Zhou Yi was shocked. Did she really call him out?
Zhou Yi: [Didn’t we agree on this, sis?]
Zhou Yi was always like this—when he wanted to sweet-talk and coax someone, he’d call them “sister”; but the moment he got upset, “sister” would turn into just “sis.”
If she were still the old Li Xu in “custody mode,” just one “sis” would have been enough to make her spiral into self-doubt for half a day. Too bad, this Li Xu was not that Li Xu.
She asked: [Agree on what? Weren’t you the one begging me?]
Zhou Yi: [Yeah, I did beg you, but we’re partners, right? If you talk like this, aren’t you just making me look bad?]
Li Xu: [So you want me to play the lovesick lapdog?]
How could Zhou Yi admit to that? He simply left her message on read.
Li Xu: [Also, why do you keep calling me “sis”?]
Zhou Yi: [I call everyone “sis,” it’s just a habit, don’t take it to heart.]
Li Xu: [You call people younger than you “sis” too? Might as well just call me “boss” then.]
Zhou Yi: [You’re younger than me? I thought you looked older.]
Li Xu: [Well, you really need to get your eyes checked then. I’m eighteen, just graduated high school.]
Li Xu’s words were sharp as knives, leaving Zhou Yi, who thought he could easily handle her, completely at a loss.
Seeing the barrage of question marks on the stream, he had to bite the bullet and explain, “We were supposed to go live together at six, but she didn’t reply, so I got a bit anxious.”
He looked at the camera with those puppy-dog eyes, trying to change the subject and maybe charm Li Xu on the other end.
But ever since Li Xu came back from the Transmigrated Book World, she’d become immune to the looks of guys like Chen Nanfeng, Jiang Zhou, and Xu Hao—the kind of faces you’d see on manga protagonists.
Zhou Yi was handsome enough in the real world, sure, and could be considered a pretty boy, but compared to those main leads from the Transmigrated Book World, he was clearly lacking.
There was no way she’d fall for his pitiful, green-tea act.
He might be called a “little puppy,” but this act was just too much.
Li Xu said, “It’s just a few minutes late for the stream, it’s not like someone died.”
Her tone was even harsher than on Wechat, not giving Zhou Yi any face at all. Zhou Yi tried to laugh it off, “I was just worried something happened to you, sis.”
He covered his mouth as soon as he finished, remembering what Li Xu had said on Wechat.
Then he explained to the stream, “Sorry, I’m used to calling her ‘sis,’ but with Catcat, I should be calling her ‘little sister,’ she’s younger than me.”
Li Xu tilted her head at the camera, completely ignoring the mocking comments like “a toad lusting after a swan” and “acting all high and mighty.”
She said directly, “Just call me ‘boss,’ what’s with all this ‘little sister’ stuff, it’s so cringey, streamer.”
Her tone was cold, with a hint of an ambiguous smile, as if she was about to drive the already embarrassed Zhou Yi insane.
She was nothing like her previous, shy, hesitant self on stream—she seemed like a whole new person.
[Is Catcat Xu being this bossy today?]
[Did Catcat’s lovesick brain get cut out? That was so satisfying to hear.]
[Don’t you think this girl is a bit rude? What boss, who are you to order people around like that?]
[Weird, isn’t Zhou Yi the one trying to get close to Catcat Xu? Catcat Xu has triple the fans, streaming with Zhou Yi is giving him exposure, is it that hard to call her boss?]
[What kind of script is this? Are they treating the audience like fools? I’ve seen a lot of contract couple acts on Douyin, but this pairing is wild, I gotta see what’s going on here.]
Zhou Yi’s face went red, then white. Usually, he was the one in control when interacting with Li Xu, but today she completely flipped the script, leaving him feeling awkward and out of place.
Was she schizophrenic, or had she just been pretending to be weak all along?
“Boss.” He finally took a deep breath and said it sweetly.
Money’s hard to earn, and crap’s hard to swallow.
Li Xu replied with a light “Mm,” then, glancing him up and down from behind her sunglasses, asked, “Can you dance?”
Her tone was icy, looking down on him like some rich lady evaluating a male model.
Zhou Yi pushed down the weird feeling in his heart and nodded, “Yeah, boss, I’ve learned street dance for eight years…”
Li Xu didn’t seem interested in his introduction, asking as casually as ordering food, “Can you do that trending Dance of the March? Show the viewers a bit?”
That natural, commanding tone—calling her a rich lady wouldn’t even be accurate, she was more like a Queen looking down on her subjects.
Zhou Yi had top supporters before, but those “big sisters” always coddled him, never bossed him around like Li Xu did now.
But counting his fans, he really couldn’t compare, and given his persona, he had no way to refuse.
Zhou Yi could only swallow his frustration and say sweetly, “You really want to see?”
He smiled, looking at the camera with those watery puppy eyes, but Li Xu was unmoved. With a single word, she shattered his hope of turning the tables, treating him like some courtesan, “Dance.”
Both sets of fans went wild.
Li Xu’s fans were shocked and excited.
[Wow, what a bossy tone, did the streamer finally wake up?]
[Seriously, after taking so much crap, even if this is scripted, I’m loving it!]
[I watched twice before, but this time it feels like the streamer’s a whole new person—her looks haven’t changed, but she’s got that domineering vibe now.]
[A slap, holding out medicine and pointing at the man’s face—drink up!]
Zhou Yi’s fans, on the other hand, were annoyed at Li Xu and felt bad for Zhou Yi.
[Why should he dance just because you tell him to?]
[No manners, making him call you boss and making him dance?]
[Zhou Yi’s stream, Cat Xu and Dogs Not Allowed, Zhou Yi’s stream, Cat Xu and Dogs Not Allowed, Zhou Yi’s stream, Cat Xu and Dogs Not Allowed! Important things said three times!]
Some random viewers, after watching the whole thing, commented: [This girl streamer’s got guts, she’s not simple, I’m loving it.]
Zhou Yi had no choice but to get up, looking quite unhappy, and started to dance.
The lights came on, the BGM started, the video went into vibration mode, and the atmosphere was instantly lit.
Both streams’ viewers started spamming “Wow!” and “Ssshhhaa!” in unison, but Li Xu ignored the excitement, leaning back in her chair, watching Zhou Yi “strike poses” through her sunglasses, looking calm and even a bit judging.
Zhou Yi was basking in the praise from the chat, thinking Li Xu must be just as captivated by his carefully crafted dance as everyone else.
Feeling good, he glanced at her stream—only to see Li Xu completely unmoved, lounging in her chair like a grandpa, staring at the screen with her brows slightly furrowed.
Zhou Yi’s mind went blank, his hands and feet falling out of sync.
He hurriedly tried to recover, not daring to look at Li Xu again, focusing hard on the dance, but the more he tried not to think about it, the more distracted he became.
What did she mean by that? Was she doing this on purpose to mess with him?
Was his dancing really that bad?
Had she just been pretending all along?
No, he couldn’t let her win, he couldn’t lose to a girl like this. If the other influencers at the company found out, how would he save face?
With that in mind, he danced even harder, perfecting every move.
Watching from her chair, the “grandpa” Li Xu raised an eyebrow, sensing the male streamer’s mood and finding it hilarious.
Honestly, if she hadn’t transmigrated into the Transmigrated Book World, if she were still her old self, she might have been totally charmed by this guy—she used to be timid and inexperienced, and a handsome male streamer just saying a few words to her would have felt like winning the lottery, making her feel unworthy.
But now, after going crazy and dying once, she’d come back a new person. Looking at this streamer now, she just found him ordinary and boring.
She really did feel like “a lone boat passing through a thousand mountains”—calm and detached.
The BGM finally ended, and the streamer’s flashy dance was finally over.
***
Zhou Yi sat back in his chair and looked at Li Xu on the split screen. Li Xu shifted slightly, changing her sitting position.
That tiny movement actually made Zhou Yi feel like a concubine waiting for the emperor’s verdict after serving him for the night—nervous and anxious.
Was she satisfied? How did he do? Say something already!
Zhou Yi had never been this desperate before. Normally, whenever he did a video PK with someone, he’d win just by dancing—men and women alike, even his peers would be mesmerized.
But Catcat Xu was acting completely out of character today.
But Li Xu just stayed silent.
She just stared at the camera from behind those dark sunglasses, lips pressed together, her mood unreadable, but clearly not happy.
Zhou Yi waited for a long time, finally unable to sit still, and asked, “Well? Are you satisfied?”
He was still young—he’d seen a bit of the world, but at heart, he was still a student, competitive like a kid. If Li Xu wasn’t satisfied, he had to do better, he needed her praise.
Seeing Li Xu’s expression unchanged, he thought for a second, then added the nickname they’d agreed on, “Boss?”
“Say something.”
He unconsciously put on a pleading look, those puppy eyes, black hair, pale skin, and with the studio lights shining down, he really did look pitiful.
Zhou Yi’s chat:
[Wuwu, Zhou Yi baby is so cute, so handsome I could die.]
[I don’t get it, why do you go to such lengths to please this woman?]
[Sis spends money on you, sis sends you gifts, promise me, stop calling her boss, it makes me uncomfortable.]
Li Xu’s chat:
[Catcat, say something!]
[He’s waiting for your feedback!]
[Not saying a word is making the male streamer anxious, haha!]
[Role model! Such self-control!]
Faced with the barrage of comments and Zhou Yi’s hopeful gaze, Li Xu finally spoke up.
“Not bad.”
“You were offbeat.”
“Do better next time.”
Her tone was calm, like a cold-faced judge, completely unmoved by the chat or Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi’s sense of defeat shot through the roof.
He thought his mistake wasn’t obvious, but Li Xu still caught it.
“I was just distracted, that’s all,” he tried to make an excuse.
But Li Xu had seen people like Zhou Yang dance, and even learned from him herself—Zhou Yi’s so-called “charm” couldn’t compare at all.
Faced with his lame excuse, she just clicked her tongue and said, “If your mind’s in chaos, go to the hospital. What are you dancing for?”
[“If your mind’s in chaos, go to the hospital. What are you dancing for?”]
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