Unsurprisingly, the bullet comments erupted into another argument. Lin Shuheng's fans called Wen Jiu cold-blooded and heartless-not only had he refused to help, he had even mocked him. How could Wen Jiu's fans stand for that? They tore into them on the spot.
[Fuck, do you really think our Wen Jiu is a pushover? You take a bite out of him every time you see him. Aren't you disgusting?]
[As a passerby, I can't watch this anymore. They barely said anything, did they? Who started biting everyone like a rabid dog before they'd even gotten two sentences out?]
[It's not like he killed your dad. It's just lending a hand, isn't it? Can't you see he's not feeling well?]
[Fans really do take after their idol. Are you all underage or something? Not a scrap of reason, and your idol doesn't even keep you in line.]
[I'm old enough to be your grandma! He's been playing the white lotus and pulling green tea tricks since his debut, and seven years later, he's still here making everyone sick. Like a fucking leech! Fuck!]
[Thanks to Lin Shuheng, just seeing those words makes me want to puke now. White lotuses, green teas, every last one of them-get the hell out!]
[Look up the live broadcast incident on his debut group's formation night, the wrap photo incident with the drama crew, the live New Year's Eve stage incident...]
[Okay, stop fighting. Take it somewhere else! Don't bring more hate down on wifey!]
[He's already been smeared black as coal, for fuck's sake. Might as well give up trying and curse them right back. If wifey didn't still have hopes for the stage, I would've left this fucking fandom ages ago. Fuck, it's nothing but grief!]
In front of their screens, countless fans grew so distressed that their eyes reddened, and the bullet comments gradually fell silent.
Yes, if it weren't for Wen Jiu, they would have left long ago.
Their idol was still holding on. What reason did his fans have not to protect him?
The man himself knew nothing of the rumors online, nor did he know that his fans, who showed no mercy when screwing over their own idol, protected him like their own cub somewhere he couldn't see.
All that could be said was that Wen Jiu hadn't let his fans' defense of him go to waste.
Although his straight-guy brain still couldn't recognize his sworn rival's green tea tricks, he hadn't given him another chance to scam him.
Instead, he instinctively made the cleverest response-
He raised his voice and shouted at the damned director, who had deliberately assigned no one to help them with their luggage and was secretly watching the show from the doorframe:
"Lin Shuheng's passed out from low blood sugar! Someone, come quick! Someone's fainted!"
In the little kitchen next door, Yu Qing, who wasn't allowed to touch cold water in the chilly weather and had been planted on a little stool by Shen Yu to tend the fire, looked up at the shout and instinctively turned toward her husband washing vegetables by the sink.
Shen Yu paused in the middle of trimming the vegetables.
The bang, bang, bang of Shen Huaian chopping vegetables stopped, and he discreetly pricked up his ears.
Without the interference, Wen Jiu's voice came through even more clearly. "Director, help! Lin Shuheng's fainted in the stairwell! He's too heavy for me to carry!"
Still standing perfectly fine at the turn in the stairs, Lin Shuheng was so angry that his face wasn't even pale anymore. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Wen Jiu gave him a reproachful look, now feeling safe enough to come down. "Aren't I just getting a head start on playing along with your act? I'm doing my duty playing the sucker, and you're still not happy?"
Lin Shuheng choked.
Wen Jiu moved up beside him, already positioning himself to support him. "Hurry up. You've fainted, so shut the fuck up. They're coming in! If they catch you out and this gets hard to wrap up, don't blame me."
Lin Shuheng: ...
Zhang Guozhong, who had watched the whole thing through the crack in the door: ...
Lin Shuheng breathed out and in, blood rushing to his head, his complexion growing rosier.
There was no way he could faint at all!
Tap, tap, tap. Shen Huaian's hurried footsteps drew closer and closer. Just as he was about to charge over, the chief director had a lapse of judgment and instinctively ducked behind the door.
Wen Jiu urged him quietly, "Aren't you usually pretty good at this? Hurry up!"
Lin Shuheng steeled himself and decided to drop the act. I'll just say it outright, push the blame onto Wen Jiu, and say he caused a false alarm.
That'll make everyone like him less, too.
That was what Lin Shuheng thought, but the infuriating nuisance beside him kept building up a sense of urgency. The tapping footsteps grew more and more hurried, almost upon them, and he couldn't help growing nervous too.
Half of the approaching figure finally came into view. "What happened? Who fainted? What's going on?"
Lin Shuheng: !!!
Shen Huaian had run over in a great hurry, still gripping a kitchen knife. As he entered, the white light from outside fell on it, making it gleam.
Dazzled by that kitchen knife, Lin Shuheng instantly went limp, shut his eyes, and started falling away from Wen Jiu!
Wen Jiu let out an "Oh!" How could he give him another chance to scam him?
He grabbed his arm and quickly yanked him into his own chest!
Lin Shuheng resisted, but Wen Jiu forcibly lowered him a little, resting his head on a railing bar.
The hard bar pressed into Lin Shuheng so painfully that he almost lost control of his expression. He tried to endure it, but ultimately couldn't, and carefully shifted his head to rest against Wen Jiu's stomach.
And so, fainting took no more than an instant.
The bullet comments: [...]
The tears at the corners of the fans' eyes instantly vanished.
[I'd call this the drama of 2023.]
[Isn't this better than the Spring Festival Gala?]
[I'm seriously going to die laughing in this livestream, hahahaha.]
Shen Huaian clomped up the stairs and saw Lin Shuheng leaning into Wen Jiu's arms at a bizarre angle.
His lower body was rigid, his upper body twisted at the waist, and the back of his head rested on a thin wooden railing bar. Perhaps it had hurt, because he was now burying his face in Wen Jiu's arms, looking "aggrieved" and "bashful."
His two hands, with nowhere to go, hovered in the air as though they had given up, while his legs braced diagonally against the floor. He looked about to slide down the stairs.
Shen Huaian: ...
Just looking at him was exhausting.
Wen Jiu, on the other hand, seemed quite relaxed. He turned his head to glance at the kitchen knife in Shen Huaian's hand, his expression anxious.
"Senior Shen, you're just in time! Lin Shuheng's fainted from low blood sugar-it's all the fault of that rotten production team for making him carry his own luggage! What are we going to do now?"
As he spoke, he shot him a look: Hurry over and lend a hand. He's too heavy. I can't hold him much longer!
Shen Huaian really wanted to say that he had debuted later than Wen Jiu and didn't count as his senior, but he was afraid he'd get hit if he said it.
The timing of Wen Jiu's debut was a powder keg that exploded at a touch.
Seeing their precarious position, Shen Huaian couldn't worry about that anymore and immediately stepped forward to help.
The rotten director at the door: ???
Indignant, he called over the assistant director, location manager, and cameraman behind him, then marched through the door. "What kind of way is that to talk? Huh?"
As he spoke, he glanced up, and his perpetually unflappable face finally showed a crack.
"Don't move! Nobody move!"