"Hello," Lin Xi greeted awkwardly. Neither side knew each other, so they could only offer an awkward yet polite smile.
Duan Yiheng gently pushed Lin Xi's lower back, pulling her forward. He then pulled out a chair for her and sat down next to her. The others followed suit, and Duan Yiheng then introduced everyone to Lin Xi.
Lin Xi greeted everyone, and just as she finished speaking, the restaurant staff began serving the food. Duan Yiheng handed Lin Xi chopsticks: "Were you hungry?" Lin Xi nodded: "Don't worry about me, you chat."
Duan Yiheng turned his head, and Zhong Li immediately chimed in: "Miss Lin and Mr. Duan look very well-matched." Lin Xi smiled at her: "Thank you." Producer Zhao joked: "Miss Lin is so beautiful, no wonder Mr. Duan is so protective of her." Hmm?
Lin Xi looked at Duan Yiheng, her eyes asking, "What do you mean?" Duan Yiheng explained a few words in her ear, and Lin Xi was stunned after hearing them: "You agreed?" "No." Duan Yiheng took her hand under the table, "I know you well enough." Lin Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good." Producer Zhao sighed. He had originally hoped to find a breakthrough through Lin Xi. Time was limited, and they weren't familiar with each other, so they could only chat about trivial matters. Everyone had witnessed Duan Yiheng's care for Lin Xi.
Before the interview, Zhong Li naturally learned about Duan Yiheng. Generally speaking, the most talked-about topic was his relationship with Lin Xi. Fortunately, they had secured this opportunity to discuss it at the end of the interview. She had read quite a few comments online.
Everyone had a different opinion, but face to face, all her previous thoughts vanished. The two of them exuded affection in their eyes, without any of those messy things. The meal lasted an hour. Before the interview, Duan Yiheng needed to change his clothes.
Lin Xi, upon learning that the interview would be held in the library, understood why he needed to change. The library environment was more suitable for a casual atmosphere, and Duan Yiheng's current custom-made suit seemed too formal. Since it was a live broadcast, a relaxed atmosphere was necessary.
Duan Yiheng pulled Lin Xi back to the lounge and asked, "Are you coming to the library with me later, or staying here to watch the live broadcast?" Lin Xi thought for a moment and said, "I'll go with you. We can go straight home after the recording." "Okay."
Duan Yiheng took off his coat. "Go get me a shirt, I don't need a tie." Lin Xi turned and got him the shirt, saying, "You should change your pants too, right? A lighter color would be better."
Duan Yiheng also let Lin Xi choose for him. Lin Xi picked out an outfit for him, urging him to hurry, saying time was running out. After changing, Duan Yiheng even had a chance to pinch her chin and kiss her.
Upon arriving at the library, Duan Yiheng entered the prepared area; his livestreaming equipment was already set up. He glanced at Lin Xi and noticed she had gone to another reading area, mostly obscured by greenery.
Lin Xi pulled out her earphones from her bag and put them on. Five minutes until the livestream began. Zhong Li and all the staff checked everything one last time, and after confirming everything was correct, asked Duan Yiheng if he was ready. Duan Yiheng, confident and composed, nodded slightly.
The livestream officially began. Facing the camera, Zhong Li delivered her opening remarks professionally and warmly, then emphasized Duan Yiheng's introduction once more. "Mr. Duan, please say hello to our audience." Duan Yiheng spoke with a serious expression, as if in a meeting, following his prepared script:
"Hello everyone, my name is Duan Yiheng. I'm very happy to be in the 'In-Depth Dialogue' live stream." Lin Xi leaned on the table, looking at Duan Yiheng through the small screen, but her attention was drawn to the comments—"Damn, so handsome! It was worth coming!"
"Sometimes I really hate my married status." "Wake up, if you were single, he wouldn't even look at you." "I'm going to tag my sister." Just as Lin Xi was feeling proud, she was suddenly bombarded with the word "husband" in the comments.
She frowned and typed in the comments section: Don't call me that. Her comments were drowned out by a sea of "husband." Duan Yiheng was talking about his experience when he first joined the company, only glancing at Lin Xi out of the corner of his eye from time to time.
The people in the live stream were all sharp-eyed; Lin Xi almost blew smoke at the comment "What is my husband looking at?" Duan Yiheng couldn't see the live chat comments, nor did he know his girlfriend was practically dying of envy.
In the one hour and forty-minute interview, Duan Yiheng recounted everything from his early days at the company to the challenges he faced after taking over. Zhong Li asked, "We have twenty minutes left. Could we ask Mr. Duan about his love life?
Let's give everyone a glimpse into another side of Mr. Duan's life." Duan Yiheng didn't answer according to the script, making a small joke: "What's life like? Only one person needs to know." Lin Xi's heart skipped a beat. Was he talking about her?
The live chat went completely wild—"Oh my god, he just fell in love and then broke up." "Is this guy talking about his girlfriend?" "I feel like his girlfriend was there too; his eyes kept glancing off-camera." "Sister, I think you're spot on."
Through her earpiece, Lin Xi heard Duan Yiheng say, "Just kidding." Zhong Li smiled and asked, "Recently, there's been a lot of news about you and your partner. Could you talk about your relationship?" Lin Xi unconsciously lowered her breath. Duan Yiheng's eyes softened with tenderness, his tone a mix of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, deep emotion) and 回忆 (yínglián, reminiscence). He said, "The first time I realized I liked her was three years after she went abroad."
"We graduated from the same school. That year, she had an exchange program and, by a twist of fate, added me on MomentWhisper."
"She mistook me for a girl. I explained, and she sent a voice message to apologize. I immediately recognized her voice."
"She still doesn't know that Ryan on MW is me." Zhong Li also found it amazing: "Then she knows now, doesn't she?"
Duan Yiheng smiled: "I didn't intend to hide it from her; I was just waiting for an opportunity."
"When did you confirm your feelings for her?" Duan Yiheng:
"After she returned to China, she came to the company and became my secretary..." He roughly summarized their relationship in a few sentences, making the viewers watching the live stream extremely envious. "So, finally, Mr. Duan, do you have any plans to get married soon?" "It's not up to me to decide."
Duan Yiheng slightly raised his chin towards Lin Xi. "Or, should I go ask her now?" Lin Xi felt the comments on the screen were blinding—"Ahhhh, I knew it! His girlfriend is there!" "Sometimes I really want to kneel down and beg myself to stop shipping them."
"Couldn't the camera just pan to her?" Seeing this comment, Lin Xi instinctively turned to look at Duan Yiheng, afraid the camera would actually be pointed at her. Their eyes met, and everything Duan Yiheng had just said flashed through her mind again.
Ryan is actually Duan Yiheng? This world is truly too surreal!