his story. After explaining for half the journey, He Lan finally understood what had happened.

That night, after Zuo Jiaxi found out the bed was broken, he went to talk to the program team about changing it. When he returned, Yuan Kuanglun said someone had called him on video several times. Yuan Kuanglun helped him answer one, saying he was not there. But the other person sent a message asking who he was, and then made another video call. Yuan Kuanglun had no choice but to answer it, facing an already livid face. Just as he wanted to say something, the other person caught a glimpse of something on the bed where he was sitting.

It was Zuo Jiaxi’s clothes that he had packed himself. The other person hung up the call without saying a word. After Zuo Jiaxi returned and asked, he found out the other party thought he was going to sleep in the same bed with someone else.

It was a misunderstanding, but not entirely. Because the other person was not angry just because of the misunderstanding.

“No matter how I explain it, he will not listen. His exact words were: What kind of lousy program did you go to? It is so poor that it cannot even afford a bed and needs two grown men to squeeze into one!”

Zuo Jiaxi continued helplessly, “I told him that I had already changed rooms and asked him not to be angry for no reason. Then he stopped talking to me.”

He Lan listened to him and had a realization. So, it was possible to request a different room; then what did that kick he took from Shen Shiqin the day he arrived count as?

He asked again, “Is that your exact wording?”

Zuo Jiaxi rubbed the tip of his nose. “I said he was being unreasonable for his age.”

He Lan’s mouth twitched. That was where the crux of the problem was.

“So, he is much older than you?”

“Not much, three years older.”

Zuo Jiaxi had just turned twenty this year, and his boyfriend was only twenty-three at most.

He Lan silently quickened his pace. Seeing him suddenly speed up, Zuo Jiaxi hurried to catch up. He panted slightly and said, “Brother, walk a little slower.”

The snow gradually began to fall again, with snowflakes constantly landing on their jackets and sleeves. The path became increasingly wet and slippery, and He Lan slowed down. In his eyes, Zuo Jiaxi was still just a child, and the reason for the argument with his partner was also very simple. It was nothing more than two people being too far apart and running into such an embarrassing misunderstanding.

Like two people far across the horizon, they could see each other but could not touch.

So he kept thinking about acting out a little, wanting Zuo Jiaxi to learn how to coax him. After all, they could not touch each other, but emotions could be felt.

However, since the two had just started dating, Zuo Jiaxi was like a block of wood, mistaking his insecurity for jealousy. It was very much like him and Shen Shiqin when they had just started dating.

He waited for Zuo Jiaxi to catch up before asking, “Why do you think he is angry?”

Zuo Jiaxi swung the chair in his hand and said, “What else could it be? He misunderstood, or he resented me for calling him old. But I apologized; so petty.”

He Lan was amused by his words and said, “I think I can understand now.”

“Right! You understand me! So Brother He, when you and Teacher Shen are together, what do you do in situations like this?”

He Lan glanced at him and corrected him gloomily, “I meant that I understand your boyfriend.”

Zuo Jiaxi was deflated, but he quickly found another way. “Then how does Teacher Shen coax you?”

He Lan: “…”

The method was simple and crude. And back then, there was no need to coax him at all; he would be running back to him after being ignored for two days!

However, there was one time, He Lan remembered, that it was also snowing. At that time, both were very popular, with endless announcements. He could not quite remember why he was pouting that day. He only remembered he had waited for Shen Shiqin for a long time, so long that the food had gone cold and the flowers seemed less vibrant.

But he was not really angry at the time, only thinking Shen Shiqin was too tired and busy until dawn to go home. He had already planned to call Shen Shiqin and tell him home was too far from the filming location and to book a hotel nearby to rest. But just as he picked up his phone, trending searches kept popping up.

He Lan could not remember what unrealistic things those trending searches had fabricated, as too many people coveted their popularity, and they had experienced such things too often. So he did not pay any attention, backed out, and had just dialed Shen Shiqin’s phone when the ringtone sounded at the door.

He Lan immediately put down what was in his hands, strode to the door, and as soon as he opened it, he had him in his arms. The person in his arms seemed very tired, motionless, buried in his neck and rubbing, making him very itchy.

That day seemed to be a special day, because He Lan felt like teasing him, so he pressed his forehead against Shen Shiqin’s, whispering, “I saw the trending searches, what should I do if I am jealous?”

Shen Shiqin only laughed. Afterward, he tilted his head back, his lips touching He Lan’s chin. It felt cool.

Shen Shiqin laughed muffledly at that time, asking, “Then I will coax you, okay?”

He Lan: “Do you have filming tomorrow?”

Shen Shiqin: “No more, we can wake up late.”

That night was exceptionally long and exceptionally warm. Since then, He Lan had always felt that being a little jealous occasionally was not bad.

The memory ended like this. He Lan suddenly felt a dryness in his throat. He turned his head and looked at Zuo Jiaxi’s expectant face.

…He could not teach Zuo Jiaxi that way of coaxing people. It would lead the kids astray.

So he said in a joking tone, “Just say some nice things; he was not really angry.”

Not getting any substantive advice, Zuo Jiaxi pouted and whispered, “Also true; I should not have asked someone who already broke up; it does not have much reference value.”

Hearing this, He Lan’s face turned dark.

The two discussed this all the way on the road, and both were full of their own thoughts when they returned. Shen Shiqin opened the door, looking at them with a puzzled expression. He took the chairs from Zuo Jiaxi and asked, “What is wrong?”

Zuo Jiaxi said dejectedly, “Nothing, suffered some bitterness.”

Shen Shiqin looked him over, saw nothing different, and asked with concern, “What bitterness?”

He Lan added coolly from the side, “Probably the bitterness of love.”

Shen Shiqin frowned, not understanding. He looked at He Lan, his eyes asking what was going on. He Lan had already arranged the chairs and was serving vegetable soup for them.

Sensing Shen Shiqin’s gaze, the ladle in He Lan’s hand faltered. Memories of that night years ago flooded his mind uncontrollably. He felt a rush of heat to his face for no reason and pretended he was very busy, not seeing that gaze, focusing intently on serving the soup. His movements were just a bit chaotic.

Shen Shiqin rested his chin on one hand, his gaze scanning back and forth between the two. Taking advantage of the moment He Lan was looking down at serving soup, he scrutinized the other party carefully.

Why did he feel He Lan’s ears were so red?

Thinking this, he asked directly, “Your ears are so red, is it very cold outside?”

He Lan nodded randomly and handed over the served soup.

Shen Shiqin took the soup he had served and held it in his hands. The temperature of the soup was just right, the warmth passing through the bowl to his palms, making them feel cozy. When their fingertips touched, the temperature was transmitted as well. He Lan yanked his hand back so abruptly that the soup almost spilled.

Shen Shiqin stabilized the bowl in time, confused. “What are you doing?”

He Lan sat down and drank the soup in his own bowl, saying, “Doing nothing.”

Just feeling guilty, that is all.