Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Chapter 68 Jinjiang Literature City Exclusive Release

Xie Chen sat in the audience without leaving, but he had already given a heads-up that the camera wouldn’t capture him.

The new song Bai Li was about to sing used the accompaniment that Xie Chen had recorded in advance.

On stage,

Bai Li completely ignored the looks cast by many contestants.

With his biological brother and his favorite teacher present, Bai Li felt full of security.

Soon,

The familiar accompaniment began to play. Bai Li sat on the chair, facing the microphone in front of him, and glanced lightly at Xie Chen not far away before softly opening his mouth.

He named the new song simply and directly: "Like You."

Xie Chen quietly listened, his deep and cold eyes reflecting the figure on stage.

Without a doubt, his Bai Li sang very well.

At the end of the song, the audience applauded enthusiastically.

Bai Li curved his eyes, smiling gently at Xie Chen below the stage.

Their eyes met clearly, and Bai Li saw that Xie Chen gave him a slight smile.

Xie Chen rarely smiled. Although he treated him very well and gently, there were few smiles on his face.

Such a smile made Bai Li’s heart beat like a drum instantly.

He performed well, and when the results were announced, sure enough, he advanced to the next round.

“Li Li.”

The manager, Fat Brother, came up to him. He already knew Bai Li’s name and privately called him “Li Li.”

Right away, he praised Bai Li enthusiastically: “You did great, keep it up! By the way, didn’t I tell you? Advancing to the next round means the company will reward you with ten thousand yuan.”

“I’ll take you to get the money later.”

Fat Brother spoke excitedly, but Xie Chen frowned, objecting to this reward.

He had already confirmed with Bai Li that Bai Li would not develop his career in the entertainment industry.

Therefore, the more the company invested in Bai Li now, the more they would demand later.

The company wasn’t doing charity, and neither was his cousin.Bai Li naturally didn’t understand all these twists and turns. He nodded at Fat Brother and happily went to collect the money.

On WeChat,

Xie Chen directly transferred twenty thousand to his cousin.

“Li Li’s reward money.”

Xie Mao: “?”

Xie Mao: “You still won’t let Li Li enter the entertainment industry?”

Xie Chen: “He’s not suited for it.”

Xie Mao: “He’s very suited. Achen, Li Li is a good talent, I can promote him.”

Xie Mao: “Besides, with us protecting him together, you don’t have to worry about him at all.”

All of Xie Mao’s persuasion had no effect on Xie Chen.

Xie Chen was very clear about what kind of place the entertainment industry was.

Letting Li Li in would just be sending the little guy to get bullied.

Xie Chen guarded him tightly, and as his biological cousin, Xie Mao really couldn’t force the issue.

“Alright then, I’ll respect your decision.”

After settling this on WeChat, Xie Chen saw that Xie Mao had withdrawn the money and arranged to have a meal with him.

“Sir.”

Bai Li tugged at Xie Chen’s large hand, swinging it: “I’m going to get the money, will you come with me?”

“Hmm.”

The child, still with bandages wrapped around his head, didn’t dare to leave Xie Chen’s side.

Not long after,

Bai Li got a thick envelope of ten thousand yuan and handed the money all to Xie Chen.

“Sir, please keep it for me!”

“Alright.” Xie Chen accepted the money and ruffled Bai Li’s head.

Fat Brother had originally wanted to play the family card, telling Bai Li the company valued him and encouraging him to work hard with good future benefits…

But now, seeing Xie Chen, all those promises of benefits were swallowed back by him.

With Xie Chen around, how could Bai Li really lack money?

Fat Brother laughed it off and casually said a few polite words, watching Bai Li being led out of the company by Xie Chen.

It wasn’t very early, yet Xie Chen still went to the company.Bai Li obediently followed, talking to him as they walked: “Sir, when can I take off the bandages?”

“Wait a few more days.”

“Oh.”

Bai Li reached out to touch his forehead, but before he could make contact, Xie Chen stopped him.

“Don’t touch it recklessly.”

Xie Chen grabbed his hand, not letting him move.

When they arrived at the company, Anna was extremely busy. She saw Xie Chen and Bai Li and hurried over.

“Boss!”

Anna suppressed the excitement in her voice: “You’re back.”

Xie Chen sat down at the desk and had Anna bring over a chair.

He skillfully flipped through the paperwork piled on the desk, while Bai Li obediently stayed by his side.

Anna quickly moved the chair over for Bai Li to sit and brought various snacks, filling half the desk. As she expected, the boss didn’t object at all.

“Li Li, what happened to your forehead?”

Anna couldn’t help but ask after setting down the items.

Bai Li, holding a snack, answered obediently: “I fell off the bed.”

Anna instinctively glanced at Xie Chen.

Xie Chen pressed his fist to his lips and cleared his throat. Anna immediately withdrew her gaze and didn’t dare say more.

Bai Li was playing with Xie Chen’s tablet; he wasn’t watching TV but searching for information.

After working for a while, Xie Chen noticed that Bai Li was quietly not disturbing him and occasionally writing something with a pen on paper. Curious, he turned to look.

“Are you doing calculations?”

“Yes, I’m checking how much it costs to open a cat café.”

Bai Li gripped the pen seriously and calculated: “The information I found says buying cats costs the most money. I don’t have to buy cats.”

“Then next, only the rent…”

Bai Li calculated item by item, trying to figure out the cost of running a cat café.

Seeing this, Xie Chen stopped him from continuing.

“I have a vacant commercial space.”Xie Chen’s long, handsome fingers tapped the rent item: “You don’t have to count the rent.”

Bai Li shook his head: “It still has to be paid.”

Xie Chen raised an eyebrow: “Really?”

“Mm!”

Bai Li said seriously: “Yes, it does.”

Rent is so expensive; he’s not going to be some freeloading cat!

“Alright then.”

Xie Chen knew his nature, so he immediately gave a “reasonable” suggestion.

“If I also get involved in the cat café, then we’re partners. I provide the shop, you provide the cats, and we do it together. How about that?”

Bai Li: “…”

Bai Li was a bit confused by the suggestion: “Sir, you want to partner with me?”

“Yeah, isn’t that welcome, Li Li?”

“Welcome, but I still have to work with Meimei—”

“Then add me too, the three of us together.”

Under Xie Chen’s various coaxing, the innocent cat who had never done business just nodded repeatedly.

Xie Chen achieved his goal and happily pinched his face.

So soft.

Feels just like petting a cat.

Anna silently listened to the boss coaxing someone and sighed quietly in her heart.

Sigh.

Li Li looks so easy to coax.

If he stays with the boss from now on, won’t the boss just take advantage of him completely?

Xie Chen took over the cat café project and handed it to his subordinates to handle.

Meanwhile, Bai Li took a few days off from the seafood shop and promised to catch up on all the owed deliveries by working overtime later.

The other cats continued their usual routine, escorted by the dogs, going to work on time every day.

At the program team,

Bai Li smoothly advanced through the rounds. He was handsome, learned dancing from Zhou Zhi, singing from Xie Chen, and had a pretty good actor as his third brother.

In summary, the external support was just too strong, making it hard for others to compete.By the fourth round, there were already few contestants left.

Diao Ling, Wan You, He Yu, Zhan Xue, and Bai Li, who had changed his name back.

Every night, Xie Chen still gave his own cat extra tutoring sessions; the others were all full of fighting spirit.

The first-place prize was very generous, and they all wanted to use this opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Bai Li followed the routine, neither perfunctory nor aggressive, trying his best in every competition.

As the final competition approached,

Xie Chen heard from Anna and Xie Mao: “They’ve already suppressed a lot of Bai Li’s negative hot searches.”

Since Bai Li joined the team, there had been no shortage of “black” rumors about him on popular forums.

But Xie Chen was not to be trifled with.

Those “black” rumors didn’t last long before being completely buried.

At night.

Diao Ling looked at the messages online, then suddenly smashed her phone onto the floor with a “bang.”

“It’s useless.”

She ground her teeth and said, “Still useless!!!”

Trying to slander Bai Li was simply impossible.

She spent money trying to find marketing accounts, but no marketing account dared to take the job.

The relationship between Bai Li and Xie Chen was even more ambiguous than the one between Tan Yi and Xie Chen before.

No one dared to offend Xie Chen.

As Diao Ling thought about this, suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her.

Since they couldn’t slander Bai Li, then all they needed was to make Xie Chen take his attention away from Bai Li.

Tan Yi…

They could use Tan Yi to suppress Bai Li.

The more Diao Ling thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She narrowed her eyes, picked up her phone, and strode toward the study.

Late at night.

The hot searches for Tan Yi and Xie Chen were unknowingly pushed up.

And the CP super topic for Tan Yi and Xie Chen was also stirred up and became active.

“Back then, Xie Chen and Tan Yi were super sweet; they even raised a cat together. I don’t believe my CP just ended like that!”"To be honest, the current rumored romance partner of Xie Chen looks clearly too young; he’s still best suited with Tan Yi."

"I also feel that Xie Chen’s relationship with that Bai Li might just be father-son! ChenYi CP, let’s go!!!"

These fans shipping the CP online aren’t just paid shills; no one can suppress them.

Meanwhile, in the show group,

Bai Li happened to overhear others discussing Xie Chen and Tan Yi.

“Xie Chen and Tan Yi are the real match; that Bai Li, what does he understand?” “I agree...”

These comments about the ‘Mr. and Third Brother’ reached Bai Li’s ears, causing him to pause in his steps.

“Match.”

Bai Li’s beautiful amber eyes showed a hint of confusion.

“Third Brother and Mr. are a match…”

What about him?

Isn’t he a match with Mr.?

Just as Bai Li hesitated, Tan Yi, who was also in the show group, walked over in a few steps.

“Li Li.”

He looked at his younger brother’s injury, saw the bandage was clean and all right, then placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and led him a few steps forward.

“Did you hear what they said?”

“I did.”

Bai Li lowered his head, not looking at Third Brother: “They said Third Brother and Mr. are a couple.”

Tan Yi’s face twisted for a moment.

“Be good.”

He suppressed his chills and took his brother aside: “Don’t be jealous.”

“Third Brother doesn’t like anyone surnamed Xie.”

Silly Third Brother actually thought his precious younger brother was jealous of him liking Xie Chen, worried he didn’t like his brother anymore.

He firmly assured his brother: “Third Brother doesn’t date. Third Brother has Li Li, that’s enough.”

His brother was obedient and good-looking; when he found a partner in the future, anyone less obedient or less good-looking than his brother would definitely not be acceptable.

And with that ruled out, he feared he might end up lonely forever.

“Li Li, watch.”In front of Bai Li, Tan Yi took out his phone and gave a live demonstration of what it means to break up a CP on the spot.

【Tan Yi V: Just to clarify, the rumors about me and Mr. Xie Chen @Xie Chen V — we are just ordinary friends. Regarding the online gossip that I and Mr. Xie raised the same cat, that’s a misunderstanding. The cat belongs to my younger brother, my brother’s name is Bai Li.】

Once Bai Li’s name came out,

The fans happily shipping Xie Chen x Tan Yi were instantly deflated.

Everyone knew Bai Li; he was the youth from Xie Chen’s livestream room.

In the comment section on Xie Chen’s Weibo, the phrase “He’s my kid” was still pinned.

Shortly after Tan Yi’s post went up, Xie Chen reposted with a comment:

“The cat’s name is Li Li, it’s raised by me and Li Li.”

In this sentence, the two “Li Lis” — the first refers to the kitten, the second is Bai Li.

With the two main parties dismantling the CP, Xie Chen also stabilized the official CP, making it impossible for the CP cult to survive!

“See that?”

The two brothers looked head-to-head at the phone; Tan Yi, feeling like a good older brother, asked Bai Li.

Bai Li glanced at Xie Chen’s repost; the low mood he had just now completely vanished.

“I saw it.”

Bai Li raised his face happily and looked at Tan Yi: “Third Brother, you’re really good!”

With Third Brother’s words, no one would spread rumors anymore.

“Of course.”

Tan Yi pinched Bai Li’s fair cheek, proudly saying: “If Third Brother doesn’t treat you well, who else would?”

This wave of CP bashing completely failed. Thanks to Xie Chen’s repeated protection on Weibo, Bai Li’s status as the official partner was deeply rooted in everyone’s hearts.

The night before the final competition,

Diao Ling was called over by Lin Chao. She looked at Lin Chao on the sofa, then at the curly-haired youth beside him, a trace of unease flickering across her face.

“Brother Lin.”

Diao Ling forced a smile, flirtatiously leaning toward Lin Chao: “It’s so late already, why do you still have someone here?”

This curly-haired youth always gave Diao Ling a strong sense of danger.

The reason was clear: Lin Chao spoiled this youth too much. Plus, the youth was so good-looking...

“Stand properly, don’t get close to me.”

With Bai Liu there, Lin Chao sat upright, not letting this woman get near him.Xiao Liu is still young; he can’t let Xiao Liu be led astray!

“I’m just here to ask you—last time you asked me to deal with someone, his name was Bai Li, right?”

Diao Ling’s smile nearly slipped.

She didn’t understand why Lin Chao would say such private things in front of an outsider. If this got out, wouldn’t she be in trouble?

“Brother Lin.”

Thinking this, Diao Ling coquettishly tried to get closer again: “There are still people here, why did you suddenly bring this up?”

“Answer me.”

Lin Chao frowned and shifted his body aside.

Seeing his bad expression, Diao Ling had no choice but to grit her teeth and nod.

“Yes, I mentioned it to you before.”

Diao Ling was terrified but still trying to stay calm: “That Bai Li, he’s gotten this far because he’s good at crawling into beds.”

“Brother Lin, you—”

Before she finished, Bai Liu already poured a cup of cold water on her face.

Diao Ling’s delicate makeup was ruined and looked messy.

She pinched her palm, wanting to slap this white-haired guy, but with Lin Chao there, she had to hold back.

“Brother Lin, did I say something wrong? Why is he treating me like this?”

“Insulting my brother?”

Bai Liu stood up and looked coldly at the woman: “Calling him a bed-crawler?” “And secretly hiring people to deal with him?”

With each word Bai Liu spoke, Diao Ling’s heart sank deeper.

Bai Li—how could he be this youth’s brother?!

“Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu, don’t get angry.”

It was rare to see Bai Liu lose his temper. Lin Chao didn’t care about the water poured on Diao Ling—whether it was water or acid, right now he was protecting Bai Liu.

To him, Diao Ling was just a toy for amusement.

But Bai Liu was the little genius Lin Chao personally invested in raising, his pride, even his glory.

Between the two, it was obvious which mattered more.

“Don’t worry.”

Lin Chao patted Bai Liu’s shoulder, coaxing kindly: “Leave this matter to me.”

“If she harms your brother, I won’t let her off. She’ll never be able to bother your brother again.”After these words, Diao Ling’s face instantly turned pale: “Brother Lin, Brother Lin, you can’t treat me like this. I’ve been with you for so long…”

“Shut up.”