7: Chapter 7 The Seat Next to a 30 Million Fan

Jiang Rumu turned her head.

"Oh, is that so?"

Two words. Polite, cold, with no intention of continuing the conversation.

Gu Zeyan leaned back two centimeters. His right index finger tapped on his knee, harder than before.

Han Xubai was already chatting with Shen Jue, speaking quickly, every sentence landing right in the middle of the comfort zone—

"Brother Jue's latest drama had great ratings; my mom watched it three times."

Shen Jue was so flattered he scratched his head and grinned foolishly.

He was completely unaware that the other person had already gone through his portfolio, fan demographics, and commercial value within thirty seconds.

Gu Zeyan occasionally interjected a sentence towards Jiang Rumu, each one carrying just the right amount of concern.

Jiang Rumu's responses never exceeded four words.

Cen Ye was playing games with one hand in the corner, occasionally looking up and scanning the room, remaining silent.

Li Li sat on the very edge of the U-shaped sofa, saying nothing.

No one talked to him.

Social circles have their own laws of gravity—status is mass, and mass determines orbit.

Amateurs are ranked at the very end.

Everyone present carried a fan base and professional history, so the priority of small talk was automatically arranged. Those who didn't make the cut just sat there.

Li Li didn't care.

In his past life, when he delivered food, the office receptionists wouldn't even call his name; that was much colder than this.

He leaned against the sofa, preparing to be background decoration for two hours.

The cushion beside him sank.

Jiang Rumu had moved over.

After a polite chat with Gu Zeyan for less than two minutes, she stood up, walked around the coffee table, and went from one end of the sofa's arc to the other.

From next to Gu Zeyan—she moved next to Li Li.

She sat down.

She didn't speak.

Li Li turned his head to look at her.

She also turned her head to look at him.

Zero point three seconds.

Both turned their heads back at the same time.

One stared at the fire sprinkler on the ceiling.

One stared at the grout lines of the floor tiles.

Neither touched the other, neither started a conversation, but sitting together didn't feel awkward.

The live stream comments exploded at this moment—

[Wait, these two are sitting together?]

[Why is there a... strange sense of harmony?]

[Two introverts forced to attend a team-building event, hahaha.]

[One looking at the sky, one looking at the ground; what kind of social anxiety team building is this?]

[Why did she sit next to the amateur????]

[Sister Mu: Rather than making awkward small talk with people I don't know well, I'd rather zone out with someone I don't know at all.]

[This amateur helped Sister Mu move her luggage!! I went back and checked the replay!]

[? Moving luggage? When did that happen! Did anyone clip it?]

The number of online viewers exceeded 1.5 million.

And it was still rising.

Gu Zeyan didn't move.

But he glanced at the empty spot where Jiang Rumu had been, then glanced at Li Li.

He paused for a beat.

---

Another live stream.

Su Wantang's ring light was on.

Twenty-three thousand online.

The second installment of the "The 'Average-But-Confident' Men Who Loved Me in Those Years" series was in progress.

While reciting her lines, her right hand was scrolling through the secondary screen at an angle out of camera view.

The fourth item on the TikTok trending list—The premiere of "Dating in Travel" guests revealed.

She clicked on it.

The screen loaded.

VIP Hall, U-shaped sofa.

Bottom right corner—the position at the very end of the sofa.

Short, messy hair. Calluses on his knuckles.

Su Wantang's finger scrolling the screen froze.

Li Li.

The breakup message she sent hadn't been replied to yet. She thought he was still drinking in that rented room or had re-registered as a food delivery rider.

He was sitting there.

Sitting with Jiang Rumu.

In the frame, Li Li's left hand was resting on the sofa armrest, expressionless.

Relaxed.

The Li Li she knew wasn't like this.

That Li Li was always tense in front of her—guessing her mood, carefully choosing his words, as if he could be snapped at any moment.

The person on the screen wasn't tense anymore.

Comments scrolled by—

"Sister Tangtang, what's wrong?"

"Sister, your expression is so strange."

"Wait, do you guys feel like that amateur guy on the Dating Reality Show... looks a bit like the one Sister Tang used to do live streams with?"

Su Wantang's spine stiffened.

She flipped the secondary screen face down on the table.

She looked up, her voice half a degree sweeter.

"It's nothing, I just zoned out for a second—sisters, let's continue."

Her speaking speed was half a beat faster.

Under the table, her fingernails dug into the silicone of her phone case, leaving a white mark.

She knew this comment would be screenshotted.

She knew people would dig into it.

If this show became popular, the label "Average-But-Confident Man" wouldn't just be thrown at Li Li.

It would be thrown at her.

---

VIP Hall.

Li Li's left wrist felt slightly hot.

Small blue characters emerged from the lines of his skin, visible only to him.

[Main Mission Hint: Please confirm the target female guest, Host.]

[Current TikTok fan data for female guests in the VIP Hall—]

[Jiang Rumu: 32.16 million.]

He lowered his head and glanced at the number.

Beside him, Jiang Rumu was staring at the fire sprinkler on the ceiling with an extremely serious attitude, likely studying the thread pitch of the chrome alloy nozzle.

Thirty-two point one six million.

The blue text on his wrist jumped again.

[Congratulations to the Host for triggering the mission association condition in advance.]

[Top reward tier unlocked: ??? (Surprise Blind Box)]

[But you still need to get her to agree to team up with you next.]

[Suggestion: Don't mess it up.]

Hmph.

So what if he messed it up?

No simping.

Li Li pulled down his sleeve to cover his wrist.

Jiang Rumu retracted her attention and turned her head.

"What are you looking at?"

"A mosquito bite."

"Are there mosquitoes in Terminal T3?"

"No. Just checking preventatively."

Jiang Rumu didn't respond.

But that aloof vibe from just a moment ago had faded.

Her gaze drifted back to the ceiling.

The air between the two of them was different than it had been five minutes ago.

Five minutes ago, they had nothing to do with each other.

Now, they weren't talking, but they knew who was sitting next to them.

The comments on the wall-mounted screen were still scrolling—

[Forget Gu Zeyan, didn't you see Sister Mu move seats on her own?]

[What was that amateur's name again? The one who helped move the luggage?]

[Li Li—the one with no status, only a job, hahaha.]

Online viewers: 1.53 million.

The door to the VIP Hall was pushed open.

High heels clicked on the floor tiles, one by one, at a steady pace, each step landing right in the middle of the hallway.

The person hadn't entered yet.

The perfume arrived first.

Amber, tobacco, black pepper.

Cen Ye paused his game.

Shen Jue's mouth shut.

Yin Ruoying.

Black suit dress. Hong Kong-style big curls. Long tassel earrings.

She didn't greet anyone upon entering, walking straight to the single sofa in the center.

She sat down.

Crossed her legs.

"I'm not the last one, am I?"

No one replied.

She didn't care.

Her attention had already slid elsewhere—to the very edge of the sofa, to the less than half-arm's distance between the amateur and Jiang Rumu.

Her tassel earrings swayed one last time and stopped.

"Oh."