Chapter 17: Rivals Release a Godly Photo, Trending Search
Xie Shibai leaned back in his chair, his cool eyes slightly lifted, looking directly at Lu Ciheng.
“Let go.”
His wrist bone felt the scorching body temperature. Even though they had made contact many times, he was still made slightly uncomfortable by the contrasting body heat. Xie Shibai attempted to withdraw his hand, but the large palm showed no intention of letting go.
Lu Ciheng leaned forward slightly. His deep features looked dangerous, but when the corners of his lips hooked up, he carried a hint of cynicism. His tone was slow and leisurely, sounding pitiful, as if Xie Shibai had done something excessive.
“Honey, I kindly reminded you, yet now you say I’m a dog. That really hurts my feelings.”
Although he said he was hurt, his hooked lips and teasing tone didn’t touch upon sadness in the slightest.
Xie Shibai raised his eyebrow slightly. “I didn’t say it was my dog.”
The corners of Lu Ciheng’s lips pressed down. “Just now in front of so many people in the livestream room you said it, yet now you won’t admit it? Once you raise a puppy, you can’t abandon it.”
Xie Shibai discovered that Lu Ciheng had been enjoying this all along. He said coldly, “Lu Ciheng, are you a pervert?”
Getting scolded actually makes him this happy.
Lu Ciheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
Before Lu Ciheng could say anything, Xie Shibai pulled his hand out first. The presence of the heat source on the wrist bone surrounded by the palm was extremely strong. He got up to wash his hands.
Lu Ciheng covered his face, feeling Xie Shibai’s scent on his palm. The ears under his hair turned slightly red, but his eyes remained excited and couldn’t calm down.
I’ve been discovered.
Nighttime.
The lights in the study remained bright. Lu Ciheng received the new treatment plan. After carefully analyzing Chen Yi’s report, he marked Xie Shibai’s acceptance levels for the first three stages completed.
His phone lay on a pile of documents, showing a call in progress.
“I’m serious, Old Lu, are you coming to my family’s banquet in a few days or not?” Zhong Mingxiu asked.
Lu Ciheng didn’t even lift his head. “Not going.”
Zhong Mingxiu: “No way, you’re not even coming to support me? What are you so busy with? Are you addicted to being a star? Why doesn’t your old man care about you? Has he really not called you home to inherit the family business?”
Lu Ciheng said unhurriedly, “Busy keeping my wife company. How could someone like you who hasn’t even been married understand?”
On the other end of the phone, Zhong Mingxiu repeatedly checked the name on his phone to confirm it was Lu Ciheng, shocked: “The marriage certificate you posted on your Moments wasn’t photoshopped? You really got married?!”
Lu Ciheng was speechless for a moment. “With that IQ, no wonder you can’t beat your brother. How bored would I have to be to photoshop a marriage certificate for fun?”
Zhong Mingxiu: “Personal attacks are crossing the line. Give me back the medical analysis I just sent you.”
Lu Ciheng drawled, “Too late.”
Zhong Mingxiu and Lu Ciheng had known each other since childhood. He was long accustomed to this mouth of his—sharp-tongued and prone to drawing hatred since he was young. Despite this, he couldn’t help questioning, “How did you survive in the entertainment industry with that mouth? And you even found someone to marry, it’s bizarre.”
Lu Ciheng said indifferently, “Relied on my face. Don’t you have one?”
“Oh sh*t, you really are shameless!” Zhong Mingxiu cursed angrily.
Bei Shan had a “sweeping the building” event (visiting media offices for promotion). Assistant Lin came early in the morning to pick up Xie Shibai and take him to the event building.
The styling for the event was done to fit the character in the movie. Xie Shibai wore a pair of plain glasses on the bridge of his nose. When he arrived at the scene, the other actors happened to see him.
Only Su Xingran had arrived the earliest, and he had already distributed small gifts to the staff in advance. Seeing Xie Shibai, he greeted him very enthusiastically, as if the awkwardness in the livestream room yesterday hadn’t dispelled his desire to hype a CP.
“Senior Xie, you’ve worked hard on the way. Do you want something to drink? I ordered milk tea.” Su Xingran noticed someone was filming, and a sweet smile rose on his face.
Although the sweeping building event wasn’t livestreamed the entire time, fans who got the news in advance had already gathered on the periphery. Separated by not a great distance, their phones could capture the situation inside.
When Su Xingran turned around, it was as if he just noticed fans filming not far away. Feigning surprise, he waved and greeted them, eliciting screams from the fans.
The accompanying actors couldn’t help but say, “Ran Ran is really popular; many of them are your fans today.”
Su Xingran said shyly, “How can I compare to Senior Xie? Senior Xie still has more fans; everyone is just being supportive for Senior Xie’s sake.”
The accompanying actor sighed with emotion, “How could that be? You have such a good personality; everyone likes you very much.”
The arc of Su Xingran’s lips couldn’t be suppressed. He glanced at Xie Shibai and found the other party wasn’t paying attention to him at all, and his face instantly darkened.
On the other side, Xie Shibai took a sip of coffee, his brow furrowing. “Whose coffee is this?”
Assistant Lin was confused. “It’s from the place you like best, Brother Xie.”
Xie Shibai observed the label on the coffee cup and found it no different from what he drank before. “Did they change the formula?”
Assistant Lin tasted his own cup. “No, it’s still the same taste.”
Xie Shibai lowered his eyelashes, staring at the coffee in thought for a few seconds.
Assistant Lin asked vigilantly, “Brother Xie, did you secretly drink other coffee?”
Xie Shibai recalled the coffee Lu Ciheng brewed over the past few days. He felt the cup in his hand was missing something. He denied, “No.”
Assistant Lin was skeptical.
After the staff finished setting up the props for the sweeping building event, the director distributed small snacks and gifts to everyone, dividing them into two groups to distribute on different floors.
Su Xingran looked at the grouping. Thinking of the photo session in the elevator, he raised his hand and said, “Director, can I be in a group with Senior Xie? Also, this is my first time sweeping a building and I’m not very familiar with it. I want Senior Xie to guide me.”
The director didn’t think much of it. “Sure.”
Su Xingran was delighted. He reached out to take the snack bag in Xie Shibai’s hand. “Senior Xie, let me help you carry it.”
Xie Shibai pressed his brow down, dodging Su Xingran’s hand. “No need.”
Along the way, Su Xingran enthusiastically handed things to the staff to promote the movie, actively and enthusiastically taking photos with people. Only after the photos were taken did he seem to remember Xie Shibai, whom he had ignored. He turned his head just about to say sorry, only to find Xie Shibai missing.
“Where is Senior Xie…?” Su Xingran was confused.
The cameraman pointed to the other side where a crowd of people was queuing up in an orderly manner for photos. “A queue formed as soon as he entered over there.”
Su Xingran: …
Completely incomparable.
Xie Shibai couldn’t adapt to being surrounded by many people. After politely taking photos, he headed to the next activity.
While waiting for the elevator, Su Xingran struck up a conversation, “Senior Xie, can I add your contact information? I have many questions I want to ask you privately.”
As he spoke, the elevator doors slowly opened, and Su Xingran’s words stopped abruptly halfway.
Xie Shibai followed his gaze into the elevator and paused for a few seconds when he saw the person inside.
Inside the elevator, Lu Ciheng stood tall, dressed in black with one hand in his pocket. After the elevator doors slowly opened, he calmly raised his hand to greet Xie Shibai.
“What a coincidence.”
His attitude was overly calm, as if he had known he would run into Xie Shibai all along.
Xie Shibai entered the elevator.
Su Xingran originally wanted to stand beside Xie Shibai, but finding that the two were standing on the left and right, with Xie Shibai’s position closer to the edge, he tried to stand over there. However, Lu Ciheng moved a step to the side, leaving him no place to stand. Helplessly, he could only stand a bit further in front.
He was still thinking about taking photos inside the elevator. “Do Senior Xie and Senior Lu know each other?”
Xie Shibai gave an “En.”
Lu Ciheng said unhurriedly, “We not only know each other, but our relationship is also very good.”
Su Xingran: “…?”
If he hadn’t seen the trending search, he would have believed it.
Not only was Su Xingran speechless, but the accompanying staff were also speechless. They were all industry insiders; who didn’t know Xie Shibai and Lu Ciheng were famously on bad terms? Running into each other during a building sweep was truly an ill-fated connection.
Lu Ciheng leaned against the elevator handrail, turning his head slightly to look directly at Xie Shibai. “Teacher Xie, don’t you say?”
Xie Shibai gave him a lukewarm glance. “It’s alright.”
Accompanying staff: …
Help, why are both of them speaking sarcastically?
As the elevator slowly ascended, the flashes outside the glass didn’t stop. The elevator used for sweeping buildings was basically a spot where many photographers and fansites camped out. There were even cases where photos from the building sweep became more popular than the drama itself.
Su Xingran’s initial intention was to produce photos with Xie Shibai to take the CP hype to the next level. The result was Lu Ciheng appearing halfway.
Xie Shibai turned his head. The cold flash hit his face. Under the plain glasses, his expression was faint. The clothes fitted his waist, and the styling, identical to the character in the movie, invisibly added a hint of danger. Looking at the camera through the glass, his emotions were alienated and indifferent.
Before the reporter could marvel at the photo, she adjusted it and discovered that standing next to Xie Shibai was Lu Ciheng.
Not other actors from the movie, but Lu Ciheng, with whom he had a terrible relationship.
The distance between the two was delicately balanced. The overexposed photo leaned toward cold tones. Xie Shibai turned sideways to look at Lu Ciheng. The eyes under the plain glasses were cold and inorganic, his tall figure looking down from above like an icicle on a glacier.
Beside him, Lu Ciheng turned sideways to the camera in a casual posture. Under messy hair, his nose bridge was superior. A pair of black eyes fell straight on Xie Shibai, and the corner of his lips seemed to hook up in a non-existent arc. Their natural hostile relationship made them look more like they were provoking each other.
The reporter looked at the overall structure of the photo and sucked in a breath of cold air. The feeling of nemesis in the photo was too strong. She couldn’t help but post it on Weibo.
[@SiberianGroundBear: [Image] Who understands.]
As soon as the photo was posted, a lot of people flooded into the comments. The sudden heat pushed the topic onto the trending search, and more fans poured in.
[Is this the legendary ‘Rivals Release a Godly Photo’?]
[Holy crap, what kind of ‘nemesis life photo’ is this?]
[Sister, you’re too awesome. You shot them with the feeling of a war of the century.]
[To be honest, feels kinda shippable…]
[Cult fans can just stay in their own corner, okay? It’s amazing you can even ship a CP between two people with such bad relationships.]
[So speechless. Why does my brother get leeched on even when sweeping a building for a comeback?]
[Dying of laughter. Calculate by status, who is leeching whom?]
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