After the secret marriage to my top star partner

Chapter 31.2

Editor: Princess

[Why wasn’t there a warning?! I nearly passed out from fright!]

[I just sprayed my whole screen with milk tea!]

[WTF? WTF? WTF?! Is this chick crazy…]

[Did Ai Qian Qian just close the door? She locked Mu Nan inside?!]

[What the hell, her ancestors must be rolling in their graves. Mu Nan was scared out of his mind but still protecting her, yet she turned around and locked him inside? Does she even have a conscience?!]

As the episode went on, Ai Qian Qian’s actions only made things worse, completely enraging the audience. The comment section instantly united, aiming all their fire at her.

[Ai Qian Qian, get off the show! Replace her with a normal female guest, even as a casual viewer, I’m not Mu Nan’s fan but I feel bad for him.]

[I don’t ever want to see her again. How does someone with a personality like this even get cast on variety shows? She should just stick to playing her brainless sweetheart roles.]

[I’m boycotting everything she acts in from now on. Watching her pretend to be innocent makes me want to puke.]

The backlash kept going until the first elimination happened. Seeing Ai Qian Qian “die” in the game, even though no one knew why, the audience was still satisfied.

That was where the first episode ended. The storyline hadn’t fully unfolded yet, but the sheer horror aspect alone was enough to hook the viewers.

After all, most reality shows these days were fake. The guests were treated like royalty, rarely facing anything genuinely scary. But this one? This one had no mercy.

The episode might have ended, but the online buzz was just getting started. Viewers couldn’t stop talking about it.

Barely two hours after the show aired, and Mu Nan’s fan page was flooded with meme edits of his scared reactions. Some fans even made them into their profile pictures.

Mu Nan: …

Fine, he admitted it. He was a coward.

But looking at Cheng Han’s reactions, he couldn’t help feeling a little bitter. Why were Cheng Han’s fans calling him strong and charming, while he got stuck with the dumb but cute label?

Annoyed, he downed the rest of his wine. Then, when no one was looking, he poured himself two more rounds. Each time, just a small amount. But since he was alcohol-intolerant, even this low-alcohol red wine had his face and neck turning completely red.

“Stop drinking.” Cheng Han took the bottle away, turned off the TV, and started clearing the table.

“Just leave everything in the sink. The cleaning lady will handle it tomorrow.”

Cheng Han gave a short nod but said nothing. The room fell into silence again.

Then, out of nowhere, Cheng Han asked, “Do you know what day it is today?”

Mu Nan answered without thinking, “My sister’s birthday. I wished her a happy birthday this morning.”

But Cheng Han’s expression was off. Because of the alcohol, Mu Nan was feeling a little fuzzy. He rested his head on his hand and thought for a long time before hesitantly guessing, “Wait… is it our wedding anniversary?”

“No, no.” He shook his head before Cheng Han could even respond. “The day we got our marriage certificate, it was snowing like crazy. It definitely wasn’t summer.”

Shaking his head, Cheng Han sighed. Not at Mu Nan, but at himself.

“It’s been twenty years since we first met.”

“Really?” Mu Nan immediately sat up straight, trying to remember when he had first seen Cheng Han.

It was at his sister’s tenth birthday party. He had been almost six at the time. His parents had invited a lot of business associates, including Cheng Han’s family.

It was at the time when six-year-olds could already remember things vaguely.

Mu Nan still remembered the moment when a couple had walked in, leading a fair-skinned little boy. At the time, he had always been running around outside, so he had gotten really tanned. His friends even teased him, calling him a little dark kid.

So, when he saw such a fair-skinned boy, he had been stunned. He didn’t know what “mixed-race” meant back then, so he had simply pointed at Cheng Han and blurted out, “Mom, he’s even whiter than big sister’s barbie doll.”

No little boy liked being compared to a Barbie doll, so Cheng Han had been furious, however his way of showing anger was just ignoring Mu Nan completely. So later, no matter how many times Mu Nan tried to play with him, he was always met with silence. Eventually, Mu Nan just gave up.

Looking back now, Mu Nan realized that even as a child, Cheng Han had already had that cold personality. And as they grew up, his mother constantly compared him to Cheng Han—the “perfect” kid, so naturally, he had grown to resent his name.

“When did we start not getting along?” Cheng Han suddenly asked.

Mu Nan answered without thinking, “Did we ever get along? I’ve disliked you since forever.”

Cheng Han shook his head, not giving him a straight answer, clearly waiting for him to think about it.

“Alright, it’s late. Time for the patient to sleep.” Cheng Han grabbed his phone, ready to leave.

“Wait.” Mu Nan suddenly called out from behind him.

“What?” Cheng Han turned around, only to see Mu Nan’s eyes shining unusually bright. At first glance, he looked full of energy. But if one looked closely, they would realize his focus was completely off.

Mu Nan stared at him with those bright eyes and asked, “Cheng Han, do you—”

“You’re drunk.” Cheng Han frowned, cutting him off before he could finish, then walked out the door.

“Oh.” Mu Nan murmured drowsily. By the time he crawled into bed and threw himself onto the mattress, he had already forgotten what he wanted to ask.

Meanwhile, Cheng Han stepped out into the night.

Today was Mu Nan’s big sister’s 30th birthday.

It was also the 20th anniversary of the day they first met.

That little boy from twenty years ago, tanned like a lump of coal, had grown into a handsome top-tier idol.

And the boy who had refused to play with him back then…

For the past twenty years, he had never stopped regretting his own stupid pride.

If only he had played with him back then.

If only he had been willing to go to the same middle school as him.

If only he hadn’t been so concerned about his image in high school.

If only he had explained himself when they first debuted…

But it was too late.

He sighed.

In the blink of an eye, they were almost thirty.