QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead Chapter 29: Don't fog up the windows

Needless to say, the ride to set with Su Xueyi is all kinds of awkward.

Li Siqi sits in the backseat completely unaware of the charged atmosphere between the two of them.

Xi Zirui is only glad that he's freshly showered, and that there's no way for Su Xueyi, or anyone else, to tell he spent the previous night getting fucked in increasingly more daring positions.

He has to marvel at Han Yu's core strength.

He spends the whole drive distracting himself by reliving last night's events. By the ti he notices they're are already pulling up to the set grounds.

Xi Zirui has a very busy day ahead of him, so it's a good thing he has a fairly low-intensity filming schedule today.

First order of business, conferring with Ji Lii.

He finds her in the makeup trailer where the cast sotis gets ready before big ensemble scenes.

She's sitting in front of a mirror fiddling with her mobile while an artist blushes her cheeks.

Xi Zirui takes a seat next to her, and pinches her ear lightly to get her attention.

She gasps and looks around in outrage before noticing him next to her. "Oh, Zi-di, I didn't see you there."

He smirks at her and wiggles his eyebrows. "Li-jie can tell her friend to go ahead and publish the video."

Ji Lii's eyes widen comically. "Is Zi-di, sure? We won't be able to turn around once my friend does it."

Xi Zirui nods. "I'm sure, tell her to publish it with the caption we agreed on."

Ji Lii taps away on her mobile, and a few minutes later a WeChat notification pings on the screen showing a thumbs up emoji.

He wastes no ti opening his new dummy weibo account, now with an appropriately inconspicuous na.

The other day, he asked Ji Lii to record the fight between him and Han Yu in the dining hall. Posting the video from the account of soone known for talking about celebrity gossip was crucial to get his plan rolling without the public noticing the hands of the puppeteer behind the scenes.

Thankfully, Ji Lii knew just the person, a childhood friend who spent too much ti online, and didn't think twice about actually being the one to announce "breaking news", for once.

She posts the video of Xi Zirui storming out the dining hall with the caption: "Sources in the crew say Xi Zirui was upset with Han Yu because he lied to him about having a baby with Bai Mi! Han Yu denied having a child and Xi Zirui believed him, but it seems that whatever he saw in Han Yu's phone changed his mind! DDD:"

It doesn't take long for the speculation under the post to grow rampant.

"WaterLily: I knew it! They were in a relationship, and of course Xi Zirui didn't know anything about any kid! Honestly people are crazy, blaming him like that. I still don't believe Han Yu got Bai Mi pregnant tho."

JayHo: Honestly, it's his own damn fault for getting hurt. Han Yu looks like such a player...only an idiot would trust soone like that."

Ohh, harsh JayHo, harsh. Xi Zirui takes a screenshot of his comnt to tease Han Yu with later.

"SunshineandRainbows: I hope they can work things out DD:

Realfax: @SunshineandRainbows are you an idiot? The guy is going to have a kid with soone else, what is there to fix?

ZhuanLun: Doesn't anyone else find it odd that Bai Mi won't just co out and say she's pregnant, once and for all? Why keep feeding the rumor mill?"

Xi Zirui smiles to himself. That's a very good question, and ZhuanLun will be getting their answer in a couple of hours.

"Thank you, Li-jie, you've been a great help," Xi Zirui says, grinning at Ji Lii before dropping a big, smacking kiss on her cheek.

Stunned, she raises her fingers to her cheek. "Oh, it's ruined. Now I'll have to sit here and have my makeup done all over again."

But Xi Zirui is already leaving the makeup trailer, and doesn't hear her dismayed sigh.

---

Ni Ni informs him, not long after he gets to the shooting location, the the video has already been useful in increasing sympathy for him, his public perception is rising steadily in response.

His good mood buoys him all through filming the first scenes of the day. Mostly solo scenes where Hai Yaoi investigates the strange disappearance of so irrelevant righteous cultivator or other, before being joined by his newly minted husband.

It's possible that he has made it into Liao Min's good books, because she barely reprimands him.

There's an odd feeling coursing through him.

Now that he's finally getting used to filming and being on set, there's less than a month left until they finish filming "Demonic Sect Leader, I'll make you fall in Love with ."

It makes him anxious to think about what's going to happen once filming is over. What it will an for him and Han Yu.

Suspiciously, Ni Ni remains oddly silent on that matter.

Whatever, he's not going to suffer from anticipation. He'll deal with whatever happens, when it happens.

How terrible can this bad ending be, honestly? Han Yu's parents will disapprove of their relationship and Xi Zirui won't be invited over for Chinese New Year's?

He can live with that.

---

He doesn't see Han Yu until lunch, and it takes an enormous effort not to smile like a fool when their eyes et across the dining hall.

Su Xueyi is once again trailing him like a shadow, but he's a little distracted by whatever he's seeing on his own phone.

He's about to be even more distracted.

Xi Zirui and Han Yu pick up their food, and eat in separate tables, sticking to the ruse they created the previous day.

Under the table, Xi Zirui sends Han Yu a ssage: "Tell Cao Fei to go ahead and publish everything now. We're in public and there's a room full of people that can attest to how uninvolved both of us were in the whole thing, if it ever cos to that."

Across the room, Xi Zirui thinks he can see Han Yu nod imperceptibly.

It wasn't an easy thing, but Han Yu managed to rope Cao Fei into being the one to release the video where Bai Mi admitted to the whole charade. Han Yu also gave him the non-disclosure agreent she wanted him to sign, which Cao Fei will also be uploading online.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for shit to hit the fan.

Xi Zirui keeps count, it takes less than sixty seconds for the first shocked gasp to echo through the room. A carawoman is frantically tapping on her phone while talking with the girl next to her.

Whatever she says, it's enough to make her friend fish out her own phone from her jeans' pocket, eyes glued to the screen.

It's a domino effect after that, as more and more people start checking weibo for Cao Fei's announcent.

Xi Zirui looks around with a confused expression and then turns to Su Xueyi, "What is going on?"

It's hard not to smirk when Su Xueyi shrugs and brings up weibo's hopage. "Probably gossip."

His eyes widen when he reads the title of the number one trending topic.

Above his shoulder Xi Zirui can make out the words "Bai Mi the Liar!" as the trending search result.

"What is it? Everyone is so focused on their phones," Xi Zirui asks, almost whining. "I feel like I'm missing out."

Su Xueyi gives him a worried look and then turns off his screen. "It's nothing...nothing important." He gets up from his chair in a hurry, making it skid against the smooth pavent. "There's sothing I need to do, excuse for a mont. I'll be back soon."

As soon as he's gone, Xi Zirui can open his own phone and enjoy the schadenfreude to the fullest.

Cao Fei published the announcent in the na of Han Yu's company, who was "releasing compromising video and docunts, with the intent to safeguard their artist's good na, and moral standing in society."

There really isn't much else to say, the video of Bai Mi threatening Han Yu speaks for itself.

The comnts are as vitriolic as Bai Mi's own words.

"Pikachuuuu: I can't believe I felt sorry for this bitch, I never want to see her face again!

IndigoPearl: I think she might actually be a sociopath. I'm impressed she managed to fake it this long.

TeaLeaves: @IndigoPearl, I'm not, that's what sociopaths are good at. I'm just glad Han Yu's company finally exposed her.

JetJet: @TeaLeaves, You have to wonder tho, if she never went against Han Yu would we ever have found out the truth about her?

WaterLily: Ugh, I can't believe she called xiao Zizi a "boytoy", and she's the reason they fought too! I hope that with the misunderstanding cleared up, Zizi will forgive Yuyu!

IndigoPearl: @WaterLily, Really? Is it all about CP bullshit with you people?

WaterLily: @IndigoPearl, Yes