Chapter 73.2: Daily Life (2)
Meeting Xiang Yueting’s curious gaze, Shang Yu thought to himself: if anyone else had asked this, he would’ve immediately suspected them of trying to use the question as an excuse to get into his house or set him up.
But coming from Xiang Yueting… Shang Yu was certain the guy was just genuinely curious, with zero ulterior motives.
“They’re pretty similar to yours,” Shang Yu replied. After all, they were all snakes—so wasn’t that about right? He didn’t feel like he was brushing the question off.
Xiang Yueting smiled in satisfaction.
“Looks like we’ve got the same taste!”
Shang Yu: “…”
Why did Xiang Yueting’s innocence make him feel so dirty by comparison?!
For the first time, Shang Yu felt a little awkward. He looked away, hoping for some air—and locked eyes with Shen Xiu.
Shen Xiu had been sneaking glances at the snake enclosures out of curiosity and was caught completely off guard when their eyes met.
Shen Xiu: “…”
Human curiosity really can be too strong!
Shang Yu spoke without thinking: “You like them too?”
Of course—people like them being into snakes, a creature that looked dangerous at first glance, made perfect sense.
Xiang Yueting? Xiang Yueting was obviously just an exception!
Like them? Shen Xiu thought of the snakes he’d seen in fields and forests before and immediately felt his scalp tingle.
No no no—he was afraid of them!
But with Xiang Yueting right there, he couldn’t just say that. Still, he didn’t want to lie either, so he replied awkwardly, “They’re okay.”
At least this way, Xiang Yueting wouldn’t think he hated snakes—and wouldn’t get upset.
Xiang Yueting heard Shen Xiu’s answer, didn’t think much of it, and simply said, “Is that so,” before walking over to Ning Sinian, who had his hands pressed against the acrylic case playing with the fat-tailed gecko.
“You have to tease it like this…”
Shang Yu: “…”
Annoyed—he guessed wrong!
However… upon thinking more carefully about Shen Xiu’s indifferent personality—calm and detached about everything—Shang Yu realized that response really wasn’t wrong.
Once he understood that, Shang Yu sighed inwardly. He’d been too shallow.
Shen Xiu had a deep-rooted coldness in his bones. How could someone like that ever truly love something passionately? In Shen Xiu’s eyes, all things in the world were merely dispensable diversions—nothing more, nothing less.
He would never be like Shang Yu, who projected his dangerous and twisted thoughts onto snakes—creatures that already looked inherently dangerous.
Whether it was Xiang Yueting or Shen Xiu, both left Shang Yu feeling conflicted and frustrated.
Shang Yu couldn’t help but reflect: Xiang Yueting, so guileless and silly, trusted them wholeheartedly and laid everything bare before them. And Shen Xiu—though emotionally distant—never bothered to lie or pretend. He said what he meant, completely unconcerned with how others saw him.
And then there was him…
So full of worries and speculation that, compared to them, he just looked dishonest and lacking integrity…
Was he really going to keep living like this?
After answering, Shen Xiu noticed Shang Yu frowning and deep in thought—and grew increasingly nervous.
Did I say something wrong?
Shen Xiu felt confused and uneasy.
Then suddenly, the visibly irritated Shang Yu blurted out, as if throwing caution to the wind: “Everyone should come over to my place.”
Shen Xiu: “Huh?”
Weren’t they just talking about whether or not they liked snakes? Why was Shang Yu suddenly inviting everyone to his house? That topic jump was wild.
Shen Xiu was completely lost. Once again, it was another day of him failing to keep up with his friends’ train of thought!
Fortunately, this kind of thing had happened so many times before that Shen Xiu had evolved and could now handle it smoothly. He nodded. “Okay.”
After responding, Shen Xiu couldn’t help but think to himself: Everyone’s so warm and welcoming!
So… maybe he should start thinking about inviting his friends to his dorm sometime too?
Shen Xiu was once again mentally drafting how to persuade the dorm supervisor auntie.
Aside from Shen Xiu, the rest of the people in the room, who were looking through the glass, suddenly heard what Shang Yu said and looked at him in surprise.
Since the words had already been spoken and couldn’t be taken back, Shang Yu actually felt more at ease than when he had been struggling internally. Facing everyone’s gaze, he continued calmly:
“You’re all hungry, right? There are too many of us here, it’s inconvenient to go out to eat, and the show crew didn’t say they’d be covering our meals today. So why not just eat at my place?”
After speaking, Shang Yu turned to Xiang Yueting: “Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Xiang Yueting scratched his head. “Huh? Wrong idea about what?”
Shang Yu’s sudden invitation had left Xiang Yueting baffled, and now with that added comment, he was even more confused.
Looking at Xiang Yueting’s silly expression, Shang Yu didn’t find it annoying at all—in fact, he was in a pretty good mood. Smiling, he explained, “I just don’t want you to think I’m implying you didn’t feed everyone enough.”
“It’s just that someone at my house is already cooking, so we won’t have to trouble you here.”
After finishing, Shang Yu added, “Don’t you want to see the snake I’m raising?”
Xiang Yueting agreed instantly: “I do!”
With Shang Yu taking the initiative, the quiet reluctance others had been suppressing started to waver.
Jiang Yanxi was the first to speak: “Well… maybe next time…”
Before Jiang Yanxi could finish, Shang Yu interrupted, “Let’s just go this time.”
Shang Yu had once been just as hesitant as everyone else, believing they were simply colleagues and there was no need to involve colleagues too deeply in one’s personal life.
But because of Xiang Yueting and Shen Xiu, his mindset had started to change.
But that didn’t mean he had to force everyone to be like him. That was why he interrupted Jiang Yanxi—he didn’t want Jiang Yanxi to feel pressured by his decision.
Jiang Yanxi froze for a moment, then understood Shang Yu’s good intentions and nodded. “Okay.”
Shang Yu took out his phone and sent a message on WeChat to the chef at home. After sending it, he looked up at everyone and said, “It’s about a forty-minute drive from here to where I’m living now. The food will be ready when we arrive.”
The mention of food finally made the carefree Xiang Yueting realize something. “Oh shoot—sorry, I totally forgot about eating.”
His mind had been entirely focused on showing everyone his reptile room, and he’d completely pushed thoughts of food aside.
“We’re not really that hungry.”
“Yeah, not hungry yet.”
No matter what they actually felt, none of them believed Xiang Yueting had intentionally kept them from eating.
Shang Yu said, “Alright then—let’s head out.”
Everyone was a bit surprised. Back in training camp, because of the show’s rules, no one had ever really asked about each other’s home life, but over time, you could pick up bits and pieces from someone’s behavior and mannerisms.
Whatever their thoughts, no one objected at this point.
“Alright.”
“Thanks, Shang Yu. We really appreciate it.”
The show staff hadn’t expected the group to be leaving Xiang Yueting’s place less than an hour after arriving.
But since their job was to follow the trainees wherever they went, the more location changes, the more footage they could get—and that was a win for them.
Downstairs, the store employees were huddled together, whispering excitedly and staring at their phones. When they heard footsteps, they turned and saw the group coming down the stairs, instantly panicking.
“Boss, are—are you all leaving?”
Oh no. Did they just hear all the wild things we were saying earlier?
Help. How embarrassing to have totally lost face in front of actual idols. This is peak social death!
A few of the store employees nervously stared at the ground, too embarrassed to lift their heads after the intense words they had just spoken, especially since they had been talking about the very people standing in front of them.
Because they were so nervous, the employees had forgotten to remove the phone they had placed on the table, and its screen was still lit up.
Xiang Yueting smiled and responded, “Yep, we’re leaving. Going to Shang Yu’s place.”
After speaking, he suddenly realized and hurriedly added, “Don’t let this slip, okay?”
“Don’t worry, boss.”
“I swear, we won’t say a word before the show’s video gets released!”
Xiang Yueting turned to his companions behind him and said, “You guys don’t need to worry. They’re really nice and won’t say anything.”
The group believed him, as they had been there long enough, and no one had come inside. They hadn’t disturbed the surrounding stores, which was enough proof that everything was fine.
“Goodbye~”
“Goodbye~”
“Goodbye.”
…
Before exiting the store, everyone put on masks and exchanged farewells before leaving.
After Shang Yu said goodbye, he caught a glimpse of the photo on the store employee’s phone, slightly surprised. He kept it in mind. Once they were in the car, Shang Yu told the driver the address and took out his phone to log into his social media account…
As they saw the show’s car leaving, the few store employees excitedly spoke up.
“Ahhh, they’re so gentle!”
“As expected of Boss Xiu, just standing behind everyone, so strong and reliable!”
“Who knows what it was like to hear Xiu-baby’s voice up close? Cold and deep, exactly like I imagined. That ‘goodbye’ hit me straight in the heart!”
“Ughhh, why did the boss have to leave so suddenly? If I’d known, I would’ve turned on the recorder and captured it!”
“Wait a second… didn’t we forget something important?”
“Huh?”
“We forgot to ask for autographs!”
“Damn!!!” Several frustrated voices came from inside the store.
—
On the car, the show’s staff suddenly realized that none of the trainees had filmed any vlogs. They quickly reminded them, “Your vlogs—looks like you haven’t filmed them yet. If you do it well and post them on your social media, you’ll gain a lot of followers.”
The trainees, hearing the staff’s words, suddenly realized.
“Almost forgot!”
“Thanks for the reminder, I’ll film it now!”
Watching the trainees pull out their phones and start filming through the car window, the staff couldn’t help but twitch their mouths slightly.
Especially when they saw Shen Xiu silently raise his phone to film as well, the staff sighed inwardly.
‘Well, looks like even the big shot is starting to slack off.’
…
Less than an hour later, the show’s crew arrived at their destination.
The car stopped, and as the door opened, Mu Zhenchu, sitting in the front row, got out and quietly said, “Uh… we didn’t get the wrong place, did we?”
Since they were going to Shang Yu’s house, Shang Yu hadn’t sat next to Shen Xiu in the back this time. Instead, he sat beside Mu Zhenchu and got out with him.
Before Shang Yu could answer, Song Chengwang, who was the third to get out of the car, spoke up, “Don’t worry, we’re fine. If we had gotten the wrong place, we wouldn’t have been let in just now.”
As more people got out of the car, the gasps of awe grew louder.
“Damn, Shang Yu, you’ve been hiding this all along!”
“This villa is so impressive. Who’s jealous? Ah, it’s me, well, never mind then!”
“So luxurious and beautiful. I can practically smell the money~”
“I’ve only ever dreamed of living in a house like this.”
Shang Yu spoke with a helpless tone, “You guys are exaggerating too much—you’re going to make me embarrassed. If we’re talking about truly grand and luxurious, look over there. That’s the real deal.”
“I heard from the butler that it’s the largest property in the entire villa district, with the best location and the biggest lot.”
Shang Yu was curious about it too and couldn’t help adding a few more words: “But ever since I moved here, I’ve never seen anyone go in or out of that place. Even when my parents lived here before, they never saw anyone either.”
Following Shang Yu’s gaze, everyone looked into the distance.
Even from far away, it was obvious that the land that villa sat on was more than twice the size of Shang Yu’s.
Ning Sinian asked curiously, “What about the other residents here? Has no one seen the owner?”
Shang Yu replied, “Someone has, kind of. But they said they only caught a glimpse from afar—saw a very tall figure standing on the top floor. No one really knows what the owner looks like.”
The last to get out of the car, Shen Xiu looked at the villa in front of him, then at the place Shang Yu was pointing to.
He had the same thought as everyone else: Truly elegant, beautiful, and extravagant!
Then, the system chimed in: [Since you’re already here, aren’t you going to check out your own house?]
Shen Xiu suddenly heard the system’s voice and a question mark slowly formed in his mind: “?”
