Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 30: A Spark Can Raise Funds.

　　【This is hilarious! ¹Shèngqìlíngrén has scored again.】

　　【Seriously, how did these two train their mouths to be this savage.】

　　【Never thought a dating show would have two hidden bosses like them. Guess fate wanted them to meet.】

　　【Didn’t I say their relationship isn’t normal? Who else in this show ever helps Chu Ling roast people? Who!】

　　【Who even ships such a rude and sharp-tongued CP? Go eat something better.】

　　【This is hilarious! Some people even ship a couple like Qin Wen, who clearly doesn't want to pay attention to each other. Why can't I ship Shengqilingren? I love this wicked couple. Tastes better than your ship anyway [heart].】

　　With Sheng Yi and Chu Ling bouncing off each other, even Wen Shu couldn’t help laughing.

　　She still didn’t have the guts to openly go against Qin Shuo, but in her heart she gave the two a silent thumbs up and said, “No need for a bodyguard. Qin Shuo, you should spend your time on more meaningful things.”

　　Qin Shuo: “?”

　　What I do is meaningless now?

　　Wen Shu said, “Come on, let’s see what our next challenge is.”

　　Sheng Yi studied the map for a while, then glanced at Qin Shuo. As he eliminated possible activities, he shook his head and said on purpose, “Teacher Qin, if there’s ever a next time, don’t take a girl to an amusement park for a date. This place really doesn’t suit you.”

　　Qin Shuo felt like he'd been shot.

　　“So you mean he should try the aquarium instead?” Chu Ling chuckled. “I don't think it's suitable either.”

　　Sheng Yi deliberately replied, “At least he wouldn’t get hurt there, right?”

　　That reminded Chu Ling of his earlier injury. She turned and asked, “By the way, how’s your leg, Teacher Qin?”

　　She glanced at his knee. “Looks like… it’s fine now?”

　　Qin Shuo finally remembered he was supposed to be faking a leg injury. Ever since that scare from the NPC ghost earlier, he had completely forgotten about it. Now his walking had already gone back to normal.

　　“…It’s fine.”

　　Qin Shuo could only bite the bullet and keep acting. “Doesn’t feel like anything serious.”

　　“That’s good.”

　　Chu Ling put on a relieved look. “Otherwise I’d really be scared.”

　　Qin Shuo: “...?”

　　Scared?

　　You? Scared?

　　He had a bad feeling but didn’t press it. However, Sheng Yi, contrary to his wishes, picked it up and asked Chu Ling, “What were you scared of?”

　　Chu Ling lowered her eyes, voice dripping with mock sweetness. “If something really happened to Teacher Qin, wouldn’t I, the so-called culprit, get dragged on hot searches and cursed out for three days and nights straight?”

　　【I’m dead, is she shading Qin Shuo’s fans here?】

　　【Not even shading. It’s true. Qin Shuo’s fans almost ripped her apart earlier, saying she should be reported for intentional assault just for bumping his knee… give me a break. He’s a grown man, not a toddler.】

　　【Honestly the problem isn’t Chu Ling, it’s Qin Shuo. Hurt his knee and kept acting forever, yet just now he was walking like nothing happened.】

　　【This is like those people who fake being sick for sympathy. Little scrape, still gotta make a show out of it.】

　　【Stop talking nonsense. Qin Shuo was never like this before. How do you know he’s faking and not actually hurt?】

　　【? If you really believe he’s hurt, contact me. When you’re old, I’ll sell you health supplements.】

　　【Maybe he just wanted the girl he likes to notice him here?】

　　【Using a fake injury to get attention is so low.】

　　【Qin Shuo’s fans, stop excusing everything. Him pretending to be hurt was obviously aimed at Chu Ling. It had nothing to do with Wen Shu.】

　　Qin Shuo gave two dry laughs. “Of course not, you’re overthinking. My fans are all very rational.”

　　On the surface, it sounded like he was defending Chu Ling, but in reality he was stamping her as the “culprit.” Inwardly, he was still hoping his fans would ramp up the attacks on her. Who told her to talk like that?

　　Chu Ling: Thanks a lot, she’ll take it.

　　She scrolled through the backend and felt genuinely moved. Qin Shuo’s fans really were the best.

　　Casual viewers only ever hated for a short while. At most, one person’s dislike might bring in a few thousand yuan before they got bored. But Qin Shuo’s fans hated her with consistency and passion, and their ceiling was sky-high. Each of them could easily contribute tens of thousands and still keep going. They were one of her biggest sources of income. Truly, a single spark can start a wildfire of funding.

　　Sheng Yi suggested, “How about… we play something light?”

　　The four of them kept walking and happened to arrive at a carnival game booth in the amusement park.

　　In front of a red curtain hung two rows of balloons. On the booth’s table sat a neat line of toy guns. It was the classic carnival balloon-shooting game that always popped up in variety shows.

　　“Welcome to the Sharpshooter challenge.”

　　The staff greeted the four with a warm, polite smile. “If you hit an entire row, you’ll win our grand prize.”

　　Chu Ling asked, “What’s the grand prize?”　　

　　The staff pointed behind them at a giant plush teddy bear. “That one.”

　　Chu Ling gave it a glance.

　　So big, and actually kind of cute.

　　Qin Shuo, on the other hand, took one look at the plush and thought: Really? At our age, who would want a stuffed bear?

　　Yet when he turned around, he caught Wen Shu looking at it with unmistakable envy.

　　Qin Shuo: “?”

　　He couldn't understand.

　　But he had already learned to keep his mouth shut, afraid that if he said anything Chu Ling would hit him with another comeback, making it a loss for him.

　　Chu Ling laughed. “So hitting a whole row must be hard, right?”

　　“It isn’t easy,” the staff admitted. “Which is why I really recommend the two-player mode.”

　　Chu Ling asked, “What’s two-player mode?”

　　“Two-player mode is when two people cooperate and fire together. Since it’s two at once, it’s a bit harder and really tests your chemistry. But the reward is doubled.”

　　The staff added, “If you want the grand prize, in two-player mode you only need to hit half the balloons to win it.”

　　This was something the show team had secretly arranged with the amusement park. After all, this group had been hyped up with the most expectations, but since they entered, half the day had gone by. Instead of the messy love triangle everyone anticipated, there had been zero sweet moments. The audience was either arguing or laughing their heads off.

　　If it went on like this, could it still be called a dating show? No way. They needed some staged physical closeness to get viewers shipping again.

　　“I see.”

　　Chu Ling turned to Wen Shu. “Honey, want to try it?”

　　Wen Shu instinctively glanced at Qin Shuo. She wanted to shake her head. She would rather give up the grand prize than team up with him.

　　But the next second, Chu Ling said, “We can pair up together.”

　　Qin Shuo: “?”

　　Sheng Yi: “?”

　　Staff: “???”

　　Chu Ling looked at the staff. “What? Not allowed?”

　　“This is two-player mode, not couple mode. Unless your rule is only a male-female pair can join? Wouldn’t that be discriminating against other duos? That doesn’t sound good, does it?”　　

　　The amusement park had agreed to host this dating show, clearing out the venue for a day, partly as promotion for themselves.

　　But usually, this park catered more to families and kids. If they really said only mixed-gender pairs could play, that would be like shooting themselves in the foot and losing potential customers.

　　And this was live-broadcast.

　　The staff reacted quickly, smiling as they said, “Of course not, as long as it’s two people, anyone can play.

　　Wen Shu relaxed and nodded. “Alright, I’ll give it a try too.”

　　Meanwhile, the director filming the scene was silently coughing up blood.

　　Chu Ling, the professional CP wrecker, strikes again!

　　And she wasn’t done yet. She even suggested Sheng Yi and Qin Shuo team up. “You two should give it a try too.”

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　Sheng Yi: “……”

　　“No thanks.”

　　Sheng Yi waved his hand. “I’ll just play solo.”

　　Once the pairs were decided, Chu Ling and Wen Shu went first.

　　Wen Shu had never touched this sort of game before. Growing up, she’d always been the perfect well-behaved heiress, so she wanted to let Chu Ling take the shooting position. But Chu Ling encouraged her to give it a try.

　　Curious, Wen Shu decided to challenge herself. At first, even the way she held the gun was all wrong, so Chu Ling helped her adjust slightly.

　　Finally, Chu Ling set up the gun while Wen Shu nervously pulled the trigger.

　　“Pop!”

　　The row of balloons remained perfectly intact, not a single one hit.

　　Wen Shu: “……”

　　She looked frustrated, but Chu Ling reassured her. “It’s fine, the angle was too low. Let’s raise the barrel a bit more.”

　　From behind, Qin Shuo stood with his arms crossed, watching them. The longer he watched, the more annoyed he felt.

　　He couldn’t stop thinking that he was supposed to be the one teaming up with Wen Shu. He should’ve been standing behind her, arms around her, guiding her hands to shoot. Such a perfectly romantic atmosphere, ruined completely by that meddling Chu Ling.

　　When Wen Shu fired another blank, Qin Shuo seized the chance. “Need help?”

　　Chu Ling cut him off smoothly. “Oh? Is Mr. Qin such a sharpshooter? Then we’ll be looking forward to your performance.”

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　After missing three shots in a row, Wen Shu’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She couldn’t help whispering, “Chu Ling, maybe… you should take over instead…”

　　If she kept going, they wouldn’t hit anything at all.

　　“Already giving up? Just imagine the target is the person you hate most, the one you can’t stand.”

　　Chu Ling told her, “Would you really stop shooting just because you missed a few times? Of course not. You’d use every bullet and hit as many as you can.”

　　Qin Shuo frowned instantly. “That’s not how balloon shooting works. Don’t go teaching Wen Shu the wrong mindset—”

　　Wen Shu blinked and muttered, “But… it actually makes sense.”　　

　　Wen Shu’s confidence reignited. With Chu Ling’s help, she lifted the gun again.

　　She stared at the balloons across from her and, for a split second, they didn’t look like balloons at all but Qin Shuo.

　　Her anger flared. She pulled the trigger several times in a row.

　　This time, one of the balloons actually popped.

　　Wen Shu blinked in disbelief, then burst out happily, “I hit it!”

　　Chu Ling grinned proudly. “Told you so!”

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　He really didn’t dare imagine who Wen Shu had pictured in that moment.

　　In the end, Wen Shu and Chu Ling managed to pop about a quarter of the balloons. They didn’t win the grand prize, but thanks to the double-points rule, it was still a decent result. They were allowed to pick out a small plush toy.

　　Wen Shu scanned the display of prizes and asked, “Chu Ling, which one do you like?”

　　“You pick.” Chu Ling tilted her chin up. “I don’t need this kind of thing.”

　　A stuffed toy? Please. That would ruin her evil supporting-role image.

　　Wen Shu carefully chose a white lop-eared rabbit, hugged it to her chest, and looked both delighted and thankful.

　　When they finished, Sheng Yi and Qin Shuo got ready to play.

　　They didn’t team up and both chose single mode, which meant the two of them going at the same time turned into a PK match.

　　Before the round started, Chu Ling did the unthinkable and actually cheered for Qin Shuo. “Go, Teacher Qin! I feel like you’re really good at this, so you’d better show us what you’ve got!”

　　【Oh my god I actually heard Chu Ling cheering for Qin Shuo.】

　　【It hasn’t even started yet, she’s trying to jinx him isn’t she, hahaha!】

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　He suddenly had a bad feeling.

　　Sure enough, after a few shots, every single one was a miss.　　

　　He had just been worrying about Wen Shu earlier, but it turned out he was even worse than her.

　　Why was this harder than he thought?

　　Feeling frustrated, Qin Shuo reminded himself he had trained a little in archery before. With similar games, he should at least have some foundation.

　　What he didn’t know was that archery and shooting were two completely different things, and the carnival’s balloon-shooting guns were especially tricky. He couldn’t control it at all.

　　What made him angriest was that right beside him, Sheng Yi was calm and steady. With every sharp “pop” another balloon burst.

　　Failing himself was already bad enough. Watching someone else succeed made it unbearable.

　　After Qin Shuo missed too many times, Chu Ling, who had been enjoying his misery, lost interest and just turned to watch Sheng Yi instead.

　　With the gun in his hands, Sheng Yi’s posture even looked convincing.

　　Another “pop” rang out as he nailed a balloon.

　　He brushed his bangs off his forehead with the back of his hand, then lifted the gun again.

　　Chu Ling watched him for a few seconds. Pretty impressive.

　　She didn’t clap for him, worried it might throw him off, but she continued to jinx Qin Shuo. “Come on, Teacher Qin, don’t lose heart. Believe in yourself. So what if you haven’t hit a single one, that’s nothing at all!”

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　She said it so loud, dragging out every word, like she was terrified no one else would notice.

　　Qin Shuo cursed her silently for half the game. How could there be someone like Chu Ling?

　　When the results were tallied, Sheng Yi had actually managed to knock out an entire row of balloons.

　　Even the staff looked surprised, but still kept their word. “Congratulations, you get the grand prize. Do you want the teddy bear?”

　　Sheng Yi nodded, accepted the big teddy bear, carried it back, and stopped in front of Chu Ling. “For you.”

　　Chu Ling had been happily munching on the drama from the sidelines, thrilled to see Qin Shuo’s awful performance. She didn’t expect to suddenly get dragged into it herself and blinked. “Wait, shouldn’t you… give it to Wen Shu?”

　　“She already has one.”

　　Sheng Yi pushed the bear toward her, his tone casual and natural. “You don’t, so of course it’s for you.”

________________

Glossary:

¹“盛气凌人” (shèng qì líng rén) – acting in an overbearing, arrogant manner, looking down on others.

Sentence:

笑死, 盛气凌人又上分了。

= “LOL, the overbearing guy just leveled up again.”

👉 They’re joking that Sheng Yi is being arrogant again, as if he gained extra “points” in arrogance.

In 盛气凌人 (shèng qì líng rén), the 盛 (shèng) is not a surname — it’s part of the idiom.

Breakdown:

盛 (shèng) → flourishing / full of / intense

气 (qì) → air / aura / attitude

凌 (líng) → to overbear / to put pressure on / to bully

人 (rén) → people

So together, it literally means “with a strong aura pressing on others,” i.e., overbearing/arrogant.

Note: If capitalized like “Sheng Qi Lingren,” someone unfamiliar might mistake it for a name.

 

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