Chapter 143: Driving

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An Lan had no way to deal with Mu Ran. She folded her arms and cast a sidelong glance at Gu Beicheng, who stood beside Mu Ran with an indulgent expression. Then she shook her head helplessly.

“Fine, fine. A daughter truly does grow up and leave her family behind.”

Over by Mu Ran—

“Don’t sit so close to me. Better yet, don’t show your face at all.”

Mu Ran’s pretty face flushed as she pushed against the chest of the man pressed tightly against her.

“Go away. Go away.”

“You just told everyone that we broke up. I should explain, so no one gets any ideas about you…”

There was a hidden meaning in Gu Beicheng’s words.

“No need to explain!”

Mu Ran shifted away, refusing to remain close to him.

He was the one who had just insisted that they keep their distance!

“No need.”

She wished he would hurry up and leave. She did not want to use their relationship to drum up publicity.

“But they said we broke up—that I dumped you.”

Gu Beicheng leaned toward her, bringing his lips close to her little ear. His teasing expression was neither frivolous nor greasy.

It was simply the playful provocation of someone who liked her far too much.

Mu Ran cleared her throat and leaned forward slightly to look at the comments scrolling through the livestream. She could feel the man behind her inching closer, and every hair on her body stood on end.

She cursed inwardly.

What was wrong with Gu Beicheng?

When she had tried to get close to him earlier, he had refused and insisted they maintain their distance. But now, in front of countless viewers, he was shamelessly pressing himself against her!

What a hypocrite!

“Um… my darlings, everyone… I’m… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, everyone. I was only joking. We’re perfectly fine.”

“What? You want us to kiss? Aren’t you being a little too much?”

Mu Ran turned around cautiously. Inadvertently, her lips brushed against the bridge of the man’s nose, and a faint flicker passed through her eyes.

For that instant, time stood still.

The faint chill in the corners of Gu Beicheng’s eyes vanished completely. His lips curved into a smile.

He murmured softly, “Ranran…”

The next second, a moist kiss landed on the tip of her nose.

“Ranran’s angry. I wanted to kiss her, but she wasn’t happy about it. Thank you for giving me the chance to coax her.”

Mu Ran placed a small hand over her nose. Her expression remained calm, and aside from her rigid back, she looked perfectly normal.

“Beibei…”

The intimate nickname slipped out before she could stop it, and Mu Ran froze.

Beibei?

Had she really just called this man Beibei?

Could it be that, before she had been hypnotized, she had always addressed him so affectionately?

“Yes, I’m here.”

Gu Beicheng lowered his head and cupped her delicate face in his broad palm. With a slight lift of his brows, he kissed her cheek again.

This time, it was her lips.

Their lips met, and a sharp pain stabbed through Mu Ran’s head.

“It hurts…” she whimpered softly.

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The comments—

[Holy crap! This is explosive!]

[Oh my goodness, what a feast for the eyes!]

[I’m absolutely dead. They must be the sweetest couple of the year!]

“All right, all right, Xiao Ran, Brother Gu, this sugar is getting painfully sweet! Seriously, enough already. End the livestream—our celebrity battle is about to begin.”

An Lan could not bear to interrupt the two of them as they indulged in their affectionate display, but circumstances were circumstances…

“My darlings, I’m going to end the livestream now, but I’ll appear in the neighboring celebrity battle broadcast.”

Mu Ran abruptly ended the livestream. The tens of thousands of viewers had barely begun to savor the spectacle.

They had not gotten nearly enough of their sweet romance!

“Ranran, you just called me Beibei.”

Gu Beicheng rose and slipped an arm around her slender, sensual waist. His voice was lazy, while his large hand seemed to knead the softness at her waist absentmindedly.

“Keep your distance.”

Mu Ran placed her hand over his and gently pried it away. Then she turned, preparing to follow An Lan to the celebrity battle venue.

With a smile that was not quite a smile, Gu Beicheng wrapped his long arm around her and pulled her into his embrace. His cool, soft lips descended onto hers.

He even gave her lower lip a light bite, as if issuing a warning.

“No. Don’t keep your distance.”

His voice was hoarse, filled with displeasure—and even a trace of grievance.

The peach-blossom color at the corners of Mu Ran’s eyes deepened into a vivid, delicate red. She bit her lip without speaking, her misty gaze lingering over the man’s face.

At that moment, her heart was overflowing with happiness.

That soaring joy washed away the pain in her head caused by his closeness.

Standing beside them like an unwanted third wheel, An Lan clenched her jaw in frustration. She thought bitterly that these two were truly inseparable, hopelessly in love.

With more than a hundred people in the livestream studio watching, they were still completely unrestrained, clinging to each other so tightly it practically stretched into strands.

“Xiao Ran, it’s about to start.”

An Lan urged her on.

Sure enough, Gu Beicheng shot her a sharp look, as if saying, “So what if there are a hundred people? They kissed in front of tens of thousands just now.”

Mu Ran’s eyes gradually cleared. After telling the man, “Be good and wait for me. When I’m finished working, we’ll go skiing,” she followed An Lan to the celebrity battle venue.

The celebrity battle livestream officially began.

The host invited Mu Ran and Li Gang onto the stage for brief self-introductions before moving on to the first segment.

Host: “Our first segment features questions selected at random by big data. We invite the two team captains—the president of SY Pictures, Mu Ran, and Li Gang of Gang Gang Studio—to accept the challenge.”

Everyone looked at one another.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a celebrity battle?

Why were the two bosses the ones accepting the challenge?

An Lan stepped forward and smiled faintly at the camera. Her presence was poised yet striking.

“Hello, everyone. I’m An Lan, vice president of SY Pictures. Since everyone enjoys watching Xiao Ran, this segment is an extra treat for our online audience. Please participate actively by voting during the celebrity battle.”

The comments—

[Oh my goodness! She understands me so well! I could watch Xiao Ran forever and never get tired of her!]

[Why isn’t Gu Beicheng appearing?]

[I came from Mu Ran’s livestream. I want to watch Mu Ran and Gu Beicheng kiss!]

[Exactly!]

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Host: “Everyone can now click the voting box on the livestream page and submit your questions. Our big-data system will select them at random, and then President Mu and President Li will answer them.”

Two minutes later, the system began drawing questions.

The host received the selected question and stared awkwardly at the cue card in her hands. She gave an unnatural smile before signaling An Lan to come onstage.

“President An, is this question really suitable to say aloud?”

The corner of An Lan’s mouth twitched.

The online audience certainly had a wild imagination these days.

“Of course. Go ahead. We need to break with convention.”

The host secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Since the boss had given permission, there was no reason for her to hold back.

“Our question is: What single sentence can make a man lose his self-respect?”

The entire venue fell silent.

The livestream chat exploded.

[!!!!]

Was this really something they were allowed to say?

How were they supposed to answer?

Every man present felt inexplicably targeted, yet none dared to protest.

This generation of online viewers was truly shameless!

Host: “President Mu and President Li will answer in turn. The viewers in the livestream will then vote, and the team of whoever receives the most votes will gain priority in the upcoming battle.”

“First, let’s invite President Mu to answer.”

Mu Ran walked into the center of the livestream frame without changing her expression or quickening her heartbeat. With a faint smile curling her lips, she said, “Your shoes are fake, aren’t they?”

The men present all breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, President Mu had spared them and had not taken the answer in that direction.

Mu Ran stepped back, and Li Gang moved forward. Her answer sent the number of viewers in the celebrity battle livestream soaring to a peak of five hundred thousand.

Li Gang gave the camera a meaningful smile and raised a hand to smooth down her tousled hair.

One sentence capable of destroying a man’s self-respect?

That was child’s play for her!

“I’m going to say it now.”

The more confidently the woman spoke, the more uneasy the men became.

“If you really can’t do it, then forget it.”

The entire venue fell silent.

There was nothing men could stand less than a woman telling them they were incapable.

Mu Ran continued, “You were too slow with your shot.”

Li Gang continued the innuendo. “I’m used to it. It’s always like this. No need to apologize!”

The men present shook their heads one after another. If anyone said those words to them, their self-respect would collapse on the spot.

Host: “Now it’s time for the audience in the livestream to vote. You may give any reason you like, but each viewer has only one vote.”

Two minutes passed, and the results came in.

Li Gang’s votes far exceeded Mu Ran’s.

“How about it, President Mu? What a great start. Looks like you’ll have to arrange a position for me in advance.”

Standing beside Mu Ran, Li Gang nudged her with an elbow, looking thoroughly pleased with herself.

Mu Ran did not resent Li Gang’s casual physical teasing. In the short time they had spent together, she had decided that Li Gang was genuine, farsighted, capable—and wealthy.

“When it comes to innuendo, I concede defeat.”

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