Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 32: He Was Actually A Little Scared Of Chu Ling!

　　The moment he realized the camera was still on him, Qin Shuo’s face turned blotchy.

　　His assistant quickly sized up the situation and rushed forward, putting his hand in front of the camera. “Stop filming for now. Let Teacher Qin go change first. Pause the live broadcast.”

　　The cameraman was roughly pushed back a few steps, his expression darkening.

　　The live stream got cut off temporarily.

　　In the live chat, viewers were full of surprise.

　　【What’s going on now?】

　　【Probably everyone got wet from the rafting and went to change, right?】

　　【Getting wet on a raft ride is normal, but Qin Shuo’s attitude just now… he’s acting like some middle-aged dad. He’s only thirty-five, not sixty-five, right?!】

　　【Good thing Chu Ling fought back, so satisfying. Of course, it has to be Chu Ling.】

　　【No matter what, she confronts people on the spot when she has a grudge. That’s awesome.】

　　【A normal guy would first block the camera to help the girls get their things. A dad-vibe guy tells the girls what to do. The comparison speaks for itself, right?】

　　【Before, with just a two-person date, you couldn’t tell much, but now the contrast is obvious! Qin Shuo is failing!】

　　【Pick someone younger, Wen Shu! Younger is better!】

　　【Stop messing around with matchmaking! I’m starting to think Overbearing CP is even better to ship! They already way ahead with a relationship gift!】

　　With the camera off for the moment, Chu Ling let her guard down and furiously wiped her face with tissues. Seeing the foundation come off made her even more annoyed.

　　What kind of crappy foundation is this?

　　Not waterproof at all.

　　After wiping, most of her makeup came off. Luckily, her makeup today wasn’t heavy, so she revealed a nearly bare face.

　　As a female celebrity, Chu Ling usually paid close attention to her appearance.

　　Even in the shared cabin, she mostly kept her makeup on.

　　So this was the first time Sheng Yi saw her bare face, and he couldn’t help but steal a few more glances.

　　Chu Ling had great bone structure and striking features. Even without makeup, she was effortlessly beautiful, looking even more alive.

　　It was kind of funny, really, how such a pretty face could come with such a sharp tongue.

　　Chu Ling pulled out her compact mirror and glanced at herself, then said to Wen Shu, “Let’s touch up our makeup too.”

　　“……?”

　　Sheng Yi looked a bit puzzled. “Do you still need to fix your makeup?”

　　In his opinion, Chu Ling could have simply removed the remaining makeup and washed her face before appearing in public.

　　Chu Ling furrowed her brows. “?”

　　What do you mean, dude?

　　Hearing that didn’t sound like a compliment to her at all.

　　“Even if you’re born with good looks, you still can’t treat your face carelessly.”

　　As she spoke, Chu Ling reached out and ruffled Sheng Yi’s bangs hard in retaliation. “You too. Go fix your bangs. They’re all flat like this. How are you going to look on camera?”

　　After saying that, Chu Ling grabbed Wen Shu and headed to the makeup room.

　　Sheng Yi reached up and touched his bangs.

　　He honestly didn’t care much. If they were flat, they were flat. Back when they performed, their hair always got messy on stage in no time, so he never minded.

　　But since Chu Ling said it like that…

　　He turned to the crew and said, “I’ll go blow-dry my hair too.” (T/N: I think he started to fall for her after their first dance. Hehe, so cute!🤭)

　　—

　　Amusement Park, Makeup Room.

　　After applying her foundation, Chu Ling decided to do a light makeup look similar to the one from that morning. Just as she reached for her eyeshadow palette, she heard Wen Shu’s voice full of excitement.

　　“Wow, they even have paints for face art here.”

　　Chu Ling thought for a moment and said, “It’s probably for the staff.”

　　They were using the staff makeup room, and she had noticed earlier that many of the park employees had face paint to welcome visitors.

　　“I can do this too,” Wen Shu said, a little excited. “Chu Ling, do you want me to do one for you?”

　　Chu Ling had initially wanted to refuse and keep it simple, but Wen Shu rarely offered so proactively. Chu Ling paused, then asked, “You know how to do this?”

　　“Yeah,” Wen Shu said, a little shy. “You forgot, I’m an illustrator.”

　　Right, an illustrator. Wen Shu usually kept a low profile and hadn’t had a chance to show off her skills before. Now she wanted to demonstrate a bit, and Chu Ling wasn’t about to ruin her fun.

　　“Sure,” Chu Ling said, putting down her eyeshadow palette. “Go ahead, my dear face-painting teacher.”

　　Wen Shu perked up. “Okay!”

　　She looked over a few face paint references and finally chose a cute and simple little animal design. Then she asked Chu Ling, “Which animal do you want? A bunny, a bear, a cat, or a dog?”

　　Chu Ling asked, “Can you do a tiger?”

　　Wen Shu hesitated. “I… I can.”

　　But generally, few girls would want to draw a tiger.

　　Wen Shu guessed, “Is it because tigers are cute but still majestic?”

　　Chu Ling reached out and made a tiger claw gesture.

　　“No,” she said. “Simply because I want to be the king of a hundred people, roar!”

　　She made a fierce, intimidating claw gesture that genuinely startled Wen Shu for a moment. Then Chu Ling laughed. “Yeah… that really fits my vibe.”

　　“So we’re doing this one?” Wen Shu confirmed.

　　Chu Ling nodded and leaned back, giving the expression of someone letting themselves be played with. “Go ahead, do whatever you want on my pretty face.”

　　Wen Shu took the face paint palette, matched the colors to a tiger reference on her phone, and tested them on Chu Ling’s face.

　　“Are you happy?” Chu Ling closed her eyes and said, “It’s rare to get to paint on a face this perfect. You’re lucky. Feels like it’ll save you a lot of trouble.”

　　System: “……”

　　Finally, it understands why she's gotten on the nerves of so many makeup artists before. Chatty and narcissistic, who could handle that?

　　Only Wen Shu wasn’t angry and couldn’t help smiling. “Of course. If everyone were like you, the world would be a prettier place.”

　　System: “……”

　　In a way, no wonder you two became friends. Just spoil her!

　　——

　　Since Qin Shuo hadn’t expected to go rafting, he hadn’t brought a spare pair of pants. In the end, he had to swap with his assistant.

　　The assistant’s pants were a size shorter, making him look pretty ridiculous. Qin Shuo quietly told the cameraman not to film his lower half later.

　　When he returned, the two girls still weren’t back. Only Sheng Yi, who had already finished blow-drying his hair, was standing there.

　　Qin Shuo assumed he had redone his bangs just to keep up appearances in front of Wen Shu. He let out a faint, mocking laugh. “You care about your image, huh?”

　　“Right back at you,” Sheng Yi replied, glancing at the too-short pant legs with a half-smile. “Didn’t you change into a new skin yourself, Teacher Qin?”

　　Qin Shuo: “……”

　　Feeling awkward all over, Qin Shuo asked, “They went to fix their makeup?”

　　“Seems like it,” Sheng Yi said.

　　Qin Shuo figured he would just wait.

　　But half an hour passed, and the two still hadn’t come out. He couldn’t help checking the time.

　　It had been too long.

　　He knew Wen Shu. She never wore heavy makeup, so it definitely wouldn’t take her this long. Most likely, it was Chu Ling holding things up.

　　Since the livestream wasn’t back on yet, he didn’t bother keeping up appearances. Clicking his tongue, he muttered, “Touching up makeup takes this long? What are they even doing in there? So many people are waiting, wasting everyone’s time—”

　　“Teacher Qin, just because we’re younger than you doesn’t mean you can go all fatherly on us wherever you please.”

　　Chu Ling’s voice suddenly cut in, light but sharp. “Too bad for you, I don’t have a hobby of playing someone’s daughter.”

　　Qin Shuo froze and turned around.

　　Speak of the devil.

　　Chu Ling went on, “Besides, if I remember correctly, you were the one who asked to pause the livestream in the first place, weren’t you?”

　　If anyone was wasting everyone’s time, it was him.

　　She blinked at him. “Can’t be that officials are allowed to set fires while ordinary people can’t even light a lamp, right?”

　　Sheng Yi also turned around, coming face-to-face with a strikingly painted tiger face, sharp tongue and all.

　　“Roar—”

　　The tiger even raised its paw, glaring fiercely at him, clearly trying to give him a scare.

　　“……”

　　Sheng Yi’s mind went blank for a few seconds, then he chuckled and asked, “You painted that?”　　

　　“It was drawn by our super amazing illustrator, Miss Wen Shu!”

　　Chu Ling said proudly, “So, were you scared?”

　　Of course he was—she’d seen Sheng Yi frozen in shock for quite some time.

　　Wen Shu also painted a bunny design on herself, which matched perfectly with the stuffed animal she was holding. It was a really cute combo.

　　The livestream had just restarted as the four of them regrouped.

　　【Wow! Face paint!!】

　　【Wen Shu did that?】

　　【Her hands are magic, both designs look amazing!】

　　【Wen Shu is gorgeous, kind, and now she can even paint makeup this well, I love her even more ¹5555】

　　Wen Shu did it?

　　That caught Qin Shuo off guard.

　　He had no idea she could do something like this.

　　He dropped the whole complaint about wasting time, walked up, and asked Wen Shu, “If it’s not too much trouble, do you think I’d suit any kind of face paint?”

　　Chu Ling: “?”

　　What’s this, begging now?

　　She cleared her throat, ready to roast him, when Wen Shu shook her head and said, “I don’t know how to do it for guys.”

　　The old Wen Shu might have hesitated, maybe even agreed in the end.

　　But the Wen Shu now had learned how to say no. Even if it wasn’t completely direct and she gave an excuse, it was still a big step.

　　Right then, the chat was no doubt filled with Qin Shuo’s fans scolding Wen Shu for not being polite.

　　Chu Ling felt the pain of watching all that money go down the drain, so she immediately shifted the focus back to him. “Teacher Qin, you don’t think this is wasting time now? If one minute per person, with this many of us it’s more than ten minutes gone!”

　　【LOL this line sounds way too familiar】

　　【Chu Ling turning into the teacher now】

　　【The best way to beat a lecturing type is to out-lecture them】

　　“…Fine, then let’s just go eat.”

　　Qin Shuo rubbed his nose, trying to cover his embarrassment after being roasted, and said, “It’s pretty late anyway.”

　　Honestly, with those pants he wasn’t suited for more rides, and the whole day had exhausted him. He just wanted to get things over with.

　　Next time, if it was up to him, he definitely wouldn’t choose an amusement park.

　　Sheng Yi pulled out a map. “Alright, let me check out the restaurants here.”

　　But judging from experience, theme park restaurants usually weren’t great, and always overpriced.

　　Sure enough, looking at the map, there wasn’t a single decent option.

　　The only VIP restaurant was tucked away in a remote corner of the park, and the prices there were downright ridiculous.

　　Qin Shuo took a look and shook his head secretly, thinking that it was not a good idea.

　　He even wanted to say that he didn't want to eat the food in the park, but before he opened his mouth, he subconsciously felt that Chu Ling would definitely retort, so he swallowed it back.

　　Then he was stunned and realized that he was actually a little scared of Chu Ling!

　　He was… scared of her?

　　The thought was absurd, yet at the same time he wisely shut his mouth. After thinking it over, he went with what he thought was the safest line and said to Wen Shu, playing the generous card, “Wen Shu, why don’t you take a look and choose whatever you like. It’s on me today.”

　　Wen Shu: “?”

　　Who asked you.

　　“Wow, Teacher Qin, how generous.”

　　Chu Ling leaned in with a bright smile and asked, “You mean you’re treating all of us?”

　　Qin Shuo: “?”

　　How do you even have the face to ask that?

　　Of course, Qin Shuo only wanted to treat Wen Shu.

　　But if he said that out loud, it would make him look cheap. And with tens of thousands of people watching behind the cameras, he couldn’t risk it.

　　It wasn’t even that much money anyway, so he put on a generous act. “Sure, everyone’s worked hard today.”

　　“Wow!”

　　Chu Ling exaggerated her reaction, then added, “And our staff have been working hard too. What about them?”

　　Every time they went out, there was a whole team following along—camera operators, assistants, drivers, and the directors keeping everything in order. All of them were quietly putting in the effort.

　　What did that have to do with him?

　　They already had salaries.

　　Qin Shuo was about to refuse, but then remembered the cameras were still on him. He grit his teeth and forced it out. “Fine, I’ll treat everyone.”

　　“Perfect!”

　　Chu Ling turned around and announced loudly, “Everyone’s worked hard today. We’ll be heading to the VIP restaurant in a bit. Don’t worry, I’ve already cleared it—tonight everything is covered, and you won’t have to pay a cent.”

　　Sheng Yi, who had been watching the whole routine of Chu Ling trapping Qin Shuo, couldn’t help but laugh and chimed in, “Thank you, Teacher Chu Ling!”

　　The cameraman, still annoyed after being shoved earlier by Qin Shuo’s assistant, also joined in. “Thank you, Teacher Chu Ling!”

　　Then the rest of the crew, who hadn’t been following the details but heard someone was treating, quickly echoed, “Thank you, Teacher Chu Ling!”

　　Qin Shuo: “?”

　　She's using his money to play the generous one?!

________________

Glossary:

¹“55555” in Chinese internet slang is crying / sobbing 😭.

It comes from the onomatopoeia “呜呜呜 (wū wū wū)” — the sound of crying. Since “5” in Chinese is pronounced “wǔ,” it looks similar to “wū,” so people type 55555 to represent the sound of crying.

Example:

朋友：我没抢到票！(I didn’t get the ticket!)

我：55555 😭

 

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