At that moment, Ti Xiao held his phone, just as dumbfounded as Xiao Yao was in the reception room.
How did I just take a nap and wake up to a world that’s changed? How did I suddenly become someone else?
The author lady who posted the Weibo had published several books and was fairly well-known in the community. Even with Weibo’s content restrictions, her personal following and the impact she brought were not to be underestimated.
That Weibo post had only been up for about two minutes, but the number of shares, comments, and likes was already staggering. Not only that, Ti Xiao’s own Weibo inbox was flooded with private messages and random tags from strangers.
The most ridiculous private message came from a small entertainment company—one Ti Xiao had never even heard of—asking if he was interested in becoming a model.
Ti Xiao couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.
Looks like he really could start making a living off his looks now… thanks to his own tall, handsome boyfriend.
After finishing a glass of water and grabbing his hotel key card, Ti Xiao prepared to make a trip to the company in person to set things straight. As he walked, he kept scrolling through the comments under the Weibo post.
As time passed, the comment count continued to climb, mostly falling into these categories: “Shouting how handsome and ready to become fans,” “About to fall into the ship (shipping),” “Pure screaming ahhhhhh,” “Want to snatch him home as a boyfriend,” and “Want to get it on—or be gotten on by him.”
Ti Xiao raised an eyebrow, thinking that last type of fan was pretty dangerous.
Just watching everyone gush about how handsome his boyfriend was made Ti Xiao feel a little pleased and giddy. His little hamster tail was practically sticking straight up.
Shaking his head, Ti Xiao quickly sent a message to the author lady who posted the Weibo, roughly explaining the situation and asking her to delete the post. At the same time, he posted a Weibo clarifying the facts and urging the gossip-hungry crowd to calm down.
Brilliant Brave Big Achi: “Oops, everything’s wrong here! The photo posted by Author #1 isn’t me. Please stop sending me private messages or tagging me. I’m not that tall or handsome [laugh-cry emoji].”
If he really were that tall, would he still be getting bullied every day by Xiao Yao?
Meanwhile, the reception room had turned into a battlefield.
The authors chattered away like a flock of excited sparrows, their previously quiet reception suddenly the liveliest of them all.
Xiao Yao and Guapi couldn’t get a word in; whenever they tried to explain, they were interrupted immediately.
Duck Neck Chang Qi took advantage of the distraction to rub Guapi’s thigh vigorously, ignoring everything else.
Xiao Yao’s temper was well known to Li Yi, who had known him for years. Xiao Yao was nice to people he knew but pretty harsh with strangers.
Watching Xiao Yao’s brows furrow deeper and his expression darken, Li Yi stood up trying to lighten the mood: “Stop, stop… Duck Neck, you’re not allowed to touch my butt!”
The interruption was merciless.
It was truly a chaotic scene. Li Yi wiped the sweat off his temple, thinking about how to end this mess.
Just then, a soft cough came from Xiao Yao, and the noisy reception instantly quieted down.
Some people just had that kind of presence—one soft word could grab everyone’s attention, while no matter how much you shouted, no one would notice others.
Li Yi wanted to cry.
“Um, sorry, can you please delete that Weibo post?” Xiao Yao spoke calmly and clearly; in the quiet room, his voice was especially distinct. “First, I don’t like my photo being posted online by strangers. Second, you got the wrong person—I’m not Achi. I’m just here to pick up some things for him.”
“Yeah, yeah, this isn’t Achi,” Li Yi added as he brushed away a hand that had been on his rear, quickly backing him up. “You’ve got the wrong person.”
No sooner had they said this than the door was pushed open.
Ti Xiao came in, slightly out of breath. The author lady who’d been pestering him hadn’t replied to his messages, and the reposts and comments kept growing—it was becoming a Weibo mini-phenomenon, so he’d hurried over.
As soon as he entered, he asked, “Is Author #1 here? Please delete that Weibo post. So many people are trying to steal my boyfriend, and I’m freaking out.”
One sentence both explained Xiao Yao’s relationship to him, confirmed his own identity as Achi, and didn’t embarrass Author #1 who’d posted the photo.
The dozen or so pairs of eyes in the reception all turned toward Ti Xiao.
As Ti Xiao closed the door and stood firmly in place, he gave a proper, straightforward introduction: “Hello everyone, I’m the real official author, Big Achi. As for this guy…”
He glanced over at Xiao Yao, who was also standing, then smiled and naturally hooked his arm through his boyfriend’s. “He’s my boyfriend.”
The pride in his tone was unmistakable. Xiao Yao even reached over to pinch his hamster ball’s cheek.
From the corner of the room came an immediate protest: “Duck Neck, stop pinching my face! Pick something else to bother!”
After clearing up the mix-up fairly quickly, the author lady deleted the Weibo post and sincerely apologized to both Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao.
Although the Weibo post was deleted, with the number of shares and comments it had already gathered—and given how fast things spread online—it was impossible to know how many copies had been saved or how many times it had been circulated.
It might even affect Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao’s real lives.
“No worries, no worries,” Ti Xiao was easygoing and soft-hearted. “Since you apologized, it’s all good. If you really want to make it up to me, could you help share my new series? I’ve been jealous of your follower count for ages, haha.”
Actually, just from this little mishap, Ti Xiao’s Weibo followers had already surged—much faster than from slowly building up fans through his own work.
He pinched Xiao Yao’s cheek again, thinking, Man, your face really can make a living.
What he didn’t notice was the hint of jealousy slowly rising on Xiao Yao’s face.
They’d already picked up the gifts meant for the authors. The afternoon event was canceled, but no one was leaving. A group of ladies sat watching the four men in the room, their smiles tinged with that kind of sly “auntie” grin, quietly taking notes and planning to sketch these moments into their next comic.
The first day of this embarrassing misunderstanding ended that way.
Before leaving, Li Yi specially asked Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao to stay behind, saying he had something important to discuss.
Clearing his throat, Li Yi said, “Just… try not to be too loud tonight.”
Ti Xiao frowned, “?”
Li Yi explained, “The soundproofing here isn’t great. Just be careful about the noise.”
Ti Xiao was speechless.
Chang Qi, standing nearby, quietly chuckled.
Seeing his little hamster ball getting bullied, Xiao Yao grabbed him and stood up, countering, “Li Yi, how did you know?”
That left Li Yi speechless.
Later that night, while Xiao Yao was in the shower, Ti Xiao lay on the bed and pulled out a sketchbook he’d secretly brought along, drawing as if he were writing in a diary.
In the picture, a Siamese cat wore a mask, and on the mask was a creamy milk-tea-colored hamster that looked exactly like their hamster Xiao.
Around the cat stood a group of other animals, all calling out the hamster’s name.
The real hamster nearby looked utterly confused.
In the next drawing, the Siamese cat took off the mask, revealing a coal-black face—but clearly smiling.
Then the cat gently picked up the confused hamster and carried him back to the nest, leaving a crowd of onlookers standing there in awe.
Ti Xiao hadn’t yet decided how to continue the drawing when his phone buzzed—it was a message from Ti Nanyi.
Ti Nanyi: “I saw the Weibo today~ hehe”
Magic Conch: “And then?”
Ti Nanyi: “Oh, so you’re trolling me, huh? Here, I’m sending you a picture of Xiao Hulu [picture]”
The photo showed Xiao Hulu sleeping, with a big red flower on her head. No matter how much Ti Nanyi messed around, she didn’t wake up.
The day before Ti Xiao left, he had sent Xiao Hulu to his mom’s house to avoid his kid getting influenced too much or turning all country-style. He told Ti Nanyi to send him a photo every day.
Magic Conch: “Take that flower off her head.”
Ti Nanyi obediently removed the big red flower and sent another photo to Ti Xiao before slowly getting to the point.
Ti Nanyi: “Uncle, actually, I think—”
Magic Conch: “Speak normal human language.”
Ti Nanyi: “I think you two should try doing live streams showing off your relationship. These days, a lot of people love watching couples be sweet together. You guys could give it a shot. Plus, with my aunt’s looks, you’d definitely pull in a big fan base. I really think it’d work.”
He practically ran out of breath after saying all that.
Actually, what Ti Nanyi said wasn’t totally new. This afternoon in the reception room, one of the ladies jokingly mentioned something similar. There were even thousands of people on Weibo begging for short videos of Ti Xiao and Xiao Yao’s daily life.
One small short-video platform had even privately messaged Ti Xiao, asking if he was interested in collaborating.
Ti Xiao just took it as a joke and didn’t take it seriously. After all, both he and Xiao Yao had their own work; they weren’t exactly planning to make a living off their looks.
Besides, Ti Xiao felt like broadcasting their private lives for others to watch and comment on, especially on a platform geared towards a younger audience, wasn’t something he could do.
As Ti Xiao’s mom put it, “You’re just an ordinary person, not a public figure. No need to make a big deal out of it.”
Ti Xiao let out a quiet sigh.
“What are you sighing for?” Xiao Yao just got out of the shower and heard his hamster ball sigh. “You upset?”
Ti Xiao quickly closed his sketchbook and rolled over to hug Xiao Yao, who was climbing onto the bed. “Not upset. It’s just… today’s thing. You know what I mean.”
Xiao Yao rolled around on the bed with him, then gently asked, “The Weibo thing?”
“Yeah.” Ti Xiao closed his eyes, letting Xiao Yao stroke his back slowly. “So many people want to steal my boyfriend. It’s making me mad.”
“Don’t worry,” Xiao Yao said softly, reassuring him. “He’s yours alone. No one’s stealing him away.”
“Does it bother you a lot?” Xiao Yao asked, thinking that he really should have stopped that lady from posting the Weibo in the first place.
Wait—lady?
Xiao Yao suddenly realized something, grabbed Ti Xiao’s chin, and made him look up. “I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” Ti Xiao opened his eyes, looking at his suddenly serious boyfriend.
Xiao Yao blinked and said in an overly formal tone, “Can you stop calling them ‘ladies’?”
“Then what should I call them? ‘Big sisters’?” Ti Xiao asked, confused, not sure what Xiao Yao was getting at.
“Or maybe call them ‘the barrier’?” He mimicked the accent from Jin City.
Xiao Yao laughed at his own joke, pinching Ti Xiao’s face. “Because I’m a little jealous.”
Ti Xiao made a dumbfounded face. Jealous? What’s there to be jealous about???
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