Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 385: You’re Not Him

Do I open the door or not? How do you answer something that hasn’t happened yet? If I don’t agree, can he not come in?

Doesn’t that just leave agreeing as the only choice?

"Fine—you keep waiting here, treating it like pig farming, always worried."

Xie Qingci pondered over it: "It is quite similar."

"...Stop eating! Give it back!"

He laughed and dodged, leaning back to look at her: "How about this, let’s make a bet, okay?"

Yu Xia wasn’t very interested; such bets were often his way of angling for some benefit.

"Gambling is illegal."

Xie Qingci: "The bet is whether someone will come looking for you, who it will be. How about it? If I win, I’d like to see... your feet."

Yu Xia paused her action of eating clams, looking at him in shock.

"Where... where did you learn all this nonsense?"

Xie Qingci took a sip of soup, casually saying: "Maybe it’s a gift?"

He really just wanted to see them. He felt that her feet might not even be as long as his hand.

Yu Xia was still in shock, caught off guard. She didn’t know why Xie Qingci would have such sudden whims or why he was suddenly interested in her, her feet.

The topic was a bit embarrassing to talk about.

The rest of the clams were left behind as Yu Xia quickly left, leaving Xie Qingci unable to persuade her to stay.

He was left alone, smiling at a pile of clams.

The lively party gradually died down as people who had enjoyed themselves started packing up and left the island on a cruise with the production team.

The production team had already booked hotels for everyone to rest, and there were ongoing dinner and drinking events. Those who weren’t full could go down to eat and drink with the director’s team.

Yu Xia showed up briefly, then left early to wash up and rest in her room.

Not long after, Xie Qingci came.

As he entered, he looked around, as if searching to see if she had hidden someone in the room.

Yu Xia, with a towel wrapping her wet hair, rolled her eyes at him.

"What are you looking at? No one! You’re the only one bold enough to knock on a female contestant’s door in the middle of the night!"

Xie Qingci shrugged: "That’s not necessarily true."

He walked over and pressed her down to sit: "I’ll blow-dry your hair for you."

"Have you been drinking?" She asked, smelling the alcohol as he spoke from behind her.

"A few glasses," he especially loved to stand behind her, enclosing her in his arms. Before turning on the dryer, he first nuzzled into the crook of her neck, lazily saying, "Couldn’t refuse, had to drink."

"That’s normal in social gatherings. Drink some water, are you feeling unwell?" She reached back and touched his face.

Xie Qingci shook his head: "Let’s dry your hair first."

The hairdryer turned on, its hum not too loud, but enough to mask other sounds.

Yu Xia took a sip of water and passed it to him, while the blow from the dryer hovered in the air, and they kissed passionately.

No matter how long they had been dating, separated, or sticky together, they always enjoyed kissing, never wanting it to end or feeling uncomfortable.

This was their mutual expression of love; Yu Xia loved sensing his whole-hearted love through his passionate, lingering actions.

Though it did make their lips numb easily.

The warm air from the dryer swept over her hair again, and Xie Qingci lightly shook her semi-dry locks, leaving a bite mark on the back of her neck.

Yu Xia hissed, slapping his thigh with a light smack.

"What’s wrong with you?"

"Maybe just a bit," he drew close to her ear, slowly saying, "my teeth are a bit idle."

"Then go chew on..."

"Knock, knock—" someone was at the door.

Xie Qingci turned off the hairdryer, and Yu Xia swallowed back the rest of her sentence, turning to lock eyes with him.

"See, someone came, you lost," he whispered.

Yu Xia glared at him, patted his leg, and stood up, pushing him towards the restroom.

"Stay inside."

Xie Qingci looked at her in disbelief, laughing from exasperation: "What do you mean? You’re letting me hide? Are you going to let someone in right in front of me?"

"Even though it sounds bad, right now you’re indeed a little unpresentable. Quickly, I’ll get rid of whoever’s at the door and let you out soon."

"I won’t," he held the restroom door, bending down to stare at her, "have the guts to let me watch you bring someone in."

"Come on, it’s not cheating, don’t overthink. Besides, you can hear from inside too."

He was too tall and sturdy, standing there like an immovable tower.

No choice, she had to compromise.

"Just stay inside for ten minutes, then I’ll agree to one of your conditions when you come out."

Xie Qingci squinted: "Any condition?"

"...Fine, fine!"

At that, he finally agreed to be shut in the restroom, albeit with a sulking face.

Once settled, Yu Xia went to open the door, surprisingly but not completely unexpectedly, seeing Song Xi at the entrance.

His hair was slicked back simply, still slightly wet, possibly from water. He had removed his signature gold-rimmed glasses and was pressing the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Song Xi opened his eyes, with reddened rims, parted his lips, seemingly struggling to control his emotions, then tightly pressed his lips together, changing to deep breaths.

Then, with a trembling voice, he asked, "Yu Xia, may I come in and talk? I, I have something I want to tell you... I promise, this is the last time."

After saying that, he seemed to want to smile, but his flushed neck, ears, and reddened eyes made the smile look rather heartbreaking.

Yu Xia’s expression remained unchanged, she pushed the door open, pointing her chin inside: "Come in, ten minutes."

Song Xi sat on the opposite sofa, and Yu Xia courteously poured him a glass of water.

Unlike when Xie Qingci came in, her demeanor now was like a host entertaining an unfamiliar guest.

"What do you have to say? I think I’ve been clear enough before."

Song Xi held the water cup with both hands, letting his lips get moistened by the tilted water but didn’t drink, just stared absentmindedly at his feet.

Coming over voluntarily, confessing his feelings, something easy for Xie Qingci, was incredibly hard for him.

The previous denials, the shame and anger, the harsh words, had already set him on an irreversible path, leading him, in the end, to muster courage from his drunkenness for one final attempt to let go.

"If... I mean if," he raised his head, softly asked, "if there was no Xie Qingci, would I stand a chance?"

Yu Xia didn’t hesitate for a second: "No."

"Why?"

"Because liking is liking and not liking is not liking. Even without Xie Qingci, I wouldn’t settle for someone else until I met him."

Liking Xie Qingci was a trigger for him; Song Xi felt his mind swell with emotions, looking at her in dazed discomfort.

"Is it because I’m not good enough? Not handsome enough, not composed, not competent, didn’t recognize my own heart?"

Yu Xia didn’t answer, but asked him back: "If Lan Hui liked you and pursued you, would you accept?"

Song Xi was stunned, then slowly shook his head.

"She’s not you, though I denied it many times before, there’s no need to deny it now. I like you, Yu Xia."

"Then I’ll give you the same answer, you’re not him."