Celebrity Neighbor: My girlfriend is a big star?
Chapter 107. The Gradually Approaching Sense of Powerlessness (Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch, Yang Yi’er! 7/10)

Chapter 107: 107. The Gradually Approaching Sense of Powerlessness (Thanks to the Alliance Hierarch, Yang Yi’er! 7/10)

"Uh-huh, I got here yesterday evening."

"Uh... I didn’t provoke her. She’s been like this for ages."

"Yes, I know. I’ll take care of her."

"Alright, you rest easy."

"Bye-bye~"

After finishing his morning call with his mom, Liu Xin’an crossed his legs and looked at Li Chenglu, who walked out of the bathroom looking refreshed.

"Find a hotel today and leave, okay? Don’t even think about freeloading at my girlfriend’s place."

"Why? You’re not Irene. What makes you think you can decide for her?"

What a joke. Given the chance to stay at Bae Juhyun’s place, why would Li Chenglu want to find a hotel?

"Who do you think she listens to more, you or me?"

"Tch, fine. It’s rare for me to visit, so I do plan on exploring a bit."

"Exploring? You got work here?"

"Nah, I plan to do some serious fangirling."

"Other than Red Velvet, you have other favorite groups?"

Li Chenglu nodded, reaching up to untie her hair, letting her jet-black locks fall smoothly.

"Besides Red Velvet, I also like BLACKPINK and TWICE."

"...Huh?"

This was clearly outside Liu Xin’an’s realm of knowledge. Although he now knew "Irene" and consequently became familiar with Red Velvet and even Girls’ Generation, thanks to a recent collaboration, his understanding of the local entertainment scene remained shallow.

To put it lightly, he hadn’t even heard of those two group names that Li Chenglu mentioned.

Or maybe he had, but they didn’t leave an impression.

"Hey, my wife is in the industry, you should at least know her competitors, right?"

Liu Xin’an took a deep breath. "Call Juhyun your wife one more time, and I’ll cut ties with you. Believe it or not?"

Li Chenglu snorted lightly but compromised.

"Alright, alright, your girlfriend. Still, your girlfriend’s in a tough spot right now. I’ll definitely stand by her unconditionally, but the current public opinion isn’t great for her. So keeping an eye on the competition is my duty as a fan."

"...Competition? Is it that serious?"

"Of course. This place isn’t like our country, where even a C or D-list celebrity can make a fortune. If your girlfriend can’t withstand these dark times, it’s going to be hard for Red Velvet in the future."

Liu Xin’an fell silent. He understood the power of public opinion, having dealt with it often.

Public opinion could easily make or break someone.

Even the comments under Bae Juhyun’s stage video yesterday were mostly positive so far, without many negative comments.

But that didn’t mean his girlfriend had completely escaped from the clutches of public opinion...

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You?" Li Chenglu laughed, "A gaming streamer with five million followers?"

"What’s the problem?"

"No offense, but your followers and popularity can’t even compare to a strand of Red Velvet’s hair."

(Li Chenglu’s fan remarks; not to be taken as the author’s views.)

Li Chenglu smiled disdainfully, raising her pinky finger as she taunted him.

Though it sounded exaggerated, she wasn’t wrong.

If judged by popularity, Liu Xin’an’s influence on his little streaming platform wasn’t as exaggerated as some might think.

After all, he was just a gamer, someone who got lucky and became somewhat liked—a gamer.

Even as a full-time streamer now, the pressures he faced were vastly different from those of true celebrities.

"So, there’s nothing I can do to help?"

Unable to help the person he loved was something a man could never accept.

Whether it was out of responsibility or pride.

"Uh... You can’t help with her work. Just spend more time with her. Irene probably needs your company now. You’re really lucky to have met her at her lowest and even live next door!"

Liu Xin’an pursed his lips, smiling bitterly.

"Am I lucky..."

"Hey, I was just saying. Don’t overthink it."

They had been friends for close to thirty years.

Close friends, best friends.

Seeing Liu Xin’an’s expression, Li Chenglu knew he was about to overthink things again.

She quickly reassured him, "It’s not something you can help with, even if you wanted to. Irene needs to fade from the public eye until this blows over, then reappear. Don’t think about helping; it’s for your own good, got it?"

"Yeah, I know. I definitely won’t add trouble for Juhyun."

"Good, nothing else, I’ll be off. Call me if you need anything."

Li Chenglu breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her reassurance had worked and stopped worrying.

Since she rarely traveled, she planned to find a place to stay for a little less than a month!

First, stay for 20 days, and then follow Liu Xin’an back to Shanghai for the Baidu Awards.

"Go on."

"Don’t overthink it!"

"Hurry up and buzz off!"

---

Because he had already taken a break yesterday, today Liu Xin’an couldn’t take another day off from streaming.

New Year’s was a time when everyone had off, and streams were sure to be popular, so after sending Li Chenglu off, he started his stream at 10:30 AM.

It was still around 9 o’clock in the morning in China, a time when most people who had just finished a week of hard work were catching up on sleep.

So the early morning audience in Liu Xin’an’s stream wasn’t large.

But even though the popularity was low, he still took his streaming seriously, occasionally chatting and joking with the comments.

As he was engrossed in his stream, the door to his house quietly opened from the outside, and Bae Juhyun slipped in.

"Liu Xin’an~"

Just awoken, Bae Juhyun looked at the empty sofa and quickly deduced that he had returned.

However, she didn’t know that Li Chenglu, who had stayed at her place last night, had left. She thought Liu Xin’an was home.

After calling out with no response, Bae Juhyun walked up to the streaming room door.

She gently cracked it open and peeked through the gap, spotting her boyfriend’s focused back.

In the next instant, Bae Juhyun’s face bloomed into a smile.

Whether he acknowledged her or not, as long as she saw him, she felt at ease.

After sending Liu Xin’an a message on her phone, she peeked through the door gap.

He glanced at his phone, then instinctively turned around.

Then, she pushed the door open, flashed him a cute smile, and closed the door for him, thoughtfully.

The message was simple: she would watch TV at his place, and he should focus on work.

But Liu Xin’an didn’t obediently follow her advice. He smiled, paused the game, muted the sound, and stood up.

"Yo, isn’t this the scaredy-cat who ate garlic last night?"

This long string of titles made Bae Juhyun’s breath hitch. She forcefully shut the door, intending to lock Liu Xin’an in the streaming room.

But her strength was comparative to his.

"Let go, or I’ll use force."

Liu Xin’an called through the door, waited a few seconds, then cautiously applied pressure. Finding no resistance, he pulled the door open.

He then saw Bae Juhyun sitting on the sofa with a face that might as well have had "I’m very angry" written on it.

Realizing his joke had gone too far, Liu Xin’an quickly approached, grinning sheepishly.

"Just kidding. Did you sleep well?"

"Not at all. All I tasted was garlic!"

Bae Juhyun was petty, though she didn’t see herself that way.

"It’s okay, I don’t mind."

"Hey! Get back to work! I don’t want to disrupt your work, go on, quick."

Bae Juhyun pushed away Liu Xin’an’s advancing arm. She was still upset, and he wanted a hug?

How delusional!

He knew better than to push it, so with a nod, he decided to respect her wishes.

"I sent Li Chenglu away. She shouldn’t bother us for a few days."

"Huh? Your friend left?"

"Yep, she said she wanted to follow... TWICE and BLACKPINK’s schedules, so she left."

"...Isn’t she our fan?"

Bae Juhyun’s expression turned strange. Yesterday she was acting like a die-hard fan, and now she switched loyalties overnight?

Could it be because she fell out of love after I started dating?

"Uh... she might be just a tad more open-minded than you think."

"Hmph... Fine, go stream now!"

Bae Juhyun shook her head, smiling helplessly, then gave Liu Xin’an another push.

"Okay, okay. Don’t forget lunch."

"Got it, I’ll bring you some too."

"Alright."

Streaming lunch was still doable. The ever-dedicated Liu Xin’an could eat and share game guides with his followers at the same time.

He would make it fun.

As Liu Xin’an returned to the streaming room to work, Bae Juhyun took out her phone and dialed Kang Seulgi’s number.

The call got picked up quickly.

"What’s up, Juhyun?"

"When is everyone free?"

Since her identity had already been revealed, she planned to officially introduce her closest friends to Liu Xin’an.

Yesterday, she hadn’t agreed because she didn’t know their schedules yet.

But now it was different. By this time, Kang Seulgi and the others should have their January schedules, so the next step was to find a common free time.

"Want to introduce us?"

"Yeah, I think it’s necessary to officially meet. It couldn’t be helped before."

"How about tomorrow?"

"Alright, so... tomorrow?"

"Yep, everyone’s free tomorrow. After that, we have scattered schedules. If you want to get us all together, tomorrow is the best day."

Red Velvet might not be very busy now, but the members’ individual schedules were still packed.

Especially Park Sooyoung. As the only member with acting opportunities, her schedule was full from January 4th.

She was busy to the point where her feet barely touched the ground.

In comparison, Bae Juhyun seemed too relaxed.

"Eh? That soon?"

"Uh-huh, so should we set it for tomorrow?"

"Uh... Can I ask him? It’s quite sudden; I can’t give you an immediate answer."

"Sure, just let us know in the group chat when it’s confirmed."

"Alright."

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