Chapter 30: A Loving Breakfast

Chapter 30: A Loving Breakfast

"Hahahahahaha—"

The moment Song Zhehan's words fell, the quiet corridor echoed with Li Siyuan's exaggerated laughter.

Ye Leyao tightly pursed his lips, barely restraining himself from laughing like Li Siyuan, but the corners of his mouth still curled up uncontrollably, unable to be held back.

Liu Yan was still out of the loop, somewhat confused about the current situation, and could only ask Yang Qi with a questioning gaze.

How could Yang Qi dare to meet Liu Yan's eyes?

Song Zhehan was all but directly saying that she had just been vomiting in the toilet, and she was so nervous that beads of sweat formed on her forehead. After a long while, she managed a somewhat stiff smile and said with difficulty, "That joke wasn't very funny, and you must have misheard me earlier…"

"Did I mishear?" Song Zhehan raised an eyebrow, his tone sincere. "Impossible. The corridor was so quiet just now; there's no way I could have misheard. Rather, Sister Yang Qi, if you're not feeling well, you definitely shouldn't hide it from us."

"Yes," Li Siyuan, who had finished laughing, spoke up in a rare good mood. "If you really feel unwell anywhere, why don't you go to the hospital for a check-up?"

"To the hospital?"

"How could Yang Qi dare to go!"

"Forget that she isn't actually unwell anywhere. If she really went to the hospital and the doctors found out that her teeth were eroding and falling out due to her constant purging, wouldn't that directly prove that she was making herself vomit? How would she maintain her foodie persona then?"

Qin Yao couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Ye Leyao quickly turned to look at Qin Yao and commented,

"Mr. Qin is quite quick to get dressed for the sake of watching the drama unfold."

Qin Yao: "…"

Ye Leyao glanced once before quickly turning away, continuing to watch the spectacle.

On the other side.

Because Huo Dad and Huo Mom had just gotten into an argument with the live chat comments, although they felt they had won the argument, those netizens were like cockroaches that couldn't be killed off, constantly popping up to be a nuisance. So, Huo Dad and Huo Mom simply blocked the live chat.

Now that the exciting face-slapping scene was about to happen, Huo Dad and Huo Mom didn't want to miss out on the entertaining real-time comments again, so they quickly reopened the live chat.

Half an hour ago, after the guests had dispersed, most of the netizens had also left. Now, suddenly finding that the live stream of "Travel Together" was trending on the homepage again, many uninformed netizens clicked in:

"Huh? Just came in, what happened?"

"Why are all the guests on the third floor?"

"Is Baby Yang Qi not feeling well?"

Seeing Yang Qi's fans, Huo Mom was speechless and used her VIP account to send another scrolling comment:

"Prolonged vomiting does indeed make one uncomfortable; it's better to pity the wasted food than to worry about Yang Qi."

"Wasting is shameful!!!"

The scrolling barrage was too conspicuous. Two consecutive golden barrages stood out in the live stream room where the number of messages had significantly decreased at night.

Netizens who had just entered were dumbfounded.

"Vomiting?"

"Who?"

"Yang Qi?"

Mother Huo didn't reply anymore and continued watching the live stream.

On the third floor of the villa.

As more guests came upstairs, Yang Qi grew increasingly anxious. The program's live stream was still ongoing. She wondered if there were many netizens in the live stream room at this time. If the number of people in the live stream room hadn't decreased from before, wouldn't that mean tens of thousands of netizens were watching right now?

Yang Qi was clearly panicking. This matter had to be resolved quickly and quietly; it couldn't blow up.

If it blew up, she would be finished!

She couldn't afford to pay attention to Li Siyuan and Song Zhehan anymore. She needed to return to her room immediately.

"I'm not feeling unwell, thank you for your concern," said Yang Qi, turning around and walking away as soon as she finished speaking.

But just as she took a step outside, Song Zhehan suddenly grabbed her arm.

"But I see that Sister Yang Qi, you look terrible," said Song Zhehan with concern, his deep eyes fixed on Yang Qi's face. After several seconds, he spoke worriedly, "Why don't we listen to Siyuan and take you to the hospital for a full check-up?"

He deliberately emphasized the words "full check-up."

Yang Qi felt her scalp tingle.

Ye Leyao couldn't help but laugh:

"A full check-up!"

"Young Song Zhehan, you'd better genuinely care about Yang Qi's health."

"I can see through you, you have a black heart!"

How could Yang Qi possibly go to the hospital? She shook her head vigorously and said, "Really, it's not necessary. I really don't feel unwell anywhere. It's just that..."

"It's just that your stomach is upset and you vomited?" Li Siyuan suddenly spoke up, considerately completing the rest of Yang Qi's sentence and pointing to her hand covering her stomach.

Yang Qi's face paled, and she hurriedly lowered her hand.

Ye Leyao turned her head, struggling to suppress the upward curl of her lips.

"Sure enough, Song Zhehan and Li Siyuan love nothing more than a good spectacle!"

Qin Yao glanced helplessly at Ye Leyao.

Why must you alone overlook yourself?

The camera captured Ye Leyao's sly smile, and the online spectators who had followed her for the drama instantly picked up on it:

"So Ye Leyao, you rushed up here just to watch Yang Qi induce vomiting?"

"Didn't Yang Qi's fans claim she has an enormous appetite? Then why is she inducing vomiting?"

Yang Qi's fans, seeing these comments, exploded at the mention of "inducing vomiting":

"Just where did you haters come from, setting the tone like this? Did Yang Qi even say she vomited for you to be so quick to label her?"

"Even if Yang Qi did vomit, it could have been due to something wrong with tonight's dishes, right? Or perhaps she's just not feeling well today?"

Liu Yan finally caught on, looking at Yang Qi with a complicated expression. After hesitating for a moment, she tried to defuse the situation: "Sister Yang Qi, did you vomit because your stomach was upset? Or could it be the food tonight..."

Zhou Zijian, having just arrived, panicked upon hearing this: "That can't be! The dishes I cooked were definitely well-done, and the ingredients were all fresh. And none of us had any issues after eating; it couldn't be food poisoning, could it?"

The online spectators found amusement in this, while also sympathizing with Zhou Zijian:

"Well, well, well, if I were Zhou Zijian, I'd be furious! After working hard to prepare a feast for the guests, to have the fans turn around and blame the food quality on me!"

"Poor Brother Zhou, truly."

"Regardless of whether it's induced vomiting or not, we should just continue watching, no need for the fans to rush out to defend so hastily."

Modern netizens, seasoned in consuming gossip, have experienced countless instances of manipulation and various major and minor scandals.

Netizens are no longer the naive ones who would follow along with anyone setting the tone; they are now the钮祜禄·netizens!

They won't be swayed by anyone; they only believe what their eyes see.

If it really were food poisoning, how is it that so many guests ate without issue, yet only Yang Qi vomited?

But if it wasn't food poisoning—

A malicious netizen recalled Song Zhehan's earlier "joke":

"It means she's pregnant then? Hahahaha—"

"Hahahahaha wouldn't that be even more serious than vomiting? We haven't heard of Yang Qi dating anyone, have we? Could it be that you fans are about to gain a brother-in-law?"

What vicious and piercing words they were.

Upon hearing them, Mr. and Mrs. He's faces instantly lit up with joy.

...

In just five short minutes, all the guests except for Du Yueqin had gathered on the third floor, at the so-called "battlefield."

Ye Leyao's eyes sparkled, her tone filled with barely contained anticipation:

"Alright, everyone's here. Now it's Yang Qi's turn to perform!"

But surprisingly, the first one to speak was Zhou Zijian, his voice urgent and sincere: "Shouldn't we call an ambulance instead?"

He was genuinely worried, after all, he was the one who prepared tonight's feast. If any of the guests fell seriously ill from eating it, he couldn't bear the responsibility!

All eyes turned to Yang Qi.

"Yes, she should go to the hospital for a check-up," Li Siyuan added, not one to miss out on the drama.

Under everyone's watchful gaze, Yang Qi's complexion could no longer be described as merely pale.

She had assumed that by this time, everyone would have retired to their rooms to wash up and get ready for bed. That's why Yang Qi had quietly slipped into the public restroom to induce vomiting. She never expected that in such a brief moment, she would attract all the guests.

Yet her actions hadn't been particularly loud or obvious. If it weren't for Song Zhehan—

Yang Qi's face flushed with anger, her eyes brimming with suppressed rage. But she couldn't lash out directly at Song Zhehan.

After all, in the eyes of both the guests and the audience, Song Zhehan's actions stemmed from genuine concern for her health. She couldn't very well bite the hand that fed her, could she?

Yet Yang Qi couldn't shake off the feeling that everything was too coincidental. She even suspected that Song Zhehan might have deliberately set her up.

But she and Song Zhehan didn't have any overlapping interests or resources to compete over!

Or was she simply having a run of bad luck today?

Panic-stricken, Yang Qi tried to maintain a composed facade, striving to keep her voice steady as she spoke: "No... there's really nothing wrong with me. I must have eaten a bit too hastily earlier, which is why I came to the restroom to vomit..."

"So you did actually vomit," Li Siyuan remarked, leaning against the wall, his tone carrying a deeper meaning.

Yang Qi's expression froze as she realized she had said too much.

Netizens, who had been watching the spectacle, burst into laughter:

"Hahahaha, so she admitted to vomiting after all."

"But she couldn't very well say she was pregnant, could she? Hahahaha—"

"Avoiding the heavy stuff, she chose the easiest explanation for vomiting."

Yang Qi's fans exploded at the sight of these comments:

"Yang Qi only said she vomited; she never said she induced vomiting!"

"Can you guys stop misrepresenting Yang Qi's words?"

"To find out if it was self-induced or not, why don't you just watch the replay?"

Upon this comment being posted, another wave of "hahas" flooded the screen, and immediately, a netizen responded:

"Hold on, I'm going to check the replay right now!"

Ye Leyao, upon hearing Yang Qi's explanation, curled her lips in disdain:

"Rushed? Eating a bowl of instant noodles for half an hour is called eating too quickly?"

"I can finish a bowl of instant noodles in one go when I'm hungry!"

Qin Yao couldn't help but imagine Ye Leyao devouring a bowl of instant noodles in one bite—it must look quite similar to a little hamster, no?

A hint of amusement flickered across his eyes.

Song Zhehan feigned surprise, his expression full of confusion: "Really? But I seem to remember that Yang Qi, you ate that last bowl of instant noodles rather slowly, almost half an hour?"

Yang Qi's face alternated between green and white, realizing that the more she tried to explain, the more muddled things became. She really wanted to turn around and leave.

Yet Song Zhehan persisted, turning his head to confirm with Ye Leyao: "Did I remember incorrectly?"

"How could you possibly have remembered wrong?"

"You even checked the time back then! And insisted on asking me!"

Suppressing the corners of her mouth, Ye Leyao still answered very cooperatively: "Yes, it was exactly thirty minutes."

Yang Qi glared at Song Zhehan with bloodshot eyes.

At this moment, she finally realized belatedly that Song Zhehan had been intentional all along.

Ever since she entered the bathroom—no, even earlier when she was cooking the instant noodles in the kitchen—Song Zhehan had already seen through her!

He knew from the start that she would induce vomiting and had been waiting here to see her make a spectacle of herself.

Yang Qi's eyes reddened, and she angrily shook off Song Zhehan's hand: "So what if I took thirty minutes? Can't I vomit because I'm feeling unwell?"

"If you're feeling unwell, you should go to the hospital for a check-up." Qin Yao finally spoke up, his voice not loud, yet it drew everyone's attention instantly.

Yang Qi's anger had reached its peak, but the moment she heard Qin Yao's voice, her rationality was abruptly pulled back.

Before participating in the variety show, her agent had warned her that while she could disregard everyone else, there was one person she couldn't afford to offend—Qin Yao.

Behind Qin Yao stood the entire Qin family, the Qin Group, and even the largest investor in the variety show "Let's Travel Together" was none other than Qin Yao himself.

If she offended Qin Yao, she wouldn't be able to continue her career.

As if a bucket of cold water had been splashed in her face, the fire in Yang Qi's heart was instantly extinguished, and her blood seemed to freeze in her veins at that moment.

Qin Yao stood there without stopping Song Zhehan, nor did he ask the other guests to leave, nor did he show any intention of helping her out of this predicament. Did this also mean that she had been abandoned by the program team?

If Qin Yao could hear Yang Qi's thoughts, he would certainly clarify at this moment: The program team didn't abandon Yang Qi just now; they had abandoned her from the beginning.

Actually, even saying it like this wasn't entirely accurate.

Because Qin Yao had foreseen that the guests he invited had varying probabilities of causing trouble, apart from Ye Leyao and himself, he had prepared contingency plans for all the guests.

Once they encountered trouble on the variety show, he would activate emergency public relations as soon as possible.

Whether the public relations favored the guest, the program team, or achieved a win-win situation would depend on the guests' own choices.

"I won't go to the hospital..." Yang Qi took a step back, shaking her head mutely, "I'm in perfect health, I'm not feeling unwell, I don't need to go to the hospital..."

Qin Yao nodded.

It seemed that Yang Qi had made her choice.

In fact, if she were willing to admit her mistake and sincerely apologize at this point, everything might still be salvageable.

Unfortunately, not everyone could seize the opportunity.

Qin Yao shook his head ever so slightly.

"Really not going to the hospital for a check-up?" Song Zhehan asked with concern, taking another step forward.

Yang Qi finally couldn't take it anymore. She directly pushed Song Zhehan away and raised her voice: "I've already said I won't go, are you crazy? It's just that I overate and vomited once. Do you have to make a big deal out of it? What's your ulterior motive in forcing me to go to the hospital?!"

Song Zhehan looked shocked: "I was worried about Sister Yang Qi..."

But Yang Qi didn't give him a chance to speak, rushing straight into the room.

The sound of a door slamming shut echoed.

Only the few guests remained standing in place.

"She ran off just like that?"

Ye Leyao was surprised:

"Is Yang Qi's mental fortitude so weak? Could she have been so easily triggered?"

Ye Leyao then looked at Liu Yan and Zhou Zijian.

At this point, was there anything they didn't understand?

When Liu Yan thought about how she had genuinely envied Yang Qi that evening, she felt like slapping her past self.

There's no such thing as a star who doesn't gain weight; only those shameful individuals who maintain their image by secretly inducing vomiting!

Zhou Zijian was even more speechless.

He had been cooking for years, so how could there possibly be food poisoning?

Recalling the dinner table that evening, where all the adult men had stopped eating, yet Yang Qi continued to pile food onto her plate.

For a moment, Zhou Zijian's expression was incredibly complicated.

Only Song Zhehan wore a look of sorrow. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Everyone's gone, and you're still acting?"

Ye Leyao looked at him.

It turned out that Song Zhehan was truly dedicated to maintaining his persona, as he frowned slightly and looked worriedly in the direction Yang Qi had left. "I feel like Sister Yang Qi misunderstood me; it's a little sad."

Ye Leyao almost burst out laughing.

"It should be 'very happy,' right?"

However, Ye Leyao didn't expose Song Zhehan.

The corners of Qin Yao's mouth curved upward as he suddenly explained to Zhou Zijian, "It seems it really wasn't Brother Zhou's problem, so don't worry."

Zhou Zijian nodded.

As if it would be his problem!

The guests tacitly understood each other and said nothing more in front of the cameras.

But netizens weren't deaf or blind; how could they not understand the implications of their words?

The barrage of comments was filled with laughter.

"Alright, alright, we can now confirm that Yang Qi was indeed inducing vomiting in the bathroom!"

"Where are my information scouts? Didn't you say you were going to watch the replay? Where's the replay?!"

"It's here, it's here! Some sisters have already posted on Weibo!"

Modern netizens were quick to feast on gossip. Within ten minutes of the incident ending, the highlights from the live stream replay had already been edited.

The video showed that ten minutes before Ye Leyao went upstairs, Yang Qi had secretly opened the door to the suite, looked around for a moment, confirmed that the corridor was empty, and then hurriedly headed for the public restroom.

Not long after Yang Qi entered, the door to the opposite suite opened, and the person who came out was naturally Song Zhehan.

When Song Zhehan reached the entrance to the public restroom and noticed someone inside, he quickly returned to his room.

But two minutes later, he came out again, pausing at the door for a few seconds this time.

From this angle, the camera captured Song Zhehan's face, clearly showing that he seemed to frown and say, "It sounds like someone is vomiting."

The cameras installed inside the villa were state-of-the-art equipment. When Song Zhehan first left his room, netizens with keen ears heard faint sounds of vomiting, which the video's author considerately annotated with subtitles.

Following that were scenes of Song Zhehan loudly knocking on the door, Liu Yan and Li Siyuan opening their doors one after another, and Ye Leyao, Qin Yao, and Zhou Zijian arriving on the third floor in succession.

Seeing this, what was there for netizens not to understand?

"Over, over, Yang Qi has really crashed and burned! Hahahaha—"

"Good, the evidence is out. Where are Yang Qi's fans?"

"?? So, I'm a bit confused. Why did Yang Qi establish an image as a foodie when she eats and then induces vomiting?"

"To generate traffic and topics, isn't that simple?"

"Woah, Yang Qi only crashed today? During one of her previous live streams, I suspected she was pretending to eat."

"Sister above, tell us more?"

Modern netizens were indeed powerful beyond measure.

Before long, Yang Qi's past food broadcasting videos, live stream clips, and even videos released by her studio were thoroughly scrutinized by netizens. Not only did they find evidence of Yang Qi inducing vomiting, but they also unearthed a video that directly proved she was fake eating!

Due to the dramatic events that afternoon, "Let's Travel Together" had already trended once, and the number of online viewers during the evening's live stream had reached new heights. Who would have thought that just before bedtime, another fresh and hot piece of gossip would emerge.

Countless marketing accounts vied to retweet this video, causing its popularity to soar once again.

When the melon-eating netizens saw that the trending topic included the tag for "Let's Travel Together," they finally couldn't hold back.

"But wait, didn't your variety show just start filming today? How many pieces of gossip is this now?"

"Count carefully, it's the second! The first was the argument!"

"I'm impressed. What's the name of your variety show, 'Let's Travel Together'? Quickly change it to 'Let's Eat Melons Together'!"

While enjoying the melon, netizens didn't forget to comment:

"I can somewhat understand creating a persona, but Yang Qi, inducing vomiting is really going too far."

"+1, I really hate people who waste food!"

"Wasting is shameful!!!"

Indeed, I really detest those who waste food, but—Yeye Le Yao! Why are you always the first one to join in the commotion?!

"Hahahaha, has anyone watched the replay of Yeye Le Yao's room stream? Just a second before, he was about to take a shower, but when he heard the commotion, he rushed upstairs!"

"I noticed that too! I followed Yeye Le Yao to partake in this fresh gossip; thank you, Yeye Le Yao! I hereby dub thee the Patriarch of Gossip!"

Upon seeing this comment, Yeye Le Yao was instantly unsettled:

"Why are they calling me the Patriarch of Gossip?"

"The progenitor of gossiping?"

Lying on his bed, Yeye Le Yao began to reflect:

"I do enjoy joining in the fun, but I'm not that much of a fun-seeker, am I?"

Qin Yao, in the neighboring room, found this amusing as he turned over in his sleep.

To join in the fun and partake in gossip, he had agreed to participate in his variety show, yet he claims he doesn't like joining in the fun?

A peaceful night's sleep ensued.

The next morning, Yeye Le Yao was awakened by Qin Yao's knocking on the door.

Having stayed up late browsing Weibo comments the previous night, Yeye Le Yao was still somewhat disoriented when he opened his eyes in the morning.

After changing into his clothes, washing up, and descending downstairs, Yeye Le Yao was still dazed.

It wasn't until he reached the dining room and heard a familiar female voice say, "Little Ye, you're awake? Come have breakfast," that he snapped to attention.

Yeye Le Yao turned his head abruptly, spotting an unexpected person—Du Yueqin.

When Yeye Le Yao looked at the dining table, it was adorned with a dazzling array of breakfast dishes.

There was porridge and fried dough sticks, as well as some exquisite-looking steamed buns and pan-fried dumplings that appeared both delicate and delicious.

Yeye Le Yao's pupils widened in shock:

"Wait, these weren't all made by Du Yueqin, were they?"

"Is this for real?"

"Has she so quickly forgiven us and forgotten our past grievances?!"

Qin Yao beckoned to Yeye Le Yao, signaling him to come and sit down.

Yeye Le Yao sat down in a daze, only to hear Song Zhehan suddenly whisper, "Surprised?"

Yeye Le Yao looked up at him, blinking, his voice also hushed: "Aren't you surprised?"

Song Zhehan remained silent, merely lowering his head to take a sip of porridge.

Qin Yao served Yeye Le Yao a bowl of porridge.

Yeye Le Yao expressed his gratitude, and after taking a sip of the savory seafood porridge, he suddenly remembered something. He raised his head and scanned the room, but there was no sign of him!

"Where's Brother Zhou!"

"What happened to my Brother Zhou?!"

Qin Yao resisted the urge to rub his ears, pausing for a moment before silently pointing in a direction.

Yeye Le Yao followed his gaze and saw Zhou Zijian nestled in a secluded corner of the sofa. In front of him was the living room coffee table, upon which were placed steamed dumplings, steamed small buns, shrimp and seafood porridge, soy milk and fried dough sticks...a series of breakfast dishes as sumptuous as a Cantonese-style morning tea.

But Zhou Zijian hadn't touched any of them; he was simply holding a bowl of plain porridge and quietly drinking it.

This was because on every plate of breakfast in front of Zhou Zijian, a large red heart had been drawn with red tomato sauce.

Song Zhehan's eerie voice echoed: "Brother Zhou's breakfast is different from ours; it's a special love-filled breakfast~"

Yeye Le Yao instantly became alert.

"So Du Yueqin isn't forgiving us with a smile, she's still not over Brother Zhou!"

"Eek—I feel like there's a hint of flirtation in the air of the dining room~"