CH 23

Xia Xingchi stared at the hot search for a long time, dumbfounded, before he finally confirmed with shock that Xia Yu was actually put on various black searches one after another.

After all, this was the favored protagonist of the original book. He had never been blasted like this even as he happily did evil all the way to the finale.

It wasn’t just Xia Xingchi who never expected it. Even melon-eating netizens from all walks of life didn’t foresee such a big, fresh, hot melon and such a slap in the face —

Xia Yu had just finished buying black searches and water armies, which were splashing dirty water, but in less than half an hour, it was like his underwear had been exposed.

The behavior of maliciously withdrawing Xia Xingchi’s hot search was directly revealed, including the screenshot evidence of criticizing, buying black searches, and buying water armies.

Even the various marketing accounts changed sides collectively. While withdrawing the original Xia Xingchi scandal, they all blew up their previous transaction records with Xia Yu.

They showed Xia Yu’s bad attitude as he urged, “Post this content up now!” and “Hurry up, stop dawdling!” All his chat records were exposed.

His character design of a cute, wealthy young master was shattered all over the place.

[Ah, this, personally I can’t whitewash this or blame the company, even though I want to. Drip ~ Idiot card!]

[He’s worried, he’s worried, Xia Xingchi is better than him in endorsement resources, looks, and cuteness! Xia Yu is worried!]

[So Xia Yu, an “innocent baby,” even bought so many black searches for Xia Xingchi just because of the brand’s new seasonal style?]

[It’s too horrible, is he mentally twisted?]

[Laughing to death, look how skillful he is. He must have done such immoral things led by water armies before]

[Such heavy jealousy and desire to win. Brainless fans, don’t brag all day long that “entering the entertainment industry is just playing casually.” The collapse of this character design is really disgusting.]

[Remember how that little handsome guy said “finally appearing” on the red carpet? I just found out that they are in the same management company, Dingming Entertainment!]

[Yeah, isn’t Xia Yu known as their “Number One Male Star?” This famous celebrity is really something, ah. Is he suppressing newcomers out of jealousy?]

[@Dingming Entertainment, don’t pretend to be dead, won’t you give us an explanation for this matter?]

The cause and effect became clear in an instant, and even Xia Yu’s fans, who had always been known for their combat prowess and mania, were struck speechless by the ironclad evidence.

After holding back for a long time, they could only repeat, “This must be photoshopped, he’s being falsely accused!”

And they were easily reprimanded by one sentence, “If it’s really a false accusation, then why doesn’t he send a lawyer’s letter to sue for defamation?”

As that side was torn apart, Xia Xingchi’s fans began to increase again:

[Where is the little brother? He didn’t come back after leaving just now?]

[Xingchi baby, hug hug. It’s too miserable to be bullied all the time. Those black searches are all fake, we won’t scold you.]

[Come back, come back, I haven’t seen enough of this handsome guy]

[Hahahaha I bet fifty cents that he went to the buffet! Let him eat well, the child is starving to death]

Xia Xingchi finally laughed again, realizing how stupid he was being just now —

He’d actually felt a little sad about the nasty words being thrown his way, but they were all fake.

Everyone’s love was real. Although Xia Yu’s fans were not reconciled, after searching everywhere, they didn’t find any marketing traces of him buying hot searches. He really was relying on the enthusiasm of the crowd to push him up little by little.

At this time, Lin Meng also sent a message: “Great opportunity! Just in time for business, your Weibo hasn’t been updated for half a month!”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head. Seeing the word “business,” he subconsciously wanted to find Li Chengyuan. After a three-second pause, he realized that Lin Meng meant for him to post on Weibo.

He saw that everyone was clamoring for his high definition photos, and were very concerned about whether he had eaten or not.

Xia Xingchi thought about it, and tried to take a selfie first. Then he took the photos of the crab meat peeled by Li Chengyuan that he had taken earlier, along with the various delicacies, uploading them together.

[Just the selfie in the middle, and the eight surrounding ones are all food pictures? What a foodie, ah Hahahaha]

[Although his selfie skills aren’t very good, he is handsome and fearless! Want to see more of this handsome guy!]

[Fuck! There are so many delicious foods this evening, I’m hungry, I’m hungry]

[The crab is peeled meticulously. According to my Sherlock Holmes experience, if you eat and peel these yourself, you wouldn’t be able to pile up this much crab meat!]

[Could it be that some kind-hearted person helped Xingchi peel them? Hehehehe]

[This selfie technique, hmmmm. Who will come save Xingchi, ba? The camera angle is too bizarre. Fortunately, he looks good and has no blind areas.]

. . . . . .

On this side was the joy of sharing all kinds of delicacies, but Xia Yu’s side was still engulfed in a violent storm, its members in an all-out melee amongst flashes of scorching lightning.

No matter how professionally the fans controlled the black materials, cleaned up the comment areas, and monitored posts, it was a rare occasion where this had no effect at all.

Even if his public relations team came forward, it was completely impossible to withdraw the black hot searches first if he wanted to post on Weibo.

[Did he offend someone, and they’re messing with him on purpose?]

[They didn’t do anything, it’s nothing more than showing everyone what he’s done]

[It can only be said that if you don’t want people to know about something, don’t do it. This is what he deserves]

But this damn fashion soiree wasn’t over yet. The dancing on stage was full of spirit, and although Xia Yu’s face was nearly contorted, he had to keep a smile in front of the camera.

So more people conveniently scolded him directly in real time during the live broadcast:

“Why is he still putting on this green tea performance? His character has collapsed.”

“Is he not going to explain why he hurt someone?”

Feng Xingyu sent a message: “Act normal for now, and I will figure out what to do afterward.”

Xia Yu gritted his teeth: “Why do you want me to act normal?! Can’t you see what they’re saying about me online? This group of morons are too easily swayed! This Xia Xingchi is setting me up!”

Feng Yingxu was extremely busy dealing with these matters, and anyone’s anger would boil over at this time:

“Didn’t I say to wait and see first, and not to smear Xia Xingchi right now?”

“What did he say to set you up? What part of this evidence is wrong, and which part was not done by you?”

“Even if you were set on doing it, why did you have to contact those marketing accounts in person? They can take your money today and then sell you for money tomorrow, let alone the other party being Li Chengyuan!”

“Do you think I wanted this!” Xia Yu said furiously. “Isn’t it because you refused to help me? I had to deal with him myself!”

This “had to” was justified and well-founded, as if harming people was really something that must be done at once. He was an expert at shifting the blame.

The role of a scapegoat fell from the sky onto Feng Yingxu, but he could only suppress his anger, knowing that this turmoil was only the cusp of the storm, and he couldn’t let himself get distracted.

It was not the first time that he had witnessed Xia Yu’s selfishness and viciousness, and he should have gotten used to it long ago.

He had no choice but to say: “Don’t do anything else tonight, just bide your time. I may have a possible solution.”

– – –

When Li Chengyuan returned, Xia Xingchi had transformed into a happy little hedgehog with his belly exposed again, staring contentedly at his phone while nibbling on a straw as he drank.

“You’re back, why were you gone for so long?” Xia Xingchi tilted his head.

It had been half an hour, and he almost set off to find his family’s missing big, precious cat.

Li Chengyuan thought of the question and answer session he took the time to do just now, and just smiled without answering. After all, Xia Xingchi would know soon.

Xia Xingchi was unaware that revelations had just been made, so he quickly pulled him to sit down. Then he stood behind him and put his arms around his shoulders as if it was something he normally did, and whispered excitedly in his ear: “Dear boss, did you bully him back for what happened today?”

The only person with the strength to forcibly make Xia Yu admit defeat was this big villain.

Xia Xingchi’s good mood was not only due to his fans, but also because he had guessed that it was probably orchestrated by Li Chengyuan – this seemed to be the sense of happiness that came from thinking that “I also have the support of my parents.”

He always liked to lean into his ear and whisper like this. The faint smell of alcohol and the sweetness of his breath swept over Li Chengyuan’s ear.

Perhaps because he was a little drunk, he got extra excited and drew closer.

Li Chengyuan’s brow trembled slightly. He was vaguely worried that if he moved a little more, his earlobe would touch those soft, warm, moist lips.

With just that one thought, the tips of his ears began to feel hot and red again.

“Stay farther away.” He was slightly self-conscious, and after a moment, he gave a blank and indifferent denial: “You think it has something to do with me?”

Li Chengyuan didn’t want to admit that he continued to become soft-hearted toward the little liar again and again. Obviously he was full of resentment and had planned his revenge for many years, but every time, he couldn’t help but become his protector.

However, Xia Xingchi was so close that he couldn’t even maintain the indifferent expression of “it has nothing to do with me.”

From Xia Xingchi’s perspective, he looked like a cold and arrogant big cat.

Perhaps drinking made timid people bolder, because drinking half a glass of whiskey sweetened with Sprite was enough to make Xia Xingchi’s little head lose its sense of danger —

He tilted his head and stared at Li Chengyuan for a few seconds, then abruptly raised his hand and rubbed Li Chengyuan’s hair!

Those at the table who dared not disturb their intimacy were startled, and stared dumbfoundedly at Li Chengyuan’s messy hair. Clearly they had never seen Mr. Li like this before.

Li Chengyuan: “……”

Sooner or later, he would be angered to death by this little brat’s boldness.

Xia Xingchi was still standing behind his chair, laughing unrestrainedly while patting his shoulder.

Li Chengyuan reached out to grab his wrist without looking back. At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly came from behind with a smile:

“Xiao Yuan? Hahaha, your hairstyle is really unique – then this must be Xingchi. I can finally see this child with my own eyes.”

Seeing someone approaching, Xia Xingchi thought they sounded like an elder, so he quickly stopped his wanton laughter and switched to a dignified look.

When he turned around, he saw a very beautiful and elegant lady with a friendly smile and an approachable appearance.

Li Chengyuan stood up and said in a rare gentle tone: “Aunt, why are you here?”

“I came to catch that little Zhao brat, and I heard you were here, so I followed,” Liu Xian said with a smile. “I’m not here for you, but to see Xingchi.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head, wondering why Li Chengyuan suddenly had an aunt.

But he knew that the big villain had never recognized his relatives and didn’t acknowledge blood relationships, so maybe this elder felt some sort of kindness toward him.

So Xia Xingchi obediently followed his fiance’s lead to call: “Hi, Auntie.”

As he spoke, he swiftly tidied up Li Chengyuan’s messy hair.

Liu Xian nodded, then said with a smile: “The real person looks better than the gifs! Xingchi’s character is good at first glance. Xiao Yuan, you should learn from others – speaking of which, this really shows that everyone has a weakness, ah.”

There was actually someone who could subdue Li Chengyuan’s arrogant and indifferent character.

A few days ago, Zhao Yinhe had told her excitedly about this at home, but she didn’t believe it at the time.

After all, the little brat came to the conclusion that he should pick more flowers, and that maybe he would meet his true love after picking them. It was just absurd.

Getting back to the point, although she couldn’t figure out why Li Chengyuan would suddenly be tempted……could this be the rumored love at first sight?

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Zhao Yinhe hurrying toward them, shouting as he ran: “Mom, mom, mom! Mom, help! Quickly save me, ah!”

Following behind him was an unscrupulous old man of the same type, chasing vigorously after his son as he roared loudly: “Little bastard! Still not stopping for laozi! Today laozi is going to break your dog legs!”

Seeing this, Liu Xian felt resigned and didn’t even look at how many people were around. It was simply embarrassing, and the father and son were obviously owed the same beating.

Fortunately, most of these people were either familiar with this spectacle, or knew that Zhao Ting was a man with a temper even in the business field, so beating his son in public was indeed expected.

Zhao Yinhe quickly shrank behind Liu Xian and whispered: “Mom, I want to report Old Man Zhao for entrapment, so please take care of him!”

While subconsciously playing with Li Chengyuan’s hair, Xia Xingchi came to the sudden realization that this was Dr. Zhao’s mother.

It was said that the two families used to be close friends, and it was likely because they used to take good care of Li Chengyuan in his troubled youth that the ruthless villain could show this rare attitude toward his elders.

Zhao Ting, who had chased his son all this way, strode over while cursing. Li Chengyuan said calmly: “Uncle Zhao.”

“Xiao Yuan is here? It’s been a long time since I saw you, ah!”

As Zhao Ting spoke, he finally gave up on beating his son for the time being and turned to Xia Xingchi at his side, asking boldly: “This is the son of the Xia family? How good is this, ah, much better than that fish.[1] You can tell this is a good boy just by looking at his eyes!”

Zhao Yinhe whispered: “That one is called Xia Yu, didn’t you see today’s hot searches? Old man, you are out of touch!”

“Shut up, you little bastard!” Zhao Ting yelled again.

The father and son were like a comedy act, and Xia Xingchi couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He also felt that Dr. Zhao had been badly beaten, and laughing would be unkind, so he simply hung on Li Chengyuan’s body and buried his head in his back, trembling for a while.

Li Chengyuan pressed the little hedgehog’s paw on his left shoulder with his right hand, smiling faintly.

Liu Xian feigned anger and reprimanded her husband: “You shut up too! Your voice is louder than anyone else’s, are you the reincarnation of a megaphone?”

Zhao Ting at last remembered his volume problem after being scolded, and scratched his head while he said with embarrassment: “Anyway, this isn’t the first time Xiao Yuan has watched people make fools of themselves……”

Then he changed the topic again: “Never mind, we haven’t seen one in a while, and we’re meeting the other for the first time. The three of us should grab a drink first!”

With that said, he quickly picked up wine glasses from a passing waiter’s tray and handed them to Li Chengyuan and Xia Xingchi.

Zhao Ting had sincerely promised his wife that he would only find his son and not drink alcohol. He was not good at holding his liquor, and after drinking, he would jump up and down like an acrobat. Liu Xian wanted to slap him for his disrespectful appearance.

Now that he had finally found a good excuse to indulge his greed for alcohol, he naturally couldn’t let the opportunity pass him by.

This was clearly a bad idea. Liu Xian couldn’t bear it anymore and pulled his ear: “Don’t give Xiao Yuan liquor! He has a bad stomach and can’t drink alcohol. Do you want to leave the room and sleep by yourself tonight?”

Zhao Yinhe was laughing and gloating on the sidelines. Fearing that the world was not chaotic enough, he urged Xia Xingchi: “Xiao Xiaxia, why don’t you drink for Li Chengyuan?”

Xia Xingchi thought this was reasonable. Blocking alcohol for the boss was of course a basic operation.

Thus, his worker’s antenna sprung up and he volunteered quite readily: “Uncle, let’s have one, I’ll drink for him!”

Zhao Ting gave a toothy smile as his wife tugged at his ear, and gave a thumbs up in surprise when he heard this, saying: “Good boy! Uncle will take good care of you!”

Xia Xingchi had a young man’s youthful and harmless appearance, looking a bit soft and cute at first glance. But as soon as he opened his mouth, one would find that this was a strong-willed and quick-tempered little prickly head, not an indecisive embroidered pillow.

Xia Xingchi picked up the glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp. After finishing the half glass of whiskey mixed with Sprite, he happily went on to drink red wine.

The unpretentious and approachable elder gave him a good feeling, and so many happy things had happened in one night, so he inevitably wanted to drink more.

Zhao Ting obviously also felt that Xia Xingchi was a good match, so he boldly expressed his affection for the junior with a “friendly toast,” and continued to stuff wine into Xia Xingchi’s hands.

Seeing that Xia Xingchi’s face had turned red, Li Chengyuan immediately frowned and stopped him: “Enough. Uncle Zhao, don’t make him drink anymore.”

Xia Xingchi tilted his head with a smile when he heard this, and said slowly: “It’s fine, it’s fine, I only had a couple of drinks. This wine must be very expensive, it’s really delicious.”

He had worked as a bartender before, and knew good wine when he tasted it.

Zhao Ting patted him on the shoulder upon hearing this: “Come to our house for a drink in a couple of days, I have more good wine there! Xiao Yuan should also come, I want to give you two big red envelopes! Hurry up and prepare to get married and give birth to children, ah!”

“This won’t work! I don’t have this function.” Xia Xingchi’s head shook like a rattle: “Li Chengyuan, if you want a child, even if you double my salary, it won’t work, ah……or you can give birth to it.”

He looked quite sober, and his speech was still articulate, but he was obviously a little drunk, and something he shouldn’t say tumbled out when he opened his mouth.

Liu Xian at the side turned around and asked: “What salary?”

“He’s the one who told me to fake – wu!” Before Xia Xingchi could finish speaking, Li Chengyuan covered his mouth with a cool palm, and at the same time removed the wine glass from his hand.

What was with this poor drinking capacity? For a moment, he feared that he would leak his background all by himself.

Who would have thought that the little drunk would still struggle to grab the glass. Li Chengyuan had no choice but to hold him in his arms and cover his mouth with one hand, while holding the wine glass in the other hand and raising it high.

With the height gap, Xia Xingchi couldn’t reach it. After a few seconds of being at a stalemate, he simply gave up and bit Li Chengyuan’s fingers like a puppy, not letting go.

Even if his mind was confused, he still knew that he couldn’t hurt his big cat’s paw, and only held it lightly, licking it dishonestly with the tip of his tongue.

The warm and slightly wet touch swept across, soft and a little ticklish.

Li Chengyuan was stunned for a moment, and found that the touch felt as if his fingers were connected to his chest, traveling all the way through his limbs and bones, and finally into his heart.

There was a familiar hot, palpitating sensation, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

Zhao Yinhe wasn’t aware of the subtleties in this silence, so he just smiled and said: “Xiao Xiaxia is drunk? You’re a fool, ah, why did you let him drink? When someone gets drunk, things might happen that can’t be described……”

“Little brat, you want to be beaten again, don’t you?” Zhao Ting exhorted.

It was this child’s wayward character that earned him a pummeling. How dare he bring up such a delicate subject! “Are you thinking only with your lower body!”

Seeing that Zhao Ting’s voice was about to grow louder after drinking too much wine, and it was such an embarrassing topic, Liu Xian’s expression was horrified: “Enough, you two! Hurry up and go home!”

After sending the junior and the elder away to get into the car first, Li Xian paused and turned to Li Chengyuan again

At this time, her expression gradually became solemn, and her tone was slightly hesitant: “Xiao Yuan, it will be the eighteenth year soon…..”

Li Chengyuan frowned slightly upon hearing this. He knew what she was going to say.

She continued: “It’s been so many years. Don’t visit the grave this year, and don’t think about it again in the future. It’s not your fault, it’s over.”

It was indeed unheard of to persuade someone not to go to their mother’s grave.

But Liu Xian believed that if her best sister saw this from the netherworld, she would not want her child to live in torment forever.

Li Chengyuan didn’t speak for a long time. In the end, he was noncommittal, and calmly said with a blank expression: “Xiao Chi is drunk. I’ll take him back first.”

– – –

Xia Xingchi changed his posture to lie in his arms, and the dead weight caused him to be unable to move.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes: “Let go. Walk properly by yourself.”

“Why?” Xia Xingchi analyzed seriously in a solemn tone, “Why are you talking about me walking? Don’t you really like carrying me?”

Just by looking at his demeanor and tone, one couldn’t tell that he was drunk, but Li Chengyuan didn’t know when he would have acquired this unwarranted hobby.

Not only did Xia Xingchi make a show of being very much in earnest, he even put on an expression of being generous enough to tackle a difficult job and allow him to hug……clearly, he was very drunk.

“Do you want people to know about our relationship?” Li Chengyuan asked lightly. “There are a lot of people, and the media are outside.”

Xia Xingchi was even more puzzled when he heard this, and looked at him as if beholding a fool: “Then why don’t we just close our eyes?”

He seemed to be saying, “Aren’t you aware of such a simple method?”

Li Chengyuan frowned. He really couldn’t do anything about his shameless behavior, and he didn’t want to reprimand him and order him around like he would with others, so in the end he just picked him up horizontally.

After some thought, he wrapped him tightly in a coat and pulled the hood up to cover his face so that he wouldn’t be photographed by the media.

“See! You just like to carry me!” Xia Xingchi’s muffled voice sounded from under the hood. “For the sake of being a nice person, I’ll let you carry me for free.”

Li Chengyuan denied it coldly: “I don’t like it.”

“You like it!”

Xia Xingchi persisted, and after a few seconds’ pause, he muttered again, “All right, it’s me who likes it.”

“No one has carried me before. I just think that it’s quite comfortable, and I like the smell of you too.”

Li Chengyuan pursed his lips slightly when he heard these words. He carried him to the car without speaking, then removed the hood covering his face.

Presently, Xia Xingchi drew near and said quite earnestly: “Li Chengyuan, you are so kind to me……I seem to be a little bit reluctant for you to die.”

Li Chengyuan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Even if he was drunk, there should be some subconscious logic – Xia Xingchi thought he was going to die?

Drunk people were bound to be extra emotional. He was obviously still giggling just now, but after speaking two sentences, he was the first to feel aggrieved.

Xia Xingchi promptly reached out to hug his neck, looking up at him with misty eyes: 

“Don’t die, okay?”

“Otherwise, I would be left alone again, with no one to give me clothes, back me up, or accompany me to eat and sleep.”

“I usually don’t even have anyone to talk to, and no one likes me either.”

Li Chengyuan saw that he was about to cry, as if he had been bullied to tears, so he could only touch his head as gently as possible and reply: “I won’t die.”

“No, you’re lying! You are obviously going to die!”

This manner of confident certainty was almost like a curse.

Li Chengyuan almost laughed angrily at his troublemaking appearance. He couldn’t figure out why he had such an idea, and as a little liar, how he could justifiably accuse others of deceit.

The journey was silent all the way. Xia Xingchi had gone quiet when he started to feel sleepy. After being drunk, he was very clingy. He insisted on lying on Li Chengyuan’s lap to sleep, and also insisted on holding his hand to prevent him from dying.

After finally letting the little brat fall asleep, Li Chengyuan pulled his hand away and picked up his phone.

He looked indifferently at the huge storm on Weibo’s hot search. After a while, he smiled faintly.

– – –

Xia Xingchi was woken up the next morning by his cell phone.

He had drunk too much the night before and couldn’t remember what happened, much less how he got back.

Today, he didn’t wake up until after ten o’clock, and Li Chengyuan was no longer beside him. As usual, Summer was lying beside him leisurely while staring at him.

Xia Xingchi glanced at the closed door, and suddenly suspected that Li Chengyuan had carried it quietly inside to accompany him before he left.

Seeing that the phone was continuously vibrating, Summer seemed to find it very novel, so the whole cat lay on top of his phone and remained motionless.

As a result, Xia Xingchi could only hear the vibration, but couldn’t find the phone. He pulled back the blanket and pillow and searched for a long time before finding it.

Wait……

He always put his phone under the pillow, so who put it next to him on the bed?

Who took off his clothes last night?

Xia Xingchi looked down and realized that he wasn’t wearing clothes, but simply a pair of underwear, and the strong smell of shampoo in his hair reminded him that he had taken a shower last night.

Xia Xingchi abruptly turned pale with fright. It was hard to picture the crazy villain giving him a bath, but it was easy to imagine the horrifying scene of Li Chengyuan stripping him naked and throwing him in a cooking pot.

The phone was still vibrating, so he had to check the news first. For a moment, he tried to remember if he had washed himself and then forgotten.

First, he picked up his phone and saw that it was Lin Meng who was frantically poking him with WeChat messages, telling him to hurry up and look at what commotion was occurring on Weibo.

Xia Xingchi was taken aback, feeling that Lin Meng’s attitude was not excited and happy, but rather anxious and frightened.

Could it be that bastard Xia Yu did something wicked again?

He clicked on the hot search, but found that it had nothing to do with that green tea spirit, and his name didn’t appear.

But Xia Xingchi took a closer look and was suddenly frightened out of his body by the string of entries on the screen, so frightened that he almost smashed his phone on his face —

#Li Chengyuan’s first interview#

#Li Chengyuan officially announces his love affair#

#Li Chengyuan: Today I am accompanying my lover to a dinner party#

#Li Chengyuan’s mysterious lover is suspected to be a star in the entertainment circle#

#Li Chengyuan: they are a very cute person#

Xia Xingchi stared at the hot search for a long time, speechless, and finally made haste to shrink back into his bed and hide, suspecting that he hadn’t woken up yet.

[1] Zhao Ting is pronouncing Xia Yu’s name wrong, using the Yu for fish (鱼) instead of the name Yu (喻). ⮐