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 time 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 Limei.
He finds her in the makeup trailer where the cast sometimes 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 Limei'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 Limei 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 time opening his new dummy weibo account, now with an appropriately inconspicuous name.
The other day, he asked Ji Limei to record the fight between him and Han Yu in the dining hall. Posting the video from the account of someone 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 Limei knew just the person, a childhood friend who spent too much time 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 someone like that."
Ohh, harsh JayHo, harsh. Xi Zirui takes a screenshot of his comment 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 someone else, what is there to fix?
ZhuanLun: Doesn't anyone else find it odd that Bai Mi won't just come 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 Limei 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 Yaomei investigates the strange disappearance of some 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 me."
It makes him anxious to think about what's going to happen once filming is over. What it will mean 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 meet 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 message: "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 comes 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 agreement 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 camerawoman 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 announcement.
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 homepage. "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 pavement. "There's something I need to do, excuse me for a moment. 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 announcement in the name of Han Yu's company, who was "releasing compromising video and documents, with the intent to safeguard their artist's good name, 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 comments 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 <333"
Xi Zirui has to smile at WaterLily's laser focus. Well, unbeknownst to IndigoPearl, this all happened because of "CP" bullshit.
Who knows how everything would have turned out for Han Yu if Xi Zirui fell in love with Su Xueyi like the Transmigrator 4000 and Ni Ni wanted him to?
Right now, he doesn't want to think about any of that, he just wants to enjoy his time with Han Yu.
"Host! Great success, the plan worked. Host's public perception has risen a combined 50 points and counting, it has now entered green territory! Reputation has also increased by 20 points, although it remains orange it's not longer concerning. Congratulations!"
Xi Zirui expected that, public perception is affected by what the public thinks of him, while reputation is affected by what industry peers, and the entertainment industry as a whole, judge his talent and work ethic to be.
Reputation was always going to be the hardest stat to increase, but as the drama nears its final stage more and more promotional materials will be put out, including appearances in TV shows. He just has to show he has grown up past his hedonistic younger days and the acclaim will come.
With the cushion of good-will he's building, it better.
"Thank you, Ni Ni, now go wherever little AI systems go, and give me a few moments alone."
She doesn't answer him, which is the biggest indication that she did as told.
He gets up from his chair, and makes his way towards Han Yu, who is sitting alone at a table and grinning down into his phone.
Xi Zirui clears his throat to get his attention, "I hear I owe you an apology."
Han Yu's head swings around to face the sound of Xi Zirui's voice. He meets Xi Zirui's sheepish grin with a smirk of his own. "You know some people online are saying that I begged my company to release the video so that you wouldn't leave me."
Xi Zirui hums and taps his index finger against his chin. "That does sound like something a person who slept wrapped around me like an octopus would do."
Han Yu's answering chuckle is as steadying as the sound of a wooden wind-chime fluttering gently in the breeze. Rich and musical, Xi Zirui wants to hear that sound forever.
"You weren't complaining about having me wrapped around you last night," he wiggles his eyebrows. Xi Zirui snorts at his antics.
"Maybe I need a reminder," now it's Xi Zirui who wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, "want to go to my trailer?"
Han Yu can't get up from his chair fast enough. "Yes, please."
On the way there, the two of them list into each other, bumping shoulders and elbows like two planets hopelessly drawn into each other's orbit.
Xi Zirui wants to run to his trailer, but he forces himself to enjoy the wait. To savor every moment he isn't touching Han Yu, so when he does it will feel even sweeter.
He hopes they'll fog up the windows like he imagined on the day they kissed for the first time.
That would be sweetest of all.