Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

It was barely dawn, and the balcony curtains were tightly closed, leaving the living room dim.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, the phone's vibrating alarm went off, lighting up the screen with a piercing brightness.

On the sofa, Xu Qingyan found the phone with one hand, deftly shut off the alarm but didn't get up. He half-squinted, took a while to fully wake up and then slowly sat up.

Looking at the time, it was 6:30 in the morning.

He went to the balcony and drew back a corner of the curtain; outside, the rain was still pattering down. Last night's thunder and lightning had persisted into the late night, and he hadn't known how he fell asleep.

Worrying about having to drive in the morning, he had restrained himself from drinking.

He had slept particularly hard this time, even though there had been no sound from the two rooms. Even though this wasn't the first time he had been with the two of them, he still felt nervous.

After lowering the curtain, he unlocked his phone and ordered two umbrellas to be delivered in thirty minutes. The rain had been too heavy last night, like a bucket of water pouring down on his head, making it impossible for delivery services to get through.

After finishing everything, he paused, turned around and gave the two rooms a glance. He held his breath and listened for a while but heard no sound; they must still be sleeping.

After thinking about it, he went to wash up first.

At seven o'clock, Pei Muchan woke up groggily, finding her phone almost out of battery. She only had time to glance at the time before it shut down with a beep.

She hadn't expected to stay the night due to the storm and couldn't remember how she had fallen asleep; she had slept deeper here than at home.

The room had no particular smell, unusually clean.

The blanket carried the scent of lavender laundry detergent from the dryer; she didn't use that brand, and only then did she realize that lavender indeed had a sedative effect.

The room was silent, with only the sound of rain outside the window, which somewhat calmed her.

Thinking about getting out of bed, she still felt a bit awkward.

She didn't know what she had been thinking last night; on a whim, she had stayed. Actually, she could have driven back in the late night, but it was too late to discuss that now.

Her mind muddled, she hesitated for a while but eventually got up and got out of bed.

The bathroom was outside; she opened the door to find the living room pitch dark. Just as she stepped out, her footsteps seemed amplified, startling her; her hearing was exceptionally sensitive in this dark environment.

She instinctively looked towards the sofa, only to find it empty.

Whoosh, the apartment door was opened from outside, revealing Xu Qingyan's face as he pushed through the gap. He was holding a few takeout bags, looking somewhat astonished.

"Awake?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Hungry? Have something to eat." Xu Qingyan came in with big and small packages, setting everything on the dining table, and carrying the meaty smell of the rain on him.

Pei Muchan stood bewildered in the living room, hair disheveled, with a faint voice.

"I haven't washed up yet."

Hearing this, Xu Qingyan turned his head to look at her, "Why do you sound a bit nasal?"

That was because she had cooped herself up at home for half a year, recently staying up late and tireing herself out, coupled with the changing seasons, getting sick was normal.

"I don't have a cold."

"I didn't say you had a cold, but your constitution has been a bit weak lately. I remember back on the island, you used to go running every day." Xu Qingyan brought up the past, causing Pei Muchan to feel her face heat up.

"Is it possible that I ran because my health was bad?"

"That's possible."

In the next room, Lin Wanzhou was woken up by the faint chatter outside.

Qi Ting beside her slept as heavily as a pig, eyes tightly shut. She curled up on the bed still somewhat confused, sleeping on the inner side of the bed, silently daydreaming.

She had had an unpleasant dream last night, dreaming that he had a girlfriend. Her heart instantly felt suffocated for a moment, and in the dream, she had pretended to be excited and asked if it was true.

Having a crush was really stupid, but there was no helping it. Waking up to realize it was just a dream, she felt an immediate relief, then her body started to reject the muddled dream.

She was grateful that Xu Qingyan wasn't obsessed with love; he only liked making money, and a workaholic wouldn't easily fall for anyone. Continue reading stories on empire

During the Jiang Yuyao incident, Xu Qingyan had said that he wouldn't like someone just because they liked him as it would make him feel that the love was cheap.

Something felt off, yet it also seemed logical.

Lin Wanzhou climbed out of bed cautiously, stepping over Qi Ting. As she opened the door, she happened to see Pei Muchan coming out from the bathroom, which made her feel awkward again.

"Is Qi Ting still asleep?" Pei Muchan asked.

"Yes."

Lin Wanzhou looked down, then scurried to wash up as if fleeing.

Xu Qingyan had gone downstairs to throw out the trash, and when he came up, he carried another bag of breakfast. Seeing that only Pei Muchan was nibbling breakfast at the dining table, he looked puzzled and asked.

"Haven't they woken up yet?"

"She just woke up and went to wash."

Hearing this, Xu Qingyan immediately understood; Qi Ting was Qi Ting, she was referring to Lin Wanzhou.

"Oh, I bought some other breakfast." Xu Qingyan didn't dawdle, opened his umbrella and started eating while looking up hot searches, "Let's see how many trolls there are after one night."

Pei Muchan silently lowered her eyes; this person was really too laid-back, she reminded him out loud.

"You're currently everyone's target."

"No, they just haven't fallen in love with me yet." Xu Qingyan said, "When the situation clears up, and I give everyone the middle finger..."

"They will understand, 'all tongues bring down gold' is just an adjective, and I actually possess gold."

Pei Muchan: "...Do you like making money that much?"

"What else?" he retorted, "Do you know the pain of not earning a single penny after being laid off for a month?"

Pei Muchan choked on her response, silently took a sip of hot coffee.

"Drive me home later, I want to take a shower and change clothes."

....

When Zhou Lili woke up in her room, she checked her phone and it was 8:30 in the morning.