Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Zuo Qiu felt the sofa beside him sink, and he glanced at Xiao Baijun, who had just sat down, while pointing to the other half of the watermelon on the coffee table. “There, that half is yours.”

Xiao Baijun’s eyes followed Zuo Qiu’s finger to the watermelon. The flesh was red, and a spoon was thoughtfully inserted into it.

“If Brother Zhao ever finds you alone to talk about business again, and says he wants to take you out to meet people, you must tell me.” Warning Zhao Zhixian wasn’t enough to reassure Xiao Baijun, so he advised Zuo Qiu again.

Zuo Qiu looked back and asked Xiao Baijun, “Did something happen?”

Xiao Baijun scooped out a piece of watermelon, put it in his mouth, and said, “Nothing much. It’s just that you are too naive, and I’m afraid you’ll fall into someone else’s trap.”

Zuo Qiu put down his spoon. “It seems like you’re the one who copies my homework every semester and asks me to pass you cheat sheets during exams, right? Calling me naive—where does that put you?” Zuo Qiu, an academic ace, was unhappy being called naive by an academic slacker.

Xiao Baijun retorted expressionlessly: “That’s because I didn’t want to study. If I studied seriously, who the top student is would be an unknown.”

Hearing this, Zuo Qiu wasn’t angry, but just curled his lips slightly: “I’ll start preparing my thesis in the second half of the year. I guess Academic Ace Xiao certainly won’t need help from a ‘naive’ person like me.”

Xiao Baijun: …

Did he overplay his hand and dig a pit for himself, successfully burying himself in it?

As Come With Me aired, Zuo Qiu’s thoughts were slowly drawn into the program. It was impossible not to be excited seeing himself on TV for the first time. Zuo Qiu carefully examined his behavior, demeanor, and even his skin condition on screen. Cough, thankfully, he looked quite photogenic.

“You look quite handsome on TV too,” Xiao Baijun said directly, voicing the thought Zuo Qiu hadn’t said aloud.

Zuo Qiu blushed a little, “You look quite handsome too.”

The two exchanged compliments and continued to watch the show quietly. When the segment where Xiao Baijun woke up from his nap and changed clothes was shown, the camera suddenly switched to the monitor screen. A female staff member wearing a TV station badge was watching Xiao Baijun through the monitor, repeatedly saying how handsome he was and how great his body was, while touching her nose.

Zuo Qiu looked at the angle and guessed: “Was that hidden camera by the headboard?”

Xiao Baijun nodded. Ever since he started learning combat, he had an easy-to-read sensitivity to surveillance and voyeurism. The first time he changed clothes, he felt something was wrong, but didn’t pay attention.

The plot continued. When Xiao Baijun came out shirtless, wearing only a pair of long pants, he clearly felt an anomaly and glanced at the oil painting by the headboard. The camera switched again at this time. What was initially one staff member outside the monitor screen had now become three, and one of them had a nosebleed.

Zuo Qiu couldn’t help but laugh at this scene. It seemed his self-control was better than that of those few girls; at least he didn’t get a nosebleed from seeing it in person.

The screen was now showing Xiao Baijun preventing Zuo Qiu from changing clothes in front of the camera. Xiao Baijun said: “If I hadn’t reminded you, you would probably have streaked in front of the camera. Aren’t you too heartless to mock your savior like this?” Xiao Baijun, seeing Zuo Qiu mock him, stated the fact directly.

Zuo Qiu cleared his throat and contained his laughter, “I wasn’t mocking you. I just thought the expressions of those girls were funny.”

Xiao Baijun snorted lightly, clearly unconvinced by Zuo Qiu’s words.

Towards the end of the show, it reached the important part of the previous episode’s preview. A group of girls saw Xiao Baijun preparing to change clothes and quickly called friends to enjoy the feast of male beauty. However, instead of the anticipated abs, merman lines, and long legs, a bloody ghost face appeared. This unexpected face successfully scared five, six, seven, or eight girls into losing their composure.

This scene was indeed highly dramatic. To be honest, even Zuo Qiu was startled, but looking at Xiao Baijun’s slight smirk behind the ghost mask, Zuo Qiu felt he couldn’t entirely blame him. Imagine if Xiao Baijun hadn’t discovered the secret of the camera at that moment—he might have been the one appearing naked on screen, instead of the chaotic scene of screaming girls.

After the show finished, the image of Zuo Qiu dressed as a woman, with his face covered by a cartoon pig, became the biggest highlight in the next episode’s preview. Clearly, the two episodes featuring Z.X almost monopolized all the show’s talking points.

After watching the show, Zuo Qiu went online to check the netizens’ reactions. Many Z.X fans commented that the duo’s debut was very successful.

“A husband who can cook is simply the perfect lover!”

“When I heard Junjun say he can eat, I surprisingly found another excellent quality he shares with me, LOL.”

“Qiuqiu, who honestly said he couldn’t afford plastic surgery, were you raised on cuteness?”

“Junjun’s body is superb. Oops, the screen is dirty, I’ll lick it~”

…

Of course, there were also doubts among the comments. Just as Zuo Qiu worried, some people felt that Xiao Baijun using the ghost mask to scare people in the final segment was inappropriate.

“Xiao Baijun using a ghost mask to scare a few girls shows no gentlemanly demeanor at all.”

“Yes, I feel the same way. Look how scared those girls were. Was it necessary to go that far just for looking at a shirtless body?”

“+1, I also think he was incredibly rude.”

Zuo Qiu frowned as he read these comments. After these comments appeared, quite a few fans tried to defend Xiao Baijun, but as soon as a supportive voice for Xiao Baijun appeared, it was immediately attacked by a group of people with various personal insults, until the fans no longer dared to speak.

This… this situation isn’t right, is it?

Zuo Qiu glanced at the indifferent Xiao Baijun beside him. “You’re being attacked online, and you’re not worried at all?” Xiao Baijun’s heart seemed too big.

Xiao Baijun stood up and looked at Zuo Qiu. “I told you you were naive, and you didn’t believe me. Your intelligence can only handle dead knowledge from textbooks.”

Seeing that Xiao Baijun was only speaking in riddles and wouldn’t explain, Zuo Qiu scratched his head. Could he really be naive?