Having finished that sentence, Xie Jinghe pursed his lips, his mouth curling upward uncontrollably. He looked like a cat that had successfully stolen a fish; despite trying to restrain his expression, he could not hide the secret delight in his eyes.

It was like that on that night three years ago.

The hotel room window was cracked open, and the suffocating, rhythmic bass from the bar downstairs crept up, making the air seem to rise by several degrees. The two of them sat on the same side of the sofa, with many empty glasses on the table. The light reflecting off the glass walls was dazzling.

The person beside him was drunk and accidentally knocked over a cocktail.

Most of the mint-blue liquid spilled, leaving a vivid splash across the apricot-white table.

Shi Linchuan first steadied the person before tucking his sleeves back and grabbing paper towels to clean up the mess. The culprit, seemingly still possessing a sliver of consciousness, knew they had caused trouble and frantically grabbed napkins to help.

The result was that they only made things worse.

The drunkard’s hands were weak and shaky; he probably couldn’t even count how many glasses there were in total.

Both of them were leaning forward, very close together. Just as Shi Linchuan helped him roll up his soaked sleeves, that person had leaned in quietly, just like today, and planted a light kiss on the corner of his mouth—except, when they separated, it made a sound.

Chirp.

That person seemed unable to learn how to kiss quietly, to the point that Shi Linchuan once suspected he had a loudspeaker hidden in his mouth; every time he kissed, it made a noise.

And he never learned his lesson.

Shi Linchuan glanced at Xie Jinghe indifferently. His fingers had already reached the file at the very bottom of the drawer. After pulling it out, he shut the drawer, creating a dull, woody thud.

Compared to a management contract, this file, which contained a show proposal and an artist contract, was significantly thicker and held together by a transparent folder.

The first page was a blank sheet of paper, hiding the contents underneath.

Shi Linchuan placed it on the table, right in front of Xie Jinghe.

Xie Jinghe’s gaze drifted toward it involuntarily, only to pull it back quickly. He looked up at the man who had already straightened his back and asked naturally, “What is this?”

The man had one arm draped over the back of the chair. Upon hearing this, he used his other hand to pinch the other’s chin, forcing his face back, and said coldly, “Read it first.”

This slightly coercive action had never happened in the previous three years, but it had occurred repeatedly over the last week. Xie Jinghe shook his head, uncomfortable, but couldn’t break free. He just muttered in a low voice:

“You’ve already bruised my chin.”

In reality, the bruise was left from their previous argument.

However, Shi Linchuan didn’t deny it. He pulled his hand away leisurely and intentionally misinterpreted the previous sentence, urging him: “Aren’t you hungry? Read it quickly.”

As to whether he would still be able to eat by the time he was done, that was open to debate.

Xie Jinghe didn’t know what was in the man’s mind. He rubbed his chin casually, touched the spot Shi Linchuan had just pinched, and then reached out, completely unsuspecting, to lift the top layer of white paper.

Like unveiling a secret veil, the truth was revealed.

A bold, black-lettered title suddenly forced its way into his eyes.

【《Why Are You Unhappy?》 Divorce Variety Show Proposal】

【Project Overview: A reality show revolving around ‘divorce’, using live-streaming to record the real interaction patterns and emotional exchanges of three divorced/divorcing couples, exploring the problems faced at various stages of marriage with the audience, and experiencing the diverse flavors of life.】

【Show Format: Invite three couples intending to divorce, who are at different stages of marriage. Pre-record a prologue showing the couples going to the Civil Affairs Bureau to file for divorce, then begin a one-month (30-day divorce cooling-off period) live-stream journey, showcasing the marital dilemmas faced by couples of different marriage lengths, and their final choices after the cooling-off period.】

【Scheduled Participants:】

【Sunrise Group】

【Screenwriter Duan Feiwen (male) and Rock Singer Xu You (male), married for 8 months.】

【Noon Group】

【Civilian Shi Linchuan (male) and Actor Xie Jinghe (male), married for 3 years.】

【Dusk Group】

【Actor Cheng Shuoxing (male) and Opera Performer Shao Lin (female), married for 16 years.】

【…】

Xie Jinghe didn’t know how he finished reading the divorce variety show proposal.

His gaze lingered for a long time on the line containing his and his partner’s names, so long that the characters began to look unfamiliar, giving him an inexplicable, dizzying sense of vertigo.

After a long while.

Xie Jinghe raised his head again and asked in a daze, “What is this?”

He didn’t seem to understand, and every word he spoke was filled with confusion.

This confusion was like a great mountain, firmly pressing down on Xie Jinghe.

So, he instinctively reached out to the only person he could rely on. He grabbed the man’s hand that was hanging by his side and asked incessantly:

“Why are our names on this?”

The expression on Xie Jinghe’s face right now was exactly the same as the one he had when he pushed the door open and saw him earlier. Shi Linchuan lowered his eyes, tracing the panicked expression on his face, and then announced the answer in a flat tone.

“Of course, because…”

“I signed us up.”

Xie Jinghe stared at the man, asking in a trance, “When? Why didn’t I know anything about this?”

That was truly a good question.

Shi Linchuan looked back at him. The hand resting on the back of the chair suddenly applied pressure, spinning the chair ninety degrees so that the person sitting in it faced him. Then, he leaned down and planted a kiss on his tightly pursed lips.

It was also a chirp sound.

After the kiss, Shi Linchuan didn’t straighten up. Instead, he rubbed against Xie Jinghe’s lips and whispered: “Probably…”

“From the very beginning.”

Although Xie Jinghe had never recorded a reality show and had only appeared as a guest on variety shows a few times, he understood the processes involved.

It was obvious to anyone with eyes:

The completion level of this proposal was very high. It wasn’t something put together in a short time; it seemed to have been in preparation for a long while, and it was about to proceed to the most important stage: [Filming].

Thinking of this, Xie Jinghe’s lips trembled.

His upper teeth dug into his lower lip, biting down with such force that he broke the skin. The rusty taste of blood seeped from the seam of his lips, only to be licked away by the man looming over him.

There was no hint of affection; it was purely the taste of blood.

Shi Linchuan tasted him, explaining in a measured way: “Because of that management contract, it seems you developed some misunderstanding about me? Or perhaps you developed some expectations you shouldn’t have?”

“I think…”

“You might need to correct your faulty viewpoint.”

Having said this, as if recalling something, Shi Linchuan paused deliberately, asking a question that was meant to crush his heart: “Now, do you still think I’m being good to you?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the tears Xie Jinghe had been holding back all morning finally fell.

He leaned back in the chair, head slightly tilted, all expression drained from his face as if he had even stopped breathing, only his eyes were shedding tears, pat-pat-pat.

One by one, pea-sized tears.

The tears raced across his cheeks, leaving two wet trails, finally landing on his shirt collar and soaking into a small, distinct patch of color.

Shi Linchuan was a scoundrel; he even chased after him to ask:

“Can you share what you’re feeling right now?”

Actually, even if he didn’t answer, Shi Linchuan could see clearly with his own eyes that Xie Jinghe looked like a poor child who had been given a sweet date, but before he could even taste the sweetness, he was struck with a big stick.

And the one giving him both the sweet date and the big stick was the same person.

“Aggrieved” and “hurt” weren’t enough to summarize his mood at this moment.

Shi Linchuan thought to himself:

If someone dared to treat him like this, he would probably want to kill them.

A single stab wouldn’t be enough to vent his anger; he would have to chop them into ten or eight pieces, preferably into mincemeat, and stuff them into a sewer in a sack, only then would he be able to extinguish his hatred.

But Xie Jinghe was different.

He was a completely different person from Shi Linchuan.

He was the kind of person who would dig his own heart out, place it cleanly into someone else’s hands, and say cautiously, ‘Look, this is how much I like you. Can you cherish me?’ Even if that heart were thrown onto the ground, he would pick it up himself and even actively find excuses for the other person:

“Forget it, I know you didn’t mean it.”

Perhaps Xie Jinghe himself didn’t realize it.

He was truly an expert at deceiving himself.

After all, no matter how skilled an actor is, it is impossible to disguise oneself as someone else year after year, especially since Shi Linchuan had never received acting training, and Xie Jinghe was among the best of actors.

During those tender, sun-drenched days, had he really never caught a glimpse of anything strange?

Even the female assistant who was always by his side had suspected something was wrong after eating with Shi Linchuan just a few times.

Then what about Xie Jinghe, who had shared a bed with him for three years?

Before Shi Linchuan voluntarily tore off his mask, did he, a top-tier actor, truly have no awareness of his partner’s abnormalities?

Was he really that slow?

Shi Linchuan was very skeptical about this.

“…”

He didn’t know how long it had been.

It could have been ten seconds, or maybe a few minutes.

Xie Jinghe finally spoke.

He lifted his eyelids, a pair of watery eyes staring straight at Shi Linchuan. His face was still expressionless, tears still flowing, his voice hoarse: “You’re asking me what my thoughts are? My thoughts right now are…”

He was like a desperate outlaw forced into a corner. He suddenly raised his hand to grab the collar of the man in front of him, shouting desperately: “Shi Linchuan, are you fucking sick? Lying to me wasn’t enough, you have to play with me back and forth? Is it fun? Are you satisfied now?!”

Every time he shouted, he tugged on Shi Linchuan’s collar, making him sway.

Shi Linchuan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

The more broken Xie Jinghe appeared, the louder he laughed.

“Satisfied. I am extremely satisfied!”