Chapter 33: The Beta Who Hates Alphas Part 2

[Once they reveal their weak sides, the protagonist shou can swoop in. Isn’t that exactly what everyone wants to see?]

“Does that mean I won’t have to be the tool anymore?” The System’s eyes lit up.

[You’ll still be the tool, but it won’t be as frustrating as it is now.]

Yu Sui was thoroughly satisfied after hearing this. Without a second thought, he nodded. “Sure.”

Seeing no hesitation whatsoever, An Lu fanned the flames from the side. “Does Brother Yu really hate Brother Jiang that much? You look so eager.”

“Could it be that the rumors online about you two not getting along are true?”

He looked around in exaggerated surprise.

The netizens were already annoyed by Yu Sui’s reaction.

[Even strangers would hesitate, right? How could he…]

[Is there really bad blood between them?]

[Don’t jump to conclusions yet. Let’s see what happens.]

Jiang Nianxing’s heart raced. His body tensed at Yu Sui’s nod.

Of course, the research he’d done earlier on how to be a good dog included punishments.

Slaps, whips…

Was it because of this that Yu Sui saw him as clueless and didn’t want him anymore?

He leaned toward Yu Sui. “Don’t hold back.”

Yu Sui’s body stiffened. This guy really wanted to be scolded, didn’t he?

At that moment, everyone was watching him.

The pressure on Yu Sui was immense. He definitely couldn’t go all out—he had no interest in that sort of thing. He was just going along with it to let the protagonist play the victim.

As he raised his hand and it neared Jiang Nianxing’s face, he stopped.

Jiang Nianxing’s throat bobbed, his lashes trembling fiercely. He felt a gust of wind, but the slap never landed.

Everyone stared at Yu Sui, who looked a bit awkward. “I… let me try again…”

This bizarre act of slapping someone was humiliating. Yu Sui needed to steel himself mentally.

But once more, his hand halted midway.

“You… don’t be nervous,” Jiang Nianxing said, gazing at him. “I won’t blame you.”

The two of them were now chatting about how to slap someone as if no one else was around.

The atmosphere felt utterly strange.

[Why are you two flirting now?]

[Yu Sui’s emotional intelligence is off the charts. If that slap had landed, there’d be backlash online, and there’d be tension with his teammate. But he defused it so smoothly.]

[Yeah, that slap suddenly took on a whole different vibe. He even turned it into a show of team spirit. His mind works fast.]

[Sui Sui, what other surprises do you have in store?]

Unaware that he’d been dubbed an emotional intelligence master, Yu Sui met Jiang Nianxing’s gaze. Those sparkling eyes made him feel a bit restrained, and he couldn’t bring his hand down.

Huo Tian frowned. He’d wanted to shatter their teammate bond and trample Jiang Nianxing’s dignity in the process, but this arrogant-looking alpha had cleverly turned the tables.

As expected, an alpha accepted by the others wasn’t ordinary.

After leaving Star Sea Entertainment, Huo Tian had kept tabs on TYE and learned a bit about its new members.

The three of them had formed a tight-knit group early on, shutting out everyone else.

“It’ll be dinnertime soon. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I can help,” Huo Tian said. He had no intention of letting it go.

He Baiyan had stayed silent the whole time. He thought the two were flirting—or rather, that Yu Sui was teasing the dog.

Shen Anliu’s eyes dimmed. Wasn’t it supposed to be that he didn’t like Jiang Nianxing? Why was he teasing him now?

The other guests wore strange expressions, each harboring their own thoughts.

The director nearby felt a surge of respect. Sure enough, artists who blew up so quickly weren’t simple.

Jiang Nianxing knew Huo Tian wouldn’t drop it. He didn’t want Yu Sui to get flak, so he grabbed the young man’s wrist and slapped himself across the face.

A tingling numbness spread—through his cheek and into Yu Sui’s palm.

The sound was loud. Yu Sui froze, realizing Jiang Nianxing was trying to get him killed.

“Sui Sui,” Jiang Nianxing said. His cheek stung, but he could bear it.

This was nothing. The materials he’d read mentioned stepping on… slapping other places…

His breath hitched, his throat bobbing again. “Sorry, I must’ve hurt your hand.”

His fingers slid from the wrist to the palm, and seeing it reddened, Jiang Nianxing felt annoyed. He leaned down and blew on it gently.

Yu Sui shivered and yanked his hand back. “You…”

He was now absolutely convinced that Jiang Nianxing hated him for toying with him. That solid slap—god, he didn’t even want to think about what the barrage would say. And what was with those words?

Deliberately twisting things, making it seem like he usually bullied the guy and wouldn’t let him tell the truth.

There was plenty of material here to stir up drama.

A serious protagonist was too scheming. No wonder the plot described them as anything but simple.

But knowing everything, he had to play along with the self-sabotage.

Feeling irritated inside, Yu Sui furrowed his brow slightly. “Yeah, your face is too thick.”

“Sorry.” Jiang Nianxing apologized sheepishly.

Yu Sui thought to himself that no one who survived in Star Sea Entertainment was ordinary—they knew how to bend and stretch.

[Damn, flirting again.]

[If you tell me this isn’t a romance show, I won’t believe it.]

[Bro, you actually went through with it.]

[I seriously suspect Little Jiang hit himself extra hard on purpose just to cop a feel of Sui Sui’s hand.]

[That’s ruthless.]

[To keep Sui Sui from getting hate, he slapped himself?]

[One won’t strike, the other won’t let the first get scolded—running straight toward each other.]

[Thanks to ex-teammate Huo Tian for the assist!]

[This trash actually did something good for once.]

[Turns out even trash can be useful in the right place.]

[Fine, I’ll ship it!]

Huo Tian was first surprised, but soon he smirked as if he’d seen through it all.

These people were the best at backstabbing. In front of the cameras, they all pretended to be so kind.

So he was sure Jiang Nianxing was already plotting revenge against his new teammate.

Thus, he dropped the issue.

Let them turn on each other.

When dinnertime arrived, they headed to the bathroom to wash their hands.

Lu Jinxia had lain in his room for a while and finally recovered a bit.

He freshened up first, then changed clothes.

Just then, his teammates called him downstairs for dinner.

Seeing it was Shen Anliu, he raised a brow.

“You and Yu Sui…” Shen Anliu was most wary of him these days—after all, that was Yu Sui’s blatant favoritism on display.

“What’s up?” Lu Jinxia asked, puzzled.

“Nothing.” Shen Anliu figured he was playing dumb.

There wasn’t much chatting over dinner.

After eating and resting a bit, the production team finally announced the first game.

“Good teammates make you stronger, like adding wings to a tiger,” the director said solemnly. “So how can you tell if you and your teammate are a good match?”

He didn’t elaborate.

The large screen on the wall lit up.

“There are ten questions on this screen,” the director said, adjusting his glasses. “You’ll pair up and head to different rooms to discuss them freely.”

“In the end, the audience will score you to decide if you’re compatible enough to stay teammates tomorrow.”

[What about my business?]

[Nice, the production team gets it.]

[Are these really teammate questions? They’re more like dating criteria…]

[Star Sea Entertainment isn’t even pretending anymore.]

[Is it a romance show? Though the current pairings aren’t TYE members anyway.]

[Classic fan torture. They’ll probably have a voting round later for new teams.]

[Hope Jiang Nianxing and the other don’t fight.]

[Can’t imagine them talking about this. It’ll be cringe.]

Lu Jinxia breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it wasn’t a physical contact game.

Lin Xiaoyi was the most low-key and trouble-free of the bunch. He kept a polite distance while chatting.

Lu Jinxia was quite satisfied.

There were five bubble houses in the villa’s backyard, like ones shipped in straight from a factory.

They were side by side, each a different color.

Some picked rooms by their favorite colors.

Shen Anliu glanced at Yu Sui before entering the room in front of him with Zuo Meng.

An Lu didn’t chat with Yu Sui. He was plotting how to drag the two into a PR storm.

They entered the Azure Room.

A wooden table sat in the middle, topped with green plants, fruits, and snacks. The surroundings felt relaxed.

They took their seats.

An Lu clasped his hands and leaned forward, seizing control without hesitation. “What kind of person do you like?”

Yu Sui sipped his water. He knew An Lu was up to no good and had prepared himself, but he hadn’t expected the guy to dive right in with that question.

“I don’t like any type,” he replied. As cannon fodder, he utterly despised this world.

An Lu thought to himself: Perfect.

“Is that so? What about Jiang Nianxing, then?” An Lu watched his expression closely.

Publicly badmouthing a teammate on camera would definitely upset the fans—not to mention drawing attacks from netizens everywhere.

Yu Sui looked puzzled. “Why are you asking about him?”

“Do you like him?” An Lu asked bluntly.

“Why would I like him? I’m straight,” Yu Sui replied. Inwardly, though, he wondered why this guy kept bringing up Jiang Nianxing’s name.

Could it be some kind of twisted love?

An Lu pinched his fingers. He hadn’t expected the young man to be so sharp, cleverly leveraging his “straight guy” image to twist the “like” into something romantic. Netizens wouldn’t bat an eye at his answer this way.

After all, everyone knew it was fake.

“Is that so?” No point in pressing further. An Lu switched tactics with another question. “What intimate acts do you hate the most?”

As an alpha shipped with another alpha in the Queerbaitingpairing, it had to grate on him. A complaint here would shatter the CP fans’ dreams.

An Lu narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the young man’s face.

Yu Sui’s cheeks flushed at the question. He shifted his gaze away in silence. “Any of them.”

An Lu blinked in confusion. “Why are you blushing?” Shouldn’t he look disgusted—face darkening, maybe?

That single word, “any,” would stab right through the CP fans, though.

See? Even hand-holding bothered him. Forget anything more—it was all fake.

Yet the barrage exploded—

[Any means any time, any place?]

[If only.]

[Baby blushing like crazy—bet he’s gotten it every way in private.]

[Tons of steamy fanfic incoming.]

[Any position too?]

[Damn, this pace is wild.]

[Sui Sui all flushed saying that? Zero damage—instead it’s straight-up coquetry.]

[An Lu’s gotta be a die-hard Jiang Nianxing-Yu Sui shipper. Pushing that hard.]

[Deal—when they tie the knot, An Lu gets the head table.]

[Crowning An Lu CP boss. Who’s in, who’s out?]