Jiang Chiyan's voice grew husky. "Do you know how to kiss?"
Xiao Cheng looked at Jiang Chiyan's smiling, foxlike eyes and took two deep breaths.
He leaned in and kissed the corner of Jiang Chiyan's mouth.
It was a light kiss, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
It caught him off guard...
After the kiss, Xiao Cheng quickly pulled back.
Like a child who had stolen a taste of honey.
His inexperienced movements made Jiang Chiyan pause. "Your first kiss?"
Xiao Cheng had been in the entertainment industry for so long and had filmed romance dramas with quite a few actresses.
He still had... his first kiss?
Xiao Cheng looked up, his voice almost inaudible. "Mm..."
After a while, Xiao Cheng added, "I'm not as practiced as you."
Jiang Chiyan couldn't hold back a low laugh. "You think I'm an old hand at romance?"
"Aren't you?"
"Of course not." Jiang Chiyan said each word distinctly. "All my firsts have been with you."
With his arm around Xiao Cheng's shoulders, Jiang Chiyan dropped another line into his ear before leaving the hotel for a business dinner.
He left with easy confidence.
But Xiao Cheng wasn't nearly so composed.
His mind was filled with those two outrageous things Jiang Chiyan had said.
-"Best Actor Xiao, I look forward to you using your mouth someday..."
-"That will definitely be unforgettable."
Xiao Cheng's face was burning hot.
Over the course of the afternoon, he took two cold showers.
That evening, Xiao Cheng posted a livestream room number on Weibo and started a stream to chat with the Oranges.
The livestream started at eight that evening.
19:53, livestream viewers: 6.92 million
19:55, livestream viewers: 9.45 million
The number was still climbing wildly.
At 19:59, Xiao Cheng logged into his account on his computer and entered the livestream room right on time.
The screen was packed with a dizzying flood of comments.
___: "Brother Cheng! Brother Cheng in the flesh!!"
___: "Brother Cheng, the trending topic says you're going to film a kissing scene with Song Qiao. That can't be true, can it?"
___: "Season, I'm a fan of your books. When are you starting a new one?"
___: "I want to see Jiang Chiyan × Xiao Cheng in a drama with two male leads!"
___: "Xiao Cheng, people online say Jiang Chiyan went to Hengdian to visit you on set. Is he staying in your room???"
___: "Babe, don't film a kissing scene, aaaah! If you have to, I'll only accept one with Jiang Chiyan!!"
___: "Brother Cheng's hair is still dripping. Holy shit, that's so hot!"
___: "..."
As Xiao Cheng put on his headphones, he picked out a few comments to answer.
"As long as Xiao Cheng is in Lawyer Storm, there won't be any kissing scenes."
"A new book... I'll start one once I'm no longer single."
"You want to see Jiang Chiyan and me in a drama with two male leads? That probably wouldn't get past the censors."
"If Jiang Chiyan were in my room, I wouldn't be streaming. I wouldn't want to let you see him, because I'd be afraid you'd screenshot his face and use it as your wallpaper."
He had only just finished saying that.
System notification: Jiang Chiyan entered the livestream room.
When a verified platform account with over ten thousand followers entered the livestream room, the system played a notification sound.
Xiao Cheng and the more than ten million Oranges in the livestream room all heard it.
Instinctively, Xiao Cheng opened his selfie camera and straightened his collar while looking at his phone screen.
Then he turned the livestream's beauty filter up to maximum.
The Oranges in the livestream room burst out laughing.
___: "Haha, Xiao Cheng, never thought we'd see you like this!!"
___: "You usually stream in pajamas with greasy hair, and we've never seen you turn on the beauty filter!"
___: "Am I the only one who thinks these two are genuinely so sweet?"
___: "They really are! Even boys' love novels wouldn't dare write it like this!!"
Amid the dizzying flood of comments.
Jiang Chiyan hadn't said anything, and there was no telling what he was busy with.
Xiao Cheng frowned and sent him a message on WeChat.
Xiao Cheng: "?"
Jiang Chiyan: "I'm having dinner with a client."
Xiao Cheng: "Then why did you enter the livestream room?"
Jiang Chiyan: "I'm afraid someone will lure you away. I have to keep a close eye on you."
Xiao Cheng: "How about saying hello to my fans?"
Xiao Cheng: "You came in but haven't said anything. They're going crazy shipping us."
Jiang Chiyan: "Oh, okay."
Then Jiang Chiyan "said hello" to the Oranges.
His way of saying hello...
Was very unique.
Jiang Chiyan posted in the livestream room: "I want to join Best Actor Xiao's solo fan group. Someone please add me."
Xiao Cheng: "..."
The Oranges: "..."
In the livestream room, the Oranges were getting carried away shipping the pair.
Outside the livestream room, Song Qiao and her manager were also discussing Xiao Cheng.
Her manager told Song Qiao, "You have to find a way to ride Xiao Cheng's popularity. Understand?"
Song Qiao was still frantically rinsing her mouth with mouthwash.
The pot of noodles she had eaten that morning had already left her traumatized.
Spitting out the mouthwash, Song Qiao looked at her manager with some resentment. "Sister Chen... Xiao Cheng has eighty million followers on Weibo, and I have sixty million. I'm not that far behind him in popularity, am I? Why do I have to ride his?"
Her manager rolled her eyes.
"Of those sixty million Weibo followers, at least thirty million were bought for you by the company. Don't you have any damn self-awareness?"
"None of the dramas Xiao Cheng has filmed in the past two years have had fewer than twenty billion views. Have any of yours even passed two hundred million?"
Song Qiao was left speechless. "But I..."
Her manager said, "No buts. Find a way to stir up dating rumors with Xiao Cheng."
A trace of embarrassment crossed Song Qiao's face. "He won't film a kissing scene with me. There's nothing I can do."
Her manager smiled and handed Song Qiao a branded shopping bag. "Put this on and go to Xiao Cheng's room yourself."
Inside the shopping bag.
Was a sexy, solid-black mini slip dress with a V-neck.
The fitted fabric outlined shapely curves.
It was low-cut, baring her shoulder blades and a large expanse of her beautiful back.
It was utterly seductive.
Ten minutes later, Song Qiao came out of the room after changing.
Her manager looked her up and down and nodded in satisfaction. "I refuse to believe there's a man who doesn't like beautiful women."
Song Qiao went to Xiao Cheng's door and knocked.
"Knock, knock-"
Inside, a cold glint flashed in Xiao Cheng's eyes when he heard the knocking.
Finally.
When Xiao Cheng raised his head, a faint smile was on his face.
He pressed his headphones and told his fans, "Sorry, someone's knocking. How about... we end today's livestream here?"
In the livestream room.
___: "Don't, Brother Cheng!!"
___: "Brother Cheng, go answer the door. We'll be good and won't say a word!"
___: "Yes, yes, we won't disturb you!"
___: "The Oranges just want to see you a little longer. Please~"
Xiao Cheng deliberately hesitated. "Then... all right."
Then Xiao Cheng locked his screen.
The screensaver was solid black, making it look as though the computer wasn't on.
But the livestream camera was still running.
Xiao Cheng got up to answer the door.
Outside the door.
Song Qiao hooked a finger around her thin black shoulder strap and winked at Xiao Cheng. "Teacher Xiao Cheng, I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"
The low-cut mini dress with its deep V-neck outlined Song Qiao's curves.
She stood there confidently, waiting for Xiao Cheng's breathing to quicken.
But...
Xiao Cheng's expression was cool, and he didn't even lift his eyelids.
"Teacher Song Qiao, it's rather late. Whatever you have to say, please say it here."
Song Qiao's eyes shifted, and she leaned toward Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng reflexively stepped sideways to avoid her.
The disgust in his eyes was hard to conceal.
When he turned around again...
Song Qiao was already sitting on the sofa in his room.
She deliberately lifted part of her skirt, revealing her fair, long legs.
Her shoulder strap slipped down, and her neckline was pulled very low.
Seductive, alluring, enticing.
And at that moment, Xiao Cheng's computer camera happened to be pointing straight at her.
The viewers in the livestream room erupted.
___: "Is that Song Qiao? The nation's goddess, Song Qiao????"
___: "I'm ashamed I was her fan for seven years. Not a fan anymore, not a fan anymore."
___: "Get lost, commenter above! Song Qiao and Xiao Cheng are in the same cast. What's wrong with rehearsing scenes and discussing the script together?"
___: "Going into a man's room dressed like that late at night-is she rehearsing or whoring?"
___: "Are Xiao Cheng's fans narcissistic or brain-dead? How full of yourselves can you be??"
Quite a few of Song Qiao's fans were making excuses for her.
The livestream room instantly descended into an ugly mess of insults.
But.
Song Qiao's next words shocked everyone so badly that their entire worldview shattered.
That very night, she lost five hundred thousand followers because of that one remark.