After Transmigrating as Cannon Fodder, I Became the Darling of the Variety Show - Chapter 5

An Rao stood up and tied the hem of his shredded shirt into a butterfly knot. Under the gaze of the crowd, he walked toward the floral pillar.

He could see that Lin Jingxi was clearly trying to humiliate him.

The humiliation was not about pole dancing itself, but rather that performing such a dance in this specific environment was blatantly inappropriate.

Pairs of eyes watched him, filled with mockery.

An Rao did not know how to dance; at most, he had seen a few clips. However, all learning begins with observation. He focused on recalling the movements, expressions, and fluid transitions of the dancers in the videos.

He reached out to steady himself against the pillar, tapped his fingertips twice, and gave everyone a smile that could captivate a nation.

As the dynamic music began, his slender waist slowly dipped, twisting his hips to the beat. He pressed one leg firmly against the pillar and leaned forward, his body flush against the surface, fully revealing his tiny waist.

Some bystanders picked up their phones, hiding them halfway with their palms while quietly aiming their cameras at him.

True dancing is not just about the person moving; it is about the heavens, the earth, and the very air vibrating. It creates a visual impact like an earthquake. Beyond that, it tests the dancer’s flexibility and softness. A single mistake would make the performance look ridiculous.

An Rao’s gaze remained fixed on Chu Guannan, his brows arching with a hint of a smile.

He must be wishing he could sink into the floor right now. No man could tolerate his spouse performing a seductive dance in front of so many people.

Chu Guannan watched him silently, his gaze as cold as ice. The fingers resting on his knee twitched slightly with the music.

An Rao thought: “Why is this different from the plot? Should he not rush up, coldly scold me for being indecent, and tell me to get out?”

The people filming had originally intended to mock him, but as they watched, they stopped laughing. This was the first time they had seen someone perform a seductive dance with such heroic spirit and vibrance. It was actually quite good.

Several female dancers below began to clap to the beat uncontrollably, their waists swaying slightly. For a moment, everyone seemed to forget they had invited him up to make a fool of himself. Caught up in the atmosphere, their bodies moved instinctively to the rhythm.

Sun Yue raised his hands above his head, clapping and whistling at An Rao.

As the music ended, An Rao finished the dance with a sharp flick of his head. A thin layer of sweat dampened his collar, revealing a small patch of skin that rose and fell with his heavy breathing. His lashes were wet with fine droplets, softening his youthful features.

Almost everyone held their breath. Throats moved as they swallowed, and then, they began to clap involuntarily. The applause was like thunder, nearly shaking the roof.

An Rao clutched his chest, trying to catch his breath, and smiled at the cheering crowd. “Thank you for the support.”

Since he had already thrown away his dignity the first time he called Chu Guannan “husband,” performing a dance was not a difficult task.

“Encore! Encore!” the female dancers shouted, clapping their hands.

Amidst the cheers, only Lin Jingxi sat motionless in the center. His expression was unreadable, though he looked somewhat awkward.

“As expected of a teacher’s choice. An Rao, you danced so well. Thank you for such a wonderful performance.”

An Rao glanced at him, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. He walked over to sit beside Chu Guannan, intentionally leaning in to brush against him. He asked in a sweet voice, “Husband, did I dance well?”

Chu Guannan gave him a quick look. His lips moved, and after a long silence, he whispered: “Yes, well.”

But in the next moment, he suddenly took off his jacket. Looking elsewhere, he casually draped it over An Rao.

“Cover your waist. It is unsightly.”

Then, he reached out to press An Rao’s slightly parted legs together. “Close your legs. It is unsightly.”

An Rao was amused by his reaction. Was this man just dug up from an ancient tomb?

He shamelessly rested his leg on Chu Guannan’s thigh and breathed warmly into his ear, “Then I will only show it to you in the future, okay?”

Chu Guannan’s lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he ultimately just cast a cold look and brushed the leg aside.

Lin Jingxi watched his other friends perform their specialties, looking distracted. After a while, he silently took out his phone, photographed the four calligraphic characters, and posted to Weibo:

【Thank you, An-an, for the handwritten calligraphy. Although it is not expensive, it is very thoughtful. This is the best gift I have received. @AnRao.】

An Rao was drinking juice when his phone began to vibrate incessantly. He clicked the Weibo icon to find over ninety-nine notifications. Countless direct messages and comments flooded in.

【I would not even take that trash calligraphy for free. Stop embarrassing yourself.】

【How do you have the face to attend Xixi’s birthday party? I bet you were not invited and just forced your way in for clout.】

【Look at how generous Xixi is, then think about your past actions. Do you not feel ashamed?】

【Brother, your calligraphy is truly excellent. I showed it to my teacher, and they said it takes over ten years of practice to write like that. Keep it up, I will support you!】

An Rao replied with a “Thank you” and turned off his phone. Feeling hot, he went to the balcony to catch a breeze.

He wanted to know what the original owner had done to Lin Jingxi to cause such fan outrage. Since he was free, he entered “An Rao Lin Jingxi” into the search bar. The first result was:

【An Rao snatched Lin Jingxi’s skincare endorsement and insulted him. Netizens filmed An Rao blocking Lin Jingxi’s door at night, causing Lin Jingxi to call the police in shock.】

It was not a high-end skincare brand, just a mid-range one. But is “snatching” an endorsement not just a matter of competing based on ability? This was not a game of Mahjong; there was no such thing as snatching.

He scrolled through and found messages from the time of the incident. The original owner had sent Lin Jingxi a message saying, “Heaven is watching; are you not afraid of retribution?” Lin Jingxi had replied, “What does it have to do with me? You really are birds of a feather.”

However, the messages did not explicitly state what had happened. As An Rao planned to dig further for clues:

“Why are you here alone?” A clear voice spoke behind him.

An Rao turned around to see Shen Yi standing at the balcony door. Viewed against the light, his calm face held an indescribable loneliness.

In the original story, Shen Yi was a gentle person who never participated in mocking the villain. He treated everyone the same and would not join the petty crowd in insulting the original owner. At this point, Lin Jingxi’s feelings for him were still vague and unconfirmed.

An Rao moved to the side, trying to keep his distance.

Shen Yi, however, lacked the awareness to see that An Rao was avoiding him. He approached to strike up a conversation. “Your dance was amazing. Did you focus on that during your trainee days?”

An Rao did not want to get involved with him and gave a perfunctory “Mhm,” hoping the other would take the hint.

Shen Yi’s gaze traveled down An Rao’s face, landing on his waist exposed to the cold wind. He could not help but ask, “Are you not cold?”

An Rao tugged at the hem of his shirt, his fingers working on the butterfly knot that had become a tight mess.

“Once I untie this, you can leave.”

However, the knot was tied too tightly. He struggled with it for a long time, but it would not budge.

“Let me help you,” Shen Yi offered, reaching out.

An Rao intended to decline, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure arriving on the balcony. He immediately pushed his stomach forward and said softly, “I am too clumsy. Please help me.”

Shen Yi nodded, pulled the hem of the shirt slightly, and leaned down to study the knot.

An Rao curled his lips into a smile. He turned his head and feigned a panicked expression. “Xixi? Why are you here?”

Hearing this, Shen Yi’s hand froze. He looked up awkwardly and met Lin Jingxi’s trembling eyes.

Lin Jingxi blinked and quickly turned away. “Sorry to disturb you.”

“Jingxi!” Shen Yi grew anxious and immediately chased after him.

An Rao laughed at the pair, stretched his arms, and continued to enjoy the breeze.

A heartbroken Lin Jingxi would surely drag his admirer, Comrade Chu Guannan, into a long, heart-to-heart talk. It seemed Master Chu might not even make it home tonight.

An Rao looked through the crowd but did not see Chu Guannan. He chuckled and left the building alone.

Standing by the roadside, the cold wind whipped at his waist. He instinctively curled up. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed, followed by a familiar Koenigsegg stopping beside him. The flashy license plate was unmistakable.

The window rolled down, revealing sharp features partially obscured by the night. Seeing An Rao, the person inside said curtly, “Get in.”

An Rao was stunned. Why is he here? Should he not be comforting the heartbroken beauty?

An Rao squeezed out a smile, opened the passenger door, and sat down. He hugged Chu Guannan’s arm and said coquettishly: “Good husband, I knew you cared about me. If you had not called me, I would have had to walk back myself.”

Chu Guannan silently withdrew his arm and started the car.

“Your car is really nice.”

Chu Guannan said nothing.

“So boring. Husband, say something.”

Chu Guannan’s gaze flickered to An Rao, lingering on his exposed waist for two seconds.

Half an hour later.

After the car entered the underground parking of Guanlan Yipin, An Rao got out and prepared to walk home. Then he heard Chu Guannan call him: “Come here.”

Confused, An Rao blinked. “What is it?”

Chu Guannan locked the car and walked straight to him. He stared at the patch of white waist for a long time. Then, he reached out and gently tried to pull An Rao’s shirt down.

But no matter how he pulled, that little waist remained shamelessly exposed.

An Rao almost laughed out loud. Did he care that much about this crop top?

Seeing that it could not be pulled down, Chu Guannan took off his jacket and wrapped it around An Rao’s waist, tying the sleeves. “Throw this clothing away. Do not wear it again.”

An Rao continued to act obedient. “But it looks good.”

Chu Guannan ignored him and left the garage. He had long legs and walked quickly; by the time An Rao caught up, he was already inside the house.

Upon entering, Chu Guannan went straight to An Rao’s wardrobe. He opened it and dumped all the clothes onto the bed. He pulled out a measuring tape, measuring from the collar to the hem.

Looking at the number on the tape: 53 centimeters.

The clothing went into the trash can.

He measured the next one: 54 centimeters.

Into the trash it went.

An Rao was speechless. He was broke, and these clothes belonged to the original owner. By the end, only two pitiful pieces remained. What was Chu Guannan doing? Did he want him to go out naked?

“Husband, why are you throwing away my clothes?” An Rao squeezed out a few tears and held Chu Guannan’s hand, hoping he would spare them.

“Too short,” Chu Guannan pushed him away and continued throwing.

An Rao was confused. The Qing Dynasty is over, yet he is still discriminating against freedom of dress? Why does he not catch someone on the street and order them to wear a padded coat?

“If you throw them all away, what will I wear? Do you want me to go out naked? Do you want your spouse to be seen by the whole world?”

Chu Guannan stopped, thought for a moment, and continued throwing. “I will buy you some tomorrow.”

An Rao looked at him doubtfully. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, husband! You are the best!”

To be fair, the original owner’s clothes were terrible; there were even fishnet stockings.

Looking at the trash cans full of clothes, Chu Guannan finally stopped. He gathered the clothes, carried them downstairs, and stuffed them into the clothing recycling bin. He stood there for a long time, only feeling satisfied once the property management came to collect them.

Before bed, An Rao took one last look at Weibo.

Lin Jingxi had posted the photo of the calligraphy, and the comment section was a bloodbath.

【This writing is poor. My elementary school nephew writes better than him. He has the nerve to give this as a gift? No shame.】

【Yeah, throw it away. Tell me which trash can you put it in.】

【The person above shocks me. This thing actually has fans? Tell me which bot group you are in; let us make money together.】

【This is written so well! Amazing!】

An Rao scrolled almost to the bottom but could not find the comment he wanted. It seemed the netizens were not well-read enough.

Shui Pei Feng Shang: A phrase used to describe lotuses.

He was calling Lin Jingxi a “huge white lotus,” but no one caught the subtext.

However, unsurprisingly, he climbed the trending searches for the many-th time. But this time, it was different from what he expected.

He clicked the trending topic. It was a post by Yin Suzhi, the Director of the National Calligraphy Association. He first tagged Lin Jingxi’s post and followed it with:

【The brushwork is vigorous and powerful, the strokes like clouds and smoke. It is magnificent and full of rare spirit. I would like to offer 320,000 to collect this work. I wonder if this artist is willing to part with it?】

Who was Yin Suzhi? Along with Pei Qingsong and two others, he was known as one of the Four Masters of China. One of his works had once sold for over twenty million at an auction in France. Children learning calligraphy grew up tracing his work. His influence was immense.

To receive the appreciation of such a person meant one would never worry about money again, even outside the entertainment industry.

Lin Jingxi replied:

【Thank you for the kindness, Teacher, but this was a gift from a friend. It is very precious to me, and I want to keep it as a memento.】

The fans were excited again:

【Xixi really considers that person a friend. Too bad his sincerity is wasted on a dog.】

【Xixi, throw it away. Even artists make mistakes. It is worthless and an eyesore.】

But this time, An Rao was not just being attacked. Several sensible voices appeared:

【Is it that hard to admit someone is excellent? Even the Director of the Calligraphy Association slapped your face, and it is still not enough?】

【Get lost. Practice for eighty years and see if you can reach that level. Stop being bitter.】

【He gave a gift worth 320,000. You all call him Brother this and that, yet you will not even help him make money?】

【Our love for Brother cannot be measured by money! You are so vulgar!】

With one trending search, An Rao gained 500,000 followers. At this rate, he would soon move from the 18th-tier to the 17th-tier.

Lin Jingxi, of course, would not care about a mere 300,000. It was not worth the trip for that amount.

He looked at the calligraphy, thought of Shen Yi helping An Rao untie his clothes, and suddenly stood up. He ripped the rice paper off, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash can.

His back teeth made a harsh, grating sound.