Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 24: A Double Date

　　“After all, it was my fault for not hiding it well.”

　　Sheng Yi explained.

　　The three on the other end of the call froze for a second, then ganged up on him in mock outrage.

　　“Obviously it was your fault! No one blamed her!”

　　“She’s too sharp, of course it’s not her fault. Your acting just sucks, what were you doing before this?”

　　“Please.”

　　Sheng Yi rolled his eyes. “No one ever told me being a musician meant I had to practice acting too. If you think you can do better, why don’t you go on the show instead?”

　　“I wish I could.” The keyboardist snorted. “If I had your face, I’d go all out, risk it all, burn my bridges, and play the role perfectly. Either succeed or die trying.”

　　Unfortunately, the manager chose Sheng Yi after much deliberation for a reason.

　　Because nothing else mattered. 　　As the lead singer, just standing there with that face was enough to attract fans.

　　As long as he kept that sharp tongue in check.

　　If people ever found out that behind the mask of a sweet puppy was actually someone like this, who would still like him?

　　“I’m trying, alright?” Sheng Yi muttered. “But… I don’t think I need to deliberately avoid anyone. That would only make me look guilty.”

　　The three of them: “?”

　　The bassist was the first to sense something off. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

　　“I’ve been watching. She’s really close with the Female Guest No. 4.”

　　“If I stick to the script and interact with that girl, there’s no way I can completely avoid her. Wouldn’t that make it look even more suspicious?”

　　Sheng Yi paused, then waved it off. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing, so stop stressing over it.”

　　“Fair point.”

　　The keyboardist added, “But I’ve seen people say that actress has a terrible temper. Even if you don’t avoid her on purpose, at least don’t provoke her too much. She might not have many fans, but the way she talks is like an army charging in.”

　　Sheng Yi gave a couple of cold chuckles. “I think her temper is better than yours.”

　　“Get lost! At best, she’s only about as bad as you!”

　　The keyboardist huffed. “You better keep that tail hidden. If you end up on the hot search getting roasted, don’t expect us to share the blame with you!”

　　……

　　That night, driven by curiosity, Sheng Yi revisited clips of Chu Ling’s previous dates with other male guests on the dating shows.

　　Chu Ling didn’t have many fans, but plenty of people watched dating shows for the drama. Especially after Lu Shixuan’s downfall, more and more viewers dug up old clips of Chu Ling roasting him as proof of how sharp her comebacks could be.

　　Some kind soul even edited together a highlight reel titled【Savage Queen Chu Ling: Roast Compilation】.

　　The comments section was full of mischievous viewers.

　　【Back again to watch Chu Ling roast people.】

　　【Taking notes on her clapbacks so I can use them against greasy men.】

　　【Can Chu Ling lend me her mouth for two days?】

　　【I swear I’m not even her fan, but this is addictive. I need this every day to wake myself up.】

　　【Who says the industry has no life left? A real one’s right here, getting cursed at by netizens, hahaha.】

　　Of course, some were puzzled.

　　【So Chu Ling’s getting whitewashed now?】

　　【Comedy persona really works wonders.】

　　Others shot back:

　　【Who said she’s whitewashed? Just because Chu Ling has issues doesn’t mean the guys don’t. Which one of them doesn’t have bigger problems than her?】

　　【I live for these villain vs villain moments. Why are some of you suddenly feeling sorry for the guys?】

　　【Nobody’s stopping you from cursing Chu Ling, go ahead. Just make sure you curse the male guests too, otherwise it’s not fair.】

　　What kind of people are these?

　　Sheng Yi watched the whole thing feeling both speechless and amused.

　　He had to admit, it was addictive.

　　How could someone be this... fearless?

　　Sheng Yi was in a rock band, and in their circle, there were plenty of people who claimed to embody the rebellious spirit of rock, swearing they were ready to fight the world. But when it came to real-life problems, they chickened out fast. For the sake of survival, they would bow at the drop of a hat, tripping over themselves to flatter anyone with power.

　　Chu Ling, on the other hand, gave off the vibe of living only for today, as if tomorrow didn’t matter.

　　If you were a nobody, she’d slap you once. If you were a Film Emperor, she’d slap you twice. Her motto seemed to be: since I’m here, no one’s getting spared.

　　Even if the production team gave her a “villain” script to run with, they probably never expected her to take it this far.

　　That night, logically, Sheng Yi should have messaged Wen Shu.

　　He had invited Wen Shu to watch his performance earlier that day, and Wen Shu had actually shown up. Out of courtesy, and for the sake of the storyline, he should have sent a follow-up message to build on it.

　　But Sheng Yi got too caught up watching Chu Ling’s compilation and completely lost track of time.

　　It wasn’t until a director from backstage reminded him that it was almost time that he quickly switched to his chat and started typing in a rush.

　　By the time he realized what had happened, the message was already sent.

　　Sheng Yi: “...”

　　Great. The text couldn’t be unsent.

　　Would it help at all if he followed up with another one saying it was a mistake?

　　……

　　As usual, Chu Ling sent out a text that night—to the person she most wanted to annoy.

　　Even though she hadn’t accepted Lin Zirun’s invitation, that didn’t mean she couldn’t mess with him a little.

　　【 [Sunset photo] 】

　　【Walked too fast and missed it, huh? No worries, I took one for you. After all, I’m an S person—S for Saint.】

　　System: “...”

　　When it came to cutting words that stabbed straight to the heart, she was clearly an expert.

　　After sending it, Chu Ling went to shower. When she came back, she found a short new message sitting in her inbox.

　　She opened it.

　　【Teach me. How are you this fearless with your words?】

　　Chu Ling: “?”

　　From Lin Zirun?

　　Mocking her?

　　Chu Ling scrolled back and realized she had actually received two texts today.

　　The other one was Lin Zirun’s apology, saying he regretted acting so rashly, that he had seriously reflected on his behavior, and that it was thanks to her that he had learned a lesson and grown.

　　Chu Ling: “...”　　

　　She checked the backend and saw that from about the time he started drafting the apology until now, Lin Zirun had been pouring out waves of negative emotion toward her.

　　He had probably ground his teeth to dust while typing that apology, hadn’t he?

　　To hate her that much yet still write it—what was the point?

　　All for the sake of building his persona, he swallowed any grievance and said whatever nonsense he had to. Truly a talent.

　　But… who sent that first text then?

　　Jiang Yicheng?

　　Impossible. She had barely interacted with him all day. He should be messaging his own partner, right?

　　Or did someone just send it to the wrong person?

　　Chu Ling didn’t think it could be Qin Shuo or Sheng Yi either.

　　Qin Shuo was out of the question. 

　　As for Sheng Yi, he had invited Wen Shu today, and Wen Shu had gone. There was no reason for him not to text her.

　　Chu Ling asked the system, “Can you see who sent this message?”

　　The system was just as confused. “No idea.”

　　It could only access what happened in the original plot and what had already shown up in the live comments. (T/N: So useless 🙄… except when it gives free money. At least it’s better than An Jiu’s system. 🤣)

　　Right now, the dating texts weren’t made public. The show used a format where fans watching the livestream could place bets and guess the ending, which made the viewing more interactive and also kept the guests from secretly getting spoilers.

　　“Since it wasn’t sent by Lin Zirun, maybe it wasn’t sarcasm. Maybe it was sincere?” Chu Ling said.

　　System: “... Do you really think that’s possible?”

　　Chu Ling: “...”

　　Fair enough.

　　In this world, there weren’t many people who genuinely thought she was in the right, let alone the male guests here who had basically all been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue.

　　After some thought, she simply replied with something safe:

　　【Next time for sure.】

　　—　

　　The next morning, when Chu Ling went downstairs, she ran into Sheng Yi making breakfast.

　　Sheng Yi glanced at her, his voice a little hoarse. “Morning.”

　　“What’s wrong?”

　　Chu Ling noticed he seemed a bit off. “Stayed up all night?”

　　She joked, “Don’t tell me you still can’t get used to the bed?”

　　“...”

　　Sheng Yi had actually pulled an all-nighter, finishing the entire highlight reel of Chu Ling’s solo cuts.

　　Of course, he couldn’t admit that, so he just said casually, “I was... studying.”

　　Well, technically not wrong.

　　Studying comebacks counts as studying, doesn’t it?

　　Chu Ling: “...?”

　　Seriously, dude?

　　You’re a rock musician. Since when did you decide to build a hardworking-student persona? That doesn’t even fit your image.

　　“Coming on a dating show and still not taking a break from studying.”

　　Chu Ling gave an awkward laugh. “What, planning to reincarnate and take the Tsinghua entrance exam?”

　　“I wish.”

　　Sheng Yi muttered, “But reality is, even making a pancake is tough.”

　　He flipped the egg pancake in the pan, then glanced at Chu Ling.

　　She looked perfectly normal, so maybe she hadn’t paid much attention to that message yesterday.

　　Figures.

　　Someone like Chu Ling wouldn’t be hung up over one or two texts anyway.

　　“Want some?” Sheng Yi asked.

　　Chu Ling blinked. “What?”

　　“Egg pancake,” Sheng Yi said. “I made an extra while practicing just now... the others aren’t awake yet, so I thought I’d ask if you wanted it.”

　　Chu Ling almost teased him about not saving it for Wen Shu, but then figured maybe it didn’t turn out great and he was too embarrassed to give it to her.

　　She said, “You didn’t poison it, did you?”

　　“Do you really need to worry about poison?” Sheng Yi chuckled softly. “One lick of your lips and you’d poison yourself.”

　　The moment he said it, he froze a little and looked at Chu Ling.

　　But Chu Ling just laughed, showing no sign of being angry.

　　If anything, on her striking, fox-like face, he thought he caught a hint of pride.

　　Not ashamed at all, but proud of it.

　　“Exactly, so what am I afraid of?”

　　She tilted her chin. “Hand it over.”　

　　—　

　　After the cruise trip, everyone took two days off to rest.

　　Then the production team announced the next schedule.

　　“Tomorrow, we’ll have our first group date, a four-person date.”

　　As the director spoke, he showed two options.

　　【Amusement Park】

　　【Aquarium】

　　“The eight guests will be split into two groups and go on group dates at different locations,” the production team explained.

　　They added one more rule: “This time it’s first come, first served. Guests need to send us their choice. If one option fills up, anyone who hasn’t submitted yet will automatically be placed in the other.”

　　Chu Ling: “…”

　　Snatching up classes, tickets, and seats was one thing, but now even dates had to be fought over.

　　【Wow this is intense.】

　　【Born for the battlefield of love.】

　　【If it works out, it might even be a double date, please let me ship both groups.】

　　【But it could also end up as one guy with three girls or one girl with three guys. It will become a real love variety show, with a harem plot twist.】

　　That was true enough.

　　But Chu Ling thought, for the sake of balance and entertainment, the production team would definitely rig it behind the scenes.

　　Wen Shu quietly tugged at her sleeve and asked, “Which one are you choosing?”

　　“I’m fine with either,” Chu Ling said. “What about you?”

　　Wen Shu mumbled, “…Doesn’t matter, either way the result will be the same.”

　　Even if it was supposed to be blind selection, she didn’t believe Qin Shuo would let this chance slip by.

　　After thinking for a moment, Wen Shu added, “Maybe the amusement park then.”

　　Relatively speaking, Qin Shuo probably disliked that option more.

　　Chu Ling gave a small nod. “Then I’ll go with you.”

　　Even if they still couldn’t avoid running into Qin Shuo on a four-person date, at least she could stick with Wen Shu and share the pressure with her.

　　Of course, the production team had their own plans and secretly sent messages to both Qin Shuo and Sheng Yi.

　　Wen Shu picked the amusement park.

　　Sheng Yi replied:【Who else?】

　　Director:【?】

　　What does “who else” even mean? What does it matter to you? Just pick Wen Shu already!

　　Sheng Yi quickly typed again:【I need to confirm first so I can plan accordingly.】

　　Director:【Qin Shuo and Chu Ling. Hurry, if you don’t report now there won’t be any time left.】

　　Seeing those two names, Sheng Yi’s eyelids twitched slightly. Then the corners of his lips curved in the faintest arc before he quickly submitted his own choice.

　　【I’ll pick the amusement park too.】

 

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