The next morning, Li Chunfeng was busy in the kitchen for half an hour, freshly baking egg and toast breakfast for Bai Yin.
However, after he went out to stretch for just three minutes, he came back to find the lovingly made breakfast had vanished into thin air.
Chen Huaixiao was sitting at the table elegantly wiping his mouth with a napkin. He commented, "The cooking skills need improvement."
Li Chunfeng stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, dissatisfied. He said, "I made that for Bai Yin."
Chen Huaixiao, seeing his candor, put the empty plate back in the dishwasher and spoke frankly, "Your skills are far inferior to our family's housekeeper. She would not eat this."
"That's not necessarily true." Li Chunfeng sneered coldly, "A lovingly made breakfast is about the thought, not the skill."
Chen Huaixiao's eyes were icy cold, but Li Chunfeng showed no hint of fear, staring right back at him with perfect composure.
Comments flashed on the screen:
"These two are at it first thing in the morning!"
"I can smell the sourness through the screen!"
"Why don't you two just go out and have a fight!"
Chen Huaixiao never backed down. He took two eggs out of the fridge and cracked them into a pan.
Li Chunfeng leaned against the bar, watching Chen Huaixiao's clumsy movements, and jokingly asked, "Do you know how, Mr. Chen?"
"Of course."
He was the man who could negotiate multi-million dollar deals with just a few words. Scrambled eggs should be simple...
Two minutes later, the eggs in the pan gradually started sticking to the bottom, giving off a burnt smell.
Chen Huaixiao stirred them with a spatula, only to find the eggs completely burnt.
Li Chunfeng leaned over to take a look. "Mr. Chen, may I ask if you know one thing?"
"What?"
"You're supposed to put oil in the pan before scrambling eggs."
"..."
Bai Yin walked downstairs, her hair in buns, yawning lazily with traces of drowsiness on her face.
Arriving in the living room, she sniffed the burnt smell and looked towards the two men in the kitchen. "What got burnt?"
"Eggs," Chen Huaixiao shoved the spatula into Li Chunfeng's hands. "If you don't know how, don't pretend you do."
"This...I..."
Li Chunfeng looked at the spatula in his hand, then at the burnt eggs in the pan, and hurriedly explained, "It wasn't me!"
"If it wasn't you, was it me?"
Chen Huaixiao assumed his authoritative meeting pose, tapping the table lightly with his fingertips. "Li, remember to pour oil before frying eggs. This is common knowledge."
Bai Yin frowned at Li Chunfeng, "Right, you don't even know that?"
Li Chunfeng: ...
He glared resentfully at Chen Huaixiao, totally frustrated.
Comments happily flooded the screen:
"Worthy of being the top capitalist who dominated the entertainment industry in just a few years!"
"I'm willing to call Mr. Chen the Scheming Master of Love dramas!"
"Li Chunfeng: You ate my lovingly made breakfast then blamed it on me."
"Hahahaha, I feel too bad for this extra."
"As expected, Mr. Chen can't stay calm once the love rival arrives, immediately turning into a possessive demon."
"These three really are the best match!"
Chen Huaixiao washed the pan and made two more eggs for Bai Yin, remembering to pour oil this time. The eggs were nicely shaped too.
Li Chunfeng leaned against the bar with his arms crossed, watching Chen Huaixiao's pretentious seasoning gestures, the corners of his mouth curving up coldly.
Can't even cook well yet still pretending.
Let's see your embarrassing failure.
When Chen Huaixiao scooped up the fried eggs into a plate, Bai Yin saw the two eggs with white outer shells and red centers. She quickly took out her phone to commemorate: "This is the first time my husband made me fried eggs!"
Chen Huaixiao passed her chopsticks, impatiently urging, "Try it."
Bai Yin used her chopsticks to take a small bite of the egg.
Li Chunfeng was also interested and leaned over, meaningfully asking, "How is it?"
Bai Yin exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "It's so delicious!"
Li Chunfeng: "No way."
Bai Yin ate up that whole egg in practically one bite, barely chewing before swallowing it directly. She then chugged a big mouthful of milk, "It's super incredibly delicious, husband your cooking skills are great!"
The corners of Chen Huaixiao's mouth curved up slightly, feeling that cooking was no big deal, nothing difficult about it.
"I can make breakfast for you every day from now on."
Bai Yin's chopsticks paused, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "Um, no need for that. You're busy with work, don't need to do this kind of thing, otherwise Tong Ka will lose his job."
"Fire him. I can do his job too," Chen Huaixiao said very confidently. "Cooking, washing clothes, I can do it all."
"No, no, no! He has elders above him and children below him to provide for. How could you do something so cruel as to rob him of his livelihood!"
Seeing Bai Yin's reluctance, Li Chunfeng laughed. "Mr. Chen, if you make her breakfast every day, aren't you afraid she'll surpass you?"
At his words, Chen Huaixiao seemed to understand something. He took Bai Yin's chopsticks and tried the other fried egg.
As soon as it entered his mouth, the salty egg made him grimace. "You actually ate something so salty!"
Seeing him about to throw the egg in the trash, Bai Yin quickly stopped him. "Don't waste it! It's a little salty, just drink more water and it's fine."
Chen Huaixiao knew Bai Yin hated wasting food more than anything. He could only force himself to swallow down that egg.
Bai Yin passed him a glass of water, which he guzzled in one big gulp.
"In the future if it doesn't taste good, you must tell me."
Her expression changed drastically. "In...the future?"
"..."
Chen Huaixiao glanced at Li Chunfeng leaning smugly against the bar, suddenly feeling a little dejected. He turned and walked to the backyard.
Li Chunfeng raised a brow at her. "You're pretty ruthless to yourself, actually swallowing that down."
Bai Yin sucked on her milk straw and shrugged. "Our big brother has sailed smoothly all his life, there's nothing he isn't good at. I don't want to damage his self-confidence."
Li Chunfeng felt a little sour inside but kept silent.
*
The mountain air was cool with a misty fine rain.
Bai Yin wore a fuzzy light apricot cloak and walked to the eaves where Chen Huaixiao was standing. She quietly enjoyed the light mountain rain with him.
After some time, Chen Huaixiao said lightly, "I was the one who burnt the eggs."
"I know."
"You know?"
"Not everyone is as helpless in real life as you. One look and I could tell those eggs were your handiwork."
"Grandfather never let me do these things since I was little. He wanted me to spend all my time on academics."
"That's why I learned some cooking skills from Uncle Mu in grandfather's little kitchen!" Bai Yin tilted her head looking at him. "We have to complement each other after all."
"Yin, I didn't marry you because I needed a wife like this, who complements me in every way, or for a virtuous helpmate."
Mentioning this made Chen Huaixiao very upset. "I married you because I wanted to protect you, take care of you, but I'm not a very good husband. I can't even make simple fried eggs well."
Bai Yin elbowed him. "But you're a great big brother."
He looked at her in surprise.
"You added color to my gloomy adolescence."
The little girl's eyes were clear and dark, the corners of her mouth curving into a sweet smile. "You took me racing, to play board games, explore old towns, bought me sanitary pads, treated me to sour yogurt ice cream... Without you those years, I don't know how long I could have endured."
The corners of Chen Huaixiao's mouth quirked up as he gazed at the tinkling wind chimes under the eaves. "Any brother could have done those things."
"Not the same." Bai Yin shook her head stubbornly, gripping his five fingers tightly. "No one was gentler than you those years."
*
With Li Chunfeng's arrival, the sweetness level of the president couple kept rising, practically making fans scream from sweetness overload:
"Li Chunfeng's writing is amazing!"
"The president couple is just too, too touching for me!"
"A man who occupies half the entertainment industry actually can't fry eggs, what an adorable contrast!"
"Luckily Yin Yin has great cooking skills, otherwise they wouldn't get by."
"Chen Huaixiao looks so cute when he's jealous. The Best Supporting Role award must go to Li Chunfeng!"
...
The show's popularity also kept rising. Though just premiering, its viewership had already surpassed the explosive first season of "Summer Love".
The sunshine after the rain was great, perfect for watching the sunset, so the program team arranged a mountain climbing competition.
Which team of guests could reach the mountaintop before sunset and take the most perfect sunset photo, to be voted on by fans, would win the mysterious grand prize sponsored by the brand.
The three teams of guests excitedly changed into hiking gear, raring to go.
Chen Huaixiao was usually too busy with work to interact much with the two groups of guests, so he didn't know about the sweet interactions between them that were actually carefully scripted and planned.
He observed the actress and actor couple for a while, and saw Zhang Duo put a sun hat on his wife Lin Qianxi's head, changed her wrist guards and knee pads.
Then he turned to look at the idol couple, where Lu Shen was applying sunscreen for Bai Moqing meticulously.
Chen Huaixiao felt they were being very affectionate, and he couldn't let Bai Yin lose out in comparison, so he went over to Bai Yin who was putting on hiking gear, squatted down and changed her shoes with his own hands.
Bai Yin quickly retracted her feet: "Chen Huaixiao, stand up! You don't need to do this!"
"Be obedient." Chen Huaixiao stubbornly grabbed her feet despite her protests, and put on her white shoes for her, tying the laces tightly.
"You're my wife, of course I should be the one doing these things for you."
Bai Yin kicked her feet speechlessly: "But the problem is... the ones you just took off were my hiking boots!"
Indeed, Chen Huaixiao saw that the camouflage boots that she had just taken off matched the same camouflage hiking outfit she had on.
"..."
The livestream comments went crazy—
"Hahaha, I support Boss Chen all the way!"
"Too cute!"
"Boss Chen, do you know how long your wife has been wearing those high-top camo hiking boots? And you just took them off her like that!"
"Get a divorce, get a divorce, this husband is hopeless."
Chen Huaixiao put Bai Yin's hiking boots back on for her again. The other couples had already set off.
They were pressed for time and had to get to the summit before sunset to capture the most beautiful sunset views.
He helped her win. Bai Yin pushed Chen Huaixiao forward: "It seems the actor has already gone ahead, you have to hurry and catch up to him."
"Then let's go together."
"No no, you go first, I'll follow after."
Chen Huaixiao didn't want to leave Bai Yin behind, especially seeing the predatory gaze of love rival Li Chunfeng on the mountain path.
"I'll carry you on my back."
"No, if you carry me, it'll slow you down." Bai Yin's competitive spirit was acting up again: "Brother, I must win!"
Chen Huaixiao looked at Li Chunfeng again, who was smirking at him, hesitated for a moment, and finally compromised: "Alright, I'll help you win."
With that said, he turned around and bounded up the mountain in big strides.
Li Chunfeng came to Bai Yin's side: "He's that jealous, I thought he would stick by your side to 'protect' you all the way."
"No way, he will definitely go."
"You're that certain?"
"Being jealous is his feeling, wanting to win is my feeling. When the two conflict, he will always prioritize the latter. " Bai Yin said with certainty: "So no matter how reluctant he feels inside, he will go, so...I have to try my best to catch up to him too!"
Having said that, she gripped her walking stick and quickened her pace, struggling to walk up the mountain.
Li Chunfeng watched her back as she left, and felt a faint sadness rise in his heart.
He had originally wanted to wait until Chen Huaixiao left before talking to Bai Yin, to tell her about his own feelings, as a final farewell ceremony.
But now, Li Chunfeng changed his mind.
Like the faint wind and mist around the mountains, drifting around her.
Not disturbing her was the greatest gentleness.
In the end, he was just one step too late.
*
Bai Yin struggled up the peak and saw Chen Huaixiao using his DSLR camera to photograph the sunset glow.
"Ah, made it!" She breathed heavily as she came to his side, putting her hand on his shoulder: "Luckily made it on time!"
Seeing her out of breath, Chen Huaixiao reached out to pat her back, helping her regulate her breathing: "I'm already here, why the hurry."
Bai Yin took the opportunity to hug the man's lean yet strong waist, and laughed: "Because my husband is jealous!"
"Being jealous is never possible."
"Just keep acting tough!"
"Hmph."
"Did you take the photos?"
"Taken already."
Chen Huaixiao handed the DSLR camera to Bai Yin. Bai Yin looked through them and complained: "You took them so badly."
"My photos have won national magazine photography awards, and you say they're bad?"
"The lighting is too dark, isn't it." Bai Yin took out her phone and carefully chose a filter: "My phone can do better than this."
Chen Huaixiao watched as she actually used a beauty camera app to photograph scenery, thinking it could rival his hundred-thousand dollar professional DSLR!
He was rendered speechless.
Bai Yin snapped a few photos and handed it to him. "See, isn't mine better than yours?"
"If you can win first place with these shots, I'll write my name Chen Huaixiao backwards."
"Men! Don't get too cocky! Or we can both put them up for the audience to choose!"
"I trust the public has discerning eyes."
...
However, when the final voting results came out, the most popular photo was not Chen Huaixiao's, nor Bai Yin's, not even the actor couple's or idol couple's photos, but...
Li Chunfeng's photo.
Li Chunfeng had captured the silhouette of Chen Huaixiao and Bai Yin frozen in a moment, against the backdrop of the richly painted sunset glow.
Under the burning red clouds, Chen Huaixiao held his DSLR while Bai Yin held her phone, both looking at photos.
Bai Yin was looking at the photo, while Chen Huaixiao was looking only at her.
This gaze, lasting tens of thousands of years.
When this set of photos came out, netizens exclaimed at how sweet it was—
"This silhouette shot is too amazing!"
"They're really so sweet, it's killing me!"
"I really didn't expect the sweetest shot of this romance reality show to come from the hands of a love rival!"
"Li Chunfeng—Best Supporting Actor in reality show history."
"Behind the sweet couple's photo, I hear the sound of a breaking heart."
"Let's crowdfund to get our pure Chunfeng boy an arranged partner!"
"As long as it makes him happy, program team name your price!"
