Bèi Zhūxuàn still really wanted to prove to this guy that she wasn't someone who got drunk after just two cans. She was thinking about her beloved soju, and successfully earned a speechless look from Liú Xìn'ān.
“Are you some kind of drunkard?”
“No, but don’t you think the feeling of your head spinning is amazing?” Bèi Zhūxuàn blinked her eyes lightly, looking at him with a gaze that sought agreement.
However, Liú Xìn'ān wasn't very cooperative this time. Instead, as if he sensed something, he put down his chopsticks.
“Is something bothering you?”
The feeling of a dizzy head after drinking...
He admitted that in this world, there were indeed people who enjoyed the feeling of being drunk, but he didn't think Bèi Zhūxuàn in front of him was one of them.
If that possibility were ruled out, there was likely only one reason why someone would enjoy this light, floaty feeling.
That was to escape reality, or in other words, there was something in reality that was bothering her greatly.
Combining this with what Bèi Zhūxuàn said when they first met, that she was resting...
They were already at a point where they could eat at each other's homes, so Liú Xìn'ān felt he could now appropriately ask about Bèi Zhūxuàn's personal affairs.
Of course, he wasn't curious; he simply wanted to share the pain of this newly acquainted friend.
Liú Xìn'ān's question was an answer that Bèi Zhūxuàn hadn't expected. She was stunned for a moment, then laughed again, waving her hands: “No, nothing.”
“…”
Liú Xìn'ān's tone was strange. While he didn't dare say he completely understood this new friend, he could still tell when someone was lying.
Bèi Zhūxuàn, whose tone and expression were very unnatural, vividly demonstrated what someone looked like when they were lying.
This time, it was Bèi Zhūxuàn's turn to fall silent. This scoundrel guessed correctly. Her sisters always saw through her lies.
“Doesn’t everyone have things that bother them? Don’t you think?”
Since she was going to be found out anyway, Bèi Zhūxuàn chose to laugh it off and change the subject.
Sensing this, Liú Xìn'ān didn't press further. He simply picked up his cola and gestured to the girl.
“If you really have something that makes you unhappy, I don’t mind being a quiet listener.”
When one is feeling down, it's good to have a listener; this was the conclusion Liú Xìn'ān had come to.
This gentle sentence almost made Bèi Zhūxuàn break down. The girl bit her lower lip tightly, trying to maintain her composure, but her eyes still reddened slightly as she feigned annoyance and scrunched her nose.
“You should be using soju at times like these!”
What’s the point of clinking cola glasses?
Liú Xìn'ān spread his hands: “If you really want to drink that badly, I suppose I could accompany you next time.”
“Really? Soju?”
“Wow, how persistent are you about soju?”
With Liú Xìn'ān's playful banter, Bèi Zhūxuàn's gloomy mood vanished. She put down her cola, looking haughty: “I am the representative of soju –”
“Representative of what?”
“The representative!”
Fortunately, she hadn't gotten too excited.
However, this abrupt stop reminded her of something.
She had endorsed soju.
Fortunately, due to the incident that broke out not long ago, her appearance on television had been greatly reduced. Otherwise...
For some reason, Bèi Zhūxuàn felt a sense of relief...
“Is it really that delicious? I’ll buy some myself tomorrow to try.”
Liú Xìn'ān's curiosity was piqued by Bèi Zhūxuàn, so he said this.
But these words sent a cold sweat down Bèi Zhūxuàn's spine.
Her pupils widened slightly, and she quickly slapped the table with both hands.
“No!”
What a joke. She had been hiding her identity so well. If Liú Xìn'ān actually went to the store to buy soju...
She didn't want to interact with Liú Xìn'ān as “Irene.”
And she couldn't be entirely sure if Liú Xìn'ān would still treat her the same way after knowing her true identity...
If this guy also started treating her like a deity, revered and protected...
“Huh?”
“You…”
“Uh…”
Subtext: You have no source of income, so save some money.
They were all adults, and both had been in the entertainment industry for many years. Who couldn't understand this subtext?
Seeing that this guy was actually questioning her “wealth,” Bèi Zhūxuàn waved her hand generously: “Don’t worry, I’ll cover all the soju you want during your stay in our country! It can be considered compensation for the trouble I've caused you these past few days.”
Liú Xìn'ān's mouth hung open, completely bewildered.
What was wrong with this person?
Could drinking cola make someone drunk?
29. Liú Xìn'ān's Artistic Temperament
, My Celebrity Neighbor
However, with Bèi Zhūxuàn's commotion, Liú Xìn'ān couldn't help but feel a renewed interest in the soju he had only tasted once or twice.
Drinking was, of course, not a problem.
“You want to drink too?”
“…”
What kind of nonsensical reasoning is this?
But soon, she seemed to understand what Liú Xìn'ān meant.
“I can really hold my liquor.”
She tried hard to defend herself, but unfortunately, her heroic feat of being drunk after two cans yesterday made her claims stand on shaky ground.
Seeing his increasingly strange expression, Bèi Zhūxuàn took a deep breath and stood up.
“I’m going to buy it now!”
It wasn’t too late yet, and the convenience store near the neighborhood would surely be open.
To prove that she really didn’t have the lightweight drinking capacity she displayed yesterday, Bèi Zhūxuàn was going all out.
“Now?” Liú Xìn'ān was startled by Bèi Zhūxuàn's swift action. He quickly got up and, with two large strides, caught up to Bèi Zhūxuàn, who was already five steps away.
Long legs have their advantages.
Liú Xìn'ān quickly reached out to block Bèi Zhūxuàn's path, saying with a helpless laugh, “Are you crazy? It’s so dangerous for a girl like you to go out at this hour.”
“What danger could there be?”
This was, after all, a relatively high-end residential area, and the security within the complex was completely trustworthy.
Although it was already night, as long as she was sufficiently disguised, she wouldn’t be exposed.
At the very least, she could ensure she wouldn’t be recognized.
“No, absolutely not. How can a girl like you go out alone at this hour?”
His upbringing made it impossible for Liú Xìn'ān to allow a girl to go out alone late at night to buy alcohol. His stance was firm.
Bèi Zhūxuàn didn’t respond. She just stood in front of Liú Xìn'ān, looking up at the man who was more than a head taller than her.
Being stared at like this by a beautiful girl, even Liú Xìn'ān, who had always been popular with the opposite sex since childhood, was a bit overwhelmed. He lowered the arm that was blocking Bèi Zhūxuàn's path and frowned, “Do you really have to buy it?”
Bèi Zhūxuàn nodded. No matter what, she absolutely had to erase her tragic impression of being a “lightweight” today.
She had an incredibly competitive streak when it came to these strange things.
Her group members often teased her about this...
“Seriously, can’t beer do? I have beer at home.”
“No!”
“Alright, alright, you can go, but I can’t let you go alone. It’s really unsafe at this hour.”
Liú Xìn'ān relented. Buying it was fine, but at the very least, he wouldn’t let Bèi Zhūxuàn go alone.
Bèi Zhūxuàn blinked her beautiful eyes, her small head trying hard to understand Liú Xìn'ān's meaning.
His intention wasn't difficult to grasp, and she quickly understood: “You want to go with me?”
“Otherwise, I can’t stop you.”
“Huh? Wait…”
Now it was Bèi Zhūxuàn's turn to panic, she who had been so insistent moments ago.
If she went out to buy things alone, the worst-case scenario was being recognized.
If she was recognized, so be it. Going out to buy something at night wasn’t exactly big news, especially in Seoul, where you could always bump into celebrities. It wasn’t news.
But if she and Liú Xìn'ān were seen going out to buy something in the middle of the night and were recognized...
Just thinking about it sent a cold sweat down Bèi Zhūxuàn's spine.
“No!”
She rejected him at lightning speed, her tone firm.
This time, Liú Xìn'ān was completely bewildered by her intentions.
“Huh?”
The atmosphere froze.
Liú Xìn'ān tried to understand Bèi Zhūxuàn's intention. Did she insist on going out alone to buy soju at this late hour? Could he understand it that way?
Meanwhile, Bèi Zhūxuàn was desperately trying to come up with a perfect excuse that would satisfy them both.
Lying really was a curse. One lie truly needed countless lies to supplement it. She couldn't even imagine the shock Liú Xìn'ān would experience if her identity were exposed someday...
After thinking for a long time and not finding a suitable excuse, Bèi Zhūxuàn finally had to make a choice.
Compared to her identity being exposed or even photographed by the media, she could only bear to be misunderstood by Liú Xìn'ān for one more day.
“I suddenly don’t want to go anymore. Tomorrow! I’ll prove it to you tomorrow!”
After saying this, Bèi Zhūxuàn fled back to the sofa as if escaping and then secretly fanned her face, trying to dissipate the embarrassment caused by her awkwardness.
As for Liú Xìn'ān, he fell completely silent.
Did he somehow feel like he had been toyed with by this person?
—
Feeling that her actions were foolish, Bèi Zhūxuàn didn’t stay at Liú Xìn'ān’s place for long. After a quick bite, she made an excuse and left.
Liú Xìn'ān didn’t stop her. After Bèi Zhūxuàn left a portion of kimchi, he walked her to the door and, after watching her go in, confidently closed the door.
Next was his own rest time and video editing. However, because of the “soju” incident, his schedule for tomorrow night had also been taken up by Bèi Zhūxuàn.
Of course, having a meal with such a beautiful girl was something many people dreamed of, so Liú Xìn'ān didn’t resist at all. As for tomorrow's Live broadcast...
Hmm, he needed to think of a good reason to take leave. He might as well use the excuse of a date with a beautiful woman, since Bèi Zhūxuàn wouldn't know anyway.
Liú Xìn'ān happily changed the title of his Live broadcast room in advance and then continued to sit at his computer, editing videos quickly.
Time ticked by. Liú Xìn'ān, whose inspiration had dried up from editing videos, lay lazily in his gaming chair, scrolling through videos on his phone.
Just as he was engrossed, a video call startled him.
Liú Xìn'ān quickly sat up, considering whether or not to answer the video call.
It was his childhood friend, Lǐ Chénglù, who had initiated the video call. Honestly, he could even guess the reason why the other person was calling.
He really had to explain it. Lǐ Chénglù misunderstanding was a small matter, but if it reached his mother, things would be a big problem.
The moment he pressed the connect button, a beautiful girl with long pink hair and fair skin appeared on the screen.
Mmm...
“What’s up?”
Because they were very close friends, Liú Xìn'ān asked naturally.
“You didn’t even realize I changed my hair color?”
Liú Xìn'ān held back a sarcastic remark, debating whether to say it. How could he not have noticed? If he hadn't noticed such a striking hair color, he would probably be blind.
“It suits you. So? Why are you calling?”
“What a cold Liú Xìn'ān. What’s the deal with your Live broadcast title? Did you meet true love over there?”
“What true love? Just a friend. We just had a prior arrangement, and I put up a title that people would accept so I could take leave smoothly.”
“Is this a way to take leave that satisfies people? Please, you have more female fans than male fans now. Do you want all the female fans in your Live broadcast room to unfollow you?”
“Let them unfollow. It’ll give me a chance to purge them.”
Actually, Liú Xìn'ān was quite dissatisfied with the current comments in his Live broadcast room.
When he didn't show his face before, the comments were mostly about games, a kind of atmosphere he really liked.
But now? It was all suggestive remarks like “Husband, I’m yours.”
It was one thing for girls to comment like this, but a bunch of grown men were following suit. Sometimes when Liú Xìn'ān was playing games and wanted to interact with the comments, all he saw were those meaningless remarks, which was really annoying.
If this title could dissuade some female fans who were attracted by his looks and harbored unrealistic fantasies, he would be overjoyed.
“You’re doing this again, aren’t you? Have you calculated how many ‘ship captains’ you’ve gained during this period!”
A ship captain is a type of VIP in the Live broadcast room. A one-month ship captain usually costs around 140 yuan, half of which he receives. In other words, a ship captain is actually a mark of whether a Live broadcast room is popular.
When he didn't show his face, his Live broadcast room only had about two thousand viewers, which was a decent result on the entire Little Broken Site, ranking among the top in the entire station.
But after unexpectedly showing his face, the viewers who flocked to watch his Live broadcast grew exponentially. Correspondingly, the two thousand ship captains almost doubled.
This was an incredibly impressive achievement. Keep in mind that he had no agency or any background support helping him with his data. The increase in these paying users was tangible; they were loyal users of the Little Broken Site's Live broadcast.
This substantial income, and now Liú Xìn'ān was talking about getting rid of it?
This scoundrel was falling into his old habit of “overconfidence.”
He felt he had already succeeded and wanted to do what he liked...
Catering to the audience wasn't shameful. Making money before doing what you like was the main agenda. Lǐ Chénglù was very unhappy with Liú Xìn'ān's approach.
“One thousand eight hundred! You’re going to discard one thousand eight hundred bosses just like that?”
“…”
“Make money! This is your job now. Catering to the audience is your job, my dear brother!”
Lǐ Chénglù's words of disappointment made Liú Xìn'ān pout uncontrollably. Even if he wasn't streaming...
Well, after being a UP owner and streamer for so many years, if he had to give up this profession now, he honestly didn't know what else he could do.
“But I’ve already written it, I can’t change it now, can I?”
Changing the Live broadcast room title usually didn't send out notifications, but there were certainly many people who watched his Live broadcast every day. So, the matter of changing the title had probably already spread through the fan group.
“You don’t have to change it. You can just explain it later. It’s just a date, not like you’re together…”
Now that Liú Xìn'ān wasn't insisting, Lǐ Chénglù didn't forget the real purpose of her call.
She had originally intended to hear some gossip.
Lǐ Chénglù's curious voice on the other end of the phone made Liú Xìn'ān helplessly rub his forehead. He loosened his grip on the phone, letting the camera point at the ceiling, not even looking at her beautiful face.
“It’s not a date, just a meal and chat with a friend.”
“Eh? You can actually make friends, how rare.”
“??”
“Brother Xìn'ān~ Will you help me go to a fan signing event, please~” Lǐ Chénglù's tone suddenly changed, and a voice so sweet it was nauseating rang out.
Liú Xìn'ān reacted extremely quickly, pressing the end call button, and then wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.
He almost threw up from that girl.
30. 40 Bottles!
, My Celebrity Neighbor
In reality, celebrities are truly busy, with endless announcements and commercial performances. During their rest time, they still have to work hard to improve themselves, giving the appearance that they are not slacking off even during their hiatus.
And Bèi Zhūxuàn happened to be an exception.
It wasn't that she didn't want to be busy, but she had no one to be busy with. Announcements and commercial performances were out of the question for her in the short term, so she could only focus on self-improvement.
Dancing, acting, and even variety show reactions...
Of course, improving her alcohol tolerance was also a form of self-improvement!
After finishing her dance class for the day, Bèi Zhūxuàn sat in her car with sore limbs and helplessly slumped over the steering wheel, groaning incessantly.
She was genuinely exhausted. If only there were a servant who could fulfill any of her requests.
Her demands were not high; she just wanted someone to drive her car home.
But obviously, this was an extremely absurd fantasy.
Servants wouldn't appear out of thin air. She could only muster up her spirits and drive home herself.
Oh, and by the way, she had already bought the soju. She bought it when she went out in the morning and put it in the car.
When buying it, she didn't forget to observe the soju counter.
Good, the poster of her endorsement had been taken down.
However, this feeling of “luckily” was quickly replaced by resentment.
This strange feeling of being both happy and sad made her feel utterly unwell.
Arriving home safely, Bèi Zhūxuàn looked at the case of soju in her trunk and, after a few seconds of thought, directly closed the car door.
She really didn't have the strength to lift anything. So, she decided to knock on Liú Xìn'ān's door later.
“Ding dong~”
Soon, the door to Liú Xìn'ān's house opened. Bèi Zhūxuàn smiled and waved her hand.
“Got time?”
“Uh, I have time, I have time. What’s up? Need my help?”
“Help me move some things. I practiced dancing all day today and have absolutely no strength left.”
Bèi Zhūxuàn complained, not forgetting to wave her slender arms.
But upon hearing this, Liú Xìn'ān asked curiously, “Practicing dancing? Are you a dance teacher?”
Bèi Zhūxuàn's arm-waving motion froze, but she quickly regained her composure.
“Dancing can improve a person’s temperament.”
She wasn't lying this time; she just didn't reveal the full reason for her dancing practice.
Yes, it doesn't count as lying!
This statement made sense. Liú Xìn'ān nodded, casually closed the door, and then followed Bèi Zhūxuàn towards the elevator.
“By the way, you never told me what your job actually is.”
“Eh? Are you curious?”
“Of course, I’m curious, but it’s okay if you don’t want to say.”
Since she had come to find Liú Xìn'ān as soon as she got upstairs, the elevator had been stopped on the 17th floor.
After entering the elevator, Bèi Zhūxuàn first put on her mask, then adjusted her baseball cap, revealing only a pair of beautiful eyes that curved upwards: “Then you’d better not be curious. My job is very mysterious.”