And so, when Huo Mingjun pushed the door open, the atmosphere in the room was, for a moment, so awkward it nearly froze. In the center of the bed sat Xie Guan, wearing an extremely fake and saccharine smile.

Huo Mingjun walked over without looking sideways, placing the water and medicine on the bedside table.

Suddenly, his wrist felt a weight. He looked down to see a pale, thin claw tugging at his sleeve, even giving it a couple of feigned shakes.

Xie Guan: “Mingjun...”

Huo Mingjun's heart trembled slightly, a little tingly, but he withstood this wave of sugar-coated cannonball attacks and looked back at Xie Guan expressionlessly.

“Mr. Huo... Boss Huo...” Xie Guan said sincerely, “Daddy Huo...”

Huo Mingjun: “...”

He was so shocked by Xie Guan that he felt numb from the tips of his hair to his toenails. Unable to bear it any longer, he asked, “What do you want?”

Xie Guan: “Don't be angry anymore, I was wrong.”

Huo Mingjun suddenly leaned over and pressed down, propping one hand on the headboard, trapping him in the small space between his body and the headboard. His other hand gently but firmly pressed against his carotid artery. He lowered his gaze to look into his widened eyes and asked lightly, “Do you really know you were wrong?”

It's obvious it's fake! And you still have the nerve to ask when you already know!

A little figure in Xie Guan's mind pinned Huo Mingjun to the ground and beat him violently, but Huo Mingjun's domineering presence was too strong. All he could do in reality was stare back at him, wide-eyed, completely helpless.

They were extremely close, the distance short enough to be called intimate. Xie Guan's gaze fled in embarrassment from his tea-colored pupils, slid down the elegant bridge of his nose to his beautifully shaped lips. When he saw the subtle curve there, he was so scared his gaze scrambled all the way up to the ceiling.

It's a wonder that in just ten-odd seconds, he managed a performance worthy of an Olympic hurdles race.

Huo Mingjun let out an ambiguous laugh close to his burning ear, his fingertips gently stroking his neck. He was satisfied to feel Xie Guan shudder as if his tail had been stepped on.

“Flushed face, racing heart, accelerated pulse,” he slowly withdrew his hand and lightly delivered his conclusion, “Clearly a guilty conscience.”

Xie Guan was about to be tormented to death by him. He weakly waved a white flag in surrender. “Mingjun... I was wrong, really. No kidding, this gig was specially arranged by Sister Lin Yao, it's not easy to turn down.”

Huo Mingjun could ignore his sugar-coated cannonballs, but he couldn't turn a blind eye to his genuine plea. “What event is so important you have to go?”

Hearing the slight loosening in his tone, Xie Guan quickly said, “It's actually a variety show to promote Jingwu Youth. It won't take long, and there's no strenuous exercise. It should be over quickly.”

“What time does it start?”

“Three in the afternoon,” Xie Guan, sensing a chance, immediately declared, “Don't worry, I feel much better now.”

Huo Mingjun couldn't win against him. He glanced at his wristwatch, pulled away the cushion behind him, and made Xie Guan lie down. “You can still sleep for an hour. Take a shower when you wake up, and I'll take you there.” After carefully tucking in the corners of the blanket, he instructed, “You sleep first, I'll go to the study. I'll wake you when it's time. Don't kick off the covers.”

Wrapped in the blanket, Xie Guan looked as soft as a marshmallow. Seeing Huo Mingjun about to get up, he didn't know what nerve was struck, but he suddenly said, “Wait.”

Huo Mingjun, who had only half-risen, sat back down. “Hm?”

Xie Guan opened his mouth, but he didn't know what he wanted to say, nor could he explain the sudden emotion. He could only silently pull the blanket up to hide the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes to peek at him.

Huo Mingjun was a little worried. He felt that if this continued, he might have to take Xie Guan for an IQ test once he recovered.

Xie Guan's eyes were not small to begin with. Because he was thin, plus the puffiness under his eyes and his dark circles, his eye sockets appeared slightly deeper, making his eyes look even larger. When he stared at someone like this, it carried a hint of pleading that he wouldn't voice, which was very childish, but exceptionally heart-softening.

A small lock of stray hair fell between his brows, mingling with his long eyelashes, before being brushed away by a hand.

The fingertip brushed past the space between his brows, as light as new snow falling on a branch. Yet the downy touch rippled out from the delicate nerve endings like a wave, crashing with a “thud” against the wall deepest in his heart.

“Don't cover yourself up,” a moment later, as if he hadn't noticed anything, Huo Mingjun casually pushed away the blanket covering his face and said, “Sleep. I won't leave. I'll stay here and keep you company.”

This time, Xie Guan said nothing. The thousand words in his chest all lost their voice, like a sandy beach smoothed by the waves, quietly and damply settling down.

He curved his lips into a smile at Huo Mingjun and closed his eyes.

Star Attraction was a talk show-style interview program, and also one of the top long-running variety shows in the country. It often invited the main creative teams of popular TV dramas to participate in promotions. Jingwu Youth had won the ratings championship for the month, and the audience's enthusiasm for the new actors was high. Star Attraction happened to be a suitable platform with a wide audience and a relatively high starting point, which was why Lin Yao had insisted on squeezing this event into Xie Guan's already packed schedule.

Xie Guan had given a heads-up to the host and director beforehand, and they were quite understanding, not arranging for him to participate in any physically demanding activities. While the makeup artist was applying his makeup, the planner came over with the script to explain the rundown, allowing the guests to familiarize themselves with the segments in advance. They then added, “Everyone, we've temporarily added a new segment for this episode. It's to help fruit farmers from X County sell watermelons. You'll need to call a celebrity friend of yours to make a sales pitch. You can all give your friends a heads-up before the show starts. However, this activity is about helping others for a good cause, so it's not mandatory. It's okay if you don't succeed; we can edit it in post-production.”

This kind of segment helping to sell agricultural products had become common in variety shows recently. The guests all had some connections, so they wouldn't be caught off guard. In the cast of A Handful of Snow, the show Xie Guan had joined to save the day, the second male lead, Zhou Yuan, was a well-known chef in the industry who had opened several chain restaurants. Xie Guan had eaten a private meal he'd cooked at a hotel, and the two were on pretty good terms. He sent Zhou Yuan a WeChat message, and since Zhou Yuan happened to not be filming, he agreed readily.

The recording of the show went smoothly. Except for the first two segments dragging on for a bit, the rest proceeded according to plan. The last segment was selling watermelons. A farmer came on stage holding four or five watermelons, and the host cut two of them on the spot to share with the guests and the live audience, pushing the atmosphere to a small climax.

Next up was making the phone calls.

Xie Guan had been standing in the noisy studio for over three hours, his attention highly focused the entire time. By now, he was already on the verge of exhaustion. He suspected he might be running a fever again; it was as if there was a glass dome over his ears, and the voices of both the host and the audience sounded muffled and distorted. Wondering if his complexion would look terrible when the show aired, he turned to the side, taking a few deep breaths under the cover of the stage's angle, trying his best to appear normal. Then, he heard the host call his name.

Xie Guan smiled and took a step forward, answering the host's question by saying he was going to call a friend who owned restaurants. When he said Zhou Yuan's name, a cheer erupted from the audience, and even the host let out a “Wow!”

Zhou Yuan was a seasoned veteran in the film industry, a bona fide A-list star, and moreover, had never been heard to have a private friendship with any idol artists. Xie Guan had only become popular through one or two idol dramas, his status still far from these movie stars. The fact that he knew Zhou Yuan was indeed surprising enough.

“Alright then, next, let's have Xie Guan call Teacher Zhou!”

Since it was a last-minute segment, the production team had forgotten to prepare phones, so they defaulted to using the guests' own phones. The camera lens focused on Xie Guan's phone screen, but before he could even tap “call contact,” Huo Mingjun's name shockingly appeared on the large background screen.

At the same time, his own phone began to vibrate.

Only then did Xie Guan remember that he had promised him before leaving that the recording would be done around five o'clock. It was almost seven now. Huo Mingjun had said he would come pick him up, so he was probably calling to ask about the situation since he was so late getting off work.

Xie Guan usually didn't bring his phone on shows, but as luck would have it, he had to use his phone today of all days, and Huo Mingjun just so happened to stumble upon a chance to be on camera.

The sudden incident was unexpected by the production team. Luckily, it wasn't a live broadcast. Just as Xie Guan was about to hang up, the host had a flash of inspiration. To highlight the show's authenticity, he laughed and said, “It just so happens there's an incoming call. How about this, let's test Xie Guan's sales skills on the spot. If you can help the farmer sell two baskets of watermelons, sixteen in total, we'll call it a success, how about that?”

Xie Guan's mouth twitched, but with things having come to this point, he couldn't refuse and had no choice but to answer the call.

The earpiece was synced to the audio system. Afraid of blowing his cover, Xie Guan seized the initiative before Huo Mingjun could speak. “Hello, President Huo.”

Apart from when he was joking, Xie Guan only addressed him this way in front of outsiders. Although the live audience had quieted down, a faint buzz could still be heard. Huo Mingjun immediately realized that Xie Guan was most likely still in the studio. The question on the tip of his tongue changed into polite small talk: “Little Xie, is it convenient for you to talk right now?”

Xie Guan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. A bead of sweat slid down his temple and fell into his collar. “I'm sorry, President Huo, I'm in the middle of a recording. The production team saw me answer your call and has a question for you.”

Huo Mingjun was stunned for a second by his sudden, bizarre turn. “Hm?”

Holding back his laughter, Xie Guan asked, “Do you like to eat watermelon?”

“...” Huo Mingjun was silent for a moment. “They're alright. Do you have any recommendations?”

Huo Mingjun was so quick on the uptake. Xie Guan practically wanted to pounce on him and give him a big smooch.

“I have two baskets of freshly picked watermelons from the farmers of X County here,” Xie Guan recited the host's introduction from earlier and asked, “I'll treat you to one. As for the remaining fifteen... what do you think?”

Huo Mingjun thought to himself that it was a good thing Xie Guan wasn't his business partner, otherwise, given the way the two of them did business now, Hengrui Group would sooner or later have to change its surname to Xie.

The respectable chairman of Hengrui Group, wholesaling watermelons here of all places. And that guy surnamed Xie didn't even make a sales pitch, just gave a vague hint, and he still had to take the hint and eagerly express, “Okay, okay, I'll take them all.”

To make him disregard the decades of face the Huo family had accumulated, only Xie Guan received such treatment.

As for how the logistics department at the group headquarters stared dumbfounded and awestruck at the two baskets of watermelons sent by the chairman the next day, and how all the employees, holding the “watermelons imperially bestowed by the chairman,” imagined countless dramatic sagas of love and hate among the rich and powerful—that is a story for another time.

After Xie Guan finished recording the show and removed his makeup, his head felt even more muddled, as if he were balancing a watermelon on his neck. He groggily said goodbye to the staff, not forgetting to carry a watermelon with him, and staggered out of the studio building.

A familiar Rolls-Royce Phantom slid gracefully to his side.

Xie Guan pulled open the rear door. When Huo Mingjun saw what was in his hand, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You really brought one back?”

“Mhm, I promised to treat you, and I keep my word,” Xie Guan slipped into the car and sat down next to Huo Mingjun, pressing his throbbing temples. “I picked the best one for you.”

Huo Mingjun set the out-of-place watermelon aside. Seeing his pale face, he asked, “What's wrong, not feeling well? Come here.”

He touched Xie Guan's forehead. As expected, it was burning hot to the touch.

Xie Guan leaned forward, resting his head against Huo Mingjun's palm for a moment. It was still uncomfortable. He frowned and scooted closer to Huo Mingjun, saying, “Let me lean on you for a bit.”

Huo Mingjun raised his arm, and Xie Guan snuggled into his embrace as if he were cold, burying his face in his shoulder. Huo Mingjun draped his suit jacket over him, and only then did he gradually settle down.

Xie Guan had struggled on his own for so many years and had had his fair share of colds and fevers, but never once had he been this delicate, needing to be held to be able to rest peacefully.

“You're on bed rest as soon as we get back. Don't even think about going anywhere until you're better,” Huo Mingjun said, helping him massage his temples. “I mean it this time. I've just been spoiling you too much.”

Xie Guan mumbled weakly, “It wasn't a total loss this time, I still got a watermelon, didn't I? Listening to their over-the-top descriptions, it should be pretty delicious.”

Huo Mingjun: “You didn't try it?”

“How would I dare,” Xie Guan draped his arm over his waist, too sleepy to open his eyes, and said drowsily, “Don't worry, the one I picked is definitely the sweetest.”

His warm, rapid breaths gradually seeped through the shirt, becoming a distinct sensation and heat on the skin beneath. Huo Mingjun looked down at the whorl of hair on top of Xie Guan's head, the hand wrapped around his back gently patting his thin spine again and again.

In his heart, he silently continued their unfinished conversation.

—“Not as sweet as you.”