"I really do have one." Shen Xunye sounded innocent. "I joined the music club for a semester in college and wrote something on a whim back then. If you want to hear it, I should be able to dig it up."
Fang Jin waved him off. "It's fine. No need."
Sixth and seventh place had already been decided anyway. Everyone who didn't come first would have to drink a glass after this, so it made little difference.
Wei Xuan and Jiang Lele finished their two glasses with miserable expressions.
It was Shen Xunye's turn again.
"This is my first day living in the Raising House." His statement was very plain.
Zhou Yang, Gao Yuan, and Fang Jin were all eliminated at once, leaving only Shen Xunye and Chi Li.
"Just admit defeat." Chi Li waggled his two fingers. "It's my turn now, and you only have one finger left. Even if I give you a free turn, you have no chance of winning."
"I can't do that." Shen Xunye poured himself a drink in advance. "If I give up now, won't I miss out on getting to know you?"
"Hey..." Chi Li nudged Shen Xunye with his foot, signaling for him to rein it in, but verbally conceded, "That's getting a little flirty."
Looking innocent, Shen Xunye reminded him with two words. "Sincerity. Friendship."
"Oh." A smile lingered at the corners of Chi Li's mouth as he made a statement aimed at Shen Xunye. "I'm left-handed."
That was also why he had chosen a corner seat with no one to his left.
"All right... I lost." Shen Xunye tipped his head back and downed his drink.
A detail like being left-handed was something he could have spotted just by looking... What a shame...
[So Chi Li is a nineteen-year-old lefty who has his own original songs, has cross-dressed, has never been rejected, and is under 190 centimeters tall.]
[Why is left-handed the takeaway? Shouldn't it be cross-dressing big shot?!]
[He's actually an idol, though...]
The game ended.
Xie Weishui didn't step up to take charge as he usually did.
"All right." Gao Yuan cheerfully took over his "job." "The game's over. Everyone can do their own thing. Our new members should get some rest. Leave the cleanup to me."
"Well, this is bizarre. Since when do you volunteer to clean up?" Wei Xuan looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"I'm happy." A smile blossomed across Gao Yuan's face.
Someone had gotten so rattled that he wished he could set off fireworks to celebrate.
The eight of them went their separate ways.
Chi Li asked Gao Yuan for a cleaning cloth, returned to his room, and began cleaning it from top to bottom.
Footage of such a dull activity generally wouldn't appear on the main livestream.
So he had barely started wiping when the camera cut to Zhou Yang, who was soothing Xie Weishui in a low voice.
Over the past few days, scenes like this had invariably brought a surge in both concurrent viewers and bullet comments.
Today, however, there was no noticeable change in the bullet comments, while the audience that had surged in because of Chi Li was slowly dwindling, causing the main livestream's overall numbers to trend downward.
Meanwhile, the concurrent viewers on Chi Li's personal channel were rising rapidly.
[I always freeload in the main livestream, but even I finally bit the bullet and paid...]
[Here to see my sweet house cat.]
[The director has no taste. A good little housewife doing chores is so much better to watch than that sickly-sweet romance between senior and junior.]
[Everyone, leave the love nest I share with my wife immediately. This is a warning.]
[Hello, Chi Li. I want to wife-mom you. This is a notification, not a negotiation.]
The audience on Chi Li's personal livestream channel shot from its previously steady nine thousand to twenty-eight thousand in an instant.
It crushed Zhou Yang's paid viewer numbers from the past few days several times over.
Chi Li, however, knew nothing of this.
He was standing on tiptoe, wiping the top shelf of the bookcase.
The loose neckline of his T-shirt slipped to one side with his movements, revealing the distinct lines of his collarbone and skin like white jade.
As he worked his way down the shelves, his waist gradually dipped into a soft curve, the tender flesh where his hips met his waist flickering into view at the edge of his shorts.
The fabric clung to him, outlining youthful, full curves.
[[Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot]]
[[Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot]]
[[Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot][Hot]]
Fire engulfed the bullet comments.
After finishing the cleaning, Chi Li sat down to rest for a while, then went into the bathroom.
When he emerged from his shower, it was just in time for the livestream to end at ten that night.
The red light indicating that the camera was running had barely gone out when the phone beside it rang with perfect timing.
Chi Li draped a hair towel over his head and answered.
"Chi Li!!!" Li Ming's booming voice rang out from the other end.
"What?" Chi Li held the phone a little farther from his ear.
"Who told you to shower during the livestream on your very first day?!"
In just the forty minutes he had spent showering, the Raising House's message board had filled with complaints.
Some asked why cameras weren't installed in the bathroom, demanding to know why they couldn't watch when they had already paid for membership.
Some said the production team was deceiving consumers, luring them in with a gorgeous beauty only for that beauty to disappear after they had watched for a little while.
Others were simply venting their feelings with, "Give me back my wife! Give me back my wife! Give me back my wife!"
...That last kind was the most common.
"Am I not allowed to shower?" Chi Li found it utterly baffling.
"It's your first day. Spend a little more time on camera and shower after the livestream ends." Li Ming earnestly tried to persuade him. "Otherwise, what are people paying to watch?"
At the mention of payment, Chi Li asked, "How many people paid to watch me today?"
Li Ming said, "Thirty-one thousand."
"That many?" Chi Li was a little surprised.
He had barely even sold any BL fanservice, and already so many people were willing to pay?
He remembered that Zhou Yang's final paid viewer count on his first day hadn't even reached eight thousand.
"All those people spent forty minutes staring at your empty room. Don't you feel guilty?"
"...I'll shower later tomorrow." Chi Li could only promise. "How are Shen Xunye's paid viewer numbers?"
"Him... His numbers are much worse than yours, but he still has thirteen thousand. That's pretty good."
"That doesn't sound right, does it?"
Although Shen Xunye hadn't been as active as him, with that face, his numbers should have been higher no matter what.
"At least you cleaned your room for a while. He turned his camera off as soon as he went in. All those viewers coming over from the main livestream had nothing to watch."
Chi Li said, "Then you should be calling him, not me."
"Um... The company gave him special permission. He, he has more freedom." Li Ming suddenly started stammering. "Since we're talking about him, let me remind you again. Selling BL fanservice is one thing, but don't develop real feelings for him and get yourself caught up in it."
"You really do love worrying over nothing," Chi Li said disdainfully.
"Also... I know you and Zhou Yang have issues, but take it easy. You're in the same company, after all..."
Chi Li hung up before he finished.
He had no obligation to go easy on a trash ex like that.
Knock, knock, knock-
He had only just hung up when a knock sounded at the door.
Chi Li gave his hair a few haphazard rubs, then opened the door with it still half-wet.
Gao Yuan stood outside.
"What is it?" Chi Li asked.
"Xie Weishui said he wants to talk to you two." Gao Yuan hadn't expected the day would come when Xie Weishui would ask him to pass on a message, either.
"He didn't talk during the livestream, so what's the point of talking now?" Chi Li raised an eyebrow slightly. "Tell him I'm busy."