Chapter 64: Live Broadcast
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"Actually, last time, Brother Yong and the others made a song for me. I listened to it twice and felt that it's quite good, but the lyrics haven't been written yet. The melody is an expansion of the way I normally practice singing. I really like it. Do you remember it? It's the tune I hummed when Wu Yu was teaching Chang Siyin how to pronounce," Su Jinli casually brought up another topic.
He hadn't officially confirmed the song for the next round of competition yet, so he was still a bit undecided.
An Zhiyan just nodded: "I remember."
Having acknowledged his feelings for Su Jinli, An Zhiyan intentionally found Su Jinli's clips and re-watched all the footage featuring him.
"I kind of want to try writing the lyrics myself and then perform this song. I think I should be able to handle it," Su Jinli contemplated and then shared his thought with An Zhiyan.
After all, An Zhiyan was now his leader, so he needed to discuss it with him.
"For this round, you need to prepare two songs by yourself and time is tight. If you also want to write your own lyrics, it might be quite a big task."
"I'd like to give it a try," Su Jinli finished and then smiled at An Zhiyan calmly, "I also only practiced for half a year before coming to this competition, who would have thought I could have lasted until now? How can I know if I can do it if I don't try?"
An Zhiyan always felt that he could be instantaneously healed by Su Jinli's smile.
His smile was quite natural. The curve in his eyes, his beautiful face, so pure — it all combined to make him especially adorable.
He nodded then and said, "Alright, I'll request the production team to allow some phone time. You'll be able to communicate with your manager and studio at any time to adjust the details."
He was willing to support Su Jinli unconditionally. As long as it was something he wanted, he was prepared to do all he could to help him get it.
"Okay, thank you!" Su Jinli immediately exclaimed, brimming with excitement.
He said, "As a token of gratitude, could you spend some more time with me?"
This confused Su Jinli a bit, and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you feeling lonely?"
"No, I just want to spend some more time with you."
"My grandpa only asks me to stay with him a little longer when he gets old."
"It's different," he insisted.
Su Jinli didn't completely understand and just turned his head to look at An Zhiyan. He looked him up and down.
An Zhiyan let his gaze roam freely. After all, he was quite confident about his appearance. His 'heartthrob' status lent him immense confidence. Look as much as you want. Who knows, you might just fall in love with me.
"Your grandpa... is he a fish?" An Zhiyan couldn't help but ask.
"He's a fox spirit."
"A male fox spirit?" An Zhiyan was surprised.
"Yes, he has a very bad temper. If anyone bullies me, he might even eat them," he said.
"Oh..." An Zhiyan replied sheepishly, nodding, "I won't bully you."
"He probably wouldn't like eating someone as big as you anyway. It would take him two meals to finish."
Was this good news or bad news?
As they reached the corner, An Zhiyan suddenly grabbed Su Jinli's arm and led him to the restroom.
"I don't need to use the restroom," Su Jinli quickly said.
"There are no cameras here," An Zhiyan replied. He entered the restroom, checked each stall to make sure no one was inside, and then closed the door, holding Su Jinli in his embrace.
Su Jinli, startled by his sudden embrace, couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"
An Zhiyan didn't let go of Su Jinli and rested his chin on his shoulder, saying in a somewhat childish tone, "I have to shoot an advertisement tomorrow, and I won't be able to see you for two or three days. I'm going to miss you."
"But you used to only visit once a week," he mentioned.
"It's different now. I have an increasing desire to see you each day, and it feels especially profound when I can't."
"Oh... I somewhat understand that. I miss my brother when I don't see him too..."
An Zhiyan was very upset. Whenever he asked Su Jinli to accompany him, he would think of his grandpa. And, when he expressed his longing for him, he would think of his brother.
These two scenarios were absolutely not the same.
He had mentioned wanting to be in love, but he obviously didn't quite awaken those feelings.
"Have you hugged enough?" Su Jinli couldn't resist asking.
"Never." Impossible to have enough. He wished he could take him home, get him a large aquarium, and keep him in it.
"Ah, I have no way to deal with you." Su Jinli helplessly wrapped his arms around An Zhiyan's waist, allowing him to hold him more comfortably.
He perceived it as understanding the loneliness experienced by the elderly, a form of showing care to older generations.
However, An Zhiyan's heart was brimming with joy from his compliant actions.
The pair spent roughly ten or more minutes in the restroom before they emerged. Just before leaving, An Zhiyan pointed at the top of his head and asked, "Do I still have anything on my head?"
"No, it's gone," he replied.
"Give me another one, then."
Su Jinli stretched out his hand, ruffled An Zhiyan's hair, and gave his blessing.
________________________
When Su Jinli returned to his bedroom, his mobile phone was already returned – An Zhiyan's efficiency had proven to be quite fast.
Upon entering the bedroom, he saw An Zhihan singing "Learning To Meow" with Fan Qianting, live streaming it on their phones.
The sounds of "meow, meow, meow" alarmed Su Jinli, and he couldn't help but keep his distance.
He was afraid of cats, extremely so.
Su Jinli greatly feared the entire feline species, so he took his mobile phone and steered clear of the others.
An Zhihan saw Su Jinli returning and immediately invited him over to their live stream in an attempt to attract more viewers.
Unable to avoid it, Su Jinli walked to the mobile phone and stared at the screen, saying, "Hello, everyone."
Gazing at the barrage of comments, he said, "You guys, ask a little slower, I can't see clearly."
【Su Jinli!! Mom loves you!】
"Oh, hello, Mom." Su Jinli replied, looking at the barrage of comments.
But what's with the "hello, Mom"?
【Su Jinli, are you feeling better?】
“Much better. I can speak normally now. But I haven't tried to sing any high notes yet, I'll try in a few days."
【Su Jinli, wish me luck on the Level 4 test!】
【Little Su Jinli, pray for my final grades to bounce back.】
“Um, I wish you all the best."
【Little Fish, if An Zhihan and Wu Yu fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?】
“This question is quite good." Seeing this question, An Zhihan quickly pointed it out as he had been watching the live stream alongside him.
"I can grab one with each hand."
“You, a landlubber, would save two who can swim? Really now?" An Zhihan couldn't help but chide.
Su Jinli hummed lightly.
At this moment, someone mentioned An Zhiyan's name.
【Baby, our brother is being criticized again.】
【Darling, An Zhiyan is being exposed again, will you go check it out?】
An Zhihan looked at the barrage of comments, took Su Jinli's phone, and searched for An Zhiyan's name: "Let's see what kind of scandal my big brother has gotten into again."
This time, the scandal was rather sensitive.
A new episode had just been aired, and someone revealed insider information about the show.
Even when An Zhiyan was hosting, his personal preferences were obvious. He would ask more questions to those he liked, and hastily finish interviewing those he didn't, resulting in minimal camera time for many contestants.
It was evident that An Zhiyan enjoyed chatting with Su Jinli and An Zhihan, and even took good care of Chang Siyin.
The show seemed entirely dependent on who An Zhiyan liked; those who he didn't like were irrelevant.
Most of the vocal critics were fans of the eliminated contestants.
"Actually, it's not really up to my brother. It mainly depends on the post-production editing, which we can't control," An Zhihan commented after reading the accusations.
Su Jinli followed along, but after reading for a while, he still didn't understand. An Zhihan explained the situation, and only then did Su Jinli comprehend what the critics were discussing.
"Xiao Jingzhi is not that kind of person," Su Jinli immediately refuted. (Note: 小精緻 [Xiǎo jīngzhì] = Little delicate)
In fact, An Zhiyan took care of many contestants, which Su Jinli could clearly see, especially when he offered encouragement to the more skillful competitors.
During sports events, he also takes care of the female contestants, allows them to stay indoors and ensures everyone gets a water supply after the competition ends.
"Why did you call my brother that?" An Zhihan asked, surprised.
"Little Delicate."
"Why do you call him that?"
"His nostrils are very delicate."
An Zhihan disregarded the online backlash and burst into laughter during the livestream, letting out an infectious "Ha ha ha ha..."
Su Jinli stood up, choosing not to participate in the livestream anymore. He took a paper and pen, and sought inspiration in solitude. Sitting by the window gazing outside, he spotted An Zhiyan and Jiang Pingqiu leaving.
He noticed that the blessings above An Zhiyan's head dispersed as he left.
He couldn't help but sigh. Out of everyone he had met, An Zhiyan's blessings disappeared the fastest.
________________________
An Zhiyan sat in his car and took out his phone to inspect the negative commentary about him that Jiang Pingqiu had mentioned.
To avoid being noticed by fans' tracking software, he logged onto his alt account.
Once he was online, he headed straight to the trending topics page; the very first explosive trending news bore his name.
"But..."
"An Zhiyan is a little delicate."
"Why does this trending term feel so odd?"
He raised his phone to show Jiang Pingqiu, asking, "Is this what they're criticizing me for?"
Jiang Pingqiu was astonished after seeing it. He took the phone for a search, and said, puzzled, "A phrase surges to the top trend, can it just explode like this?"
On clicking, they saw that Su Jinli had called An Zhiyan "little delicate" during a livestream. It didn't take long for it to "explode" and become a rapidly shifting focus.
Holding his phone, An Zhiyan searched his name. He finally found a Weibo post suggesting he manipulated rankings.
And then, he discovered someone had already cleared his name.
Some had reviewed An Zhiyan's interviews and noticed, if you compared the players' interviews, the ones who were actually quickly dismissed were Su Jinli and An Zhihan.
Sometimes An Zhiyan asked other players questions, they would respond at length. An Zhiyan would never interrupt, always listening attentively.
When it came to Su Jinli, it was An Zhiyan asking one question and Su Jinli answering concisely. If An Zhiyan didn't ask, Su Jinli absolutely wouldn't say more, so it seemed like An Zhiyan talked more frequently.
The rumors were directly debunked.
The haters gradually dispersed too, with no real commotion erupting.
He had initially assumed that his public relations team had created a video. Only when he clicked did he realize it was a summary made by Su Jinli's fans. It aimed to clarify that Su Jinli's success came from his own achievements, not from An Zhiyan.
"The fans of our little Jinli are pretty impressive..." An Zhiyan couldn't help but exclaim.
"Uh-huh..." Wait, did he just say "our"?
"He indeed is clever .” It was the first time that An Zhiyan saw himself being criticized, yet could still laugh about it. What's more, his smile was exceptionally sweet.
________________________
Author's note:
Jiang Pingqiu: Young Master An, you’re being criticized again.
An Zhiyan (calm): Just get me your Lady.
Jiang Pingqiu: Miss and Mr. Shen have gone abroad.
An Zhiyan (disappointed): Oh, I'll handle it myself then.
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