Chapter 339: The Eighteenth Day in the Entertainment World

He watched An Yi patiently guiding Ruan Bingxuan through throwing clay in the pottery studio.

The girl's profile flushed pink, her eyelashes trembling, the heart-rate reading on her wrist fluttering like a panicked butterfly.

He watched Miao Bin acting like a human barnacle, seizing every opportunity to get close to An Yi, the heat in his eyes nearly scorching the screen.

He watched Cang Xingjin, the acting emperor, sitting nearby with a seemingly calm demeanor, but under the camera's close-up, when he looked at An Yi, the surging scrutiny and complex emotions lurking beneath his eyes didn't escape Yu Ziyun's perceptive eye.

He watched the anonymous letter segment, where letters directed at An Yi—some poetic, some direct—were broadcast on the show.

Every description of An Yi's eyes, his temperament, his emotional walls, pierced like needles into a part of Yu Ziyun he'd never fully acknowledged.

He watched the bullet comments and discussion threads, where fans frantically spammed ship slogans for "An Yi × Ruan Bingxuan," "Miao Bin × An Yi," "An Yi × Cang Xingjin," "An Yi × Lin Yan," and even the more niche "All-Yi" and "Yi-All"...

With every click, every view, he could feel with unmistakable clarity the churning, unfamiliar sourness and irritation in his chest, so intense it nearly burned away his reason.

The feeling was so strong, so uncontrollable, that it felt foreign and even a little embarrassing.

At first, he still tried to explain this loss of control in the most "reasonable" way.

He framed it as "elderly" concern—"An Yi is still young, just turned eighteen, his character not yet formed, unaware of the dangers of the world. He shouldn't be dragged into this complex game of emotions, blown up by cameras and full of scheming and ambiguity."

He disguised it as a "friend's" worry—"Who knows if the people around him are sincere or fake? That Miao Bin obviously has an agenda. That Cang Xingjin has a complicated background and a deep mind. And those female guests... An Yi's too naive; he'll get hurt."

But was that really the truth?

Yu Ziyun leaned back into his chair and closed his eyes.

Yet in the darkness, the images rising in his mind were even clearer and more vivid than what was on screen.

The first time they met, An Yi had a breathtaking, otherworldly beauty, along with a transcendent calm that stayed utterly unshaken even when faced with a massive asset transfer.

The second time, when An Yi listened intently to the dull legal clauses, his eyes were crystal clear, as if they could mirror everything yet held nothing at all.

And... on the show, he gave that gentle, warm, flawless smile to everyone.

But beneath that smile, his heart rate stayed steady, and his answers were always flawless yet kept everyone at arm's length.

The aloofness hidden beneath that extreme warmth, the almost godlike coldness and detachment behind that stunning face—it was like the most tempting yet most dangerous illusion, drawing people in to investigate while forever staying out of reach.

Young, huh...?

Yu Ziyun let out a low, self-mocking laugh, deflating all his previous high-sounding excuses.

An Yi's composure and insight were far beyond his years, that penetrating clarity and indifference, as if he'd seen through everything—how was that like a naive kid who needed protection and guidance?

What drew him was never fragility, innocence, or a need to be taken care of.

So what was it that drew him?

It was that unique temperament—contradictory to the extreme, yet perfectly unified.

It was knowing this young man might wield powers that made men like Lu Wenshi and Deng Yingrui tremble in fear, yet still being unable to suppress the urge rising from the depths of his soul—to get closer, to probe, to peel back that gentle exterior and touch the core inside!

When he saw others trying to break through An Yi's walls, what surged up in him was never the so-called "worry that a friend might meet a bad person," but intense rejection and anger.

He was jealous!

Jealous of anyone on the show who got the chance to get close to An Yi!

It was never about looking after a kid, nor a friend's concern...

Yu Ziyun suddenly opened his eyes, those sharp eyes gleaming. The fog that had gathered over so many days was finally torn apart, revealing the clear, burning, even slightly fierce desire underneath.

He'd fallen in love with An Yi.

This realization hit him like a judge's gavel, carrying an irrefutable finality.

A shiver of clarity ran through his body, followed by a nearly absurd... joy and relief.

Yu Ziyun's romantic history was a clean slate. He'd once firmly believed he was emotionally cold by nature, utterly uninterested in romance. Given his family's cold environment and his own picky personality, he'd long decided he would never marry or have kids.

He'd always explained his state with "I don't like kids" and "I'm not into close relationships."

Now, he understood everything.

"I really do still hate kids," he muttered to himself.

Yet his lips curled up uncontrollably, the smile carrying a nearly wild delight: "And conveniently, I won't have kids either. How great!"

This realization took a weight off his shoulders.

He was gay.

He faced it head-on, without any mental block, even feeling a sense of relief.

This fact explained everything perfectly.

And the person who triggered this subversive self-realization was An Yi.

An Yi is still young... The thought crossed his mind again, but this time it brought not worry or excuses, but a thrill mixed with subtle guilt and extreme excitement, like a jolt of electricity down his spine: "I'm a bastard," he told himself.

He admitted it, but he didn't plan to change.

But what did it feel like to be a bastard...? Yu Ziyun savored the extreme emotional rollercoaster of the past few days—from a sea of jealousy to sudden clarity.

The light in his eyes grew more fervent and sharp. Being a bastard felt amazing!

Now that he'd figured it out, staying a bystander watching from the shore, letting others circle around An Yi and try to touch him, wasn't Yu Ziyun's style.

He needed to make a move.

The opportunity came faster than he expected.

To maintain explosive ratings and counter the audience's growing fatigue with the stabilizing love lines, the production team of "Love Relativity" was planning to introduce a new, heavyweight enough guest midway through the show, aiming to create fresh buzz and new chemistry.

This person needed to be special enough, bringing a fresh perspective and class contrast, and ideally capable of shaking up the existing dynamics and creating new suspense.

Yu Ziyun barely had to lift a finger.

He used some connections, dropped a hint of his interest, and given his background—a top-tier elite completely outside the entertainment industry, the scion of the Yu family—the production team's initial shock at learning that this legendary legal figure would voluntarily join a dating show was quickly drowned in ecstatic joy.