Luo Yuanfan chased after a few steps, stunned, unable to understand how things had turned out this way. Earlier, when Fang Wei had cursed him out, nothing happened, but now with just a few words from Luo Yingbai, everything was ruined?!
He had thought Luo Yingbai was the easiest to bully among his three roommates, but now he realized that this person, who usually kept a low profile, was actually the most venomous – truly a dog that doesn’t bark but bites!
Standing in the hallway, he felt everyone passing by was giving him contemptuous looks. Wanting to go back and have a big argument, his head was still clear enough to know they outnumbered him, and he couldn’t win. He could only grit his teeth and temporarily back down, planning to gather reinforcements.
On the other side, the reporter returned to her unit and explained the entire incident to her supervisor, making it clear that she had done her part and any further decisions were up to her superiors.
The editor-in-chief listened to her account and then decided to post the interview video on their WeChat public account. The reporter was surprised by this decision.
“What’s inappropriate about it?” the editor-in-chief replied. “Honestly, I’m not too fond of reporting on internet celebrities. It’s easy to damage our reputation. We only agreed because they approached us. Now we have a good excuse – the students were uncooperative.”
He instructed: “Edit the video carefully, remove any negative content. Posting it on the public account shows we’ve made an effort. As long as it doesn’t occupy the newspaper’s formal pages, a small controversy is no big deal.”
This decision sparked a controversy that was far from small.
Initially, when the video was posted on the WeChat public account, few people opened it. But when a fan of Luo Yingbai recognized their idol and reposted the video link on Weibo, its popularity instantly soared.
Luo Yingbai became famous several times, mainly because of his helpful deeds, with other factors merely being the icing on the cake. His image is extremely positive, and he never intended to make a living this way.
This matter was argued about for a while without reaching any conclusion. As for Luo Yingbai’s actual financial situation, he himself did not provide a direct answer, so others could only speculate wildly.
When Xia Xianning occasionally opened Weibo after work, he saw the push notification for this drama.
After seeing the three characters “Luo Yingbai”, he immediately opened the webpage, but what he first learned was not the whole story of the event, but rather… some strange things.
Thus, for the first time, he learned about CP fans, and the fact that… he actually had CP fans.
It’s not easy to extract sugar from a cold CP. After just a few days of fermentation, Luo Yingbai’s short video had been analyzed frame by frame by passionate fans, and they seemingly uncovered a shocking fact—
In the live broadcast screen, the jacket hanging by Bai-ge’s bedside was actually Young Master Xia’s!!!
Xia Xianning usually appears in public wearing a uniform, rarely seen in casual wear.
When people saw the picture, they immediately recognized it.
“Wait, isn’t the jacket hanging by Bai-ge’s bedside familiar?”
“I know, this is Young Master Xia’s jacket. I’ve been killed by how handsome this jacket is!”
“Isn’t it inappropriate to be so assertive about a mere speculation?”
“This isn’t wild guessing. All of Young Master Xia’s clothes are custom-made by hand, so duplicates are impossible. Besides, even if it were the same style, doesn’t that precisely suggest… they’re wearing couple’s outfits?”
“…!!! Terrifying! It feels like we’ve discovered something incredible!”
Xia Xianning casually browsed through those comments, feeling internally calm. He completely didn’t understand what everyone was excited about. He and Luo Yingbai had slept together that night, so wasn’t it normal to wear each other’s clothes?
Did they think he had stolen Luo Yingbai’s clothes, causing such excitement?
So should he explain or not? – Xia Xianning seriously contemplated while browsing the webpage.
“Are you kidding me? Of course it’s not realistic. Does the poster really think Xia Xianning and Luo Yingbai could actually be together? Young Master Xia is clearly the ultra-aloof type. The author has no problem. Here’s a pen, go ahead and write. If you think something else is more realistic, just make it up yourself.”
Why come to someone else’s post to cause trouble?” Xia Xianning realized his comment might not have been appropriate, so he replied with a “Sorry” and quietly exited the forum, his mind turning over the thought – what would he say if Luo Yingbai actually said he liked him? If Luo Yingbai said he liked him… Just thinking about this hypothesis made his heart become soft, like a tulip about to bloom, where a gentle touch would release a stream of honey from its bud. He remembered Luo Yingbai’s face, remembered lying in the garden sunbathing when they were young, the sun warm, flowers fragrant, himself with a mischievous smile, secretly pinching his own nose, not knowing he was pretending to sleep… In all the warm memories, it seemed his presence was always there. In a daze, many years had passed, but precious memories remained vivid, and liking Luo Yingbai was so natural that he hadn’t even noticed. Actually, those people were right. Xia Xianning’s personality was cold and tough, but this didn’t mean he lacked passionate love – it was just that Xia Xianning would only be passionate for one person. The water on his clothes was slowly drying, feeling a bit cool. He thought he should change, but his entire body seemed frozen, savoring the heart matters he had just clarified. Once his feelings were understood, he became anxious, not knowing how to tell Luo Yingbai, not knowing what Luo Yingbai felt about him.
Xia Xianning sighed, his gaze falling on the computer screen in front of him. Forget it, he should first resolve this matter before thinking about anything else. He didn’t like being scolded by others.
When getting off work, Gou Songze was about to head home and happened to see Xia Xianning walking out of the office, so he greeted him: “Brother Xianning, heading home.”
They were quite familiar with each other. Gou Songze would call him “Director Xia” at work and “Brother Xianning” after work, but this time, he gave him a cold look.
Gou Songze’s scalp tingled. He carefully reviewed his recent work, wondering what might be wrong. While feeling uneasy, Xia Xianning suddenly said: “You’re not young anymore. You should find a partner and hurry up.”
Gou Songze was horrified: “What?!”
The aloof superior had just spoken like a neighborhood committee aunty – this was a bit weird!
Xia Xianning continued: “Been single for so many years. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Gou Songze: “…”
He tried to defend himself, finding another target: “How did this topic come up? Your cousin hasn’t found anyone either, so I…”
His words froze midway under the other’s inexplicably terrifying gaze.
Xia Xianning frowned: “You what?”
Survival instinct made Gou Songze finally choose the right line: “…”
I mean I should hurry up, get married early, have kids early, and continue contributing to the organization!” Xia Xianning was satisfied, nodded, and patted his shoulder: “If you have difficulties, you can speak up.” Gou Songze: “…Thank you for the organization’s care.” So what exactly did he do wrong?!
Luo Yuanfan was talented and had participated in several regional talent shows before online streaming. Although he had some achievements, his pretentious and selfish personality had already caused conflicts with many people. After the dormitory interview, his negative stories were exposed, raising his topic popularity but also severely damaging his image, completely opposite to his original intention.
