Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 67: Can We Not Break Up Just Yet?

　　Sheng Yi had just stepped out from the rooftop door when a wave of cheers greeted him from below.

　　“Congratulations!”

　　“Wishing you two forever happiness!”

　　Gao Yan teased, “I honestly thought our show was about to set a record for being the first dating variety with zero confessions and zero hand-holding. Turns out someone was secretly dating all along. You two hid it well.”

　　Sheng Yi froze for a second. “You guys…”

　　He didn’t finish the sentence, but he already knew.

　　With such a big commotion up there, of course the other guests downstairs had been watching the live feed.

　　The thought of everyone witnessing Chu Ling’s little misunderstanding—that she only agreed because she thought it was a CP stunt—made his expression turn rather sour.

　　Meanwhile, Wen Shu’s face was glowing with genuine joy. “I knew you two were a perfect match. You must treasure each other well. I truly wish you both happiness.”

　　Chu Ling had gone through such a difficult journey to get here. For her to find someone she liked, who liked her back, and was brave enough to say it aloud—it wasn’t easy at all. Wen Shu couldn’t help but feel happy for her from the bottom of her heart.

　　“…Thank you,” Sheng Yi said softly.

　　What he didn’t dare say was that their congratulations had come too soon. Because any moment now, he was about to be broken up with.

　　The female guests immediately swarmed him with curiosity.

　　“So you’ve liked her for a long time, huh?”

　　“I knew it. When you stood up to defend her that time, you had ulterior motives.”

　　“How romantic!”

　　“Wait, where’s Chu Ling?” Wen Shu suddenly realized. “She didn’t come down with you?”

　　Sheng Yi only answered that one. “Oh, someone called her. I wasn’t in a position to listen in, so I came down first.”

　　“I should get my things together anyway. We’ll be leaving soon.”

　　If they kept pressing him for details about the confession, he was afraid he really wouldn’t be able to keep up the act.

　　He turned away and went back to his room.

　　Ye Weiyang blinked, instantly sensing something off. “Shouldn’t a successful confession leave him over the moon? Why does he look like he’s lost his soul instead?”

　　“Maybe he just confessed casually and never thought Chu Ling would actually say yes.”

　　Zhou Yu’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Who knows, maybe he’s already regretting it and thinking about how to break up.”

　　Inside, Zhou Yu was seething with regret.

　　If not for that accident, he would have been the one to confess to Chu Ling today.

　　He never imagined that someone like Chu Ling—sharp-tongued, guarded, cold to everyone—would agree so easily.

　　Her defenses weren’t that impossible to break through after all. If he had just kept pestering her long enough, he could have won her too.

　　Lin Zirun, who had also been burned by Chu Ling before, quickly chimed in. “Yeah, I don’t think it’ll last either. I give it two months, tops.”

　　“Two months is way too generous,” Zhou Yu sneered. “I say not even a month.”

　　Wen Shu bit her tongue but couldn’t hold back anymore.

　　After spending so much time with Chu Ling, her comebacks had definitely leveled up. “You two just sound like sour grapes.”

　　Zhou Yu shot her a mocking look. “Wen Shu jie, don’t tell me you honestly believe they’re really in love?”

　　“…Yes.” Wen Shu grit her teeth, then said firmly, “So what? Whether their feelings are real or not is their business. It’s still better than the two of you sitting here stewing in pure hate.”

　　“You’d better watch closely. I believe they’ll last a very long time.”

　　—

　　Sheng Yi returned to his room and glanced at his phone.

　　The group chat with his band was blowing up, messages flooding in nonstop. He skimmed through them—mostly jokes, punctuated by the glaring “99+” unread sign.

　　All he could do was quietly type out a “gg.”

　　The chat instantly exploded again.

　　Drummer:【?】

　　Bassist:【? Did you get dumped?】

　　Keyboardist:【??? What’s going on? Don’t tell me you lasted ten minutes before it fell apart. That’s got to be the fastest breakup in history.】

　　Sheng Yi:【Breakup my ass, it was a misunderstanding.】

　　Sheng Yi:【I’m just waiting for her to come over and say, “Sorry, I made a mistake just now. Let’s pretend nothing ever happened.”】

　　Keyboardist:【Oh~ love comes and goes as fast as a tornado~】

　　Bassist:【A misunderstanding? How? What, are you saying she just ate some magic mushrooms, mistook you for someone else, and only agreed to your confession because she recognized the wrong person?】

　　Sheng Yi:【……】

　　Sheng Yi:【Of course not.】

　　Bassist:【Then what kind of “misunderstanding” are you even talking about?】

　　Sheng Yi felt it was nearly impossible to explain to them.

　　Because even he couldn’t figure out what was going on inside Chu Ling’s head.

　　How could she possibly misunderstand?

　　He brooded over it in frustration. Had he said something wrong?

　　Sure, his confession had been clumsy, but it wasn’t so bad that it could be mistaken for something else.

　　He wasn’t insane—why would he use something that serious just for hype…

　　Sheng Yi suddenly froze.

　　He remembered. His whole reason for joining the dating show in the first place was to chase popularity. Even some of his early choices had been scripted. And Chu Ling knew all about that.

　　The problem was, this time the confession had been real.

　　But maybe, Chu Ling thought he was still following the script the production team gave him, and chose to play along.

　　“……”

　　Sheng Yi scratched his head in frustration. After briefly explaining the situation to his friends, he asked:【So what now? Should I go straight to her and confess again, or should I just play dead?】

　　Keyboardist:【Hahahahahaha, I told you she wasn’t into you. Just give it up already.】

　　Bassist:【Idiot. You’ve been single so long your brain’s gone moldy.】

　　Sheng Yi:【? What’s wrong with me?】

　　Bassist:【It’s a golden chance. The fact that she agreed to play along with the CP means she doesn’t hate you. She’s even willing to keep spending time with you. Just go along with it. Stay close, be patient, and who knows? Maybe one day you’ll actually succeed.】

　　Keyboardist:【Oh ho, look at our Qi-ge giving wise advice. When they get married one day, you better be sitting at the main table.】

　　Bassist:【Excuse you, we’d be at the main table anyway.】

　　…Was that really okay?

　　Sheng Yi’s mood, which had been sinking, flickered with a trace of hope again. But soon after, doubt crept back in. Wouldn’t this count as deceiving Chu Ling?

　　A knock sounded at the door.

　　Sheng Yi quickly tucked his phone away and went to open it.

　　Chu Ling was standing outside. She lifted her hand in a casual wave. “Hey.”

　　Sheng Yi: “…”

　　His back stiffened without him realizing. “What’s up?”

　　Chu Ling gave him a little push. “Let’s talk inside.”

　　Once she stepped into the room, her gaze landed on the neatly packed suitcase. “You’re already done packing?”

　　“Since today’s the final recording, it’s about time to leave.”

　　Sheng Yi answered calmly.

　　According to the original plan, this was where they would part ways. But that earlier misunderstanding had tangled their paths together again, and he wasn’t sure whether it would lead to something good or bad.

　　“About earlier…”

　　Sure enough, Chu Ling spoke first. “I know I might have misunderstood the intention behind your confession, but I want to ask you something now.”

　　She looked up at him. “Can we not break up just yet?”

　　The words were so blunt, so straightforward, that Sheng Yi felt like his brain had exploded into static.

　　Wait. Did this mean… they were actually together?

　　“My manager and I just went over things,” Chu Ling continued. “Since I already agreed to your confession, we might as well keep moving forward with it.”

　　“For now, the CP hype benefits both of us. Of course, maybe rejecting you would have done you more good, but since what’s done is done, why not make do for a while?”

　　She tested the waters as she spoke. “Now that the show has aired, if we announce a breakup right away, it could damage both our images. Wouldn’t it be better to maintain this CP for a while?”

　　“……”

　　Sheng Yi felt like his heart hadn’t had a moment’s peace all day.

　　He let out a helpless laugh, thought for a second, then said, “You really did misunderstand.”

　　Chu Ling: “Hm?”

　　Sheng Yi: “…I didn't intend to regret it anyway.”

　　“Really?”

　　Chu Ling’s lips curved into a smile at once. “That’s great.”

　　She had thought he was sulking because she’d made the wrong assumption.

　　Which only made her more curious. “Then why were you upset?”

　　Just moments ago, Sheng Yi’s wave of negative emotions had startled her.

　　Did he really show it that clearly?

　　“Not really.”

　　He mumbled, “Maybe just… a bit unexpected, so I was thrown off.”

　　Chu Ling asked her system, “That counts as negative emotions too? Isn’t your definition of negative emotions a little too broad?”

　　System: “…”

　　It had no idea either. It was just as confused.

　　Chu Ling asked again, “You really weren’t upset?”

　　Sheng Yi: “…Not at all.”

　　“Good.”

　　Chu Ling calmly extended her hand. “Then from here on, I’ll be in your care, ‘boyfriend.’”

　　—

　　That very day, Overbearing CP lived up to expectations and shot straight to the top of the hot search.

　　The way Heartbeat Lab would wrap up had already drawn plenty of attention. After all, the production team had collapsed one scandal after another, and even their biggest selling point before the show aired—Film Emperor Qin Shuo—had dropped out after his reputation imploded.

　　Some people had guessed that if the remaining guests could just leave in one piece, that would already be a blessing. There was no way the show would actually deliver any genuine romance.

　　A few even predicted that the male guests would steer clear of Chu Ling, terrified of being the next one to go down in flames.

　　No one ever imagined that the most unlikely pairing, Overbearing CP, would actually end up together.

　　Even the CP fans themselves had never dared dream of it!

　　“Bully Dogs” had only been casually shipping the “partners in crime” dynamic, and yet against all odds, their crack ship had become canon.

　　But while CP fans were celebrating, plenty of others questioned whether this pairing was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

　　After all, even the show’s own team had never tried to push this CP in the spotlight.

　　“No way, how could it be fake?”

　　Chu Ling and Sheng Yi opened a joint livestream just to respond to the rumors.

　　She leaned shoulder to shoulder against Sheng Yi, the distance between them close and natural. “Honestly, I didn’t expect him to confess to me at first, but right now we’re genuinely giving this relationship a try. It’s just that since it’s both our first time dating, we’re still kind of… adjusting?”

　　As she spoke, she nudged Sheng Yi with her elbow. “Right?”

　　Sheng Yi nodded. “…That’s true.”

　　“As for people saying I’m just chasing clout, I already have plenty of popularity on my own, don’t I?”

　　Chu Ling blinked innocently at the camera. “If I wanted to, I could hop on the hot search anytime. Why would I need to use this as hype?”

　　【Chu-jie putting on an innocent face while saying stuff that makes you want to smack her is honestly hilarious.】

　　【If anyone else said something this arrogant I’d think they were out of their mind, but when Chu-jie says it, all I can think is… fair enough, lol.】

　　“Even though we only just got together, we want to slowly get to know each other, so we can be together better.”

　　Reading the scrolling comments, Chu Ling grinned. “We will, we will. If there’s a chance, we’ll share some daily couple moments too.”

　　Popularity, after all, was like money. They might not be lacking in it, but who would ever complain about having more?

　　After ending the livestream, Chu Ling glanced at Sheng Yi and gave a blunt review. “Your performance still needs work.”

　　“I really did my best.”

　　Sheng Yi let out a helpless laugh. “It’s just that your acting was way too good.”

　　Even he had to admit he felt a little frustrated. Forget the audience, there had even been a moment or two where he himself almost got swept up in the atmosphere Chu Ling created, nearly believing they really were a couple.

　　“Well, of course.”

　　Chu Ling looked pleased with herself, as if it were only natural. “I am a professional, after all.”

　　Things were looking great for them.

　　Both of their agencies had agreed to play along and hype up this CP.

　　So after the show ended, Chu Ling and Sheng Yi quickly followed each other online, then hosted a joint livestream to respond to the relationship news. It was like the perfect after-sales service to the program, and naturally the buzz only grew hotter.

　　“By the way,” Chu Ling suddenly said, “my manager told me there’s a couple-versus-couple variety show inviting us to guest star next month. Does your schedule work for that?”

　　Sheng Yi paused. “A couple’s variety show?”

　　Acting for a short livestream was one thing.

　　But pretending to be a couple under constant cameras? Sheng Yi wasn’t sure he could pull that off without slipping up.

　　Maybe he should turn it down.

　　That was what he thought, but when he met Chu Ling’s expectant gaze, he found himself unable to say the words.

　　She would definitely ask him why.

　　And if he told her now, “I don’t want to fake a CP, I actually like you for real,” she would probably be shocked, and then disappointed.

　　It was better to keep things as they were.

　　At least this way, he could stay by her side.

　　“Sure.”

　　In the end, he nodded. “I’m fine with it.”

 

Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter