Chapter 21: Triple VIP Release

Chapter 21: Triple VIP Release

Xu Qingran continued browsing the forum for a while before Shen Tianyi finally came downstairs, tiptoeing with a slightly darker-colored metal ball in his hand.

During this time, the system explained to him about the item called "Asteroid."

"(AS) Asteroid, currently in its fifth generation, is valued at 490,000 star coins. It can do everything a light panel can, and even provides a fully immersive 360-degree 3D experience. You can watch dramas, read novels, browse through major news outlets' comment sections, forums, and live streams, and even interact with idols online."

"For example, the Duo Lili you watched the other day—if her online concert had an interactive mode, she could randomly select Asteroid users to shake hands with or even take intergalactic photos. Some holographic game streamers can directly invite fans to play together, and food streamers can share tastes."

"This is because it has the function to connect with the user's mental energy, allowing it to convey sensory information to the user."

Shen Tianyi walked up to him, hesitated for a moment, and then handed over the fifth-generation Asteroid he had fetched: "This is my uncle's Asteroid. I can lend it to you, but you have to be careful. If you break it, he'll kill me for sure!"

Xu Qingran was taken aback.

The fact that this boy dared to give him Shen Tingyu's belongings showed he had a good heart.

So, Xu Qingran decided that once he had some free time later, he would erase all the mistakes on the boy's math homework and make him redo it.

Xu Qingran took the small ball, which was unexpectedly heavy, weighing roughly two pounds. In the middle was a small black dot, presumably the camera.

He held it for a while, unsure how to activate it, and then asked Shen Tianyi for instructions.

Shen Tingyu's Asteroid was registered with his personal information, so theoretically, it shouldn't open. However, Shen Tianyi, who lived with him and was practically raised by him, had all his information registered on everything in the house.

So, Shen Tianyi helped Xu Qingran activate the AS.

He placed his own on the table, adjusting the device with a frown, like a little adult: "Are you planning to start a live stream? You need a theme. What are you planning to stream?"

Xu Qingran's gaze wandered around the room and finally settled on the kitchen.

Today happened to be the day Auntie Song went out for groceries, so there should still be some unused ingredients in the fridge. If left unused for too long, they would just go to waste. So, after some thought, he decided: "Let's cook something up."

Meanwhile, in the FR Fairy Galaxy, on Red Maple Planet.

The Xu family's front door was slightly open, and Xu Qingan sat on the sofa, his screen showing the mobile version of the Star Horizon forum.

"...L: How is it impossible? Someone as awful as Xu Qingran is only a match for someone like Boss Chen!"

His slender finger paused on the screen, hovering over the last comment he had posted.

Coming back to his senses, Xu Qingan realized that after seeing the candid photos continuously posted by passersby in the thread and the increasingly convincing discussions, he had angrily used his throwaway account to reply to the post.

Xu Qingan's other hand, resting against his mouth, tightened slightly, his expression not looking good.

He would recognize Xu Qingran's silhouette anywhere. The photos posted by the passersby clearly showed his dear brother getting out of Shen Tingyu's car. What was going on? He had personally watched Zhang Hongyan change the matching data that day and confirmed that the specimen chip's data code belonged to Chen Shengfei.

So how did Xu Qingran suddenly get involved with the Golden Wing Battalion's general? He had never heard of them knowing each other before. Could it be that Xu Qingran sought his help or made some deal because of the matching incident?

As Xu Qingan pondered, the TV news in front of him suddenly caught his attention.

"The chaos in Red City's South 13th District has finally subsided with the help of the Golden Wing Battalion's forces, and the Class I Devils have temporarily retreated from the area. The Silver Dragon troops are actively taking over the aftermath. Several still-operational daily-use aircraft were found at the scene, confirmed to belong to several individuals reported missing in Red City some time ago..."

The photos of the missing individuals were the same men he had hired to capture Xu Qingran.

"The military did not find their bodies at the scene, and it is not ruled out that they entered the area before the Class I Devils swept through, making it highly likely they have been killed..."

Xu Qingan's expression grew even more grave.

So how did Xu Qingran manage to escape that day? With five or six grown men, it would have been impossible for someone as frail as him to pull it off!

It suddenly occurred to him that the night of the incident was the same as the Golden Wing Battalion's surprise operation, and Shen Tingyu was the overall commander of the region's sweep. Was it Shen Tingyu who saved Xu Qingran that day?

Then... does Shen Tingyu also know about Xu Qingran being framed?

The noise at the door cut through Xu Qingan's train of thought.

Seeing Lu Cheng enter from outside, he discreetly closed the forum tab.

Lu Cheng walked over to the sofa and patted his head: "Do you have anything else to pack? If not, we'll go to the hospital to pick up your mom once your dad gets back."

Xu Qingan nodded, beaming: "Thank you. On top of your official duties, you've been juggling the move and my family's issues."

Lu Cheng returned the smile: "Don't mention it. You're my future partner, so these are all part of my responsibilities."

After Xu Qingran left the Xu household that day, the mood at home was far from pleasant. Lu Cheng explained the reason for meeting Xu Qingran, and although Xu Qingan felt resentful, he put on a show of magnanimity and helped explain things to the elders.

Lu Cheng might have realized his actions were out of line, as he has been especially good to Xu Qingan since then.

Xu Qingan, recalling that Lu Cheng had gone to the Golden Wing region to look for Xu Qingran, asked: "By the way, Lu Cheng, it's been so many days, and my brother hasn't contacted the family. When you went to Boss Chen's place to find him last time, how was he holding up? Was anyone giving him trouble?"

Lu Cheng paused, sounding puzzled: "Boss Chen?"

Just as he was about to respond, the door suddenly slid open.

Xu Qingan's father, who had taken time out of his busy schedule to go to the Empire's main star alone, came in from outside. After not seeing him for several days, his face looked more haggard, with deeper lines etched into it, and his eyes were still dazed, as if he'd been through something deeply unsettling.

Xu Qingan, knowing the purpose of his father's trip, sprang up from the couch, anxious: "Dad, how did it go?"

"Was it about my brother and Boss Chen that the Empire summoned you?"

At his words, Xu Qingan's father finally snapped out of his daze, staggering over to the armchair and collapsing into it, his hands resting on his thighs.

After a long pause, he finally answered: "...Yes, it was about your brother."

The more he spoke, the more he seemed to question everything: "But it wasn't about Boss Chen, but... the Shen family from the Golden Wing."

At this, Xu Qingan's smile stiffened.

·

Once Shen Tianyi had helped Xu Qingran set up the live stream, Xu Qingran placed Shen Tingyu's asteroid on the small cabinet in the kitchen, framing both him and the cooking process perfectly. The little orb could also display real-time viewer stats, comments, and gifts from the stream, making it very convenient.

After setting everything up, Xu Qingran put on an apron and turned to deal with the ingredients he had gathered from the fridge. Being a newbie with a fresh account, he didn't expect familiar viewers to jump in and start arguing right away.

So he didn't notice that his viewer count shot up the second the stream went live.

The number quickly surpassed the one million mark, but oddly, not a single comment appeared.

It wasn't until a minute later that the first comment appeared.

"?"

Followed by another from the same account.

"Did I enter the wrong stream? Isn't this General Shen's live stream?"

After these two comments appeared, the live stream gradually started to see more activity. A wave of white comments flooded in, the screen quickly filling with questions, agreements, and gasps of surprise.

"Wait, isn't this my idol's live stream?! Who is that guy in there?"

"I thought my connection was glitching!!"

"You scared me to death, General Shen suddenly going live, I thought there was some serious news to report! Like the demon horde breaching another galaxy's defenses or something..."

And then?

The live stream is calm and picturesque, with a very handsome stranger cooking?

Totally shocking all Golden Wing fans.

They'd rather think it's a platform glitch than believe this is actually General Shen's live stream—who never streams unless it's something major.

In the grayish kitchen, a man in a white shirt tosses diced peppers into a glass bowl. The sugar in the pot is already caramelizing and bubbling, and he picks up the blanched pig trotters from the side and pours them all in.

Smoke billows, causing the tall figure by the pot to flicker in and out of view.

After stir-frying for a while, when it's time to simmer, the man starts cutting apples on the chopping board. He tilts his head slightly, revealing an attractive Adam's apple and neckline. His light brown hair is a bit tousled, but it doesn't detract from his striking good looks.

The live stream viewers are stunned, and the flood of comments gradually shifts from initial confusion to discussing the food and the guy, as if forgetting that this should be Shen Tingyu's live stream.

"Can someone explain why you'd add apples to braised pig trotters?"

"I just want to know if the knife used to cut the peppers was cleaned!"

"Yum, the host's pig trotters look amazing, they must be delicious."

"Girl, you better be talking about the pig trotters!"

The cook has beautiful hands, each joint well-defined, every movement captivating. He wears a black glove on his left hand, adding a mysterious and alluring contrast to his fair skin.

The barrage of comments turns chaotic when the man adds the sliced apples and washed grapes into the pot.

"?"

"Huh??"

"Who in their right mind would add apples and grapes to braised pig trotters!!!"

"Screaming internally!! Did he just crack a raw egg right into it?!"

"Help! What kind of gourmet nightmare is this!"

Xu Qingran tosses all the usable ingredients into the pot before glancing at the small planet, only to be shocked by the number of viewers floating above. He tries to estimate the number and is stunned to find it's in the hundreds of millions.

"?"

He knows he's good-looking, but not to the extent of attracting so many people just after starting the stream.

Xu Qingran looks for a long time but can't find any comments, so he calls his little nephew who's scrolling through videos: "Tianyi, can you check if the live stream is bugged? It shows a lot of people here, but I can't see any comments."

Shen Tianyi follows Xu Qingran as he takes the small planet to the platform, then says 'oh' and adds, "Looks like we forgot to turn it on."

The live stream audience explodes the moment Shen Tianyi approaches the camera.

Most of them don't know what Xu Qingran looks like, but as citizens of Golden Wing, they definitely know what Shen Tingyu's little nephew Shen Tianyi looks like!

...So, is this Shen Tingyu's home?

Shen Tingyu's kitchen?!

Moments later, a trembling viewer sent out a comment:

"...Is there anyone from the Silver Dragon faction peeking at the screen? Can you confirm if the renowned eldest son of the Xu family looks like this?"

·

When Shen Tianyi helped Xu Qingran turn on the live stream comments, he was overwhelmed by the flood of messages. Xu Qingran was equally surprised; the comments were scrolling so fast that he couldn't even read what they were saying.

Shen Tianyi stared at the words flashing before their eyes for half a minute, then suddenly covered his face in horror.

Oh no! This is bad!

He was so focused on setting up the stream for Xu Qingran that he forgot his uncle also had an official streaming account for important announcements to the Golden Wing Battalion, and he didn’t switch before starting the stream!!

At the same time, in the Golden Crow City of the Tianlang Fei Star, at the Golden Wing military headquarters.

The atmosphere in the third-floor conference room was quite tense.

The man dressed in luxurious attire, with black hair and blue eyes, sat at the front, his expression cold, a rare break from his usual calm demeanor. He lowered his eyelids and remained silent for the moment, while the others in the room slightly hunched their shoulders, not daring to speak.

Until the man at the head of the table spoke in a deep voice: "What’s the situation with the power stations on the two northern stars of Aquila?"

In this era, power stations are the empire’s most critical assets, especially during the war with the demon hordes. Because electricity is the greatest weakness of the demons, the star systems still in safe zones rely on strong power supplies to form intense protective shields to prevent the demons from approaching.

And for the star systems already under attack, every power station preserved is a victory. Those areas forced to lose power are easily targeted by the demons for their next invasion.

Aquila is one of the controlled star systems under the Golden Wing that has already been invaded by the demons, with most of its planets abandoned. Now, two main power stars responsible for supplying power to other safe planets have been destroyed, which is a very serious incident.

Shen Tingyu received this bad news on his first day back to work. The new area's cleanup plan had to be shelved, and he spent nearly half a month leading the defense against the invading demons in the Aquila system, ensuring that the repair teams could fix the power stations and protect the homes and safety of the people on the related planets.

Now back, it was time to hold the leaders accountable for guarding the Aquila defense line.

The conference room was filled with key personnel responsible for the defense of Aquila. This time, it was indeed their negligence that caused the crisis. Unexpectedly, the demons from outer space had allied with the insect race that had been driven away by the Kayan Empire. They had grown too complacent and were unprepared, leading to such a result, so they could only obediently take the scolding.

Just as the atmosphere was at its most tense, a prolonged 'beep' sound was heard from behind Shen Tingyu.

The retractable screen slowly descended from above.

The military AI system of the headquarters activated a building-wide announcement: 「Detected that the live stream of General Shen Tingyu of the Golden Wing Battalion is online. According to regulations, all audio and video broadcasts in the headquarters will be paused, and the general's live stream will be immediately connected——」

The live stream quickly appeared on the screen.

Everyone in the conference room, who had been receiving scolding, saw their expressions shift from guilt and shame to shock and confusion, then instinctively turned their gaze to Shen Tingyu, who was leading the review meeting with them.

The man at the head of the table was silent for a few seconds before slowly turning his chair around.

The boy in the picture seemed to be annoyed by something. He smirked arrogantly at the camera, with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

The next second, he said: "Yes, I am the Xu Qingran you all hate the most."

"Not only am I at your idol's home, using his live stream, but I'm also using his kitchen, his bathroom, entering his room—oh, and sleeping in his bed."

Bombshell statement.

Although the people in the conference room were already in turmoil inside, they didn’t dare to even breathe on the surface. Shen Tingyu had turned his back and remained in the same position, staring at the screen without moving, so they couldn't see his expression at all.

But it definitely couldn’t be a good mood!

At this moment, the homepage of the Star Horizon forum began to display strange posts.

Simple and straightforward titles, even several of them.

"Holy——shit——!"

Clicking into the main post, it was still just a screen full of:

Holy shit!!!

Some confused netizens posted question marks.

A few minutes later, when they returned, they also went wild like the main post.

·

Without Shen Tianyi's explanation, Xu Qingran quickly figured out from the frenzied comments that he had logged into Shen Tingyu's account to start a live broadcast. Watching the viewer count rise steadily, he thought to himself, Shen Tingyu is pretty popular.

As expected, most netizens had strong opinions against Xu Qingran.

After all, Lu Cheng is a celebrity in the Silver Dragon Battalion, and they love to promote him in various ways, so even Golden Wing citizens know him and follow his romantic gossip. At first, they didn't expect the person in the live broadcast to be Xu Qingran, mainly because the notorious reputation of the Xu family's eldest son was deeply ingrained.

Who would have thought that the rumored bully of a young master could look so handsome and innocent.

Of course, that was only before he spoke.

Most of the live broadcast audience were Shen Tingyu's fans, and hearing him say such provocative words instantly made them lose their cool, unleashing a flood of comments at him.

However, Xu Qingran himself remained unfazed, even smiling with a hint of schadenfreude: "Mad?"

"Then stay mad."

"Because no matter how mad you are, I can still eat and live with him, shower with him, and see him without clothes."

"..."

「...」

The netizens were so mad they were speechless.

They had to admit, Xu Qingran was indeed the first rumored partner to ever live in Shen Tingyu's home. Moreover, this young master of the Xu family had both looks and a good figure. Could the general really stay indifferent seeing him every day!

The system, on the other hand, was wondering—could its host still find a way to redeem his public image according to the script and become the beloved white moonlight!

The reason the original host's smear campaign caused such a big stir was partly due to the social atmosphere of the Kayan Empire. For most people, the public image of big families or wealthy figures is very important. Even if their private personalities are awful, they must maintain a good and gentle attitude in public.

Xu Qingran, however, was naturally rebellious, deliberately going against the grain.

"Damn it, why does the notorious eldest son of the Xu family look so good? I can't even bash his looks!"

Xu Qingran happened to catch this comment in the sea of comments and laughed, specifically pointing it out: "Thanks for the compliment, so actually, your general is the one who's reaching by being with me."

"..."

The comments were once again left speechless.

Shen Tianyi had long been shocked by the overwhelming barrage of comments, dumbfounded and speechless, his mind racing with thoughts of how to fix the mess he had caused. To make things worse, his communicator rang at that very moment, and the caller's name made his vision darken.

Wahhh.

Uncle must be calling to scold me.

Shen Tianyi trembled as he answered the call, met with silence on the other end.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and before Shen Tingyu could speak, he apologized pitifully, "Uncle, I'm sorry! I was wrong!"

After a long pause, a calm, indifferent voice finally spoke, "Pass the communicator to Xu Qingran."

Shen Tianyi walked over to the figure in the kitchen and tugged at his sleeve. The person in front of the camera paused his tirade against the netizens and, under Shen Tianyi's tearful stare, took the communicator and held it to his ear.

It was easy to guess it was Shen Tingyu.

Perhaps sensing his movement, the person on the other end spoke first, "Xu Qingran?"

The voice was deep and slightly magnetic, the three words spoken slowly, with a slight upward inflection at the end. It wasn't to confirm the caller but more like questioning his current actions.

The viewers seemed to have guessed who was on the call.

They were all laughing and mocking, thinking Shen Tingyu had called to scold him.

Xu Qingran raised an eyebrow, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

His tone shifted through a myriad of emotions, finally settling into a gentle, spring-like tone, "Darling, how did you know I was thinking of you just now?"

The live broadcast from the Golden Crow City military headquarters had been cut off.

Shen Tingyu paused the meeting and stood in a quiet corner of the corridor, staring out at the scenery for ten full seconds. The voice on the communicator was so unfamiliar it caused a momentary daze, making it hard to imagine the person on the other end could sound so gentle and obedient.

It was ear-tickling.

After a moment, he finally said, "Although that's my private account, I usually only use it to announce important messages to the empire or the Golden Wing Battalion. To put it more bluntly, the moment you started the broadcast, the Golden Wing Battalion headquarters and all its branches would automatically stream it live."

This time, the silence shifted to the other end.

A hint of amusement finally flickered in Shen Tingyu's eyes as he added, "You can use the asteroid if you want, but you should end the live stream soon."

Quickly, he received Xu Qingran's reply, "Alright, I know you're worried I might get tired. I'll be good and listen to you."

His voice was still soft, as if trying to sound even sweeter and gentler, just to annoy the viewers in the live stream.

Shen Tingyu hung up the call, but before he could catch his breath, another call came in.

This time, it was from someone in the Shen family. He didn't know which uncle it was, but as soon as the call connected, they demanded, "Tingyu, what's going on with that fiancée you've been keeping for Tianyi? You've made such a huge mess!"

Shen Tingyu shifted his stance, leaning back against the metal railing, and chuckled lightly, "I warned you all before, the one the Shen family matched me with is no pushover."

"So, are you sure you still want to drag this out for another year and arrange another compatibility match for me?"

His expression suddenly turned cold, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to by forcing me to bring him home. Instead of hoping for some kind of relationship to develop between us, you should worry about whether the Shen family will end up with another Type E, given his personality."

The elderly voice on the other end didn't respond, only heavy breathing could be heard.

"Of course, the most important thing now is the Shen family's public relations handling," Shen Tingyu said nonchalantly, even though he was one of the main subjects of the public opinion. He spoke as if it had nothing to do with him, "This matter should be discussed and handled by you elders. Thank you."

After speaking, he politely waited for the other end to angrily hang up.

Outside, the sky gradually turned golden, with dark red clouds layered like waves. In the distance, a large red-crowned blue bird flew leisurely with its children, its tail feathers swaying in the wind, emitting a refreshing chime.

Shen Tingyu turned his head and stared at the scenery outside for a long time, then suddenly laughed softly.

Equal parts annoyed and amused.

After the sudden incident, everyone in the meeting room was groaning in frustration. Shen Tingyu was already in a bad mood, and now this happened, leaving them on edge while waiting for the general to return.

About thirty minutes later, Shen Tingyu finally returned.

Everyone braced for an even fiercer tongue-lashing, but instead, he calmly said, "That's it for today."

"All personnel from the Eagle System sub-camps, upon their return, will double their training tasks for the next three months. Practice all the emergency responses that were botched this time. I will personally supervise the exams three months from now."

"Management staff will have three months' worth of performance bonuses deducted and must submit a ten-thousand-word reflection report within a month."

"Dismissed."

After saying that, he walked out, leaving everyone in shock.

...It felt like a glimmer of hope had descended.

·

After hanging up the call, Xu Qingran didn't end the live stream immediately.

Because the audience in the live stream started giving him grief for wasting ingredients, he decided to eat the braised grape-apple-pork trotters he had made, bite by bite, in front of them to clear his name.

They could call him cheap, flirtatious, or bad, but they couldn't accuse him of wasting food.

The screen was filled with a flood of question marks and exclamations.

"Just because the host actually ate everything, I'm tipping!"

"Wait, does this dish actually taste good?"

Xu Qingran raised the empty bowl and the pot, declaring, "It's delicious."

In his past life, during the hardest times, he had even dug up worms from the ground to eat, and even more disgusting things had passed his lips. So in this world, as long as it's made from fresh ingredients, he considers it a treat.

After responding to the "Clean Plate Campaign," Xu Qingran made a point to tell the viewers before ending the stream, "Below is my exclusive payment QR code. If you want to tip, go ahead and send it straight to me. I don't want the platform to take a cut."

Taking advantage of the fact that it was Shen Tingyu's account, the official platform didn't dare to ban him directly, so he went all out.

To his surprise, he actually received a transfer notification on his phone.

Xu Qingran smiled sweetly, waved goodbye to the viewers he had nearly brought to tears today, and ended the live stream.

Not long after the stream ended, Auntie Song returned, none the wiser about the little mishap he and Shen Tianyi had in the kitchen. She whipped up a delicious dinner for them. Xu Qingran, with a great appetite, finished his portion and then dragged Shen Tianyi over to tutor him on his kindergarten math homework again.

By the time Shen Tianyi corrected his mistakes, he was on the verge of tears.

Xu Qingran gave him a pat on the back and said, "Thank you for today."

Thinking about such a mistake, Shen Tingyu might even take his anger out on this poor kid.

Shen Tianyi puffed out his chest proudly and said, "It's what I should do!"

Then he was pulled by Auntie Song to take a bath and get ready for bed.

Xu Qingran sat by the tea table, resting his chin on his hand, watching them leave, a faint smile unconsciously crossing his eyes.

He had just gotten up to head back to his room when there was a sudden commotion at the front door.

It was Shen Tingyu, who wasn’t supposed to return for another seven or eight days. He was still in his formal work clothes, his hair slightly disheveled from the wind, giving him a somewhat wild look. He must have rushed back.

Xu Qingran briefly met his gaze before looking away. "What are you doing back?"

Shen Tingyu looked at him with a mix of guilt and self-righteousness and laughed angrily. He closed the door and said, "I was afraid that if I didn’t come back, you might end up taking a bath in my live stream next time."

"That’s not going to happen," Xu Qingran replied, turning his gaze back to Shen Tingyu.

It was raining outside, and his shoulders and hair were speckled with tiny droplets. He didn’t seem to mind, slipped into slippers, and walked over, handing over a large bag he had brought in. "Here, take this."

Xu Qingran took it, puzzled, and peeked into the bag. He saw it was a brand new fifth-gen asteroid.

"?"

"What’s this for?"

Shen Tingyu’s expression was half-smiling. "If I don’t buy you a new one, are you going to keep using mine?"

Xu Qingran fell silent.

His tone was a bit softer than usual. "I’ll send you the money. I heard this thing isn’t cheap."

"No need," Shen Tingyu said. "The Shen family has given me more money than I could ever spend."

Xu Qingran: "..."

Annoyed by the show of wealth.

After handing over the item, Shen Tingyu headed upstairs. Xu Qingran lifted the bag, deciding to ask Shen Tianyi for Shen Tingyu’s bank account later. The Xu family had also left him a hefty sum, and it would be a waste not to spend it.

Xu Qingran returned to his room, put down the items, and after taking a shower, he opened the new asteroid Shen Tingyu had bought for him, still warm from his shower.

The dim yellow desk light shone on the silvery sphere, adding a bit of warmth to it. He had only seen Shen Tianyi use it briefly earlier, knowing how to start a live stream but not how to handle the initial setup.

After fiddling with it for a while, Xu Qingran took it upstairs.

Unsurprisingly, Shen Tingyu’s study was still lit, and the door was slightly ajar. He knocked, and the man, who had also just taken a shower and had semi-dry hair, turned to look at him. "Is there a problem with the product?"

"No," Xu Qingran replied. "I just don’t know how to use it."

Shen Tingyu opened the door to invite him in but stopped when he saw his bare hands. "Gloves."

Xu Qingran had forgotten about that again, so he stuffed the item into Shen Tingyu’s arms and went downstairs to get the gloves. When he returned, Shen Tingyu had already taken the asteroid out of the box, his eyes focused as he adjusted it by the desk.

Xu Qingran put on the gloves, walked over, and said, "You guys are too fussy every day."

"We’re both men. It’s not a big deal to look at each other."

Shen Tingyu paused slightly and chuckled. "That would be very disadvantageous for you."

Xu Qingran couldn’t empathize. After a moment, he said matter-of-factly, "If you’re worried about me being at a disadvantage, then let me take a look at yours too, and we’ll be even."

"..."

Shen Tingyu fell silent again, his expression even showing a hint of discomfort.

He ignored Xu Qingran's ridiculous 'equivalent exchange' proposal and handed the newly set metal sphere to him: "Hold out your hand to register your personal soul data."

Xu Qingran complied, registering a backup fingerprint and syncing his health bracelet and other data. After Shen Tingyu set it up for him, he briefly explained the functions of each side of the metal sphere and gave a simple introduction to the initial software inside.

He even set up a live-streaming account for him, clearly worried the day's events might happen again.

Xu Qingran asked, "Can I hop on your stream again to let your fans know I’ve started my own account and maybe pull in some viewers?"

Shen Tingyu laughed.

"No," he said, then handed the fully set-up asteroid back to Xu Qingran.

Xu Qingran wasn’t surprised or upset by the expected answer.

Before leaving, Shen Tingyu collected his communicator and phone contacts, adding every possible way to reach him. Now fully prepared, Shen Tingyu could track him down the moment he stirred up trouble again.

Xu Qingran cradled his new gadget, suddenly finding Shen Tingyu both handsome and likable, smiling with curved eyes: "Thank you."

There was no denying it—Xu Qingran’s smile was downright enchanting.

Shen Tingyu subconsciously recalled his prank from the day and asked, "No more of that pinching act?"

Xu Qingran paused, his expression gradually turning disdainful: "So the general’s into that kind of thing, huh?"

If it hadn’t been to mess with those netizens earlier, he wouldn’t have pulled such a dumb stunt.

Shen Tingyu chuckled, turning back to tidy up the empty boxes and packaging on the table: "Not my thing, so save it for someone else to hear."

Xu Qingran caught the underlying meaning.

He nodded and said, "Relax, even if you wanted to hear it, you wouldn’t be on the list."

With that, he walked out, politely shutting the study door behind him.

Shen Tingyu sighed softly.

It was odd—every time they met, their conversations turned into a mess, leaving him both irritated and oddly satisfied.

He was growing more convinced that their supposed 99% compatibility was off.

This didn’t feel like the bond two supposedly perfectly matched souls should share.

·

Shen Tingyu only spent one night at home before taking off again.

Shen Tianyi had no idea he’d been back until he spotted Xu Qingran with a new asteroid and got the surprising update.

Xu Qingran wasn’t bored enough to pick fights with netizens daily, so he didn’t immediately continue live-streaming. Instead, he used the asteroid to access the Empire’s official site, diving into historical records of alien invasions with fascination.

A few days later, the Empire News Network broke major news to the entire Empire.

They even scored an exclusive interview with a middle-aged man from the Shen family, who appeared to be their go-to spokesperson.

Shen Tianyi sat on the couch, pointing at the man on screen with his hair slicked back: "That’s my second uncle."

Xu Qingran asked, "Just how many uncles do you have?"

"Not sure, a lot. I only know a handful, including my youngest uncle."

It was evident that the Shen family had come forward to address the widely circulated rumors surrounding Shen Tingyu and Xu Qingran.

During the interview, Shen Tianyi's second uncle responded to the host's questions in a serious and solemn tone: "Indeed, the eldest son of the Xu family, who is involved in the construction of the Silver Dragon Battalion, has indeed achieved a 99% soul compatibility with one of the children of the Shen family."

"However, the compatible partner is not Tingyu, but my youngest nephew, Shen Tianyi."

The second uncle, with a stern face, remained composed throughout the interview, his face devoid of any smile: "We originally planned to wait until Tianyi was older and had established some emotional foundation with Mr. Xu before making an official announcement."

"But the recent pressure from public opinion has been too great. After discussions with the Imperial Soulmate System Department, we decided to let everyone know about this today. As for engagement and marriage matters, we will definitely wait until Tianyi reaches the appropriate age..."

The Shen family's response today was destined to ignite heated discussions across major online platforms.

When Xu Qingran logged back into the country's most popular Star Horizon forum, the homepage was inundated with related posts. He clicked in to take a look, and everyone was in shock and lamenting the news, especially the citizens of the Golden Wing, who absolutely could not accept his arrival.

Meanwhile, the Silver Dragon Battalion was reveling in the drama and enthusiastically seeing him off.

The post that initially speculated his partner was Boss Chen was also bumped back up. The user who claimed to have insider info about a major family was bombarded with replies, with people calling them the true source of the scoop and urging those who made bets to fulfill their promises.

Xu Qingran also came across some amusing comments in the hottest new post.

"7888L: So this means everything Xu Qingran said during that live stream was fake, right?"

"9127L: Exactly! Thank goodness, the general hasn't been tainted!"

"12651L: It must have been Young Master Xu deliberately trying to provoke us. Comparing it to today's official announcement, I actually feel somewhat relieved."

"27779L:

Xu Qingran: Under the same roof, I can do whatever I want with your male idol. Some things don't require full soul compatibility to happen ^_^."

After Xu Qingran posted a reply under his real account, he logged out, feeling satisfied.

Then he saw that strange post about Shen Tingyu's shortcomings, which had somehow risen to the top of the homepage.

After some thought, he took out his phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to the person he had just added last night.

He earnestly inquired: "[Image]"

"General, is this true?"

A few minutes later, a new message popped up.

"Shen Tingyu: ?"

Xu Qingran put down his phone, satisfied, and continued browsing the forum on his tablet. Suddenly, he stumbled upon another somewhat popular discussion thread.

Title: Next week marks the Xu family's second son's school celebration banquet! Posting this in advance to give everyone a live glimpse of what a grand high-society banquet looks like!