Chapter 29

As soon as the old lady finished speaking, Huo Xingming immediately shouted, “No! I don’t like her at all!”

Bai Siyi: “…”

He really wanted to hand Huo Xingming a megaphone!

Huo Xingming’s voice was way too loud, drawing the attention of all the elderly folks watching the movie nearby.

Even some passing young people turned their heads curiously.

The old lady beside them gave Huo Xingming a disapproving look. “Young man, you’ve got thick eyebrows and big eyes, look decent enough, but how can you be so irresponsible? If you don’t like her, then why are you getting so close? You practically climbed onto the girl just now when you moved your chair! Aren’t you ashamed?”

Huo Xingming: “…”

The old lady’s strong dialect made it hard for him to understand half of what she was saying. He stared at her blankly. “I wasn’t climbing onto her?”

The old lady sneered. “Look at you, such a troublemaker. Girl, you’d better keep your distance from him. Young people these days, you really can’t judge them by appearances.”

Bai Siyi: “…”

Huo Xingming’s heart was racing. He stood there, guilty and embarrassed, not even daring to look at Bai Siyi’s face. His ears were burning red, and under the scrutinizing gazes and murmurs of the elderly crowd, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Even though he was usually thick-skinned, at this moment, he couldn’t stop thinking about how he had just grabbed Bai Siyi’s waist—and how big Bai Siyi’s reaction had been.

He didn’t even care what the old ladies were saying anymore.

He just wanted to know—did Bai Siyi really think he liked him?

Crap.

How was he supposed to clean this up?

His hands had been too reckless. A girl’s waist—was that something he could just grab like that?

Oh no.

Did he have to take responsibility for Bai Siyi now?

Huo Xingming, blushing furiously, rubbed his nose guiltily. “Um, I…”

Bai Siyi waved his hand. “Let’s go first. We’ll talk later.”

With that, Bai Siyi hopped onto his bike, ready to leave. Huo Xingming, still looking awkward, quickly followed.

Neither of them spoke the entire way—mainly because neither knew what to say.

Not only was Huo Xingming embarrassed, but Bai Siyi was too.

Because he could sense that Huo Xingming’s attitude toward him… really was different now.

But he couldn’t exactly blame Huo Xingming.

After all, they were participating in an online dating reality show, and Huo Xingming had always thought he was a girl.

After spending these past few days together, their personalities had proven to be quite compatible. At the very least, they hadn’t had any conflicts.

If Huo Xingming really did start to like him… then Bai Siyi needed to come up with a plan.

Because if he waited until Huo Xingming had completely fallen for him before revealing his real gender…

Forget everything else—he was genuinely afraid Huo Xingming might hunt him down.

On the way, Huo Xingming tried to speak several times but couldn’t find the right moment. Bai Siyi seemed unwilling to talk to him, avoiding eye contact entirely and always riding ahead of him.

Huo Xingming hesitated, frowning deeply, regretting everything.

He felt like he should apologize. He should also take responsibility for Bai Siyi. Since he had hugged him, he had to give him an explanation—otherwise, how was that any different from being a scoundrel?

Just as he was about to say something, Bai Siyi suddenly pulled over to the side of the road and parked his bike.

Huo Xingming was startled. “Bai Siyi, what are you doing?”

Bai Siyi locked his bike and glanced at him. “The supermarket is about to close. I’m going to buy half-priced fresh food.”

Huo Xingming looked confused as he parked his bike too. “Beating sheep? Why is the supermarket beating sheep? Why not beat dogs, chickens, or geese?”

Bai Siyi pressed his lips together. “Huo Xingming, that joke was ice-cold. Not funny.”

Huo Xingming rubbed his nose. “Oh…”

Bai Siyi led Huo Xingming into the supermarket. Since it was closing soon, all the fresh produce was at a 50% discount, with some items even marked down to 30%, including sushi, sashimi, cooked food, and fruits and vegetables.

Bai Siyi rarely went grocery shopping because he found supermarket prices much higher than local markets. Besides, the factory provided food and housing, so he never really needed to buy anything.

But since they were passing by, he figured he might as well take a look. He rarely bought fruit before—too expensive, a luxury he couldn’t afford.

Now, though, with the discounts, he could buy a little. He could even share some with Huo Xingming, especially since Huo Xingming had been paying for everything today.

Huo Xingming followed Bai Siyi as he browsed the vegetables first. Many were on a 50% discount, and most still looked fine. He picked through them carefully before heading to the fruit section. The discounted fruit was less fresh, but after checking, he settled on some marked-down apples and cherry tomatoes.

Huo Xingming muttered, “Isn’t this fruit past its expiration date?”

In Huo Xingming’s home country, fruits and vegetables had strict expiration dates, but here, as long as they weren’t spoiled, they were still considered edible.

Bai Siyi shot him a glare. “You’re barely affording your meals, and you’re still picky?”

Huo Xingming: “…”

He was already feeling guilty about what had happened earlier, so he didn’t dare argue back. He just shook his head. “Not picky, not picky at all.”

Worried that Huo Xingming might struggle with food later, Bai Siyi also grabbed some almost-expired buy-one-get-one-free instant noodles and a variety of discounted biscuits.

Huo Xingming assumed Bai Siyi was buying them for himself, and the more he watched, the deeper his frown became. Finally, he couldn’t help but say in a low voice, “Aren’t you about to get paid? Buy yourself something better.”

Bai Siyi silently glanced at him and countered, “Didn’t you also just get paid? Why aren’t you buying anything nice for yourself?”

Huo Xingming had bought nothing—his hands were completely empty.

Meeting Bai Siyi’s gaze, Huo Xingming’s face started to turn red again.

Feeling guilty, he shifted his eyes around, awkwardly muttering, “I-I just…”

Bai Siyi snorted. “You spent all your money tipping pretty streamers, didn’t you?”

Huo Xingming’s heart skipped a beat. His first instinct was to deny it, but when he saw Bai Siyi’s expression, he remembered the persona he had been maintaining lately—and forcefully shut his mouth.

For some reason, Bai Siyi was getting more and more irritated. Just looking at Huo Xingming like this made his frustration rise, and he was struggling to hold it back.

Bai Siyi continued picking up discounted food. “I spent all my money on photocards and ranking my idol, so now I can only afford expired food.”

Huo Xingming pressed his lips together, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “Yeah, yeah, even if I have to eat rotten vegetable leaves, I still have to buy little dresses for my streamer goddess!”

Hmph.

The little person in Huo Xingming’s heart was about to explode with rage.

What kind of taste did Bai Siyi have, calling some idol he had never even met brother (gege) left and right?

Brother, brother, brother—when will it end!

Huo Xingming was three years older than Bai Siyi, but Bai Siyi had never once called him anything other than his full name!

Not only had Bai Siyi spent his entire paycheck ranking his idol, but he was also so broke he couldn’t even bear to eat meat—he was actually buying expired food from the supermarket!

Huo Xingming was so furious that he felt like steam was coming out of his head. He wanted to grab Bai Siyi by the shoulders and shake him hard until all the water in his brain sloshed out!

Meanwhile, Bai Siyi was also sulking as he picked out food.

Streamer goddess, streamer goddess—do you even realize that your streamer goddess, when she lifts her skirt, is probably older than you? And you’re still tipping her?

Bai Siyi even started wondering—just how many streamer goddesses did Huo Xingming have? How much had he actually spent tipping them?

Even a faceless, offline-avoiding, non-dancing, non-body-revealing small-time voice blogger like Xiaoyang Baibai could get a million from him without blinking.

Then what about those who actually pushed the boundaries…

It was unimaginable.

The more Bai Siyi thought about it, the angrier he became. Damn straight guy!

After grabbing everything he needed, Bai Siyi turned and walked straight to the checkout.

Huo Xingming followed behind, empty-handed and in a terrible mood.

At the register, Huo Xingming instinctively took out his phone to pay—only to be met with a sharp glare from Bai Siyi.

Huo Xingming shrank his neck, not entirely convinced but lacking confidence as he glared back. “What?”

Bai Siyi pulled out his own phone. “I’m paying for this.”

Huo Xingming had already covered the amusement park tickets today. Bai Siyi hated owing people favors, so even though everything he was buying was close to expiring and buy-one-get-one-free, half of it was meant for Huo Xingming anyway.

He had already planned it out—buy-one-get-one meant everything came in pairs. They could split it evenly and finish it before it expired.

But just as Bai Siyi was about to pay, Huo Xingming stubbornly shoved his phone forward. “No way, how can I let my woman pay—”

The worst thing about awkward moments is when the air suddenly goes silent.

Bai Siyi turned to look at him with a deep, unreadable gaze.

Huo Xingming’s face turned red at lightning speed. The two of them locked eyes in absolute silence, the embarrassment so suffocating it made death seem like a reasonable escape.

And then—

“Beep!”

The cashier smiled. “Payment successful. That’ll be 182 yuan. Thank you, and we hope to see you again!”

Huo Xingming: “…”

Bai Siyi lowered his head, took an eco-friendly bag from his shoulder bag, stuffed everything inside, and grabbed the two packs of instant noodles that wouldn’t fit by hand before turning to leave.

Huo Xingming followed beside him, face flushed red, head down, but still didn’t forget to reach out and snatch the eco-bag filled with groceries, carrying it himself.

The little person inside Huo Xingming’s heart had already gone crazy, his inner universe exploding on the spot.

Back then, he had clearly meant to say, “How could I let a woman pay?”

So how did it end up coming out as “My woman…”?

“My woman…”

Hiss!

Huo Xingming sneaked a glance at Bai Siyi. If Bai Siyi were really my woman…

Hiss!

Nope, can’t think about that—too dangerous.

Just then, Bai Siyi suddenly turned his head and shot him a glare. Huo Xingming, caught red-handed peeking, felt his heart jolt. He instinctively took several steps to the side, flustered. “W-What?”

Bai Siyi glared at him. “You—forget it.”

Bai Siyi dropped it, but that only made Huo Xingming feel worse. He scooted back over. “If you have something to say, just say it! Don’t ‘forget it’ me—it’s making me uncomfortable.”

It wasn’t until they stepped out of the supermarket that Bai Siyi finally stopped in a corner. It was already 10 o’clock, and there were hardly any people around.

No staff following them. No live stream cameras watching.

Here, whatever needed to be said could be said openly.

Bai Siyi asked in a low voice, “Huo Xingming, do you like me?”

Huo Xingming: “!!!”

His eyes widened. His ears had been burning all night, and the heat just wouldn’t go down!

He didn’t dare look Bai Siyi in the eye. He stammered, “O-O-O-Of course not!”

“We’ve only known each other for a few days! H-H-H-How could that be possible? Hahaha!”

Bai Siyi stared at him. “Really? Then why don’t you dare look at me?”

I’m not looking away because I don’t dare…

It’s because…

Huo Xingming turned his head and met Bai Siyi’s gaze.

In the night, Bai Siyi’s dark eyes were even deeper, the stars in them even brighter. He stared at Huo Xingming unwaveringly, making his face burn even hotter.

The moment felt scalding.

Huo Xingming abruptly pulled his gaze away, lowered his head, and muttered, “I’m allergic to stars, okay?”

Bai Siyi: “…”