Chapter 16: CH 16

Under the attention and discussion of the crowd, Xi Xixi bit the bullet and walked up the stage.

Earlier today, as STAR was putting on make up backstage, the manager of the mall came over and gave each of them a VIP platinum membership card. He even told them that they could participate in the mall’s lucky draw if they were interested.

The other members were dismissive towards the manager’s words. Xi Xixi was afraid that the manager would be awkward, thus he graciously accepted the lucky draw ticket.

Though Xi Xixi took the ticket, he had never thought of winning.

This was a one-in-a-million chance!

However, life doesn’t necessarily go as expected — Life was just full of ups and downs!

“Xixi, say hello to everyone!” Greeting him, the female host passed the microphone over with a smile.

Xi Xixi received the microphone, a light blush emerging on his tender face. Shyly, he said: “Hello everyone, I am one of the members of STAR, Xi Xixi.”

Bai Zhen Zhen watched Xi Xixi expressionlessly, without any of the “excitement” she had when she first saw him.

Huo Xiang was perplexed — Wasn’t Bai Zhen Zhen drooling over this youth just now? Did her attitude towards him become cold after he “snatched” her prize? Sigh, women. Their attitudes change faster than the speed of lightning!

“He can’t even speak properly, not even a hint of stage presence.” Fangirl A sneered.

“His singing is always off-tune and his dancing is uncoordinated. Other than his looks, there’s nothing else to him! I really don’t know what his agency sees in him.” Fangirl B said contemptuously.

“But I still follow him for his looks. The dimples on his face are adorable.” Fangirl C finally said something nice.

Bai Zhen Zhen knew some of Xi Xixi’s background and experiences. He was born to a background of martial arts (“Wu“), and not a background of dance (“Wu“). Thus, when he first started learning how to dance, it was unfamiliar to him. As for singing off-tune, it was due to stage fright. Off stage, Xi Xixi’s personality was actually quite lively and sunny.

Later on, after Xi Xixi overcame his stage fright and self-doubt, he swiftly blossomed, becoming popular in the entertainment industry in less than half a year.

“Xixi, congratulations on being chosen for the first round of our mall’s lucky draw. However, as one of our guest performers for our mall, do you have any mixed emotions?” The female host asked.

The male host answered in a timely manner: “Don’t put Xixi in a spot any more. We as hosts are also very nervous! The lucky draw this time round is completely based on luck, fair and open. In the end, the winner of the first lucky draw just happened to be our guest performer Xixi. I overheard some of the audience discussing whether there was any shady deals regarding the lucky draw. To this, I can only say — You have an overactive imagination!”

Xi Xixi understood the host’s meaning, quickly explaining: “Host, in fact, I was just curious when I participated in this event. But I’ve heard that in order to ensure fairness, the staff of the mall cannot participate in the lottery. And since I am a guest performer, logically speaking I should not be eligible for this prize, so…”

Xi Xixi paused.

“I would like to invite CEO Ling to pick another lucky winner.”

Ling Hao Chen had been standing on the stage for a long time. He gestured to the male host and received the microphone, saying: “Since Mr Xi wants to give up the prize, you can draw a new winner yourself.”

As soon as he said that, he begin walking off stage.

The male host hurriedly stopped him: “CEO Ling, please hold on. The prize for the first round of lucky draw… should still be awarded by you!”

He immediately shot a meaningful look at Xi Xixi and the female host.

Xi Xixi agreed: “Then, I will draw the ticket. After that, I will entrust CEO Ling to award the prize.”

The female host gave a piteous look to Ling Hao Chen, praying that her deepest fear that something would go wrong with the lucky draw process wouldn’t come true. This cold CEO Ling was the biggest shareholder in the mall. The organiser had emphasized multiple times that CEO Ling had to participate in giving the prize!

“Ok.” Under the combined persuasion of all three people, Ling Hao Chen finally retracted his step and agreed.

The host breathed a sigh of relief.

Xi Xixi reached into the lucky draw box and felt around for a bit. One side of the lucky draw box was made of transparent plastic, so the audience could see with their own eyes that he randomly selected one of the tickets from the pile of papers inside.

He handed it over to the female host.

This time, the female host didn’t delay the process. She knew that Ling Hao Chen’s patience was reaching its limit, and only wanted to quickly finish this lucky draw segment.

“Congratulations to the lucky winner, who’s hanphone number is XXXX138 — Ms Bai Zhen Zhen! Congratulations to you for winning a one-month free pass in our Xiangju Hotel’s presidential suite!!”

As the hostess’ voice rang out, the audience quickly looked around, trying to identify the lucky winner within the crowd.

On the other hand, Bai Zhen Zhen who had been preparing for this moment the whole day was stunned.

It was Huo Xiang who petted their interlocked hands, excitedly exclaiming: “We won!”

She finally came back to her senses.

At that moment, Ling Hao Chen’s surprised expression was completely identical to what Bai Zhen Zhen imagined.

Bai Zhen Zhen was excited, gripping Huo Xiang’s hand tightly as she walked up stage.

Passing by Xi Xixi, she met his surprised and happy eyes.

She even heard Xi Xixi mumble — “Jia Jia?!”*

What a naive child.

“Ms Bai Zhen Zhen, hello.” The female host greeted Bai Zhen Zhen, “Congratulations on being the winner for our first round of lucky draw. FIrst of all, please say hello to everyone.”

Bai Zhen Zhen waved to the audience: “Hello everyone, my name is Bai Zhen Zhen, the ‘Bai’ in ‘White’, and the ‘Zhen’ in ‘Sincere’.”

Xi Xixi blurted out subconsciously: “Your name is Bai Zhen Zhen?! Wasn’t your surname…”

Though he didn’t have a microphone, but the people on stage, and the audience members close to the stage heard it.

The female host turned her head to look at Xi Xixi, asking tentatively: “Xixi, you wouldn’t happen… to know this Ms Bai, right?”

No matter how excited Xi Xixi was right now, he knew that it was definitely not the time to say “yes”, if not, he would definitely not be able to anticipate the troubles that would come.

“No…” His gaze quickly passed over Bai Zhen Zhen’s face, then he pursed his lips and smiled while silently lowering his head.

Bai Zhen Zhen remained calm and composed throughout, the smile on her face unchanged.

The female host breathed a sigh of relief, and continued her script.

She glanced at the man next to Bai Zhen Zhen with some puzzlement, asking: “Ms Bai, may I know who is this man beside you?”

“Oh, this is my boyfriend.” Bai Zhen Zhen replied, “We heard that the first lucky draw’s prize was a presidential suite, so we agreed that no matter who won, we would go up stage to receive the prize together.”

“Oh~~” The female host responded ambiguously.

The male host also adjusted well to the atmosphere, teasing: “Looks like Ms Bai and her boyfriend are in their honeymoon stage! It really makes us single people envious.”

Following that, he took the opportunity to adverstise: “Actually, Ms Bai is right. Our Xiangju Hotel’s presidential suite is indeed very suitable for couples to stay. Firstly, Xiangju Hotel is a five-star high-class hotel, with a complete set of exquisite facilities and exceptional service. Secondly, you can visit Xiangju Commercial Mall any time to enjoy our delicacies, watch a movie and many more, given the close proximity of Xiangju Hotel. It will definitely help in improving a couple’s relationships…”

“Host,” Ling Hao Chen coldly interrupted the male host’s words, “Can we present the prize now?”

Bai Zhen Zhen peeked at Ling Hao Chen.

Currently, his face was as black as iron, suppressed anger hidden deep within his eyes.

The male host was stunned for a moment, but he immediately regained his composure and smiled to the audience: “Looks like our CEO Ling is also anxious to send his blessings to this young couple…”

“You speak too much.” Ling Hao Chen rudely cut him off.

As soon as he said that, there was a series of boos in the audience, followed by hushed whispers.

Even the expressions of the distinguished guests couldn’t help but change.

The male host stammered in fright.

He didn’t feel humiliated by being rudely cut off on stage. Rather, he was uneasy as he didn’t know which line of his had triggered Boss Ling. It must be said that the consequences of angering Boss Ling was extremely serious!

The male host hurriedly pasted on a smile, addressing the staff below stage: “Ne..Next, we will invite our staff to bring up our first prize — A one-month free pass to Xiangju Hotel’s presidential suite!”

After speaking, he secretly glanced at Ling Hao Chen.

Ling Hao Chen’s expression was grim, causing the male host to hold his breath in fright.

The female staff swayed her body as she brought the gift on stage. Ling Hao Chen snatched the room card from the staff with a single hand and casually handed it to Bai Zhen Zhen, without sparing her a glance.

“Thank you CEO Ling!” Huo Xiang’s hands were faster, grabbing the room card before Bai Zhen Zhen.

However, Ling Hao Chen didn’t let go.

He saw Huo Xiang reaching out to take the card, and his fingers immediately gripped the card tighter. Afterwards, he narrowed his eyes dangerously at Huo Xiang.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The awkwardness on the stage could be cut with a knife. The audience looked at each other.

Bai Zhen Zhen stood between the two men, looking between them. If looks could kill, Ling Hao Chen’s gaze would have torn Huo Xiang apart alive. On the other hand, Huo Xiang’s gaze was like a ripple on a lake, calm with a sharpness beneath.

Then, she heard Huo Xiang address Ling Hao Chen: “Thank you CEO Ling for presenting this prize to Zhen Zhen and I in front of so many people. With this lucky and everyone’s blessing, Zhen Zhen and I will definitely be happy.”

Implication being, please take care of your public image, CEO Ling.

Ling Hao Chen’s grip finally loosened.

Receiving the card, Huo Xiang smiled brightly.

The two host made a small gesture of relief at the same time.

The male host said: “Alright, let us put our hands together once again to thank our CEO Ling, and also to once again congratulate Ms Bai –“

The host hadn’t finished his words yet.

At that precise opportune moment, Huo Xiang directly went down on one knee.

After that, he raised his head to look at Bai Zhen Zhen: “Zhen Zhen, will you marry me?”

—————–

Author’s note:

[Minor scene]

Bai Zhen Zhen: What the hell? This isn’t part of our script??

Huo Xiang: Ad-libbing! Quick, respond!

Bai Zhen Zhen: …

Ling Hao Chen: Damn it! My heart actually hurts? Don’t tell me I actually fell for a dumb woman like this?!

Xi Xixi: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing???

—————–

*Back in Chapter 2, Bai Zhen Zhen met Xi Xixi and introduced herself as “Hei Jia Jia”