The next day, Fang Yuan contacted Xia Zhi and Jiang Zhixia separately and told them about the celebration banquet.
The celebration banquet was not held in City A, but on a small island in the south. This was because in addition to the celebration banquet, it was also a celebration trip for the entire team.
The celebration trip lasted four days, and the celebration banquet was held on the last night.
If Xia Zhi and the other four don’t want to participate in the first three days, they don’t have to. They only need to attend the celebration banquet on the last day.
After Fang Yuan briefly introduced the relevant matters of the celebration banquet to Xia Zhi on the phone, he asked tentatively: "The celebration banquet will be next Saturday, you should be able to come."
"The time is fine. I'm free next Saturday." Xia Zhi sat at the desk, half of his body leaning against the back of the chair, turning a pen in his hand. After explaining his situation, he hesitated again, "But is it appropriate for me to go now?"
"Why do you ask?" Fang Yuan was confused. "You are a regular guest on the show. It would be inappropriate not to go."
"Of course I know that, but," Xia Zhi held the pen between two fingers and tapped the table with the end of the pen, "You also know my current situation. What if I show up at the celebration banquet and ruin the atmosphere of the audience?"
"Isn't it because of this situation that it has to happen?" Fang Yuan asked back, "If you don't participate, it will only confirm the rumors that the two of you are not getting along. You might as well take this opportunity to clarify it."
"This counts as taking away the main event." Xia Zhi joked.
Fang Yuan also said half-truthfully: "Then you should restrain yourself a little."
Xia Zhi smiled and said nothing more.
Fang Yuan also stopped joking and gave a final word of advice: "You should discuss this with Zhixia. Whether it is to clarify the rumors online or to pave the way for future disclosure, this is a good opportunity."
Xia Zhi was stunned for a moment, then smiled knowingly and asked casually, "Was the idea of live broadcast decided on the spur of the moment?"
Fang Yuan did not deny it.
In the evening, Jiang Zhixia returned home from work and took the initiative to tell Xia Zhi about Fang Yuan contacting her. Fang Yuan called Xia Zhi first and said roughly the same thing to both of them.
Before falling asleep at night, Xia Zhi lay on Jiang Zhixia's body, put one hand on his head, and played with his hair with his fingers, while asking thoughtfully: "What do you think of the celebration banquet?"
Jiang Zhixia's eyes were half closed, and he was drowsy. When he heard Xia Zhi's voice, he slowly lifted his eyelids, glanced at his lover, and said slowly: "Sang Luo's suggestion is actually not bad."
Xia Zhi didn't realize what the suggestion was at first. After thinking about it carefully, he remembered that Sang Luo and the others seemed to have suggested that they take the opportunity to make it public at the celebration banquet last night.
Xia Zhi rested her pointed chin on Jiang Zhixia's chest, considered it seriously, and finally rejected it.
"Let's not do that." Xia Zhi said, "This is the celebration party for the show, let's not steal the limelight."
Jiang Zhixia didn't have any objections. She reached out and gently rubbed the back of his head, then asked, "Do you want to attend the celebration party?"
"Let's go." Xia Zhi stretched out his hands and lay on Jiang Zhixia's body, "Even if it's not for the things on the Internet, we have to go just for the seafood. We don't have many opportunities to go normally."
Jiang Zhixia raised the corners of his lips, hugged Xia Zhi's waist and pulled her up a little, then rubbed his lips against her cheek: "Then go."
"Yeah." Xia Zhi turned her head and avoided Jiang Zhixia's kiss.
Jiang Zhixia raised her eyebrows: "You won't give me a kiss?"
Xia Zhi half-closed his eyes, hummed lazily, and said, "The frequency has been a bit high recently."
Jiang Zhixia found it funny: "Does a kiss also count as frequency?"
Xia Zhi pinched his chin, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and revealed a half-smile: "You said it as if you really wanted to kiss me. Don't I know what you are planning?"
Jiang Zhixia smiled slightly, agreed frankly, and asked along the pole: "Do you want it?" While asking, she put her hand into his pajamas and touched his waist.
"No." Xia Zhi refused categorically, pulled his hand out of her clothes, turned over and lay back beside him, and said to Jiang Zhixia seriously, "Indulgence is harmful to your health."
"That's a shame." Jiang Zhixia sighed pretentiously, "We're about to wrap up, and we have to catch up on the progress in the last few days. I may not have a chance to go home and live."
Xia Zhi was stunned for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Where do you live?"
"The crew has rented a few empty houses in the next town. I will stay there with them for the last few days to save time."
"How many days will you stay?"
"About a week." Jiang Zhixia said, "I can be back before the celebration party."
Xia Zhi frowned slightly: "When will we move there?"
"tomorrow."
Xia Zhi suddenly realized: "No wonder when I saw you packing after taking a shower just now, I thought you were going to the celebration party next week."
Jiang Zhixia laughed and pinched his cheek: "Don't you want me to leave?"
"That's not the case." Xia Zhi leaned over, stretched out her arms to hug him, and said frankly, "But it might be a little strange to get used to. Does this mean I'll have to eat takeout again in the next few days?"
Jiang Zhixia was also quite helpless, but as the lead actor she had an entire crew to take care of, and she couldn't do whatever she wanted. She could only hug her lover and coax him with sweet words.
"It seems that I can only bear with you for a few days. I will make you something delicious when I come back."
Xia Zhi sighed.
Jiang Zhixia thought about it and suggested, "Why don't you go home and eat these few days? I heard that uncle and aunt have learned a lot of new dishes recently."
Xia Zhi bumped into his chest and said in a tone worse than death: "That's too unfair! I'd rather eat takeout!"
"How sad your words would make uncle and auntie hear you." Jiang Zhixia patted his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "In fact, their cooking skills have improved a lot recently, and the taste is getting better and better."
"That's still far worse than you." Xia Zhi said shamelessly, "You've made me picky. I used to be able to eat the food my parents cooked without batting an eyelid, but now even the food in restaurants outside tastes bad to me. This is all your fault, you have to take responsibility."
"Okay, I'll take responsibility." Jiang Zhixia was very happy, "I'll do it for you forever."
"That's more like it." Xia Zhi raised the corner of his mouth.
"Do you want to do it now?" Jiang Zhixia suddenly leaned close to his ear and asked softly.
"..." The topic changed so suddenly that Xia Zhi didn't react for a moment. During the brief moment he was stunned, Jiang Zhixia's hand had already begun to restlessly reach inside her pajamas.
"..." Xia Zhi's hand suddenly froze in the air. He hesitated for a long time with a frown on his face, and finally took his hand back, tacitly approving Jiang Zhixia's actions.
After all, we have to be apart for a week. It's a long time. It seems a pity not to be intimate with each other.
The next morning, Jiang Zhixia really took her luggage to the set.
Xia Zhi continued to go to work in an orderly manner, just like usual. The only change was that he no longer carried his lunch box to work these days and went back to eating in the school cafeteria.
Although there was a lot of noise about Xia Zhi and Jiang Zhixia not getting along, the U University campus was still peaceful. U University students had always regarded Xia Zhi as a perfect male god, and did not believe the rumors that slandered him online. Later, after Jiang Zhixia airbornely visited the U University campus to give Xia Zhi a mobile phone, everyone was more convinced that those rumors were all rumors. Therefore, Xia Zhi's image in the students' minds was not affected.
The discussions about him and Jiang Zhixia on the Internet have never disappeared, but because of this group of warm and kind students, Xia Zhi is rarely affected by online comments. Although Jiang Zhixia is not around, he is always smiling every day.
A few days later, the program team released the news of holding a celebration banquet online and began to warm up for the live broadcast on Saturday.
As the popularity of Jiang Zhixia and Xia Zhi has not faded, what was originally just an ordinary celebration banquet has attracted widespread attention. Within less than two days after the live broadcast preview was released, the number of reservations reached over one million.
Two days before the celebration party, Jiang Zhixia finally finished filming. After returning home and taking a good rest for a day, he and Xia Zhi set out from Y City to a small island in the south on Saturday noon to attend the program group's celebration party.
The island where the celebration banquet was held was under the jurisdiction of L City, and it took two ferry trips to get there.
Sang Luo, Cheng Yunan and Xiao Han bought the same flight and arrived in L City three hours later than Xia Zhi and the others. They followed the staff arranged by the program group to take a boat to the island.
The two followed the staff to the passenger ship center and bought a ticket first.
It was Xia Zhi's first time to take a passenger ship. The process was similar to that of taking a high-speed train. However, when he looked out of the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the waiting hall and saw the huge ship moored at the shore, he still felt very curious. He looked out the window frequently, like a child going out with his parents for the first time.
Jiang Zhixia had ridden on the ship many times before because of filming, so she was not curious about the ship itself. Instead, she was more attracted by the reaction of her lover to the ship.
While waiting to board the ship, Jiang Zhixia and Xia Zhi chatted.
"First time on a boat?"
Xia Zhi nodded and explained, "I've only been on a yacht before."
"Will you get seasick?"
Xia Zhi's face was a little solemn: "I guess so." He used to feel dizzy every time he rode on a yacht, so he didn't like these water transportation tools very much.
Jiang Zhixia reached into her backpack and fumbled around for a while, then pulled out a box of seasickness pills and asked, "Would you like to take one?"
Xia Zhi was surprised: "You even prepared this? Are you seasick too?"
"I don't get seasick," Jiang Zhixia explained, "I was just worried that you would get seasick, so I prepared a box in advance."
Xia Zhi took the medicine, stared at the pill for a long time, suddenly raised the corner of his mouth, put the medicine into his mouth, and was about to reach out to take the mineral water bottle at hand, but Jiang Zhixia had already handed it to him and considerately unscrewed the lid.
After Xia Zhi took the medicine, Jiang Zhixia took the water bottle back, screwed on the lid and put it aside.
Xia Zhi looked at his movements, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised again.
Jiang Zhixia actually saw his two little movements, so she asked, "What are you thinking about that makes you feel so good?"
"Nothing," although Xia Zhi said this, the smile on his face became more and more obvious. After a short silence, he spoke to him slowly.
"I used to travel frequently, and I packed my own luggage every time."
"Well," Jiang Zhixia continued with interest, "Are you very careless and often forget things?"
"No, I've lived abroad alone for three years, so I should be able to take care of myself." Xia Zhi glanced at him. "If it were before, I would have brought some seasickness medicine if I knew we were going to take a boat."
Jiang Zhixia asked: "Why did you forget this time?"
Xia Zhi said without hesitation: "Because of you."
"Me?" Jiang Zhixia was surprised for a moment.
"Well, it's because of you." Xia Zhi curled her lips, "Because you prepared everything for me in advance, so I don't have to worry about anything. Since you moved in, I found that my ability to take care of myself seems to be slowly deteriorating, and I'm starting to become a waste."
"That can't be helped." Jiang Zhixia suddenly moved closer to him and whispered, "Who made me like you? If I like you, I naturally want to treat you well. Otherwise, how can it be called a relationship?"
Xia Zhi was amused, and her smiling eyes were full of happiness.
-
Because Xia Zhi had taken seasickness medicine beforehand, he did not get seasick along the way and arrived at his destination island safely.
This island is not small in size, it is actually a small county town, with complete supporting facilities, and the infrastructure is basically built in the center of the island. The program crew stayed in a hotel by the sea, and the evening celebration banquet would be held on the beach.
After the two of them arrived at the island, they followed the staff into a car. After driving for about half an hour, they finally arrived at the hotel.
They were going to stay here tonight, and Fang Yuan had already booked a room for them in advance. Their relationship was no longer a secret in the production crew, so Fang Yuan didn't bother to go through the motions and directly booked a king-size bed room for the two of them.
The staff member who was responsible for picking them up left after settling them down, asking them to take a rest and saying that the producer and director were still in a meeting to discuss the live broadcast arrangements for the evening.
Fang Yuan booked a sea view room for them. Outside the window was the blue sea and blue sky, and the scenery was beautiful.
Xia Zhi opened the sliding door of the balcony and walked out. The sea breeze blew gently in his face, warm and moist. The gentle wind blew his hair and the white gauze curtains at the window behind him. The gauze curtains fluttered gently, half-hiding the man who was squatting on the floor packing his luggage in the room, revealing only a vague outline.
Xia Zhi put his hands on the balcony railing, slightly bent his upper body, looked up at the sea level in the distance, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.
Jiang Zhixia followed him out and hugged him from behind: "What are you looking at?"
Xia Zhi curled his lips and answered casually, "I'm watching two crabs fighting."
Jiang Zhixia was amused, and as if to punish him, she lowered her head and gently bit the back of his neck: "You say a fight between two sharks is more credible than this."
"I just wanted to tease you, who asked you to believe it." Xia Zhi slowly uttered a word, "Stupid."
Jiang Zhixia burst out laughing and couldn't help but hug him tighter.
(End of this chapter)