Sickly Bigshot CH 24 So Big
Translated by The BL Muse (ko-fi)
The moment Shi Zhou saw the Weibo post, it felt like the whole world had gone silent—mostly because the noisy, jeering haters had collectively fallen mute like a bunch of chickens.
If they hadn’t been hell-bent on mocking Shi Zhou like lunatics, Qin Yancheng clearly wouldn’t have posted that Weibo at all. But the haters just had to go marching up to him with their faces bared for a slap.
The onlookers couldn’t help but marvel: Qin Yancheng’s protectiveness was borderline violent. The man used to post maybe two Weibo a year, and now he’d broken that annual record within mere days.
Shi Zhou stared at the word “sweet” in “very sweet cake”, and a moment later, burst into leg-slapping laughter.
That word really did sum up the cake’s “devastating” power. Other than being tooth-achingly sweet, there really wasn’t another word that could pretend to praise it.
But as funny as it was, Shi Zhou suspected that Qin Yancheng had no idea what kind of implications the photo he posted carried—
Sure enough, the trending topics list lit up like fireworks:
#ShiZhouBirthdayCake
#QinYanchengSuspectedOfficialAnnouncement
#ChengZhouCP
#QinYanchengExtremeProtectiveness
Once Shi Zhou had laughed enough, reality hit—this was bad. One look at the trending topics and he had a full-blown headache.
Qin Yancheng had always lived in a position of power, doing things as he pleased. Did he even realize that posting something like that was essentially him stepping in personally, interacting, and indirectly telling the world “ChengZhou is real”?
[No wonder there were two little holes in the frosting of Shi Zhou’s cake—after seeing Qin Yancheng’s post, we now know that was where the couple figurines originally stood]
[I thought Shi Zhou was trying to be a calculating boy with that pic—turns out he was already being discreet, he deliberately removed the figurines before taking the photo]
[So is this an official announcement?!]
[Not quite? I get the feeling President Qin always acts first—like maybe he hasn’t even wooed the guy yet?]
[Tch! Our President Qin is rich, handsome, and successful—like hell he needs to chase anyone, let alone a D-list nobody like Shi Zhou]
[LMAO don’t look down on others—your President Qin just unilaterally “announced” it]
[Shi Zhou is a green tea bitch! That wasn’t an announcement at all!]
[Keep flaming, the more you hate, the more your President Qin won’t be able to woo him—enjoy eternal bachelorhood]
Speculations and arguments flooded the feed. Qin Yancheng had a real talent for dropping a bomb and vanishing, leaving behind scorched haters and giddy shippers mining the rubble for sugar.
Shi Zhou was exasperated. He really was grateful Qin Yancheng stepped in to defend him, but this way? The man who never had a single scandal just burned a bridge with his own reputation.
There were softer ways to handle it! Did he really not care about his own image at all?
Shi Zhou called him up. “Qin sir, have you looked at Weibo? Do you realize what you’ve done?”
Qin Yancheng, his computer screen still open to the Weibo comments, said blandly, “The photo is factual. Their overthinking is their own problem.”
Shi Zhou opened and closed his mouth. “...But do you not care how people interpret this?”
There was a pause on the other end—he vaguely heard Secretary Bai reminding him about an upcoming meeting.
Shi Zhou sighed and hung up. Well, technically, nothing he posted was false. There was no trickery, just rampant misunderstanding. But how had it gotten this far?
Qin Yancheng was obviously straight. Why couldn’t anyone else see that? Was he the only one with a finely tuned gaydar?
Meanwhile, his fanfic inbox and “Runaway Airship” comment section were full of people begging for updates. Because to Shi Zhou, Qin Yancheng was just a beautiful, emotionless being who’d never love anyone—he could shamelessly ship the two of them because he knew the truth.
He continued writing his birthday cake chapter but instantly deflated when reminded just how horrible that cake had tasted. Ugh, even now he couldn’t bring himself to look straight at the word “sweet” let alone a cake made by the alternate Shi Zhou that was laced with an aphrodisiac.
He opened Weibo for a break and browsed randomly, noticing a group of fans who couldn’t write but still wanted to contribute to the ship. They were out there gathering and editing dashing pics of Qin Yancheng and Shi Zhou. Since there weren’t many photos of the two together, skilled Photoshoppers had gotten to work.
Shi Zhou tilted his head in thought for a moment then opened his photo gallery—he had tons of Qin Yancheng pics too. Why not share the joy?
He quickly selected nine photos to post—
Wait, no, no, no!
He almost uploaded pictures of Qin Yancheng at home!
He hurriedly unselected anything too private and only kept three photos that could plausibly have been taken by passersby.
But since he’d taken them so close up, one even showed Qin Yancheng glancing directly into the lens. The lighting and angle were so good you could see his thick eyelashes and faint blue veins—lethal beauty in HD. Even Qin Yancheng’s own fans snuck over to the ChengZhou fandom circle silently to grab the images.
The comments flooded in:
[Aaaah President Qin is so handsome!]
[How is this so high-def? I’m licking my screen! Long live Airship Madam!]
[I finally have a crystal-clear image of President Qin in my brain—I’ll dream so sweet tonight!]
[Let me hug the cute OP and give you a kiss!]
Shi Zhou happily set his phone down, thinking if only he could one day post all the gorgeous lifestyle shots of Qin Yancheng too—especially the ones of him in a bathrobe... just imagining it gave him a nosebleed.
Well, not literally. He’d always thought nosebleeds from attraction were just exaggerated fiction. No one he knew had ever actually bled from eye candy.
“Aunt Zhang, I want to take a bath—” Feeling inspired to write more spicy scenes, he asked, “Can you run the tub for me?”
Aunt Zhang agreed, then mumbled from inside his bathroom. “Huh? The drain valve seems broken?”
Shi Zhou paused, recalling how he’d forced it last night when it got stuck. Guess brute force wasn’t a miracle after all. His brother had said, “You’re like a walking disaster. Always rushing in with brute force. Try a little patience sometime.”
Aunt Zhang continued, “Maybe use the tub in sir’s room? The one downstairs only has a shower.”
Shi Zhou agreed, still typing away. Fine. He'll just be gentle this time and make sure he doesn’t break Qin Yancheng’s tub too.
The story he was writing had progressed to Qin Yancheng pinning Shi Zhou to the bed, kissing down his body...
Back at the house, Qin Yancheng arrived to find Aunt Zhang watching gardeners swap out dead winter plants in the backyard. They were carefully selecting new plants—nothing Qin Yancheng might be allergic to.
Shi Zhou had randomly declared he’d plant a tree like the great historical figures, but the second the landscapers showed up, he disappeared. Clearly, physical labor wasn’t his thing.
Upstairs, Qin Yancheng removed his coat and saw Shi Zhou’s laptop open on the coffee table, full of dense text.
Last time he glanced at it, Shi Zhou had turned beet red like a cooked crab—could it have been this he was writing?
Qin Yancheng stepped closer to peek—
And the screen went black, the computer lock screen time arriving just in time.
It was password-locked and Qin Yancheng wasn’t going to try out passwords just to snoop. In the end, he quietly closed the laptop and set it aside.
Meanwhile, completely unaware that he’d just narrowly avoided social death, Shi Zhou was gleefully playing with a line of floating rubber duckies in the tub.
When the palm of his hand pushed the water, some of them moved forward, some rotated, and they all scattered.
Only at home could he secretly indulge like this. Otherwise people would think he was childish or a sissy. No respect for personal hobbies!
“Splash splash—”
The sound of water masked any footsteps. Shi Zhou didn’t notice someone entering until—
Qin Yancheng pushed the door open, one hand loosening the belt of his robe.
Shi Zhou looked up—and was instantly thunderstruck!
He was almost completely naked! Standing right in front of him!
“Holy—MAMA! AAHHHH!” Shi Zhou’s scream cracked. He’d taken a full blast of visual assault completely unprepared—this was too damn much!
Despite living together for ages, this was Shi Zhou’s first time seeing that part of Qin Yancheng.
—Oh. My. God. Why is he so big?!
His brain instantly dredged up the spicy passages he’d written. Words once confined to fiction surged into vivid reality. All he could see was Qin Yancheng’s body. His eyes locked on, unable to look away. That size, that distance—it was almost within reach. From the tub, he was at eye level.
Qin Yancheng had long legs, perfect proportions, a sculpted torso... and going lower...
The rising steam and water lapped against Shi Zhou’s bare skin like a caress. His mind exploded.
His nose grew hot—then a single drop of blood plopped into the water.
Qin Yancheng was still holding the doorknob, clearly also stunned.
But he was a man used to pressure. He quickly snapped out of it, tied his robe shut, and said coldly, “Why are you in my bathroom?”
Shi Zhou clutched his bleeding nose and mumbled, “Why’d you barge in without checking? Couldn’t you hear me playing with the water?!”
Damn, unconscious seduction was the most lethal. This damn book’s top-tier looker really was fatally alluring. For a beauty-loving little perv like Shi Zhou, the damage was off the charts.
Qin Yancheng wordlessly handed him tissue. Shi Zhou stood and shook off water, only to feel pure despair—he’d actually gotten a nosebleed from lusting after Qin Yancheng’s body, right in front of him!
Now Qin Yancheng definitely thought he was a pervert!
No, it had to be the water temperature! Dilated blood vessels! Completely normal!
Qin Yancheng saw he was too busy with his nose to cover up, so he grabbed a nearby towel and wrapped it around him.
The more Shi Zhou thought, the more indignant he became, “Why didn’t you close your eyes! You looked at me too! We’re even!”
Qin Yancheng said flatly, “Why would I close my eyes? We’re both men. But why did you nosebleed from looking at me?”