"Hmm, hello!"
Meeting Xia Mingyao's intense gaze, Xu Yifei couldn't help but frown inwardly. Ignoring his solicitousness, she simply nodded politely and replied in a cool, detached tone.
After this brief "hello," Xu Yifei had no desire to exchange another word with Xia Mingyao.
She disliked this man before her.
His constant, appraising glances made her deeply uncomfortable.
Fu Shan, who had been quietly observing Xu Yifei, noticed her discomfort and gently interjected:
"Yifei, are you tired? Want to sit down over there?"
As he spoke, Fu Shan pointed to a nearby sofa and made a move to take Xu Yifei's hand, intending to lead her over.
Xia Mingyao, displeased by Xu Yifei's coldness, grew even more irritated when he saw Fu Shan intervene and attempt to whisk her away. With an arrogant tilt of his chin, he raised an eyebrow at Fu Shan and challenged:
"And who are you...?"
"Brother Mingyao, this is Brother Fu Shan."
Seeing the situation, Li Yue quickly interjected.
He knew Xia Mingyao's arrogant and conceited nature well and didn't want Fu Shan to be humiliated, so he stepped in to defuse the tension.
Xia Mingyao, however, curled his lip, his expression still haughty. He tilted his head toward Fu Shan, his eyes flashing with disdain.
"Of course I know he's Fu Shan. The 'Strongest Gold Digger King' of the year, remember? It was all over the trending topics."
Xia Mingyao had been disdainful ever since Xu Yifei and Fu Shan officially announced their relationship.
*Tch, what a joke.*
A guy from a poor mountain village, with parents who were just dirt-poor peasant migrant workers, actually managed to get involved with Xu Yifei, the nation's goddess, and become her publicly acknowledged boyfriend.
In Xia Mingyao's eyes, Fu Shan was just lucky as hell!
What's more, Fu Shan had stolen the trending topic spot that should have been his, making Xia Mingyao furious.
In fact, he had arrived at the airport just moments after Fu Shan and Xu Yifei.
To Xia Mingyao's annoyance, the number of fans who came to greet Fu Shan and Xu Yifei was even greater, completely overshadowing the top-tier male star.
This irked Xia Mingyao.
And that broke Fu Shan, the broke bum, was causing trouble again.
He was even providing food and drinks to the waiting fans and readily fulfilling their requests, which made Xia Mingyao's fans green with envy.
Some of his fans were even whispering to each other, "Fu Shan is so gentle and thoughtful! He treats his fans so well! I'm so envious of his fans, I want to become a fan of his too!"
As luck would have it, Xia Mingyao overheard these words and nearly fell over from anger.
*Give me a break!*
He was in the entertainment industry to make money, alright?
Fans were just leeks—you cut them now and then to harvest some cash.
Caring about fans?
*Impossible.*
These people deserved to work in his father's factory during the day and then work for him at home (fundraising, voting, boosting rankings...).
Fu Shan's behavior, in Xia Mingyao's eyes, was utterly pathetic and stupid.
*If you're a celebrity and not in it to make money and fleece your fans, you're either a fool or an idiot!*
*Tsk, no wonder Fu Shan is such a broke bum!*
What made Xia Mingyao even more furious was that Fu Shan's recent airport interaction with fans had once again dominated the trending topics, taking the top spot. Meanwhile, the trending topic he had paid to promote was pushed out of the top five by related searches about Fu Shan and Xu Yifei's arrival at Wei Island Airport.
Seeing this, Xia Mingyao's anger only festered.
That's why, when Fu Shan and Xu Yifei arrived together, he deliberately pretended to be resting upstairs, ignoring them.
*Yes! He was doing it on purpose.*
"Heh, Brother Fu Shan? Li Yue, you're actually older than him, aren't you? You call him 'brother' so easily. Haha."
His resentment boiling over, Xia Mingyao lashed out at Li Yue, who had come to mediate, his smile twisting into a mocking smirk. The sarcasm in his words was unmistakable.
Even Li Yue, the usually good-natured "nice guy," looked visibly awkward.
Calling someone of higher status "Brother" is just standard industry practice, isn't it?
And they're going to pick a fight over *this*?
Li Yue couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself:
*Xia Mingyao, you're actually younger than me, you know?*
*If we're being honest, I'm your senior fellow disciple.*
*Why didn't you say anything when I called you "Brother"?*
*...*
The entire scene was naturally caught by the viewers watching the livestream:
"Xia Mingyao is going too far. So rude! That arrogant expression... Is it really okay to act so high and mighty? Poor Li Yue!"
One viewer couldn't help but complain.
Immediately, Xia Mingyao's fans swarmed in with a deluge of whitewashing and attacks:
"You don't know what you're talking about! That's not arrogance, that's *nobility*!"
"What's wrong with being arrogant? Our Brother Mingyao has the right to be arrogant!"
"Exactly! If you had his looks, money, and perfect body, you could be arrogant too! Beauty is justice, get it?"
"No way! Our wuli Brother Mingyao was just stating a fact. Nothing wrong with that. Haters, get lost! Go die! May your whole family die!"
***
Faced with such vicious Xia Mingyao fans, even the few viewers who dared to speak up in defense of fairness were terrified into silence, never to comment again.
*So unfair!*
*It's enough to attack me alone.*
*Why drag my whole family into this?*
*Xia Mingyao's fans have gone too far!*
Just as Xia Mingyao's fans were arrogantly dominating the chat and controlling the narrative of the live stream, Fu Shan, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up:
"No need to call me 'brother.' Just call me Fu Shan."
Noticing Li Yue's awkwardness, Fu Shan stepped in to ease the situation.
As he spoke, he waved Li Yue over:
"Come on! Let's go sit down!"
Yet Fu Shan showed no intention of acknowledging Xia Mingyao at all, not even sparing him a glance.
It was as if the man simply didn't exist.
Having started working at a young age, Fu Shan had extensive social experience. He'd seen plenty of people like Xia Mingyao before, and he had no interest in dealing with such types.
Honestly, he couldn't understand where Xia Mingyao's sense of superiority came from.
*You look down on others, huh?*
*Well, I don't even care to acknowledge you!*
Startled by Fu Shan suddenly addressing him, Li Yue was momentarily taken aback. But he quickly recovered, shooting Fu Shan a grateful look and nodding vigorously.
"Yes, yes, sounds good! Good idea! Fu Shan, let's go sit together!"
*Fu Shan is such a genuinely nice guy!*
*He's not arrogant at all, and he doesn't look down on me just because I'm only a second-tier actor.*
Li Yue thought, *This Fu Shan is someone I can get along with!*
-----------------------
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(End of Chapter)