He Saw the Interview… Then Forced the Ring Back on My Finger

Ning Shixue, though immune to his flirtatious words, was still caught off guard by the sheer brazenness.

He rubbed his burning ears and asked fiercely again.

“Just a cold,”
Xie Zhaozhou finally told him.

Ning Shixue was skeptical.
He himself had only gotten sick because of the fever.
Xie Zhaozhou had stayed with him in the hospital for several days.
They even slept together at night.
It was very likely he had caught it from him.

Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t make it to the hospital that night.
Ning Shixue didn’t really have anything urgent to ask him anyway.
He lay in bed and chatted aimlessly with him for a while, then hung up.

Ning Shixue was transferred to a regular ward for another week.
After a full-body examination, he was finally discharged.

His body had mostly recovered.
He just tired easily.
He Lin told him to rest a few more days.
The parenting show was also delayed by a week.

Ning Shixue stayed home to recover.
He was listless and too lazy to play games.
When he was bored, he hugged Xie Yaoyao’s bear and watched Xie Zhaozhou’s old movies.

He hadn’t noticed before, but now he realized the bear was indeed very ugly.
The stitches on its back were crooked.

He decided to buy Xie Yaoyao a new bear.
He searched online for a long time.
In the end, he found several tutorials on how to make a bear.
Ning Shixue’s heart suddenly stirred.

Xie Yaoyao’s birthday was in a few months.
He still hadn’t prepared a birthday gift for the chubby kid.

He considered himself a master of balance.
Whatever Xie Yaoyao got, Xie Zhouzhou should get too.
So he simply bought two sets of materials for making bears.
It was too late for a birthday gift.
It could be a New Year’s gift instead.

Ning Shixue immersed himself in researching making bears.
Soon, it was the day the parenting show resumed.

This was the last stop of the show, the ninth episode.
This stop was still filmed in Yan City.
It was a collaboration with Forest Bunny Police.
The guests would transform into the little animals from the show and run an animal-themed restaurant by the river in Yan City.

The restaurant would be open for a week.
The final revenue would be donated to children in welfare homes.

Ning Shixue and Xie Yaoyao arrived at the program location in the afternoon.
They were, as usual, just in time.

The director was already used to it.
He was numb.
Anyway, Ning Shixue didn’t want to spend a second more than necessary in front of their cameras.

The restaurant was by the river.
At night, the lights on the Yan City river bridge were dazzling.
The director had even decorated the restaurant to look like the one in the cartoon.
It was a giant mushroom house, covered in star lights.
At the entrance were posters for the Forest Bunny Police movie.

[Sniff, finally see you!!!]

[Baby, slurp.]

[Why do I feel like wifey lost more weight? Can he really film the show now? Don’t make me curse you, you terrible program team.]

The director complained inwardly.
It was his own fault.
The bullet comments had lost trust in him.
He had to quickly explain to the camera that the doctor said Ning Shixue could resume normal activities.

“Teachers, little ones, we officially open for business tomorrow!”
the director blew a whistle.
He was holding a whistle that shot out a streamer when blown.
It was quite cute.
“Today’s task is to decide what dishes we’ll make tomorrow, and then go buy the ingredients. Divide the work among yourselves. Decide who will be the head chef, who will handle the cash register or purchasing. The production team will provide the startup funds!”

The program team gave them three thousand yuan as startup funds.
The restaurant didn’t even have pots and pans yet.
The money was pitifully little.

Except for Xie Zhaozhou and Qin Zhou’s wife, all the guests were there.
Grandpa He had the most cooking experience.

He surveyed the kitchen and first made a list of necessary kitchenware.
The rest could be used to buy ingredients.

“I think we should all go to the supermarket together,”
Tang He-an suggested.
“Otherwise, we won’t be able to carry everything back.”

The program team was still mean.
They only gave them a small tricycle.
Luckily, the supermarket wasn’t far.
They could walk.

None of the guests objected.

Ning Shixue and Xie Yaoyao were tasked with buying small pumpkins.
Pumpkin porridge was on the menu for the night.
But the supermarket was having a promotion today.
There were a lot of people.
Xie Yaoyao trotted on his short legs, wobbling through the crowd.
Ning Shixue was afraid he would get stepped on.

The cameraman also couldn’t follow easily.
The equipment was too heavy and bulky.
It could easily get knocked over.

“You stay here. Don’t move,”
Ning Shixue said, raising his hand to stop Xie Yaoyao and the cameraman.

Xie Yaoyao’s eyes were blank.
The soft hair on his head stood up.
He obediently crouched where he was.

Ning Shixue said,
“I’ll go buy you some oranges.”

Xie Yaoyao was just a human cub without even a kindergarten diploma.
He didn’t understand the reference.
When Ning Shixue came back with the small pumpkins, he stretched out his chubby little hand.

“What?”
Ning Shixue asked, confused.

Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King’s little mouth puckered into a trumpet shape.
“Baby, oranges.”

You promised to buy me oranges.

The bullet comments were dying of laughter.

[The disadvantage of not having nine years of compulsory education.]

[Who understands? Ningning went to fight for pumpkins and came back as a dad. (just kidding)]

Ning Shixue: “…”

There happened to be a fruit stand nearby selling little sugar oranges.

He gave Xie Yaoyao a few.
Then, while eating the oranges, he continued shopping for other things with the others.

He Lin and He Miao bought several fish.
Many of their restaurant’s dishes were related to animals.
Grandpa He planned to make a specialty squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.
There were also braised pork trotters and drunken shrimp.

By the time they had all the kitchenware and ingredients, it was already evening.
Tang He-an rode the tricycle.
The other guests and kids followed behind him, walking towards the restaurant.

After dinner, they decorated the restaurant a bit.
Then they discussed and finalized the menu.
The guests took the kids back to their accommodations to sleep.

Before the kids went to sleep, the director came by again.
He had to assign the guests their roles in the restaurant.

All the guests would扮演 characters from Forest Bunny Police.
The kids’ favorites were the bunny officer and Black Soil Wolf.
So the kids would all be little bunnies.

The director had prepared overalls with little bunny tails for them.
And bunny ear headbands.

Besides the kids, Ning Shixue was also assigned to be a lop-eared bunny.
Yan Ting and Tang He-an would be a cat and a dog.
He Lin would be a fox.
Grandpa He would be a bear.
Qin Zhou was unlucky.
The director made him a skunk and gave him a very realistic skunk tail.

Qin Zhou was speechless.

Qin Naonao had also watched Forest Bunny Police.
He knew this skunk could spray a very smelly fart.
A few years ago, there was even a movie where the skunk was the villain.

He not only didn’t sympathize with his dad, he even pointed at Qin Zhou and laughed.
Qin Zhou had originally thought, well, it’s just a show.
It’s supposed to be fun and funny.
But being laughed at by his filial son made his face darken.

Qin Naonao quickly covered his mouth.
He muttered a quiet ‘tsk.’

The director quickly smoothed things over.
“Also, for the opening tomorrow, we need to choose a guest to dance the opening number.”

It was a dance from the Forest Bunny Police opening theme.
A few little bunnies in police uniforms dance seriously, wiggling their ears and bottoms.
It was once all the rage in kindergartens.

“You do it,”
Tang He-an said, immediately volunteering his kid.

Anyway, Tang Haohao danced it all the time at home.

But the director mysteriously waved his hand.
“No, we need a dad to do it. I think Teacher Xiao Ning is the perfect choice.”

Ning Shixue: ???

Ning Shixue had been slumped on the sofa, slacking off.
Going to the supermarket was also tiring.
He hadn’t expected to be suddenly called out.

He mercilessly refused.
“I’m not doing it.”

“Teacher Ning,”
the director insisted.
“This is a task assigned by the program team.”

Ning Shixue wasn’t threatened at all.
He even turned the tables.
“If you do it, I’ll do it.”

[Sniff, please let me watch.]

[Dance! Dance big!]

[Director, go for it! Agree! If you don’t dance, I’ll look down on you!!! @director]

[If you don’t dance, fine. I don’t actually want to watch you dance anyway. Whether you dance or not, it doesn’t matter. Don’t flatter yourself. You’re really putting on airs. I’ve been killing fish in RT-Mart for ten years. My heart has long been as cold as a fish knife. Do you think these little tricks can tempt me? Wuwuwuwuwuwu.]

The director’s whole body stiffened.
Although he was mean, he looked decent, like a serious, good person.
The thought of him dancing to that kind of thing was painful.

But he gritted his teeth and steeled himself.
He agreed with Ning Shixue.
“Fine. I’ll dance with you.”

Ning Shixue hadn’t expected the director to be so hard on himself.
Since the director wasn’t afraid of embarrassment, he had to agree.

The next morning, at 8 AM sharp, the live stream opened.
Two big rabbits appeared outside the restaurant door.
They were both wearing lop-eared bunny costumes, dancing energetically.

The costumes were heavy.
They danced flexibly yet clumsily.
Their coordination was terrible.
Their long, floppy ears kept getting in the way.

Ning Shixue was forced to learn the final move from the opening theme.
He threw a combination of punches at the air.

The bullet comments were in stitches.

[With the headgear on, who can resist?]

[Dancing in a costume: 10% funny; Ningning inside the costume: 1000000%+ funny]

[I can’t take it anymore. What good does it do you to laugh me to death?]

Ning Shixue felt like he had lost all face in this show.
He thought he was now fearless.

After the opening dance, they soon had their first customer of the day.
It was an uncle who worked nearby.

The guests and kids had all changed into their work uniforms.

Xie Yaoyao and the others’ uniforms were the little bunny overalls.
The rest, except Grandpa He and Tang He-an who were the chefs, and Yan Ting at the cash register, were all waiters.

They wore black suit pants, with corresponding little animal tails on their backs.
And headbands on their heads.

[I really want to know how the director convinced Professor Yan to wear cat ears.]

[Director He, I can too. He really has some looks.]

He Lin wore a fiery red fox tail.
The program team had spent a lot of money.
These furry tails felt really nice.
He Miao couldn’t stop touching them.
Even Tang Haohao chased him around to feel them.

He was only freed when Ning Shixue came out after changing.

[Ahhhhh!!!]

[I declare Director Meng the GOAT. Today, I’ll respectfully call you Director Meng. This guy really knows how to have fun.]

Ning Shixue’s hair was dark.
The headband on his head was almost invisible.
Those soft, fluffy lop ears looked perfectly natural, hanging down beside his pale cheeks.

He also wore the waiter’s uniform.
The suit pants accentuated his slender waist and long legs.
Behind him, a trembling little bunny tail was attached.

But such soft attire only intensified his cold, strikingly beautiful features.

[Good, good. This is what my esteemed membership should see. I deserve to see it.]

[Wifey is so thin, but his butt is so perky. Can I say that? Pervert.jpg]

[So hot. I can’t imagine how well President Xie eats in private. Covering mouth crying.jpg]

Ning Shixue was chased by Xie Yaoyao and the others, trying to touch his tail.
His face was red.
In the end, he hid in the kitchen to escape.

There were three types of customers arranged by the program team.
One type were pure strangers who didn’t even know a show was being filmed nearby.
They just saw a restaurant and got curious.

The rest were chosen through live stream raffles.
The director would arrange in batches fans to come.
There were also special guests.

The only physical work Ning Shixue had to do was the dance.
He had originally wanted to help Grandpa He in the kitchen.
But Grandpa He kicked him out.
“You go play with Yaoyao and the others.”

Ning Shixue: “…”

Ning Shixue had to go play.
He drove a little cleaning cart around the restaurant.
When customers came, he would get up and lead them to their seats.

Their restaurant had just opened.
The program team’s budget was too small.
The ingredients they bought weren’t very varied.
Many dishes could only be served once or twice.
Business was slow during the day.

He Lin and Qin Zhou went to the supermarket again in the afternoon.
They bought a few crabs as a special dish for the night.

In the evening, customers finally started to trickle in.
The restaurant was short-staffed.
Xie Yaoyao and Naonao were too young to be trusted with serving food.
They could only be mascots, handing out napkins and vinegar bottles, and offering their soft cheeks.

He Miao and Tang Haohao could help serve a little.

But it was still busy.

Even Ning Shixue had to help.
It wasn’t until nearly nine at night that the crowd thinned out.
Besides those still eating, only an elderly couple came in.

“What kind of restaurant is this?”
the old lady asked, pausing when she saw so many little kids.
Smile lines appeared at the corners of her eyes.

[Kid happy house.]

[Come to this restaurant to eat, get free cub sniff, and even rub the bunny. (just kidding)]

[President Xie, call the police immediately.]

The old man had a stern face and seemed in a bad mood.
Ning Shixue and Xie Yaoyao drove the little cart and led them to a table by the window.
Outside was the brightly lit Yan City river bridge.
He didn’t even look at it.
He just picked up the menu.

“What dishes you want?”
Xie Yaoyao asked, his little hands gripping the edge of the table, blinking his big eyes and using his milky voice.

The old man frowned, adjusted his reading glasses, and said,
“I’ll have some egg fried rice, and some crab.”

There were only two crabs left in the restaurant.
Uncle He steamed them fresh and also gave them a serving of stir-fried greens.

The director was sharp.
He felt this might be worth interviewing.
So he went over and chatted with the old man and lady.
The old lady then learned they were filming a show.

“We just came from a class reunion,”
the old lady said, very talkative.

They were high school classmates.
They didn’t date back then.
They only got together after both were admitted to Yan City University.
At the reunion that night, the old man suddenly learned that the class monitor was actually her first love.
He had been sulking ever since.
He hadn’t eaten much at the reunion.

So after it ended, they found another restaurant.

The old man got upset when he heard this.
“It’s been decades. At this age, still can’t forget. Isn’t he just a grumpy old man? What’s so great about him?”

“You’re also just a grumpy old man,”
the old lady said disdainfully.
“And how am I not forgetting?”

They were about to argue again when Grandpa He timely came with the food.
Xie Yaoyao smoothly handed them some napkins.
“This little crab, wipe hands after eat oh.”

The director’s mean streak surfaced.
He decided to interview the guests too.

Ask them if they had anyone they couldn’t forget.

[A trick question.]

[Dammit, I actually want to know too.]

Grandpa He quickly waved his hand, refusing to take the bait.
“Don’t ask me. I don’t have anyone.”

Back in the day, he worked at the Yan City TV station and met his wife there.
He was a decent person, unlike He Lin.

“I don’t have anyone either,”
Tang He-an said, also full of survival instinct.
After saying it, he stared at Yan Ting.

While they were being interviewed, the other customers couldn’t help peeking over.
The elderly couple was also listening.
Tang He-an stared at Yan Ting.
The director also stared.
The other guests’ eyes also fell on Yan Ting.
After all, humans are curious creatures.

Yan Ting opened his mouth.
He had originally wanted to say no.
Being stared at like that made him uncomfortable.
He hesitated for a few seconds.

Tang He-an was shocked and heartbroken.
“You hesitated, Professor Yan.”

“I don’t have anyone,”
Yan Ting said, embarrassed.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”

Then it was He Lin’s turn.
He was in an awkward position.
His and Shen Yi’s respective affairs was an open secret.

He Lin had too many people to remember.
But publicly, he and Shen Yi were always respectful to each other.
Even if Shen Yi kept male models, she would still tell people he was her husband.
So He Lin said very seriously,
“No.”

Qin Zhou’s wife was also an actress.
They had been in divorce rumors for years.
Although they hadn’t actually divorced, their relationship was indeed average.
There wasn’t much affection.

On the show, he also shook his head.
“No.”

Finally, it was Ning Shixue’s turn.

The bullet comments thought Ning Shixue would directly say no.
After all, they knew Ning Shixue used to be a simp for Xie Hanzhou.
But now, he was completely out of his league.
He definitely wouldn’t still be thinking about Xie Hanzhou.

Besides Xie Hanzhou, he probably hadn’t liked anyone else.

But Ning Shixue paused.
He asked the director,
“Someone you can’t forget? Like an ex-boyfriend?”

“That works,”
the director said, his senses sharp.
He had originally wanted to interview about exes.
But since Ning Shixue asked, he quickly changed his approach.
“Besides ex-boyfriends, other things work too.”

Ning Shixue pressed his lips together.
His fingers unconsciously rubbed the black earring on his right earlobe.

It wasn’t really someone he couldn’t forget.
But he did still remember.
It was his first instance.
At the time, one of his eyes had been stabbed out and was still bleeding.
He was disheartened.
He had planned to just die.
He had even cried for a while.

He was trapped in a pitch-black cinema.
Logically, they should have shown a horror movie and sent ghosts to kill him.
But the film had been changed.
They played cartoons for him all night.

When he left, he felt a hand gently push him from behind and heard,
“You can go.”

It was a very low male voice.
He never saw the person’s face.
His earring was an S-grade item.
The person had put it in his hand at the end.
It had saved him many times.
It wasn’t the same earring he had now.
But he had never been able to take it off.

The restaurant closed at 10:30 PM.
After the elderly couple left, it was almost ten.
There were only a few customers left.
Suddenly, headlights flashed outside the restaurant.

Ning Shixue looked up and saw Xie Zhaozhou walking in.

Xie Zhaozhou was wearing a long black trench coat.
Underneath were custom suit pants and leather shoes.
It made his shoulders look broad and his legs long.
His face was pale.
Only his thin lips were red.
His whole being was handsome and noble.

The deep night and the blazing riverside lights were behind him.
He looked like a male model on a runway.

Tonight, he was even driving a silver sports car.

But he was wearing sunglasses.
You could only see his high nose bridge and those thin lips.
His expression was very stern.
He looked like he was there to cause trouble.

“Black Soil Wolf!”
Tang Haohao exclaimed.

The director had assigned Xie Zhaozhou the role of Black Soil Wolf.
In one episode of Forest Bunny Police, Black Soil Wolf dressed like this and came to the little bunnies’ restaurant at night to cause trouble.

Xie Zhaozhou was tonight’s special guest.

He was indeed there to cause trouble.

But the director had only told him to wear a trench coat and sunglasses.
Xie Zhaozhou, however, specially went home and changed into his most expensive trench coat.
And he didn’t wear the sunglasses the program team gave him.
He brought his own.

[Handsome is handsome.]

[But wearing sunglasses at night really looks crazy.]

[I really admire the director now. How did he convince everyone to wear tails, and convince President Xie to wear sunglasses (?)]

[Parenting show (x), embarrassing memory show (√)]

Ning Shixue was confused.
He admired his boyfriend’s beauty for a moment.
Then he thought he was very flashy tonight.

According to the program team’s script, Xie Zhaozhou was supposed to sit down, order food, and then constantly nitpick and harass the little animal employees.

But he walked straight towards Ning Shixue.
His lips moved.
Then he couldn’t help chuckling softly.

His palm cupped Ning Shixue’s soft lop ear.
He held his face and rubbed it, ears and all.

Ning Shixue’s face was red from the rubbing.
He slapped his hand away and said angrily,
“What are you doing?”

[??????]

[Director: I told you to harass, not harass like that.]

[Start over! This whole segment is ruined!]

[Dammit, President Xie did what I wanted to do but couldn’t. I also want to rub wifey’s ears and face, sniff.]

Xie Zhaozhou didn’t speak.
He didn’t let Ning Shixue dodge.
He grabbed his hand and forcibly put a ring on his finger.

He had seen tonight’s interview in the car.
He leaned back in the seat, relaxed, watching Ning Shixue and the others answer questions.

He Lin and Qin Zhou had both lied.
Yan Ting seemed to hesitate for a moment.
He didn’t really care.

Anyway, Ning Shixue would definitely not hesitate.

But he hadn’t expected Ning Shixue to be the only one who hesitated.
He even questioned the director.

Xie Zhaozhou fell into deep thought.
Was his face not good enough?
Were his abs not nice enough to touch?
In the end, he went home and changed clothes.
He even changed his watch.

Convinced he was attractive enough to be a top earner in the industry, he drove the sports car Ning Shixue had glanced at a few times in the garage over.

The Xie family was eyeing covetously.
Xie Zhaozhou was worried Ning Shixue would be implicated.
He had put several trackers on his phone and clothes.
He had taken this ring before, originally to put a tracker in it too.

But this was their wedding ring.
He wanted to buy a new one.
He hadn’t found the right opportunity to propose yet.
That’s why he had delayed and not given the ring back to Ning Shixue.

Xie Zhaozhou’s face was dark.
He ground his teeth.
One after another.

Where did all these bees and butterflies come from?

He suddenly felt it couldn’t wait.
Even if he couldn’t propose yet, he had to put a ring on him.
Anyway, the previous person had never worn this wedding ring with him.
This one still belonged to Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue’s hand was red from his grip.
It didn’t hurt.
Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t bear to hold him tightly.
But his skin was too fair.
Any slight pressure left a mark.

Ning Shixue struggled.
This was the second time Xie Zhaozhou had put a ring on him during the show.
The tips of his ears warmed as he whispered,
“Second Brother, what are you doing?”

“Did he buy you that earring?”
Xie Zhaozhou was silent for a moment, then couldn’t help reaching up and pinching Ning Shixue’s pale earlobe.
His tone was sour.
“Did he pierce your ears for you?”

Ning Shixue couldn’t dodge.
His earlobe was pinched until it was red and hot.

He had pierced his own ears.
At the time, he didn’t have ear piercings.
He gritted his teeth and forced the earring through the flesh.
Then he put it on.

Besides this, Xie Zhaozhou was also very concerned about why Ning Shixue had gone out with Mu Yuan that time in the northern city.

He wanted more people to be good to Ning Shixue.
He wanted him to play with Tang He-an and the others.
Even though his most wicked thought was wanting Ning Shixue to have only him.

But Ning Shixue rarely proactively spoke to anyone.
That time was an exception.
It made Xie Zhaozhou particularly concerned what happened then.

He hadn’t wanted to ask.
Otherwise, Ning Shixue would know he had Xie Yaoyao follow him.
But he couldn’t help it.

“That time in the northern city,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, leaning slightly closer to him.
“Where did you go with Mu Yuan at night?”

Ning Shixue was confused for a moment before remembering which night Xie Zhaozhou meant.
Although the live stream had captured him going out with Mu Yuan, and anyone who watched would know, he was still sensitively aware something was off.

His eyes were suspicious.
“How do you know?”

“I had him follow you,”
Xie Zhaozhou directly admitted.
He picked up Xie Yaoyao.

Ning Shixue: “…”

No wonder Xie Yaoyao had clung to his leg and refused to let go.

Damn it, the spy was right beside him.

Xie Yaoyao was suddenly lifted up.
His chubby little face was full of excitement.
He kicked his short legs a few times.

No little kid didn’t like being lifted high.
But before he could enjoy it enough, Big Daddy put him down again.

[??????]

[Wow, so President Xie was already plotting against my wife back then???]

[So sour, so sour. Who’s eating dumplings? Share some with me.]

Before Ning Shixue could speak, Xie Yaoyao, standing between him and Xie Zhaozhou’s legs, suddenly raised his little hand.
“I know oh!”

He still remembered the name Mu Yuan.
He was the big brother who took him and the baby out to play and fed them delicious food at night.

“They were fighting!”
Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King spouted nonsense, but inadvertently told the truth.

Then he added firmly in his milky voice,
“Baby and Big Daddy, also fight. Only adults can fight.”

The baby had told him before that the bear got broken when he and Big Daddy were fighting.

Adults just have a lot of fights.

The bullet comments instantly exploded.

[??? Am I allowed to hear this?]

[Go on! Go on! How do they fight! I can afford the data!!!]

[Fighting in bed, that’s all. Lighting a cigarette.jpg]

[Don’t blame him! He’s just making the mistake every man makes!!!]

[President Xie, you forgot your hat when you left the house. I found one, it’s green. Should be yours, right? doge]

Ning Shixue: “…”

Help.

He didn’t even have time to cover Xie Yaoyao’s mouth.

Xie Zhaozhou’s face darkened.
Ning Shixue finally realized.
His ears red, he asked,
“Second Brother, are you jealous?”

“Heh,”
Xie Zhaozhou sneered coldly.
“No.”

Ning Shixue didn’t believe him at all.
He leaned in to look at Xie Zhaozhou’s face.
“Take off your sunglasses.”

Xie Zhaozhou: “…”