[To be honest, Bai Ling’s move here really hurt her image.]

[Yeah, it felt like she was trying to take credit for someone else’s work. It’s unpleasant.]

[Shen Wanwan and Su Tingxuan, great. The two of them paired up are definitely getting eliminated!]

[Brother Ye looks super annoyed. Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan, I suggest you be kind!!!]

Shao Yuye debuted from a talent show. Now, as an active idol, he was indeed expected to watch his words and actions to maintain a good image for his fans.

Suppressing his anger was already the greatest compromise he could make for the sake of the livestream camera.

Su Tingxuan had already moved to Shen Wanwan’s side.

He tried to ingratiate himself, saying, “Wanwan…”

Shen Wanwan gave him a disgusted glance. “Are we close? Please call me Miss Shen. And stay at least five meters away from me.”

She wrinkled her nose like she’d seen something rotten and disgusting.

Complete and unapologetic contempt.

Everyone was stunned.

Shen Wanwan had always spoken bluntly and without filter.

But this was the first time she had openly and directly lashed out at someone.

And the cameras were still rolling.

Was she not afraid of getting hate for this?

The onlookers all had complicated feelings.

Su Tingxuan’s fans were a bit annoyed : [Shen Wanwan is way too dramatic. Using prop cards is totally normal for Su Tingxuan and them. If she can’t handle it, she should just go home. Why take it out on Su Tingxuan? If she’s so capable, she should just counter the card with another one! But by the way, Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan’s card is an SSS-tier one, so lower-tier cards are ineffective against it~]

But this time, most viewers weren’t buying that criticism.

[LMAO, isn’t Shen Wanwan’s reaction totally understandable? She was in first place and leading, and now suddenly she’s been bumped to the fifth and is likely getting eliminated. Wouldn’t you be pissed too?]

[Sorry, I think I can understand your anger now.]

001 floated up and gently pressed its face to Shen Wanwan’s cheek.

Su Tingxuan kept talking about repentance, but he was the one who lifted Bai Ling up and sent her to Shao Yuye’s side, while also dragging Shen Wanwan down the path to elimination…

The heroine’s kindness and tolerance came at the cost of sacrificing others.

She could always be calm and gentle, because she was the one benefiting.

Shen Wanwan gave the little light orb full of ‘remorse’ a sideways glance and said indifferently: “This kind of thing isn’t enough to make me angry.”

001 : [But I’m really mad!!]

Being separated from her Brother was one thing, but now she’d been banished all the way to fifth place.

The little light orb was so mad it looked like a puffed-up pufferfish!

A meter away, Jiang Yuan was hesitating, wondering if he should talk to Qi Luozhou about using their ‘Negating Item Card.’

It was obvious Shao Yuye really didn’t want to switch partners.

And although Shen Wanwan hadn’t said anything, being shuffled to the last place definitely wouldn’t make her happy.

But Qi Luozhou and Shao Yuye were mortal enemies, and the card in their hands was also SSS-tier. Who knew if Qi Luozhou would agree?

Yet just as Jiang Yuan opened his mouth, Qi Luozhou handed him the card without hesitation.

“It’s fine.”

The livestream comment section lit up with emotion.

[OMG, someone hold me, this is too wholesome!]

[Aaaaah, Jiang Yuan and God Zhou are amazing!!!]

Jiang Yuan was about to hand the prop card to Shao Yuye when Shen Wanwan, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke:

“I’m using an item card.”

Everyone turned to look at her.

Under the clear morning light, her skin was like snow and jade, breathtakingly beautiful.

Between her slender pale fingers, she held a golden, glittering card.

Nobody knew what card it was, but something that sparkly could only be a top-tier card!

Only Su Tingxuan still had a smug, confident expression. “Wanwan, our card is an SSS-tier one…”

The implication: the partner swap was already a done deal.

The others felt like he had a point.

It was true.

SSS-tier cards were extremely rare. Even if someone else had a card of the same grade, it would be hard to find one that could directly cancel out an SSS-tier effect.

But while the others didn’t recognize the card, the production crew definitely did.

It was the [Love Stronger Than Gold] item card.

Shao Yuye’s eyes lit up.

Right! How could he have forgotten?

In the last team selection round, only Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan had chosen each other mutually, and the production team had rewarded them with this special prop card.

[Love Stronger Than Gold]

As the name suggested, no one could break them apart. Not even the production crew.

Originally, the reason for giving out this special card was because, at this stop, the show had introduced yet another twist to the partner-selection rules.

The director reminded them meaningfully, “Are you sure you want to use it now?”

Shao Yuye was practically going mad with anger.

“Duh!”

If they didn’t use it now, his sister would be taken away by someone else!

And not just anyone, but a team currently dead last and very likely to be eliminated!

The bullet comments were full of sighs:

[Who would’ve thought? In the last stop, Brother Ye swore up and down he could team up with anyone, just not Shen Wanwan. And look at him now…]

[Hahaha! That plot twist hit fast and hard!]

[I still don’t get it though, how did their relationship suddenly improve so much?]

Director : “Apologies, but Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan have used the [Love Stronger Than Gold] item card. Their pairing cannot be changed. Bai Ling, please choose someone else to swap with from the remaining teams.”

Bai Ling looked a bit aggrieved.

She didn’t expect Shao Yuye to be that determined not to team up with her.

Nor did she expect that he and Shen Wanwan had been holding onto such a powerful card.

Su Tingxuan didn’t look too good either.

Damn it, now not only did he fail to team up with Shen Wanwan, he’d probably end up the one guaranteed to be eliminated?

As for the rest of the contestants, the atmosphere suddenly turned silent. Everyone grew nervous and on edge.

Zhang Yiran cursed inwardly.

What kind of crappy card was this?

This was straight-up playing a hand of death with them!

Bai Ling glanced around the stage with a troubled expression.

“This is really hard to choose…”

Her first instinct was to swap with Jiang Yuan and team up with Qi Luozhou.

But even thinking about it, she knew that if she really did that, the ‘Xiao Chuan’s would absolutely drag her to hell.

Li Yan and Jiang Qianfan were ranked fourth, still dangerous territory even if she swapped in.

In the end, her gaze landed on Zhang Yiran and Jin Xiaoyu.

They were currently ranked second.

Jin Xiaoyu deliberately avoided Bai Ling’s soft, emotional gaze, silently pleading: Please don’t pick me…

But of course, the thing you fear most is often the one that happens.

Even if Bai Ling couldn’t make up her mind, Su Tingxuan could.

Since Bai Ling couldn’t switch to the top-ranked Shao Yuye’s team, Su Tingxuan turned his aim to second place, Zhang Yiran’s teammate, Jin Xiaoyu.

“Swap with Jin Xiaoyu. Zhang Yiran’s got decent skills, maybe not guaranteed first, but definitely safe from elimination.”

Jin Xiaoyu immediately felt a chill on her scalp.

Bai Ling had no backbone.

Her eyes wandered uncertainly for a while, unable to make a decision, and finally looked at Jin Xiaoyu apologetically. “I’m sorry… Xiaoyu.”

Jin Xiaoyu felt like all hope was lost.

Zhang Yiran didn’t have a card to cancel this one out, so he could only pat her on the shoulder. “Too bad. Good luck.”

He was taking it pretty well. After all, it was just a team game, who you play with didn’t really matter.

But for Jin Xiaoyu, it was not just that simple.

She was fuming!

Bai Ling tried to comfort the utterly defeated Jin Xiaoyu:

“Xiaoyu, I’ll give you an item card. I promise I won’t let you get eliminated.”

Jin Xiaoyu didn’t bother maintaining her ladylike image for the camera. She rolled her eyes hard.

Shen Wanwan watched the whole farce from the sidelines, clearly bored.

Utterly dull.

She yawned lazily, hand covering her mouth.

Shao Yuye noticed and whispered, “Just wait a bit longer, it’ll get interesting.”

Just a bit longer…

It’s show time!

In the afternoon challenge, Shen Wanwan didn’t need to lift a finger.

…Not even use her brain.

Shao Yuye absolutely slayed the entire field, radiating power like a star on the rise.

[Holy crap, what’s with Brother Ye today?!]

[Help, he really seems so genuinely happy today.]

[Hahaha, Brother Ye, is being first place really that joyful?!]

Sure, being first was great. But racing ahead with his sister, the two of them totally dominating, was even better.

After effortlessly clearing level 20—the weightlifting round—Shao Yuye flexed his solid biceps and cockily said:

“I just want to ask one question—
“WHO ELSE?!”

Everyone was thoroughly blinded by his show-off attitude.

[How do I put this… Brother Ye now looks like a full-on peacock in mating display.]

[My gut tells me, when a man acts like this, he’s in love. But with who? His ranking?]

[Is it possible… he’s flexing just for us? Like—‘See that? First place, baby! I’m awesome!’]

[Hahahaha don’t say it… but that might actually be true! ]

Meanwhile, Zhang Yiran and Bai Ling were progressing fast as a team too. Bai Ling had good luck, teaming up with her usually meant easier challenges.

Even so, three days passed, and Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan still maintained a three-checkpoint lead, already reaching level 36.

This was just insane!

---

Shao Yuye’s vision was briefly blurred, then slowly focused. He finally saw clearly that the person standing in front of him was Shen Wanwan.

His body was still in a somewhat dazed state, but his brain had already reacted first.

—That’s my sister, my sister, my sister, my sister!

Shao Yuye’s raised fist abruptly changed direction mid-air and landed lightly on his own face.

“…What’s going on?”

Everyone around was dumbfounded.

Where was Shao Yuye’s infamous morning temper?!

Back when he and his teammate Fan Lin were on a cohabitation reality show, Fan Lin had followed the crew’s instructions and tried to wake Shao Yuye early in the morning, only to get scolded so badly it was unforgettable.

[Did I see that right? Did Brother Ye just lightly punch himself? That’s some hardcore way to wake up!]

[This feels kinda absurd… Not only did Brother Ye not get mad at Shen Wanwan, he even punched himself. What the hell… what the hell…]

[This feels scripted.]

[Scripted +1. This totally doesn’t fit Brother Ye’s usual style.]

Even after asking the question, Shao Yuye was still in a daze.

He looked at Shen Wanwan, then glanced at the camera behind her. Instinctively, he smoothed down his bedhead and muttered sleepily, “Why is it so early today?”

Shen Wanwan responded with a flat “Mm,” then said sarcastically, “Yeah, really early. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

Shao Yuye : ???

“How’s that possible?”

He always woke up an hour earlier than the call time set by the production crew!

Shen Wanwan couldn’t be bothered to argue. She directly handed her phone to his face.

Displayed clearly was a time fifteen minutes past the scheduled wake-up time.

Shao Yuye instantly jolted upright in bed like a flipping carp.

Holy crap.

He actually overslept!!!

Meanwhile, the live comments began analyzing why Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan were being so peaceful.

[Something feels off. Shao Yuye has such bad morning temper, he’s even given teammates the cold shoulder before. Why did he let Shen Wanwan off so easily?]

[Definitely scripted. But to be fair, the script this time is pretty clever. Both of them are gaining a lot of fans.]

This sentiment got a lot of agreement.

[When you put it that way, it makes sense. Watching a man and woman fight isn’t exactly fun.]

[Damn, I thought this was kinda fun, but if this is scripted too… that’s wild.]

But at this point, the ‘Yu Yu’s weren’t so easily swayed by those comments anymore.

Scripted or not—

Brother Ye’s attitude was their attitude.

If Brother Ye didn’t dislike Shen Wanwan—

Then neither would they!

---

In the past few years, Shao Yuye had suffered from extremely poor sleep. His sleep was shallow, constantly skimming the surface of dreams, and he was often jolted awake in the middle of the night by nightmares—drenched in cold sweat, sticky and miserable, forced to get up and take a shower. And after that, whatever little drowsiness remained would be completely gone.

But last night, not only did he go back to his room and fall asleep right away—

He slept very well. Dreamless. Peaceful.

His nerves, which had been tightly wound for years, finally relaxed. All the exhaustion he had been repressing surged up at once.

Which was why he’d overslept.

But now that he was fully awake, he felt surprisingly great. That heavy burden he’d carried for years seemed to have vanished in an instant, and his body felt unbelievably light.

He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, then dashed to the gathering point.

At that moment, the group had just finished delivering their ‘battle declarations’ for the day.

Zhang Yiran cued him in, “Everyone just finished their battle declarations. What about your team? Wanna say something?”

Shao Yuye instinctively looked toward Shen Wanwan.

Shen Wanwan signaled for him to speak.

Since she said so, Shao Yuye coolly said:

“Yo, since we’ve already taken first place—
“Y’all can fight over second, okay~”

His deliberate imitation of rap style made the audience burst into laughter.

Hey hey hey—

Brother Ye, there’s still so many days left in the competition. Shouldn’t we be a bit more low-key?

Clearly, Shao Yuye had no idea what ‘low-key’ meant.

As for Shen Wanwan beside him, she was even bolder and more flamboyant.

She openly applauded Shao Yuye.

“Well said!”

Everyone : ???

Only Qi Luozhou quietly curled his lips in a faint smile.

These two, playing off each other like that, managed to stir up the competitive spirit in the other lower-ranked contestants.

“You two, don’t get too cocky, we’re catching up soon!”

Shao Yuye raised a mocking eyebrow.

“Bring it on.”

Since when did Shao Yuye ever back down?

He looked way too good today.

Better than any day before!

Zhang Yiran couldn’t help but ask him, “You’re in a great mood today?”

Shao Yuye touched his face. “Huh? Am I?”

Zhang Yiran nodded. “Your smile is practically reaching your ears.”

Shao Yuye dropped his hand.

Oh.

“Well, then let it reach my ears.
“I am happy.”

[Hahaha, Brother Ye really does look different today!]

[Feels like something great happened~]

[Hehe, hope Brother Ye stays this cheerful every day~]

And it turns out, Shao Yuye’s state was truly unstoppable today.

In just one morning, he and Shen Wanwan had already reached Level 15.

That was 3 levels ahead of the second-place team, Zhang Yiran’s team.

That’s a wild lead!

Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan were in dead last, just having cleared Level 5.

Seeing how far behind they were—ten whole levels—Bai Ling started to panic.

Su Tingxuan’s performance in the challenges really wasn’t good.

Typical of a rich young master—can’t lift with his shoulders, can’t carry with his hands.

No matter how composed Bai Ling acted, she was getting anxious too.

The last team would be eliminated!

The more anxious she got, the better her luck seemed.

The pointer on the lucky draw wheel landed on the ‘Opportunity Item Card’ section, and the director handed her a box to draw from.

Bai Ling drew a ‘Partner Swap Card.’

It was a SSS-level god-tier card.

Like the hot spring card from the first station, it came with a bonus of skipping two levels.

[Bai Ling’s luck is insane!]

[She’s a human koi! Making a wish, please let me pass my October exams!]

Su Tingxuan’s eyes lit up. He immediately suggested, “Why don’t we use this partner swap card and switch you with Shen Wanwan? Their team’s in first place right now, and then you won’t have to be eliminated.”

Bai Ling asked with concern, “But what about you? We’re in last place. If you pair with Shen Wanwan, the two of you might…”

In truth, Su Tingxuan’s proposal was very tempting to Bai Ling.

In the past two episodes, she’d teamed with Jin Xiaoyu and Su Tingxuan.

No exaggeration, they were both pretty useless. Practically ‘pig teammates.’

But Shao Yuye was different.

He was athletic and popular.

Honestly, she wanted to team up with Shao Yuye too.

Su Tingxuan said, “I’ve been the one dragging you down, and so has Shen Wanwan. Without her, Shao Yuye might even go through the levels faster. He’s so obsessed with winning, he might actually be grateful to us.”

Bai Ling restrained her excitement. “Alright then!”

The two of them reached a mutual agreement, each with their own ulterior motives.

Su Tingxuan handed the card to the director. “Director, I want to use the item card!”

Meanwhile, Shao Yuye was furiously leading his sister through the challenges, doing everything he could to show off to Shen Wanwan just how amazing he was.

But just before the afternoon round began, the production team delivered a brutal announcement—

“Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan have used the partner swap card. The swap is between Bai Ling and Shen Wanwan!”

This was the first time a partner swap occurred during a non-selection round.

No way.

If Shen Wanwan was teamed up with Su Tingxuan, she was guaranteed to be eliminated!

Everyone present was stunned and turned to look at Shen Wanwan.

…Only to find her completely unfazed, as if nothing had happened.

In contrast, Shao Yuye was utterly confused. “What does that mean?”

Zhang Yiran, who had already figured it out, explained to him:

“It means you’re swapping with Su Tingxuan. You’re now teamed with Bai Ling, and Su Tingxuan is teamed with Shen Wanwan.”

“Wait, wait, Director, how’s the progress going to work after the swap?”

Director : “The progress stays as it was for the original teams, unchanged.”

Which meant…

Bai Ling instantly ascended to level 15 with Shao Yuye.

While Shen Wanwan dropped all the way to level 5.

It was like a bolt from the blue. Shao Yuye was left completely stunned, inside and out.

What kind of BS is this!!!

While he fumed, Shen Wanwan calmly stood beside him, instantly seeing through Su Tingxuan and Bai Ling’s little scheme.

001 was furious : {How can the female lead be like this?!}

Shen Wanwan replied with interest, “Why don’t you say the female lead now has a chance to get closer to my brother?”

The little light orb, caught off guard, put its hands on its hips with pride : {Hmph! I’m not the same me from back then!}

Good.

Shen Wanwan was very pleased.

Bai Ling cheerfully walked up to Shao Yuye and greeted him. “I believe we’ll make a great team.”

Shao Yuye just stood there with a cold face, completely ignoring her.

He and his sister had just reunited. He hadn’t even had time to properly reconnect with her, and now these people wanted to swap her out?

Not! Gonna! Happen!

---

Qi Luozhou didn’t answer, just lazily lifting his eyelids.

“What’s the matter?”

Shen Wanwan stood behind Qi Luozhou with her arms crossed, as if watching a farce.

Su Tingxuan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

That matter between him and Shen Wanwan wasn’t something that could be easily brought out into the open.

“I have something to say to her in private.”

He pointed at Shen Wanwan, intending to enter quickly, but with Qi Luozhou blocking the doorway, he could only stay stuck outside.

Qi Luozhou stood in front of Su Tingxuan. “She’s about to sleep.”

As soon as the words fell, a crisp laugh came from behind.

Qi Luozhou turned his head and met her gaze.

Shen Wanwan smiled, lips slightly raised, and winked at him.

Su Tingxuan, standing off to the side, felt as if there was some kind of undercurrent flowing between the two.

A strange emotion welled up in his heart. He asked hesitantly, “What were you two… just doing?”

Shen Wanwan leaned against the door frame, watching with interest as she waited for Qi Luozhou’s answer.

Unexpectedly, he directly tossed the question to her, his tone relaxed and unreadable.

“Miss Shen, what were we doing just now?”

Shen Wanwan had no good feelings left for Su Tingxuan.

She had no need for any back-and-forth with him. One blunt and unladylike “None of your damn business,” followed by slamming the door shut, and everything would be solved neatly.

Everything that needed saying had already been said.

The rest had nothing to do with her.

When Shen Wanwan closed the door, she shut Qi Luozhou out along with Su Tingxuan.

Qi Luozhou was half a head taller than Su Tingxuan and looked down at him.

There was no expression in his eyes, but Su Tingxuan felt his shoulders stiffen as a chill crept over him.

Later, after Shen Wanwan finished washing up and got into bed, she saw a message from Qi Luozhou on her phone.

Qi Luozhou : [You might want to change how you address me.]

Shen Wanwan : [Hm?]

Qi Luozhou : [Calling me “Mr. Qi” feels too distant.]

Shen Wanwan couldn’t help but laugh at the message.

So… could it be that because she called Su Tingxuan ‘Mr. Su’ earlier, now he couldn’t stand being called ‘Mr. Qi’?

Shen Wanwan : [Then should I call you fiancé?]

Qi Luozhou : [That works.]

…Ha.

—No way.

Shen Wanwan simply turned off her phone and went to sleep.

---

The next morning, the moment Shen Wanwan opened her eyes, 001 eagerly delivered good news :

001 : {It looks like your glow has gotten a little brighter again!}

001 : {That’s a great sign! Probably means more people online are starting to like you! Keep up the good work!}

Shen Wanwan snorted coldly. “It’s not like I’m a lightbulb, what’s the point of glowing all the time?”

001 : {…}

001 : {I was trying to tell you some good news!}

“Oh. That’s just so amazing.”

Giving the little light orb a perfunctory brush-off, Shen Wanwan headed downstairs for breakfast.

Surprisingly, Shao Yuye was nowhere to be seen.

Shen Wanwan raised an eyebrow. “Where’s my Brother?”

001 : {I’m just your newbie guide, not some all-seeing oracle!}

Fair enough.

Shen Wanwan calmly sat down at her seat and started eating breakfast.

Diagonally across from her, Su Tingxuan’s gaze kept flicking back and forth between her and Qi Luozhou.

He’d thought about it all night and still couldn’t figure out what God Zhou was doing in her room.

Could it be that God Zhou was Shen Wanwan’s new fiancé?

He quickly recalled that Shen Wanwan had mentioned on the phone that she had a new fiancé.

Could it really be God Zhou?!

No way.

With Shen Wanwan’s background, she’d definitely marry into a rich family.

Even if Qi Luozhou was a Best Actor, he had no background whatsoever. There’s no way she’d seriously consider him.

Which just brought Su Tingxuan back to the original question…

What on earth was Qi Luozhou doing in her room last night?

Even by the time breakfast ended, Shao Yuye still hadn’t shown up.

The director was getting anxious and sent an assistant to go wake him up.

The assistant hesitated, clearly nervous.

“I heard Shao Yuye has really bad morning temper…”

And he’s got a volatile personality. Barging in to wake him might not be a great idea.

The director glared at her harshly. “If you don’t go wake him up, I’m docking a month’s bonus. Go!”

The assistant : Q_AQ

It’s really too hard being a worker stuck between two people she couldn’t afford to offend.

She slumped her shoulders in defeat and was about to head upstairs.

Then a clear voice cut in.

“I’ll go wake him.”

Assistant : “Huh?”

She had just spent ages pleading with everyone she could think of, but no one dared go wake Shao Yuye. Everyone was afraid of angering this short-tempered ancestor and setting him off.

Who was this savior?

She looked up in delight, only to be caught off guard by the beautiful face of Shen Wanwan.

Shen Wanwan wanted to wake Shao Yuye?!

“Maybe… better not…” The assistant quickly waved her hands. “Thank you, Shen Wanwan, but it’s really not necessary…”

Are you kidding me? Letting Shen Wanwan wake Shao Yuye was like—Mars crashing into Earth.

She didn’t want her entire career to end here and now.

The audience might not know, but everyone in the industry had heard: Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan had reached a consensus. Their constant feuding online had terrible audience feedback and damaged both of their reputations.

That’s why Shao Yuye chose to work with Shen Wanwan again, and this episode, both were aiming to present a perfect image to viewers.

And clearly, their cooperation was working.

Audience response had been very positive.

But what was shown on camera was one thing, what happened off-camera was obviously another.

Shen Wanwan raised an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t want me to do it?”

The assistant waved her hands emphatically. “Mmhmm mmhmm…”

Since that was the case, Shen Wanwan couldn’t be bothered to meddle further.

Five minutes later, the assistant slunk back to the director to report.

“Director, what do we do? Shao Yuye won’t open the door…”

“I’ve been shouting outside for ages…”

Director : “Idiot! Can’t you just open it with the key?!”

Assistant : “I was afraid of barging in on something private…”

The director cursed a storm.

Five minutes later, the assistant came down again alone.

“Director, I used the key and went in, but I still can’t wake him…”

Time was slipping by, second by second.

Now there was only one minute left until the livestream started.

The director was at his wit’s end. Just then, Shen Wanwan started heading upstairs.

“Huh? It’s almost live. What’s she running off for? Go stop her.”

The assistant quietly murmured, “Is Shen Wanwan going to wake up Shao Yuye?”

The director froze.

…Eh?

That might actually be a highlight?

Worth trying.

The production team had keys to the guest rooms.

But under normal circumstances, they would never unlock a guest’s room.

Today, however, wasn’t a normal situation. The assistant nervously used the key to open the door, just as the livestream officially began.

Fans clicked into the stream and were greeted with a dark scene.

But they could vaguely make out that it was a room.

Shao Yuye lay flat on his back on the bed, eyes shut, breathing even, fast asleep.

The director of the live broadcast did a great job zooming in on his face.

Even in the dim light, Shao Yuye’s sleeping face made many viewers squeal at their screens.

[Ahhh, Brother Ye still hasn’t woken up?]

[So today’s stream is just watching Brother Ye sleep? 😏]

Until Shen Wanwan strode confidently up to the bed—*swish!*—and yanked open the curtains. The bright sunlight, no longer blocked, poured directly onto Shao Yuye’s face.

[Holy crap! Fresh-out-of-bed Brother Ye!]

[Husband! Husband! Husband! Husband! Husband!]

The sudden brightness made Shao Yuye frown slightly.

But he still kept his eyes shut, sleeping soundly.

It was then that the viewers finally saw Shen Wanwan.

She knocked on the table.

“Wake up.”

The livestream chat instantly exploded—

[WTF! Shen Wanwan’s nuts! He was sleeping just fine, and she’s pulling open curtains and pushing him around?!]

[So this is a wake-up segment the production team deliberately planned? With all due respect, there’s nothing entertaining about it, just that Shen Wanwan is super annoying!]

The constant noise was making Shao Yuye sleep a little restlessly. He turned over, facing the wall to continue sleeping, leaving only the view of his back curled under the blanket.

The ‘Yu Yu’s felt a little sorry for him.

[Looks like this competition is seriously exhausting. Brother Ye has sleep issues, yet he’s sleeping so soundly, amazing!]

[Hahaha, just keep putting him on shows like this from now on! Whether we want to watch him or not doesn’t matter. It’s all about making sure Brother Ye gets good sleep. 😏]

[The production team’s really bold, huh? I remember Brother Ye has major morning grumpiness. Since he has trouble falling asleep, being woken up just after finally dozing off… that’s the kind of thing that makes you want to stab someone… They really don’t care if Shen Wanwan lives or dies, do they.]

[Damn, is the production team trying to stir up trouble again?! Shen Wanwan’s already getting hate right now. If Brother Ye gets woken up and snaps at her next…]

Everyone still clearly remembers the last episode when Shao Yuye got slammed with criticism…

And sure enough…

When Shen Wanwan reached out and started nudging Shao Yuye, trying to drag him out of bed—

The constantly disturbed Shao Yuye finally raised his fist. Eyes still closed, he opened his mouth first:

“So annoying—”

“It’s me.”

A clear, cool voice.

It yanked Shao Yuye straight out of his groggy dreamworld and slammed him into reality.

He opened his eyes.

---

The siblings spent the whole night sharing the parts of their lives the other had missed.

Shao Yuye tried his best to gloss over his hardships, wanting his sister to see only the good parts of his life.

But Shen Wanwan couldn’t stop her brow from furrowing, her heart aching.

A father who only brought trouble, a hypocritical stepmother, and a naive but perfectly spiteful stepsister who always managed to disgust others with precision.

Shen Wanwan said calmly, “You should’ve cut ties with them long ago.”

Shao Yuye let out a bitter laugh. “Yeah. I should’ve done that a long time ago…”

All these years, he’d refused to leave simply because he wanted to stay near her room.

Just the thought of how, even if he took away everything that once belonged to her, the room that used to be his sister’s would still be occupied by Xu Qingxin and her daughter made him feel sick.

On the very first day Xu Qingxin moved into the Shao household, she packed away everything related to Shen Mingzhen from the bedroom she had shared with Shao Hongyuan.

Shao Yuye coldly watched her throw out his mother’s things, except for one: a vase that had been smashed in a furious argument between his mother and father. The fact that she deliberately left that behind told him she was far from the delicate little flower she pretended to be.

Xu Qingxin spent an entire day piecing that vase back together. Then, with grand ceremony, she placed it in the most conspicuous spot in the room.

When Shao Hongyuan asked about it, she simply smiled and said she liked it, that even broken, it had a kind of shattered beauty.

But Shao Yuye knew her true, malicious intent.

Xu Qingxin wanted to use that vase as a constant reminder for Shao Hongyuan. Every time he felt even a sliver of guilt, one glance at that vase would bring back memories of Shen Mingzhen’s furious face cursing him as shameless.

And so, over time, Shao Hongyuan forgot every good thing about Shen Mingzhen.

That’s why, no matter how diligently Xu Qingxin tried to please Shao Yuye afterward, he never spared her a single extra glance.

Shao Yuye was only worried that one day, their mother might abandon his little sister.

After all, Shao Hongyuan had more than once said that Shen Mingzhen was just a woman—divorced, with a child. What kind of man would want to take on someone else’s child? Even if someone did, how many would truly treat the child as their own?

He was afraid that one day, his little sister would be cast aside by their mother.

Because, hadn’t he already been abandoned by her?

If… if his sister ever came back one day, even if there was no real affection left in this home, at the very least, he would do everything within his power to protect her and keep her from being hurt by their stepmother.

Although as time passed and he grew up, his sister still never returned…

Protecting her room had already become his obsession.

The siblings ended up talking for two whole hours, and only when they realized it was late at night did Shao Yuye finally leave, reluctant to go.

This was the little sister he had lost and then regained.

His heart was full of joy.

Just as he opened the door to leave, he bumped into someone coming from the opposite room.

Qi Luozhou was wearing a crisp white shirt that hugged his back and a pair of black slacks that outlined his long legs. His posture was tall and straight, and whether viewed from the front, the side, or the back, there was an innate grace to his every movement.

Their eyes met, and Qi Luozhou gave Shao Yuye a polite nod.

Shao Yuye, however, averted his gaze with disdain.

—Tch.

His sister really had bad luck, huh? Living right across from Qi Luozhou? What a curse.

But he was in such a good mood tonight that he couldn’t be bothered to quarrel with Qi Luozhou. Shao Yuye hummed a little tune and happily returned to his room~

He decided to fall asleep listening to <Good Days¹> tonight!

Not long after Shao Yuye returned to his room, Shen Wanwan’s door was knocked again.

Fortunately, she hadn’t gone to bed yet. Thinking Shao Yuye had returned, she casually pulled the door open.

Outside stood a man with refined features.

In his hand was a tube of pain-relief cream.

Shen Wanwan raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Mr. Qi?”

Qi Luozhou handed her the cream, his voice calm and gentle.

“Did I disturb you?”

“No,” Shen Wanwan replied, making no move to take the cream immediately.

She looked at Qi Luozhou, her voice sweet.

“You help me.”

In the silence of Qi Luozhou’s non-reply, she kindly added:

“Of course, you’re free to say no.”

The corridor light above cast a warm orange glow.

The gentle light softened Shen Wanwan’s facial features. Her skin was fair and delicate.

Her gaze was always frank and straightforward, never trying to put on a façade to create a persona. She simply didn’t care what others thought.

001, the system, was already surprised when Qi Luozhou came to bring her medicine.

Now that Shen Wanwan actually asked him to apply it for her…

001 was baffled: {Didn’t you say last time that if you had another chance, you wouldn’t make such requests again?}

Would Qi Luozhou, like Su Tingxuan, feel insulted?

“So I gave him the right to refuse,” Shen Wanwan said calmly, long lashes lowered.

001 was just about to comment, the male lead will probably turn you down—

Who would have guessed that in the very next second, Qi Luozhou stepped inside.

“My pleasure.”

Shen Wanwan gave him a look of approval.

For the first time, she praised him: “There’s a reason he’s the male lead. He’s got a great personality.”

001: {…}

—{It’s only because he’s playing along with you.
—{I’m not even going to bother calling it out!}

---

There was no heater on in the room. Shen Wanwan didn’t like the stuffy feeling it brought.

The chill kept her mind clear.

She leaned back lazily on the chaise lounge, letting Qi Luozhou apply the cool ointment to her toes.

“That trekking pole from this morning, was it you who left it there?”

Qi Luozhou’s fingers were cold, long, and well-defined. His pressure was firm but not too much.

The man gave a soft laugh. “Is the pressure okay?”

Since he didn’t bring up the morning incident, Shen Wanwan didn’t dwell on it either.

She gave a contented “Mm.”

Then cheerfully nudged her other soft, fair foot into his hand, as if to remind him, Don’t play favorites.

Qi Luozhou smiled faintly.

He didn’t seem to think that serving her was anything shameful.

Shen Wanwan, content in her enjoyment, didn’t notice the expression on his face at all.

She even hugged a throw pillow comfortably and closed her eyes.

He took the opportunity to gaze at her without restraint.

When Shen Wanwan was awake and alert, she carried a trace of cold aggression in her demeanor—a sharp, unapproachable aura.

But once she let her guard down, she revealed a kind of softness and innocence that matched her age. Like a young girl, spoiled and untouched by the harshness of the world.

Qi Luozhou gazed at her gently.

Until the ceiling light flickered, and Shen Wanwan suddenly opened her eyes.

Her eyes were bright, like moonlight pouring softly through the window.

“Mr. Qi, you’ve been staring at me for a while now.”

“Have I?” Qi Luozhou smiled slightly. “I just think Miss Shen is very beautiful.”

Even though she knew it was just a polite, superficial compliment, Shen Wanwan was still a little pleased.

She didn’t smile, but the delight in her voice betrayed her.

“Mr. Qi, your smile right now feels a little too polite.”

—The implication being: not sincere enough.

“Hm?” A smile lingered in Qi Luozhou’s eyes. “Then how does Miss Shen think I should smile?”

He said it in such a way that it didn’t sound like flattery at all.

Instead, it carried a teasing undertone.

Shen Wanwan gave a light “hmph”: “You can’t even get that right? Did you become Best Actor through connections or something?”

Qi Luozhou chuckled lightly and followed her lead.

“Maybe I got it through fan votes.”

Shen Wanwan narrowed her eyes.

Qi Luozhou was a curious person.

Unlike Shao Yuye, who was obsessed with winning and losing, Qi Luozhou had an astonishingly low desire for competition.

While fans labeled Shao Yuye as ‘ambitious and competitive,’ Qi Luozhou’s label was ‘indifferent to fame and fortune.’

But was he truly as detached as he appeared?

After all, everything he wanted was already in his hands.

Maybe it was because Qi Luozhou was the male lead.

After he massaged her feet for a while, the pain in her toes disappeared.

001 chimed in proudly : {Of course it did. He’s the male lead, after all, his light outshines even Bai Ling.
{This is a Cinderella-style Mary Sue story, after all. Once the heroine gets the male lead, she gets all the spotlight too~}

While Qi Luozhou was washing his hands in the bathroom, the door was knocked for the third time that night.

001 was shocked : {What is going on? Are they all reporting in one by one?!
{Who is it this time?!}

Shen Wanwan smiled faintly.

The answer was obvious.

Su Tingxuan knocked on her door, short and urgent:

“Wanwan, it’s me…
“Wanwan… please open the door.”

Su Tingxuan had been harshly scolded by his father that night.

When the Shen family came to break off the engagement, Father Su originally thought Shen Wanwan had fallen for someone else and wanted to use that as leverage to renegotiate terms.

But Shen Rong had immediately turned cold. “Does your son not know what he’s done?”

Not only did Shen Rong withdraw all investments from the Su family, but he also explicitly forbade any of his subsidiaries from doing business with them.

The Su family had long relied on the Shen family’s support for its booming business. As success swelled, so did Father Su’s arrogance, leading to blind expansion and a strained cash flow.

Shen Rong’s move was like a fatal blow, crushing them completely. Now, the Su family faced a massive funding shortfall, and their company was on the verge of collapse.

One phone call from his father, and Su Tingxuan finally realized just how much trouble he was in.

“That’s Shen Wanwan! Marrying her means not just you, but your mother and I would never have to work another day in our lives!
“That so-called ‘true love’ of yours, what’s it worth?”

Su Tingxuan had been stubborn at first.

But soon, he felt his father had a point.

After all, he’d been attending to Shen Wanwan for so many years. He had gotten used to it, it wasn’t so bad.

Besides, Shen Wanwan was fiercely loyal and extremely generous to those close to her.

In truth…

After all these years, she must still have feelings for him.

If he could get hold of her heart and make her fall in love with him, wouldn’t she be under his control from then on?

Once Su Tingxuan realized this, he felt like he couldn’t afford to wait even one more second.

He wanted to see Shen Wanwan and coax her into coming back!!

At that moment, he heard some movement from inside the room.

His voice became a little more agitated: “Wanwan…
“Open the door and let me in. Let’s have a proper talk.”

Shen Wanwan stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the door. Through the door panel, she replied slowly, “Mr. Su, didn’t we already say everything that needed to be said?”

Inside the bathroom, the sound of running water suddenly stopped.

When Qi Luozhou heard the way she addressed the person outside, he paused for a brief moment.

He dried his wet hands and walked out of the bathroom, the ever-present natural smile on his face now gone.

Shen Wanwan gave him a small smile, motioning for him to stay quiet.

Outside the door, Su Tingxuan continued pleading desperately, “Hurry, there are people passing by in the hallway. It’ll be bad if someone sees. Wanwan, I was wrong. I’ve thought a lot over the past few days. I was a bastard before…”

Forced to listen to a whole act of ‘repentant scumbag,’ Qi Luozhou spoke up coldly:

“Mr. Su?”

Shen Wanwan responded, “Mm, Su Tingxuan, my ex-fiancé. Sorry you had to witness this.”

Just as she was about to raise her voice and send Su Tingxuan away—

The door was suddenly pulled open a crack, and the corridor light poured in instantly.

Su Tingxuan’s vision dimmed as a shadow abruptly engulfed him.

Seeing the door open, he was overjoyed and raised his voice: “Wanwan… I knew you wouldn’t ignore me…”

Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly felt something was off.

Shen Wanwan wasn’t this tall.

Stunned, he looked up, only to see a man’s sharply defined jawline.

The eyes that usually appeared gentle and warm now held a hint of coldness and indifference.

As if only now noticing the noise, Qi Luozhou gave him a cool glance.

Their eyes met. Only then did Su Tingxuan clearly see the man’s face.

He was utterly dumbfounded and murmured:

“God Zhou?! You… why are you here…?!”

---

1. 好日子 (hǎo rìzi, lit. meaning ‘Good Days’) is a very famous Chinese folk song. The song’s cheerful melody and lyrics reflect a theme of living a good, happy, and prosperous life. ↩︎

---

“Wasn’t it supposed to take seven days? Why so fast? Is the result accurate?!”

Shao Yuye fired off his doubts like a rapid-fire cannon: “Also, what’s the result? Is she my sister or not?”

Brother Li explained to him point by point.

“They said within seven working days, and ours was marked urgent, so they notified me as soon as they got the results.

“As for the result, don’t worry, it’s definitely accurate…”

Shao Yuye listened to him ramble for a bit and couldn’t help but urge, “So what’s the result? What’s the result?! Is she my sister? She is my sister, right?!”

Brother Li said, “Yeah. The result shows: you and Shen Wanwan are full siblings, of the same father and same mother.”

The world instantly fell silent.

Brother Li waited for a while, but there wasn’t a single sound from the other end of the line.

Shao Yuye’s phone slipped from his hand onto the sofa, bounced twice, and disappeared between the cushions.

He stood in the empty room, body frozen, blood seeming to flow backward.

His heart pounded like a drum. For a moment, his ears were even ringing.

Even though he was already seventy percent sure in his heart, when the result was finally laid out so plainly, Shao Yuye still felt shocked and incredulous.

It took him a full few minutes to suppress his wildly beating heart and ask Brother Li to send him a photo of the test result.

When it came to scientific stuff, Shao Yuye was totally clueless.

But the one part he could understand was at the bottom—the conclusion:

He and Shen Wanwan were indeed biologically related.

Full siblings. Same father, same mother.

His head felt dazed, like someone had struck him hard, or like a bottle of champagne violently shaken—countless emotions bubbling up like fizz. His hands began to tremble.

Brother Li shouted “Hello?” several times from the other end of the call: “Ah Ye, are you listening? Ah Ye?”

“Brother Li, I have something to do. I’ll talk to you later.”

It took several more minutes for Shao Yuye to find his voice again.

He coldly hung up on Brother Li, then turned and dashed toward Shen Wanwan’s room.

---

After chatting with 001 about Su Tingxuan, Shen Wanwan scrolled through Weibo absentmindedly.

Suddenly, her door was knocked on with loud *bang bang bang*.

The knocking was aggressive, like someone had come seeking revenge.

001 was startled : {Who is it? Could it be Su Tingxuan?}

Shen Wanwan shook her head.

Didn’t seem like him.

Outside, Shao Yuye knocked frantically, heart pounding.

She was really his biological sister. Once he saw her, what should he say?

At the same time, he felt grateful—thank goodness he hadn’t picked a fight with her these past couple of days. Her impression of him should still be okay, right?

The longer he waited, the more anxious Shao Yuye became. He even started worrying about his appearance.

He ran over here; did his hair get messed up? Was his outfit okay? Would she dislike him?

He stood outside the door, overthinking like crazy, until it finally opened, revealing Shen Wanwan’s delicate face.

Shao Yuye’s gloomy eyes immediately lit up.

Shen Wanwan motioned for him to come in. “What are you doing? You’re noisy.”

Without another word, Shao Yuye grabbed her in a tight hug, spun her around in the air, and exclaimed excitedly:

“The test result is out!!!
“We’re real siblings!”

The little light orb 001 was also infected by his joy, trembling excitedly in midair.

{Really?!
{Wahaha, I’m so happy!}

Completely forgetting how confidently it had just declared earlier that they were siblings.

Shen Wanwan was speechless for a while, surrounded by these two overly emotional creatures.

But genuine joy seemed contagious, her lips couldn’t help but curl into a smile too.

After letting Shao Yuye vent all his excitement, she finally said calmly:

“Can you put me down now?”

Shao Yuye didn’t let go, sounding like a child:

“Nope.”

It had been sixteen full years since they were separated.

Sixteen years…

He had really, really missed her.

Shen Wanwan had no choice but to poke his shoulder:

“You’re hugging me too tight, I can barely breathe.”

Shao Yuye froze, then quickly loosened his arms.

“Sorry, sorry!”

Then, beaming, he stretched out his hand to her.

The small Ultraman bracelet on his wrist caught the light as it swayed, briefly dazzling Shen Wanwan’s eyes.

A sudden bad premonition rose in her heart…

Sure enough, he had already recited the line:

“Certain!”

Certain familiar childhood memories came flooding back—

—along with a force that felt like it could kill someone.

Shen Wanwan held her forehead helplessly.

“How old are you now?!”

“Hurry.” Shao Yuye urged her, “Say the code word! Get into the mood.”

Shen Wanwan didn’t move, continuing her complaint: “Did Shao Hongyuan abuse you so badly it broke your brain?”

Shao Yuye was clearly unfazed by her sarcasm.

He shook her arm, signaling for her to cooperate faster.

This scene, he had been fantasizing about it for so many years…

Since he was nine, all the way until now.

It had practically become an obsession.

“Hurry up, say it!”

Shen Wanwan clenched her jaw. Seeing the eager, almost desperate look in her brother’s eyes, she finally couldn’t bear to refuse. She reached out her hand and recited the line with him:

“Victory!”

Their arms crossed, forming an X.

According to the ‘setting’ her brother made up when they were kids, once they finished the chant, the spot where their arms crossed would shoot out a beam of deadly light.

—This light wave was incredibly powerful, because it combined both of their energies, and had even been ‘blessed by Ultraman,’ making it their unbeatable, original finishing move that could defeat any monster in one shot.

…She used to think her brother was the coolest person ever.

But seeing him do this now, she couldn’t help thinking his brain must have a screw loose.

A very big screw.

Shao Yuye solemnly made a *biu* sound, mimicking a lightsaber.

Then he patted her head comfortingly and said, “It’s okay now, we’ve scared all the monsters away!”

In that moment, he looked just like the childish little boy she remembered from long ago.

Shen Wanwan felt both exasperated and amused. She retorted, “I think you’re the one who looks more like a monster.”

Shao Yuye chuckled, scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

“I guess I am a bit silly, huh?”

He was already twenty-five, yet here he was doing something like this. If someone secretly took a photo and posted it online, his fans would die laughing!

But his heart felt so full it was almost overflowing with happiness.

001, the little light orb floating nearby, watched the scene unfold like a free show, laughing so hard it rolled through the air.

{Hahaha! Brother is so cute, so cute!
{You should spend more time with your Brother, so you won’t be so cold all the time…}

But the latter part of its comment got swallowed under Shen Wanwan’s death glare.

The little light orb’s survival instincts went into overdrive, and it hurried to flatter her : {What I meant is, you’re really cute too.}

Shen Wanwan snorted softly.

“That’s more like it.“

But almost immediately, she added, “Although I don’t think I’m cute at all.”

001 : {……}

A woman’s heart really is like a needle at the bottom of the ocean, impossible to read!

Just as Shen Wanwan was about to pull her arm back, Shao Yuye stopped her.

“Hold on.”

He moved quickly, pulling out his phone and snapping a photo of their crossed hands.

The little Ultraman keychain dangling between their wrists sparkled brightly under the light.

*Snap*—the moment was frozen perfectly.

His eyes shone even brighter than the keychain.

His voice carried a slight, choked joy:

“I…I’ve really…been waiting for this day for so, so long.”

—”If one day I could meet Ultraman, I wouldn’t want him to take me to fight monsters.
—I’d want to ask the almighty Ultraman to help me find my little sister.
—And when I saw her, the first thing I’d do is give her a big hug.
—Then I’d thank Ultraman together with her.“

This was an entry the little nine-year-old boy had once written in his diary.

The emotions buried for sixteen years surged up in that moment, filling Shao Yuye’s chest with bittersweet joy.

He rubbed his eyes. “I’m so glad…”

Before he could finish, Shen Wanwan stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug, completing his unspoken sentence.

“I’m so glad…you finally found me.
“And this time, we’ll never be apart again.”

---

In the room next door, Shen Wanwan was chatting with 001 while wearing a face mask.

{What do we do? Today the female lead tried to get close to your Brother, but he coldly shut her down.

{If he can’t even manage to be the second male lead, the light around him will fade even more, and then you’ll have no way to borrow any light from him.}

The little dumpling-like 001 tried to snuggle closer to her, attempting to let her absorb its glow.

But it was simply too small.

The faint light it gave off couldn’t drive away the darkness that enveloped Shen Wanwan.

Suddenly, 001 gasped like it had discovered a new continent : {Hey, wait! There’s a little bit of light on you now!}

On her pinky toe, there was the tiniest glow.

001 excitedly moved closer to examine it : {It’s true! It’s glowing!}

Shen Wanwan’s feet were very pale, her skin delicate and smooth.

She had just painted her toenails with a clove-pink polish on her day off, which made her toes look like flawless white jade.

And now, that little pinky toe emitted a faint glow.

001 muttered in confusion: {Is it because you’ve been spending more time with your Brother and absorbed some of his light?

{But can borrowed light be retained? This might be beyond my knowledge base…}

Shen Wanwan reclined leisurely on a chaise longue in her room and said flatly, “How much longer are you going to rub against my feet? Come here.”

001 reluctantly scooted over.

{It’s really amazing, though. And you’re not even looking at it.}

Shen Wanwan said, “Who’s the system here, you or me? If you don’t even know this stuff, you might as well get laid off.”

001 : {*Sob*!}

It swore it would never sleep through theory class again!

Shen Wanwan didn’t actually care about this ‘light’ stuff.

All the talk sounded mysterious, but the core message was really just one thing: she had to please Bai Ling.

But the more 001 brought it up, the less she felt like doing it.

Meanwhile, Xiao Le had been sending her message after message since early morning.

From the panicked morning message : [Wanwan! Shao Yuye’s fans are saying you bullied him, they’ve flooded our fan square!]

To the ecstatic afternoon update : [Wanwan! What a blessing in disguise! Our fan group trended for the first time ever, I’m crying!!]

[Shao Yuye’s influence is massive! Just piggybacking on it gets us airborne (not joking)]

[Hahaha, Wanwan, I really don’t think you need to quit the industry now. Public opinion is turning around fast!]

From Xiao Le’s descriptions, Shen Wanwan had basically reconstructed the entire chain of events.

At that moment, the trending hashtag #Sorry Shen Wanwan# was still holding a top spot.

And quite a few ‘Yu Yu’s were switching to support her.

[Who can relate? I just wanted to check out some clips of DJ, but ended up binge-watching Shen Wanwan’s web drama—it’s so addictive!!]

[Same here! Now I suddenly find her kinda charming… and the show’s surprisingly good…]

[Shen Wanwan is seriously gorgeous. If she’d tone down the drama, I’d totally stan her!]

The ‘Wan Feng’s took the opportunity to promote her:

[Don’t miss out, join ‘Wan Feng’ today. If you like Shen Wanwan, we’re already friends!]

[Wanwan’s really sweet. She even hosts giveaways sometimes, and the prizes are legit high-end stuff.]

[Stop promoting her, y’all! The fanbase is still small, so my chances of winning are high. If more people join, what am I gonna do? Cry!!!]

By now, Shen Wanwan’s fan count had grown from 30,000 to 100,000.

And it kept increasing by the second.

She skimmed the trending topics—first and second place were dominated by Qi Luozhou and Shao Yuye. Following that were #Zhang Yiran Acting Like A Dog# and #Su Tingxuan And Bai Ling On A Rom-Com#.

Interesting.

Shen Wanwan tapped into the hot search entry.

It was a clip of Su Tingxuan wiping Bai Ling’s face.

The two were extremely close, their gazes locked, emotions flickering between them, all set to a fittingly ambiguous background music. It did give off a romantic vibe.

Shen Wanwan exited the screen expressionlessly.

Then her phone screen lit up. Of course—the person she most didn’t want to see.

—It was a call from Su Tingxuan.

001 leaned in curiously : {What’s he calling you for?}

Shen Wanwan sneered, then asked sweetly, “Wanna watch a rich second-generation loser embarrass himself?”

001 : O_vO

{What do you mean?
{Don’t answer him! He was awful to you before, remember?}

Shen Wanwan answered the call.

Su Tingxuan’s voice on the other end sounded especially cautious.

“Wanwan?”

Shen Wanwan curved her lips into a mocking smile. “Mr. Su, I don’t think we’re close enough for first names.”

Su Tingxuan said, “Are you still mad at me?”

001 was shocked.

Wasn’t this guy being super aggressive before, practically breathing fire? And now he’s doing a total 180 like a Sichuan opera face-change¹?

Shen Wanwan didn’t even need to ask. She could guess it easily. Her Dad had just withdrawn his support from the Su family, and this second-generation good-for-nothing had immediately caved.

The only thing he had going for him was flexibility. Back when he was trying to win over her Mom, he showed up constantly with new excuses, helped her plant vegetables, and even tilled the soil himself. He earned Shen Mingzhen’s favor, which made her consider him a decent match for her daughter. If it had been based solely on a childhood arranged engagement between the families, it wouldn’t have been nearly enough to make the Shen family like him that much.

“The reason I answered your call is to tell you, there’s no need to call me again in the future.” Shen Wanwan’s tone was calm as she dropped a bombshell: “I already have a new fiancé.”

Su Tingxuan’s eyes widened in shock.

—So fast?!

He almost blurted out, “Who is it?!”

But Shen Wanwan didn’t respond.

She swiftly hung up the phone.

Su Tingxuan stared at his phone, now emitting a busy tone. His heart was a complicated mess of emotions—bitterness, regret, and something sour.

Shen Wanwan already found a new fiancé this quickly?!

No way!

She must be saying that just to get back at him!

Su Tingxuan, who used to be so arrogant, was now humbled by Shen Wanwan—and getting completely shut down. 001 was thrilled.

{Oh my god, this is the first time I’ve seen a reversal like this!}

It was absolutely stunning, exhilarating, and downright delightful!

Shen Wanwan paused for a moment, then asked 001 sincerely: “Are you sure the hosts you’ve guided before really managed to change their fate?”

001 : {Uh…}

From a system completion perspective, yes, they had completed the tasks.

But none of them had been this satisfying.

001 felt like it might be getting brainwashed by Shen Wanwan too.

Like…

They’re all rich young ladies, why should they have to please the female lead?

If…

If no one caters to the female lead anymore, if no one follows the original plot… then is she still the female lead?

001 was startled by its own rebellious thought.

It clutched its little glowing head in distress:

{I’m doomed. I think I’ve been assimilated by you!!!}

So painful.

How was it supposed to guide any future hosts now?!

Shen Wanwan looked at the helpless little ball of light and raised the corners of her mouth.

Didn’t Su Tingxuan want to prove how kind and beautiful Bai Ling was?

They say true feelings are revealed in hardship. She was ready to watch and see.

As night slowly deepened…

Shao Yuye was lounging on the couch, holding his phone and reading the audition script. No doubt about it, <Last Shot> was definitely a great script.

But at the same time, the male lead role in <Last Shot> was extremely demanding in terms of acting skill.

Shao Yuye was completely absorbed when Brother Li’s call came in again.

The script had been sent via email, so after answering the call, he minimized the call screen to the background and kept his eyes glued to the script.

“What is it?”

Brother Li : “I forgot to tell you earlier, the test results are out.”

Today had been one wave of chaos after another, especially with the ‘Yu Yu’s causing an uproar this morning. Brother Li had his hands full watching the livestream all day. He’d reminded himself several times, but still forgot to mention it.

Shao Yuye’s mind was still immersed in the scenes of the script and didn’t immediately register what was said.

After a few seconds of mental lag, he repeated the words silently in his head.

—The test results are out!

What test results?!

The paternity test results!!!!!!

Already?!

The next second, he sprang up from the couch—

“You f*ing only tell me this now?!”

---

1. In Sichuan Opera, face-changing or biàn liǎn, is a dramatic art form where performers rapidly change masks to convey emotions, often accompanied by fire spitting. ↩︎

---

The show <Extreme Challenge> already had a large audience, and with that massive wave of buzz this morning, the ratings took yet another leap upward.

Shao Yuye’s impressive performance during the obstacle challenge also caught the attention of renowned director Zhang Zhifeng.

Especially the moment when Shao Yuye leaped over the giant pendulum in one big stride.

That kind of boldness and athleticism—combined with his almost unfairly handsome face—

He was exactly the kind of lead Zhang had in mind for his new work <Last Shot¹>.

So when Brother Li received an inquiry from Zhang Zhifeng’s team expressing interest in a collaboration, he was completely stunned.

Shao Yuye has been in the industry for seven years, always focused on the stage. He’d considered branching out into drama, but as a top idol, he never entertained the idea of acting in romance series. As for other genres, both directors and investors had only ever offered him shallow ‘eye-candy’ supporting roles.

And Shao Yuye is someone with both pride and ambition. If the market didn’t want him, he wouldn’t force it. He just focused on perfecting his performances.

“Sorry, just to confirm, you said the role is… the male lead?”

A top-tier director! Big-budget production! Main male lead!

Hell, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a pie falling from the sky!

“Yes,” the voice said. “I’ve already sent the audition script to your email…”

Brother Li didn’t even hear the rest.

He just stared, dumbfounded, at the live broadcast feed, where Shao Yuye was being casually flattered by Shen Wanwan and was practically floating from the praise…

Thinking: Dude, what the hell are you doing at a time like this, still fooling around while talking gibberish nonsense?!
—You don’t even know who just called me!
—Damn it,just saying his name would scare you half to death!

---

Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan came in first place on the first day at this area.

In second place were Zhang Yiran and Jin Xiaoyu, who’d painfully lost 200 tokens.

Qi Luozhou and Jiang Yuan remained steady and calm in third place.

Li Yan and Jiang Qianfan placed fourth. Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan were last and, understandably, had to accept punishment.

That evening, the production team didn’t pull any more pranks on the guests.

Considering everyone had been through a long day, the team treated them to a lavish spread of local Zhucheng cuisine.

After all, this was a high-intensity challenge show. If the guests weren’t well-fed, they’d probably all collapse within a few days.

After dinner, just before the group dispersed, Bai Ling brought Shao Yuye a small jar of cooling muscle balm.

Shao Yuye blinked. “Why are you giving me this?”

Bai Ling smiled gently. “I thought you might need it…”

“No thanks.” Shao Yuye rejected it without even thinking.

He knew she meant well, but why did it still feel like she was mocking him?

Clicking his tongue, he asked her, “Do I look that frail to you or something?”

“Eh?”

Bai Ling didn’t understand where that was coming from.

“No?” she said.

Shao Yuye grumbled, “Then why are you giving me this?”

His voice wasn’t quiet, and instantly drew the attention of everyone in the room.

Bai Ling choked on her words, her cheeks reddening.

“I… I just saw you carrying Shen Wanwan up the mountain this morning. I thought your arms might be sore by now…”

The livestream chat was full of people saying [Brother Ye is hopeless.]

[Bai Ling is trying to take care of you, and you can’t even tell!]

[Brother Ye, seriously, why are you yelling like that!!!]

[Bai Ling: I’m done with you, you insufferable brat. Break your arms for all I care next time!]

Only then did Shen Wanwan glance their way.

Shao Yuye casually said, “Oh. She’s not heavy.”

[Awwww that’s such a sweet thing to say!]

[To be fair, Shen Wanwan does look light. Maybe Brother Ye was just stating a fact?]

[It is a fact. What, were you expecting him to sugarcoat it or something?!]

Then, this brutally blunt guy proudly added:

“I could carry ten more.”

The comment section:

[ … ]
You know what, never mind.

Even though there was obviously a lot of bragging in that sentence, Shen Wanwan didn’t believe a word of it. But since he was her biological Brother, she gave him a very appreciative look anyway.

Shao Yuye caught her eye signal and was instantly pleased.

His self-esteem was immensely satisfied.

“Alright then.”

Bai Ling choked on her words for a while. Seeing how boring he was—flirting with Shen Wanwan instead—she decided to leave.

She had just turned around when Shao Yuye called out behind her, “Hey.”

“What is it?” she asked, turning back with hope in her eyes.

Shao Yuye handed the ointment from the table back to her. “Your ointment.”

The livestream comment section exploded with laughter:

[Help, there’s a reason Brother Ye is still single.]

[Who else gets this joy of being a Shao Yuye fan? Other celebs might have scandals, but only Brother Ye, he just doesn’t deserve a girlfriend hahahahahaha!!!]

And so the day’s livestream ended in a chorus of laughter.

Shao Yuye returned to his room completely satisfied.

Starting from this round, the production team had arranged for each guest to have their own room so everyone could get proper rest.

He happily took a shower, and while blow-drying his hair and admiring his muscles in the mirror, Brother Li’s phone call came in at just the right moment.

Shao Yuye casually hit the answer button.

Brother Li heard the whirring of the hairdryer. “Blow-drying your hair?”

“Yeah.” Shao Yuye ran a hand through his damp hair. “What’s up?”

Brother Li said, “There are a few main things I wanted to talk to you about today.”

As the two chatted, Shao Yuye finally realized just how much had happened over the course of the day.

First off, the ‘Yu Yu’s had misunderstood and thought he was being bullied by Shen Wanwan in the workplace—

“That’s ridiculous!”

Shao Yuye was speechless. How could his fans think that?!

He—Shao Yuye—might bow to his sister, but never to money or power, okay!

He’d been in the industry for seven years already, and had been through a lot. Didn’t his fans trust him even this much?!

He was a bit annoyed and immediately went on Weibo. Under the trending topic #Shen Wanwan Uses Capital To Force Shao Yuye#, he posted:

[You guys actually think I’m being bullied? I’ve been in this business all these years for nothing, huh! (photo.jpg)]

Attached was a cold-looking photo taken from a terrible angle, showing a displeased expression.

The ‘Yu Yu’s who had just left the livestream came rushing back to comment:

[I’m begging you, Brother Ye, please just use your face properly, okay!]

[Wuwuwu, Brother Ye, we’re sorry! It’s just Shen Wanwan’s whole rich-girl branding made it seem logical at the time…]

[Don’t be mad, Brother Ye! It was all a misunderstanding. We ‘Yu Yu’s are polite and respectful fans!]

Shao Yuye was quite pleased reading the comments, scrolling through all the praise while listening to Brother Li’s updates. His hands didn’t stop either, he posted another post with just one tsundere word:

[Hmph.]

Only after all that did he hear the rest of what Brother Li was saying.

“But she already deleted the family photo.”

Shao Yuye paused.

He put down his phone and said seriously, “What did you just say? Say that again, fully.”

Brother Li raised his voice a bit: “I said—your stepsister posted a family photo on Little Red Book, saying she didn’t do well on her exams, but it’s okay because her Brother is Shao Yuye.”

Shao Yuye was utterly speechless. He said coldly:

“Those two women really have no shame.”

“But for now she’s already deleted the family photo. The fans just think it’s a meme and haven’t picked up on anything serious yet. My suggestion is that you prepare early and try to coordinate things with that side…”

Shao Yuye grew irritated and didn’t want to hear anything else about Xu Qingxin and her daughter. He interrupted with a frown:

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

Brother Li smoothly changed the subject:

“Do you know Zhang Zhifeng?”

“Hm? The famous action film director?”

Shao Yuye casually stepped out of the bathroom, grabbed an apple and fruit knife from the coffee table, leaned lazily on the sofa, and began peeling the apple leisurely.

“Yes, that’s him!”

“Today, someone from his team contacted me. They want to invite you to audition for his new work <Last Shot> and it’s for the male lead!”

Brother Li was clearly excited.

Even though it was just an audition and not a final decision, at least the door to acting wasn’t closed to Shao Yuye anymore. It had quietly opened a crack.

Having been Shao Yuye’s agent for so long, he knew Shao Yuye’s skills and abilities didn’t need to be questioned. As long as he got a good script, he could take off on the spot.

Who knows, maybe Shao Yuye could use this project to successfully transition and finally shed the label of ‘the weakest top star.’

Apple peels fell bit by bit into the trash can.

Shao Yuye let out a “yo” and said, “This director has pretty good taste.”

Brother Li was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the call: “…When are you going to fix that narcissistic habit of yours?

“This is a golden opportunity! You’d better make me proud! I want you to see the script tonight. And from now on, spend more time improving your acting skills whenever you’re free, we’re aiming to land this role!”

The apple was already peeled.

Shao Yuye took a bite. It was crisp and delicious.

He replied lazily, “Mm. Got it.”

---

1. 绝杀 (juéshā). 绝 (jué) means “absolute,” “ultimate,” or “decisive.” 杀 (shā) means “to kill” or “to defeat.” It is a term that refers to a win at the final moment that leaves no room for the opponent to respond (though it is mostly used in competitions, like to refer to the buzzer beater in basketball game). ↩︎

---

After Jin Xiaoyu finished speaking to Shen Wanwan, she called out to Zhang Yiran down below :

“Zhang Yiran, hurry up! Losing to Brother Ye isn’t a big deal, but come on, you’re supposed to be an athlete! Don’t blame me for mocking you if you lose—”

Zhang Yiran : “???”

He turned to Shao Yuye and asked, “What kind of spell did Shen Wanwan cast on little Jin Xiaoyu? We haven’t even started yet, and she’s already putting me in a coffin?”

Shao Yuye sneered, “Feeling challenged?”

Zhang Yiran’s fighting spirit was ignited. “Let’s do it. Let our skills speak for themselves!”

With male pride and 200 Speed Tokens on the line, the two of them rubbed their hands and headed for the competition arena.

Up on the platform, Jin Xiaoyu couldn’t help asking Shen Wanwan:

“You’re not even cheering for him, aren’t you worried people might have something to say?”

Shen Wanwan picked a cherry from the tower of desserts and replied leisurely :

“One cheer from me is going to change whether he wins or loses?”

Jin Xiaoyu : “……”

Fair point.

She couldn’t help but ask again, “Aren’t you worried that when the footage gets edited, it’ll look really bad?”

Your teammates are out there fighting hard, and the two of you are just relaxing and enjoying yourselves.

Aren’t people going to criticize you for that…?

Shen Wanwan clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed by the nagging.

“Why don’t you go stand guard?”

Jin Xiaoyu : “……” To be honest, I really don’t want to.

Standing around doing nothing looks so dumb!

And she has to put on an anxious expression, acting all exaggerated—otherwise she just looks cold.

She said eagerly, “I think staying here is better… thanks, Wanwan.”

Shen Wanwan gave a dismissive smile and gestured for her to enjoy the desserts together.

As Jin Xiaoyu savored the sweet and rich macarons with squinted eyes, she screamed silently in her heart:

—Eeeek! Shen Wanwan is the best!

And to think, she had actually badmouthed Shen Wanwan in her heart earlier.

—I’m horrible!!!

Meanwhile, the battle between Shao Yuye and Zhang Yiran was heating up.

To save time, the two decided to run the course at the same time.

But that brought a risk. The last section involved rolling drums. If they were too close together, the person behind could easily fail the task if the drums shifted unexpectedly.

“You guys could take turns. One runs while we time it, then the other. We’ll just compare times afterward.”

The production team offered a reasonable alternative.

But Zhang Yiran clearly didn’t find that exciting enough.

This is competitive sports—gotta feel the wind together.

“How about we still go together?”

He looked at Shao Yuye with confidence. “If anyone falls behind at that part, there’s not much chance of a comeback anyway.”

Shao Yuye was also the daring type, and immediately agreed with a loud “Let’s go!”

The livestream comment section was filled with anxious viewers:

[What the heck? Why am I so nervous watching this?]

[Aaaaah! It feels like I accidentally tuned into a sports competition channel!]

[Final bets, people! Type 1 if you bet on Brother Ye, 2 if you bet on Zhang Yiran!!]

The screen filled with 1111s and 2222s as the two men finished warming up and stood at the starting line.

*Fweeeet—*

With the director’s whistle, they shot off like arrows from a bow.

The first obstacle was a simple balance beam, just a straight dash across. At the end of the beam, though, were four massive rotating hammers. If you got hit, you’d likely get thrown off.

Shao Yuye sprinted like a blur, reaching the second obstacle neck and neck with Zhang Yiran.

While Zhang Yiran cautiously dodged the giant hammers, Shao Yuye raised a leg and leapt straight over the hammer’s arc, gaining the lead in one daring move.

Zhang Yiran landed just behind him, screaming internally.

—Holy crap, is this guy not worried about his lower body at all?!

One misstep and Shao Yuye would be kissing his future kids goodbye.

—This bro is absolutely nuts!!!

At that moment, Shao Yuye had already reached the third stage—the parallel bars. Without slowing down, he used his momentum to vault right into the center of the bars.

His arms were lean and muscular, and when his shirt lifted, his defined abs were on full display. Fans watching the stream went wild.

But Zhang Yiran wasn’t going down easy. Though he had a slightly slower start, he stayed focused and chased hard. On the bars, he looked like a long-armed monkey, catching up to Shao Yuye in just a few swift moves.

Now they reached the most dangerous part—the rolling drums that the director had worried about from the start.

Shao Yuye, uncharacteristically, paused.

Zhang Yiran thought: Oh ho! My chance!

He immediately dashed forward, but just as he reached the far end, he stumbled.

Trying to steady himself, he didn’t notice a fist-shaped mechanism coming down hard, pushing him off balance.

Zhang Yiran: “……”

As he flew through the air, he managed an awkward yet polite smile.

Then his limbs lost strength, and he fell completely onto the foam mat below.

The production team had laid out thick foam mats underneath. The mats were hollow in design and had excellent rebound to prevent the guests from getting injured if they fell.

Such a dramatic reversal in just over ten seconds stunned the audience in the live chat, but soon the screen was flooded with:

[HAHAHAHA]

The reason? Nothing else, Zhang Yiran’s expression before he fell was just too hilarious!!!

“Damn it, I slipped! I didn’t even notice there was another trap up there!”

Zhang Yiran raised his head from the foam and beat his chest in frustration.

But…

They had agreed to compare their full course times.

Which meant, as long as Shao Yuye fell down quickly, they would still have a chance to rematch!

Zhang Yiran quickly mocked, “Hey, don’t you dare fall now. If we rematch and I win, it’d make me look bad!”

Shao Yuye hadn’t expected Zhang Yiran to fall so soon, and was quite surprised.

But upon hearing those words, he coldly smirked and stepped onto the rolling barrel.

With his arms crossed over his chest, he walked leisurely and unhurriedly across the barrel.

“Like this?”

The live chat exploded with 666666!

[Ahhh Brother Ye is awesome! Kill me, Brother Ye!]

[Hahaha why don’t you hurry up and move forward?! What are you showing off for, I’m so nervous!!!]

[Seriously, Cocky Brother Ye strikes again hahaha!]

Zhang Yiran, eager for Shao Yuye to get cocky and fall, kept provoking him:

“If you’ve got guts, walk on that for a whole minute!
“Can’t even last a minute and you call yourself a real man!”

[Hahaha seriously, Zhang Yiran your scheme is so obvious I can hear it all the way from Shanghai!]

[Damn it, Brother Ye, don’t fall for it!!]

But Shao Yuye didn’t fall for it. He slowly moved onto another barrel.

The kind of rolling barrel most people can’t even stand on—he walked on it like it was solid ground.

Zhang Yiran : “…”

Damn it!

Shao Yuye actually pulled it off!

With his rival eliminated, Shao Yuye didn’t find the later challenges all that exciting.

When he finally won the round and received the key to free his partner, he even muttered discontentedly : “That’s it?”

Zhang Yiran : “…”

—Damn you!

As Shao Yuye walked up the platform with the key, Shen Wanwan had just about finished eating.

He handed the key to the staff, tossed his head coolly, and said:

“Let’s go!”

Shen Wanwan lazily replied and recited the post-rescue line with zero sincerity:

“Good thing you were here. I would’ve suffered all alone otherwise.”

Live chat : [……]

Too much!

What kind of suffering was that?

Suffering from eating snacks and enjoying the view??

Shen Wanwan placed a hand on Shao Yuye’s wrist and stepped down.

Shao Yuye steadily supported her, making sure every step she took was stable.

Jin Xiaoyu watched their departing figures and nearly died of envy.

Shen Wanwan was literally just eating, drinking, and having fun in this obstacle course show.

Seriously enviable!!

---

As Shen Wanwan stepped off the platform, she happened to pass by Zhang Yiran, who was mentally crushed.

Losing 200 tokens had made the usually optimistic guy a little agitated. And just as she passed by, Shen Wanwan gave him a satisfied nod :

“Thanks for the treat.”

She had thoroughly enjoyed this afternoon snack.

And the view too, of course.

Zhang Yiran : “…”

Damn it.

All the glory and the money went to Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye.

All the sorrow and poverty? Him and Jin Xiaoyu.

Muttering under his breath, “Shen Wanwan is poison,” he sulkily ran back to the starting point.

The live chat was full of laughter:

[I’m done. Shen Wanwan is a master of mockery!]

[Zhang Yiran: If I ever bet with Shen Wanwan again, I’m a dog!]

[Hahahahaha I’m dying, I’m dying! Please tie these two teams together forever!]

Shao Yuye couldn’t help asking her, “How did you know I’d win?”

He seemed a little worked up.

There was a kind of joy welling up inside him, hard to put into words.

Shen Wanwan sensed the intensity of his gaze and was silent for two seconds.

001 helpfully reminded her : {Your brother wants you to praise him~ Go on, compliment him~}

Facing Shao Yuye’s hopeful eyes, she calmly replied, “I didn’t know.”

001 popped a big 💢 symbol over its head.

—{Host, you really are a steel straight girl!}

But Shao Yuye still looked super excited.

{!!!}

She didn’t know and still dared to bet on him? Did that mean she had that much faith in him?!

He took two deep breaths to calm down. His smile stretched high across his face, and even his footsteps became lighter.

001 was totally confused : {What’s going on? Why does your brother seem so pleased?}

Shen Wanwan chuckled softly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

She might not trust Shao Yuye’s ability completely—

But she fully trusted Shao Yuye’s passive skill.

His competitiveness isn’t just for show.

---

When Brother Li saw that trending topic, his poor little heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

—No way, right?

Could it be that someone from the hospital leaked the information, that Ah Ye and Shen Wanwan went for a paternity test, and it got exposed?

In that instant, a dozen PR plans flashed through his mind.

It wasn’t until he clicked into the trending topic that he realized that it was just a blogger named Jiajia who had posted a family photo, with the caption:

[My exam results weren’t great, but my Brother is Shao Yuye! That’ll show them! (photo.jpg)]

Cold sweat started pouring down his forehead.

This was bad!

Could this be the stepsister Ah Ye had mentioned before?

Even though the photo had cartoon avatars covering the faces and Shao Yuye’s face was pixelated, anyone who knew him could tell that it was him. Why? Because that distinctive custom Ultraman bracelet on his wrist was just too recognizable!

Originally, the internet had just gone through a wave of public opinion reversal, and topics about Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan were still all over Weibo, highly exposed. If a ‘Little Sister’ were to hit the trending topics at a time like this, it would’ve been icing on the cake.

The problem was…

This ‘Little Sister’ was a half-sister, and Shao Yuye didn’t acknowledge her!

Brother Li kept scrolling down the trending topic.

But unexpectedly…

The fans all seemed to think it was Photoshopped.

The only reason this hashtag had climbed the ranks was because everyone was running with the joke!

[Even though my boss yelled at me at work, my Brother is Shao Yuye! That’ll show them! (photo.jpg)]

[Even though my bestie stole my boyfriend, my husband is Shao Yuye! That’ll show them! (photo.jpg)]

Brother Li : ????

His brain was stuck in PR mode, but why was everyone reacting in such a different way than he expected?

He clicked on a few photos. And honestly? They were all Photoshopped pretty convincingly.

He returned to Jiajia’s homepage. After taking a screenshot, just as he was zooming in to take a closer look, the app suddenly notified him:

—Jiajia had deleted the post.

Even better.

Brother Li did his best to steer the public conversation in that direction.

Once everything was handled, he fell silent again. Looks like in the next few days, he’d have to do some planning—talk to the media, check in with Shao Yuye’s side. If anything really did get exposed, he needed to be ready.

That afternoon, Shen Wanwan’s team was still neck-and-neck with Zhang Yiran’s team in terms of progress.

The cable car brought the four of them to the third stage, where they were greeted by a series of climbing and workout apparatuses.

This place used to be a fitness training camp. After the camp shut down, the equipment remained and became a commonly used training site for local youth sports programs.

There is an ancient story in Mount Zhu. A goddess was trapped in the Temple of Heaven and needed to be rescued by the Five Directions. The Five Directions were originally at odds, but they finally worked together to save the goddess and resolve their differences.

The show had turned this legend into a challenge.

One person would play the role of the ‘divine maiden,’ placed by the show at a 10-meter-high platform;

One person would play the ‘rescuer,’ who must pass through five small obstacle zones symbolizing metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—without a single mistake.

If they failed, the rescuer would return to the starting point and begin again.

The setup was a bit like the show <Takeshi’s Castle¹>.

Zhang Yiran pulled Shao Yuye over and raised his brows confidently.

“How about it? Want to have a race?”

At the mention of a challenge, Shao Yuye perked up.

“How do we race?”

Zhang Yiran snapped his fingers with flair.

“Speed, of course.”

“Loser gives the winner 100 Speed Tokens. Deal?”

He’d gotten inspired by Shen Wanwan during lunch, and suddenly saw a ‘business opportunity.’

Who knew when the show would hand out money again?

If they wanted to build up your fortune fast, the quickest way was to win it off their fellow contestants!

Just look at Li Yan, who was willing to fork over 100 Speed Tokens just for a meal. Keep in mind, the maximum prize they could win from the spin was only 20 tokens!

Shao Yuye agreed instantly, slapping hands with Zhang Yiran : “Deal!”

[Brother Ye is too easy to bait. Use a win-or-lose bet, and he falls for it every time!]

[Zhang Yiran, you’re seriously underestimating our Brother Ye, hahaha!]

But since this was a two-person team, Shao Yuye still turned to Shen Wanwan to ask for her opinion.

“Want to give it a shot?”

Shen Wanwan raised an elegant brow. “Sure.”

“But 100 Speed Tokens is too little. Make it 200.”

Shao Yuye hadn’t expected her to throw out such a big number, and froze for a second.

Did she really believe that strongly in his ability to win?

Zhang Yiran was also completely dumbfounded: “This… this is getting serious?”

[LOL, Zhang Yiran: Why did Shen Wanwan suddenly go all-in with a Super Double?!]

[Just stop betting already! If you lose, that’s 200 Speed Tokens, you could skip levels with that!]

Shen Wanwan raised an eyebrow, lips curling into a mocking smile:

“Scared?”

“Of course not!”

Zhang Yiran glanced at Jin Xiaoyu. “Let’s bet then? If I lose, I’ll be your dog!”

Jin Xiaoyu : “……”

So, so exhausted.

First Bai Ling set a pitfall by giving Shen Wanwan the hot spring item card.

Now her pig teammate Zhang Yiran insisted on betting 200 Speed Tokens with Shen Wanwan.

Why did she have such a bad feeling about this?!

Seeing that Jin Xiaoyu didn’t object too strongly, Zhang Yiran turned to Shen Wanwan and raised his voice several notches:

“Deal!”

Since both men were so eager to compete, Shen Wanwan and Jin Xiaoyu naturally became the ‘goddesses awaiting rescue.’

Once they stood on the 10-meter-high platform, they had a full view of the entire area—

And could also enjoy the sight of Shao Yuye and Zhang Yiran rushing toward them.

The surroundings were empty. Besides the tall platform, there was absolutely nothing else.

Shen Wanwan began to cue the production team to bring out the ‘Shop Catalog.’

“Can I keep using the items I buy?”

Director: “As long as they’re not one-time-use items, like clothing and such, yes—you can keep using them.”

Shen Wanwan asked again, “Can the crew store them for me?”

Director : “Yes.”

He said it and immediately felt something was off.

But it was already too late. Shen Wanwan flipped through the catalog, her slender finger lightly tapping along the images.

“I want a sofa. And an afternoon tea platter.”

Director : “……”

She really does know how to enjoy herself, huh?

Jin Xiaoyu stood by watching Shen Wanwan spend money, and her heart nearly jumped out of her chest.

Sofa : 80 tokens. Afternoon tea : 30 tokens. That’s 110 Speed Coins in total!

110 tokens could was more than half the tokens needed to skip a level! And Shen Wanwan didn’t even blink while spending them.

Was she here for a competition or to throw a tea party?

The comment feed was full of sympathetic howls—

[Watching Shen Wanwan spend money like this is actually painful!]

[Seriously, this is ridiculous. She’s burning through Speed Tokens like crazy. I’m nervous just watching, what if she crashes and burns?]

[But she looks so comfy and relaxed right now…]

[Of course she’s comfy! She spent 110 Speed Tokens for that!]

Soon, the staff delivered the sofa and afternoon tea set that Shen Wanwan had requested to the top of the platform.

On-screen, Shen Wanwan lounged peacefully on the sofa, a beautiful three-tiered tea stand at her side with macarons, cakes, and fruit tarts, and a steaming cup of fragrant black tea.

Jin Xiaoyu stood awkwardly beside her, practically reduced to a background prop.

When the director switched to a wide-angle shot, Jin Xiaoyu looked even more like her assistant.

Shen Wanwan was just too distinctive—so distinctive, it was kind of charming.

[Damn it, I was trashing her this morning, and now I think I might be becoming a fan? What’s happening??]

[How does the saying go? Early spenders enjoy early! The contrast between Shen Wanwan and Jin Xiaoyu is way too stark.]

It was Zhang Yiran’s first time seeing a move like that.

At first he was stunned, then he laughed out loud, and when he finally turned his eyes back, he bumped Shao Yuye with a grin:

“Hey, your partner’s a bit of a big spender, huh?”

Shao Yuye didn’t care about the money.

He can always make more.

What he cared about now was winning or losing. He was warming up in preparation for his showdown with Zhang Yiran.

This had the comment section cracking up again:

[Brother Ye : Don’t talk to me!]

[Brother Ye : No woman in my heart, my blade strikes true!]

Up on the platform, Jin Xiaoyu started realizing… she really did look like Shen Wanwan’s personal assistant right now. She awkwardly scooted a few steps forward.

Internally she muttered—seriously, she’d never seen a woman like Shen Wanwan. What did Shao Yuye even see in her to always team up with her? If you asked her, Shen Wanwan had nothing going for her besides her looks. Was Shao Yuye just into her looks? That didn’t seem right… he wasn’t that shallow, was he?

As her inner complaints kept going, she occasionally sneaked a glance at Shen Wanwan, only to unexpectedly meet Shen Wanwan’s cool, emotionless gaze.

Their eyes locked.

Jin Xiaoyu’s ears immediately turned red.

Damn it, she was too thin-skinned! She hadn’t even said anything out loud, why did just meeting Shen Wanwan’s gaze make her feel so guilty?!

Shen Wanwan, of course, didn’t care what Jin Xiaoyu was thinking.

She simply said calmly, “Come sit.”

Jin Xiaoyu : !!!!!!!!

Wait, seriously?!

Okay, to be fair, there was plenty of room on that sofa.

Adding one more person… yeah, it’d still be roomy.

But still…

Ugh!!

On one hand, she could keep standing in the cold wind…

On the other, she could sit on a warm, comfy sofa…

Even an idiot would know what to choose!!!

“Okay, okay!”

She happily plopped down next to Shen Wanwan. “Thanks, Wanwan! You’re actually really nice!”

---

1. <Takeshi’s Castle> is a Japanese game show where contestants attempt to complete a series of physical challenges to reach and storm a castle. The show’s appeal lies in the hilarious failures of contestants as they navigate through ridiculous and often absurd obstacles. ↩︎

---

Although Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan didn’t know about the production team’s intentional setup, the viewers—who had been watching the whole time—understood it perfectly.

Very quickly, the hashtag #Shao Yuye Lie Detector Clarification# shot to the top of the trending list, and the production team gained a huge wave of new fans thanks to their performance.

[I’m in love! I wasn’t planning to watch this show, but this real-time clarification was absolutely amazing!]

[I love how this production doesn’t follow a script—it’s raw and authentic!]

[No script?? I’m obsessed! I don’t have to worry about my bias getting forced into a fake persona anymore. I stan this director, I’ll definitely watch everything this team makes from now on!!]

The ‘Yu Yu’s started feeling a bit sheepish.

[Ahem, sorry for accidentally hurting the pretty lady!]

[Now that we know Brother Ye isn’t being manipulated by capital, I can finally enjoy the show in peace! Honestly, he and Shen Wanwan are such a great match. She’s brainy, he’s strong, love it! ]

[Apologies to Shen Wanwan—everyone got misled this morning. Sigh, what a mess!]

But the ‘Wan Feng’s weren’t letting it go so easily :

[If “sorry” fixed everything, what do we need the police for?]

[You attacked us on our fan community this afternoon and personally insulted Wanwan, what do you have to say for yourselves?!]

Most of the ‘Yu Yu’s stayed reasonable and focused on the facts.

But of course, a small portion acted out irrationally.

Still, now that the truth had come out, the ‘Yu Yu’s showed great sincerity.

Not only did they push the hashtag #Sorry Shen Wanwan# to the top of the trending list, but they also boosted the low-budget web drama Shen Wanwan starred in to #1 on the day’s most-watched chart.

The ‘Wan Feng’s : [……]

This…

This is the power of top-tier fandom?

Impressive.

Since the ‘Yu Yu’s had shown such goodwill, the ‘Wan Feng’s didn’t push things further either.

But there were still some stubborn folks refusing to back down:

[This feels like a setup within a setup. That clarification came way too fast. It’s like the show is helping them cover it up. Same as before, I’m convinced Shao Yuye is being coerced by capital. Mark my words!]

This time, the ‘Yu Yu’s didn’t even pay attention to them.

Shut up already! You’re clearly just making baseless assumptions and stirring the pot. Fake fan!

In the meantime, Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan earned a double luxury meal reward.

Most of the other pairs only got one serving each. Only Li Yan and Jiang Qianfan ended up with just plain rice and seaweed egg drop soup, the bare minimum.

When the production staff brought out the delicious gourmet meals for the others, Li Yan was practically drooling.

Just then, seeing that Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan had an extra portion, he thickened his skin and approached them, speaking with a sincere, almost pitiful tone:

“You guys can’t finish two servings anyway. How about sharing one with us?”

It was true, two portions were a bit too much.

Shen Wanwan was just about to agree when Jiang Qianfan’s cold voice suddenly cut in:

“Can you grow a spine? I’d rather starve to death than accept other people’s charity.”

—Especially not Shen Wanwan’s food.

Shen Wanwan raised an eyebrow, then rested her hand on Shao Yuye’s arm to stop him from enthusiastically handing over the extra meal. She gave a light laugh:

“Sure. We were going to give it to you. But since you see it as charity, how about putting a price on it instead?

“One hundred tokens per serving.

“Fair trade makes it equal.”

Li Yan and Jiang Qianfan’s fans couldn’t stay silent:

[Wait what? Why is Shen Wanwan like this??]

[But Brother Ye was clearly about to give it to them just now!]

[Shen Wanwan is so heartless… she doesn’t even need the food, it’s going to waste, why not just give it to Li Yan and Jiang Qianfan?]

But the ‘Wan Feng’s shut down the complaints :

[Wanwan was going to give it, okay? It was Jiang Qianfan who said she’d rather starve than accept anyone’s charity!]

[Right, Wanwan just changed the form of giving it.]

Jiang Qianfan choked on her words, “You!!!”

She thought—Shen Wanwan’s trying to make me pay again!

Li Yan’s smile froze on his face.

He turned to Shen Wanwan, trying to butter her up: “Come on, we’re all friends here… helping each other out and all…”

Shen Wanwan said coolly, “No can do. Now, giving it to you would be charity.”

Li Yan : “……”

Jiang Qianfan immediately declared, “Fine! I won’t buy it, ever!”

But just as she said that, a breeze blew by, carrying the mouth-watering aroma of the food to her nose. Her stomach, painfully empty, rumbled loudly in response.

And it was pretty loud.

“……”

Jiang Qianfan’s face turned bright red on the spot.

Li Yan looked utterly desperate from hunger.

After a full morning of mountain hiking and exhausting challenges, his body was crying out for warm, delicious food.

His former partner Zhang Yiran picked up a piece of juicy braised pork and teased:

“Hey, son, call me dad and I’ll share half with you.”

Li Yan : “Pfft! You little mutt, you should be calling me dad!”

The comments section exploded with laughter.

Li Yan gritted his teeth. At this point, there was no turning back.. He had to eat that bowl of braised pork today!

“Fine. A hundred tokens it is.”

Jiang Qianfan wanted to stop him, but seeing the table full of mouthwatering dishes, she couldn’t resist his cravings and ultimately decided to keep quiet, letting Li Yan handle it.

Shen Wanwan took the Speed Tokens and finally revealed a sweet smile.

Li Yan was momentarily dazzled by her smile.

She was so beautiful—and so unique.

Selling a single meal to them for a hundred tokens, how did she even come up with that?

Suddenly, he had a very strong hunch—

Teaming up with Shen Wanwan wouldn’t be a burden. On the contrary, she might just carve out a path of her own.

She wasn’t the type to follow the rules or stick to the script!

Damn!

No wonder Shao Yuye said he wouldn’t team up with her, but when it came time to pick a partner, he still chose her!

Shen Wanwan didn’t carry a bag, and Shao Yuye was the one carrying all their supplies.

She handed the hundred tokens over to Shao Yuye.

He took the money, trying to hold back, but in the end couldn’t stop a soft laugh from slipping out.

She really was a little money-grubber.

Since everyone had now received their luxurious meal, the guests officially began eating.

The director switched the camera to a wide shot, and on everyone’s screens flashed a brief image of Qi Luozhou’s faint smile.

After a whole morning of exhaustion, Shao Yuye was wolfing down his food. Viewers watching the stream were practically drooling from hunger.

[Damn, Brother Ye’s food looks especially delicious!]

[Stop it, I’m literally salivating over here!]

Meanwhile, Shen Wanwan, seated beside him, was chewing slowly and gracefully, eating with great elegance.

When Shao Yuye finished eating, he finally noticed that although she’d tried a little of every dish, she hadn’t touched the plate of boiled shrimp.

“You don’t eat shrimp?”

Shen Wanwan replied succinctly, “Too much hassle.”

The shrimp still had their shells on.

Seafood tends to be fishy, and even with gloves, the smell of peeled shrimp lingers on the hands.

That was something Shen Wanwan absolutely couldn’t tolerate.

But since he brought it up…

Shen Wanwan curved her eyes slightly, a sly glint appearing as she looked at Shao Yuye.

“But if you peel them for me, I don’t mind having a bite~”

Her tone carried a spoiled playfulness, like someone used to being doted on.

Shao Yuye let out a snort of laughter.

“Hey, the results aren’t even out yet, aren’t you being a bit too cocky?”

Shen Wanwan feigned disappointment with a soft, drawn-out “Oh,” then muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Shao Yuye to hear:

“Well, my Brother never treated me like this when I was little.”

Shao Yuye : “!!!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll peel them for you!”

Just a few words, and he was completely wrapped around her finger.

He reached over for a pair of disposable gloves.

His tone carried some faux annoyance, but the corners of his lips were lifted high.

Fans in the livestream were left utterly baffled.

[Wait, what are these two even talking about?!]

[‘Results’? What results?!]

[What did Shen Wanwan just say in the middle there? Did I go deaf?!]

[Help! I swear there’s some kind of magnetic field between them, like no one else can cut into their conversation. Am I imagining it?]

[Okay, here’s a bold guess… Don’t come for me… but… did they maybe… start catching feelings from all the bickering?!]

[No way. Brother Ye is such a hardcore straight guy. I’m calling it now, by the time I’m in college and dating someone, he’ll still be single.]

[Let’s be real, this CP stuff is ridiculous. They have zero chemistry. If you had to compare, they’re more like… siblings than lovers.]

But despite all the chatter, no one could figure out exactly what magic Shen Wanwan had used to get Shao Yuye to willingly peel shrimp for her.

And so, everyone watched as Shao Yuye peeled the entire plate of shrimp for her.

Shen Wanwan elegantly dabbed at the corner of her lips.

Shao Yuye took off his gloves and asked, “Is it good?”

Taste-wise? Honestly… just average.

But given the fact he’d peeled them for her…

“Not bad.”

Shao Yuye snorted. “Picky little thing.”

The atmosphere was light and joyful.

Meanwhile, on the Little Red Book¹ app—

A new trending tag quietly climbed onto the bottom of the hot search list: #Shao Yuye’s Little Sister#

And it showed no signs of slowing down…

---

1. 小红书 (xiǎo hóng shū), which literally means ‘Little Red Book’ is a popular Chinese social media and e-commerce platform that combines user-generated content with a seamless shopping experience. It is a unique hybrid that is often described as a mix of Pinterest and Instagram with integrated e-commerce. ↩︎

---