Chapter 36
Fan Reactions
Yin Ru collapsed on the floor, surrounded by a pile of empty beer bottles, still clutching one in her hand. Her eyes were fixed on the high-definition television screen in front of her, laughing hysterically as she watched Lu Tingchuan and Xia Shi leaning close together, smiling tenderly at each other.
Ye Ping walked in and helped her up. “Ah Ru, didn’t you promise me you’d quit all this?”
Yin Ru’s eyes were glazed, her grip tightening desperately around Ye Ping’s wrist. “Ping-jie! What did Chu Xun say?”
“Chu Xun said… that whatever Xia Shi says is also his decision.”
Yin Ru let out a hollow laugh. “So, he insists I withdraw. He refuses to even see me, is that it?”
Ye Ping’s lips trembled as she frowned. “Ah Ru… maybe it’s time to let it go. It’s been so many years, Chu Xun—”
“Let it go? Let it go? How can I just let it go?”
Yin Ru’s voice cracked, her emotions teetering on the edge of a breakdown. Ye Ping quickly moved forward to hold her, but Yin Ru struggled violently. In their tussle, the neckline of Yin Ru’s clothes fell open, revealing several red, raw whip marks on her skin.
Ye Ping froze, her whole body trembling. “Liang Feng… he did it again, didn’t he?” She stopped herself from saying more, afraid to provoke Yin Ru further, and instead said softly, “You’re hurt, Ah Ru. Stop drinking. I’ll get the first aid kit.”
Yin Ru gave a bitter laugh. Suddenly she shot up, grabbed a beer bottle, and smashed it against the television. “Xia Shi! Xia Shi! It’s all because of you! All of it! You say it has nothing to do with Xia Shi—but without her, none of this would’ve happened! And now you’re saying that Xia Shi’s words are your words! Chu Xun! Chu Xun!”
Her screams tore through the room, each name dragged out between clenched teeth, each syllable heavy with venomous hatred.
“I loved you so much! Why wouldn’t you just give me one more chance? Just one chance!”
Ye Ping sighed helplessly. Her heart softened despite herself, and she stepped outside to call Chu Xun.
“Ping-jie, I told you last time—that was the last time. There’s nothing between Yin Ru and me anymore.”
“Chu Xun! I know this was all Ah Ru’s choice. She picked this road herself, and she’ll crawl it on her knees if she has to. But don’t you bear any responsibility? Do you remember that night, back when you two were together—when you got drunk, and Ah Ru took you home? You were completely out of it. You probably don’t even remember that you held her all night and kept calling Xia Shi’s name. Ah Ru cried the whole night after that. The next day, she accepted Guo Zihua’s offer.”
“Chu Xun, that wasn’t the first time Guo Zihua approached her. But before that, she refused him every time. She would rather stay unknown forever than take that step. You were the final straw. You pushed her down this path.”
There was silence on the other end of the line—long, suffocating silence. Ye Ping didn’t know what he was thinking, so she continued pleading.
“Chu Xun, this show I Am the King of Songs is so important to her. You know she’s made mistakes during live performances this past year, and the rumors have been brutal. She’s trained hard for months. We wanted to use this show as her comeback. But if she quits now, after just one episode, everyone will assume the rumors are true—that she’s lost her voice. It will destroy her.”
A quiet sigh came through the receiver. Ye Ping’s heart tightened. She pressed on, her tone trembling with emotion.
“Chu Xun, even if you two didn’t end up married, you still shared something once. Isn’t there even a shred of feeling left? Are you really that heartless—”
“Ping-jie!” Chu Xun interrupted sharply. “Between participating in a show and escaping Liang Feng, which do you think is more important? She’s in no condition to be on television right now. If you really care about her, help her withdraw from the industry for a while and find a good doctor. As for Liang Feng, don’t forget there’s also Mrs. Liang. She’s not someone to mess with. I still have some connections with her—I’ll try to talk to her. That’s the last thing I’ll do for Yin Ru.”
Ye Ping opened her mouth to argue, but he spoke again before she could.
“Ping-jie, your words are touching, but I was there. I know exactly what happened between Yin Ru and me. I’m not blind. Maybe she had her own motives back then. I don’t remember what I said when I was drunk, but even if I did say those things, I wasn’t the one who led her astray. I’ll help you—not because of her, but because of you. I still owe you for helping me when I debuted.”
Beep. Beep.
The call disconnected. Ye Ping sighed heavily. That was it—the last bit of goodwill between them was gone.
She remembered when Chu Xun was still a rookie, and she’d used her few industry connections to help keep his first album from being canceled. But now, this favor he’d promised was just to settle that old debt.
Her heart clenched. She turned back around—and jumped. Yin Ru was standing right behind her, pale and expressionless, her gaze cold and sharp as a knife.
“He refused, didn’t he?” Yin Ru sneered. “Of course he did. Between me and Xia Shi, how could he ever choose me?”
Ye Ping opened her mouth to speak, but Yin Ru had already turned away and slammed the door shut.
Leaning against it, Yin Ru clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms.
Xia Shi… Xia Shi! You already have Lu Tingchuan—why can’t you leave Chu Xun alone?
Xia Shi!
The latest episode of My Date With a Star was a huge success. The hype just kept building. Even though Lu Tingchuan and Xia Shi hadn’t spoken much, their classmates, teachers, and friends made up for it—teasing and revealing all sorts of stories that left fans swooning.
The teenage fans were reminded of their own school crushes—the class beauties and handsome boys—and even the older ones found themselves reminiscing about their youth.
Everyone agreed: hearing those stories from other people’s mouths was so much more painful than hearing them from the couple themselves!
“So the god-tier couple has such a beautiful history! Forget Chu Xun and Xia Shi—this is true destiny! Meant to be!”
“Ugh, so jealous of them!”
“I’ve rewatched this episode eight hundred times and still can’t get enough!”
“Same here! Never tired of it!”
“Mom, I believe in love again!”
“I used to ship Chu Xun and Xia Shi, but now? Forget it! Lu Tingchuan and Xia Shi are the real golden couple!”
At Lu Tingchuan and Xia Shi’s old high school, a few teachers even dug up an old debate competition video from the archives and uploaded it online. The footage was blurry, but it didn’t matter—fans went wild.
“Oh my god, look at Lu Tingchuan during that debate—he’s supposed to be on the opposing side! Why is he agreeing with everything she says? Where’s your argument, man?”
“The expressions on his teammates’ faces, though—they look like they’ve seen a ghost!”
“Haha, he’s blushing and can’t stop sneaking peeks at her! Too cute!”
“Excuse you, my man does have principles! His principle is: whatever she says is right!”
Another fan posted close-up screenshots from a group photo taken after the debate.
“Look! Zoom in here—see that? He’s glancing down at her with that tiny smile, and his fingers are inching toward her hand. Tell me that’s not him trying to hold her hand!”
Others joined in, analyzing their body language like detectives.
“Okay, you guys remember that Hong Kong drama Mind Reader? According to body positioning theory, the way Xia Shi’s head tilts toward him means she feels safe and close to him!”
Soon, every entertainment headline was dominated by the “Headline Couple” once again—some even nicknaming them the Dog-Torture Couple, because they made everyone single feel attacked by their sweetness.
Fans gushed, joked, and even lined up under Xia Shi’s Weibo to “offer” her kneeling boards—saying if Lu Tingchuan ever made her mad, he could kneel on a keyboard, durian, or broken glass.
Lu Tingchuan could only laugh helplessly—his fans had completely switched sides.
Then, one sharp-eyed netizen suddenly had a revelation.
[Lu Tingchuan’s Crazy Fan]: Wait! Does anyone remember that blogger “Big Baby’s Grandma”? Didn’t she say the same things ages ago? That the god and goddess met in high school, that he wrote her love letters, brought her breakfast, and even got chased out by her mom with a broom?! Everything matches the show’s stories exactly!
[Xiao Qiqi]: (⊙o⊙) Oh my god… you’re saying… “Big Baby’s Grandma”… could she really be Lu Tingchuan’s mother-in-law?!
[Chang Xia Zhitou]: No way! That rich blogger is actually Xia Shi’s mom—the god’s mother-in-law?!
[Bloom Like Summer Flowers]: I just reread all her posts, and seriously, only family would know these details!
[Tech Guru]: I checked her IP—it’s from Philadelphia! And guess where Xia Shi’s parents live? PHILADELPHIA!
The fandom went nuts. Everyone rushed to her page, flooding her comments with cries of “Mother-in-law!” “Madam!” “Grandma!” begging for more stories.
Some even dug up one of her older posts mentioning that Lu Tingchuan had promised her a “little princess.”
“The evidence is clear! Waiting for the baby girl now! Madam, how far along is Xia Shi? We’re counting down the months!”
Meanwhile, Xia Shi had just finished dinner when her phone rang—it was her mother, sounding anxious.
“Xiaxia, I woke up and my Weibo is exploding! Everyone knows who I am! What should I do? I didn’t cause you trouble, did I?”
Xia Shi sighed. “You knew it might cause trouble, and you still posted! Mom, why do you insist on arguing with fans and fanfic writers online?!”
Her mother immediately huffed. “Put Tingchuan on the phone! I’m not talking to you!”
Xia Shi rolled her eyes. “Seriously, whose mom are you?” She refused to hand over the phone—but her mother just hung up and called Lu Tingchuan directly.
Lu Tingchuan glanced at Xia Shi’s exasperated face and answered with a smile.
“Mom, yes, I saw everything you posted. It’s fine, really. If you enjoy it, keep doing it. No, no trouble at all. Actually, since everyone already knows it’s you, how about we get Yushuo to verify your account? Add that little blue checkmark?”
On the other end, her mother squealed with delight—her excitement was loud enough for Xia Shi to hear from across the room.
Lu Tingchuan chuckled. “All right, I’ll have Yushuo handle it. Huh? The little princess? Ah—” He turned to Xia Shi with a grin. “Xiaxia says yes! We’ll definitely work hard for that!”
When he hung up, Xia Shi rolled her eyes again. “She pretended to be worried she’d caused us trouble. What she really wanted was for us to say it’s fine!”
Lu Tingchuan laughed softly. “Your mom’s adorable, honestly. She’s lively, but she knows her limits—she’d never post anything too personal.”
Xia Shi sighed, half amused, half resigned.
Just then, little Lu Xuan came downstairs with his homework. He handed it to his father for checking.
“Hmm, very good this time. Your math’s improved a lot!”
The boy beamed, then pulled out another paper from behind his back—a flyer for his kindergarten’s Thanksgiving event.
“Thanksgiving?” Xia Shi blinked. “That’s still over a month away. They’re preparing already?”
“Uh-huh! Teacher said it’ll be a family performance, so we need to plan early. We’re supposed to ask if our parents can join us onstage.”
Xia Shi glanced at Lu Tingchuan. “So, does our little one want to perform?”
Lu Xuan nodded eagerly, his eyes bright. “Can you and Daddy do it with me? We could do a play! Daddy’s really good at acting—he can teach us!”
His voice rose with excitement, but Lu Tingchuan looked troubled. “Sorry, Xuanxuan. Daddy might not be able to join. I have work.”
“Oh…” The boy’s shoulders drooped. “But you said you only have Where Are We Going, Daddy? left to film, and your next movie isn’t until next year…”
Lu Tingchuan sighed. “That’s true, but I have to start training soon. The new movie has a lot of action scenes. I’ll also be busy taking you on the show, so I won’t have much free time. I might not be able to rehearse the play with you.”
The little boy lowered his head sadly. Guilt washed over Lu Tingchuan as he lifted him onto his lap.
“But even if Daddy can’t perform with you, I’ll still be in the same city. I’ll come home every day and definitely be there for your Thanksgiving event. Okay?”
“Okay…”
He agreed quietly, still a little disappointed. Lu Tingchuan quickly flipped through the flyer. “Look, it says there’ll also be parent-child games. I’ll join those with you! That sounds fun, right?”
Lu Xuan’s face lit up again. “Yeah!”
Xia Shi chuckled, resting her chin on her hand. “So now Xuanxuan’s closer to Daddy, huh? You only care if Daddy can perform with you, not Mommy?”
The boy jumped off his father’s lap and climbed into her arms. “No, no! I love Mommy the most! Can you play with me then?” His eyes sparkled. “Mommy, let’s play piano together—four hands!”
“Four hands it is! What song should we play? Since it’s Thanksgiving, how about Thanksgiving the piano duet?”
He frowned adorably. “But I don’t know that one!”
“That’s okay—we have over a month. Mommy will teach you!”
“Okay!”
