RSDH CH9

Cheng Duzhou and Duan Xingye were the first set of guests, and their interview took up the first five minutes of the trailer.

At the fourth minute, only Cheng Duzhou remained in the video.

Text appeared at the bottom left of the screen: [Do you remember the moment you fell for him?]

The camera cut to a close-up.

Cheng Duzhou looked down, seemingly subconsciously avoiding the eyes behind the lens. His long, clean fingers were interlaced, hanging loosely.

A perfectly timed silence fell over the scene, making viewers unconsciously hold their breath.

Maintaining his posture, Cheng Duzhou spoke in a straightforward manner:

“It was the school anniversary gala when we were sixteen. I was in the audience, watching his violin solo on stage. The piece was Only My Railgun… from A Certain Scientific Railgun… There was no emotion, purely a show of technique. He had always been talented in music, and that day he really managed to act cool. When he played the violin, he was fiery and handsome. The entire auditorium boiled over because of his performance, but when I looked at him, the sound suddenly receded like a tide.”

“I thought of many things that happened in the past. He had always been that kind of bright, good-looking kid since childhood. In junior high, he started to have a growth spurt, his baby fat disappeared, and girls would flock to the back door of our class during breaks just to look at him. In high school, his features fully developed, becoming uncontrollably beautiful. Male classmates would block him at the school gate to confess. Finally, my memory landed backstage before the gala started. He tugged at his back collar and asked me, ‘Cheng Duzhou, check if this tag bites.’ Then he lowered his head and leaned close. I smelled the faint scent of white peach in his hair. The moment I recalled that scene…”

Cheng Duzhou raised his head and said, “In that instant, I felt my heart soften, yet my blood surge with passion.”

Duan Xingye’s fingers suddenly tightened, crumpling the fabric of his pajamas over his left chest into a ball.

The bullet comments were already filling the screen densely.

“Wuwuwuwuwuwu! Don’t kill me with the ‘youth knife’!!!”

“I’m crying my eyes out! After so many years, he even remembers the white peach scent in the hair of the person he likes!”

“Good lord, I’m calling it good lord. Lü Ye Shu Huai brings a surprise every time, definitely a treasure CP.”

“Forever love childhood sweethearts! Lü Ye Shu Huai YYDS (Eternal Gods)!”

“It’s over, I’m self-inserting as President Cheng. With a high-quality childhood friend like Duan Xingye, it’s hard not to fall.”

“Want to be classmates with high school Duan Xingye. Feels like the type who could amaze you for years even with just a glimpse from afar.”

“No wonder Cheng Duzhou got married even at the risk of his popularity declining. That’s the person he held in his heart for seven years.”

“Reminds me of my first love that ended without a start. Sigh. But seeing that there’s still love in this world that goes from start to finish and bears fruit, it seems to smooth over my own regrets. So beautiful.”

The reason this interview segment was so popular was that the secret crush conveyed in the last minute was sincere and delicate, successfully capturing the hearts of the audience and triggering a wave of nostalgia along the way.

When everyone went back to watch the first four minutes of the video, it felt completely different.

— Cheng Duzhou: Difficult. Like a rabbit that chases people to bite them.

— Duan Xingye: …

First Watch: “Is it appropriate for Duan Xingye to pull a face on the spot and embarrass Cheng Duzhou? Blah blah blah…”

Second Watch: “Hahahahahaha! Teacher Duan pulls a face whenever he hears something he doesn’t like, not even caring about President Cheng’s mood. You can tell President Cheng spoils him a lot normally!”

— Cheng Duzhou: Hope he can be a bit gentler.

— Duan Xingye: Hope he can know what’s good for him.

— Cheng Duzhou: …

First Watch: “Cheng Duzhou is awkward to the point of speechlessness. What exactly am I expecting from this group? Blah blah blah…”

Second Watch: “Ahhhhhhhh President Cheng defaulted! He’s completely whipped! His ideal type is gentle, yet he was taken down by the un-gentle Teacher Duan! This is love! Lock them up!”

“…”

Once the character setting was stable, the main couple didn’t even need to do business; everyone would automatically and spontaneously start shipping them.

Duan Xingye was lost in thought for a long time. He took off his earphones and turned to look at Cheng Duzhou.

Cheng Duzhou was leaning against the headboard reading a script. Sensing movement, he turned his head to meet his gaze.

Duan Xingye didn’t speak.

Cheng Duzhou understood and glanced down at the distance between them, wide enough to fit another person.

—He was very self-respecting.

Duan Xingye said, “I just watched your solo interview, the part about the school gala at sixteen.”

Cheng Duzhou blinked. His emotions were unreadable, but his voice sounded slightly cold. “Hmm?”

“A whole team of screenwriters at the company can’t beat your improvisation.” Duan Xingye turned back to lie down properly and said, “Cheng Duzhou, you’ve got something.”

“…” Cheng Duzhou pressed the tip of his tongue against the inside of his cheek, turned a page of the script with a loud swish.

Duan Xingye didn’t pay attention. He put his earphones back in, dragged the video to the fourth minute, watched it once, dragged it back, and after repeating this three times, finally exited.

Duan Xingye had an impression of the high school anniversary gala. Cheng Duzhou sat in the second or third row. He had cast a few glances that way, and every time, Cheng Duzhou was looking down playing on his phone.

The whole school might have been fooled by his act, but Cheng Duzhou certainly wasn’t.

But that was all in the past.

Cheng Duzhou using the school gala story in the interview was a clever graft. A youthful secret crush was the storyline that best fitted their identity as childhood friends. Combined with Cheng Duzhou’s monologue that showed no trace of acting, who wouldn’t be moved watching it?

As expected of an experienced Movie Emperor. No wonder Cheng Duzhou judged the previous script unreliable immediately.

Too strong.

Duan Xingye buried his face and rubbed the tip of his nose against the quilt.

So Cheng Duzhou wasn’t deliberately tearing down the stage during the interview, nor was he uncooperative. It was just the program team’s unexpected questions leaving him no chance to establish a persona. Until the end, Cheng Duzhou still relied on his extraordinary professional ability to salvage the awkward situation.

Yet he had acted out in anger and wouldn’t let him come home.

…Truly heartless.

Duan Xingye put his phone on the nightstand, turned off the wall lamp on his side, tucked the quilt corner, and looked back. “Cheng Duzhou, sleep.”

“Okay.” Cheng Duzhou turned on the table lamp and switched off the wall lamp. This way, the light source wouldn’t disturb Duan Xingye.

Duan Xingye, however, was dissatisfied. He pursed his lips into a shallow line and kicked Cheng Duzhou lightly under the quilt, his voice soft and nasally when he spoke: “Turn off the light, sleep! Can’t understand human language?”

When he retracted his foot, whether intentionally or unintentionally, his hooked toe brushed against the man’s calf through his trousers.

Cheng Duzhou’s wrist paused slightly, and he looked aside.

He saw only Duan Xingye’s head exposed. His skin was snow-white, and the corners of his eyes were still red. But unlike his earlier anger, that redness now appeared moist. And because he was turning his head to look at him, the ends of his eyes tilted up slightly, turning his gaze into a feather that drifted into one’s heart, bringing an itch.

The loud echo of “Please have some self-respect for the next month!” was still hovering in his mind.

Cheng Duzhou took a deep breath, closed the script, and casually placed it on the nightstand.

Thud. The script slid off the edge of the nightstand and fell onto the floor.

Cheng Duzhou had already turned off the light, burrowed into the quilt, and started the shameless second half.

After the trailer for All the Way With You was released, Cheng Duzhou and Duan Xingye became the hottest highlight of the period, gaining support ratings that crushed the other guests and easily winning the commercial shout-out for the first episode.

Xiao Dai watched helplessly as the Super Topic gained tens of thousands of followers daily. As more people fell into the pit, more fanfic writers and artists were attracted. The more content produced, the more people were drawn in. Under this virtuous cycle, the CP that used to be as cold as the Arctic Circle had climbed onto the Super Topic rankings. Although still at the tail end, the discussion heat was rising steadily.

After Cheng Duzhou’s recollection of their youth in the trailer, Duan Xingye also transformed into a “White Moonlight” (unattainable first love) in the audience’s hearts.

The couple’s romance variety debut left a deep impression on everyone. Seeing that the recording for the first episode was about to start, Xiao Dai wanted to strike while the iron was hot and create a Super Topic fan group for Lü Ye Shu Huai.

“This helps with CP fan cohesion,” Xiao Dai said. ” All the Way With You is in a livestream format. Each group of guests has a separate livestream room. The number of fans directly determines the recommendation spot for the first episode.”

The higher the heat of the livestream room, the better the position on the official website’s homepage naturally.

Duan Xingye thought about it and refused.

Divorce was in three months. Being left with a bunch of fan groups would just be another thing to deal with.

Moreover, Duan Xingye didn’t go on the show to become popular. It was just to salvage the reputation of his two-year marriage and slap the faces of those netizens who mocked him as an “abandoned husband.” He didn’t care about the number of fans.

The day before the first episode aired, Xiao Dai went to Duan Xingye’s office.

The indoor heating was blasted high. Xiao Dai pulled at his sweater collar as soon as he entered.

Duan Xingye, however, seemed impervious to the temperature, his skin icy clear and jade-like.

He was currently watching a video on his computer. The typical voice of a sharp-tongued uploader came from the speakers.

“…As another same-sex couple, Huang Liang and Tao Ziyi have several times more CP fans than Lü Ye Shu Huai. Yet in the end, Lü Ye Shu Huai had fully 200,000 more votes. It’s hard to justify without assuming vote manipulation.”

“Let’s talk about whether the production team arranged a script. Based on my years of watching romance variety shows, they definitely did. The first half of the trailer was the familiar formula and familiar taste; the couple lived up to expectations and was indeed awkward. But in the end, the twist came. The production team gave Cheng Duzhou a solo interview that no other guest had, letting him recount seven years of deep, unrequited love. Only then did everyone realize that the plastic couple actually had feelings. The ‘suppress first, praise later’ technique was truly played well by you guys. What’s funnier is that before the trailer started, the production team specially posted on Weibo to promote the CP. Could the boosting be any more obvious?”

“Now Lü Ye Shu Huai has broken out of the circle, All the Way With You hit a new ratings high, and both sides became the biggest winners. The only pitiful ones are the other guests who were just running along. But the rest of the program is fully livestreamed. I just want to see if Teachers Cheng and Duan can still perform at the level of the trailer without editing and without guidance from the production team~ After all, the internet has a memory. Two years after marriage, it was practically a ‘widowed-style’ business relationship. Suddenly becoming loving on the show—if I can’t figure it out, I’ll just have to look forward to the follow-up.”

Xiao Dai was speechless. Even a five-minute trailer could be interpreted with conspiracy theories.

“Teacher Duan, ignore these. This uploader is either purely chasing traffic or got paid. He probably knows he’s talking nonsense himself.”

Duan Xingye had stumbled upon this video because Tao Ziyi liked it, then unlike it a second later, laughingly claiming his hand slipped.

Duan Xingye clicked on the video in passing and saw the tens of thousands of bullet comments, realizing so many people were waiting for him and Cheng Duzhou to crash and burn in the first episode.

He closed the page and asked Xiao Dai, “Something up?”

“Oh, this.” Xiao Dai handed over a foldable handheld card. “The script for the night before the trip in the first episode. Sister Yu asked you to look at it in advance so you’re mentally prepared.”

Duan Xingye swiveled in his chair. “Is the procedure complicated?”

“Not complicated, just…” Xiao Dai suddenly became hesitant. “Some procedures… I’m afraid you can’t accept them.”

Duan Xingye had flipped half the card open but stopped before fully opening it. He lazily lifted his eyelids to look at Xiao Dai. “Are you questioning my professionalism?”

Previously, Duan Xingye still had idol baggage. But seeing Cheng Duzhou destroy his own image as a cold male god to blow hot air about his romantic history for the sake of business, his attitude changed.

He and Cheng Duzhou were essentially in a cooperative relationship. If one party took the romance variety show seriously, the other couldn’t just slack off.

What was unacceptable? It was just work. Even if the production team asked him and Cheng Duzhou to create paid content, he could complete it without any psychological burden.

Besides, not only would he complete it, but he would also do it beautifully, showing those waiting for him to fail just how wrong they were.

“There’s no need to be pretentious in a variety show.” Duan Xingye lowered his eyes to open the card, his voice calm. “Although I’m a singer and my acting isn’t as good as Cheng Duzhou’s, my dedication to work doesn’t lose to anyone.”

Xiao Dai scratched his head, wanting to explain. “No, look at it. In case you can’t do it…”

“Stop talking. The word ‘difficult’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary. There’s nothing I can’t do.”

Xiao Dai shut his mouth and relaxed.

Duan Xingye saw the script and read aloud, his words scattered and lazy: “Interact with the audience…”

There were explanatory notes afterwards, but this procedure wasn’t difficult. He flipped directly to the next page.

“Complete a mystery mission… What mystery mission?”

It wasn’t explicitly stated.

Flipping the page again.

“Pre-trip vow, say ‘I love you’ to Cheng Duzhou…” Duan Xingye snapped the script shut with a thud and decisively threw it back onto the table. “Impossible. I can’t do it.”

Xiao Dai: “…”

__

Author’s Note:

Teacher Duan: The word ‘difficult’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary.

(Because you’re willing to give up.)