Chapter 7: The Battle for the Crown of the “Lone King” of C-Ent
[Assistant Lin: It must be Lu the Dog! It’s definitely his karma! Hahahahahaha, he’s finally getting exposed!]
[Assistant Lin: I told you so, the one who bought the news was definitely Lu the Dog.]
[Assistant Lin: I’m going to do another divination. It’s definitely him, no doubt about it!]
Assistant Lin’s messages popped up one after another. Xie Shibai lowered his brow, clicked on the post, and scanned it rapidly.
[2L: Artist surnamed L? Male or female? That’s a huge range.]
[3L: Without a name or gender, it’s all just made-up clickbait.]
[4L: Where’s the original poster (OP)?]
[5L: Alright, it’s a scam. Dropping a vague melon and running. Can the admins ban these kinds of accounts?]
[6L: What do we do about accounts like this just fishing for traffic?]
[OP: ? I haven’t finished typing, don’t scold me. This melon is definitely real. It circulated in the industry for a few hours and then disappeared. It’s said to be a currently very popular A-list male artist who got his marriage certificate with someone yesterday. My friend is an industry insider and confirmed that the news was bought out as soon as it came out.]
[11L: Another top star? Just how many top stars does C-Ent have?]
[12L: Ugh, don’t tell me it’s another D-list celebrity the OP is forcefully trying to promote?]
[OP: How is that possible? This melon is 100% real, and it’s someone very popular recently. My friend asked around, and it’s said to be a male artist surnamed L. The marriage partner might not be a non-celebrity either. It’s definitely an industry internal romance; otherwise, they wouldn’t hide it so tightly.]
[34L: So that means two artists’ reputations are collapsing?]
[35L: Who has an L in their name?]
[36L: Li Lechi? Lin Yao? Li Xia? Luo Mingxu? These are the only ones who have risen in rank recently.]
[37L: Male artist surnamed L… could it be Ling Yang?!]
[38L: Since when is Ling Yang considered an A-list artist? He has few fans but is secretly trying to raise his status. Even leeching off this kind of thing, aren’t you afraid he’ll actually collapse?]
[39L: How is Ling Yang not considered A-list? His new drama is a huge hit, everyone can see that.]
[40L: Dying of laughter. Running alongside at a Movie Night counts as A-list? The data he faked looks like it’s made of paper; anyone with eyes can see it. Without real skills, forcefully praising him is embarrassing, yet he’s still not honest.]
[41L: Agreed. If we’re talking about someone very popular recently, it has to be Lu Ciheng.]
[42L: Emmmmmm, Lu Ciheng? Although I’m not a fan, with his filming intensity, he shouldn’t have time to date, right?]
[43L: LMAO, even non-fans have to marvel at this. I feel like among the male artists surnamed L, he’s the least likely to be dating.]
[44L: Judging from his usual activities, Lu Ciheng’s personality doesn’t seem like the type to date. He feels cold and doesn’t seem very lively.]
[45L: The Reuters photos make him look quite cold, he barely talks. Aside from filming, he basically doesn’t go on variety shows. Non-fans don’t know what his private personality is like either, and he doesn’t interact much on Weibo. The possibility of him dating seems low, let alone getting married. He seems like a “Lone King” (Fans don’t scold me, don’t scold me, don’t scold me, I’m just stating a fact).]
[46L: I think the chances of it being Li Lechi are high.]
[47L: Not necessarily. Maybe it’s Ling Yang. Usually, these marketing accounts deliberately raise the status when leaking info. Wasn’t it obvious the last few times? They said A-list female artist, but it turned out to be just an 18th-tier nobody. This time, “A-list male artist” might just be another 18th-tier nobody.]
[48L: Who is the person below calling an 18th-tier nobody? My brother is 18 streets ahead of your brother, more like.]
[49L: LMAO, there’s a new poll next door. Who started it?]
The leak thread gradually veered off into a fan war.
Assistant Lin’s messages continued to flow incessantly.
[Assistant Lin: They actually think it’s not Lu the Dog. I did a divination, and the probability of it being him is very high.]
Xie Shibai: …
Does Assistant Lin’s divination actually have some merit to it?
He scanned it briefly. The OP of the leak thread didn’t appear again to give new info, so he exited.
Standing by the window, he could just see Lu Ciheng watering the flowers on the terrace.
The paparazzi hadn’t contacted him or his studio, so it was only possible that Lu Ciheng had bought out the leak one step ahead.
Recalling what Lu Ciheng said when signing the agreement, Xie Shibai thought, It seems Lu Ciheng really cares about his acting career.
Assistant Lin, always one for drama, was still lurking in the threads, broadcasting the latest news from the Little Pea APP to Xie Shibai in real-time.
Soon, he noticed a new poll thread floating up.
The poll thread was very hot, easily suppressing the leak thread.
[Poll] The Artist Most Likely to Be Dating in C-Ent.
OP: Inspired by the thread next door. The OP next door said it’s an industry internal romance. These are all artists who have had scandals. Just a casual poll for everyone to vote on.
[1L: Girl, aren’t you afraid of being torn apart by fans? Hahahaha.]
[2L: Second floor lights a candle. OP, hang in there.]
[3L: Who voted for Chen Yu and Liu Wan? It’s fundamentally impossible for them to be together, okay!]
[4L: Dying of laughter. With all the noise a few days ago, do you really think the internet has no memory?]
[5L: Looking at it this way, there really are a lot of male artists surnamed L who have had scandals.]
[6L: Even 18th-tier nobodies are included. This sister who started the poll worked hard, hahahaha.]
[7L: Seeing this layer makes me sigh. But if we’re talking about the least likely to date, it has to be that person, right?]
[8L: Who? Riddlers get out of C-Ent!]
[9L: Are you a fellow fan of the commenter above? My brother definitely is. It’s impossible for him to date. Even if everyone in C-Ent dated, he would definitely still be single, hahahaha.]
[10L: ? My bias is Xie Shibai. Who is family with you?]
[11L: Ugh, how long has it been since Xie appeared? Maybe he went home to get married. Xie fans are still voting? Careful you don’t get slapped in the face later.]
[12L: No need for you to worry. My brother gets dragged out to generate heat even when he’s on vacation. Can your Lu not walk upright without my brother?]
[13L: His vacation time has been long enough. My brother even won Best Actor. Which time is it not Xie sticking close to suck blood? Afraid he’ll be completely forgotten if he doesn’t leech, right? Spend more time honing your acting skills, don’t end up with no roles to film.]
Seeing the poll thread gradually turning into a fan war, a passerby quietly poked their head in to post a comment.
[80L: To be honest, looking at it this way, the two actors least likely to be together in C-Ent are probably those two, right?]
[81L: Basically, looking at it, big and small artists alike have all had CP (couple) hype. It’s easy to group them together. It seems like only those two can’t form a CP with anyone.]
[82L: Not trying to argue, but speaking objectively, Lu has a cold face every day, looking like someone who wouldn’t date. He’s also a workaholic, so he simply has no time to date. From his debut until now, he hasn’t had any scandals exposed. I heard paparazzi followed them both; the two of them just work and work. The paparazzi were dumbfounded. That video is still up; you can find it with a search. They really shouldn’t appear in this poll.]
[83L: Being a fan of those two is indeed safe. X was also career-focused before, just resting recently. Plus, the two have a bit of a competitive relationship, so they definitely wouldn’t dare date. If they don’t date, they’re tearing each other’s hair out every day. If they dated, wouldn’t it be a carnival for their rivals? Like celebrating New Year every day.]
[84L: Right, they can’t date each other anyway. At the Movie Night the day before yesterday, the two were truly born rivals. Didn’t everyone say they were about to fight?]
[85L: There’s absolutely no need to put them together in this poll. What is the psychology behind this? Others have had CP hype. OP can’t hide the stench of heresy.]
[[86L: Let my brother be beautiful alone [Heart]]
[[87L: Ugh, stop binding my brother. He gets rumors spread even when taking a vacation.]
[88L: I opened a new poll next door. Everyone is welcome to vote! Pointing the way to [The Artist Least Likely to Be Dating in C-Ent]]
[89L: WOK (Wow), just finished lurking in the thread next door. Their votes are leaving everyone else in the dust.]
[90L: So, the meaning of this thread’s poll is for us to guess who the secretly married male artist surnamed L is, and the meaning of the other thread’s poll is to pick who is the biggest “Lone King” of C-Ent?]
[91L: Why are X fans and L fans fighting even over this? Hahahaha.]
[92L: No, what are you guys fighting for? The title of “First Place” isn’t exactly flattering, hahahahaha.]
Amidst Assistant Lin’s squealing voice messages, Xie Shibai saw the screenshot of the trending search on Weibo.
He and Lu Ciheng had both made it onto a trending topic called #C-Ent’sNumberOneLoneKing#.
And “C-Ent Lone King Number One” was currently watering flowers on the terrace, with his marriage certificate with “C-Ent Lone King Number Two” sitting right there in the house.
One of the parties involved, Xie Shibai: …
Suddenly feeling a bit guilty, he hoped this one-year agreement would end as soon as possible.
Assistant Lin kept shouting that it was all a conspiracy, that getting on this kind of trending search together was definitely a conspiracy.
But since the trending search didn’t have any negative implications, Cheng Zhe didn’t intervene much.
Xie Shibai didn’t have much energy to pay attention to the aftermath of the trending search. He took some time to see his psychiatrist.
Xie Shibai’s psychiatrist was Chen Qisheng’s cousin, and her professional ability was among the best in the industry.
Stepping into the therapy room, Xie Shibai still felt a distant trance, as if the warm-toned, cozy room flashed back to the cold incandescent lights of a long time ago.
Xie Shibai sat silently on the sofa. The orange sofa was soft, as if it could swallow a person whole in the next second.
Chen Yi wore glasses on the bridge of her nose, her tone gentle. “You came later than I expected. How have you been feeling lately?”
Xie Shibai: “Okay.”
Chen Yi had a bit of a headache.
In all her time practicing, Xie Shibai was the most difficult patient she had encountered.
From the beginning, Xie Shibai resisted entering this therapy room—not just the therapy room, but anything related to psychology. Chen Yi could understand all this; no patient liked dealing with doctors.
After the communication and inquiries of the first few sessions, Chen Yi understood that conventional treatments were ineffective for Xie Shibai, so she could only use the most conservative methods.
Chen Yi had developed a mindset where she could remain calm no matter what Xie Shibai said. She calmly recorded in the medical file, “En, more severe than before. What were the symptoms of the most recent episode?”
Xie Shibai tried hard to adapt to the sofa that felt soft enough to swallow him. His calm face uttered concise words as he narrated, “Very anxious.”
Chen Yi frowned. This was a word that had never appeared in Xie Shibai’s condition before.
Xie Shibai’s symptoms of haphephobia (fear of touch) had always been nausea and retching, very obvious symptoms. Aside from arm pain, the stomach, as an emotional organ, reacted even more strongly. Acid reflux was the norm, and in severe cases, dizziness and shock would occur. Anxiety rarely appeared.
Chen Yi thought this sudden appearance of mild symptoms might be a turning point. Previously, Xie Shibai’s gradually worsening condition seemed like an iron wall, causing headaches with no place to start. But this time, contact with someone only resulted in anxiety. This was something that had never happened since Xie Shibai’s condition relapsed.
Chen Yi asked, “Is it convenient to reveal who you were in contact with when the anxiety occurred?”
Xie Shibai thought for a few seconds, revealed the plain band on his ring finger, and chose not to hide it. “My marriage partner.”
That one contact with Lu Ciheng previously didn’t feel like the usual haphephobia symptoms. He would feel inexplicably agitated, with a faint fear at the bottom of his heart. This feeling was very subtle and vague, like something he had experienced a long time ago.
Originally, he hadn’t questioned this emotion, just subconsciously assuming he had unlocked some old ailment he hadn’t noticed before. Just like his haphephobia, which suddenly relapsed after many doctors diagnosed it as cured. It wasn’t until the comparison at the main house that a question was thoroughly left in Xie Shibai’s heart.
Chen Yi had heard Chen Qisheng mention it and immediately realized this wasn’t an ordinary marriage partner. Out of a stereotypical impression of the wealthy, she understood and continued to ask, “Aside from anxiety, were there symptoms like nausea and dizziness?”
Xie Shibai recalled for a moment. He had only washed his hands, and the agitated emotion was relieved a lot; no nausea occurred.
“No.”
Chen Yi pondered the feasibility against the medical record for a few seconds and said, “Previously, I always suggested you try to start treatment with brief contact, but the load on your stomach was a bit too much.”
“This time, you can try making contact with your marriage partner.”
She said, “From your description, physical contact with him doesn’t cause symptoms of nausea or even shock. Arm pain and anxiety are the mildest symptoms compared to others. Perhaps this is a turning point to establish an anchor.”
Xie Shibai fell into deep thought.
Try to have physical contact with Lu Ciheng…?
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