Chapter 21: “Chu Xiaoran Can Do It But I Can’t? Where Can’t I?”
With long hair, Xu Qiao looked full of vitality, an obedient baby with no scheming thoughts. But once the long hair was lifted, revealing black choppy short hair and overly distinct black and white eyes, she looked like she had unleashed her full aura—someone not to be messed with.
She grabbed a handful of her flattened hair.
“At that time, the movie Lost City was too popular, and the stuttering brother’s image was too viral. Back then I was young and ignorant, liked chasing stars, and blindly became your fan.”
“But how does the saying go? Started with looks, ended with character. Have to thank you for personally helping me shatter the fan filter, letting me know you aren’t any good thing.”
Xu Qiao really dared to speak.
The bullet comments had been taken over by Chu Xiaoran’s fans, all scolding her, attacking from all angles, calling her a manly woman, calling her a slut—in short, too dirty to look at.
It was a pity Xu Qiao wasn’t a civilian.
Nor was she Lin Huaizhi, who disliked showing his face in public and had no fans. She was the first female professional player in the domestic FPS game circle. She became famous in the FPS game circle at thirteen or fourteen, and later, as soon as she became an adult, she was signed into a top-tier domestic team.
At eighteen, she fought her way into the World Championship that same year and won the championship at PGL in one fell swoop.
She wasn’t the youngest champion player.
But she was the first champion player, and her strength was remarkable.
It was no exaggeration to say that she had many more fans than Chu Xiaoran. After all, Chu Xiaoran hadn’t stepped out of the national borders yet and was only active domestically, while Xu Qiao was famous internationally, with fans in every country.
So as soon as Chu Xiaoran’s fans popped up, they were overrun by Xu Qiao’s fans.
【Shut your dog mouths! While our Pretty was winning glory for the country, your Xiao didn’t know which sewer he was in!】
【Dying of laughter, which point of your Xiao can compare to Pretty? Looks? Not as good looking as Pretty. Ability? Not as capable as Pretty. He’s just a ‘Prince Duan’ (someone who puts on airs)! Only knows how to hold his shelf and put on airs!】
【Pretty NO.1!!】
News of Xu Qiao participating in the dating show had been promoted. Some foreign fans climbed the firewall to watch. A fan made a real-time translation software and stood out to shout directly.
Xu Qiao’s ID was Pretty.
A word meaning beautiful.
At first, everyone looked down on her. Later, those who looked down on her were trampled under her feet. She used a harmless ID to make all e-sports players remember her, and made everyone who liked her or hated her remember her.
Chu Xiaoran’s fans wanted to bully her.
Basically impossible.
Chu Xiaoran obviously hadn’t heard such scolding for a long time. At least, except for the suddenly crazy Lin Huaizhi and Dai Keqing, everyone was polite to him.
He looked at Xu Qiao, his eyes turning cold.
“Xu Qiao, don’t be arrogant just because you have some achievements. Be careful that trouble comes from the mouth.”
Xu Qiao rolled her eyes, not indulging Chu Xiaoran at all: “Same words back to you, the conceited and pretentious Mr. Chu Xiaoran.”
Chu Xiaoran wanted to say more, but Hu Xiaoxu hid Xu Qiao behind her back.
“Xu Qiao is only nineteen, used to speaking without restraint. Mr. Chu has a broad mind; surely you won’t get angry so easily and bicker with a child, right?”
Of course Chu Xiaoran wanted to bicker.
What broad mind? People who looked down on him, people who offended him—he didn’t want to let any of them go!
But the camera was still filming. Chu Xiaoran endured and endured, finally forcing a smile: “Of course.”
Hu Xiaoxu pulled Xu Qiao to the adjacent field and took the water bucket to the field. “Mr. Chu has worked hard. I’ll teach this child a lesson before letting her go carry water.”
What else could Chu Xiaoran say?
He cast a venomous snake-like glance at Xu Qiao, finally carrying the bucket away.
When Chu Xiaoran walked far away, Hu Xiaoxu turned back. Before she could speak, Xu Qiao looked at her with wide eyes: “Sister, are you going to scold me for him?”
Hu Xiaoxu: “…”
Hu Xiaoxu used to have a younger sister—not by blood, but she treated her very well. Later, this sister had an accident, had both legs amputated, and could only rely on a wheelchair. Seeing the lively and jumping Xu Qiao, she always thought of that sister.
She wasn’t a meddlesome character.
But she always unconsciously wanted to manage Xu Qiao a bit, be a bit nicer to Xu Qiao.
Now seeing Xu Qiao staring at her pitifully with two big eyes, Hu Xiaoxu finally bent her finger and flicked Xu Qiao’s forehead.
Still livestreaming, overly direct words were hard to say. She could only remind tactfully: “Hold back and hide a bit when speaking. Leave a line in interactions so we can meet pleasantly in the future.”
“Mhm, mhm, mhm, listening to Sister for everything. Whatever Sister says is right.”
Hu Xiaoxu felt a sense of powerlessness like punching cotton at her attitude. This little girl looked easy to talk to, but was actually stubborn.
“By the way, Sister, what are you doing here?”
Hu Xiaoxu told the truth: “I saw the water vat of the farmer family where I’m staying is quite big. Afraid you and Chu Xiaoran couldn’t carry enough, came to help.”
Xu Qiao automatically ignored the three words ‘Chu Xiaoran,’ buried her head into Hu Xiaoxu’s chest, her voice so sweet it seemed to stretch like taffy.
“Sister is so good~”
“I like Sister the most~”
Hu Xiaoxu was amused by her and patted her head: “Alright, how old are you, still acting spoiled.”
The two carried a bucket each and walked towards the creek together.
……
The water-carrying spot was just a few steps away from where Lin Huaizhi fell last time. To put it bluntly, the ridge wasn’t very long. The dispute between Chu Xiaoran and Xu Qiao was naturally heard clearly by Lin Huaizhi.
After filling the bucket with water, he sighed solidly.
Seeing Huo Chen looking over, without waiting for Huo Chen to ask, Lin Huaizhi automatically explained: “I was just thinking, how on earth did I think Chu Xiaoran was teachable before, that throwing resources and money could save him.”
Huo Chen thought of Chu Xiaoran’s face and snorted coldly: “Because you were blind.”
Lin Huaizhi nodded in deep agreement.
“Indeed blind, but not entirely because of blindness. I said before I promoted Chu Xiaoran to repay a debt of gratitude, right?”
Lin Huaizhi didn’t intend to hide anything. In the era of big data, everyone likes to pry into others’ private lives and privacy. That’s how reality shows became so popular. Even though reality shows have scripts, netizens just watch with relish.
In the novel, Chu Xiaoran and Fang Mo could pull him off his horse not only because his IQ went offline but also because the two often spread rumors about him at the drop of a hat during interviews.
At that time, Chu Xiaoran had already become a Movie Emperor, and Fang Mo also exploded in popularity. The two played the victim in various ways, painting him as an unscrupulous boss who couldn’t control his lower body and only wanted to sexually harass Chu Xiaoran. They even united with other stars in the company, saying he gambled, whored, and touched drugs.
This is no longer the old era.
The highly information-based society gives many ordinary people chances to counterattack, but it can also make people in the clouds fall directly into the mortal world.
That’s how he was pulled down.
Of course, since IQ has reoccupied the high ground, Lin Huaizhi won’t sit and wait for death. He wants to pave the way for his image in advance.
Turning the tables in a desperate situation. Just because of a little favor, giving infinitely, but getting not equal communication, but a face of wanton abuse and self-esteem trampled underfoot.
What fault does he have?
He’s just a pitiful little thing longing for warmth.
“To tell the truth, my family of origin was terrible, and my childhood was terrible too. To eat my fill, I even rummaged through trash cans. Later, Chu Xiaoran gave me a moldy bread.”
Huo Chen probably didn’t know. His gaze towards Lin Huaizhi became softer, even mixed with admiration and an imperceptible trace of distress.
But Huo Chen, being Huo Chen.
Even when dead and cremated, his mouth would still be hard.
“So because of a broken moldy bread, you are deeply in love with Chu Xiaoran, spending money and energy to promote him? Even if he steps on your head in the end, you still want to continue liking him and promoting him?”
Lin Huaizhi almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.
What cold-hearted crazy villain? Just a pure god of war. Sure enough, his guess was not wrong at all; Huo Chen belongs to the type who can be caught with just a little pestering.
Force kiss him and he just pinches; say chasing him and he doesn’t believe it, but still lets him chase. Now he says something about Chu Xiaoran, and the flying vinegar is eaten directly. Said ten thousand times he doesn’t like Chu Xiaoran, says he believes him with his mouth, but actually explodes at the slightest disturbance.
Why is he so cute?
So Lin Huaizhi repeated again: “Don’t like him. I haven’t had friends since I was little. Promoting him besides repaying gratitude, I also wanted to make friends with him. Although that bag of bread was moldy, it was the most delicious thing I, at that time, had ever eaten.”
Lin Huaizhi pulled the corners of his lips.
“That was the only remaining warmth I could find in my life.”
【Holy sh*t! I’m crying violently! Was Lin Huaizhi originally this miserable?】
【Looks like a show at a glance. I don’t believe he was that poor as a child and could counterattack to become the boss of Huameng Entertainment.】
【Dirty heart sees everything as dirty.】
【The misfortune brought by the family of origin, as well as childhood, is a dampness long enough to have no end. No rain, but living in the dampness before rain for a lifetime.】
【Impression of Chu Xiaoran is even worse. A moldy bread exchanged for his great future, but how did he treat Lin Huaizhi?】
Huo Chen’s lips were drawn into a straight line.
Don’t know why, he always felt very irritable in his heart. The emotions he didn’t have when negotiating with business partners back then were now belatedly arriving.
“He won’t do. I’ll be your friend.”
Lin Huaizhi was stunned, then shook his head to refuse: “You won’t do.”
Huo Chen looked at the young man’s seemingly somewhat cold eyebrows. For a moment, anger ignited involuntarily, “Chu Xiaoran can do it but I can’t? Where can’t I?”
“Of course you can’t.”
Lin Huaizhi leaned close to Huo Chen and kissed the tip of his nose without warning.
“I don’t accept you as my friend; I only accept you as my boyfriend. So have you considered it? Decided whether to date me or be my boyfriend?”
Huo Chen’s nose tip itched. He resisted the urge to touch it and asked back seemingly unintentionally: “Is there a difference?”
Lin Huaizhi smiled and trapped him: “Of course there is a difference. Dating can mean just talking without confirming status. Being a boyfriend means directly doing it, skipping the dating process.”
Huo Chen still touched his nose: “So you want to be a scumbag?”
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