Indifference (Extra!)

If anyone else had a pile of haters and still dared to livestream, they would have been drowned in spit long ago. But Si You was destined to be different—he scared the haters off first.

Si You's gameplay was still a pleasure to watch, and quite a few people wondered how his brain worked so fast.

"Trap!" Si You said. "See that toy doll across from me? Based on my decades of gaming experience, if I step on the plank ahead, that doll will immediately come alive."

[Decades, my ass. You're full of it. Step on it and let us see.]

Just as Si You was about to refuse, gifts came flooding in from the viewers.

[You can't take gifts for nothing. Step on it.]

Si You chuckled. "Alright, boss."

It was exactly as Si You had predicted. The plank let out a creak, followed by a burst of exaggerated, eerie laughter. Everything around it began to shake, and the toy doll's face visibly twisted into something grotesque before it suddenly flew toward the camera!

Jiang Tingxu tightened his grip on his phone and heard Si You say, "Not a big problem."

There was nothing a sliding tackle couldn't solve.

But that move was actually very difficult in a horror game. Your stamina had to be full, and you also needed a charged-up meter. You had to crouch and lunge forward at the exact moment you started running in order to dodge, which showed just how perfectly Si You had nailed every detail.

After happily harvesting a wave of "666" comments, the game moved into a story segment, giving Si You time to take a sip of hot tea.

He was still coughing, and his voice had changed a little. The bosses might usually be rough around the edges, but lately, they had become rather sensitive.

[Got a cold? The show didn't say they were abusing you, did it?]

"No, no, no, boss. You can't say things like that casually." Si You hurriedly stopped him. "If someone screenshots it and spreads it around, I'll be in trouble."

[Hey! You think your haters haven't screenshotted things from our livestream? The guy ranked third on your leaderboard said "haters, get lost" last time, and it got posted on that Weibo forum. More than a dozen haters even privately messaged him.]

Si You was startled. "Is he okay?"

[Your boss may be old and zen now, but he's not dead. That brother ranked third used to be a famous flamethrower on the blame-shifting forums. Taking on a hundred people alone was no problem for him. He cursed them all into muting themselves. Back when we fought literary and physical battles in gaming circles, you little babies in fandoms were still learning how to write.]

Si You had no way to argue with that.

As usual, the livestream lasted two hours. Si You streamed seriously, and the viewers were satisfied watching him. Letting him spend a few minutes reading out gifts had also become an unspoken tradition between them.

The main thing was, Si You was still a celebrity, more or less. The bosses had analyzed things in private before and assumed that once Si You went off to record the show, he would stop livestreaming. It seemed rather low-class for celebrities to do this sort of thing, didn't it? In any case, people climbed upward, so the bosses had lamented that they would never again see such smooth gameplay. Who would have thought Si You could keep it up? Whenever he had free time, he streamed, and the quality was quite good too.

When Si You ended the livestream and stood up, Jiang Tingxu also put away his headphones.

Si You was deeply grateful. "Thank you, Best Actor. Are you sleepy?"

"Not sleepy," Jiang Tingxu said. "It's about time. We should head downstairs and prepare dinner."

Si You replied, "Alright."

Xue Boyu was already washing vegetables. The rain outside was still heavy, so they had no way to set up a stove. Fei Chang suggested that everyone contribute some supplies and eat together. Ever since the show started, they had been busy with tasks and had not properly eaten or chatted together.

The atmosphere had been somewhat low because of Jiang Yao falling ill, so when Fei Chang brought it up, everyone responded enthusiastically. Even Jiang Tingxu nodded.

Without question, Si You and Jiang Tingxu had the most abundant supplies. Neither of them was stingy. Si You even took out pork leg meat and century eggs to make a separate bowl of congee for Jiang Yao.

Xu Ke had been thinking about Si You's cooking and came over to ask, "Do you need any help?"

Si You pointed at the potatoes beside him. "Then peel those."

"Got it!"

As he worked, Xu Ke sighed over how Si You truly seemed like a different person now. He was very comfortable to be around.

The camera followed them without pause. Under its lens, Si You had no choice but to show off his skills.

Fei Chang stood behind them with his hands clasped behind his back, watching and learning seriously. From time to time, he asked, "No salt?"

"I'll decide the seasoning at the end, since I added dark soy sauce."

Zhang Jianlin silently wiped the table, his face expressionless.

The person being dragged through the mud now was no longer Si You, but him.

Si You cooked quickly. He had never liked dawdling, and besides, he was sleepy and wanted to eat before going upstairs to sleep.

Zhang Jianlin brought the century egg and lean pork congee upstairs to Jiang Yao. After receiving an IV and taking medicine, Jiang Yao's fever had gone down, and she seemed more energetic. She had good skin, but with her hair hanging loose, she looked somewhat haggard. Jiang Yao swallowed wildly at the smell of the congee and sternly rejected Zhang Jianlin's offer to feed her. Yet after taking only one bite, she heard Zhang Jianlin say, "You look good like this too."

Jiang Yao: "..."

Jiang Yao nearly dumped the bowl over Zhang Jianlin's head. That was way too stiff, bro.

[Is that supposed to be affectionate? My goosebumps are all over the floor.]

[Same. Can Zhang Jianlin stop being so painfully cringe?]

Jiang Yao asked the staff, "Who made the congee?"

"Si You."

"Oh, oh." Only then was Jiang Yao reassured.

Now, whenever Zhang Jianlin heard Si You's name, it felt like thorns piercing his heart.

Even with Jiang Tingxu and Song Yalin helping out, Si You was still the head chef for dinner. He worked up a full-body sweat, but everyone praised the food endlessly. Even the directing team could not resist entering the shot with bowls of rice and picking up several bites of dishes.

[Damn... those scallion chicken chunks look so delicious QAQ]

[Si You was definitely faking his persona last season. Don't you remember? Last season, he couldn't even hold a wok spatula steady. He had to rely on Shen Chuan for everything.]

[Upstairs, you know Si You relied on Shen Chuan, so stop whitewashing him. How is it that his old agency was the villain? Is there any chance Si You deliberately acted that way to get Shen Chuan's attention? Now that he disgusted Shen Chuan into leaving, and the whole internet hates him, does he dare keep acting up? Do you think Jiang Tingxu is Shen Chuan? If Si You still behaved like he did last season, the Best Actor's fans would dig up his Lineage on the spot. Believe it?]

After that retort, the barrage erupted into another fierce argument.

Quite a few Shen Chuan fans had mixed in among the viewers. There was no way they would let Si You off easily.

Fei Chang brought out two bottles of red wine and said they were gifts from the directing team.

"That's rare," Xu Ke muttered. "The directing team is acting human for once."

The cameraman behind him had a walkie-talkie on him, and the director's furious voice came through it. "Xu Ke, we can hear you!"

Everyone burst into laughter.

After they had eaten their fill and each taken a couple of sips of wine, they began chatting. They discussed life plans and career development. Si You listened quietly the entire time. His current priority was getting out of this crisis, so it was not his place to offer opinions on such topics.

"Huh?" Fei Chang stopped Zhang Jianlin's hand and lowered his voice. "What are you doing? You've already had two glasses. This isn't plain water."

Zhang Jianlin brushed Fei Chang's hand away and downed another glass. Out of such a large bottle of red wine, he had drunk two-thirds by himself. Zhang Jianlin's alcohol tolerance had never been very good. He took a breath as the liquor rushed to his head, then suddenly spoke. "Si You, after filming for this season ends, what are your plans?"

Si You glanced at Zhang Jianlin. "I'll see what my manager arranges."

"I remember..." Zhang Jianlin leaned back, smiling broadly. "Your goal last season was to film a drama with Shen Chuan?"

As soon as he said that, Fei Chang poked Zhang Jianlin beneath the table. Why bring that up? Shen Chuan had already withdrawn from the show.

Zhang Jianlin seemed not to feel it and continued, "You hid it from us so well last season. Turns out, it wasn't that you couldn't do anything. I watched your Music Room Livestream. You can play the guzheng, guitar, and even the drum set. Not to mention cooking—you were the biggest contributor tonight."

Zhang Jianlin narrowed his eyes and smiled, displaying a little acting skill. It sounded like ordinary teasing, but Si You knew very well that this man was bringing up the past to put him over the fire.

Some things could be left open to speculation. For example, the old agency screwing him over—netizens could guess most of that. But regarding Shen Chuan, the original owner had indeed liked him to the point of obsession. There was no blaming anyone else for it.

"Last season..." Si You paused, putting on an act as well. His eyes were clear and sincere as he said, "I caused everyone trouble last season. I'm sorry."

After saying that, he drained the red wine in his glass.

This was the first time Si You had directly responded to all his outrageous behavior from last season. By apologizing, he was indirectly admitting it.

As expected, Shen Chuan's fans descended on Si You's Weibo again.

[If apologies worked, what would we need police for? He forced Shen Chuan to leave!]

[Idiot. Hope you flop for the rest of your life!]

[Si You really was brain-dead last season, but Zhang Jianlin's attempt to shift the blame is honestly so clumsy. What, does he think dragging Si You into it means people will forget how his irresponsible, disgusting behavior made Jiang Yao sick?]

[+1. Si You is getting dragged, but Zhang Jianlin won't escape either.]

Si You had nothing to lose now. His fans had all left, and Shen Chuan's side was simply crushing him one-sidedly. But Zhang Jianlin was different. Could he afford to play this game? Jiang Yao's fans had their emotions stirred up by Shen Chuan's fans, and now they were flooding Zhang Jianlin's Weibo too.

They had truly gone down together.

Si You put away his phone, struggling to hold back a laugh. Then he suddenly noticed Jiang Tingxu beside him browsing the public square. The condemnation of Si You's dark past was still in full swing there. Si You's small sense of satisfaction instantly vanished, and his first thought was to make Jiang Tingxu stop looking.

If he did not admire Jiang Tingxu so much, then whatever. But after spending the past few days together, Si You had come to cherish this hard-won peace.

Jiang Tingxu exited Weibo and glanced at Si You.

That one glance made Si You's blood run cold.

It was a look of reassessment, of seeing and examining him anew.

Jiang Tingxu believed his judgment had not been wrong, but Si You had admitted to the matter with Shen Chuan.

That meant that last season, he truly had spared no effort in approaching and pressuring Shen Chuan, driving him away.

Jiang Tingxu had met Shen Chuan before. The years of obscurity early in Shen Chuan's career had given him considerable patience, and he was humble as a person. Jiang Tingxu had originally wondered whether there might have been some misunderstanding, but it turned out everything was true.

To be honest, Jiang Tingxu definitely felt disdain and contempt for this kind of behavior.

The atmosphere cooled. Fei Chang and Xu Ke cleared the table and washed the dishes. This time, Jiang Tingxu did not say goodbye to Si You and went upstairs first after finishing.

Si You could not control his low mood. He really wanted to punch Zhang Jianlin. When he passed Jiang Tingxu's room, he found the door tightly locked. Si You's fingers trembled, and he gave up on the thought. What would he say if he knocked? Since he had taken control of this body, he could not separate himself from what its original owner had done. That would not make sense.

Si You returned to his room and washed up in a daze. The moment he got into bed, he sprang right back out. Si You was somewhat shocked, then reached into the bedding. Great. This room's structure was indeed uniquely terrible. The dampness had seeped in, leaving the bed practically half-wet.