Published at 8th of November 2020 11:12:05 AM
Chapter 25
Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
In fact, in the beginning, Xia Rong still hadn’t quite caught onto what Su Chi had done . But this warmth, like the last straw upon a camel’s back, just happened to fill up the “energy” in Xia Rong’s body . Almost in the blink of an eye, he changed from a little orange cat back into human form .
Which was also naked, without even a thread upon his figure .
Although Su Chi had already nimbly taken a few steps back to give him more space, because the sudden transformation still caused a drastic change in Xia Rong’s field of vision and the relevant proportion of things in front of him, he wasn’t able to control his balance for a while . Although he had already jumped forward as he was about to shift and had just barely touched the ground before the transformation, such that he didn’t directly fall off the camera that was under his feet, he still knocked the camera over amid the chaos .
Then, in his attempt to maintain his balance, Xia Rong also had to wobbly take several steps back, crashing into and scattering the previously-stored pile of miscellaneous items .
The most tragic thing was that his foot had landed on the pile of clothes he had previously dragged into a corner, causing him to almost slip and fall . If that happened, the commotion would definitely arouse the curiosity of that group of staff outside, causing them to clammer over in concern, who would then be able to appreciate his current gloriously bare figure .
Fortunately, there was still a Su Chi around! Perhaps it could be said that he was just rather quick-witted . He had just stepped back so that Xia Rong would have more space to stand when he saw that Xia Rong was having trouble with his balance, so he quickly stepped forward again and used his two arms to steady Xia Rong with a half-prop/half-embrace .
Being able to “meet” him in such a “frank, honest, and sincere” way, Xia Rong found that while Su Chi appeared thin, the other was actually quite strong and could prop himself up quite stably… Also, the sensation from the fabric of Su Chi’s clothes against his bare skin felt a bit abrasive and even had a sense of coolness…
If Xia Rong had to comment on this process of ‘being saved by a hero’, these were more or less his rough impressions as the current situation didn’t allow him to savor it carefully . After all, even if he didn’t slip and fall in an earth-shattering manner, the previous series of overturning the camera and scattering the piled junk had already caused a commotion that was loud enough .
Before, when he and Su Chi were chatting, they were hidden in the shadows and made sure to speak in lowered voices . Yet suddenly, there was such a loud noise . The staff outside weren’t deaf, so soon someone called out, “How are you two? Is Xia Rong okay?” From his voice, he also seemed to be walking closer, as if he was coming over to check the situation .
The piled junk was both filthy and messy, some even had sharp corners and edges . Su Chi used his sleeve to shield Xia Rong in fear that he would, in another moment of carelessness, accidentally scratch himself . In his haste, he used a bit too much of his strength leading Xia Rong to be pressed face to face into his arms . Like this, Xia Rong’s jaw knocked on Su Chi’s shoulder, and he felt as if he were being embraced by the other .
However, he didn’t have the mind to pay attention to this now . The sound of the footsteps getting ever closer outside had attracted his complete attention, so he said in a hurry, “Don’t come in!” But then he found that, perhaps because he hadn’t used his human vocal cords for this past while, his voice came out sounding rather hoarse .
Su Chi immediately backed him up, raised his voice, and said to the person outside, “Xia Rong will be ready soon, wait another five minutes . He doesn’t want to be under the sun right now, wait a bit more . ”
The two of them spoke one after another, and it didn’t sound like something was a problem, so that staff member stopped walking over and simply said, “If you need anything, just call us . Don’t stubbornly hold it in . ”
Su Chi answered, “We know,” and had let go of Xia Rong at the same time . He also took the initiative to bend down to help Xia Rong pick up his clothes, delivering them to the other’s hands . Immediately after, he turned his body slightly away, while his line of sight was towards the partition that led outside1 . “Don’t waste time and put them on . I won’t look . ”
Xia Rong gave the crumpled costume in his hands a shake . Hoping that a joke would be able to alleviate this rather embarrassing atmosphere, he jested, “We’re both men . What’s there to be afraid of, being seen? It’s not like I’ve never seen yours…”
Su Chi had a slight smile on after he heard this, but he still didn’t turn his head back . As he kept his sight facing forward, he said, “En, then what do you think of my figure?”
As Xia Rong rustled to put his clothes back on, he answered, “It’s quite good . While there are muscles, they aren’t exaggerated . It could be seen from a glance that you’ve trained to maintain them . You belong to the type that is slender with clothes, while muscled when without . A particular favorite of young girls . ”
Su Chi asked, “Not just young girls like it though, right?”
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Xia Rong answered, “Yes, yes . Your waist seemed narrow and pliable, while also very strong . So both young and mature women should also be incredibly fascinated! I… Hehe, I want to ask you something, but it’s a bit strange and embarrassing…”
Su Chi pursed the corners of his lips to suppress the obvious smile . “What? Just go ahead and ask . ”
Xia Rong: “Can you introduce your fitness trainer to me? The ones I’ve found before were always those that went for big muscles and arms thicker than thighs . I think that’s too exaggerated… How do you train to get such a beautiful figure like yours? I also want something like this…”
“…Oh . ” The corners of Su Chi’s lips twitched . Fortunately, he was used to this feeling of ‘expectations’ becoming in vain . So he could reply calmly, “After we finish recording the program, I’ll give you his number . ”
After Xia Rong had finished putting on his clothes, Su Chi gave him a general look over . Finding that everything seemed to be okay, he didn’t continue to delay but lifted open the curtain and walked out together . Following which, Su Chi said, “Thank you, everyone, for waiting . Xia Rong can continue filming now . ”
Xia Rong still remembered the reason they used for why he needed to rest for half an hour, so he nodded with an apologetic smile and aptly pretended to be still slightly weak . Almost none of the staff held any suspicion, so once they heard that they could continue filming, they didn’t waste any time and got right back to work . Only a few staff members that were closer to them and the guest star, Meng Xuan, still had a subtle expression in their eyes .
Wasn’t Xia Rong resting inside because he wasn’t feeling well? Then why have his clothes become so dirty and wrinkled? And didn’t Su Chi go in to give him a ‘massage’? How did his sleeves end up with a patch of black after kneading a few times? Also, between just ‘giving a massage’ and ‘getting massaged’, what was up with that series of commotion?
Of course, given the presence of all the cameras and the many people around, no one thought that they would be so bold to really do something here . However, for two easily excitable young people to change from a ‘massage’ to a ‘misfire’… That should also be possible?
Because of the delay due to the unexpected development, when they restarted the filming, everyone was exceptionally focused and extremely efficient .
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Facing the re-emergence of Meng Xuan’s magical song and dance, Xia Rong was much calmer than before . If he didn’t know what the correct answer was, he would just make a wild guess . If somehow he could connect it with something, he would just say it . In any case, he just needed to be quick! Unexpectedly, even like this, he still stumbled upon a few correctly . By the time the accompanying director called to stop, it was announced that he had answered three questions accurately by the end .
Whereas Su Chi’s situation wasn’t so different from his . When Xia Rong got the opportunity to stand outside to view Meng Xuan’s ‘performance’ more clearly, he also finally fully realized… That this was completely a game of luck!
But as the results showed, in this game, Xia Rong’s luck was a bit better . By the end, Su Chi was only able to answer two questions correctly, so Xia Rong won the first checkpoint by just one point .
As his prize, he received a ‘secret martial arts manual’ gifted by the ‘proprietress’, 《Nine Yang Divine Skill2》 . Back when Xia Rong was still a student, he had once been obsessed over wuxia novels, so he could still remember that the 《Nine Yang Divine Skill》 should have been a martial art that Zhang Wuji had practiced and that it was also a peerless secret manual that could help one quicken the cultivation of other martial arts . As such, it was perfect for heroes that had just ‘entered Jianghu’ in helping them lay a good foundation . It was just that, he was unsure whether this was purposefully planned by the production team or if they had just chosen a few renowned secret manuals and just happened to have selected this one .
After getting the secret manual, the two ‘heroes’ bid farewell to the proprietress and hurried to rush the following checkpoints .
The second checkpoint was to make a casual demonstration of one’s capability, testing a hero’s cultivated physical strength— Which was just arm wrestling . On this point, Xia Rong was slightly inferior to Su Chi, so Su Chi got the secret manual 《Nine Yin Manual3》for passing, which was also a peerless skill for laying a good foundation .
The third checkpoint was the initial emergence of sharpness, testing a hero’s innate spiritual endowments— Which was, in fact, sending the two people into separate small rooms to complete a time-sensitive question-and-answers quiz . Most of these questions were common knowledge-based on topics ranging from astronomy to geography . However, occasionally there would be a surprise attack where they would add a supplementary question, such as abruptly asking, “Out of all the members, who would you like to form a team with the most?” “In the industry, which female star do you think is the closest to your ideal type?” The examinee would have formed a habit by then, so by conditional reflex, once their defenses were down, they would easily step into the pit4 .
Xia Rong would seem to be the type of person who was above-board and carefree, but in actuality, he was rather cautious . Having known that this kind of game would often have some unexpected traps buried within, he had been able to stay prudent from the beginning .
When he was asked about his ‘ideal type’, Xia Rong’s first reaction was Guan Lingqing . Well… To be exact, it was the role that Guan Lingqing had played in that drama, ‘Xiao Qing’ .
Xiao Qing wasn’t that type of girl who was weak and delicate . Contrarily, although she appeared pure and beautiful, she had a strong character and was someone that would have her own opinions . She and the role Xia Rong played were both friends and lovers . From her, Xia Rong found not only the tenderness and compassion of a lover, but he could also feel the support and care from the other party whenever his character was dejected .
—This was the main reason that Xia Rong felt attracted to Guan Lingqing through the drama and how his heart became incredibly moved . But after getting into a relationship with the true Guan Lingqing, that heart-throbbing feeling actually gradually dissipated instead . It was because of this that when Guan Lingqing insisted on breaking up, aside from feeling some pity and loss, he didn’t really feel terribly hurt or heartbroken for that long of a period .
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Xia Rong was neither interested in foreign faces nor willing to perfunctorily reply with an internationally standard answer . He spent a few seconds searching through his mind for those in the industry who would also satisfy the requirements of his ‘ideal type’, but couldn’t find a suitable female star . Instead, what he did find… was a strange creature .
Which also didn’t seem like it would be a bad answer… So he would just consider it as a complimentary gift for the program team to make a new hot topic . Xia Rong lazily stretched and answered with a smile, “It should be… Probably, the female version of Su Chi5 . ”
At the end of this question-and-answer dash session, the two men walked out of their respective rooms, and the accompanying director very efficiently announced the results: Xia Rong had answered 15 questions correctly while Su Chi had answered 17 questions correctly . So Su Chi won this round by a weak margin and received the secret manual 《Xiao Li Flying Dagger6》 . Su Chi even joked to the camera, “I didn’t expect that the secret manual to Li Xunhuan’s martial arts would actually land in my, Lu Xiaofeng’s, hands . From now on, 《Xiao Li Flying Dagger》will need to be renamed 《Xiao Lu Flying Dagger》 . ”
Time was pressing . After this checkpoint was completed, they would need to rush to their next stop, ‘Show Your Skills’ . It was at this time that the assassin Xia Rong finally remembered that he still had a mission on hand— that gay secret task . It would only be too easy to get exposed if there were a lot of people around, so only when someone was alone and wouldn’t be speaking to anyone else for a while, would it be a good opportunity to act .
“Su Chi, wait a minute . ”
Xia Rong had just called out to Su Chi, who was about to leave, when the latter immediately stopped and turned around to ask, “What is it?”
Xia Rong tried to keep his facial expression as natural as possible as he went up and raised his hand to touch Su Chi’s earlobe . “Your clothes are quite pretty . ”
Oh, his earlobe was warm and soft . Truly, it feels completely different compared to an erect cat’s ear…
Just as Xia Rong glimpsed that the director gave him an ‘OK’ gesture, he immediately expressed a ‘YES!’ in his heart . He just knew that if they really were going to be strict about the requirement7, even if he didn’t end up getting revealed as the assassin, he would still get suspected as being gay . So sure enough, an appropriate opportunistic trickery was still regarded as a success! NICE！
That little him in his heart was currently dancing in joy, when Xia Rong’s hand, which had just touched the other person’s earlobe and had yet to be retrieved, was suddenly firmly grasped at the wrist by the other .
“You’re the assassin . ” Su Chi clasped and kept hold of Xia Rong’s wrist with a faint smile . “Right?8“