She gave a brief, crisp account of what had happened.
The director slapped his thigh in delight. “That’s great news! If I remember correctly, wasn’t Ji Liuyue also dragged onto the hot-search list and viciously criticized last time? She has that kind of ‘infamous but popular’ appeal.”
The staff nodded repeatedly.
“That’s her. And after the truth came out, her fans actually increased instead of dwindling. She does seem to have luck on her side.”
The production team had originally planned to give up on Liu Qingye and focus on promoting the new fifth female guest.
However, the response to this episode made the director fall into deep thought. After considering it for a moment, he said, “Give Ji Liuyue a little more screen time. Don’t cut out some of the more entertaining moments. Maybe she’ll be the one bringing in the sponsors this season.”
The staff hesitated before asking, “What about the new female guest?”
After all, this “catfish” guest had joined the cast with her own investment backing her.
The director thought for a moment, then said vaguely, “Her scenes haven’t been edited yet, have they? We’ll talk about it later.”
…
The criticism on Weibo was vicious.
But the truth was revealed soon enough.
Some impatient people hadn’t even finished watching before rushing online to unleash a tirade, only to be mercilessly mocked by viewers who had watched the later scenes.
Zhang Xiaotao was one of those viewers who quietly watched to the end.
Just as Ji Liuyue was sitting at the dining table, eating fried eggs and drinking strawberry milk, Xu Jinsi also appeared on camera.
The conversation between the two was quite amusing.
Xu Jinsi sat down across from the female guest and tapped his fingers lightly against the tabletop. He said vaguely, “I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
Ji Liuyue pointed toward the refrigerator. “There are plenty of ingredients.”
Xu Jinsi said, “I don’t know how to cook.”
Ji Liuyue replied, “Then learn.”
【I’m dying! She really refuses to indulge him. What a straightforward girl.】
【Straightforward? The straightforward girl who drank someone else’s strawberry milk?】
【One thing has nothing to do with the other. Xu Jinsi acts like some spoiled young master, but it feels great seeing Ji Liuyue refuse to cater to him.】
The video continued.
As the two chatted, Liu Qingye appeared in a white spaghetti-strap dress.
The dress was practically the pinnacle of the innocent-yet-sensual style. It was full of calculated charm, with a completely open back that revealed her fair skin.
The thin straps at the front accentuated her delicate collarbones, while her slender, fragile-looking figure was outlined beneath the fabric.
【Yezi is gorgeous!!!】
【Slurp, slurp. She’s a goddess! I want the same dress.】
【Now that’s what I call feminine charm. What is Ji Liuyue wearing? Long sleeves, long pants, and linen loungewear?】
When Liu Qingye appeared on-screen, the frame showed two women and one man.
The background music suddenly changed.
A caption appeared on-screen:
“Three People’s Morning.”
Oh, this was clearly setting the stage for trouble!
Liu Qingye greeted Xu Jinsi first, smiling as she exchanged a few words with him.
Only then did she turn toward the female guest and ask, seemingly innocently, “Liuyue, aren’t models usually very busy? How come you didn’t go to work?”
Ji Liuyue replied, “Well, I’m an unknown model, so I don’t get much work. I especially haven’t had any shoots this month.”
Then she countered, “What about you, Yezi? Don’t you have any engagements?”
Liu Qingye tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I just finished filming a drama last month, so my manager gave me half a month off.”
【There’s so much tension here. It feels like they’re about to start arguing.】
【Yezi, you still don’t know that the strawberry milk Dr. Lu bought for you was drunk by Ji Liuyue!】
【Stop asking about work! Ask her why she drank your strawberry milk!!!】
The comments were far more concerned with the strawberry milk Lu Nanxun had bought for Liu Qingye than with anything else.
They practically wanted to leap into the video and tell Liu Qingye what had happened.
Zhang Xiaotao found the whole thing somewhat amusing. At first, she had thought Ji Liuyue’s actions were a little inappropriate. How could she drink strawberry milk bought by someone else?
But all the food in the refrigerator was available for any of the guests in the house to use.
Besides, Lu Nanxun hadn’t told the other guests that the strawberry milk had been bought specifically for Liu Qingye. So if the others drank it, then so be it.
She hadn’t expected Liu Qingye’s fans to be so frantic.
Their entire worldview seemed to revolve around one bottle of strawberry milk!
The exchange between the two female guests was hardly friendly.
Before long, Liu Qingye focused all her attention on Xu Jinsi.
She volunteered to make him breakfast, but Xu Jinsi refused and then left for work.
That left only the two female guests in the room.
One sat at the dining table, leisurely eating breakfast.
The other walked into the kitchen, looking for ingredients, and was just about to open the refrigerator.
The viewers were even more anxious than Liu Qingye herself.
【Yezi! Open the refrigerator! Your strawberry milk has been drunk!】
【Ahhhhh, this is killing me! I wish I could tell Yezi what happened. She’s being treated so unfairly!】
【Ji Liuyue, you penniless loser. I hope you never get to drink milk again for the rest of your life.】
At that moment, Liu Qingye opened the refrigerator and discovered that several more bottles of strawberry milk were gone.
She turned her head and saw the empty bottles on the dining table in front of Ji Liuyue.
The post-production team mischievously added a caption beside Liu Qingye:
“Where’s the strawberry milk?”
Liu Qingye froze in place.
She seemed to be considering how to handle the situation with the greatest possible grace.
In the end, she looked toward Ji Liuyue and asked with a gentle smile, “Liuyue, do you like strawberry milk too?”
【Aww, I’m crying! Our Yezi is still so gracious. She just asked her directly.】
【Why are you giving her any face? Once you found out she was drinking your strawberry milk, you should have made her pay for it.】
【Our Baby Yezi is so pitiful. Do kind female guests always get bullied when they join dating shows?】
【Those of you praising Ji Liuyue, take a good look! The female guest you like is nothing but trash.】
The comments kept flooding the screen like falling snow.
It was easily one of the most talked-about segments in recent episodes.
Zhang Xiaotao patiently continued watching.
Although Ji Liuyue had been questioned, she remained perfectly calm. She elegantly wiped the corner of her lips with a tissue.
Then she said three words.
Not only did Liu Qingye fall silent, but the entire comment section did too.
“I paid my share!”
Liu Qingye froze, as if she hadn’t heard correctly. “What?”
Ji Liuyue patiently explained, “I split yesterday afternoon’s supermarket bill with Lu Nanxun.”
At the same time, the scene cut to the footage from the drive back after their shopping trip the previous day.
Lu Nanxun was resting with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, the person sitting beside him lightly tapped his arm.
Lu Nanxun immediately recoiled in fright and opened his eyes, staring warily at Ji Liuyue beside him. “What is it?”
“Lu Nanxun, don’t be scared.” Ji Liuyue clearly hadn’t expected that reaction. She couldn’t help raising the corners of her lips and bursting into hearty laughter.
Her laughter was bold and uninhibited, completely free of affectation.
Hearing it, Lu Nanxun realized that he had overreacted.
Embarrassed, he said, “Sorry. I was half-asleep, and getting tapped out of nowhere made me react instinctively.”
“It’s fine. I understand.” Ji Liuyue’s almond-shaped eyes curved into a smile, as though she didn’t mind at all. Then she pointed at his phone and said, “Open it.”
Lu Nanxun hesitated for a moment before adding, “The production team says we’re not allowed to exchange contact information privately.”
Ji Liuyue laughed even more heartily. “You thought I was asking to add you on WeChat?”
At that moment, a caption appeared beside Lu Nanxun: “Wasn’t that it?” accompanied by a confused little bear meme.
It was quite amusing.
Ji Liuyue pointed at the phone again and said, “Open the supermarket receipt and take a look.”
Lu Nanxun was still bewildered. “Huh?”
Ji Liuyue said, “Tell me how much it was. We’ll split the cost!”
