Zhang Xiaotao’s casual comment was quickly drowned out by countless bullet comments.
Most of them were still busy showering praise on Liu Qingye: “Yezi is a goddess, no question,” “Our Yezi is the ultimate female guest of this season’s dating show,” and “This season’s popularity is all thanks to our Yezi!”
On the screen, Lu Nanxun was staring toward the doorway, but the people who arrived were the male guest Ji Mingtian and the female guest Zhang Weiyi.
Ji Mingtian was boisterous and funny. He joked with Ji Liuyue that they were brother and sister who had run into each other on a dating show, making everyone around them burst out laughing.
Zhang Weiyi had short hair and wore gold-rimmed glasses. She looked quiet and reserved.
There were now three male and three female guests, and they chatted for a while.
The camera once again turned toward the entrance, where a slender figure in white could be seen from behind, dragging a suitcase.
The production team was being deliberately mischievous here, giving the audience a misleading intercut.
The door opened.
But the face that appeared on-screen was the handsome, languid Xu Jinsi. His pair of flirtatious peach-blossom eyes seemed affectionate no matter whom he looked at.
Then the camera shifted, revealing Liu Qingye behind him in a flowing white dress.
Liu Qingye was struggling a little as she hauled her large suitcase.
“Oh, there’s a step here,” she said, slightly out of breath.
Xu Jinsi was the very picture of a gentleman. “Let me carry it for you.”
In post-production, the scene was paired with a somewhat romantic background track, creating a rosy atmosphere between the handsome man and beautiful woman.
The camera cut again.
This time, it showed Lu Nanxun sitting on the sofa. The moment he saw the scene, he hurried over.
“Let me carry it for you.”
Liu Qingye replied in a sweet, soft voice, “Thank you.”
At that moment, the camera switched to a wide shot. Liu Qingye stood delicately between the two male guests, looking even more vulnerable and endearing.
Both Xu Jinsi and Lu Nanxun were shown with serious, tense expressions as the camera swept past them.
It seemed to foreshadow a storyline involving the three of them later on.
The bullet comments immediately began to explode.
【Ahhh! I knew there was going to be a love triangle! This is way too good!】
【What did I tell you? Our Yezi really is a goddess. Two men fighting over one woman—this is so satisfying.】
【There’s so much possessiveness in Xu Jinsi’s eyes! I’m totally shipping it.】
【Lu Nanxun had been staring at the door, waiting for Yezi the whole time. He’s practically a loyal puppy!】
All the guests had arrived.
They began introducing themselves to one another.
Ji Mingtian complimented Liu Qingye on her beautiful name and asked if there was any story behind it.
Liu Qingye smiled modestly.
“My parents met in spring, and since my surname is Liu, they gave me this name. They hoped I could be like a green leaf sprouting in spring—full of vitality and endless possibilities.”
【Ah, Yezi’s parents must love each other so much. What a happy family.】
【I knew it! Only a girl from a happy family could be this calm and composed!】
【I want to become Yezi too! +1】
Just after Liu Qingye finished speaking, the production team stirred up trouble. The camera abruptly cut to Ji Liuyue’s face.
Ji Liuyue curled her lips.
She looked disgusted.
The mocking expression lasted only a moment, but the camera captured it clearly.
It was practically a public sentencing.
Even more perfectly, in the very next second, the camera showed Lu Nanxun frowning slightly in Ji Liuyue’s direction, indicating that he had already noticed something strange about the female guest.
The camera switched once more to Xu Jinsi, who gave Ji Liuyue an enigmatic glance before quickly looking away.
In the wide shot, everyone was gathered around Liu Qingye. Liu Qingye was still smiling and nodding slightly, seemingly completely unaware of what had just happened.
Through a few simple cuts back and forth, the show clearly conveyed the guests’ various thoughts and reactions to the audience.
In the bullet comments, Liu Qingye’s fans could no longer hold back.
【What’s wrong with that Ji Liuyue? Did you see the look on her face?】
【What’s with Ji Liuyue’s awful manners? What was that expression when Yezi was speaking—mockery and disdain? Is she sick?】
【Oh my god, they’ve only just met and she’s already showing hostility. I have a feeling Ji Liuyue is bad news.】
【Exactly! Look at the expression she just made. She obviously has a deep, calculating side. Our Yezi is so innocent—what if that woman schemes against her later?】
The bullet comments had already begun worrying about the safety of their goddess Yezi.
They were terrified that their little white rabbit of a female guest wouldn’t be able to outplay this calculating woman.
Seeing this, Zhang Xiaotao couldn’t help being taken aback.
She had fairly upright values, so when she liked a female guest, it wasn’t solely because of her looks. Character mattered too.
That was why Ji Liuyue’s obvious mocking expression shocked her. For a moment, she wondered if she had seen it wrong.
She rewound the video and watched it again, only to confirm that she hadn’t.
A strange feeling rose in her heart.
Could my judgment be wrong? Did I choose the wrong person to stan?!
She took a deep breath and thought, Maybe I should keep watching. Perhaps this was just malicious editing by the production team. After all, the show had deliberately edited the first meeting and date to make things look worse than they were.
With that thought in mind, she continued watching.
Next came the room-selection segment.
Everyone was being modest and letting one another go first. As before, Ji Liuyue was the first to step forward and choose a room. In any other dating show, this would have been perfectly normal.
But because Ji Liuyue had made that expression at Liu Qingye in the previous scene, she was now cursed out by the bullet comments for doing nothing more than choosing a room first.
Somehow, everyone insulting Ji Liuyue had become a form of political correctness. The more they cursed her, the more enthusiastic they became. As long as you criticized Ji Liuyue, you and the other viewers were practically best friends.
Watching the bullet comments spiral out of control, Zhang Xiaotao couldn’t help posting a fair-minded comment:
【She only chose a room. It’s not like she committed one of the Ten Heinous Crimes, right?】
Her comment quickly provoked an attack from the others.
Zhang Xiaotao frowned and simply stopped paying attention to the bullet comments, focusing on the video instead.
Everyone took their seats around the dining table.
The next segment began. The guests collected cards and read them aloud one by one.
These cards had been handwritten by the guests on their way to the house, addressed to the person they wanted to go on a date with. Each guest received a random card.
Ji Liuyue was the first to read hers aloud.
“I’ve always felt that the music I like is pretty niche. I didn’t expect you to like it too. What a coincidence.”
Zhang Xiaotao immediately guessed that it had probably been written by Lu Nanxun for Liu Qingye.
After all, they were the only pair whose date had taken place at a record shop.
Lu Nanxun read the next card:
“Anyone would look beautiful standing beneath a cherry blossom tree, so my love burns just as fiercely for anyone.”
Rather than being written to a date partner, the message on the card seemed more like something written to the author himself.
Whoever had written it was clearly extremely confident.
Zhang Xiaotao instinctively thought it had to be Ji Liuyue. She was beautiful, bright, and passionate, so it made sense that her views on love would be just as bold.
Sure enough, the next second, the camera switched to a post-interview segment.
Against a beige backdrop, Ji Liuyue smiled lightly and said, “Yes, I wrote that card. It wasn’t meant for anyone in particular. After all, we’d only met once, so I wanted to write it to myself instead.”
She had guessed correctly!
Yet another small conflict of emotions and doubts stirred in Zhang Xiaotao’s heart.
The Ji Liuyue she liked was supposed to be open, straightforward, and radiant. If that was who she really was, would she be jealous of Liu Qingye?
If she didn’t know, then why had she just worn such a mocking expression? Or had the editing deliberately twisted it in the most malicious way possible?
She reopened the barrage of comments, wanting to see whether everyone’s attitude had changed.
Who would have thought the comments were still filled with hostility.
[Heh, Ji Liuyue is just trying to save face, isn’t she? Not a single male guest chose her.]
[Liu Qingye is the most beautiful! Liu Qingye is the most beautiful! I want to see what Yezi wrote.]
[This woman is really confident. Put nicely, she’s self-assured; put less nicely, she’s conceited. Doesn’t she worry she’ll end up unable to save face?]
