CH 22

Although Zhang Hai had never seen Li Chengyuan with his own eyes, the second he was glanced at by those cold eyes that could exert pressure even in the absence of anger, he came to a sudden realization.

Looking at the huge entourage and the flattering, smiling face of his immediate superior, who else could it be in front of him other than that bigshot?

But the VIP lounge was on the second floor of the inner hall, far away from the waiting area constructed for the red carpet. How could Mr. Li suddenly appear here?

It wasn’t only Zhang Hai and the other people who had guessed his identity who were very surprised by this. Even Xia Xingchi himself was very confused.

Just now when Li Chengyuan asked if he was cold, he had brushed it off with a smile and replied that he wasn’t.

After all, they were just two people with an agreement between them, not actual lovers, so it was impossible to expect his indifferent boss to deliver clothes.

Seeing Li Chengyuan appearing here with a thick coat in his arms, Xia Xingchi’s heart skipped a beat – Is he here to bring me clothes?

As soon as that thought occurred to him, he remembered a certain time when the temperature dropped suddenly when he was a child. He had also been shivering like this, enviously watching the other children put on the thick clothes delivered by their parents.

An indescribable sense of satisfaction and happiness immediately filled his heart. It turned out that this was the feeling of “parents” sending warmth.

Xia Xingchi had twisted the opponent’s hand a moment ago, but now he had to let go and put away the thorns all over his body.

And he completely forgot that he had stepped on the villain’s tail, and was originally running around to avoid being hunted.

He subconsciously took a step toward Li Chengyuan. Unexpectedly, as he was momentarily distracted, he was shoved by someone and staggered, nearly falling down.

Zhang Hai pushed aside Xia Xingchi, who was blocking the way, and rushed toward Li Chengyuan as if he had seen his own father. Obviously, the importance of Xia Xingchi, a “nobody,” could not be compared with that of a big financial tycoon.

Xia Xingchi was instantly furious, thinking that he shouldn’t have been merciful just now. This idiot should have a taste of what it felt like to have a dislocated wrist, see if he dared to be so rude again.

Zhang Hai leaned forward flatteringly and asked: “Mr. Li, why are you here?”

He had previously heard internal news that Li Chengyuan was here to accompany his lover today. Could it be that the big boss who had never shown his face wanted to accompany him on the red carpet?

He had also long guessed the identity of his mysterious lover. Combining age and identity with various rumors, it was likely to be the only young master of the Xia family – Xia Yu!

Therefore, Zhang Hai had already had the foresight to please him, and wondered if this was the right time to take credit.

However, Li Chengyuan’s expression was gloomy, and he just looked at him without saying a word. The dreadful sense of oppression at once intensified exponentially after the act of pushing someone just now.

He also noticed that his immediate superior’s face had frozen just now, and they gazed at him with horrible expressions, as if looking at a dead man.

This fool also realized that something was wrong. Zhang Hai became doubtful, and asked in a low, trembling voice: “Mr. Li, you —”

Xia Xingchi’s voice at his side sounded faintly: “Weren’t you going to let Li Chengyuan fight you just now? Are you in such a rush to be beaten?”

Zhang Hai: ?

He was already terrified, but when this little low-tier artist dared to call Li Chengyuan by name, he was shocked and outraged:

“What nonsense are you talking about? When did I say that!”

“I would have to be a crazy person to fight Mr. Li for no reason. I said that your fiancé……?!”

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Hai realized something and stared at the “low-tier artist without a backer” before him with wide eyes, as if he had seen a ghost.

Xia Xingchi shrugged: “Yes, ah, is my fiancé not here?”

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a bomb had been dropped into the crowd.

After the boom, the people who were whispering fell into dead silence, and they all turned to view Zhang Hai’s shocked expression.

“This is Li……” One person whispered.

Another person quickly covered her mouth: “Hush! Keep your voice down!”

The assistant who had made the loudest malicious speculation before even lost his grip in fright, and spilled half a cup of hot coffee on his collar.

After becoming wet and scalded, the man didn’t dare to make a sound, for fear that Xia Xingchi would notice him and bide his time to settle accounts. 

But of course Xia Xingchi couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to them. He had already turned his eager and loving eyes on……the clothing in Li Chengyuan’s hands.

— This heartless little person only recognized clothes, but not people, and the matter of him slipping away to take the bus alone had not yet been settled.

Li Chengyuan frowned in displeasure and ignored him with a sullen face, deliberately refusing to give him the clothes and only letting him continue to shiver.

Seeing this, everyone was unaware that this was just the boss’s sudden childishness and the awkwardness between young lovers. They thought that Li Chengyuan was angry about the matter just now and dared not breathe for fear of becoming collateral damage.

“Achoo!”

The few seconds of silence were interrupted by Xia Xingchi’s loud sneeze.

He was so cold that the tip of his nose and even the tips of his eyes were red. He obviously didn’t change his expression, but the way he blinked and stared at the clothes had the illusion of being pitiful.

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips, and finally let out a helpless sigh. In the end, his heart softened before a certain person could learn to ask for help, and he couldn’t bear to see him be wronged in the slightest.

He didn’t pass the clothes in his hands to Xia Xingchi directly, but motioned for Secretary Ye beside him to take it —

Then he took off his own coat and stepped forward to wrap it tightly around Xia Xingchi until only a small part of his frozen face was visible.

The coat he had just taken off was cozy and warm, carrying the faint fragrance of Li Chengyuan’s body, and instantly withstood the surrounding chill.

……Like a firm and reliable embrace.

Xia Xingchi’s eyes immediately widened. He hadn’t expected Li Chengyuan to behave like this.

Especially as this person still wore a cold face as he lowered his head and carefully arranged his clothes. The warmth seemed to not only envelop his whole body, but also turned into a tingling heat that made its way to the tip of his heart, very unfamiliar.

— He’s quite good-looking.

Xia Xingchi looked at Li Chengyuan’s handsome features so close at hand, and this thought popped into his mind.

He thought for a moment, and then took the initiative to pick up the coat in Secretary Ye’s hands and conscientiously put it on Li Chengyuan.

But this sort of ambiguous and complex atmosphere stayed solely between the two, and the others could only be filled with great horror. The more they watched the interactions between the two, the more shocked they were.

Among them, the one frightened to the point that his legs were weak was Zhang Hai.

Although he had helped Xia Yu clean up the little low-tier artist because of the high salary he received, his reasoning was that Xia Yu claimed to be Li Chengyuan’s fiance, and Zhang Hai wanted to please him by doing him a favor.

Witnessing the scene before him, Zhang Hai stood trembling in bewilderment. How could Li Chengyuan’s fiance not be Xia Yu?

But Xia Yu clearly admitted his identity himself, ah!

Wrong!

He suddenly realized that Xia Yu had never admitted this directly, but only ambiguously “implied” it. This was just using his identity to bluff and deceive him – he was actually a fake!

It was a pity that he had found out too late, and only now did Zhang Hai know that he had been deceived and used as a weapon to offend the real Young Master Xia.

At once terrified and angry, he knew that his end would be quite tragic, and for a moment, he wished that he could rush up and take Xia Yu down with him.

But when he looked up, where could he see even the shadow of Xia Yu?

– – –

When Li Chengyuan arrived just now, Xia Yu had realized something was wrong, so he quickly left when everyone was in a daze. 

He had always wished to get engaged to Li Chengyuan before, so he got to know him carefully. He knew how ruthless he could be after becoming enraged, and knew even better how astute he was —

Perhaps Li Chengyuan could immediately find out that he was the culprit due to one look from Zhang Hai.

Xia Yu reckoned that if he didn’t leave, he would be detained on the spot.

Leaving the red carpet was a trivial matter, but disappearing for no reason after building up momentum for so long was quite embarrassing, and how could he explain the reason for his absence?

After all, he was a popular idol. Showing his face set off a small upsurge in the barrage area, and he became the topic of a battle between fans and anti-fans:

[ Xia Yu! After waiting for so long, my baby is finally here!]

[Handsome, so handsome, see how good-looking Xiao Yu is in his high-end suit. He is indeed the only one who can rent this brand.]

[Enough from upstairs, hyping all day long. Your idol isn’t even wearing the new season’s style, what are you talking about?]

[Well said, grumpy dude. Even in this weather, he still wears the summer and autumn style. Doesn’t he feel cold or ashamed?]

[You’re just sour. Baby Xia Yu didn’t borrow the winter style because the brand must not have rented it out. Isn’t there no one else wearing it today?]

Xia Yu had always valued his reputation, and haute couture was originally what he cared about the most, but at this moment, he didn’t care about it at all —

He didn’t realize something was wrong until he stepped onto the red carpet. If Li Chengyuan suddenly ordered the security guards to drag him away on the spot, it would be a real-time broadcast in front of tens of millions of viewers, and the consequences would be disastrous.

[Did you notice that Xia Yu is walking very fast today? It’s as if something is chasing after him.]

[Is this the demeanor of your family’s rich and noble son? Understood, this good family made their fortune through speed walking competitions (dog head.jpg)]

[Hahaha god damn, speed walking. Upstairs is really on point.]

[His expression is stiff, those who don’t know better would think he’s being hunted down. Is he going to sprint down the red carpet?]

– – –

Zhang Hai was deathly pale as the security guards dragged him out the door on the orders of his immediate superior.

It was taboo to take bribes in private to bully entertainers, and he would definitely lose his job. With such a dismissal record of misconduct on his file, it would be impossible to continue to work in this industry, and difficult to apply for jobs in all other sectors.

As for how Li Chengyuan would deal with him, that was even more terrifying.

All kinds of apologies and pleas for mercy spilled out at once, until Zhang Hai was escorted out.

Xia Xingchi turned a deaf ear. Blinking his eyes, he looked at Li Chengyuan again and suddenly realized that the clothes on his body were the same as his own – he was actually wearing that black couples’ outfit!

It must have been that the manager’s sales ability was strong enough to persuade Li Chengyuan to buy another set in the end.

Thinking of this, Xia Xingchi realized that it was time for him to get to work.

Although he didn’t want people to know of his relationship with Li Chengyuan, things had come to this point. He couldn’t reveal his secrets under the eyes of everyone, so Xia Xingchi quickly went to grab Li Chengyuan’s arm with affection.

This sort of thing was familiar after doing it once or twice. The more he did it, the more natural it became, and he subconsciously rubbed his head against the big villain’s shoulder.

He rubbed it twice, but it didn’t feel right.

Li Chengyuan was taller than him, and would tilt his shoulders a little before so that Xia Xingchi could reach them effortlessly, but this person was so unmoved today that Xia Xingchi had to tiptoe slightly.

Then Xia Xingchi remembered that they had not settled the matter of him stepping on the vengeful cat’s tail. When he looked up, he saw Li Chengyuan watching him indifferently.

This person had never lost his composure, and it seemed to everyone that his expression had not changed, but now Xia Xingchi could more or less tell that he was angry.

“Trying to escape” was Li Chengyuan’s minefield that couldn’t be touched. Xia Xingchi grew increasingly timid the more he thought about it, but he didn’t dare to move, freezing in place without knowing what to say.

Seeing that the atmosphere had grown cold during the silence and no one else had the courage to speak, Xia Xingchi could only turn to Lin Meng for help, hoping she could rescue this child.

Lin Meng, as half a fan of Li Chengyuan, was also a professional in the realm of imagining dog-blood plots. She simply couldn’t figure out how these two could be connected, and how the sadomasochistic love triangle between the handsome driver and the vile benefactor had turned into such a crazy thing.

She managed to pull herself out of her shock, and noticing Xia Xingchi wildly hinting at her to break the silence and rescue him, she could only bite the bullet and say: “Mr. Li, would you like some hot cocoa? This cup has not been touched, or if you want something else, I can go purchase it……”

Li Chengyuan: “No need.”

One sentence killed the conversation again.

Xia Xingchi knew that he didn’t drink sweet things, and was struggling to change the subject to warm up the atmosphere when he heard him continue naturally: “I’ll just have a drink of Xiao Chi’s.”

Then he leaned over and took a sip of the half full cup of hot cocoa in Xia Xingchi’s hand.

His movements were natural, but Xia Xingchi’s eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.

He had already drunk from this cup, but the picky clean freak wanted to use his straw to drink hot cocoa that he usually would never touch?

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly. The sweetness lingered on his tongue, and it seemed as if the temperature of Xia Xingchi’s soft, warm lips still lingered on the straw, like a direct kiss on the……

No need to think about it any further. His ears were slightly hot, but Li Chengyuan’s expression was still without waves or ripples. 

In fact, this was not the first time. The two had shared a drink together more than ten years ago.

There were various legitimate reasons at that time, but today he was indeed just teasing Xia Xingchi with malicious intentions, hoping to see how he would react.

Li Chengyuan raised his eyes slightly, but saw that Xia Xingchi was only stunned for half a second, and then took the initiative to grab his hand. Fingertips rubbed against his palm lightly, but his expression was unexpectedly earnest, with no intent to tease.

There was a subtle warmth in his palm, and Li Chengyuan couldn’t help being startled. He watched Xia Xingchi step closer on his own, his lips almost kissing his ear.

As a result, the light blush from Li Chengyuan’s ears gradually spread to his neck, and even a person who was perpetually calm would find their mind going blank.

Contrary to expectations, Xia Xingchi doubtfully whispered in his ear: “It doesn’t look like hypoglycemia, ah. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? Are you all right?”

According to his “big cat observation experience” during this time, Xia Xingchi had found that by feeling the temperature of the other’s hand, he could get a general idea of Li Chengyuan’s physical state.

But he didn’t dare to rashly grasp the tiger’s paw, and only had the guts to try when he was worried that Li Chengyuan was pasting a brave face over his pain.

Li Chengyuan: “…….”

The last four words were extremely lethal. He almost laughed at Xia Xingchi’s obtuseness, but the little bastard didn’t notice anything and dishonestly reached out to test his stomach.

Li Chengyuan finally couldn’t bear it any longer. Grabbing that warm hand, he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: “I’m. Fine.”

Xia Xingchi didn’t know why he suddenly became angry again, but he noticed all at once that his ears and neck were red, which stood out against his cold pale skin.

This seemed to be something he had never encountered before. What was going on?

Xia Xingchi was about to ask, but Xiao Li, the person in charge, ran over and hurriedly said: “Hurry up, Brother Xingchi, it’s your turn to walk the red carpet! I don’t know what Brother Xia Yu is in a hurry for, but he took less than half the scheduled time!”

After saying this, he found that Li Chengyuan was wearing a matching suit, so he asked cautiously after some thought: “Mr. Li, this is……you want to accompany Brother Xia on the red carpet?”

Before Li Chengyuan could speak, Xia Xingchi answered firmly for him: “No. He won’t, he doesn’t want to.”

This kind of official announcement was tantamount self-destructing. Fans needed time to accept it. If they hit everyone with this all at once, he would be eaten raw with dipping sauce.

Li Chengyuan: “…….”

Lin Meng, who was pretending to be part of the background, was momentarily horrified that this low-key boss who never showed his face really wanted to walk the red carpet with Xia Xingchi.

– – –

Because Xia Yu was walking so fast and the original schedule was completely disrupted, the officials had no choice but to ask Xia Xingchi to delay the time.

But even if there was an extra task, Xia Xingchi had no problem walking the red carpet. He had previous experience on the runway, and was even a sought-after amateur model.

Everyone in the barrage was still discussing Xia Yu’s strange behavior just now, laughing and wondering if he was under some spell.

Just as they were discussing, a figure in white appeared on the screen:

[Eh? Why is there a little brother I don’t know?]

[Wow, handsome, ah (sexy.jpg) I want all the information on this man!]

[Xingchi ! ! ! God, ah. I’m dazzled, I feel like I haven’t seen my baby in months!]

[This is……Xia Xingchi? This guy is really so good-looking? Strange how I didn’t notice it before]

[I recognize him, this is the brainless loser who’s trying to imitate my idol!]

[Yeah, he really has all five vices. He ties himself to others, tries to sabotage them, puts on airs……and what’s more, he stutters. I suspect he’s mentally handicapped]

[How many times has it been said that he doesn’t stutter! It’s nerves! You’re poisonous, ba, do you trust this kind of dark marketing account?]

[Wuwuwu no matter what you say, this brother is really good-looking]

[I’m sorry, beauty is justice for me. Is he a model? He seems so classy, ah, long legs and a good figure]

The first thing passers-by noticed were his good looks. Amidst the admiration, Xia Xingchi’s pitifully few fans could finally hold their heads up high.

However, the fans also quietly wondered, although Xia Xingchi always seemed to have looked like this in their memories, why didn’t they find this babe so good-looking before?

Even more than real fans, anti-fans couldn’t bear to show weakness, and immediately found new black spots: 

[Look at him wearing the latest winter style, I’m dying of laughter. The brand wouldn’t lend one to this low-tier artist unless they were crazy]

[I heard that even Xia Yu couldn’t get one, ahhh, he’s wearing a counterfeit, right?]

[Is he going to cheat Xiao Yu today? Try it. Our family has tens of millions of fans and you, a fool with thousands of fans, can’t compare]

[Although, that outfit does look good on him (lovestruck.jpg) It looks genuine, I love it]

[Let’s just say, is there a possibility that this is real? An amateur counterfeit would have some signs of fakery]

[Upstairs, are you okay? Could it be that a lowly person like Xia Xingchi has a water army these days?]

As a “street rat”[1] who had offended half the entertainment industry, suspending his career may not have been a bad idea for the original owner.

Otherwise, these were the voices he would hear upon showing his face, and his fragile mind was already on the verge of depression.

Xia Xingchi couldn’t see nor care about the bloody storm in the barrage area at the moment. He just kept a proper smile and walked down the red carpet at an even and slightly slow speed, controlling the timing very precisely.

He walked all the way to the host, and logically he should sign an autograph and move on. After all, on-site interviews were for the big names.

Unexpectedly, the host didn’t let him leave directly, but took the initiative to ask with a smile:

“This is the first time Xingchi has participated in our fashion soiree, do you want to share how you feel?”

Seeing this, Lin Meng, who was watching the live broadcast, immediately stood up and said anxiously: “Why didn’t they notify us of an interview in advance? We didn’t even prepare for it!”

Don’t blame her for making a mountain out of a molehill. Although an artist should have some improvisation skills, “Xia Xingchi” would get so frightened that people would think he had a stutter. He really couldn’t handle this sort of thing.

Xiao Li was taken aback by her, and also stammered: “It seems to be to, to prolong the time, and isn’t it —” Isn’t it a good thing for him to show his face more?

Li Chengyuan was sitting to the side, holding the hot cocoa that Xia Xingchi had given him just now, and said calmly: “He can handle it.”

Lin Meng thought this was impossible. She knew her artists well.

Just as she was hesitating on whether it would be disrespectful to refute “His Majesty” on the spot, Xia Xingchi tilted his head in thought and then replied simply and calmly: 

“Firstly, I feel the need to thank the organizers for the invitation, which gave me the opportunity to finally appear here in front of everyone.”

Then he smiled brightly, his eyebrows curved as he said: “Secondly, I feel so hungry now, ah. I really want to eat the buffet at the reception hall!”

[Fuck! The little handsome guy looks so good when he smiles! The eyes are killing me, ah ah ah ah let me hug!]

[Such a cute and honest little snack, hehehe. Jiejie has something delicious here, what color gunny sack would you like, baby?]

[Sure enough, no making, believing, or spreading rumors. Who said he stutters? If this is called stuttering, ah, then what are we called?]

[Is the first sentence deliberately hammering the company for suppressing him and not giving him resources? I just said there was a problem with that company!]

[Pei! I remember that he was notoriously short and fat, and now he has a marketing character design? He definitely secretly lost weight! What a fucking scheme]

[Upstairs is sick and needs to be treated. Didn’t you say Xia Xingchi was mentally handicapped before? Are you the one who’s scheming again? You self-contradictory anti-fans, let’s fight, ba]

[So no one is going to explain the matter of him wearing a counterfeit, huh?]

[Dying laughing, you said this while using Xia Yu’s head as your avatar. Yours is an outdated summer and autumn model and his is the new one, so you got angry from embarrassment?]

[You fight, I declare that this cute little handsome guy is mine! I secretly carry him away!]

All the way down the red carpet, the barrage area exploded in every sense.

And Xia Xingchi, the person involved, never looked back at the explosion. He just breathed a happy sigh of relief and finally headed for his beloved free buffet at the center of the venue.

– – –

There were not only entertainers in the venue, but also big bosses from all walks of life.

The seats were divided into two sections. The side near the stage was for artists, which was very noisy and far away from the self-service dining area, but the advantage was that it was exposed to numerous cameras.

After all, artists seldom ate here, and would not take this opportunity to discuss business like the industry bosses, so they were not afraid of noise.

Xia Xingchi searched around, and finally found that his seat was actually placed at the table closest to the stage by the organizer, fully and enthusiastically expressing his sincerity to Mr. Li’s little fiance.

This effort was too fierce.

This high-traffic table was full of popular idols, and his appearance as a small low-tier artist was really quite out of harmony.

The most terrible thing was that the burden of being an idol caused everyone here to sit still and upright, so as not to have a bad picture taken. No one went to visit the buffet, in great contrast with the tables in the back.

Although Xia Xingchi was very hungry and had an ardent love for food, he was not so greedy as to walk around at will regardless of the situation.

So he had no choice but to sit in place and stare at the camera, thinking with frustration that he might lose two catties from starvation.

Even if the overly high-definition live broadcast cameras came with a beauty filter, it was still possible to see who was wearing badly applied makeup or had a pimple.

Xia Xingchi’s longing look toward the distant dining area and his dejected expression were clearly captured, and his appearance was rather cute and amusing.

[Look at the little handsome guy there, is that the little brother in white?]

[Hahahaha so cute, don’t starve the child, give him food quickly!]

[Hahahaha The foodie lost his soul]

[So cute, want to hug]

Fans of each idol were admiring the masters of their families through these lenses. Seeing the barrage suddenly appear like this, they became puzzled.

Then they found that there was an additional entry added to the hot search at some point, “#Ready to finish class and eat vs the teacher suddenly dragging out the lesson#.”

Netizens moved so fast that the opening dance program to set the mood had just finished, and they had already captured Xia Xingchi’s expression full of anticipation and frustration, and made it into cute little gifs.

The young man in the gifs was fair and handsome, with dimples that showed whenever he smiled, and his slightly pouting appearance when he was depressed made people want to poke his face. There was just the right amount of cuteness, without the slightest pretentiousness.

Xia Xingchi didn’t know that he had gained a bit of a following, or that there were thousands of troops discussing how to rub his head.

He sat on the chair in a daze and began to list the names of dishes in his mind to divert his attention. This was the way he used to feast in his mind when he couldn’t eat.

– – –

Xia Xingchi didn’t care too much about public opinion, but Xia Yu was different. He was staring rigidly at his phone, almost gnashing his teeth in anger.

Because of Xia Xingchi, the hot searches below happened to be his two black hot searches.

One ridiculed his 100-meter sprint on the red carpet, and the other mocked that his resources weren’t as good as a rookie’s.

This so-called rookie naturally referred to Xia Xingchi. While his gifs became popular, more people naturally paid attention to his clothing.

Knowledgeable passers-by seemed to agree that they should indeed be genuine.

Those passers-by who had long been dissatisfied with Xia Yu’s marketing all over the place decided that they were genuine, so as to intensify the ridicule toward Xia Yu’s fans for their idol not wearing the newest model.

“He’s mocking me!” Xia Yu quickly typed to his manager, Feng Yingxu. “Xia Xingchi, that bitch, he must have done this on purpose!”

“If not for my anti-fans who want to take the opportunity to step on me, why would he make these calculations to be noticed? This is the only attention I’m getting!”

“And he’s deliberately playing the same character as me. How cute, ah, he’s fucking imitating me!”

“It’s too late to buy black materials for marketing tomorrow, I want you to go and buy a black hot search for this bastard right now!”

Seeing that Xia Yu was completely mad with rage, Feng Yingxu quickly went to the live broadcast to take a look at his expression.

Fortunately, he was still smiling “innocently and cutely.” No one could know that he was tossing about all kinds of dirty words.

Feeling relieved, Feng Yingxu replied: “Xiao Yu, his hot search may have been put in place by a team. I checked our company’s records, and it was not done by our company’s team.”

Xia Yu gritted his teeth. He naturally knew it wasn’t the company’s team. With him around, Xia Xingchi could never try to use any of the company’s resources.

Therefore, either Xia Xingchi had gained heat by attracting a flow of surprisingly heartfelt fans,  or it was orchestrated by Li Chengyuan.

Both possibilities made him gnash his teeth.

The first made him go mad with jealousy, because Xia Xingchi shouldn’t be liked by anyone. The second meant that the hot searches couldn’t be withdrawn, or it would definitely offend Li Chengyuan.

Xia Yu immediately said: “But it can’t be Li Chengyuan’s doing. He has always disdained such things.”

What’s more, how could someone like Xia Xingchi deserve to be favored by him?

Feng Yingxu still disagreed: “Xiao Yu, I can only go and remove your black hot searches. Don’t pour dirty water on Xia Xingchi at this time.”

“This is just short-term enthusiasm, why do you have to take him so seriously?”

The two disagreed, and Xia Yu knew that he could not convince his manager, and that Feng Yingxu would not help him with this operation.

But when he saw everyone’s praise and admiration for Xia Xingchi, he would go crazy with hatred. He had to do something.

The crux of it all was that this bastard shouldn’t exist. If it wasn’t for the appearance of Xia Xingchi, he would be the only son of the Xia family.

Instead of making him the shameful adopted son, stealing his life away, and causing him to bear the original sin of being a fake young master.

– – –

The more dishes Xia Xingchi listed in his mind, the hungrier he became. He thought that when he became famous and rich, he must say boldly in front of the chef: “Steamed lamb, steamed bear paw, steamed deer tail…..I’m ordering them all!”

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly saw a figure bouncing around from the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw a person standing behind a camera and waiving unceremoniously, which was at odds with everyone sitting so straight and still that it was almost like they were at a funeral.

Everyone naturally turned to look at this person. Xia Xingchi was taken aback, and suddenly felt that the person waving at him looked very familiar……

It was the doctor from that night!

Heavens, he was so worried about Li Chengyuan that night that he failed to take a closer look at this “Doctor Zhao.”

Upon closer examination today, this was obviously a very frivolous young man like a peacock with its tail feathers spread, ah. How could he look like a doctor?

Xia Xingchi gasped in astonishment. He had to doubt the “medical skills” of this guy who actually gave Li Chengyuan an injection and infusion……

One dared to puncture and one dared to suffer. The two of them really had guts.

Most of the other people here knew Zhao Yinhe, the prince of the largest film company in China. He would always pick flowers on such occasions, and after picking those flowers, he would give resources quite readily and generously.

But he didn’t look like he was picking flowers now. He looked like he was asking his friend to go play together.

Everyone speculated who he was asking to play. The other party had such a big connection.

Then they saw Xia Xingchi, who they had inwardly asked “why is he sitting at this table,” stand up and quietly slip away.

– – –

The two slipped all the way to the back area where there were no cameras, and Zhao Yinhe took the initiative to say proudly: “First of all, I am really a doctor, I have a certificate!”

Having just seen Xia Xingchi’s expression of panic, Zhao Yinhe had guessed what he was thinking.

After all, he was often questioned about this. After speaking, he added with practiced ease: “I took the test myself, it wasn’t purchased!”

Xia Xingchi blinked suspiciously: “Huh, okay. Then, Doctor Zhao, Brother Zhao, why did you ask me to come?”

“Two reasons. The important one is —” Zhao Yinhe turned serious and lowered his voice. “Can you let me have a taste of the cookies you made?”

Xia Xingchi: ……It doesn’t really seem to be important.

Zhao Yinhe complained bitterly: “Do you know how stingy Li Chengyuan is? He won’t let me eat a bite, and he won’t even let me touch the box!”

Not only did he not give him food, it was like slapping him head-on with cold dog food, and flaunting his superiority everywhere at having a little boyfriend at home.

The corners of Xia Xingchi’s mouth twitched when he heard this. It seemed that foodies did not distinguish between occupations and identities.

Li Chengyuan was also strange. It was just a few cookies, but he actually made others greedy like this. At worst, he could just make some more.

“It smells really delicious. The sweets in the dessert shop are not as fragrant as yours. Please make me some.”

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to nod, and then heard Zhao Yinhe continue: “The second thing is that Li Chengyuan was unable to find you for a while, and succeeded in making himself so angry that his stomach hurts……why don’t you go and see him?”

Zhao Yinhe had long been accustomed to this. He had even seen Li Chengyuan vomit blood when he was a child. This was just a drizzle.

But Xia Xingchi couldn’t endure. As soon as he heard that the bad-tempered big cat that he had carefully fed had a stomach ache again, he hurried to find him.

– – –

Fortunately, either this time was not as serious as the previous night, or it had already gotten better. Li Chengyuan’s lips were only a little pale, and he was sitting in his seat with a cold expression at the moment – peeling crabs?

It seemed that he was really in a bad mood. Xia Xingchi inwardly suspected that this poor crab was him, being ruthlessly chopped to pieces.

Seeing him approach, Li Chengyuan raised his eyes and said lightly: “Sit.”

There was an empty seat next to him, and the peeled crab meat was placed on a plate in front of that seat. Apart from the crab, there were all kinds of delicious foods, including exotic delicacies.

Xia Xingchi blinked at all the delicious food, not understanding what this meant.

He didn’t think he was special enough that the big villain might carefully peel crabs for him to eat, but thought that a certain person might peel him and feed him to crabs.

So, thinking about whether this meal was the “Last Supper,” he finally sat down with caution.

But truth be told, he had just muted his phone when he was walking the red carpet. He had been dazedly listing the names of dishes and didn’t look at his phone. Who would have thought that Li Chengyuan would be angry because he couldn’t get through to him by phone?

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, and a strange thought flashed through his mind – Li Chengyuan wasn’t angry, he was actually afraid.

But after thinking about it more carefully, Xia Xingchi was the first to discard his own idea.

How could such a cruel and ruthless madman experience the emotion of “fear?” Even if he did, it was impossible for him to fear the disappearance of such an insignificant person as himself.

Just as he was thinking, he heard Li Chengyuan say lightly: “Eat.”

As he spoke, he peeled another shrimp and put it on the plate in front of him.

When that affirmative word was spoken, Xia Xingchi was completely at a loss. He couldn’t believe that Li Chengyuan was really peeling shrimp for him.

He only doubted if he had heard correctly, or if this was some kind of conspiracy.

As soon as Li Chengyuan turned his head, he saw a certain person staring at him with big black round eyes like a vigilant little hedgehog, as if he would be caught and cooked in a pot after taking a bite, so he didn’t dare to move.

“Didn’t you just say you were hungry, Xiao Chi?”

His tone was even, but he intentionally emphasized the last two words slightly. This actually made Xia Xingchi look suddenly enlightened, thinking that it must be time to pretend to be a loving couple in front of others!

This made sense. Xia Xingchi finally lost his vigilance and pretended to nod obediently, then began to happily eat.

Feeling helpless, Li Chengyuan wiped his hands and gently stroked that fluffy head. The heartless person who was performing a job while eating didn’t notice.

– – –

After eating and drinking his fill, there were other methods of entertainment besides listing the names of dishes in his head. Xia Xingchi never forgot to “seriously do business,” and leaned against Li Chengyuan tiredly as he began to browse Weibo. 

Who could have imagined the startling fact nobody had ever shown interest in this small person.

Unexpectedly, the ample amount of fans had skyrocketed into a wave. He was shocked to find that he was so popular.

Xia Xingchi had almost never been liked by others, so although there were a lot of inappropriate or abusive remarks in the comment section, there was enough love and encouragement for him to feel an unprecedented sense of happiness.

He looked very cute when he smiled, defenseless like a little hedgehog with its soft belly completely exposed.

Li Chengyuan gazed at him quietly as he looked at his phone, and then couldn’t help poking the dimple on his face when he realized that most netizens wanted to do so.

In all his excitement, Xia Xingchi didn’t pay attention at all, and subconsciously touched Li Chengyuan’s finger: “Look, look! I have fans —”

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the hot search list suddenly change, and all the trending searches that belonged to him suddenly disappeared.

Instead, there were various black hot searches:

#Are there really people who regard a fake as being cute?#

#Fraud Xia Xingchi, who do you want to scheme against today?#

– – –

[Even his appearance as a reincarnated starved ghost can be called cute? No?]

[I heard that he was born in a very poor family, and that he knows how to eat because he couldn’t get enough to eat back then, right? Is he a pig?]

[This is just called poverty stunting ambition. I heard that he came from a poor mountain valley. Once a person is poor, it is easy to have no moral bottom line.]

[He’s desperate, ah, he’s wearing counterfeits and he’s here to leech off our idol, Xia Yu]

[If it’s genuine, he probably bought it by crawling into someone’s bed. Otherwise, how could he afford it if he’s so poor?]

[He also has a pretty face, but there’s no telling how dirty he is behind the scenes. He’s not worthy of this outfit if he sells himself]

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment. His mouth opened, but no words came out, and the hand that had originally raised the phone to show Li Chengyuan retracted silently.

Clearing his throat, he said calmly: “Forget it, there’s actually nothing to see. Anyway, they praise me and scold me, and don’t give money or deduct money, so it’s not important at all.”

He said it wasn’t important, but he lowered his head and turned the screen away silently, and it seemed he was trying to extract a little bit of encouragement from the black hot search and the overwhelming water army of anti-fans.

But he discovered that amidst the dense personal attacks, discrimination, and insults, he couldn’t find the original cute and heart-warming comments at all. It seemed that the short-term excitement just now was an illusion.

This was not beyond Xia Xingchi’s expectations. After all, he was used to enduring more and greater malice in his previous life.

But it didn’t matter. If a dog bit him, he wouldn’t go bite it back, and he couldn’t bite so many dogs anyway. If he paid attention to them or was influenced by them, he would lose.

Xia Xingchi lowered his eyes for a moment, and finally shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression. He quickly shifted from Weibo to a mobile game, putting it all out of sight.

Li Chengyuan frowned, watching helplessly as the happy and unsuspecting little hedgehog with his belly exposed silently rolled himself into a ball of thorns.

When Xia Xingchi’s screen flashed in front of him just now, he couldn’t see it clearly, but saw just enough to know it didn’t say anything good.

After all, Xia Xingchi didn’t know enough about the entertainment industry, and didn’t know that the overwhelming maliciousness was not all from real people. The ones who guided public opinion at the beginning were the various water armies bought by someone behind the scenes.

Without saying a word, Li Chengyuan used his cell phone to scroll through Weibo again with an increasingly sullen look on his face. In the end, he stood up wordlessly with a dark expression, as if to make a phone call.

Xia Xingchi looked at his phone and ate snacks intermittently. He didn’t think much about him leaving, and only thought that His Majesty the Emperor, who was busy all the time, had gone to work again.

He had just broken the record on his parkour game when it happened that Lin Meng sent a message to comfort him:

“It’s okay, Xingchi, don’t read Weibo. We don’t need to talk to those trolls with their cesspit mouths.”

“Look at them, ba, lashing out at their opponents and the world all day long.”

“They strike hard on the internet, but in reality they’re just dumb trash.”

. . . . . .

Lin Meng had originally wanted to comfort him, but unexpectedly, when she saw someone defaming Xia Xingchi, she was so angry that she couldn’t stop herself. After cursing several times in a row, she remembered that the important thing was to tell him not to look at it.

Xia Xingchi knew that she meant well, so he finally laughed and began to type back that it was fine, he didn’t care, but suddenly saw her message in surprise: 

“Oh my god, ah! Xingchi, go check Weibo! Oh my god!”

Xia Xingchi was surprised. Although he didn’t know why Lin Meng changed her mind from one moment to the next, he obediently opened Weibo to take a look.

He saw that the hot search list had suddenly tilted on its head, and all those insulting comments disappeared completely.

The luxury brand had come forth to claim the genuine haute couture he was wearing, and even broke their usual official format. Instead, it praised him several times, saying “His body proportions are like those of a professional model,” and “He is a noble and elegant young man.”

The cute hot search comments that were originally withdrawn by Xia Yu also reappeared at the top position, and what was even more shocking was that there was a whole row of Xia Yu’s black hot searches right after it:

#Xia Yu pours dirty water to buy black hot searches, evidence with pictures and truth#

#Xia Yu’s character design collapsed, jealous of a popular young artist#

#Xia Yu, such a vicious human being#

. . . . . .

One stone stirred up a thousand waves. If it was a grenade that had hit Xia Xingchi just now, then this counterattack against evil forces was an atomic bomb.

T/N: *Gasps for breath* This chapter was so……frickin……long. I would have liked to cut it into two chapters, but this is the way the author wrote it, so what could I do? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[1] A “street rat” (过街老鼠) is someone who is detested by all/a target of scorn. ⮐