Chapter 66: Wallpaper

Chapter 66: Lock Screen

Little Star sat on Lu Hechi's shoulders, his small hands gripping his hair for balance, throwing up a big peace sign at the camera.

Lu Hechi steadied Little Star while Shen Lanxue stood beside him, a slight smile tugging at his lips.

Sunlight fanned out behind them, bright and picture-perfect.

The shutter clicked twice. Lu Hechi looked down to scroll through the photos, then glanced up at Shen Lanxue:

"This one's got you looking good, bro. I'm making this my lock screen."

"Let me see." Shen Lanxue leaned over.

On the screen were three faces—Little Star at the top, grinning ear to ear with his eyes squeezed shut; Lu Hechi holding him, showing off a handsome face.

Shen Lanxue was on the left, his lips flat, but the smile in his eyes was unmistakable.

He looked for two seconds, didn't say if it looked good or not, and just handed the phone back.

The three continued walking along the park path, the sun slowly moving overhead.

Little Star grew tired, and Lu Hechi picked him up and carried him.

After walking a bit further, as they passed a patch of grass, Lu Hechi suddenly heard someone call his name.

"Bro—!"

He turned and saw Lu Wentang standing at the entrance of a small shop not far away, holding an ice cream cone in her hand.

Beside her stood a tall guy with glasses, well-featured and refined-looking.

Lu Hechi did a double take: "...What are you doing here?"

"Just out for the weekend." Lu Wentang ran over, her eyes landing on Shen Yixing in Lu Hechi's arms, lighting up: "Little Star! You're here too!"

Shen Yixing still recognized her and sweetly called her "Auntie."

Lu Wentang wanted to touch his face, but halfway through, she realized she was holding ice cream.

So she shoved the ice cream into the guy's hand, then without missing a beat, reached out and pinched Shen Yixing's cheeks.

"Auntie, you haven't come to see me in so long," Shen Yixing said.

"Next time, I'll definitely come next time." After giving Little Star a quick brush-off, Lu Wentang finally turned to Shen Lanxue: "Brother Lanxue, long time no see."

Lu Hechi narrowed his eyes at the guy beside her. "Who's this? Your classmate?"

Lu Wentang didn't beat around the bush. "My boyfriend."

Lu Hechi: "..."

He must have heard wrong. He asked again, "Who?"

Lu Wentang said, "Bro, the hospital next to our school is famous for ear check-ups."

"Hello." Shen Lanxue gave the guy a slight nod.

Lu Hechi wasn't having it, giving Lu Wentang a serious lecture: "You haven't graduated yet, how can you be dating? At least..."

get to know him better first.

Lu Wentang said flatly, "Bro, when you were my age, you were already married."

"..." Lu Hechi was suddenly speechless.

Lu Wentang thought of something and suddenly asked, "Oh right, bro, isn't that reality show of yours about to drop?"

Lu Hechi nodded. The production team had texted him a few days ago.

As a regular guy, he'd only gone on the show to find a chance to talk to Chen Jiadong, so he hadn't thought much of it.

"Yeah, this Wednesday."

Lu Wentang went "oh," like she wanted to say something but didn't know how to put it.

She glanced at Shen Lanxue out of the corner of her eye and said, "Shows like this get fans shipping people left and right. There's gonna be a lot of chatter online—don't let it get to you."

Lu Hechi laughed: "Got it."

It was rare for his little sister to care about him, and Lu Hechi was actually pretty happy about it.

Lu Wentang gave him another look, making sure he was doing okay, then turned and ran back to her boyfriend, grabbed her ice cream, took a bite, and waved at them: "We're gonna head out—Brother Lanxue, let's grab a meal sometime!"

She ran off, light on her feet.

The guy walked beside her, reaching out to push a branch out of her way before they disappeared around the corner.

Lu Hechi watched her retreating figure, then looked down at Shen Yixing: "Your auntie's got a boyfriend."

"What's a boyfriend?"

"...It's when two people make each other really happy."

Little Star thought for a moment: "Then I'm really happy with Daddy and Papa too—are we boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Lu Hechi chuckled but didn't answer. He glanced over at Shen Lanxue, who was standing a few feet away, staring off into the distance.

Wednesday night, 7:55.

The living room TV was on. Little Star had already gone to bed. Feng Qi set a pot of tea on the coffee table and quietly slipped away.

Lu Hechi sat on the sofa, remote in hand, the TV paused on a commercial before the show started.

Shen Lanxue came downstairs in his loungewear, sat down next to him, shoulders touching.

"You're going to watch?"

"Yeah."

The commercial faded to black, and the opening credits started rolling.

*My Best Friends* Season 3, Episode 1 started playing. Two figures appeared on screen, side by side, with their names showing up as subtitles.

Lu Hechi saw himself on screen and instinctively held his breath.

The him on screen was wearing the jacket from the day they filmed, sitting in a car, grinning at the camera.

That was a supplementary interview segment filmed by the production team.

He saw himself say, "The main reason I came to record this show was to see a friend."

The scene cut away, and the bullet comments started scrolling.

Someone posted a few question marks, others were guessing "who is it," and one floated by: "Is it Ji Ziyang?"

Lu Hechi glanced sideways at Shen Lanxue, who was watching the screen with a blank expression, but his fingers rested on his own knee, the pads gently curling inward.

The show continued playing.

The beginning covered checking into the hotel, room assignments, and the first day's tasks.

His interactions with Ji Ziyang were cut into a few segments, but they came across seamlessly on screen.

Occasionally, a bullet comment about Ji Ziyang would float by, and comments mentioning Lu Hechi would throw in a line like "This CEO Lu is so hot."

Lu Hechi leaned back on the sofa, watching himself on the screen, feeling kind of dazed.

He didn't know what he'd been thinking back then; he just felt like watching himself on TV now was like looking at a stranger.

From the side, Shen Lanxue's hand reached over, lightly resting on the back of his hand, without saying a word.

When the show got to the latter half, a segment was pulled out on its own.

Lu Hechi and Ji Ziyang were sitting in the car, and Ji Ziyang turned his head to say something to him. Lu Hechi didn't catch it, so he crooked his finger for him to lean in closer.

The shot froze for a moment, and a few bullet comments drifted by:

"They're so perfect together"

"The master and his pup"

"I'm so shipping this"

"Are they a thing?"

When Lu Hechi saw those bullet comments, he was totally floored.

Did netizens eat some wild mushrooms this year? What kind of nonsense were they spouting.