SABA Chapter 34

During the variety show, eating wasn’t the only activity. The director had Ying Yuanxun and Ji Mengfei, as the “cruise hosts,” propose a game of Truth or Dare, with the loser having to pick.

Having interacted with Jiang Tiao for a full day, the director had a good grasp of his personality. Unlike Chu Xu or those pampered rich kids, he didn’t throw random tantrums and didn’t need everyone to revolve around him. Perhaps because he respected others’ hard work, as long as the rules were agreed upon beforehand and no one deliberately used their status to pressure him, he would generally cooperate.

The director could control the questions for Truth or Dare from backstage. He had a great idea: if it was Jiang Tiao’s turn, he’d put out dares related to Chu Xu. For instance, a skit where he had to act out “falling in love and then apologizing to make the other person angry” with the person sitting opposite him. It would be harmless and help ease Chu Xu’s emotions. Then, the production team could find someone articulate to communicate with Chu Xu’s side, asking them to proactively post something.

“Everyone happy, everyone satisfied.”

The director’s plan was perfect, but he never expected things to go wrong from the very first step.

From small table games like “name a number” and “penalty for seven” to idiom solitaire and “Fly Flower Poetry,” Jiang Tiao didn’t lose even once. If he had just been incredibly smart, it would have been understandable. But the key was his explosive luck; even in games of pure chance like “number bomb,” he was never the one chosen.

What kind of person was this, favored by the god of destiny!

The director felt numb, exceptionally calm.

Whatever, let whoever it is face it. The station wouldn’t fire him just because of Chu Xu’s fans anyway.

In this round, Chu Xu and Luo Xingwen were the ones who had to take the dare. It was unclear what was going on with these two, one was absent-minded, the other slightly fatigued. They had slept less than five hours in total over the past two days, and now they had played a game testing reflexes all night. Even Luo Xingwen was starting to struggle. Seeing that he had lost again, he took it in stride and accepted the punishment calmly.

“They say first love is unforgettable and beautiful. If time could turn back, would there be a different choice?”

The screen scrolled, and Luo Xingwen was stunned when the question finally landed. A rare look of confusion and sadness appeared on his face.

“Wow, wow, wow, wow, it’s been a whole night, and finally, a juicy question! Did the production team realize they hadn’t met their trending topic KPI?!”

“Look at Luo’s expression, oh la la, I don’t believe there’s no story…”

“Ahhhhh Luo Luo, when did you start dating! How could you be dating!”

“Years ago, when he wasn’t very famous yet, he said in an interview that he had a relationship once when he was eighteen.”

“I saw that interview. It was during a promotional event for a drama. He was asked why he could portray the emotions of liking someone so delicately. His answer was, ‘Perhaps because I once had someone I liked very much.'”

“But Luo Luo hasn’t publicly talked about relationships for years!”

“Ahhhhh, what kind of relationship was it that even after five or six years, Luo Luo still makes this kind of expression whenever it’s mentioned!”

Jiang Tiao also looked at Luo Xingwen with great curiosity. He had a hunch that when Luo Xingwen thought about this question, he was definitely thinking about Chu Yanhao. The reason was simple: when Luo Xingwen looked up at everyone, his gaze lingered on him for an extra second.

Tsk tsk tsk, Jiang Tiao sighed with emotion. So Chu Yanhao was also Luo Xingwen’s first love.

What a fated, karmic entanglement.

Luo Xingwen forced a smile. “Just as time cannot turn back, this question is meaningless.”

After saying that, he picked up the punishment drink—white snake grass water mixed with bitter gourd juice—and downed it in one gulp.

“……”

Jiang Tiao was dumbfounded.

Indeed, when your heart is bitter, drinking something even more bitter doesn’t feel bitter at all.

Jiang Tiao sighed and then turned his gaze to the other protagonist in this emotional entanglement.

Chu Xu drew a card with the question: “Life is full of moments of regret. What was the most recent one?”

Chu Xu’s gaze instinctively shifted towards Jiang Tiao, but after less than a second, he looked away. He sneered, “Every step of my life was taken by my own two feet. There aren’t that many regrets. I never regret anything.”

“Woo woo woo, that’s so well said. My husband is always so handsome.”

“Look forward, don’t look back. Your success always matches your effort!”

“Three ‘I’s in one sentence. Chu Bixu is as self-absorbed as ever.”

“Although, doesn’t anyone notice that Chu Xu glanced at where Jiang Tiao and the others were sitting for 0.01 seconds before answering this question?”

“Oh la la, and who is sitting next to Jiang Tiao?”

“Hehehe, it’s even better to ship these two questions and answers together.”

“Ship your mom! Can you shippers stop damaging your brains? Luo Xingwen is not your shipping tool! He said in an interview that he met Chu Xu because they filmed a drama (yes, the drama where Chu Xu aggressively tried to ship them). He was already twenty-two then.”

“Although, can’t Chu Xu have been looking at Jiang Tiao?”

“……”

“……”

“Leave Tiao Tiao alone. He doesn’t deserve the love and hate affairs of top stars. Really, leave the child alone, let him be beautiful alone.”

“Stop targeting him, stop targeting him. Your Emperor Chu dislikes Jiang so obviously. Why do you fans always want to bundle them together? I beg you, please stop!”

The bullet comments were in chaos, with fans of various sides engaging in flame wars. The moderators couldn’t keep up with banning them. The only one happy was the production team. Regardless of how Chu Xu’s fans resolved their issues, the KPI for this episode’s popularity was definitely exceeded.

Ending the game at its climax was a perfect conclusion to this segment. The director had his closing remarks ready, but Ying Yuanxun and Ji Mengfei reminded him that they hadn’t exercised their privileges as cruise hosts yet.

“Yes, director, didn’t you forget?” Ji Mengfei’s voice was very sweet, making everything sound like a plea. “As the hosts of the cruise, we can each make one request of the other eight people.”

Ying Yuanxun added with a smile, “Yes, and we can only accept them, not refuse them.”

He had forgotten such a major segment because he was too eager to debrief with the publicity department!

But it was fine if he forgot, how could everyone else forget too?! The director gave his assistant director a stern look and then put on a different face. “I didn’t forget. I was just about to transition to this segment!”

When Ying Yuanxun and Ji Mengfei reminded the director, Jiang Tiao had a premonition. It wasn’t until after they finished speaking that their gazes uncoordinatedly drifted towards Chu Xu…

Oh my, what a dramatic scene…

Ying Yuanxun was unusually shy. He said in a small voice, “Chu Xu Ge, you’ve always been my idol. Can I have a Weibo follow…”

Ji Mengfei quickly chimed in, her voice a little higher than usual, just enough to drown out Ying Yuanxun’s. “How can a banquet be complete without a dance? Why don’t we have a small dance party as a finale? All the staff and teachers too.”

They could only make one request of each guest. Ying Yuanxun speaking first was clearly trying to seize the opportunity. Hmph, wanting to follow each other, but he didn’t even see which eye Chu Xu paid attention to him with.

Ying Yuanxun’s expression turned sour. He knew Ji Mengfei’s intention. A dance party meant dancing, and then he could naturally ask Chu Xu to invite her for a dance. What a shameless woman! And she was pretending to care about the behind-the-scenes staff.

Jiang Tiao almost burst out laughing. He had seen two men fight over a girl, and two girls fight over a man. He had never seen a man and a woman fight over another man. Jiang Tiao really didn’t know how the fans who shipped them would react if they knew their true intentions.

However, Ying Yuanxun ultimately lost to Ji Mengfei. The reason was simple: he had drunk Chu Xu’s seafood porridge and needed to go to the toilet urgently. He quickly greeted the director and rushed to the restroom as fast as possible.

But Ji Mengfei didn’t want Chu Xu to invite her to dance either. Her face was tinged with shyness as she gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Can you play a piano piece for me, like Shen Bai did for Jiang Yue?”

Shen Bai and Jiang Yue were the male and female leads in the idol drama Chu Xu and she had collaborated on. Shen Bai, played by Chu Xu, was the male lead who had always cherished the female lead Jiang Yue, while she played the second female lead who had always secretly loved the male lead Shen Bai.

“Woo woo woo, Mengmeng truly cherishes every role she plays.”

“After a year, she still wants to give us who shipped the Shen Lu couple a perfect ending.”

“Woo woo woo, I’m going to cry. She’s so kind.”

Chu Xu was most annoyed by these unknown minor artists who kept attaching themselves to him to gain popularity, like flies that couldn’t be shooed away. Chu Xu intended to find an excuse to refuse, but then he saw Jiang Tiao looking at him.

“Okay,” Chu Xu said with a smile. He knew his piano playing was very charming.

Jiang Tiao felt like he had watched a play and wanted to laugh. Reality was truly more dramatic than television.

As Chu Xu was about to perform, the guests and the cameramen were very considerate and gathered around.

After filming all day, coupled with feeling sleepy after eating, Jiang Tiao had no interest in Chu Xu playing the piano. He was too lazy to pretend to be as excited as everyone else.

The sea breeze brushed against him, carrying its unique salty dampness and coolness. Jiang Tiao leaned against the railing in a corner, gazing at the colorful city lights show on the coast as it continuously flowed and changed. He suddenly missed Huo Shen.

A gentle and soothing piano melody began to play. It was Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor. This was a relatively obscure piano piece, and it was the only one Jiang Tiao could still remember the entire score of.

The first time he saw Huo Shen was at Huo Shen’s ninth birthday party. He couldn’t remember many of the things that happened that day. He only remembered that he was playing hide-and-seek with other children in the garden. A melodious piano piece began to play, and he thought it sounded very nice, so he ran back to the banquet hall.

In front of the exquisite piano, Huo Shen was wearing a small black tuxedo. His hair was soft and thick, his features were three-dimensional and delicate. The moonlight shone on him, as if it had coated him with a layer of silver moonlight. His hands danced on the black and white piano keys, elegant and composed, like a painting.

He had never seen such a beautiful person, like a little prince from a fairy tale.

Mother Jiang and Jiang Mingyan would often tease him later, saying that as soon as he saw Huo Shen playing the piano, he would cry and insist on learning the piano. He refused several teachers Mother Jiang hired, and even refused Huo Shen’s piano teacher to come to their house. Finally, Mother Jiang and Huo Shen’s mother discussed it, and Jiang Tiao agreed to take lessons with Huo Shen at his house, and then he stopped fussing.

They said he was more enthusiastic about going to Huo Shen’s house to take lessons than anywhere else. He would pack his things four hours in advance and urge the driver to leave earlier. They originally thought their family would produce an artist. However, after half a year of lessons, everything he played was utter nonsense. Only half of the theme song of “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” was barely recognizable.

Jiang Tiao didn’t remember any of these things they mentioned. He only remembered standing below and watching Huo Shen play the piano. He had never seen such a beautiful person. He felt that all the descriptions of beautiful things in fairy tales paled in comparison at that moment.