At 3 AM, I Ran Out and Kissed Him on Camera

Holding Xie Yaoyao was a bit tiring for Ning Shixue.

Xie Zhaozhou took Xie Yaoyao from his arms.
Ning Shixue had originally wanted to help hold the umbrella.
But Xie Zhaozhou put his arm around his shoulder instead.

Xie Zhaozhou’s umbrella still tilted towards him.
Even though Xie Yaoyao was just a small kid who didn’t take up much space, he didn’t get wet either.
Only Xie Zhaozhou’s shoulder was soaked.

[Fine, fine. I’ll let you have my wife for a few minutes. But you have to give him back tonight.]

[??? Give him back tonight for what? Count me in too, or I’ll tell President Xie. doge]

Grandpa He had already made dinner for the guests.
There were many customers at the restaurant that night.
The guests had to take turns eating.
Ning Shixue and He Lin were tired from being on set during the day and also going to the supermarket.
Tang He-an urged them to eat first.

“Baby,”
Xie Yaoyao said, trotting on his short legs, excitedly leading Ning Shixue to the fried chicken drumsticks.
“This one is for the baby!”

He had saved a very nice-looking big chicken drumstick for the baby.

Grandpa He had fried a lot.
Every guest had one.
The rest were sold to customers as a special dish that night.

From the first season until now, except for Ning Shixue, the guests on this show were all very famous.
Even if Qin Zhou wasn’t as popular as Tang He-an, he was still almost a top-tier male star.

So the restaurant was located in a relatively out-of-the-way area.
This was to prevent too many fans and media from coming and affecting the filming.

The restaurant’s business wasn’t very good at first.

But after a few days, Grandpa He’s cooking was too good.
Some people even came just to eat, not because they followed the show.

“Actually, opening a restaurant like this is pretty good,”
Tang He-an couldn’t help sighing.

The only problem was that Tang Haohao gained weight too easily.
They had only been filming this last episode for a few days, and Tang Haohao’s face was already noticeably rounder.

But this time, he simply couldn’t control his mouth.

He even wanted to eat two big chicken drumsticks at night.
He was forcibly dragged out of the kitchen by Tang He-an.

He couldn’t imagine how fat he would get if they opened a restaurant at home.

Tang He-an said he couldn’t accept that.

Xie Zhaozhou could stay for a few more hours that night.
He stayed with Ning Shixue at the restaurant until closing time.
Then he went with them to the homestay.

For the last few episodes, the director wanted to film something warm.
No exciting tasks.
Just the guests spending time together.
Even the homestay was specially chosen to be a smaller one.

At night, the kids had to take turns bathing.

But they were all very excited.
They even went to Grandpa He one by one to get the little ducks for the bath.
When you squeezed them, they would squirt water.

He Lin took He Miao to bathe first.
Xie Yaoyao and the other kids played in the living room.
The adults were all watching TV.

Ning Shixue was wrapped in a blanket.
He had originally wanted to watch too.
But after just over ten minutes of the movie, he started to get sleepy.
In the end, he curled up on the sofa and fell asleep.
His long eyelashes cast a deep shadow under his eyes, making his cheeks look pale and tired.

Xie Zhaozhou cupped his face and laid it on his lap.
He held Ning Shixue’s cold hand and put his laptop on the armrest to work.

Xie Yaoyao and the others’ pattering footsteps unconsciously slowed down.
He and Tang Haohao crowded together and simultaneously raised their little hands to shush.

Even Qin Naonao wasn’t noisy.
But he wasn’t noisy because Ning Shixue never indulged him.
And he could never win an argument with Ning Shixue.

He was very unconvinced at first.
How could there be an adult like this?
He didn’t think Ning Shixue was Xie Yaoyao’s baby at all.

After all, his dad wasn’t his baby either.

But losing every time was too embarrassing.
He finally learned his lesson.
He decided never to provoke Ning Shixue again.

[Bratty kid nemesis.]

[Got it. No bratty kid can leave this show without crying. doge]

Xie Yaoyao and Tang Haohao bathed together.
Xie Zhaozhou carried Ning Shixue to the bedroom.
Xie Yaoyao, wearing his baby sleep pants, stuck out his little bottom and climbed onto the bed after his bath.

Xie Zhaozhou sat by the bed for half an hour.
Seeing that Ning Shixue was sleeping soundly, he finally got up and left.

Xie Zhaozhou stayed at the company at night.
Cheng Zhang had already confronted him.
He put his dissatisfaction with Xie Zhaozhou on the table.
He even tried every way to let Xie Hanzhou compete for power with him.

Many of the company’s old directors were wavering.
They remembered their friendship with Cheng Zhang.
And they were looking forward to Old Master Xie’s discharge.
They thought they could regain their former glory like a few years ago.
So many were leaning towards Cheng Zhang.

Xie Zhaozhou wasn’t surprised.
After all, ever since he took over the Xie Group, he had never tried to win these people over.

But there were too many open and covert attacks.
He was indeed very busy now.

Ning Shixue held the chubby kid and slept for a while.
When he woke up, he went with the other guests to the restaurant to prepare for opening.

Yan Ting had class that day and left very early.
So Ning Shixue and He Lin didn’t go to the set.
They stayed at the restaurant to help.

The kids eventually found out that the aliens were all fake.
The problem was that He Miao had started learning to read.
She was playing with He Lin’s tablet and accidentally opened a video.
She recognized several words in the title.
Only then did she learn that the aliens were fake.

But she didn’t know these aliens were played by fans of the show.
She was instantly terrified.

She was filming Last Night’s Star with Ning Shixue.
Now she was very wary of strangers.
In the movie, she was always told not to go with strangers.

What did these aliens really want?

She gathered Xie Yaoyao and the others and whispered to them.

Xie Yaoyao propped his soft cheek in his hands and sighed.
He knew it.
These aliens were definitely all fake.

How could a real alien not have a spaceship?

He Lin was both amused and exasperated.
He simply told them the truth.
“You all saw them in the video. Think about it. Their faces were covered. It must have been uncomfortable. They pretended to be aliens just to play with you.”

In the video, the aliens were sweating profusely all night.
Their faces were red from the tight headgear.
The headgear was very stuffy.

The little kids accepted that the aliens were fake.
But they still decided to give them gifts.

They all had a lot of pocket money.
These days, customers had also given them tips.
In the end, except for Qin Naonao, each kid took out their savings and bought a few Forest Bunny Police plushies.

Then they asked the director uncle to help give them to the aliens.

The director readily agreed.

Xie Yaoyao even wanted to use his one billion to buy a real spaceship for the aliens.
But Ning Shixue vetoed it.

Ning Shixue: “…”

You don’t have one billion, okay?

While Xie Yaoyao and the others were discussing buying gifts, Ning Shixue scrolled through Weibo for a while.
He suddenly noticed Xie Hanzhou was number one on the trending searches.

It even had a deep red ‘explosive’ symbol next to it.

After Ji Qing was imprisoned, Xie Hanzhou’s Weibo also lost hundreds of thousands of followers.
He even turned down several variety shows that had already been agreed upon.
Xie Hanzhou had never been so humiliated in his life.
He actively rejected several collaborations, wanting to wait for the public opinion to cool down.

He never expected even more embarrassing things to come.

Xie’s father died.
His mother went crazy.
Xie Hanzhou’s status in Yan City’s upper circles plummeted.

Especially those rich second-generation heirs who used to flatter him and were treated like dogs by him.
They were all now watching his downfall.
At Xie’s father’s funeral, they hypocritically offered a few words of comfort.
Then they turned around and went to nightclubs to pop champagne.

Everyone knew he and Xie Zhaozhou didn’t get along.
And everyone knew Xie Zhaozhou was the real head of the Xie family.

Xie Hanzhou was completely finished.

But having grown up in a wealthy family, they were all shrewd.
Who knew if Xie Hanzhou might make a comeback one day?
So no one openly mocked him.

Xie Hanzhou gritted his teeth.
Didn’t he know what these people were really like?

They were definitely laughing behind his back, calling him a bereaved dog.

Besides, Xie Hanzhou had always had a spoiled temper.
He was pampered in the entertainment industry too.
He had offended countless people without even knowing it.

Not a single person spoke up for him.
Neither publicly nor privately.
There wasn’t even any token politeness.

After Xie’s father’s funeral, Xie Hanzhou disappeared without a trace.
Only last night was he finally photographed by paparazzi outside a certain upscale neighborhood.
In the photo, Xie Hanzhou was wearing a mask.
But you could still tell he looked very gloomy, with dark circles under his eyes.

[I think he kind of deserves it. Ji Qing did abuse the child, so he’s not a good person. But Xie Hanzhou was really ruthless back then. At the peak of the storm, he tacitly allowed that Ji Qing was kept by him. Not only did Ji Qing go to prison, his reputation over the years was ruined.]

[Anyway, he’s always been a scumbag. Apparently, he’s quite good to his lovers in private. When he wants to coax you, he really coaxes you, and it’s hard to resist. But it’s up to him.]

[Former staff from Slaying the Whale came forward. They were a crew member back then and have now retired. They said Xie Hanzhou made the whole crew wait for him one whole night so he could go to a yacht party.]

There was evidence for this.
At the time, people were actually dissatisfied with Xie Hanzhou.
But who dared to offend the third young master of the Xie family?

Even the director didn’t dare say anything.

Tang He-an was also on the set of Slaying the Whale at the time.
He had a scene that night and really did wait the whole night.

Who would have thought Xie Hanzhou would end up like this?

Xie Hanzhou looked really down and out now.
Even his looks-focused fans suddenly questioned reality.

Was this person always this ugly?

Ning Shixue lowered his eyes and scrolled through Weibo for a while.
He stopped when the customers arrived.

Actually, in the original story, Xie Hanzhou didn’t seem this scummy.
Even if he was scummy, he was still quite charming.
He was even sometimes not bad to Ji Xiao.
But that was his nature.
Besides, people change.
No one knew better than Ning Shixue how depraved and violent someone could become.

Xie Zhaozhou went abroad again.
He couldn’t come to the set for two or three days.
Ning Shixue also got busy.

Last Night’s Star had only a dozen or so scenes left before wrapping.

Originally, it wouldn’t have been this rushed.
But Ning Shixue had been sick.
And the parenting show hadn’t finished filming yet.
So they had to rush.

After the restaurant closed at night, Ning Shixue and He Lin went to the set.
He Miao and Xie Yaoyao also went.
They had scenes that night.
He Lin let them sleep in the car for an hour first.

Wen Yu took Xiaoyan’er and the others, working day and night without rest.
But whenever he had time, he would take Xiaoyan’er’s photo and go everywhere asking people if they had seen this child.

In the movie’s timeline, two years had now passed.
Xiaoyan’er was almost seven.
They had traveled to over a dozen cities.
They couldn’t find any news.

Xiaoyan’er had originally really wanted to find her parents.
But now she felt it didn’t matter even if they couldn’t find them.

Although she was sad, although she always wondered at night if her parents were also looking for her somewhere.

But she was a few years older now.
She finally understood how tired Wen Yu was trying to support them.
His thin ribs, the scabs on his hands, his increasingly pale face.
These were things she would never forget.

She just wanted Wen Yu not to be so tired anymore.
She could be with her older brother, and younger brothers and sisters, forever.

The script supervisor clapped the slate.
“Last Night’s Star, Scene 65, Take 1! Action!”

Wen Yu’s lame leg hurt more and more.
He actually couldn’t walk for long periods.
But after washing dishes in the small restaurant kitchen at night, he still took the photo everywhere asking people.

“Haven’t seen them. Don’t know them. No idea.”
Passersby would glance at it and wave their hands.

Wen Yu pressed his lips together very lightly.
But he was afraid Xiaoyan’er would be sad.
His eyes were still curved.

The night was full of stars.
He chatted with Xiaoyan’er and the others about what they would eat later as he walked back.

He couldn’t afford to keep the youngest younger sister anymore.
He would have to send her to a welfare home tomorrow.
He wanted to take them out for a good meal that night.

Until he ran into a man smoking in an alley.
Wen Yu went over and asked,
“Excuse me, have you seen this little girl?”

The man reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.
He glanced at Wen Yu.
Wen Yu looked only in his teens.
His clothes were old and shabby, and not very clean.
After all, he had just gotten off work and hadn’t had time to change.

“I know,”
the man said, squinting and smiling.
“Come with me. I’ll tell you.”

Wen Yu believed him.
His eyes were moist, his lips trembling slightly.
But he was afraid of being disappointed again.
So he had Xiaoyan’er stay where she was with younger brothers and sisters.

Xiaoyan’er was now very reliable.
She understood everything.
She firmly held younger brothers and sisters’ hands and stopped.

He Lin had actually considered whether to film this scene.
After all, he had positioned this movie for all ages.
And he had filmed it very romantically.
Like a starry night adventure with Wen Yu.

But it was adapted from a true story.
In the end, he decided to film it.
Just more subtly.

Wen Yu followed the man into the alley.
The alley was pitch black.
The man pushed Wen Yu on the shoulder.
Wen Yu stumbled and disappeared into the alley.

Then He Lin called cut.
In the next shot, Wen Yu came out of the alley with a pale face.

He was wearing a pair of found sweatpants.
For some reason, the drawstring was now undone and hanging down.

Wen Yu was still holding fifty yuan in his hand.

“Older brother?”
Xiaoyan’er blinked and ran over with younger brothers and sisters.

Wen Yu touched each of their heads one by one.

Mengmeng hugged his leg and looked up.
“Older brother, what are we going to eat?”

Wen Yu took them to a burger place that was still open.
His fingers trembling, he took the money he had saved, plus the fifty yuan, and ordered a meal for three.

He went to pick up the food.
He felt the shop assistant glance at him.
He was stunned for a moment.
Looking down, he realized his pants were open.
His face instantly flushed red.
His whole body trembling, he very awkwardly fixed the drawstring.

The meal had three burgers.
He handed one to each child.
But Xiaoyan’er and the others firmly refused.

Xiaoyan’er insisted on taking the biggest burger and pushing it into his hand.
“Older brother, you have one too!”

Wen Yu couldn’t argue with them.
He had to take it and eat.
Xiaoyan’er and the others shared the other two burgers.

The meal also had fried chicken, fries, and cola.
They had never eaten anything like this.
They thought they had never tasted anything so good in their lives.

Wen Yu also lowered his head and took a bite of his burger.
But as he ate, his eyes got redder and redder.
Suddenly, tears fell.
He hurriedly raised his hand to wipe them.

“Older brother, what’s wrong?”
Xiaoyan’er and the others stopped eating and looked at him.

Wen Yu’s eyes were still red.
His voice was hoarse.
He smiled at them and said,
“Because it’s so delicious.”

Mengmung was only almost five now.
He also thought the burger was delicious.
So delicious he wanted to cry.
But Xiaoyan’er felt something was wrong.
Only she didn’t understand at the time.
Wen Yu didn’t cry anymore.
He handed them chicken wings, and they continued eating.

But she would never forget that night.
Only when she grew up did she finally understand why Wen Yu had cried.

“Cut!”
The script supervisor clapped the slate again.

Ning Shixue wasn’t that kind of method actor.
He got into character quickly and got out of it quickly.

But it still took him a moment to stop crying.

When he cried, Xie Yaoyao the Great Demon King also started to cry.
The Mengmung he played didn’t know what had happened that night anyway.
He Lin, of course, hadn’t told him.

He just had to cry along with the baby.

He Lin had actually gotten them hot fried chicken and burgers.
But now the little chicken wings didn’t taste good anymore.

Ning Shixue went to wash his face.
He Lin had to review footage that night.
So he took Xie Yaoyao and He Miao back to the homestay.

Xie Yaoyao was listless.
Only in the car did he get excited again.
He launched his chubby cheek attack on Ning Shixue.

He Miao also really wanted to snuggle.
But she was a bit shy.
She was still a little insecure about Ning Shixue.

She knew the plot.
He Lin had explained it to her in a way she could understand.
She also knew that Wen Yu died in the end.

He Miao hugged Ning Shixue’s arm.
Both she and Xie Yaoyao leaned against him.
It was a bit cold in the car, but crowded together, it wasn’t cold anymore.
She asked quietly,
“Little Ning older brother, can we open the restaurant together again next year? Maybe we’ll meet real aliens next year.”

She wanted to have a pact with Little Ning older brother for many years.
They would meet every year.

After all, Ning Shixue wasn’t in good health either.

Xie Yaoyao’s big, dark eyes blinked.
Although the aliens were fake, he also really wanted to go find aliens with the baby.
Next year, the year after that.

Ning Shixue was stunned for a moment.
His eyes curved.
His gaze was almost gentle.
He said to them,
“I’ll try.”

It was very late when they got to the homestay.
Xie Zhaozhou had messaged him.
He said he would be very late tonight.

He told Ning Shixue not to wait for him.

Sometimes when Xie Zhaozhou came home or to the set, Ning Shixue was already asleep.
He didn’t even know he had come.
But he still came.
He would look at Ning Shixue’s face in the moonlight.
Afraid of waking him, he didn’t dare touch him.
He just pulled the blanket over him.

Although Xie Zhaozhou said that, Ning Shixue still forced himself to stay awake.
He waited for him for over half an hour.
He waited in the other bedroom until late at night.
Xie Zhaozhou finally came to find him.

Xie Zhaozhou’s narrow, dark eyes curved.
His hands were cold.
He warmed them under the blanket before touching Ning Shixue’s face.

They could never see each other.
Longing merged with desire.
Ning Shixue didn’t even know what happened.
Xie Zhaozhou’s hot breath fiercely pressed down on him.
His eyelashes trembled as he tilted his head up to bite Xie Zhaozhou’s lips.

Xie Zhaozhou pushed through his teeth and kissed deeply.
Ning Shixue could barely breathe.
He could only cling to Xie Zhaozhou’s shoulders.
His lips were sucked soft, wet, red, and hot.
Xie Zhaozhou lowered his head to kiss his eyes, his burning ears.
His lips brushed through his hair.
He bit his earlobe and teased.

Ning Shixue was tortured by him.
But Xie Zhaozhou just kissed him.
Ever since he was discharged, it was like this every time.

He finally couldn’t take it anymore.
His face bright red, he whispered angrily,
“If you’re going to do it, do it. If not, get lost.”

It couldn’t be more direct.

Xie Zhaozhou was stunned for a moment.
He couldn’t help chuckling softly.
His chest vibrated.
He leaned down and laughed in Ning Shixue’s ear.

“…”
The tips of Ning Shixue’s ears reddened to the point of bleeding.
He was embarrassed and angry.
“If you don’t do it, I’ll find someone else.”

Xie Zhaozhou’s whole body stiffened for a moment.
When he looked up again, his dark eyes stared at him intently.
“What did you say?”

“Didn’t you already know?”
Ning Shixue said, raising his hand to unbutton Xie Zhaozhou’s shirt.
His beautiful peach blossom eyes held a hint of cunning.
“I have a male model I keep with my hundred thousand.”

Xie Zhaozhou: “…”

Ning Shixue deliberately provoked him.
“When you’re not home, he comes to me. He even picks me up from the set.”

“…”
Xie Zhaozhou firmly grabbed his hand.
He suddenly smiled and said quietly,
“Is that so?”

Ning Shixue was pressed onto the sofa.
The soundproofing in this place wasn’t good.
Xie Zhaozhou covered his mouth.
But he patted him, coaxed him, and pressed him about how that male model had bullied him.

Ning Shixue couldn’t say a word.
Hot tears streamed down, wetting his hands.
He looked so pitiful crying.
Only then did Xie Zhaozhou soften.
He lowered his head and held him, coaxing him.

But Xie Zhaozhou still couldn’t stay with him all night.
Ning Shixue couldn’t help feeling guilty.
It was like Xie Zhaozhou really was being kept by him.
He didn’t even dare let him stay the night.

Xie Zhaozhou worked without complaint.
He carried him and rinsed him off.
Then he buttoned his own shirt again.

Ning Shixue touched his deep features.
Xie Zhaozhou grabbed his hand and kissed it.
He said quietly,
“Wait for me a little longer.”

“This time, nothing will go wrong.”

Ning Shixue was stunned for a moment.
Xie Zhaozhou tucked him in.
He was already about to leave.

Ning Shixue actually knew that Xie Zhaozhou might have guessed he wasn’t from this world.
But now he even suspected that Xie Zhaozhou might have guessed this was a novel.

He thought again of Xie Zhaozhou’s death in the original story.
A ridiculous thought suddenly surfaced.
Maybe in the original story, Xie Zhaozhou had also guessed.

The original story didn’t have him, the person who had transmigrated into the book.
Xie Zhaozhou might have guessed even later.
Not until the end did he finally discover the truth of the world.

Turns out he was just a villain in a book.
His life experiences were just a setup.
He was destined to end up like this.

If that was the case, there was no need to stay in this place.
Maybe after leaving, he could find reality?

He didn’t think Xie Zhaozhou’s personality would lead to suicide.
But Xie Zhaozhou might have seen it as an experiment.

Everything in the original story existed for Xie Hanzhou.
Even though the plot could now be changed, every person who appeared was naturally inclined towards Xie Hanzhou.
Like Cheng Zhang, even Xie Mengyuan.

Xie Mengyuan was naturally closer to Xie Hanzhou.
And although he seemed gentle, he didn’t oppose any of Cheng Zhang’s actions.
That was effectively standing against Xie Zhaozhou.

He had indeed spoken up for Xie Zhaozhou.
But those were trivial matters.
Who wouldn’t say something like that?

So the unchanged plot would continue according to the original story.
Until the moment it was completely changed.

In the original story, Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t change anything.
Every decision he made was the most appropriate at the time.
But they all became foreshadowing for Xie Hanzhou’s rise in the Xie Group.
It was an unsolvable ending.

Ning Shixue couldn’t help following him out.
The other guests were all asleep.
He called out quietly,
“Xie Zhaozhou.”

Xie Zhaozhou stopped.

The living room live stream was still on.
Because the kids sometimes secretly ran out at night.
They might do anything.
When a child is quiet, they must be up to something.

The guests also sometimes secretly snuck out at night to date.
None of them could escape the director’s camera.
It was indeed more authentic than other shows.
This was also why this show had been so popular until now.

There were almost no people in the bullet comments late at night.
But when they suddenly saw Ning Shixue, they all typed a string of question marks.

Ning Shixue bumped into Xie Zhaozhou’s arms.
Xie Zhaozhou was wearing a long black trench coat.
It made him look tall with long legs.
His palm held Ning Shixue’s waist.
He held it so tightly, like he could break it.
Ning Shixue wrapped his arms around his neck, stood on tiptoe, and suddenly kissed him.

The bullet comments thought they hadn’t woken up yet.

[??????]

[Wifey is finally not being standoffish with me. Covering mouth crying.jpg]

[Sniff, staying up late really lets you see good things. I stayed up until 3:30. I deserve to see this.]

Xie Zhaozhou swayed slightly from the impact.
Then he held Ning Shixue’s waist.
He also hadn’t expected Ning Shixue to suddenly kiss him.

But he still lowered his head and kissed him back.
Not until Ning Shixue couldn’t breathe and let go, his ears red, did he stop.

“What’s wrong?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked, his phoenix eyes curved, his lips also curved.
He rubbed his cheek.

He forcibly suppressed his flirtatious words.
He had originally wanted to say, “Did Teacher Xiao Ning think it wasn’t enough just now?” and “You’re so reluctant to let me go.”
But he was afraid of embarrassing Ning Shixue and keeping him from sleeping well at night.

Ning Shixue shook his head.
He didn’t say anything.
Now he finally knew how Xie Zhaozhou died.

The person he loved was trapped in this world.