[ABO] The Despised One Becomes an Internet Sensation After Marriage - Chapter 44

Chapter 44

[Heh, this is the first time I’ve seen someone so arrogant.] [This is peak audacity. First time seeing someone so cocky.]

The netizens’ rebellious streaks were triggered.

[666, you really aren’t afraid of being flamed. People told you to just ignore it; the more you engage, the more they rile up.] [Stop cursing for a second. I want to see what kind of nonsense he’s going to spout today!] [Yo yo yo, fine. I’ll stop the insults. Speak up, let’s see how far you can stretch this lie.] [Stop it, everyone! Mianmian is throwing a little tantrum! 😉 ;)] [Oh, so we can’t even speak now? Really thinks he’s some precious royalty.] [Quiet down, everyone. He married into a wealthy family and became a phoenix on a branch. We can’t scold him now, or he’ll end the stream~ end the stream~]

All in all, the spam in the comments was reduced by half compared to the start. In the background, Kailin, acting as the administrator, banned several people who were using particularly foul language.

She sent a screenshot to Fu Shiyan.

[Kailin]: Boss, Mianmian is live.

…

The Chengshu Huafu Restaurant was located in a prime real estate district of City A, standing four stories tall. It was a prestigious “calligraphy and painting” themed restaurant; its signboard was personally inscribed by Fu Zhengyu, attracting many artists and calligraphers.

Fu Shiyan led a squad of bodyguards through the door. Instantly, the sea of people inside turned their gazes toward him.

Two factions faced off.

The first person he noticed was Qi Qingran, standing tall with a face full of cold determination. Qi Qingran wasn’t being restrained, which allowed Fu Shiyan to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Qi Qingran was outnumbered. His companions had been pinned to the floor by black-clad bodyguards.

Fu Shiyan discreetly scanned the private room. An intricately carved screen had been overturned. The usually elegant and quiet room was a mess: chairs, tables, and screens were toppled, and several scrolls of calligraphy hanging on the walls to dry had been trampled on the floor.

As Fu Shiyan broke in, both sides of the standoff froze.

In the middle of a crowd of dark-clothed guards, Gu Xingchen sat with his legs crossed, his hand playing with a fruit knife pausing for a moment. A wicked, malicious smile curled on the Alpha’s lips.

He enunciated Fu Shiyan’s name syllable by syllable: “Fu. Shi. Yan.”

“I actually forgot about you,” he said in a tone that sounded casual yet annoyed. The next moment, he slammed the fruit knife deep into the mahogany table. The silver blade reflected a cold, sharp light.

Gu Xingchen let go of the handle and looked at Fu Shiyan with a sinister gaze. “…You came at just the right time!”

Fu Shiyan gave him a frigid look. Qi Qingran frowned and said, “Gu Xingchen, stop being insane. I’m advising you to let them go.”

Hearing this, Gu Xingchen threw his head back and laughed—a chilling sound. He abruptly cut off his laughter, his eyes fixed on Qi Qingran like poisoned arrows, dangerous and cruel. “Qi Qingran, do you still think you’re that influential heir of the Gu family? Even if you called Fu Shiyan here, I can make sure neither of you sees the sun tomorrow!”

In terms of pure numbers, Qi Qingran’s group plus Fu Shiyan’s were roughly equal to Gu Xingchen’s.

But as for everything else…

Fu Shiyan let out a soft chuckle. He looked down at Gu Xingchen with half-lidded, sharp eyes, his speech slow and deliberate: “Gu Xingchen, before you cause a scene, perhaps you should check whose territory this is.”

Chengshu Huafu was under Fu Shuhan’s name, but few knew that the major shareholder behind it was Fu Shiyan. For Gu Xingchen to dare kidnap Qi Qingran on his turf—it was beyond stupid.

Gu Xingchen caught the implication immediately. He rested his chin on his hands and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? And so what?” He looked at Fu Shiyan provocatively. “I’m not afraid of you.”

The moment the words left his mouth—BANG!—the door was kicked open.

A group of people burst in: “Don’t move! Police!”

…

Xu Zhimian cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming to my livestream. First, I want to tell you a story.”

“Once, there was a child. In the winter of his fifth year, he was abandoned in a plaza by his mother and nearly froze to death. It was a grandmother who collected scrap for a living who brought him home from the ice and snow.

She was the one who would rather go hungry so he could have a bite to eat. She was the one who stayed up late into the night to mend his schoolbag. He never met his father or mother; it was this grandmother, with whom he shared no blood relation, who raised him through all the hardships.

Later, when he was bullied at school and felt he couldn’t go on, it was Grandma who discovered his talent and saved every penny to send him to art classes. As she grew older, she still worried about him, picking him up and dropping him off regardless of the wind or rain.

Later, he thought he had to do something to repay her. He was working as a singer in a bar back then, finishing work at 11:30 PM. It was drizzling, and he was so, so tired. A customer at the bar had spilled alcohol all over his clothes, making them stick to his skin, and he just wanted to get home. Debt collectors kept calling, and he stopped to make transfers one by one. When he got to the alley, the streetlights were broken. He went to use his phone as a flashlight, only to find the battery was dead and it shut off.

Everything was going wrong. He felt like his life was trash.”

He paused and glanced at the comments. Miraculously, the viewership had surpassed 30 million in just ten minutes, and the comments had become much friendlier.

[Crying… Life is trash, but you aren’t! Hang in there, Host!] [Crying… I’m a ‘left-behind’ child, I can’t handle this story.]

Suddenly, someone sent several “Rocket” gifts, the special effects dominating the screen. He leaned in to check the ID; it was Xu Jianan and Chen Basheng. The two had entered the room using their verified accounts, immediately drawing in a massive crowd.

After sending about ten rockets, Xu Jianan posted a golden comment: [Keep talking. I’m listening.]

Xu Zhimian was stunned. After a long moment, he bit his lip. When he looked back up, his tone was much lighter. “But fortunately, that day, a car turned on its headlights. The path was lit up.”

[WTF! A car behind you in the middle of the night with headlights on? That sounds terrifying! How is that ‘fortunate’?]

Xu Zhimian explained, “He panicked at first. But then the owner got out and asked where the nearest 4S shop was, saying his car lights had suddenly malfunctioned. The boy gave him directions, and the owner didn’t leave until the boy reached the end of the alley.”

[That makes no sense. Who doesn’t have a phone GPS? You can’t find a repair shop?] [I feel like the car owner was worried about Mianmian but didn’t want to scare him, so he made up a ‘white lie’ to give him light. (Probably)] [Ahhh! Supporting the previous comment! I’ve already written the novel plot in my head!]

He brought the topic back on track. “Halfway home, Grandma was waiting for me near the construction site with an umbrella. Her silhouette under the light was hunched and small. When she saw me, she called my name happily. Seeing the look of expectation in her cloudy eyes, he suddenly felt that life wasn’t so bad after all.

It hadn’t rained for days, and the dirt by the site was cracked and dry. Miraculously, after one night of drizzle, green sprouts appeared the next morning. He felt that life was precious, resilient, and magical. In that moment, inspiration struck.

Later, he wrote the lyrics and composed Rain After a Long Drought. It was a song for his grandmother. Regrettably, she passed away before she could hear it.” Xu Zhimian paused, switching back to the first person. “The departed are gone; we must respect the dead. Therefore, I could never have agreed to a secondary creation of that song.”

[Tsk, selling a sob story for so long just to say that one line. Anyone can act sad. Who knows if you betrayed your original intention for profit?] [Uh… so many words just to get to that one point.] [Not interested in the story.] [My review: That’s it?] [Ahhh! I believe in Mianmian! He is such a loyal person, how could he do that?! I’ve been a fan since his bar singer days. He’s so sweet; I accidentally spilled a drink on him once, and he asked me if I was hurt!! How could someone that gentle do this?!] [Even with all that, I still say show the evidence. That recording is hard proof. Sad stories don’t work unless you have proof against the recording.]

On the other side of the screen, Xu Jianan was about to explode at the comments. Chen Basheng held his hand down and patted him reassuringly. He managed to hold back, instead sending another 20 rockets to vent his frustration.

Xu Zhimian, unfazed by the comments, began to discuss the meaning behind the lyrics. The ratio of hate to support in the room was now roughly equal—which was an improvement; at least it wasn’t a wall of insults.

The stream lasted for four hours. By the time he logged off, it was late at night. After packing up his equipment, he stretched and suddenly realized: Fu Shiyan wasn’t back yet.

Recalling the conversation they hadn’t finished, Xu Zhimian’s heart began to race. He sent a message:

[Xu Zhimian]: When are you coming back?

Three minutes passed. No reply. Ten minutes passed. No reply. An hour…

Fu Shiyan never replied. Eventually, Xu Zhimian couldn’t stay awake any longer. For the first time in the month since they married, he slept alone. He pulled the blanket tight and muttered, “How can he be like this? Didn’t even say he wasn’t coming back.”

He expected to see Fu Shiyan when he woke up. But the villa was empty; Fu Shiyan hadn’t returned at all. His inbox was still empty.

Then, he received countless @mentions on Weibo. Fans were tagging him in a photo posted by a marketing account: “Mianmian! Come quickly and see if this is your President Fu!!!”

The headline was extremely suggestive: Newlywed husband of a certain 3-character celebrity meets Omega late at night; suspected marriage trouble.

Xu Zhimian’s heart skipped a beat. In the photo, taken outside a hotel, the Alpha’s sharp profile was visible. He was tightly hugging a long-haired Omega, his head bowed as he whispered to them, the concern and tenderness in his eyes almost overflowing.

Xu Zhimian felt a roar in his head, like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. He froze. His fingers trembled as he zoomed in on the image. His heart went cold.

The Alpha and the Omega in the picture were Fu Shiyan and Qi Qingran.

Though the media had mistaken Qi Qingran’s gender, the fact remained—it was Qi Qingran. Fu Shiyan’s first love.