“Please give a warm round of applause to welcome Yu Yan!”
The host’s enthusiastic voice traveled through the phone and into Gu Xichao’s ear.
Yu Yan’s livestream had begun.
“Look! It’s Yu Yan’s livestream!”
Several young women behind Gu Xichao cried out excitedly at the same time.
He raised his head.
On the enormous screen mounted on the building opposite the airport entrance, Yu Yan’s face had been magnified hundreds—perhaps thousands—of times.
He smiled captivatingly into the camera.
Pedestrians stopped and looked up. Some raised their phones to take pictures, while others pointed at the screen and chatted excitedly.
At that moment, Yu Yan’s face seemed to occupy nearly everyone’s field of vision.
Cars passed beneath the giant screen, and everyone sitting inside could see him.
That was not all. Every advertising screen outside the airport was broadcasting Yu Yan’s image.
He smiled and waved at the camera.
“Hello to everyone watching and to all my fans. I’m Yu Yan.”
His eyes, naturally curved as though they were always smiling, glittered like countless stars in the night sky.
Anyone who saw him could not help thinking that some people truly had been blessed by heaven with extraordinary beauty.
But only Gu Xichao knew what a terrifying soul lay hidden beneath that beautiful appearance.
More and more people gathered around. Cheers, laughter, and excited conversation filled the air.
Almost everyone was marveling at Yu Yan’s dazzling entrance.
Gu Xichao alone was the exception.
He stood frozen before one of the advertising screens, his teeth clenched tightly.
After greeting the audience, Yu Yan sat down.
The host beside him began chatting according to the prepared script.
“Yu Yan really is unbelievably handsome! Seeing your face from this close, I can hardly breathe. It looks like you’ve prepared very carefully for today’s livestream! Why don’t you tell us—do you have any good news you’d like to share with everyone?”
Yu Yan raised an eyebrow slightly and looked directly into the camera, a faint smile touching his lips.
“That’s right. I have a few pieces of good news to share today.”
That single smile was enough to flood the screen with comments saying, “Yu Yan is so handsome!” among countless messages of support.
The host continued:
“Oh! It looks like the fans can’t wait any longer! Why don’t we play a game? Whatever question you draw, you have to answer it. How does that sound?”
“All right.”
Yu Yan nodded.
The host brought over a question box and placed it in front of him.
Without giving it any thought, Yu Yan casually reached inside and drew out a card.
The host accepted it. The moment he read the question, his smile immediately became suggestive.
He turned the card toward the camera.
“The question Yu Yan has drawn is… Have you ever been in love—or are you currently in love with someone?”
Dozens of kilometers away from the studio, Gu Xichao stood before the advertising screen outside the airport.
The moment he saw that question, his mind went completely blank.
His heart suddenly began to race.
Tension tightened around him, and sweat gathered in the palm gripping the phone.
Yu Yan was still wearing the Bluetooth earpiece in his left ear.
Their call had never been disconnected.
Gu Xichao knew Yu Yan was still listening.
Waiting for him to speak.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump…
Would Yu Yan really expose the truth about Gu Xichao faking his death—and publicly reveal their past relationship as well?
Gu Xichao had spent two difficult years living in hiding overseas. He had also been borrowing money from other companies to repay his old debts one by one.
He was only one source of funding away from making his comeback.
But if Yu Yan exposed his fake death now, Gu Xichao’s reputation would collapse completely.
Public opinion would drag him into the center of a raging storm, and his business partners would lose all trust in him. Worse still, if the creditors who had disappeared for the past two years came knocking at his door, where could Gu Xichao possibly run?
All Yu Yan had to do was open his mouth, and the resulting butterfly effect would be enough to leave Gu Xichao with no way out.
And on top of that, Yu Yan was threatening to expose the romantic relationship they had once shared…
Yu Yan was one of the biggest stars in the entertainment industry. A scandal of this magnitude, whether true or false, would inevitably unleash a tidal wave the moment the public began passing judgment in the name of morality.
Once all of these disasters collided, the losses would become impossible to calculate.
Every prospect and every hope for the future would be reduced to ashes.
Not only would Gu Xichao and Yu Yan both be publicly disgraced and ruined, but every company and stock financially tied to either of them would also be dragged into the abyss.
Everything would collapse completely!
Yet Yu Yan was using all of this to threaten him.
He had truly gone insane.
Hopelessly, incurably insane!
On the screen, the corners of Yu Yan’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Looking directly into the camera, he said calmly:
“Of course I have. I was once in a relationship that lasted two years. We loved each other. And as for now…”
The comments began scrolling ten times faster than before. The screen became so densely packed with text that it was impossible to tell whether they were words or merely a tangled mass of code.
One of Yu Yan’s fans standing by the roadside exclaimed in shock:
“Oh my God! Is Yu Yan about to make his relationship public?!”
“No way! He’s at the peak of his career right now. How could he possibly do that?”
“Why couldn’t he? Yu Yan has always been famous for never bowing to pressure!”
“There’s no way the trending searches survive today. The whole list is going to explode!”
The host on the screen pressed him for an answer.
“What about now? Who exactly is this person?”
Gu Xichao stood rooted to the spot.
Tiny beads of sweat formed across his forehead. He clutched the fabric over his chest, while his heart pounded so violently that it seemed ready to tear free from his body.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump…
On camera, Yu Yan remained radiant, his expression as warm and pleasant as a spring breeze.
Only Gu Xichao could see through that carefully constructed mask to the merciless demon beneath it—a demon that had crawled straight out of hell.
Yu Yan pretended not to care. He lifted a hand to scratch his ear, then tapped twice against the earpiece.
Two faint bursts of static immediately sounded from the phone in Gu Xichao’s hand.
It was Yu Yan’s final warning.
Yu Yan’s fingers paused for one second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds…
Then he lowered his hand from the earpiece and withdrew his gaze.
He had clearly lost all patience.
No longer waiting for Gu Xichao to answer through the phone, he looked directly into the camera.
“It’s still the same person. Many of you may have heard his name before. His name is…”
The hand holding the phone was still trembling.
Gu Xichao lowered his head and drew a deep breath. Then, through clenched teeth, he forced out each word.
“That’s enough, Yu Yan! Shut your mouth!”
“I’ll come back with you. Is that what you wanted?!”
The moment those words left his mouth, Yu Yan seemed to release a silent breath of relief on the screen.
The movement was so slight that almost no one noticed it.
He quickly adjusted his expression and smiled with satisfaction.
“She’s Lin Lan, the female lead in my next movie!”
Gu Xichao’s head snapped up as he stared at Yu Yan on the screen.
Their gazes seemed to travel through countless electronic signals and layers of digital screens before colliding violently in midair.
Gu Xichao lowered the phone.
His shoulders slumped with it, and his entire body seemed like a ball from which all the air had been drained.
His hands remained clenched into fists, but there was no strength left in him.
Yu Yan…
The way he toyed with people’s hearts was truly merciless.
Inside the studio, the host cheerfully invited Lin Lan, the actress Yu Yan had just mentioned, onto the stage.
She stood beside Yu Yan, and together they looked like a picture-perfect couple. They smiled and waved at the camera while enthusiastically introducing their upcoming film.
The host asked Yu Yan what kind of role he would be playing.
An unreadable smile appeared on his face.
“To tell everyone the truth, I’ll be playing a real scumbag with an extremely complicated inner world. When the movie premieres, I hope you’ll go easy on me in the comments and won’t scold me too harshly. I have a very fragile heart, you know. Goodbye, everyone!”
Following the script, Lin Lan added:
“As for his character… well, all I can say is that we can’t reveal anything in advance. I’m really looking forward to matching acting skills with Yu Yan.”
The host continued:
“Then let us wish you both a wonderful partnership…”
On the screen, Yu Yan and the actress worked together flawlessly.
Every word and gesture revolved around promoting their new film, without the slightest mistake.
But outside the screen, fear still filled Gu Xichao’s heart.
He could no longer take in a single word they were saying during the livestream.
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