Chapter 127 Top Streamer [VIP]
Today is a workday, Friday morning around 10 a.m. The office workers, who have been clocking in and out for a week, are exhausted and pale from work.
Then, a rumor about a relationship involving a top celebrity suddenly appeared in the trending topics, immediately igniting everyone's enthusiasm for gossip.
The main theme is: if I work, I live; if I'm allowed to watch the drama unfold, I die; if I'm allowed to watch the drama unfold, I live!
Just moments before, the listless working class suddenly became wide awake, their eyes shining as if they had swallowed a super tonic, and they jumped into the topic, causing its popularity to rise rapidly. In less than ten minutes, it topped the trending searches.
The incident began when a fan of Mu Xingye shared photos of Mu Xingye visiting a dance studio.
With five days to go before Mu Xingye's first concert on November 1st, some fans who are not under work pressure, in order to avoid clashing with the large number of fans traveling later, have chosen to arrive in Chengdu, this international metropolis, early because they cannot buy plane tickets or book hotels.
Xiaowen is one of them.
She is a senior in college this year. She has finished her classes and is preparing her graduation thesis, so she has plenty of free time.
At the same time, her family was well-off and had the means to pursue her hobbies. So, amidst the envious glances of several of her friends at school who were also fans of Mu Xingye, Xiaowen arrived in Rong City ahead of time, intending to wander around first.
Her first stop was the concert venue, Chengdu Sports Center.
However, outsiders are not allowed to enter the stadium for the time being. She and the other fans who arrived earlier stayed outside for a while, and only after listening to Mu Xingye's rehearsal singing were they satisfied and went to other places to check in.
Fix, though called an assistant, is considered by fans to be Mu Xingye's assistant and manager. Fix has kept Mu Xingye's accommodation address a secret this time, and the hotel where Mu Xingye is staying remains a mystery.
Xiaowen doesn't really like going to the hotel to confront people directly; well, she wants to be a rational fan.
While strolling and traveling, one day when she was across the street from a dance studio, Xiaowen suddenly noticed a man's back that looked so tall and slender, and so much like Mu Xingye!
She acted faster than she thought, raising her phone to take a picture.
Click into the album and zoom in for a closer look; the more you look, the more similar it becomes.
The man's figure had already gone inside and disappeared from sight at the studio entrance. She cropped out the studio's name and posted the photo in Mu Xingye's fan supertopic to ask everyone for confirmation.
--Cherry Xiaowenzi: I'm a new fan of Hoshino, and I came to Chengdu for a trip beforehand. I accidentally spotted someone who looks a lot like Hoshino. Could you guys help me identify them? [Image]
With the concert approaching, there are a lot of active fans in the super topic, and long-time fans immediately came out to verify it.
"As expected of a new fan, that silhouette is definitely Hoshino!"
"Wow, you're so lucky! I never seem to run into Hoshino. Where did you run into her? I want to try my luck too!"
"Huh? There's someone a little further in from the doorway. They look like a celebrity. Are they a friend of Hoshino's?"
Xiaowen was excited about her chance encounter with Mu Xingye, and when she saw this, she quickly zoomed in on the photo again.
There really was someone! She was so focused on her suspicions that she hadn't even noticed.
But this figure...
Xiaowen felt a strange sense of familiarity with the unassuming figure inside, but she couldn't quite place where that familiarity came from.
After hesitating for a while, I looked at the comments section and was surprised to find that the tone of the comments had changed drastically.
"[Image] I ran into Hoshino once after he came out of the gymnasium after rehearsals, and the man was wearing the exact same fisherman's hat as Hoshino."
"Hmm...Do you guys remember when Hoshino was inexplicably spotted by fans in Iwaki Town and made it to the trending topics?"
"No, you guys need to check the trending topics! [link]"
Xiaowen hurriedly clicked on the link to the trending topic and found that the person had directly used her photo along with a photo of Su Qingran, claiming that Mu Xingye and Su Qingran's intimate relationship had been exposed!
Initially, fans were helping to refute the claims, but as more and more bystanders joined in, the comments quickly became unpredictable.
"Hilarious! Ask Su Qingran and Mu Xingye's fans separately, and they can recognize each other at a glance, but when put together, they don't recognize each other."
"As everyone knows, Su Qingran was a guest on the sixth episode of 'Equally Matched.' Who was it that got recognized by fans in Yanshan Town and trended on social media? Well, I won't say~"
"Not only that, someone from 'Shining Star Season 2' even sneaked out to watch the performance."
"Mu Xingye had only recently returned to China at that time, so how did the two of them get together?"
"I have to say, they're a really good-looking couple, so pleasing to the eye!"
"What can one photo prove? Can some people stop getting excited just because they see each other in the same frame?"
"I've already ordered it. Let's not even talk about whether the two people in the photo are Mu Xingye and Su Qingran. Even if they are, they weren't holding hands or kissing in public. How could their relationship, which was supposed to be based on a loan, be exposed?"
"Stop struggling upstairs. [Image] Mu Xingye's fisherman's hat is on Su Qingran's head. You're saying the two of them have no other relationship? Even a three-year-old wouldn't believe it."
"And face masks [picture]."
"Rumors stop with the wise; do not believe or spread rumors."
"Why do we only see Mu Xingye's fans trying to save face? What about Su Qingran's?"
Su Qingran's fans, who chose to remain silent, also had mixed feelings. Dating? Rumors? No way, absolutely not!
But the other party is the top star, Maki Hoshino.
The Weibo trending topics were as lively as during the Lunar New Year, and many celebrities couldn't help but put on pseudonyms and join in the gossip.
The two who caused the commotion were still confirming a public relations plan with their agent.
Since Sister Xi wasn't in Rong City, she communicated with Qing Ran via mobile phone. Meanwhile, Fix, who was in Rong City, rushed to the studio as quickly as possible and pulled Mu Xingye aside to discuss the matter.
"This level of exposure should be easy to clarify?" Qingran said after listening.
Sister Xi affirmed, "That's right, but there are different ways to clarify things. Should the focus be on whether you have a collaboration or on your good friendship?"
No matter how much fans tacitly understand, celebrities would never publicly admit that they are sexual minorities.
If the PR team says the two are good friends, then it's only natural that they're photographed together again later.
Qingran pondered for a moment: "Cooperation—"
Upon hearing this, Mu Xingye, who had abandoned Fix, felt a jolt in his heart. He quickened his pace, snatched Qingran's phone, and said to Sister Xi, "Friend."
He looked at Qingran, who was staring at him in surprise, and repeated into his phone, "Just say we are very, very, very close friends."
"...Qingran, why don't you discuss this again and give me a unified answer in five minutes?" Sister Xi suggested.
There has to be a consensus. They can't just clarify that they have a cooperative relationship one minute, and then Mu Xingye's team says they are just good friends the next. Anyone would see the problem if that happened.
"Sister Xi wants us to have a proper discussion." Mu Xingye preferred to relay Sister Xi's words rather than return the phone to Qingran.
His handsome face lost its smile, becoming as gloomy as a stormy day. Although his aura was cold and intimidating, it made people imagine a pitiful, drenched dog that had been wronged.
“Okay, let’s talk first.” Qingran nodded.
Mu Xingye immediately said into the phone, "I'll get back to you in a bit." Then he quickly hung up.
Fix wisely didn't come in, leaving only Qingran and Muxingye in the dance studio. The two, who had been all lovey-dovey just a few days ago, suddenly found the atmosphere awkwardly tense.
A few seconds later, the man tentatively pulled the person into his arms.
The person in his arms did not resist. Mu Xingye felt both heartbroken and soft-hearted, and spoke pitifully in a low, hoarse voice.
"Fix said you told your agent we were just friends with benefits." The man's tone was resentful when he mentioned the word "friends with benefits."
“Yes,” Qingran admitted, “isn’t that right? We met through a one-night stand, and at first you didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with me anymore—”
“No,” Mu Xingye retorted.
He was unhappy because Qingran left without saying a word.
At that time, he didn't understand why he was unhappy, but now he does.
"I don't want to be just friends with benefits, I want to be your boyfriend." That way, Qingran can only be with him and can't be with anyone else.
Qingran was not surprised to hear this, but still showed a look of astonishment on her face.
"Don't you have any feelings for me at all?" Mu Xingye's heart skipped a beat when he saw his expression, and his tone became somewhat somber.
He clearly sensed it.
Qingran stroked the man's sharply defined profile with her palm: "Hoshino, have you thought this through? You're a superstar, admired by millions, with a successful career and a good family background, while I'm just..."
After all, the original owner of this body drugged you because of these reasons.
Mu Xingye didn't understand why he suddenly brought up career and family background at this time. He liked Qingran not because of these things.
“I’m pretty sure what I want,” he said, rubbing his hand against his cheek. “I want to be your boyfriend. Will you?”
Qingran's clear eyes reflected the man's serious face, and a faint smile spread across her face.
He nodded slightly: "Yes."
As soon as he finished speaking, a smile spread from his eyes to the corners of his lips.
Mu Xingye lowered his head and kissed him heavily on the forehead. The first thing he did was take out his phone and ask Sister Xi to make an official announcement—no, to clarify!
As Qingran unlocked the device, she remembered something. The man pursed his lips and asked, "Were you just trying to say that we're just business partners?"
Qingran crafted her words: "Your concert is coming up soon, so everyone's focus should be on the concert. I don't want everyone to start gossiping about your private life."
"Actually, there's nothing wrong with gossiping a bit." Mu Xingye's eyes darted around, hoping everyone would know that Qingran was his and that no one would try to take advantage of her.
Especially that short, baby-faced guy.
But under Qingran's gaze, he still took a step back and reluctantly said, "Well, then let's use both versions."
Good friends, we have a partnership.
Qingran called to inform Sister Xi of the discussion results, and Mu Xingye also went out to tell Fix about the solution they had come up with.
Seeing his radiant expression, Fix knew what had happened without even asking.
"Congratulations, Hoshino, you're officially out of the single life," Fix joked with a smile.
Mu Xingye's lips curled up.
Half an hour later, two carefully worded clarification statements were issued by Qingran and Muxingye's studios, respectively.
The comments below are also quite interesting.
"Oh, a good friend, a good friend in the entertainment industry, those who know, know."
"These two people are completely unrelated???"
"Aaaaaah, I declare this god-like couple locked in! I'm swallowing the key!"
"It's not like we're completely unrelated; we've recorded the same show before."
"Why does everyone assume they're together? Can't they just be friends and business partners?"
"What kind of friends would wear each other's hats when going out?"
“I can understand my best friend doing this, but I wouldn’t do this to my best friend.”
"Everyone should be rational when following this story. I still believe that the two of them have a simple working relationship."
"Who is this Su Qingran? Can't she walk on her own? Don't come to my house."
"Is someone upstairs sick? It seems like your family is chasing after Su Qingran. Go see your new scarf on Weibo, he loves it!"
Dance studio.
"Should we also post something on Weibo to clarify?" After speaking with Fix, Mu Xingye came in and hugged Qingran, shaking her from side to side.
The feeling of fulfillment made him eager to do something, and he quickly turned his attention to Weibo.
“Go ahead and send it,” Qingran said, before the man got upset, “I’ll go along with you.”
Mu Xingye snapped a picture with his phone, showing him hugging Qingran from behind.
After checking, Qingran said it wouldn't work. He got out of the man's arms, adjusted his position, and took another picture of them side by side. Just as he pressed the shutter, the man raised his hand and put it on his shoulder with a possessive look.
Qingran squinted at the person who acted as if nothing had happened after causing trouble.
Seeing that the photos were not too revealing and the two were not overly intimate, he returned the phone to the other person without saying anything.
Mu Xingye curled the corners of his mouth, took the phone, and quickly edited a new Weibo post.
His Weibo account was mostly managed by Fix. His last personal Weibo post was a photo of the sky outside the airport when he returned to China. After that, Fix posted his schedule, concert promotions, and so on.
The photo with Qingran was the second private Weibo post he made after returning to China, with the caption: "Practicing dance."
The vastly different styles of the Weibo posts made it easy for fans to identify that the posts were created by Mu Xingye himself.
"I've never seen anything like this before. It takes a romantic scandal to bring you out of the woodwork [eye roll]."
"Grandma, your favorite singer is finally back in action!"
"Practicing dance? So Hoshino will be dancing at this concert?"
"They're so open and honest, could they really be friends?"
The beginning was fine, but that last comment made Mu Xingye: ?
This scarf seemed to unlock Mu Xingye's full potential, and from then on he fell in love with the feeling of sharing his daily life online.
Send a message when you wake up, when you eat, when you see ants moving house outside, and when you go to the stadium for rehearsal.
Sometimes she posts captions, sometimes photos. Qingran only clarified that she posed for photos with him that day and hasn't appeared in any photos since.
Even so, Mu Xingye still enjoys posting on Weibo.
His longtime fans had mixed feelings. Look at how worthless you are now! Where did the Mu Xingye who used to be aloof and cold-faced go?!
Someone commented on his Weibo:
"Stop showing off your points, have you ever heard of Show Points?"
Mu Xingye scoffed.
Even his uncle and parents heard the news and called to confirm. His uncle confirmed it, and his parents directly transferred money to him for dating expenses.
Although Mu Xingye is not short of money.
As for Qingran, after the clarification, her number of fans did not drop but increased, and there were no strong opposing voices in the comments section. They were all fans who admired her appearance or wished her a happy ending.
The system told him the reason why his fans had fallen into a strange silence, leaving Qingran both amused and exasperated.
It's worth mentioning that the production team of "The Strategist" also jumped on the bandwagon of the scandal by releasing a promotional video for the series at this time.
Qingran casually reposted it, adding a caption saying it was her first time trying acting and asking for everyone's support.
The bewildered fans, as if they had found a new goal to strive for, immediately rushed to the comments section to praise them.
Riding on this wave of traffic, Qingran's fan count has increased again, reaching around eight million, a very auspicious number.
Time passed swiftly, and November 1st arrived amidst the gentle breeze and the inexplicable restlessness in Mu Xingye.
The weather forecast predicted no rain today, which is unusually accurate.
The concert officially started at 7 p.m., and by 6:30 p.m., the open-air stadium was almost full of audience members who were entering.
The sunset was like a beautiful painting, with the gradient colors of the sunset spreading across the sky.
As the last rays of sunlight lingered on the horizon, the venue lights went out, and the prelude to a piece of music began to play from the surround sound system.
The noisy stadium suddenly fell silent for a moment.
"What song is this? I don't think I've heard the intro before?"
"It's somewhat like an adaptation of 'Shadow'."
At that moment, several bright laser lights shone on the center of the stage, illuminating the figures standing with their heads bowed, one in front of the other.
The perfect height difference, the perfect body shape difference, yet their appearances are so contrasting: one is pure white like an angel, the other dark like a demon.
The audience erupted in deafening screams.
"Shhh."
Behind Qingran, the demon raised a finger to signal everyone to be quiet, his gaze lingering on the fair profile of the person in front of him before he lowered his head and waited again.
The duet "Shadows" officially begins.
The concert wasn't even over yet, and related terms were already trending on social media.
A prominent influencer posted a video taken from the front row.
[Video] If you haven't seen Mu Xingye and Su Qingran's duet dance yet, go watch it! I declare that from today onwards, I'm a "Starry River Dyed" CP fan!
"Holy crap, are those two Mu Xingye and Su Qingran? Are they really that good at dancing?"
"The tension is so strong. Even though the movements are not excessive, my heart is inexplicably racing."
"Both of them have great figures and are incredibly good-looking. I don't know who to envy more."
"Mu's gaze is so savage, he looks at Su as if he wants to devour him."
"Upstairs, it's not that it resembles, but that it imagines."
"Really, really, Mu's gaze was on Su the whole time, and the way he subconsciously looked at Su after asking everyone to be quiet before the show started was also very interesting."
"Ahhhhh! The best part is that the dance teacher released a practice room version, and it's completely different from how these two dance!"
"The actions were all right, but the atmosphere was completely wrong! Real couples are just so sweet!"
At the Rongshi Gymnasium, Qingran hasn't had time to check the online feedback yet.
After the duet dance, the two sang "Lonely Diary" together. Afterwards, Mu Xingye went offstage to change clothes, while he stayed on stage to help manage the atmosphere for a while.
After Mu Xingye changed his clothes and went on stage, he handed the stage back to him and went off himself. The only time the two spent on stage together was during the performance and the chat time after the performance.
Mu Xingye secretly wanted to show off, but Qingran deterred him with a look.
After stepping off the stage, Qingran didn't leave. She took a sip of water and went straight to the VIP seats reserved in the front row to watch the performance.
As a result, fans noticed that when Mu Xingye returned to the stage, he frequently glanced in one direction.
Only the fans in the VIP seats knew exactly what happened.
"Su Qingran!" Someone, not wanting to miss out on the fun, deliberately shouted.
On stage, the handsome man with his hair dyed a hazy blue looked in a certain direction, unable to suppress his smile.
The cameraman, quite perceptively, turned the lens away.
On the stage's large screen, a picture of Qingran smiling helplessly appeared; her exquisitely made-up face was so beautiful that it took everyone's breath away.
When he saw the camera pointed at him, he covered his face as if he was a little embarrassed.
Seeing this, Mu Xingye laughed even more unrestrainedly.
Fans: "Ahhhhhh!"
A note from the author:
Thanks for the lightning strike, thanks for the watering, chirp!
Daoist Jing threw a landmine
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