RSDH CH31

Seeing Cheng Duzhou’s message “I miss you,” Duan Xingye suspected he was holding back until he was about to burst.

Since the night they put on the rings, the two hadn’t discussed philosophy together. Cheng Duzhou had hinted at it twice afterward, but because it was during the romance variety show recording, Duan Xingye was afraid of delaying work and kept leaving him hanging. Later, Cheng Duzhou joined the film crew, and they didn’t have a chance to meet. Calculating this way, the dry spell had lasted almost half a month.

Previously, Cheng Duzhou maintained his ascetic persona quite well, not crying hungry for four months. Only recently did he expose his true perverted nature.

Duan Xingye rarely showed kindness, asking if he wanted it.

The result? Cheng Duzhou hung up on him without a word.

???

Was his thought unreasonable, or was he being self-sentimental?

A car stopped in front of the Shengxing Building. Xiao Dai poked his head out of the window and waved enthusiastically.

Duan Xingye pressed the send button on his phone, tapped Cheng Duzhou’s avatar, settings, delete contact.

After completing the operation in one go, he walked down the steps, opened the door, and got into the car, slamming the door with quite a bit of force.

Xiao Dai shrank his shoulders, not making a sound.

The first thing Duan Xingye did after getting in the car was grab the charging cable and plug in his phone. Battery displayed 98%.

At the same time, he saw the sentence “Duan Xingye, I miss you” in the chat box again.

The heat on Duan Xingye’s face didn’t have time to subside, but the condescending look in his eyes as he watched the phone was already ice cold.

Cheng Duzhou saw Duan Xingye’s message, his skin tightening all over.

Seen: [Cheng Duzhou, don’t even think about touching me ever again!]

The smell of gunpowder could be felt across the screen.

Cheng Duzhou was typing when the car slowly stopped at the hotel entrance.

He turned off his phone for the time being, got out, listened to a few instructions from the two teachers (director/writer), and then returned to the car.

Cheng Duzhou took out his phone again, pressed his finger against his lips in thought for a moment, and changed his mind, deciding not to tell Duan Xingye the truth of the matter.

It was enough for him alone to be embarrassed.

Cheng Duzhou typed: [Signal was bad on the road just now, disconnected.]

Send.

A red exclamation mark popped up behind the chat box.

“…”

…

Xiao Dai endured the undeniable low pressure in the car, holding his phone and scrolling through Weibo.

Suddenly, a call from an unknown number came in.

Afraid the ringtone would disturb Duan Xingye in the back seat, he quickly pressed the answer button, leaned against the window, and covered his mouth: “Hello? Who is this?”

“May I ask,” a magnetic, indifferent deep voice came from the other end, “is Duan Xingye with you?”

Xiao Dai gasped. “Cheng… Cheng… Cheng…”

Because he was too surprised, the “President” part didn’t come out for a moment.

Duan Xingye lifted his eyelashes and looked at the front seat.

Xiao Dai turned back at this time, looking at Duan Xingye, and said into the phone: “Yes… yes.”

Cheng Duzhou said, “Can you let him answer the phone?”

Just as Xiao Dai was about to say “Wait a moment,” Duan Xingye closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat.

“…”

Xiao Dai had to turn back, speaking with awkward apology: “Teacher Duan is sleeping…”

Silence on the other end for a few seconds.

The man’s voice remained unchanged. “If he wakes up, please inform him I’m coming home tonight.”

“Oh oh, okay.”

Xiao Dai agreed repeatedly and hung up the phone, wailing internally as a CP fan.

Wondering why Teacher Duan was unhappy after work, turns out he quarreled with President Cheng. Now Teacher Duan was definitely ignoring President Cheng; otherwise, President Cheng wouldn’t have called him.

Hoping the two would make up as soon as possible, Xiao Dai boldly but weakly said, “President Cheng said he’s coming home tonight.”

Duan Xingye kept his eyes closed, tilting his head slightly to one side.

Come back if he loves to, or don’t.

This week Singer-Songwriter 101 aired. There were many things to do, and Duan Xingye generally got off work very late.

It was almost eleven o’clock when he got home today, but he still took a good bath.

Sitting on the bed applying body lotion to his forearms while checking Weibo, seeing many messages tagging him, he realized the short film All the Way With You shot last week was out.

It was released two hours ago, with likes breaking 100,000. For a variety show’s official blog, this was already astonishing data.

Duan Xingye clicked to play the video.

Surprisingly, they even thoughtfully made a trailer at the beginning.

So it started with explosive music accompanied by white text on a black background.

[Humans and Demons Have Different Paths · Love is Hard to Sever]

With a boom, the black background split up and down, revealing the calm rippling river surface, yet seeming like undercurrents were surging. Amidst the sound of shaking water, an awning boat drifted leisurely past.

Then the camera moved up. With the light and dark interweaving like the screen breathing, it slowly revealed the back of the person standing at the bow of the boat, cold and otherworldly.

A massive wave of bullet comments attacked.

“This back view kill at the opening is too strong!”

“For this back view, I’m starting to chase the updates tomorrow!”

“It’s Duan Xingye. Suggest newcomers catch up on the makeup photos from before.”

Looking back at the video, the camera shifted to the shore, constantly brushing past willow leaves sprouting new green, chasing the boat’s movement. The person in white blurred into the background in the distance, making people scratch their hearts and lungs even more, wanting to see his true face.

Then the camera jumped onto the arch bridge, turning to aim at the boat below.

Another shocking sound effect, white text on black background appeared.

[Meeting on the Broken Bridge · Mistaking Three Lifetimes]

Scene transition.

The person in white lifted his eyes, looking coolly at the camera.

Scene transition again.

The monk draped in a cassock hung over the stone railing, looking down. His expression held quiet amazement, hiding obsession.

The bullet comments exploded instantly.

“I love this gaze across the century!”

“Holy shit, both of their eyes are amazing!”

“Teacher Duan has bewitched me.”

“When did Lü Ye Shu Huai become so shippable?”

Weibo traffic was larger than the official video site. Many netizens who hadn’t watched All the Way With You started shouting about jumping into the pit starting from this clip.

Duan Xingye threw the body lotion into the drawer, picked up his phone, and lay on the bed, seeing something wrong.

Judging from the rhythm of this trailer, the protagonists seemed to have changed to him and Cheng Duzhou. Jiang Li didn’t even appear in this meeting scene.

The video continued with exciting drum beats, like an Avengers trailer. One drum beat followed by a transition, showing each guest’s individual group portrait, then text and scenes alternated.

In one scene, Jiang Li and Duan Xingye were walking in the alley, talking and laughing. The camera quickly pushed behind the two, revealing half a tall figure draped in a cassock at the corner of the wall, eyes cold and sinister, spying on the two.

“…”

Like a pervert.

Duan Xingye watched the increasingly outrageous plot.

The last scene was Fahai breaking up the mandarin ducks. Three people stood in the courtyard confronting each other. The background music became more intense, and the shot-reverse-shot cuts became faster and faster, dazzling the eyes. Among them, Fahai lifted Bai Suzhen up.

The moment the music and transitions reached a climax, the screen suddenly went black, everything silent.

Half a moment later, Cheng Duzhou’s unique magnetic voice sounded, lazily panting lightly, with subtle playfulness.

“Little demon, you’re rebelling.”

As if Fahai would pull out chains in the next second and imprison Lady Bai permanently on the high tower.

Trailer ended. Duan Xingye: “…”

Bullet comments screamed collectively.

“Ahhhhhhhhh so sensational!!!”

“So it’s force and seize (coercive love)!”

“Got that Huashi (jjwxc/po18) feeling.”

” The program team understands young people.”

All the Way With You didn’t take the usual path. After patching and editing the content filmed by the guests, it became a story completely different from the original work. But looking at the number of likes, the response was very good.

Duan Xingye casually opened the comments section. Probably because the protagonists of the short film became him and Cheng Duzhou, the top discussions were all related to them.

“Slapped in the face by Lü Ye Shu Huai, so fragrant TAT.”

“They are really sweet, sweet both in drama and outside, anyone who chases the livestream knows.”

“It’s precisely because it’s too sweet that I feel it’s all fake sugar. Married for two years and still so passionate, can’t you tell it’s hype?”

“People are low-key, you say contract couple; passionate, you say hype. Walk slowly, not serving you.”

Duan Xingye exited.

Anyway, his and Cheng Duzhou’s loving persona was already established online. Whatever else they say, let them say.

Right at this moment.

The sound of password unlocking came from the door.

Duan Xingye heard it, turned over on the bed, and sat up.

A few minutes later.

Cheng Duzhou pushed the door open and entered.

Seeing Duan Xingye, he thought for a moment, and his first sentence was: “You blocked me.”

Duan Xingye looked up, his expression indifferent: “Oh, hand slipped. Adding you back then.”

He opened WeChat, about to click the chat box, when he saw a red dot at the contacts section.

Pausing for half a second, he clicked in to check.

Cheng Duzhou had already sent a friend request.

Duan Xingye clicked accept. The chat box between the two returned to its previous state. He turned the phone around to show Cheng Duzhou, with a face saying “Are you satisfied?”.

Cheng Duzhou didn’t look at the phone. putting both hands in his pockets, he leaned his back against the wall and said, “That’s not what I meant. I just wanted to say I didn’t hang up on you intentionally. You suddenly made a video call, I wasn’t wearing headphones, and the director, head writer, and a fellow actor from the crew were in the car.”

Duan Xingye’s expression changed subtly, recalling what he said, played over speaker in the car… The fingers gripping the phone slowly stiffened.

Cheng Duzhou lowered his eyes, toe kicking the floor, and said, “I admit I panicked, so I hung up the call in front of them. This was very rude to you, I’m very sorry.”

Duan Xingye put down the phone, lowered his head, and silently calmed his cracking mood.

Nothing. Just three people.

He didn’t say anything about the thirty million people in the livestream room.

Duan Xingye took a deep breath and said, “Okay, I accept your apology.”

Cheng Duzhou was good at reading Duan Xingye’s face, so he sensed the atmosphere hadn’t softened much.

He licked the corner of his lips, shifted his weight to support his body, and asked, “Is there anything else I did wrong?”

Duan Xingye long-pressed the screen, deleted the “Duan Xingye, I miss you” chat box, looked up, his face indifferent as snow, and said bluntly, “Cheng Duzhou, don’t bring that set of things from the romance variety show into real life. I find it annoying.”

His goal was clear and distinct: do business well, divorce on time. Don’t engage in unnecessary things.

Cheng Duzhou looked at Duan Xingye, seeing that layer of clean, smooth glass in the mall again. Duan Xingye poked the rice cake bowl with chopsticks, his gaze landing on him once, then moving away lightly as if he hadn’t seen him at all. Like a thin flake of snow blowing into the heart.

Cheng Duzhou benefited from the Kan family’s light, attending the best aristocratic school in the city since childhood, understanding class differences early. After growing up, becoming what he considered successful, eliminating the difference, that layer of glass between him and Duan Xingye always existed.

The so-called set of things in the romance variety show was the lover-like mode of getting along.

For example, can’t say miss him.

…Trash WeChat. Can’t recall message after two minutes.

Cheng Duzhou raised his hand to unbutton his cuff and said, “Understood.”

Duan Xingye was dazzled by a bright white flash. Following it, he discovered that the cufflinks Cheng Duzhou wore on his shirt were the pair he gave last week.

Cheng Duzhou turned to walk toward the bathroom, stopped at the door, and asked, “Then are you still going to the dinner tomorrow?”

Duan Xingye looked at his back and said as a matter of course, “Why not go?”

They agreed on it.

Cheng Duzhou was silent for a moment, lowered his eyes, and said softly, “This also counts as that set of things from the romance variety show.”

Duan Xingye was stunned. Reacting, his expression suddenly became guilty.

He blinked tremblingly, arguing with a shortage of breath: “But that was agreed upon with guests from another group. Can’t go back on our word, right? Cheng Duzhou, you can do such characterless things, but I can’t. Even if you don’t want to go, I have to go for you tomorrow.”

Duan Xingye attempted to blur the focus, but Cheng Duzhou’s deep voice was calm: “Then why did you agree?”

Taking advantage of Cheng Duzhou’s back being turned, Duan Xingye bit his lower lip in annoyance.

At that time, Cheng Duzhou forcefully announced his identity to the livestream. Out of an indescribable mood, or perhaps moved by the sincere attitude, he suddenly became magnanimous, feeling there was no need to haggle with Cheng Duzhou, and accompanying him to a friend gathering occasionally was fine.

Duan Xingye lowered his dark eyes, pondered for a moment, and straightened his back again: “It’s written in the marriage agreement! In case of necessary circumstances, both parties are obliged to follow the husband-husband behavior pattern to prevent others from seeing clues.”

The marriage agreement was drafted by Duan Xingye. Writing this clause specifically was purely to deal with his grandfather.

But “necessary circumstances” was actually very broad, defined entirely by Duan Xingye’s will.

Hearing this, Cheng Duzhou turned back: “What…”

He knew he signed an agreement with Duan Xingye after getting the certificate, but he didn’t know this clause was on it.

The agreement Duan Xingye threw at him had a total of twenty-three pages. He didn’t finish flipping through it, only reading the first two lines before signing at the end.

But this wasn’t the point. The point was he heard Duan Xingye mention the agreement for the first time, and Duan Xingye remembered the rules and regulations so clearly.

Cheng Duzhou found it incredible. Wasn’t that agreement just a formality?

Agreement or not, he wouldn’t do anything to make things difficult for Duan Xingye after marriage. Why was Duan Xingye following the book?

Duan Xingye was sitting cross-legged in the center of the bed, patted his knee, his dark eyes very bright: “You unconvinced?”

Cheng Duzhou’s eyes dimmed slightly, turning back around: “No.”

Duan Xingye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t allow Cheng Duzhou to flirt blindly after getting off the variety show. In his view, this was against the rules, and he didn’t like his emotions being controlled by Cheng Duzhou. But he inadvertently pushed the boundary back a step himself.

Although it was double-standard behavior, his double standards were well-founded.

— “Is there a rule in the agreement saying I can’t miss you?”

A magnetic, deep voice suddenly sounded. Duan Xingye froze, but his heart beat out of control.

…It’s this feeling.

…So annoying.

Cheng Duzhou turned back, walked to the bedside, stared at him, and raised an eyebrow: “Is there?”

Duan Xingye looked up at the tall figure blocking him. His brain was a bit numb, not knowing what this had to do with the agreement. The key was, miss him for what?

He shook his head lightly.

“Then I didn’t violate the rules.” Cheng Duzhou knelt on one knee on the bed, cupping Duan Xingye’s face.

He leaned close, looking directly into those dark eyes, and said, “So you have no reason to block me.”

Duan Xingye pursed his lips lightly, unable to look away. He felt he should argue something, but what came out was: “What do you want?”

“I don’t need your apology.” Cheng Duzhou had plenty of momentum. “But I want a little compensation.”

Duan Xingye: “What…”

Cheng Duzhou lowered his head, pressing onto the rose-colored lips. With a mood of claiming compensation, and perhaps a bit of rebellion after being wronged, he gave a kiss that only happened in bed.

Duan Xingye’s brain stopped completely.

The two stayed like this for unknown how long.

Duan Xingye pulled away a bit, his eyes no longer as innocent as just now.

He looked at Cheng Duzhou’s lips with mixed feelings, then pursed his own, feeling the hot swelling on his lips. His voice was husky and panting: “Don’t be so heavy… have to be on camera tomorrow.”

Still caring about being on camera tomorrow at a time like this.

Cheng Duzhou frowned, angry: “You career-obsessed batch!”

But when the kiss fell again, it was very light, very polite.

Like a puppy gently taking a bite of cake.

The next day, Duan Xingye woke up early but didn’t wake up the roommate beside him.

After leaving the house, he got into the car and set off for the neighboring province to participate in the recording of Singer-Songwriter.

Cheng Duzhou was rarely free and slept until eight o’clock.

The first thing he did after getting up was go to the study, squatting in front of the safe to find that prenuptial agreement.

Cheng Duzhou didn’t take the agreement to heart when he signed it, and never looked at it again afterward.

It wasn’t until he heard Duan Xingye mention it last night that he remembered to find it and study it. As long as it wasn’t written in the agreement, it didn’t count as crossing the line.

Cheng Duzhou was like a marginal walker exploiting legal loopholes, looking down line by line. Only then did he realize how meticulously Duan Xingye drafted the agreement. “No eating cilantro when dining together,” “No furry pets allowed in the house,” and so on were all included.

Cheng Duzhou read carefully, finally reaching the last page. His finger slid across the first line of the last clause.

[The effective marriage period is two years, calculated from the date of obtaining the certificate…]

Cheng Duzhou was suddenly confused, as if he couldn’t read words anymore, reading that line back and forth several times.

When he finally confirmed it was correct, he pulled up his long legs and squatted on the chair, frowning: “Fuck, why only two years…”

Cheng Duzhou glanced at the signature bar, signed side by side with his and Duan Xingye’s names.

Legally effective.

“…”

He raised a hand to pinch his knuckles, paused, and panicked: “Only two months left?”

__

Author’s Note:

[Your marriage duration is insufficient]

President Cheng: I thought it was for a lifetime TAT

Teacher Duan: Hehe, who’s spending a lifetime with you.