Trending topic alert: The mysterious fan site administrator of a top celebrity has been exposed.

Chu Yi has rarely seen Qi Yuan in the past two months. Regarding the last investment in health tea drinks, Qi Yuan said that he was a little short of funds. Chu Yi transferred an extra 500,000 yuan without saying a word. After that, the guy seemed to have vanished into thin air. He was slow to reply to messages and often did not answer the phone.

Chu Yi got off work early today. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the living room light was on, and Qi Yuan was sprawled on his sofa, holding a coat that was clearly not Chu Yi's style.

Hearing the door open, Qi Yuan immediately jumped up from the sofa, putting on a heartbroken expression, as if he had been caught cheating, and held up the coat, "questioning" in an exaggerated voice:

"Chu Yiyi! Confess! When did you start keeping another dog at home behind my back?!"

He shook out the jacket, his eyes filled with mockery and an accusatory "You actually betrayed the organization!" "Whose jacket is this? Hmm? Such a flashy style, it's definitely not yours! Tell me! Is something going on?"

Chu Yi didn't even change her shoes. She leaned against the wall in the entryway, watching Qi Yuan put on his dramatic act. She just raised her eyebrows slightly and didn't say anything.

He walked over, reached out and naturally took the leather jacket back from Qi Yuan's hand, carefully smoothed out the wrinkles that Qi Yuan had made, and hung it back on the coat rack next to him.

Then he slowly turned around, his gaze calmly landing on Qi Yuan's face, who was momentarily flustered. His tone was flat.

"Don't think I don't know about your affair with Cheng Yingzhi."

This seemingly simple statement carries immense power.

Qi Yuan's exaggerated expression froze instantly, as if a pause button had been pressed. Then, starting from his ears, a visible red color quickly spread, covering his entire face, and even his neck was not spared.

He opened his mouth, wanting to refute something, but couldn't utter a single word. His eyes darted around, and his previous arrogance vanished instantly. Like a deflated balloon, he slumped back onto the sofa, behaving himself.

Chu Yi found his expression somewhat amusing, but remained outwardly composed. He walked to the other end of the sofa, poured himself and Qi Yuan a glass of water, and then slowly got to the point.

"Alright, stop acting. Now tell me, how's your 'life-saving' health tea investment going? It's been almost a year, hasn't it? You swore you'd break even in three months, but now you haven't even sent me a decent business plan."

When the topic turned to business, Qi Yuan's blush hadn't completely faded, but his expression became somewhat embarrassed and evasive.

He scratched his head, his gaze drifting elsewhere, and his voice lowered: "That...the project proposal...it's...it's in progress, in progress..."

"Is it working on?" Chu Yi put down her water glass. "Brother Qi, it's been almost a year. Last time you said you were short on funds, so I transferred another 500,000 to you. Where's the money? What stage is the project at? Has the formula been finalized? Have you negotiated a contract manufacturer? What about the marketing plan?"

A series of questions weighed on Qi Yuan, making him lower his head more and more.

He stammered for a long time, then finally leaned back on the sofa in despair and sighed, "Brother Yi... I... I think I've been tricked again."

Chu Yi looked at him without saying anything, but gestured with her eyes for him to continue.

Qi Yuan scratched his nose, his eyes flickering: "Well... that so-called 'expert' team we hired before, they took the money, spent ages working on the formula, and the stuff they made tasted like Chinese herbal soup, completely undrinkable. Then they said they wanted to change the plan, and then the money... Besides, there are so many similar health tea concepts on the market now, the competition is too fierce, I feel... I feel like the timing might not be right..."

His voice grew softer and softer until it was almost inaudible.

Chu Yi listened quietly to him finish speaking, without any surprise on her face.

He knew Qi Yuan too well. Qi Yuan's ideas were wildly imaginative, but his execution was often lacking. He was easily fooled and prone to giving up when faced with difficulties.

There was a moment of silence in the room.

Chu Yicai spoke slowly, his voice still calm, revealing neither joy nor anger: "So, that 1.5 million is basically gone, is that right?"

(Please remember the website ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ for the fastest chapter updates)

Qi Yuan didn't dare look at him, only nodding very slightly, his whole being shrouded in a feeling of frustration and guilt. He waited for Chu Yi to sigh helplessly as usual, or perhaps say a few words to him.

However, Chu Yi simply stood up, walked to his side, and patted him on the shoulder.

"The money is gone, so be it." Chu Yi's tone was indifferent, as if the loss was just a string of numbers. "As long as everyone is alright, that's all that matters."

Qi Yuan suddenly raised his head and looked at Chu Yi in disbelief.

Looking at his flushed ears and guilty face, Chu Yi smiled slightly, a hint of teasing in her eyes: "Next time you have a brilliant idea, remember to write down the plan clearly first, so I know how the money disappeared."

He paused, as if remembering something, and added, his tone carrying a subtle, meaningful undertone:

"Also, if you really feel embarrassed... why don't you have a good talk with me about how things really 'went smoothly' between you and Cheng Yingzhi?"

Zhou Ai finished his work commitments a few hours earlier than expected today. Eager to get home, he hastily removed his makeup and rushed back. He quietly opened the door and entered the house, immediately seeing Chu Yi standing in the middle of the living room with her back to him, seemingly having just put down her water glass.

Overwhelmed by days of longing, Zhou Ai's eyes lit up like a large dog seeing its master. She practically pounced on him, giving him a tight embrace from behind. Her arms wrapped tightly around Chu Yi's slender waist, and she buried her face in his warm, white neck, taking two deep, satisfied breaths as if drawing energy from it. Her voice, tinged with the weariness of a long journey and a deep longing, rang out softly:

"My goodness! I've missed you so much!"

He habitually waited for Chu Yi to relax and lean into his arms, or at least pat him and respond with that cool yet indulgent voice.

However, the expected response did not come. Instead, he clearly felt the person in his arms stiffen instantly, even showing a hint of barely perceptible resistance.

Zhou Ai's heart skipped a beat, thinking that Chu Yi was angry (for example, blaming him for not telling him he was coming back beforehand). He was just about to unleash his foolproof "coquettish technique," apologizing in an even softer voice and nuzzling against Chu Yi's neck...

But as soon as he moved his head, a cool hand precisely pressed against his cheek, pushing his head away from the crook of his neck with undeniable force.

"?" Zhou Ai was a little confused. He looked up at Chu Yi with a wronged expression, but Chu Yi's gaze did not fall on him. Instead, he looked over his shoulder and towards the other side of the living room.

Zhou Ai followed his gaze and turned her head in confusion—

At the entrance to the hallway from the living room to the guest bedroom, Qi Yuan, with his short, wet hair still dripping, was wearing only a spare bathrobe from Chu Yi, holding a towel and looking at them with a bewildered expression. His expression was as if he had witnessed some prehistoric monster performing ballet.

Three pairs of eyes, six eyes facing each other.

The air seemed to freeze for three seconds.

Immediately, Qi Yuan snapped back to reality as if he'd been scalded, his face instantly turning bright red (whether from the heat or embarrassment, it was hard to tell). He frantically pulled a towel over his head, covering his eyes, muttering to himself, his voice muffled by the towel:

"Don't look! Don't look! I didn't see anything! You guys continue! Continue!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hands and groped around in the air like a blind man, staggering and shuffling back to the guest room, slamming the door shut as if there were some ferocious beast outside.

Zhou Ai: "..."

Chu Yi: "..."

Zhou Ai stiffly turned her head to look at Chu Yi, who was rubbing his temples with a helpless expression. She blinked belatedly, lowered her voice, and asked in disbelief and a hint of guilt at being caught, "He... what's he doing here? And... taking a shower?"

Looking at the tightly closed guest bedroom door, Zhou Ai's brows furrowed, her tone filled with undisguised disdain: "They've actually moved in here?"

Chu Yi had already turned and walked into the open kitchen, using a slotted spoon to scoop dumplings from a bubbling pot, white steam illuminating his calm profile. He didn't look up, stating a fact in a flat tone, as if remarking on the pleasant weather:

"His investment failed, and his family cut off his credit card. He has nowhere to go for the time being, so he plans to stay here with me for a while and live off me."

"No way!" Zhou Ai immediately raised her voice, like a little leopard whose territory had been invaded. She followed him to the kitchen island and protested in a low voice, "How can this be? He's a grown man, can't he rent a place if he has nowhere to go? How can he come and disturb our time together!"

He even emphasized the phrase "a world for two".

Chu Yi placed the plump, white dumplings into three plates. Hearing Zhou Ai's complaint, he finally looked up and teased slowly, "Brother Zhou, let's be reasonable. It seems... you're the one who came from behind and surpassed them, aren't you?"

He tilted his head slightly, a rare hint of slyness in his voice, "When I met Qi Yuan, you were already shining on some stage."

Zhou Ai was speechless. She opened her mouth but couldn't refute it. She could only glare at Chu Yi angrily, her eyes filled with the feeling that "you actually side with him!"

The atmosphere at dinner was unusually eerie.

The three sat around the dining table, with only Chu Yi eating dumplings attentively and quietly. The other two, however, were engaged in a silent battle of wits.

Looking at Qi Yuan's carefree manner of eating dumplings one after another, Zhou Ai thought he was rude.

Watching him habitually try to put the cilantro he didn't like on his plate into Chu Yi's plate (even though Chu Yi stopped him with a look), I felt that he didn't know how to behave properly.

Then, thinking back to how he used to always cling to Chu Yi, putting his arm around her shoulder, he felt even more that this person had "ulterior motives" and he couldn't stand him no matter how he looked at him.

Qi Yuanyuan chewed on his dumplings while secretly glancing at Zhou Ai.

Looking at Zhou Ai's excessively beautiful face, which practically glowed under the lights, and then at the affected posture he deliberately maintained while eating, as if he were posing for a magazine (Qi Yuan's perspective), he mentally complained: How can someone so flamboyant and so obsessed with his image be with his aloof and serious Chu Yi?

The art styles are completely mismatched!

Zhou Ai, that persistent, flirtatious butterfly!

The two harbored ulterior motives and lost their appetite.

Zhou Ai, holding her chopsticks, unconsciously poked at a dumpling on her plate again and again, almost turning it into a dumpling pie.

Qi Yuan had several dumplings in his mouth, and his hands were also busy. He used his chopsticks to rummage through the plate, picking out the ones with more meat filling and disdainfully pushing the dumpling wrappers aside.

Chu Yi quietly finished the last dumpling on her plate, then picked up a tissue and wiped her mouth. Her gaze calmly swept over the two adults opposite her who were "not eating properly."

"You two," he paused, his gaze lingering for a second on Zhou Ai's stabbed dumpling and Qi Yuan's messy plate, "eat your food properly."

He leaned back slightly, arms crossed, his eyes slightly cold.

"If I see anyone poking at the dumplings again, or picking at them and eating them carelessly—"

Chu Yi smiled slightly, a smile that was undeniably beautiful, yet it sent a chill down the spines of both Zhou Ai and Qi Yuan.

"Get out of here."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Ai immediately straightened her posture, quickly stuffed the "unfortunate" dumpling into her mouth, swallowed it without chewing, and then buried her head and obediently ate the rest.

Qi Yuan immediately became obedient, no longer daring to be picky, picking up whatever he could and eating it quickly, for fear of being kicked out if he was a step too slow.

The world is finally quiet.

Chu Yi withdrew her gaze with satisfaction and got up to pour herself some water.

Only two men remained, who disliked each other but dared not cause trouble, engaging in a silent, speed-based competition at the dining table.

____

After finishing his meal, Chu Yi only went back to his study to handle a few urgent work emails, which took no more than half an hour.

When he pushed open the study door and came out, he noticed that the living room was unusually quiet, with an unusual atmosphere.

His gaze swept across the empty living room, finally settling on the glass door leading to the balcony.

On the once tidy small table on the balcony, there was now an opened case of beer. The two men who had been exchanging glares at each other at the table were now sitting side by side on the beanbag chair and stool on the balcony, with several empty beer bottles lying haphazardly at their feet.

Chu Yi looked at the beer bottles scattered all over the floor, helplessly raising his hand to rub his temples, which were already starting to throb. He could almost foresee the chaotic scene that was about to unfold.

Sure enough, Qi Yuan, who gets tipsy after just three bottles of beer, has completely entered the mode of "speaking the truth after drinking" and "calling each other brothers".

He casually hooked one arm around Zhou Ai's neck, his face flushed from alcohol, his eyes glazed over, and his voice eight octaves higher than usual.

"Brother Zhou! I have something to tell you! *hiccup*..."

He let out a burp, reeking of alcohol, "Our Chu Yi! She's been... since childhood! So many people have been chasing after her! Those love letters! Tsk tsk, they could line up from the classroom to the school gate!"

Although Zhou Ai had a slightly better alcohol tolerance than Qi Yuan, she was clearly a bit tipsy. Her cheeks were flushed, and her usually alluring peach blossom eyes were now moist, filled with a mixture of confusion and focus. She even nodded earnestly, cooperatively asking, "And then?"

"Then?"

Qi Yuan seemed to have been given a free rein to talk, excitedly patting Zhou Ai on the shoulder, "I remember one time most clearly! It was a sports student! A really big guy! He blocked the way home from school, holding a huge bouquet of roses! And guess what happened?" He deliberately kept her in suspense.

Zhou Ai held her breath nervously: "What's wrong?"

"Our Chu Yi!" Qi Yuan slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he almost fell over. "He... he expressionlessly pulled a 'Color Atlas of Human Anatomy' from his bag, flipped to the page on the muscular system, pointed to the biceps and pectoralis major, and said to the student with utmost seriousness, 'Student, your muscle definition is good, but it seems a bit asymmetrical. I suggest you adjust your training plan.' Hahahaha! That PE student turned green! He grabbed his flowers and ran away! Hahahaha!"

Zhou Ai paused for a moment, then burst into a deafening laugh, leaning against Qi Yuan as she laughed: "Hahaha! Just like him! Just like the things he'd do! Hahaha! My darling is so cute!"

The two drunkards burst into laughter and almost tumbled off their chairs.

After laughing enough, Qi Yuan suddenly hugged Zhou Ai's neck tightly, brought his face close, and his expression became unusually "serious." He asked, his words slightly slurred:

"Brother Zhou! You! Now! Put your hand on your heart and tell me! Do you love our Chu Yi?!"

Although Zhou Ai was drunk and his eyes were blurry, his reaction to these words was unusually quick and domineering.

He struggled to break free from Qi Yuan's arm, swayed as he sat up straight, extended his index finger, and solemnly shook it in front of Qi Yuan, his expression more serious than ever before, correcting him word by word:

"Please watch your wording!"

He took a deep breath, as if declaring some sacred ownership; his voice wasn't loud, but it carried a stubbornness and clarity born of drunkenness.

"It's...my...intention!"

He pointed to himself and emphasized, "Not 'we'! It's mine! Understand?"

Qi Yuan was taken aback by his sudden seriousness, blinking his hazy, drunken eyes as if trying to process what he was saying.

A few seconds later, as if he had figured it out, he suddenly slapped Zhou Ai on the back, so hard that he almost knocked Zhou Ai down.

"Yes! It's yours! It has to be yours! Brother Zhou! Well done! I... I approve!"

Chu Yi stood at the balcony door, listening to the two of them go from disliking each other to putting their arms around each other, and now to this childish "ownership" declaration and "approval" drama, and she couldn't help but laugh and cry.

He looked at the empty bottles rolling all over the floor and the two drunkards still arguing about "whose intentions were at stake," and sighed deeply and helplessly.

It seems that cleaning up the mess tonight will be a long and arduous task.