Can You Believe It? I Ran into My Ex on a Dating Variety Show - Chapter 29

He Xingzhi ran the pad of his thumb over the teeth marks and suddenly laughed. He stared at Shi Yu and asked, “Did you come in here last night? Was it you who changed my clothes?”

Shi Yu lowered his head and remained silent.

He Xingzhi applied a bit of pressure to the bite mark with his finger. Shi Yu’s body trembled slightly. That tingly, numbing sensation felt like a faint electric current coursing through his heart, triggering a flutter of emotion.

He Xingzhi became smug. The gloom in his eyes swept away as he gently traced the bite mark on Shi Yu’s collarbone. “Not going to admit it? Do you want me to bite you again to see if the teeth marks match up?”

He knew it. With Shi Yu’s severe cleanliness obsession, it was impossible for him to let just anyone near him, let alone allow someone to leave such intimate marks.

He Xingzhi’s memory of returning drunk last night was a blank. He only knew that when he woke up in the morning, he felt refreshed, and his clothes had been changed. He originally thought he had changed them himself. When he was with Shi Yu, he was never allowed to get into bed without changing after coming in from outside. Thus, he had developed the habit of either changing his clothes or sleeping with nothing on at all. This had become so ingrained that he maintained the habit even after the breakup.

So, he did not think much of it when he woke up, until he saw the hickeys and bite marks on Shi Yu’s body. There were so many bites; just how intense was it last night?

He liked to bite people when he was drunk. No, that was not right; there was only one person he liked to bite. He did not bite hard, but he would cover Shi Yu’s body with his marks. He loved this feeling, as if he were marking his own property to claim ownership, which gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.

When sober, Shi Yu would struggle, and He Xingzhi would soften his heart. But when drunk, Shi Yu’s resistance became very weak. If He Xingzhi went a little wild, Shi Yu would indulge him. Shi Yu’s skin was very fair; with just a little effort, he could leave lasting marks.

Seeing that Shi Yu remained silent, He Xingzhi took it as a tacit admission. He leaned down and bit the hickey just above Shi Yu’s collarbone. The warmth of the skin and the familiar touch caused He Xingzhi’s physical reaction to occur exceptionally fast.

Shi Yu pushed him away, happening to see the bulge. This man was still as easily excitable as he had been when he first became an adult.

“Last night, I planned to wait for you to come back before I showered,” Shi Yu said calmly. “But you were late. When I knocked on the door, I found it was unlocked, so I went in to shower. I did not know you would return halfway through, and drunk at that. Then, things happened. But you do not need to worry. We did not go all the way, so just act as if nothing happened.”

He Xingzhi was furious. He was angry at Shi Yu’s indifference and even angrier at himself for not remembering a single thing. After explaining, Shi Yu borrowed a shirt from He Xingzhi, put it on, and left. Once he was gone, He Xingzhi looked at the mess on the floor and clenched his jaw in frustration. He took out his phone and dialed a number.

The one who answered was Zhou Xiangnan, one of He Xingzhi’s good friends.

“Hello? He Xingzhi? Were you not dead drunk last night? Why are you up so early today? Oh, right, you are filming a show. I forgot. How is your ex-boyfriend? Give him my regards.” Zhou Xiangnan, hungover and woken up by the phone, was not yet clear-headed and rambled incoherently.

He Xingzhi said through gritted teeth, “It is all your fault for coaxing me into drinking so much last night.”

Zhou Xiangnan yawned. “Big brother, I tried to stop you, okay? But do you not know how powerful you are? I almost got trashed by you. My back still hurts; there must be bruises.”

Yesterday, He Xingzhi finished a magazine shoot early but did not want to go back. After wandering around for a while, he saw on social media that Zhou Xiangnan was on the island, and the location happened to be nearby. He called Zhou Xiangnan out for a drink. They went to a bar that Zhou Xiangnan co-owned, so the privacy went without saying. Then, they drank too much, mixing spirits and wine.

In the end, it was the assistant, Xiao Zhang, who took He Xingzhi back. Xiao Zhang originally wanted He Xingzhi to stay at a hotel for the night because he was truly too drunk. Returning to film the show in that state would not look good. However, when Xiao Zhang tried to use an ID to check in, He Xingzhi struggled violently, insisting on going back no matter what. Xiao Zhang could not hold down a drunk He Xingzhi alone, so he could only drive him back to the filming villa.

Then, the blackout occurred.

“Because you let me get too drunk, do you know what I missed? You have no idea. I missed the whole world,” He Xingzhi complained incessantly.

Zhou Xiangnan was completely bewildered. He looked at his phone and then pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. “What are you talking about? Are you still drunk? That should not be the case. Whenever I drank with you before, you would still get up for a run the next morning, saying something about maintaining your figure. Damn it, because your figure is too good, my mom always complains that I am fat and forces me to diet every day. Where am I fat? I do not even have a belly; at most I just do not have an eight-pack.”

He Xingzhi was fine with nagging others, but he did not like listening to others nag him. So, he hung up the phone. Zhou Xiangnan rambled for a long time before realizing he was just talking to himself.

The production crew asked the guests to choose a person they liked for a date. Using text messages, they were to send their choices to the person in charge. If it was a mutual selection, they would immediately become a first-stage date couple. If it was not mutual, or if multiple people chose one person, other methods would be used to facilitate a match. The phones used for the messages were provided separately by the production crew, not their personal phones.

All eight guests were sitting on the sofa. At the same time, today’s two-hour livestream began. Xiao Huahua appeared again, starting up its gender-neutral voice. It carried a small box containing eight phones and slowly drove inside. Just as it reached the entrance, it began to shout, “Brother Zhang Bin, can you come and give me a hug? I cannot get up!”

As soon as that voice came out, the people in the live comments started laughing.

• • “Hahahaha, Xiao Huahua is here! Xiao Huahua is delivering the phones.”

• • “I love Xiao Huahua so much.”

• • “Xiao Huahua is too cute.”

• • “Why do Zhang Bin and Xiao Huahua have a strange sense of chemistry? Help!”

• • “Are you all crazy for shipping? This is not even a matter of biological reproductive isolation anymore.”

• • “Hahahahahaha.”

Xiao Huahua drove in familiarly, greeted the guests one by one, and then asked them to take a phone from the box on its back.

“Brothers, please take your phones.”