The buzz around the sunrise silhouette photo lasted for several days. For a time, the CP fans within Shen Xici’s fanbase magically split into two camps.

One was the “Shao You Ci” CP, shipping Shen Xici and A’Shao, relying on those few photos, fan descriptions, and various clues, as well as high-quality fan creations from top artists in the circle.

The other was shipping Shen Xici’s Narcissus pairings, including but not limited to Gu Changsheng x Sheng Yuen, Young Priest x Mute Boy, Gu Changsheng x Mute Boy, Crazy Emperor x Mute Boy…

After a series of permutations and combinations, they made the Narcissus track blossom.

And the most authoritative figure in this track was the Bilibili UP master Dongyu, who consistently produced cut videos with exceptionally high editing and aesthetic standards. A veteran fan of Shen Xici, he was hailed as the person who best shipped Narcissus CPs, the cornerstone of the Narcissus circle, and the strongest surface-to-air nuclear weapon against the “Shao You Ci CP” camp.

After Shen Xici finished a slew of public appearances and got the answer “you can rest well for a few days” from Ge Lanjing, he immediately had Lan Xiaoshan drive him to the CBD central district.

The all-glass facade of the Shenghe Building reflected the color of the sky, a clear, translucent blue.

Taking the dedicated elevator to the CEO’s office on the fifty-first floor, special assistant Yu Zhou was already waiting for him at the elevator hall entrance. He said in a low voice, “CEO Sheng is in an important meeting with the New York side right now. It might last another two to three hours. CEO Sheng said you can rest in the lounge first. If you need anything, you can let me know.”

Shen Xici smiled friendly. “Okay, thank you, Special Assistant Yu.”

Caught off guard, Yu Zhou was once again stunned.

He had originally thought that after going through thick and thin with CEO Sheng, he could remain unfazed in any situation. But when he first saw who that mysterious person playing hard to get, toying with his boss’s feelings, and stringing him along in that ordinary apartment was, he couldn’t keep his expression stable.

No, why was that person who had appeared on the big screen standing next to his boss? And even smiling and waving at him?

His brain was spinning so fast it was about to smoke. He quickly pieced all the information together—the person who had taken in CEO Sheng for more than half a month after his accident was actually Shen Xici?

As a result, when CEO Sheng left, he left behind a check and left without saying goodbye. Shen Xici was very angry, so he never cashed that check?

But if it was Shen Xici, then it all made sense—CEO Sheng’s fluctuating moods during his daily phone calls, being hooked by the frequency of the messages, making CEO Sheng disrupt his schedule to go to Qintai Film and Television City overnight, and also making CEO Sheng adhere to the principle of “never work overtime if you can avoid it” for the past few months, always in a hurry to go home!

He then immediately thought, “Fleeting Life” was filmed in the Sheng family’s garden. The family prototype behind Sheng Yuen didn’t even need guessing. By this calculation, Shen Xici played CEO Sheng’s ancestor?

Wow, is this your little couple game?

After seeing each other more often, the two gradually became familiar. Sometimes when Yu Zhou ran into his boss in a bad mood, if Shen Xici was around, he would help put out the fire, saving his soon-to-be-evaporated bonus.

Privately, Yu Zhou and Lin Yueshu both agreed that Shen Xici was the boss’s only remaining conscience!

When Shen Xici was tired, he had no appetite. After asking for a glass of water and entering Sheng Shaoyan’s office, he turned into the lounge, found a black shirt of Sheng Shaoyan’s in the closet, and after taking a shower in the bathroom, he put it on and fell asleep.

The duvet, pillows, and bedding were the same as those in the mid-level villa, and they all had a faint scent of a moonlit mountain forest. The scent of Sheng Shaoyan made Shen Xici subconsciously feel familiar and at ease, like being surrounded by a sturdy embankment. He closed his eyes drowsily and fell asleep in a short while.

When he woke up again, it was quiet around him. Shen Xici turned his head and saw that the empty glass of water on the bedside table had been refilled, and there was a note under it.

Cool, fair, long fingers picked up the paper. On it was Sheng Shaoyan’s handwriting, with his habitual signature at the end. Shen Xici placed the note on his forehead, slowly coming back to his senses. He had slept for more than three hours. Sheng Shaoyan had returned to the office once in the middle, and there was another meeting twenty minutes ago. Seeing that he was not awake, he had left this note.

Shen Xici felt lazy all over, with no strength. He wrapped himself in the thin quilt, replied to a few messages on his phone, then switched to Bilibili and opened the videos he hadn’t had time to watch recently.

As he watched, he became engrossed—produced by the great Dongyu, it was truly a masterpiece, with an extremely high number of views. No wonder he had become the cornerstone of the circle!

The latest edit from a few days ago was a past-and-present life Narcissus pairing. In the past life, the crazy young emperor he played fell in love with the mute young chief of an ancient tribe. But because of treacherous officials causing chaos in the court and the collapse of the country, the emperor died young. The young chief, overcome with grief, leaped off a mountain valley to die with him.

A few hundred years later, in this life, the young chief was reincarnated as a star and met the crazy successor Gu Changsheng, falling in love at first sight. It was both sweet and angsty, then sweet again. Shen Xici watched with bated breath. By the time the progress bar finished, he couldn’t help but marvel. The films were all his, but one was a leading role and the other two didn’t have many scenes. How did Dongyu do it, to make a Narcissus CP?

And, his scope was quite wide!

Could it be that the great Dongyu was part of the ACG world?

The bullet comments went wild too.

“—I knew it, ahhh! When the great Dongyu makes a move, Shao You is done for! Just relying on those two photos, they dare to feel so good about themselves? The one Dongyu ships will forever be himself!”
“—I love Narcissus pairings! Shen Xici’s acting is really amazing. Different characters in the same video can be clearly distinguished at a glance. It doesn’t look like they were played by the same actor at all! As expected of him!”
“—A thousand miles of Xici’s waters, twelve peaks of Dongyu’s border! Those who ship Xici and Dongyu CP, gather here with me!!”
“—Great master, you love so deeply, you can always create super delicious CPs! This past-and-present life, angsty-sweet-angsty-sweet, I love it, I love it. May I ask when the next video will be released?”

Dongyu was always very aloof. Under the comment asking about the release time of the next video, he only replied with two words: “In editing.”

Shen Xici switched to the background and opened his chat with Dongyu.

His chats with Dongyu were not frequent. Dongyu would occasionally ask him for help with some emotional problems, usually starting with “I have a friend,” including but not limited to how to please a romantic partner, what small gifts were appropriate, whether frequent phone calls and video calls would annoy the other person, and so on.

Regarding the issue of “the friend is me,” understanding the psychology of a college student who was too embarrassed to discuss it with people around him and could only consult a netizen for emotional problems, Shen Xici had never exposed him. He only seriously analyzed the problem and proposed solutions.

Over this period of time, he roughly knew that Dongyu and his romantic partner were in the honeymoon phase. Their relationship was very good. Dongyu was very clingy to the other person and couldn’t bear to be separated. Once they were not together due to some matter, he would keep in touch with the other person through WeChat, phone calls, and video calls.

And it was also clear that the great Dongyu was truly a love-struck fool, deeply in love. His words were filled with an uncontainable love. He believed with all his heart that the person he liked was the moon among the clouds, the star in the sky, perfect in every way. He wished he could offer everything he had to the other person, but was also afraid that the other person would feel pressured.

In short, the great Dongyu loved him so much!

Shen Xici had watched the great Dongyu all the way. He only hoped that the great Dongyu’s romantic partner was serious. Otherwise, if the blow was too great, this love-struck college boy with a pure soul would probably never recover.

As a staff member of his personal studio, he sent a private message to Dongyu, praising these few videos over and over again.

Although it was strange to watch his own Narcissus videos, Shen Xici was very good at detaching himself, treating the protagonists inside as two people who just looked a lot like him. They were really brilliantly edited!

A new message popped up on WeChat. Ge Lanjing sent him a document and asked him to check if there were any problems with the contract. If there were, she would go talk to the other party again.

Shen Xici gathered his strength for half a minute before finally getting out of bed and leaving the lounge. He sat down at Sheng Shaoyan’s office chair. Although Sheng Shaoyan had said he could use his computer, given the extremely high security level of this computer and the particularly large amount of important data inside, Shen Xici opened WeChat, preparing to send a message first to let him know.

Unexpectedly, just as he typed a few words in the chat box, the computer in front of him suddenly unlocked automatically.

Did it scan his face? And just unlocked?

Before Shen Xici could react, he suddenly found that what was open on the computer screen was a… video editing software?

In the meeting room, Sheng Shaoyan raised his hand and looked at his watch. According to Shen Xici’s habits, he should have been awake by now.

When he had entered the lounge earlier, Shen Xici was wrapped in the quilt, sleeping soundly.

Sheng Shaoyan really liked this feeling.

The person he loved, wearing his clothes, covered in his scent, sleeping soundly in his territory.

After watching the sleeping person for a while, Sheng Shaoyan left the lounge, opened the software again, and continued to edit for another ten seconds.

Thinking of this, Sheng Shaoyan’s heart skipped a beat. Would Shen Xici—no, he denied his own speculation. Before he left the office, he had turned off the monitor. Shen Xici couldn’t see what was displayed on the screen.

He was probably overthinking.

Yu Zhou noticed this action of looking at the watch. He didn’t need to guess to know that the boss was again complaining that the people in the meeting room were too inefficient and wasting time. He secretly gestured to the person giving the report, indicating to speed up.

The meeting ended nearly half an hour earlier than expected. Sheng Shaoyan strode back to the office. Seeing that no one was in the office and the computer screen was as black as when he had left, he felt relieved and opened the lounge door.

Shen Xici was sitting on the bed, watching a movie.

He was wearing his own shirt, with the top three buttons unbuttoned, looking casual and lazy. The exposed skin was dazzlingly white.

Sheng Shaoyan undid the button of his suit with one hand and casually threw the jacket on the back of a chair.

When Sheng Shaoyan was unbuttoning, Shen Xici couldn’t help but swallow.

A few seconds later, long fingers clamped his chin, and their lips and tongues met eagerly.

This kiss did not last long, as if it were just a long-thirsty traveler, eagerly trying to quench his thirst. After drinking from the clear spring, he became patient.

Shen Xici lifted his thin eyelids and looked at Sheng Shaoyan with some confusion. “A’Shao?”

His thumb wiped the water stains from the corner of his mouth. Sheng Shaoyan looked at his lips, which were sucked like rose petals, and asked him in a low voice, “Do you know what you look like right now?”

A hint of question appeared in Shen Xici’s eyes.

Sheng Shaoyan sighed. His long legs, wrapped in suit pants, bent as he knelt on the bed, once again pressing against his thin lips. As they twisted and turned, he replied, “The look of being unsatisfied and wanting me to continue kissing you.”

His warm palm pressed against Shen Xici’s hair. Sheng Shaoyan’s tongue impolitely pushed in.

Shen Xici was aroused by his kiss and the meaning in his words, trembling slightly, but his hands still clung tightly to his shirt collar and tie, pressing closer.

The consequence of coveting the other’s scent was that Shen Xici was kissed until his tongue was numb. He leaned limply in Sheng Shaoyan’s arms, the corners of his eyes damp, letting the other’s hand roam under his clothes, checking his body for injuries.

Sheng Shaoyan kissed his thin ear bone. “What were you doing just now?”

Shen Xici’s breath was unsteady. “…I was watching a movie. You came back before I finished.”

Sheng Shaoyan was completely relieved, thinking, I was indeed overthinking.

Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling window of the office, high-rise buildings stood in rows. The people and traffic on the ground were too small to see clearly. The sunlight poured down, a bit dazzling.

On the glass, the overlapping shadows of the two were vaguely reflected.

Behind the large desk, Sheng Shaoyan sat in a chair, his long legs propped on the ground. One hand was wrapped around the waist of the person in his arms, and the other hand gently kneaded the back of his neck and his soft earlobe, as if soothing a lazy cat in the afternoon.

Shen Xici’s schedule had been one after another these few days, and he had even flown to two different cities overnight. He didn’t feel it when he was busy, but once he relaxed, his bones fell apart. Being kneaded like this by Sheng Shaoyan, his eyelids drooped again, and he once again felt drowsy.

Outside the window, dusk fell, and the brilliant lights of Ningcheng lit up one after another. A black Maybach stopped in front of the mid-level villa. The car door opened, and Sheng Shaoyan held Shen Xici’s hand as they walked to the main gate.

Under the white steel-framed glass roof, Sheng Shaoyan jumped into the pool with an agile posture.

Shen Xici admired the beautiful and hormonal scene for a while, then his gaze turned to the rectangular table that had appeared by the pool. On it were different kinds of desserts, fruit juices, and low-alcohol wines. After hesitating repeatedly, he chose one.

As he ate, he thought, It’s okay. At worst, I’ll go for a few laps after I finish eating.

A splash was heard. Sheng Shaoyan emerged from the water, his face exceptionally handsome. The halo of endless money and extreme power that surrounded him during the day faded at this moment.

In front of Shen Xici, he seemed incredibly real.

His deep, dark eyes stared at the person on the shore. Sheng Shaoyan said, “Xici, give me some wine.”

Shen Xici did as he was told and brought the glass over. Seeing that the other had no intention of getting up or using his hands, he fed the rim of the glass to Sheng Shaoyan’s lips.

As if possessed, after taking back the glass, Shen Xici, following Sheng Shaoyan’s lip print, swallowed the remaining half-mouthful of wine at the bottom of the glass. The wine was very light, and the taste was very sweet, not like what Sheng Shaoyan usually liked.

Sheng Shaoyan, submerged in the water, looked at his thin lips, alluring with the wine. “Resting for a few days this time? Any plans?”

Because the studio was no longer short of money and had not signed a contract with a large company, there was no need to excessively overdraft his commercial value to make money. So their goal was very clear. More energy would be focused on the script and the choice of the next work. Ge Lanjing was very restrained in accepting public appearances.

Shen Xici counted, “I should be able to rest for about a week. No plans, just reading books and watching movies. I want to watch more of other actors’ performance methods.”

Sheng Shaoyan looked at the person sitting by the pool. “Do you want to accompany me to London? The Royal Opera House has a classic musical performance. You can also see other actors’ performance methods.”

Shen Xici had already planned to do so. Once the two of them got busy, they would both be very busy, and their schedules would not match at all. So every minute of their free time was worth cherishing.

He answered in a natural tone, “Okay, let’s go to London together.” Then, his words carried a hint of a smile. “You don’t have to worry. Maybe I’m very willing to go wherever you go, and be with you day and night.”

This was what he had said in a private message in the background when answering the great Dongyu’s question. He had said that the person you like might be very willing to go wherever you go.

Their eyes met.

Seeing Sheng Shaoyan’s gaze freeze, Shen Xici, with his highly professional acting skills, maintained the expression on his face, but a few specks of a smile still overflowed from the bottom of his eyes. He couldn’t help but tease, “Right, the strongest surface-to-air nuclear weapon against the Shao You Ci CP, the great Dongyu?”

He really hadn’t expected that the cornerstone of the Narcissus track, the unofficial staff member of his personal studio, the college student with a pure soul, who from time to time humbly asked him for dating tips, was actually his boyfriend!

And also, did this count as, our side’s cornerstone is actually the head of the enemy camp!

Could this be… the treasure boyfriend Sheng Shaoyan?

Sheng Shaoyan wanted to deny it, but the evidence was already laid out before Shen Xici’s eyes. It was pointless to deny it again.

He felt a little regretful. The alias Dongyu was indeed very useful.

Remembering the post he had seen while surfing the internet, Shen Xici deliberately brought it up. “Oh right, I saw my fans say that you also bought over fifty sets of photo cards from her. Is that true, ‘Shao?”

Besides a slight loss of composure at the beginning, Sheng Shaoyan quickly regained his calm and even answered, “More than fifty sets.”

Shen Xici: !!!

Taking advantage of his surprise and unpreparedness, Sheng Shaoyan suddenly grabbed Shen Xici’s hand and pulled him into his arms.

Amidst the splashing water, Sheng Shaoyan pressed his lips hard against Shen Xici’s. The taste of sweet wine spread across their tongues.

His voice was a little muffled. “…Don’t laugh at me.”