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The private room fell silent for a moment. Yu Chi lowered his gaze, his emotions unreadable. With his long, pale fingers, he hooked the tab of the beer can and pulled it open with a soft click . Leaning back in his chair, he tipped his head back and took a swig of beer. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his sharp profile both austere and coldly attractive.
Sheng Li glanced casually at the tense line of the young man’s jaw, secretly amused.
Let’s see how much longer you can hold out, little guy.
She was gambling—gambling on whether Yu Chi cared about her even a little.
Lu Xingyu couldn’t hold back. Watching Yu Chi, he sneered, “Sister, isn’t your assistant too arrogant? Even more arrogant than me. He doesn’t seem like an assistant at all. Could he be your kept boy toy?”
“You finally admit you’re arrogant?” Sheng Li shot him a sidelong glance. Though she and Lu Xingyu were bound by mutual interests, and even if he knew she was pursuing Yu Chi, he wouldn’t dare say anything. Still, she didn’t want him to know. “Does he look like someone who’s being kept? If I were his sugar mama, wouldn’t he be fawning over me instead of giving me the cold shoulder?”
Lu Xingyu shrugged lazily. “I’m arrogant because I have the credentials—I’m handsome, and I have tons of fans. What does he have? Why is he so arrogant?”
Sheng Li forced a smile, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “He scored over 700 on his college entrance exam. Is that enough to justify his arrogance?”
Lu Xingyu: “...”
His smile faltered slightly. Back when he was preparing for the college entrance exam, Rong Hua had demanded that his academic performance rank among the top three among art candidates. For the last three months before the exam, three private tutors, along with Rong Hua herself, had monitored his studies. Those three months had been nothing short of a nightmare for Lu Xingyu.
“Oh, so he’s a top student, huh? No wonder I felt such a clash between us.”
Lu Xingyu scoffed softly. He’d always harbored some resentment toward top students, and that bias acted like a filter, making Yu Chi look even more irritating to him.
Yu Chi shot him a disdainful glance, his tone mocking. “Oh, so you’re a bottom feeder.”
Lu Xingyu: “...”
Grabbing a skewer of barbecue, Lu Xingyu draped his arm around Sheng Li’s shoulder and leaned in to whisper, “Sister, fire this assistant, will you?”
Sheng Li stomped hard on his foot under the table and snapped coldly, “What does your ‘clash’ with him have to do with me? Get your filthy paws off me.”
Lu Xingyu yelped in pain, quickly retracting his hand. Feigning hurt, he whined, “Why are you being so mean? Didn’t you just agree to be my girlfriend?”
“Did I?” Sheng Li deadpanned.
Lu Xingyu spoke with confidence. “You said three months. I can definitely last that long.”
Sheng Li turned to him, smiling sweetly. “Then let’s talk about it after three months.”
At that, Yu Chi let out a low, derisive snort, barely audible except to Sheng Li, who sat beside him. Instantly, her mood lifted. She accepted the bowl Yuan Yuan handed her, half-filled with already peeled crayfish.
Sheng Li, mindful of her figure, didn’t eat much. After only a few minutes, she set her chopsticks down. Glancing at the trash bin by Yu Chi’s feet, now filled with four empty beer cans, she pulled out her phone and began bombarding him with messages.
Sheng Li: [Yu Xiaochi, won’t you reconsider auditioning? I believe you’d perform better than Lu Xingyu. If you don’t participate, the role will definitely go to him, and I’ll have to film with him for two months.]
Sheng Li: [For those two months, you’ll have to face scenes of me and him together every day. Doesn’t that sound unbearable?]
Sheng Li: [Just think of it as helping your sister, okay?]
Yu Chi’s phone lay on his right side. He glanced at the screen, his heart silently scoffing.
After sending a few messages, Sheng Li stopped.
She wasn’t sure if this approach would work on him...
________________________________________
By the time they finished their late-night snack, it was nearly 1 AM.
Sheng Li hadn’t eaten much, and neither had Yu Chi, but he had consumed quite a bit of alcohol.
Lu Xingyu sent his assistant to pay the bill, but a teenage girl followed the assistant into the room. Her face flushed red, she stood nervously behind the assistant, her eyes fixed on Lu Xingyu, trembling with excitement. “My dad wasn’t lying! Oh my god!”
The assistant stepped forward to explain. “Little Brother Lu, she’s your fan. She wants an autograph and a photo. What do you think...?”
Lu Xingyu smiled lazily. “Of course.”
The girl immediately rushed over, handing him a magazine she had bought. The cover featured a photo of Lu Xingyu taken the previous month. He signed it swiftly and handed it back, noticing the girl’s gaze had shifted to Yu Chi. Smiling, he held the magazine out to her. “Do you still want a photo?”
The girl spun around, her eyes sparkling. “Yes, yes, yes! Definitely!” Then, turning hopeful eyes to Sheng Li, she clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture. “Big Sister Cici, could you take a picture with us too? I’m taking the college entrance exam next year—could this be a blessing for me? Please!”
Sheng Li smiled gently. “Of course.”
After the photo was taken, the girl cradled her phone like a treasure. Still blushing, she looked at Sheng Li and Lu Xingyu and whispered, “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell anyone. I won’t say anything about Little Brother Lu visiting you.”
Sheng Li watched the girl leave, clutching her magazine and phone, muttering excitedly to herself: “Waaah, the Star & Clarity CP is real!”
Sheng Li: “...”
She instinctively turned to look at Yu Chi.
Yu Chi’s hands were stuffed in his pockets, his head tilted slightly as he smirked faintly. “Can I clock out now?”
“Then let’s go,” Sheng Li said softly, smiling at him.
Lu Xingyu approached, glancing at Yu Chi. Sneering, he said, “So what if you’re a top student? Do you have tens of millions of fans?”
Yu Chi shot him a disdainful look. “Immature.”
Lu Xingyu: “...”
Sheng Li cast him a cold glance. “Take your own car and take the long way back. Don’t follow my car.”
On the way back, Sheng Li and Yu Chi sat in the back seat. Yu Chi lounged with his long legs stretched out, gazing out the window. Sheng Li forced herself to stay alert, resting her elbow on a pillow and propping her chin up as she looked at him. “The audition starts at 2 PM tomorrow. You helped me go over the script earlier—I’m sure you still remember it with your memory. Think about it tonight. If you decide, you can do some preparation.”
The road was quiet at night, and the driver drove quickly. The dim light outside the car window slid over Yu Chi’s figure.
Yu Chi didn’t turn his head; his voice was slightly hoarse. “I told you—I’m not going.”
The interior of the car was dim, the air thick with the faint smell of alcohol. Sheng Li leaned closer, lightly sniffing near his neck, and whispered, “Are you drunk?”
“No, don’t get so close to me.” Yu Chi shifted irritably.
Sheng Li didn’t get angry. Sitting up straight, she even chuckled softly. “I just remembered something—the first time you came to my hospital room. At the time, I was confused about why you were so cold to me. Sure, my face was a bit disfigured then, but it wasn’t that bad. I’m a famous actress, after all. Aside from haters, most people like me. I even wondered if you were one of my black fans.”
She turned to look at him again, her smile gentle. “Actually, you must’ve started paying attention to me a long time ago—or rather, to me and Lu Xingyu. From the moment you found out that Rong Hua signed us, whether you realized it or not, you couldn’t help yourself. You might not care about other celebrities, but you definitely paid attention to us. That kind of unconscious attention is the most dangerous. You must’ve had a strong impression of me early on.”
Yu Chi turned to meet her bright gaze, his tone indifferent. “Who taught you to analyze things like this?”
Sheng Li grinned. “A psychologist.”
Yu Chi chuckled softly. “Which psychologist?”
Sheng Li declared confidently. “Sheng Li—the one who specializes in studying Yu Chi.”
Yu Chi: “...”
He leaned back against the seat, closing his eyes as if he couldn’t be bothered to respond further.
Sheng Li stared at his slender neck for a few seconds, then reached into her bag and pulled something out. Just as her hand brushed against Yu Chi’s neck, he grabbed her wrist tightly. Leaning down, he glared at her face, his voice cold. “What are you doing?”
“You… ease up, you’re hurting me,” Sheng Li frowned. “I was just touching you. Are you trying to break my wrist?”
Yuan Yuan, who had been quietly sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around nervously. “Wh-what’s going on?”
Yu Chi slowly released her wrist. Sheng Li said, “Nothing. Keep being invisible.”
Yuan Yuan: “...Oh.” She turned back around.
Yu Chi felt like he was about to lose his mind. Taking a deep breath, his voice carried an unmistakable edge of frustration. “Sheng Li, what exactly do you want? Didn’t you just make a three-month deal with Lu Xingyu? Now you’re touching my neck—what’s the meaning of this?”
He pressed his lips together, his tone icy. “If I really attract you that much, fine. Where’s that contract?”
Sheng Li paused, realizing he was referring to the sponsorship contract.
Holding a pendant in her hand, she suddenly asked, “Yu Chi, did you really have three relationships before?”
The scent of alcohol in the car grew stronger, and Yu Chi felt himself getting a bit tipsy. Unable to suppress his emotions, he let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Alright, I’ll confess. I haven’t had any relationships. My first love is still intact. So stop messing with me—I don’t want my first love to be ruined by a heartbreaker like you.”
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