After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 52

Tan Shiyi froze for a second, instinctively denying it. “I’m not.”

“Really?” Tang Ling looked her straight in the eyes. “Because if something is bothering you, I hope you’ll tell me. Don’t just bottle it up inside.”

“I really don’t,” Tan Shiyi said quickly. “You’re overthinking. I just think she’s weird, that’s all.”

“That’s good then.” Tang Ling hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “It’s just, you’ve seemed off lately. I was worried she might’ve tried to force you into something you didn’t want, something that upset you.”

Tan Shiyi’s heart skipped a beat. She guessed right. Pu Xiaoyu had tried to pressure her into something—but she’d refused.

To avoid giving herself away, she frowned deliberately, her tone sharp. “What nonsense are you thinking about now?”

Tang Ling hurried to explain. “Don’t be mad. It’s just that, when you told me she confessed to you that day, I got so nervous. I was terrified I might lose you.”

Tan Shiyi’s voice turned cool. “How could I possibly agree to something like that? Do you really think I’m that kind of person?”

“No, of course not. You’re wonderful. It’s me—I’ve been awful. I know I’ve hurt you so many times. I was just afraid you wouldn’t give me another chance.”

Watching Tang Ling blush and stumble over her words, Tan Shiyi’s irritation softened a little. She straightened up and said seriously, “Yes, she did say she wanted me to be her girlfriend. But I made it very clear I wasn’t interested. Maybe to others, Miss Pu seems young, talented, and admirable—an ideal partner. But I don’t have feelings for her. I could never be with her.”

Tang Ling listened quietly. At first, she nodded with solemn focus—but by the end, her lips curved, and she couldn’t hold back a laugh.

Tan Shiyi immediately frowned. “What are you laughing at?”

Tang Ling waved her hands. “Don’t be mad! I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that.”

“Just what?”

“It’s just, you sound like you’re encouraging me to chase you.”

Tan Shiyi’s face flushed crimson. Her round apricot eyes widened. “How can you even think that way?”

Tang Ling scratched her head sheepishly. “I said don’t be mad, didn’t I? Look at you, always so serious. But honestly, hearing you answer me like that—it makes me really happy, I.”

Her gaze lingered warmly on Tan Shiyi, then flicked away, then back again, repeating the motion, restless and uncertain.

Tan Shiyi sighed. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Tan Ling spoke plainly, “Can I hug you?”

Tan Shiyi’s cheeks reddened even more. She crossed her arms tightly and looked aside. “Don’t push your luck. I never said I was accepting you.”

Tang Ling didn’t dare press further. She quickly changed the subject. “Alright, alright, I won’t. It’s getting late anyway—should I walk you back?”

Tan Shiyi shot her a sidelong glance. “No need. I can go back myself.”

“I’ll take you,” Tang Ling said softly. “I just want to spend a little more time with you.”

Tan Shiyi didn’t argue again. “Suit yourself.”

After walking Tan Shiyi back to the dorms, Tang Ling returned to her own room and flopped onto her bed, scrolling through Weibo.

Since the livestream ended, both she and Tan Shiyi had gained a surge of followers—along with the rest of their group. Clearly, their “battle plan” had worked like a charm.

In just a short while, fans were already posting their own creations.

Tang Ling downloaded a few and was surprised—some were actually impressive, complete with melodies and lyrics. A few even took the “Tang Shi” theme to risqué extremes—thinly veiled little yellow songs.

Not wanting to play favorites, Tang Ling liked every tagged post in order of mention. For one particularly suggestive song, she even commented:

“Cherish your account—keep it PG, please 😏.”

Seeing her replies, fans immediately flooded the comments section:

“You sent Shishi home already? Tang Ling, don’t tell me you couldn’t perform!”

“LOL she really listens to every song? I’m setting this one as my morning alarm!”

“LingLing, what’s the requirement for the reward? Give us something solid!”

“So, what’s the real bonus? Will we finally get to see Tang Shi Kiss.avi?”

Tang Ling finally posted an official reply on Weibo:

“Listening to every entry isn’t realistic, but Shiyi and I will go through them as we can. Outstanding ones will be showcased in our next livestream. If yours isn’t picked, don’t be sad—there’ll be more chances in the future. Remember to tag your posts with the event hashtag. Once we hit 10,000 entries, we’ll release a bonus. The content’s a surprise for now 😉.”

After hitting send, Tang Ling set down her phone and called out, “Xiao Nan, how’s my Scummy Alpha value looking these days?”

They’d made an agreement: unless something urgent happened, Xiao Nan wouldn’t give her real-time updates on her “Scummy Alpha” value—to avoid it affecting her judgment.

At first, Xiao Nan was reluctant to agree—it felt it would weaken its authority. But under Tang Ling’s insistence, it eventually chose to compromise.

“Report, Host,” Xiao Nan said. “Your Scummy Alpha Value has dropped by three points. Current score: seventy-one. Not bad—seems like we’re making progress.”

A drop of three points meant that Tan Shiyi’s affection for her had increased.

Compared to the overall scale of her “Scummy Alpha Value,” three points was just a drop in the ocean, but at least it was a start.

Progressing slowly like this wasn’t a bad thing. As long as she didn’t provoke Tan Shiyi’s dislike again, things would be fine.

Tang Ling was fairly satisfied with the result. She encouraged herself to keep going, setting a few small goals to tackle one by one.

The first goal—successfully hugging Tan Shiyi.

She slept soundly that night.

The next morning, Tang Ling woke up to find her Weibo notifications exploding.

She had promised that once fans submitted ten thousand “assignments,” she would post a special benefit. She hadn’t expected that overnight, the number of submissions would exceed thirty thousand.

Tang Ling was utterly dumbfounded. She hadn’t realized her CP fans were this powerful—they had overachieved in such a short amount of time.

If she had known, she would’ve set the bar higher. Why stop at ten thousand? Why not a hundred thousand?

The comment section was buzzing:

“Ten thousand reached! Woohoo!!! Hurry up and let me see Tang Shi kiss!!!”

“Holy crap, twenty thousand now! You guys are unstoppable! If A’ling doesn’t kiss Shishi till she’s out of breath, this mission can’t end!”

“Thirty thousand!!! I’m shocked! Can Beidou Star just debut them as a duo already so we can binge our CP in peace?”

“I propose Beidou provides a wedding venue and lets Tang Shi get married!!!”

Tang Ling also felt this situation was getting hard to manage. If the fans weren’t so enthusiastic, she might’ve been able to dodge around and come up with some alternative content. But now, their expectations were clear—they wanted to see her and Tan Shiyi kiss.

Did she want to kiss Tan Shiyi? Of course she did! But would Tan Shiyi ever agree to kiss her?

Not a chance. In fact, Tan Shiyi would probably be angry, thinking she had deliberately set the bar so low just to take advantage of her.

Tang Ling didn’t dare make any moves on her own this time. She messaged Tan Shiyi instead:

“Shiyi, are you awake?”

A reply came quickly:

“I’m here.”

Feeling that this wasn’t something to discuss over text, Tang Ling suggested,

“Let’s meet in person. We should talk about how to handle the fan benefit.”

Tan Shiyi replied simply:

“Okay.”

They agreed to meet in the practice room.

By the time Tang Ling arrived, Tan Shiyi was already there. She sat by the window with her earphones in, her fingers tapping lightly to the rhythm of some song, deep in thought.

Tang Ling called softly, “Shiyi?”

Tan Shiyi stood up. “You’re here.”

Tang Ling asked carefully, “Did you see the number of @’s we got?”

Tan Shiyi lowered her gaze. “I’ve been listening. It’s almost at forty thousand now.”

That was fast. How could it have jumped by so much in such a short time?

Tang Ling scratched her head. “I didn’t expect them to be this enthusiastic.”

Tan Shiyi sighed. “Neither did I. But since the fans trust us this much, I don’t think we should let them down or deceive their feelings.”

Tang Ling’s heart skipped a beat. She licked her lips, cautiously suggesting, “Then should we.”

Tan Shiyi shot her a glance. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to kiss you.”

Tang Ling immediately straightened up, obedient as ever. “Of course, it’s up to you. Do you have any better ideas?”

Tan Shiyi thought for a moment. “During yesterday’s livestream, a lot of fans mentioned that ‘Peach Blossom Crease’ was their ‘white moonlight.’ I was thinking—if we record a duet version of the song, it might comfort them.”

Tang Ling found the suggestion reasonable—it was thoughtful and sincere, enough to please the fans without putting either of them in an awkward position.

She smiled. “Then let’s record it tonight?”