A Virtuous Husband

Having just been reminded by Meng Meng, Little Zhu and A-Ming had become increasingly cautious while filming. This time, with the camera aimed at the two of them, it only caught their hands—and happened to capture Shen Rui'an tying Su Tingbai's apron.

Their interaction was so natural that no one noticed anything unusual at first.

Until the comments brought it up.

[Um, am I the only one shipping this?]

[No, but why do they have such an old married couple vibe? Are these two really not together? It's kind of sweet.]

[I found my people! I knew I couldn't be the only one shipping them!]

[Who cares about anyone else? Don't I know my own account? Shipping mode activated!]

The impact of random viewers flooding into the livestream was too powerful. For a while, even some of Su Tingbai's girlfriend fans couldn't control the chat and could only frantically post comments putting Shen Rui'an down.

[Shipping again? Aren't ordinary friends just taking care of each other? What's there to ship?]

[You ship every pair of men you see? Queerbaiting really is the secret to traffic, huh? If Shen An'an were ugly, would you still ship them?]

[Too bad he's not ugly—he's gorgeous. And Su Tingbai is willing. What can those unwilling people do besides bark in the comments? But Su Tingbai isn't going to queerbait with you either!]

[Is Su Tingbai like this with everyone? Is he like this with Boss Xing? With Huo Heng? Who else would let a friend tie their apron so intimately? They're practically pressed together. The atmosphere is obviously different. Why can't we ship them? I ship them because they're fun to ship, not just because they're both men. I'm so jealous—you should go queerbait with your friends too. Did I stop you? Or why don't you livestream yourself kissing your partner and see whether anyone says they're shipping you to death?]

[Even if it is queerbaiting, I'll accept it. As long as they're willing to put effort into entertaining me, I'm happy. What business is it of yours? I'll ship them, ship them, ship them—so what? I get online to be an emperor!]

[Longtime Su Tingbai fan here. He's invited so many people before, and I can testify that Shen An'an is the only one he treats differently. I've watched every single episode with every guest he's invited, and Shen An'an is the most special. Su Tingbai has strong boundaries. Didn't Young Master Locke get exposed before? Every time he deliberately tried to get close to Su Tingbai, Su Tingbai would quietly put distance between them.]

[If anyone else got this close, Su Tingbai would probably give them an over-the-shoulder throw!]

Speaking of that, Su Tingbai's fans remembered a livestream mishap from years ago. Su Tingbai had been doing a campsite barbecue that time, and Huo Heng had stupidly gotten too close to him. Su Tingbai reflexively threw him over his shoulder. Thankfully, Su Tingbai had held back, or Huo Heng would probably have spent several days in the hospital.

The incident became both a joke and an embarrassing black mark for Su Tingbai. Fortunately, Huo Heng had known Su Tingbai since childhood through fighting, so he never took it to heart. The people trying to stir things up eventually fell silent as well.

Still, Su Tingbai's fans remembered it. Whenever Huo Heng appeared on camera, they couldn't help laughing at him and reminding him to stay farther away from Su Tingbai so he wouldn't get thrown again.

Once people brought it up, the livestream became even livelier.

[If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten how shamelessly biased Su Tingbai is.]

[Where's that prophet who said Su Tingbai would fall for the new guest? Come out and get stabbed.]

[I'm dying laughing! I laugh every time I remember it. @Huo the Third Isn't Huo Yuanjia, President Huo, say something?]

Someone looking for trouble even tagged Huo Heng.

Huo Heng was also the type to surf the internet twenty-four hours a day. Seeing the little red notification dot in his inbox, he clicked on it and discovered that Su Tingbai was livestreaming again.

He scrolled through the comments, figured out what had happened, and replied.

[Huo the Third Isn't Huo Yuanjia: Some people are just shamelessly biased. I wouldn't dare get close.]

Huo Heng's sarcastic remark left the other people muddying the waters in the livestream without anything to say, and Su Tingbai's fans regained control of the chat.

[President Huo, was getting thrown over the shoulder fun?]

Huo Heng replied: [Want to try it?]

[President Huo, have you met Shen An'an? What do you think of him?]

Huo Heng rapidly typed out a string of idioms before coolly replying: [A sight beyond compare!]

His words ignited the audience's curiosity.

[Really? Is he really that good-looking? Better than the cash cows at your company?]

[Holy crap, if President Huo says so, could he really be as handsome as a celebrity?]

[Wait, President Huo's family owns an entertainment company. He's surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women, so his standards must be high. If he says that, it's incredibly credible. A sight beyond compare—my god, I don't even dare imagine how good-looking he is!]

[Coward. I dare imagine it. Could he look like Teacher Shazi's drawing? I thought it was stunning—better-looking than celebrities. It doesn't even feel like the kind of beauty a real person could have!]

[+1. I think Teacher Shazi's drawing looks more like an animation model. It's ridiculously beautiful!]

[Isn't that exaggerated? Shen An'an is good-looking, sure, but he can't compare to celebrities, can he? Some attractiveness influencers on Douyin only look good on Douyin. Compared with real celebrities, it gets brutal.]

[Right. There are too many cases of influencers being exposed for looking nothing like their photos. I think everyone shouldn't get their hopes up too much.]

[Not really. I think some influencers are no worse than celebrities. At Douyin's annual gala last time, Little Xuan stood next to some idol and didn't look bad at all. I even thought Little Xuan looked better.]

[Little Xuan is indeed a famous looks influencer on Douyin. I've met him offline, and he really looks exactly like his photos!]

[!!! He really is handsome. The photo in his newest video is incredible too! Sisters, go watch it. He feels about as good-looking as Shen An'an!]

[Can I say this? I think the photo in Little Xuan's new video looks better than the livestream screenshot. Of course, I'm not saying Shen An'an isn't good-looking. It's just that the screenshot is too blurry, and Teacher Shazi's drawing can't really be treated as Shen An'an's actual appearance, right?]

[The person above is obviously a Xiao Xuan fan here to promote him, right?]

Huo Heng didn't have time to watch Su Tingbai's livestream. His secretary brought in a huge stack of documents, so he had no choice but to bury himself in work again. Even after many people tagged him, he didn't reply.

But whether he replied or not didn't dampen the netizens' enthusiasm.

Since several people had mentioned Little Xuan, some particularly curious viewers actually went to check him out.

[I went and came back. Xiao Xuan's new photo is indeed nice, but for some reason, I still don't think it hits as hard as that screenshot.]

[Maybe it's the atmosphere. The screenshot has a lot of atmosphere.]

[I'm getting more and more curious about what Shen An'an looks like.]

[I'm dying. A photo so blurry even his mother would barely recognize him is called atmosphere? So-called atmospheric beauties are just filters plus blur. Why not post a high-definition unfiltered photo and scare me to death?]

[To be fair, even an atmospheric beauty needs the foundation for the photo to turn out like that. Teacher Shazi's drawing can't be taken as fact, but that screenshot really did look good.]

[Forget it, I still think Xiao Xuan is better-looking. At least his photo is high-definition. That screenshot was enhanced, and anyone who has used enhancement knows AI beautifies people.]

[So when is Shen An'an going to show his face?]

[Wait, isn't this Su Tingbai's food livestream? Why are people constantly talking about the new guest?]

[Am I the only one waiting to see the fried chicken?]

Modern-day netizens who could rival Sherlock Holmes in their determination to satisfy their curiosity actually dug up Shen Rui'an's account.

Though it was only a suspected match, that didn't stop them from casually following it.

Why was it only suspected rather than confirmed? Mainly because the account only had a dog that looked a lot like Baisui, along with occasional glimpses of hands. Comparing those hands with Shen Rui'an's hands from the livestream, they looked very similar. But upon closer comparison, the account owner's hands seemed thinner than Shen Rui'an's current hands.

Shen Rui'an had no idea that because of the video he had just posted, his account had suddenly gained a huge number of followers.

At that moment, he somehow grabbed a glass pot lid to use as a shield. Standing behind Su Tingbai, he rose onto his toes, stretched out his neck, craned his head forward, and sneakily watched Su Tingbai fry chicken.

The high-temperature oil was scorching. The flour-coated chicken sizzled furiously the moment it went in, and when it was lifted out, it had formed a golden crust that gave off an enticing aroma.

A suspicious droplet of saliva slipped from the corner of Shen Rui'an's mouth.

"Can I eat it now?" he asked.

Su Tingbai caught sight of Shen Rui'an in full protective gear from the corner of his eye and laughed. "If you're scared, stay farther away so the hot oil doesn't splatter on you. This is only the first fry. It's not ready yet—I need to fry it several more times. Be good, go sit at the dining table. I'll bring it over once it's done."

Shen Rui'an obediently put down the pot lid. Still, he was reluctant to leave, turning back with every step as he went to sit at the dining table. He propped up his head and watched Su Tingbai's back as he fried the chicken.

Su Tingbai was wearing an apron now. Its two thin ties were pulled taut, making his powerful waist look especially slim.

Dressed like that, he looked like... a virtuous husband.