Sheng Mingzhi spent less than a minute explaining the situation to Shen Ling.
As soon as the message was sent, before Shen Ling could reply, she was reprimanded by her second uncle in a low voice: “Xiao Ling, behave yourself. I didn’t bring you to this cocktail party to play on your phone. Don’t you usually love these events? Why have you had your head down the whole time today?”
At a financial gala in Yunjing, the air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume and the rustle of silk.
Shen Ling, under the strict supervision of her second uncle, couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
Of course she liked parties, but those were youth parties, okay? If her dress didn’t have a slit up to her thigh, she wouldn’t even step out the door, OK? Who wears a traditional, stuffy, high-collared qipao like this?
She had grievances she couldn’t voice, so she muttered: “Second Uncle, Mingzhi isn’t feeling well. I’m just chatting with him.”
Hearing Sheng Mingzhi’s name, her second uncle’s expression softened. After all, the name of Mingchen Bank was legendary in the capital world, and this young master was Lu Jiayan’s spouse. The Shen family had always encouraged Shen Ling to maintain a close friendship with Sheng Mingzhi.
Shen Ling quickly vented to Sheng Mingzhi on WeChat, but remembering he was currently live-streaming, she didn’t want to distract him too much and reluctantly put her phone down.
Just then, she looked up and saw her uncle talking to Lu Jiayan. At an event like this, it was only natural for Lu Jiayan to be an invited guest.
Once her uncle finished his conversation with Lu Jiayan, Shen Ling suddenly called out: “Brother Lu.”
Lu Jiayan paused and turned to see Shen Ling, his face showing a hint of confusion.
Shen Ling touched her cheek; honestly, she was a bit afraid of Lu Jiayan. After waiting a few seconds, she spoke awkwardly: “Um… Mingzhi just told me he’s not feeling well. He seems to be home alone. Do you want to go back and check on him?”
________________________________________
Sheng Mingzhi put down his phone and looked up. The content of the bullet comments had completely changed.
“Your face is that red? Watching ‘videos’ in the stream?”
“Obscene and pornographic content. Reported.”
…
Sheng Mingzhi suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and looked at his face on the screen. It was very pale; where was it red? Why start rumors?
Sheng Mingzhi gave a dry laugh and coldly blacklisted all the anti-fans who said they were going to report him.
After ten minutes of chaos, Sheng Mingzhi’s anti-fans finally lost their momentum and some left, though a few stubborn ones stayed behind to argue with him. By the time the stream was a third of the way through, the comments had gradually become more harmonious.
Xiao Wang led a few assistants to infiltrate the comments. Under his deliberate guidance, Sheng Mingzhi followed the memorized script and answered a few questions about interesting stories during the filming of Alluring City.
However, as time passed, the prolonged high concentration made Sheng Mingzhi’s already uncomfortable body feel even heavier. Several times, he appeared dazed for a moment, and his hands moved from lying flat on the table to propping up his chin. His eyelids were battling each other; it looked like he could fall asleep at any second.
He was so clearly out of it that even the viewers noticed.
“Is Teacher Xiao Sheng unwell?”
“He looks like he’s about to fall asleep. Is he tired?”
“The temperature in Yunjing has dropped sharply lately, hope it’s not a cold.”
“Take care of your health.”
The remaining anti-fans didn’t stay quiet either:
“Did I pay money to look at this ‘funeral face’? How old are you, don’t you know to take medicine? Do you want me to order you a delivery?”
“Don’t die in the stream. If you’re sick, go get treated.”
“Damn, why make yourself look so pitiful? I feel bad even scolding you now.”
“I say, what is your manager doing? Letting you stream in this condition?”
Sheng Mingzhi wasn’t in the mood to snap back. He scanned the room; the insults were just the same old recycled phrases. He thought to himself: This Young Master isn’t in top form today, I can’t be bothered to settle scores with you.
Checking the time, there were still forty minutes left.
Sheng Mingzhi forced himself to stay awake, staring at the gift leaderboard, and began mechanically: “Thank you to user 12323 for the Confession Balloon…”
As he spoke, he picked up his phone. Shen Ling’s messages had been vibrating for a while. One after another.
[Babe, I forgot to tell you something.]
[I ran into Lu Jiayan at the gala with my second uncle.]
Sheng Mingzhi: [?]
Shen Ling typed rapidly:
[Then I told him you were unwell and might have a cold, so he left the gala early. I think he’s coming home to find you.]
[We aren’t far from Xishan No. 1, so your husband should be home soon.]
[I think you should turn off the stream first.]
[Otherwise, it might be bad if his identity is exposed (Guilty.jpg)]
Just as he finished reading this, a sudden sound of a lock clicking echoed through the study, which had previously only held the sound effects of the stream.
Sheng Mingzhi froze. Before he could turn off the camera, the study door opened. Lu Jiayan appeared at the entrance.
Sheng Mingzhi subconsciously blurted out: “You’re back?”
Lu Jiayan paused and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not allowed back?” He looked him up and down. “Shen Ling told me you weren’t feeling well. Do you have a cold?”
Sheng Mingzhi’s mind went blank. The netizens’ comments were faster than his reaction.
“?”
“???”
“Holy crap, why is there another man’s voice in your room?”
“Doesn’t sound like a manager, who is it???”
“Is it your husband?”
The fact that Sheng Mingzhi was married wasn’t a secret in the domestic entertainment industry; you could find it with a Baidu search. Since he was streaming from home, it seemed normal for his spouse to appear.
The bullet comments kept flashing, and Sheng Mingzhi only then realized the stream was still live. The questions on the screen made him panic a little.
“It’s not—”
“Not what?” Lu Jiayan looked over curiously and made a move to step forward. Half of his body was about to enter the frame.
Sheng Mingzhi jolted up and pushed Lu Jiayan toward the door. “Wait outside.”
Then he dashed back to the screen. The comments were scrolling three times faster than before.
“? It really is your husband?”
“Why not show his face? Is he uglier than your ex-husband Huo Yuzhe?”
“Laughing my head off. We’re all VIP-paying consumers, what is it that we can’t see?”
…
Sheng Mingzhi exhaled. His already muddled brain was even more confused. But as long as Lu Jiayan wasn’t there, he regained his composure.
Sheng Mingzhi frowned: “I say, are you all sick? Why do you care so much about my love life? If you’re that bored, go find a factory to work in.”
[Hilarious. Are you afraid of your ‘house collapsing’ (scandal)?]
[Don’t worry. Even if your house collapses, there will be zero casualties.]
Sheng Mingzhi: ?
Five minutes later, Sheng Mingzhi closed the study door and ran into Lu Jiayan in the hallway. For some reason, he instinctively felt that Lu Jiayan was in a bad mood.
Sheng Mingzhi felt inexplicably guilty under his gaze. After thinking about how he might have offended him, the only thing was rudely pushing him out of the room.
So, he braced himself and spoke: “I didn’t mean to push you out.”
“I was live-streaming just now. It wasn’t convenient to talk in the study.”
It was an explanation for his abnormal behavior.
Lu Jiayan stared at Sheng Mingzhi. It was visible to the naked eye that the other’s complexion was terrible. Not only that, even his lips were bloodless. Standing there, he looked like a little poplar tree that could be blown over by the wind at any moment—fragile enough to snap with a light pull.
It was already this serious, yet he only just found out.
Lu Jiayan was almost speechless with anger toward Sheng Mingzhi. Especially after learning of his illness from Shen Ling today, a subtle rage had been lingering in his heart.
He was Sheng Mingzhi’s husband, not some stranger, right? When he got sick, the first person he went to was Shen Ling. If Shen Ling hadn’t said anything, would he not have known until tomorrow?
Lu Jiayan’s voice was calm but held a hint of blame: “You’re this sick and you’re still streaming? If I hadn’t come back, were you going to keep going?”
His next sentence was a statement, as if he didn’t need to consult Sheng Mingzhi but would decide for him: “Stop the stream first. I’ll call a doctor to take a look.”
“No.” Surprisingly, Sheng Mingzhi disagreed. He countered directly: “The stream is a relay. If I stop, it will affect the artists coming after me.”
Actually, when he said it, he didn’t expect Lu Jiayan to understand him. In Lu Jiayan’s eyes, he had probably always been a little master who only caused trouble, did everything half-heartedly, and was willful and arrogant because of his wealth. So, if he told Lu Jiayan that he was actually quite serious about his work, the man would probably laugh at him.
But that was the truth.
Sheng Mingzhi was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you care so much? I’m an adult, I know what’s important…”
Lu Jiayan just looked at him. Before Sheng Mingzhi could finish, he turned and went downstairs. He looked as if he didn’t want to hear another word and couldn’t be bothered with him anymore.
Sheng Mingzhi was stunned, left only with the sight of Lu Jiayan’s back.
That was right. After seeing his gentle side a few times recently, Sheng Mingzhi had almost forgotten Lu Jiayan’s original personality. He had always been this dictatorial and acted on his own whims. It seemed that anyone who disobeyed his orders was his enemy.
Sheng Mingzhi stood there dazed for a while. Perhaps because he was sick, the back view that usually didn’t evoke much feeling now felt unbearable.
So what if he didn’t care? He wouldn’t die just because no one cared! It wasn’t like he needed him to care!
Sheng Mingzhi pursed his lips and returned to the study. The stream was still on, and fans were asking where he went, but Sheng Mingzhi had no heart to humiliate them back. His heart felt like it was soaking in acid. It felt like someone was squeezing it hard; it was stifling and uncomfortable, and he even had a bit of trouble breathing.
The breathing difficulty didn’t seem to be an illusion. Sheng Mingzhi’s consciousness gradually blurred. He had intended to curse the dog-man a few more times in his head but as his vision clouded, he slowly couldn’t support his body. Little by little, he slumped onto the table and fell into a quiet sleep.
The comments were now a sea of question marks:
“Holy crap? Asleep?”
“I scolded him so harshly and he actually fell asleep on me? I feel insulted.”
“The little loser must really be feeling bad today. I don’t even have the heart to scold him anymore.”
“Look at him, he came back looking soul-less. If I didn’t know better, I’d think a fox spirit stole his soul during those few minutes he stepped out.”
…
“Why haven’t you left the stream yet?”
“Crap? You asking me? You haven’t left either!”
“…I’m afraid he’s actually dead. I’m ready to call 120.”
“.”
“Whatever, I’ve got nothing else to do. Watching an idiot sleep, I’m down.”
The comments actually started chatting among themselves. A hundred thousand people, and not a single one left the stream. It was utterly ridiculous.
The sleeping Sheng Mingzhi had no idea that his phone was being blown up by calls from Xiao Wang.
After a while, there was movement in the study again. Lu Jiayan had gone out to buy medicine and had just brought up a glass of warm water, only to see that Sheng Mingzhi had fallen asleep on the table.
In the moment before he slept, he was likely still working hard, his hand still holding the stand. Unfortunately, the stand had tilted, and the screen now only showed Sheng Mingzhi’s face. Even when Lu Jiayan walked over, only the area below his shoulders entered the frame.
Because of this, he didn’t see that the comments had gone insane:
“Who is this?”
“Is this Sheng Mingzhi’s husband?”
“Wow, curious. I want to know if he’s handsomer than Huo Yuzhe!”
“Probably Huo Yuzhe. Sheng Mingzhi’s husband is a civilian, how can he compare to a star?”
“Damn, this loser definitely lied about his height. If he really was 180, there’s no way I wouldn’t see his husband’s face! The phone screen is held so low!”
…
Lu Jiayan, completely oblivious to this, was somewhat dazed. It seemed he really hadn’t expected this little ancestor to be so professional. It shattered his preconceptions and made him re-evaluate Sheng Mingzhi as a person. He seemed different from what he had imagined.
Lu Jiayan noticed the stream was still going when he looked down. He gave up on his plan to help Sheng Mingzhi upstairs and simply picked him up from the table, letting Sheng Mingzhi slump into his arms.
The intimate posture was clear for all to see. Without a word, outsiders could understand their relationship. The platinum rings on their ring fingers shimmered in unison, a perfect pair.
Lu Jiayan glanced at the comments and asked in a slow, measured tone: “What time does he finish the stream?”
The comments collectively froze for a moment. For some reason, Lu Jiayan’s words carried an air of authority that brooked no resistance. Under this “military-style management,” the comments reflexively answered in unison: 8:30.
There was still half an hour until the end of the stream.
Lu Jiayan seemed to have made up his mind to hold him like this. He sat there for a full half hour until 8:30, completing Sheng Mingzhi’s streaming workload. Throughout the entire process, there was zero interaction and zero communication with the fans.
The only things that appeared on screen were Sheng Mingzhi’s sleeping face and half of Lu Jiayan’s body. And the comments, which were flooding the screen with four letters: “KSWL” (Killed Me With Sweetness).