The Love Reality Show's Big Boss and Little Sweetie - Chapter 66

The cruise ship was named the Eight Immortals. How big was it, exactly? So vast that driving a car around its outer perimeter would take a full ten minutes.

It boasted two thousand passenger cabins and stood twenty stories tall. Viewed from a helicopter above, its structure resembled the number 8. One loop enclosed sparkling blue waves—a swimming pool a full hundred meters long. The other loop housed amusement facilities like roller coasters, pirate ships, and drop towers.

It also featured entertainment venues like karaoke bars, cinemas, a grand theater, gyms, and bars. Even staying aboard for a month would never grow dull.

The female tour guide handed each of them a small map booklet and a walkie-talkie, smiling as she said, “For the next half month, I’ll be your dedicated service attendant. If you need anything, just press button number 1 on the talkie.”

Xu Wuxing had long forgotten his earlier gloom. He beamed at the tour guide, eyes curving into crescents and mouth sweetly praising, “Thank you, big sister.”

The tour guide covered her mouth, pleased. “You’re welcome. Go collect your room keys from the front desk.”

Coincidentally, Mu Chi received cabin 2024, and Qi Liao got cabin 2025. The others were scattered across different floors.

Xu Wuxing’s smile vanished: “Why are we so far from Brother Mu?”

“You could also say *I’m* far from *you*,” Mu Chi quickly interjected. “Only Qi Liao is relatively close to me.”

Xu Wuxing asked, “Brother Qi, can we swap rooms?”

Qi Liao: “No.”

“Why not? You definitely pulled some strings!”

“Pulled strings?” Qi Liao shot a meaningful glance at Mu Chi. “Whose strings would those be?”

Mu Chi: “…”

Xu Wuxing: “The cruise ship owner’s strings, of course.”

Qi Liao snorted coldly: “If you have the skill, go pull them yourself.”

Xu Wuxing gasped in exaggerated shock: “You admit you pulled strings!?”

Qi Liao: “Keep spouting nonsense, and you might find yourself thrown overboard to feed the sharks mid-voyage.”

【Let me look up which group owns this Eight Immortals cruise ship.】

【Haitang Group. Isn’t that the Qi family’s?】

【I smell a conspiracy…】

【Big brother, are you there?】

【Big brother, please don’t throw Xingbao into the sea to feed the sharks. I’ll come warm your bed tonight /shy】

【Holy crap! I just bought a ticket to relax after resigning! Here I come, my idol!】

【Ahhh! Someone get me a ticket, I’ll pay an extra thousand!】

【The tickets sold out so fast, and there’s still half an hour before departure.】

【The 30,000 ticket price is beyond my means…】

【The route passes through eight small countries, includes meals, accommodation, and round trip, even leaves time for sightseeing. It’s more cost-effective than paying separately if you don’t want the hassle.】

【Since when did the production team become so flush with cash?】

【They already said this cruise ship belongs to the Qi family!】

When Qi Liao saw the ship, he had already guessed it was likely arranged by his eldest brother. Since they were already here, making a fuss now would just seem disingenuous.

Holding their key cards, they headed to the elevator bank. A row of five elevators stood there, three already in use. The group split into two batches to go up.

Qi Liao, Mu Chi, and Lucas shared one elevator; Lucas’s floor was just below theirs. With three large men and two camera operators squeezed in, the space felt cramped. Mu Chi tried to stand in the corner as much as possible, while Qi Liao propped an arm on the handrail, partially encircling him.

Mu Chi’s gaze briefly met his before quickly darting away, his mind filled with only one word: marriage marriage marriage…

Fortunately, they had spoken softly earlier, and the wind had been loud, so the camera operators hadn’t picked it up. Otherwise, who knew what kind of storm would have erupted? His fans could be quite fervent.

—If only Mu Chi browsed the internet occasionally, he wouldn’t have reached this conclusion.

The silence in the elevator grew awkward. Lucas couldn’t stand it: “Why aren’t you two talking? Communicating with your eyes?”

Mu Chi: “…Say whatever you want to say.”

Qi Liao curled the corner of his mouth. “We’re here.”

The elevator doors opened onto Lucas’s floor, the 19th.

Lucas shrugged. “I’ll come find you guys to hang out.” He stepped out to find his cabin.

The doors closed, then opened again two seconds later. Qi Liao strode out, with Mu Chi closely following behind.

Qi Liao found his room, and Mu Chi trailed behind him like a little tail. “Do you want to swap rooms with me?”

Mu Chi snapped back to reality, looking around. “No…”

“Over there.” Qi Liao placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around.

Mu Chi, distracted, went to open his door, swiping the key card twice before it properly aligned. Qi Liao, holding his own door handle, said to him, “See you in a bit.”

“Mm.” Mu Chi hurried into his cabin to cool down.

As a VIP cabin on the top deck, it no longer pursued sheer luxury but prioritized comfort. It not only had a kitchen and a study but also a large viewing deck. Stepping outside revealed the vast, boundless seascape.

Mu Chi’s thoughts gradually settled. The so-called “facing the sea, with spring blossoms” wasn’t without reason. When a person faces the ocean, their heart expands infinitely.

Mu Chi spread his arms, letting the brisk sea breeze brush against his face.

“Are you going to jump?” Zhu Yinhuang’s rough, raspy voice sounded.

Mu Chi jumped in surprise and turned around. “How did you get in?”

Zhu Yinhuang: “I’ve been waiting here for you the whole time. Your eyes must be crossed ) – blind, can’t see properly since you didn’t see me.”

“…” Thankfully it wasn’t the middle of the night, or he would have been scared to death.

Zhu Yinhuang looked around, green with envy. “My room only has a bathroom. But you, you have everything here.”

Mu Chi said deliberately, “Then shall we swap? You can stay here next door to Qi Liao.”

“…Forget it, I’ll discuss it with someone else.” Zhu Yinhuang didn’t dare challenge Qi Liao.

Mu Chi waited for the lecture. The two stared at each other, one with big eyes, the other with small. Mu Chi asked, “You have nothing to say?”

Zhu Yinhuang: “Say what?”

“Then why were you waiting for me?”

“Oh, I almost forgot. Let me tell you, there are many big shots on this cruise ship. Be careful with what you say and do.”

Mu Chi nodded. “Got it.”

Zhu Yinhuang nearly welled up with tears. “If the seventeen-year-old you had heard this, you definitely would’ve said, ‘If others don’t offend me, I won’t offend them; if others offend me, I will certainly retaliate!'”

Mu Chi: “…” It wasn’t that exaggerated, was it?

Zhu Yinhuang patted Mu Chi’s shoulder approvingly. “You’ve grown up.”

Mu Chi felt quite embarrassed. “I’ll definitely be careful, don’t worry, Brother Zhu.”

Zhu Yinhuang abruptly changed his tune: “Actually, it’s fine if you’re not careful. After all, this cruise ship is…”

A knock sounded at the door. Zhu Yinhuang picked up the remote and pressed a button. A small smart screen by the door showed the image of someone outside—it was Qi Liao. Mu Chi happily went to open the door.

“Let’s go, time for lunch,” Qi Liao said. “Brother Zhu, join us?”

How could Zhu Yinhuang be a third wheel? He stepped out and said, “I don’t care for the stuff you young people eat. You two go ahead.”

Mu Chi shot a surprised look at Zhu Yinhuang. Wasn’t his manager the one who never admitted to being old?

Zhu Yinhuang smiled, beaming like a father-in-law watching his daughter get married, nodded with satisfaction, and headed towards the elevators on the other side to go down.

Mu Chi shuddered with a chill. “…What’s his problem?”

Qi Liao didn’t mind. “Let’s go.”

They went downstairs and found the restaurant by following the map.

Due to the large number of people, the cruise ship had ten restaurants alone, featuring the eight major Chinese cuisines—Sichuan, Shandong, Hunan, Cantonese, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Anhui—with the remaining two being Western restaurants.

Unsurprisingly, the Western restaurants had the fewest patrons; Chinese people still preferred homestyle cooking.

Just as they were about to enter, they heard Xu Wuxing’s call: “Brother Mu! Brother Mu!”

To Mu Chi, it sounded like “cuckoo, cuckoo,” and he couldn’t help but laugh.

Xu Wuxing said, “Let’s go have spicy hot pot.”

“Just hearing that makes me feel hot. You guys go ahead, I feel like having steak.” Mu Chi still had a bit of a romantic streak. Eating steak by the window in a seaside restaurant, drinking red wine—how romantic.

And then, all six of them ended up sitting in the Western restaurant eating steak.

Some things, once they become group activities, lose all their romance.

Mu Chi was in the middle of cutting his steak when the plate in front of him was taken away by Qi Liao and replaced with the one Qi Liao had already cut. Mu Chi remembered it was like this before too; the seventeen-year-old him couldn’t cut steak properly, so Qi Liao would cut it up and swap with him.

It was these small, considerate details that formed Mu Chi’s unique feeling towards Qi Liao.

Qi Liao looked up and saw Mu Chi gazing at him, his peach-blossom eyes sparkling, shimmering with the ocean’s light. He smiled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Mu Cha flustered, lowering his head. “Is this steak medium-well?”

“Well Done. Fully cooked,” Qi Liao said. “I only eat fully cooked.”

“Oh, okay.” Mu Chi actually didn’t understand the difference between medium-well and well-done. “As long as it tastes good.”

Qi Liao forked away the broccoli from Mu Chi’s plate. “You don’t like eating this, right?”

Mu Chi hadn’t expected him to notice even such a small detail. His cheeks grew warm. “I’m not picky, I can eat it too.”

Qi Liao smiled: “If you don’t like it, don’t eat it. No need to force yourself. You can substitute something else with similar nutritional value.”

This was the first time Mu Chi had heard such a theory. When he was young and didn’t like eating vegetables, his parents always tried every way to make him eat them, often saying, “This vegetable is highly nutritious, don’t waste it.”

Over time, he stopped being picky. Although he still didn’t like them, he could manage to eat them.

【The demon king is so doting, wow.】

【When I was a kid, if I didn’t eat my veggies, my dad would just slap me upside the head.】

【It’s true you can substitute with things you like, but the things I like are all expensive. It’s just a matter of not having money.】

【That hit a nerve.】

【If even my idol is like this, what about the rest of us?】

【Mu Chi, with the demon king around, you can be as picky as you want from now on!】

【Has everyone heard this saying? Being picky might not be a flaw, but an allergy; the human body automatically filters out foods that are unfavorable to it.】

【…It’s only people who like to force others, and even force themselves every day.】

【Finally understand why I like the demon king because he never overthinks things!】

Qi Liao acted on his thoughts immediately. Unless it threatened himself, he didn’t really pay attention to the surroundings, thus completely overlooking the wolf-like stares from Hao Wenrou and the others.

Mu Chi had it worse; it was hard not to notice. He could only forcefully turn his face away, pretending he saw nothing.

Elegant notes sprang from the piano in the corner of the restaurant, slow and gentle, like whispers between lovers, adding to the already tense, ambiguous atmosphere.

Mu Chi looked up and saw a tall, slender figure in a sharp suit sitting behind the grand piano. His hair was meticulously styled with gel, his handsome, distinct features bearing a strong mixed-race impression. When he lifted his gaze, his faint smile seemed to hold the air of a superior playing people in the palm of his hand.

“Did I play quite well, future brother-in-law?” Qi Yuan asked with a grinning smile, like a big-tailed wolf.

In Mu Chi’s eyes, this was a living, breathing pervert.

The elegant notes became melodious. Qi Yuan’s distinct, bony fingers danced across the black and white keys as he lost himself in the music, his clear, magnetic voice almost like singing: “Back in the day, I had the potential to become a pianist. If only my little brother were a bit more capable, I wouldn’t have to work so hard. I even have to help him chase a wife, sigh~”

Mu Chi: “…”

A vein throbbed at Qi Liao’s temple.

Qi Yuan: “Little brother, don’t you have anything to say?”

Qi Liao: “Even without you, I could still win over Mu Chi.”