Chapter 53: "You're not straight?" "I'm gay."

He Guan wasn't in a hurry to interact; instead, he took a bite of his food, observing the chat flow.

The initial audience was mainly fans, followed by onlookers hoping to catch some action.

He Guan selectively answered a few questions.

"Why am I eating dinner now? Because my home is far from the office. I usually get home after 6:30 pm."

"Is it tough? Not really. I don't commute by subway or bus. I might face traffic jams occasionally. I'd say, save your sympathies for yourselves."

The chatroom had basic word filters. He Guan noticed a message where almost all the words turned to asterisks, realizing someone was cursing in his live stream.

The user's ID was a string of numbers. He Guan quickly remarked, "Mods, ban this one, ID56745186367."

"There are moderators in this chatroom?"

"Yes, more than one. Currently, I'm the only one live streaming in the entire 'Starry Realm,' so most of the live stream staff are monitoring my room."

"[Laughing emojis] Guess the anticipated scenario of trolls causing a ruckus isn't happening."

He Guan skipped over that comment.

"Are the mods all working overtime?"

"They work in shifts, but they don't do overtime. The marketing department is the one that often stays late."

He Guan ate slowly, savoring each bite. Coupled with his habit of only replying to comments after swallowing, this meal seemed set to last a while.

"How long will you be live, Guan?"

"An hour and a half, maybe two if I eat slowly. I'm free today."

"Nolimit hasn't disbanded, right? Really?"

"Of course not. Who said they'd disbanded? Their contracts haven't even expired. Disbanding now would be a breach."

Immediately, exclamatory symbols flooded the chat.

"Finally, some concrete news! So it's true! Boss He is awesome!"

"Boss He is awesome!"

"It's not really about me; it's because the five of them didn't give up."

"Can you tell us more about the app?"

"Of course. Currently, there are four sections: Live, Home, Messages, and Albums... The homepage showcases updates and content from the celebrities you follow, as well as fan-made videos. Videos have a comment section. Messages is where you chat with the celebs you've subscribed to. There's no private messaging with other users as it's not a social app. Albums is a shopping page for purchasing music albums."

"You'll get more info from your idols than from me. Have any of you claimed the 'first subscriber' title yet?"

"No! Why didn't you tell us earlier?!"

"I got it! Chu Libao hasn't replied to me yet."

"It's normal he hasn't responded. They're still practicing and haven't finished for the day."

"They work so hard. No wonder you left the group."

He Guan chuckled, "Yes, I dodged that bullet. Training was too intense. So, please support Nolimit when you can."

"We'd love to see all five of them. Can you arrange a call with them?"

He Guan: "Let me check. Hold on."

He Guan picked up his phone to text, consulting with the company's point person to see if Nolimit could join the live stream.

Unfortunately, Nolimit was currently practicing choreography for an MV and didn't have the time to join.

Their task for the day was to complete a particular section.

They've just started learning choreography and are still inexperienced. We can't fall behind today.

He Guan said, "They are still practicing, so they can't connect to the mic now. But there will be content available in a few days; stay tuned."

[Fans in tears, Nolimit is finally okay.]

[A huge weight has been lifted off my heart.]

[Thank you so much, Guan... Even after leaving, you still take such good care of them...]

"Who's getting emotional in my live stream? Dry those tears. I'm the boss here, and if I don't care for my cash cows, who will? Enough of that."

[Hahaha, this is the first time I've seen such a unique boss like you, Chao.]

[Speaking of which, Guan really started his own business after leaving the group... That's great.]

He Guan: "Thank you for your concern."

[Aren't you going to respond to the trending topic?]

[What about the trending topic? You've explained your career, what about your personal life?]

[The house has collapsed and they are still fans, I really don’t know what they are thinking...]

He Guan: "Moderator, handle this."

As he finished the last bite of his mixed rice, he said, "Trending? Am I still on the trending list? Let me check... It's already 8:15 in the evening."

[Yes, it's been trending for a day.]

He Guan chuckled, "You've really saved me money. Right when I needed to promote the APP, I got on the trending list. I don’t know who did it, but thank you. Let’s become friends. I'll refund you the money for the trending placement, I heard it's 500,000?"

He rested his chin on the back of his hand as he looked at his phone. As he spoke, his eyebrows were slightly raised, and his eyes were filled with amusement.

[That’s hilarious!]

[Oh my god, this coincidence has me laughing.]

[I've never seen such an inept rival.]

[And Guan doesn't seem intimidated at all. It feels like a scene ready to blow up with a face slap...]

[So, who's the guy you're holding?]

He Guan: "There won't be any explosion, nor is it a face-slapping scene. It's not some novel plotline. It's just different from what everyone might be thinking."

He pushed his empty bowl to the side and said, "Alright, I'm going to explain now. Call anyone who's interested. I'm afraid the live room will become too laggy and they won't be able to get in. It's a new APP, not sure what issues might come up."

[Is he sure he should be saying this? How do the programmers in the live stream feel?]

After this comment appeared, many laughed, eager to see how He Guan would handle the situation.

The live stream screen suddenly darkened.

Countless fireworks rose from the background, illuminating the dimmed live stream room. A few seconds later, the gift effect faded, revealing He Guan's face.

[Starfield Programmer No.1 has gifted host He Guan a Fireworks Festival]

He Guan: "Thank you to this employee..."

[What's going on with you, Starfield? Not letting your CEO suffer any loss, huh?]

[Only the audience gets hurt in this world.]

【kdlkdl】

He Guan: "Moderator, kick out this programmer who just sent me a gift."

[They just gifted you a ten-thousand-value present!!!]

He Guan: "To them, these gifts are just code. But who just said they got hurt? If someone got hurt, then this gift was sent to cause chaos. Which viewer said they got hurt? Mute them for a minute. Let you all know that being a fanatic will face official sanctions."

Though he mentioned sanctions, it was merely a mild punishment.

The name tag of Starfield Programmer No.1 turned gray on the top donors' list.

This indicated that they had completed their task of backing up the boss and left the live stream.

Although the live streaming platform had told He Guan in advance that there would be employees gifting him, he hadn't expected it at this moment.

[If it's a fanatic thing, then let it be.]

[Then, I’ll lightly join in too.]

Just then, someone who had been sitting on the sofa listening to his broadcast walked over.

In He Guan's live stream frame, a hand suddenly appeared from the edge.

It was a left hand, with a ring identical to the one on He Guan's left ring finger, gleaming under the camera.

[???? Is that his wife?! Is she jealous?!]

[Hahaha, sister-in-law reacts so quickly!]

The newcomer handed over a fruit basket filled with bunches of fresh green grapes.

[Wow, does the wife react this quickly? I feel there might be a twist coming.]

[Indeed, it seems He Guan can't outplay his wife.]

[Such long fingers... are hands supposed to look this good...]

[Wrong focus, but it looks so good. smacking lips]

The person set down the grapes but didn’t pause. With their left hand holding a bunch, they picked a grape with the right hand and moved to feed He Guan.

He Guan, with a merry smile, willingly accepted the grape, not letting Lou Dongzang take the time to find his lips, asking, "Satisfied?"

Lou Dongzang: "Mm."

His voice was very soft.

[Hold on, ladies... that hand... doesn't look like a girl's, does it?]

[The voice also sounds a bit deep.]

[That photo of He Guan that was taken... he was embracing a man, right?]

[No way...]

[Seriously?]

【？？？！！！】

[Is it what I'm thinking?]

[What are you all talking about?]

[Riddle man, get out of Gotham!!! Spell it out!]

At that moment, another Fireworks Festival descended upon the live stream.

The viewer who sent the gift had the ID "SupportGuanZai."

After gifting, their badge automatically turned golden, making their messages highly noticeable in the live stream.

[GuanZai, are you gay?]

He Guan clasped the hand that wasn’t retracting, holding it gently yet firmly.

The ring on his finger glinted brightly under the warm lights for a moment.

He Guan looked straight into the camera, holding another person's hand, and said with a smile, "Yes, I am."

The chat went into a frenzied storm for the next few minutes.

[I'm dumbfounded.]

[He Guan, is there anything you won’t admit?]

[Considering how sensitive the professional world is, especially as a CEO, aren't you afraid of facing prejudice in your future endeavors after admitting this?]

[True... even though it's legal now, many still discriminate.]

[I'm shook!!!]

[???? This brave??]

He Guan reached out to adjust the angle of the iPad, ensuring the person beside him wasn't in the frame: "Since I chose to address this on the live stream today, I've already weighed the risks — I've written two pages about it."

"But it's okay."

Lou Dongzang quickly sensed something amiss and asked, "What happened? What are they asking?"

He Guan tightened his grip on Lou's hand, deflecting the unseen issue: "Put on your eye mask properly. Didn't you say your eyes were hurting? Why do you still want to look at the screen?"

[...We shouldn't have adored the programmer just now; it was premature.]

[He Guan's voice becomes so much gentler when talking to his wife... How is this possible? lololol]

[It's hard not to ship them.]

[kk wifey! kk wifey!]

He Guan rolled his eyes mockingly: "Why should I show my wife to you? Dream on."

[Why did you keep calling him "wife," misleading us?]

He Guan chuckled at that comment, asking playfully, "Did I ever say a wife had to be a woman? Did I?"

"Besides, can't a man be called a wife?"

"Hey, honey, right?"

Lou Dongzang, immediately grasping the context, squeezed He Guan's hand a bit tighter and replied, "Yes."

[At this moment, He Guan, the married man, is flaunting his pride unabashedly.]

[Flaunt your relationship right into my face!]

[Give us more!!!]

The ID "SupportGuanZai" sent another message: [GuanZai, but I remember you once said you were straight.]

He Guan's playful expression faded as he stared intently into the camera, saying, "Firstly... thank you for remembering that and for your affection."

"But who I fall for... isn't something I can control."

"As you mentioned, I indeed identified as straight before."

"But... I genuinely fell in love with a man."

"Doesn't that make me gay?"

"Should I admit that I can still be attracted to girls and hurt the heart of the one I love?"

"If that were the case, I'd be less of a man."

His words hit the ground with authority, settling the matter conclusively.

"I am gay."

As he spoke, the number of viewers in the live stream soared to a terrifying extent.

The real-time viewer count reached 3.5 million and continued to rise.

million.

million.

million...

He Guan lowered his eyes slightly, seeming somewhat indifferent.

He was displeased because his personal life had been intruded upon.

"So, the photos aren't evidence of any affair."

"The person I was holding that night was him."

"He came to pick me up from work."

"How is holding my own wife considered cheating?"

"That day the company changed its facial recognition system, which gave the paparazzi an opportunity, but the parking lot cameras were still functioning."

"Before Star Domain issues a formal lawsuit against you, I hope you'll proactively contact the company. It would save us a lot of trouble."

After saying all that, He Guan glanced at the time, regained his smile, and said, "Today's live stream was just a trial. All gifts and donations will be refunded to your accounts. Thanks for tuning in."

"Goodnight, everyone."

As his voice faded, the live stream went dark immediately.

[System Notification: The celebrity you followed has gone offline. Check the homepage for other idols!]

But the chat messages continued to roll.

The silence in the stream, devoid of its main character, was deafening with four million stunned viewers.

Until someone hesitantly typed a message.

[I'm totally shipwrecked, guys...]

[Not gonna lie, me too. This is too real...]

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