Chapter 32: Keep a Distance from Lin Huaizhi
Chu Xiaoran hurriedly waved his hands to explain, “That’s not what I meant!”
What was this man trying to do?!
Was he not going to stop until he turned an unintentional mistake into a deliberate act? Just because Lin Huaizhi said he liked him, did he really think he was somebody?
“Then what exactly do you mean?”
Xu Qiao was truly annoyed with him.
Originally, because of the character “Stuttering Brother”—a complex role mixed with evil and kindness—she had looked up to Chu Xiaoran himself, regarding him as an idol.
But as they say, fans should stay away from their idol’s personal life. Just because she knew Chu Xiaoran was participating in a dating show, and her coach wanted to train new recruits and gave her a season off, she ran over to join the show.
She just wanted to see her idol; what was wrong with that?
Everything was normal in the first episode. Chu Xiaoran acted elegant and polite. But in the second episode, he underwent a sudden, drastic change.
She didn’t know what madness possessed him, but he just had to target Lin Huaizhi. His tolerance for Lin Huaizhi was extremely low. If Lin Huaizhi said a word, he would attack him. Even if it wasn’t Lin Huaizhi’s fault, he would help others condemn Lin Huaizhi. The most incredible part was that he shamelessly demanded Lin Huaizhi apologize.
At this point, the idol halo around Chu Xiaoran in her heart had completely shattered into dust.
What kind of thing was this?
Huh?
The prejudice against Lin Huaizhi and the humiliation of trying to trample him were overflowing from the screen! The key point was that Lin Huaizhi was his boss!
If Huaimeng were a small company, or if Chu Xiaoran were Huaimeng’s biggest card, or if Lin Huaizhi were a bad boss exploiting him in various ways, Xu Qiao wouldn’t be surprised by Chu Xiaoran treating Lin Huaizhi like this.
But the problem was that none of these three situations existed!
Huaimeng was the largest entertainment company in the country. Chu Xiaoran didn’t even count among the top-tier stars in Huaimeng. And Lin Huaizhi was an excellent boss, throwing all sorts of resources at Chu Xiaoran.
Under these circumstances, for Chu Xiaoran to treat Lin Huaizhi this way, there was only one explanation.
Chu Xiaoran was an ingrate who couldn’t be tamed.
If his character was bad, why be a fan?
Xu Qiao turned from fan to anti quite thoroughly. Especially thinking of the box office sales and merchandise she had contributed over the years, all used to feed such a person, she wished she could claw at Chu Xiaoran’s throat and make him spit the money back out.
Naturally, Chu Xiaoran also noticed Xu Qiao’s impatience and disgust. Useless trash; it was practically written on her face. If he couldn’t see it, he’d have to be blind!
In the first episode, this girl had frequently shown him favor, but now she was opposing him at every turn. He refused to believe this wasn’t Lin Huaizhi’s doing. What “chasing Huo Chen”? It was obviously a ploy to alienate the people around him to achieve the goal of controlling him!
Moreover, Lin Huaizhi had a treadmill in his office and exercised frequently. How could he fall with just a push?
This was a threat!
Thinking of this, Chu Xiaoran’s heart slowly settled back into his chest. “I don’t mean anything. I’m just simply very disappointed in Lin Huaizhi.”
Xu Qiao: “?”
Xu Qiao felt she understood every word Chu Xiaoran said, but put together, she didn’t understand a thing.
“Can you speak human?”
Chu Xiaoran choked, his face darkening. “This has nothing to do with you. It’s between me and Lin Huaizhi.”
“Lin Huaizhi, you really disappoint me too much. If you insist on using these tactics to make me compromise, then you are destined not to get your wish.”
【Did you hear that! My Xiao isn’t like what you say! It’s Lin Huaizhi who wants to use the casting couch on him! Would you show a good face to someone who wants to sleep with you for favors?!】
【Before being coerced, sure, you don’t have to be nice. But Chu Xiaoran’s arrogant attitude clearly shows he’s already been kept! Taking resources given by others while looking down on them—he’s doing a great job being a canary!】
【No way? If Chu Xiaoran really had something going on with Lin Huaizhi, why would Lin Huaizhi make such a big fanfare on a dating show to chase Huo Chen?】
【Why else? To provoke Chu Xiaoran, of course.】
The bullet comments were noisy, full of conspiracy theories. Because of Chu Xiaoran’s words, almost everyone thought there was something dirty between him and Lin Huaizhi.
Of course, Lin Huaizhi just found it laughable.
“Chu Xiaoran, you’re quite contradictory.”
The young man stood up straight. There was a smile on his face, but his eyes were cold. “You said when I was hospitalized, you didn’t visit me because you were afraid paparazzi would photograph you and spread rumors about our ambiguous relationship. Now you take the initiative to say ambiguous things like ‘I’m forcing you to compromise.’ Are you not afraid of the camera at a time like this?”
Chu Xiaoran opened his mouth to defend himself. “That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
Lin Huaizhi stared into his eyes. “Is it because I haven’t been pushed down the stairs by you yet, or is it because I’m not seriously injured enough to need hospitalization right now?”
Chu Xiaoran was annoyed by his act of bringing up old scores. “You know that’s not what I meant!”
“I really don’t know what you mean.”
Lin Huaizhi wasn’t a mute.
He chose to give to Chu Xiaoran for the sake of money, but if Chu Xiaoran refused the face given to him, he wouldn’t be stingy with a slap.
“I said I don’t like you. I came here to pursue Huo Chen. It seems you didn’t listen to these explanations, and I can’t be bothered to waste my breath explaining again. You can continue to believe what you believe—”
Lin Huaizhi patted the spot Chu Xiaoran had touched, as if brushing off something dirty. While doing this, his gaze never left Chu Xiaoran.
“But my temper is limited. If we can’t be friends, I am still your boss. So I hope you can maintain an appropriate distance from me in the future.”
By this point, the words were practically a glaring threat.
But who was Chu Xiaoran?
Chu Xiaoran was still immersed in the past illusions of Lin Huaizhi obeying him in everything. Everything Lin Huaizhi was doing now was just to force him to bow his head.
He wouldn’t bow.
Chu Xiaoran looked arrogant. “I will keep my distance from you. As for you, I hope you don’t go back on your word.”
Lin Huaizhi truly loathed stupidity. He never realized talking to Chu Xiaoran was such a mentally exhausting task. Chu Xiaoran seemed immersed in his own world; no matter what others said or did, it couldn’t shake the facts he believed in.
His throat was still uncomfortable, and he didn’t want to talk nonsense with Chu Xiaoran anymore.
The matter could have ended there.
But the main Gong was bullied and felt aggrieved; how could the main Shou stand by and remain indifferent?
So Fang Mo immediately jumped out: “Why make things so stiff? Brother Chu probably wanted to greet President Lin, and when he didn’t get a response, he wanted to reach out and pat President Lin. But he didn’t expect President Lin to be so unsteady and almost fall.”
“But President Lin didn’t fall!”
“So the scene doesn’t need to be so ugly. Besides, everyone has to film the dating show together in the future. And someone as generous as President Lin surely wouldn’t mind these small matters, right?”
Lin Huaizhi’s good mood vanished completely.
The person in his dreams overlapped with the person in front of him. Waves of nausea surged up. He looked at Fang Mo, who was feigning a smile, and revealed a smile himself.
“Are you my assistant?”
Caught off guard by the question, Fang Mo answered subconsciously, “No.”
“Then are you my lawyer?”
Fang Mo shook his head. “No.”
Lin Huaizhi’s smile slowly faded. “I thought you were. Otherwise, how could you know what I’m thinking without even asking my opinion, and even make decisions directly for me?”
Fang Mo’s face turned pale.
That appearance of a strong little white flower holding back tears despite being wronged made Chu Xiaoran look on with pity and heartache.
Before Chu Xiaoran could speak, Lin Huaizhi reached the limit of his patience. “If you really can’t understand human speech, you two can go sign up for an EQ and IQ improvement class. You don’t even have to pay; I’ll cover it for you.”
“Take this opportunity to learn properly in there—what it means for both of you to stay far away from me!”
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