17 Apology

Lu Mi stood before the bathroom vanity, staring at his reflection in the mirror.

Water dripped from his hair, and though cold water splashed against his face, the heat rising within him refused to subside.

A few minutes ago, Shen Tan had left after receiving a phone call. It happened right after he had asked that question. Lu Mi understood the implications of those words. Had it not been for that call, he did not know what would have happened next.

After splashing his face with cold water repeatedly to finally bring down the heat, Lu Mi turned to examine his lower back in the mirror, touching it with his fingertips. He felt nothing—nothing at all like the sensation of Shen Tan’s touch.

-

"Mr. Shen, I didn't expect you to come in person." Mr. Wang of Yari Live looked at Shen Tan, who sat across from him, his face wreathed in amiable smiles.

Shen Tan offered a faint smile. "You are too kind."

"Shall I give you a tour? I hear you have some group streaming projects under your banner. Our company currently focuses primarily on gaming, but with the rise of streaming platforms in recent years, single-category gaming streams can no longer satisfy customer demands." As they walked, Mr. Wang carefully observed Shen Tan’s expression.

With the current surge in streaming platforms, the profits of a niche platform like his had seen a significant decline compared to previous years. He had been looking for a buyer to help cover his other debts, but he had been reluctant to sell at a low price. The offer from the Shen family, however, was incredibly tempting.

This was his first time meeting Shen Tan. Shen Tan looked much younger than he had imagined, yet possessed an aura that his peers could not match.

"I plan to expand into the group streaming market," Mr. Wang said, lowering his head slightly, attempting to inflate the company's value.

Regardless of what he said, Shen Tan remained silent, quietly observing the operations of each department. This left Mr. Wang unable to gauge whether Shen Tan was truly interested in the acquisition. If Shen Tan wanted to, with the sheer capital of the Shen family, he could easily dominate this market.

Back in the office, Zhou Feng, who had been following Shen Tan, handed a document to Mr. Wang. "This is the proposal we have prepared."

Mr. Wang flipped through two pages and let out a sigh of relief.

Once Shen Tan and his entourage departed, Mr. Wang’s assistant finally dared to enter, handing a tablet to him. "Regarding yesterday’s incident—it hasn't fully blown up yet. Should we buy some traffic to boost it like before?"

On the tablet screen was the Weibo post accusing a certain married streamer of flirting with the poster’s boyfriend and a professional player. After a night, although the account didn't have much fame, the post had already spread quite widely. Normally, a platform would crave such engagement; whether positive or negative, it was generally considered beneficial.

But now, Mr. Wang rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Have him delete it immediately! Do not let this escalate! Tell management to make those streamers involved keep their mouths shut!"

He did not want Shen Tan to see such unfavorable news about the platform at such a critical juncture. It might give a businessman like Shen Tan leverage to drive the price down, even if Shen Tan surely knew such drama brought traffic to the platform.

"There are two shareholder meetings this morning, and it’s been confirmed that you’ll be heading to the neighboring city this afternoon." In the car, Zhou Feng paused, looking at Shen Tan, who was half-closing his eyes in the backseat. "You didn't rest last night?" He remembered Shen Tan leaving the office in the middle of the night.

"He was quite restless," Shen Tan said in a flat tone.

Zhou Feng recalled Lu Mi’s quiet, reserved demeanor and was deeply skeptical of Shen Tan’s words. He just hadn't expected that one day, Shen Tan would use such a tone to show off. Zhou Feng coughed lightly. "Are you really going to acquire Yari Live?"

The acquisition plan had been submitted by Shen Tan's assistant, and Zhou Feng had been unaware of it until now.

Shen Tan didn't even lift his eyelids. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"I just wonder if Mr. Lu Mi might feel uncomfortable because of this." Zhou Feng knew exactly why Shen Tan was doing this.

Shen Tan opened his eyes. "I should have done this three years ago."

He should have controlled everything around Lu Mi instead of letting him live that way for three years after they met. He had spent three years living a poor life, nearly causing him to lose Lu Mi.

"That wasn't your fault," Zhou Feng said, regretting having brought up the topic.

Shen Tan had always been a cold and steady man. From the moment Zhou Feng met him, Shen Tan had been indifferent to those around him. The Shen family were bloodsuckers, every one of them a vulture; if he hadn't been that way, Shen Tan would never have survived or made it to where he was today.

But only with Lu Mi did Zhou Feng feel that Shen Tan possessed a shred of humanity. Otherwise, Shen Tan could have just chained Lu Mi to his side three years ago.

-

Lu Mi sneezed, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing his itchy nose, wondering if he had caught a cold from splashing his face with cold water too many times. He was terrified of getting sick.

He went downstairs to ask Auntie Wang for a cup of ginger tea. After her repeated warnings to keep warm, Lu Mi finally returned to his bedroom.

His phone buzzed with a few messages. One was from Shui Mu.

Shui Mu: [That person deleted the Weibo post. Did they realize they blamed the wrong person? A-Mo was never any good to begin with; does he really think everyone is interested in him?]

Lu Mi paused and checked the link from yesterday; sure enough, it showed as deleted. The other party hadn't offered any explanation or clarified whether the person mentioned was actually Lu Mi. But that was enough. Soon, everyone would forget about it.

Shui Mu: [Are you okay, Mi Lu? Should I join you for your stream today? If any haters talk nonsense, I’ll help you curse them out!]

Lu Mi: [I want to grind for the honor ranking.]

Shui Mu: [I don't understand, I don't understand, I don't understand.]

Shui Mu let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Mi Lu was fine, still obsessed with rankings.

Lu Mi couldn't help but smile. [Thank you.]

After sending the message, he exited the chat and scrolled down his list, finding that A-Mo had also sent him messages. The earliest one was from the middle of the night, after Lu Mi had gone to sleep.

A-Mo: [Qian Cha and I aren't a couple, just friends. We went out to eat once. I don't know why he misunderstood, and I’m sorry he misunderstood you too. I’m really sorry for involving you.]

A-Mo: [Are you already resting? Goodnight.]

Then there was another from today, just before Shui Mu’s message.

A-Mo: [I spoke with Qian Cha; he has already deleted the Weibo post. I will make him apologize to you. He’s being a bit temperamental right now, but I will talk to him again.]

A-Mo: [I’ve been explaining our relationship to him, and I told him you are a very cute guy. I really don't know how he could have misunderstood you.]

Lu Mi sipped the ginger tea, feeling his nose clear up, and finally replied: [He didn't mention me, and I don't believe he was talking about me. I have nothing to do with you.]

Qian Cha was the entertainment streamer who had posted the Weibo. Qian Cha hadn't mentioned him by name, but A-Mo’s words proved that Qian Cha was indeed referring to him, and A-Mo was acting as if Lu Mi had actually flirted with him or with Doughnut, only that Qian Cha had misunderstood their relationship.

A-Mo replied quickly: [I know, it’s just that Qian Cha saw our chat history and misunderstood.]

Lu Mi: [We haven't spoken more than a few words.]

He shouldn't have added A-Mo as a friend in the first place. He looked back at A-Mo’s words again. He truly couldn't see the "charming" skills the management spoke of. He tried to analyze them word by word.

A-Mo almost threw his phone, but he restrained his temper. [He misunderstood, it has nothing to do with you, Mi Lu.]

Mi Lu wasn't as easily swayed as the others; even after adding him as a friend, he remained indifferent. But A-Mo was unwilling to give up. People were like that—the more unattainable something was, the more they wanted it. The suffering he had endured these past two days would eventually be extracted from Mi Lu.

He hadn't slept since last night. The day before, he had gone to a hotel with Qian Cha, who had peeked at his phone. Although he hadn't really interacted with Mi Lu, Qian Cha assumed he had deleted the chats. He didn't like disobedient people and couldn't be bothered to argue, so he just left the hotel. He hadn't expected Qian Cha to post that Weibo yesterday.

Qian Cha’s post was too pointed, and even though he had aimed his target at Lu Mi, A-Mo wouldn't have cared about Qian Cha’s drama if it were anyone else. But he hadn't gotten to Lu Mi yet; he still hadn't even seen what Lu Mi looked like, and he wasn't willing to let it go.

Qian Cha’s post had also triggered questions from A-Mo’s other "targets," and A-Mo had to soothe them one by one. Fortunately, they were easy to handle. Only Qian Cha, who wasn't much to look at, had such a huge temper.

Initially, Qian Cha refused to delete the post, but the guild management had pressured him. Now that it was deleted, the other targets had quieted down, except for Qian Cha, who was still demanding an explanation. Since the post was gone and management forbade him from bringing it up again, A-Mo stopped caring about him and focused on soothing Lu Mi.

But Lu Mi’s attitude didn't soften in the slightest.

Lu Mi: [Mhm.]

Lu Mi couldn't find any useful discourse in the messages; none of A-Mo’s words made him happy. If even A-Mo couldn't, then Shen Tan certainly couldn't either. Since A-Mo said it had nothing to do with him, Lu Mi stopped engaging. It was a matter between A-Mo and Qian Cha; he didn't want to get involved. As for others misunderstanding him, it was hard to clear up, so he could only wait for them to forget.

Seeing Lu Mi’s cold "Mhm," A-Mo kicked his chair in frustration and went back to coaxing Qian Cha. [You know I only like you. I couldn't possibly like someone like Mi Lu, who doesn't even dare to show his face. I don't even know if he’s a human or a ghost; how could I be seduced by him?]

Qian Cha didn't reply. Qian Cha simply forwarded all his chat logs with A-Mo to the guild management. [If you don't want me to cause a scene, fine. Make this "Mi Lu" apologize publicly. Apologize to me.]

The manager felt a splitting headache. He dealt with A-Mo often and knew exactly what kind of person he was, but he couldn't tell Qian Cha. If Qian Cha’s temper flared, he would definitely go public, and then everything would be ruined.

But making Mi Lu apologize was also unlikely. Mi Lu’s traffic was at a peak, and he had a new boss a few days ago. Although that boss didn't show up often, the amount of gifts he dropped suggested he was a "big fish." They couldn't risk scaring the big fish away by forcing Mi Lu to apologize.

He could only try to appease Qian Cha. [I will talk to the management team. Don't be impatient; you will get a satisfactory answer.]

It was the first time the manager had encountered such a situation. It was common for streamers to have messy private lives—like A-Mo—but they never brought these things to the surface, lest they ruin their own reputation. But this Qian Cha was too stupid. He could have asked for other compensation, but he insisted on a public apology.

The manager had to ask his superiors. There seemed to be major changes coming to the company recently, otherwise they wouldn't be trying to suppress this.

The higher-ups replied quickly: [Then let this "Mi Lu" apologize to him. Don't let him make a scene.]