Chapter 36

Huo Xingming actually didn’t want to go to the hospital, but before he could even react, the staff had already surrounded him and ushered him into the production team’s car. Bai Siyi, worried about his condition, followed along and sat beside him.

Holding a tissue to his nose, Huo Xingming noticed Bai Siyi sitting so close—so close, in fact, that he could clearly feel the warmth radiating from his body!

Huo Xingming’s entire body instantly stiffened. He sat ramrod straight, not daring to move a single inch.

Bai Siyi leaned in to take a closer look at his nose, frowning with concern. “Huo Xingming, are you overheated or something? Why won’t the bleeding stop?”

Although the bleeding wasn’t heavy, it still hadn’t stopped, and he had already gone through several tissues. Bai Siyi was starting to get really worried.

Seeing him suddenly so close, Huo Xingming’s face turned bright red, and he leaned his head back, stammering nervously, “I-I’m fine, maybe it’s just…”

After pausing for a moment, he finally said, “Maybe it’s just because I’m overheated.”

He wasn’t entirely sure, though—after all, he had never had a nosebleed before.

Bai Siyi studied his expression and then quietly asked, “You’re not mad at me, are you?”

Huo Xingming stared at him in surprise. He had to clear this up!

Huo Xingming: “Didn’t I already tell you? I’m not mad.”

But the heat in his face refused to go away. Looking at Bai Siyi, his expression carried a hint of bashfulness. “How could I ever be mad at you?”

He liked Bai Siyi too much for that.

Bai Siyi felt something was off about the way he said that. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “Huo Xingming, you… don’t still like me, do you? I mean, I’m a guy.”

Huo Xingming’s hand, still dabbing at his nose, froze mid-air. He turned to Bai Siyi, expression dead serious. “Just because you’re a guy, I can’t like you?”

Because if that were the case, then Huo Xingming was about to throw hands.

He sat up straighter, looked firmly at Bai Siyi, and grumbled with a hint of grievance, “When you were a girl, I wasn’t allowed to like you. Now you’re a guy, and I still can’t like you? Then tell me—how exactly am I supposed to like you?”

Why was liking someone so difficult?! Huo Xingming was on the verge of tears.

Bai Siyi: “…”

Bai Siyi’s mouth fell open as he stared at Huo Xingming in pure shock. Meanwhile, Huo Xingming was pouting at him with such wounded puppy eyes that it looked like Bai Siyi was some kind of irredeemable scumbag.

Bai Siyi: “…”

His heart suddenly started pounding.

Wait… what did Huo Xingming just say?

“You…”

Bai Siyi, still stunned, asked with a mix of shock and disbelief, “Huo Xingming, you’re fine with guys too?!”

Huo Xingming, blushing furiously, muttered, “Of course I am! Not only am I fine, I’m VERY fine!”

Bai Siyi: “!!!”

Bai Siyi immediately tensed up. He scooted back a little, looking at Huo Xingming with a mix of surprise and discontent. “So you’re bisexual?”

Men and women both? Was he really that undiscerning?!

Huo Xingming: “???”

He practically shouted, “Of course not! I’m not! I only like men!”

Afraid that Bai Siyi wouldn’t believe him, he moved closer, pressing up tightly against him, and said in a low voice, “The reason I joined this variety show is kind of complicated—I’ll explain it to you later. But I really do like men. Back when we were chatting online, wasn’t I always saying a bunch of nasty stuff? That was actually on purpose—to make you hate me. But who knew…”

Bai Siyi thought about himself for a moment and suddenly understood Huo Xingming a little better. He even recalled Qiu Bo’s situation—Qiu Bo was a lesbian, and her online partner had actually been a woman disguised as a man. So, in that case… the production team pairing him with a gay guy also made sense?

It’s just that neither he nor Huo Xingming had known the truth at the start, which was what led to this whole mess.

Thinking about this, Bai Siyi suddenly felt like the production team was seriously messed up.

If he had known earlier that Huo Xingming liked men…

Bai Siyi’s face gradually turned red. He turned to Huo Xingming and asked, “And then what? Why did you stop talking?”

Huo Xingming hesitated for a moment before admitting shyly, “And then… who could’ve known you’d be so cute? I couldn’t handle it at all.”

He pressed even closer, shoulder to shoulder with Bai Siyi, and said awkwardly, “Even if you were a girl, I would still like you. At one point, I actually thought you had turned me straight. I almost started questioning my entire existence.”

After all, he had been firm in his sexuality for over ten years, and now it was suddenly flipped upside down—of course, that had shaken him to his core.

He had always had a specific type, his entire browsing history was full of BL content, and he even had a fictional character as his ultimate crush. Obviously, that part wasn’t important. The important thing was that he had never wavered in his love for men.

Huo Xingming beamed with excitement, “Bai Siyi, so you were actually a guy all along! I knew my instincts wouldn’t fail me. Thank god I didn’t miss out on you.”

He said it so naturally, as if they were already an old married couple.

Although Bai Siyi felt excited too, he was the more rational one—he wasn’t about to dive headfirst into a relationship.

“Huo Xingming.”

He reached out and pushed Huo Xingming away slightly, saying, “I never said I was going to accept you.”

As he spoke, he took out a letter from his pocket—it was the thank-you letter he had written last night.

No matter what, he had already decided to leave this variety show.

Besides, his relationship with Huo Xingming had started under false pretenses—with him in disguise. He didn’t want to carry that deception forward.

If possible, he wanted to meet Huo Xingming again—properly, as himself, from the very beginning.

Bai Siyi: “It was really nice getting to know you. Thank you for taking care of me these past few days.”

Huo Xingming: “…”

Meanwhile, the live stream comment exploded—

Live Stream Comments:

【HELP, I THOUGHT THIS WAS A HAPPY ENDING—WHY ARE THEY BREAKING UP ANYWAY?!】

【Bai Xing Yiyi fans are going feral. You’re both so damn pretty, you look perfect together—WHY CAN’T YOU JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY?!】

【Maybe Xiao Bai thinks Piupiustar only liked him because of his disguise, so now he feels awful?】

Huo Xingming couldn’t understand either. He looked at Bai Siyi and asked, “Xiao Bai, do you not believe me? Do you still think I’m straight?”

Huo Xingming felt a little hurt.

Even though he didn’t want to continue filming this crappy show anyway, receiving Bai Siyi’s thank-you letter still made him really sad.

Bai Siyi placed the letter in Huo Xingming’s hands and said in a low voice, “I want to get to know you again—as my real self. Is that okay?”

Huo Xingming froze, staring at Bai Siyi.

Bai Siyi continued softly, “The person you knew before was ‘Bai Siyi the girl.’ The person you liked… was also ‘Bai Siyi the girl’…“

He paused for a moment, feeling a little awkward. He knew he probably sounded overly sentimental, but he hoped Huo Xingming could understand.

“What I mean is… I want to leave this deception behind, end it here on the show. I want to meet you again in real life—with no lies, no rules binding us… Do you think that’s okay?”

Bai Siyi was both nervous and embarrassed as he said this.

By saying this, he was essentially admitting that he liked Huo Xingming too—because if he didn’t, why would he be so eager to start over?

At the end of the day, Bai Siyi didn’t want to miss out on Huo Xingming.

Even if they wouldn’t last forever, even if their relationship wouldn’t go far, Huo Xingming was so amazing that Bai Siyi just wanted to hold onto him, even if it was only for a short time.

He was afraid that if he didn’t take this chance, he’d regret it in the future.

Logically, Huo Xingming had appeared in Bai Siyi’s life at the worst possible time.

Bai Siyi had huge debts, his mother’s health wasn’t looking good, and he had never planned on falling in love.

As a gay man, marriage and children were never in the picture for him.

He had already prepared himself for a lifetime of loneliness.

But now, Huo Xingming had appeared.

And when Bai Siyi looked at him, he couldn’t stop his heart from racing.

So, just this once, he decided to be selfish.

To let himself have a love with no future.

Huo Xingming’s heart completely melted under Bai Siyi’s gaze—those eyes, like a sky full of stars.

How could he possibly say no?

As long as Bai Siyi asked, he’d give him anything—even his life.

At this moment, Huo Xingming’s nosebleed finally stopped. He tossed the tissues into the trash, then, feeling a little shy, pulled out his own thank-you letter.

He looked at Bai Siyi with a silly, lovestruck grin. “Of course, we can, Xiao Bai! But you better not lie to me, okay? If you lie to me, I’ll show up at your factory every single day and block your way!”

Bai Siyi took his letter, lowering his head shyly. “I already said—no more lies.”

From now on, there would be no more deception.

They would start over, as their real selves.

Both of them exchanged thank-you letters.

But before Bai Siyi could even open his, Huo Xingming suddenly remembered something—

Wait. Wasn’t he also lying to Bai Siyi?!

He wasn’t actually in debt, and he wasn’t some bricklayer.

Huo Xingming: “……”

But since Bai Siyi had already been honest with him, of course, he had to be honest too.

“Uh, Xiao Bai…”

Huo Xingming felt a little awkward. “I also lied to you about something.”

Bai Siyi had just opened the thank-you letter, only to find an entire page written in French. He stared at it in confusion and hesitantly asked, “What did you lie about?”

Huo Xingming scratched his head awkwardly. “Actually, I’m not in debt. My family didn’t go bankrupt, and I’m not a construction worker. My family is actually doing fine… but it has nothing to do with me anymore. I ran away from home after an argument with them, and now I rely on my friends for support.”

“But really, I have no debt.”

Huo Xingming emphasized again and again, “I’ve never even used a credit card. I don’t owe anyone a single cent. My assets are actually positive! Just… not a lot.”

As he spoke, he started feeling a little guilty. “But I’ll work hard to help you pay off your debt! I also want to earn money to support you!”

Bai Siyi: “……”

He was surprised, but not angry.

After all, both of them had contracts with the show, and lying to each other was part of it. Bai Siyi understood that. In any case, he had already decided that everything about this would end with the show—he wouldn’t ask about it anymore.

But after leaving the show, in real life, Huo Xingming better not lie to him again—or else he really would get mad.

Bai Siyi: “No debt— isn’t that a good thing?”

He even felt a little envious. “That’s great, Huo Xingming. You don’t have debt. You’re so free.”

He was genuinely happy for Huo Xingming—even a little jealous.

Bai Siyi: “But you don’t have to pay off my debt. I’ll figure it out myself.”

He planned to use the 500,000 yuan he earned from the show to pay off a portion of his debt, then take advantage of his current popularity to accept advertisements and make some money.

He had no idea just how famous he had become.

He had no idea that in the future, just by casually accepting one advertisement, he could earn a million yuan in an instant.

Huo Xingming, seeing that Bai Siyi wasn’t mad, felt overjoyed. He leaned against Bai Siyi’s shoulder, his huge frame curling up like some overgrown puppy—it was honestly an embarrassing sight.

Huo Xingming was so happy. It felt like he had won over Bai Siyi!

This cute, hardworking, and stunningly beautiful guy… was going to be his wife in the future!

Huo Xingming felt so proud of himself.

Other people were probably crying from jealousy right now!

But even if they cried, it wouldn’t matter—Bai Siyi was his!

Grinning like an idiot, Huo Xingming rested his chin on Bai Siyi’s shoulder, staring at him without blinking. “Xiao Bai, you’re my wife. Your debt is my debt. I’ll help you, so don’t worry.”

Bai Siyi: “……”

He reached out and shoved Huo Xingming away. “Wife? What nonsense are you talking about?”

The show wasn’t even over yet.

They hadn’t even properly gotten to know each other in real life.

And he was already calling him ‘wife’?!

Bai Siyi’s ears turned bright red.

He was completely speechless.

This guy was shameless beyond belief.