Chapter 69

Ji Wei blinked slowly. After a moment of confusion, he took a deep breath. His idol must have changed the contact name on his phone. The young man’s face quickly heated up, as if it would explode with a gentle poke. His whole face was beet red, and even his fingertips touching the screen were burning. Didn’t his idol know they were still streaming…

Even if they weren’t streaming, changing his own contact name to “Baby”… most people wouldn’t do that, right? But his idol did it, and he did it with such candor, sitting in his wheelchair and admitting it without any concealment.

[Aaaahhhhhh, I’m alone in bed writhing like a maggot!]

[The person above is killing me. You don’t have to talk about yourself like that, but I can’t stop my knowing smile. Lu Shenxing is Ji Wei’s baby!]

[What kind of beautiful love is this! I’m crying a river!]

Everyone else was shocked, especially Xiao Chi. In his mind, Lu Shenxing had always been a stern senior. He never expected him to be so… girlishly sentimental in front of Ji Wei.

He looked over at Zhao Yue, whose expression was also full of unspoken words. However, neither of them dared to show it. They quickly lowered their heads, pretending not to have heard anything.

For the rest of the time, Ji Wei was completely out of it. The only good news was that, because of his idol’s “It’s me,” the stream’s popularity finally broke the forty million mark.

—Congratulations on unlocking the Forbidden City Hot Pot. Please purchase the equipment from the shopping list!

Everyone’s spirits lifted. Before they could buy the equipment, the app suddenly updated with another message.

—Congratulations on completing the daily mission. You have been randomly rewarded with one employee!

Seeing the word “random,” Ji Wei remembered that the last mysterious reward was just a cake, and his eyelid twitched.

The lucky draw interface began to spin. The bullet comments were even more excited than they were.

[My heart can’t take it, I don’t dare to look. Sisters, please let me know on Weibo when it’s done.]

[Hahahahahahahaha, at least we’ll get a person this time. To be honest, I’ve got my eye on the chef.]

[If we’re doing hot pot, a chef is the most practical, right? I don’t think the Forbidden City sells hot pot base, only the equipment.]

Ji Wei and the others thought so too, hoping the pointer would land on the chef. But the pointer spun and spun, refusing to grant their wish, and finally stopped on the composer.

What did a grocery store need a composer for?

Ji Wei was speechless. He suspected there was some foul play involved.

[A composer??? I feel like that’s even worse than a guitarist or something. At least they can make some noise.]

[+1, I want a chef! What about the hot pot base for next week? Are we going to buy Dezhuang for forty yuan on Taobao?]

[Dezhuang is actually okay. I don’t think foreigners will be able to tell much of a difference, if they can handle spicy food.]

[Yeah, a lot of the people at the hot pot places here in Texas are Chinese. Foreigners might not be used to it.]

Zhao Yue was so angry he wanted to throw his phone. Xiao Chi quickly caught it for him and patted his back to calm him down.

Zhao Yue got even angrier, wondering if this Xiao Chi was trying to step on him to get ahead, to make himself look like a white lotus.

[Every time the camera turns to Zhao Yue and Xiao Chi, I feel like they’re about to fight in the next second!]

[True.]

[To be fair, Xiao Chi is quite polite. He’s gained a lot of fans from the show. Zhao Yue, on the other hand… is probably losing fans by participating in a variety show.]

[Here we go again, the weekly fight between Xiao fans and Zhao fans. Can’t you just watch the show quietly?]

Ji Wei clicked on the shopping list. The items on the list had changed again. The miniature model and hats were gone, replaced by phone cases and handkerchiefs.

His hand swiped down, landing on the picture of the hot pot.

The hot pot equipment included a table and chairs, a copper pot, and four sets of bowls and chopsticks. One set cost seven hundred dollars. Fortunately, they had ample funds and bought eight sets at once.

And that was only because they were limited by space, otherwise they could have bought more.

But the show’s production team didn’t provide the ingredients. They would have to go to the supermarket to buy ingredients and prepare them as soon as they returned to St. Lawrence on Monday.

Ji Wei was a little absent-minded the whole way. When he returned to his room after the stream ended, the first thing he did was… change the contact name.

If another “It’s your baby” incident happened next episode, he would really have no face to show anyone. It was safer to change it.

He sat on a chair, opened his contacts, and was about to make the change when a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him, “Are you changing the contact name?”

Startled by Lu Shenxing’s voice, Ji Wei’s hand trembled, and he almost dropped his phone. He slowly turned around and saw his idol, fresh from a shower, with his dark hair still dripping water, quietly looking at him.

Ji Wei braced himself and explained, “All the contacts on my phone are just their names, including my parents. It doesn’t reveal any family relationships, to prevent phone scams.”

The implication was that this contact name was too intimate. It screamed “couple” or “partner.”

“Afraid of exposing our relationship, huh?” The man nodded slightly, as if he thought what he said made sense.

Ji Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He deleted the word “Baby” and was about to type “Lu Shenxing” when the man suddenly said faintly, “Change it to ‘Brother’.”

Ji Wei was speechless. This did hide their partner relationship, but why did he feel even more embarrassed?

Under Lu Shenxing’s faint gaze, Ji Wei could only change the contact name with a trembling hand to—

Brother.

“A good boy deserves a reward.” The corners of the man’s lips suddenly curved up.

Ji Wei looked up, staring blankly at Lu Shenxing, not understanding what he meant. But the next second, the man wheeled himself over and kissed him on the forehead, a warm touch.

It was as if fireworks were exploding brilliantly in Ji Wei’s mind, burning up the last trace of oxygen, leaving only bewilderment and a carefully hidden joy.

***

Returning to Yancheng, Ji Wei slept until the next morning to recover from jet lag. When he woke up, there was a new message on his phone.

[Counselor]: Come to my office at the school.

It was already summer vacation, so this was a very unusual request.

[Ji Wei]: Is something wrong?

[Counselor]: You’ll know when you get here.

He had no choice but to change his clothes and go out. Lu Shenxing had left early, and only Huang Bo was in the house making breakfast. To get to the school quickly, he only grabbed two pumpkin pies to eat on the way.

Huang Bo still insisted on taking him to school, so Ji Wei had to agree. He ate the pumpkin pies and thought that Huang Bo’s cooking was getting better and better.

When he got to the office, Cui Jiu was surprisingly there too. He gave him a helpless look.

Besides Cui Jiu and the counselor, there was also a long-haired young man in the office. Ji Wei recognized him; he had just searched his name yesterday.

—Xu Sheng.

Xu Sheng stood up, holding a book. “There was a printing error in this edition of Detailed Explanation of Human Anatomy. I’m very grateful that you pointed it out.”

Ji Wei and Cui Jiu looked at each other, not understanding what Xu Sheng meant.

Ji Wei had originally thought it was normal for someone like Xu Sheng, who had achieved international fame at such a young age, to be arrogant. But to his surprise, Xu Sheng didn’t give off that feeling at all.

“To express my gratitude, I will be holding an exhibition of outstanding works from the Yan University Academy of Fine Arts at the Yiqiu Art Museum this month. I hope you can attend.” Xu Sheng handed him and Cui Jiu his business card.

Ji Wei and Cui Jiu exchanged a look before slowly nodding.

“I have some matters to attend to in Shanghai, so I’ll be leaving now,” Xu Sheng said with a slight apology.

After Xu Sheng left and the office door closed, the counselor finally spoke. “Cui Jiu, how could you report it to the publisher using your real name? When Xu Sheng came to see me yesterday, I was completely stunned. Fortunately, he didn’t hold it against us and even helped us organize an art exhibition.”

Cui Jiu was clearly scared too. “I sent the email to the publisher anonymously. I don’t know how they found me.”

The counselor frowned. “That’s impossible.”

Cui Jiu was about to argue when Ji Wei seemed to think of something and said, “You submitted a manuscript to the People’s Fine Arts Publishing House before, didn’t you? You forgot? They should have your information.”

Only then did Cui Jiu realize. But Ji Wei was silently thinking to himself that this Mr. Xu Sheng must have a very powerful background, otherwise the publisher wouldn’t have revealed Cui Jiu’s information.

After Xu Sheng got into the car, he answered a phone call. “I saw him. He really does look like him.”

***

After Ji Wei and Cui Jiu left the office, he finally remembered to ask, “How did Xu Sheng find me?”

He wasn’t suspicious of Cui Jiu, just curious.

“I don’t know either.” Cui Jiu rubbed the back of his head. “It’s strange. I just attached the sketch you drew to the email.”

Ji Wei also fell into thought. The distance between Shanghai and Yancheng wasn’t that far, but it was really unnecessary to make a trip in person. It felt less like expressing gratitude and more like… inviting them to the art exhibition.

Unable to figure it out, he decided to stop thinking about it.

The whole thing was strange. He and Cui Jiu discussed it and decided not to attend the art exhibition organized by Xu Sheng.

Cui Jiu agreed. He adjusted his glasses. “If I had the time, I’d rather go to the library more often. I don’t have time to run all the way to Shanghai.”

Ji Wei hummed in agreement and put his phone away.

He and Cui Jiu parted ways at the school gate, and he got into Huang Bo’s car.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

—It was an overseas user.

Ji Wei answered hesitantly.

“Hello, I’m a staff member of the PUBG All-Star Game. We’re planning to hold a charity match before the official start of the competition… I was wondering if you would be interested in participating?”

Ji Wei understood from the introduction. All proceeds from the charity match would be donated to children in mountainous areas. The participants would include professional players, streamers like him, and also neutral netizens.

“I’ll think about it.”

Ji Wei wasn’t particularly interested in PUBG, but the staff member’s attitude was very sincere, so he didn’t refuse directly.

Just then, he received a comment.

[Vitamin]: Will Weiwei be participating in the All-Star warm-up charity match?

He replied with a sentence.

[Ji Wei Who Plays Games]: I’m considering it.

He was telling the truth.

But to Ji Wei’s surprise, the esports circle exploded because of his words. Someone started a thread on a gaming forum.

[Loot Box on Landing]: “Considering it”… what’s up with Ji Wei’s words?

[Will FOX Win the Championship or Not]: That’s hilarious. As far as I know, the officials didn’t even invite Douyu’s Lion. He’s good at the game, but his popularity isn’t as high as Lion’s, right? Bringing up the charity match is a bit… hmmm…

[September 1st]: I heard it’s by team recommendation this time, it has nothing to do with popularity.

[Suwei Suwei]: Who recommended him? Both domestic teams recommended their B-team members. Where’s the spot for him? Unless it’s a foreign team, but do you think that’s possible?

The thread was full of conflicting opinions. Compared to a one-sided argument, it was more topical. Plus, the forum was full of students who had nothing better to do during their summer vacation. Before long, the thread had over ten pages of arguments, leading some to joke that Ji Wei was a true forum top celebrity.

Ji Wei didn’t know that his words had started several long threads on the forum. When he got home, Lu Shenxing happened to be back too, directing Ying Guanxiao to move books into the study.

“Hurry up,” Lu Shenxing reminded softly.

Hearing Lu Shenxing’s words, Ying Guanxiao wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I’m only doing this because you’re a patient. Otherwise, I would have left long ago.” Seeing Ji Wei come in, he quickly changed his expression and greeted him with a smile, “Weiwei’s back.”

“Hello, Brother Ying,” Ji Wei smiled shyly. He glanced at the books piled up in the living room; they were all related to psychology.

“They’re for a role,” Lu Shenxing said flatly, seeming to notice his confusion.

Ji Wei said “oh” and also helped Ying Guanxiao move the books. Lu Shenxing sat in the living room reading a script, his thick lashes casting a small shadow on his face.

Ji Wei and Ying Guanxiao moved books until one in the afternoon. Moving the books didn’t take much time; what took time was organizing and coding them. His idol’s bookshelf had to be categorized like a library, neatly arranged, with each book having its own number.

“Someone is really hard to please,” Ying Guanxiao said truthfully, placing the last book on the shelf.

The first time he met Lu Shenxing, he should have realized it. At that time, Lu Shenxing was an extra in Hengdian, running between different crews every day. The physical exertion was immense, but he always ate his boxed lunch slowly and with grace. It was a pity he didn’t see it then.

Ji Wei could understand Ying Guanxiao, but as a qualified fan, he rubbed his sore wrist and could only pretend… not to hear.

After Ying Guanxiao left, Ji Wei sat on the sofa to rest, planning to stream a game later. After moving books for half the day, he had to choose a game with less action. He considered playing a text-based game.

Suddenly, Chen Yan sent a video of himself on vacation at the beach in their dorm group chat. He subconsciously clicked on it, and immediately heard Chen Yan’s enthusiastic voice, along with the sound of waves crashing on the beach.

“Does classmate Ji Wei miss me? Cui—”

The phone’s volume was a bit loud. Thinking that Lu Shenxing was still reading his script nearby, he quickly muted it. But… it seemed he had still disturbed Lu Shenxing.

The man looked up and stared at him for a moment, then slowly asked, “Who is he?” His tone was devoid of any warmth.

“Chen Yan,” Ji Wei replied.

After a moment of silence, Lu Shenxing asked again, “Do you miss him?”

Could his idol be bothered by this? The thought suddenly occurred to Ji Wei. He quickly shook his head. “No, no.”

Chen Yan’s tone was clearly a joke. Besides, he and Chen Yan had been roommates for two years. Even if he did miss him, it would be normal, right?

However, he could only think this to himself and didn’t dare to say it out loud.

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a little nervous. The air around them seemed to freeze, and he was afraid his idol’s next words would be “delete him.”

Fortunately, the man just lowered his eyes. “Then you should tell him that.”

Ji Wei breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.” He immediately sent a message in the group chat, drawing a clear line between himself and Chen Yan.

[Ji Wei]: I don’t miss you.

[Cui Jiu]: +1.

[Chen Yan]: Heh, as if I miss you guys. I’ve got sunshine, beaches, and long legs here. Are you jealous?

Ji Wei looked up at Lu Shenxing. The sunlight fell on him, and because he was backlit, it created a halo around him, making his features even more defined. The script was open on his long legs, and he exuded an extraordinary air. Except for the beach, he had the other two elements.

So, Ji Wei replied to Chen Yan.

[Ji Wei]: Not jealous.

As he lowered his head to send the message, he felt the man’s gaze fixed on him, as if it had a temperature that was burning him. He thought for a moment and tentatively said, “I’ve replied.”

Only then did the oppressive gaze disappear.

Ji Wei stood up, ready to go to the study to stream. Before he had taken two steps, his hand was suddenly grabbed by the man, held tightly and not let go.

In broad daylight, his heart suddenly trembled. But he still said, “I have work to do.”

The man still didn’t let go.

Ji Wei added, “I have to stream this afternoon.”

That should be enough, right? He thought silently.

Lu Shenxing finally let go of his hand.

Ji Wei was relieved. Just as he was about to turn and walk away, he heard the man speak.

“I’m going to be filming next month.” Lu Shenxing pointed to the script.

Next month?

Then his leg should be better.

Ji Wei said, “Good luck.”

“There’s a scene I don’t know how to shoot.” The man lowered his eyes and said, “Can you help me?”

A scene that even his idol didn’t know how to shoot must be really difficult. He would definitely help if he could.

Ji Wei nodded and then asked, “What scene?”

“A kiss scene,” the man said calmly.