Chapter 33: You’re So Flirtatious

The groupings were quickly displayed on the holographic projection. Apart from Xiao Chi and Ji Chenxuan being placed in different groups, the remaining two groups were:

The cold and elegant rising star Zheng Xi, paired with the famous holographic game producer JK. The comedic cross-talk actor turned variety star Cui Ming, paired with the head of Sanyang Media, Fang Lu.

Among the celebrities, Xiao Chi was the only true newcomer, still from a singing competition background. His fan base was not yet stable, and even fewer fans were interested in variety shows.

When switching to a new platform, his popularity plummeted, leaving him struggling to gain attention.

The other three celebrities already had large fanbases. Even Wen Anran, who was still far from being a top-tier star, had a steady audience thanks to a few idol dramas and variety shows. Zheng Xi, the traffic star, was the most impressive. Within the first hour of the show’s airing, she had already become a ratings powerhouse.

Fortunately, Xiao Chi was paired with Xie Ting. Thanks to Xie Ting’s immense popularity, the number of viewers in their live broadcast room began to rise steadily.

“Who’s the guy paired with Brother Ting? He looks even more attractive than Brother Ting!”

“I think he’s the Star Show Champion. Oh my god, he’s smiling at me! So handsome! I think I’m switching teams!”

“Chencheng, just keep flying! Mommy will always follow!”

“Is this a newbie’s fan army? How dare you drag Brother Ting down?”

“He’s just a small Star Show Champion. When Brother Ting won his championship, this guy hadn’t even graduated kindergarten yet, right?”

“Did the production team intentionally put Brother Ting with a newbie to take care of him? No-name newbies, don’t try to ride on our Brother Ting’s coattails!”

“Stop arguing, they’re both so handsome! You’re blocking my screen licking!”

In the live broadcast room, when the two appeared in the same frame, someone compared Xie Ting’s and Xiao Chi’s looks side by side, and the audience exploded!

Xie Ting’s huge fanbase quickly drowned out Xiao Chi’s few pitiful fans. Despite it being a live broadcast for the two of them, it quickly turned into Xie Ting’s solo show.

Any mention of Xiao Chi was immediately drowned out by the tidal wave of comments, not even making a splash.

Meanwhile, the recording of Star CEO was just beginning.

After the groupings, Xie Ting’s smile noticeably deepened. He even turned his head to glance at Ji Chenxuan, who was looking away, not acknowledging him. Xie Ting couldn’t help but chuckle.

He leaned one arm on the armrest of Xiao Chi’s couch, half of his body leaning toward him. With a deep smile, in a voice too quiet for the cameras to catch, he whispered, “Looks like my wish came true. How about you? Disappointed to be with me?”

Xiao Chi remembered what Liu Bing had advised him earlier and immediately shifted his body back, positioning himself so that he and Xie Ting were nearly parallel to each other.

He looked directly at Xie Ting and answered honestly, “Not disappointed, but Liu Bing said staying too close to you might lead to trouble.”

“Oh my god, you really… haha.” Xie Ting raised a hand to his forehead, laughing out loud. He helplessly moved back and sat up straight, and when Xiao Chi saw this, he immediately straightened up like a spring.

Xie Ting suppressed his laughter. “You’re so honest, does your manager know about this?”

Xiao Chi nodded. “He knows. He often calls me ‘Baby’.”

Xie Ting couldn’t help but tease, “I’m afraid he meant ‘little treasure,’ right?”

Xiao Chi’s dark eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?”

“…Pfft!”

Liu Bing stood outside the recording studio, his face in his hands in despair.

A small interaction between the two caused the live broadcast chat to explode once again. It seemed as though Xiao Chi’s fans had come back to life, suddenly standing tall and feeling emboldened to confront Xie Ting’s fans.

“Look! Xie Ting got rejected in real-time!”

“Chencheng dodged that beautifully! Protect your life, stay away from Xie Ting!”

“This newbie is really out of his league, huh? If it were me, I’d be willing to lose ten years of my life just to have Xie Ting stay ten centimeters away from me!”

“What are they saying? Why is Xie Ting laughing so happily? I can’t hear anything, did my earpiece break?”

“Don’t you think they make a great couple?”

“Xiao Chi’s fans, step aside! Don’t think you can suck up to our Xie Ting to rise to the top!”

—

Ji Chenxuan’s usually indifferent face betrayed no emotions. His seated position allowed him to clearly see where Xiao Chi and Xie Ting were sitting.

His partner, Wen Anran, noticed that Ji Chenxuan had switched hand gestures three times and had taken three sips of water. The water bottle on the small table in front of him was almost indented from where he had squeezed it.

Wen Anran’s eyes subtly shifted. Leaning forward, he whispered into Ji Chenxuan’s ear with a slight laugh, “President Ji, I didn’t expect we’d be in the same group. I look forward to working with you on the next part of the show.”

Ji Chenxuan tilted his head slightly, changed his sitting posture again, and said flatly, “Likewise.”

Wen Anran didn’t seem to mind his indifference. Instead, he chuckled as if they were joking around. Xiao Chi, curious, glanced over at them.

The host, Tian Tian, held a stack of cards. “Today is the first day. The four groups of guests need to get familiar with each other. Everyone will gather together for some interaction and guidance. Starting tomorrow, each team will do live broadcasts in different settings.”

“The production team has already assigned today’s topics. For now, the artist groups will act as the mentors, and the CEO groups will be the students. I will hand out the topics to everyone.”

The first group had the traffic star Zheng Xi teaching game producer JK makeup techniques. The rugged, game industry titan transformed into a beautifully made-up cross-dressing man.

In no time, a flood of memes featuring JK became synonymous with the episode.

The second group, consisting of the comedy actor and Sanyang CEO, drew a topic where they were to perform a cross-talk routine.

Sanyang CEO Fang Lu maintained a deadpan expression throughout, telling dry jokes, which created a “cute contrast” that made the live chat explode with laughter. The viewing numbers even surpassed Zheng Xi’s group, which had been leading.

Finally, it was time for the third group, Ji Chenxuan and Wen Anran.

Ji Chenxuan drew a card, looked down at it, and for a brief moment, his gaze froze.

The host, Tian Tian, loudly announced the performance topic for the third group: “The mentors will guide the performance techniques on-site and act out a famous scene from ^[1]The Temptation of Returning to Earth (回地球的诱惑) is a fictional in-universe drama referenced in the story. It’s described as a popular series known for its dramatic and iconic scenes, … Continue readingThe Temptation of Returning to Earth, where the male lead and the female supporting character have a confrontation.”

The chat in the live broadcast room seemed to suddenly vanish, and after a strange silence, it exploded with uncontrollable laughter. The reactions of the viewers were surprisingly unified, and the entire screen was flooded with endless “Ha”s.

“Oh my god, in my lifetime, I actually got to see Ji Chenxuan play the famous scumbag Hong Shuxian!”

“How do you know he’s playing Hong Shuxian? What if he’s playing Ali instead!”

“Hahahahaha, are you trying to kill me with laughter so I can pass on my mortgage to you?”

Ji Chenxuan: “…”

Is it too late to quit this show?

Why did he even agree to this horrible variety show? Did the producer have a personal grudge against him?

Why wasn’t he told about this scene in advance? And why did they have to change it from a recorded segment to a live broadcast?

Ji Chenxuan took a deep breath, his expression dark, and subtly shot a glare in the direction of the director.

It wasn’t until he noticed Xiao Chi’s gaze glued to him that he reluctantly held back his curses and complaints directed at the director.

When Wen Anran took the script from the host, his fingers slightly trembled.

He hadn’t expected to have such an intimate scene with Ji Chenxuan so soon! And such an exciting one at that! It seemed that luck was still on his side.

“President Ji, you’ve seen this drama, right?”

Wen Anran’s smile was hard to hide as he flipped the script to the page with the famous scene, walked over to Ji Chenxuan’s side, and, in the act of handing him the script, deliberately positioned himself in front of the camera lens, leaning intimately against his arm.

Ji Chenxuan coldly brushed off his hand. “No.”

Wen Anran smiled faintly and, with a flirtatious gesture, brushed a strand of hair from his forehead. “No worries, I’ll teach you.”

The number of viewers tuning in for Ji Chenxuan’s version of Hong Shuxian grew steadily, and it seemed to be overtaking the first two groups, claiming the top spot in viewership.

“Is it just me, or does it feel like they’ve already gotten into character?”

“Wen Anran’s approach is just like Ali’s in the show!”

“Don’t slander our Brother Wen! Maybe Ji Chenxuan bribed the crew to deliberately take advantage of him!”

“…Are you serious upstairs?”

At the guest seats, Xie Ting was watching the interaction between the two with great interest. The tension between their closeness and distance was almost palpable. He couldn’t help but turn to look at Xiao Chi’s expression.

Xiao Chi’s face was neither joyful nor disappointed. His dark pupils were wide, like a curious cat seeing a mouse for the first time, staring intently at Ji Chenxuan and Wen Anran without blinking.

Xie Ting found it amusing and leaned over to ask in a low voice, “What do you think? Do they look good together?”

Xiao Chi immediately shook his head without hesitation. “Not a good match.”

Xie Ting was once again amused by his straightforwardness. “Why not?”

“Ji Chenxuan doesn’t like it.”

“How do you know? Maybe he’s enjoying it?”

Xiao Chi answered matter-of-factly, “He wouldn’t. His goosebumps are all standing up.”

“…You can even see that?”

Xiao Chi tilted his head, looking at him in confusion. “It’s obvious, can’t you see it?”

Xie Ting: “…”

Is your eyesight like a telescopic lens?

Xie Ting reconsidered and changed his approach. “Even so, what if they have an even more intimate scene later, like a hug? How would you feel about that?”

Xiao Chi was stunned by the question, opening his mouth but not saying a word.

At that moment, the third group’s performance began.

The holographic projection created a luxurious palace scene, with Wen Anran, playing the maid Ali, sitting in front of a vanity mirror, playfully applying makeup to his face.

Ji Chenxuan, portraying the alien prince Hong Shuxian, walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair.

He slowly made his way to the back of Wen Anran, glancing impatiently into the mirror. “Why are you wearing a princess’s nightgown? Using other people’s stuff?”

Wen Anran slowly turned around, half-leaning against the vanity, tilting his eyes with a playful gaze as he looked at him. “If we’re going for excitement, we might as well go all the way.”

The enthusiasm of the live broadcast viewers erupted like burning oil, all of them eagerly anticipating the famous four words that would come next.

As the camera focused on them, Wen Anran leaned forward, half-closing his eyes, raising his lips to lean toward Ji Chenxuan.

What the hell? This wasn’t in the script!

With Wen Anran’s lips drawing nearer, Ji Chenxuan’s brow furrowed more and more.

Suddenly, his eyes met Xiao Chi’s piercing gaze, which seemed to contain an indescribable feeling of stickiness and grievance, like a cat that had its dried fish taken away.

Ji Chenxuan’s heart skipped a beat, his mind went blank, and without thinking, he shot out the four words at Wen Anran, who was trying to kiss him.

“You’re so cheap.”

Wen Anran: “???”

The viewers: “???”

“Oh, sorry.” Ji Chenxuan snapped back to reality, casually adjusting his wrinkled collar, and said calmly, “I read the wrong line.”