FLME Ch27.2: Melon King

He went to the makeup room and, as he approached the door, heard vague talking from inside. Two makeup artists were chatting.

“…The Huiteng Young Master asked us about the broadcast time last night. He seems to be planning an inspection…”

“Inspection? He’s here to check out the target. Teacher Chu’s situation these days… hasn’t been clarified yet…”

“So, he’s here to support? To show everyone that Teacher Chu is still his person, and to silence the rumors?”

“That’s one way to clear things up. With the Huiteng Young Master backing Teacher Chu, there’s no need for any shady rules.”

“Could we be overthinking it?”

“Ah, we’ll know if the Young Master shows up later.”

Yu Wen stood outside for a while, then turned around and left.

Outside the makeup room, there were watermelons prepared for all the staff. They were cut into small pieces, convenient for eating.

Yu Wen took a piece of watermelon as he left and, upon seeing Chu Han, bit into the watermelon and stuffed the flowers back into Chu Han’s arms.

“There’s a big secret. Go put the flowers away, and I’ll tell you the secret.”

Chu Han looked down at the flowers, confused, “I didn’t ask you to put them away…”

Yu Wen chewed on the watermelon, “Are you going to listen or not?”

Chu Han: “Tell me.”

Yu Wen: “Feng Chengzhou might come later.”

Chu Han was quiet for a moment.

“What?!”

It was clear he was somewhat displeased. He generally didn’t like Feng Chengzhou interfering with his work, let alone appearing directly at his work site.

This displeasure even persisted until the broadcast started. Yu Wen tugged on his sleeve, and he finally managed to compose himself and show a smile.

“Hi everyone, welcome to ×× Live Room. I’m your old friend, and it’s us four again. That’s right, it’s us four again. Today, we’re going to show you how to eat watermelon, hahaha…”

The familiar four-person group, with the host lively in front, Chu Han sitting next to him as a well-behaved ornament, and Yu Wen with colleague Xiao Li sitting in the back, responsible for eating watermelon.

Xiao Li had a good impression of him. Holding a piece of watermelon, he greeted, “Long time no see.”

Yu Wen also held a piece of watermelon, smiling as he greeted back, “Long time no see.”

There wasn’t much difference from the last live broadcast, except that Yu Wen was a bit more popular. He had recently made the hot search, and the audience remembered his familiar face.

Xiao Li, hiding his lips behind the watermelon, whispered to him, “I watched your variety show.”

Yu Wen: “Was it good?”

Xiao Li’s eyes lit up instantly, nodding repeatedly, “It was great, so exciting! You’re so smart!”

「Oi! Stop whispering!」

「Let me hear too, what’s so secret that we viewers can’t hear!」

「Such secrecy, are you talking about superpowers?」

「Don’t mention that in front of Chu Han! He’ll explode soon!」

「Hahaha the internet’s memory is really strong…」

「What? What’s the joke?」

「What are you talking about? I’m out of touch with the times.」

「They’re talking about that handsome guy behind. His performance in the variety show was outstanding…」

The host didn’t rush to bring Yu Wen to the front today. He had to go through the process and was diligently introducing the agricultural products.

“Everyone doesn’t need to worry about it breaking. We have a partnership with Jingdong, so the watermelons will be cold chain transported to stations across the country by tomorrow, delivered to your door within twenty-four hours, and won’t break…”

Since he couldn’t see the bullet comments, Yu Wen stared blankly, slowly nibbling on the edge of the watermelon, like a tired hamster.

Suddenly, he seemed to have seen something, his gaze suddenly focused, staring intently in a direction to the right.

Feng Chengzhou was here.

In June, he wore a haute couture shirt, black suit pants, shiny leather shoes, and million-dollar cufflinks reflecting sunlight, potentially blinding people. He looked like he had just finished work, with a slightly exhausted look.

Yu Wen watched him approach, unable to suppress his curious excitement—what’s he here for? To support? Or to see his wife? Or to support while conveniently seeing his wife?

Every time Feng Chengzhou appeared, there was always something to watch. Yu Wen had figured out this pattern. This CEO especially tended to act foolishly in front of his wife. This time, appearing unannounced would surely make Chu Han angry.

When Chu Han got angry, the CEO would have to face the consequences.

Yu Wen was really curious about how much of a face Feng Chengzhou could lose today.

He wasn’t worried about Feng Chengzhou bringing any negative impact to Chu Han. In the same circle, Feng Chengzhou’s methods for dealing with public opinion were much more sophisticated than Chu Han’s—except in matters of the heart.

Yu Wen’s suddenly enthusiastic expression caught the attention of the bullet comments.

「What did you see again?」

「Honestly, Teacher, your expression is really infectious…」

「My curiosity is piqued, tell me what happened!」

Chu Han glanced at the bullet comments, looked back in confusion, just in time to meet Feng Chengzhou’s gaze as he walked in with his head held high. His expression changed instantly.

「Who is it?! That can make you show such an expression!! (heart-wrenching)」

「I want to see! Get me on camera!」

“Sorry, I’m late.” Feng Chengzhou’s glance at Chu Han’s expression made his smile fade a little as he walked straight to the camera and greeted the host.

Host: ……?

Hello? When did you say you were coming?

Even though it was too late to expose him, the host had no choice but to politely chat with him, “Mr. Feng, you’re so busy, and we’re honored to have you here. Babies in the live room, this is our mysterious guest today, Mr. Feng from the Huiteng Group. Isn’t this a pleasant surprise, hahaha…”

「……」

「……」

「……」

「Do you see my surprise?」

Yu Wen didn’t have his phone, so he didn’t know that within the short twenty minutes of Feng Chengzhou’s appearance, #TheYoungMasterAirDropsIntoTheLiveRoom# had skyrocketed to the top of the trending searches, firmly at number one.

Although the Young Master was well-known in the industry, he was not an entertainer and rarely appeared in public. This was his screen debut and he had directly dropped into his coming-out partner’s live room. The intention was obvious.

He was here to support.

Given recent rumors, netizens went wild in the trending comments.

「This world is a giant CEO romance…」

「It’s hard to judge. I wish him success.」

「He’s in a hurry, he’s in a hurry」

「A bit of a guilty pleasure, what’s going on…」

「Arrogant CEO × Cool and Stubborn Little Star… hissing, it’s quite appealing.」

「I’m willing to be a part of your play. Can I sleep under the bed?」

「But he’s quite manly. I used to think he was joking.」

「Mr. Feng, in these twenty minutes of your air-drop, are you more afraid of your wife’s cold face or him being hurt by rumors?」

「What? Cold face?」

「This teacher named Chu Han seems quite unhappy…」

「Hahaha I went to check and came back, such a strange atmosphere, such a reserved CEO!」

「It’s getting more appealing! I want to go to the live room. Is there a kind person who can give me a link?」

「×× Live Room: #￥%……」

The netizens were buzzing with excitement, and some quick typists had already started creating fanfiction, while the trending page was full of sizzling discussions.

However, those within the industry noticed more than just the romantic façade of mutual affection.

The Huiteng Group was in a transitional period. The previous chairman was about to step down, and if nothing unusual happened, the next chairman would be Feng Chengzhou. However, Feng Chengzhou’s public coming-out had somewhat affected his status, as coming out meant he had no children.

With recent scandals involving an illegitimate child, Huiteng Group’s stock price fell, and Feng Mingjie was criticized by netizens for days. Feng Chengzhou remained indifferent, and the relationship between father and son seemed to be strained.

In such a situation, it was hard to say whether the next chairman would be Feng Chengzhou.

Feng Chengzhou’s appearance in the live room today might be to support the person he liked, but to the discerning, any small detail could be amplified and cause a stir.

Thus, among the viewers flooding into the live room, besides the gossipers and fanfic writers, there were also a group of quiet big shots.

In front of the camera, Chu Han and Feng Chengzhou sat side by side, the atmosphere tense.

The host initially planned to sit between them to manage the scene, but as soon as he sat down, Feng Chengzhou’s cold gaze swept over, so the host decided to stand instead.

The bullet comments asked:

「Aren’t you talking? Isn’t today’s theme about selling watermelon? Just sell it.」

Chu Han’s little finger on the table moved slightly.

“Selling watermelon…” The host sighed deeply, “No, today’s theme isn’t selling watermelon, it’s eating watermelon.”

After saying that, he dragged his chair to the back and sat in a row with Yu Wen and Xiao Li.

「Hahaha slacking off.」

「Host: I’m tired, you all sell it.」

「Host: This damned world.」

Yu Wen and Xiao Li were enjoying the spectacle when they saw him coming over, and Yu Wen handed him a piece of watermelon, “Teacher, here.”

The three of them sat neatly in a row in the corner, munching on watermelon in order.

The scene was full of humor, but unfortunately, the bullet comments were all focused on Feng Chengzhou’s sudden appearance, and no one was paying attention to the background props.

Still working, still working, still working… Chu Han repeated silently in his mind three times before finally picking up the process card next to him.

According to the process card, he was supposed to collaborate with his partner to create a simple watermelon carving…?

What?

Chu Han couldn’t believe it and checked the card two or three times.

This wasn’t part of the schedule last time.

「Host: Carve a little cat face.」

「Why make it so difficult? You’re not going to make us watch you do it live, are you?」

「Huh? Upstairs you…」

「Sir, we’re a serious live room…」

「What exactly is this content ah ah ah ah!」

Chu Han clenched the process card, and as the host was about to stand up to resolve the situation, Feng Chengzhou took the initiative to reach out, wanting to see the content of the process card—

Chu Han swatted his hand away.

In front of the live room, in front of tens of thousands of viewers.

Swatted away.

Gave him a smack.

A brief silence fell both on and off the screen.

The back of his hand turned slightly red, showing how hard he had struck. Feng Chengzhou’s hands were frozen in mid-air, maintaining a strange yet amusing posture.

The bullet comments were silent for a moment, then went wild with laughter.

「(CEO reaches out) (CEO gets smacked) (CEO shocked)」

「Young Master (in shock): My dad never hit me!」

「You’d be better off doing it yourself hahaha…」

「The host was so scared, his butt was stuck in mid-air.」

「Hahaha, such an absurd development hahaha…」