Huayu: This celebrity doesn't follow the rules.

Chapter 8 The Goddess's Image Collapses
At 8:30 a.m., a long queue had already formed at the entrance of the International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Jiang Ye raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight, and looking at the colorful crowd in front of him, he began to doubt his decision for the first time.

"What is all this nonsense..."

He looked down to check the address on his phone, then looked up to confirm the banner above the exhibition hall that read "International Animation and Game Exhibition".

A girl in a Lolita dress walked past him, her petticoat catching on his backpack strap.

"Sorry, little brother~" The girl winked at him, the bow hair clip on her head sparkling in the sunlight.

Jiang Ye nodded stiffly, feeling like a stranger who had wandered into another world.

The air conditioning inside the exhibition hall was blasting in, followed by deafening otaku dance music and the constant clicking of camera shutters.

He subconsciously reached for his phone, but there were no messages from Chen Duling.

"Are you alone, young man?"

Three girls in sailor uniforms blocked his way. The girl in the middle with pigtails waved her phone and asked, "Want to collect some stamps?"

"Stamp collecting?" Jiang Ye frowned in confusion. "Isn't this an anime convention?"

The girls burst into laughter, and the girl with pigtails immediately held up her phone: "It's just a group photo! Which character are you cosplaying? It's rare to see an ordinary person this handsome!"

Before Jiang Ye could answer, a familiar, cool voice came from behind him:
"He's my man."

The moment Jiang Ye turned around, his breath caught in his throat.

Her short blue hair shimmered with a pearly sheen under the lights, and her burgundy dress coat accentuated her slender waist.

Chen Duling, cosplaying as Ciel Phantomhive, was watching him with her arms crossed, her slender legs encased in black stockings tapping the ground impatiently.

"Have you seen enough?" Chen Duling lowered her voice, but the tips of her ears were so red they were almost bleeding. "I said it's for work..."

Jiang Ye suddenly burst out laughing, reaching out to touch her wig but stopping mid-air: "Xiao Chen, you..."

"Shut up!" Chen Duling threw a paper bag into his arms. "Change into this. Director Su said he wants an immersive field trip."

? ? ? ? ?

Jiang Ye was stunned!
Does he have it too?
cosplay?

Inside the paper bag was a black butler's uniform.

When Jiang Ye unfolded his clothes in the locker room, he noticed a line of small writing on a sticky note attached to the lining:
"The Sebastian size is too big, but I'll make do. —DD"

Twenty minutes later, when Jiang Ye walked out of the locker room with his bow tie tugged, the entire west corridor suddenly fell into an eerie silence, followed by a burst of screams.

"Ahhh, it's Sebastian!"

"Is this waistline real?!"

"Look over here, sir!"

Jiang Ye squinted as the camera flash blew his eyes out.

The tailored black suit accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist, while his red contact lenses made his eyes appear even more profound.

He subconsciously raised his hand to adjust the wig on his head, a gesture that triggered another round of screams.

"Don't move." Chen Duling appeared in front of him without him noticing, standing on tiptoe to adjust his bow tie.

The blue wig brushed against his chin, carrying the sweet scent of gardenia shampoo. "The collar was turned up."

Jiang Ye looked down and saw the little girl's thick eyelashes trembling slightly, so close that he could see the fine hairs on her face.

The moment her fingertips touched his Adam's apple, they both froze for a second.

"Alright." Chen Duling quickly took half a step back, her voice eight octaves higher than usual, "Let's go, let's go for a walk."

However, they were quickly surrounded by the crowd!

"Look this way, Your Excellency!"

"Young Master Ciel, may I make a heart shape with my hands?"

Chen Duling skillfully struck the classic pose of her character, holding a white glove against her chest with one hand and letting the other hang naturally.

Jiang Ye stood up straight, just like her, looking like a life-sized cardboard cutout.

"Relax," Chen Duling whispered, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Isn't Teacher Jiang supposed to be a great actor? Doesn't she like to teach people how to move around?"

"How can this be the same?" Jiang Ye maintained a stiff smile, forcing out the words through gritted teeth, "If I had known it was this kind of 'work assignment,' I would have..."

"So what?" Chen Duling suddenly turned around, glaring at him fiercely. "You regret coming here?" A photographer wearing a panda headgear suddenly shouted, "Could you two come a little closer? Shouldn't the butler be supporting the young master's waist?"

A chorus of cheers erupted instantly.

Jiang Ye was taken aback. There was actually such a benefit?

But he still looked at Chen Duling with a troubled expression: "Little Chen, look at this..."

"...It's just taking a picture." Chen Duling pursed her lips, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. "Be professional."

He carefully placed his hand on her waist, and could feel the girl's taut muscles through the fabric of her dress.

Chen Duling suddenly turned around and said a line from her character, which caused Jiang Ye's hand to press completely against her lower back.

It is incredibly slender, as if it would break at the slightest force.

“Little Jiang,” Chen Duling suddenly said in a voice only he could hear, “your hands are shaking.”

Jiang Ye: "..."

The flashbulbs were going off like crazy.

Although Chen Duling's ears were as red as if they were about to bleed, she earnestly adjusted the angle for the photographer to take a side profile, and kept instructing Jiang Ye: "Lower your head a little. No, tilt it towards me. Oh my god, how can you be even dumber than Ou Hao!"

"I've never seen you this professional when we were filming!" Jiang Ye couldn't help but complain.

"Shut up, look at the camera at three o'clock!"

After taking the photos, the two wandered aimlessly around the exhibition hall.

Jiang Ye held up the crepes he had just bought, watching Chen Duling linger at a fan art stall.

"Buy it if you like it," he said, leaning closer.

Chen Duling shook her head: "I don't do cosplay anymore..."

But his eyes were still glued to that set of Black Butler badges.

Without saying a word, Jiang Ye scanned the code to pay and, under Chen Duling's surprised gaze, pinned the badge to his collar: "It's mine now, take a look."

"Childish." Chen Duling turned and left, but a smile quietly crept onto her lips.

The evening heat had not yet dissipated when the two, who had been shopping all day, stood at the entrance of the convention center.

"Hey," she nudged Jiang Ye's shoe, "you did a good job today, so I'll treat you to noodles."

Jiang Ye was looking down at his white sneakers that had been stepped on and dirtied when he heard this and raised an eyebrow: "Xiao Chen, why are you suddenly being so generous?"

"Come if you want, don't come if you don't." She turned to leave, but slowed down to wait for him to catch up. "There's a satay noodle shop near Xiamen University that only locals know about."

Twenty minutes later, the two turned into a small alley.

Bougainvillea climbs all over the mottled walls, and at the end is a small shop with a sign that reads "Grandma's Satay".

Just as Jiang Ye was about to push open the door, Chen Duling suddenly grabbed his sleeve: "Wait!"

She hurriedly removed her wig, revealing her bangs soaked with sweat.

"It's okay now." She straightened her T-shirt collar and transformed back into the aloof leading lady.

The fan in the shop whirred as an old lady in a floral shirt served two bowls of satay noodles topped with chili oil.

Chen Duling's eyes lit up, and she expertly took a 1.5-liter can of cola from the freezer and slammed it on the table.

"I'm so thirsty!" She tilted her head back and drank straight from the bottle, her throat and neck forming a beautiful line.

She froze when carbon dioxide bubbles started to spill from the corners of her mouth. Jiang Ye was staring at her, chopsticks in hand, dumbfounded.

Oh no, I forgot there's a little devil on the other side!

"Do you want some?" Chen Duling asked, trying to appear calm, as she poured Jiang Ye a glass of cola she had just finished drinking.

Jiang Ye: "..."

He looked at the girl opposite him, who was pretending to be calm. Was she a chosen, bookish heroine?

A top student in science and engineering?
Does she possess a cool and aloof demeanor, exuding an air of detachment?

At that moment, the image I had of myself crumbled...

(End of this chapter)