Shocking President Xie

That was bad enough, but every now and then, he would deliberately throw out taunts like, "You played that hand way too well."

The chat: [...]

His fans were the first to lose it, flooding the screen: [Baby, please shut up already!!!!]

[Meng Feixuan, do you remember that you're an idol?!!!]

[If you're going to talk, then talk normally. Don't use that weird tone!!!]

[Aaaah, Xie Ran, please stop him. My Baby just debuted, he can't have this kind of scandal!]

[Who designed this kind of dialogue for Meng Feixuan? I'm going to kill him!]

Whether Xie Ran had seen his fans' pleas or had also had enough of Meng Feixuan's vocal assault, he finally lifted his eyes and gave Meng Feixuan an indifferent glance. "Don't imitate such strange things."

Meng Feixuan, who had ignored the chat no matter how wildly the viewers spammed it, shut up at once. He obediently nodded at Xie Ran. "Yes, sir."

At last, the viewers' ears found peace. At the same time, however, the chat exploded again. The Xuanran CP fans, who had been silently watching for so long, could no longer contain their excitement and began posting one after another:

[I ship it, I ship it!!]

[Aaaah, did you see the way Meng Feixuan looked at Xiao Ran? Xuanran is real!!!]

[Seriously, and did you notice? Meng Feixuan basically crushed all the contestants, but only Xiao Ran could keep up with the speed of his plays. Only their thoughts could stay in sync. This is so good, I'm fed!]

[???? CP fans are insane. You're even claiming real people and fictional characters have synchronized thoughts? You really can find an angle for anything!]

[If you ask me, it's their looks that make them the best match!]

Fang Huiwang was also watching Xie Ran and Meng Feixuan's stream with his own livestream open. The more he watched, the darker his expression became. On camera, Xie Ran sat in a relaxed posture, silently playing his cards while looking only at his phone screen, without saying another word.

Yet for no reason, Fang Huiwang thought of that night in Old West City. Kuang Youfang had told him to win Xie Ran back no matter what. When he returned to the room, he had genuinely wanted to get back together with Xie Ran. He had even blurted the question out without caring about anything else.

And Xie Ran's answer had been, "Can't play."

"I'll trump you."

From beginning to end, Xie Ran had never paid him any attention. He had only been playing Fight the Landlord by himself.

And now, watching Xie Ran and Meng Feixuan cooperate so seamlessly on the stream, Fang Huiwang could not stop an absurd fantasy from rising in his mind—back in Old West City, could Xie Ran actually have been playing Fight the Landlord with Meng Feixuan too?

If Meng Feixuan could appear at Sky Garden to sing for Xie Ran, why couldn't he accompany Xie Ran in a game of Fight the Landlord?

But so what? No matter how convincing Meng Feixuan seemed, a fake was still a fake. How could a machine be compared with a real person?

Fang Huiwang was trying hard to convince himself, trying to calm down.

Just then, Meng Feixuan glanced at the camera and said with a smile, "Thank you to 'Xuanran's No. 1 Matchmaker' for sending a rocket."

Fang Huiwang instinctively looked up and discovered that the ID called "Xuanran's No. 1 Matchmaker" had not only sent a rocket, but had also purchased the most outrageous font effect, making her message visible across the entire chat: [Our Xuan Kid is young, beautiful, and a wolfish little boyfriend. How can someone old and faded compare!]

Fang Huiwang: ?!!!!

Old and faded? Who? Who was that mocking?!

Author's note: Fang Huiwang: Old and faded? Who? Who was that mocking?!

Mark: Idiot. Of course it was mocking you.

Shocking President Xie

Fang Huiwang flew into a rage at the words "old and faded" in the chat. He slammed his palm down on the table and shouted in furious frustration, "He's fake, so of course he can stay young forever!"

The table let out a loud bang, and even the water in the glass on it trembled, startling Kuang Youfang.

Kuang Youfang gave him a strange look, inwardly alarmed.

He had always thought Fang Huiwang's inexplicably intense hostility toward Meng Feixuan was because Meng Feixuan had defeated Nangong Xu, nearly causing Ambition Studio's funding chain to collapse.

But in this moment, a thought that would previously have been utterly impossible arose in his mind—could Fang Huiwang be treating Meng Feixuan as a love rival and feeling jealous of him?

The idea was so absurd that, in the past, Kuang Youfang would certainly have scoffed at it. How could that be possible? Meng Feixuan was merely a virtual character, a set of data in the online world, an image created by humans. He did not even have a physical body.

How could someone as ambitious and focused on fame and profit as Fang Huiwang regard a fictional character as a love rival, much less lose his composure over it?

Yet at this moment, Kuang Youfang could not stop himself from thinking so.

Fang Huiwang's furious, flustered appearance simply had too much of that feeling. He was even comparing his age and looks with those of a virtual character?! Had he really lost his mind?

Thinking again of all the strategies Fang Huiwang had recently used against Meng Feixuan, Kuang Youfang had previously only felt that his career ambitions and competitive drive had grown stronger than before. But if jealousy and rivalry were involved as well... it somehow seemed more reasonable.

...Though it was even more absurd!

Kuang Youfang was deeply shaken and could not tell what he was feeling for a moment. But he had no energy to concern himself with Fang Huiwang's thoughts now.

Their real trouble was still in the livestream.

Meng Feixuan's sudden thanks for a viewer's rocket had already caused a huge stir in the stream. His earlier interactions with Xie Ran had been realistic and vivid enough to earn unanimous praise from viewers, but everyone had still instinctively believed it was simply a more advanced interactive program.

But that expression of thanks had been a real-time interaction, something difficult to design in advance. Even if it was a program, its level of intelligence undoubtedly far surpassed that of every current virtual idol.

The music video Nangong Xu had released before was already outstanding, but an MV could be processed in post-production. His speech, movements, interactions, and special effects could all be adjusted and produced one by one to achieve a stunning final result. Naturally, that also demanded a high level of technical skill, which was why it had received such acclaim.