Chapter 45
The Java sparrow ice sculpture stood quietly in the center of the plaza. The patterns of its feathers were exactly the same as the crocheted doll in his arms. Yanyan immediately recognized—it was himself.
The boy’s eyes were full of disbelief. It felt as if a little bird had gently bumped into his heart, making it race instantly.
“It’s a pity ice sculptures can only last a few months. When spring comes next year, it will melt,” Si Jingce said, looking at him. “I don’t know if you’ll like… this reward.”
According to the original plan, he should have confessed at this moment. Unfortunately, an accident had forced him to confess earlier, and only now did he make up for this ceremony.
But when the plan was actually carried out, Si Jingce felt it still wasn’t enough.
A thin mist suddenly formed in Yanyan’s eyes. He bit his lower lip tightly, and tears suddenly spilled out one by one, soaking the doll in his arms.
Si Jingce was startled and hurriedly pulled out tissues to hand over. But Yanyan had already wiped his tears first, choking as he said, “Wuwuwu brother, I’m so moved my mating period is about to be triggered.”
Si Jingce: …
He let out a soft sigh and carefully moved closer, gently wiping away the tears at the corners of Yanyan’s eyes.
Their warm breaths intertwined as they stood very close. Yanyan stared at him for a while, then leaned in clingingly and kissed Si Jingce on the cheek.
Still unsatisfied, the tearful boy became unusually proactive and pressed his lips against Si Jingce’s.
Si Jingce’s heart skipped a beat. He instinctively wrapped an arm around Yanyan’s waist, kissing him until Yanyan’s whole body went soft.
In the end, it was Yanyan noticing that the doll in his arms had been squashed flat that made him reluctantly break the kiss.
His lips were already reddened from the kiss. He carefully examined the flattened doll, then picked it up and gently patted it a few times until it returned to its original shape.
“I really like this reward,” Yanyan said with smiling eyes. “But Ice Sculpture Yanyan looks so lonely standing in the snow all by himself.”
He grabbed Si Jingce’s hand. “Let’s make a snowman brother to keep him company.”
Full of enthusiasm, Yanyan dragged Si Jingce to the plaza.
Together, they rolled a large snowball for the body of Snowman Si Jingce, then a slightly smaller one for the head and placed it on top.
Finally, they found two small stones for eyes… and a somewhat rough-looking Snowman Si Jingce was complete.
The small snowman stood beside the large ice sculpture. Yanyan looked at his work with great satisfaction, then suddenly noticed a signature on the base of the ice sculpture.
A string of English letters was engraved on it—lcberg.
Below it was a small line of Chinese characters.
“Strawberry Mianmian Bing left this.”
He looked at Si Jingce in surprise. “Brother, didn’t you not like this name?”
Si Jingce cleared his throat lightly, hiding his embarrassment. “Couple names aren’t a bad thing.”
In the blink of an eye, Yanyan had already picked up a branch and left his own name on the snowman.
Yanyan.
“Pineapple Sweet Donut left this.”
Si Jingce even crouched down to check carefully—this time, Yanyan hadn’t written any characters wrong.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the boy beside him sneaking closer, looking all furtive.
A thought stirred in Si Jingce’s mind. Just as he turned his head, a snowball smacked straight into his face.
Cold snow scattered all over him. Yanyan’s laughter rang in his ears. Si Jingce instinctively leaned back, and with a quick grab, he unexpectedly pulled the culprit into his arms.
The joy hadn’t yet faded from Yanyan’s face when panic quickly spread across it. His hands hurriedly clutched onto Si Jingce’s clothes, and in the end, the two of them tumbled heavily into the snow together.
White snow mist burst into the air. A cold hand slipped under Yanyan’s clothes along the hem.
“Brother!” Yanyan’s eyes widened instantly. Frozen by the cold, he burrowed into Si Jingce’s arms, pleading, “I was wrong, don’t mess with me!”
Si Jingce slowly withdrew his hand, lightly patting the waist of his little boyfriend in his arms, lying there in the snow.
…
Such a large ice sculpture appearing in the plaza quickly drew everyone’s attention.
By early the next morning, related posts had already appeared online.
[A few days ago, B City’s central plaza said they were building an ice sculpture and temporarily closed it off. This morning on my way to work, I saw it reopened—and there’s a super cute transparent chubby bird!]
[I saw it too. Big thumbs up to the designer. Isn’t this transparent chubby bird way better than those ugly ice sculptures from previous years?]
[Everyone keeps saying “transparent chubby bird,” I found the picture and—oh my god, it really is a chubby bird!]
[What chubby bird? This is clearly a Java sparrow!]
[I also went to take a look. There’s even a snowman next to the chubby bird, and both have signatures [image][image]]
When the pictures were opened, the two usernames were clearly written on them.
[lcberg and Donut Little Brother?! Is it what I’m thinking?]
[Maybe it’s a custom ice sculpture the couple made for little bird Yanyan?]
[On the surface it’s for the bird, but actually it’s for the boyfriend… hehe, I’ve figured it out—lcberg likes turning his partner into bird form.]
[No need to say more. I get it. He’s totally in love.]
When Yanyan posted a photo of the doll Si Jingce personally crocheted for him on Weibo, the comments were almost all saying the same thing—
[Can you livestream your wedding?]
Yanyan and Si Jingce had just arrived at the annual gala venue and had no time to check the comments.
This year’s annual gala was held at Gemstone TV headquarters and broadcast live throughout.
On the surface, it was promoted as a high-end annual event. In reality, it was basically a large-scale streamer meetup. Many people pulled all sorts of tricks on the red carpet. Yunduan and Bobo Berry even cosplayed as the God of Wealth, carrying big gold ingots and handing out red envelopes to the host and guests along the way.
Si Jingce also received one. When he opened it, there was actually 100 yuan inside. “You switched careers to become a fortune-spreading deity?”
Yunduan clicked his tongue. “It’s an annual gala—we need something festive.”
Yanyan’s gaze couldn’t help drifting toward the gold ingots in their arms. “What’s inside?”
“Chocolate.” Bobo Berry shook the gold ingot in her arms, making a faint rattling sound, then directly stuffed it into Yanyan’s hands. “Here, take it and eat.”
When the camera swept across the seating area, everyone could clearly see that Si Jingce and Yanyan, dressed in matching dark outfits, were each holding a bright golden ingot.
The director seemed to have found the traffic formula. The camera kept drifting toward them, even drawing bursts of exclamations from the guest seats.
On the big screen, the two looked especially pleasing to the eye. Beside the stage, a vertical screen displayed real-time scrolling comments from the livestream.
[Third time already—the camera has panned to lcberg and his partner for the third time. The director is obviously sneaking in favoritism.]
[Not really favoritism, a lot of streamers got screen time… wow, this year really feels like a flourishing scene.]
[Wishing Gemstone TV gets better and better. It really makes people emotional—the era of Luo Huoxi is over.]
Luo Huoxi’s expression darkened. He happened to be sitting right in front of the electronic screen.
The enlarged scrolling comments floated before his eyes, making his face look even paler.
At that very moment, the camera pointed at him.
Luo Huoxi forced a smile at the corner of his lips and stiffly waved.
[After so many scandals in just one year, no amount of resources can save Luo Huoxi now.]
[So many black materials coming out at once—I don’t believe lcberg isn’t behind this at all.]
[Is the person above a fan? With Luo Huoxi’s foul-mouthed streams, it’d be strange if he didn’t collapse!]
The comments instantly erupted into argument, turning chaotic.
“Alright, why do you keep staring at the comments?” Lei Dian glanced over indifferently. “If you ask me, you should’ve admitted your mistake earlier. You could’ve salvaged some fans… but now? Using another crow to deceive people—your fans are almost gone.”
Luo Huoxi cursed, “Damn it, it’s just a crow. Is it really that serious…”
“It is serious.” Lei Dian saw things more clearly than him. “A black-hearted doctor abusing pets, doing illegal experiments—how damaging is that? You didn’t cut ties early or bring the crow back quickly, and instead you pulled this stunt.”
Lei Dian shook his head. “You’d better keep a low profile for now… and the management is fighting hard internally. The new boss will definitely use you as an example. Honestly, you should just accept reality, pick the right side, and maybe you can still protect yourself.”
Luo Huoxi gave a bitter smile.
Could he even protect himself at this point?
Lei Dian patted his shoulder, telling him to relax.
At that moment, a hostess carrying two large red envelopes—each the size of A4 paper—walked toward them.
“Hello, gentlemen.” The hostess smiled slightly. “These are benefits prepared by the company for the streamers present. You may open them and take a look.”
Lei Dian rubbed his hands together and eagerly tore open his envelope. Inside was a contract.
“Holy—!” He read it carefully, then exclaimed, “I’ve been promoted—I’m now an A-level streamer!”
Gemstone TV has a ranking system for its streamers. The highest is S-level, followed by A, B, and C in descending order.
The higher the rank, the better the benefits. Luo Huoxi had already been an S-level streamer for several years.
He opened his red envelope. Inside was a renewal contract.
Lei Dian glanced at it and smiled. “See? The company is still willing to sign you. They’re not holding your mistakes against you.”
Luo Huoxi read through the contract with a heavy heart.
Even Lei Dian had been promoted, yet his own contract contained no improved benefits or promises—just an ordinary renewal agreement.
Once signed, it would feel like shackles… binding him even tighter, leaving him no way to escape, only to be manipulated.
A shiver ran through Luo Huoxi. The contract in his hands suddenly felt terrifying, as if signing it would swallow him whole.
Gemstone TV had no real intention of sincerely renewing with him.
He couldn’t help glancing toward Si Jingce. At the same time, the hostess handed two red envelopes to the pair over there.
What could be inside?
Luo Huoxi’s thoughts ran wild.
Some irresistible preferential contract? Or an exaggerated share transfer agreement?
Under Yanyan’s expectant gaze, Si Jingce opened his envelope.
There was nothing inside—only a piece of calligraphy from his second uncle, written in bold, flowing strokes—
[We’re already so familiar, no need for gifts.]
Si Jingce: .
“Wow, Second Uncle’s handwriting is so beautiful.” Yanyan said enthusiastically. “Is mine also just a note?”
Si Jingce didn’t have much hope for Yanyan’s envelope. He rubbed his forehead. “You open it yourself.”
The boy opened the envelope and casually glanced inside—
In an instant, his hand jerked back as if electrocuted, tightly clutching the envelope shut.
Yanyan looked at Si Jingce in shock.
“Brother… do people in your family all like stuffing checks into envelopes like this?”
