Chapter 4 – Awake
After this cleaning, the live room became completely quiet.
No one spoke, but the popularity of the live stream continued to grow.
Bai Jinyan directly turned off his phone and placed it upside down on the table.
Upstairs in the bedroom.
Qiao Huaiyao tidied up a bit, and there were clothes in the wardrobe that he hadn’t taken away from his previous stay here.
The room had been unoccupied for a while, yet it remained dust-free.
After finishing up, Qiao Huaiyao stretched lazily and was about to head to the bathroom with his pajamas. But then he remembered the live streaming and turned back to use his coat to cover the camera.
Bai Jinyan lightly knocked on the room door, opened it, and saw that the lights were still on inside, but Qiao Huaiyao had already fallen asleep.
Qiao Huaiyao was lying on his side on the bed, still holding his phone as if he fell asleep while using it.
Bai Jinyan walked in and couldn’t help but tiptoe, pulling the quilt to cover Qiao Huaiyao.
At that moment, the coat that was covering the camera fell off and piled up right below it.
Bai Jinyan picked up the coat, but instead of covering the camera again, he hung it directly on the wall.
The audience in the live stream room expressed their doubts:
[“Why is Bai Jinyan so kind-hearted? He didn’t cover the camera again?”]
[“It’s not blurry now, you can see everything more clearly.”]
[“Hmm… does this feel suspicious? Let me switch to an alternate account to watch secretly.”]
Before the audience’s speculations could continue, the live stream suddenly interrupted, and the bedroom’s feed went black.
Audience: [“???”]
Did Bai Jinyan turn off the camera?!
The live stream was supposed to be continuous, it couldn’t be turned off, but turning off just one bedroom’s camera obviously wouldn’t affect the live stream as other cameras were still working.
The audience flooded the chat with ‘…’ expressions.
After a while, some comments with text finally appeared.
[“Wait, I remember these reality show cameras are set to turn on automatically, right?”]
[“You’re right! Last time, there was a family conflict that went viral. Yu Miao turned off the camera at night, thinking it wasn’t working, and ended up having a big argument with his wife in front of the camera, only to find out the camera started at 6 in the morning. The live argument got really popular.”]
[“In that case, I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning, waiting for Bai Jinyan’s accident.” -]
At 6 a.m., when the camera was set to automatically turn on, the online viewership of the live stream room rapidly increased.
However…
[“Is it time for me to get a new phone? Why is the image so blurry?”]
[“I can vaguely see a silhouette.”]
[“Maybe he hasn’t woken up yet. He slept late last night; let’s wait a bit longer.”]
Until 9 a.m., the heavy curtains blocked most of the sunlight, and only a small amount of light sneaked through the edges, providing some illumination for the camera.
But Qiao Huaiyao still showed no signs of getting up.
The audience was getting sleepy watching.
[“Breaking news – Bai Jinyan came back from his morning run, made breakfast, and is now heading towards Qiao Qiao’s bedroom on the second floor.”]
[“Oh, I know. Bai Jinyan is known for strictly following his daily routines. Last time, there was a male actor on the set who was causing trouble and refusing to get up for shooting, and Bai Jinyan simply poured a glass of water on him to wake him up. Rumor has it that if it weren’t for the manager stopping him, he would have used a taser.”]
[“What’s with this Bai Jinyan guy? I’m speechless. How can someone like him become a celebrity?”]
[“Please get the facts straight. The whole crew is waiting for him, and there he is, sound asleep. The production is losing money due to this delay, and I think the water splash would have been appropriate.”]
[“Wait, this Bai Jinyan is bringing in a cup of hot water.”]
[“Bai Jinyan?!!! What are you planning?!”]
Without seeing Qiao Huaiyao come downstairs, Bai Jinyan already knew he was still asleep.
Qiao Huaiyao had been running around outside yesterday, and Bai Jinyan knew he was tired. The prepared breakfast had already gone cold, so he didn’t wake him up.
However, not eating would be problematic, as it might cause him stomachache again.
Bai Jinyan placed the hot water on the bedside table and absentmindedly fixed the blanket that Qiao Huaiyao had pulled down. “Huaiyao, get up and eat something before you go back to sleep.”
In his half-asleep state, Qiao Huaiyao furrowed his eyebrows but didn’t open his eyes.
Bai Jinyan seemingly wasn’t surprised by this situation. He continued, “Have a light breakfast at least.”
“Mmm…” Qiao Huaiyao turned over, facing away from the person speaking, and with actions, he refused to comply.
Bai Jinyan showed no emotion on his face, but he could sense that he wasn’t angry. Instead, he felt a sense of indulgence.
The live chat exploded with comments.
[“Why not take action? Why not wake him up? I waited so long for the scene with splashing water, and you’re showing me this?”]
[“Waaahhh – you all saw it, it was the official who asked me to hit my head, and I performed it in such a big way!”]
[“I thought he had a cleanliness issue? He didn’t even touch him through his clothes. And he hasn’t put down his rolled-up sleeves.”]
Qiao Huaiyao rested his head on Bai Jinyan’s arm and remained quiet for a while, as if he was about to fall asleep again.
He pursed his lips and pulled Bai Jinyan’s arm closer to his chest.
The next moment, Qiao Huaiyao’s body stiffened.
Qiao Huaiyao: “?!?!”
What am I… doing?!
Realizing what he was doing, the sleepiness in Qiao Huaiyao vanished instantly, and his mind went blank.
The situation was a bit out of control for a moment, and Qiao Huaiyao felt his heart racing. He kept his eyes closed, not in a hurry to open them.
However, Bai Jinyan had already noticed the change in Qiao Huaiyao. He looked down and saw the collar of his shirt pulled up, a visible blush spreading on his fair neck.
Despite appearing calm and composed while sleeping, Qiao Huaiyao’s face and even his ears were now completely red.
Qiao Huaiyao could hear his own heartbeat, and he didn’t try to feign sleep anymore. He silently released his grip on Bai Jinyan’s arm.
Bai Jinyan smoothly withdrew his arm.
The cold and elegant scent of cedarwood drifted to their noses. In an instant, Qiao Huaiyao’s face turned even redder.
Bai Jinyan said, “Get up and eat.”
“I… I’ll sleep a little longer. I’m not hungry yet.” Qiao Huaiyao said as he reached out to feel the edge of the blanket. However, he realized that the blanket had slipped somewhere, and when he tried to grab it, he couldn’t find the edge.
Seeing this, Bai Jinyan handed him the edge of the blanket.
Taking the offered blanket, Qiao Huaiyao’s brain went blank, and he stammered, “Th-thank you.”
Even Bai Jinyan couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this ‘thank you.’
Qiao Huaiyao: “…”
What am I saying?!
Qiao Huaiyao silently pulled the blanket up to cover his head and blocked the gap with the blanket.
The live chat room was already bursting with laughter.
[“Hahaha!”]
[“Thank you!”]
[“Hahaha, Bai Jinyan was stunned, and I can’t believe he can’t handle it.”]
[“Qiao Qiao is really something, he can handle it, and when something happens, he genuinely says thank you.”]
When Qiao Huaiyao sat in the dining room eating, the redness on his face hadn’t completely faded.
He absentmindedly nibbled on his steak, thinking thankfully that he had only rested on Bai Jinyan’s arm, and didn’t say anything inappropriate while half-conscious.
There was still a lot of steak left, but he couldn’t eat anymore.
Without waiting for Bai Jinyan to speak, Qiao Huaiyao proactively picked up the remaining milk and took a small sip, “Brother, what are you watching?”
“Task.” Bai Jinyan saw his curiosity and handed him his phone.
A text message from the production team was displayed:
[As a family, you should share both blessings and hardships. Today’s task is: you all need to earn money on your own efforts to prepare dinner. You cannot use your own money, and the camera crew will be following you all the time. The dinners of all the guests will be uploaded to the official Weibo, and the audience will vote to rank them. The higher the rank, the more points the guests will earn. Let’s work together!]
[PS: You can’t earn money through activities like taking photos or signing autographs with fans, that’s against the rules! It will result in points deduction.]
The task didn’t seem too difficult, and there was no mandatory requirement for any specific job. Instead, the production team listed several types of jobs for them to consider.
Suddenly, Qiao Huaiyao remembered that he hadn’t added Bai Jinyan back as a friend yet, so he said, “Brother, can I use your phone for a moment?”
Bai Jinyan directly handed him his phone.
Qiao Huaiyao quickly used his own phone to scan the QR code and added Bai Jinyan as a friend. When he entered the chat interface, he realized that Bai Jinyan didn’t send him any messages when he deleted him as a friend.
Bai Jinyan probably didn’t know that he had been deleted.
Qiao Huaiyao handed the phone back, “By the way, brother, I called you yesterday, but it seemed like your phone had no signal.”
Bai Jinyan said, “I was shooting underground yesterday, and there were too many people, which affected the signal.”
By the time he got his phone back, it was already late, and he immediately had to participate in the variety show, so he didn’t have time to check his phone.
For that reason, he missed the message from his manager.
Qiao Huaiyao nodded. He thought that even if Bai Jinyan wanted to distance himself from him, he couldn’t ignore his calls.
It was still early in the day, so Qiao Huaiyao switched to the text message interface and opened the live stream. He wanted to see how the viewership was doing, but he noticed that the live stream’s starting time had changed.
The starting time had changed to 6 a.m. today.
“Hmm?” Qiao Huaiyao was taken aback. 6 a.m.? At that time, he was probably still asleep.
He blinked, wondering why it would be 6 a.m…?
The audience seemed to know what Qiao Huaiyao was thinking, and the chat was filled with explanations.
[“The camera is set to start at a scheduled time!”]
[“Director: Unexpected surprises, right?”]
Qiao Huaiyao paused, indeed, he hadn’t expected this. Who could have thought of this?
The cameras were set to a schedule.
Thinking about the camera in his bedroom and what he had done earlier in the morning, he silently put his phone down.
Maybe… I shouldn’t look at the chat.
That’s what he thought, but his peripheral vision caught sight of numerous messages on the screen, and he subconsciously glanced at them.
[“Wife, look at me! What are you afraid of?! Let me stick to you!”]
[“Wuwuwu, Qiao Qiao, who is half-asleep and half-awake, I can hug you.”]
[“Are you really not dating? I have three properties in the capital.”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao cleared his throat and didn’t know how to respond to the flood of messages.
Bai Jinyan vaguely sensed something, so he moved closer to Qiao Huaiyao, putting his thigh against his. The sideways motion made it look like he was leaning on Qiao Huaiyao’s shoulder, causing Qiao Huaiyao’s breath to hitch.