Chapter 458: Li Juli, Who Is Pressing Lin Xiuyuan Step by Step (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

The next day.

The bedroom lights were off, and the curtains were not drawn tightly, allowing a thin, long sliver of daylight to squeeze through the gap in the middle.

In front of a glowing computer screen, one slender, fair hand rested on the mouse, while the other held a cup of coffee, taking small sips.

The content on the screen consisted entirely of news reports from last night's year-end gala.

The homepages of all major entertainment news websites featured special segments, with headlines more aggressive than the last.

Things like "Stars Shine on Year-End Night," "Top 10 Best Stages Review," and "Complete Analysis of Red Carpet Looks."

A manicured index finger scrolled the mouse wheel nonchalantly; the browsing speed was neither fast nor slow, occasionally pausing on a photo in a report to zoom in and see if there was anyone she recognized.

Below were many comments from fans and netizens.

Fans in the comment section occupied their own territories, their passion for cheering on their own Idols stretched into messages filled with exclamation marks and heart emojis in the text boxes.

For example, "Last night's stage was just too good," "This choreography is truly peak," and "My sister killed it."

There were also praises for their Idols' stunning looks, compliments on their live singing being as stable as a CD, and frantic fawning over how strong their camera presence was, claiming it had hooked their souls.

These comments were browsed through quickly; a light flick of the mouse wheel would flip past several at once.

Then, the mouse moved rapidly in her hand, the cursor jumping from one browser tab to another before clicking on a new URL.

The page loading circle spun twice, then another news item popped up.

The layout of this news was simpler than the entertainment headlines from before; it did not look like the work of a major website, but rather a niche forum dedicated to collecting various fan-recorded live videos.

The headline of the news was long and specific, detailing almost all the time, location, and people involved.

It also contained a video; the player interface showed a static first frame, a dark screen with only a few blurry light spots and several elongated trails of stage lighting.

Judging by the angle, it must have been filmed by some fans in the audience using mobile phones or portable cameras, because the direction was not aimed at the performance area in front of the stage, but at the viewing area on the side below the stage specifically reserved for the Idols in attendance.

The text of the news roughly described: After Tara finished their performance and went down to the viewing area, they discovered that the television station had not prepared seats for them at all, so there was nowhere to sit.

But with the active coordination and help of Girls' Generation and SHINee member Kim Jonghyun, they managed to squeeze out a few seats from between the already densely packed chairs, preventing them from having to stand awkwardly in place.

The wording of the text was relatively objective and calm, without too much sensational embellishment, but between the lines, one could still read a sense of wanting to accuse the television station.

Immediately after, the mouse moved again, the cursor hovering over the video's play button, and clicked lightly.

The player's buffer icon spun for a short moment, and the video began to play.

The video content was the humming background noise unique to year-end galas under the cheers of the dim venue.

Then the camera shook and aimed at the Idol viewing area; the focus was unstable and the lighting conditions were poor, but one could still see people turning their heads to look toward the stage, and some whispering to the people next to them.

A few seconds later, the figures of Tara and the others appeared blurrily in the frame, walking slowly down from the side stairs in a line.

However, the situation this time was not quite the same as the one in the year '25.

In the version from '25, after Tara got off stage and found no seats, they stood by the aisle, stunned for a long while, while the people around them wanted to move but didn't quite dare to, as this was the television station's arrangement.

In the end, Kim Jonghyun cursed on the spot, stood up directly from his seat, and while swearing, directed the SHINee members in his row to forcibly squeeze out a few seats for them.

Although that scene was properly resolved in the end, the blank moment in the middle where they stood there doing nothing was always stretched very, very long in memory.

But in the video before her eyes, Tara, having just walked down, no longer needed to experience that somewhat humiliating and awkward wait like in '25.

In the frame, before their feet had even fully stepped off the stairs, two people suddenly stood up from the Girls' Generation group, who had been closely monitoring the situation behind them from the front row.

The figures of those two people were not very clear in the dim light, but one tall and one short, they were very obvious.

After they stood up, there was no extra pleasantry; they directly used gestures to quickly signal to Kim Jonghyun and the others beside them, then pointed in the direction Tara was walking from.

The reaction from Kim Jonghyun's side was also very fast; almost the moment they received the signal, they stood up and, together with the members next to them, moved to the sides very quickly.

They managed to clear out enough space from the original seating arrangement for Tara and the others.

All the movements were done in one go, looking as if they had been rehearsed in advance.

So much so that by the time Tara and the others walked up, the seats were already there.

And Tara and the others, seeing those seats, did not say much, just sat down quietly; throughout the whole process, there was no scene of standing awkwardly in place with nowhere to go, nor did anyone speak loudly or attract unnecessary attention.

The video ended abruptly after Tara and the others were all seated.

Then the player's end screen popped up, displaying thumbnail recommendations for several related videos.

At the same time, a voice sounded outside the computer, the tone lazy, with the feeling of having just woken up not long ago.

"How is it, Juli? Seeing a similar scene happen again, do you feel a bit emotional?"

Lin Xiuyuan lay on the bed, on his side, one hand propping up his head, looking at Li Juli, who was sitting in front of the computer and had come over from the year '25, and asked with great interest.

He was genuinely curious; re-watching these things that had already happened back then, but with a different trajectory in another version of space-time, this experience must be very interesting.

"I definitely do." Hearing the voice, Li Juli turned around to look at Lin Xiuyuan.

However, her eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if she were recalling those scenes she had personally experienced back then, while her mouth continued to speak softly.

"But back then, we also had Kim Jonghyun and the others helping, so we weren't too embarrassed either."

When she said this, Li Juli's tone was very calm; she did not deliberately emphasize anything, nor did she deliberately downplay anything, just objectively stating her version of the memory.

"How should I put it, back then, the seniors older than us could understand our situation, the juniors younger than us didn't quite dare to step up and speak in such an occasion, and the peers left over were even more empathetic. So, in fact, there weren't many nasty scenes that happened; it was more of a tacit understanding that everyone knew in their hearts."

"The atmosphere back then was still relatively less calculating, and more about passion," Lin Xiuyuan said as he sat up.

Li Juli nodded.

But she didn't answer immediately, instead placing the coffee cup in her hand on the coaster next to the computer desk, using her fingertips to turn the cup a small half-circle, and only then did she speak.

"To be more precise, it should be that there were fewer thorns and less struggle. With the help of the internet in the new era and social media, the definition of success has become easier, and it is easier to succeed."

"Back in our day, we had to start from zero and climb up bit by bit; now, children might become popular across the entire internet with just one short video. The road is different, so the posture of walking is naturally different too."

After she finished speaking, she added another sentence, her tone carrying a kind of objectivity and generosity.

"But even so, one cannot completely deny the efforts of those newcomers now. People of every era have the hardships of their own era; it's just that the form of the hardship is different. We cannot feel that others' sweetness is undeserved just because we have suffered."

"What an objective statement, how moving, Juli." Lin Xiuyuan said with amusement after hearing her analysis, which sounded like a court verdict.

After dropping this remark, he even reached out and pulled Li Juli from her chair.

With a pull of his arm, he scooped her up from the swivel chair and held her in his arms.

The warm body heat seeping through that thin layer of silk pajamas, mixed with the scent of the floral body wash Li Juli habitually used, was very fragrant and very moist.

Then came a coquettish voice, "How can you just start moving like that?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan did not answer, but simply smiled and turned with her in his arms, their centers of gravity shifting onto the mattress simultaneously as they tumbled onto the bed.

The mattress let out a dull spring sound, pressed into a deep depression by the two of them.

After that came the shy performance art.

……

And just as Li Juli was galloping on the rugged grassland.

The rhythm of her breathing changed from steady to a shallow, staggered cadence with a certain pulse, and a thin, faint blush stained both sides of her cheeks.

Her long hair scattered over her flawless white back, spreading out like ink-colored ripples.

Just at this moment, a cell phone ringtone suddenly sounded in her ear.

The melody was very soft, but in the bedroom at this time, combined with the rhythm currently in progress, it seemed exceptionally abrupt.

Thus, Li Juli glanced sideways and saw the screen of the phone Lin Xiuyuan had placed on the nightstand light up with a name that made her pupils shrink slightly.

Li Juli!!!

This peculiar perspective and information made her instinctively sink downward, pressing her entire body tightly against Lin Xiuyuan.

With both palms pressed against his chest, feeling the heart inside his chest cavity beating powerfully, Li Juli's lips curved upward into a very brilliant arc.

Her complexion also added a few more shades of mischief and playfulness to the thin layer of red from just before.

"Xiuyuan..."

Li Juli's fingernails scraped across his thin layer of sweat through his skin, giving him a shallow, itchy sensation, "Do you have a thing with the me from this side? It's the end of the year, and she's so busy, yet she still has time to call you? Why haven't I tried that before?"

Lin Xiuyuan, who was lying on the bed, didn't understand any of this.

His brain was currently in a state of semi-shutdown under the double assault.

On one side was this 2025 version of Li Juli on top of him, examining him with the posture of one sitting firmly on a fishing platform, even pressing down tightly on him.

On the other side, the phone was still ringing incessantly, and the name lit up on the screen was sending a fatal soul-searching question under these circumstances.

Thinking of this, he hurriedly opened his mouth to answer, "I don't know, this seems to be the first time she has taken the initiative to call me. I'll go turn it off, turn it off."

After speaking, Lin Xiuyuan hurriedly stretched out his arm to reach for the phone on the nightstand, intending to turn it off and continue with the business at hand.

But just as his fingertips touched the phone and he was about to get hold of it.

Li Juli, who was in the saddle, smiled very brightly and reached out, grabbing the wrist of the hand he was using to reach for the phone, and then leaned her body slightly forward again, pressing down on his chest with a not-insignificant weight.

The smile on her face was as bright as the sunlight outside the window, filled with nothing but eager gossip and a playful heart.

"Don't, you're not allowed to turn it off. Answer the call, I want to see what you two are talking about."

"No, right now?" Lin Xiuyuan widened his eyes, his pupils dilating a circle from shock.

And Li Juli, who was pressing him step by step, didn't answer him immediately, but just squeezed her thighs, contracting her muscles.

Only then, under Lin Xiuyuan's grimacing expression, did she nod slightly, brushing her hanging hair against the side of his neck, "Mm, right now."

……

And so, a few seconds later, the 2013 Li Juli, who was several kilometers away, finally got through to Lin Xiuyuan's phone.

Then, a slightly hoarse and hurried voice immediately came to her ear, "Hello, Juli, what's wrong?"

The background noise was rustling, as if something was continuously rubbing against the bedding; it was hard to tell if someone was turning over the quilt or if something was brushing back and forth against the curtains.

But the 2013 Li Juli didn't think too deeply about it and directly stated the real reason for making this call, "Xiuyuan, are you free now? I want to treat you to a meal."

"Right now?" An exclamation popped out from the other end of the phone without warning, the tone more than half an octave higher than the greeting just now.

Immediately following was a muffled groan, which sounded like the result of someone barely squeezing a sound from their throat in an attempt to suppress a voice that was about to escape, carrying a bit of difficult restraint and seemingly mixed with a sense of discomfort.

Although it was very brief, it was still caught by Li Juli on this end of the phone, but she only frowned slightly and still didn't think much of it.

After the muffled groan, the other end of the phone was quiet for less than half a second, and then Lin Xiuyuan's voice resumed, "Aren't you guys preparing for the festival tonight? How do you have time to treat me to a meal?"

"You forgot? We don't even have a waiting room, so how busy could we be?" Li Juli leaned on the sofa, her tone carrying a sense of long-accustomed understanding and a trace of faint self-mockery, "Besides, there's still time to squeeze in a meal."

Faced with this answer from Li Juli, the other end of the phone fell silent again for a moment.

The silence didn't last long, but it was enough for the 2013 Li Juli to hear some extra details in those few seconds of blank space.

Because the sound of bedding rubbing in the background became clearer in the silence, clear enough to vaguely distinguish that it wasn't as simple as one person lying on a quilt.

In between, it seemed to be accompanied by the rhythmic muffled sound that would only be made when a palm was put into a bucket of water.

This sound was very, very light, but it still drifted over, carrying the slight sound of some moist flesh surface sticking for a moment and then separating, making the 2013 Li Juli's eyes widen.

Just as she wanted to hear more clearly, Lin Xiuyuan spoke.

Although his voice was a bit tight, he answered with a crisp tone of wanting to finish the matter quickly, "Sure, where is the address? Send it to me, I'll be there in a while."

"Mm, okay, I'll send it to you in a bit."

Li Juli, who had responded, hadn't even had time to say the next sentence before the call was hung up.

And she, holding the phone, stared at the screen for a few moments before flipping the phone over and placing it face down on the table in front of her.

Her index fingertip tapped rhythmically and lightly on the back of the phone case, once, twice, three times...

Then she leaned her whole body against the sofa back, tilted her head toward the ceiling, was silent for a few seconds, and then said to herself as if talking to herself.

"No way, is it such a coincidence..."