Chapter (ix)
Edited: 03.29.2023
On the day of the scheduled departure, Xia Xi’ai was dragged out of bed early in the morning by his energetic agent. After washing up, he sat on the chair and his sleepiness caused him to doze off. He didn’t even protest against the makeup session, which he usually hated, and allowed Sherry to apply it all over his face.
By the time he left the house, he was wide awake. He put on his mask and lowered the brim of his hat. He walked out of the apartment in full armor and got on the elevator.
“Xi’ai, are you really not going to consider buying a house? Always renting is not a long-term solution.” Xu Tong said.
Xia Xi’ai gave her a serious calculation: “The housing price here is 70,000 to 80,000. If I buy a small house, it would be about four to five million. My rent is only five to six thousand a month, and for the same amount of money, I can live in a larger house for a few decades. Once I am discovered by my fans, I can change places and leave at any time. Isn’t that much better than buying a house? And with the money I save, I can provide some funds to renovate the old roads in my hometown.”
“……You sure understand how to live life. With a monthly income of ten million, you are still so meticulous.” But as Xu Tong mulled over his words, she found that he also had a point so she didn’t persuade him again.
Ding! The elevator reached the ground floor and the three walked out together. The car that took them to the airport was parked in front of the apartment and the driver carried his luggage into the trunk.
Just as Xia Xi’ai was about to get into the car, he suddenly noticed two girls standing not too far away and whispering. When they saw him looking over, they immediately shifted their eyes.
As soon as the car door closed, he said to Xu Tong, “Little Tong, help me find an apartment again, I think I just saw two fans.”
“Ah? Those obsessive fans are looking for you again?” Xu Tong wrinkled her eyebrows, “Do you want me to go over and warn them? You’ve changed houses five times this year, and if you don’t handle the obsessive fan issue properly, it could turn into a big problem in the future.”
“It’s okay, they’re just young girls, don’t make it hard for them, I’ll just move out.”
“You—You’re just too kind.” Xu Tong sighed.
“I’m not kind.” Xia Xi’ai leaned back on the car seat and put on the eye mask. He was prepared to catch up on his sleep.
“They’re the ones who make me popular……humans need to know how to be grateful.”
After all, in the past, he didn’t even have a decent place to live.
The car drove all the way along the highway to the airport, which took more than an hour. Xia Xi’ai was in good spirits after catching up on his sleep and actually took off his mask at the airport, allowing the fans who were scrambling in flocks to take pictures. He only breathed out a sigh of relief once he got onto the plane, but he couldn’t completely relax. There were still many fans following him onto the plane, each paying attention to his every move.
Fame did come at a price.
Two hours later, the plane landed smoothly at the airport, and the receiving fans were quite orderly. However, the number seemed to be twice as many as when they left, and they were swarming around the exit.
Xia Xi’ai put on the mask again with the duckbill cap covering his messy hair and didn’t look carefully at the sign in the fans’ hand. With the security paving the way for him, he lowered his head and strode outside, wanting to leave as soon as possible without affecting other passers-by.
But when they arrived at the waiting area outside the airport, they were told that the car that came to pick them up didn’t arrive in time because of the traffic jam, and they had to wait about ten minutes.
Xia Xi’ai couldn’t do anything but wait in place, chatting with the fans surrounding them with one sentence or so.
“Xi’ai! You seem to have lost weight again, you need to eat more!”
“Mnn, thanks.”
“Have you grown taller lately? Are you 5’9″?”
“I don’t think I’m going to grow anymore, but I’m already 5’9”.”
“Be careful when recording the show! You have to follow the group or you will be abducted because you’re so good-looking!”
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“……That won’t happen, but thanks for the reminder.”
He began to live alone at the age of fifteen and experienced many hardships and struggles. He would admit his loss if he actually did get abducted.
“Xi’ai! Do you know that your Brother Shen is behind you?”
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted. When Xia Xi’ai heard that name, his heart sank and he looked up at the fan who asked the question.
She held a sign in her hand with the words “Jiang Liushen” written on it.
What’s going on? There was a traitor among his fans?
“What do you mean he’s behind——”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! ! ! !”
Before he could finish asking, a burst of screams suddenly came from behind him. They were one wave over the other, seemingly even higher in decibel than when he had just come out.
Xia Xi’ai was a little confused, but inexplicably, there was a strange premonition in his heart. He slowly turned around and looked back——
A large group of excited fans were walking towards him whilst they surrounded a person. That person was tall and long-legged and he was even taller and eye-catching among the female fans. He was wearing a gray-blue silk shirt with two buttons unbuttoned at the neckline, revealing a simple and chic chain-shaped white gold necklace. His hair was messy and casual as he donned a pair of oversized dark sunglasses, faintly revealing his frivolous and smiling eyes.
It was undoubtedly the flirtatious Immoral Jiang himself.
Xu Tong was shocked: “How come he’s also here?”
The omniscient fan on the side explained: “You guys didn’t know? His flight was only 20 minutes apart from yours, coming from X City.”
Xia Xi’ai finally understood why the number of fans receiving him was extraordinarily high today.
He immediately turned his head and lowered the brim of his hat again, trying to muddle his way through.
Xu Tong: “……Little brother, do you think he is blind……or do you think your hat has a stealth function?”
And over on the other side, Jiang Liushen learned that the person surrounded by a crowd at the front exit was the little brat due to the fans’ reminder.
Both of them cursed in their hearts at the same time: bad luck!
But Jiang Liushen wasn’t like Xia Xi’ai, who had all his emotions written on his face. He was only stunned for a moment before blooming into a friendly smile and walking over. The fans on both sides automatically gave way to him.
“Hi, little Ai Ai.”
Xia Xi’ai immediately felt goosebumps forming all over.
Due to the fact that there were so many people around, and many of them were carrying cameras to take pictures, he couldn’t face him with a darkened expression at this moment so he could only reluctantly reply, “What a coincidence, Brother Shen.”
Some of the fans on the side have been so excited that they didn’t dare to blink for a second, covering their mouths to see the two of them talking.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for the car.”
As they were talking, the car that came to pick up Jiang Liushen had already driven up to him. He laughed with a bit of deliberate mockery: “Your driver is a bit slow, do you want me to give you a ride? We’re all going to the same hotel anyway.”
Xia Xi’ai ground his teeth: “No need, thanks a lot.”
Just as he finished, Xu Tong’s cell phone rang. She took a look and said joyfully, “It’s Mr. Wang’s call, he should be arriving soon!”
Xia Xi’ai nodded. With a little bit of courage, he retorted to Jiang Liushen: “Brother Shen should leave first. Our Mr. Wang is a fast driver, we might even arrive before you.”
“Xi’ai……” Xu Tong answered the phone and her expression immediately deflated, “Mr. Wang said he was speeding and was detained by the traffic police……he won’t be able to make it……”
Xia Xi’ai: “……”
Jiang Liushen tried to hold back his laughter and said with fake sympathy, “Sigh, that sure is troublesome.” But he didn’t mention the matter of giving him a ride.
Xia Xi’ai held his breath and didn’t say anything, but Xu Tong couldn’t help herself. She was afraid that with so many fans gathered, it would cause a bad influence, and security was also urging them to leave as soon as possible so as not to affect the order at the airport. In the end, she could only ask Jiang Liushen, who seemed very reliable, for help:
“Brother Shen, can you help?”
“Of course, however——” He smiled lightly and looked at the pouting little brat, “I don’t think Xi’ai is very willing, hmmm?”
Xu Tong hastily tugged Xia Xi’ai’s shirt quietly.
Xia Xi’ai secretly took a deep breath and silently recited three times in his heart that a great man could submit or stand tall as required and that it was never too late for a gentleman to take revenge.
“……Then I’ll trouble Brother Shen.”
In the spacious SUV, the two men were relatively quiet for a while.
Jiang Liushen only brought Xu Yang on this trip, which could be considered quite low-profile given his status. Xia Xi’ai wasn’t a fan of crowds or noisiness. The company originally wanted to assign another assistant to him, but he politely refused. Anyway, he could take care of most of the trivial things in life by himself.
Xu Tong was going to help Mr. Wang deal with the speeding ticket so she didn’t get in the car with them. She said she would rush over later so only the three of them and the driver were in the car.
Jiang Liushen tilted his head to face the window. His eyes were closed and it seemed that he was napping. When Xia Xi’ai noticed him napping, he lowered his head and scrolled through his phone.
He didn’t follow many people, most of them were just singers and artists he had collaborated with before. The latest one he followed was the official Weibo of “All the Way West.” When he refreshed it, a repost on the official Weibo popped up, it even tagged him.
As well as Jiang Liushen.
[Are our two super popular guests super destined? Maybe they were destined to come to our show together~]
The original post that was retweeted was a set of high-definition airport pictures, which showed him and Jiang Liushen chatting while waiting for the car.
Xia Xi’ai: “……”
He wanted to turn around and head home right now, but unfortunately, the steering wheel of fate was not in his hands.
What was even more depressing was that when he looked at the top comments and the top retweets, there was actually a CP fan site.
This was only the second time they had met and he and Jiang Liushen already had a fan site? Were the fans going to want them to get married after they finished recording the show?
Xia Xi’ai shook his head, chasing away the chaotic thoughts. Just as he wanted to send a message to Xu Tong, asking if the situation had been settled, he suddenly heard Xu Yang, who was in the front, say nervously:
“Brother Shen, someone is following the car.”
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“How many?”
Xia Xi’ai was shocked. He turned his head and saw Jiang Liu Shen taking off his sunglasses with a deep frown.
So he wasn’t sleeping……then he was deliberately ignoring him.
“Just one. They’re following a bit too closely, presumably they are trying to follow us to the hotel. Should we try shaking them off?”
“Mnn, be careful.”
After Jiang Liushen finished, he leaned back in his seat and suddenly noticed that the person in the seat beside him was looking at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Xia Xi’ai hurriedly averted his eyes.
Jiang Liushen’s face looked a little cold when he wasn’t smiling, making people awe unconsciously and his upturned eyes were no longer affectionate, but rather sharp.
Perhaps this was his true face……
Xia Xi’ai didn’t dare to look at him again. He turned his head to look at the car that was following them. At the moment, his fans weren’t that crazy. The most serious obsessive fans were the ones he saw this morning, squatting in front of his house to watch him from afar, but it wouldn’t get any more out of line than that.
But Jiang Liushen seemed to have grown accustomed to such extreme behavior. It was reasonable, after all, he had been popular for so many years with fans all over the country and abroad. With such a large fanbase, it was inevitable that some were a bit overzealous.
The driver was experienced. As soon as he heard Jiang Liushen’s words, he accelerated the car, crossing the lane from side to side. He was still very stable and wasn’t the least bit panicked.
Xia Xi’ai watched the distance between the two cars gradually widen, and just when he thought they could get rid of the other party, the car behind suddenly accelerated, caught up with them, and drove side by side with them.
“What are they going to——” Before he could finish speaking, he heard Jiang Liushen shout.
“Drive to the right!”
The driver hastily turned the wheel, but unfortunately, he was half a second too late. The car was already close and with a turn of the steering wheel, they deliberately hit Jiang Liushen’s side.
Although the force wasn’t that strong, not to the extent of being knocked away, the car still bounced heavily. Jiang Liushen was prepared and held the front seat. That would have been able to ease the impact, but in the light of the two cars colliding, his right arm was suddenly pulled violently by a huge force.
He turned his head in dismay, staring wide-eyed at Xia Xi’ai’s small, tense face rapidly zooming in——
Bang!
There was a loud bang inside the car.
Xu Yang turned around in shock to check and immediately sucked in a large mouthful of cold air.
“Brother Shen!!!”
********
The author has something to say:
~Mini Theater~
Little Ai: Ai Ai didn’t bump into him on purpose, Ai Ai doesn’t know anything.
Brother Shen: Somebody! Come and deal with this little brat! ! !
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
I really can’t understand ‘fans’ who behaved like that ><
Thank You for the new chapter (◞ꈍ∇ꈍ)◞⋆*♡♡
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Crazy fans 🤦😶🌫️
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