Lu Qing had considered that Bai Xing might take advantage of this rare opportunity to make some small, reasonable requests, and he was prepared to do his best to fulfill them.
However, he never expected that the usually quiet and reserved girl would transform completely once she was in her own territory, revealing all her longing for "being loved" without holding back.
Just like now, sitting on his right leg, her arms wrapped around his neck, her gaze filled with desire but without a hint of coquettishness, conveying—
"Senior, can you come a little closer?"
...such an ambiguous message.
Lu Qing had no doubt that if he showed even the slightest bit of weakness, she would employ her signature "pushing her luck" tactic, step by step, pinning him down on the soft bed in front of the desk, indulging in pleasure.
—She wasn’t usually like this, so was she using this provocative method to suppress her pre-broadcast nerves?
Lu Qing saw it clearly.
He remained calm.
He simply raised his hands, gently cupping her small face with the sides of his palms, forcing her blushing gaze to meet his.
Locking eyes with her, he asked softly,
"Are you that nervous?"
"..."
"Bai Xing, I didn’t expect your way of relieving stress to be so... unique."
"...Don’t tease me. I’ve been trying so hard to seduce you..."
The girl pouted, her voice as soft as a kitten’s, her eyes shyly darting to the ground.
It was clear that she had mustered immense courage to act this boldly, and now that her intentions had been exposed, she deflated like a balloon, her entire body heating up.
"Honestly, you’re surprisingly soft."
Lu Qing smirked, suddenly complimenting the feel of her cheeks.
His tone was as if he were praising the plump, adorable chin of an orange tabby cat.
"! You...!"
This completely shattered her defenses. She gave up pretending, letting out a delicate whimper and lifting her legs to rest on his other knee, like a princess lounging in a rocking chair, refusing to get off him.
"Alright, alright."
Lu Qing didn’t push her away or resist. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her from falling,
then looked at her closely, finding her more and more amusing.
Without him saying a word, the blush on her face spread wider and wider, as if she were about to overheat and explode.
"Hey, hey, do you need to cool down? Don’t burn up the equipment on the desk. It wouldn’t be good if we can’t broadcast later."
"...Senior, you’re really inhuman...! I’ve never met anyone as bad as you, hmph, full of mischief!"
"Am I?"
"Of course!"
The girl huffed, scolding him, "Su Ling finally let you out to spend time with me, and you can’t even... can’t even take the initiative to carry me to the bed and comfort me! Instead, you laugh at me and even look at me like I’m some kind of cat! I’m not your Ragdoll..."
"Is that so?"
Lu Qing’s smile deepened, finding her more adorable by the second.
Compared to a cat, Bai Xing’s "feline nature" was overflowing, far surpassing that of an actual cat.
Who wouldn’t love a girl like this?
—How could such "material" not be considered SSS-tier?
Today, she was wearing pajamas, no makeup, her hair unwashed, completely in her natural state.
The real her had no pretense, no schemes, no premeditated plans, no deliberate coincidences.
Compared to before, the emotional distance between them seemed to have instantly closed, bringing them closer than ever.
Lu Qing loved this feeling.
This genuine, back-to-basics feeling.
"Bai Xing, how are you feeling now?"
He guided her, trying to adjust her emotions.
The girl muttered, "Not great... I was already nervous, and now... now you’ve made it worse."
"? What kind of worse? Explain."
"It’s... it’s that kind of torturous worse. You’re not helping me, just teasing me. I’m not happy."
She didn’t hold back, directly employing the secret technique of "The Way of Ling"—"Ask Directly,"
adding, "Senior, is what you’re doing to me today... Su Ling’s idea? Did she personally tell you to come and spend time with me? Is that it?"
"..."
Clearly, using "The Way of Ling" to strike at Tang Hua had been like punching cotton—ineffective, even rebounding. But when used on Lu Qing, it produced a special effect—
"Unusually effective."
"Emm..."
Lu Qing knew he couldn’t avoid this question, so he replied,
"Well, I was working on a project at home when she saw it. She got interested in what we were doing, so I taught her some basics about the Vtuber industry and how it operates. So... when she found out you were upset, she suggested I come and spend time with you."
He added, "As for how to spend time, she didn’t specify."
"."
Got it.
Bai Xing suddenly understood, forming her own theory about Su Ling’s motives.
"She’s infiltrated Senior’s career, and through that, she’s also keeping tabs on my latest developments, knowing the difficulties I’m facing now...
This can’t go on. If it does, I’ll lose all my secrets in front of her, becoming more and more passive. After all, she has control over Senior and gets to spend nights with him, while I only get to see him during the day at school. It’s not fair."
—This is a huge disadvantage for me.
Bai Xing thought it through clearly: "So, if I don’t take a big step forward today, I’ll waste the rare opportunity Su Ling’s overconfidence has given me."
If Su Ling is so confident, confident enough to think that even if she sends her brother to me, I won’t be able to make waves.
Fine.
Then I’ll show you that I, Bai Xing, am not to be underestimated.
Your confidence will come back to bite you.
You’ll regret it, realizing that even with a huge lead, arrogance and carelessness can be fatal.
Teacher Huang taught me that whether in voice acting or any other field, even if you’re far ahead, you should never act condescendingly or give away your advantage—
That’s the most unstable behavior, and it can completely derail your momentum, causing things to take a sharp turn for the worse.
"Su Ling, you’re the perfect example of this."
Thinking this,
Bai Xing had a sudden idea.
She turned to Lu Qing and said seriously, "Senior, I have less than an hour before I go live."
"Mm." Lu Qing nodded.
"But I still can’t make expressions as captivating as Mebius."
"Mm."
"I know you don’t expect me to reach her level."
"Mm."
"But you know me, I hold myself to high standards. I won’t settle for 'good enough.'"
"Right." Lu Qing nodded again.
"So, so I’ve thought of a way that might help me find the right emotional expression in these last few minutes, something on par with her."
"What is it? Tell me."
Lu Qing finally grew curious, deeply interested in what she had to say.
He knew the principle that "last-minute efforts can sometimes yield better results," as deadlines push people forward. But replicating Tang Hua’s "signature move" wasn’t something that could be done casually.
The thing was, Bai Xing wasn’t the type to make empty boasts.
So if she said she had a way, she had likely found a real breakthrough worth trying.
"Senior, if I tell you, will you agree?"
"Hmm? Go ahead, I’ll listen..."
"No."
Bai Xing interrupted him, unusually stubborn:
"If you don’t agree, I won’t say it."
"..."
Lu Qing suddenly became alert.
He had a feeling
this request might not be simple.
It was probably more demanding than a mere "hug" or "comfort."
The current situation was that if he didn’t agree, Bai Xing would be "hurt."
Forget about going live smoothly; she wouldn’t even be able to maintain the normal level of nervousness she had before he arrived. Things would only get worse, pushing her further into distress.
He knew her personality well—
Fragile at the slightest touch, and even without it, she might quietly retreat into herself, crying alone.
Now, she had proposed a solution that could stabilize her, and the answer lay within her.
All he had to do was agree and follow through, and tonight’s broadcast would be a success.
But... was her request something he could handle?
Lu Qing hesitated.
But only for three seconds.
Because he saw the girl's gradually despondent expression and sensed the overflowing self-contempt that was sinking deeper into despair.
…
There was no other choice.
"Alright, I agree," he nodded and said,
"Go ahead."
…
…