Chapter 44: No Hard Feelings Part 2

【Then Brother Fen’s happiness for the rest of his life is secured.】

【You’re the one shipping it. When’s Fang Yama gonna wise up?】

【If he did, he wouldn’t be single this long.】

【I wanna rush into the live stream and smash their heads together for a kiss.】

++

The autumn afternoon sun was still blinding. An auntie carried a bucket of water, walking and stopping in a narrow alley. Finally, she set down the bucket and rubbed her sore arms. Casually, she noticed a strand of hair floating on the water surface.

She bent down for a closer look. It really was a strand of hair.

When did it fall in?

Puzzled, the hair slowly rotated. A stranger’s face emerged in the bucket—pale face, vividly red lips, staring right at her reflection in the water.

“Ah—”

She recoiled in fright. An arm steadied her firmly. Another identical face appeared above her.

“Auntie, you okay?” Xiao Fen smiled.

The woman stood up, scared out of her wits. “Are you human or ghost?”

“Of course I’m human.” What kind of question was that?

“Do you have any homestays around here? I’m a guest on the show, but the sun’s about to set and I still haven’t found a place to stay.”

“Oh, sorry. I thought you were… something else just now.” The woman patted her chest with a laugh. “Come to my place. My son’s away at high school in the city. His room’s empty. Stay a few days, no problem.”

“Thanks.”

Xiao Fen moved into this local family’s home.

It was a three-person household. The couple were in their early forties but looked young. One had rented a car after the village-town highway opened a couple years back and drove a taxi between the city and towns. The other ran a paper effigy shop in town—everyone bought funeral goods from her. The couple weren’t rich, but they lived better than most in town.

As they chatted, Xiao Fen started asking about the town’s geography. After all, fifteen days from now, their ultimate goal was to escape successfully from this small town.

“Don’t even think about it. Just take the highway.” The woman’s husband laughed heartily. Everyone in town called him Brother Hao, so Xiao Fen did too. “The other places are eerie as hell. No one’s been there. You, a city boy, go into those mountains? Ninety-nine percent chance you’ll get lost.”

“Yeah.” The woman chimed in. She was skinny and weak, cracking melon seeds while chatting. Everyone called her Sister-in-law Jinlan. “Look south of town—Five Directions Stream. We have to cross the bridge to get out. North is big mountains. Southwest and west are a huge stretch of cliffs. We call it Grassless Cliff—grass seeds can’t even take root up there. Those cliffs are so high, planes couldn’t fly over.”

“What about east?” Xiao Fen asked. “That’s a woods, looks easier to traverse.”

“That place…” Brother Hao took a sip of tea and smacked his lips. “Eerie as hell. Better steer clear.”

He said no more after that, just kept telling him to drink tea.

Xiao Fen was listening to Brother Hao describe the town when Ou Yu called.

Half an hour later, they met at a milk tea shop.

Ou Yu wore a round-neck white tee with a light yellow short-sleeved shirt over it. Faded jeans and board shoes below. His smooth, fair skin glowed in the sunlight. “You didn’t just get here today too, did you? What happened to your wrist?”

“Don’t mention it.” Xiao Fen briefly explained what happened with Fang Si Ting, took a sip of milk tea, and frowned at the heavy powdery bubble flavor.

“It looks like the Program Crew did everything they could to make sure the other guests couldn’t contact us ahead of time. They had us arrive at the last possible moment before filming started.” Ou Yu sighed. “Now we’re this isolated little group with no backup. Looks like we’ll have to keep helping each other out.”

“I don’t care either way.” Xiao Fen shrugged. Whether he acted alone or teamed up with someone else made no difference to him.

Just as he finished speaking, Lu Jin emerged from the nearby barbecue shop, carrying a bag of grilled food.

Xiao Fen spotted the newcomer and changed his tune. “That said, I still prefer teaming up with you. You feel the same way too, right, bro?”

“Of course.” Ou Yu looked at him and said, “You remember how you stripped me down to just my underwear during the warm-up activity, framed me as the killer, and made me lose all face? During the First Episode, I kept dwelling on it, which distracted me and held the team back. Even when the whole internet turned against you, you still carried me through. We’re no strangers after fighting like that—I’ve latched onto the right golden thigh. If we keep working together, we’ll definitely get even better program effects.”

【What does this mean? Does Movie Emperor Ou still hold a grudge against Brother Fen over the warm-up activity?】

【Impossible. Ouyou isn’t the type to hold grudges.】

【But isn’t he admitting it himself? Why else bring up the warm-up now? During the First Episode, did we blindly side with Ouyou because of our bias and curse out Xiao Fen?】

【Huh? Is that what happened? I was just so mad at the time. Now that I think about it, I actually supported a gambler like Li Cuicai? Was I an idiot?】

Xiao Fen froze. He didn’t even notice Lu Jin approaching.

The warm-up activity had actually gone over well for program effects. According to Song Hui’s feedback afterward, aside from a few people who thought it was too over-the-top and dangerous, the overall reception was pretty good.

Things only fell apart when he went to the casino. Plenty of viewers felt he’d crossed a line and couldn’t stomach it. Some even slandered him as a habitual gambler, a scumbag with no sympathy who was especially harsh on Wang Guozhi’s family.

Part of the reason for choosing the casino backlash was there, but a lot of it stemmed from Ou Yu playing the innocent saint.

Pretending it was his first time gambling, unhesitatingly choosing to cover medical bills and construction payments for others. Knowing full well he was stronger, yet still putting on an act of shielding him protectively. Afterward, right in front of the live audience, asking if he’d cheated—seeming to defend him while actually contrasting his own image against Xiao Fen’s as a cold-blooded, selfish, scheming gambler.

Then at the celebration banquet, Ou Yu put on a show of wanting to whitewash him, acting like he was clueless about his own prior actions and making it seem like Xiao Fen owed him one. The calculations were exquisitely precise.

Xiao Fen knew all this but didn’t care. He still needed to maintain the facade of a good relationship with Ou Yu on stream to negotiate a contract extension from Lu Jin. Plus, after the First Episode wrapped, Ou Yu had genuinely gone all out on Weibo to help clear his name—not just empty words.

Now, Ou Yu had bluntly confessed the reason right in front of the camera.

Everything he’d done in the First Episode was payback for what Xiao Fen pulled during the warm-up.

They’d barely known each other then—just exchanged a few words as strangers. Before Ou Yu could even show his skills, he’d been framed without a chance to fight back. A Film Emperor losing face like that was bad enough, but then getting trashed by netizens for supposedly hooking up with Lu Jin, implying his past successes came from shady connections.

Even after the Lu Family stepped in to suppress the hot searches and issue clarifications, making the whole storm vanish from the internet, Ou Yu still harbored some resentment.

Xiao Fen could frame him and make him take the fall for nothing—why couldn’t others turn the tables on him?

Xiao Fen didn’t take issue with any of it.

Maybe it was at the last celebration banquet that he’d sensed Xiao Fen’s off mood, or perhaps today’s slightly cool attitude toward him. Either way, Ou Yu didn’t want to burn bridges. On the live stream, he’d sincerely laid it all out. And sure enough, in the later stages of the First Episode, he’d provided real help, and in reality, he’d whitewashed him too. That black-and-white hype cycle had actually netted him even more traffic.

With all that in mind, Xiao Fen’s gaze toward him took on a hint of appreciation.

Being a schemer was easy. Playing the upright gentleman was hard.

He did what he did, then owned up to it afterward—never hypocritically denying, covering up, or quibbling. He didn’t even fear the backlash from fans.

“Last time I went undercover in the Pursuit Team, didn’t you cover for me seamlessly?” Xiao Fen raised his fist. “Here’s to a smooth second collaboration.”

Ou Yu paused, then grinned and bumped fists with him. “Still good brothers?”

“Of course.”

Utilization or revenge—Xiao Fen figured he and Ou Yu had been even to begin with.

In this moment, they finally saw each other as true friends.

All those undercurrents of petty schemes were thoroughly put to rest.

Only then did the two notice Lu Jin, who’d been completely ignored the whole time. He stood there looking annoyed, bag of barbecue in hand, watching their fist bump.

It had to be said—the two male leads from the book looked great side by side. One wild and unrestrained, the other gentle and refined.

Xiao Fen asked, “You two come together?”

“Nah, we ran into each other at the Town Entrance, then found a place to crash together after that. You find lodging yet? I booked a double with an extra bed still open.” Ou Yu said.

Xiao Fen was about to reply when he caught a warning glance from behind Ou Yu.

“About that, let me think.” Xiao Fen flashed a meaningful smile. “I’ve already rented a room from a couple in town, but sharing with strangers is pretty inconvenient.”

The hand behind Ou Yu mimed a throat-slitting threat.

“Then move in with me. Where are you staying now? Take us there and we’ll help you pack.” Ou Yu said.

As Ou Yu walked ahead, Lu Jin pulled Xiao Fen back a couple steps, pressed down on the chest camera, and whispered, “You’re not going.”

“Of course not. How could I stay with Brother Ou Yu right under your nose?” Xiao Fen followed suit, pressing his own camera down.

“Good call.”

“Ten thousand.”

“???”

“Bed money.”