SDVPP Chapter 54

Even someone as cold-hearted as Chi Han couldn’t help but overthink a little while lying in bed that night.

There were pitifully few contacts in Rong Xu’s phone. Aside from a few people from the studio, there was basically no one else.

Let alone a girl who would call in the middle of the night.

By all accounts, it should’ve been a good thing that Rong Xu was willing to interact with female friends. It meant he was no longer the emotionally closed-off and lonely villain he had been in the original novel.

But why, then, did he feel so suffocated right now?

With a sharp motion, Chi Han yanked the blanket off his head. His lips were pressed tightly together as he stared up at the ceiling in the darkness, completely wide awake.

Damn it.

He couldn’t sleep.

He shut his eyes, face full of irritation, trying to summon sleep. But all he could hear was his own heart thumping chaotically in his chest.

Chi Han: “…………”

So annoying!

To suppress this inexplicable restlessness, he took a deep breath and groped for his phone.

On the school’s Tieba forum, the most discussed topic was still Fang Jingluo’s return to inherit the family business. Threads about it had remained popular on the front page for quite some time. Basically, as long as a post included words like “Fang family” or “Fang Jingluo”, it could easily rack up over a thousand replies.

The photos of Fang Jingluo being punished and forced to kneel in public had long been wiped clean. All that remained were shots of him in a suit from his later appearances.

Maybe it was because he had pretty much cut ties with school life—there was no trace of youthful innocence left on his face. Instead, he looked even more arrogant and defiant.

A lot of the girls at school were totally into that kind of look—completely mesmerized and squealing over him.

Those posts had been repeatedly bumped to the top; Chi Han had already seen them ages ago.

His fingertip unconsciously swiped across the posts, his brows furrowing. Lines and lines of messy text blurred together in his vision, until in the end, they all morphed into the same character—“Yao”.

As if possessed by some unseen force, he swallowed dryly and tapped open the Tieba search bar. His fingertip trembled slightly as he typed in a single character: Yao.

The page took a second to load.

Chi Han’s breath also stopped for a second.

The next moment, the screen was instantly filled with posts containing the character “Yao”.

【Ran into No. 2 High School’s newly crowned goddess Song Yao today! She’s so gentle, omg I’m crying!! Here’s a side profile pic of the goddess!】

Chi Han had just tapped into the post when the door to his room suddenly creaked softly. On instinct, he smacked his phone away, yanked the covers over himself, and shut his eyes to fake sleep.

The entire series of actions flowed smoothly, done in one swift motion.

Listening to the chaotic thumping of his own heart, it took Chi Han a few seconds to slowly realize—

He wasn’t even looking at porn, so why the hell was he feeling guilty??

Wait a second, even if he was looking at porn—so what?

Isn’t that supposed to be one of life’s joys as an adult?!

The more he thought about it, the more justified he felt. With a whoosh, he sat straight up, pointing dramatically at Rong Xu, who was standing at the door.

“You you you—why are you sneaking over here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?!”

Rong Xu: “……”

Rong Xu rubbed his temples and looked calmly at Chi Han, who was putting on a tough front despite being all bark and no bite.

“I came to see why someone was bouncing around in bed instead of sleeping in the middle of the night.”

Chi Han immediately fell silent. He had made quite a bit of noise when he tossed and turned just now.

“You could’ve just sent a message or something… Why’d you have to come all the way over here and scare me…”

Chi Han mumbled softly, grumbling under his breath. But the moment he remembered Rong Xu secretly taking a phone call behind his back earlier, the anger he’d barely managed to suppress began surging again.

Typical of someone who’s got a significant other now—still awake at this hour. Yet when he had tried to drag Rong Xu into pulling an all-nighter watching movies, Rong Xu had been all strict and disciplined!

Fuming, Chi Han huffed and turned over, conveniently forgetting it was he who’d always insisted Rong Xu go to bed early and wake up on time.

Hugging his blanket, he sulked on his own, his back and butt facing the door, silently declaring resistance.

Rong Xu frowned slightly, unsure how he’d managed to offend him again. He waited at the doorway for a moment, then slowly rolled his wheelchair forward and bent down to pick up the phone from the floor.

“Chi Han, you—”

Just as he heard the movement behind him, Chi Han suddenly remembered—there was a photo of Song Yao open on his phone!

There was no way Rong Xu could be allowed to see that!

The instant the glowing phone screen was flipped over, every hair on Chi Han’s back stood on end. He shot upright on instinct and shouted at the top of his lungs:

“Don’t look!!”

Rong Xu, rarely startled, actually jumped a little. His hand froze mid-motion, and he looked toward Chi Han in confusion. But because of the darkness, he couldn’t see clearly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I…” Chi Han’s tongue was tied. He stammered for a long moment, until a flash of inspiration suddenly sparked in his mind. As if he had just solved one of the world’s great mysteries, he shouted with conviction and confidence:

“Because I was watching porn!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire room fell deathly silent.

Rong Xu: “…………”

Rong Xu: “?”

Rong Xu slowly put the phone down, his voice ice-cold: “Alright. Then carry on.”

Chi Han clutched the phone that Rong Xu had firmly pressed back into his hand, completely devastated.

Crap. I’m done for.

***

Maybe it was because of that outrageous claim the other night, but Chi Han felt that Rong Xu’s gaze these past two days had become noticeably… layered with meaning.

Basically, it was the kind of look an audience member might have while watching a crime investigation documentary.

Rong Xu took a sip of coffee, set the cup down, and looked at the listless Chi Han.

Of course, he hadn’t believed a single word of what Chi Han had said that night. Even though the phone screen had been turned down, when he picked it up, he still caught a blurry glimpse of a girl’s side profile.

The thing he feared most… had finally happened.

From that moment on, Rong Xu felt as if he had been split cleanly in two.

One half of him had been thrown aside, bloody and raw. The other half was still alive—alive enough to sit here, eating breakfast with Chi Han as if nothing had happened.

Rong Xu heard himself speak in a nearly lifeless voice: “Don’t wait up for me tonight.”

Chi Han watched as Rong Xu left without a backward glance. After a moment, he scratched his head in frustration, then stood up to change clothes and get ready for class.

He let out a muffled sigh.

He had never imagined that one day, he and Rong Xu would grow distant like this.

At school, students only ever talked about a few types of things—some classmate, some celebrity, or something related to studying.

After hearing the name “Song Yao” come out of Geng Xue’s mouth for the third time, Chi Han finally couldn’t take it anymore and knocked his knuckles against the desk.

“Who exactly is this Song Yao?”

Geng Xue jumped in surprise. Chi Han never showed the slightest interest in gossip—yet today he was actually bringing it up himself?!

Something’s off!

Seriously off!

Don’t tell her the “Han-Xu CP” she was shipping was about to break up?!

No way!

Geng Xue quickly gathered her focus and resolved to stop this from happening at all costs.

Wearing a flawless, unbothered smile, she said, “What exactly do you want to know about her?”

Chi Han tapped his fingertip against the desk and asked in what he hoped sounded like a casual tone: “She… Is she nice? Is she pretty?”

To be honest, that question was completely pointless. Just that one side-profile photo was enough to prove how attractive the girl was.

You could say—even if she were placed in the entertainment industry, she wouldn’t lose out in the slightest.

But Chi Han didn’t know why—maybe it was some strange mentality—but he just wanted to confirm it again. He even had the urge to ask one more thing: Then, how do I compare to her?

But that question made him sound like a complete idiot, so in the end, he didn’t say it out loud.

Geng Xue, sneaking glances at his expression, hesitated a moment before saying, “Song Yao is a total beauty. But, according to reliable sources… she already has a boyfriend.”

The implied meaning being: So just forget it, okay? Go find Rong Xu like a good boy.

What she didn’t expect was that the moment Chi Han heard this, he completely deflated.

Geng Xue: “?”

Chi Han slumped over his arms, resting his head to the side as he stared out the window.

Of course, Song Yao had someone.

And that someone… might even be someone he knew.

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