The Vicious Cannon Fodder Despised by Everyone Really Doesn't Want to Go Viral - Chapter 15

Lin Zhiyu hesitated for a split second before obediently dropping to one knee.

His high ponytail slid forward with the movement, partially veiling his face. The exposed line of his jaw appeared sharp and clean in the dim light. A single bead of sweat clung to his lip beneath his stray hairs. Mu Sui’s gaze darkened as he manipulated his wheelchair to move a step closer.

Lin Zhiyu suddenly realized that Mu Sui was much taller than he had imagined. If the man could stand normally, he would likely cast a complete shadow over Lin Zhiyu.

Mu Sui reached out to brush the hair away from Lin Zhiyu’s neck. His touch was as light as a feather, but as his fingertips grazed the skin, a faint chill hooked into Lin Zhiyu’s nerves like a needle. Breath hitched in his chest, and the spot where he had been touched felt as if a fire had been lit, burning a path down his entire spine. Lin Zhiyu kept his eyes lowered, not daring to look back; only his tensed muscles betrayed his agitation.

The hand descended again, moving so slowly that time seemed to stretch. Mu Sui watched him with a look that flickered between scrutiny and playfulness. His well-defined fingers brushed against the snagged fabric, creating a faint friction sound that resembled a whisper in the ear. Lin Zhiyu instinctively wanted to pull away, but with his knee pressed to the floor and his elbow against the wall, there was nowhere to escape.

“Here,” Mu Sui said, his finger tapping a specific point on the embroidered seam.

The spot tickled, but Lin Zhiyu remained frozen. “Can you untangle it?”

Mu Sui did not answer immediately. He observed the knot for several seconds as if deep in thought. The silence stretched so long that Lin Zhiyu’s leg began to ache from kneeling. The small dressing room filled with a rising heat, making the very air feel thick. Driven by an instinct to break the tension, Lin Zhiyu searched for a topic.

“Why is Mr. Mu here today?” he asked. His voice was so quiet it was like a pin dropping; he could barely hear himself.

Mu Sui’s fingertips circled the thread, his wrist flicking with agility. “Why? Am I not welcome?”

Lin Zhiyu pursed his lips, inwardly complaining about how this man always used such difficult conversation tactics. His voice remained stiff as he replied, “Not at all. I simply have not seen you for a few days and was curious.”

Mu Sui leaned forward. The cool scent of his cologne immediately enveloped Lin Zhiyu’s back, and his chilled breath brushed against Lin Zhiyu’s earlobe.

“Then I am also curious,” Mu Sui whispered. “What exactly happened between you and Jiang Yubai in that car?”

Lin Zhiyu felt something in his brain snap. Wait, what is with this bizarre ‘jealous husband catching an affair’ vibe?

“How do you even—” He whipped his head around, forgetting that his hair was still in Mu Sui’s hand. He let out a sharp hiss of pain as his scalp was yanked, and he submissively returned to his kneeling position.

“Marketing accounts on the internet just love to stir up trouble,” he muttered under his breath. “They can concoct a whole saga of love and hate if two people breathe within two meters of each other.”

Mu Sui did not seem to care about the answer. He casually untied the dead knot between the hair and the embroidery.

“It is done,” Mu Sui said, slowly withdrawing his hand.

Lin Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled to his feet while bracing his knees. Perhaps because his legs were numb or because the center of gravity was off in the cramped space, he wobbled as he stood up. One arm instinctively reached out to steady himself on the armrest of Mu Sui’s wheelchair.

The distance between them instantly closed until they were breathing the same air.

Lin Zhiyu froze as if struck by lightning. His eyes widened as he looked at Mu Sui’s face so close to his own. In that moment, his consciousness felt detached. He could only see his own reflection in Mu Sui’s deep eyes—panicked and flustered, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Mu Sui did not speak or pull back; he simply watched the tip of Lin Zhiyu’s nose with composed interest.

Lin Zhiyu felt as if he were being held down by invisible hands, forced to suppress the urge to run. After several long seconds, he finally regained control of his body. He straightened up and stepped back quickly. Sweat slid down his temples, and a few stray hairs stuck to his cheek. He wiped his face hurriedly, trying to make his voice sound casual.

“Thank you, Mr. Mu. Sorry for the trouble.”

Mu Sui looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Two meters,” he said, leaning back into his chair with a hint of mockery.

“Huh?” Lin Zhiyu was confused at first, but a few seconds later, he realized Mu Sui was throwing his own words back at him.

“Well, there is plenty one could write about at this distance,” Lin Zhiyu said, turning around to finish changing his clothes as if nothing had happened. Between him and Mu Sui, one could write a story about a CEO and his canary, or even a ‘hated character and a basement’ scenario. Anything would be more scandalous than his interaction with Jiang Yubai.

Mu Sui did not respond, but Lin Zhiyu could feel those eyes watching him. It was like an invisible light exposing his every move, or like a thousand needles pricking his back, sliding down his spine to linger at the small of his back. Lin Zhiyu’s breathing grew shallow. He tried to ignore the burning sensation, but the more he tried, the more his skin felt like it was being licked by flames.

Once he finally fastened the last button, he practically bolted out of the dressing room. His assistant came running from the end of the hallway, drenched in sweat.

“Brother Lin, I am so sorry! The school called just now, and I had to go outside to—” The assistant’s rambling stopped abruptly as his eyes fell on Mu Sui. “Who is this?”

Lin Zhiyu thought for a moment and tested the waters. “Our drama’s financier?”

Mu Sui gave him a cold glance. The assistant bowed hurriedly to Mu Sui and then leaned in to whisper to Lin Zhiyu, “I also called the hot pot restaurant. They said the line has started. I took a number, so if we go now, we should be right on time.”

Mentioning food immediately revitalized Lin Zhiyu. However, he paused. “Do you have something to do?”

Lin Zhiyu nodded like a chick pecking at grain. Mu Sui did not speak; he simply scanned Lin Zhiyu with a gaze that suggested he was either deep in thought or cared for nothing at all.

Just as Lin Zhiyu was debating whether to invite him to dinner—and whether taking a CEO to hot pot was too ‘down to earth’ or made him look like a cliché grassroots heroine—Mu Sui started his wheelchair. With a calm, almost detached elegance, he turned and left on his own.

The assistant’s eyes widened as he watched Mu Sui leave. He let out an excited “Wow!”

“What is it?” Lin Zhiyu asked.

“Brother Lin, are you close with the Big Boss?”

Lin Zhiyu hesitated. “I suppose so?”

“Then can you ask him where he bought that wheelchair? It is so cool! If I had seen that earlier, I could have flown to my 8:00 AM classes for the last three years!”

Lin Zhiyu stared at him. “You would be better off buying an electric scooter.”

“The school does not allow scooters,” the assistant said angrily. “Besides, how can a scooter be as cool as that wheelchair?”

Lin Zhiyu was speechless.

As they walked out of the studio, the assistant was still obsessed with the wheelchair. However, after searching for it on Taobao at Lin Zhiyu’s suggestion, he was deterred by the five-figure price tag. Lin Zhiyu patted his head and comforted him, “It is the Big Boss’s ride. How could mere mortals like us dream of it?”

The assistant sat in the driver’s seat grumpily, but as soon as they reached the hot pot restaurant, the wheelchair was forgotten. The restaurant was authentic Chongqing style, decorated with local features like square tables and long benches. They used iron pots with a small circle in the middle for clear broth. The base was made of beef tallow and tea, and the spicy beef was covered in a thick layer of chili.

Lin Zhiyu ate with great relish, feeling as though he had come back to life. Their table was by the window. Outside, the shimmering lights of the opposite bank reflected indoors, complementing the warm yellow lights above and making everyone look more energetic.

Halfway through the meal, the assistant began taking photos of him. Lin Zhiyu tried to refuse, but the assistant became even more enthusiastic, directing his posture, gaze, and facial expressions.

What should I do? My new assistant has more career ambition than I do, Lin Zhiyu thought as he leaned against the windowsill according to instructions. After being a ‘workhorse’ for so long, this was the first time he felt like a boss being pushed by an employee.

“Brother Lin, this is incredible. Your face is truly a masterpiece,” the assistant said. He shoveled a large spoonful of beef into his mouth while frantically editing photos with his free hand. “This is the easiest retouching I have ever done. This skin texture is a once-in-a-lifetime find.”

Lin Zhiyu scooped up a large serving of tripe and put it in the assistant’s bowl to stop his chattering. “Why don’t you just eat?”

“Mmm-hmm, let me finish editing. You are joining the cast soon, and Brother Xu said you should post something on Weibo for business.”

Lin Zhiyu looked at the mountain of food in the assistant’s bowl and sighed, “It is good to be young.” Why didn’t he have this kind of drive during his own internship?

He had to admit, the new assistant’s photography skills were top-tier. When the photos were sent over, Lin Zhiyu could hardly believe it. He usually disliked being photographed, and this was the first time he saw himself looking so vivid through someone else’s lens.

“Post it, post it!” the assistant urged. “I can post it for you. I am great at layouts and captions. I guarantee these photos will explode on the hot search, and even your haters will save them secretly.”

“You are exaggerating a bit, friend,” Lin Zhiyu said, yet he quietly pushed his phone toward the assistant anyway.

The assistant took the phone, bit his chopsticks, and logged into Weibo to edit the post with lightning speed. He then returned the phone to Lin Zhiyu with a proud flourish and began devouring the meat.

When Lin Zhiyu refreshed his feed, he was startled by the sudden explosion of comments. He scrolled down slowly.

• • [Honey, wait a moment. My ex-husband is still two shovels away from being buried… wait, why do I feel like you are my dead ex-husband???]

• • [Preparing for a comeback by taking the ‘pure and innocent’ route, are we?]

• • [Lmao, the person above is making me imagine Lin Zhiyu rubbing his lips like crazy before the photo to look naturally beautiful and pitiful. Although, I admit you actually seduced me for a second there.]

• • [I wanted to say your mouth looks like it wants to be [redacted], but then I saw the name. No thanks, I am suddenly celibate. Lin Zhiyu, I hate you; you just added another item to my digital footprint of shame.]

Lin Zhiyu thought, Is this my fault?

Meanwhile, a frustrated Mu Yunji was driving back to the main city. The faint white light from a phone screen reflected on Mu Sui’s face in the back seat. Mu Yunji stole a glance through the rearview mirror. He had never seen Mu Sui look at something with that kind of expression before.

“What is it? Does the company have a new big project?” Mu Yunji asked sarcastically. “For our President Mu to study it so intently, it must pay well.”

Mu Sui’s finger moved across the screen, silently and slowly stroking something in the image. He looked up and met Mu Yunji’s eyes in the mirror. The latter felt his hair stand on end and cursed before looking away.

“You make so much money but cannot hire a few more assistants. I do not know what you were doing up there for so long. You almost made me crash into someone in the garage—”

“Wait,” Mu Yunji paused. “You said you came to see the film city project today. Was it intentional?”

Mu Sui did not answer. He looked back down at the photo, his gaze falling on the lips that were flushed red from the spicy food.

Just as the comments said, they looked very suitable for kissing.

“Mu Yunji,” Mu Sui said calmly. “Since you care so much, I am starting to suspect that you have hidden intentions toward him.”