Chapter 77: Waiting for the Unwary

Han Jiangxue stared at Su Chen’s face, so close she could feel his breath, her gaze flickering away in panic.

Oh no, oh no! What is Su Chen trying to do?!

He… could he be trying to kiss me?

Han Jiangxue felt Su Chen’s lips slowly drawing nearer. She wanted to move away, but suddenly her whole body went weak and powerless.

This is terrible... Why do I have no strength at a time like this?

Could this be, as the novels say, the feeling of not resisting someone deep down?

As Su Chen’s breath, tinged with alcohol, brushed hot against her face, Han Jiangxue’s mind grew hazy, and she gave up resisting altogether.

If it’s Su Chen… maybe it’s okay? This is my first kiss…

She thought this to herself, and even instinctively tilted her head up, eyelids fluttering as she closed her eyes, as if waiting for something to descend…

But in the next moment—

Beep beep… click!

The door to the room was opened by Su Chen, and Han Jiangxue, who was leaning against it unsuspectingly, almost fell backward into the room.

Su Chen looked at the unsteady, swaying Han Jiangxue with a face full of confusion. “What are you doing? Not only are you blocking the door, but you even closed your eyes—what’s that supposed to mean?”

Han Jiangxue steadied herself against the wall and shot Su Chen an exasperated look.

“You… You could have given me a heads up before opening the door! How was I supposed to know you were going to open it?”

She stomped her foot and turned away.

Su Chen scratched his head and said, “You’re the one who asked for Yan Mi’s autograph. If I don’t open the door, how am I supposed to get it for you?”

“And you mentioned there are spies in the hotel. I don’t want to be dragged off in the middle of the night by some bun-headed man.”

“I… I…”

Han Jiangxue was at a loss for words, so she just huffed and walked into Su Chen’s room ahead of him.

How could she admit that she had been waiting outside Su Chen’s door out of fear he wouldn’t come home again tonight?

After watching the live broadcast all day, she felt that girl called Wang Bingling was looking at Su Chen with strange eyes—she didn’t seem like a good person.

Han Jiangxue had made up her mind: if Su Chen stayed out all night again, she would ignore him!

That was why, when Su Chen returned, he found Han Jiangxue waiting at his door.

She had planned to lie in wait for him tonight from the very start.

Why does this girl seem to be getting less and less clever…

Su Chen gave Han Jiangxue a puzzled look and shook his head helplessly.

He closed the door, entered the room, and took out from under some papers the autograph from Yan Mi, handing it to Han Jiangxue.

“Tada! Here’s your autograph!” Su Chen smiled as he handed it over.

Han Jiangxue accepted it, but she didn’t feel as happy as she’d imagined. Yan Mi seemed just like any ordinary person; getting her autograph didn’t seem all that meaningful.

Still, Han Jiangxue kept the autograph.

For Su Chen to have the cheek to ask for it on her behalf—it must not have been easy…

“…Alright, I’ve got the autograph. I’ll go now, you should get some rest. There’s a competition the day after tomorrow!”

“I won’t bother you tomorrow; focus on your preparations. If you debut, I’ll be able to make a living selling your autograph!”

Han Jiangxue gave him a few words of encouragement and left.

She’d come for no apparent reason and left just as inexplicably.

Su Chen watched her go, closing the door behind her, before finally collapsing onto his bed.

Of course, he had seen what Han Jiangxue was thinking when she closed her eyes.

In fact, he had leaned in because he’d seen her waiting at his door and had been moved.

In two whole lifetimes, Su Chen had never met a woman who would wait for him at the door, just because he was out late.

So, he was genuinely touched.

But in the end, he restrained his impulsive thoughts.

They hadn’t known each other long and understood far too little about one another. If he really kissed her, there was a good chance they wouldn’t even be friends in the end.

Most importantly, though he had only glimpsed the surface, he could tell Han Jiangxue’s family was extremely well off—so much so that the current him was far from worthy.

But it was just for now. Su Chen was confident that, in the future, he’d be a member of high society himself!

After washing up, Su Chen, full of complicated thoughts, quickly drifted into sleep.

As the sun rose and set, a new day arrived.

Today, “Next Star” had no scheduled recording or live broadcast. Everyone was preparing for tomorrow’s show.

Early in the morning, after sending Wang Bingling off at the airport, Su Chen rushed back to the hotel to catch up on sleep.

He hadn’t slept well in days and was counting on today to make up for it.

While Su Chen slept, discussion about last night’s barbecue stand incident was spreading like wildfire on Weibo.

Besides Su Chen, three others were dragged into the matter: Wang Qi, Meng Xiaotian, and Zheng Huayu.

After withdrawing from the competition, Wang Qi had hoped to build up a fanbase and make a comeback.

But overnight, his Weibo was overrun by netizens. Several female fans even reported that he often invited them to hotels.

So today, Wang Qi announced he was leaving the internet as if running for his life.

Meng Xiaotian wasn’t as deeply involved, so netizens only debated whether Su Chen’s character was questionable.

Meng Xiaotian’s fans produced footage from the show where Su Chen explained he hadn’t heard Meng Xiaotian because he was wearing headphones, and so Meng Xiaotian narrowly avoided the storm.

This left Meng Xiaotian both angry and frustrated—Su Chen’s sarcasm ended up being his excuse for innocence, leaving Meng Xiaotian feeling both cowardly and ridiculous.

As a result, Zheng Huayu was hit hardest by the incident.

His deliberate targeting of Su Chen on the show was plain for all to see. Combined with his always arrogant demeanor, he was instantly besieged by criticism, and his fan count on Weibo plummeted.

Meanwhile, Zheng Huayu and Yu Yanhong lay in bed, completely unaware of the online chaos.

“I didn’t expect you to be so skilled,” Zheng Huayu grinned wickedly, pinching Yu Yanhong’s chest.

Yu Yanhong, naked, pressed herself against him.

“As long as you like it, Huayu, I have even better skills to show you~”

“Then what are you waiting for? Show me—I want to see for myself!”

At his words, Yu Yanhong cast him a sultry glance, then slipped under the covers…

Not long after, Zheng Huayu gasped, his whole body limp in bed, floating with pleasure.

But just then, his phone rang. Seeing it was his agent, he picked up casually.

He hadn’t expected, the moment he answered, a scream erupted from the other end!

“Huayu, it’s bad! Check your Weibo—your followers have dropped by hundreds of thousands!”

Zheng Huayu froze, then couldn’t help but shout, “What did you say?!”

As soon as he spoke, another scream burst from his own lips.

“Ah!!! What the hell are you doing?!”

He threw back the covers to see Yu Yanhong huddled at the corner of the bed, blood at the corner of her mouth, face pale.

At the root of his thigh, blood was spurting like a fountain.

“I’m sorry, Huayu—I got startled when you suddenly screamed, so I bit down…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!!!”