[Wen Liangtian: Why are you posting on Weibo instead of focusing on the livestream?]
He had originally thought that, since Chu Xinghui and Fan Weicai were arguing, he would go throw enough money at the stream to top the donor rankings and boost morale. He had never expected the brat to pick up his phone and start playing with it right there on the livestream.
Fortunately, the host was chatting with Ye Jing'er. If he cued Chu Xinghui again, how was he supposed to answer?
Besides, why did that message look so suggestive?
Chu Xinghui tucked his phone inside his clothes and looked up, waiting for the host to speak.
"Since all three guests are here today, let's play a little game!"
The host took out the equipment he had prepared:
"This is a heart rate monitor. It measures your heart rate.
"Weicai and Huihui will take turns sitting opposite Ye Jing'er and looking into her eyes. Let's see whose heart rate rises the highest out of the three of you.
"If either person's heart rate reaches 100 first, they lose.
"So let's start with Weicai and Jing'er."
[Something this exciting?]
[Honestly, in the drama, I ship Hui and Lin Wan...]
[Me too. Fan Weicai's acting is just so sleazy...]
[Why can't we ship them? If the official couple doesn't do it for us, what's wrong with finding one that does?]
Ye Jing'er put the device on her head and sat in the seat the host had prepared in front of the camera, meeting Fan Weicai's eyes as he sat opposite her.
She was fairly pretty. She couldn't compare to big names like Qiao Tong and Hua Zhiyuan, but she was good-looking compared with others at her level of fame.
Fan Weicai's heart rate kept climbing.
This hadn't seemed to happen when they were filming before, had it?
Back then, he had been so busy trying to look cool that he hadn't paid any attention to anyone around him.
Ye Jing'er gazed quietly at Fan Weicai, her heart as still as water.
The monitor showed Ye Jing'er's heart rate holding steady at around 80, while Fan Weicai's had already risen to 98.
[We have a winner. Our leading lady hasn't wavered at all.]
[Ye Jing'er, your expression is so strange. What exactly did you go through on set?]
[Ye Jing'er: My heart is locked. Don't cue me.]
"All right, it looks like Weicai's heart is fluttering more! Our Jing'er really is a cool, formidable woman. Weicai's domineering CEO aura hasn't shaken her at all."
The host removed the device from Fan Weicai's head and motioned for him to look at the monitor behind him. It had already passed a hundred.
Fan Weicai spread his hands helplessly and spoke in an exaggerated vocal fry:
"What can I do? She's my leading lady. There's no way I wouldn't fall for her."
A trace of disgust flashed across Ye Jing'er's face before she met the eyes of Chu Xinghui, who had come over.
Although Chu Xinghui wasn't wearing his black wig or colored contacts now, she still automatically saw him as Hui, the boy in the script who had sacrificed himself for her.
She lowered her eyes, pushing that Hui out of her heart.
[Why did her heart rate suddenly shoot up?]
[It really did! It's already at 90!]
[Is Chu Xinghui that charming?]
Chu Xinghui put on the device and sat where Fan Weicai had been sitting.
When the host said to begin, he met Ye Jing'er's eyes.
Ye Jing'er's heart rate instantly rose, and even her face flushed slightly.
"Huihui is about to win. How about saying something romantic to charm our Jing'er?"
The host clearly shipped Hui and Lin Wan and egged them on from the side.
Chu Xinghui thought about it. Indeed, this could help him finish work sooner. He nodded and said:
"What kind of crap did you eat?"
"?"
Ye Jing'er's face abruptly went white. She nearly blurted out that Chu Xinghui shouldn't spread rumors.
Chu Xinghui put on a look of sudden realization:
"Oh! It was the start of our happiness!"
Ye Jing'er: ...
The host: ...
Chu Xinghui hardly ever read romantic lines online. He mostly read absurdist nonsense, and now that he tried to think of something, his head was full of it. He couldn't find a single romantic line.
After racking his brains for ages, this was the only one he had managed to dig up.
[Well... all I can say is that Chu Xinghui's absurdist persona remains intact.]
[We told Chu Xinghui to stay off the internet, stay off the internet. Now look, his brain's been soaked in absurdist nonsense.]
[I'm dying! Look, Ye Jing'er's heart rate is plummeting. It's already down to 75!]
[Are you okay, Jing'er? You don't look so good hahahahahahahahaha!]
[You people above are laughing too loudly!]
Chu Xinghui regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Looking at Ye Jing'er's pale face, he offered a feeble defense:
"You know, I didn't mean it that way."
"Then what did you mean?"
"Isn't this a romantic line..."
His voice grew quieter and quieter, until Ye Jing'er couldn't make out what he was saying at all.
But that no longer mattered. Hui's image had completely crumbled. She really would never smile again.
Chu Xinghui gazed tenderly at Ye Jing'er, trying to move her with his eyes.
Clearly, it had no effect. In fact, Ye Jing'er's eyes were utterly lifeless.
[Open your eyes and look at me. I refuse to believe there's nothing in your eyes... Holy shit, there really is nothing. Her soul's already ascended.]
[Chu Xinghui, find a way to raise your own heart rate and lose the game. Ye Jing'er has already locked away her heart and sworn off love.]
[Will we ever meet again, that smiling Jing'er?]
Seeing that the two of them were going to remain at a stalemate today, the host could only liven things up by thanking viewers for their gifts.
"Thank you to [You Haven't Taught Me to Cook Yet] for the submarine. Boss, don't spend too much!
"Thank you to [Caicai's Little Kitten] for the bouquet.
"Thank you to [Pei Hanmo] for the plane. How generous, boss."
[?]
[????]
[Wait, dude?]
A string of question marks floated across the livestream. The host turned around curiously and saw that Chu Xinghui, who had been calm a moment ago, now had a heart rate that was about to reach 90.
Although Chu Xinghui sat on his stool with an expressionless face, his pupils trembled.
The host narrowed his eyes, noticing something was off.
"Thank you, boss [Pei Hanmo], for the submarine. How generous!
"Thank you, boss [Pei Hanmo], for the amusement park. How generous!"
Chu Xinghui was panicking inside. Why had Pei Hanmo suddenly gotten involved in this livestream?
They had clearly agreed that they would only start promoting things once his position was secure.
Why were they starting now?
He hadn't even considered that the viewer named "Pei Hanmo" might not actually be Pei Hanmo.
But it really was Pei Hanmo. Chu Xinghui's livestream was playing on his computer.
Gu Chupei sat beside him.
"You put that much money into this?"
Gu Chupei clicked his tongue, marveling at how nice it was to be rich. Even the way they pursued a wife was different.
Pei Hanmo leaned back in his chair and watched the Xinghan girls screaming in the livestream, smiling in satisfaction:
"It's not as though I got nothing out of it. It's time those heretical shippers saw who the real one was."
"Is Xiaoxi coming back soon?"
Suddenly, Gu Chupei asked, a hopeful light flickering in his eyes:
"I got a message from him."
Pei Hanmo fell silent for a moment, then said:
"What about Lan Xiangxian? What do you want to do with him?"
Before you continue