最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 72
In just 24 hours, the plot twisted and turned, not only revealing the extremely rare 100% compatibility but also spreading from the entertainment industry to the top of the business world. Several or more famous people have voiced their concern about the situation.
Because of this, even people who weren’t particularly interested in showbiz became audiences.
Reporters in the entertainment industry can always be relied on for a good nose for what’s trending.
Most of them remembered that Xie Yan was rumored to be kept by Zheng Feiluan, but Xie Yan had previously denied it, and Zheng Feiluan had been silent. Some people quickly pointed out that Xie Yan was behind this strange affair after he was “coincidentally” connected to Zheng Feiluan again.
The once-famous movie star slowly lost his fame. To get his financial sponsor’s approval again, he made a plan to get rid of problems.
As time went on, many wild guesses became more reasonable and, eventually, got closer to the truth. The tens of thousands of arrows that were meant to hurt He An yesterday turned around today and struck the person who did it even harder.
Xie Yan got scared and quickly clicked on the promotional accounts that revealed yesterday’s news. As if hit by a typhoon, every account that had shared the nine-square grid deleted all of the relevant content, leaving only a few bits of the photos available online. A lot of fans also quietly deleted the vulgar comments, and only a few loyal fans were still refusing to do so.
Just one night was all it took for the tower to rise and fall.
Xie Yan was too terrified to click on the warning to read the yellow indicators that were rapidly growing in the top right corner of the screen. Unfortunately, his fears came true. Moments later, Zhao Ru banged on the door and told him very bad news: tonight at 8 o’clock, Jiang Bai would make an announcement through a live stream.
“Live stream? What’s he planning to announce? Can’t he just tell me in person?”
Xie Yan’s world was completely turned upside down.
He knew Jiang Bai adored him. Jiang Bai had silently tolerated his flaws over the past few years, despite how cruel and arrogant he was. He always revealed his true self when he was with Jiang Bai.
This means Jiang Bai has strong proof against him.
Xie Yan desperately dialed Jiang Bai’s number, but just like Lu Yisen, Jiang Bai disappeared into the busy tone.
“No way…” Xie Yan said in a low voice, “He loves me so much that he can’t ignore me… Even if he did, he should forgive me now that we’ve cleared up the mess…”
⋮
Xie Yan waited alone in his hotel room until eight o’clock, then eight five, eight ten… Still, Jiang Bai didn’t answer. He mustered up the courage to open the live broadcast link, determined to see what Jiang Bai had to say before making a long-term strategy.
He was scared by how many people came online all at once. But the thing that scared him the most was what was playing in the live broadcast room at that very moment.
As far as he knows, the original video has already been… destroyed!
Xie Yan quickly turned pale.
Was it Lu Yisen who secretly kept a backup, or someone else? No, it was pointless to keep asking these questions. People all over the world had already seen the video after it got out.
It played Jiang Bai and He An’s full, innocent physical contact, and then, when a phone call took Jiang Bai away, Lu Yisen brought two actors into the room to finish the photo shoot. It also showed Lu Yisen climb up the closet and take out the cameras one by one that were hidden in different parts of the room.
All of this is just a game.
Absolutely everyone can see that.
On the right side of the screen, the lines of comments were scrolling quickly. Xie Yan couldn’t help but feel guilty as he quietly looked at it. A huge amount of rude comments and insults were turned into spit and sprayed on his face.
Jiang Bai’s tired face came back to the camera after the video was over.
He didn’t say anything for a long time.
“That day, I rushed from Yuanjiang to see you. You told me there were too many fans near the film and television city, and I would be easily disturbed if I stayed close by, so you found an inn at the town’s westernmost side and asked your assistant to give me the key. You also told me to go there quietly so that no one would find out. I got flowers and wine and waited for you for three hours, but for what cause? It was exactly what you saw in the video—a complete trap.”
“Why are you doing this, Xie Yan? Aren’t we in love?”
The ragged beard and lifeless eyes of Jiang Bai cast a depressed shadow as he stared down at the camera.
He paused for a moment before continuing, “When Mr. Zheng gave me the video, I thought it had to be a mistake. If he could trust his partner and look for proof everywhere, why can’t you? You never even gave me a chance to clarify anything, Xie Yan.”
“I actually knew this day was going to happen. This time, five years ago, you picked me over Mr. Zheng. At the time, I was proud because I thought my omega was different from others. You cared more about love than power, and the fact that I was just a bodyguard didn’t make you dislike me. But over time, the resources you could get got worse and worse, and rising stars stole your spotlight. After that, you blamed me and said I wasn’t useful and couldn’t be like Mr. Zheng, who could just show up and get you a role.”
“You hurt me for a long time, and I didn’t understand why you changed all of a sudden. But you haven’t changed; you’ve always been the same person. You already had the two awards that Mr. Zheng gave you when you chose me. You didn’t pick between love and power, but instead continued to walk on the path that Mr. Zheng paved for you. You only wanted to be with me in hopes of adding icing to the cake and gaining a good reputation for being in love with a regular person.”
This was the first time Jiang Bai personally confirmed that Zheng Feiluan and Xie Yan were dating and also confirmed that they stood by each other. There was so much excitement surrounding the news that the comment section was too chaotic to make out the words.
Xie Yan hurried over, typing furiously, because he couldn’t believe Jiang Bai would actually betray him. But as soon as those poor “nonsense,” “liars,” “rumormongers,” and “clout chasers” comments went up, so many replies came in that not even their shadows could be seen.
For some reason, Jiang Bai started to spill the beans more, maybe out of frustration or to drown out the thought of going back.
“I’ve lied for you throughout the years. You were terrified of being called a kept man, so I repeatedly told the reporters that the rumors involving you and Mr. Zheng weren’t true. You didn’t think that was convincing enough, so we told everyone that our compatibility was as high as 89%. We made up a love story about a brave man saving a stunning man so you could talk about it on variety shows because you thought talking about our compatibility alone wasn’t romantic enough. I took a lot of pictures with you because you had to show that you were happy. The “candid shots” that looked so real were actually practiced behind closed doors. You also wanted to show how much you cared about my parents, so you bought them a house that costs 15 years of paychecks…”
Jiang Bai smiled bitterly and said, “Now that I think about it, if you can betray Mr. Zheng, why can’t you betray me too? The cheating scandal over the last two days is probably my karma.”
“Bullshit!”
Xie Yan’s face scrunched as he snatched the tablet and threw it to the ground, making a resounding “clang” in the dimly lit hotel room.
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In Olive Inn’s small living room, a basket was filled with cracked shells of watermelon seeds.
“He’s cooked.”
While watching the live stream, Cheng Xiu took some watermelon seeds and ate them, “He betrayed his closest friends and family first, and then they betrayed him. He lost his fame and reputation, and that drama that isn’t even about immortal people or whatever might not even air anymore… I knew he’ll go downhill from there, so I’m going to celebrate with another bag of these yummy seeds.”
“Set off another set of fireworks. I’ll buy some more tomorrow.” Dai Xiao said.
“What about milk cake?”
Linglan, who didn’t know anything, used the chance to ask for food.
“Okay, don’t forget to buy milk cakes either.” Cheng Xiu warmly agreed, but he felt unsure, and he turned to Zheng Feiluan for confirmation, “Boss, you won’t take it easy on him, right?”
“Not going to.”
Zheng Feiluan shook his head.
Zheng Feiluan shook his head.
He was already planning to take back every good thing that he offered for Xie Yan’s future when the storm hit yesterday. When he heard Jiang Bai say earlier that even the so-called 89% match was made up, he couldn’t take it any longer.
He never wanted to see Xie Yan on television or in movies again.
He An was sleeping on his lap, with his face docile and his body snuggled up in a way that made him instinctively want to protect him. This view made Zheng Feiluan’s heart go soft, and he reached out and hooked his curly hair.
He An, you don’t have to see him anymore.
Cheng Xiu felt better and happily waved a peace sign at Linglan and said, “Daddy defeated the evil man, so Linglan can have two milk cakes tomorrow. Repeat after me: two!”
“Two!”
Linglan followed and said the same thing.
“Could you show me how to count to two?”
It made Dai Xiao annoyed, so he clapped his hands, folded the peace sign on her hand, and focused on teaching Linglan how to count.
Still munching on watermelon seeds, Cheng Xiu murmured, “It seems like Jiang Bai is quite unstable, even when he’s head over heels for someone. He clearly has poor taste because he likes Xie Yan…”
He felt embarrassed when he realized what he had said was wrong and had turned a single attack into another attack by accident. He quietly grabbed the milk tea and downed a sip.
“It’s alright.” Zheng Feiluan admitted, “I do have bad taste.”
Although Xie Yan struck him deeply, he went through a lot before coming to terms with He An’s beauty. His taste wasn’t bad at all.
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No one was staying at the inn tonight, so the red lanterns were turned off early. The courtyard was dark, which made the two windows on the first floor next to each other look very bright.
In his dream, He An heard a buzzing sound that woke him up from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and realized he was back in bed, leaning against Zheng Feiluan’s waist and sleeping in the shadow he created. Linglan was also sound asleep with her chick plush in her arms.
“Are you up?”
Zheng Feiluan dropped his head and asked.
The sound that kept buzzing came from Zheng Feiluan’s hand. He An was still confused from waking up, so he asked, “Don’t you want to answer it?”
Zheng Feiluan said, “It’s your phone.”
“Who is it?”
“Your house.”
“Oh…” He An slumped back into the dark, closed his eyes, and looked like he didn’t want to look at it.
Zheng Feiluan then asked, “Should I hang up for you?”
He An was hesitant at first, but eventually reached out his hand. With a smile, Zheng Feiluan gave him the phone and said, “Don’t push yourself.”
Old Man He’s voice came through as soon as the call was connected. He was very nice and excited. He sweetly called him “An-An” a few times, as if he hadn’t just called He An a “shameless thing” in the interview yesterday. There were also some nice greetings in the background. It seemed as though everyone in the family got together to give him a call.
“An-An, are you really married to Zheng… Mr. Zheng from Jiusheng?” Old Man He asked.
“No.”
“N-no?” Old Man He asked in disbelief, “So, it’s not true that you had a child with him, as the rumors were going viral online?”
“It’s true.”
He An spoke coldly and reached out to tug on Zheng Feiluan’s shirt hem.
Old Man He quickly offered some advice, he said, “An-An, I need to tell you that becoming a parent doesn’t guarantee your safety. You should still talk to Mr. Zheng about marriage a lot and ask him to make things official as soon as possible. Your position can only be stable if you have legal status. Listen, you’re only turning twenty-one this year, so there’s still time…”
“Twenty-three.”
He An bit a corner of Zheng Feiluan’s sleeve and scowled quietly.
Zheng Feiluan almost laughed.
Why didn’t he notice before that his omega is so irritable when he wakes up?
“Ah, yes, twenty-three… twenty-three years old!” Everyone seemed to correct the man on the other side, who quickly smiled and said, “You see, Dad has become confused and can’t even remember something so important. An-An, you need to spend your birthday at home this year. Mom and I, and both of your siblings, miss you a lot…”
He An didn’t say anything. He averted his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows as he glared at Zheng Feiluan, a hint of irritation showing on his face.
Zheng Feiluan whispered, “Why don’t we just end the call?”
He An shook his head.
Old Man He assumed He An’s silence as agreement, and he continued to urge, “An-An, listen to your father. While you’re young, you should have another alpha baby for the Zheng family. That way, he can take over the family business down the road. Many people are envious of their wealth, which is at least tens of billions of dollars! Remember to help your siblings at home as well. It hasn’t been easy for them lately. They never thought they would have a family member as well-known as the Zhengs. They’re so happy…”
Though he was no longer interested in listening, He An didn’t end the call. But instead, he stretched his arm and deliberately pushed the phone against Zheng Feiluan’s ear.
You tell them.
He told him with his eyes.
Zheng Feiluan smiled widely this time. He used his thumb to gently graze He An’s cheek. Then he held the phone up and said, “Hello, this is Zheng Feiluan.”
“P-president… President Zheng!”
There was an unexpected pause on the other end, followed by a delighted chuckle that flowed almost like a puddle of greasy, hot oil from the earpiece.
Zheng Feiluan was disgusted, and before they could say flattering things to him, he told them straight out, “He An is He An, and you are you. He doesn’t need to “secure his position” by having kids, and you don’t need to keep your hopes up on “nepotism.” We don’t need to meet or talk to each other again now that we’ve gotten closure, so let’s just go our separate ways.”
After talking, he hung up the phone and put it back on the nightstand.
“Did I pass? Zheng Feiluan asked.
He An buried his face in the pillow, closed his eyes, sluggishly hugged him around the waist, and replied, “Hmm, that’s one point. You now have… negative one thousand points.”
Zheng Feiluan gave a faint smile and clasped He An tightly in his arms.
Negative one thousand points…
It’s not too far from getting a perfect score, is it?
✕✕✕
Translated and edited by janemoyu (06/27/24)
