My cousin asked me to go to Wuha, and Hanikezi stuck to me.

"oh--!!!"

Deng Chao led the way, running wildly on the beach, grabbing a handful of sand and throwing it into the air.

"Old Wang! I'm not recording this show anymore! I came to this desert island to suffer, not to be fed dog food!"

Chen Chichi covered his face, laughing so hard he was shaking, and scrambled away from the camera.

Chen Yi, with a calm expression, casually picked up a golden-brown roasted grouper from the side and handed it to Hanikezi.

"Eat fish," Chen Yi said calmly.

Hanikezi hurriedly took the bamboo skewer, not daring to lift her head, and took small bites of the fish.

The live stream chat completely froze at that moment, and Tencent Video's backup server crashed.

The following evening.

Filming on the desert island has officially ended.

A penthouse suite at a five-star hotel in Sanya.

Chen Yi had just finished showering and was wearing a pure black silk bathrobe, holding a towel to dry his hair.

"Bang!"

The solid wood door to the suite was kicked open.

Xiao Fang charged in like a cannonball, holding a tablet in hand, his eyes bloodshot with fanaticism.

"Bro! It's exploded! It's completely exploded!" Xiao Fang's voice cracked as he slammed the tablet heavily onto the coffee table, making a dull thud.

Chen Yi threw the towel on the sofa and poured a glass of ice water.

"If the door hinge breaks again, your entire bonus for this month will be deducted." Chen Yi took a sip of water.

"Debit! Debit as much as you want!" Xiao Fang excitedly spun around, frantically tapping the tablet screen. "Bro, look at this!"

Xiao Fang pulled up the Weibo backend data and pushed it in front of Chen Yi.

"Last night's campfire chat livestream clips were being frantically reposted by major marketing accounts across the internet this morning! The hashtag #ChenYiTakesHerHomeToMeetMom# suddenly jumped to the top of the trending searches, followed by a bright purple 'hot' icon!"

Xiao Fang swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

"Bro, in just three hours, the page views have surpassed 15 billion! 15 billion! Even top-tier celebrity announcements might not be able to beat that number!"

Chen Yi put down his water glass and glanced at the screen.

"How's the conversion rate for casual buyers?" Chen Yi asked.

"That's the scariest part!" Xiao Fang pulled up another set of data, pointing to the steep upward curve. "Before, when people shipped couples, they at least felt there was some script from the show, or that young people were just playing around with romance. But after what you said last night, the entire internet went crazy!"

Xiao Fang read out several highly-rated comments.

"Who would dare to openly say they'd take their partner home to meet their mother when promoting a couple?! This is absolutely genuine affection!"

"Chen Yi is such a responsible man! He didn't post on Weibo or hold a press conference, but gave us the most formal treatment! I declare that Yi Zi CP should get married right now!"

"A real man in the Chinese entertainment industry! This is what a real man in the Chinese entertainment industry looks like! A real man never plays the game of secret affairs!"

Xiao Fang raised his head, his eyes shining, and excitedly paced back and forth in the room.

"Bro, our studio's business team just finished a meeting this morning, and their inboxes are overflowing. Several high-end luxury brands that were just observing yesterday have sent us their highest-level letters of intent today, specifically requesting your two-person promotional posters! Their endorsement fees have all doubled!"

Chen Yi leaned back on the sofa armrest, his long legs crossed, his expression still calm.

"Is Xingyu making any moves?" Chen Yi tapped his fingers on his knee.

"Didn't dare to move!" Xiao Fang sneered. "The security team reported that Xingyu's PR department held a three-hour meeting last night, originally intending to hire online trolls to suppress the trending topics and create a narrative that you were deliberately riding on Hani's popularity. But as soon as the trolls went in, they were overwhelmed by the massive influx of casual viewers! They didn't even make a ripple!"

Xiao Fang took a big gulp of mineral water.

"Su Wan, that 'Ice Queen,' is probably green with envy right now. She originally wanted to use high-pressure interviews to wear down Hani, proving that Hani could monetize on her own. But this one trending topic of yours has directly tied Hani's commercial value to you. Now the whole internet is waiting for you two to reunite. If Xingyu dares to forcibly break up the CP at this time, brands will be the first to withdraw their investment!"

Chen Yi's lips curled into a highly aggressive smile.

"Capital only cares about money." Chen Yi said in an extremely calm tone, "When the benefits of joining forces far outweigh those of breaking them up, Su Wan has no choice but to obediently compromise. I've already overturned half of her bargaining chips."

Chen Yi picked up the phone that was placed next to him.

The screen lights up, showing 99+ WeChat messages.

At the very top is the family group chat called "We Are a Loving Family".

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow and opened the group chat.

Hundreds of messages have already been sent in the group.

Chen Yi's mother sent a ten-second voice message.

Chen Yi casually turned on speakerphone.

"Chen Yi! You little rascal, you've been keeping this a secret! This girl is as beautiful as an angel! When are you bringing her home for dinner? I've already picked out a gift for our first meeting! I'll take that jade bracelet to get cleaned tomorrow!"

Chen Ma's voice was full of energy, revealing undisguised joy.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Chichi started spamming the group chat.

A series of "facepalm", "cold sweat", and "kneeling" emojis flooded the screen.

Chen Chichi: "Auntie! Calm down! That's just for the variety show! It's for the ratings! Don't take it seriously!"

Chen Yi's mother immediately replied with a voice message.

"Bullshit! How could I not know my son? The way he looked at that girl was exactly the same as when his dad was pursuing me! Chen He, stop trying to cover for me! Did you already know all along but didn't tell me?"

Chen Chichi: "Auntie, I'm innocent! I really didn't know! I'm just an innocent regular guest!"

Uncle Chen Yi chimed in, "Little Yi, is this girl from Xinjiang? Is she used to the food? Your aunt said she's going to take a class to learn how to make 'Big Plate Chicken' tomorrow. By the way, are her family easy to get along with? Should we prepare some local specialties and send them over?"

The group chat was buzzing with discussion, with people already deciding how many tables to have for the wedding banquet and which hotel to book.

Xiao Fang, who was listening nearby, broke out in a cold sweat, his eyes wide open like saucers.

"Brother, Auntie's execution is even better than our studio's," Xiao Fang whispered. "If she finds out you two are just covering for each other, she'll probably tear our studio down!"

Chen Yi looked at the meme of Chen Chichi struggling in his death throes on the screen, and a smile appeared in his eyes.

He pressed the voice button, his tone calm and steady, without a hint of joking.

"Mom, you don't need to learn how to make braised chicken, I know how. I'll bring her back with me in a while, after she's done with this busy period. Please accept this gift."

Sent successfully.

The group chat went silent instantly.

For a full minute, no one spoke.

Then, Chen Chichi's private messages came in like a barrage of bullets.

Chen Chichi: "Cousin! Are you crazy! You actually dared to talk back!"

Chen Chichi: "My aunt just sent me a private message, asking for Hani's WeChat! She said she's sending your household registration book to Beijing by express tomorrow!"

Chen Chichi: "Explain yourself! I can't take it anymore!"

Chen Yi replied slowly and deliberately, "Cousin, didn't you say you were going to give a gift of money? Prepare it in advance."

After replying to the message, Chen Yi placed his phone face down on the coffee table.

At the same time.

In a room on another floor of the hotel.

Hanikezi had just finished showering and was wearing loose cotton pajamas, her hair still wet and draped over her shoulders.

She sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, clutching a pillow tightly in her arms, her eyes fixed on the phone placed on the blanket.

All I could see in my mind was the image of Chen Yi turning his head around the campfire last night, looking at the camera and saying, "Take her home to meet my mom."

That sharply defined profile, that commanding yet reassuring tone of voice.

Hanikezi buried her face in the pillow, rolled around on the bed twice, and grinned wildly.

"How dare he say that on camera..." she muttered softly, her ears starting to burn again.

But after the initial excitement came intense unease.

Just half an hour ago, Xiaoli secretly told her that the trending topics had gone viral, and the phone at Xingyu's headquarters had been ringing off the hook with calls from brands.

As is customary, if Sister Hong sees a trending topic of this magnitude, she will definitely call her immediately, give her a good scolding, warn her to watch her behavior, and even confiscate her communication devices.

But today, my phone is eerily quiet.

From the end of the recording until now, a full three hours have passed, and Sister Hong hasn't sent a single punctuation mark.

This unknown silence is more unsettling than being directly scolded.

"Could it be that Sister Hong is discussing with Su Wan how to blacklist me?" Hanikezi bit her lip and sat up straight.

She picked up her phone and opened Chen Yi's chat window.

I wanted to send him a message, but my fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long time before I finally left.

"No, Chen Yi has already shouldered so much pressure for me, I can't keep letting him worry about me. I have to face it myself."

Hanikezi took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and stared intently at the screen.

Just then.

"Buzz—"

My phone suddenly vibrated violently.

Hanikezi was so frightened that she trembled and dropped her pillow to the ground.

She quickly grabbed her phone, her fingertips feeling cold.

A WeChat message from Sister Hong popped up on the screen.

There was no lengthy reprimand.

There was no angry warning.

It consists of only a few extremely brief words.

"Think it through yourself."