76: long phone calls

Yaoyao, who had been brushed off by "Daniel Wu," suddenly felt as if ants were crawling all over her body, both angry and frustrated.

She felt that her earlier act of sharing a photo was utterly stupid!

If Brother Ye really wanted to see each other's looks, why not just start a video call? Why did he have to make her send a photo?

This was clearly just a one-sided attempt to harvest her "sincerity"!

"Ahhh! This jerk! I'm so mad! I should've sent a photo of Liu Yifei instead!"

Yaoyao couldn't help but roll around on her bed, cursing inwardly while putting on her best act of coquettishness, sweetness, and feigned anger:

"Brother, you're lying! This isn't you at all!"

"I don't care! I want to see your photo! Send it now!"

"Wuwu, Brother is bullying me. I showed you mine, but you're just using a celebrity to fool me..."

Jiang Ye listened to the relentless whining on the other end of the phone, feeling utterly unmoved and even a little amused.

He directly transformed into a steel-straight man, either saying "This is me, just with a little beautification filter" to brush her off, or changing the subject by asking if she was so free lately that her boobs hurt from boredom.

After all her efforts, Yaoyao felt like she had punched cotton—not only did she not get the photo she wanted, but she was also exhausted.

She sighed, knowing that today was a complete bust when it came to "sharing photos."

Forced melons aren't sweet, and pushing further might just annoy the big brother.

She reluctantly gave up and steered the conversation toward what she really cared about.

"Alright, alright, Brother, you're the boss. If you don't want to send it, forget it... Oh, by the way, Brother!"

Yaoyao's voice became cautious and probing: "You mentioned earlier that you were scrolling through TikTok, and I think I saw a screenshot of a Girl group livestream? Called... 'Star Dream 101'?"

Jiang Ye, absentmindedly watching the livestream of 'Star Dream 101' that had switched back on his phone, casually replied "Hmm":

"Yeah, just happened to come across it, casually watching. What's up?"

Yaoyao's heart immediately tightened: "Then... Brother, do you find Girl groups interesting? Planning to play around there too?"

She asked tactfully, but the alarm bells in her heart were ringing at full volume.

Those three Star Dream Girl groups were the guild's "favorite daughters"—great resources, lots of fun, and the Girls were open-minded. If Brother Ye really got hooked, she might as well jump off a building!

Hearing this, Jiang Ye immediately understood the real purpose of Yaoyao's call.

All that talk about movies and missing him was fake—the core idea was checking up on him + maintaining stability!

She was afraid that her "Top Supporter" would be lured away by more tempting, more exciting Girl groups out there, right?

He couldn't help but find it amusing.

In their relationship, purely maintained by money and "sincerity," Yaoyao was clearly extremely insecure, in an absolutely weak position with no real leverage.

She couldn't check up on him or throw tantrums like a real girlfriend, so she could only use methods like "acting cute" and "hogging the big brother's time" to minimize the probability of him "cheating."

Hmm... this was probably similar to the logic of some girlfriends trying to exhaust their boyfriends before a business trip, so they'd be too tired to do anything else.

"What? Afraid I'll fall for someone else and abandon you?"

Yaoyao's heart tightened, and she quickly denied it: "Not at all! Brother, you're definitely not that kind of person! You're the most loyal, best big brother I've ever met! How could you abandon your Yaoyao?"

She quickly piled on the compliments, trying to box him in with the "good man" label.

Jiang Ye was instantly amused—this Girl's ability to lie with a straight face was improving: "Don't worry, you're Big Brother's good baby. As long as you stay this obedient and sensible in the future, you'll get all the face you deserve."

"Good baby..."

Yaoyao on the other end of the phone shuddered at the term, inwardly ranting:

Eww~~~ So gross!

The Strategist was right—you can't trust a single word men say!

Good baby? With your hot-and-cold attitude and tendency to disappear without warning, is that how you treat a good baby?

You're fooling ghosts!

But, ranting aside, she certainly wouldn't say what she was thinking out loud.

Not only couldn't she say it, but she also had to climb up the ladder she was given.

Yaoyao immediately responded in an even sweeter voice: "Yes, yes! I'm Brother's good baby! Brother, you're the best. You'll take care of me forever, right?"

"Hmm, right."

Jiang Ye replied dismissively, watching the Girls swaying their hips in the livestream and feeling like hanging up:

"Alright then, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up now. Be good, baby. I'm going to find you a mommy."

Yaoyao: "???"

She didn't get it at first, but after two seconds, she understood the meaning behind his words and was instantly furious enough to bite someone:

"Brother! You... you're mean! No! Isn't having me enough?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, even she felt it was a bit too much like "girlfriend-style" coquettishness, so she quickly added: "I mean... Brother, your standards are so high. Those Girl group Girls really aren't good—they're all filter warriors!"

"What's wrong with them? I think that Girl named Xiao Ya earlier danced pretty energetically, and her legs were long too."

"That's special effects! It's all fake! That Xiao Ya looks like she's running on her knees without the filter! Really! Brother, believe me!"

"Alright, alright, don't worry. The PK on Christmas Eve won't let you down. I'm going to..."

Before Jiang Ye could finish, his phone vibrated again, and another incoming call notification popped up on the screen—Ye Cheng.

"Huh? I've got another call. Gonna hang up now."

"Ah! Brother! Wait!"

"What is it?"

"Brother... what time are you going to sleep tonight?"

Yaoyao's voice suddenly turned soft, with a hint of anticipation: "Can we... can we do a sleep call tonight?"

"Sleep call?"

Jiang Ye was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

"It means staying on a voice call while sleeping!"

Yaoyao explained: "We keep the voice call connected without hanging up, just listening to each other's breathing as we fall asleep... like... like we're right beside each other. Please, Brother~ I want to fall asleep listening to your voice tonight..."

Jiang Ye was stunned, inwardly exclaiming "Wow!"

This voice chat room really took the "voice" function to the extreme, with all sorts of tricks up its sleeve.

But... listening to a pretty Girl's breathing while sleeping?

Thinking about it, it sounded pretty exciting—he'd never tried it before.

"Fine, I'll message you before I go to sleep. If you're already asleep, then forget it."

Yaoyao was instantly overjoyed, feeling like her "hogging the phone" plan was halfway to success!

This way, at least she could ensure that Brother Ye's phone was occupied by her before he slept, and as long as they fell asleep on the call, he couldn't sneak out in the middle of the night to watch Girl group livestreams, right?

She quickly replied obediently: "Mhm! Okay, Brother! I'll wait for you! Go ahead and take your call now, Mwa~!"

"Hmm, hanging up." Jiang Ye tapped to end the call.

Listening to the busy tone, Yaoyao let out a long sigh of relief, but then clenched her fists, her eyes determined.

No, she couldn't let her guard down!

She immediately exited WeChat, switched to her other TikTok alt account, searched for "Star Dream 101," and quietly lurked in, ready to monitor the "enemy situation" at any moment!

If Brother Ye went back, she needed to know immediately!