Chapter 88.1: Live Interview (2)
Upon hearing his own name, Shen Xiu sat up straight, looking nervously at Yu Xiangwan.
“The viewers want to ask, Shen Xiu, when you used a tie to blindfold yourself during your solo stage, was it to cater to the XPs of your fans, the ‘Xiuologists’? If so, could you maybe release a themed video or photo shoot of ‘the Demon King injured and imprisoned in a dark room’?”
The production team was worried that saying the last few words directly might get the livestream shut down, so they used safe substitute letters.
Shen Xiu: “Hm?”
He recognized every word they said, but when strung together like that, they left him completely baffled.
Shen Xiu, who wasn’t much of an internet user, was utterly confused.
Apparently, it wasn’t just his teammates—he didn’t really understand what was going on in the viewers’ minds either.
Upon hearing the question, the others all turned to look.
It had to be said—the Xiuologists really knew how to indulge their XPs.
[What does Xiu-baby’s ‘Hm?’ mean? Is he shocked by our antics? Hehe, it must be that! Xiu-baby definitely didn’t expect such bold requests from us adorable fans~]
[Ahem (blushing), not gonna lie, this question made it to the top thanks in part to me.]
[What’s the point of living if you don’t indulge your own XPs!]
[You sisters are absolutely (unapologetically) (shamelessly) (brilliantly) wild!]
Yu Xiangwan didn’t quite understand the slightly chilly tone in Shen Xiu’s “Hm?”
Was he puzzled by the fans’ question, or was he displeased with their bold request? She asked, “You’re not willing?”
“No, it’s not that.”
Looking at the expressions of everyone present, it was clear they all understood what “XP” meant—everyone except him.
Feeling a bit embarrassed at his own cluelessness, Shen Xiu humbly asked, “Excuse me, what does XP mean? Is it a computer operating system?”
Shen Xiu searched his mind for anything related to “XP” and could only think of the computer’s operating system.
He had assumed that the question directed at him would be as embarrassing as the ones others had received.
But now it seemed the audience had gone easy on him—the question they asked was just as normal and harmless as the one directed at Shang Yu. It turned out that he and Shang Yu were the only two lucky ones in the entire group.
Yu Xiangwan: “…”
The eight of them: “…”
Livestream chat: [……]
Shen Xiu asked his question with such seriousness and sincerity. With the natural pride of someone strong, Shen Xiu had no need to lie or bluff—so clearly, he truly didn’t know what it meant.
Both the live audience and the livestream viewers simultaneously fell into silence.
These days, someone who could still associate “XP” with a computer operating system… Shen Xiu might just be the only one.
After all, anyone who spends a bit of time online would find it hard not to pick up terms like XP.
Shen Xiu was clearly too focused on mastering various skills. Even if he did go online, it probably wasn’t the same internet as everyone else’s.
[Honestly, now that I think about it, Boss Shen’s answer really isn’t surprising. He’s a top-tier academic overlord with a brain full of knowledge. It’s only natural.]
[+1. Not knowing what XP means actually makes perfect sense.]
[Wait a minute—so all those photos and videos Xiu-baby took before… they were purely to satisfy us?! (Sudden ecstasy)]
[Ahem. I just love this clueless, serious way he asks questions. So pure—I’m into it! Just goes to show, when we go online, it’s all about messing around. When Xiu-baby goes online, it’s purely to study or do minimal necessary social contact!]
Shang Yu couldn’t help but recall the scene he once saw in Shen Xiu’s study. It was completely reasonable that Shen Xiu would immediately associate the term with something from his own knowledge base.
“Ahem…” Yu Xiangwan didn’t think it was appropriate to explain, so she simply handed the question card to Shen Xiu. “It’s not a computer operating system.”
Upon reading the words on the card, Shen Xiu nearly dropped it from the shock.
In the end, he had been too naive—the only real lucky one in the room was Shang Yu!
Now that he finally understood what “XP” meant, Shen Xiu fought hard to suppress the overwhelming secondhand embarrassment that made his toes want to curl into the floor. With stiff awkwardness, he forced out an answer: “No, it’s not.”
As for why he had blindfolded himself with a tie, there were two reasons:
First, because he had the bad luck to draw the number 1 and needed to do something memorable so the audience would remember him. Second, his life was on the line—he needed to be absolutely sure he performed well. To avoid getting nervous from seeing too many people, the safest bet was to blindfold himself.
Having finished his explanation, Shen Xiu was eager to move on from this question that he’d no doubt find mortifying when thinking about it at 3 a.m. He took the initiative to steer the topic away.
“Even though that’s not the reason… if you guys want to see it, of course I can do it.”
Shen Xiu had watched countless films and TV dramas. Scenes where a demon lord was injured, imprisoned in a dark room, and t*rtured were quite common.
In his understanding, that was just standard storytelling—completely normal. It had absolutely nothing to do with shame or embarrassment, so he agreed without hesitation.
Zhuang Yi gave him a big thumbs up. “Shen Xiu, you really are something else.”
So this is what it means to be a true boss—accepting the fans’ wild XPs with such calm composure.
Shen Xiu, puzzled: “Isn’t this… a normal thing?”
Why was everyone reacting like he’d said something shocking? Could it be… they just hadn’t seen enough dramas?
Shen Xiu thought back to his course content. In just a single week, every class he attended came with a massive list of assigned films. And every professor had a different list.
The required viewing spanned everything from the early days of cinema to recent award-winning films. With such tight schedules, Shen Xiu often had to power through many movies just to finish them in time. Compared to the average person, it was true—those studying film and media did watch a lot more.
He figured it must be because everyone else hadn’t seen as many of those “injured villain being imprisoned” tropes in media that they thought it was unusual.
Zhuang Yi’s mouth twitched slightly. “Totally normal. Very normal.”
Shen Xiu had truly mastered the art of granting the Xiuologists’ every wish.
If Shen Xiu being a try-hard in other areas was already intense, his dedication here was no less. In that moment, everyone had the same thought: We need to step up our game, too!
[Ahhhh! Xiu-baby understood and still said yes—what is this if not actively fulfilling our XP fantasies?! I’m screaming!]
[I’ve got a bad feeling… if this clip goes viral, there’ll probably be a whole crowd losing it again, accusing Xiu-baby of shamelessly pandering to fans.]
[LOL they’re just bitter! Classic case of sour grapes. Xiu-baby and us have such a sweet mutual bond—it must eat them up inside! Meanwhile, their own idols can’t even be bothered to reply to a single Weibo comment. Boohoo~]
Yu Xiangwan’s eyes lit up. “I’m sure the Xiuologists are going to be thrilled with your answer!”
Shen Xiu thought to himself, ‘Are my fans really this easy to please? So easy to coax?’
“As long as everyone’s happy, that’s all that matters.”
The others, now determined to compete when it came to pleasing their fans, all started speaking up in quick succession.
“Sister Yu, don’t the fans have any requests for me?”
“Yeah, like something similar to what Shen Xiu got?”
“If Shen Xiu can do it, so can I!”
“Whatever the request is—bring it on!”
Given Shi Buwen’s personality, Shang Yu said with confidence, “There’s no way that’s the only question or request you collected, right?”
As everyone chattered excitedly, Yu Xiangwan glanced over at the livestream’s comment poll, and the corner of her eye twitched involuntarily.
“The situation is exactly as you guessed. Are you sure you want to hear them?” Yu Xiangwan asked.
Each of the nine trainees had fan-submitted questions that were all kinds of strange, and none of them were low in popularity. While the show claimed they had picked the most upvoted questions, in truth, they had selected the least damaging among the top ones—just to avoid embarrassing the trainees too much.
They hadn’t expected the group to willingly walk into the fire… correction—throw themselves into the lion’s den.
Mu Zhenchu was raring to go, cracking his knuckles. “Absolutely sure.”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life!” Xiang Yueting’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“…Alright then.”
Yu Xiangwan turned to Song Chengwang. “Your fans asked: Do you usually wear floral-print underwear? If not, can you wear it during a livestream while doing the frog stroke?”
Song Chengwang: “???”
They’re all people—why is Shen Xiu’s XP request so different from his?!
Song Chengwang was deeply suspicious. This had to be the fans’ revenge after not getting what they wanted in the finals—now they were asking these questions out of pure spite.
Seeing Song Chengwang looking dazed and spiritually defeated, Yu Xiangwan turned to Xiang Yueting: “Your fans asked if you wet the bed as a child?”
Xiang Yueting clutched his chest. “Double kill!”
This question was utterly ridiculous!
Then Yu Xiangwan’s gaze landed on Mu Zhenchu. “Which celebrity in the entertainment industry do you hate the most?”
Mu Zhenchu: “…”
Triple kill.
Mu Zhenchu fell into silence, refusing to answer. Yu Xiangwan’s eyes shifted toward Xia Wenhao, but before she could even speak, he raised both hands in surrender.
“Sister—I was wrong, Sister!”
These questions were either ticking time bombs or potential blackmail material. He chose to forfeit.
Sensing the danger while it still wasn’t his turn, Shang Yu wisely followed suit: “Surrender +1.”
The remaining trainees who hadn’t been asked anything yet all backed out one after another.
[Hahaha, here it is—the fear of being ruled by fans has arrived.]
[I’m dying—if they answer these questions wrong or actually go through with them, it’s 100% going to be dug up later as blackmail material. And in HD, too.]
[Confused fan here: why are you Xiuologists always so obsessed with XP questions?]
[Xiu-baby’s overwhelming aura, his noble and restrained face, that sharp gaze, those cold expressions… Help—who wouldn’t immediately think of those kinds of things?!]
[(Pushes up glasses) It’s like this: it’s all Demon King Shen’s fault for being too tempting… it’s impossible to think about anything else (useless tears streaming down from the corner of my mouth)]
Yu Xiangwan had clearly expected this outcome. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly in a silent smile. “Then, let’s move into our third segment: After leaving the training camp, where are you all headed? Will you keep in touch with one another?”
The audience hadn’t expected the show to ask the question they cared about most.
For a moment, the stream of comments on the screen came to a halt—everyone was focused on listening to the nine trainees’ answers.
They’d all followed plenty of idol survival shows before, and what they feared most was that the newly debuted group from Youth Unstoppable would follow the same old pattern: peaking at debut, with the moment of debut also being the peak of their friendships.
After that? The members wouldn’t just vanish from the public eye—sometimes they’d even lose contact with each other.
Take the boy group from the previous season of Youth Unstoppable, for example. In the span of a few years, you could count on one hand how many times they performed together again.
“Captain, you go first.”
When he heard the word “captain,” Shen Xiu paused for a second before responding concisely: “Go visit my parents.”
Then he glanced at his teammates and recalled the many memories they’d made in the training camp. Without hesitation, he added, “Yes, we’ll stay in touch.”
The new school semester hadn’t started yet, and his debts were paid off—he had time now.
**TN
XP – Aesthetic, Dark Fantasy, or K.ink
