Chapter 38

Yan Xi never expected that she wouldn't become famous for hosting a popular program, but instead became the top trending topic because she was knocked unconscious by a stage light. Her moment of being hit by the light flooded the homepage, and people called her the "once-in-a-century unlucky host."

Others are hailed as "once-in-a-century beauties," but for her, she was known as the unlucky one, which was quite a blow to her self-esteem.

There were thousands of comments under her verified Weibo account, all expressing concern about her health. Previously, her programs had gained some online popularity, but the attention she received was still limited. Now, with her "life in danger," many people began to speak up about how touching her programs were and praised her hosting skills, kindness, and sense of justice.

Netizen 1:

"My grandmother loves this host's program. She's glued to the TV every night at 8:30, even watching the weekend reruns with great enjoyment. Now that she's in trouble, my grandma has become like a fan, constantly asking me to search for news about this host, wondering how she's doing. I hope she's okay, or my grandma will be very upset."

Netizen 2:

"How coincidental, I'm from the capital too. My grandparents and parents all love watching her show 'The Stories Around Us.' My grandparents are getting old and sometimes forget who's on TV, but this Yan Xi is an exception. Every time the program starts, they praise her looks, though they say she looks a bit hard-done-by."

Netizen 3:

"To the friend above, do your grandparents really read faces? This host does have some features; she looks a bit frail, which gives the impression that she's easy to bully. Maybe her bad luck really is written on her face—she got hit by a light for no reason."

Netizen 4:

"Haha, what era are we in? Why still talk about fortune-telling? She's in the hospital being treated; it's not really the time for such things. I heard this host is only 24, a graduate student from a prestigious media university. She's been hosting programs that raise awareness for abused children and highlight the shining points of various industries. Now she's met with this unfortunate accident. We should pray for her speedy recovery and that there's no danger."

Yan Xi realized that many well-known media outlets had reported her being knocked out by the light, and she felt incredibly embarrassed. She really didn't want to become famous in this way!

She thought about how, from now on, whenever she went out, people would point at her and say, "Look, that's the host who got knocked out by a light on the live news show."

There was absolutely no sense of pride in that.

She opened WeChat, where many of her friends had left messages. She opened her Moments and posted a status:

Da He, it's Xiao Xi:

"Thanks to all my sisters and brothers, no need to worry, I'm still alive."

Not long after she posted, she received numerous likes and comments. Yan Xi saw several of her mischievous friends laughing below, congratulating her for finally becoming famous in this way, and asking which hospital she was in so they could come watch.

"What kind of people are these..." Yan Xi, who had been lying down for a while, was starting to get tired. She couldn't help but move her arm. The wound on her back gave a dull pain, though it wasn't too intense.

But soon, this pain became more pronounced, and Yan Xi couldn't ignore it anymore. The anesthetic was wearing off.

Not long ago, she was full of energy, arguing with her friends on WeChat. Now, she felt like a pitiful little dove, wanting to distract herself by watching TV on her phone, only to find her phone had no battery. In that moment, she suddenly felt a bit wronged. Though the feeling was inexplicable, she couldn't control it. The caregiver took her phone to charge, and Yan Xi lay on the bed, sulking by herself.

Knock knock knock.

The door was gently knocked, and Yan Xi turned her head. Yuan Yi, who had said he was going to eat delicious food, returned empty-handed.When he saw the way Yan Xi was looking at him with a resentful gaze, he thought she was upset because he hadn't brought her anything to eat.

"The doctor said you've just had surgery, so you can't eat anything right now. That's why I didn't buy you anything," Yuan Yi explained.

"Weren't you going to eat boiled fish and spicy chicken or something?" Yan Xi blinked, "How did you come back so soon?"

Since Yan Xi was still in the hospital, Yuan Yi didn't really have the mood to eat. He had just grabbed a quick bite near the hospital and rushed back. He sat down in a chair next to her. "Those dishes have too strong a flavor, not suitable for nourishing your body."

He noticed Yan Xi's pale face and the faint furrow in her brow, guessing that the effects of the anesthesia had worn off. "Is your wound hurting?"

Yan Xi didn't speak as she lay on the bed, clutching the pillow with one hand, looking like a child sulking.

Seeing her like this, Yuan Yi immediately called the doctor to ask what should be done.

The doctor said there wasn't much to be done, as painkillers couldn't be used casually. They would first administer two bottles of anti-inflammatory medication. So, though Yan Xi's back had hurt, a needle was now stuck into the back of her hand for the IV.

Yan Xi glared at Yuan Yi from the corner of her eye, and Yuan Yi lowered his head to adjust the IV drip slower. "Following the doctor's orders, it's good for your health."

"But if I keep lying like this, I'll turn into an airport," Yan Xi complained, feeling a bit sorry for her already unremarkable figure. "Did the doctor say when I can be discharged?"

Yuan Yi glanced at her upper body, lying on the bed, then quickly looked away. "Isn't it more like turning an airport into a basin?"

"Go away!" Yan Xi rolled her eyes dramatically.

Yuan Yi remained calm. "I'm just stating a fact."

"Yuan Xiaoer, did you specifically arrange this nice room for me to take care of me, or is it just so you can close the door and annoy me?" Yan Xi slapped the pillow with the hand that didn't have the needle. "Have you spent all your skill points on being annoying?"

Seeing that Yan Xi was distracted and had forgotten about the pain on her back, Yuan Yi took his phone out of his pocket. "Do I look like the kind of person who's this bored?"

Where was he not like that? Yan Xi rolled her eyes at him again.

Yuan Yi... He thought the way Yan Xi's cheeks flushed red with anger, and how she rolled her eyes at him, was kind of cute. It seemed that not only was his taste in people questionable, but even his sense of aesthetics had mutated.

The constant bickering between the two helped Yan Xi get through the toughest time after the anesthetic wore off. By the next day, her pain receptors had started to become immune to the pain, and she was slowly getting used to the sensation.

Early the next morning, Yan Xi woke up to the faint aroma of porridge in the room. She had no idea when Yuan Yi had arrived, but he was now sleeping on the sofa. She didn't care about the sudden appearance of the single sofa in the room, but she was a bit surprised that Yuan Yi had come back again.

"Miss Yan, you're awake?" A nurse noticed she was awake and helped her to the bathroom. After completing the usual morning routine, Yan Xi returned to bed and turned her head to look at Yuan Yi, who was still asleep.

After eating the breakfast Yuan Yi brought and scrolling through Weibo for a while, Yuan Yi finally woke up. His pale face, however, would make anyone who didn't know the situation think that he was the one injured, not her.

"Are you sick?" Yan Xi asked.

"No," Yuan Yi replied, standing up to wash his face with cold water. As he came out, he was wiping his face with a towel and said, "I had a dream last night that you turned into a basin. It scared me so much that I couldn't sleep the whole night."

"Yuan! Xiao! Er!" Yan Xi rolled her eyes in annoyance.

At that moment, the head of the station, Jin, knocked on the door with some other leaders from the station. They didn't expect to be greeted by a young man who looked a bit unapproachable and somewhat familiar. If Yan Xi wasn't lying in bed, they would have been hesitant to enter.

They were only there to express their sympathy to Yan Xi and show their appreciation for her work, indicating that the station valued her. The whole station was waiting for her to recover and return to work.

Since Yan Xi had been injured while hosting the live broadcast, and now the whole internet was talking about it, the station noticed her value and would not do anything to disappoint her. In fact, many media platforms were paying attention to the situation, but for some reason, no reporter was able to get close to her hospital room for an interview.

Some reporters, feeling helpless, had to interview Yan Xi's attending physician and the nurses. However, these people were very tight-lipped and no one could get any information. Some seasoned reporters realized that this female host might have a complicated background and stopped trying to dig into her situation. Instead, they wrote reports praising her in seemingly neutral but actually complimentary tones.

There were also bolder reporters who tried to increase their attention by questioning whether Yan Xi was inherently unlucky, suggesting that her appearance meant she was destined for a life of misfortune and hardships. To support their claim, they cited actresses who played tragic roles and had hard lives.

These articles naturally received a lot of backlash, but the media didn't mind. Negative comments were just another way to gain clicks, attention, and heat.

Yan Xi hadn't seen these reports yet. After dealing with the leaders' visit, Yuan Yi, posing as her friend, sent them out of the room.

Everyone at the station thought that Yuan Yi was her boyfriend, so they were very kind to him. Only Jin, the head of the station, felt suspicious. He was certain he had seen this young man somewhere before.

"Lao Jin, what's wrong with you?" After they got into the elevator, a leader from the headquarters joked, "You know that this host is your station's star. Don't worry about other stations trying to steal her."

"I'm not worried about that," Jin replied with an awkward smile, unwilling to admit his suspicions. "Anyway, Xiao Yan is a great host. If there's a better platform for her, I'd be happy for her."

Due to the rising popularity of Around Us, the headquarters was considering moving the program to satellite TV, although the time slot hadn't been confirmed. But after this incident, Yan Xi attracted more attention, so the decision would likely be made soon, even if the show was aired during the early morning or late-night slots. The program would be on the stars now.

The leader of the headquarters knew that Jin was trying to probe him, so he smiled and said, "The station is also willing to give capable young people a chance."

Jin felt reassured. Finally, he was going to have a capable host on his team.

"Forget about the unlucky fate thing," Yan Xi said after reading an article claiming she had a bad face. "I'm a rich second-generation. I've never suffered. Where's the poverty? Is their eyesight bad?"

"God, what nonsense! With writing skills like that, this reporter should just write novels. Being a journalist is wasting their talent!"

"When did I have a boyfriend who got hit by a car and died?" Yan Xi continued scrolling through the report. "This reporter used to work at Dongyin magazine and is making up some tragic story."

Yuan Yi, sitting next to her, listened to Yan Xi ranting about the journalist's article while calmly sending an email with some approved documents to his secretary. "Yan Xi, you've been cursing for hours. Aren't you thirsty? Want some water?"

Yan Xi replied, "At a time like this, as my good buddy, you should be cursing those heartless journalists with me!"

Yuan Yi got up, poured her a glass of water, inserted a straw into it, and handed it to her. "You're a woman. How can you call me your good buddy?"

Yan Xi took a few sips from the straw. "Yuan Xiao Er, I think with you here, we can skip hiring another nurse."

"I know I'm very capable, but we don't need to save money on this," Yuan Yi said as he placed the empty glass on the table after Yan Xi finished drinking. "I have a meeting this afternoon. I won't be staying with you."

"Okay," Yan Xi responded casually.

When Yuan Yi left, concerned that her phone might run out of battery, he left her a fully charged tablet. It wasn't until later that Yan Xi realized, almost by coincidence, the tablet had the streaming platform she used to watch her favorite dramas, and even her membership was already activated.

Yuan Xiao Er was surprisingly thoughtful, and Yan Xi silently gave him a "good person" card in her heart.

After catching up on the dramas she missed over the past two days, Yan Xi went to check the evening news about herself. Most of the chaotic reports had disappeared, especially one from a media outlet that had previously claimed she had an unpleasant appearance and was destined to live a lonely life. Not only did they delete the tweet, but they also posted an apology on their Weibo account, stating that they should believe in science and not superstitions. They explained that the previous article had been written by an intern reporter, and they publicly apologized to Yan Xi, mentioning they would be firing the intern for promoting superstitious beliefs on a public platform.

That article had skillfully used sensationalism and found a hot topic, something that a mere intern wouldn't be capable of.

Was it deleted because netizens reported it for promoting superstition? Since the article was deleted, it was better for them to humble themselves, apologize sincerely, and win back some goodwill by showing they could admit their mistakes.

There really are so many righteous netizens these days.

Feeling moved, Yan Xi logged into her host Weibo account and posted a message.

Host Yan Xi: "Thank you all for your concern. My injuries are not serious. I truly appreciate every netizen who cares about me. Thank you so much!"

Recently, Yuan Yi's company had been preparing to develop a mobile game, but due to the creative direction and character design not meeting Yuan Yi's expectations, the game team was sent back to redo it.

After finishing his work, he finally had time to look at his phone. Sure enough, the chaotic news was much less, and he no longer had to listen to Yan Xi's nagging.

God knows why women complain so much. Thank heavens.