Chapter 80: A Kiss Livestreamed
The noon sun was especially fine. Light filtered through gaps in the leaves, scattering dappled shadows, warming people to the core.
“So the first person I asked for help on my very first day here was you—but why didn’t you tell me?”
He Siming smiled. “I thought you didn’t want to bring it up, so I didn’t ask. And you looked emotionally off that day—I thought something had happened to you.”
Later, every time he thought back on it, he hated himself for missing the chance to give the Jiang Rong of that moment any real, tangible help.
Jiang Rong looked into He Siming’s eyes. This kind of fate was impossible to resist, and his love for He Siming rose another notch.
If he wanted to be a little sentimental about it—he’d come to this world just to meet He Siming.
Jiang Rong said, “So when I told you at the beginning that I’d hit my head, you really believed it?”
He Siming nodded. “I really did. Especially since you didn’t even recognize me at the time—that surprised me.”
Jiang Rong asked, “But back then, you still thought I was Jiang Rong?”
He Siming replied, “From the start I felt you weren’t like him. Later I gradually realized you really weren’t him. Just like you said—you felt like a second personality, like your soul had been completely swapped. I even compared photos from military training later. You two actually do look different. After looking for a while, you can tell at a glance—your eyes aren’t the same. At least to me, nothing about you feels the same.”
Once this topic came up, Jiang Rong couldn’t help drilling into it.
He leaned closer to He Siming, put on a serious face, and raised what he considered a very serious issue: “So if you couldn’t even tell whether I was Jiang Rong or ‘me’ at first, then during my heat… did you still think I was Jiang Rong?”
That really stumped He Siming. He couldn’t help laughing—jealous Jiang Rong had such lively eyes and expressions.
He Siming cupped his face, which looked even cuter because of the seriousness. “Don’t eat random jealousy. I only started getting curious about you from the day you stupidly asked me where the dorm building was. I had no feelings for my classmate Jiang Rong. Before meeting you, I didn’t even remember what he looked like.”
Jiang Rong leaned in, staring into his eyes to see if he was lying.
“So you really never treated me as your classmate?”
“I was only curious about you. The one I fell for was you. I never once looked at a second ‘Jiang Rong’ that way. If you don’t believe me, I can swear?” He Siming raised three fingers.
Jiang Rong pressed his fingers down. “Alright, I believe you. Then why did you go to the library back then? I never saw you go afterward.”
Seeing him so close, He Siming felt it’d be a crime not to kiss him—so he decisively kissed his lips.
He was a bit embarrassed to say it. “What do you think?” He turned his head away.
The breeze carried He Siming’s pheromones toward Jiang Rong, making his heart burn warm.
Jiang Rong’s eyes sparkled. He turned He Siming’s face back. “Tell me. I want to hear it, He Siming.”
He Siming said, “Back then, I guess I wanted to understand you better. I saw you basically living in the library during that time, so I followed you there that day.”
Jiang Rong asked, “The rainy day?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Rong recalled that day at the library, smiling. “Did you deliberately bring me an umbrella that day?”
“Yeah. You only realized now?”
The Jiang Rong of a year ago wouldn’t have noticed things like that. Looking back, He Siming appearing in the group chat that day had been very unreasonable—he normally never chatted there, yet that day he’d proactively sent a message.
Jiang Rong’s brows and eyes were full of delight as he wrapped his arms around He Siming’s neck. “Then what if I hadn’t replied in the group chat? If someone else had found you, what would you have done—walked them back with an umbrella too?”
He knew there had been girls in their class who liked He Siming. Later, seeing they had no chance at all, they’d quietly given up.
He Siming smiled. “That’s easy. I’d just say I’d already left. I’d hold an umbrella for no one else—only for you.”
Jiang Rong felt like he was smiling a bit stupidly. “That works too.” He knew He Siming’s mind always turned quickly; if it were him, he’d probably have been more rigid.
“Mm. Chasing my wife isn’t embarrassing,” He Siming said. Having his little secrets dug out left him slightly embarrassed for once—though only for a moment. His skin was nowhere near as thin as Jiang Rong’s.
Every time He Siming called him “wife,” Jiang Rong’s heart turned sweet. Moved, he wrapped his arms around He Siming’s neck.
“He Siming, I want to kiss you.” He really, really wanted to—to be surrounded by his pheromones. He didn’t know how else to return He Siming’s deep love. His body answered honestly, so he said it outright.
A smile curved He Siming’s lips. He didn’t bother reminding Jiang Rong that they were outside. Honestly—it suited him just fine.
Sunlight, a gentle breeze, shade beneath trees, a lakeside—perfect for being in love.
Jiang Rong let a bit of pheromones spill out as He Siming lowered his head and kissed him deeply, almost as if he wanted to devour him.
So He Siming had liked him that early on. He’d never even considered that possibility.
Their love hadn’t begun because of an ABO heat, not because he needed pheromones—but simply because they liked each other, and everything that followed came from that.
That tiny knot in Jiang Rong’s heart dissolved in the breeze at that moment. He’d never imagined that what he shared with He Siming was such a pure, sincere love. Unknowingly, he’d already been inside love—love had found him a year ago.
He thought: the moment he stepped beneath He Siming’s umbrella, he’d also stepped under his wings, planting the seed of affection.
Kissing always made people happy.
As they ended that lingering, sweet kiss, He Siming remembered something. “Jiang Rongrong, tell me honestly—were you with me because of pheromones?”
Turns had turned. This time, Jiang Rong was the one nearly stumped.
Pressing close to He Siming’s lips, Jiang Rong smiled. “God He, could you be a little more confident?”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Both their phones suddenly rang.
He Siming’s phone was resting on his thigh—he’d been watching videos earlier and hadn’t put it away.
Ding Yan was calling him, while Yao Shule sent Jiang Rong a voice call.
Jiang Rong said, “It might be urgent.”
He answered first.
Before he could speak, Yao Shule shouted on the other end, panting, “Are you at Lover’s Lake? Someone’s livestreaming and caught you two on camera!”
Jiang Rong froze. “Huh? Livestream?”
He Siming reacted faster, immediately pulling Jiang Rong into his arms.
Yao Shule was speechless. “What’s the point of hiding now? It’s a campus-wide livestream—no, the whole internet!”
Jiang Rong: “……”
He Siming looked around. “Who’s streaming?”
Finally, he spotted a girl not far away with a full livestream setup. Beside her were a puffy skirt, a picnic mat, and a lace parasol.
She seemed to be a fairly well-known female streamer from their school, popular among many otaku-type students. Across platforms, her followers added up to four or five million.
Ding Yan provided on-the-spot commentary: “She’s a real streamer. Seems like it wasn’t intentional—she was teaching people how to take picnic photos.”
After hearing that, Jiang Rong was completely stunned, even stuttering. “W-we… our kissing was livestreamed?”
He Siming said, “Seen by a lot of people.” He was surprisingly calm—there was even a hint of excitement in his tone.
Jiang Rong: “……” He could accept gradually going public, even small-scale publicity lately—but being filmed kissing?!
Did he even want to live anymore?!
He pressed his forehead to He Siming’s chest, ears red enough to drip blood, on the verge of tears.
“He Siming, I can’t face anyone… wuu…”
He Siming patted his head. “Let’s go. Once we’re out of frame, it’ll be fine.”
Jiang Rong clutched his clothes to hide his face. “I don’t want to live anymore!”
Wouldn’t it have been better to just tell everyone he was He Siming’s boyfriend?
“It’s okay. Which couple doesn’t kiss? Let’s go home first—otherwise He Shenglin won’t nap again.”
He knew exactly what could cool Jiang Rong down.
But this time, even He Shenglin didn’t work. Jiang Rong’s shame overwhelmed him; he buried his head in He Siming’s chest and refused to move.
Knowing he couldn’t coax him this time, He Siming gently patted his back. “Be good. It’s fine—just a kiss.”
Muffled in his arms, Jiang Rong said, “A-and I was the one who initiated it… wuu…”
“So what? I was very happy. Ignore them—we’ll go home first.”
Smiling, He Siming took Jiang Rong’s hand and walked him toward the car, shielding him as they went.
Along the way, many passing classmates stared at them.
Jiang Rong was dying of shame.
Kissing by Lover’s Lake alone wouldn’t have been a big deal—but these two had been livestreamed. Two handsome guys kissing, beautifully framed—the video had already gone viral.
In fact, the streamer had moved her camera away as soon as she noticed. She’d been focused on explaining photography tips and hadn’t realized there were two people kissing by the lake in the background.
Her livestream exploded.
—So this is Qin University’s Lover’s Lake?
—Looks great, love it!
—The background is stunning.
—Do those two handsome guys know they’re in frame?
—This couple is so sweet—kissing and whispering, such pure campus romance! I’m shipping it!
—These days all the pretty handsome guys are “self-digesting”—Qin University really delivers!
—Oh my god, isn’t that Campus Heartthrob He?!
—I heard Qin University’s heartthrob is insanely impressive! Want to hear his love story—join the VIP group!
He Siming and Jiang Rong didn’t even need to be “found out.” Skipping the campus forum entirely, they basically came out to the whole internet—and soon snagged a small trending topic.
#QinUniversityHeartthrobKissesAtLoversLake
#QinUniversityLoversLakeAesthetic
#HandsomeGuysSelfDigesting
#SweetCouplesShouldBeKissing
After getting home, Jiang Rong didn’t dare open the 99+ unread messages in their small group chat. He could only focus on feeding their son, pretending not to care.
But how could he pretend?
He asked He Shenglin, “Linlin, are you full? If not, Daddy can make you another bottle.”
For the first time, He Siming felt sorry for his son and rescued him. “It’s almost time for his nap—he probably won’t drink anymore.”
Jiang Rong said regretfully, “Then I’ll play with his toys.”
He Siming laughed. “How about burping him instead?”
Jiang Rong carried He Shenglin around the house. Several times, He Shenglin was about to fall asleep, only to be accidentally rocked awake again.
He Siming thought: guess we’ll have to wrong He Shenglin a bit—he still had to deal with the livestream fallout.
Sure enough, within half an hour, even Tang Yucheng had heard about it.
Seeing how flustered Jiang Rong was—given his shy nature—He Siming figured he probably wouldn’t want to go to school for the next few days.
Through Tang Yucheng, He Siming learned about the trending topic. Tang quickly arranged for the trending tags to be taken down.
As for hot posts on the school forum, He Siming was already used to them.
They’d only been accidentally filmed. As long as the video was contained in time, it wouldn’t spread too far—the heat would die down quickly.
But this time, things weren’t that simple. Someone dug up He Siming’s identity.
The video of him kissing Jiang Rong trending online even reached his parents.
Online commentary spiraled—from playful teasing to conspiracy theories, dragging in all sorts of filthy, fabricated information.
Public opinion was manageable, but still nauseating—stuff like rich second-gen messing around with men, all kinds of disgusting nonsense.
Seeing people deliberately smear his relationship with Jiang Rong like that, He Siming’s face darkened.
Once Jiang Rong finished putting He Shenglin to sleep, He Siming messaged his parents.
The internet exposing him as He Zhixian and Xu Mingqin’s son wasn’t exactly new. After the drone incident last time, it had already leaked. Tang Yucheng had shifted attention with a new company project back then. This time, there was a new hook—just more unscrupulous media.
The teams of He Zhixian and Xu Mingqin immediately sent lawyer’s letters to all those trashy self-media accounts and sued them to the end.
In addition, both He Zhixian and Xu Mingqin posted statements on their social accounts at the same time.
He Zhixian: Please do not disturb my son and his partner. They are both good kids.
Xu Mingqin: Please do not disturb my son and his partner. They are both good kids.
For the first time in years, the couple posted the exact same message. The two entrepreneurs instantly drew all the firepower toward themselves.
Media winds shifted again. With the parents publicly endorsing the relationship, all the baseless rumors lost their footing.
Jiang Rong hadn’t expected things to escalate like this in the short time it took him to get their son to sleep. It all felt unreal.
For a moment, he even forgot the shame of the livestreamed kiss. The world felt strangely unreal.
Holding his phone, he watched the numbers on Xu Mingqin’s social platform keep climbing. Being inexperienced, he didn’t really understand all the twists and turns of media maneuvering.
Nervously, he asked He Siming, “He Siming… is this okay?”
“There’s nothing bad about it,” He Siming said. “My parents finally came in handy. It’s good for my company too. They even spent their own money to give us free publicity—a win-win.”
Jiang Rong said, “Your own family turned it into business?”
“They’re married, after all. Ambition comes with the territory. The strongest proof is the stock price going up. Tang Yucheng also took the opportunity to release the company’s future plans. Our assets went up too.”
Jiang Rong: “……”
So their livestreamed kiss had benefits like this? Suddenly, he wasn’t so ashamed anymore.
Seeing that Jiang Rong had finally settled down, He Siming didn’t mention the uglier aspects that had cropped up.
He pretended to be aggrieved. “Jiang Rongrong, keep me company for a nap. I’ve been staring at surveillance monitors every day lately—my eyes hurt.”
“Then I’ll get you some eye drops. The ones this morning seemed to help—some of the redness went down.”
Feeling sorry for him, Jiang Rong immediately went to fetch the drops, but He Siming scooped him up around the waist.
“No need. Sleeping with you will fix it.”
Jiang Rong quickly wrapped his arms around his neck—instantly understanding which kind of “sleep” he meant.
Struggling, he said, “We still have class this afternoon.”
He Siming set him down on the sofa, grabbed the remote, and closed all the curtains.
Lowering his head, he kissed the corner of Jiang Rong’s lips. “Call me ‘teacher.’ I’ll do it.”
Jiang Rong: “Wait—do what?”
He Siming’s eyes darkened as he bit the side of his neck. “You.”
Jiang Rong: “……” Shouldn’t have asked!
—
After the livestream incident, everyone on campus knew who He Siming’s partner was.
Jiang Rong went to school every day wearing a hat and mask.
Fortunately, Qin University students were academically focused and didn’t spend their days stalking gossip. Besides, He Siming had laid the groundwork early—his partner turning out to be Jiang Rong made sense, yet was still unexpected.
Most importantly, the parents had publicly endorsed it. What was left to say except envy?
The juniors who’d still harbored hopes about Jiang Rong finally gave up.
No wonder when the gentle senior said he had a partner, the campus heartthrob’s gaze had been so cold. That wasn’t aloofness—they’d been trying to steal someone’s partner right in front of him. No wonder he’d looked like he wanted to swallow them whole.
Meanwhile, He Shenglin’s hundred-day celebration arrived.
Ding Yan received the invitation from He Siming. He skimmed it without even noticing the signature, then happily ran to their classroom after lunch to find him.
Grinning, he teased He Siming, “Old He, did your parents give you a younger brother?”
Yao Shule couldn’t take it anymore. “Ding Yan, eat less shrimp.”
This is what true blindness looks like.
