Chapter 34 – Something’s Fishy
About ten minutes later, Shi Cha finally walked out of the room.
Just at that moment, Lin Ran was placing two bowls of noodles on the dining table. He wiped his hands and said, “I’m not very good at cooking. I could only make something simple like noodles. Just make do for now to fill your stomach—later we’ll go out and get something better.”
The room was brightly lit now. Shi Cha kept avoiding eye contact, clearly too embarrassed to look at Lin Ran. He was flustered and helpless as Lin Ran pressed him down into a chair and stuffed a pair of chopsticks into his hands.
“There’s plenty of food in the fridge, but I don’t know how to cook any of it. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to learn how to cook properly—so I can feed my boyfriend well.”
Lin Ran had said “boyfriend” so many times today. Even though Shi Cha was happy every time he heard it, his face still flushed bright red each time.
Seeing Shi Cha remain silent, Lin Ran glanced up at him and couldn’t help but laugh again.
Shi Cha had just picked up his chopsticks, ready to eat, but when Lin Ran laughed, he put them back down. He touched his own face and asked, “Is something wrong with me?”
Lin Ran shook his head. “No. Next time, I’ll be gentler.”
Shi Cha suddenly had a flash of realization. He finally understood what Lin Ran was talking about. He touched his lips—they did feel a little swollen.
That discovery made his face burn even more, as if it could bleed.
Blushing furiously, Shi Cha barked, “You’re not allowed to laugh at me! Or else next time I’ll kiss you so hard your lips swell too!”
Unexpectedly, that only made Lin Ran laugh even harder.
“Why wait until next time? You can do it now.”
As he said that, he leaned his head toward Shi Cha, clearly signaling that if he wanted a kiss, he could go ahead any time.
Shi Cha froze. “…”
Why did it feel like Lin Ran had become a completely different person ever since he confessed?
Shi Cha pressed his lips together. This version of Lin Ran was getting harder and harder to handle.
His skin was thin—kissing now would be too much, but not kissing also felt wrong.
Lin Ran was just teasing his little boyfriend. Seeing that Shi Cha stayed silent, he stopped pushing.
“Eat quickly, or the noodles will turn soggy.”
Hearing that, Shi Cha immediately lowered his head and started eating, not daring to look up at Lin Ran again.
After they finished eating, Lin Ran cleared the table with practiced ease, moving like a proper man of the house.
Shi Cha didn’t find anything unusual about it. In fact, he thought it felt really nice.
He sat on the sofa, cradling a fruit tea Lin Ran had made for him, sipping it slowly. His eyes followed Lin Ran’s every move as he peeled an apple with those beautiful fingers. The fruit plate beside him was already full of freshly cut fruit.
While peeling the apple, Lin Ran asked Shi Cha, “Do you have Weibo?”
The moment Shi Cha heard that, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately thought of the post he had made half an hour ago—showing off his boyfriend. Before he could even figure out how to respond, Lin Ran continued.
“You mentioned browsing the trending topics, so you must have one. Give me your Weibo account later—I’m going to tag you in a post.”
Shi Cha was stunned. “W-Why?”
Lin Ran popped a slice of freshly cut apple into Shi Cha’s mouth and gave his cheek a playful pinch.
“To make it official, of course, you little dummy.”
Lin Ran had seen all the hate comments online directed at Shi Cha. Although he’d already asked someone to take care of it, as long as he didn’t speak up himself, there would always be people attacking Shi Cha.
He couldn’t bear to see his kid constantly judged and criticized.
When he heard “make it official,” Shi Cha had to admit—his heart fluttered.
He looked up at Lin Ran, who was sitting right in front of him, and bit his lip.
“Aren’t you afraid your fans will unfollow you?”
Lin Ran kept feeding him fruit, completely unfazed by the question.
“If they really like me, they’ll respect my choices. I want the whole world to know that Shi Cha is my boyfriend. If I were to hide our relationship just because I’m scared of losing fans, how could I claim to truly like you?”
In that moment, all the chaos and drama from the internet suddenly felt insignificant to Shi Cha. Brother Lin Ran would protect him—just like he did when they were little.
Shi Cha opened his Weibo account and handed it to Lin Ran.
The first thing Lin Ran saw was the post Shi Cha had just made: the one showing off his “boyfriend.”
With a smile on his face, Lin Ran looked at this kid—outwardly reserved but inwardly bursting with excitement—and found him utterly irresistible.
Then he logged into his main Weibo account.
Fans who had been keeping an eye on Lin Ran suddenly noticed that he had come online.
Shortly after, they saw that Lin Ran’s Weibo account had, within a minute, followed an account named “SC.”
Two minutes later, Lin Ran reposted one of “SC’s” recent Weibo posts:
[LR Lin Ran: So lucky—I have a boyfriend too! 🎉 //@SC: So happy—I have a boyfriend! 🎉]
Whether it was Lin Ran’s solo fans or his CP fans, everyone exploded.
Was this Lin Ran suddenly making his relationship public?
Who exactly was this “SC”?
Could it be that the recent flood of rumors about Shi Cha had forced Lin Ran to come out and protect his real boyfriend?
Under Lin Ran’s post, comments poured in by the thousands within seconds. The same happened on Shi Cha’s Weibo account, which was now under a flood of attention.
Lin Ran didn’t reply to a single comment, but his actions spoke louder than words.
He immediately followed the topics “LinShi CP” and “LinYao CP,” making his stance perfectly clear.
Finally, he posted a separate Weibo update:
It was a photo of two hands tightly clasped.
[LR Lin Ran: Thank you, everyone. We’re together. “Lin Shi” is not “temporary.” @SC Shi Cha]
Only then did people realize—the Weibo user “SC” had changed his display name.
So he was Shi Cha!
Now that Lin Ran himself had officially confirmed the relationship, all the previous rumors accusing Shi Cha of being a heartless player fell apart instantly.
[He was just using two identities as a bit of harmless fun, but you all insisted on exposing him!]
[No matter what, I support brother’s choice. Wishing you both the best~]
[Congratulations Brother~]
[…]
After Lin Ran posted the final Weibo update, he tossed his phone aside. But the left hand that had been holding Shi Cha’s for the photo—he never let go.
Shi Cha secretly tried to tug his hand free—but didn’t manage to pull away.
Lin Ran leaned close to Shi Cha’s ear and gave his earlobe a small bite.
“I’m not letting go. A little lamb ends up in the big bad wolf’s hands and still wants to run away?”
Shi Cha blushed easily, and with Lin Ran so close, his face started burning again.
He began to stammer,
“Bro-brother L-Lin Ran, d-don’t do that, I…”
“Don’t like it?”
Did he not like it? That wasn’t true at all.
Shi Cha did like Lin Ran’s closeness—he just never knew what to do whenever Lin Ran leaned in like this.
“N-no, I like it.”
Even though he was incredibly shy, Shi Cha still told the truth. That made him seem even softer, more endearing.
Just as Lin Ran was about to give in to the urge to kiss him, there was a sudden loud banging on the door, followed by a booming voice.
“Shi Cha! Shi Cha! Are you in there? Open up! Shi Cha—!”
Lin Ran looked at him.
“Your friend?”
Shi Cha nodded. “Du Yan, my college classmate.”
“I’ll get the door.”
Fortunately, the soundproofing here was good, and Du Yan clearly wasn’t concerned about disturbing the neighbors late at night. As soon as he heard the door open, he started shouting again—before even seeing who answered.
“What’s going on with you? I’ve been calling you all afternoon and you didn’t pick up! I was so worried I wrapped things up over there and rushed back overnight—You—”
Du Yan’s voice cut off abruptly the moment he saw Lin Ran.
He gave Lin Ran a once-over, sizing him up.
“Lin Ran? What are you doing here?”
Du Yan had just driven two hours straight from City G and hadn’t had time to check Weibo. Naturally, he didn’t know that these two had suddenly gone public.
He brushed past Lin Ran and walked into the living room, where he saw Shi Cha sitting obediently on the sofa, looking back at him.
Du Yan glanced suspiciously between the two—then back again. It was already past 9 p.m., and this man was still in Shi Cha’s home.
Something was definitely going on.
He frowned. “What’s your relationship?”
Before Shi Cha could say a word, Lin Ran immediately answered with four words: “We’re in a relationship.”
Under Du Yan’s intense stare, Lin Ran added, “Just like you’re thinking—I’m Shi Cha’s boyfriend.”
Du Yan immediately turned to look at the still docile Shi Cha, his eyes wide like copper bells.
“He’s telling the truth?”
Shi Cha hugged a pillow, looking soft and sweet, and under Du Yan’s piercing gaze, he gave a small nod.
Du Yan rushed over and plopped down beside him, lowering his voice—at least he thought he was being discreet, though Lin Ran clearly heard every word—and asked, “When did this happen? You’ve been together this whole time? And he still let you get flamed online like that?”
Shi Cha shook his head.
“No, it’s recent. We just made it official on Weibo.”
“Weibo? Official announcement?”
Du Yan immediately pulled out his phone. He didn’t know Shi Cha’s handle, but Lin Ran’s was way too easy to find.
Right away, he saw the pinned post—an obvious show of affection. And that hand in the photo? It was clearly Shi Cha’s.
Seeing the two of them chatting, Lin Ran took the initiative to head to the kitchen to prepare some snacks to welcome Du Yan.
After all, Du Yan was now Shi Cha’s guest—and he was the host.
Once Lin Ran left, Du Yan grumpily stuffed his phone back into his pocket.
“How did you end up liking him?”
Du Yan couldn’t help but feel like his precious cabbage had been eaten by a pig—though, admittedly, a very good-looking pig.
Shi Cha rested his chin on the pillow, his expression earnest.
“I’ve liked him for years.”
Du Yan: “…”
Although Shi Cha rarely showed strong emotions, Du Yan could still clearly sense how happy he was.
His little cabbage had truly fallen for that pig.
Sigh, forget it, forget it. A grown son doesn’t listen to his mother.
Then he suddenly remembered some of the conversations they’d had in the group chat.
“So that streamer named ‘Cun Yao’… that’s really you?”
Seeing Shi Cha nod, Du Yan found it even stranger. He had stumbled across Cun Yao’s livestreams once or twice, and he never would’ve guessed it was actually Shi Cha—the ultimate social anxiety case.
People really could have two completely different faces online. Even a little genius like Shi Cha wasn’t immune to that.
“‘Cun Yao’… Shi Cha… Lin Ran… Shi and Lin…” Du Yan’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Wait—your streamer name, don’t tell me it’s made from both of your surnames?”
Once you knew their real identities, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots. The name Cun Yao didn’t exactly scream hidden meaning, after all.
“‘Lin’ is two trees, ‘Shi’ is sun and inch. Put them together—‘Cun’ from tree + inch, and ‘Yao’ from tree + sun. You really used your brain for this, huh?”
Shi Cha didn’t respond after being exposed like that.
But did Du Yan need him to? A chatterbox like Du Yan didn’t need a reply to keep talking.
He was used to Shi Cha’s quiet nature anyway.
He thought about it for a second longer, then stared at Shi Cha’s still slightly swollen lips with a strange expression and said, “Actually, your name shouldn’t be Cun Yao. It should be Cun Guo.” (lit. “village fruit”)
Shi Cha was briefly stunned.
Then, realizing it was a dirty joke, his face instantly turned bright red. Without hesitation, he grabbed an unwashed apple off the table and shoved it straight into Du Yan’s mouth.
When Lin Ran came out with a bowl of freshly washed fruit, what he saw was Shi Cha looking flushed and flustered. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the two of them in surprise.
“What happened here?”
Thankfully, Du Yan wasn’t completely unreliable and didn’t embarrass Shi Cha.
“Nothing. I was hungry, so Shi Cha gave me an apple to tide me over.”