He quickly placated the old lady. Old Master Xia sat with his bowl, watching the scene. Xia Xianning, unfazed, finished his own soup and, seeing Grandpa Xia looking at him, reminded, “Grandpa, drink your soup.”
Old Master Xia: “…” Heartless, whose grandson is this!
Luo Yingbai, while the old couple was distracted, quietly asked Xia Xianning, “When did Grandma start liking to stew soup?”
Xia Xianning said, “Recently…”
Luo Yingbai: “You… there’s nothing wrong, right?”
“It’s fine,” Xia Xianning said calmly, “Anyway, if there’s a problem, dying from one bowl is death, dying from two bowls is also death. I’ll take it for you.”
Luo Yingbai: “Ugh, why does this sound so unpleasant?”
Xia Xianning just laughed. Over there, Grandma Xia cleared the bowls, and Old Master Xia called out, “Xianning.”
He said, “I have something to tell you. Let’s go to the study. Yingbai, just stay here and play. Tell Grandma if you want anything to eat.”
Old Master Xia had specifically called Xia Xianning over to discuss something. Luo Yingbai didn’t feel out of place and smiled, “Okay, I’ll go chat with Grandma.”
The grandfather and grandson went to the study. Old Master Xia handed Xia Xianning a stack of printed papers and newspapers, asking, “Did you see?”
Xia Xianning flipped through the pages, which were filled with online reports and small newspaper articles about this incident, not lacking in mockery about him and Luo Yingbai. His face remained unchanged, but he secretly gathered his spirits, trying to guess the purpose of Old Master Xia showing him these things.
Old Master Xia said: “I didn’t tell your grandmother about this to avoid worrying her. Your third uncle has always been like this. Fortunately, I’ve already retired, and your parents are abroad, so no one will make a big deal out of this.”
Xia Xianning put the materials down without speaking. In fact, he knew there was probably another reason – given the previous misunderstanding about Luo Yingbai being kept, and now this incident, people’s first reaction would be to speculate whether this was another smokescreen with hidden motives.
The last time he was embarrassed was still faintly painful, so this time he was inevitably more restrained.
Old Master Xia asked: “What are your thoughts?”
Xia Xianning thought for a moment and countered: “Grandfather, is the purpose of showing me these things to teach me about the power of public opinion?”
Old Master Xia smiled and said: “You’re right. Being born into our family means everything you do will be under scrutiny. Your third uncle has always been reckless, and the criticisms about him are not wrong. But if you want to live openly with someone you love in the future, you’ll inevitably attract more discussion.”
Xia Xianning said: “Having a clear conscience is enough.”
Old Master Xia sighed silently: “Have you really made up your mind?”
Xia Xianning said: “There’s no changing it.”
Old Master Xia stared at him and suddenly asked: “Are you still with that internet celebrity you mentioned last time?”
This question caught Xia Xianning off guard.
He had always disliked lying and had been planning when to come clean to his grandfather. Currently didn’t seem like a good time. Old Master Xia’s expression was inscrutable, seeming to have seen through something or just probing. Xia Xianning couldn’t immediately decide how to answer and was truly hesitant.
His appearance immediately revealed his weakness to Old Master Xia, who said: “What’s wrong? Are you no longer together? Did you stop liking him, or is there another reason?”
“
Xia Xianning pondered for a moment and said defensively: “In any case, I’m definitely not going to like women.”
Old Master Xia’s eyes flashed with a gleam. Far from being angry, he looked at his grandson with a hint of amusement.
Luo Yingbai was unwilling. After exploration and searching, he found a small forum called “Luo Pu Xian Yue Lai”, discovering it was eerily quiet with very few posts, not even a decent fanfiction like “Facing Luo Yingbai’s Fierce Offensive, Xia Xianning Burst into Tears”!
Luo Yingbai couldn’t understand why finding a fanfiction that portrayed him as mighty and heroic was so difficult—when that should have been the true him.
Driven by this sentiment, Luo Yingbai gradually embarked on an irreversible path.
He hired several writers and artists, setting up basic character backgrounds, and had them create related fanfiction and fan art. To maintain secrecy, the names were chosen by the writers themselves. After buying the works, Luo Yingbai changed the top and bottom characters’ names to Luo Yingbai and Xia Xianning, then created over ten alternate accounts.
He didn’t care whether the characters in these fanfictions could be mapped onto real personalities. After all, out-of-character writing was popular. Whether the articles were logical, realistic, or true to the actual people was irrelevant.
The key was to portray Luo Yingbai as a mighty, heroic man and Xia Xianning as delicate and shy.
These alternate accounts mingled in the forum—some posted articles and images, while others revealed half-true information, encouraged updates, or provoked fights. Some engaged in cute comments and others cursed back.
He single-handedly supported a tag, watching the forum grow in popularity and attracting attention. Luo Yingbai was inwardly delighted.
Now, besides the articles he commissioned ghostwriters to create, he attracted writers genuinely passionate about this pairing. He sensed his image would become increasingly cool under their cultivation.
Luo Yingbai excitedly opened titles he hadn’t seen before.
#LuoXia Inseparable# Sickly Luo Yingbai × Blackened Xia Xianning, Weak Top Strong Bottom “Squeeze My Senior Brother Dry” #LuoXia Inseparable# Interstellar ABO, O Top A Bottom “Sakura Sin” #LuoXia Inseparable# Ancient Palace, Eunuch Top Emperor Bottom “Your Majesty, Please Spare Me”
Luo Yingbai: “…” Something seems not quite right.
Luo Yingbai discovered this “top” role had little dignity—being continuously taken by Xia Xianning without ability to resist, a soft-bodied omega who cries, and even a eunuch, a genuine palace-raised eunuch from childhood!
Luo Yingbai facepalmed, quickly switching accounts to mimic the tone of a little girl in the comments.
“Haha, author, your writing and plot are so good! This article is so enjoyable. I hope the next article can make Young Master Luo a bit more heroic to be perfect!”
He used this tone to comment, feeling a bit disgusted, but now completely used to his multiple personalities. After checking that the tone wasn’t too intense, he clicked send.
After sending, Luo Yingbai switched to another account on his phone and replied to the previous comment: “The person above is joking. Luo Yingbai is exactly this type of character. The author has captured it perfectly.”
He had seen similar comments on rival forums, and since criticizing himself required no courtesy, Luo Yingbai directly copied it over, then switched back to his original account to continue commenting.
“Sweetie, you think this way because you don’t understand the real Luo Yingbai. Actually, his personality is the type that’s authoritative, cold, and brooks no argument. Xia Xianning is actually very afraid of him in private…”
After browsing the forum and arguing with himself for a while, Luo Yingbai suddenly felt a slight tremor against the wall behind him.
He removed his headphones, vaguely hearing a rapid female voice say something. The speaker was a woman, and speaking so quickly that Luo Yingbai only caught the four characters “obtain the Xia family”.
Zhu Linya sneered coldly: “From what you’re saying, is it that she was just clinging to you one-sidedly?”
Summer Zheng denied to the end: “In any case, I didn’t go looking for her.”
