Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 12: Chu Ling Is On A Rampage!

　　In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold.

　　Wen Shu was startled too and gave Chu Ling’s sleeve a light tug, trying to hint at her to watch her words.

　　Lu Shixuan’s expression shifted, and he quickly tried to patch things up. “I didn’t say it like that. Breaking up is just a matter of personal choice, and I respect her decision.”

　　【Exactly, the Male Guest No.1 didn’t actually say anything harsh. This is the truth-telling segment, not like he brought it up on his own.】

　　【Chu Ling is defending the gold digger? Is she empathizing?】

　　【Obviously. She’s probably the same type, that’s why she relates so much.】

　　He hadn’t outright said it, but the meaning between the lines was clear enough. Who would miss it?

　　“Oh, so you respect her decision but not her as a person?” Chu Ling’s tone was cool. “Otherwise, why would you name-drop her on the show?”

　　Did he not realize that once this episode aired, people would start digging for the so-called ‘materialistic ex-girlfriend who looks down on the poor’?

　　Their friends in the same circle were more or less aware of their relationship and breakup. How would they see that girl after this?

　　This lighthearted remark, meant to reinforce his persona, could easily spark a cyberbullying wave against his ex-girlfriend.

　　Lu Shixuan: “…”

　　“By the way,” Chu Ling propped her chin on one hand and asked, “when you broke up, was it because your family suddenly went bankrupt and fell into ruin?”

　　Lu Shixuan choked on his words.

　　“Or was it that your parents suddenly decided to train you at that exact time, cut off your allowance, and left you with no way out?”

　　Seeing him stay silent, Chu Ling let out a soft laugh. “So neither of those happened. Then tell me, if she really looked down on you for not having money, why would she have gotten together with you in the first place?”

　　【?!】

　　【Now that Chu Ling put it that way… it does make sense. If she really disliked him for being poor, she wouldn’t have gotten together with him in the first place.】

　　【Or maybe she realized during the relationship that bread is more important than love?】

　　【And honestly, thinking bread is more important than love isn’t even wrong. Plus, they met while studying abroad, so chances are both of them came from well-off families. This isn’t some real “looks down on the poor” situation.】

　　【If you can afford to study abroad, you’re at least middle class, maybe even a rich young lady. The Male Guest No.1 here is painting her as a gold digger when in reality her family probably wasn’t short on money at all. She just didn’t want to marry down, so what’s the problem?】

　　Lu Shixuan’s words were a masterclass in selective storytelling, conveniently skipping over the messy bits.

　　Chu Ling kept her expression all innocence. “Or maybe she wasn’t like that at all, and it was being with you that set her off course?”

　　Lu Shixuan flinched like she’d stepped on his tail. “You weren’t there. What would you know?”

　　“Exactly.” Chu Ling spread her hands. “And no one else here was the other person, either.”

　　She let the silence hang for a beat, then smiled. “We’re all just taking your word for it, aren’t we?”

　　Which meant that with only his side of the story, he could spin it however he liked.

　　Lu Shixuan’s face shifted between pale and flushed as he slowly realized the mood around them had subtly shifted thanks to Chu Ling’s words.

　　“Well, breakups are the kind of thing only the people involved truly understand. That’s enough, let’s drop it here.”

　　“How about the next one?”

　　Jiang Yicheng handed the beer bottle to Lu Shixuan. “Your turn, give it a spin.”

　　Lu Shixuan, clearly still holding a grudge, spun it with extra force.

　　The beer bottle spun round and round before finally slowing to a stop, pointing straight at Qin Shuo.

　　【Oh my God this is so exciting, I wonder what they’ll ask Qin Shuo!】

　　【Ask about his ideal type!】

　　【Or his ex-girlfriend!】

　　【Or if he has someone he likes right now!】

　　“Anyone want to ask something?”

　　Qin Shuo’s gaze landed on Wen Shu.

　　Wen Shu kept her head down, staring at the tips of her shoes.

　　After a short, awkward pause, Gao Yan glanced around and said, “How about I ask then? Hmm… Teacher Qin, can you tell us about the most unforgettable relationship you’ve ever had?”

　　She added with a smile, “If you’d rather not answer, that’s fine. I can change the question.”

　　“Unforgettable relationship?”

　　Qin Shuo was quiet for a moment before saying, “I can answer that.”

　　“I once…” He said slowly, “lost a girl who loved me very much.”

　　Wen Shu felt her eyelids twitch.

　　“We were together for three years, but because I was so busy with work, I often ignored how she felt. She always did everything so well, but back then, I never truly saw how amazing she was.”

　　“Maybe my celebrity status didn’t give her a sense of security, maybe I didn’t spend enough time with her, or maybe I simply didn’t know how to love someone. In the end, she chose to leave quietly.”

　　“But maybe, even now…” His eyes stayed fixed on Wen Shu as he finished, “I still haven’t let her go.”　

　　The production team jumped at the chance to make a headline and immediately bought a trending topic:【Qin Shuo Talks About His Past Relationship for the First Time】

　　The dating show’s traffic skyrocketed instantly.

　　【Wow, this is really the first time I’ve heard Qin Shuo talk about his love life. Didn’t he always say he was single?】

　　【Maybe it happened a long time ago? Back when he wasn’t famous yet and no one asked.】

　　【From the way he described it, she sounds like the ordinary ‘first love’ type. Such a pity.】

　　【But isn’t this unfair to the female guests on this dating show? He basically said he hasn’t moved on.】

　　【That’s exactly why it’s honest! Now the others know too, and they can make their own decisions.】

　　The other guests looked thoughtful, as if they had just listened to a bittersweet first-love story.

　　“I think maybe she still loves you too, and you only broke up because you had no choice.”

　　Ye Weiyang tried to comfort him. “In this world, sometimes two people who love each other still can’t make it to the end.”

　　Gao Yan sighed with a trace of sadness. “Is that what it’s like dating a celebrity? Too much outside pressure.”

　　Lin Zirun shook his head. “Such a pity. If you’d had different lives, in a different time, maybe you two could have stayed together.”

　　No, that was not it!

　　Wen Shu quietly tightened her grip on her skirt.

　　Three years. Rather than saying she and Qin Shuo were together for three years, it was more accurate to say they were trapped in a marriage arrangement for three years.

　　He said he ignored her feelings because of work, but in reality, even when he had free time, he never wanted to see her. On the rare occasions they met, he was almost always cold and dismissive.

　　There had never been any “love” between them, no sweet memories to look back on.

　　They didn’t break up because his celebrity status brought her pressure. They broke up because his attitude slowly wore down her expectations.

　　Wen Shu listened to the guests’ words of comfort, already imagining what the comment section would say.

　　Right now, people were probably feeling sorry for him, lamenting how romantic it was that after all these years he still could not move on.

　　What a joke.

　　“Sounds to me like we should be celebrating for that girl.”

　　Chu Ling suddenly laughed. “Celebrating that she finally escaped her misery.”

　　Qin Shuo was still lost in the mood of his own touching story when he suddenly heard that. He turned to her in confusion. “?”

　　“From what you’ve said, it sounds less like you lost her and more like she… no, chose to throw you away.”

　　Chu Ling tilted her head slightly. “If you really regret it so much, what were you doing before? Three years, not three days, not three months. Over a thousand days. Was that still not enough time for you to notice the problem? By your own account, she gave you three years, and in all that time you never realized she was hurting, you kept ignoring her feelings, and she still endured it for three years.”

　　She gave a thumbs up. “With that kind of endurance, she could probably raise a ¹beagle.”

　　The tension on Wen Shu’s face suddenly melted away, and she even let out a small laugh.

　　No wonder he was a film emperor. The acting was flawless.

　　The system had already told her the plot of the original novel. It was a typical wife-chasing crematorium story. The male lead had emotionally neglected the female lead for most of their marriage, ignored her completely, let scandals fester, and even warned her not to fall in love with him. Eventually, the original female lead had had enough and left.

　　Now he was making it sound like two people in love had been torn apart by the world, washing his hands clean of responsibility, and coming out of it looking deeply devoted.

　　Please. You were the one who drove her away.

　　Chu Ling rolled her eyes inwardly.

　　In a way, those awards you won in the past two years were truly well deserved.

　　“Teacher Qin, have you heard that saying?”

　　Chu Ling looked at him with a sweet smile. “What was it again about affection that comes too late?”

　　Cheaper than grass.

　　The director nearly had a heart attack.

　　Sure, they’d invited her to stir up some controversy and create a few explosive moments, but no one told her to go right up to Qin Shuo’s face and drop a bomb like that.

　　If the film emperor got seriously offended, it could easily drag the whole dating show down with him.

　　It was supposed to be a harmless little truth-or-dare segment, but Chu Ling was going on a full-blown rampage, taking shots at everyone in sight. Whoever came up against her got metaphorically slapped twice, no exceptions.

　　Was she not afraid of dying?

　　And yet, the livestream numbers kept climbing, and the comment section was getting more and more heated.

　　The director hesitated, but with traffic like this, he couldn’t bring himself to cut it off.

　　Next round, it was Qin Shuo’s turn to spin the bottle.

　　Of course, just his luck, it landed on Chu Ling.

　　For a second, the whole room went silent.

　　Who in their right mind would dare ask her anything?

　　No one wanted to get roasted on the spot.

　　“Well, if no one’s going to ask, I will.”

　　Lu Shixuan spoke up, his tone calm, as if he were simply curious. “Forgive me for being direct, but we’ve all seen rumors about you floating around online. I’m not sure which are true and which aren’t.”

　　“So, why not take this chance to clear the air? Tell us, up until now, how many boyfriends have you actually had?”

　　Lu Shixuan was asking with pure malice.

　　He knew exactly how many rumors were out there about Chu Ling, how bad her reputation had gotten, and how many people had spread gossip about her sleeping her way through directors and industry big shots for resources. He knew this question would bring a wave of slut-shaming her way.

　　And no matter how she answered, the internet would doubt her.

　　Sure, it was a truth-telling segment, but there was no way she could actually prove herself.

　　She’d spent the whole night poking at others. Now it was her turn.

　　Could she take the hit?

________________

Glossary:

¹Beagles are notoriously stubborn and full of energy, so training or raising one requires a lot of patience.

So when she says:

> “With that kind of endurance, she could probably raise a beagle.”

She’s really saying: “If she could put up with you for three years, she’s got the patience of a saint.”

It’s a sly insult disguised as a compliment.

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