Can You Believe It? I Ran into My Ex on a Dating Variety Show - Chapter 26

After Ning Yi disappeared, He Jiang immediately married Liu Yuan’ai and brought the child she had borne into the family home. When Liu Yuan’ai entered the household, she brought three children with her: one she had with He Jiang, one from her former husband, and another that He Jiang had fathered with his secretary.

Growing up in such an abusive and oppressive environment, He Xingzhi gradually became rebellious. Although he was the child of He Jiang’s original wife and the eldest grandson of the He family, he lived a life inferior to both the secretary’s illegitimate son and the stepchild Liu Yuan’ai had brought with her. In the words of the System, he was rebellious and starved for love.

“There is one thing I do not quite understand,” Shi Yu once asked the System.

“Please speak, Host,” the System replied. At that time, the System and Shi Yu were not yet familiar with one another; their interactions carried the polite distance of strange colleagues.

“Why must I turn him into a ‘love-brain’ who only loves me?” Shi Yu asked, puzzled.

“That is how the mission details are written. I do not have the authority to access the specific reasons,” the System stated.

Though Shi Yu remained suspicious, he knew he would not get a straight answer, so he stopped questioning it. He investigated He Xingzhi thoroughly, and once he was ninety percent certain of his plan, he struck decisively. He began with Shi Qian, using him to get close to He Xingzhi, and successfully became He Xingzhi’s friend.

Before He Xingzhi’s eighteenth birthday, he invited both Shi Qian and Shi Yu to attend his celebration. Shi Yu intentionally made an excuse, saying he had no time to go. Then, when the boy’s disappointment had reached its peak, with less than ten minutes remaining until midnight, Shi Yu arrived beneath the boy’s building and asked him to come down. He presented a gift he had prepared himself: a scarf. It was a beautiful grey wool scarf, a surprise Shi Yu had spent half a month knitting by following the steps in a book.

As a boy starved for affection, He Xingzhi stood no chance against such kindness. He stood before Shi Yu, crying like a foolish dog soaked by the rain. Shi Yu ruffled his hair and personally tied the scarf around his neck. At that exact moment, snowflakes began to drift from the sky. The birth of the season’s first snow added a touch of romance to the scene. Looking at the way the boy gazed at him, Shi Yu knew the mission was as good as settled. However, he never expected that complications would arise later.

“Brother Shi, it is your turn.” Su Jingxi called him several times before Shi Yu finally snapped back to reality.

Shi Yu won this round of the game quite easily as well. Su Jingxi, having lost so many times he felt numb, said, “Brother Shi, I am not playing anymore.”

After Su Jingxi left, Shi Yu lost interest in continuing. The game was originally meant to help him calm down, but halfway through, he had remembered things from the past, and his emotions were now anything but calm. He walked out, intending to pour himself a cup of coffee. He happened to see Su Jingxi and Yan Jin under the shade of a tree outside the yard; they appeared to be arguing. Shi Yu was too far away to hear what they were fighting about. He had no intention of eavesdropping, so he took a casual glance, withdrew his gaze, and walked back with his coffee.

Shi Yu stayed in his room all afternoon. While the other guests were interacting and getting to know one another, Shi Yu did not actively seek out camera time unless it was required by the production team.

That evening, He Xingzhi still had not returned. Dinner was prepared by Liu Xiuxiu and consisted entirely of Sichuan cuisine. Shi Yu could not handle spicy food, so he merely ate a bit of plain white rice, set down his utensils, and left. He stayed quietly in his room for a while, but He Xingzhi still did not return.

Feeling somewhat restless, he went out to find the production staff. He asked them, “Will He Xingzhi be back tonight? I need to use his bathroom, and if he is not here, it is not very convenient for me to use it.”

“We are not sure about that either,” the staff member replied.

“Alright, thank you,” Shi Yu said.

“You are welcome.”

Shi Yu returned to his room and waited until around ten o’clock, but there was still no sign of He Xingzhi. However, he had reached his limit and needed to shower. Holding his change of clothes, he walked to the room next door. He knocked on the door as a test, and to his surprise, it swung open. It turned out He Xingzhi had left without locking it.

Shi Yu looked at the open door, hesitating whether to enter. Recalling He Xingzhi’s threat from the day before, he hesitated for only a moment before walking in. It was late, and he felt it would be troublesome to bother anyone else.

Shi Yu turned on the showerhead. Perhaps the sound of the rushing water was too loud, or perhaps he was still distracted by his earlier memories, but he did not notice the bathroom door opening. He stood there, dazed under the spray, and locked eyes with He Xingzhi, who had just pushed the door open.

He Xingzhi was clearly drunk; his eyes were blurred with intoxication. He appeared excessively calm, yet his gaze held a dark, heavy intensity, a distant feeling that warned others not to approach. Usually, this look was a sign that he had drunk far too much and was past the point of rational thought.

By the time Shi Yu realized what was happening, the moment for shyly covering himself had already passed. He turned off the water with a surface-level calm and said, “I am sorry. I did not know you needed to use the bathroom now. I am finished.”

Shi Yu reached out to grab a bath towel to dry himself. Just as his hand touched it, the towel grew heavy; He Xingzhi had grabbed the other end, and a tug-of-war began between them.

“He Xingzhi, you are drunk. Please let go,” Shi Yu said, frowning.

He Xingzhi gave a small laugh. Then, taking advantage of a moment when Shi Yu’s grip loosened, he gave a sharp tug on the towel and pulled Shi Yu toward him. Shi Yu’s footing was unstable on the slick floor, and he fell directly into He Xingzhi’s arms. He Xingzhi hugged Shi Yu, resting his chin on Shi Yu’s shoulder. He nudged him gently and whispered, “Yu, you have finally come to find me in my dreams again. It has been so long. I missed you so much.”

He took Shi Yu’s face in his hands and kissed him impatiently. Shi Yu struggled, but He Xingzhi’s strength was greater than his. Scattered kisses fell on his face and the corners of his mouth until his red lips were finally captured. What began as a shallow, grinding kiss turned into a deep one, shifting from one person’s coercion to two people’s shared loss of control.

Without realizing it, Shi Yu stood on his tiptoes to cooperate. He Xingzhi lowered his head, alternating between tenderness and roughness. At one moment, he treated Shi Yu like a precious treasure; at the next, as if fearing he would lose him, he ground harshly against those beautiful, thin red lips.

“Yu, Yu, I missed you so much, I missed you so much.” The scent of alcohol on He Xingzhi transferred to Shi Yu, leaving him feeling somewhat intoxicated as well. The corners of Shi Yu’s eyes grew red, and his brow was damp. He Xingzhi’s kisses traveled downward, leaving a deep hickey on his collarbone.

The slight pain caused Shi Yu to snap back to his senses. He pushed He Xingzhi away. His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath. After a long moment, he calmed down and said, “He Xingzhi, we have already broken up.”

He picked up the bath towel that had fallen to the floor and wiped himself down haphazardly, unaware that the water droplets on his skin had mostly dried on their own. After a few quick wipes, he tossed the towel aside and began to dress. He turned his back to He Xingzhi and bent over to pull on his trousers. He Xingzhi’s gaze was burning, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.