A Devoted Husband

Since Meng Meng had just reminded them, Little Zhu and A-Ming had become increasingly cautious with filming. This time, the camera was pointed at the two of them and only captured their hands, coincidentally catching Shen Rui'an tying Su Tingbai's apron.

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

Until the comments brought it up.

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

[No, what's with this old married couple vibe? Are they really not together? This is kind of sweet.]

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

[I don't know about anyone else, but I know my own account. Shipping mode activated!]

The impact of random viewers entering the livestream was simply too strong. For a while, even some of Su Tingbai's girlfriend fans couldn't control the chat, and could only jump around posting comments to disparage Shen Rui'an.

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

[You ship any two men you see? Queerbaiting really is the traffic cheat code, huh? If Shen An'an were ugly, would you still ship them!]

[Too bad he's not only not ugly, he's gorgeous. And Su Tingbai is willing. Other than barking here, what else can those unwilling do? But Su Tingbai isn't going to queerbait with you either!]

[Does Su Tingbai treat everyone like this, then? Does he act like this with Boss Xing? With Huo Heng? Who else lets a friend tie their apron so intimately? They were practically pressed together. The atmosphere was obviously different, so can't we ship them? I ship them because they're shippable, not because I ship every two men. I'm so jealous that you queerbait with your friends too. Did I stop you? Why don't you livestream yourself kissing your partner and see whether anyone says they're dying from how shippable it is?]

[Even if it is queerbaiting, I accept it. As long as they're willing to put effort into entertaining me, I'm happy. What's it to you? I'll ship them, ship them, ship them. So what? I go online to be an emperor!]

[Veteran Su Tingbai fan reporting in. He's invited so many people before, and I can testify that only Shen An'an is special. I never missed an episode with every guest he invited, and Shen An'an is the only one he treats differently. Su Tingbai has a strong sense of boundaries. Didn't Young Master Locke get shut down before? Every time he deliberately moved close to Su Tingbai, Su Tingbai would quietly put distance between them.]

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

Speaking of that, Su Tingbai's fans recalled a livestream accident from years ago. Su Tingbai had been doing a campsite barbecue that time, and Huo Heng had foolishly come too close to him. Su Tingbai instinctively threw him over his shoulder. Fortunately, Su Tingbai held back, or Huo Heng would probably have spent several days in the hospital.

The incident became a funny black mark for Su Tingbai. Fortunately, Huo Heng had known Su Tingbai since childhood through fighting, and he did not take it to heart at all, so those trying to stir up trouble fell silent as well.

Still, Su Tingbai's fans remembered it. Whenever Huo Heng appeared on camera, they occasionally could not help laughing at him and reminding him to stay farther away from Su Tingbai, lest he get thrown over his shoulder.

Once someone mentioned it, the livestream became even livelier.

[If you hadn't brought it up, I almost forgot about Su Tingbai's double standard.]

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

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

Someone even tagged Huo Heng for fun.

Huo Heng was also someone who surfed the internet twenty-four hours a day. Seeing the little red notification dot, he clicked in and found that Su Tingbai was livestreaming again.

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

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

Huo Heng's sarcastic remark left the others who had been muddying the waters in the livestream without an excuse, and Su Tingbai's fans regained control of the chat.

[President Huo, was the over-the-shoulder throw 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 livestream viewers' curiosity.

[Really? Is he really that good-looking? Compared with the cash cow at your company?]

[Holy shit, if President Huo says that, is he really as good-looking as a celebrity?]

[No, wait. President Huo's family runs an entertainment company. He's seen tons of handsome men and beautiful women, so his standards must be high. If he says that, it's very credible. A sight beyond compare... Oh my god, I don't even dare imagine how good-looking he is!]

[Scaredy-cat. I dare. Could he really look like Teacher Shazi's drawing? I think he's insanely gorgeous, prettier than celebrities. It feels like a beauty no real person could possibly grow into!]

[+1. I think Teacher Shazi's drawing looks more like an animated character model. He's too beautiful!]

[That's exaggerating, isn't it? Shen An'an is good-looking, but surely he can't compare to celebrities? Some beauty influencers on Douyin only look good on Douyin. Once they're compared with celebrities, it gets brutal.]

[Yeah. There are too many cases of influencers' looks falling apart in real life. I think everyone shouldn't get their hopes up too much.]

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

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

[!!! He really is quite handsome. That photo in his newest video is incredible too! Sisters, go watch it. I feel like he's about as good-looking as Shen An'an!]

[Can I say it? 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. The screenshot is just too blurry, and Teacher Shazi's drawing can't be treated as Shen An'an's actual appearance, right?]

[The person above is obviously Little Xuan's fan here to farm traffic.]

Huo Heng did not have time to watch Su Tingbai's livestream. His secretary brought in a huge stack of documents, so he had to bury his head in work again. As a result, he did not reply even after many people tagged him.

But even without his replies, it did nothing to 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. Little Xuan's new photo is indeed nice, but for some reason, I feel like it doesn't hit 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 now.]

[I'm dying. A picture so blurry his own mother could barely recognize him is called atmosphere? An atmospheric beauty is just filters plus intentional blur, isn't it? Dare to show me a high-definition photo from the original camera and scare me to death?]

[To be fair, even an atmospheric beauty needs the right foundation to turn out well in photos. Teacher Shazi's drawing definitely can't be taken as fact, but that screenshot really was pretty good.]

[Forget it, I still think Little Xuan looks better. At least that one is high-definition. If the screenshot gets enhanced, 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?]

The modern-day netizens, practically Sherlock Holmes incarnate, actually found Shen Rui'an's account to satisfy their curiosity.

Although it was only a suspected match, that did not stop them from casually following it.

The reason it was only suspected rather than certain was mainly because the account only had a dog that looked very much like Baisui. Aside from that, there were occasional glimpses of hands, and when compared with Shen Rui'an's hands from the livestream, they looked very similar. Yet upon closer comparison, the account owner's hands seemed thinner than Shen Rui'an's current ones.

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

At that moment, he had somehow grabbed a glass pot lid as a shield. Standing sneakily behind Su Tingbai on tiptoe, with his neck stretched and head craning forward, he watched Su Tingbai fry chicken.

The high-temperature oil was scalding. The flour-coated chicken immediately began sizzling the moment it went in, and once it was lifted out, it had formed a golden crispy coat that gave off an irresistible aroma.

A suspicious tear of saliva ran from the corner of Shen Rui'an's mouth.

"Can I eat it now?" he asked.

Su Tingbai caught sight of Shen Rui'an's fully equipped appearance from the corner of his eye and laughed. "If you're scared, stand farther away so the hot oil doesn't splatter on you. It's only been fried once, so it's not ready yet. It needs to be fried 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, though he was reluctant to leave. Looking back every few steps, he went to sit at the dining table, propped up his chin, and watched Su Tingbai's back as he fried the chicken.

Su Tingbai was wearing an apron then. Its two thin ties were pulled tight, making his strong, powerful waist look incredibly narrow.

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