Chapter 3076: After Divorce, Forced to Compete with My Ex-Husband 06

The next day.

Jin Chen went downstairs and glanced toward the guest bedroom; the door was shut tight, with no sound from inside, but there were noises coming from the dining room.

Jin Chen froze for a moment, then walked to the dining room doorway.

Chenshu stood before the cooking counter in an apron, lifting the fried bacon out of the pan.

He had changed into loungewear, rolling up his sleeves to his forearms, revealing firm forearms; the lines of his shoulders and back were outlined by the fabric into a broad, relaxed arc.

Morning light streamed in through the kitchen window; Jin Chen stood at the dining room doorway, dazed for an instant.

Countless mornings three years ago, Jin Chen would wake up like this, squinting as he walked to the dining room, while Chenshu was already busy in the kitchen.

He would walk over, hug Chenshu's waist from behind, bury his face between his shoulder blades and keep dozing; Chenshu would laugh and pat the hand Jin Chen had around his waist, but never really push him away—no matter how fierce their quarrel the night before, any traces left would show openly, never concealed.

Those mornings were ordinary and hardly worth mentioning, yet they were the most peaceful moments in Jin Chen's memory.

Jin Chen's gaze fell on the back of Chenshu's neck; it was clean, with only a flesh-toned dressing on the shoulder and neck, and no other mark of intimacy.

Jin Chen snapped out of the soft reverie, and the warmth in his chest quickly cooled a bit.

He walked over, sat at the dining table, and began eating the food on his plate in silence.

Chenshu held his coffee cup, gazing through the rising steam at his young lover across the table.

He had been in a terrible state last night, lacking the energy to think about anything, but right now he suddenly realized that Xiao Chen didn't seem to dislike him as he had imagined.

At least, it wasn't just dislike.

Chenshu set down his coffee cup, hopeful and probing; after Jin Chen finished his sandwich, he pulled out a wet wipe, drew Jin Chen's hand over, and rubbed each fingertip through the wipe.

Jin Chen's fingertip twitched; he lifted his head warily and asked, 'What exactly are you up to?'

Chenshu continued wiping until the last finger was clean, then lowered his head and lightly pressed his lips to the back of Jin Chen's hand.

Jin Chen was cold: 'What about your sense of distance, ex-husband?'

He had guessed right.

Chenshu's lips curled slightly, but what showed more was a sore, soft feeling.

Jin Chen pulled his hand back, stared at him for a while, then suddenly asked, 'Do you want to answer the question I asked you yesterday now?'

Chenshu lowered his eyes, gave a bitter smile, and shook his head: 'Xiao Chen, it's not time yet...'

Jin Chen snatched his hand back in a flash, shoved the chair back, and stood up.

Then wait until that time to talk to me.

The regretful feeling spread all the way to the living room.

Jin Chen sat on the sofa, growing angrier the more he thought, grabbed the cushion on the sofa, and punched it.

He shouldn't have let Chenshu fool him again—dressed so nicely, apron tied, looking all gentle and easy to bully, and yet he didn't even listen half as well as before!

——

That afternoon, Chenshu went to the Military Department and didn't return home.

Just like that, five days passed.

999 occasionally popped up to say a few words; most of the time it reminded Jin Chen that plot points were approaching, telling him to get ready, but Jin Chen let it go in one ear and out the right, answering with vague 'uh-huhs' while his mind was on other things.

Five days later, the day of departure for the Symbiosis Plan arrived.

Even on the day of the banquet signing the plan, the Imperial Family had already released the news.

Because it was livestreamed in full, and they would explore an unknown hazardous planet, plus the seven guests were all well-known in their fields, discussion on the Star Network stayed hot for days straight; among the seven guests, Chi Mu drew the most attention, after all he was the only celebrity, while the other six each had their own expertise and had genuinely achieved results in their respective fields.

Thus netizens raised doubts: 'Chi Mu is just an actor—what is he doing on this exploration show? Is he just there to look good?'

As soon as that was said, Chi Mu's fans were immediately unhappy.

: 'Mu Mu, why can't he go? This is a variety show, not a military drill—what do we need all those skills for?'

: 'Who would watch this show without Mu Mu? Rely on those few military and research folks to pull in ratings?'

: 'After all, it's a variety show—without Mu Mu, half the topics disappear—what's wrong with saying that?!'

Chi Mu's fans are famously indulgent and strong in combat; a few sentences drowned out the doubts, and the discussion heat only grew higher—before the show even aired, related posts flooded the Star Network.

On the day of departure, the broadcast sphere inside the vessel opened, transmitting the cabin's interior live to the Star Network.

This time's team leader was also selected by the Legion, responsible for the guests' safety; Blake stood inside the cabin door, his posture impeccably straight.

Until he saw Chenshu, the corner of Blake's mouth twitched embarrassedly; he had worked under Chenshu for many years, but now he was on a livestream show as the security team leader while Chenshu was a special guest—this role reversal left him feeling off all over.

Chenshu walked up to him, gave a faint nod, and said, 'Thank you for your trouble.'

Blake: '……'

How panicking!

The six guests inside the cabin had already taken their seats; Chi Mu sat slightly left of center, smiling as he chatted with Mai Lun beside him, looking well-behaved and relaxed, as if on a spring outing rather than an expedition.

As soon as the livestream started, the scrolling comments flooded in at breakneck speed, almost impossible to read, but Chi Mu's fans, relying on their astonishing typing speed and combat power, carved a bloody path through the sea of colorful text.

: 'Ahhhhh, our Mu Mu is like a delicate flower mistakenly thrown into the melon patch!'

: 'So cute! What if all the big shots fall for our Mu Mu? A shurafield is coming straight at us!'

: 'Big shots, you better perform well and compete for the position!'

: 'I've already started looking forward to the sight of six big shots circling around our Mu Mu!'

: 'So who exactly will be our Mu Mu's true destined one! Crush a general! Soldiers paired with delicate flowers—eternal god!'

The scrolling comments continued to roll wildly, and then there was movement from the cabin door direction.

Blake's voice came from the doorway: 'The last guest has arrived.'

Everyone's gaze turned toward the door.

Jin Chen was the last to arrive, wearing earphones around his neck, a black functional-tech outfit, with cargo pants tucked into short boots—so cool he had no friends, seeming unlovable to anyone, all because he was maintaining the persona he'd given himself, just to avoid getting entangled with a popular person.

He had just stepped onto the gangway when he instantly spotted the person standing at the cabin door.

Blake bared two rows of white teeth, then gave an embarrassed smile, basically daring not to show that he knew Jin Chen.

Previously he worked under Chenshu, personally witnessed their love history; now they have divorced and both appear together in a live variety show.

Blake feels that in his past life he probably owed this former couple a lot of money.

Jin Chen nodded, brushed past Blake's shoulder and walked into the cabin.

Blake let out a breath of relief behind him, then immediately tensed up again, because he saw his former superior sitting in the rear seat of the aircraft, gaze sunk, looking toward the cabin door.

: Laughing to death, with Jin Chen here, the dangers of those exploration planets will soon appear in the game levels.

: Game dog is in danger! No one knows how many people Jin Chen's horror game has screwed over! Ahhhhh!

: I still haven't made it out of the underground maze of his previous game; who will come save me!!

: But his face is really handsome, so handsome that I can forgive him for killing me ten thousand times in the game!

Jin Chen found a seat toward the back, keeping a row of seats distance from everyone, put on the headset hanging from his neck, leaned back against the chair, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The aircraft smoothly entered the vast starfield; about a standard hour later, Chi Mu broke the cabin's silence.