The cameraman followed them into the jewelry store. Liang Yu was still puzzled, being pushed along by his waist. Xu Jingzhe wasn’t particularly forceful and his hands seemed soft, but there was an unmistakable sense of intimacy to them. The clerk led them all the way inside. Liang Yu kept asking questions but got nothing in response, almost as if he were playing a guessing game.
Xu Jingzhe couldn’t help but say, “Stop asking. You’ll find out soon.”
Jiangnan’s front entrance wasn’t anything grand, but the inside was like a whole other world. There was an artificial pond, as well as a little bridge. The interior and exterior were separated by screens. The clerk led Liang Yu past a painted screen and asked him to wait a moment before fetching the items that Xu Jingzhe had ordered.
Liang Yu finally figured out what was going on and asked Xu Jingzhe, “What did you buy me?”
Xu Jingzhe refused to say.
Liang Yu: “Is this what you were spending so much time in the cloakroom for?”
“You talk too much,” Xu Jingzhe said, exasperated. “Can’t we be a bit more romantic?”
Liang Yu stopped talking, and the cameraman went up to him to capture his expression. Liang Yu managed to stay nonchalant until the clerk reappeared. Xu Jingzhe then stood up and took the two ring boxes from her.
The cameraman zoomed in on the two boxes.
“I bought a pair of matching rings,” Xu Jingzhe said. “I had them specially designed.”
Liang Yu kept his mouth shut. He watched Xu Jingzhe open the box. Inside was a pair of sapphires of about the same size. Next to them were ring settings designed in an irregular fishtail shape, one large and one small, each with some subtle differences in the details.
Xu Jingzhe took out the larger one and said, “This one is for you.”
Liang Yu let out an “oh”. Xu Jingzhe observed his expression and made sure to emphasize, “It’s big, bright, and has lots of diamonds.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Liang Yu let out another “oh”. He then extended his hand, impatiently urging the other, “Are you done yet? Will you put it for me or not?”
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The cameraman was filming the entire time, his camera bobbing up and down as he tried to capture every possible angle, including several close-ups of the ring. Xu Jingzhe and Liang Yu paid little attention to him, completely engrossed in the act of putting the rings on for each other. After trading banter for a bit, Xu Jingzhe, perhaps recalling the task at hand, finally asked the cameraman, “Does this mean we’ve completed the gift giving task?”
Liang Yu was still looking down at his new ring, asking the clerk about the color, cut, and clarity of the sapphire. He did feel that the diamonds embedded next to it weren’t big enough, but the overall design was appealing enough that he was reluctant to change it.
Xu Jingzhe immediately felt a lightness in his hand now that it was no longer weighed down by his egg-sized ring. However, Liang Yu, not one to be swindled, raised a concern, asking him what he was going to do with it.
Xu Jingzhe very earnestly played along. “I’ll wear the ring you gave me during special occasions, and I’ll wear the couple ring during my day-to-day.”
Liang Yu wasn’t as easy to fool as before and persisted in getting clarification, “What exactly qualifies as a special occasion?”
Xu Jingzhe replied, “Just…special occasions…where there are a lot of people around…”
Liang Yu: “Do mahjong games count?”
Xu Jingzhe pondered this question for a bit. He then said, already sensing an oncoming headache, “Wouldn’t it be inconvenient to wear such a large ring while playing mahjong?”
Liang Yu didn’t expect him to actually think it over and couldn’t help letting out a laugh. The content of their conversations were truly lacking in substance. The two of them could banter back and forth for ages over what ring to wear, bickering like children. The cameraman filming them was probably dumbfounded. He ended up leaving to capture the nighttime scenery of the mall, preparing supplemental footage for post-production.
As the shopping excursion neared its end, Xu Jingzhe and Liang Yu revisited the walkway. About halfway across the bridge, Xu Jingzhe asked Liang Yu if he’d enjoyed himself tonight.
Liang Yu said that he did, but he still added with some regret, “It’d be nice if the diamonds were a bit bigger.”
Xu Jingzhe: “I can just buy you a diamond. I’ll check out the auction houses.”
Liang Yu: “It still depends on the cut, so don’t just pick at random.” He felt that gold bricks were nice, both as an investment and as an accessory.
Xu Jingzhe had already figured out his tastes in this regard — bigger, brighter, and, ideally, valuable.
“I’ll have you know that I’m not so easily satisfied,” Liang Yu said suddenly on the way back. He seemed self-important enough, but his actions lacked any persuasiveness. In the car, he used his phone to take photos of his new ring from every possible angle. He even got the cameraman to help with the lighting from the front row.
Xu Jingzhe laughed and said, “I’ve never thought of you as someone that’s easily satisfied.”
Liang Yu glanced at him, a knowing look on his face, and said, “I’m doing this for you. I’m only giving you a chance to coax me because I love you.”
Usually, a reality show wouldn’t garner that much attention before actually airing, other than a few sneak peaks here and there, so, when Zhang Man saw #ParkviewGreen trending on Weibo the next day, she knew that Xu Jingzhe must’ve done something without notifying her again.
What was even worse was that Luo Yaoye, for some reason, posted about it on Weibo. She was actually relatively restrained in her post as she didn’t include the hashtag, but she did include a photo.
It was the meme of her blank, dumbfounded face, upon which fans had photoshopped the words, “At worst, they’ll just go to bed together. What else can they do?”
Zhang Man: “…”
She couldn’t possibly contact Luo Yaoye’s team and ask them to delete the post. First of all, she didn’t have the right, and, second of all, why should she? Luo Yaoye was your average celebrity, surfing the web and chasing after her ship. If the protagonists of said ship were to smash her face with PDA, why shouldn’t she savor it?! This was the right of every shipper!
Zhang Man took a deep breath. She grabbed her phone and bought five more mops. She then messaged Xu Jingzhe about the situation.
Xu Jingzhe promptly called her back. “Phoenix TV said not to worry about it. We were filming out in public, so it makes sense that we got photographed. They prepared for this, so it doesn’t really affect us. You don’t need to do anything.”
Zhang Man: “Okay, but what did you guys go there for? How did the trending topic become the name of the mall? I know you guys went there to shoot, but isn’t this a little too random? Did Phoenix TV not intervene? Even something as simple as #spoiler would be better than this. How are we supposed to spin this? No matter what we do, it’s just going to look as if we’re doing advertising for the shopping mall.”
Xu Jingzhe laughed and said, “In that case, just skip it. Save the money. If you feel like we’re losing out, contact the mall. Maybe you can get an advertising fee out of them.”
It was rare for Xu Jingzhe to be in such a good mood, so Zhang Man couldn’t say much. It wasn’t until they hung up that Xu Jingzhe put the microphone back on his body. He had just finished brushing his teeth and washing his face. He was still a little unused to having a camera next to the sink, so he glanced at it several times, making sure that his facial expressions were in check.
He’d actually seen Luo Yaoye’s Weibo post himself. The two of them had a good relationship. The lovely lady herself had been squawking at him through WeChat even before she had ever made the post to Weibo, so Xu Jingzhe had been well prepared for this.
“Where’s the photo of the ring?” Luo Yaoye kept spamming him through WeChat. “Liang Yu hasn’t even posted it to his WeChat Moments! How did he manage to hold himself back?!”
Xu Jingzhe: “Phoenix TV won’t let him. They said he can only post about it after the show is aired. They even threatened to deduct his pay.”
Luo Yaoye was indignant. “He made five billion yuan at the box office! Who cares about some reality show appearance fee?! Why is he being so stingy?!”
Xu Jingzhe sent her a laughing emoji and asked, “Are you still the visiting guest for the next episode?”
Luo Yaoye: “I’ve secured a permanent guest position through my sheer memeability. Next episode’s visiting guest is Mr. Song. I heard that you invited him?”
Xu Jingzhe felt a little embarrassed. “I only mentioned it to my senior in passing. I didn’t expect that he would actually come.”
Luo Yaoye was already starting to worry about her ship’s relationship. “There’s nothing between you and your senior, right? If Liang Yu finds out, will he still be able to go on with the show?”
Xu Jingzhe: “You need to spend less time on Jinjiang, Chang Pei, Feiwen, and Haitang. There are only so many gay men in real life, and it’s not like they’re all getting with each other. That stuff’s all made up.”
Luo Yaoye: “…”
Thank you so much for the TRIPLE UPDATE 😳😳 this truly is a Christmas miracle 🫠
I just love these two they’re so cute 🤭
Thank you sm for your hard work as always translating these chapters~
Damn, XJZ called LYY out lmao
Sadly, LYY, but it’s the truth, haha~ 🤭
Thank You for the new chapter (｡’▽’｡)♡
Loved the chapter ❤️, please update the next one🙏
Oh my I’m so excited about this rings
💍💍