Chapter Twenty-Six: Filming the Romance Reality Show, Part 25

An hour and a half later, dawn broke.

Nan Chu’s alarm rang.

She opened her eyes and met Jiang Han’s gaze.

Jiang Han touched her forehead. “Still a bit of a fever.”

“Mm,” Nan Chu’s voice was hoarse.

“Go back to sleep for a while. I’ll make you some porridge.”

“No need. Just order takeout. You didn’t get a good rest last night either.”

“Aw, feeling sorry for me?” Jiang Han teased with a playful grin, not really expecting an answer.

“Mm, feeling sorry,” she replied.

Jiang Han’s heart leapt with joy at her response.

“Alright, I’ll order takeout,” he said happily.

The food arrived quickly. After breakfast, Jiang Han went downstairs.

He knocked on Si Junyan’s door.

Si Junyan had just woken up. Hearing the knock, he opened the door and was a bit surprised to see Jiang Han.

“What’s this? Afraid I’ll steal Nan Chu’s heart, so you’ve come to warn me to stay away?”

“Come in and talk.”

Seeing Jiang Han’s weary and serious expression, Si Junyan dropped his teasing tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Nan Chu caught a cold. Take good care of her.” Jiang Han really wanted to stay home and look after Nan Chu, but the rules of the show had to be followed.

Si Junyan frowned slightly. “She was fine last night. How did she catch a cold?”

“I don’t know what happened. She got caught in the rain in the middle of the night.” Jiang Han clenched his fists. “She looked like she’d lost her soul.”

“Keep an eye on her. Don’t let her do anything that harms her health again.” Jiang Han didn’t want to burden Si Junyan with Nan Chu’s troubles, but he was afraid she might hurt herself again.

So, he confided in his rival—for Nan Chu’s sake.

At least there would be one more person to watch over her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,” Si Junyan said solemnly.

As the other guests gradually left for their dates, Si Junyan stayed by Nan Chu’s side.

Although Nan Chu had taken medicine last night, she still looked weak and her fever hadn’t subsided.

“Sorry for ruining your date,” Nan Chu said weakly.

“Your health is more important than any date,” Si Junyan said. “Let’s go to the hospital.”

“All right.”

After changing clothes, Nan Chu went with Si Junyan to the hospital.

The doctor prescribed medicine and intravenous fluids.

Si Junyan accompanied Nan Chu during the infusion.

Holding her hand, he watched her peaceful sleeping face.

“Sick looks really make one feel tender,” Si Junyan murmured to himself.

What to do? He had promised to quit, but now he didn’t want to.

He wanted to protect her by his side.

Jiang Han went to the Sunset Bookstore with Yang Yi but couldn’t stop thinking about Nan Chu. After less than an hour, he suggested returning to the guesthouse.

Anyway, he had already come and followed the show’s rules.

The Sunset Bookstore was a two-hour drive from the guesthouse. When Jiang Han returned, Nan Chu had finished her infusion and come back.

Si Junyan was just leaving Nan Chu’s room.

“Nan Chu just took her medicine and fell asleep. Don’t disturb her.”

“I want to check on her. I won’t feel at ease otherwise.”

Jiang Han peeked inside. Nan Chu was sound asleep. He quietly left the room to find Si Junyan.

They exchanged a few words before each returned to their own rooms.

Jiang Han went to catch up on sleep.

When he woke, it was already past four in the afternoon. After washing his face, he went to Nan Chu’s room.

Si Junyan was there.

Jiang Han glanced at him, and Si Junyan returned a faint smile.

“Nan Chu, feeling better?”

“Much better. Sorry to worry you,” Nan Chu nodded.

“Nan Chu, have some more apple,” Si Junyan interrupted.

“Thank you,” Nan Chu accepted the apple.

“You’re welcome.”

[Damn that dog Si Junyan. I should never have let him take care of Nan Chu.] Jiang Han’s thoughts echoed.

Nan Chu noticed and glanced at him, surprised that he had entrusted Si Junyan with her care.

“Jiang Han, have you rested well?” Nan Chu asked with concern.

“Mm, I’m fine now.”

“Want to go downstairs for a walk?”

“All right.” Nan Chu nodded.

Jiang Han looked triumphantly at Si Junyan. “Kid, if you want to compete with me, in your dreams.”

Nan Chu went downstairs, but Si Junyan was like a persistent shadow—impossible to shake off.

Wherever Nan Chu and Jiang Han went, he followed.

When the three returned from their walk, the atmosphere at the guesthouse grew tense, as if something had happened.

They exchanged glances.

Si Junyan asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Brother Fang got into trouble,” Li Wenya said softly.

[Serves him right. Such a scumbag deserves to be exposed.]

“There are fans online accusing him of sleeping with fans, and not just one,” Zhuo Han added.

[Really didn’t expect Fang You to be such a player.]

Xu Fei said, “You never really know someone. He looked so upright, but behind the scenes, he’s like this.”

Sha Mengyuan nodded in agreement. “Exactly.”

[Fortunately, the person she likes isn’t Fang You. She trusts Meng Yuan isn’t like that.]

Nan Chu thought: Huh, she hasn’t even found proof of Fang You sleeping with fans, yet it’s all out in the open.

Actually, it was Nan Chu’s earlier message that triggered this.

One fan, despite blocking Nan Chu, began to suspect something was wrong and quietly investigated within their circle.

Now, the findings were out. The female fan joined forces with others to expose Fang You.

Just moments ago, the show's director terminated cooperation with Fang You.

Fang You had already left over ten minutes ago.

The scandal catapulted the show into trending topics.

The production team was scrambling to manage the crisis. Moreover, the previously edited videos would have to be reworked to remove Fang You.

“Not sure if they’ll find a new male guest,” Zhuo Han said.

“There are eight days left. Probably,” Xu Fei replied.

With the show’s popularity, new male guests would surely join.

After chatting for a while, everyone returned to their rooms.

The production team was urgently making arrangements.

That evening, they played the usual guessing word game.

Nan Chu won first place, Nangong Hengmo was second, and Meng Yuan third.

The top three earned the right to choose their date partners.

Nan Chu chose Jiang Han; Nangong Hengmo chose Li Wenya; Meng Yuan chose Cheng Luoli.

The remaining guests drew lots to form teams:

Si Junyan and Xu Fei, Shen Shangqian and Sha Mengyuan, Wei Ziyi and Zhuo Han.

Yang Yi was left out.

After the game, they voted with heart-fluttering text messages, then everyone went back to rest.

Once Nan Chu got her phone, she immediately searched for news about Fang You.

Out of ten trending topics, Fang You occupied three.

He was being condemned from all sides—not only for sleeping with fans but also for tax evasion and pimping.

Fang You had been arrested and blacklisted.

Just as she finished reading, Zhuang Wenqi called.

He asked if she had any involvement with Fang You after the live broadcast.

Nan Chu assured him she didn’t.

Only then did Zhuang Wenqi feel relieved.

They chatted briefly before he hung up.