CHAPTER 29: !

Under Gu Sheng’s palm, all sound died down.

“…”

“…”

Wen Heng’s high, straight nose pressed against her soft palm, their skin touching, and the burning heat inside his body finally faded.

Gu Sheng’s quilt was wrapped too thickly around her, so when he wanted to touch her, he could only press against the back of her head—but that felt too weird. With a complicated feeling he rarely showed, Wen Heng, unusually vulnerable, held Gu Sheng, trying to wake her.

She woke.

Fully woke.

Wen Heng stayed silent for a long moment before grabbing Gu Sheng’s hand and pulling it away from his face with a blank expression.

Gu Sheng, the emotionless killer: That slap was meant to take your miserable life!!

She also realized that probably while she was asleep, the system randomly triggered another pain point, and the CP system definitely wouldn’t miss such a perfect opportunity. But this damn man’s mood was different than usual, and Gu Sheng didn’t understand it—so she cut it off cleanly!

The faintly intimate, ambiguous atmosphere shattered by her slap, it suddenly felt like these two lying in bed weren’t even husband and wife—really just comrades in arms!

Meanwhile, viewers in the livestream chat exploded in all sorts of reactions.

[Hahaha help! What kind of fierce, wild words are these!]

[CP fans’ interpretations just show up uninvited! Wen Ge: “Wife, I want to…” Gu Sheng: “No! You don’t!”]

[Ahhhh! I’m not sleeping anymore, I ship them, I ship them!]

For CP fans, after last night’s fanfic laying the foundation, Gu Sheng was the enchanting beauty who said “why are you like a corpse, not moving at all” in their hearts.

Tonight, not letting Wen Ge snuggle was obviously because big sister was tired, and Wen Ge still wanted to get cozy—Wen Ge was definitely in the wrong!

[Wen Shen, you gotta consider your wife’s feelings!]

[Exactly! In my lifetime, our aloof high mountain flower actually got called “flirty”—hahaha!]

[Thanks to my habit of staying up late! Otherwise I’d miss this great show! [awsl]]

For other viewers, first shocked, then laughing their heads off.

An entertainment marketing big influencer posted on Weibo late at night:

[@InsideEntertainment: Fam, I just laughed so hard late at night! I’ve been casually watching “The Four Laws of Happiness,” and tonight finally broke my defenses!! Gu Sheng is such a comedic beauty, hahaha, even Wen Shen had his day ]

Not many people stayed up watching the livestream, but many scroll Weibo at night.

The influencer’s millions of followers saw the clip posted and the heat instantly spiked.

[Hahaha “No flirting,” I can’t stop laughing!]

[Gu Sheng! Don’t you want Wen Heng at all? Look at his face! Look at his body!]

[I’ve followed since episode one, this sister was so cold and distant then, kicking Wen Ge five times a night!]

[Hahaha iceberg actor x comedic beauty, I ship this now!]

[I’m officially in the Wen Sheng fandom! So good hahahaha]

On the bed, Wen Heng himself stared at the ceiling, calm for a long time.

No need to ask.

This woman didn’t love him anymore.

After shouting that deafening warning, Gu Sheng drifted off again, half-asleep.

…Whether it was flirting or fever, nothing could disturb her sleep!

—

The next morning.

The big influencer’s Weibo had been running all night and drew even more traffic; fans from both sides, CP fans, and passersby all laughed together and pushed the topic to trending.

A simple sentence—#Gu Sheng: No Flirting#

The whole internet was once again drowned in laughter, and episode four of “The Four Laws of Happiness” soared in popularity thanks to Wen Heng.

Outside, the Chang Yan team looked at the trending charts: ??

The “Four Laws” production team looked at it: ?!

All anyone could say… no wonder it’s Wen Heng!

Even his viral moment had such a unique style!

—

After getting up, Wen Heng kept a cold expression.

The low-pressure aura around him was strong, even Uncle Wang noticed and quietly asked Gu Sheng, “Did you hit him last night?”

Gu Sheng peeled the eggs Uncle Wang gave them, glanced at Wen Heng, and whispered, “It’s nothing, just that time of the month.”

Wen Heng: “…”

He could hear that!

Audience: Hahahahaha

Uncle Wang was amused too; he already knew they were married but never imagined couples outside the mountains had this kind of business!

Gu Sheng had already asked the system: last night Wen Heng was in “deep water and raging fire,” which explained his random cries.

He was getting weirder and weirder—he used to silently endure pains several times worse than that. The last time he had level-6 pain, he even stepped back three times, but this time, at level-4 discomfort, he actually made noises.

Straight-up Gu Sheng: I don’t get it. Totally confused.

Just say he got “flirty” from fever! Yeah!

Right now Wen Heng had gone back to his state from episode one.

Keeping distance from Gu Sheng, cold and aloof, silently showing his displeasure.

Too bad Gu Sheng didn’t care at all. Worse, after four episodes, no viewers still saw this as Wen Shen’s “aloof high mountain flower” vibe.

[I declare it—he’s just sexually frustrated!]

[Hahaha come on, give Wen Ge some face, please!]

—

After a day of lodging, the guests had to head back down the mountain to gather.

Uncle Wang’s once lively little house would grow quiet again, but this time with a little more hope in his heart.

“We’re leaving, Uncle Wang!”

“Thank you for the milk and eggs!”

Uncle Wang waved goodbye to this perfectly matched couple, watching them leave while feeling in his pocket the lawyer’s business card.

This was given to him by that tall, aloof male celebrity — he said he could help his son resolve the issue with the foreman withholding wages. Uncle Wang carefully keyed the phone number into his old-style senior phone.

He watched the young couple walk toward the downward slope. The man, hands stuffed in his pockets the whole time, finally couldn’t help it — he reached out and gave Gu Sheng a gentle tug, helping her avoid a tripping stone.

As soon as he pulled her, he quickly withdrew his hand again, coldly walking ahead without a word.

Uncle Wang didn’t know much about the internet and had no idea that the smile on his face was commonly called an “auntie smile.”

He just felt that this man looked cold, but had a warm heart and paid attention to the little things.

In his eyes, Wen Heng loved far more than he let on—

—

The couples gathered again at the entrance of Panyu Mountain Village.

Recording had now gone on for a full day and two nights. Everyone was starting to look worn out.

The sunny-day team had the best luck in this episode — one night in a villager’s house, one night in the village chief’s. Not only did they get good rest, Song Qingzhi even had time to do her styling. She finally felt like she had the upper hand over Gu Sheng.

What’s more, she immediately noticed something was off between Gu Sheng and Wen Heng — Wen-ge’s face was so cold it looked like it could chip off!

And look at Qin Tian, with that pampering smile on his face. Sure, he couldn’t compare to Wen Heng in looks, but Song Qingzhi felt proud — on a romance show, the person who’s doted on by her man is the one who gets the envy~

The ones who looked most worn out were Wang He and Lu, who had spent the night in a tent. They woke up sore and achy. Wang He smiled wryly and asked Wen Heng and Gu Sheng, who had slept in a tent on the first night, “Didn’t you two feel awful after a night like that?”

Wen Heng replied coolly, “It was fine.”

The audience immediately flooded the screen with understanding bullet comments:

[Heheh of course Wen-ge’s fine — holding his wife’s hand while sleeping must’ve been sweet~]
[Hehehehe]

This time, the production team didn’t schedule another intense resource grab game. After all, yesterday’s live broadcast had already satisfied most of the audience. Making the guests starve and push themselves for another full day would’ve been a bit inhumane.

Of course, the director would never admit that the real reason was: they didn’t have time to go replant all those little flags on the mountaintop again. 🙂

—“Today, couples will have a more relaxed schedule. You’re welcome to hike and show our viewers the beautiful scenery, or walk around the village freely. Just remember not to disturb the villagers’ daily lives~ Also, today’s resources have been upgraded a bit from yesterday! You can go to the designated program stations to collect food and water~”

The moment Song Qingzhi heard that the pace was slowing down, she knew — perfect time for romance content! Now that Wen and Sheng were cold-warring, she had to seize the moment and create sweet scenes with Qin Tian to outshine them!

“But,” the director’s tone shifted, “tonight we’ll still decide housing arrangements through a game~ The couples who haven’t stayed in a first or second-place room yet, make sure to do your best~”

His gaze directly fell on Wen Heng and Gu Sheng.

Only Wen and Sheng had ranked third and fourth both nights in a row. All the other couples had stayed in one of the top two rooms at least once.

Yu Shanbei immediately jumped in to stir the pot: “No way, no way, surely no one’s had it that rough, right?!”

Song Qingzhi covered her mouth and laughed.

Gu Sheng: “……” Completely called out!

[Bei-zi you’re asking for it hahaha]
[Hahaha poor Wen-ge and Sheng-jie]
[WenSheng, go go go! There’s still a chance!]

After the briefing, the couples scattered to do their own thing.

Gu Sheng glanced at Wen Heng. They still had to keep up appearances in front of the camera, so she took the initiative and asked, “Where do you want to go?”

Wen Heng looked at her with a touch of pride, answering coolly, “Anywhere’s fine.”

Gu Sheng stared at him for a moment, then asked very directly, “Are you mad?”

Even the cameraman was startled — didn’t expect Sheng-jie to just throw a fastball like that — not only does she not coax him, she calls him out directly!

“……” Wen Heng was caught off guard too. He lowered his eyes and said, “No.”

Gu Sheng thought to herself: Wasn’t it just a smack? She didn’t even hit him that hard—

Sure, maybe it stung the Best Actor’s pride a little, but it did stop his pain, didn’t it?

This damn man, so petty!

Gu Sheng had no intention of bringing it up again to let him play the victim. So she pointed toward the village entrance: “Good, I knew you’d be fine with it. Let’s skip the mountain and stroll through the village instead.”

Wen Heng drew in a breath. “…Okay.”

This remote mountain village in the southwest still retained its original, natural feel.

The region had lush vegetation, and the tiled houses nestled between the hills were small and aged. Most of the able-bodied had left for work in the cities, leaving behind only the elderly and children.

When they saw the celebrities walking past their doors, the villagers mostly just peeked from their thresholds, too shy to approach.

Gu Sheng quietly took in the atmosphere. The paths in the mountain village were uneven — sometimes sloping up, sometimes down. Wild weeds lined the roadside, but many nameless wildflowers were in bloom. Patches of yellow and white, full of life.

She knew that in this kind of setting, the couples who liked “working the camera” could definitely create a sweet moment.

Sure enough, not long after, Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian appeared at the far end of the road. Under Song Qingzhi’s encouraging and expectant gaze, Qin Tian picked a bunch of wildflowers from the roadside and handed them to her.

“Qingzhi, in my heart you’re as beautiful as these flowers!” Qin Tian said.

Song Qingzhi glanced over at Wen Heng and Gu Sheng, who had a distinctly cold atmosphere around them, and smiled sweetly: “Tian-ge, I know you love me the most!”

She was basking in affection while Gu Sheng was being cold-shouldered by her man on a romance show — the contrast couldn’t be more obvious. The frustration she’d felt about losing the role in Trace Back was now mostly gone.

Feeling smug, she sweetly clung to Qin Tian and headed toward them.

Gu Sheng, on the other hand, actually got a little inspiration from the two of them. As a professional, she thought Wen Heng’s sour expression was ruining the viewing experience — not what a top-tier star should do!

So she casually plucked a wildflower by the road and handed it to Wen Heng. “For you.”

Wen Heng froze.

Song Qingzhi covered her mouth and laughed, “Sister Gu, how come you gave Teacher Wen flowers?” The implication was clear—usually boys give flowers to girls, poor Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng, however, was calm and casual, her peach blossom eyes squinting slightly: “Because—he’s good-looking.”

Song Qingzhi felt a sharp pang of sourness in her heart. No matter how handsome her husband was, what did it matter? He didn’t love or care for her! And just one wildflower given, would Wen Shen really care??

Wen Heng blinked, then lowered his gaze to the small white flower in Gu Sheng’s palm.

It was really perfunctory.

But it was a rare gesture of goodwill from Gu Sheng toward him.

The gloomy irritation in his chest suddenly eased by more than half. Maybe she didn’t totally dislike him anymore.

Wen Heng hesitated to take the flower. Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian watched nearby, enjoying the show. The Wen Sheng CP fans were going crazy, and even Gu Sheng thought, Would that damn man really not give her face??

Just as Song Qingzhi was about to laugh and say something, Wen Heng finally took the flower from Gu Sheng’s palm.

He lifted his eyes with a faint smile and tucked the little white flower behind Gu Sheng’s ear.

“Thank you,” Wen Heng said with a slight curl of his thin lips, “—but you’re even more beautiful.”

There was no hint of love in that sentence, yet somehow it was deeply charming.

Song Qingzhi was stunned, and Qin Tian beside her looked like a country bumpkin by comparison.

The viewers instantly lost their minds.

[OMG this is too! Sweet!]

[Ahhhh Wen Shen’s doting, who can handle this, help!!!]

[I’m done, I’m done, sugar rush only comes from Wen Sheng! —]

…

Time passed quickly while wandering the little mountain village.

Gu Sheng walked ahead, looking around; Wen Heng followed behind at an unhurried pace.

He had never formed close bonds with anyone, even at work treating everything merely as part of his roles. Before, Gu Sheng’s strong affection for him didn’t matter. Now it mattered, but he still couldn’t understand it.

Since last night, he had been pondering one question: if Gu Sheng’s greatest love used to be his face,

and his face hadn’t changed,

then why did she stop loving him?

Gu Sheng crouched on the village’s only patch of cement ground with some local kids, chatting with them for a while.

The kids’ parents worked outside the village, so they weren’t very clean, their faces a little dirty. It was the first time growing up that they saw such a beautiful sister, and they all got nervous.

Gu Sheng handed out the biscuits from the show’s crew, and the kids gradually became lively.

“Sister, you’re so pretty!”

“Like someone on TV~”