Master of Nine Stars

”Da Wei, Da Wei, let me try to justify myself,” Rong Taotao whispered, leaning close to Gao Lingwei on the bus.

Gao Lingwei had her elbow propped on the window frame, her chin resting in her palm as she silently gazed outside.

Hearing this, she couldn’t help but turn to look at him, raising an eyebrow slightly and letting out a questioning hum. ”Hm?”

”Ahem, what I meant was, explain. Yes, explain,” Rong Taotao said hastily.

”Mm,” Gao Lingwei replied, crossing her legs. Her beautiful eyes held a hint of scrutiny as she tilted her head and looked at Rong Taotao.

”It’s just internet slang. All the young girls are like this nowadays, falling for every guy they see,” Rong Taotao said, holding his phone up in front of Gao Lingwei. ”Here, look. Lots of people are calling me their husband.”

The corners of Gao Lingwei’s mouth lifted slightly. She watched Rong Taotao with amusement, ignoring the phone in front of her.

It was clear she was mostly just teasing him.

But Rong Taotao looked completely serious. ”It’s true! When Ye Nanxi and I first teamed up, I told her explicitly that I had a girlfriend. Ye Nanxi was stunned for a moment before she snapped out of it and called me presumptuous.”

”Mm-hm.” Gao Lingwei nodded lightly, but then said, ”Isn’t she coming to visit the Snow Realm this winter? If she does, I’ll host her with you.”

As she spoke, she took Rong Taotao’s phone and scrolled through the comments on his latest post, which were finally starting to look a lot better.

Although there were still occasional doubters, more and more people were starting to recognize and support Rong Taotao.

Rong Taotao leaned his head over to look at the comments, muttering, ”See? I told you. Huh... wait, why is someone calling me their wife? Block, block.”

Gao Lingwei shot Rong Taotao a look of both exasperation and amusement.

A sarcastic voice drifted from behind them. ”Tsk, a classic case of ’rules for thee, but not for me,’ eh?”

Rong Taotao jumped in surprise and quickly turned his head, only to find that Xia Fangran, who was supposed to be in the seat behind them, had stood up at some point and was now leaning over, secretly peeking at his phone.

Rong Taotao said with a dissatisfied expression, ”A great member of the Pine Soul Four Seasons, acting all sneaky?”

Xia Fangran just laughed, completely ignoring Rong Taotao. ”These comments are interesting, eh? What is this app? Why is everyone so sarcastic? Let me see...”

Gao Lingwei, wearing a strange expression, handed the phone to Xia Fangran.

Poor Coach Xia. He didn’t even know what this social media platform was. It was as if he’d discovered a new world, finding a whole crowd of equally sarcastic people in Rong Taotao’s comment section...

”Hey! Don’t you reply!” Rong Taotao shot to his feet. ”Register your own account if you want to argue with them.”

”Quiet,” Xia Fangran said impatiently, then asked, ”You’re not going to clap back at this comment?”

Rong Taotao glanced at the phone screen and grimaced. The person’s comment was indeed nasty: ”No way~ No way! Am I really the only one who can tell they were throwing the match?”

Xia Fangran’s fingers tapped slowly, laboriously searching for the right letters on the keyboard. Although his typing was slow, his determination to fire back was immense!

’He’s a Great Soul School, and he struggles with typing? Hmm... This is actually kind of cute, in a way?’

Xia Fangran replied directly: ”The older generation used to say that dogs can see things humans can’t.”

”Ah, that’s refreshing.” Xia Fangran felt a wave of satisfaction and pushed Rong Taotao back down into his seat. ”You sit tight. Let me see what other trash is stinking up your comment section.”

Xia Fangran was bursting with enthusiasm, as if he had just discovered the true meaning of life...

Now that he was so powerful, ordinary people didn’t dare to provoke him to his face. Whatever he said, they mostly had to listen obediently.

But on the internet, who knows who’s who? Xia Fangran had finally found a place where he could argue with people!

Beside them, Yang Chunxi couldn’t help but reach out and snatch the phone from Xia Fangran’s hands. ”Coach Xia, you should really register your own account. After all, your status is different from Taotao’s. There are some things he isn’t in a position to say.”

”You just keep spoiling him,” Xia Fangran grumbled, taking out his own phone and handing it to Yang Chunxi. ”That app, download it for me.”

Yang Chunxi: ”...”

Rong Taotao, having gotten his phone back, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Beside him, Gao Lingwei was silently looking out the window again. She said softly, ”We’re already in the Top 32. Two more matches, and we’ll have our ticket to the national tournament.”

”Yeah,” Rong Taotao agreed quietly, then chuckled. ”It’d be great if they were all at the Zhang Brothers’ level. We could just steamroll our way through.”

Gao Lingwei said, ”In a qualifying tournament where strength is what matters, no one can get by on luck forever. With every round we pass, the remaining opponents will inevitably be stronger.”

”Yeah.”

Gao Lingwei finally pulled her gaze back from the window and turned to Rong Taotao. ”My goal isn’t just the ticket, and it isn’t just the Top 8.”

Seeing her determined expression, Rong Taotao shrugged. ”What a coincidence.”

The corners of Gao Lingwei’s mouth lifted slightly as she turned her head to look out the window again.

”Damn, these people are vicious, tsk tsk... You learn something new every day, you really do!” Xia Fangran’s boisterous voice came from behind them, along with the sound of his fingers tapping the screen. ”Come on, come on, let’s flame them ’til we drop!”

...

「The next morning.」

Rong Taotao sat on the sofa, watching Xia Fangran, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed. Rong Taotao opened his mouth, but then closed it again, holding his tongue.