Chapter 5 contains a video, visible only to her, a blatant act of entrapment. ...

Just a few days after Jiang Hui extended the performance invitation, Cheng Jianjun and He Hongmei hired a one-on-one tutor for Cheng Sijie.

Just then, her younger cousin, Cheng Siyu, was also "sent" over to stay temporarily.

Cheng Siyu's grades were average, but she had practiced dancing since childhood, possessing an outstanding figure and temperament, as beautiful as a proud little peacock. Yet, she was completely obedient to Cheng Sijie. She secretly submitted her resume to a Korean company as a trainee and surprisingly passed the initial selection. Her parents were both proud and troubled, so they simply sent her to Cheng Sijie's house, hoping that her cousin could persuade her to "come back to the right path."

"Sister, don't you understand? This is my dream!" Cheng Siyu twisted her neck, her eyes shining brightly.

Cheng Sijie took a bite of watermelon with a blank expression: "My dream is still to be the president of South Korea."

Cheng Siyu said, "Absurd!"

Looking into the girl's bright eyes, Cheng Sijie said in a cold tone, "Cheng Siyu, do you know why your dad doesn't beat you and your mom doesn't beat you?"

Cheng Siyu said, "I don't know."

Cheng Sijie raised his hand, "Because I'll beat you up!"

Cheng Siyu: "Wow, it's a tonic!"

Afterwards, they searched for many idols' debut records at home. Cheng Siyu saw the training idols had to go through and all kinds of scoring, and muttered, "Oh, it's not that dreamy."

Cheng Sijie said, "Yeah, look at the art students in your school, they do leg splits every day, practice basic skills, and lose weight in all sorts of ways. If you really love it, I won't say anything, but it's obvious that this isn't a youthful, passionate, dream-chasing girl idol anime."

Cheng Siyu said, "Oh well, I'll just go home and ask my parents to sign me up for some tutoring classes."

Cheng Siyu's will was not strong at all. She tentatively submitted her resume and knew that there were many girls who had passed the initial screening of this entertainment company online. To be honest, she did not want to go to a foreign country alone to become a trainee. However, her parents kept nagging her about her studies at home recently, and she really couldn't stand it!

She fawned over her cousin, saying, "Sis~ I think you'll definitely get approved if you vote for me. Aren't you a streamer? I watch every episode of your streams. You're my favorite streamer now! Do you know what 'favorite streamer' means? It means your favorite streamer!"

Cheng Sijie was both amused and exasperated. "What are you talking about?"

Cheng Siyu whispered, "I also made some photocards for you; you can give them to your fans."

Cheng Sijie watched as she ran into the living room, pulled a large card album from her suitcase, filled with screenshots of Cheng Sijie's live stream, and created all sorts of exquisite cards in various styles—cute, glamorous, and even retro…

When Cheng Sijie saw Cheng Siyu's bright eyes, he couldn't help but sigh with genuine emotion. Sure enough, although her younger sister can be annoying at times, who would truly idolize her older sister if she weren't with her?

One day, Cheng Sijie and Cheng Siyu were watching a TV series together, holding a watermelon. Cheng Sijie's WeChat beeped. She casually opened WeChat with one hand while still holding the watermelon—

Jiang Hui sent her a video of the performance; the atmosphere at the scene was fantastic.

The two were video chatting, and Cheng Sijie secretly slipped away to watch Jiang Hui introduce his guitar to her, "I had a friend send me a 1962 replica from overseas, isn't it cool?"

The antique white body of the instrument, with deliberately aged cracks on the lacquer, and its asymmetrical outline, is both elegant and strange, giving her a feeling that is very similar to Jiang Hui.

When Cheng Sijie saw the cursive script of "Sijie" engraved on the headstock of the guitar, Jiang Hui smiled smugly, "I'm borrowing your name to wish myself quick wit and that I'll never make a mistake. This is my first electric guitar."

As if guided by some unseen force, he seemed to know that Cheng Sijie would be lost in thought, and coldly asked, "Do you think I should get a tattoo like this on my body someday?"

Cheng Sijie's heart raced.

All of this was novel to a young girl. She tried her best to control herself from falling for the boy, warning herself that he was a rich young master who had come to experience life, rebellious and neurotic, deliberately showing off his privileged family background and talent. She knew very well why he was doing all this, yet she couldn't help but feel annoyed.

Besides the excitement, there's also the fear of this sense of certainty. People are not only afraid of the unknown, but also of the feeling of being controlled.

Human nature is inherently flawed!

She stared at Jiang Hui, who was wearing stage makeup, and replied with feigned indifference as her heart raced: "Oh, so you'll have to say goodbye to military service and civil service exams from now on."

Jiang Hui laughed so hard she almost bent over, replying, "Is it your birthday? Your eighteenth birthday, and you're not coming to my show?"

He drawled, "How cruel, who are you celebrating your birthday with?"

Cheng Sijie's cheeks flushed red, and her eyes darted around uncontrollably. Cheng Siyu was still excitedly shouting because of the villain in the TV series: "It's freezing!! Don't stop two people in love from getting together!"

Cheng Sijie hung up the phone, her cheeks still burning.

Cheng Siyu heard her muttering "crazy person" and leaned closer to ask who she was cursing. Cheng Sijie said she was cursing a crazy person.

Cheng Siyu was puzzled, but Cheng Sijie tapped her on the head, "Okay, okay, hurry up and watch the TV series."

Cheng Siyu said, "Then you need to concentrate too."

After watching the TV series, the two of them cooked at home. It was a hot summer day, and Cheng Siyu watched a traditional Chinese medicine video on a short video platform. Suddenly, she suggested that they turn off the air conditioner and turn on the electric fan instead.

"Traditional Chinese medicine says this can improve skin and speed up metabolism."

Cheng Sijie, who had recently been experiencing breakouts due to internal heat, asked in confusion, "Really?"

Cheng Siyu busied herself, peeling a cucumber and slicing it thinly. "I'll also make you a natural face mask."

Cheng Sijie laughed and said, "You're so silly."

The two of them tied their hair up, faced the electric fan, and ate watermelon with cucumber slices all over their faces.

Cheng Siyu borrowed her phone to transfer files to her own QQ account. When she saw the stage in the recent files, she exclaimed, "What is this?"

Cheng Sijie snatched the phone back. "It's nothing."

"Fine, you're the one chasing after bands, but you won't let me pursue my dreams! Aaaaaaah!"

Cheng Sijie glared at her: "Cheng Siyu, try causing another scene!"

Seeing her sister raise her hand to slap her, the fear from the suppression of her bloodline made Cheng Siyu pout and quiet down, but she still asked in a chattering voice, "Oh my god, sis, is this boy pursuing you?"

"My sister is really something else. He's so handsome, you two are a perfect match. A genius and beautiful female anchor and a band's lead singer, you two have such great chemistry."

Unable to contain her shame, Cheng Sijie rolled her eyes and said, "If I were to have a relationship at this age, your aunt would beat me to death."

Cheng Siyu immediately pledged her loyalty, "I'll keep it a secret, sis!"

Cheng Sijie: "...Is that the point? And what does 'genius beautiful girl anchor' mean?"

Cheng Siyu said confidently, "You have excellent grades and you're so, so beautiful, so what if I call you a genius beauty? I'll call you that!"

Cheng Sijie was at her wit's end, so she even had Cheng Siyu appear on camera during her live stream that night. "Well, my sister is staying at my house recently. She's very cute. She passed the preliminary selection of the Korean company. She has absolutely no talent, she relies purely on her looks. She's a very valuable and beautiful girl."

"Everyone wants to see? Little sister, come here and let your older brothers and sisters see our invincible beauty."

Cheng Siyu, who was shameless at home every day, was still quite embarrassed to appear on camera. She blushed and whispered, "Hello, brothers and sisters."

Cheng Sijie laughed so hard he almost fell over.

The comments section said, "Chengcheng is such a good older sister."

"Pretty Chengcheng and her pretty little sister are a feast for the eyes."

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+10086

"Why hasn't [H] been watching the live stream much lately?"

"[H] has been renamed. It is now called [Hui Energy Orange Juice Bottle]."

"I'm totally hooked, kdlkdl"

The fan mentioned [Hui Energizing Orange Juice Bottle] is one of the earliest fans to watch Cheng Sijie's live stream. Like Sister Cc, he is a veteran. He used to send gifts every time he watched the live stream and topped the leaderboard. He is a loyal fan who is not talkative but has a lot of money.

Although h has never explicitly stated his gender, people will symbolically ship him as a sign of respect because his account is labeled as "male".

Um... actually, it's Jiang Hui.

After seeing the relevant comments, Cheng Sijie tapped the mouse with his fingertip, "Hmm... Ladies and gentlemen, how about we play a silly two-player game today? I'll be tutoring my sister with her homework later, and I'll mute the screen. If you're lucky, you might see me livestreaming me spanking my child."

Cheng Siyu muttered to herself from the side, "Tonic, oh tonic."

Looking at Cheng Sijie, who appeared confident and natural on camera, she felt very proud and secretly sent a WeChat message to her best friend: "My sister is live streaming, look at my screenshot."

My best friend said, "You're so lucky to have such a beautiful older sister."

Cheng Siyu secretly felt smug. Hmph, back in the day, her sister wore the uniform of a top municipal school to pick her up. She was so proud!

Time flew by amidst their playful antics. Cheng Siyu didn't stay long before returning home. After seeing her sister off, Cheng Sijie suddenly felt the house was empty and boring. She was too lazy to even use her phone, feeling icy and lifeless, as if she had been chilled by the air conditioning and cold drinks.

She saw Jiang Hui's post on WeChat Moments: scattered beer bottles after the performance, an arm bruised from some unknown cause, and a thermometer showing a fever of 39 degrees Celsius.

Cheng Sijie: "..."

The comments section under this post is completely empty; there isn't a single like.

She was almost certain—this was a blatant sting operation that only she could see.

How can these memories still be so vivid? It's as if they just happened yesterday.

Looking back now, the memory of her coming to my performance when she was eighteen seems like a vague, distant memory from our teenage years, like a candy wrapper soaked by rain or a foggy Baroque stained glass window, yet it always evokes an irresistible urge to cherish it.