[Strawberry Spilled: Rain! I saw your main page fans broke through 200k!]
[Strawberry Spilled: Growing so fast! Are you going to release some fan benefits or something?]
Receiving Tan Jingzhi’s message, Wen Xiyu logged into his account to check. Sure enough, after revealing his face yesterday, he gained a massive wave of followers, right now happening to break through the 200,000 mark.
The videos published on his main page were very few, just a few game edit clips and videos of his cat at home. The performance metrics used to be average, but with this surge of popularity, his likes had grown significantly.
[Strawberry Spilled: Edit that face-reveal clip from yesterday and post it as a video, then post on Weibo to ask fans what benefits they want.]
[Strawberry Spilled: I scrolled past a clip cut by your fans, and passersby are all asking who this is. Quick, grab this wave of popularity!]
Seeing Tan Jingzhi even more anxious than he was, Wen Xiyu could not help but laugh softly, immediately replying to her.
[Rain Song: OK [Cat Poking Its Head Out]]
[Rain Song: I just woke up, heading to edit it right away.]
Tan Jingzhi was his high school deskmate. The two of them had been deskmates for two years and were accepted into the same university, sharing an extremely close relationship.
Ever since trouble struck his family, Tan Jingzhi was even more like a protective mother hen, caring for him every moment and being exceptionally invested in his livestreaming career.
After finishing the video edit and posting it, Wen Xiyu posted another Weibo update asking what benefits people wanted. Once these tasks were handled, he changed clothes, went downstairs, unlocked a shared bicycle, and rushed toward a private hospital five kilometers away.
The money earned over these few months from art commissions plus livestreaming had not even warmed in his hands before being entirely thrown into the hospital by Wen Xiyu. Yet against the exorbitant treatment costs, it was merely a drop in the bucket.
After conversing with the attending doctor for half an hour, Wen Xiyu left the hospital department with a heavy heart, walking slowly to the door of his mother’s ward.
Through that transparent pane of glass on the door, he saw Ms. Xie Wan lying quietly on the hospital bed, her dark hair scattered, her skin pale, like a completely lifeless doll.
A sharp, vivid pain pierced his heart. Wen Xiyu’s eyes suddenly stung, and he quickly tilted his head back to keep the liquid from falling.
In truth, the relationship between Wen Xiyu and his mother, Xie Wan, was not close. Xie Wan was once the only daughter of a scholarly family who fell swiftly in love upon meeting the handsome and considerate Wen Lin, insisting on marrying him.
Unfortunately, her husband was no good man. The partner who became a completely different person after marriage, along with distant family relationships, caused Xie Wan to gradually develop a psychological illness, leaving her very indifferent toward her two birth children.
Even so, Xie Wan remained the mother who gave him life and raised him. It was not until the day she suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital emergency room that Wen Xiyu realized he simply could not afford to lose her.
Wen Xiyu pushed the door open and went in. Without waking Xie Wan, he stood quietly at the head of the bed to smooth out her messy hair.
For the next two days, Wen Xiyu stayed at the hospital taking care of Xie Wan, only leaving on Sunday afternoon to head home.
Halfway through the bicycle ride, a light rain suddenly started falling. Because he had a livestreaming session at night, Wen Xiyu rode somewhat urgently and accidentally slipped along the roadside. Fortunately, he did not sustain any severe injuries, merely scraping his knee and getting a large patch of dirt on his clothing hem.
Wen Xiyu climbed up from the ground, dusted off his clothes, stood the bicycle back up, and resumed riding.
Upon arriving downstairs at his apartment building, Wen Xiyu noticed a sports car parked by the roadside that he had never seen before, deep black, with a cool, gorgeous silhouette, looking extremely expensive at a glance.
He paid it no mind. After parking the bicycle, he walked into the apartment building, staring absently at the tips of his shoes while thinking about the livestream, whereupon he bumped right into someone coming from the opposite direction.
Clatter!
The object in the other party’s hand was knocked to the ground. Wen Xiyu hurriedly bent down to pick it up: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking at the road…”
The item that fell on the ground was a heavy black phone. Wen Xiyu glanced at it when picking it up; fortunately, the screen was not damaged.
“Please check if it’s broken, I’m really so…” He handed the phone back to the other party, only for his voice to come to an abrupt halt as he raised his eyes.
It was only upon clearly seeing that familiar face that Wen Xiyu realized today’s streak of bad luck was far from over.
“So what?” The other party was more than half a head taller than him, drooping a pair of sharp-shaped eyes to look down at him coldly and detachedly. “Why didn’t you finish?”
The man standing opposite him possessed deep, handsome features, with both eye and hair colors leaning light, bearing a slight mixed-race appearance. He wore a brandless basic black T-shirt and cargo pants; beneath the clothes, his muscles were lean and smooth, with a black Patek Philippe on his wrist.
This was unequivocally a top-tier handsome rich heir who would command a 100% turn-head rate walking on the street, yet he made Wen Xiyu instantly develop a strong aversion and resistance, even instinctively taking two steps backward.
Ji Jinghan.
A name unremembered for a long time surged into his mind, accompanied by a vast expanse of memory that was far from pleasant, making Wen Xiyu’s face turn a shade paler than before.
“Wen Xiyu.”
In memory, the sunlight in the hallway was dazzlingly bright. The youth in school uniform standing before him wore a lazy smirk, waving the test paper in his hand toward him in a malicious tone: “How did you score like this this time? Did falling in love ruin your brain?”
“Ji Jinghan, give me back my test paper!” Wen Xiyu reached out to snatch it, widening his eyes as he glared angrily at him. “What does it matter to you how many points I score?”
“Tsk.” Ji Jinghan snapped the test paper back and forth noisily. “Your number one rank in the grade has way too much fluff. I just tested casually and surpassed you.”
“What are you putting on an act for?” Wen Xiyu forcefully grabbed the test paper and yanked it back, causing it to tear in half with a rip between their hands.
With a cold face, he slapped his half of the test paper onto the other’s face, his pair of beautiful eyes shining bright as stars: “Do you think I don’t know you stayed up late in the classroom studying every day these past few months? Bragging and showing off triumphantly just because you beat me once, aren’t you bored?”
“Wen Xiyu.”
The memory scene dissolved, and the rebellious youth’s face in his memory gradually overlapped with the man in front of him. The other’s facial features seemed to have matured a bit, the only constant being the familiar expression of disgust when facing him.
“Look at this.” His gaze swept across Wen Xiyu’s body, his tone casual and indifferent: “How did our once high-and-mighty Princess end up so pathetic?”
Ji Jinghan’s naked gaze stung as it landed on him, sweeping over his messy, slightly damp long hair, cheap clothing, and mud-stained hem, making Wen Xiyu feel burning pain all over.
“Naturally, it cannot compare to Young Master Ji’s prominence.” Having said this calmly, he stuffed the phone back into Ji Jinghan’s hand. “I have things to do; I won’t keep you company.”
The moment the words fell, without waiting for Ji Jinghan’s response, Wen Xiyu quickened his pace and rapidly turned deep into the apartment corridor.
Why would Ji Jinghan appear here?
Taking the elevator upstairs, Wen Xiyu was still thinking about this question all the way until he arrived at his front door.
At this moment, a huge commotion suddenly came from the other side. Wen Xiyu raised his eyes to see the door of the opposite room wide open, with several people in black clothing carrying various pieces of furniture inside.
Something flashed across his mind like lightning, startling Wen Xiyu himself.
…No way?
Definitely not, Wen Xiyu comforted himself while entering the password. How could there be such a coincidence? He shouldn’t be unlucky to this extent. Besides, a top-tier wealthy family’s young master like Ji Jinghan, how could he lower his dignity to come live in a shabby apartment like this?
Maybe he was just here visiting a friend.
After entering his home, the spirit that had been strung tight all day for Wen Xiyu finally relaxed. He took a simple shower, draped his half-damp long hair over his shoulders, sat on the sofa, and began cuddling his cat.
The little cat he raised was named Mint Crisp, a Silver Shaded cat with light green eyes, gentle and clingy. While gently stroking its soft, fluffy fur, Wen Xiyu opened the Weibo account he had left untouched for two days.
@RainingLittleCats: Good afternoon, babies >< Noticed today that my Douyin followers broke through 200k, thank you so much for your support [Embrace]. Asking here if there’s any fan benefit you guys want?
The reply count on this Weibo post was not high, just a few hundred, but the top comment’s likes had already reached several thousand, with numerous people replying in agreement: A petition signed in blood by one person demanding female crossdressing!
Wen Xiyu felt his vision go dark. He scrolled through the comments below; most were demanding female clothing, while others raised even more excessive requests.
How could these people have such a wicked sense of taste!
Wen Xiyu took a screenshot and sent it to Tan Jingzhi, asking her what to do.
[Strawberry Spilled: Hahaha, you should have mentioned when posting that crossdressing wasn’t accepted; otherwise, everyone would definitely want to see that.]
[Strawberry Spilled: But it doesn’t matter, you’ll definitely look good in a dress. I’ll buy it for you, then do your makeup. How about it?]
With matters having reached this point, it was hard for Wen Xiyu to back out, so he could only agree to Tan Jingzhi’s suggestion.
[Rain Song: By the way, do you know who I ran into downstairs at the apartment building today?]
[Strawberry Spilled:? Who?]
[Rain Song: Ji Jinghan…]
[Strawberry Spilled: ?? Why would he show up there? He couldn’t be looking to make trouble for you, right?]
[Rain Song: I don’t know either…]
[Strawberry Spilled: I remember your relationship in high school was terrible. I thought it’d be better after university…]
When talking with familiar friends about Ji Jinghan, the other person’s first impression was always “your relationship in high school was terrible.”
In fact, looking into the details, it didn’t even start in high school. He and Ji Jinghan had known each other very early; when they were young, they used to live in the same villa district, though the other party seemed to have hated him deeply even back then.
Why was that? Truthfully, Wen Xiyu could never figure out the reason, only able to attribute it to his own past bad temper offending too many people, with Ji Jinghan merely being the most difficult one among them.
Their mutually hostile relationship extended from childhood until after the class stream division in their second year of high school, forced to an end due to the physical distance between them.
After entering university, Wen Xiyu only heard others mention that Ji Jinghan was also at his university. But the campus was too large, and they were in different colleges, never crossing paths, leading him to almost forget this person’s existence.
Until today.
Wen Xiyu forced himself to forget this interlude regarding Ji Jinghan, diving back into his busy life of livestreaming, attending classes, and drawing artwork commissions.
Tan Jingzhi’s efficiency was top-notch; before long, she bought the dress for him. On Wednesday afternoon, when there were no classes, she brought the dress and makeup to Wen Xiyu’s apartment.
“How is it? My carefully selected ‘White Moonlight’ dress, isn’t it gorgeous?” Tan Jingzhi pulled the dress out of the shopping bag. It was a halter-neck white long dress that reached the ankles, its neckline embellished with glossy pearls.
Wen Xiyu wrinkled his face: “…I don’t want to wear it.”
“Crossdressing is either zero times or infinite times; you’ll definitely fall in love with it.” Tan Jingzhi pushed him to change his clothes. The size L dress fit just right, and his long hair cascading down covered shoulders that were slightly broader than a woman’s, not looking out of place at all.
Tan Jingzhi applied a simple, clean “boiled water” style makeup look on Wen Xiyu, combing his long hair smooth to drape over the side of his neck. Looking into the mirror, she sighed in admiration: “Your look is completely the dark-straight-haired first love ‘White Moonlight’ type. Once posted, you’ll definitely be called a goddess by a lot of people.”
Looking at himself in the mirror, Wen Xiyu’s earlobes down to his neck burned piping hot, saving even the blush: “…Shut your mouth.”
The finalized fan benefit was shooting a video wearing female clothing. Tan Jingzhi directed him to sit by the window where the sunlight streamed in and instructed him to strike several poses before finally finishing the video capture.
That night, Tan Jingzhi edited the video and sent it to him. Wen Xiyu did not dare to look closely, uploading it directly before ignoring it.
Opening Douyin again the following afternoon, Wen Xiyu was startled by the dense swarm of red notification dots, only to discover that this video’s popularity had exploded, with likes and comments multiplying several times over previous metrics.
Looking at the continuously growing likes, a worry involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
It wouldn’t happen to be scrolled across by an acquaintance, right?