Beautiful, absolutely beautiful-but was it voluntary?

Li Rou was annoyed. "What? You can't have shippers with me?" Then she looked at his pretty face and changed her tune. "Fair enough. With a face that pretty, you should be picky."

Yu Xiuyuan was speechless. Wait, hadn't she gotten their genders backward?

"Cut the crap. Where did these shippers come from?"

"They've been around since episode one. You covered your eyes with my ribbon and even peeled shrimp for me. If I couldn't tell you weren't interested in me that way, I'd be leading the shipping myself."

Yu Xiuyuan looked utterly exasperated. "Are you missing a few brain cells? What good could possibly come of getting mixed up with me? Sure, some of the dirt on me has been cleared up, but my reputation's still pretty damn bad, okay? Forget it. I'll keep my distance."

"Don't go. It's not that serious. Besides, leaving won't help. They'll just say you're avoiding suspicion because your love runs even deeper." Li Rou stopped him.

Yu Xiuyuan shot her a sidelong glare. She had completely stopped caring about her public persona.

After a moment's thought, he sighed and sat beside Li Rou. He looked around, then signaled to the cameraman assigned to her to zoom in.

He turned sideways, twisted his waist slightly, and relaxed his gaze, letting it soften.

Right before Li Rou's eyes, he transformed from a fresh-faced, handsome college boy into a sultry man. His face was so beautiful that it made her heart itch.

The beauty gently linked his arm through hers and rested his head on her shoulder, asking softly, "Sis, what do those stinking men actually like? Am I still not good enough like this? Why don't they like me?"

Dazzled by his beauty, Li Rou opened her mouth to comfort him. "Who says they don't? I..."

Then he pinched her hard at the back of her waist. The pain snapped her right back to her senses. "I'm not a man. How would I know?"

The beauty gave her an indignant glare. "Oh, true. If you meet any good men in the future, remember to introduce them to me, sis."

"Of course, of course." Li Rou wished she could go find him a man right that instant.

Looking at his lovely profile, she reached for his hand. Surely those little hands would feel wonderful too. Before she could touch him, however, the beauty straightened his back, stretched his arms, kicked out his legs, and headed for the director.

Li Rou couldn't process it. Where had her beauty gone?

She followed him over and heard Yu Xiuyuan say, "Xiao Liu, I'm handing you some buzz. Hurry up and edit that bit just now, spend a little on promotion, and slap whatever title you want on it. 'Yu Xiuyuan is a sissy,' 'Yu Xiuyuan is desperate to get married,' something like that. My little haters are real go-getters. It'll definitely blow up."

Director Liu was furious. "Don't you know we're livestreaming? Couldn't you tell me about buying traffic in private?"

"No need. Mixing truth and fiction like this gives people more to talk about. Oh, and just buy a little traffic to get it started."

Unable to win the argument, Director Liu went off to make arrangements, practically steaming.

Only then did Li Rou understand. He was breaking up their ship.

Her feelings were complicated. Was he really going this far to keep her from being affected?

"Is it worth ruining your own image like this?"

Yu Xiuyuan nearly jumped when he heard that. "Would you please shut up? Ruining what? We're livestreaming. Anyone with half a brain knows I'm doing this to break up the ship. It's just that a short clip with a hook spreads faster and farther. Once people finish following the gossip, they'll know it was an act. That way, I get what I want without actually hurting my image."

"Oh." She had clearly been overthinking it. She had nearly gotten all misty-eyed for nothing.

"And you have the nerve to say 'oh'? That one question nearly made my whole performance pointless. I'm a grown man. Do you think contorting myself like that was easy?"

For some reason, Li Rou felt indignant. She huffed, turned away, and dragged Lin Xi, who had been watching the fun from the sidelines, next door to change outfits.

The livestream viewers watched the little scene Yu Xiuyuan had casually acted out grow hotter and hotter online.

Thinking they had dug up something to use against him, his haters shared it everywhere and mocked him en masse. Those who had watched the livestream desperately tried to stop them, but it was no use.

In the end, #Yu Dog toys with his haters like dogs# crept onto the trending list, ranking even higher than #Yu Xiuyuan is desperate to get married#.

Somehow, it even brought Yu Xiuyuan a wave of new fans who enjoyed watching the drama. His manager, Li Man, could only marvel. Try to cultivate success and nothing blooms; give up trying, and it falls right into your lap.

Yu Xiuyuan wasted no more time and followed them over. Seeing Li Rou and Lin Xi standing there motionless, he asked, "Why aren't you choosing your clothes? Hurry up. We're the only ones left."

He stepped forward and understood why. Only three outfits remained, and they were all women's clothes-long dresses.

He glanced around. There were no cameras, and the cameraman following him hadn't come in either. Presumably, their microphones had been switched off too.

Yu Xiuyuan's expression turned cold as he asked the staff member, "Only women's clothes left?"

The staff member looked perfectly composed. "Yes. The guests were free to choose. These three just happened to be left over."

"You only prepared seven outfits? No extra options?"

The staff member looked a little guilty but stood firm. "That's right."

Yu Xiuyuan didn't believe a word of it. With big names like Yun Chuan and Lin Qingnuan here, how could they possibly have prepared only a handful of outfits? Who was trying to mess with him?

Whoever it was, he wasn't wearing a dress.

Not wanting to waste any more words, Yu Xiuyuan turned to leave. As though expecting him to refuse, the staff member blocked his way. "Mr. Yu, you signed a contract. You're required to cooperate with the show's necessary segments. Otherwise, you'll have to pay the penalty for breach of contract."

While Yu Xiuyuan stood to the side recalling the contract's terms, Li Rou and Lin Xi refused to let it go and argued with the staff member. "Aren't you deliberately making things difficult for him? What kind of contract requires a man to wear women's clothes?"

Yu Xiuyuan remembered. Thanks to Wen Lin, the contract was airtight, and the penalty was within reasonable limits: five million, his entire savings.

Fine. He caved in a second. It was just women's clothes. It wasn't as if he'd never worn them before. Didn't that person simply want to humiliate him?

She was going to be disappointed.

He stopped Li Rou and Lin Xi. "Enough. It's fine. Clearly, someone wants to mess with me, but they don't want to offend you two. Thanks to you, all three dresses are pretty nice. Give me the black one. Go get changed first."

The two refused, but he held them back. A simple "I have a plan. Listen to me" made them obey almost involuntarily.

They were supposed to gather outside the villa's entrance after changing. Having no idea what Yu Xiuyuan could possibly have planned, the two women emerged first, hand in hand. Their expressions were grave, and they said nothing, only staring at the doorway.

At first, the comments were all praising the two beauties, but their expressions gradually affected the viewers, who began asking what was wrong.

The main livestream's camera also turned toward the doorway.

A tall, slender beauty slowly approached in a black mermaid gown. His long, wavy hair fluttered gently in the breeze, a few gleaming strands falling onto his smooth shoulders and lovely collarbones.

As the beauty approached, the sway of his supple waist, slender enough to encircle with one hand, set hearts racing. The layered hem around his ankles rippled with every step, exuding endless allure.

Up close, his beauty was even more breathtaking. His eyes shimmered, his skin outshone frost and snow, and a single glance made it impossible to look away.

The scene was quiet. The comments were ecstatic:

[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.]

[Aaaaaah, I want to marry him!]

[I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love.]

[Hey, gorgeous, want to date? Men stink. I'm a woman, and I smell lovely.]

[Holy shit, even God Yun is staring. Pack it up, everyone. None of us stands a chance.]

[God Yun, draw your sword! That beauty is mine!]

Yun Chuan's gaze darkened slightly. He stepped forward, stared into his face, and asked in a husky voice:

"You look beautiful like this. Absolutely beautiful."

"But why are you wearing women's clothes? Was it voluntary?"

What did he mean? God Yun knew this beauty?

Uncomfortable under his gaze, the beauty gave a soft huff and ignored him.

Li Rou cried out, "Yu Xiuyuan!!!"