After Joining a Dating Show with My Ex

Xia Qi is a hugely popular singer, cool-tempered and handsome. He has always focused on his work and is famous for being untouchable.

Yet when asked about his dating history at a music awards ceremony, he unexpectedly smiled faintly. "Never. Not once."

The hashtag #XiaQiHasAlwaysBeenSingle shot to the top of the trending topics within half an hour.

Jiang Linchuan, who had been secretly keeping tabs on his ex, glared at the trending topic marked "Explosive." He remembered blurting out "three relationships" in an interview two weeks earlier, and ground his back teeth in frustration.

Well done. "Never. Not once," huh?

He'd only made up a number to save face, and Xia Qi went and denied they had ever been together?

The sunset on the high school track, the strawberry milk he'd secretly slipped him during evening study... So all of it was nothing to him?

Jiang Linchuan furiously scrolled through the hashtag page, downvoting everyone.

Just as he was brooding in the shadows, his assistant hesitantly handed him an invitation to a variety show. "The team behind Men Living Together has followed up again..."

Jiang Linchuan didn't even look up. "I'm not going."

"I heard Xia Qi will be on it this time..."

???

Was he already looking for a new flame?

Jiang Linchuan jerked his head up and decided to pack his things and join the show at once.

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Jiang Linchuan is a music producer who worked overseas. Not long after returning home, one of his original singles became a minor hit.

Rumor has it that he and Xia Qi were high school classmates, but they never interacted in public. The audience was eager for something to ship, but there was no solid evidence.

Then everyone found out they were both appearing on a live dating show, Men Living Together.

Along with a reunion between old friends (and maybe something more), the production team carefully arranged an older-partner sweet romance and a pseudo-incest pairing. They also added cameras following the contestants 24/7, random roommate assignments, and games designed to stir up trouble, all to give viewers plenty to enjoy and ship with confidence.

But the audience couldn't focus on any of that. Damn it, something was definitely going on between those high school classmates.

After working up a sweat during a mission, Jiang Linchuan took off his T-shirt without a second thought. Xia Qi grabbed him by the back of his waistband and pulled him out of camera range.

Xia Qi took one sip of his milk tea, and Jiang Linchuan snatched it away and sucked on the straw like crazy.

Night fell. Xia Qi came out of the bathroom wrapped in a bathrobe and ran into Jiang Linchuan leaning against the balcony railing.

"Back when we broke up," Jiang Linchuan suddenly said, "you said we were incompatible in that way. Want to reassess that now?"

Damn it, something really was going on between those high school classmates.

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