Chapter 18: Targeted by a Powerful Tycoon 18

As the person in charge of Starshine Media, He Zhuo was clearly much more modern than He Yao. Not only did he know how to use Weibo, but his account was officially verified. Yuan Feixing clicked through and found a proper introduction identifying him as Starshine Media’s CEO. Scrolling down, he saw that He Zhuo often reposted news related to He Corporation, too.

Yuan Feixing immediately commented: [Yuan Jia: It’s all Dad’s fault~ He made you work overtime yesterday. [wink] [heehee]]

He Zhuo replied soon after: [He Zhuo: Screenshot saved. Next time Dad makes me work overtime, I’m bringing out Little Jia’s “imperial decree”!]

The two brothers went back and forth in the comments, chatting away. After a brief moment of confusion, the online crowd caught on.

Holy crap. This was unbelievable!

[?????]

[!]

[Yuan Jia called He Zhuo his second brother?! Did I read that right? Somebody pinch me!]

[Holy crap! So that photo he posted was with He Yao?!]

[No way! They’re all biological brothers!]

[Don’t tell me Yuan Jia’s real name is He Yuanjia?!]

He Yao’s assistant had long taken on the side job of keeping an eye on anything related to Yuan Jia. The moment he saw the trending topic, he sent it to his boss.

When He Yao saw his precious little brother having such a lovely chat with He Zhuo online, his brows drew together. His first instinct was to put a stop to it, but since he didn’t have a personal Weibo account, he immediately called the PR department and had them repost the photo from the company account. He added: [CEO He says: If you have something to discuss, do it at home.]

He sounded like a stern old-fashioned patriarch. The scene was already chaotic, and once He Yao’s comment appeared, both He Zhuo and Yuan Feixing obediently fell silent. The gossip-hungry netizens suddenly felt that this untouchable wealthy family had become oddly relatable.

[Hahahahaha! Big Brother has spoken! No chatting!]

[He sounds just like my homeroom teacher. “If you have questions, wait until class is over!”]

[Holy crap, is the He family really this loving? That tone from Big Brother He has me picturing Yuan Jia and Second Brother standing obediently against the wall.]

[Obediently sitting in a row.jpg]

[This world is unreal. The young master of the He family went into show business to earn a living? That’s just ridiculous!]

[Lights a cigarette with the weariness of a thousand lifetimes. If he doesn’t make it big, he’ll have to go home and inherit billions. Must be so hard.]

Compared with the general public, Su Chenyu’s fans and the former CP fans of the two were clearly much more perceptive.

[Holy crap! So Chenyu wasn’t some secret lover after all! He went to the He Residence to visit a friend!]

[If anyone slanders you, I’ll be the first to stand up for you. Ahhhhh, what is this beautiful love?!]

[Why didn’t Yuan Jia clear things up sooner? Why wait until Chenyu got in trouble? Sisters, look closely—this is major ship fuel!]

[I’ll say it again: Dustbound Fate is real!]

…

The CP fans weren’t the only ones wondering about it. Other netizens asked why, if Yuan Jia really was a young master of the He family, he had stayed silent while people dragged him for days. But once his identity was confirmed, public opinion naturally swung in his favor.

The fact that the internet had been in an uproar didn’t mean the people involved cared. And besides, was it so strange that Yuan Jia hadn’t bothered to keep up with it while recovering from an injury? Let it go. That twenty-four-karat gossip was practically hard to swallow.

The year’s biggest scandal, which had dominated the trending lists for days, ended with a spectacular reversal. Yuan Jia and Su Chenyu were once again spotless rising stars in the entertainment industry, and the sudden turnaround sent their popularity soaring for quite some time.

The only people unhappy about it were probably the fans of the other Wings of the Stars contestants. Before, they’d assumed that if Yuan Jia really had a powerful backer, even the program team wouldn’t be able to save him from the wave of public outrage. Surely the backlash would force him off the show—and might take Su Chenyu down with him.

But now Yuan Jia’s real identity had come out. This wasn’t a case of him having some powerful backer. Yuan Jia was the powerful backer! The young master, practically encrusted in diamonds, had entered a competition on his family’s own platform. How could the selection results possibly be fair?

Shen Jiaming had clearly considered this from the beginning. Unlike Su Chenyu, Yuan Jia didn’t have exceptional talent to speak for itself. Whatever ranking he earned would invite controversy.

If he placed near the top, people would say he’d won on the strength of his family connections. If he placed near the bottom, people would say he was talentless and beyond help. If even a show with all the advantages of his own family’s platform couldn’t get him anywhere, how bad must he really be?

Shen Jiaming had spent ages talking Yuan Feixing through the situation. In short, continuing on the show would bring him nothing but trouble.

“Since everyone thinks you’ll use your company’s connections to snag the center spot, we’ll do the opposite!”

Yuan Feixing asked, “So I…?”

“We’re withdrawing our center contestant!” Shen Jiaming said. “Same as I told you before: recovering comes first. I’ll keep an eye out for the right opportunity. You just focus on getting better.”

To keep Yuan Feixing in the spotlight while he recovered, Shen Jiaming planned to announce his withdrawal around the middle of the show. Then, near the end, if his arm had healed well, he could appear as a guest performer for Su Chenyu. That way, even though he’d be resting at home and away from the entertainment industry, people would still be hearing about him. By the time the buzz around Wings of the Stars died down, he should have a new project ready to go.

Yuan Feixing hung up and thought that it really wasn’t easy for a rich young master like Yuan Jia to get a job. His popularity was high right now, but with him injured, no one in the He family would let him capitalize on it. By the time he recovered, the moment would have passed. His big debut was bound to be a dud.

As for the next project lined up for him, it sounded like he’d have to rely on the He family’s connections. He hoped they’d still be willing to help when the time came. Yuan Feixing clicked his tongue, feeling that his plan to make a safe landing in the entertainment industry looked bleak indeed.

…

Yuan Feixing had been agonizing over how to handle his relationship with He Yao as Yuan Jia, facing the intense love of the older brother closest to him while pretending not to know the truth. After the initial panic and flailing, followed by a brief period of avoidance, it seemed like the two people closest to each other in the world ought to sit down and talk honestly.

Instead, He Yao was acting like the lunatic he was!

Whenever he got drunk, he damn well came over and kissed him! His Completion Rating didn’t go up at all. He just kept kissing him, kissing him, kissing him!

Yuan Feixing had even dreamed about it several times: someone leaning close to his ear, murmuring in a low, husky voice.

“Little Strawberry, you taste so sweet.”

The strange, urgent reaction jolted Yuan Feixing awake. He turned to hide his embarrassing condition, then raked both hands through his hair until it stood up like a bird’s nest.

Sweet my ass! Ahhhhh!

[System: Beep beep beep. Be a civilized host; build a civilized world.]

Fine. Sweet your ass!

[System: …]

Yuan Feixing opened his usual sutra-chanting app, hoping its mysterious spiritual power would calm his turbulent thoughts. But the moment he closed his eyes, all he could picture was He Yao pinning him down and ravishing him like a dog gnawing on a bone!

Yuan Feixing had tried locking the door, but that pervert He Yao didn’t care whether anyone found out about them. He’d keep knocking until Yuan Feixing opened up. Yuan Feixing hated that he still had some dignity. He couldn’t compete with a shameless pervert like that!

From the look of things, He Yao had no intention of giving him any room to talk it out. Instead, he was using this blunt, brazen approach to make Yuan Feixing keep getting used to it, softening, giving in, until he finally accepted their new relationship.

Once again, the man’s kisses left Yuan Feixing limp from head to toe.

Struggling to breathe, Yuan Feixing gripped the man’s hair even harder with his left hand. He Yao winced and eased up, giving Yuan Feixing enough room to gulp in air. Seeing him so flustered, He Yao laughed softly, his forehead resting against Yuan Feixing’s.

“How have you still not learned to breathe?”

Yuan Feixing glared at him, his eyes watery and faintly red with anger.

Neither of them could tell who had left the moisture on Yuan Feixing’s lips. He Yao stared at his full lower lip, his gaze growing darker.

His fingertip traced Yuan Feixing’s jaw, then gently tipped his chin up. Yuan Feixing’s face was drawn closer, nearly colliding with the man’s thin lips.

Yuan Feixing turned his head, trying to escape the heat of He Yao’s breath. He Yao chuckled and blew against the ear Yuan Feixing had offered him.

He nipped at the rounded earlobe, then teased the delicate shell of Yuan Feixing’s ear with warm lips and teeth. He even took his time with the soft skin behind it.

One tender kiss after another, each one stirring him up again.

Every kiss was light or lingering, leaving Yuan Feixing more and more flustered. He was about to go crazy. He snapped his head back around, only to give He Yao exactly what he wanted. He Yao parted his lips and caught Yuan Feixing’s reddened lower lip again.

Pressed together like that, Yuan Feixing had nowhere to hide. His secret had been discovered, and now He Yao was slowly taking control. A kettle seemed to boil over inside Yuan Feixing’s head.

“Don’t…”

His weak voice would have been carried away by a breeze, but He Yao obediently stopped with a soft laugh. He wrapped both arms tightly around his younger brother’s shoulders and kissed the damp, flushed lips again, tenderly and with obvious affection.

Yuan Feixing hadn’t expected He Yao to actually listen this time! His feelings tangled into knots. He didn’t want to admit how He Yao’s teasing had left him aching and restless, how he could barely hold himself back from letting He Yao go further…

With a sharp click, the door was shoved open and slammed against the wall.

“What are you doing?!”

The furious shout shattered the intimacy between them.

Father He pointed at the two of them, his face flushed purple with rage, too furious to speak. Then he clutched his chest and bent over, bracing himself against the doorframe as he slid down, gasping for breath. Right behind him, Hong Manshu jolted in alarm.

“Old He! Wh-what’s wrong?!”

Father He could no longer answer. Hong Manshu immediately shouted toward the hall, “Somebody! Help!”

Yuan Feixing went rigid. He felt the warmth draining from his body, his mind going completely blank. In a daze, his first thought was that he was finished. That bastard He Yao had really dragged him out of the closet in front of the whole family!

When he finally came back to himself, Yuan Feixing shoved He Yao away and hurried toward the door. Father He had already collapsed unconscious. Yuan Feixing felt a stabbing pain in his chest and back, and struggled to breathe. Terrified, he cried out, “Dad! Dad!”

Yuan Feixing followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital, wailing the entire trip. After He Yao finished handling the paperwork, he found Yuan Feixing still slumped on a bench in the corridor.

He Yao stood in front of him and lifted his chin. His fingers came away damp and cold.

His Little Strawberry was crying again.