Chapter 78: Four Couples

Chapter 78: Four Couples

When Ye Leyao's words landed, the entire bus erupted into laughter.

Indeed, when it came to roasting people, no one could match Ye Leyao in the room!

The barrage of comments was even more amused:

"Well said! After all, Zhou Zijian has already won over Wen Huai's mother, how can Wen Huai not be considered Zhou Zijian's godson?!"

"From good brothers to stepfather, that's a super promotion in seniority!"

"If Wen Huai heard this, his expression would definitely be priceless."

"There's no need for Wen Huai to hear it; he must have known about Zhou Zijian and his mother being together and had a clear understanding of the situation by now."

"Zhou Zijian: Call me dad. Wen Huai: I'll beat you up so you call me dad."

"Alright, alright, I see now, you netizens are even more vicious than Ye Leyao!"

In response, the netizens just chuckled.

"It can't be helped; we were taught by Ye Leyao and Teacher Gou Shi."

"Huh? Hahahaha, you guys are truly devoted fans!"

"I'm sure Ye Leyao and Teacher Gou Shi will thank you for it!"

Unfortunately, Ye Leyao didn't have time to check the barrage at the moment. His full attention was on Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue.

Not only him, but all the guests on the bus were also observing the expressions of the two.

The smile on Zhou Zijian's face disappeared the moment he saw Wen Huai. Now, he sat stiffly in place, a burly man with "help" written all over his face for the first time.

After hearing Ye Leyao's teasing remark, Zhou Zijian let out a bitter laugh. Was he supposed to go greet Wen Huai?

Would he ever return if he went?

His life might be in danger!

Ye Leyao merely glanced at Zhou Zijian and knew what he was thinking.

Unable to hold back, Ye Leyao laughed even harder.

"Hahahaha, okay, it's indeed too much to ask Brother Zhou to go greet Wen Huai right now. After all, he got beaten up by Wen Huai the last time they met. Well...today, since we're recording a show, it probably won't happen again, but I seriously doubt Brother Zhou isn't thinking about digging a hole to escape right now!"

Huo Yan nodded in agreement.

Judging from Zhou Zijian's expression, if there wasn't just one door on the bus, he would have run away long ago!

Looking at Wen Xiangyue, her expression was also quite interesting.

Clearly, she hadn't expected Wen Huai to appear here. She stared out the window in surprise for a long time before suddenly yanking her hand out of Zhou Zijian's grasp.

Zhou Zijian was taken aback and looked at Wen Xiangyue in confusion.

Ye Leyao's shoulders shook with laughter.

"Is Sister-in-law preparing to avoid suspicion?"

Duan Tingyan, who loved to stir things up, turned to Liu Yan beside him and said, "Look, doesn't Brother Zhou's expression look like he's asking Sister-in-law, 'Could it be that you're going to abandon me too? The saying 'when disaster strikes, husband and wife fly apart' is true after all!'"

He was skilled at voice imitation, and when he said this line, he mimicked Zhou Zijian's voice perfectly.

Duan Tingyan's voice wasn't low, and everyone on the bus heard him.

The regular guests of Let's Travel Together were all lacking in solemnity. Hearing this sentence, everyone burst out laughing. Even Li Siyuan couldn't hold back and turned his head to cover his face as he chuckled.

Everyone on the bus was laughing except for Zhou Zijian, who was completely withdrawn.

Wen Xiangyue looked slightly embarrassed, worried that her lover would misunderstand. She explained softly to Zhou Zijian, "Don't listen to Little Duan's nonsense. That's not what I meant. I just think...you know, Xiao Huai still has some reservations about us...so it's better if we..."

Wen Xiangyue didn't need to explain for Zhou Zijian to understand her intentions, but if Wen Xiangyue hadn't moved her body further away at that moment, Zhou Zijian would have felt a little better.

Watching the distance between the two instantly shift from intimate lovers to "friends" who were on good terms.

Zhou Zijian's expression was particularly aggrieved, looking pitifully at Wen Xiangyue. "I know, but you should at least give me some encouragement right now instead of immediately drawing a clear line..."

Wen Xiangyue opened her mouth, about to offer some comfort, when at that moment, Wen Huai arrived in front of the bus.

Ye Leyao noticed first and exclaimed excitedly,

"He's here! Wen Huai is coming up!"

Qin Yao and Huo Yan turned to look at the door, and the other guests' gazes followed.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Wen Huai slowly boarded the bus and stood at the front.

Ye Leyao's eyes were sharp. After glancing at Wen Huai, he followed Wen Huai's gaze all the way back, landing on Zhou Zijian. Ye Leyao's lips curved directly, unable to suppress his amusement.

"Brother Zhou! Look up!"

"You dared to poach your brother's mother's affections, why don't you dare to look your good brother in the eye?!"

Fortunately, Zhou Zijian couldn't hear Ye Leyao's inner thoughts; otherwise, he would only lower his head even more, wishing he could bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

After Ye Leyao finished laughing, his gaze shifted and landed on Wen Xiangyue beside him.

In comparison, Wen Xiangyue's expression seemed much more relaxed than Zhou Zijian's. At least when Wen Huai's gaze fell on her, Wen Xiangyue didn't dodge. Although their eye contact was brief, she did meet Wen Huai's gaze.

Even Wen Xiangyue noticed Zhou Zijian's state, subtly nudging him with her elbow, signaling him to greet Wen Huai first.

Zhou Zijian caught Wen Xiangyue's hint; his body stiffened momentarily. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, and looked up at Wen Huai ahead, flashing a textbook-perfect, albeit forced, smile. "Wen Huai, it's been... a while..."

"Indeed, seeing you still irritates me," Wen Huai interrupted suddenly, his voice low and laced with evident displeasure, cutting off Zhou Zijian mid-sentence.

Zhou Zijian's fake smile froze on his face.

Ye Leyao covered her mouth, laughing:

"Wen Huai isn't even pretending anymore!"

"I love how pure and unpretentious Wen Huai is, wearing his emotions right on his sleeve."

The audience watching the live stream couldn't help but gasp at this point.

"Hiss—saying outright that he's uncomfortable around Zhou Zijian, that's practically a face-to-face ultimatum!"

"Yes! I love these dramatic scenes, give me more! Hurry up!"

"So, will they fight?"

"The grudge over the mother is irreconcilable! I'm rooting for Wen Huai to punch Zhou Zijian!"

"Hahahaha, but if they really fought, wouldn't Zhou Zijian refrain from fighting back?"

"He definitely wouldn't. If he had retaliated, how would he have gotten those injuries on his face in the first episode?"

Netizens and fans alike loved the drama, and the comments became increasingly heated as they discussed the situation.

Back inside the car, the atmosphere was tense. The other guests were equally excited, their eyes darting between Wen Huai, Zhou Zijian, and Wen Xiangyue, observing the subtle changes in their facial expressions.

But despite their curiosity, no one dared to break the silence. Everyone was being considerate, enjoying the spectacle without getting involved!

Eventually, Wen Xiangyue felt the need to lighten the mood and broke the silence. "Ahem... Xiao Huai, why didn't you mention yesterday that you'd be joining us on this show?"

And, didn't you say you weren't going to participate?

Wen Xiangyue thought about asking this last question but decided against it.

Wen Huai's attitude softened slightly when faced with his mother, explaining, "The production team made me sign a confidentiality agreement; I couldn't reveal anything beforehand."

Seeing Wen Huai's expression, Wen Xiangyue relaxed a little, then smiled. "Well, don't just stand there. Let me introduce you to everyone?"

Wen Huai shook his head. "No need."

With that, he ignored Zhou Zijian, shifting his gaze, and greeted each of the present guests in turn, moving from front to back.

Ye Leyao was somewhat surprised by this development.

"Huh? That's it?"

"I thought Wen Huai would give Zhou Ge a harder time!"

Ye Leyao wasn't the only one thinking this; the other guests shared similar thoughts.

Li Siyuan couldn't resist whispering, "Is that all?"

Sitting in front of him, Song Zhehan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. As he extended his hand to shake Wen Huai's, he said with a smile, "It seems Li Siyuan wants to see you and Zhou Ge get into a fight."

Li Siyuan: "?"

Zhou Zijian: "?!?"

Ye Leyao clung tightly to Qin Yao's arm, laughing uncontrollably.

"Hahahaha—"

"Teacher Gou!"

"You're really something, Li Siyuan must be fuming now!"

The other guests couldn't help but chuckle at the situation.

Indeed, when Song Zhehan spoke, he always hit the mark with precision.

The live chat was also in stitches:

"Li Siyuan has been utterly defeated by Teacher Gou!"

"It's hilarious, but why is Ye Leyao laughing even harder than me?"

"Hahaha, as expected of our Teacher Gou! Teacher Gou, fly high and let your troubles be your own!"

At this moment, some netizens regained their composure:

"But why do I feel like Teacher Gou is being more confrontational this episode?"

"Yeah, yeah! He even snapped at Ye Leyao!"

"Could it be that he's still holding a grudge?"

"Well, it's quite possible! After all, during the previous episode's recording, Ye Leyao and Li Siyuan were the happiest ones eating popcorn! Given Teacher Gou's scheming and vengeful nature, how could he let them off the hook?"

"So, is Teacher Gou avenging Zhang Qiran by targeting them?"

"?? Don't say that, I'm shipping them now!"

Let's shift our focus back to the inside of the vehicle.

Upon hearing Song Zhehan's words, Wen Huai's gaze instantly fell upon Li Siyuan.

At this moment, Li Siyuan was radiating icy chills all over, clearly indicating that he was extremely angry.

It was also at this time that Li Siyuan suddenly realized that Song Zhehan seemed to have been provoking him a bit too often today.

From the start of the recording until now, it hadn't been long at all, yet Song Zhehan had even taken shots at Ye Leyao...

So—

Was Song Zhehan indeed seeking revenge?

Having figured this out, Li Siyuan suddenly burst into laughter.

Wen Huai, at this point, walked up to Li Siyuan and shook his hand: "Although I do wish to beat Zhou Zijian up again, we're still in the middle of filming, so it's destined to disappoint you."

Li Siyuan smiled as he shook hands with him, saying with a laugh: "I'm not really disappointed, since you know, our show is quite entertaining. I was already well-fed last episode, and even if you haven't watched our show, you must have seen the trending topics, right? About Song Zhehan and Zhang Qiran... So, whether there's any drama for me to feast on this episode doesn't matter."

He was very understanding.

Wen Huai smiled but didn't say anything, merely looking at Song Zhehan in the front seat.

From his angle, he could easily see Song Zhehan's expression by slightly lowering his head.

Indeed, Song Zhehan's face was just as sour as Li Siyuan's had been moments ago.

It seemed both sides had struck a nerve with each other!

Ye Leyao was even more direct; upon hearing Song Zhehan provoke Li Siyuan, he immediately turned around and knelt on his seat, his eyes rapidly scanning between the two.

Seeing Song Zhehan's face turn sour, Ye Leyao didn't forget to tug on Qin Yao's arm: "President Qin, quick, quick look!"

"Li Siyuan's words made Teacher Goushi so angry he couldn't even speak!"

Qin Yao was helpless, asking in a low voice: "You dared to provoke Song Zhehan again?"

Ye Leyao slightly raised his chin: "I've always dared to!"

The boy's chin was small and delicate, his red lips curved at just the right angle, and the slight tilt of his head was rather playful and adorable.

Qin Yao's Adam's apple rolled slightly, his eyes softening.

Unfortunately, Ye Leyao was completely focused on the drama, casting only a fleeting glance before quickly turning his head again.

Qin Yao felt a faint tinge of regret in his heart, but in the next second, he followed Ye Leyao in turning around.

By this time, Wen Huai had already greeted Duan Tingyan and Liu Yan.

Wen Huai took another step forward, standing precisely in front of Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue.

"He's here, he's here, it's Zhou Ge's turn!"

Ye Leyao couldn't resist screaming in his heart.

"So, what will Wen Huai do next?!"

"Ahh ahh, I'm so excited!"

Not only was Ye Leyao anticipating it, but at this moment, all the guests and the audience watching on their screens couldn't help holding their breath.

Here it comes, the anticipated showdown they had been waiting for!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhou Zijian felt his scalp tingling.

But he couldn't pretend not to see Wen Huai, so after a brief few seconds of silence, Zhou Zijian extended his hand first toward Wen Huai, laughing dryly: "Hahaha, Wen Huai, welcome to participate in the recording of this episode of our show."

"So official."

"And that fake smile, it could be included in film academy textbooks!"

Ye Leyao couldn't resist making a quiet comment.

Wen Huai glanced at Zhou Zijian, not reaching out for a long while.

Zhou Zijian's hand awkwardly hung in mid-air.

Wen Xiangyue couldn't resist, lifting her eyes to look at Wen Huai.

Wen Huai spoke indifferently: "Please move aside."

The last row was a continuous bench seat, with a total of five seats. Wen Xiangyue and Zhou Zijian had always liked sitting in the back of the bus, and at this moment, they were seated in the two middle positions.

Hearing Wen Huai's words, Wen Xiangyue's brows furrowed slightly. She assumed Wen Huai was speaking to her, so she didn't ask further, subconsciously preparing to shift to the side.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Wen Huai suddenly reached out and placed his hand on Wen Xiangyue's shoulder: "Mom, I wasn't talking to you."

Wen Huai's tone was somewhat helpless.

Ye Leyao's eyes suddenly widened.

"If it's not Wen Xiangyue, then it's Zhou Ge..."

"No way?! Could it be that Wen Huai is planning to—"

Before Ye Leyao could finish, Zhou Zijian had already moved aside particularly cooperatively, sitting next to the window.

At this moment, there was exactly one empty seat between Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue.

Wen Huai's lips curved slightly as he seated himself between the two.

Ye Leyao: "Pfft—"

"What a perfect picture of a family of three sitting in a row!"

Not only did Ye Leyao lose his composure, but Song Zhehan and Li Siyuan couldn't hold back either.

As the trio burst into laughter, the other guests couldn't contain themselves anymore, and the carriage was soon filled with exaggerated chuckles.

While the guests were laughing uncontrollably, the netizens and viewers found it even more delightful.

"I can't take it! Could Wen Huai be a genius?! He actually thought of sitting between two people like that!"

"Help, look at Zhou Zijian's expression! My goodness, he was truly terrified by Wen Huai just now, hahahaha—"

"My eyes are watering from laughter; not only is Zhou Zijian's expression priceless, but Wen Xiangyue's is equally so!"

"Don't mention them; even I was momentarily stunned by Wen Huai's move, hahaha."

"Show-off, too much of a show-off!"

For a moment, the barrage was filled with laughter, and the laughter in the carriage continued for quite some time.

In the end, it was Wen Huai who cleared his throat lightly, prompting the other guests to reluctantly rein in their exaggerated laughter.

Duan Tingyan turned around to face Wen Huai immediately, asking a question that had piqued his curiosity: "So why did you suddenly agree to participate in this program?"

After posing the question, Duan Tingyan didn't forget to savor Zhou Zijian's expression.

Hmm.

How should one describe it?

It was simply a sight to behold, a myriad of expressions playing across his face, utterly captivating!

And from Zhou Zijian's gesture of covering his face, one could sense that he was truly feeling uncomfortable, as if sitting on pins and needles.

Regardless, it was undeniably amusing.

But in front of Wen Huai, Duan Tingyan refrained from bursting out laughing.

Ye Leyao, however, didn't hold back.

After observing Zhou Zijian's reaction, he leaned against Qin Yao's shoulder, shaking with laughter.

Seated in his seat, Wen Huai swept his gaze over all the guests in the vehicle, remaining unperturbed. Raising an eyebrow, he said, "After all, the production team has already made three visits to me. If I hadn't agreed, it would have been somewhat impolite."

Duan Tingyan responded with an "Oh": "Is that so?"

He didn't look any further, lest he truly provoke someone's anger. Turning around, he noticed that Liu Yan was still laughing in her seat.

Duan Tingyan raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile, "I've watched the first three episodes of your program. How come I don't remember you laughing as freely in those episodes combined as you are now?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan's smile froze instantly. After holding it in for a moment, she couldn't resist and laughed again, leaning on her seat.

Once she had laughed enough, Liu Yan wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said with a smile, "The past is the past, and now is now."

Previously, Liu Yan didn't dare laugh loudly, partly because she was a bit worried about drawing unwanted attention to herself, and partly due to her agent's advice.

But as time went on, Liu Yan gradually realized that although the regular guests on their program were indeed not easy to deal with, they were all people with normal values and easy to get along with. As long as you didn't provoke them, they wouldn't target you without reason.

Therefore, starting from the third episode, Liu Yan no longer deliberately suppressed her personality.

She spoke her mind when necessary and laughed along with everyone else when appropriate.

Liu Yan briefly explained this to Duan Tingyan.

Duan Tingyan drew out his "oh," then patted Liu Yan on the shoulder. "Then you must laugh for a while longer now."

Liu Yan looked puzzled. "Huh?"

Ye Leyao keenly picked up on the deeper meaning behind Duan Tingyan's words.

"What does Duan Tingyan mean by that?"

"Hold on, he mentioned earlier that he had met all the guest stars for this episode and had a brief chat with them..."

Ye Leyao glanced at Liu Yan, who remained perplexed, and suddenly exclaimed:

"It can't be?!"

"Could there be some gossip surrounding Liu Yan?"

Upon hearing this, Huo Yan and Qin Yao couldn't help but glance at Ye Leyao.

Gossip about Liu Yan?

Wasn't she a newcomer who had debuted not long ago?

Could it be similar to Yu Bai, where the gossip was from before her debut?

Thinking about it, Qin Yao felt something was off.

That couldn't be possible.

If Liu Yan really had some pre-debut gossip, even if his background check had missed something, Ye Leyao wouldn't have overlooked it.

After all, before the variety show recording, he had shown Ye Leyao the list of all the guests.

Soon after, Ye Leyao refuted his own speculation:

"No, no, there's definitely no gossip about Liu Yan."

"The only thing that could be considered a juicy piece of gossip about her is —— her boyfriend from outside the entertainment circle!"

At this thought, Ye Leyao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly leaned in close to Qin Yao's ear to ask, "President Qin, did you invite any civilians for this episode?"

The young man moved too swiftly for Qin Yao to react, and he felt a tingling sensation by his ear.

Qin Yao instinctively wanted to cover his ears, but Ye Leyao didn't move away after saying his piece; instead, he propped his chin on his hand and maintained that distance as he looked at Qin Yao.

His ears suddenly felt hot, and even the temperature of his face seemed to rise.

Qin Yao took a slight breath, glanced at the camera ahead, and said softly, "Sit properly."

Ye Leyao frowned. "Huh? Am I not sitting properly?"

"I think I'm sitting quite well, right in my seat."

Qin Yao: "…"

Huoyan: "…"

He couldn't bear to look.

How was this called sitting well?

Ye Leyao was practically leaning all over Qin Yao!

Huoyan took a deep breath and told himself to remain calm.

He shouldn't interfere!

After all, this was Ye Leyao's own business, and he absolutely couldn't meddle in it!

Thus, the viewers in the live stream watched as Huoyan turned away with obvious dissatisfaction.

Viewers: "? ? ?"

"What?"

"Huoyan! Didn't you see that? Ye Leyao is already all over Qin Yao, why aren't you saying anything and turning away instead?"

"Yeah! You're Ye Leyao's older brother! Can't you do something about Ye Leyao?"

"Why not! Why not! Why not! When I was in college and my older brother saw me dating, he warned me to break up with my boyfriend. Now that Huoyan, Ye Leyao's older brother, has seen him being so cozy with a man, how dare he pretend to be blind in front of hundreds of thousands of us viewers!"

For a moment, the chat was filled with voices of condemnation.

The viewers and the onlookers agreed that Huoyan shouldn't turn a blind eye.

Even if Huoyan wanted to ignore it, he should at least share the specifics with them, the viewers!

They wanted to indulge in some juicy gossip!

Unfortunately, Huoyan couldn't see the chat at this time, so no matter how angry the netizens were, he remained oblivious.

"So, did you invite any civilians?" Ye Leyao asked again, still not receiving an answer from Qin Yao, who had even asked him to sit further away. His expression turned somewhat disgruntled.

Qin Yao couldn't bear to see Ye Leyao looking like that, so he didn't insist on Ye Leyao keeping his distance anymore. Instead, he said, "No, we only invited three guest stars for this episode. Besides Duan Tingyan and Wen Huai, there's one more who debuted recently. His name is… "

Qin Yao paused for a moment before continuing, "Shen Chong."

"Shen Chong?"

"That sounds familiar."

In the next moment, Ye Leyao's eyes widened suddenly.

"Isn't that Liu Yan's boyfriend's name from outside the entertainment circle?!"

As soon as he said that, Huoyan turned around again.

Liu Yan's boyfriend from outside the entertainment circle?

Interesting.

Very interesting.

That meant they would have a complete set of couples for this episode: Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue, Li Siyuan and Duan Tingyan, Liu Yan and Shen Chong… Perhaps Ye Leyao and Qin Yao could also be counted as a couple, making four pairs in total?

Huoyan: "…"

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha damn it, even filming a show is so vexing, get lost!

He'll film this show, but he won't make a sound!

Meanwhile, Ye Leyao had turned to look at Liu Yan in the backseat.

Liu Yan was still somewhat dazed, pondering the meaning behind Duan Tingyan's words earlier.

And she felt that Duan Tingyan's expression just now had been somewhat meaningful, as if she had seen it not long ago.

Yes, it was when Wen Huai was about to appear!

Just as Liu Yan was about to figure out the key point, Duan Tingyan suddenly stood up. "I think I can't continue sitting here."

"Hahahaha so Duan Tingyan knows too?"

"Intriguing! Absolutely fascinating!"

Duan Tingyan slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping the interior of the vehicle before he deliberately approached Li Siyuan. "May I sit next to you?"

Li Siyuan responded with an eloquent gesture universally recognized as less than friendly – two raised middle fingers.

Duan Tingyan sighed softly, displaying admirable situational awareness as he walked over to Ye Leyao and took a seat in the row behind Ye Leyao and Qin Yao.

No sooner had he sat down than Ye Leyao whispered, "Shen Chong?"

Duan Tingyan glanced out the window, remaining silent.

Ye Leyao followed his gaze, unable to suppress the corner of his mouth any longer.

"Mr. Qin! You certainly have a knack for picking people!"

Shen Chong, with his long legs and arms, moved quickly. Just as Ye Leyao caught a glimpse of him, he was already boarding the bus, standing at the front with a radiant smile as he introduced himself to everyone. "Hello, my name is Shen Chong."

At that moment, Liu Yan's smile faltered, unable to maintain its upward curve.

Ye Leyao turned around, laughing as he covered his face.

"One moment of openness has earned Liu Yan a whole episode of self-imposed isolation!"