Shi Ruan had never been in such close contact with someone of the opposite sex. Not only did his face flush, but even his ears burned hot.
The moment Thin Jing lowered his head, he could see the tips of those two red ears, and he even caught a faint scent of milk coming from Shi Ruan.
Oh? A milky little rabbit?
A trace of amusement crossed Thin Jing’s eyes, but when his gaze shifted to the injured back of the hand, the heartache in his eyes was almost overflowing.
The already delicate skin looked even more startling after receiving the merciless baptism of boiling water.
As the cold running water washed over it, the burning pain radiating from Shi Ruan’s hand gradually subsided.
“May I ask where the first aid kit is?”
Completely ignoring Shi Yan beside them, Thin Jing asked the staff for the location of the first aid kit, then extended his hand toward Shi Ruan.
“I will help you apply the medicine.”
“Okay.”
Hesitatingly, Shi Ruan placed his hand into Thin Jing’s palm.
Thin Jing’s hand was large and very warm, and he very carefully avoided Shi Ruan’s injured area.
To avoid leaving red marks like before, he held Shi Ruan’s hand very gently.
Shi Ruan thought that he must look like a boiled shrimp right now, though the man’s hand really was very warm.
“I am going to apply the medicine for you now. If it hurts, tell me, and I will be gentler.”
Shi Ruan only blushed and nodded blankly, his voice sounding so pleasant too! Shi Ruan felt as though he was about to be utterly captivated by the person before him.
Lost in Thin Jing’s gentleness at that moment, Shi Ruan completely threw Manager Liu’s warnings from before they arrived to the back of his mind.
Looking at the well-behaved Shi Ruan, the fire in Thin Jing’s belly flared up a bit more, though this time it was certainly not anger.
Still, thinking that on the very first day they met he should not frighten his little rabbit, Thin Jing forced himself to endure it.
Otherwise, if his little rabbit accidentally got scared and ran away, where on earth would he go to find him?
“All done.”
“Thank you. May I ask what your name is?”
Shi Ruan could not bother to wonder why Thin Jing had tied his bandage into a bow and boldly struck up a conversation.
At that moment, Shi Ruan was not thinking in any romantic direction at all; he simply felt he needed to remember this person’s name and find time later to thank him.
“Brother, before asking for someone else’s name, you should tell them your own. Otherwise, it is very impolite!”
“Ah, I am sorry. My name is Shi Ruan.”
Shi Yan could not stand the sight of the two treating him like air and frantically tried to grab some attention.
Shi Ruan, however, looked apologetically at Thin Jing, wondering inwardly if he had offended him. Would Thin Jing also think he was disgraceful?
“It does not matter. You do not need to mind such things in front of me. My name is Thin Jing, and I am very glad to meet you.”
[It really is the Thin Corporation’s chairman, Thin Jing! Is the director this awesome?]
[Shi Ruan is truly wonderful! Even though he is injured himself, he is still comforting President Thin. What kind of little angel is this?]
[For some reason, I always feel like Shi Yan is acting super fake and green-tea-like?]
[Same as above. I am even wondering if Shi Yan spilled the water on purpose.]
[What kind of spooky stories are you people upstairs telling? Omegas are all very kind, okay?]
[Then I suppose I must be overthinking it.]
[Is it just me, or has everyone else already started shipping them? Overbearing CEO versus clueless star, why aren’t you shipping this yet?]
[What is this? Shi Ruan is a Beta, and a Beta with an Alpha is impossible. Betas don’t even have pheromones. How can they help an Alpha get through their rut cycle?]
[Standing with the user above, which is why I ship Shi Yan and President Thin! The sweet romance between an overbearing CEO and a delicate, soft Omega!]
While the live chat was arguing, the Fall in Love cabin welcomed its third and fourth guests simultaneously.
“What kind of lousy place is this? Couldn’t the production team find a slightly better location? My shoes are all dirtied!”
This person could truly be heard before she was seen.
[Who is that? Why does this voice feel inexplicably familiar?]
[To the user above, are you living under a rock? Isn’t this the entertainment industry’s number one high-maintenance diva, Su Jiaojiao?]
[Su Jiaojiao?! If she comes to a dating show, won’t she turn the place upside down?]
[Gosh, thrilling! A dating show violently modified into a catfight drama!]
[No way! Will such a spoiled miss bully the younger brother?]
[I am begging the high-maintenance Su to stay away from my little brother, okay?]
[Wait, hasn’t this Shi Yan only been on screen for a few minutes? He already has die-hard fans? The entertainment circle is truly a mess.]
Many people in the live chat had already recognized Su Jiaojiao’s voice, and even anti-fans had started mocking her. Omegas in the entertainment industry were truly scarce.
Among those Omegas, however, Su Jiaojiao was definitely the most high-maintenance one.
“Are you alright? Do you want me to help you carry your suitcase?”
As soon as this person spoke, she instantly captured the hearts of the live chat.
[Family members, who understands this?]
[User above, I understand. Such a cool-headed boss-lady voice, I am dead!]
[Typing with both hands to prove my innocence, but I genuinely love this voice.]
When the camera shifted to the two of them, the live chat became truly puzzled.
[Who is this pretty sister? Can someone give us a brief introduction?]
[Never mind who she is, let’s drool first.]
[User above, I have a pair of golden shorts, a pair of silver shorts, and a pair of tattered shorts here. See which pair belongs to you.]
[Let me introduce her to everyone. This is Song Xia, a very cool female rapper!]
[Rapper? You’re telling me a beauty with such a cold and aloof vibe is a rapper?]
[User above, don’t be shocked yet; let me be shocked first!]
Just as the live chat was in disbelief, Su Jiaojiao did not soften her temper because of Song Xia’s proactive show of goodwill. Instead, she said directly:
“What? Are you a servant? You just love doing chores? Since you like it so much, I’ll give it to you.”
With that, she directly tossed her luggage to Song Xia and walked into the house herself, leaving even Song Xia utterly dumbfounded.
Seeing that Su Jiaojiao was wearing a dress and high heels, Song Xia had thought she looked delicate and must need help, which was why she went over to strike up a conversation.
She hadn’t expected Su Jiaojiao to not only be the opposite of the fragrant, soft girl she had imagined, but a literal firecracker that exploded without even needing to be lit.
[Hahaha, did you guys see Song Xia’s expression?]
[Her look is basically saying, “Who am I and where am I?”]
[I am now completely certain the production team did not share information among the guests ahead of time.]
[Ah, another human being deceived by Su Jiaojiao’s appearance.]
Meanwhile, some of Song Xia’s fans started voicing grievances for her in the live chat.
[Wait, what? By what right does this spoiled miss treat our Xiaxia like this?]
[Is she jealous that Song Xia looks prettier than her plastic-surgery face?]
[Who are you calling a plastic-surgery face? Our Suyu’s face is all-natural, okay?]
Seeing that the live chat was about to turn into a brawl, Song Xia made a move. Carrying her own luggage in one hand and Su Jiaojiao’s luggage in the other, she walked into the house.
The three people inside heard the movement and looked over simultaneously, only to see Su Jiaojiao striding in with her chin held high, forgetting neither to puff it up as she walked.
Perhaps she wanted to project the feel of a white swan, but watching her swagger in like that…
Shi Ruan could only feel as though he was looking at a duck raised by his grandmother in the countryside, walking in the exact same manner. He couldn’t help being amused by his own imagination.
Since this was a live broadcast, however, Shi Ruan had to force himself to hold it in to avoid being cursed out by viewers, turning his face red from the effort.
Su Jiaojiao spotted Shi Ruan at first glance. Truth be told, Shi Ruan was indeed the best-looking among everyone present. That wasn’t to say Thin Jing wasn’t good-looking; it was just that the two of them possessed good looks on entirely different planes.
“Why are you blushing?”
Su Jiaojiao furrowed her brows as she looked at Shi Ruan, then seemed to recall something, her eyes filled with a trace of disgust.
“Let me tell you, don’t you dare like me. I have zero interest in Omegas.”
Shi Ruan looked around blankly, then met Su Jiaojiao’s gaze and asked in confusion, “Are you talking to me?”
[Did you see the bewilderment in Shi Ruan’s eyes? It’s identical to mine right now.]
[Wait, no one ever mentioned that Su Jiaojiao is not only unreasonable, but also thick-skinned!]
[Though you can’t really argue with her saying Shi Ruan is good-looking.]
[Plus one to the above. It doesn’t matter that Shi Ruan is a Beta; I just love Betas!]
“Hey, I am talking to you! Where are you looking?”
Su Jiaojiao was deeply displeased by Shi Ruan’s behavior. In her view, this was pure provocation; how dare he ignore her words?
“I… I am a Beta…”
Due to Shi Ruan’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t voice what he had just been thinking, fearing being flamed by haters was one thing, but basic politeness was another matter entirely.
A Beta?
Su Jiaojiao had never imagined that a Beta could look this good, and she couldn’t help re-evaluating him.
“How tall are you? In this day and age, do Betas even dare to daydream about Omegas?”
With that, Su Jiaojiao’s gaze swept up and down over Shi Ruan, bringing a sense of oppression.
Shi Ruan hadn’t paid attention to all of that, and upon hearing the question, he blurted out, “I am one meter and seventy-five centimeters!”
Realizing what he had just blurted out, Shi Ruan’s face flushed bright red. No, this was all Manager Liu’s fault for making him watch silly short videos!
Shi Ruan wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it right now, but Manager Liu, who was watching the live stream, was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. Why was this child so adorable?
[Hahaha, I am one meter and seventy-five centimeters.]
[Why is my baby so trendy? He clearly surfs the 5G web.]
[Very good, very good. Shi Ruan, look at me, I’m one meter and seventy-five centimeters with eight-pack abs!]
[Don’t daydream upstairs, Shi Ruan clearly belongs to me.]
Seeing how adorable Shi Ruan was, Thin Jing couldn’t help smiling along. Shi Yan’s expression, however, turned ugly. Did these people only know how to look at faces?
Why did everyone notice Shi Ruan first? Shi Yan’s gaze darkened, and feigning cleverness, he spoke up:
“Brother, when a young lady asks a question, you should answer seriously. Doing this is very impolite.”
After delivering this lecture, without even glancing at the others’ expressions, he turned to Su Jiaojiao and said, “Miss Su, please don’t take general offense with my older brother. He just plays on his phone a little too much.”
Su Jiaojiao wore a face full of question marks. Where on earth did this lotus-spirit crawl out from?
“This person over here? Comrade average-looking, do you particularly like eating MSG?”
Shi Yan asked in confusion, “Not really. I generally don’t eat additives.”
“Oh, is that so? Judging by your white-lotus appearance, I thought you were a lotus MSG spirit, all fake and always liking to add a little extra flavor when you speak.”
Su Jiaojiao launched a direct face-to-face roast. As long as her face didn’t collapse and she kept her identity as an Omega, even if she literally struck someone, the worst she would lose besides a few more anti-fans was nothing at all.
[My goodness, Su Jiaojiao truly lives up to her title as the number one venomous tongue in the entertainment industry! This skill level…]
[Seriously, where on earth did Su Jiaojiao learn these insult memes? God-tier lotus MSG spirit.]
[Is it just me who thinks Su Jiaojiao is very impolite? Didn’t Shi Yan just help explain for Shi Ruan?]
[Explain? If you hadn’t called it an explanation, I would have thought it was some high-end black PR…]
[The user above, go fly a kite. I just feel like Shi Yan’s attitude toward his older brother is super weird…]
[What’s so weird about it? You guys can’t just maliciously speculate about an Omega just because Shi Ruan is in the entertainment industry!]
The director behind the scenes looked at the skyrocketing data and the heated discussion in the live chat, unable to close his mouth from smiling. This was precisely why, despite Su Jiaojiao’s poor public reputation, so many directors were dying to beg her to appear.
You could say that wherever Su Jiaojiao went, traffic followed.
“Hey, is he really your brother? Why don’t you two look alike?”
Su Jiaojiao’s remark was an exaggeration. Although Shi Yan couldn’t compare to Shi Ruan, he was still considered delicate, and coupled with his deliberately pure styling, anyone could tell at a glance he was a cute Omega.
Unfortunately for him, his comparison group consisted of Thin Jing and Shi Ruan, plus Su Jiaojiao herself. Out of the four of them, Shi Yan’s appearance could safely be said to comfortably sit in fourth place.
And that was even before Song Xia entered. Once Song Xia came in, Shi Yan’s ranking would have to shift once more. Yet Shi Yan, utterly lacking self-awareness at the moment, was still putting on a tearful, grievance-stricken expression directed at the live camera.
There were viewers in the live chat who liked him precisely because of his Omega identity, and seeing the cute little newcomer they had just started liking getting bullied like this, they immediately couldn’t sit still.
[If you ask me, an Omega should be like Shi Yan. Su Jiaojiao is simply infuriating to look at.]
[What kind of hyper-Alpha statement is the user above making? Trying to pigeonhole the image of an Omega?]
[Although I don’t like Su Jiaojiao either, this time I’m siding with the user above. An Omega can look however they want to look; what business is it of yours?]
[Although cursing people is bad, I want to say: great burn!]
[Is seriously no one going to speak up for my poor Shi Yan? Can’t you see he’s about to be bullied to tears by Su Jiaojiao?]
[Su Jiaojiao, get out of the entertainment industry!]
Shi Ruan had no idea about the bloody storm currently raging in the live chat. Worrying only about his earlier embarrassment and what Shi Yan had said, he earnestly answered Su Jiaojiao’s question.
“Yes, we are brothers. Maybe because my younger brother is an Omega, he looks a bit better-looking than me.”
Seeing Shi Ruan’s earnest, thinking expression, Thin Jing felt somewhat unhappy. Why was he answering this annoying woman so seriously?
However, Thin Jing currently lacked the standing to tell Shi Ruan not to talk to other people, so he could only unhappily grind his back teeth.
His gaze fixed on Su Jiaojiao gradually grew impatient.
Su Jiaojiao, however, courting death without fear, went on to court disaster: “What? Your younger brother doesn’t look as good as you at all, okay? Seeing that you’re so good-looking, this young lady will allow you to pursue me.”
As she spoke, Su Jiaojiao even struck a pose as if bestowing a great favor, completely unaware that this sentence was stepping directly onto Thin Jing’s ultimate landmine. At that moment, Thin Jing only wanted to contact the director and kick this eyesore Su Jiaojiao out immediately.
Song Xia, who had just walked in, happened to overhear such an explosive remark and couldn’t help wondering if she had come to the wrong place.
Didn’t they say nobody knew each other? How come she was only two minutes late walking in, and they were already talking about whether to pursue someone or not?
Recalling what had happened outside earlier, Song Xia couldn’t help silently lighting a candle in her heart for this unlucky fellow. Just how much courage did it take to stay with this spoiled miss?
Lifting her gaze to look inside the room, the first thing she saw was Su Jiaojiao’s back. You have to admit, even just looking at her back, this spoiled miss was truly gorgeous.
It was a pity that mere physical packaging couldn’t move her heart. Next, she saw Shi Ruan and the other three. The moment she laid eyes on Shi Ruan, Song Xia felt as though she had been struck squarely by Cupid’s arrow.
Mom, this is the treasure I’ve been searching for!
Song Xia was just about to walk over with glowing eyes to say hello when she caught sight of Thin Jing. The Alpha was wrapping around Shi Ruan from behind in a posture overflowing with possessiveness.
The look the Alpha directed at her was as toxic as venom. Song Xia had initially thought that since she was also an Alpha, she wouldn’t easily admit defeat, and she raised an eyebrow in defiance.
The next second, Song Xia regretted her actions. She saw Thin Jing quietly hook the corner of his lips, and Song Xia nearly felt her legs go weak enough to drop to her knees.
Tremblingly steadying herself, just as she was about to accuse Thin Jing of releasing pheromones in a public space, she noticed everyone else’s expressions were completely normal, and they didn’t even notice her standing there barely able to stand straight.
Su Jiaojiao assumed she was struggling from carrying the luggage. With a “hum,” she said, “If you can’t carry it, don’t try to act tough. Did you think you were Superman or something?”
Unfairly and inexplicably looked down upon, Song Xia could only swallow her anger bitterly. Otherwise, she would be the one suffering!
Banxia Novels, bringing you endless joy.