Chapter 40: The Adorable Strike

It felt as though Cupid’s arrow had pierced him through, and Ji Chenxuan’s blood surged, almost making his heart leap out of his chest.

The music and noise around him faded away, becoming a distant background hum. A beam of light shone down from above, forming a circular pool of brightness, and the entire world seemed to shrink, leaving only the two of them.

His brain buzzed, his thoughts nearly frozen. All that filled his mind was Xiao Chi’s almost coquettish words, his eyes fixed on the other man’s slightly flushed cheekbones, his slightly parted lips, and…

Oh my God! How could anyone withstand this?!

Forget the livestream, forget the show—let them all go to hell!

Instinctively, Ji Chenxuan swallowed, unable to resist reaching out to touch that handsome face right in front of him—

Just as his fingers were about to make contact with the warm skin, the host’s sudden call startled him so much that he nearly bit his tongue.

It was as though the midnight chimes of a magical clock had sounded. The dreamlike moment dissolved into bubbles, and reality came crashing back—the stage, the lights, the livestream cameras—still standing there, reminding them of their identities and circumstances.

Ji Chenxuan quickly snapped out of the dreamy, ambiguous moment, and the tenderness in his eyes carefully withdrew. He tightened his fingers, gradually pulling them back, noticing Xiao Chi’s wide, surprised eyes.

He cleared his throat and straightened up, returning to his original posture, sitting upright like a disciplined, no-nonsense official.

“I meant to say, we should tidy up the sheet music… not…”

“Oh!” Xiao Chi dragged out the tone, sounding like he had just realized something, a hint of disappointment in his voice. “But you definitely reached your hand out just now…”

Ji Chenxuan’s ears flushed red, as if painted with rouge, but fortunately, his hair and collar covered half of it. He turned his face slightly, his gaze falling on the quiet piano keys. He lowered his voice and glanced at Xiao Chi with his peripheral vision.

“When we’re outside, we need to maintain propriety. You’re a public figure now, so always be mindful of your image. Don’t be so careless.”

He paused for a moment and added, “Not even with me.”

If it weren’t in such a public setting, he honestly wasn’t sure what he might do!

Ji Chenxuan suddenly began to admire his own self-control. Especially after Xiao Chi’s close-range adorable strike, his fragile little heart hadn’t exploded—what a miracle!

Xiao Chi narrowed his eyes and looked at him, pouting. “^[1]“Men’s hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea” is a metaphor that suggests men’s emotions or intentions are difficult to understand or fathom, much like trying to … Continue readingMen’s hearts are like needles at the bottom of the sea.”

Ji Chenxuan: “…”

Such a troublemaker. He’d better keep a tight watch on him, or he might end up causing trouble for someone else!

Their brief and inexplicable interaction naturally did not escape the attention of the livestream audience, especially the CP fans lurking in the chat who were ready to dissect every detail with a magnifying glass:

“I didn’t imagine this, right? Did Brother Ji just try to touch our Chenchen’s face?!”

“I saw it! He reached his hand out! I even saw Chenchen lean toward Brother Ji!”

“What were they whispering about just now? Heavy investment to hire a lip reader, please!”

“Wuwuwu, what kind of divine chemistry is four-handed playing! I’m crying, what about you?”

The final performance came to an end, and the host, Tian Tian, shook hands with each of the eight guests.

When it was Xiao Chi’s turn, the host gazed at him and Ji Chenxuan with mixed emotions: “You two have really worked hard these past days, especially President Ji.”

Being left at a loss, struggling with Xiao Chi’s unexpected antics, and looking like a mess—wasn’t it tough for a partner?

Xiao Chi, oblivious to the implied meaning behind the host’s words, smiled at the camera with restrained composure. “It’s fine, taking care of Ji Chenxuan isn’t hard at all.”

Host: “???”

The audience in the livestream began to burst into a chaotic round of laughter.

Only the “Double Chen” CP fans were crying and lamenting: “I want to see more! Are we going to be starved for content from now on?”

“Thank you to all our guests for their wonderful performances. The current season of Star CEO comes to a close here. The fourth team, who won in viewership, will receive a collaboration invitation from the program’s sponsor, Tianyu Group. We look forward to both sides achieving a win-win through this opportunity. Dear viewers, don’t miss the next season of Star CEO!”

Ji Chenxuan’s heart moved slightly at the mention of Tianyu Group. It was indeed a powerful conglomerate, but for large companies in the Huanyi tier, such collaboration wasn’t particularly enticing. However, for artists, it was a rare opportunity.

With the current season of Star CEO ending, the heat was still far from dissipating.

Especially with Xiao Chi, the unexpected dark horse who had emerged from the music talent show, officially entering the public’s sight. His popularity skyrocketed, rising with the heat of both Xie Ting and Ji Chenxuan, leading to more resources and bookings flooding in.

Watching his data improve day by day became Liu Bing’s daily source of happiness. Since Xie Ting, it had been a long time since she had experienced the pure joy of being a manager.

—

Ji Family’s Lakefront Villa on the Mountain

A soft desk lamp was still on in the study.

On the projection screen across from him, Zhou Tong’s face appeared. Ji Chenxuan sat under the light, absentmindedly listening to his assistant report on some trivial matters, followed by another dull and boring regular meeting.

Ji Chenxuan opened the wristband terminal and tapped into his Weibo page. He quickly logged into his secondary account. Beneath Xiao Chi’s profile, the number of followers had unknowingly surpassed one million and was still climbing.

He hadn’t followed Xiao Chi on his secondary account, nor had he ever reposted any of his topics. Even when he occasionally liked a post, it was set to be visible only to him. Anyone who saw it would think it was a completely “random” account.

Once the account was used for a well-intentioned “black” attack, it immediately served its purpose. With his insight and eloquence, he could make anyone who crossed him look foolish.

As he refreshed the page, most of the posts were the fans’ extravagant praise and screams of admiration, with the “Double Chen” CP fans making a strong presence, occasionally mixed in with a few stubborn Ting-Xiao cult members.

He propped his chin on his hand, his fingers half-covering his slightly raised lips.

Suddenly, an unpleasant comment caught his eye:

“You, Chen, what else can you do besides clinging to others to hype up CPs? One moment you’re trying to team up with King Ting, the next you’re sucking up to Huanyi’s President Ji! Can you not live without exploiting CPs? When will you learn to stand on your own feet? I see most of your popularity comes from leeching off others’ fame, sucking in their blood! Your actual achievements are few, but your methods for climbing are endless. Truly shameless!”

Attached were a few sharp-angled screenshots—one showing him tightly holding Xie Ting’s waist while dancing a face-to-face waltz, and another of him leaning his cheek close during their four-handed piano performance.

Ji Chenxuan opened the larger image and looked at the comment three times, an unexplainable anger flaring up inside him—what is this nonsense?

By the time he saw this comment, the original poster had already disabled the comments, leaving Ji Chenxuan nowhere to vent his frustration. He quickly opened Lefo and found Mrs. Carrot’s profile, leaving a comment:

“Donated 500 diamonds, requesting a plot twist: a live broadcast kiss between Xiao Chen and Ji Chenxuan, the kind that will drive the anti-fans mad. Thank you.”

—

In the living room downstairs.

Liu Bing had just received an invitation from Tianyu Group and immediately sent it over to Xiao Chi for review.

“The Celestial Fairy—the world’s first fantasy-themed holographic virtual MMORPG. Players are spread across the Chinese cultural sphere, with a huge base, comparable even to fanbases. I’ve just received an invitation for a screen test for the game’s endorsement and theme song performance. Tianyu has invested heavily into this, aiming for big gains. You should seize this opportunity…”

“Besides shooting ads and performing the theme song, the spokesperson is also required to participate in the holographic game’s live stream…”

“There’s plenty of competition, with several first-tier stars. You… hey, hey, are you listening to me?”

Liu Bing huffed in dissatisfaction, leaning closer, almost as if trying to give Xiao Chi a scolding through the video terminal.

“I’m listening, I’m listening! Holographic virtual MMORPG endorsement screen test!” Xiao Chi replied without raising his eyes, multitasking as he quickly pressed on the terminal, his fingers moving so fast they left afterimages. It was unclear what he was writing.

Liu Bing helplessly shook her head. “I’ll send you the related materials later. Also, I’ll try to contact a heavyweight figure in the songwriting industry to craft a song for your screen test. You may not have the popularity, but we can make up for it in other ways. However, this person has a bit of a temper, so make sure you don’t say anything wrong and upset them. In short, prepare well for the screen test.”

Xiao Chi raised his head, intrigued. “Huh, you’re actually talking about someone’s bad temper? How bad is it?”

“…” Liu Bing angrily ended the video call.

—

Ji Chenxuan was holding a coffee cup and slowly walking down the stairs. “Who are you talking about having a bad temper?”

Xiao Chi turned his head to look at him and shrugged. “Liu Bing said it.”

Ji Chenxuan sat beside him, placing his coffee cup on the glass coffee table. In the quiet night, the sound of the cup gently hitting the table echoed.

On the TV, a melodramatic romance drama was playing, with soft and lingering background music. The female lead was crying and throwing herself into the male lead’s arms, closing her eyes, waiting for a kiss.

Ji Chenxuan watched for a moment with a sour look, then out of the corner of his eye noticed Xiao Chi was reviewing materials for the game’s screen test.

After a brief pause, he spoke casually, pretending it was by chance: “Your sheet music… have you finished reviewing it?”

Xiao Chi was focused on reading: “Almost done.”

“Well then…”

“However, if we’re going to play, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

“Ahem.” Ji Chenxuan cleared his throat and quietly moved a little closer to him, just a bit closer. “Don’t you think there’s something we haven’t finished yet?”

“What thing?” Xiao Chi finally raised his head.

Ji Chenxuan kept his gaze straight ahead, not looking sideways, as the male and female leads on the screen were entangled in a kiss. “During the live broadcast earlier, it wasn’t convenient with others around. Now there’s no one else… we…”

We can continue kissing!

“Oh.” Xiao Chi’s round eyes shifted slightly as he innocently looked at him. “No, we can’t. We need to be restrained, not casual, and not with you either! You said so!”