Chapter 23: The Small-Time Star and His Short-Tempered Sugar Daddy (Part XXIII)
Gu Yao, who had just put fruit juice into her mouth and hadn’t had time to swallow, focused only on not spraying the water onto the table. She hurriedly turned sideways and sprayed all over Zhao Jiatong’s upper body.
Then, while coughing, she pulled tissues from the table to wipe Zhao Jiatong.
The others also took the opportunity to get busy at this moment.
Lie walked quickly to the bathroom to get a mop.
Li Yun recognized Fang Yinnian and hurriedly greeted him, “President Fang.”
Su Yu, sitting on the other side of Fang Yinnian, didn’t move. She propped her chin with one hand, quietly sizing up Fang Yinnian.
Cheng Nuo cursed in his heart that Fang Yinnian and Xiao Ji were indeed birds of a feather, jackals from the same lair. Meanwhile, he picked up that plate of curry chicken chunks, trying to diffuse the awkwardness with a joke:
“It has to be you. You embarrass your brother as soon as you arrive. Didn’t I flop? I said to dump it, but the program team insisted on a group photo for a souvenir. I guess they plan to use this photo to whip my corpse repeatedly in post-production.”
After speaking, he immediately changed the subject nonchalantly: “Why are you here? You didn’t even say a word in advance.”
Fang Yinnian pretended to be completely unfamiliar with Xiao Ji, answering Cheng Nuo:
“We’re brothers. I was afraid you’d leave bachelorhood before me.”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xiao Ji continued to treat everyone equally, saying to Fang Yinnian:
“Hello.”
Fang Yinnian then looked up at him. “Standing makes you look tall? Sit.”
Fang Yinnian’s aura was too strong.
He was usually low-key and didn’t appear in public often. Aside from the artists in his own company, not everyone could immediately recognize his face.
But judging from the familiarity with which Cheng Nuo spoke to him, and Li Yun’s “President Fang” just now, the others understood who this Cheng Yaojin who had suddenly burst in was.
To put it bluntly, it was because he was too rich. Even these artists and stars who were usually surrounded by admirers would subconsciously lower their posture when facing an entertainment company boss, a big investor, and a representative of capital like Fang Yinnian.
After the initial brief awkwardness, everyone began to greet Fang Yinnian politely.
Fang Yinnian didn’t shake hands. He just sat in the chair, nodding to the speakers in a casual and relaxed manner.
However, under the table where no one could see, he stepped on Xiao Ji’s spotless white sneakers.
Due to Fang Yinnian’s sudden addition, the atmosphere at the dining table changed again.
It felt like a serious meeting waiting for the leader to speak.
Fang Yinnian looked at everyone and spoke, “Relax a bit. This isn’t the company. Here, my status is the same as yours.”
Only then did the crowd pretend to relax, starting to serve tea and water to Fang Yinnian, adding plates and bowls.
Only Su Yu noticed that when Fang Yinnian sat down just now, the chopsticks he picked up were Xiao Ji’s.
She got up and went to the kitchen, brought back another pair of chopsticks, and handed them to Xiao Ji.
Xiao Ji didn’t take them. Instead, he took the chopsticks back from in front of Fang Yinnian and said to him, “You took the wrong chopsticks.”
Whether Xiao Ji’s action was normal robotic behavior or a deliberate attempt to avoid suspicion, it pleased Fang Yinnian. He actively apologized to Xiao Ji, then took the chopsticks handed over by Su Yu and said to her:
“Thank you.”
Su Yu blinked, indicating “you’re welcome,” but didn’t speak.
Before the meal officially started, just as the chopsticks Fang Yinnian lifted were about to land on the fish-flavored eggplant in front of him, he seemed to suddenly think of something. His gaze fell on the best-looking potato strips on the whole table.
Then he stood up directly and brought that plate of potato strips in front of himself. “I want to eat this. You guys help yourselves.”
With that, he began to wolf down that plate of potato strips.
Xiao Ji stared at Fang Yinnian’s profile for a while, said nothing, and was the second to pick up his chopsticks.
At this time, 037 also began to find time to transmit the subtitles scrolling frantically outside the lens to Xiao Ji:
【Heaven knows I almost died of laughter just now. What kind of blunt-speaking treasure is Xiao Ji? May I ask if this is a persona? If not, I’m going to start stanning him.】
【Everyone has times when they flop. Looking at Teacher Cheng’s earlier steps, you can tell he cooks often. It’s normal to make mistakes with the heat on a new stove. Xiao Ji speaking like that is quite rude.】
【I actually think he speaks quite honestly. He just says whatever he wants to say. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?】
【It might not necessarily be wrong, but it’s truly rough…】
【You guys are so weird. Why did you only attack Xiao Ji and not President Fang when they said basically the same thing?】
【Is this President Fang the brother and boss of Film Emperor Cheng? So handsome??? If he debuted himself, he’d probably become popular faster than Cheng Nuo, right?】
【What status does he have? Debut for what? Does he need to debut?】
【There must be tons of beautiful women and handsome men throwing themselves at Fang Yinnian in reality. Why would he come to participate in a dating show?】
【The Fang family’s entertainment company is just the tip of the iceberg. Their real family fortune is abroad. Coming to the show is probably just for fun, throwing some money around to amuse himself and keep his brother company.】
【Wait, what do you mean by ‘handsome men throwing themselves at him’???】
【There are rumors in the circle that President Fang is interested in men, but no one has clarified it. Don’t know if it’s true or false.】
【Fake, right? It can’t be that all the high-quality men in the world have gone gay? Do we women still have a chance to live?】
【Upstairs, if you’re sick, go see a doctor. Even if he’s not gay, it has nothing to do with you.】
【Wait, if Fang Yinnian likes men… then, can I have a bold idea…】
…
Xiao Ji ate a few mouthfuls of food amidst the bullet comments, then discovered that Fang Yinnian’s foot under the table was becoming dishonest again, starting to slide up from Xiao Ji’s ankle to hook his calf.
Xiao Ji remained unmoved and expressionless.
Fang Yinnian continued.
Xiao Ji acted as if nothing was happening.
Fang Yinnian, not getting a response after a long time, began to crush the top of Xiao Ji’s foot with the sole of his shoe.
Xiao Ji, having no other choice, pulled his foot out from under Fang Yinnian’s shoe and hooked Fang Yinnian’s calf, clamping his ankle between his legs.
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