The Vicious Cannon Fodder Despised by Everyone Really Doesn't Want to Go Viral - Chapter 48

Lin Zhiyu did not rest in the dressing room at the advertisement filming site for long before Chen Chen dragged him to a roadshow in nearby City B.

Ever since he had live streamed cold-pressed lemonade a few months ago, the brand had intended to collaborate with him again. However, they had hesitated due to his reputation at the time. It was not until Xie Yunce’s wrap-up special was released that they immediately contacted Xu Dongdong.

The advertisement Lin Zhiyu had filmed by the sea two days ago was also for cold-pressed lemonade, and today he was invited to participate in their offline event held in City B.

The schedule was extremely tight. As soon as Lin Zhiyu arrived at the scene, staff members whisked him backstage to prepare without a moment of pause. He managed to catch a nap in the car, but perhaps because the air inside was stuffy, his complexion looked even worse than during the previous day’s shoot. The makeup artist could not help but ask about his condition. Lin Zhiyu waved her off repeatedly, insisting he was fine, so she simply applied a few extra layers of lip gloss to his pale lips.

His breath was heavy and scorching, and his head felt as if it had been turned into mush. After Lin Zhiyu changed his clothes, Chen Chen handed him the event itinerary. He scanned it and realized he needed to repeat the sales pitch from his previous live stream on stage. He was so embarrassed that his toes nearly curled into the floor.

Before the event even started, a large number of fans had already gathered at the venue, taking photos with the standees. When Lin Zhiyu went on stage, he accidentally tripped on a step and stumbled. Fortunately, Chen Chen supported him in time, preventing a public blunder. However, the fans closest to him noticed something was wrong. One shouted, “Little Treasure, are you feeling unwell?”

The voice was very familiar. Lin Zhiyu had heard it many times and immediately recognized her as a manager from his fan support group. He suppressed his discomfort, turned to smile, and reassured them, “It is fine. Tripping on flat ground is a regular occurrence for me.”

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Lin Zhiyu himself found it somewhat ironic. He never imagined he could be this professional. If not for the heavy contract penalties hanging over his head, he really would have wanted to quit. He took the microphone from the host and greeted the audience according to the script, enduring the shame as he transitioned into the promotion segment. He felt like a donkey pulling a grindstone, charging forward tirelessly but with a completely muddled mind, unable to make sense of what he was doing.

His throat felt as if it were being ground by hot sandpaper, and every breath was accompanied by a dull pain. Yet, he forced a smile and waved to interact with the fans. While signing autographs, he finally learned the Weibo ID of that manager, which was Qiaoqiao Drinks One More Cup. Consequently, he instinctively drew a cup of pearl milk tea next to his signature. The lines were so abstract that Qiaoqiao stared at it for a long while before realizing what it was.

“But your face is so red. Are you really okay?” Qiaoqiao asked.

Lin Zhiyu shook his head and said gently, “I am fine. Thank you for coming to see me.”

Perhaps because the fire in his throat and head had made him slightly delirious, his tone was soft and light, sounding like unconscious acting spoiled. Hearing this made Qiaoqiao’s ears turn red as well. She then continued, “We were all very worried about that hot search involving you and Mu Yunji since you never responded.”

Lin Zhiyu had heard the gist of it from Chen Chen and knew that Mu Yunji had already clarified things. He did not explain much, simply saying, “Recording Xie Yunce’s character song a few days ago tortured Teacher Mu quite a bit, so I treated him to dinner as an apology. Do not overthink it. If there is any relationship between us now, it is the purest form of a colleague relationship.”

He took a signature board from the next fan and muttered, “Besides, he is not really my type.”

Qiaoqiao followed Lin Zhiyu’s steps closely with her camera, her heart melting at his clingy tone. Hearing his last sentence, she blurted out without thinking, “Then what type do you like?”

She even mimicked his soft tone perfectly. Lin Zhiyu thought about it and found his mind blank. His hand holding the pen paused for a moment. The fan in front of him teased, “Is it that hard to think of?”

Lin Zhiyu hesitated for a while, tilted his head, and barely squeezed out a sentence. “I suppose so. It is quite hard to think of.”

He had seemingly never considered this question. However, he was certain he did not like noisy, stubborn brats like Mu Yunji. For some reason, Mu Sui’s face suddenly surfaced in his mind. A mature and quiet man is probably a bit more charming, Lin Zhiyu thought in his dazed state.

Fortunately, the fans were only asking jokingly and did not intend to probe further. Lin Zhiyu lowered his head and continued signing names. The cold wind turned the tip of his nose bright red. The white suit provided by the brand made him look like a delicate young master from a wealthy family, but the fabric offered little protection against the cold. The skin beneath his clothes shivered uncontrollably.

Lin Zhiyu shook his frozen hands and finally finished the last signature. He barely remembered the rest of the proceedings, relying solely on a surge of adrenaline. As soon as the event ended and Chen Chen put him in the car, he collapsed straight onto the seat. Chen Chen, sitting in the driver’s seat, turned back to look at him. Seeing that Lin Zhiyu had pulled the hood of his coat over his head and was only letting out muffled gasps, he asked with concern, “Brother Lin, maybe we should go to the hospital first.”

Lin Zhiyu said in a muffled voice, “No. I want to go home. I want to sleep.”

“But it will take several hours to get back to City A.”

“I have to go to the company tomorrow afternoon. If I go back now, I can sleep a bit more. I am not going to the hospital,” Lin Zhiyu said intermittently. “I want to sleep.”

Chen Chen could not argue with him and did as he was told. Lin Zhiyu fell into a shallow sleep in the car. His body seemed to have completely entered a dream state, but his consciousness felt as if it were floating above his physical shell. In his daze, he could hear the navigation voice, the mechanical reports of the toll gates, and the heavy traffic on the road. One moment he felt as if he were burning in boiling water, and the next he felt as if he were lying naked in the freezing snow.

His consciousness rose and fell. By the time they reached Mu Sui’s apartment, the sky was completely dark, with a bright crescent moon hanging in the pitch-black sky. Lin Zhiyu was wrapped in a down jacket that reached his calves. The zipper was pulled to the very top, covering most of his chin, and the large hood obscured his entire head. From a distance, he looked like a silkworm cocoon. When the wind outside the car hit him, he still shivered physiologically. Even though his body was currently burning like a furnace and his consciousness was fading, he still felt the cold from even a slight breeze.

“Brother Lin, are you really alright? Maybe we should still go.”

Lin Zhiyu shook his head, his voice hoarse and thick. “I will be fine after I go up and sleep.”

Chen Chen pursed his lips and remained silent, watching him stumble through the security gate. Lin Zhiyu never expected to see Mu Sui the moment he opened the door. Mu Sui usually preferred to stay in the bedroom or the study. He rarely appeared in the living room.

Lin Zhiyu froze at the doorway. His brain felt like mush boiled in water, and his consciousness was extremely chaotic. He blinked his dry eyes with difficulty, almost believing he was hallucinating from the fever. Hearing the sound of the door, Mu Sui put down his tablet. He was wearing a casual sweater today, and a cup of hot tea sat on the coffee table beside him. His eyes held a trace of scrutiny and an unfathomable depth. Lin Zhiyu could not read him clearly, but he felt that the man had something to say.

“Good evening, Mr. Mu,” he spoke sluggishly. His voice was as dry as sandpaper, but the long, clingy trail at the end of his words strangely resembled flirting.

Mu Sui frowned. He glanced at Lin Zhiyu’s flushed face beneath the hood and his misty eyes. Whatever he had intended to say vanished instantly. However, Lin Zhiyu had no energy left to chat. Without waiting for a response, he walked toward his room with unsteady steps, not even leaving a single glance behind.

Ignored, Mu Sui remained silent for a moment. A few seconds later, he operated his wheelchair to follow. Before he reached the bedroom door, he heard the sound of a heavy object hitting the bed. The down jacket had been tossed onto the floor. Lin Zhiyu grabbed a corner of the quilt, rolled over, and buried himself, completely turning himself into a sushi roll. He was entirely hidden beneath the covers.

Low gasping sounds came from his congested nose. Mu Sui stopped his wheelchair by the bed, only able to see Lin Zhiyu’s messy hair pressed against the pillow. The irritable thoughts he had felt when seeing the hot search receded like a tide. The questioning he had been preparing for so long also vanished in an instant, replaced by an indescribable softness.

Mu Sui reached out and gently touched the ends of Lin Zhiyu’s hair. He watched as the younger man grunted and rolled over again inside the quilt, as if trying to find a comfortable position.

“Lin Zhiyu, you are sick,” he said with certainty.

“Mm. Just a small cold. I will be fine after a sleep,” Lin Zhiyu’s voice came through the quilt, sounding distorted and heavy with nasal congestion.

Mu Sui did not believe the “small cold” excuse. The hand resting on his hair slid down to pull back a corner of the quilt. When his palm touched the burning forehead, Lin Zhiyu let out a sigh, stimulated by the cool sensation, and then unconsciously rubbed against it.

“So comfortable,” he murmured.

Mu Sui withdrew his hand with an unreadable expression and said coldly, “Your fever is this high, and your assistant did not take you to the hospital?”

Lin Zhiyu muttered dully, “It is not his fault. I did not want to go. I just want to sleep.”

Mu Sui rubbed his forehead as if suppressing his emotions. He moved his wheelchair closer to the bed, his tone softening slightly. “Sleeping like this is not recovering. It is self-torture. Be good. I will have Zhou Ming take you to the hospital.”

Lin Zhiyu moved under the quilt but buried himself even deeper. His voice was soft and weak. “I do not want to move. I am too tired. Besides, making someone work overtime this late is really unkind. Assistant Zhou is not a part of our play. Do not disturb him.”

Lin Zhiyu’s consciousness was muddled by the fever, and he did not even know what he was saying. “I will just sleep for a bit, okay?”

Mu Sui was left with no choice by his stubbornness. After a moment, he sighed, turned around, and went out to get a thermometer and a medicine box. He pulled back a corner of Lin Zhiyu’s quilt and found his entire face flushed red, with even the tips of his ears stained an abnormal color. The hair on his forehead was damp with sweat, clinging to his face in a messy disarray. His eyes were half-open and dazed, and his dark eyelashes trembled in the cold air.

He looked like a rabbit. Utterly pitiful.

“Take your temperature. Be good,” Mu Sui’s tone softened involuntarily.

Lin Zhiyu barely lifted his eyelids to glance at him. It seemed he could no longer gather his senses due to the high fever. He did not resist. Instead, he shifted his upper body on the bed and, by some strange impulse, rested his head on Mu Sui’s lap. He even rubbed his cheek against Mu Sui’s open palm twice.

“Mu Sui, your hands are so cold.”

His voice was slurred, light, and long, the end of his sentence soft like melting sugar. “Touch me a little longer, okay?”

Mu Sui’s entire body tensed up.