Chapter 43

After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere was buzzing.

Even Li Siyuan, who had been in a bad mood all afternoon, was now smiling broadly, clinking glasses with Zhou Zijian.

The live chat was filled with harmonious and happy comments:

—“With drinks and meat, a breeze, a starry sky, and friends chatting about dreams, this is the greatest joy in life!”

—“There’s an inexplicable warmth to this. Watching this makes me want to join them!”

—“+1.”

Just as countless netizens were expressing their emotions, excitement, and envy, Huo Yan unexpectedly dropped this bombshell.

The live chat went silent for a second.

The filming scene instantly became silent; all the guests froze in their actions.

Song Zhehan thought, ‘Finally, it’s happening.’ He lowered his eyes slightly to hide the smile in them.

Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue slowly exchanged glances, seeing surprise in each other’s eyes.

What was going on?

Li Siyuan was also puzzled. He looked at Huo Yan in confusion, then at Duan Haoyan, still not understanding. He turned to look at Ye Leyao and saw the undisguised excitement on his face.

Li Siyuan instantly understood, raising his eyebrows with a slowly rising smile.

The only ones still out of the loop were Liu Yan and Lu Bo. They were full of doubts but couldn’t directly ask, so they could only look at Huo Yan with questioning eyes.

Ye Leyao, who knew the truth, directly looked at Duan Haoyan across from him, his face full of undisguised excitement:

[It’s your turn to speak, Duan Haoyan!]

Ye Leyao’s excited look was too obvious, and the viewers in the live chat quickly realized:

—“Ye Leyao’s expression—so there’s some drama?!”

—“Seeing Ye Leyao’s look, I knew it wouldn’t be wrong! Drama incoming——”

—“Ahhhh, so this drama is related to Huo Yan?”

—“I heard the name Su Rui. Isn’t Su Rui an actor who previously worked with Brother Yan?”

Huo Yan’s fans suddenly got a chill:

“No way?”

Netizens’ intuition was always sharp, and they quickly pressed for answers:

—“So, you fans know something?”

Huo Yan’s fans quickly shook their heads and explained:

—“Is it possible that we only remembered Su Rui after Huo Yan mentioned his name?”

Netizens became more curious:

—“So, what’s going on?”

—“Three people? Could it be the kind of love triangle we’re imagining?”

—“Wow——”

The gossip-loving netizens instantly got excited.

At this time, everyone at the filming site had their eyes on Duan Haoyan, and Duan Haoyan’s expression was very telling.

When he heard the name “Su Rui,” his mind went blank for a moment. He looked at Huo Yan in disbelief, unable to respond immediately.

Duan Haoyan hadn’t expected Huo Yan to bring up this topic voluntarily, especially in front of the cameras and so many guests.

Could it be that Huo Yan thought that even if the truth about abandoning Su Rui got exposed, it wouldn’t affect his career at all?

Was he being a bit too arrogant?

Duan Haoyan’s face darkened instantly, his eyes filled with anger.

Ye Leyao had been observing Duan Haoyan’s expression and, seeing his anger, couldn’t help but think:

[Hey? Just mentioning Su Rui’s name made Duan Haoyan angry?]

[It’s clear now. After Su Rui and my brother separated, he must have gone to Duan Haoyan and bad-mouthed my brother a lot.]

[But why isn’t Duan Haoyan speaking for so long? Could it be that Su Rui also watched the live stream this afternoon, saw that my brother was participating, and told Duan Haoyan something in advance?]

Qin Yao slightly nodded.

Ye Leyao’s guess was very plausible.

From how Duan Haoyan started picking on Ye Leyao as soon as he got in the car, it was clear Duan Haoyan wasn’t a calm person. His personality was a bit impulsive.

Huo Yan’s comment just now directly hit Duan Haoyan’s sore spot, but Duan Haoyan had been holding back for so long without speaking, likely due to Su Rui’s instructions.

Moreover, it was clear Duan Haoyan was now trying hard to suppress his anger, occasionally glancing at the other guests, obviously waiting for someone to step in and diffuse the situation.

But, very unfortunate.

If it were any other show or guests, someone would surely step in to smooth things over and lightly brush off the issue.

But unfortunately, Duan Haoyan was on this show with these guests.

This variety show had only recorded one episode before netizens affectionately renamed it “Let’s Go Eat Melons Together.”

Qin Yao looked at Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue.

In the last episode, Zhou Zijian tried to smooth things over but accidentally got himself involved. With Wen Xiangyue by his side this time, Zhou Zijian would be more cautious and wouldn’t speak unless absolutely necessary.

Liu Yan had also suffered from the last episode, going home to get a lecture from her manager. She had vowed not to get involved in such matters again.

And Lu Bo, as a new guest, was still figuring things out. Having already displeased Li Siyuan and Song Zhehan in the afternoon, he wouldn’t say much now.

As for the remaining guests——

It would be a miracle if they didn’t add fuel to the fire!

Qin Yao’s gaze swept over Song Zhehan and Li Siyuan one by one, finally landing on Ye Leyao.

Unsurprisingly, their faces showed varying degrees of excitement and enthusiasm.

The only one who managed to hold back a bit was Song Zhehan; after all, he seemed to remember his character setting.

As for the remaining Ye Leyao and Li Siyuan, the gossip and excitement on their faces were displayed openly without any intention of hiding it!

Therefore, the hope that Duan Haoyan had for a guest to smooth things over was destined to be in vain!

Sure enough, after patiently waiting for a minute, the expression on Duan Haoyan’s face cracked slightly, filled with disbelief, even more so than when he first heard Huo Yan’s words.

Why hadn’t anyone said anything yet?

It had already been a minute of awkward silence!

Seeing this, Ye Leyao couldn’t hold it back anymore, covering his face with his hand and laughing:

[No way, Duan Haoyan is really waiting for someone to smooth things over?]

[Who gave him this illusion!]

The netizens in the live stream also hadn’t expected Duan Haoyan to remain silent for a full minute:

—”Why aren’t you saying anything, Duan Haoyan?”

—”Could it be that he doesn’t want to continue this topic and is waiting for a guest to bail him out?”

The netizens almost instantly guessed the reason, and the barrage of comments started coming in faster:

—”Huh?”

—”Hahahahahahaha.”

—”Duan Haoyan, did you not understand what kind of show you were joining before coming on?”

—”Look! There’s an honest man here!”

Ye Leyao laughed so exaggeratedly that everyone present couldn’t help but glance at him frequently.

Huo Yan was speechless; if it were someone else’s gossip, it would be fine for Ye Leyao to laugh like this, but this matter involved him, and Ye Leyao was laughing so heartlessly.

Huo Yan couldn’t help but pinch Ye Leyao’s shoulder.

Ye Leyao quickly turned his head.

Only to see that Huo Yan wasn’t even looking at him; his gaze was fixed on Duan Haoyan across from him, breaking the silence: “Duan Haoyan, why aren’t you saying anything?”

Duan Haoyan immediately glared at Huo Yan angrily.

Couldn’t he see that he didn’t want to continue this topic? Why was Huo Yan still asking?

But because Huo Yan spoke, it completely cut off any chance of smoothing things over.

So Huo Yan really wasn’t afraid of this matter being exposed?

Duan Haoyan found it unbelievable and simultaneously remembered the message Su Rui had sent him in the afternoon, which made his anger rise even more.

This scumbag Huo Yan had clearly abandoned Su Rui, yet Su Rui still wanted to speak up for him! How important was Huo Yan to Su Rui?

The thought made Duan Haoyan’s tongue tingle with bitterness.

In the afternoon, he had merely made Ye Leyao a bit embarrassed, and Su Rui had sent him a message saying that if he continued to trouble Ye Leyao and Huo Yan during the next recording, Su Rui would never talk to him again.

As a result, Duan Haoyan heeded Su Rui’s words and didn’t trouble Huo Yan and Ye Leyao anymore, but now trouble had come knocking on his door!

Duan Haoyan couldn’t help but laugh coldly, no longer suppressing his anger, he glared at Huo Yan: “What do you want me to say? Talk about how you abandoned…”

“How you abandoned a pregnant ex-boyfriend to find a new love?” Huo Yan interrupted Duan Haoyan’s words, his smile not reaching his eyes, “Is that what Su Rui told you?”

Huo Yan spoke slowly, his pace just right.@@novelbin@@

Everyone, whether the guests present or the audience in the live stream, clearly heard this sentence.

But understanding was another matter entirely!

The moment Huo Yan finished speaking, the barrage was filled with question marks, fans were confused, and netizens were even more confused, with exclamations of “huh” everywhere.

—?”Wait! Did I hear that right?”

—”No way, what did Huo Yan just say?”

—”Did he say abandoned a pregnant ex-boyfriend?”

—”Huh?”

—”Pregnant?”

—”Ex-boyfriend?”

—”Huh?”

The guests’ expressions were even more stunned.

What did you just say?

A man? Pregnant?

Who?

It couldn’t be the Su Rui you just mentioned, right?

So Su Rui was pregnant and abandoned by you?

Li Siyuan exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Wow.”

Song Zhehan covered his mouth excitedly, very satisfied with this juicy gossip; it was worth the wait!

Zhou Zijian and Wen Xiangyue were even more shocked.

Zhou Zijian didn’t believe Huo Yan would do such a thing and kept shaking his head, looking at Wen Xiangyue and murmuring, “Impossible, right? Impossible! Huo Yan isn’t that kind of person…”

Liu Yan and Lu Bo were completely dumbfounded.

What had they just heard?

Could they hear this for free?

Help—

Even Qin Yao was a bit surprised.

Despite knowing that Huo Yan had been deceived by Su Rui emotionally and financially, he had no idea Su Rui was pregnant!

Qin Yao even had a moment of doubt, could the child really be Huo Yan’s?

The show’s director and producer were even more stunned.

Weren’t they all still getting along just fine, eating barbecue and drinking together a moment ago?

How did it turn into this in just two minutes?

Huo Yan!

You’re our show’s regular guest for the upcoming episodes, could we not say such random things?

But the producer couldn’t help but glance at the backstage data, seeing that the number of online viewers was skyrocketing, even surpassing the best numbers from the first live broadcast!

The producer swallowed hard: “Actually… this… is fine, right?”

The director squeezed over to see the data, finding it hard to disagree.

Luckily, they had anticipated poor signal on the grassland and brought satellite equipment; otherwise, today’s live stream would have been temporarily cut off.

But that’s not the point. The point is, what exactly did Huo Yan mean by his words?

Soon, everyone got their answer—

Duan Haoyan’s face instantly turned cold, and his voice even colder: “Isn’t it true?”

Ye Leyao’s lips couldn’t help but curl upwards.

[Judging by Duan Haoyan’s reaction, did Su Rui really say that?]

[Tsk tsk tsk, I just didn’t expect it. Duan Haoyan turned out to be a love-obsessed fool. Otherwise, even a high school student wouldn’t be played around by Su Rui!]

Upon hearing Ye Leyao’s words, Qin Yao instantly felt relieved and deeply ashamed of his brief suspicion of Huo Yan.

Meanwhile, Huo Yan laughed out loud.

Duan Haoyan couldn’t believe that Huo Yan was still laughing at this moment, and his anger flared up: “What are you laughing at? What’s so funny? Do you still want to deny that you abandoned Su Rui when he was pregnant?”

Huo Yan interrupted Duan Haoyan with a chuckle: “When did I say I wanted to deny it? I admit, I did abandon Su Rui.”

He laughed because he was laughing at himself for being blind to people’s true nature and also because what Ye Leyao said was true—Duan Haoyan was indeed a love-obsessed fool.

But the other guests were dumbfounded by Huo Yan’s words.

Wait a minute…

Huo Yan, do you know what you just admitted to?

The live stream’s comments section was a storm of chaos:

—”???”

—”Dude… Huo Yan! Wait, you…”

—”I’m absolutely floored.”

—”I can’t believe it. If I’d known Huo Yan came on the reality show to expose himself, it would’ve been better if he hadn’t come!”

—”What should I say… scumbag!”

A lot of Su Rui’s fans, upon hearing the commotion, jumped into the live stream.

They entered only to hear such a bombshell revelation. They didn’t care about how a man could get pregnant; they were just heartbroken for Su Rui:

—”No wonder we haven’t seen Su Rui in any activities recently…”

—”Huo Yan, are you even human? You actually abandoned Su Rui when he was pregnant?”

—”Damn it, I can’t take this. I’m so angry!”

Duan Haoyan was equally furious, he even stood up from his seat: “Huo Yan! What is your attitude?!”

Zhou Zijian sensed something was wrong and quickly stood up to hold Duan Haoyan back, whispering, “Xiao Duan, calm down, we’re still filming…”

Duan Haoyan was so angry his eyes were bloodshot, but at least he listened to Zhou Zijian’s words and didn’t actually charge forward.

Seeing this, the live stream’s comments section exploded again, and Su Rui’s fans were even more enraged.

They hadn’t seen any updates from Su Rui for such a long time, and were constantly worried about what had happened to him, barely eating or sleeping out of concern.

And now they were told that Su Rui had been pregnant with Huo Yan’s child, and was abandoned by Huo Yan, which is why he hadn’t appeared in public. How could the fans accept this?

There were even comments calling for Huo Yan to get out of the entertainment industry.

Until a comment suddenly popped up:

—”Wait! Look at Ye Leyao’s expression!”

With this comment, the viewers snapped back to reality and hurriedly looked at Ye Leyao on the screen.

The show’s team understood what the audience wanted to see. As soon as Huo Yan started speaking, they cut to a close-up shot of him. Ye Leyao, sitting next to Huo Yan, had his facial expression captured clearly by the camera.

Ye Leyao was seen covering his face with his hands, his shoulders shaking rapidly with small movements.

It looked like—

—”Crying?”

—”No way?”

—”Ye Leyao, crying?”

—”Wait, look closer. I think he’s laughing?”

This comment stirred up a storm.

—”I switched to Ye Leyao’s shot to look, and he’s really laughing.”

—”So why is Ye Leyao laughing? What’s so funny?”

—”Isn’t Huo Yan his second brother? His second brother just admitted on camera that he abandoned a pregnant ex-boyfriend. What’s so funny about that? Unless—”

Soon, a gossip-loving netizen completed the sentence: “Unless Ye Leyao knows there’s a twist!!!”

Before the netizens could ponder further, they saw Huo Yan suddenly stand up on the screen.

Huo Yan’s mouth maintained a relaxed smile, and he didn’t seem uncomfortable at all seeing Duan Haoyan’s angry face. In fact, Huo Yan slowly walked over to Duan Haoyan.

Zhou Zijian’s heart was in his throat, and he instinctively stood between the two: “Huo Yan, you—”

“Duan Haoyan,” Huo Yan looked Duan Haoyan straight in the eyes, his tone full of curiosity, “I really want to ask you, if the child in Su Rui’s belly wasn’t yours, would you still raise it for him?”

Duan Haoyan snorted coldly and responded without hesitation: “Of course I would…”

Before Duan Haoyan could finish, Huo Yan continued: “I would too. So when I found out that the child in Su Rui’s belly wasn’t mine, I still wanted to take care of him and let him safely give birth because I really liked him. I’ve had a crush on him since college.”

Duan Haoyan was stunned: “Wait, what do you mean the child isn’t yours?”

The other guests’ eyes lit up simultaneously.

As expected, they knew there was a twist!

Song Zhehan was so excited that he almost forgot to maintain his character setting. He quickly covered his mouth, preventing himself from laughing out loud like Ye Leyao and Li Siyuan.

Ye Leyao was almost laughing himself silly and couldn’t help but speak up: “So Su Rui really told you that the child in his belly was my second brother’s?”

Duan Haoyan’s face froze for a moment, staring straight at Ye Leyao: “Isn’t it?”

“He’s really… relentless,” Ye Leyao laughed so hard that tears fell, “Going around looking for a dad for the child!”

“What do you mean?!” Duan Haoyan couldn’t hold back any longer.

What did he mean by going around looking for a father for the child?

And he didn’t expect Huo Yan to be such a coward, not even daring to admit what he’d done.

“Huo Yan!” Duan Haoyan finally remembered Su Rui’s instructions and directed his anger at Huo Yan instead of Ye Leyao. “Aren’t you just afraid to admit it? You’ve already said on camera that you abandoned Su Rui, so why can’t you admit that the child in his belly is…”

“Do you have any proof?” Huo Yan interrupted him.

“What proof?” Duan Haoyan muttered. “Wouldn’t Su Rui know whose child it is?”

“Exactly,” Ye Leyao chimed in, nodding with a smile. “Wouldn’t Su Rui know whose child it is?”

He then turned to Huo Yan with a laugh: “I used to think my second brother was the only hopeless romantic in the world, believing two people lying in the same bed could get pregnant. But it seems we need to add your name to the list, Brother Duan.”

Duan Haoyan turned incredulously to look at Ye Leyao.

Through the glow of the barbecue grill, Ye Leyao’s smile appeared innocent.

[Did I say anything wrong?]

[Not a single thing!]

Huo Yan still felt a bit dissatisfied with being called a hopeless romantic by Ye Leyao, but this wasn’t the time to argue. He continued: “In the second month of dating Su Rui, I took him home, ignoring my parents’ objections, insisting on being with him. I even considered severing ties with my family for him and registering our marriage.”

Mentioning this, Huo Yan briefly closed his eyes, then asked, “So why don’t you guess, why did I, who was willing to sever family ties and even thought of marrying Su Rui, end up breaking up with him?”

The filming site fell into dead silence again.

Duan Haoyan’s face was full of shock.

Huo Yan was willing to sever family ties for Su Rui?

Seriously?

But what Su Rui told him was…

Ye Leyao saw through Duan Haoyan’s thoughts and asked, “Brother Duan, did Su Rui tell you about this?”

Duan Haoyan gritted his teeth and slowly shook his head after a long pause: “No… He told me…”

“That our family didn’t agree with him being with my second brother, so my second brother ultimately chose his family and abandoned him?” Ye Leyao roughly guessed what lies Su Rui had fabricated.

Duan Haoyan was stunned: “How do you know?”

Ye Leyao’s expression told him he had guessed right, and he couldn’t help but laugh again.

[So my second brother is really a big fool!]

[When they were together, Su Rui was after his money. Even after breaking up, he still defames him! How tragic!]

Qin Yao laughed.

Who wouldn’t agree?

“Brother Duan, when my second brother brought Su Rui home that day, except for my third brother who couldn’t make it, our whole family was there. At that time, my second brother proposed to sever ties with our family, and my eldest brother even threatened him with the company’s breach of contract penalty. But my second brother didn’t budge. Instead, it was Su Rui who persuaded my second brother not to break up with the family. Do you know why?” Ye Leyao threw a question at Duan Haoyan.

Duan Haoyan, confused, reflexively asked back: “Why?”

“Of course, because my second brother’s breach of contract penalty was very high! All the endorsements combined added up to eight figures. After paying it off, my second brother would probably only have one million left, right?” Ye Leyao tilted his head to look at Huo Yan.

Huo Yan: “…”

Although the fact wasn’t far off, did he not care about his dignity?

Huo Yan gritted his teeth: “One and a half million.”

That was his final stand.

[Alright, one and a half million it is. I won’t expose my second brother!]

Ye Leyao smiled and looked at Duan Haoyan again: “I’ve explained it so clearly, Brother Duan, do you understand now?”

Duan Haoyan felt a buzzing in his head.

Understand what?

What should he understand?

Duan Haoyan rarely felt such confusion.

If what Ye Leyao said was true, then everything Su Rui told him was a lie?

“No… I…” Duan Haoyan’s voice was hoarse. “But Su Rui told me…”

[Ah, another hopeless romantic who won’t believe until he sees the evidence!]

Ye Leyao turned his head: “Second brother! Play the recording!”

Although the restaurant didn’t have cameras, Huo’s mother had prudently brought a voice recorder when she talked to Su Rui that day.

After breaking up with Su Rui, Mama Huo handed the recording to Huo Yan, just in case Su Rui ever backstabbed him.

Huo Yan had never considered releasing the recording before, as he once truly liked Su Rui for several years and didn’t want to make things too ugly.

But Su Rui should never have targeted Ye Leyao.

Huo Yan took out his phone.

The recording had always been saved on his phone.

The recording started without any delay, immediately featuring Su Rui’s voice: “Five million, give me five million, and I’ll leave your son.”

As Su Rui’s familiar voice echoed, Su Rui’s eyes turned red, and he couldn’t help but scream: “Why!!! Why can’t I reach Duan Haoyan’s phone?!!!!”