Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 402: Care for a Drink?

The days of filming were dull and busy, and without any big night scenes, the routine was exceedingly healthy. After staying in the earthen houses on the plains for a long time, it was a bit uncomfortable returning to the skyscrapers and the steel forest in the city.

Having not seen any outsiders’ vehicles for over two months, when Xie Qingci came to pick her up in a sleek, high-end black Cayenne, she stared at the car for a good while.

"Being expensive does make a difference, the touch is obviously worlds apart from the beat-up van the crew uses to haul things."

Opening the car door for her, Xie Qingci couldn’t help but laugh: "There’s no comparison. Get in, a lot of people are watching us."

Yu Xia looked over and saw that the crew was tidying up slowly, occasionally stealing glances their way.

She got into the car: "Then let’s go quickly, I’ve been stared at for two months."

"Why are you sitting in the back?" Xie Qingci gestured towards the co-driver seat door he had opened and said, "Come sit in the front."

"It’s the same in the back... okay, okay, I’ll sit in the front."

After placing her things and settling down, Xie Qingci naturally pulled her in for a kiss before starting the car and leaving.

As expected, Yu Xia gave him a speechless glance.

He was the only one who personally drove to pick someone up; all the other artists had assistants and hired drivers driving while they sat in the back to avoid being photographed.

But not him; he seemed eager to be photographed conspicuously.

Yu Xia closed her eyes for a nap shortly after getting in the car, wearing Xie Qingci’s baseball cap low over her forehead, and with a mask, her face wouldn’t be visible unless at a tricky angle.

Then, in her drowsy state, Xie Qingci lifted her chin and kissed her again, making use of the brim of the cap for cover.

This time it was not brief, and Yu Xia quickly came to herself and pushed him away, looking ahead.

"...A red light, gosh, you scared me."

She thought he had lost his mind and was getting frisky on the road.

Xie Qingci said nothing, and continued the kiss by holding her chin once more.

Yu Xia dodged away: "Haven’t you kissed enough?"

He lazily replied, "Nope."

To prevent him from kissing her again, she quickly changed the subject: "So, are we heading straight back, or are we grabbing dinner first? It’ll be dinner time by the time we arrive, right?"

Right when the light turned green, Xie Qingci had to sit back properly and resume driving while answering her, "Dinner first, at the restaurant you mentioned."

This could probably be considered... a date? Since he seemed in an exceptionally good mood, and at every red light, he would hold her hand and squeeze it, while his other hand rested on the car window, fingers lightly grazing a slightly raised corner of his lips.

Getting squeezed like this made it difficult for Yu Xia to sleep, so she yawned and played with her phone.

Recently, quite a few people had contacted her—actor friends she was close with wanted to know about her relationship with Xie Qingci; past rumored relationships with people she had worked with who still had her contact sometimes sent bizarre, emotionally-laden messages.

Aside from this, others simply sent well-wishes like "congrats 99," for instance, Wei Yaoyao and Shu Ran.

Seeing Wei Yaoyao’s name, she remembered something.

"When the official announcement was made, you said Wei Yaoyao helped; how did he help?"

At the time, the most enthusiastic reaction came from the "Burning Spring" crew, and the Luo, who had been devoted to setting them up, even tweeted about how "finally you’ve pursued them successfully."

However, it was easy for fans to guess that Xie Qingci had been pursuing her even before his boy group disbanded.

Could it be——

Xie Qingci: "He did help a bit; it’s a bit complicated to explain, you can check that tweet yourself."

Yu Xia gave him a look and searched Wei Yaoyao’s post on Weibo.

[Wei Yaoyao V: So awesome, bro! I thought you’d forever be stuck in unrequited love. Who hasn’t had a first crush? But you’ve got guts to take real action.]

The top comment was from a fan asking: [So you all knew?]

And Wei Yaoyao replied casually, [No way. With his aloof demeanor, does he look like someone who’d brag? I found it odd when I visited the set. Back then, even he hadn’t realized, but then one day at dinner, after one drink, he looked at a fish with longing eyes and called it Yu Xia; that’s when I, a brilliant genius, discovered it.]

Yu Xia frowned, muttering it twice and questioned him strangely, "You got drunk and called my name at a fish?"

"...No," he tried to explain, "He was shouting at the fish in the restaurant’s tank. I didn’t hear clearly and thought he was talking about you, so I turned to ask him."

The conversation probably went like this—

Wei Yaoyao: Fish! Fish fish fish! Is this fish blind? Why can’t it see me?

Him: Yu Xia? Where?

And then Wei Yaoyao teased him for quite a while.

"Pfff—" Yu Xia couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Although this explanation is probably true, as he would never let himself get drunk enough to do something like that.

But imagining him, drunk with dazed eyes, eagerly gazing at a decorative fish in a tank and calling her name, it would indeed be adorable.

She lowered her head and laughed; Xie Qingci glanced at her quickly.

"Is it that funny?"

"It’s alright—want to have a drink later?" she asked nonchalantly.

Xie Qingci’s eyelid twitched, as he pulled over to the roadside and looked at her: "What do you mean?"

Yu Xia: "Huh? What do you mean? I was just casually asking if you wanted a drink. Isn’t eating and drinking a natural sequence? Last time, I drank with my brother and sister-in-law too."

"Really? I thought you had something else in mind," he said meaningfully.

"Don’t wrongfully accuse an innocent person," she looked calmly ahead, "Hurry up and drive, I’m starving."

Xie Qingci restarted the car and continued on the road.

They finally reached the city’s limits around dinner time.

But contrary to what they had discussed, Xie Qingci drove directly into the residential parking lot, settled her luggage, and then pulled her outside to walk.

He planned to walk to the restaurant.

As if letting any moment of flaunting affection slip by would be a loss for him.

Yu Xia was speechless.

Upon reaching the restaurant, he was a bit more well-behaved and subdued, wearing a mask and hat as they headed to the private room, causing no mischief.

During the ordering process, the server recognized them both, visibly growing excited.

Hearing that they ordered red wine made her even more thrilled, and she rapidly tucked away the order menu and dashed away.

Upon her return, she carried not only the red wine but also a red rose.

Yu Xia glanced at the server in surprise and whispered, "Is the restaurant having an event today? Is there also a Valentine’s Day in October?"

The server shook her head, her eyes ablaze with gossip curiosity.

"It’s for preparing a candlelight dinner, since you ordered the wine, a red rose complements it nicely."

In fact, it was because the heartwarming story about "Xie Qingci scouring the town to finally persuade the store owner to sell him a bouquet of roses and confessing successfully" went viral online two months ago, unexpectedly boosting the rose industry again. Now, many restaurants stocked red roses for customer demand at any time.

Xie Qingci accepted the rose courteously and thanked her.

The atmosphere was nice; his manner was relaxed and his eyes were smiling, evidently satisfied with the service.

However, the female protagonist’s train of thought was temporarily on a different track.

Yu Xia arched an eyebrow and asked, "At a Chinese restaurant, with round tables, you’re still doing candlelight dinner?"

Isn’t it more fitting for a work party with toast chants and white liquor?