The Storm of Live Feeding
On the night when the rating results were announced, the discussion of "Everyone Creates a Star" was like a firework that was ignited, occupying seven entries on the hot search list.
Yunheng huddled in the curtains of the upper bunk in the dormitory, the light from his cell phone screen reflected on his face, flickering.
He ran his fingertips across the list of contestants, paused for a long time on the word "Yunheng", and finally clicked on it.
The comment section is like boiling water, surging with various voices:
[Yun Heng is quite something among this year's amateurs. Her voice is like a clear mountain spring, but her dancing is too stiff, hahahaha]
[Is he so nervous that he's clambering over his hands and feet? The moment the camera pans to him turning sideways, I burst out laughing.]
[But he stood next to Yu Xiao and didn't seem to be overwhelmed? Why is there such an inexplicable tension between the two of them in the same frame?]
[+1! The look Yu Xiao gave Yun Heng when she sang "My Rose" was absolutely stunning! I took 20 screenshots.]
Later in the video, the comments gradually shifted away from the stage itself. Someone dug up the white T-shirt Yu Xiao wore during training—a limited edition piece by a niche Italian designer, priced in the six figures on the official website, with only fifty pieces released worldwide.
[Wait, Yu Xiao's outfit alone could buy half of a training building, right?]
[I did some digging and found out that Yu Xiao graduated from Sciences Po Paris and his father is Yu Zhenting, the chairman of the Yu Group!]
[Yu family? The Yu family that monopolizes film, television, music, and variety shows? The prince is participating in a talent show? Is he just playing around?]
The phrase #YuXiaoTaiZiYe# shot to the top of trending searches at rocket speed, followed by the blood-red character "爆". Yun Heng clicked on the topic, and a photo of Yu Xiao at a dinner in Paris popped up on the screen: he was wearing a black couture suit, his bow tie perfectly tied, his brows sharp as a knife, a stark contrast to the slovenly teenager in his training uniform.
My heart feels like it's being gripped by something, and it aches and hurts.
He remembered Yu Xiao's words when they were forming a team, "Join me and I guarantee you'll pass the rating," and how he could always find his weaknesses – his grandmother's medical expenses and the wheat fields in his hometown.
It turns out that this is not a coincidence, but the hunter's precise calculation of the prey.
"Yunheng, what are you daydreaming about? It's time for the live broadcast rehearsal." The shout from his roommate in the lower bunk brought him back to reality.
In the live rehearsal room, eight cameras were set up in every corner, and the red dots flickered like the eyes of dormant beasts.
Yunheng stood at the end of the team, feeling a little anxious in his stomach - in order to get up early, he had only eaten half a piece of dry bread that morning.
When the music started, he tried hard to keep up with the dance steps, but the dizziness caused by low blood sugar surged up like a tide.
"Stop!" the dance teacher's roar pierced the melody. "Yunheng, what are you dancing to? Are you sleepwalking?"
Yun Heng's vision suddenly went dark, his knees buckling as he crouched down. The cold sweat on his palms soaked through the cuffs of his light gray training suit. He clutched his trouser legs tightly, digging his fingertips into his palms, trying to dispel the dizziness with the pain.
The barrage scrolled wildly on the right side of the screen:
What's wrong with him? His face is as white as paper.
[Are you feeling unwell? Is there no one to take care of you?]
[The prince is behind us, who dares to intervene? Maybe he's just pretending to be nice to gain sympathy.]
Just then, a pair of white sneakers stopped before him. Yun Heng looked up and saw Yu Xiao holding a tube of strawberry-flavored glucose. The transparent packaging had been torn a little, revealing a thick, amber-colored liquid that glowed sweetly under the light.
"Open your mouth." Yu Xiao's voice was low and full of unquestionable strength, like an order and also like a comfort.
"No need." Yun Heng turned her head away and struggled to stand up, but the other party put his hand on the back of her neck.
The force was not strong, but it carried an unbreakable grip that forced him to raise his head.
The cold fingertips brushed the corners of his lips and fed the glucose liquid into his mouth.
The sweetness instantly exploded on the tip of his tongue, mixed with the feeling of humiliation, making his eyes red.
Yu Xiao's thumb accidentally rubbed the corner of his lips, scratching gently like a feather, leaving a tingling sensation.
This scene was fully captured by the camera. The live comment barrage instantly exploded, so fast that it seemed to burn through the screen:
[Holy crap! Is this something a prince could do? Feeding candy himself?]
[That lip-touching scene just now! I watched it ten times over and over again! Am I overthinking it, or is it really that ambiguous?]
[#Yu Xiao forced feeding# I created this entry first, who wants to join me! ]
Am I the only one who noticed Yunheng's ears were red? Was it shyness or resistance?
#YuXiaoForceFeeding# #Prince'sExclusiveFavorite# were trending. Yunheng's phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a screenshot from Ma Yang. A marketing account had edited his and YuXiao's interactions into a melodramatic drama about a "capitalist prince doting on an amateur trainee," with captions like, "I'm used to the entertainment industry's playful flirtations, but I didn't expect the prince to be serious."
"How do you feel?" Yu Xiao's voice sounded in his ears, with a hint of subtle concern, his fingers still suspended in the air, as if trying to help him wipe the sugar stains from the corners of his mouth.
Yunheng pushed him away suddenly, staggered when she stood up, and had to hold on to the wall to keep her balance.
He looked at the ambiguous looks of his teammates around him - some covered their mouths and laughed, some winked at the camera, and some took out their mobile phones to secretly take pictures.
The air in the training room was like solidified syrup, so sweet that it was suffocating.
"Yu Xiao, what on earth do you want to do?" His voice trembled, but he tried to remain calm. "Do you want everyone to know that you treat me like a pet?"
Yu Xiao's brows knitted together: "I just..."
"Are you just trying to flaunt your power?" Yun Heng interrupted, the light in her eyes like shattered glass. "Prove to everyone that even the Crown Prince of the Yu family can stoop so low as to toy with a trainee who wants to go home and farm?"
The training room was completely silent, with only the hum of the cameras. Yu Xiao's face instantly turned grim, his fingertips clenched until they turned pale. "I didn't..."
"You did!" Yun Heng raised her voice, her pent-up grievances and anger bursting forth like a flood. "You've been playing tricks on me since we formed this team! You threatened me with promotions, you used cameras to spy on me, and now you're humiliating me in this way! Do you think I'm like those people who curry favor with you, fawning over you with just a little bit of sweetness?"
He pointed at the scrolling comments on the screen and said in a tearful voice, "Look! They're all laughing at me! Look how I'm being played around by you like a clown!"
Yu Xiao was speechless after being asked this question. Looking at Yun Heng's red eyes, his heart ached as if being pricked by needles.
He wanted to say, "That's not the case," wanted to say, "I'm just worried about you," but the words were blocked by the other person's resolute eyes. In those clear and mocking eyes, any explanation seemed pale and ridiculous.
"I don't need your concern." Yun Heng took a step back, creating some distance. "Master Yu, please be merciful and spare my life."
With that, he turned and stormed out of the training room, leaving all the stares and comments behind him. The voice-activated lights in the corridor flickered on and off as he walked, illuminating his hurried back, like a flight with nowhere to go.
Yu Xiao stood there, staring at the door that had been flung open. The warmth of the other person's lips still lingered on his fingertips, burning and numb. His assistant trotted over, his face pale. "Master Yu, the trending search... can't be suppressed anymore. The chairman has called."
He ignored it, simply walking over to the livestream screen and reading the hashtag #YuXiaoForcedFeeding#, his eyes a tangled mess of emotions. He'd simply seen YunHeng crouched on the ground, sweating, and rushed over with a throbbing heart, never expecting such a commotion. But when he saw YunHeng questioning him with red eyes, he suddenly realized that his so-called "concern" was, in her eyes, just another form of control.
"Delete all the footage." Yu Xiao's voice was as cold as ice. "Anyone who dares to publish another press release about Yun Heng will be kicked out of the entertainment industry."
The assistant was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly: "Yes, I'll do it right away."
The crowd in the training room gradually dispersed, and Yu Xiao stood alone in the center of the stage, the lights casting a long shadow on him. He pulled out his phone and found Yun Heng's number—he had asked his assistant to look it up, had it in his phone for three days, and had never called it. His fingertips hovered over the dial button, but he finally locked the screen.
For the first time, he discovered that power and money could not buy a sincere "thank you", and could not even prevent people from being disliked.
Yun Heng hid in a corner of the rooftop, not daring to come down until it was completely dark. The evening breeze was chilly, making him shiver. Passing by a bulletin board, he saw a printed screenshot of the latest trending search posted there. The words #YuXiaoTaiZiYe# were circled repeatedly in red pen, and next to it, written in marker, "Yun Heng is clinging to someone's power," with a mocking smiley face drawn on the end.
He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, unaware of the blood oozing out. Returning to the dormitory, he found a thermos at the door. The off-white barrel had a bear printed on it. A note was taped to it, in Yu Xiao's flamboyant handwriting: "Xiao Zhou's porridge, warm."
Yunheng looked at the thermos, suddenly struck by the irony. He raised his foot to kick it over, but at the last moment, he held back—the bear looked exactly like the thermos his grandmother had used when he was a child. He bent down, picked up the thermos, and threw it into the hallway trash can with a dull thud.
But the moment he turned around, he couldn't help but look back.
The training base was exceptionally quiet late at night, with only the green glow of the emergency lights flickering faintly in the corridor. Yu Xiao stood by the trash can, looking at the discarded thermos, the light in his eyes gradually dimming. His assistant said cautiously behind him, "Mr. Yu, how about... let's just forget about it? If the chairman knew you were doing this for a trainee..."
Yu Xiao said nothing, merely pulling out his cigarette case, his fingertips trembling so much he couldn't even light a cigarette. He recalled how netizens had dug up photos of Yun Heng's hometown wheat fields during the ratings broadcast, golden wheat swaying in the wind, accompanied by the caption, "This is the true world of fireworks." Looking at the photos then, he suddenly felt a surge of envy—envy for that simple, pure life, the clarity in Yun Heng's eyes, untainted by worldly influences.
He originally thought that he was a hunter who controlled the game, but in the end he found that he had already been distracted by the stubborn wheat.
"Completely suppress the trending search." Yu Xiao put out his cigarette, his voice hoarse, "From now on... don't let me see any malicious comments about him again."
This entanglement, which started with capital, completely went off track from the moment the live broadcast began.
The two young men at the center of the storm did not know that this seemingly accidental collision would become an unsolvable knot in the years to come.
Yun Heng just wanted to escape from this suffocating preference, but she didn't realize that she had already left an indelible mark in the other person's eyes.
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