Chapter 44

Tae Yeon completely reciprocated Lee Yuhwan's kindness. She clearly knew that Lee Yuhwan had been pulling her along in everything before, helping her or, rather, helping SNSD regain popularity. Lee Yuhwan was the most popular new star at the moment, and at this time, he was involved in a 'romantic' scandal. The media would definitely pursue Lee Yuhwan relentlessly, and Tae Yeon would also gain more exposure from this incident.

Of course, Lee Yuhwan would definitely explain that both parties were just 'acquaintances' and not in a romantic relationship. Because of Lee Yuhwan, she and SNSD would be noticed again by those who were paying attention to this 'gossip.' In a way, Lee Yuhwan was indirectly helping SNSD.

So, Tae Yeon also said words of encouragement to Lee Yuhwan at the cliff's edge. After saying that, Tae Yeon performed a self-rotating dive, scoring the highest 38 points.

After Tae Yeon's dive, it was Liu Zaishi and others' turn to dive. Everyone jumped from the cliff's edge without hesitation. In the end, only Liu Zaishi was left. Liu Zaishi, the last to dive, stood at the cliff's edge hesitating. Finally, he was pushed into the water by Lee Hyori's 'Child Worshipping Guanyin' move, which made everyone burst out laughing.

After returning to the ancestral home, everyone changed out of their wet clothes and sat on the large cool stone in the courtyard. The 'elder' Yoon Jong-shin said, "It's already very late, we should have dinner, I'm so hungry..." Everyone had been filming on an empty stomach all afternoon, and after playing in the water, they felt even hungrier.

However, Lee Yuhwan had been eating at irregular times recently, so he was used to being hungry and felt that this level of hunger was still within his tolerance.

But the others all chimed in, complaining about being hungry. Liu Zaishi also said, "We should make dinner, let's make glutinous rice balls today."

Lee Hyori then announced the dinner menu, "To make glutinous rice balls, we first need to pick some pine leaves to wrap them. And... we can eat the silver fish we caught earlier."

"Stewed silver fish, we also need various vegetables."

"Then, let Tae Yeon choose someone to pick the pine leaves." "Is Tae Yeon choosing herself?" "Of course."

"Eh~~~ Tae Yeon will definitely choose Lee Yuhwan, right? Do we even need to say that? If both guests go together, how much screen time will we get? That's not fair. Lee Yuhwan should be excluded, Tae Yeon is not allowed to choose Lee Yuhwan."

Liu Zaishi agreed with everyone's opinion, "OK, this time, Lee Yuhwan is excluded." Seeing Lee Yuhwan automatically 'eliminated,' Lee Tae-hee immediately 'interfered,' saying softly, "To pick pine leaves, we need someone tall."

Liu Zaishi also exposed what Lee Tae-hee said, and Yoon Jong-shin said dejectedly, "We finally got rid of a strong person, but now another 'Cheng Yaojin' appears? How frustrating, why do we need someone tall to pick pine leaves?"

Lee Tae-hee explained to Yoon Jong-shin, "Because the pine leaves grow high up, so we need someone tall like me."

Lee Yuhwan also laughed, "Lee Tae-hee, do you mean that Yoon Jong-shin can never pick pine leaves in his life?" As soon as Lee Yuhwan finished speaking, everyone burst out laughing. Yoon Jong-shin was also dejected, "Being short is already sad enough, and now you two tall guys are teasing me like this? Really..."

Liu Zaishi could only shake his head, sigh, and pat Yoon Jong-shin, "You really can't pick pine leaves without a tool in your life. Forget it..." Everyone burst out laughing again.

After laughing, Liu Zaishi said, "Tae Yeon, choose someone to go pick pine leaves with you. Don't feel any burden, you can choose anyone."

Tae Yeon smiled and said, "Actually, at first... I was going to choose Lee Yuhwan. Because Lee Yuhwan is tall and very familiar with me, but since Lee Yuhwan is excluded, I'll choose the tall Lee Tae-hee."

Hearing Tae Yeon choose him, Lee Tae-hee stood up quickly, "Let's go, we'll go pick pine leaves."

"Look at how happy he is... Tae-hee, cherish the time you spend with Tae Yeon."

Seeing Tae Yeon and Lee Tae-hee leave, Lee Yuhwan sighed and said, "Sigh~~~~ Actually, in SNSD, I have the best relationship with Tiffany. I believe Pani would definitely choose me. Even if I am eliminated, Pani would choose Uncle Yoon Jong-shin to play it safe."

Hearing Lee Yuhwan's words, everyone was surprised and exclaimed, "Wow wow wow... Lee Yuhwan, do you like Pani more?"

Lee Yuhwan immediately shook his head, "No, no, I just mean that I have a better relationship with Pani."

Liu Zaishi immediately seized on Lee Yuhwan's 'slip of the tongue' and said, "Dare you say you 'like' Pani in front of Tae Yeon? Of course, this 'like' means a better relationship, don't misunderstand. Dare you say you like Pani in front of Tae Yeon?"

Hearing Liu Zaishi's challenge, Lee Yuhwan immediately puffed out his chest and said confidently, "Of course, what's there to be afraid of? I'm a man..."

In this world, macho thinking is very normal, of course, there are exceptions.

"Good, when Tae Yeon comes back, we'll ask you this, let's see if you dare to say. Hahaha..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Lee Yuhwan slapped his forehead and lowered his head dejectedly. Seeing Lee Yuhwan tie himself up, everyone burst out laughing, "Hahaha... Suffering from your own doing, tying yourself up? Telling you to be macho..."

...

Lee Tae-hee and Tae Yeon went out together. Lee Tae-hee said to Tae Yeon, "Tae Yeon, your performance of Lee Yuhwan's 'Snow Flower' was really beautiful. I really liked it..."

Tae Yeon also smiled and said, "Really? How about I sing 'Like Being Shot' for you? It's my favorite song by Lee Yuhwan."

Lee Tae-hee also said happily, "Can... can you?" Tae Yeon smiled and nodded, then started singing... Tae Yeon was very familiar with 'Like Being Shot' and had practiced it many times, so the emotional grasp in her performance was different from Lee Yuhwan's. Lee Yuhwan's version sounded like he was really 'shot,' a heart-wrenching pain. Tae Yeon's version was a delicate sadness, like seeing a sad movie that makes you want to cry silently.

The two different styles couldn't be compared in terms of superiority, but because everyone had heard Lee Yuhwan's version first, they felt that Tae Yeon's performance was slightly less emotionally gripping compared to Lee Yuhwan's.

On Lee Yuhwan's side, he was preparing to make pumpkin rice. Lee Yuhwan skillfully cut the pumpkin and scooped out the seeds, working very quickly. In no time, he had prepared two pumpkins. Lee Hyori said to Ah Dae and Ah Gua, who were starting the fire, "What are you two doing? Lee Yuhwan has already prepared two pumpkin bowls, and you two haven't even started the fire yet? How frustrating..."

Lee Yuhwan smiled and said, "Hyori, it's fine, I'll go start the fire after I finish cutting the pumpkin."

"Yuhwan is really capable... When did you learn all this?"

"After my parents passed away when I was in junior high, I lived alone. If I didn't learn to do things myself, I would have starved, so I developed these skills. Hehe..."

Lee Hyori, a big star, had her own work every day and wouldn't pay attention to Lee Yuhwan's background. Of course, they didn't know that Lee Yuhwan was an orphan. But when they heard Lee Yuhwan's story today, they were very surprised and felt that his background was quite pitiful.

Lee Hyori's maternal love overflowed, and she said with a smile, "Yuhwan, call me sister from now on. Tell everyone in the industry that you are my sister, Lee Hyori's, younger brother. By the way, don't you have any relatives?"

Lee Yuhwan shook his head and said, "No, my family are overseas Chinese, and my parents were only children. When they were young, their families were very poor, so... they only had one child to avoid the risk of not being able to raise them. But I don't know if there are any relatives on my grandmother and maternal grandmother's sides, as they passed away early. My parents' sudden death also didn't mention any relatives. So..."

Liu Zaishi and others also gathered around and asked, "How did you live after your parents passed away?"

"At that time, I was just in junior high. My parents died in a car accident, and the government provided some assistance. But a month later... a fire caused by old wiring burned down our house, even the photos of my parents were burned. At that moment, I really had thoughts of suicide. I really wanted to jump off the Han River Bridge to end it all. I had nothing left, not even a photo of my parents."

Hearing this, everyone present couldn't help but have tears well up in their eyes. It turned out that Lee Yuhwan had such a difficult past. Such a tragic event happening to a teenager. His parents died, and his house was burned down... Such a series of blows, how could a junior high school student survive?

"At that moment, I felt like the sky had fallen. I sat in front of my house, looking at the charred remains. The house was just a piece of land left. I remember sitting on the ground in front of the house and crying for a long time... I even wondered if I was some kind of disaster star? My parents had just passed away, and I couldn't even keep the house, not even a photo of my parents left..."

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