Chapter 75

Chu Yu held a cup of ice-cold oolong tea in one hand, and the other hand was hooked, so she couldn't leave and didn't dare to look up.

He felt a little regretful. He should have welded the hood of his hoodie to his head when he went out today. This way, at least his childhood friend wouldn't find out that he couldn't stand being teased.

“…”

Luo Jiayu saw the other person's lips move, and thought he didn't hear clearly, so he leaned his head closer: "Hmm?"

This time he heard Chu Yu's voice, soft and vague, with a hint of panic as if she wanted to run away after answering: "A lot."

And it's still growing. The hotter his face gets, the faster his favorability grows, and the faster his favorability grows, the hotter his face gets.

Luo Jiayu's face drew closer. He could smell the familiar minty scent of the other person, and a warm breath began to touch the skin of his cheek. His feet were nailed to the ground, unable to move. He listened to the pounding of his heart, which hurt his ears. In a moment of panic, he remembered that there were no cameras around. His eyelids jumped, and he blurted out, "We're not open right now."

Luo Xiaogou tilted his head, looked at the face so close to him, and continued to move closer: "This is not business."

Chu Yu recalled the first time they squatted in the corridor to write a business plan. After they finished, Luo Jiayu took his hand and wanted to test the limit of contact with him. The distance between them was as close as it is now. The difference was that he felt nothing at that time. He even had the leisure to laugh at his childhood friend who retreated away as if he had been electrocuted and his ears were red.

But now it was as if the roles had reversed. He didn't know what was happening to him. He couldn't breathe when he thought about what might happen next, and his body began to tingle. When he reacted, he was the one who pushed the other person away as if he had been electrocuted, turned his head away, and burned his ears red.

“…No, I still can’t.”

Luo Jiayu's childhood friend's reaction was as he expected. He accepted it well and even reached out to rub his head in a good mood, saying soothingly, "It's okay, take your time."

Chu Yu's face flushed red, and he nodded subconsciously with his mind in a mess. Then he realized that he seemed to have fallen into a trap set by the other party.

After getting the drinks, Luo Jiayu took the people behind him to the seasoning area. When they returned to their seats, the hot pot and various meat dishes had already been served, densely packed on the already small double table.

The cameraman gave a close-up of the dishes on the table at the right time, and made a clear contrast picture between carnivores and herbivores compared with the photo taken in the hall before, which showed eight people ordering four plates of vegetables and hot pot as a fat-reducing meal at a long table.

[These two guys can really eat!]

[People from the same family are like one another on various levels]

[No offense, but as a trainee still in the audition stage, they should at least pay attention to their image. Ordering so many non-vegetarian dishes only makes me think they lack idol consciousness.]

The production team probably chose to hold the commemorative dinner at a hot pot restaurant just to let the contestants indulge. Being a vegetarian is a personal choice, and there's no need to require everyone to do so.

[Brother Baizi lives a life without any desires. Eating is probably his only hobby in the camp. Just let him do it.]

【It’s so funny, it’s true】

[It seems that every time Brother Baizi recharges his batteries, he either eats or sleeps.]

[Add one more, and stick with Lolo]

[Both Brother Baizi and Brother Pengzi have the physique of being unable to gain weight. I feel like when there are shots of them alone, they are basically eating secretly.]

[It seems to be true]

[Two little foodies confirmed]

I love watching them chatting while eating. I can eat three bowls of rice with them as electronic pickled mustard greens.

【Baby can eat is a blessing】

[The two babies are finally back. Mom has been waiting for you for so long.]

[Why are Xiaoyu's ears red again? This is the nth time tonight]

Because Luo Jiayu doesn’t like spicy food, they ordered a shabu-shabu hotpot.

When ordering, he asked Chu Yu, "Spicy beef oil hot pot?"

Chu Yu: "Extra spicy hot pot."

Luo Jiayu repeated it and confirmed with him: "Extra spicy hot pot?"

Chu Yu said firmly: "Extra spicy hot pot."

Luo Jiayu: "I don't think you can handle spicy food."

Although Chu Yu has always been in the top tier in terms of spicy food tolerance among his peers since childhood, he grew up in the south after all, and the local dishes are relatively light in flavor. Strictly speaking, he is a tall man among short people, and Chu Yu has never tried anything spicy or above.

One reason he was so determined to choose the extra spicy dish today was simply a sudden impulse: he wanted to test his limit on spicy food.

The other reason was less significant. This thought only flashed through Chu Yu's mind: if the food was spicy enough, then all the possible or impossible blushing and hot ears tonight could be attributed to the same high-sounding reason.

But Luo Jiayu actually dared to question his decision.

Chu Yu raised an eyebrow, but remained calm: "I can."

Luo Jiayu continued to persuade: "I think..."

Chu Yu: "I can."

"Okay." Luo Jiayu lowered his head and checked the special spicy hot pot on the menu.

While preparing the dipping sauce in the seasoning area, Luo Jiayu saw him adding chili powder, chili oil, sesame pepper oil and chili peppers to the bowl beside him. The way he scooped the seasoning looked as if he wanted to eat up all the chili oil in the store.

"How much did you add?" he couldn't help asking.

Chu Yu remained calm and said, "Eight spoonfuls."

"..." Luo Jiayu squinted at the night view outside the window, as if doubting his life. He turned around and picked up a glass from the cupboard next to him.

"I'll pour you a cup of tea later. Eating something too spicy can hurt your throat."

After returning to his seat, Luo Jiayu unscrewed the iced oolong tea next to Chu Yu in advance. When pouring it into the glass, he noticed that Chu Yu had already picked up the plate of beef rolls and used chopsticks to put half into each of the two pots.

After a dozen seconds, he took out a piece from the spicy pot in front of him, rolled it three times in the spicy dipping sauce, and absentmindedly put it into his mouth to eat.

Luo Jiayu's worries came true and didn't come true, because Chu Yu choked on the first bite he took.

She choked so hard that it shook the heavens and earth and made the gods and ghosts weep. She turned red all over like a hawthorn fruit that had flown alone from a candied haws string. She was so dizzy that she almost couldn't catch the teacup he handed her.

The extra spicy hot pot and the extra spicy dipping sauce made it even spicier, making him dizzy with the spiciness.

Luo Jiayu skillfully patted his back and gave him water. Amidst the barrage of comments, he calmly asked, "Do you want to eat more?"

Chu Yu couldn't even open his eyes, but he still nodded in the gap between the spicy food that made his cheeks numb: "Try again."

"?" Luo Jiayu was puzzled, but nodded, "Okay, let's die again."

The next try was to scoop up another piece of beef and coat it with the dipping sauce. This time, Chu Yu restrained himself and only rolled it half a circle before picking it up and putting it in his mouth. Then, he dropped his chopsticks with a snap the next second.

This time he couldn't even feel his tongue, his mouth was just burning. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths of cold air. Two tears escaped from the corners of his eyes, and it took him a long time to recover.

Luo Jiayu leaned forward and put his tilted head close to his childhood friend's red face, as if observing his current state.

"Are you still eating, Chu Yu?"

Chu Yu was probably so spicy that he was unconscious and didn't even notice that he was being taken advantage of verbally. He opened his eyes and looked at the person in front of him with a dazed look. He opened his mouth and felt that his tongue seemed swollen:

"No, no, no, I don't want to eat anymore. I feel a little dizzy."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh." Luo Jiayu said, "I'll go get you another glass of water."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay." Chu Yu glared at the person opposite him with difficulty through a layer of mist in his eyes, and then stretched out his hand and raised his middle finger with difficulty.

"Don't learn to talk to me."

"No, no, no, no," Luo Jiayu said as he filled the empty glass with oolong tea and handed it over. "Drink more water, you'll be fine in a while."

Chu Yu took it and wanted to curse but stopped:

"You've gone too far, too far, too much."

Luo Jiayu couldn't help laughing when he was handing over the water.

After laughing, he turned the shabu-shabu pot around and looked at his childhood friend, whose face was red from the spiciness, anger, or some other emotion, and said, "Shall we share a pot?"

Chu Yu nodded.

"Why don't you speak?"

"Okay, okay, okay." Chu Yu took a big gulp of oolong tea, but his mouth still felt like there was a ball of fire burning. He looked up at Luo Jiayu again, and the other party was smiling even more happily. Two blue veins popped out on his temples.

"Thank you thank you thank you for the tea. I hate you so much."

Luo Jiayu stood up and took out the shrimp paste his childhood friend wanted to eat, and then scraped it all into the clear soup pot. Taking advantage of the fact that the two of them were close and the camera couldn't record his words, he curled his lips and whispered:

"I don't hate you, you're so cute, I like you very much."

The usual bickering and mutual ridicule never ended with a frank and straightforward confession like today. Chu Yu paused in drinking his tea.

Then he lost consciousness and could no longer put down the teacup in his hand. He could only drink sip after sip, but the more he drank, the redder his ears became. If you didn't know him, you would think he was drinking.

[Who is going to die from this hot pot for two? It’s killing me.]

[Unlock a new Capybara illustration: Spicy Capybara]

Why hot pot? Can we have a candlelight dinner with roses?

[Sister Pisces scored big again tonight]

Can anyone tell me what Luo Luo is saying by lip reading? I'm dying to know what the young couple is whispering to each other.

[The troll is a bad guy. He deliberately makes his mouth movements very vague, and his lips hardly move, making it difficult to recognize.]

「Ahhh, he did it on purpose. That makes me even more suspicious that he said something shameful.」

[Of course, otherwise why would the little fish look so shy?]

The barrage of comments was to be criticized, but Chu Yu felt a little hurt after finishing the hot pot. It was not because of Luo Jiayu's care and concern and attitude, but because he realized his previous series of stupid behaviors.

I'm so stupid. He poked at the system in his brain that was eating melon seeds, feeling so lonely that he wanted to quietly draw circles in the corner.

Although he didn't seem very smart before, at least his logic was self-consistent. However, recently he has lost all his logic and has done many nonsensical things. Even he himself can't figure out why he did that in the first place.

"It's okay, baby. This is normal." Teacher Zhao stopped cracking melon seeds and comforted him. "I just read in a book that everyone your age goes through this period."

Really?

"Yes, really." After comforting him, Teacher Zhao did not dare to say that the book he was reading was "One Hundred Characteristics of Secret Love and Love of Adolescent Boys".

The hotpot trip ended successfully with laughter and joy. On the return bus, Chu Yu and Luo Jiayu still chose the last row of seats in the car, but the front seat was replaced by Lu Yiyang and Xue Liu, and became a luxurious single seat for Song Lai alone.

On the way here, Luo Jiayu had been pretending to sleep with his head resting on Chu Yu's neck, but now it was Chu Yu who was sleepy on the way back. He would be very sleepy for a certain period of time at night. If he could get through it, he would be awake, but if he couldn't, he would fall asleep directly.

"Sleep for a while?" Luo Jiayu turned around and looked at his childhood friend who had half-closed his eyes and was pecking at rice like a chicken, and patted his shoulder.

Chu Yu nodded, then shook her head, and fell asleep leaning against the window glass on the other side.

Luo Jiayu pursed his lips and reflected on whether he had teased the other party too much tonight, causing his childhood friend to become a little allergic to his close behavior again.

Chu Yu always fell asleep quickly, and soon his breathing gradually became steady. Luo Jiayu knew he was asleep, so he didn't disturb him. But not long after, a head turned over in front of him with a sneaky look:

"It's been a while since I asked you. Is it done?"

Luo Jiayu remained calm in the face of this person, maintaining his cool sunglasses look and said calmly:

"I think it's done."

"Oh, that means it didn't work out." Song Lai turned her head back, then turned back again after a while, and said worriedly, "Disciple, you're not good enough. You've been secretly in love with me for so long, and there's no progress at all?"

Luo Jiayu: "Who said that?" He turned his secret love into an open one.

Although Song Lai had been a solo artist for many years, she had been in the entertainment industry for a long time. Coupled with her natural ability to read people's expressions, she quickly understood the meaning behind Luo Jiayu's cold expression:

"You confessed?"

Luo Jiayu curled the corners of his mouth but remained silent.

Song Lai continued to observe, narrowing his eyes: "Did they refuse?"

The corners of Luo Jiayu's mouth retracted with a snap.

Song Lai seemed to be thinking: "Chasing?"

Luo Jiayu was shocked and turned to look at the person in front of him: "Amazing, Teacher Song."

Song Lai was proud: "That's right, don't you see who it is."

Luo Jiayu casually replied, "After I catch her, please open some champagne to celebrate."

"Okay." Song Lai asked, "How many bottles do you want to open?"

"Even if you clear out the champagne from the store, that's fine."

Song Lailai was in high spirits. He had picked up some free champagne and wasted no time in opening it. He enthusiastically began to offer advice to the wealthy and foolish rebel:

"To pursue someone, you need sincerity. Eighty percent love plus nineteen percent sincerity, and finally one percent of a sense of ritual. Then, bang, mix it all together, and you'll have a perfect match."

"..." Luo Jiayu narrowed his eyes, feeling that it didn't sound very reliable. "Is this also something you saw in a Mary Sue novel?"

"No, I experienced it myself." Song Lai swore, "That's how I got the cool and aloof school hunk when I was in fourth grade. This method of pursuing people is proven to be effective, so you can rest assured."

After that, he changed the subject and suggested, "I remember your birthday is coming up soon. Why don't you confess your love to me on that day? It's both ceremonial and sincere. I think it's a good idea."

"Huh?" Luo Jiayu glared at him, "How come I didn't know my birthday was coming up?"

"Isn't it X month X day?" Song Lai's eyes widened even more than his. "I saw your information when I registered before, and this is your birthday."

Luo Jiayu understood.

He and Chu Yu came from the book to replace the original owners, so all the information in this world, including birthdays, belonged to the original owners. No one knew their real birthdays except each other.

"That day is not my birthday." Luo Jiayu rejected Teacher Song's suggestion, then turned his head boredly to stare at his childhood friend's sleeping face. Halfway through, he suddenly realized something.

His birthday is still a long way off, but Chu Yu's birthday is coming soon.

And he is the only one who knows.

"I think I have an idea." He muttered to himself as he looked at the face that was sleeping peacefully.

When Chu Yu woke up, the bus had just stopped in front of the main gate outside the camp. It was almost late at night, and there were many girls squatting outside the wall waiting for their return bus.

The bus door slowly opened, and every trainee who got off was soon surrounded by excited screams.

"Baby—did you have fun—"

"Husband—you must make your debut—"

"Eat well—train well—we'll be waiting for you on the Sangong stage—"

Most of the trainees got off the car and entered the door quietly under the escort of the staff. Occasionally, they would smile or nod when they heard their own names. Only the contestants who were particularly popular and had a lot of support would stop and respond to the large number of fans.

"Brother Baizi—Brother Baizi—Brother Baizi, you fell asleep again!"

Chu Yu opened his hazy eyes in a daze, and when he came to his senses, he suddenly covered his face with his hands.

"Brother Baizi, we love you - Brother Baizi, do you hear me -"

Chu Yu covered his face with one hand and raised the other hand to make a 1 to indicate that he received it.

"Brother Baizi, we love you so much - do you love us too -"

Chu Yu extended his thumb and tilted his index finger, and the gesture changed from 1 to a check mark representing yes.

"Brother Baizi, don't be shy——Brother Baizi, make a heart——"

Chu Yu changed his pinky sign again to a heart sign, like a little robot that automatically obeyed commands. Except for not speaking and not showing his face, he was very well behaved in every way.

The fans were happy, the fans were joyful, the fans were happy, and the fans were laughing so hard that they were rolling on the ground.

"Brother Sprayer - Brother Sprayer, please show some appreciation too -"

Fans of these two are rather malicious and try to force things. After all, Luo Jiayu has never been cute since he joined the camp, and no one has ever seen him make a heart shape with his hands.

Luo Jiayu turned around to look at the group of fans who wanted to cause trouble, and said calmly: "Don't even think about it, I'm just a pure cool guy."

"Ouch—Pure~Cool~Brother~"

"Which cool guy likes to act like a spoiled brat to his friends——"

"Which cool guy keeps nagging his friends all day long—"

"Which cool guy and his friends are cosplaying SpongeBob and Patrick Star—"

Public opinion gradually deviated in other directions. Specifically, those who were involved in the Pisces CP could no longer hide it and started to accuse the real person.

Chu Yu took a deep breath. Between having a large group of people see that his ears were burning and causing screams, and hiding behind his childhood friend and causing screams directly, he chose the latter and hid behind Luo Jiayu in a flash.

As expected, it caused a lot of screams.

"If I don't want to compete alone, I can at least make a heart shape with Xiaoyu."

Luo Jiayu tried his best to control the upward curve of his mouth, lowered his head and poked Chu Yu's shoulder.

Chu Yu turned around: "What?"

"Make a heart."

Then his arms were put around his shoulders, and a certain cool guy made a heart sign with one hand, which he despised, and smiled at the camera as sweetly as if he had just eaten candy.

"This is such a famous scene." The CP fan took the opportunity to snap dozens of photos, sighing as she did so, "I've never eaten anything this good in my life."

I had almost finished escorting him, and the audition camp gate was right in front of me. Suddenly, a loud shout came from behind me, with a faint sound of crying:

"Lolo——Xiaoyu——will definitely make a successful debut——"

Originally, this kind of question was quite sensitive, and most of the trainees who had been reminded by the staff would not give a clear response, but Luo Jiayu turned around.

"Yeah, I definitely will." He waved in the direction of the voice and smiled.

"Really--"

The ranking in the second public performance was a heavy blow, a scar that was engraved in the hearts of all fans. Now that it has suddenly been revealed, everyone is a little overwhelmed with emotion.

"Really." The main person was very sure, "See you on debut night."

Some fans' eyes became red on the spot.

Luo Jiayu smiled and poked Chu Yu, who was standing next to him with his head stiff and his back to the fans, not daring to look back: "You should say something too, they're almost crying."

Chu Yu paused for a moment, raised his hand again, pointed at the person next to him, made a hook sign, and then gave a thumbs-up.

It was very abstract, but everyone understood what he meant.

"Brother Baizi—Brother Pengzi—are going to debut together—"

The impromptu fan meeting that night ended with a flurry of blessings. Luo Jiayu said goodbye to all the fans on Chu Yu's behalf. Just as he was about to lead everyone back to the camp, he saw the staff member in front suddenly turn back, looking a little apologetic.

"Something unexpected happened in the camp, and the power went out in the entire dormitory building."