Jiang Liyue was startled by the sound of his own heartbeat, and for a moment, he didn’t respond to Zhao Chenxing’s question. He just stared blankly at the strands of hair on Zhao Chenxing’s forehead.
The strands of hair naturally parted to the sides with Zhao Chenxing’s movements, revealing a faint pink scar on his forehead.
Without thinking, Jiang Liyue reached out with his left hand.
He was sitting at an angle on the edge of the bed, slightly leaning against the headboard, but his focus was on the person on the bed.
As he reached out, he asked in return, “Hmm?”
At that moment, he didn’t know what he was thinking. Was he thinking about the question Zhao Chenxing just asked? Or was he wondering why his heart was beating so fast? Or was he thinking…
Why hasn’t this scar faded yet?
Is it reminding him of something?
As soon as Jiang Liyue touched the scar on Zhao Chenxing’s forehead, he recoiled as if electrocuted, as if he had touched something terrifying.
Jiang Liyue tightly clenched his cold fingertip, as if trying to warm it with the heat from his palm.
Although Zhao Chenxing had asked a question, his mind wasn’t fully awake. After asking, he closed his eyes again, ready to return to his dream. The girl in his dream was quite pretty, with skin so fair it dazzled him, especially her slender neck.
Just as the girl’s blurry silhouette appeared, and he was about to ask her name, he felt a poke on his forehead.
Zhao Chenxing abruptly opened his eyes, his gaze shifting from the hazy fairy-like figure to the lowered eyes of Jiang Liyue, whose expression was unclear.
!
I didn’t wake up this early to see a guy!
Zhao Chenxing, feeling deflated, buried his head in the blanket that still held his warmth, and mumbled, “Why did you wake me up so early?”
Jiang Liyue moved his slightly numb arm and innocently said, “I didn’t wake you.”
“You didn’t wake me? You came into my room and poked my head. If that’s not waking me, what is?”
Jiang Liyue knew Zhao Chenxing had a bad temper when waking up. He thought about it from his perspective. If it were him, waking up groggy and getting poked on the head, indeed…
There wasn’t much to be angry about.
After all, he didn’t value sleep as much as Zhao Chenxing, who seemed like he wanted to marry into the Duke of Zhou’s family.
He could understand why Zhao Chenxing was upset.
Jiang Liyue softened his tone, his slightly deep voice mixed with the warm yellow light, wrapping into Zhao Chenxing’s ears.
“Sorry, my bad.” Jiang Liyue said, looking at Zhao Chenxing’s tousled hair, “Next time, I’ll wake you gently, I promise not to make you angry, okay?”
Zhao Chenxing was silent for a moment, not sure what he was imagining, then he lifted his head from the blanket, his eyes shining brightly. He said excitedly, “Next time, I hope a pretty girl wakes me up! If they wake me, I’ll get up! I won’t be angry at all!”
…
Jiang Liyue couldn’t help but ruffle Zhao Chenxing’s messy hair, gritting his teeth, “Wake-up service? Pretty girls? Them?”
Zhao Chenxing seemed oblivious to the anger in Jiang Liyue’s voice, nor did he notice the room’s pressure drop when Jiang Liyue spoke. He was still immersed in his fantasy, “Yes! That would be the peak of life, just thinking about it is wonderful.”
Jiang Liyue closed his eyes, responding to Zhao Chenxing with a cold shoulder.
*
When the livestream returned to normal, it was just in time for the couple group to enter the holographic pod.
[Here they come!!]
[Finally, they’re in!]
[Brother, brother! I’m crazy for you! I’ll bang my head against the wall for you!]
Gradually, the bullet comments noticed that the livestream they entered wasn’t their brother’s, but a double room named [Mandarin Ducks].
After discussions between the game developers and the variety show planners, they decided to set up the livestream as a main room and sub-rooms. Divided by groups, which corresponded to their room numbers. After entering a sub-room, viewers could switch between the two perspectives by pressing the TAB key.
However, due to concerns about traffic diversion, especially with the invincible bug Jiang Liyue present, they had to set it so that in large scenarios, where everyone was present, all traffic would be forced back to the main room.
The downside of livestreaming is that many mundane daily moments don’t seem interesting to viewers, leading to a drop in viewership and, consequently, lower streaming benefits. It’s not as effective as the traditional format of recorded broadcasts that can be edited for conflict and highlights.
For situations where everyone enters the game separately and later splits into groups, the main control station and supercomputer will calculate in advance which two livestream rooms have the optimal traffic, allowing viewers to choose between the two.
Therefore, the audience flooding into the livestream found they could only choose between two rooms: one was the [Main Station] already in the game, and the other was the couple group [Mandarin Ducks].
The [Main Station]’s livestream perspective was cut just right, placing the most popular Zhan Wen teacher in the center.
At this moment, Zhan Wen teacher and the martial arts teacher’s two groups had already entered the virtual world. They landed in the same place, a famous French tourist spot, [Seine Riverside].
They were still wondering why the other groups hadn’t arrived when they received a message from the main control station, instructing them to stay put.
…
[Jiang, where are you?]
[Brother, your sister is here to find you, but she can’t find you anywhere.]
[Is Jiang Liyue starting to act like a diva?]
[Brother isn’t like that, don’t talk nonsense, something must have delayed him.]
[As it stands, only Jiang Liyue’s group hasn’t appeared, so they didn’t participate.]
[Isn’t it possible they might be doing a hidden task?]
The couple group’s livestream was filled with bullet comments from Jiang Liyue’s fans, which the artists couldn’t see. Otherwise, if Ye Qiyuan saw it, he might perform a fireworks display on the spot.
However, some rational passerby fans quickly corrected the off-topic comments.
[Just enjoy the livestream, and Jiang Liyue’s fans, please don’t be disruptive, it really ruins the passerby impression.]
[Yeah, there’s a reason we’re watching the couple group.]
[Don’t say, the couple seems to have just entered, it’s pretty dark, where is this…]
At this moment, the two were undergoing the final step, identity data scanning and entry, in a completely dark scene.
“A Yuan…” Ren Sisi said softly, feeling a bit scared in this dark environment, “Are you there?”
Ye Qiyuan intentionally didn’t respond to scare her.
“…A Yuan, A Yuan, A Yuan,” Ren Sisi, not hearing a reply, became more anxious. They were just talking, it couldn’t be that she’s alone now, right? She continued with a sobbing tone, “A Yuan, make a sound, I’m scared…”
…
“Squeak.”
Hearing the sound right next to her, Ren Sisi instantly felt at ease. She said with resentment, “You’ve been here all along, why didn’t you answer me!”
Ye Qiyuan replied impatiently, “Didn’t I respond to you?”
“Then why didn’t you answer earlier? I called you so many times, why didn’t you respond?”
“You were calling like a ghost, why should I answer you, then wouldn’t I also become…”
Ye Qiyuan’s words were cut off by Ren Sisi’s scream.
“Ahhh! I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it!” Ren Sisi was afraid of ghosts, as most girls are, “Shut up!”
“You said it, so I won’t talk to you anymore.” Ye Qiyuan was also speechless, afraid of this and that, yet still participating in the variety show, not afraid of ruining her pure and innocent persona.
At this moment, the bullet comments weren’t criticizing them for breaking character, but rather debating the right and wrong of their conversation.
[Ye Qiyuan, really, in this situation, shouldn’t you make your girlfriend feel safe?]
[Exactly, this way the two won’t last long.]
[Don’t say, my boyfriend is just like this, I’m so mad! He doesn’t understand me at all.]
[Do you all think it’s the guy’s fault? The girl’s yelling is annoying, okay?]
[Hahaha, as expected of a couple, just like when I argue with my boyfriend.]
[I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to hear it!! Hahaha, it’s so catchy!]
[They seem fake, but surprisingly real, hahaha, it’s interesting, I have high hopes for this pair!]
The bullet comments were filled with viewers’ heated discussions. This real-time, unedited artist interaction mode, where everyone expressed their opinions on events, was appearing in the film industry for the first time.
Everyone was excitedly discussing the plot, and at this moment, the excitement was theirs, while [Wuxin] had nothing.
Zhao Chenxing couldn’t understand why Jiang Liyue had been in a low mood, seemingly angry, ever since he left his room.
“Are you mad?” Zhao Chenxing asked slowly, holding a cup of water and taking a sip.
Jiang Liyue sat on the sofa, flipping through a magazine on the table, and said calmly, “No.”
He was definitely mad, Zhao Chenxing was sure.
This kid, who knows how he was raised, grew up to be so awkward, angry but insisting he’s not.
“No, baby~” Zhao Chenxing moved to the sofa with his cup, speaking gently, “Tell your brother, who made you mad? I’ll go beat them up!”
…
If I say it’s you, will you hit yourself?
Jiang Liyue gave Zhao Chenxing a resentful look, said nothing, and continued flipping through the magazine.
Zhao Chenxing couldn’t stand it anymore, reached out to flip the magazine in Jiang Liyue’s hand, and said, “You have it upside down…”
The two of them entered the game room in this lukewarm manner.
Only then did Zhao Chenxing remember they were supposed to participate in a livestream that morning! He quickly checked the time.
!
It was almost 11:30!
“Jiang Liyue! Look at the time! Aren’t we late?”
“To be precise, we are already late.”
“It’s all your fault for not waking me up this morning!”
Jiang Liyue heard this and laughed angrily, saying with a fake smile, “Who was the one who got angry after being woken up?”
Seeing him like this, Zhao Chenxing remembered he did throw a little tantrum in the morning. He said, aggrieved, “But… back in high school, when we were late because I couldn’t get up, you weren’t mad, so why are you like this today?”
Looking at Zhao Chenxing’s aggrieved expression, Jiang Liyue’s heart softened involuntarily. He knew Zhao Chenxing was used to acting like this, and he always fell for it.
He sighed and said, “Forget it, let’s just get ready and go in.”
“Will you get scolded?” Zhao Chenxing asked worriedly, considering they were quite late.
“No, knowing the show’s style, being late probably comes with a special gift.” Jiang Liyue said as he walked into the game room.
Looking at the cold, silver, metallic machine in front of him, Jiang Liyue asked, “So, do you know how to use it?”
“Hmm?”
Jiang Liyue nodded towards the holographic pod with his chin, “This thing.”
Hearing this, Zhao Chenxing raised an eyebrow, curled one side of his lips, and said, “I built it, do you think I know how to use it?”