Old maid (part two)

Someone let out an involuntary gasp they couldn't suppress.

Shi Zhou glanced around and smiled with his lips pressed together. Both girls, and even Zheng Yu, flushed bright red.

They wanted to look but were too embarrassed to.

The production team was even worse. They deliberately positioned a camera in front of Bai Shen at an angle. The live comments were probably exploding right now.

Shi Zhou finally understood the long-standing saying online that black turtlenecks were the male equivalent of black stockings.

So sexy, especially on a handsome, mature older man like him.

Wouldn't you actually suffocate if you buried your face in there?

Even Su Yue took a couple of extra looks and said, "You've really trained well."

Coming from someone who spent so much time working out every day, that meant something else entirely.

Asta looked around, his expression turning serious for a moment, then raised his hand.

"Director, can I volunteer to take mine off?"

Everyone burst out laughing, but their laughter wasn't as uninhibited as before. The charged atmosphere still hadn't dissipated.

With such a prime specimen right there, how could he look so different with his clothes off than on?

Somehow, having clothes on seemed to make it even more obvious.

That was what everyone silently thought.

Lin Yuxi couldn't resist looking again. Bai Shen's chest and abs were beautifully developed without looking bulky-the sort both men and women across the interstellar worlds liked.

And his skin was a cool, pale white, with raised veins on his hands. Speaking as a well-read woman, there was no doubt...

A big-tiddied male mommy.

Hehe.

From now on, her image of Bai Shen as the exchange's big boss and a researcher would never be the same.

Xie Jiali also sensed how Bai Shen had changed the atmosphere. For some reason, everyone was speaking a little more softly.

He didn't care about the others, but Shi Zhou kept looking over, and that bothered him.

He might seem gentle on the outside, but deep down, he was very possessive. He wished Shi Zhou wouldn't look at anyone else.

Neither men nor women.

"I should've had Brother Shen go after me. A tactical error."

Xie Jiali's remark drew everyone's attention back to him.

Shi Zhou also felt he'd neglected him. Besides, as the bottom in the original novel, Xie Jiali probably didn't have much muscle, right?

His personality was so gentle, too.

So he hurriedly smiled and said, "Hey, beauty comes in all kinds of styles. I appreciate them all-"

The live comments also rushed to salvage his dignity:

-Exactly, exactly. Didn't everyone already know Bai Shen had a great body years ago? That research press conference was full of old men, and he was the only tall, rich, handsome guy there. He really stood out. That's when he got famous, right?

-Everyone already knew Bai Shen had a good body. It's nothing new. Isn't that why so many people buy his magazines?

-Bai Shen has his charms, and Xie Jiali has his own.

That was what everyone thought.

Xie Jiali himself probably knew how everyone saw him, too.

Then wasn't it time to start changing that?

He glanced at Shi Zhou and chuckled softly.

He withdrew his arm from the back of the sofa, tilted his head slightly, and lifted his slender fingers to remove his gold-rimmed glasses. His long lashes lowered, and somehow, his presence made it hard to breathe or look away.

As expected of someone who made his living in front of a camera, he knew how to capture attention.

"Heh. Zhouzhou, you're underestimating me," he said, as though complaining, his voice a little low and husky.

"I'm innocent, Brother Xie." Shi Zhou was still trying to joke around, but one glance from those dark eyes, now unobstructed by glasses, sent a strange tingle through his body and left him speechless.

The viewers agreed that a beauty ought to be as seductive as Xie Jiali. That was how it should be.

Just look. All he was doing was taking off a jacket, yet everyone, male or female, held their breath to watch.

Xie Jiali wore three layers. His long, pale index finger seemed leisurely as he undid the buttons, though he wasn't actually moving slowly. Somehow, it made it impossible to look away and sent hearts racing.

"Okay, okay." Shi Zhou realized his throat felt a little dry. "Just take off one layer..."

Before he could finish, Xie Jiali, still wearing that gentle smile, pulled off the thin sweater underneath as well!

As he raised his arms, neatly defined rows of firm abs came into view!

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit!

Shi Zhou didn't know whether anyone else was shocked, but he certainly was!

He shot straight to his feet.

What was that just now? Abs?!

When he regained his senses and looked carefully from above-

...That layer underneath was so damn sexy!

It was a lustrous white silk top, fitted narrowly at the waist, but its neckline plunged so low it nearly reached the middle of his chest!

He shifted sideways on the sofa, his medium-length black hair spilling over his pale skin, his straight collarbones tantalizingly half exposed. From Shi Zhou's angle, he could even see the striations in his chest muscles. Xie Jiali raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"What do you think? Didn't expect that, did you?"