Chapter 57 — A Night of Live Streaming

Gu Beicheng pulled the woman, who was engrossed in her computer, to her feet, his large hand locking around her waist. “Time for bed.”

Mu Ran closed her laptop, but she had no intention of turning off the live broadcast.

She’d just overheard those ridiculous schemes Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange had concocted to deal with her, leaving her utterly helpless. She simply couldn’t understand how, in her past life, she’d ended up being framed and destroyed by Bai Zehan, Gao Tiange, and Fu Jiaojiao.

“So where are you going to sleep?” she asked.

Mu Ran stood up, facing the man. Her eyes were downcast, fixed intently on the buttons of his pajamas, too embarrassed to meet his gaze.

She’d always thought herself thick-skinned—after all, entertainers in the business all had a bit of an unbreakable social streak. But now, facing Gu Beicheng, her heart beat uncontrollably, and her cheeks flushed in spite of herself.

“I’ll sleep wherever you tell me to,” Gu Beicheng replied, mischief sparkling in his eyes. He knew she was shy and couldn’t help but tease her.

He leaned down slowly, his handsome face close to her ear, his warm breath brushing her earlobe.

Mu Ran instinctively stepped back, clutching her ears with both hands. “If you want to talk, just talk—why get so close?”

“Keep your voice down, don’t wake Teacher Song,” he whispered, his slender finger lightly touching her soft lips, his husky voice wrapping around her.

She brushed away his hand with a helpless pout. The way he acted, it was as if they were doing something unspeakable.

“You sleep on the sofa,” she declared.

With that, she dove into bed, buried herself under the covers, and pulled the quilt over her head to hide her embarrassment.

Gu Beicheng’s eyes seemed to brim with longing as he gazed at the mound under the covers. He turned to look at the sofa in the bedroom, shook his head with a soft chuckle, turned off the lights, and walked over to the sofa.

Time ticked by.

Hidden under the blanket, Mu Ran quietly lifted a corner and peeked out.

“Bei Bei?”

No response.

The room was so dark, she couldn’t see a thing.

“Bei Bei, are you asleep?”

Still no answer.

Puzzled, Mu Ran threw off the covers and crawled to the edge of the bed.

Did Gu Beicheng leave while she wasn’t paying attention?

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, which had built up under the blanket, and got up to look for him.

Without Gu Beicheng, she felt an empty ache inside.

“Where are you going?”

A teasing male voice called out from the sofa. She switched on the light.

He was sitting there with arms crossed and legs casually propped up, a lazy air about him.

“Why are you sitting here? Aren’t you going to sleep?” she asked.

Gu Beicheng’s smile deepened. “You told me to sleep on the sofa…”

Mu Ran pressed a hand to her forehead. She’d forgotten that the sofa in this bedroom was one of those European high-backed chairs—far too small for someone as tall and broad as Gu Beicheng to lie on.

Her heart ached for him. If she’d fallen asleep, this man would have spent the whole night sitting upright on the sofa—how uncomfortable that would be.

“Don’t worry about me, Ranran. Get back to bed before you catch a chill.”

“You—come sleep in the bed,” she ordered, her brows furrowed, her tone cold.

Gu Beicheng, that stubborn man—couldn’t he say if he was uncomfortable? Did he not know she would worry?

He parted his lips in a gentle tease. “Ranran, are you sure?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get up here,” she snapped, both annoyed and concerned, burrowing back into the covers. “Hurry up, I’m exhausted.”

Gu Beicheng got up and walked over, his broad frame pressing in close, his breath warm against her flushed cheeks. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll do something to you?”

“You won’t. Turn off the light and get in.”

Mu Ran was certain the man before her would never take advantage of her.

In her past life, after Bai Zehan drugged her, she’d been stripped naked and sent to Gu Beicheng’s bed. Yet this man hadn’t even spared her a glance.

Gu Beicheng, utterly pleased, got up to turn off the light, climbed into bed, and lay on the other side, keeping his distance.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked.

Mu Ran turned toward him, her small head propped on her hand as she studied his profile. Then she shared half of her quilt with him.

The blanket wasn’t large, and now the space between them was even smaller.

“Go to sleep.”

“Mm.”

Mu Ran turned her back to him and drifted off peacefully.

But Gu Beicheng lay awake all night, greedily breathing in her scent, savoring her warmth beside him.

It was the most beautiful night he’d ever experienced.

He couldn’t bear to sleep.

The next morning, at seven—

Mu Ran woke up groggy and instinctively checked her phone.

After unlocking it, she went straight into the show’s live broadcast room.

Gao Tiange’s room had been live-streaming all night.

The broadcast hadn’t been shut down—clearly Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange hadn’t done anything inappropriate.

On screen, the two were tightly embraced, fast asleep, utterly oblivious to the fact that they’d been on camera all night…

Since it didn’t get light in Snow Village until eight, the director had instructed all guests to gather at the guesthouse at nine.

When Mu Ran got up, Gu Beicheng was already gone.

“Good morning, Xiaoran.”

“Good morning, Teacher Song, Teacher Cheng.”

Song Xiao and Gu Beicheng were cycling on the exercise bikes in the living room. Seeing Mu Ran come downstairs fully dressed, they greeted her with smiles.

“Ranran, where are you going?”

“Xiaoran, are you heading out?”

Both men spoke in unison, watching as she put on her shoes at the door.

Mu Ran waved to them. “Yeah, I’m heading to the guesthouse—something big’s about to happen. Want to come with me?”

“Let’s go!”

“We’re coming.”

Again, the two men spoke in perfect harmony, hopping off their bikes, pulling on their down jackets, and getting ready to follow her.

“Teacher Song…”

“What is it, Xiaoran?” Song Xiao looked puzzled, sensing something odd about her.

“Haven’t you checked your phone this morning?”

By now, news about Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange was exploding all over the internet.

Weibo was practically down.

The funniest trending tags were: #GaoTiangeAndBaiZehanSleepLiveStreamTheyReallyWentForIt#
#GaoTiangeAndBaiZehanAreTotallyIntoEachOtherIfThere’sScandalSheReallyDidItLive#

Song Xiao was completely confused. “No—I had my phone on Do Not Disturb.”

He was about to check his phone when Gu Beicheng stopped him.

“You’ll see when we get to the guesthouse.”

Gu Beicheng and Mu Ran exchanged a knowing smile.

Song Xiao’s curiosity grew, and he pestered Mu Ran for answers all the way there.

“Teacher Cheng, Teacher Song, Xiaoran, why are you here so early?” the chief director, Gao Mingliang, had just finished a staff meeting and hadn’t yet checked his phone.

“Director, take a look at this.”

Mu Ran handed her phone to Gao Mingliang, and Song Xiao leaned in as well.

“They didn’t really stream all night, did they???”

Song Xiao was stunned. Gao Tiange really was a wild one…

Gao Mingliang’s expression darkened. These two were outrageous.

How did Bai Zehan end up sleeping in Gao Tiange’s room? Wasn’t it supposed to be Teacher Song?

“Ah, Director, to be honest, Gao Tiange tried the same thing with me last night, so I ran away and spent the night at Xiaoran and Teacher Cheng’s villa.”

Gao Mingliang nodded in understanding, then suddenly remembered something. “Liangzi, come here—go check on Fu Jiaojiao in the snow house, and see what Bai Zehan’s up to—he’s really out of line.”

To put it bluntly, Bai Zehan was a scoundrel.

Assistant director Chen Liang, grasping the situation, hurried off to the snow house.

“What the—? Is it nine already?”

Qi Jun, still in pajamas and wrapped in a military coat, shrank into himself as he saw the courtyard full of people and instantly sobered up.

Something wasn’t right… He’d checked the time before going to the bathroom, and it wasn’t even half past seven!

“What’s going on, Sister Ran?”

Qi Jun jogged over to Mu Ran, craning his neck to see Gao Mingliang’s phone.

“Whoa, this early in the morning and things are already this wild?”

“Enough with the ‘whoa’—hurry up and get dressed before you catch a cold!” Gao Mingliang’s tone was icy as he turned toward Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange’s room.

“No rush, let’s wait for them to come out themselves,” Gu Beicheng said with a hint of laughter in his deep voice. Who would have thought a variety show would turn out to be so eventful—and, most importantly, bring him such a treasure.

He cast a meaningful glance at Mu Ran.

Meanwhile, Mu Ran was grinning ear to ear at the barrage of comments in the live chat:

“This stream actually stayed on all night!”
“I stayed in the live room all night and saw nothing.”
“What more did you expect? That was wild enough!”
“When are these two pigs going to wake up? I can hear the noise outside.”
“They’re waking up, finally.”

Inside Bai Zehan and Gao Tiange’s room—

“Zehan, wake up! Go back to the snow house before anyone sees you.”

At the moment, they looked exactly like a pair of secret lovers.

“What time is it?” Bai Zehan mumbled.

Gao Tiange picked up her phone, frowning at the barrage of calls from Feng Tianchi.

“Seven-thirty. Get up.”

Just then, a Weibo push notification popped up on her phone.

The tag: #GaoTiangeAndBaiZehanSleepLiveStreamTheyReallyWentForIt#

Surprised, she clicked on Weibo to see what was happening, but the app was frozen—no matter what she did, it wouldn’t load.

“What’s wrong, Tiange?”

Bai Zehan, still bleary-eyed, started pulling on his pants, leaning over to give her a kiss.

Gao Tiange dodged, anxious as she opened the live-streaming app and entered the show’s live room.

“Ah—!”

Her scream pierced the morning air like a rooster’s crow.

“Zehan! Look! What the hell happened?!”

She showed Bai Zehan the live footage, then pointed at the camera across from them. “The stream has been running all night!”

The news hit Bai Zehan like the sky caving in. “What do we do, what do we do?” he muttered, stumbling off the kang bed, running to the camera, and trying to explain, “Listen to me, everyone—let me explain—it was she who seduced me, I didn’t know anything!”

“Bai Zehan, you scoundrel!” Gao Tiange fumed, pointing a trembling finger at him before hurriedly calling her manager. “Feng Tianchi, start PR immediately! Sue Bai Zehan for attempted rape!”