CP fans may be delirious with excitement online, but when they encounter their idols in real life, they turn into a bundle of nerves, essentially short-circuiting. The girl, who usually squeals like a fangirl when consuming fan content, now finds herself speechless in the presence of the composed Shi Guanghua, instantly overwhelmed by his powerful aura.
Chu Yueyi timidly hides behind Shi Guanghua, while the fan who recognized them is on the verge of fainting. Only Shi Guanghua remains unshakably calm. He takes a step forward, continuing to shield Chu Yueyi behind him, and casually reminds them, "It's our turn in line."
Chu Yueyi, genuinely impressed by his composure, can't help but grumble through gritted teeth, "Is that really the point right now?"
The fan can only see Chu Yueyi's fuzzy hat, unable to make out her face, but upon hearing her familiar voice, she nearly collapses, her mind turning to mush.
Shi Guanghua, bewildered by the sudden hostility, furrows his brow in confusion and whispers, "But there are people waiting behind us."
Chu Yueyi feels like pounding him into the ground, but she ultimately steps up to the window, reluctantly ordering some snacks.
The server, wearing a mask and gloves, efficiently packs the pastries into a bag without even looking up, handing them to Chu Yueyi. The entire process takes less than two minutes, and he never once glances at her. The nearby machine chimes, reporting the customer's payment amount, before moving on to the next person in line.
The storefront is unremarkable, primarily serving local residents, mostly elderly folks. People are bundled up in padded coats and masks, maintaining a respectful distance, and pay no attention to the three individuals on the street. They appear to be young acquaintances who've bumped into each other by chance - no one would guess they're celebrities encountering a fan in real life.
Chu Yueyi continues using Shi Guanghua as a shield, knowing that denying her identity now would be futile. She's reluctant to be seen by the fan, given her casual attire today. She still has an image to maintain as an idol and doesn't want to appear too informal.
Faced with Chu Yueyi's game of hide-and-seek, the fan snaps out of her daze and quickly realizes the situation. She hastily waves her hands, promising, "Ah, don't worry, I won't say anything to anyone, and I won't follow you..."
Seeing this, Chu Yueyi relaxes a bit. The fan seems well-mannered and hasn't reacted hysterically, likely a rational fan or passerby. From behind Shi Guanghua, she gratefully responds, "Thank you."
Shi Guanghua curiously asks, "Say what to anyone?"
Chu Yueyi is completely exasperated by his cluelessness: "..."
Hearing him speak, the fan starts to feel faint again, stammering, "I-I won't say anything first, I'll wait until you make an official announcement..."
The CP fan assumes the pair doesn't want to go public yet, so she immediately offers 100% respect, planning to keep this sweet secret to herself, allowing the two plenty of freedom.
The fan thinks to herself: I got to see them together, how delicious to keep this all to myself.
Chu Yueyi sighs helplessly: "...You've misunderstood."
Shi Guanghua blinks, confused, and continues to probe, "What announcement?"
Faced with his direct questioning, the fan is dumbstruck, feeling like she might hyperventilate, and stammers, "Ah, well..."
The fan's imagination runs wild: A relationship announcement? A marriage announcement? A pregnancy announcement?
The CP fan's mind races through potential scenarios: Stumbling upon the CP during Spring Festival, their relationship being exposed and torn apart, aggressive solo fans attacking each other, the couple forced to break up, and finally reuniting after a heart-wrenching separation - all because she accidentally discovered them shopping together!
This absolutely cannot happen! A strange sense of mission surges within her!
I must protect my CP!
In a flash of insight, the fan's high-level CP morals kick in. She suddenly spins around, covering her eyes, and urges the two to leave, chiding them like a concerned parent, "Alright, you two better get going. At least try to cover up better so you're not easily recognized. I'll keep your secret, but please be more careful out in public!"
She won't let this budding romance wither prematurely - at least not before the right time!
Shi Guanghua: "?"
Chu Yueyi: "..."
Neither of them expected that being recognized by a fan would result not in frenzied pursuit, but in a stern lecture. She earnestly advises them to protect their privacy, clearly worried sick about them.
Chu Yueyi feels almost too lucky. She takes a bag of warm pastries from her purse, reaches around Shi Guanghua, and places it on the stranger's shoulder, saying softly, "Thank you. Please take this."
"We'll be going now. Bye-bye!"
The fan, still facing away from them, feels the slight weight on her shoulder and instinctively steadies it. She waits for a long while before daring to slowly turn around.
The main street of the snack market is nearly deserted, with only a few people still queuing at shop windows. Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua have long since vanished. The two were like a fleeting dream on a winter's Spring Festival day, as if they had never been there at all, merely figments of imagination.
The fan clutches the warm bag of snacks, finally snapping back to reality and confirming she wasn't dreaming.
The next second, she excitedly jumps up and down on the spot, unable to hold back her tears of joy: "Waaah, I got to see them together..."
Nearby, an elderly Beijing man who had just bought some snacks watches this scene with concern, asking, "Young lady, did you hurt yourself somewhere? Why are you in so much pain?"
Having been recognized by a passerby, Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua immediately learn from the experience. They deliberately wander around the area, making sure no one is following them, before secretly leaving the snack street. They find a deserted alley corner where even stray cats wouldn't pass through, finally feeling at ease.
Chu Yueyi feels the warmth of the pastries through the paper bag as she puts on disposable gloves, marveling at her good fortune: "Thankfully, she was a sensible fan. She doesn't seem like she'll spread rumors."
The girl was so understanding and practiced, needing no reminders to show infinite tolerance. Chu Yueyi feels her luck has turned around for the new year, proof that there are more good people in the world, and that humanity is full of sincere love.
Shi Guanghua remains silent for a moment, then gazes at her meaningfully, hinting at something: "Would our relationship be the subject of rumors?"
Chu Yueyi is caught off guard by his persistence on the matter, blurting out, "Huh?"
Shi Guanghua asks seriously, "So what do you think our relationship is right now?"
Faced with his direct question, Chu Yueyi is at a loss for words.
Shi Guanghua doesn't understand their cryptic attitude throughout the encounter. If they were just friends out for a casual outing, why was she so anxious and fearful? Or does she think it's not purely a friendly hangout?
Although they've created many memories together on the show, and he still wears her hair tie on his wrist, she's never made any promises. He often finds her hard to understand, unsure of the stage of their relationship or how he should act.
He fears being too forward might make her dislike him, yet he can't decipher her thoughts, so he can only maintain the current ambiguous state. He's starting to understand what the fortune teller said - every encounter with her is like seeing flowers in the mist, always hazy, ambiguous, and lingering, but soon fading like the moon's reflection in water, leaving nothing behind.
Seeing her silence, Shi Guanghua calmly continues, "Do you think people would spread rumors about us?"
Chu Yueyi hastily denies it: "No, we're just hanging out normally..."
Shi Guanghua presses on logically: "Then why did you think there would be rumors?"
"Well..." Chu Yueyi is at a loss for words. She looks at Shi Guanghua's serious expression and quickly changes the subject, "When did you become so articulate?"
Chu Yueyi thinks to herself: I thought his character was supposed to be not good with words, how come he's so sharp when talking to me?
Shi Guanghua says quietly, "Don't evade the question. You always brush me off."
Shi Guanghua feels she's incredibly cunning, always able to sidestep any conversational pitfalls with her strong communication skills. Even on the show, she's always vague, making their relationship seem hot and cold, sometimes appearing intimate, sometimes reverting to mere acquaintances, leaving him utterly confused.
He's actually a simple-minded person, and quite inarticulate, completely unable to keep up with these mind games. He joined the show just to see her - she never participates in shows, yet made an exception for this dating program, which seemed like an unusual signal.
Even though Zou Qian had repeatedly mentioned having her contact information, he never tried to reach out to her through others. She used to focus all her attention on acting, so getting to know her seemed pointless to him. He didn't know why he understood her so well, but since it seemed meaningless, he decided not to bother her.
Until he finally waited for the right moment to turn things around.
So he came.
At first, he simply wanted to see her once, but as their relationship grew closer, everything changed silently. People are inherently greedy; they can restrain themselves when there's no contact, but once acquainted, it becomes increasingly difficult to forget.
However, now he doesn't understand. He doesn't understand how she views him, nor how she defines their relationship.
Chu Yueyi, faced with Shi Guanghua's barrage of questions, couldn't comprehend his uncharacteristically aggressive behavior. She found it hard to suppress her irritation, like someone accustomed to getting their way suddenly encountering opposition, inexplicably flying into a rage.
"What's wrong with fooling you?" Chu Yueyi, not understanding his serious attitude, retorted carelessly, "What's so great about you that you can't be fooled!?"
She believed Shi Guanghua severely lacked celebrity awareness, to a frighteningly unreasonable degree. Even if both parties had clear consciences, there was no guarantee against unscrupulous media fabrications. What gave him the right to be so self-righteous?
Chu Yueyi, who would usually yield to him in front of the camera, now exposed her true nature. She furiously confronted him head-on: "How dare you keep questioning me, aren't you ashamed of yourself!?"
Chu Yueyi thought: Do you only care about trending on social media? Have you no shame?!
Shi Guanghua, faced with her overwhelming anger, became flustered at this moment, completely unable to understand what this had to do with "shame."
A moment later, he suddenly had a flash of insight. He glanced at her tentatively, then thoughtfully covered his mouth, inexplicably revealing a hint of embarrassment.
They had been about to enjoy some snacks, so he had pulled down his mask a little. His lustrous black eyes flickered with a faint light, and even his jade-like face flushed with a peach blossom hue.
Chu Yueyi, originally furious, caught his bashful expression and suppressed her dissatisfaction, hesitantly asking, "...What's with that expression now?"
She realized that communicating with Shi Guanghua didn't rely on language, but mainly on interpreting his expressions and subtle movements.
Shi Guanghua cleared his throat. His gaze nervously fell to the corner of the wall, then fleetingly lifted to her as he said softly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept questioning you. It was indeed inappropriate..."
He had obviously lost his mind when pressing her for answers, no wonder she angrily accused him of being shameless. Asking her to define their relationship sounded terribly embarrassing, it was the worst possible behavior.
In the quiet corner of the alley, withered vines climbed powerlessly up the walls, with only a flower pot in the corner still harboring a hint of greenery. Shi Guanghua took a deep breath, composed his fluctuating emotions, and looked at her solemnly, beginning to speak: "I haven't formally said it yet..."
His voice was deep and proper, very clear in the winter breeze, or rather, it was the biting wind blowing directly onto her face, making her shiver involuntarily.
She suddenly felt a bit panicked.
His expression was nervous yet sincere, his eyes like leaping sparks, intangibly burning her.
"I..."
Chu Yueyi's pupils shook. At this moment, her whole body tensed up. Although she didn't know what he was about to say, she inexplicably sensed it wasn't something she should hear. She decisively took out a snack, cutting off his unfinished words.
It was a sweet glutinous rice ball with filling, interrupting his sudden attempt at a confession.
Chu Yueyi's heart was racing at this point. She could finally breathe a sigh of relief, muttering, "Eat it while it's hot."