Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 45: Your Fake Watch is Blinding.

　　【? What did Chu Ling mean by that!?】

　　【If she doesn’t like Jiang Yicheng, she could just clarify it openly. Why drag Gao Yan’s taste into it? Did she even do anything to her?】

　　【So she and Gao Yan don’t get along? Is that why she’s being sarcastic?】

　　【…Not sure, but Chu Ling has always offended everyone equally. Kind of… normal for her?】

　　【But isn’t she on decent terms with Wen Shu?】

　　【To be fair, some of the things she said to Wen Shu before… if Wen Shu didn’t get mad, that’s totally thanks to her good temper.】

　　【Yeah, Chu Ling’s attack mode is like one slap for women, eighteen dragon slaps for men. Way too strong.】

　　Gao Yan froze for a moment, her face turning a little stiff.

　　No one likes being told they have bad taste. She stole a glance at the camera, her mind racing over how she should respond.

　　Without question, Chu Ling’s reputation was nowhere near as good as Jiang Yicheng’s.

　　And since she and Jiang Yicheng had been hyped as a CP recently, Gao Yan decided to take his side, at least to win over a wave of CP fans.

　　“…There’s really no need to put it like that.”

　　Straightening her back a little, she looked at Chu Ling with some displeasure. “When it comes to love, one person’s treasure can be another’s poison. I don’t know why you feel that way about Jiang Yicheng, maybe something today rubbed you wrong, but at least in all my time with him, he has always come across as a very nice, reliable man.”

　　【Ahhh, Gao Yan is standing up for Jiang Yicheng!】

　　【See, my CP is real, they’re mutual!】

　　【Chu Ling, stop stirring things up already. Wasn’t tearing apart Qin-Wen enough? How many couples does she plan to wreck?】

　　【Although… can we really say Qin-Wen was her fault? They weren’t a good match anyway.】

　　【If they could be torn apart that easily, it means the relationship wasn’t solid to begin with.】

　　Chu Ling looked at her, then suddenly gave a subtle smile.

　　Gao Yan was puzzled. “…What are you laughing at?”

　　She was a little shorter than Chu Ling, so she had to tilt her head up when looking at her, which instantly made her look weaker.

　　“Normally, you’re right. Everyone has their own type, and who you like is your freedom.”

　　“But there are always some things that stay the same.”

　　She looked back at Gao Yan and asked, “Are you sure, in all this time, you really know him?”

　　【Does Jiang Yicheng have some skeletons in his closet?】

　　【No clue, but Chu Ling does seem to have a knack for spotting scumbags… Don’t forget Male Guest No.1 and Male Guest No.2.】

　　【Chu Ling’s mouth is sharp, but sometimes she has a point.】

　　【What if she isn’t being sarcastic, but genuinely trying to warn Gao Yan?】

　　Gao Yan was stunned for a moment, then frowned. “What are you trying to say? That I don’t know him?”

　　Unconvinced, she retorted, “Compared to me, haven’t you only gone on one date with Jiang Yicheng? If anyone knows him better, it should be me, right?”

　　Chu Ling gave a soft laugh. “It’s always easier to spot someone’s flaws than their strengths.”

　　Gao Yan felt uneasy at her words and didn’t want to keep playing riddles with her. “Specifics then? What exactly did he do? Is it so hard to just say it openly and let people judge for themselves?”

　　“What if he’s hiding something from you?”

　　Chu Ling asked, “What if the him you see now isn’t the real him? When you learn the truth, would you still like him?”

　　Hearing that, Gao Yan suddenly felt a vague sense of dread.

　　But since she had already decided to speak up for Jiang Yicheng, she couldn’t just backtrack halfway and look like a fickle fence-sitter.

　　Anyway, dating shows always come with some level of packaging. If there were really anything outrageous, the netizens would have dug it up long ago like they did with Lu Shixuan.

　　So Gao Yan thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Then he must have his reasons.”

　　“Everyone has some secrets.”

　　She insisted, “At least from how I’ve interacted with him, I feel he’s a sincere person. If one day he feels ready to tell me, I believe he’ll say it himself.”

　　【Great! Ahhh, Xiaoyan didn’t get swayed, she still trusts Jiang Yicheng! My CP is real!】

　　【Chu Ling stop talking in riddles. Ahhh, just tell us what it is already!!!】

　　Chu Ling’s cryptic words only fueled the audience’s curiosity.

　　Their anxiety turned into negative emotions, and her backend income started shooting up.

　　System: “...?”

　　How is this even working?

　　Chu Ling had been about to continue, but seeing her income climb so fast, she swallowed her words back down.

　　Besides, she didn’t have any solid evidence in hand.

　　Better to drop a hint and see what happens.

　　Chu Ling asked, “When he went on dates with you, did he drive a Rolls-Royce?”

　　Gao Yan nodded. “Yeah. What about it?”

　　So it should be the same car.

　　“Whether you choose to trust him is up to you.”

　　Chu Ling said, “But I think honesty is important between two people. If he won’t even tell you the real situation about his car, are you sure you still want to fall deeper on your own?”

　　“Being too trusting of men is where misfortune begins.”

　　She glanced at Gao Yan with a small smile. “Don’t turn into a love-brain before you’re even in a relationship. It’s still early, you can fix it. Pay a little more attention.”

　　【Seriously I didn’t dare say it earlier while everyone was shipping them… but blind trust really is peak love-brain behavior, isn’t it?】

　　【By the way, what about Jiang Yicheng’s car? Wasn’t it just in an accident?】

　　【I feel like Chu Ling’s words have layers… did she notice something?】

　　【Someone go dig up details on Jiang Yicheng’s car, the camera probably showed it just now right?】

　　Gao Yan: “...”

　　She wanted to deny being a love-brain, but Chu Ling was already walking away, leaving her standing there with her thoughts in a mess.

　　Why did she suddenly bring up Jiang Yicheng’s car?

　　Did she discover something about him?

　　Thinking of Chu Ling’s previous “achievements,” Gao Yan grew suspicious and decided to secretly investigate him.

　　—

　　After parting ways with Gao Yan, Chu Ling was heading upstairs when she ran into Sheng Yi.

　　He had clearly seen the scene just now, though he hadn’t caught the details of their conversation. Pausing for a moment, he asked, “What did Gao Yan want with you?”

　　“Hmm…”

　　Chu Ling thought for a moment and came up with a word. “Driving away a love rival?”

　　Sheng Yi: “?”

　　“She seems to think I’d like Jiang Yicheng?”

　　Chu Ling guessed at Gao Yan’s intentions. “She seemed to be testing my feelings about Jiang Yicheng, afraid I'd choose him like her.”

　　That was supposed to be the case.

　　But after getting shut down by her, Gao Yan ended up defending Jiang Yicheng instead, which was pretty amusing.

　　Sheng Yi’s heart skipped a beat, and he asked, “And in reality?”

　　Chu Ling rolled her eyes at him. “Am I blind?”

　　【I’m dying! Hahahahaha.】

　　【Confirmed, she really isn’t into him.】

　　【Honestly Gao Yan’s kind of funny too. How is she so confident going to Chu Ling like that? Does she really think anyone would fall for Jiang Yicheng??】

　　Sheng Yi: “...”

　　Sheng Yi then laughed along. “What, does Jiang Yicheng have some issues?”

　　“Putting aside the fact I’m not interested in him at all.”

　　Chu Ling gave a short laugh and started walking upstairs. “Instead of worrying I’ll snatch him away, Gao Yan should worry more about other problems with Jiang Yicheng.”

　　She hadn’t said anything directly, but she had already left enough hints for the viewers.

　　The sharp ones should already be digging.

　　Sometimes it was fun to play the riddler and rile up the audience.

　　Watching her backend revenue spike, Chu Ling felt very satisfied.

　　A pity though.

　　If Jiang Yicheng had come clean just now, thrown himself at her feet a little, and begged her not to talk, she might have let it slide out of good mood.

　　But since he insisted on keeping up the act in front of her…

　　Chu Ling never claimed to be a good person.

　　Kicking someone while they were down wasn’t exactly her hobby, but if it was someone she disliked, she had no problem giving the fall an extra push.

　　And if she could talk Gao Yan out of it, that would count as a small good deed.

　　Sheng Yi followed her, and only when they turned into a corner with no cameras did he ask, “Does Jiang Yicheng have some kind of problem?”

　　“A packaged persona.”

　　Chu Ling glanced around. Once she confirmed there weren’t any cameras nearby, she said, “If it was just a basic persona setup, fine. It’s a show after all, that’s normal. But now, I suspect his entire rich second-generation identity is fake.”

　　Sheng Yi froze. “...How did you figure that out?”

　　Chu Ling looked around again. “His car, his watch, even his so-called lifelong golfing hobby—full of holes.”

　　“Gotta admit, the show’s casting choices are… something else.”

　　Tens of thousands of regular people probably applied, yet somehow the production team picked a bunch of walking red flags. Who knows if it’s because the overall quality of the male guests isn’t great or if their luck is just that bad.

　　But then again, does a real rich second-generation guy really need to join a dating show to find love?

　　Unless he’s the type who’s desperate to perform and show off in front of the cameras, it’s way easier to date in real life.

　　Chu Ling raised an eyebrow. “Anyone who comes on a show like this must be after some kind of benefit or has a goal in mind. Picking from a group like that, it’s easy to hit landmines. After all, who’s honestly here just to fall in love?”

　　Gao Yan looked like the classic love-brain, charging forward for Jiang Yicheng and believing in him wholeheartedly, but Chu Ling didn’t think she was necessarily as simple as she appeared.

　　Sheng Yi: “...”

　　He went quiet for a moment, then casually agreed, “True. Who would actually come here just for love.”

　　From Chu Ling’s tone… it was clear she didn’t plan on falling in love here either.

　　Made sense.

　　Thinking about it now, she was probably invited by the production team purely for the buzz.

　　She was working off her own script and never saw this place as a real dating show.

　　Still, when he signed the contract, he never thought he’d end up regretting it like this.

　　Sheng Yi let out a quiet sigh in his heart.

　　Then Chu Ling noticed the income logged in the backstage account. “...?”

　　He’d been feeling way too sentimental lately.

　　—

　　By nightfall, all four pairs of guests had returned.

　　According to the show’s rules, everyone had to send a crush message again today.

　　After Chu Ling finished typing hers and sent it, she saw a message waiting in her inbox.

　　The moment she opened it, she already knew it was from Jiang Yicheng.

　　【Sorry I couldn’t give you a satisfying date. I promise, if there’s a chance next time, I’ll buy you a drink.】

　　Chu Ling twirled her phone in her hand, amused.

　　There probably wouldn’t be a next time.

　　When he saw her message, Jiang Yicheng would probably want to block her straight away.

　　Downstairs, in Jiang Yicheng’s room.

　　He felt his message was decent enough, nothing wrong with it. Since there had been no real spark between him and Chu Ling anyway, he sent it without much expectation.

　　A moment later, a notification chimed. He had received today’s crush message.

　　Jiang Yicheng opened it without much hope.

　　【Thanks for the drink, so here’s a friendly reminder. Next time you go out, remember to change your watch. Otherwise, those fake diamonds are way too blinding.】

　　Jiang Yicheng shot up from his bed, face turning pale.

　　The live chat instantly exploded.

　　【?!】

　　【What does that mean!? Is his watch fake!? I’ve seen him wearing it for a long time.】

　　At the same time, someone in the chat wrote:【WTF! I just checked the license plate on Jiang Yicheng’s Rolls Royce.】

　　【That car isn’t even registered under his name!!】

________________

Glossary:

🌸 CP (Couple Pairing)

Originated in Chinese fandom.

Refers to any two people/characters paired together romantically (real or fictional).

Example: “Jiang Yicheng x Gao Yan is my CP.”

🌸 Ship (short for Relationship)

English fandom slang, same idea as CP.

To “ship” means to support/hope for a romantic relationship.

Example: “I ship them so hard.”

🌸 OTP (One True Pairing)

Your favorite couple in a fandom — often used when a character has many possible partners, but also used loosely for “my favorite ship,” even if there aren’t many rivals.

It basically means “this is the ultimate couple for me.”

Example: “Sheng Yi x Chu Ling is my OTP.”

👉 In short:

CP = Chinese term (neutral, any pairing).

Ship = English equivalent.

OTP = Your #1 favorite ship/CP.

 

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