Chapter 54
After coming downstairs and taking a turn around the restaurant and living room, Zong Mo didn’t see Ruan Chi. He returned the breakfast coupon to Lu Bo and asked, “Teacher Lu, is Ruan-ge up?”
“He’s up, but I don’t know where he went,” Lu Bo said.
“Mm,” Zong Mo nodded and quickly said goodbye to Lu Bo. “Then I’ll go find the breakfast coupons.”
Lu Bo also nodded and said faintly, “Mm, good luck. There are two left.”
Zong Mo had just taken a step when he suddenly paused and turned back. “…Two?”
Lu Bo was still sitting in his chair, smiling gently. “Yes.” Then he took out another unstamped breakfast coupon from his pocket and showed it to Zong Mo.
Zong Mo: …
He would absolutely not bow down to the main gong‘s thousand-layer schemes for a mere breakfast!!
Ling Han suddenly spoke, “I found my breakfast coupon on the lawn in the courtyard. You can see it at a glance.”
But Lu Bo didn’t mention the origin of his two breakfast coupons and said again, “Good luck, Little Mo.”
If you really can’t find it, you can come and ask me.
Zong Mo added his subtext in his mind, then resolutely walked out the main door.
Since Lu Bo had found two breakfast coupons before eight-thirty, he had probably found them in a common place like the living room. And Ling Han finding a breakfast coupon on the lawn meant that the search area also included the courtyard.
So Zong Mo decided to start searching from a more distant place first.
The twins still hadn’t come downstairs. Instead, they were basking in the morning sun and chatting leisurely in the second-floor corridor.
Qi Zhiyi suddenly spoke out of the blue, “Ge, you heard it too, right?”
Qi Nanfeng: “Mm.”
Qi Zhiyi leaned against the railing, sighed, and looked up at the sky. “Ah, I thought I could win against you this time.”
The mother fans, who had been closely watching the twins’ movements, were extremely puzzled:
【What are Nan Nan and Zhi Zhi talking about?】
【I’ve been staring at the live stream, why can’t I understand, ahhh!】
Qi Zhiyi turned to face the courtyard again. A huge lawn, with some tall coconut trees planted by the roadside. In the distance was the blue sky and sea, and below was a large, square swimming pool.
“Mm, I see Ruan Chi-ge,” Qi Zhiyi said.
Qi Nanfeng followed Qi Zhiyi’s reminder and looked over, finding the half-person exposed under the sun umbrella. He seemed to be napping on a beach chair, enjoying the vacation time even more than them.
Before long, another figure approached the direction of the swimming pool.
From the height of the second floor, Qi Zhiyi could see very clearly and smiled, “Ge, let’s go for a swim.”
Zong Mo came near the swimming pool and noticed a cameraman not far away. He guessed that there was a guest there, most likely Ruan Chi, and quickly walked over.
It was indeed Ruan Chi. Lying flat on a beach chair, his hands behind his head, a rare sight of him in loose casual wear, wearing a pair of sunglasses, looking relaxed and comfortable.
Zong Mo was silent for a moment, then walked over and asked, “Ruan-ge, are you not having breakfast?”
Ruan Chi was not asleep and immediately replied, “I am.”
But he didn’t move a muscle.
Zong Mo: ?
Then what was he still doing lying here?
“I came out too late and haven’t found the breakfast coupons yet,” Zong Mo looked around and asked, “Have you seen any?”
Ruan Chi: “I have.”
Zong Mo: “…Aren’t you wearing sunglasses?”
Ruan Chi finally sat up, took off his sunglasses, and said, “I saw it a long time ago. It’s in the swimming pool.”
Zong Mo: ?
If that’s true, is this the same level of difficulty as Ling Han picking up a breakfast coupon on the lawn?
He squatted down suspiciously and, from Ruan Chi’s angle, saw a plastic card pressed down at the bottom of the water by a small stone.
It was indeed very conspicuous.
Zong Mo muttered, “But I’m not wearing swim trunks…”
Not only was he not wearing swim trunks, but he was also wearing a white T-shirt and light gray sweatpants, which were not at all suitable for going into the water.
Moreover, to enter the water under the watchful eyes of the five gongs, it was extremely dangerous no matter how he thought about it.
He walked around the pool. The pool was not deep but it was large, and the breakfast coupon was near the center. It was impossible to reach it with a tool from any position. He had to go into the water.
Zong Mo was still hesitating by the pool when Qi Nanfeng and Qi Zhiyi walked over together and asked him if he had found the breakfast coupons.
Zong Mo didn’t answer immediately. This breakfast coupon had been discovered by Ruan Chi first, and he also wanted Ruan Chi to eat first. But he had just promised to help the twins find breakfast coupons, and he didn’t really want to go into the water. For a moment, he felt he was in a dilemma.
The twins had said before that they were planning to go for a swim. Why not ask them for help?
So far, both of their personalities seemed quite good. They hadn’t deliberately teased him like Lu Bo, nor had they fought over him.
…Maybe they didn’t have that kind of feeling for him at all!
Zong Mo felt he must have been overthinking it. He relaxed, and suddenly heard Qi Zhiyi say, “Mm, there seems to be something in the water?”
Zong Mo, the defender of the breakfast coupon, was startled. He nonchalantly changed his position, facing the pool to block the twins’ view, and looked at the opposite side of the pool, saying, “Eh, why is there a camera over there? Is there a breakfast coupon hidden there?”
But Qi Zhiyi suddenly asked a completely unrelated question, “Little Mo, can you swim?”
Zong Mo’s full attention was on the breakfast coupon. He replied without turning his head, “I can.”
After a few seconds of silence, he only felt a strong force from behind, pushing him into the water.
?
After a splash, a wet head emerged from the water.
Zong Mo: …?
The pool was not deep, only up to his ribs. He first spat out some water, wiped the water from his face, and turned to find the source of the push.
On one side was Ruan Chi, on the other was Qi Zhiyi. Both were only a step or two away from where he had fallen.
His first reaction was naturally to suspect Ruan Chi.
But Ruan Chi was still sitting on the beach chair. With his personality, it was unlikely he would pretend to deny it after doing something bad. If he had done it, he would definitely have stayed at the scene of the crime and then given him a triumphant smile.
But the current Ruan Chi was not smiling. His face was unusually serious, and he was frowning as he sized up Qi Zhiyi.
Qi Zhiyi was also looking at Ruan Chi. From Zong Mo’s angle, he could only see that he was smiling, a naive and innocent smile, but he couldn’t make out his expression.
Ruan Chi: …
Zong Mo: ?
Although it was hard to believe, he was familiar with Ruan Chi’s expressions and had to consider that small possibility.
Was it Qi Zhiyi who pushed him…?
He vaguely felt a crackle of sparks. Zong Mo turned his gaze to Qi Nanfeng, who seemed to be out of it.
Qi Nanfeng had just come back to his senses. Noticing his gaze, he was suddenly stunned.
Only then did Ruan Chi and Qi Zhiyi both look at him.
Receiving three gazes at once, Zong Mo stayed in the water and didn’t dare to move again. He felt that something was not right everywhere.
But the wet hair on his forehead was blocking his vision and poking his eyes. He subconsciously lifted his wet hair, only to remember that Ruan Chi didn’t like him to push his bangs up. Because this seemed to intensify the netizens’ enthusiasm for calling him “wife.”
His movement paused, but he found that Ruan Chi was not looking at his face. His gaze was a little lower.
Zong Mo also looked down at his own chest.
So why was he wearing a pure white T-shirt today?
The wet white cloth, clinging to his body, was no different from being transparent.
It wasn’t even nine o’clock, and the first famous scene of today’s live stream had already appeared.
The five breakfast coupons were all in very conspicuous places. Lu Bo and Ling Han had found three in less than half an hour. Tu Bu had naturally stayed in the kitchen, waiting for the others to come and hand in their breakfast coupons, and was also curious, like the audience, about who Lu Bo would give his extra breakfast coupon to.
Five people could enjoy breakfast happily, with only one person watching others eat. That scene would be very interesting to think about.
But, it was already eight forty-five.
Where were the others?
Tu Bu went to the other people’s live stream rooms to check and found that they were all gathered by the swimming pool. The center of the frame, as expected, was again Zong Mo.
But what was with these bullet comments…?
【Ahhh wife!!】
【Wife is so white and big, slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp】
【It’s pink, it’s pink, it’s pink!】
A certain straight male director fell into a long silence.
Zong Mo was also silent.
He didn’t know whether to take off his clothes or not, whether to get out of this pool or not.
What was worse was that his pants were also light-colored, and of a thin, soft cotton material, with loose boxer shorts underneath.
He should have changed into swim trunks when the twins had prompted him to go swimming, or at least worn a pair of black outer pants.
He had been too careless about this inescapable main shou script!!
The culprit, Qi Zhiyi, was still smiling at him, “Breakfast isn’t that good anyway. Why don’t we go for a swim together? After a tiring swim, we can have lunch.”
As he spoke, he began to take off his clothes.
The twins were in sync in everything they did. Qi Nanfeng, who had been silent all along, also began to take his off.
Zong Mo: …
Ruan Chi was still sizing him up. After a long while, he finally spoke, “Take off your clothes.”
Zong Mo: ?
CEO Ruan was telling him to take off his clothes in front of so many people, so many cameras?
Zong Mo was quite puzzled. He suddenly remembered that when he was shooting for the magazine, wearing a suit was worse than not wearing one. And now, it was this soaked white shirt.
To avoid the crazy bullet comments from raising the age restriction of the show, he quickly took off his white T-shirt.
Then he walked to the edge of the pool and bent his knees, leaving only the part of his body above his collarbones above the water. He held onto the edge of the pool with both hands and looked at Ruan Chi, at a loss.
“Come out,” Ruan Chi was still reasonably calm. “Go back to the room and change.”
Zong Mo hesitated in the water. The twins on the other side had already gotten into the water and were quickly swimming towards him.
Zong Mo lowered his voice and continued to ask Ruan Chi for help, “I’m not wearing swim trunks, Ruan-ge?”
Ruan Chi was silent for half a day, then asked, “You’re not wearing underwear either?”
Zong Mo said in a low voice, “I am. They’re loose.”
CEO Ruan would definitely understand what he meant.
The underwear was loose, and so were the outer pants. Not only were they thin, but they were also wet.
Ruan Chi himself was only wearing a shirt and couldn’t conveniently take it off for him. So he said, “Use your T-shirt to cover up.”
The bullet comments immediately started discussing:
【Did something happen before the live stream started today? Why is everyone talking in riddles?】
【sry I got it in a second, I’m guilty, hahaha】
【Wait, why does CEO Ruan also understand so well!?】
Zong Mo climbed out of the water, covering himself up. He then saw a large group of people coming towards them.
The leader was Tu Bu, followed by several cameramen, as well as Lu Bo and Ling Han.
Zong Mo: …
The good mood for swimming and playing was instantly shattered by the onlookers. Qi Nanfeng changed his route, swam to the shore, returned to land, and picked up the shirt he had taken off for Zong Mo.
“Put this on first,” Qi Nanfeng said, his eyes lowered to the clothes in his hand, in a gentle voice. “Zhiyi was just playing around. Don’t take it to heart.”
In the end, none of the four had time to eat breakfast, but the bullet comments were extremely lively:
【Swimsuit Nan Nan, hehehe, hiss ha hiss ha】
【Why are you giving him clothes? May I ask if this is a romance variety show?】
【It’s just taking off a T-shirt, why are you being so protective!!】
【Ahhh, I will protect my wife’s body!】
【Bullet comment protection!!!!】
【No wonder Zong Mo had to wear clothes when he shot for DAVID. It was probably to pass the censorship, hahaha】
The five-star chef who had started work at four in the morning but was tragically neglected: …
Author’s Note:
CEO Ruan: I f***ing… how did two more come? 🙂
