Chapter 15: Orange-Scented

Maintain your dignity; your current behavior represents not just yourself, but the face of Xia Kingdom.

Yang Yi struggled to withdraw her gaze, only then realizing the person before her was chattering away to introduce her to Chris.

Does this even require an introduction? I've known him in my heart for four and a half years, over sixteen hundred days!

No, it's also possible the other party investigated her information, discovered she was a fan of Chris, and thus introduced them, after all, entertainment industry figures aren't numerous at this banquet.

Yang Yi thought for a moment; perhaps after she first became famous in Haibei City for slaying monsters, all her information had already been exposed to security departments across nations: her family, relatives, friends, classmates, growth trajectory, even how many times she wet the bed as a child had been investigated crystal clear. Her personality, psychological state, and subconscious had been analyzed by relevant experts who understood her better than she did herself. Even her online browsing history...

The more she thought, the more terrified she became; she even forgot to greet Chris immediately, instead pulling out her phone to send a text message to Feng Liancheng: "Have my online traces been cleaned?"

"Rest assured, on the day you fought the sea monster, all information was erased."

Seeing this reply, Yang Yi breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, no social death. If everyone knew the "Superman" standing here with an icy demeanor actually frequently browsed a certain erotic website named after a flower online, she would really wish to fly off Earth immediately and live on another planet.

But thinking about it the other way, didn't she already have no secrets in front of Feng Liancheng? No wonder Feng Liancheng's attitude was so familiar upon their first meeting, like they had been friends for years.

If you saw someone's browsing records for many years, knowing what style of clothes she likes to buy on shopping sites—even knowing her measurements, what news she cares about, what type of novels she likes to read, how long she stays online daily, the various strange questions she searches, and certain movies unsuitable for children watched late at night, and even knew her XP clearly, you would also feel familiar with her.

Moreover, she suddenly remembered Feng Liancheng's meaningful smile just now, saying she wouldn't regret coming here; did he already know the male star she was obsessed with was here too?!

Thinking of this, Yang Yi felt a social death, her toes wanting to dig out a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment from the ground, yet she couldn't help but grit her teeth.

But her emotions were quickly diverted because Chris, guided by the introducer, had walked up to her.

If beauty could kill, he would absolutely be the number one maniac killer in the world. He wouldn't even need to use internal skills, such as temperament or speech, those inner things; he just needed to stand there, and bodies would litter the ground.

Especially with the super-strong filter she had accumulated for over sixteen hundred days, even if a microscope were shoved at her, she couldn't find a single imperfection on him.

The moment she saw him, all the embarrassment and anger from just now instantly vanished without a trace. She couldn't think; what the introducer said, she didn't hear at all; her ears almost rang, her whole body stiff as stone, her throat seemingly glued shut, rendering her unable to utter a single word.

She didn't even know when the introducer left.

'Idiot! Wake up! You look more like a Bai Chi than ever right now!' it cursed angrily in her mind, 'I'm actually stuck in the same body as such an idiot, it's truly disgusting!'

She even thanked it for the insult, grateful for its scolding.

"Actually, no introduction is needed; I am your fan." Yang Yi forced a proper smile, feeling her face a bit stiff.

She decided to just give up and let it all go.

"Then I am truly honored." Chris didn't seem surprised.

The introducer tactfully walked away; the translator, Zhang Mu, hesitated, glanced at the atmosphere between the two, and also tactfully retreated to a nearby spot, a distance where he could come up to continue translation work at any time without disturbing the two.

A circle suddenly cleared around them, the atmosphere a bit awkward.

Although Yang Yi called herself "atypical social anxiety," she actually wasn't at a point where she couldn't interact with people; she was essentially an introvert. If she were just a background character, that would be fine; if everyone was building a ladder for her like just now, that was good too; but letting her actively start some topic, she would feel very uncomfortable.

Although Chris was a big star, his personality obviously wasn't that of someone who could quickly get along with strangers. Yang Yi often saw him in the news walking his dog alone on a lawn, photographed by paparazzi.

The two looked at each other silently for a while, then Chris suddenly asked: "Is your phone still using that wallpaper?"

Yang Yi couldn't help but curl her toes on the floor again; she feigned calmness: "Yes." And she even took out her phone, lit the screen, and waved it in front of him.

On the screen, Chris wore a suit, eyes lowered with lashes cast down, his blue eyes half-revealed, his straight nose bridge and rosy lips; the photo overall had a watercolor texture, the atmosphere looking mysterious and dreamy.

I'm absolutely awesome; today I officially crown myself a social butterfly. Yang Yi silently complained in her heart to relieve her inner embarrassment.

Chris smiled somewhat shyly: "That seems to be a candid shot taken when I attended a press conference; it seems that reporter's photo processing skills were quite good."

Yang Yi smiled and took a sip of champagne that had undergone several rounds of inspection: "That wasn't a candid shot by a reporter; it was by a fan. Only a fan with love in their heart can photograph an idol so charming. I downloaded this photo from your fan forum."

Chris paused for a moment, unconsciously licked his lips, and lowered his head to smile a bit embarrassedly.

Oh, he always habitually licked his lips, whether during interviews or occasionally appearing on programs. As a loyal fan, Yang Yi had discovered this charming little gesture long ago.

She looked steady as an old dog on the surface, but screamed inside. She took another sip of champagne to mask her urge to swallow.

Afterwards, they opened up the conversation.

"Are you afraid when facing monsters?" he asked.

"Of course I'm afraid. But I hypnotize myself in my heart: the opponent is just a cabbage; after a bit of psychological suggestion, I'm not so afraid anymore."

"Haha, cabbages don't move."

"If a cabbage moved, I think that might be even scarier than a monster."

Yang Yi spoke in half-baked Aka language, Chris spoke in even more half-baked Xia Kingdom language; the two spoke and gestured, communicating haltingly, but the atmosphere was actually quite pleasant.

"You actually speak Xia Kingdom language?" Yang Yi finally asked, feigning regret: "As your loyal fan, I never heard of this; I was so negligent!"

Chris rubbed his nose, lowered his head to smile a bit embarrassedly, then looked at her with those blue eyes, focused and serious: "When I learned the person who saved me during the truck explosion was a Xia Kingdom national, I hired a Xia Kingdom language teacher; I've been cramming temporarily for this period. I want to one day stand before her and say to her personally: Thank you."

His tone carried the particular awkwardness of a foreigner speaking Xia Kingdom language; every word was not on its original tone, but sincerity could be transmitted through other channels—expressions, demeanor, and the gaze that grew deeper due to seriousness.

Handsomeness and charm, however, needed no language to be felt directly, and struck the heart more directly than language.

It must be that I drank too much champagne; I'm about to faint. Yang Yi thought.

Chris's eyes were two oceans with the smallest area in the world; she felt they must taste like orange candy; she wanted to dive headfirst into those two oceans to swim freely; she also wanted to approach the shore and kiss the sand lightly.

She even wanted to hide him in a place known only to herself, imprison him, just like the evil dragon in fairy tales imprisoning a Princess. If he liked treasure, she wouldn't mind offering all treasure before him, just to earn a smile from him, because she had just discovered he shone more brilliantly than treasure.

Humans inherently possess a possessiveness towards beautiful things, and at this moment, this possessiveness was stronger than ever before.

His single "Thank you" completely outweighed the obsession accumulated over these four and a half years, with surplus to spare.

Thank you, superpower, for actually pulling two people living in different corners of the world with no intersection together; fate is truly wonderful!

"If you have self-awareness, you should know how charming you are. If you continue to recklessly radiate charm at me like this, I won't be able to resist kidnapping you immediately, claiming you as my own, and staging a thriller movie about a crazy fan kidnapping a star." Yang Yi said, feigning seriousness, "You know, I can do it."

Chris paused, then laughed heartily: "God, you are too cute."

See, he actually thinks I'm joking; I might really be able to do it.

"I am honored to become your kidnapping target, Miss Kidnapper." Chris couldn't help but laugh, "I will definitely suffer from Stockholm Syndrome."

Kidnapping, Stockholm Syndrome; these words triggered an untimely association for the veteran Hai Tang driver, and accidentally touched her widely varied XP.

She licked her dry lips. If an expert proficient in micro-expressions were present, they would certainly know what inappropriate-for-children scenes were currently in her mind.

Fortunately, the following topic did not develop further in an ambiguous direction.

"Do you know? The internet calls you the God of the Human World."

"I don't like god-making movements. When people need a god, they hoist them onto the altar; when they don't need them, they can also pull them down and crush them at any time."

Chris, who had been smiling at her, slowly let his smile fade upon hearing her words and hesitated before saying, "Of course, that title carries a lot of pressure..."

Yang Yi did not want the conversation to drift toward something heavy; she quickly waved her hands and said, "No, no, no, I don't need comfort... I was just joking."

Chris opened his mouth as if to say something comforting, but in the end could only say, "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. Your situation may be unique in the entire world and throughout history; there are no precedents on Earth that can guide your life, and no one can truly understand your circumstances. Walking such a path alone must be very lonely."

Alright, I am completely surrendered to him now, Yang Yi told herself.

"But you can also think of the good parts—everyone wants to be you. Oh God, you can even fly!"

Chris raised his eyebrows and excitedly described his childhood dreams to her: "When I was little, my greatest dream was to grow a pair of wings so I could soar freely in the sky. Just imagine it: people on the ground would look like little ants, buildings like beehives, and rivers like colorful ribbons. When I got hungry, I'd just stop wherever I was, find something to eat, and then continue wandering through the sky... How free and unrestrained!"

Some word or phrase touched Yang Yi's heart, stirring a longing within her chest. She wanted to immediately take him away from this boring banquet and fly into the sky to see the soft, fluffy clouds, to look down at the mountains and rivers beneath them, all the way until the night sky filled with flowing stars and darkness fell.

She also wanted to capture this moment as a keepsake: Look, this little boy full of innocent fantasies, this young man radiating charming hormones—the mixture of the two made him simply a bewitching male demon.

But she merely smiled, looking at the man before her.

They had been talking for quite some time, and many people had already started looking over.

The pleasant atmosphere between the two surprised everyone, especially since Yang Yi had just been maintaining her cold persona in front of so many high officials and celebrities.

Even Director Zhou was somewhat surprised.

Alright, I can't continue like this, or everyone at the banquet will know I'm captivated by him.

Just as Yang Yi, reluctant to part yet keeping a calm expression on her face, was about to apologize and leave, Chris suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm: "May I take a photo with you, Young Lady Superman?"

She looked at the suddenly enlarged handsome face before her, those two intoxicating shades of azure blue, her face unblushed but her heart beating a little faster.

"It is my greatest honor."

Chris took out his phone from his pocket, his left hand gently holding her shoulder in a gentlemanly manner while his right hand snapped several group photos in quick succession.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still. The warmth from his left palm seeped through the fabric of her dress onto her skin, burning hot as fire. She swore that yesterday, the near ten-thousand-degree high-temperature flames of the Fire Demon had not delivered an impact or heat as intense as what he brought now.

She smelled a faint scent of men's perfume on him; she knew nothing about such things and couldn't tell what brand or fragrance note it was.

He wasn't orange-scented; she felt a tiny, tiny bit disappointed—just a little bit.

But his scent smelled like a forest shrouded in morning mist, and that was very good too.

"May I post this photo on my personal blog? You're a superstar; surely countless people will envy me." Chris looked at her expectantly, like an impatient little boy eager to show off. His eyes sparkled under the crystal chandelier, more charming than the world's most expensive sapphires.

She had to admit, she was already completely under his spell.

She glanced at the photo; he had chosen the one where she looked best. In the picture, she held a glass of champagne in her right hand, gazing faintly at the camera with a slight smile, appearing cold, dignified, and reserved, yet with a hint of detachment, revealing nothing of the fact that her heart was already completely captivated by the man beside her.

"Very good, let's go with this one."

Afterwards, they naturally exchanged phone numbers and personal blog accounts. Of course, she rarely posted anything on her blog; it was only used for browsing foreign news and stalking Chris, whom she had been following for two years already.

Before leaving, Yang Yi, as if possessed, turned back and said, "I always thought you smelled like oranges."

Chris paused for a moment, then burst into laughter: "I'm sorry it wasn't this time." He playfully winked: "But next time we meet, maybe it will be..."