The guests were all very interested in Jiang Yu’s new song. They chatted as they walked to the house. But since the live stream was still going, everyone stayed reserved. No one asked Jiang Yu to play the song in front of the camera.
When they arrived at the traditional courtyard that had rooms for four people, Wei Yuanju smoothly changed the subject.
“Why am I so unlucky to be in a group with Ji Chen? I wanted to stay in a house like this too.”
This time, they were filming in an old town in a small city. The town kept as much of its historical charm as possible and was an unknown hidden gem. The long river they had passed earlier almost surrounded the whole town, and people could even travel by boat.
The courtyard where Yu Shiqing, Jiang Yu, and the others were staying was built beside the water, full of ancient charm.
In front of the gate stood a phoenix tree, its large branches covering the whole yard. It was a beautiful sight.
The camera crew followed them and filmed everything, sharing the view with the audience. The show stayed true to its goal of promoting these lesser-known places.
Some viewers were already asking for the location in the livestream chat.
Even Wei Yuanju and Su Yayi fell in love with the courtyard from afar. As they walked closer, Su Yayi kept saying next to Ji Chen, “Wow, this is amazing,” and “Wow, so pretty,” clearly showing off her excitement.
Ji Chen looked annoyed. “Mr. Wei, why blame me? Shouldn’t you ask yourself first? We’re a team, okay?”
Zhu Yulan laughed softly and pushed the door open to go inside.
“Okay, okay, blame me then,” Wei Yuanju said with a smile. “We can’t stay here, but it’s fine to take a look, right?”
The yard had good sunlight. In front of the main room was a porch with a set of rocking chairs underneath. Just looking at it made people feel relaxed.
Su Yayi said happily, “There are two floors!”
Downstairs had the main room, a study, and a double suite with a bathroom.
When Wu Luo heard that, he ran upstairs. Soon, he opened the wooden window and looked down.
“There are three rooms upstairs, but only one bathroom.”
Hearing that, Su Yayi looked back. Everyone else also turned to look.
Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu were at the back.
Wu Luo said, “Seniors, you pick first!”
Jiang Yu looked at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing said, “You decide.”
Jiang Yu said, “We’ll take the downstairs room.”
Su Yayi was surprised. “You’re sharing a room?”
Jiang Yu nodded. “Yeah.”
Ji Chen and Wei Yuanju exchanged glances, unsure if they should say anything.
Seeing this, Yu Shiqing added, “Jiang Yu and I are both alphas. It’s not suitable for us to stay with you.”
Su Yayi finally understood. “Oh right, Xiao Luo and I are both omegas.”
Ji Chen mumbled, “…stupid woman.”
Su Yayi hit him, then continued, “But doesn’t that mean one room upstairs will be empty?”
Wei Yuanju said, “Let Mingjie take it.”
Xi Mingjie was flattered. “Is that really okay?”
“You’re the only omega left. It’s not convenient for the rest of us,” Ji Chen patted his shoulder. “Poor Mingjie. You haven’t enjoyed a break since the show started. Now, in episode three, you finally get a chance.”
Xi Mingjie said softly, “But senior, you haven’t had a break either…”
Ji Chen: “…”
Su Yayi burst into laughter.
Wei Yuanju tried to smooth things over, holding back his laugh. “Alright, those who got the good spots are settled. Let’s go check out the other house.”
The three of them cheerfully went off to look around.
Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu didn’t follow. They went straight to their room.
The whole town kept its original building styles. Even the furniture inside was all antique-style wood: wooden stools, tables, cabinets, and beds.
As soon as Jiang Yu entered, he saw a double carved wooden bed by the wall. He stopped in his tracks.
The livestream chat exploded with laughter.
“Hahahaha what’s with the red bed curtains and mandarin duck bedding? Are they hinting at a wedding night??”
“Must be a family room LOL. Who would think two non-couples would stay here? Actually… they kinda match!”
“They look just right in this setting. Feels like they’ve been secretly married for years!”
Yu Shiqing put down his suitcase and went to wash his hands. He saw a wooden tub by the bathtub.
Jiang Yu followed and saw it too. He smiled and said, “Wanna try it tonight?”
Yu Shiqing turned to look at him.
Jiang Yu asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Shiqing replied calmly, “We’ll see tonight.”
His arm was still in a cast, so he couldn’t get it wet. A wooden tub like that would be inconvenient.
After that exchange, the livestream chat was flooded with question marks. Viewers could hardly see their faces anymore.
“Do these two even know what they’re saying?”
“OMG they’re flirting on livestream?? This has to mean something, right?”
Meanwhile, the popularity of the “Pisces CP” tag was skyrocketing online. The old trending topic about the “cat scratch incident” climbed back onto the hot list.
#YuShiqingAndJiangYuGotScratchedByACat
The top post in the Pisces CP tag was a fan’s first post in that tag. Marketing accounts quickly caught on and started posting.
“Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu got scratched by a cat! Luckily, it doesn’t look serious. Wishing them a speedy recovery.”
“Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu mentioned the scratches during a livestream. Fans guess they might be living together [shocked emoji]”
They posted livestream screenshots, clearly showing the patches on both their necks.
As the topic climbed the trending chart, a second post by the same fan gained heat:
User: YearlyRain
#PiscesCP What’s going on?! I think even the name we gave them isn’t as good as Jiang Yu’s own: “Yu Guo Tian Qing”! The more I read it, the more I love it!
The comment section was full of people agreeing.
While the guests went out to eat and left their luggage behind, fans started transferring all their content to this new tag. #YuGuoTianQing also hit the trending chart.
Top posts included unique 12-grid gifs with captions like “Grain mountains and seas of sugar.”
One of the hottest posts read:
User: TomorrowSunnyAfterRain
You think Yu Guo Tian Qing is good? Yu Shiqing acted in Tomorrow’s Weather is Nice and Jiang Yu’s new song is After the Rain Clears. Tell me, do they match or not?! Type “MATCH” in the chat now! Also, when Mr. Yu was mistreated at Huaze recently, Mr. Jiang’s inspiration suddenly came to him. Coincidence? No! This is love!! I’m crying! Fairy-tale romance!!
These two tags pushed the official show tag way down, but the exposure only brought more viewers.
The number of livestream viewers soared.
The main channel was quickly filled with curious new fans spamming the chat:
“Hot search tourists here. Heard Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu are a thing?”
“Aren’t they both alphas?? Isn’t that too spicy?”
The screen showed Ji Chen and Su Yayi talking. Neither Yu Shiqing nor Jiang Yu were there, and the audience got annoyed. They started arguing in chat, making things messy.
Ren Bai noticed first and reported it to Luo Shaoyuan. He then contacted Meng Chen and Jiang Yu’s studio to handle it together.
When the trending topics finally cooled down and the livestream calmed, it was already completely dark.
Ren Bai had been watching the livestream. Once Jiang Yu turned off the mic and covered the camera, he picked up his phone and called Yu Shiqing.
Jiang Yu’s phone rang too. He looked at the caller ID and said to Yu Shiqing, “It’s Meng Chen.”
Yu Shiqing replied, “Ren Bai.”
Then he answered the call. “What’s up?”
“It’s about you and Jiang Yu,” Ren Bai didn’t waste time. “Fans started a ‘Pisces CP’ tag for you two a while ago. For some reason, marketing accounts found it today and made a big mess on trending.”
Yu Shiqing said, “Pisces CP?”
Jiang Yu heard it too and looked at him.
On the other end, Meng Chen was saying, “Brother Jiang, should we post a statement to clarify things?”
Jiang Yu said, “No need.”
Meng Chen was surprised. “So, if something like this happens again, we still try to remove it from trending?”
Jiang Yu said, “Yes.”
Meng Chen replied, “Got it…”
His cold and short tone made Meng Chen feel too nervous to ask more. He just wondered to himself.
In the past, the studio always acted fast when dealing with rumors. No matter how absurd, they would crush it. That was always Jiang Yu’s style.
But Meng Chen didn’t dare question him and ended the call after reporting a few things.
Jiang Yu tossed the phone on the bed and walked to Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing was still on the call with Ren Bai.
“Long story short, fans think you and Jiang Yu are in a relationship.”
A relationship? Yu Shiqing frowned slightly. “Don’t they know we’re both alphas?”
“They know,” Ren Bai coughed. “But I don’t think they care.”
Jiang Yu came over and asked, “What’s going on?”
Yu Shiqing turned on speaker. “You should hear this too.”
Ren Bai continued, “I meant to tell you earlier but forgot. It’s not a big deal. Just wanted to let you know. Also wanted to check what Jiang Yu thinks. If he wants to post a statement, I’ll coordinate too.”
Yu Shiqing looked at Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu said, “No need.”
“You’re not posting anything?” Ren Bai was shocked to hear Jiang Yu’s voice. Jiang Yu’s tough stance on rumors was famous. Even marketing accounts avoided him.
“Yeah,” Jiang Yu said. “We’ve cleared up too many rumors before. If we keep doing it, it’ll backfire.”
Ren Bai agreed, “That’s true.”
Yu Shiqing asked, “Why did this blow up today?”
Ren Bai said helplessly, “Because of the injuries on your necks. I said it was cat scratches, but people didn’t believe it. You didn’t even change the story!”
Jiang Yu asked, “They didn’t believe it?”
“Of course not,” Ren Bai said. “They even guessed that uh, you two bit each other. Their imagination is wild.”
Yu Shiqing and Jiang Yu went silent.
“You’re both speechless, huh? Shocked too?” Ren Bai laughed and sent them some gifs and a video. “To be honest, they actually look kind of convincing.”
Yu Shiqing flipped through them casually.
Jiang Yu opened the video.
It was a fan edit from concerts to movies to livestreams every moment of them smiling at each other was in there.
A famous scene from their performance of “Understanding” was edited in. The rich cello music played as Jiang Yu walked toward Yu Shiqing on a cloud-like stage. The screen cut to silence.
“What do you want?”
“Anything?”
“Yes. Anything. Want to give yourself to me?”
In the livestream, this dialogue was interrupted and unclear.
But in the edit, the next second was Yu Shiqing smiling and saying:
“Okay.”
The video ended.
Jiang Yu’s eyes shimmered. He looked at Yu Shiqing.
Yu Shiqing stared at the frozen ending frame. A strange feeling passed quickly through his heart.
He never thought fans would see their interactions as this kind of relationship.
Or maybe he never thought such a relationship between him and Jiang Yu was possible.
Ren Bai waited for them to finish the video. Then he asked, “Shiqing, how do you want to handle this?”
Jiang Yu’s breathing got a little lighter as he waited for Yu Shiqing’s answer.
Yu Shiqing said, “I’ll talk to Jiang Yu and call you back.”
Ren Bai was surprised. “You need to discuss it?”
Usually, Yu Shiqing didn’t care about rumors. He only responded once, about Lin Anjin, and that was because paparazzi caught something real. This time, it was just fan gossip.
Yu Shiqing said, “Yes.”
He didn’t care about the rumors, but this involved Jiang Yu. He wouldn’t just ignore it.
Even if the truth was different, the bite marks were real. No matter what people guessed, Jiang Yu shouldn’t be tied to “gay” rumors. That would affect his future.
After Yu Shiqing hung up, Jiang Yu asked with a calm face, “What do you want to discuss?”
Yu Shiqing looked at him and said directly:
“From now on, we should keep some distance in front of the camera.”
As soon as he finished.
Jiang Yu said in a low voice, “I don’t agree!”
