Chapter 11 – Screensaver
The barrage was blazing hot, with various words and small emojis scrolling by one after another.
It was overwhelming to watch.
Qiao Huaiyao had never seen such a scene before and didn’t know what to say for a moment.
As he hesitated about whether to close the live stream, the barrage in the live chat suddenly changed.
[“Run! Run quickly! The enemies are approaching! Sisters, retreat quickly!”]
[“What? What? Why am I having trouble understanding?”]
[“Don’t ask so many questions, log off to protect your account! Run!”]
…
Run? Run from what?
Qiao Huaiyao was confused, and it seemed like they weren’t talking to him but rather notifying the audience in the live chat.
Before he could figure out what was going on, a hand reached over from behind him and placed the phone upside down on the table.
“Brother?” Qiao Huaiyao looked up at him. “Why did you come back so soon?”
Bai Jinyan patted his shoulder. “They are reshooting some scenes inside, so I came back to wait.”
Qiao Huaiyao didn’t know the process of shooting commercials, but if they were reshooting scenes, Bai Jinyan would have to wait anyway. With Bai Jinyan’s popularity, the director should have allowed him to rest first.
“Perfect timing.” Qiao Huaiyao knocked on the cake box next to him. “Let’s have some afternoon tea.”
Bai Jinyan didn’t have a sweet tooth. He always chose semi-sweet or slightly salty biscuits and snacks, along with some lemon soda.
The only relatively sweet thing might be the sliced cream cake, but the sour fruit bits on top balanced the sweetness, making it pleasantly tangy.
“Sure.” Bai Jinyan casually ran his finger along the edge of the phone and said, “Make some tea for me. The cups and tea leaves are in the cabinet over there.”
Qiao Huaiyao had bought coffee, as the dessert shop didn’t seem to sell tea. He got up and said, “You eat first; I’ll be back soon.”
“No rush, just be careful not to burn yourself.”
Bai Jinyan’s hand on his shoulder had not yet retracted. He lifted his wrist, seemingly intending to pat Qiao Huaiyao’s head as usual.
But in that moment, his knuckles brushed against Qiao Huaiyao’s jawline, and in an instant, Bai Jinyan’s fingers curled up.
The movement was too subtle, and Qiao Huaiyao didn’t notice anything wrong with Bai Jinyan. He turned and went inside to make tea.
In his peripheral vision, Bai Jinyan glanced at the cameraman, concealing any expression on his face. He calmly pulled out a chair and sat down, flipping the phone back around.
Barrage: [“Qiao Qiao! Wife, don’t leave! Sob, sob, sob—Take your phone with you when you make tea. I can give you some tea-making tips.”]
[“I knew something was off when I was watching Bai Jinyan’s live stream earlier. Why was his phone’s screen always lit up? It wasn’t until the cameraman accidentally filmed the screen that I realized he was constantly watching his wife’s live stream!”]
[“OK, I understand now. I guess none of us calling him ‘wife’ can escape Bai Jinyan’s watchful eyes.”]
[“Help! I really got banned!”]
[“Goodbye, sisters. See you in the next account.”]
Three minutes later, the live chat fell silent, with not a single barrage left.
Despite that, the popularity of the live stream didn’t decrease but instead continued to soar, claiming the top spot on the popularity charts among all five live streams in the variety show, even prompting the live-streaming platform to promote this particular broadcast.
Some unsuspecting viewers clicked in, surprised by the high popularity but the absence of comments.
Bystander barrage:[ “Why is no one commenting? Is this popularity fake… or artificially boosted data?”]
A zero-level account followed up, [“It’s not fake. Type ‘wife’ in the chat.”]
The viewer didn’t understand and sent a barrage, [“Wife?”]
In the next moment, the live chat displayed a message: Account banned.
The zero-level account followed up again, [“Now you know why no one is commenting, right?”]
The viewer unable to comment: ……#@￥%@#! —
Qiao Huaiyao came out with the tea he had prepared, and he noticed that Bai Jinyan had the phone in his hand, recalling the contents of the barrage he had seen earlier. He hesitated and asked, “Brother, are you checking the live chat?”
“Not many people are talking,” Bai Jinyan casually placed the phone aside. “It’s pretty quiet.”
Qiao Huaiyao raised an eyebrow. Not many people were talking?
Perhaps it was due to Bai Jinyan’s intimidating presence that no one dared to comment.
Qiao Huaiyao placed the cakes and biscuits on Bai Jinyan’s side and arranged a small box of fresh fruit in front of himself.
He had just finished lunch not long ago, so he didn’t feel like eating cake now. It was the perfect time to have some fruit.
The entire frame was filled with the two of them having afternoon tea.
Qiao Huaiyao thought they should focus on eating to save time, lest they be called to shoot the commercial before eating much.
Unexpectedly, the commercial director didn’t arrive, but he received a text message from the variety show’s director.
Director: [You can’t just eat. You should show some concern for Bai Jinyan’s hard work, express your worry for him, how you think he’s tired, say some comforting words or something.]
The warm family atmosphere was what they should show in the live stream!
Now, looking at it, it was indeed heartwarming, but obviously not in line with the emotional direction promoted by the show.
The phone was right in front of the camera, and not only Qiao Huaiyao saw the message, but the live chat audience also saw it clearly.
Barrage: [“Hahaha, that’s right! The entire variety show director’s team is a bunch of comedians. I’m literally dying of laughter.”]
[“Director: You were supposed to deliver food, yet you’re just honestly live streaming yourself eating. You guys are so obedient, I might as well leash you all!”]
[“I can vaguely see the director screaming at the top of his lungs: Show some emotions now!”]
[“The director forcefully pulled Qiao Qiao to follow the script. This variety show is really not treating us as outsiders.”]
Bai Jinyan said casually, “No need to bother.”
Qiao Huaiyao felt that the director’s words made sense, as if he had some reference. He couldn’t help but ask, “Are other live streams like this too?”
Viewers from multiple live streams immediately spoke up:
[“Of course not. The Best Actress and her brother are quarreling, and Ji Zhenyi’s son woke up from his nap and cried loudly.”]
[“It’s as lively as New Year’s.”]
Qiao Huaiyao choked a bit, and listening to the barrage’s descriptions, it did sound lively.
They hadn’t finished their afternoon tea when the voices of the staff outside reached them.
Bai Jinyan got up, leisurely wiping his fingertips, and casually asked, “Do you want to go home first or come inside with me?”
Qiao Huaiyao nibbled on half a piece of cantaloupe and asked vaguely, “Can outsiders enter?”
“Of course not.” Bai Jinyan took a sip of tea and said calmly, “The filming progress is slow. When you go in, bring some drinks.”
Qiao Huaiyao widened his eyes suddenly. After a moment of astonishment, he couldn’t help but purse his lips, and a lingering smile appeared in his eyes.
Bai Jinyan ruffled his hair and said, “Let’s go.”
The filming location occupied most of the floor space.
It was proportionally adjusted to replicate the entire stage, which was visually stunning.
Bai Jinyan stood on the stage, and the photographer was adjusting the angles, but the shoot didn’t start right away.
Qiao Huaiyao sat not far away, watching Bai Jinyan under the spotlight.
Some people were born for the stage; when he stood there, it was hard to take your eyes off him.
His dark blue hair, specially dyed for this advertisement, was hidden in the black hair and was hard to notice. But under the lights, the dyed parts showed distinct colors. He wore a well-tailored suit that accentuated his sleek figure, making his legs appear long and slender.
Bai Jinyan’s thin lips were slightly pursed, and his phoenix eyes raised slightly at the corners, giving him a serious and stern demeanor.
Qiao Huaiyao blinked lightly; it was rare to see Bai Jinyan so serious.
He thought about it and took out his phone to focus on the person on stage.
However, the photos didn’t capture the true essence of what he was seeing.
The edge of the stage was dimly lit, and the lights were all focused on the stage. Only a few spotlights were hanging around the edge, probably to guide people to look at the ground and avoid tripping over scattered objects.
This lighting made it easier for the camera to focus on the person in the center of the stage.
After taking several shots, the pictures were nice, but Qiao Huaiyao wasn’t entirely satisfied.
He kept adjusting the angles. As there weren’t many people inside, he decided to walk around the stage.
Too focused on Bai Jinyan through the phone’s lens, he didn’t notice any movement on the stage.
After a few adjustments, Qiao Huaiyao seemed to sense something and looked up towards the stage. Bai Jinyan was standing there, turned sideways, looking down at him.
His hand trembled, and the photo froze at that moment.
He looked at the picture.
Bai Jinyan’s gaze seemed to penetrate the lens, locking eyes with him.
In the area where the lights didn’t reach, Qiao Huaiyao felt his face heating up.
The motion of him putting down the phone slowed.
Bai Jinyan chuckled. Without wearing the microphone, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t hear his voice, but he could see the smile on his face.
Seeing this, Qiao Huaiyao couldn’t help but smile too.
Barrage: [“Aaahhh! Did you see that? Did you see that?!!”]
[“When Qiao Qiao was taking pictures of Bai Jinyan just now, Bai Jinyan’s gaze was fixed on Qiao Qiao the whole time!”]
[“Sob, sob… From the live stream perspective, Bai Jinyan’s eyes were filled with nothing but Qiao Huaiyao.”]
[“I just kicked my dog away; it’s time for an overwhelming display of dog food.”]
[“It made me so excited that I screamed loudly, and the neighbor next door came knocking to ask what happened. I said someone died, and he asked who died. I said I died, ahhhhh!”]
[“Stop! Sob, sob, sob, Bai Jinyan, leave! You can’t look at my wife. He’s my wife!”]
…
Qiao Huaiyao sat in the middle of the front row, drinking iced Americano, feeling a bit warm.
Cough, maybe the air conditioning in the room was set too low and wasn’t cooling effectively.
The director shouted loudly to signal the official start of filming.
In an instant, the whole room fell silent.
Qiao Huaiyao silently sat there; these were additional shots. If they could nail it in one take, they might be able to go home early.
He lowered his head to look at his phone and scrolled through the photos he took of Bai Jinyan today. The one he was most satisfied with was the last one he had taken.
His fingertip slid across the screen, and when prompted with the question [Set this picture as wallpaper?] Qiao Huaiyao chose [Yes]