Contrary to the other two, Qian Huang had had a very normal couple of hours that he just filled with some more sightseeing. When he saw Li Shui’s message about inviting Mister Yu’s granddaughter and Ai Gui Jin to their place for a cooking session, he actually dropped the street food he had just gotten himself and stared at his phone.

That … definitely wasn’t what he had expected. How had Li Shui managed to meet these two when he had just gone to eat? He couldn’t quite wrap his head around it but, in the end, he still figured that this was a lucky coincidence.

Mister Yu’s granddaughter made him have a bit of a headache considering what her grandfather had tried to do but then again, he seemed to have backed off after Xiao Ming told him that he wasn’t into women.

Also, it couldn’t hurt to have some more acquaintances in the field. In fact, it might be a nice idea to invite some chefs to their live streams in the future. If Miss Yu and Mister Ai would agree to something like that, it would probably make their view count skyrocket. Especially Miss Yu. Not only was her grandfather famous, she was also a professional cook and probably a beautiful lady.

That was the kind of thing that their Bright Yellow Water channel was missing. Even though Xiao Ming was good-looking and he and Li Shui also couldn’t be called ugly if he might say so himself, that didn’t convince the male viewers much. Well, at least not the straight ones.

Thinking of that, Qian Huang naturally agreed to have a look at their itinerary, suggesting a couple of days that would work for them. He didn’t bother to tell Xiao Ming. This kind of thing would be best if they decided it and then just surprised him with it. Well, maybe not at the moment when the doorbell rang but he shouldn’t find out too long before that. Otherwise, he would just get anxious again.

Just when Qian Huang had gotten himself a food replacement after dealing with the matter of the cooking session, his phone rang and Xiao Ming’s name was shown on screen.

Qian Huang raised his brows, wondering if Li Shui had told him after all. He already cursed the guy in his head. Was this really what he should do? Still, he picked up the call. “Xiao Ming, have you finished what you were doing? Do you want to go and eat together? I just … I lost my food to a little accident.”

There was a bout of silence on the other end before Xiao Ming cleared his throat. “I … I already ate.”

“Oh.” Qian Huang frowned, not quite sure what to make of this. What did he mean, he had already eaten? Or rather, why had he hesitated like that? It had sounded a bit strange. “So … What else happened? Because you sound like something did happen.”

There was another pause before Xiao Ming finally spoke up again. “Well … Where are you right now? Can we meet up?”

Qian Huang felt alarmed and immediately checked where he was, sending the info over to Xiao Ming while he also messaged Li Shui, asking him when he could come back. This sounded like something major had happened. Even though he figured that he could probably deal with it, he’d rather have another person there just in case.

Unfortunately, he had wandered off quite a bit so he wasn’t anywhere close to the others at the moment. Even though Li Shui replied almost immediately, meeting up would still be a bit of a bother. Thus, finally, he figured that it might be best to just call it a day here. “How about just going back home? We can talk about everything slowly over there.”

“Sounds good. Then I’ll go back first.”

Qian Huang also messaged Li Shui again after the call ended and then hurried home himself, not wanting to get there too late. Xiao Ming had sounded strange. This was something he hadn’t heard in a while. No matter what it was, he’d rather not leave him alone like this.

At the same time, Li Shui very reluctantly bid farewell to Yu Lin.

She also didn’t seem to want him to leave but still waved it off, telling him to hurry. “In any case, Xiao Ming is your friend. If something happened to him, you should go and help out or at least see what this is about. In any case, Mister Ai and I are going to come over soon. It’s not like we are out of the world.”

Li Shui nodded and already wanted to go when he realized that he hadn’t given her his number yet. The two of them hurriedly exchanged them and then he ran off, not bothering to look at Ai Gui Jin who had furrowed his brows.

Yu Lin turned to him, wanting to say that she would also go when she realized that he was looking a little strange. “What’s the matter?”

Si Shi Wu pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to her, giving a sigh. “Ah, I just wonder what happened. I hope it’s nothing too bad. He seemed a little worried.” Actually, Li Shui hadn’t seemed that worried but if he left immediately, then most likely, it should be something grave. That definitely wasn’t something that he wanted to hear about young master Xiao.

He thought for a bit and then pulled out his own phone, sending a message to Si Er to have him find out what was going on. Then, he looked back up at Yu Lin. “Well, seems like the two of you are getting along rather well. He’s your type, I gather?” He smiled at that, still quite happy with how things had turned out so far.

Yu Lin chuckled at that and then shook her head. “I wouldn’t go that far. He is a really nice man and I definitely admire his ability to eat but this kind of thing needs some more time.”

Si Shi Wu picked up his cup and sipped his tea, narrowing his eyes. “Well, there was definitely more of a spark there than the two of us had yesterday. In any case, I wish you luck. You seem to get along really well.”

Yu Lin nodded, feeling that there really was a chance that this would work out. “Well, we are going to meet up soon enough so there shouldn’t be a problem. Now though, I’m finished with lunch. I guess you still want to stay to talk to your friend, right? Do you mind if I leave already?”

Si Shi Wu raised his hands, definitely not wanting to intrude. “We just met up by coincidence and you probably have other things to do. Better go and take care of those. I’ll just get some more tea and see when my friend has some time.”

The two of them bid farewell and Yu Lin left. As soon as she was through the door, Si Shi Wu took out his phone again, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do. The things that had happened couldn’t quite be condensed into a simple text message but this also wasn’t information that he wanted to say out loud. No, it was probably best to wait and then go back home to tell Si Yi.

In any case, he was here to make sure that he was seen with other people. Even though meeting with Yu Lin had been a lucky coincidence in that regard, she was still the same person he had seen yesterday. And then Li Shui had also appeared so that wasn’t really much of an alibi. No, it would be better to stay for a while longer and make sure that he also met his friend. Otherwise, this might just cause trouble in the long run.

Thus, Si Shi Wu put his phone away again, waving for the waiter to give him some more tea while he glanced at the people that came to eat here. Now, he could really only wait. He hoped that for the others, things would be going a bit better.

At this time, Li Shui was hurrying home in the fastest way possible. He actually managed to arrive shortly after Qian Huang who had come from the other direction but at that point, Xiao Ming had already been waiting at home for some time.

The two of them exchanged a glance and then immediately sat down opposite him, looking at him with worry.

“What happened?”

“You sounded like it was something really grave.” Qian Huang looked him over, trying to figure something out but other than looking a little weirded out, Xiao Ming seemed as usual.

Xiao Ming sighed, rubbed his face, and then leaned back, starting to tell them about his meeting with Shi Ru Qiu. The longer he talked, the higher Qian Huang’s brows climbed while Li Shui’s expression was a little dull.

“How did the two of you manage to meet people like this? Actually, I’m even more amazed at you, Xiao Ming. Shi Ru Qiu … I mean, not that I would know him, but he is clearly famous. Probably more so than Mister Ai.”

Xiao Ming raised his brows, not quite sure where that came from. “Both of us?”

Qian Huang clicked his tongue and motioned at Li Shui. “Who do you think he ran into when he went to that restaurant? Ai Gui Jin and Mister Yu’s granddaughter.”

Xiao Ming nodded slowly. “Oh, so they definitely are dating, huh?”

Qian Huang looked at him, not sure what to say for a moment. In the end, he slightly furrowed his brows. “I’m sorry.” They had joked around yesterday but it had all been in good fun. Now though … Xiao Ming seemed to have gotten his hopes up for nothing. This really wasn’t something that he wanted to see.

Xiao Ming hadn’t really had much time for dating in the last few years. And the more their channel grew, the less easy it would be. Being gay still wasn’t something that was widely accepted in the populace so he would always have to take that into consideration.

Being seen with a man and maybe going out with somebody who had bad intentions were things that could make trouble for them in the long. Ai Gui Jin … he was a really safe option. And well, just as they had said, he also wasn’t a bad option in general. Handsome, well-established, with a passion for cooking just like Xiao Ming … Why wouldn’t he consider him?

Xiao Ming sighed. “Honestly, I don’t even know what to make of this whole conversation I had with him. I just … he seemed incredibly lonely. About that matter with Mister Ai … I see where he’s coming from. I also think it wouldn’t be a good idea.

“He’s right that if it was us, I also wouldn’t want a woman or a man to come between the three of us. So why would it be different for them? And, clearly, these two are good friends if Si Jin can just give him a call and tell him that he wants to learn to cook in the next four weeks and Mister Ai will go over and immediately get to teaching him. They have to be really good friends to make that work.”

“Or rich.”

Qian Huang and Xiao Ming looked at Li Shui who didn’t seem bothered by this at all.

He shrugged his shoulders, not quite sure why they were looking at him like this. “What? Clearly, he has to be filthy rich if people are actually wanting him dead. Who knows if he doesn’t have something to do with that restaurant that Mister Ai opened? There might be more behind that.”

Xiao Ming wanted to say that this didn’t make any sense but on second thought, Li Shui was right. How many people were able to open a restaurant right after they finished culinary school? Especially such a high-end one? But Mister Ai had done so and even very successfully. There might indeed be something more behind it even if that was just the money of a friend.

“Well, if that’s true, it also wouldn’t be anything bad. Helping out friends … Nin Sha is the type for that.” Yes, thinking about it that way, hadn’t Si Jin done the same thing for them?

When they started out and there was hardly anyone watching them yet, he had immediately started to throw money at them. He liked what he liked and since he didn’t lack money, he probably felt that he could use it to help out. He probably was the kind of guy who did something like that. In fact …

Xiao Ming slightly furrowed his brows and then looked at his phone, looking up the news articles again that Qian Huang had shown him back then. Yes, when Si Jin started to practice his cooking skills, he hadn’t just bought all those ingredients, cut them up, and then let them rot somewhere. He had actually donated them. Clearly, at the bottom of his heart, he was a really good guy even though he had been hurt so badly. That was actually really sweet.

Not that he should think about him like this. After all, he had heard from Shi Ru Qiu just how dangerous life in the Si family could be. That really wasn’t something that he wanted to get involved in.