Sheep was absent from the final day of the competition.
After returning to the break room, Song Xianyang considered the fact that this matter involved President Ren and his own role in it. In the end, he didn’t tell Xuan Cheng the whole truth, simply saying that Jing Mian had developed a fever the night before, gone to the hospital for an IV, and couldn’t participate in today’s match.
Xuan Rui immediately grew anxious. “A fever? How high was it? Which hospital? Why didn’t MianMian tell me?”
Song Xianyang scratched his head and had to make something up, saying that Brother Mianmian’s fever had already subsided, but he was still feeling weak and had been taken home by his husband.
Chen Xi, who had been listening nearby, widened her eyes in surprise.
She glanced at her phone—no wonder Ren Congmian’s filming schedule had been abruptly canceled last night. The event organizers had even issued an apology notice.
She had initially thought that Brother Ren had personal matters to attend to or was feeling unwell.
Who would’ve guessed the reason was actually MianMian?
Xuan Cheng called Jing Mian, but at the same time, Song Xianyang’s pocket suddenly rang.
After Greek had taken Jing Mian into the car, Jing Mian’s phone had slipped into a corner of the vehicle—but this was only discovered later when the police arrived.
Song Xianyang had no choice but to pull out sheep’s phone with a headache, explaining that Brother Mianmian had left it at the hotel.
The team Me. faced in the final match wasn’t as challenging as Greek’s team, so the psychological pressure wasn’t too high. Even without one of their main players, they weren’t panicked.
Moreover, Song Xianyang stepped in as a replacement.
Due to Song Xianyang’s notorious reputation, players didn’t call him by his ID but instead affectionately nicknamed him “Big Brother Top of the Leaderboard.”
It was Song Xianyang’s first time competing, yet he handled it effortlessly. Not only did he win, but he completely dominated.
[Big Brother Top of the Leaderboard is amazing!!!]
[Top of the Leaderboard has a bright future ahead!]
[How old is Sleepy? He looks like a puppy, like a student who hasn’t graduated yet.]
[Replying to the above, I think he just turned eighteen.]
[Some people are Top of the Leaderboard at eighteen, achieve their dreams of meeting their idol and join a team, while I’m begging my dad for 200 yuan over WeChat at eighteen.]
[Ouch, that hurts.]
[Where’s MianMian? I didn’t see him in the spectator seats either.]
[+1, first day without MianMian, missing him already.]
……
[Did anyone notice Greek isn’t here today either?]
Not only the audience, but even Me. was surprised—
Greek hadn’t shown up for the match either.
But the circumstances were entirely different. Greek’s team had already lost one match the day before, and today’s opponents weren’t weak either, so Greek’s presence was crucial to stabilize the team.
Losing two matches in a row would disqualify them from the national competition.
As one of the top contenders for the national championship, Greek’s team had never been eliminated before even making it to the national stage.
Yet, even as the match began, players still didn’t catch a glimpse of Greek.
Later, in a tense showdown, Greek’s team lost.
Then, just five days after this provincial competition, the club suddenly announced that they had terminated their contract with Greek.
And the very next day after the announcement, players were shocked to discover that Glory’s system had removed Greek’s second-place ranking from the PK leaderboard!
A legendary veteran god-tier player like this not only had all related contracts suspended and faced boycotts across platforms, but his achievements seemed to vanish overnight under mysterious circumstances. Yet no one could discern the reasons or connections behind it, causing the gossip forums to explode.
Players speculated wildly—had Greek done something unforgivable?
…Or perhaps offended someone absolutely untouchable.
When Jing Mian woke again, he found himself bundled up like a rice dumpling.
The car had stopped.
Not far from where they’d parked stood the familiar little villa—his and Brother’s home.
Mr. Ren’s coat was draped around him, with a soft cotton hat pulled over his head. Jing Mian realized he’d woken when the man carried him from the passenger seat, the warm cocoon clearly meant to shield him from the cold.
Jing Mian: “…”
His body stiffened involuntarily.
The memories came flooding back—all from last night.
Yesterday… he and Mr. Ren.
They’d done it.
All night long.
And in the car!!
Jing Mian’s face flushed.
The thing was, he’d only been drugged with aphrodisiacs, not blackout drunk. He remembered most details—like actively demanding to fulfill his marital duties, deliberately calling him “Brother,” kissing him relentlessly, even hooking his legs around Husband’s waist during…
…
God.
Not just his face—his entire body felt feverish now.
Wrapped tightly in the coat saturated with Mr. Ren’s scent, he couldn’t breathe.
Jing Mian needed to cool down.
But right now, he had no idea how to face Mr. Ren.
So he closed his eyes, trying to relax his tense brows, pretending to still be asleep.
From his earlier glimpse, they seemed to have returned to Maple Leaf Estates. Mr. Ren had taken a side road to park near their villa’s side entrance, minimizing the walking distance.
The match had ended at 7 PM. After that, Jing Mian lost all sense of time. The drive from M City to Lincheng took over two hours, and now it was nearly 5 AM.
Meaning they’d done it for at least six hours.
…He was going insane.
Nearly two weeks had passed since their wedding night, yet their marital intimacy frequency hovered at zero.
Who could’ve predicted their second time as husbands would happen under these circumstances, shattering that delicate balance? And lasting even longer than the first, as if compensating for all their missed opportunities.
His lower back felt melted into softness, thigh muscles spasming from overextension. Even long after it ended, the lingering fullness reminded him—this time was completely different from their wedding night.
Perhaps the drug’s influence had pushed things too far. If Mr. Ren weren’t carrying him now… he likely couldn’t have walked back to the villa himself.
Mr. Ren moved with unusual gentleness, clearly trying not to wake him.
Not just gentle—from an observer’s perspective, it bordered on carefulness.
Very unlike Mr. Ren’s usual demeanor.
But half-awake Jing Mian cautiously attributed this care to tending an invalid.
What followed:
Mr. Ren freed one hand to unlock the door via fingerprint.
Mr. Ren changed his own shoes but left Jing Mian’s on.
Mr. Ren finally removed his shoes and rolled down his socks.
Finally, it was time for his own coat and trousers. Mr. Ren found the set of pajamas he often wore, his much larger hands gripping Jing Mian’s wrist, fingertips brushing against his palm as he helped him slip one arm into a sleeve.
Then the other.
……
Jing Mian’s nerves were stretched taut.
He thought, if he didn’t wake up now, wouldn’t it be pushing the act too far?
But there was no helping it. Jing Mian could imagine that waking up in this situation would probably be even more awkward.
Yet at this moment, he inexplicably recalled that distant morning long ago—had Mr. Ren also helped him dress bit by bit like this back then?
Because his movements were so gentle, they wouldn’t have woken him at all.
Jing Mian thought again, if he weren’t awake now, he might never have noticed or known about these small things.
Just how many details about Mr. Ren had he missed?
Jing Mian truly felt that, even setting aside all external conditions and family factors,
Mr. Ren was the perfect marriage partner.
At the very least, he was putting his heart into making their marriage work.
He respected Jing Mian, was a man of few words yet answered every question he had, accompanied him without question when his old illness flared up, rushed to his side the moment danger arose, and even when faced with unreasonable spousal obligations, he did his best to comply.
Was this husband even human?
At this level of an arranged marriage, whether there was love or not, whether they liked each other or not—when it came to Mr. Ren, it all seemed hardly worth scrutinizing.
Once everything was changed, Jing Mian, now clad in smooth, soft pajamas, was tucked into bed by Ren Xingwan.
The curtains were mostly drawn, leaving only a few golden beams of light, dappled with fluttering leaf shadows, cast onto a corner of the room. Most of the space was dim, save for that one patch of floor—silent yet lively.
Perfect for a lazy, bone-melting nap.
His exhausted cells seemed to have received a careful massage, and Jing Mian, who had only been pretending to sleep, suddenly found himself genuinely wanting to drift off.
It was at this moment that Jing Mian thought, having done all this, Mr. Ren would probably leave.
But then he heard Mr. Ren’s footsteps pause by the bedside, as if he hadn’t moved.
The sound stopped there.
“?”
Jing Mian’s throat tightened. He wasn’t sure if Mr. Ren was looking at him—after all, he didn’t dare open his eyes, not even a flutter of his lashes. But he grew a little nervous, because the gaze lingered far too long, plunging the room into boundless silence.
Being stared at for so long inevitably led to self-doubt.
Had Husband realized he wasn’t actually asleep?
“Jing Mian?”
Ren Xingwan’s voice was soft, slightly deep.
Husband had called him “Jing Mian,” not “MianMian.”
Jing Mian’s heart sank instantly.
…He’d probably been caught pretending.
But he steeled himself, neither waking up nor responding, maintaining his sleeping posture and steady, shallow breaths.
The air grew still.
About ten seconds passed.
Just as Jing Mian was tensing up, he suddenly felt—
something soft against his lips.
Before he could process what it was,
a silent kiss landed on his mouth. Warm, fleeting—just a light press before it withdrew.
……
His heart instantly went numb.
It lasted only a moment.
Not savoring, not tasting—just a simple, purposeless kiss, restrained and brief after that heavy silence.
By the time it ended, Jing Mian was still dazed and flustered.
Finally, not long after, he heard the sound of Husband truly leaving the room.
Jing Mian opened his eyes under the blanket, staring blankly at the ceiling.
A few seconds later.
His face flushed red all the way to his neck.