Chapter 72: Liu Shishi: Why Is It Happening Again?

"A bet is a bet." Although Lin Gengxin felt somewhat depressed inside, he had no intention of going back on his word. "Starting tomorrow, I'll cover your breakfast."

"Breakfast can easily be handled at the hotel's buffet, so having you buy it is a bit of a waste." Glancing at the cake near Tang Yan's seat not far away, Zhang Yang came up with a new idea. "How about changing it to afternoon pastries instead?"

"Rest assured, I certainly won't be eating pastries every day. You'll still come out ahead on this deal."

Put that way, Lin Gengxin naturally had no grounds for refusal.

However, feeling that he shouldn't be the only one suffering in gloom, he began scanning the set for Jiang Jinfu.

"Junior brother, we lost our bet," Lin Gengxin said, walking up to Jiang Jinfu.

"Lost?" Jiang Jinfu had just returned from the restroom and had no idea what had happened.

"Sister Tang Tang went to see Ah Yang..." Lin Gengxin recounted the situation, conveniently omitting his own "big mouth" involvement.

"Actually, it's understandable." Jiang Jinfu's emotions remained calm; he had anticipated this outcome long ago.

Zhang Yang's performance on set was even better than it had been back at school.

Guli Nazha and Liu Shishi had both asked Zhang Yang for acting advice, and he himself had sought out Zhang Yang's guidance as well.

Seeing the gap between her performance and theirs widening by the day, Tang Yan was bound to break eventually.

He had been praying that Tang Yan would wait at least seven days before speaking up, but unfortunately, luck was not on his side.

"Fu Zai, Lin Gou didn't tell you the whole story." Zhang Yang appeared abruptly beside Jiang Jinfu. "Speaking of which, the fact that I won was also partly due to luck..."

With that, he explained how Lin Gengxin had provoked (or rather, reminded) Tang Yan.

Without that little incident, Tang Yan might have waited a few more days before asking him to teach her acting.

Jiang Jinfu gazed at Lin Gengxin with eyes full of resentment: "..."

So he had been defeated by a pig of a teammate!

"Cough." Lin Gengxin rubbed his nose awkwardly, shot Zhang Yang a subtle glare, and said, "A lapse in judgment, purely a lapse in judgment. If Ah Yang makes you treat us to a midnight snack, I'll pay your share."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Jiang Jinfu didn't say much more.

It was too trivial a matter to hold Lin Gengxin accountable for in any serious way.

Since his senior brother was offering an attitude of compensation, he would simply accept it.

"There's no time like the present. Why don't we find a place for a late-night barbecue tonight?" Having not eaten barbecue in a while, Zhang Yang prepared to slaughter the wealthy hosts.

Both Lin Gengxin and Jiang Jinfu agreed to leave the arrangements to him without any objections.

Thus, once the night shoots wrapped up, Zhang Yang had the driver take the three of them to a barbecue restaurant, and also invited Tang Yan, Liu Shishi, and Guli Nazha, along with their respective lifestyle assistants, to join in.

"Doesn't your conscience hurt?" Lin Gengxin clutched his chest.

This was, of course, an act. They were merely ten people eating barbecue together, and they were just ordering ordinary beer—how much could it possibly cost?

"I don't have a conscience," Zhang Yang said with a straight face, talking nonsense. "How could it hurt?"

Lin Gengxin immediately gave him a thumbs-up to express his admiration.

Perhaps it was precisely because he was this shameless that his acting skills were so good?

As a result, Zhang Yang suddenly turned to Tang Yan and the other women and said, "Sister Tang Tang, Sister Shishi, Lin Gou thinks you guys eat too much and doesn't want to treat you?"

The gazes of the two women immediately locked onto Lin Gengxin like sharp daggers.

"No such thing, Ah Yang is framing me," Lin Gengxin denied hastily. "I'm more than happy to treat you; it's my honor."

Hearing this, Jiang Jinfu couldn't help delivering a follow-up blow: "Sister Tang Tang, Sister Shishi, you should order a bit more so that Senior Brother can harvest a bit more honor."

Lin Gengxin: "..."

After eating and drinking their fill, Zhang Yang excused himself to the restroom and quietly paid the bill beforehand.

If it were just Lin Gou or Jiang Jinfu treating him alone, he certainly wouldn't stand on ceremony.

However, since he had invited a bunch of other people to liven up the atmosphere, he couldn't possibly let someone else foot the bill.

"Yang哥 is magnanimous." Feeling quite pleased, Lin Gengxin took the initiative to invite: "Tomorrow, it's my treat."

With the midnight snack settled, the group returned to the hotel together.

After taking a shower and doing some light body-shaping stretches, Zhang Yang lay down on the bed.

Through the familiarity built over this period of filming, he felt it was now time to initiate his second dream-entering session.

"Enter the dream!"

In a trance, familiar faces and events appeared once more.

Zhang Yang transformed into Yuwen Tuo, single-handedly annihilating the ruler of the Chen Kingdom and a massive army of tens of thousands.

Eighteen years later, in order to rescue his mother imprisoned by Yang Su, he set out to gather the five divine artifacts.

Taoba Yu'er and the others all became pawns in his hands, embarking on the path of hunting for artifacts under his overt and covert guidance.

There was a girl named Xiaoxue, a descendant of Nüwa, with the Nüwa Stone beating inside her heart.

To obtain the Nüwa Stone, Zhang Yang sealed his own evil consciousness and a portion of his memories, transforming into the Swordsman and seizing the opportunity to join the protagonist group. While continuing to guide them in finding the artifacts, he cultivated romantic feelings with Xiaoxue.

In an illusion realm, Jingchou and the Swordsman joined Nüwa to participate in the battle against the Rift in the Sky, and Nüwa decided to entrust the mission of saving the world to Jingchou and the Swordsman: "The method to obtain the Nüwa Stone is..."

"The immortal incantation to awaken Xiaoxue is..."

Having explained everything, Nüwa faded away.

Jingchou and the Swordsman worked together to awaken Xiaoxue. The latter slowly opened her eyes and recognized Chen Jingchou as the Emperor of the Land.

However, her pure and innocent heart trusted the Swordsman even more, and she had already unwittingly fallen for him: "Big Brother Swordsman, I trust you."

At this moment, Nazha could no longer distinguish between reality and the dream; the image of the Swordsman perfectly overlapped with Zhang Yang, and she felt as though she truly were Xiaoxue, fully experiencing Xiaoxue's deep trust in the Swordsman.

During the bustling lantern festival, she presented the gift she had meticulously prepared: "I'm giving this to you."

At this moment, Zhang Yang was completely immersed in the role of the Swordsman, accepting the gift solemnly with a brilliant smile: "This is the first time I've ever received a gift. Thank you."

"As long as you like it." Xiaoxue and the Swordsman locked eyes.

In reality, it was Zhang Yang and Nazha gazing intently at each other.

Dugu Ningke, who had witnessed this scene through spellcraft, could not remain calm. Consumed by jealousy, she disguised herself and appeared before the Swordsman, casting a hypnotic spell: "I don't want you to have anyone else in your heart. You are not allowed to fall in love with someone else—even if it's fake, you're not allowed to!"

The word "not allowed" echoed endlessly within the Swordsman's mind.

Yet just a few days later, unable to bear it any longer, Dugu Ningke decided to awaken Zhang Yang ahead of schedule.

She believed that Yuwen Tuo would only love her in this lifetime, but the Swordsman might not.

"Go and dig out her heart."

Urged on by Ningke, Yuwen Tuo prepared to make a move against Xiaoxue.

Yet at the very final step, unable to bring himself to go through with it, he ultimately gave up.

"You still have feelings for her!" Dugu Ningke was furious.

"I do not. I have my own plan," Yuwen Tuo said.

Dugu Ningke claimed on the surface that she was willing to believe him, but secretly she controlled Xiaoxue using a crystal ball, ordering her to use a knife to cut open her own chest and remove the Nüwa Stone.

At the most critical moment, "Yuwen Tuo" appeared to save Xiaoxue, forcing Dugu Ningke to retreat.

After settling Xiaoxue down, "Yuwen Tuo" went to the stage to find Dugu Ningke.

"Why did you save her?" Dugu Ningke demanded accusingly. "You still like her?"

"You've misunderstood." Yuwen Tuo attempted to deny it.

As a result, Dugu Ningke slapped him across the face.

Yuwen Tuo's expression remained unchanged as he asked seriously, "Does this make you feel better?"

"You can't let her go!" Dugu Ningke declared.

Yuwen Tuo's response was to reach out and pull her directly into his arms, pressing his lips to hers in a deep, heavy kiss.

"Mmm!"

How much time had passed, he did not know.

The world outside the window was already bright.

Lying in bed, Liu Shishi snapped her eyes wide open and sat straight up.

"Why am I having this kind of dream again?!"

She was running out of underwear at this rate!

She really needed to stock up on a few more pairs.