At first, Lin Cimian thought it had been a coincidence, but after another boy-group member ignored him, he finally realized that the original owner was universally hated. The others simply disdained him too much to even say hello.
The original owner might have been pitiful, but for someone with social anxiety, this felt amazing!
With one major worry lifted from his heart, Lin Cimian walked lightly into the kitchen. He rummaged through the cabinets and drawers but found only a small packet of low-oil, low-sugar whole-wheat crackers tucked away in a corner.
Was this the self-discipline of a male celebrity? Σ(°△°)︴
There was no way that could fill him up. After finishing the crackers, Lin Cimian decided to order takeout.
He had just picked up his phone when someone knocked on his door.
Lin Cimian took a deep breath before forcing himself to open it, wearing a smile that was awkward but still polite.
The captain was half a head taller than Lin Cimian. Looking down at him, he made no effort to hide the disgust and loathing in his eyes. “We’re going out to a gathering. Find something to eat by yourself.”
Lin Cimian froze.
Awesome! Not only did he not have to greet them, he did not even have to attend the gathering. This was way too good!
It was the first time he had ever encountered such a wonderful thing. Eager to enjoy some time alone, he answered, “Okay,” and then impatiently shut the door.
The captain standing outside: “…”
He had not expected Lin Cimian to react that way. After standing stunned for several seconds, he frowned in confusion, but he could not be bothered wasting time on Lin Cimian. He did not think much of it and turned to leave.
Downstairs, he joined the other members. “Let’s go. Lin Cimian isn’t coming.”
A delicately handsome member standing nearby sneered and said gleefully, “Lin Cimian loves showing off at occasions like this. Now that we’re not letting him go, he must be dying inside… Captain, did he beg you for ages? Did he look awful too?”
Before the captain could speak, Zhou Chen laughed in satisfaction. “I can already picture it. It must’ve been great!”
He and Lin Cimian had overlapping images, so the two often competed for resources both openly and in secret. Zhou Chen thought very highly of himself and believed he was destined to become wildly popular, but his looks fell short of Lin Cimian’s. That infuriated him and made him hate Lin Cimian even more.
The captain looked at Zhou Chen. After hesitating for several seconds, although he too found Lin Cimian’s reaction strange, he took Zhou Chen’s feelings into account and did not tell the truth. “Yeah. He looked terrible.”
The other members all laughed, treating mockery of Lin Cimian as entertainment.
“Serves him right for not being able to go. Who told him to be so annoying?”
“Our group can’t get more popular because of that piece of rat shit, Lin Cimian!”
“It’s better if he doesn’t come. His emotional intelligence is so low—what if he offends some big shot and they take it out on the rest of us?”
“…”
With Lin Cimian absent, the atmosphere among the boy-group members became much more harmonious. They chatted and laughed all the way to the gathering venue.
It was the most upscale entertainment establishment in City A. Anyone who could afford to spend money here was either rich or powerful. If even one of those people took a liking to them, their future in the entertainment industry would surely be bright.
Each member of the boy group normally looked glamorous and polished. Surrounded by fans’ exaggerated praise, they had gradually lost touch with reality and become arrogant. But in a place like this, they consciously reined themselves in. They did not get angry even when teased. Instead, they humbly poured tea and drinks, fluttering around like social butterflies as they racked their brains for flattering words to please the people in front of them.
The gathering lasted a full two hours. The boy-group members barely had a chance to sit, much less eat a single bite of hot food. Instead, they were forced to drink until their stomachs were full of alcohol, and at one point they were even treated like performing monkeys, awkwardly dancing at the front of the private room to liven up the mood.
When the gathering finally ended, the boy-group members bowed and scraped as they saw the big shots off. The moment they returned to the private room, their faces collapsed. Their smiles had gone stiff, and exhaustion was impossible to hide.
Zhou Chen’s brows were tightly knitted. Fighting the churning in his stomach, he sprawled over the table and repeatedly sucked in cold breaths.
But when he thought of Lin Cimian, who had been left behind alone at the villa, he temporarily forgot his suffering and curled his lips into a smug, delighted smile.
Lin Cimian had missed such a great opportunity. He had to be going mad from frustration right now. Maybe he had even been so angry that he cried!
…
Three hours earlier.
After the other members left, Lin Cimian changed into loose, soft pajamas and lounged bonelessly on the sofa, one foot propped on the ottoman beside him. His posture was utterly relaxed and lazy.
The air-conditioning was set to the perfect temperature. His favorite movie was playing on television, and a box of fried chicken sat on the little table beside him.
The fried chicken was made from the tenderest thigh meat and cooked to just the right degree. The outside was golden and crisp, while the meat inside was exceptionally tender and juicy enough to burst in his mouth.
The sweet-and-spicy sauce coating it not only cut through the richness of the fried food but also stimulated his taste buds, making it impossible to stop after one bite and letting him sink completely into the joy of deep-fried food.
Just as Zhou Chen had guessed, the corners of Lin Cimian’s eyes grew wet.
But he was not crying from anger.
Phew. This was amazing!
He sniffed and wiped away the tear clinging to his lashes with the back of his hand.
The fried chicken was not delicious enough to literally make him cry, but if a person went too long without fried food, they really could go insane and turn abnormal.
After more than three months of eating nothing but rabbit food, suddenly being able to have fried chicken with Coke was an indescribable feeling. It was so satisfying that his scalp tingled.
Lin Cimian ate until his stomach was round, then drained the glass of happy-fat-nerd water in one gulp. Half-closing his eyes, he emptied his mind and sprawled on the sofa to rest.
No gatherings, no painfully awkward small talk, no forced socializing. Wasn’t a life like this far too blissful?!
Eating too much at once was bad for his stomach, so Lin Cimian put the remaining pieces of fried chicken in the refrigerator to save for tomorrow.
After happily finishing the movie, he yawned sleepily and went straight upstairs to wash up.
The original owner had been far too harsh on himself, combining intense training with dieting. This body was both hungry and exhausted. The moment Lin Cimian’s head touched the pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, the other members were riding back to the villa, their stomachs full of alcohol and their bodies exhausted.
Alcohol was highly irritating to the stomach, and after being jolted around for the entire drive, almost every member rushed to the restroom the instant the car stopped and hugged a toilet as they vomited.
After throwing up, their stomachs were painfully empty. The captain searched the entire villa and managed to pull only two leftover pieces of fried chicken from the refrigerator.
He hesitated before asking, “Who bought these?”
The other members looked at one another in complete confusion.
The housekeeper had taken leave, so no one had prepared food. The refrigerator had been empty before they left, yet they had come back to find fried chicken. That meant there was only one possibility…
Zhou Chen looked utterly incredulous, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
Lin Cimian bought fried chicken? Had he gone insane?!
Zhou Chen had competed with Lin Cimian both openly and covertly for a long time, and as a result, he too had been dragged into an endless cycle of one-upmanship until he was half-dead from exhaustion. He could not accept that Lin Cimian, who had always demanded so much of himself, had suddenly abandoned him and secretly started slacking off.
“It could only have been him,” said the member standing nearby, who had not noticed Zhou Chen’s expression at all. He stared fixedly at the fried chicken. “I’m starving. Give me a piece.”
The moment he said that, the others became anxious. They silently stepped forward too, all wanting the fried chicken.
But only two pieces remained.
Several members whose stomachs were hurting exchanged glances. The atmosphere became subtly tense, their words carrying the smell of gunpowder. They nearly came to blows—almost throwing away all dignity for a single bite of food.
Zhou Chen stared at the scene, completely dumbfounded.
They had always looked down on Lin Cimian more than anyone. What was the difference between fighting over this fried chicken and fighting over Lin Cimian’s leftovers?!
His expression turned as ugly as though he had swallowed a fly. He could not understand it. He had clearly abandoned Lin Cimian and gone to the gathering, so why did it somehow feel as though he was the one who had lost in the end?
When Lin Cimian woke the next morning and discovered that the fried chicken in the refrigerator was gone, he found it strange for a few seconds but did not take it to heart. He simply ordered another delivery.
He spent the entire day holed up in his room playing games. He came out a few times but never saw a single person.
It happened to be a rest day, but because of yesterday’s gathering, one member had developed acute gastroenteritis and ended up in the hospital. The others had also been tormented for most of the night and spent the day catching up on sleep.
Lin Cimian had the entire villa to himself. He did not have to do anything and could make money just by lying around. For a moment, he was dazed by the thought that being a celebrity was actually pretty great.
But his good days soon came to an end.
There was a scheduled appearance the next day. Their manager booked them a flight in the middle of the night, and after landing, they still had another three-hour drive ahead of them.
Dragging his suitcase behind him, Lin Cimian walked at the very back with his head lowered and his eyes half-closed from sleepiness. The moment he sat down on the plane, he fell into a deep sleep.
His sleep quality was excellent, and he slept through the entire journey. The other members had their day-and-night schedules turned upside down and could only scroll through their phones in boredom throughout the night.
By the time they reached the hotel, dawn had already broken.
Lin Cimian got out of the car looking refreshed and energetic, while the other boy-group members looked travel-worn, greasy-faced, and exhausted.
The manager had already arranged everything. Two people were assigned to each room, and the room Lin Cimian received happened to have one large double bed.
Dragging his suitcase, he stood helplessly in front of the bed and felt as though the surrounding air had frozen solid.
Th-this meant he had to eat, live, and sleep with someone else for five whole days?!
Five days was one hundred and twenty hours, seven thousand four hundred minutes, four hundred and thirty-two thousand seconds!
If every second felt like a year, that was four hundred and thirty-two thousand years! Even Monkey King had only been trapped beneath Five-Finger Mountain for five hundred years! Don’t do this to him!!
Lin Cimian’s mind flooded with negative thoughts. It was as though an invisible rope had wrapped tightly around him and finally tied a dead knot around his neck.
He! Could! Not! Breathe!
This level of difficulty went far beyond the syllabus for someone with social anxiety. Looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment, Lin Cimian paced miserably around the room.
His roommate had not even arrived yet, but his own mental spiraling had already left him physically and emotionally exhausted. To distract himself, Lin Cimian picked up his phone and habitually opened WeChat.
There were more than ten unread messages in the boy group’s WeChat group.
Main Dancer: Captain, can I sleep in your room?
Captain: There are only two beds in our room. Where are you going to sleep?
Main Dancer: I can sleep on the floor.
Captain: Your lower back is injured. Sleeping on the floor for a night will definitely be uncomfortable. Besides, don’t you have a room?
Main Dancer: It’s fine. I’d rather sleep on the floor than go back to my room.
The two of them clearly knew Lin Cimian was in the group chat, yet they did not avoid the subject at all. They were only one step away from directly typing the word “disgusted” and tagging Lin Cimian.
Expressionless, Lin Cimian put down his phone and threw himself backward onto the soft bed.
He rolled over, the corners of his lips rising uncontrollably, and nearly let out a piglike squeal of laughter.
This was wonderful. He could have the huge bed all to himself!
Thank you to this self-sacrificing brother who was willing to sleep on the floor even with an injured back!!
The invisible shackles binding Lin Cimian vanished. He let out a long breath, his entire person brightening at once.
After rolling around the bed several times and sleeping for another two hours, he finally put on a mask and hat and went out.
Lin Cimian understood his position perfectly well.
He was universally hated. There was no way fans would chase after him; the audience did not want to see him either. The other members of the boy group and the guests filming with them disliked him even more and would never give him a friendly expression.
Under those circumstances, for the sake of the program’s overall effect and the public’s impression, it would be best if he quietly stayed to one side, worked hard to reduce his presence, and avoided annoying people.
Ahem. Wasn’t that basically an officially sanctioned excuse to slack off?
Lin Cimian was absorbed in thought when someone suddenly rammed into his shoulder.
Completely unprepared, he staggered several steps before barely regaining his balance. The male group member who had bumped him did not apologize. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and said in a mocking tone, “There are fans downstairs waiting for us. Why are you dressed so badly? You’re a celebrity, at least pay some attention to image management.”
Wait. There were fans downstairs?!
Lin Cimian froze. Scenes from videos he had watched of celebrities meeting fans immediately surfaced in his mind…
Crowds alone made him nervous and uncomfortable all over, let alone facing a group of passionate, fanatical fans.
Lin Cimian’s face instantly turned pale. His hands and feet went cold, and his stomach suddenly began to hurt.
He sucked in a breath, no longer caring about anything else, and hurried into the restroom.
The captain happened to catch sight of Lin Cimian’s retreating back and frowned in displeasure. “The fans have already been waiting a long time. We’re about to go downstairs. Why did he go to the bathroom again?”
The boy-group member who had just spoken to Lin Cimian said teasingly, “There’s no way any fan came all the way to the hotel specifically to wait for him. Even our group fans dislike him. It doesn’t matter whether Lin Cimian shows up or not.”
The captain thought for a few seconds, then nodded.
He did not care about Lin Cimian’s feelings, but the group’s public image had always been one of unity and friendship. He had been worried that Lin Cimian’s absence might affect the entire team—and himself.
But given how thoroughly disliked Lin Cimian was now, perhaps it was actually better if he did not appear.
The captain did not wait for him. He took the other seven members and rode the elevator downstairs.
When they reached the hotel lobby and saw the fans crowded around the entrance holding flashing light boards, they immediately switched into business mode and approached with smiles on their faces.
There were so many members in the boy group that only the group fans noticed Lin Cimian was missing, and they did not care. In fact, they were even happier.
Seeing this, Zhou Chen felt immensely satisfied. He did not forget to kick Lin Cimian while he was down and sent him a message that looked concerned on the surface but was brimming with mockery underneath.
Zhou Chen: Are you okay? Why aren’t you down yet? We’re at the hotel’s side entrance. There are tons of fans here, but none of them are yours.
Zhou Chen: [Image]
At that moment, Lin Cimian was still in the restroom, so anxious that he wanted to turn into a gloomy little mushroom growing in the corner. When he saw the message, he let out a long sigh of relief.
Everyone was at the hotel’s side entrance, and no fans were waiting for him. Didn’t that mean he could simply leave through the hotel’s front entrance?!
What a good person. He had even gone out of his way to remind him.
His stomach had still been gurgling a moment ago, yet it immediately stopped hurting. Lin Cimian walked lightly to the elevator, went downstairs, and left through the hotel’s front entrance without encountering a single obstacle.
Two identical cars were parked outside. Lin Cimian casually got into the one in front.
The driver glanced at him and immediately started the car.
Lin Cimian went blank. He asked in confusion, “Aren’t we waiting for them?”
The driver looked at him strangely through the rearview mirror. “Don’t they always ride in the car behind us?”
Lin Cimian blinked blankly. His thoughts turned over twice before he finally understood.
The other members probably hated him so much they did not even want to ride in the same car as him.
The car might have been spacious, but cramming nine men inside would absolutely turn it into a can of sardines.
Just imagining the scene made Lin Cimian feel short of breath.
He said nothing more. Taking off his hat, he casually ran his fingers through his hair. Relying on the fact that the front seatback completely blocked him from view, he curled up in the spacious seat without any regard for appearances and started playing a game, so comfortable that he could not help feeling a little smug.
He was the only person in the boy group who got a huge bed all to himself and an entire car to himself. Wasn’t this basically the treatment of the center position?
