Zhou Xiaoqiao's complexion was a little better than it had been the last time Ruan Tian saw her. After resting for a few days, her face looked a little more ruddy and healthy. However, when she saw Jiang Lili and Ruan Tian outside the hospital, her face went blank with shock.
She moved her lips to say something, but before she could speak Jiang Lili rushed over, grabbed her hair, and slapped her face! She yelled, "Zhou Xiaoqiao! **** your mother!"
Ruan Tian was shocked. Her friend was so good at cursing! She would have to borrow those words next time…
Ruan Tian stood at the side and felt slightly dumbfounded.
Her heart was feeling conflicted but in the end…
Whatever, just enjoy it!
666! (tl note: like "awesome" in chinese netslang)
She suddenly felt that, when compared with Jiang Lili, she really was a waste.
Zhou Xiaoqiao also seemed to be stunned by the slap. She covered her left cheek and stared at them in disbelief, "You hit me?"
Jiang Lili didn't respond, instead, she just yanked hard on her hair.
Zhou Xiaoqiao's face immediately turned a little distorted, and for a moment she couldn't maintain her usual hypocritical mask. Her expression, which was originally delicate and pitiful, warped and became angry and spiteful. Anyway, there was no one else in the ward, so she didn't need to worry about being seen. She hissed: "Why are you hitting me? Who the hell are you to hit me?"
Ruan Tian finally snapped out of her daze. She seemed to recognize this cue! Immediately she retorted, "If I want to hit you, I'll hit you, do I have to call ahead and let you pick the day?"
This was one of the lines she had learned after studying vicious side characters online and taking notes.
It seemed that she hadn't taken those notes in vain!
Zhou Xiaoqiao's face scrunched up, and her eyes went teary from the pain.
This Jiang Lili was so barbaric!
"You let go of me! If you don't let go, I'll call the police."
Jiang Lili looked at the glaring red mark on the side of Zhou Xiaoqiao's face and felt that some of her anger had been vented. She took a deep breath and then slowly released her hand.
Zhou Xiaoqiao didn't bother to hide the ice in her eyes as she spat, "TianTian, you're bullying me like this, aren't you afraid that Shen Shu and them will find out?"
Ruan Tian: "I'm not afraid."
"You've schemed against me so many times, so slapping you back once isn't too much, right?"
"Back then I watched over Shen Shu day and night when he was seriously injured in the hospital. It's fine if you wanted to come in and take credit for that, but why must you also release my expulsion notice online?"
She didn't know if Zhou Xiaoqiao had actually been the one to release those documents, but when things had broken out she had definitely been there to fan the flames.
Zhou Xiaoqiao looked around to make sure there was no one else there, and then suddenly broke out in a sinister smile, "Sister, this is all the result of your own stupidity, how can you blame me? Back then, I didn't say anything at all, Brother Shen Shu just woke up on his own and saw that there was only me. Because of that, he believed that I was the one who had been taking care of him, but it had nothing to do with me, so what use is it for you to blame me?"
Ruan Tian gritted her teeth.
Zhou Xiaoqiao, this bitch!
Ruan Tian felt that giving her one slap was really letting her off lightly.
But…
She didn't plan to do anything more.
On the side, Jiang Lili still seemed like she wanted to rush up, so Ruan Tian pulled her back and dragged her out of the ward. As she tugged on her friend, she whispered: "One more and she's definitely going to sue you."
Jiang Lili snorted, barely satisfied, "Whatever, my eighteen dragon palm should be enough for her to suffer for a while."
Ruan Tian smiled faintly. It was a slightly sinister smile.
She had been eating a lot of losses over the years, and she had a long memory.
Thus, she had managed to learn a few tricks. Triumphantly, she took her phone out of her pocket, and the WeChat interface showed that she was currently connected to Shen Shu's chat box.
Ruan Tian tapped her thumb, and the recording of the conversation between her and Zhou Xiaoqiao just now was directly sent to Shen Shu's WeChat.
She raised her eyebrows and put on an arrogant expression.
Ruan Tian: 【Listen with your dog ears, did I fucking lie back then! ! ! 】
After sending the message, she happily once again put Shen Shu on the block list.
That done, Ruan Tian raised her head and said: "It seems that I can also change."
Jiang Lili: "?"
Ruan Tian continued: "I've learned to scheme against people too."
—-
Ruan Tian didn't issue any response to this incident regarding her expulsion.
In truth, she didn't know how to respond. It was true after all, so it wasn't like she could jump out and refute it.
The clamor from the ridiculing netizens grew louder, and the battlefield soon spread to her Weibo.
Ruan Tian still had no plans to defend herself but, fortunately, she had built a pretty good relationship with her classmates back then, so some of them came out to speak for her.
HistoricalActingStudent: I was fortunate to be classmates with Ruan Tian for one semester. During that period, she and I completed our remedial foundational homework together, and she always struck me as a student with an excellent attitude for learning. Although I don't know her specific circumstances, based on what I know about her, I feel that there must be a reason behind the absences that led to her expulsion.
SanSanIsAModel: She and I were in the same class back then and she lived in the dorm room next door to mine. She had very good grades upon admission, either first or second in the whole year as I recall. In the end, she was expelled because someone in her family was sick and she had to leave to take care of them.
DubbingActorZhaoZhao: Ruan Tian was always first in our class, okay! Our teachers liked her, she was very kind, and she always made everyone laugh. Back then she was responsible for the final assignments of our group. I don't understand why people are smearing her like this.
And like that, the matter gradually improved.
At the same time, the picture of Ruan Tian's expulsion notice silently began to disappear until it seemed to have been deleted from every outlet and removed from every blog.
Overnight, dozens of marketing accounts were silenced, with only a few small clarification notices left behind.
It was a vigorous and overbearing method of handling the issue.
However, it wasn't really the style of the Qin Pictures PR department.
Rather, it was more like Huanshi Entertainment's approach…
On Wednesday, 'Role Play: Escape From The Secret Chamber', began recording as scheduled.
Ruan Tian arrived a bit late and saw Qin An standing outside the studio with his head drooping down, like a child that was under strict supervision by his parents.
Confused, Ruan Tian looked a bit further. Soon, she saw Qin Yu was also there, just behind Qin An.
Ruan Tian sometimes had the illusion that Qin Yu knew everything about her.
For instance, back when she was always being bullied by Zhou Xiaoqiao, or when Zhou Xiaoqiao would easily swoop in and take all the credit for her deeds, it was as if Qin Yu seemed to understand everything.
Like he was just quietly watching everything from the dark, looking at her like he was looking at a joke.
But Qin Yu didn't seem to be looking for trouble this time. He just leaned lazily by the door and when Ruan Tian was walking past him, he casually asked, "I heard that you have a boyfriend? "
Ruan Tian slightly smirked, "En, there's actually more than one. They all love me a lot and want to marry me, and they've all told me that they want to pay off my debts so that they can bring me back to live a good life at home~"
She couldn't swear at or scold Qin Yu…
But it also felt great to make him angry!
Qin Yu suddenly reached forward and caught her wrist. He chuckled and asked sarcastically, "But didn't you want to remarry Shen Shu?"
Meanwhile, the innocent passerby Qin An saw his brother and Ruan Tian "hand in hand" and felt an earthquake in his mind!
After all, the brother he knew was usually such a clean freak that he wouldn't even touch his, his own brother's, hand!
Ruan Tian put on a fake smile and pretended to seriously ponder for a moment before replying: "It's fine. Before I remarry I'll just have a child outside. It will all work out somehow."
"But thank you, President Qin, for your concern."
Qin Yu didn't seem upset this time, and he gradually loosened his grip on her wrist as he said, "Anyway, I'll remind you again that our company does not allow for the artists to fall in love, except with the boss."
Ruan Tian looked over. Qin Yu undeniably had a superior appearance. His features were finely sculpted to the point that it seemed that perhaps he was personally favored by god. His skin was light, his eyes were dark, and his jaw was sharply defined. All in all, he was outrageously handsome.
If you set aside his cold temperament, he had no other obvious flaws.
Ruan Tian was slightly taken aback. Mostly because she felt that Qin Yu's expression right now seemed to have nine points of gentleness, which was very unlike him. However, she quickly regained herself and didn't want to talk to Qin Yu anymore.
After all, it would be better for her to become a nun in a monastery than to have an office romance with a boss like Qin Yu!
Ruan Tian had her own dreams!
She raised her eyes to look into Qin Yu's and said in a flat tone: "Let go of me first, and don't block my way while I'm going to the top."
Right now, Ruan Tian had no time to deal with Qin Yu. Her mind was just full of all of those people who were calling her stupid and who wanted to see her fail. She couldn't wait to start on 'Role Play: Escape From The Secret Chamber' and show the whole world what she could do.
To put on her best performance and make those keyboard warriors shut their mouths from sheer amazement!
—
In the end, Shen Shu listened to the recording that Ruan Tian had sent him more than a dozen times. He sprawled back against his sofa, his finger tapping the play button over and over again in an almost unconscious motion.
Zhou Xiaoqiao's voice echoed around the cold and empty room.
In the recording, Zhou Xiaoqiao's tone was different than it usually was. The normal sense of delicateness and gentleness had disappeared, and there was an edge of scorn he had never heard before.
As he listened, Shen Shu's face was completely expressionless. His eyes followed the progress bar of the recording distantly, and after a while, the corners of his mouth tugged upwards as if with grim amusement.
In fact, during the recent days he had already vaguely sensed that Zhou Xiaoqiao might have some small thoughts of her own.
But he had never dreamed that Zhou Xiaoqiao had long already been scheming against him, even from this far back.
Shen Shu was suddenly overwhelmed with the memory of the first time Ruan Tian had found him outside his classroom after school and stopped him.
The girl back then had been younger, with dark eyes that shone as she looked at him. Probably she had run over as soon as her class had let out because her breath had been quick, almost panting, and her cheeks had been slightly flushed from exertion.
But her eyes had been bright and smiling to the point that they were like two curved crescents.
Shen Shu's throat tasted coppery and a bloodshot red tinge had appeared in his usually cold eyes. His expression was unreadable.
After a while, his finger moved and he tried to send Ruan Tian a reply.
However, a red exclamation mark appeared on the screen to remind him that Ruan Tian had already blocked him.
Shen Shu straightened up and then picked up his suit coat from the sofa before carelessly slinging it on. Then, he raised his eyes and noticed for the first time that the sky had already long gone dark.
He quickly found his car keys and headed outside, but when he got into his car he found that the hand holding the keys was shaking.
Eventually, Shen Shu managed to drive over to the building where Ruan Tian lived and park his car. By then night had fallen and the dim street lights provided the only illumination as Shen Shu leaned against his car and began to smoke.
A while later the cloud of smoke had become so thick and choking that his nose couldn't help but crinkle in disgust.
However, no matter how long he waited that night, the lights in Ruan Tian's apartment never came on.
Before filming began, Director Liu took Ruan Tian around and introduced her to the two other guests on the show this time that she didn't know
One was a popular variety show hostess, Cen Bei, while the other was Gu Jianghe, an idol who had just made his debut this year and still wasn't very popular.
Gu Jianghe was newly popular and had no previous ties to the entertainment industry. Also, he was very much the same type of person as Ruan Tian.
That was to say, there was only money in eyes! He was only obsessed with his career and had no interest in developing personal feelings anyway.
In his life, money was his only wife.
"Teacher Ruan Tian, I've admired your name for a long time, you look even better in person." As he spoke, he offered her his hand.
Ruan Tian shook the outstretched hand and replied, "Hello, hello."
As they finished their greetings, the director had gone over to the camera crew and began to prepare. A moment later, it started and a large notice was revealed:
【Please complete the specified tasks within the specified time, otherwise there will be a corresponding punishment. 】
Ruan Tian rolled her eyes. As expected, Director Liu was still a director who had no talent for variety shows!
Gu Jianghe whispered to Ruan Tian, "The money this time is too hard to earn."
Ruan Tian couldn't help asking, "How much the director offer you to come on board?"
Gu Jianghe held up a finger and said, "One hundred thousand. "
Then he asked: "What about you?"
Ruan Tian let out a disdainful laugh, "It was one hundred thousand for me as well."
But inside she was cursing Director Liu, that big liar!
Obviously he had told her that she would be receiving the highest appearance fee among all of the guests! He had even told her that she would be getting more than Xu Jing!
It seemed that it was true what they said about men! From as young as three to as old as their forties, they were all untrustworthy.
Gu Jianghe nudged her with his arm and said, "You know, before I came on this show someone reminded me that I should stay away from you."
Ruan Tian looked at him blankly, "Why?"
Gu Jianghe replied, "They said that you are very fierce and scary."
Gu Jianghe briefly swept her with his eyes and then continued, "But looking at you now, you just seem like a normal girl."
Internally he added: In fact, I think you're quite beautiful.
Actually, as someone who had only recently debuted, Gu Jianghe was actually still the type of person who was keen to eat various flavors of melon seeds online.
Occasionally, he was tempted to commit that one cardinal sin in the entertainment industry and approach the person who was in the midst of a storm of rumors for verification about the scandal of the day one way or the other.
He had found that most of the rumors and the so-called revelations posted online were actually fake.
And, looking at the woman in front of him, he felt even more strongly the rumors on the internet were unreliable.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian felt that this Gu Jianghe was somehow even more talkative than Qin An, but she could only patiently put up with it as he peppered her with questions even though they were just about to start recording, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.
At the same time, Qin An himself was uncharacteristically quiet as a mouse.
This was because Qin An was currently in a deep state of shock that he couldn't wake up from.
He had originally thought that his usually cold brother had unexpectedly grown a conscience when the latter had personally found a show for him to go on.
But then it turned out that the reality was that his brother had actually sent him here to pick up a sister-in-law?
However, just this much still wasn't enough for Qin An to feel as if his Three Views were crumbling.
What really made Qin An feel as if the world were turning upside down was: His brother actually admitted that he liked Ruan Tian?
Qin An knew this because he had asked his brother himself. Qin An had approached the topic very delicately, and when he had finally gotten around to mentioning Ruan Tian's name, he had deliberately slowed down: "Brother, could it be that the person you like… is Ruan Tian?"
And then Qin Yu had personally admitted: "Yes. "
Qin An felt as if his world was completely overturned.
After all, this was Ruan Tian they were talking about!
How could it be Ruan Tian!
Just kill him now, ah.
Could it be that he would never be able to escape this fierce sister-in-law for his entire life?
However, after thinking about it carefully, there had been certain signs.
For instance, the drawer in his brother's room that was full of inexpensive little trinkets that should have belonged to a girl, or the trouble he had always liked to find with Ruan Tian.
Qin An should have known that his brother, a man who was typically indifferent to everything, wouldn't go around finding trouble for Ruan Tian for no reason, much less do so for several years.
This was clearly the performance of a ****ing tsundere!
After finding this out, Qin An almost wanted to tear his hair out.
After all, although Qin An still hadn't ever been in a relationship, he had at least considered chasing after the goddess in his heart before, right?
At the very least, he knew that women liked men who were considerate and gentle.
And as for his brother's awkward, twisted way of trying to get the other party's attention…
Wasn't this just tantamount to strapping on a vest and detonating yourself at the starting line? His pursuit was over before it even began! ! !
There was no way you could chase a girl this way unless ghosts were walking around in broad daylight.
Back then the words 'Brother, you don't have the slightest chance.' had been desperately fighting to escape from Qin An's mouth. However, after thinking of what his brother might do to him if he really said something like that, Qin An managed to endure and swallow the words back.
Meanwhile, back in the present…
As Qin An looked at Ruan Tian, he felt a strange and uncomfortable feeling sweep up from the tips of his toes to the top of his head.
"What are you two doing whispering to each other? Can't you pay a little more attention to your image?"
But Gu Jianghe just glanced at him uncaringly and replied, "Don't worry, I'm not interested in women."
Ruan Tian: …
Qin An: My ass!
While the several people were conversing, the crew had finally finished setting everything up.
In the first room, the hint was placed on the middle of the wall.
【Within half an hour, please find a way to open the door and escape the secret chamber~】
The apartment they had been brought to was fully furnished in a complicated fashion, with hardly a single square inch of space that was unoccupied.
Ruan Tian touched her belly and realized that she was feeling a little hungry, so she decided to sit down and rest for a while first.
Qin An said anxiously, "Quickly get up and look for the key."
"There's still half an hour to go, what are you so anxious about?"
Qin An thought it over and felt her words made sense, so he found a bench and sat down too.
Thus, the exciting escape-the-room scenario abruptly became people sitting around chatting.
Ruan Tian asked curiously: "Isn't this just a game of searching around and finding keys?"
That being the case, why did it have such a high-end and foreign-style name!
Did Director Liu want to be forcibly made to retire?
Qin An nodded, "It seems so."
Xu Jing also felt that it was indeed a bit monotonous and boring.
Behind the cameras, Director Liu was so angry that his beard was turning crooked. It wasn't 'just finding keys'. He had worked hard to hide the key in a place where no one could find it, okay? !
Despite sitting down, Qin An still felt a bit uncomfortable. He asked uncertainly, "What if we never find the key? Will the director not let us out even if we starve to death?"
No one wanted to even respond to this brain-dead question.
Qin An continued to analyze: "I think… the key will definitely not be easy to find. How could Director Liu, with his twisted personality, let us off easily by hiding the key somewhere normal?"
Ruan Tian, who had been on 'Star Transformations' last time and had some experience working with Director Liu, thought to herself: What he said makes sense!
A few moments had passed, so everyone began to look around, following Cen Bei and Gu Jianghe who had already stood up and started searching.
For a minute or two, they all just searched fruitlessly.
However, the petty Director Liu's voice soon rang out: "If you all really can't find the key, you can receive a punishment instead to replace it."
Qin An asked, "What is the punishment?"
"You will have to pick 'Truth' or 'Dare', and you will be informed of your specific punishment after you select a category."
Qin An immediately lost interest in this option and went back to looking around.
Finally, he discovered something while looking around the toilet. There was a small black bag the size of a thumb inside the toilet bowl. Anyone who saw this would immediately feel as if there was a big flashing sign on the bag that said "The key is here!"
Thus, Qin An went and told all the others about it with a sad face.
After he finished speaking, except for silence, there was only more silence.
Finally, Xu Jing took the lead and replied, "The key shouldn't have been put in there."
Qin An said, "But we've searched everywhere else."
Xu Jing pursed his lips and said nothing.
Ruan Tian tentatively said: "Well, since you found it, why don't you take it out and have a look? At any rate, whoever finds the key will get a reward!"
Qin An was a little persuaded by Ruan Tian's words. He gritted his teeth and stared hard at the toilet, trying to mentally fortify himself. After all, although the water was clear and the toilet looked clear, it was still disgusting!
Finally, he wrapped his hand in a plastic bag, closed his eyes, and stretched out his arm…
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian had been feeling a little hungry for a while now, and she knew she could only do her best work when her stomach was full.
Thus, she had been eyeing the big packets of potato chips that were in one of the cabinets for a long time now. She was especially tempted by the cucumber-flavored potato chips in the green packaging.
Eventually, her hunger won out and she walked straight over and grabbed the green bag. Then she tore it open and, after popping a few chips into her mouth, she suddenly heard an odd noise. After fishing around for a moment, she found a small key among the potato chips.
Immediately, she spoke up in an innocent tone, "I seem to have found the key."
As soon as her voice fell, Qin An burst out with a low and terrible growl, "Ruan Tian, are you ****ing screwing with me! Get the *** out!"
Seeing the misfortune that had fallen on Qin An's head, Xu Jing so shocked that he couldn't hold back his emotions for a moment. A sneaky and somewhat unkind smile appeared on his face, and he quickly lifted a hand to cover it up.
It was really too funny.
Xu Jing's eyes unconsciously shifted over to Ruan Tian's face and he discovered that, when she ate, her cheeks seemed to bulge out cutely like a chipmunk's, and she had an odd and particular way of nibbling at her chips.
She looked almost like a small rabbit eating grass, completely immersed satisfying her stomach.
It was cute, very cute.
Xu Jing silently retracted his gaze, and at the same time, the chocolate he had been toying with the idea of giving to her silently returned to his pocket.
At the same moment, Director Liu felt like he was going crazy.
How could Ruan Tian, the person not even looking, be the one who discovered his perfect hiding spot! ?
After all, he had spent nearly half a month carefully choosing various hiding spots before finally settling on this one.
However, it only took less than five minutes for Ruan Tian to casually find it!
All the people on the crew looked at each other uncertainly.
This was just…
way too fast.
What was there to broadcast? !
Were they supposed to broadcast the contents of Ruan Tian's chat or something?
This was absurd.
Eventually, a trembling Director Liu walked to Ruan Tian and said, "Well, why don't you all just do some improv first?"
He would just stop recording the show! ! !
After all, the problem with the setting this time was just too big to paper over with editing.
In addition, he was too embarrassed to bring out the other plots he had prepared after the first one was crushed so easily.
Thus, in the end, the heartbroken Director Liu could only go to the producer and suggest that they directly change the show into a daily life show featuring the guests as roommates.
The director had a clever tongue, and he persuaded: "Anyway, the audiences these days prefer to watch these sorts of daily life shows. So long as we intersperse in some small games and events the netizens will definitely go crazy talking about their favorite CP. The show will boom and our ratings will explode."
The producer also felt that this was feasible. He replied in a thoughtful tone, "Ruan Tian is definitely capable of bringing in viewers. Plus, she and Xu Jing are also quite popular as a CP online, so the show will probably still be popular even if it's done like you suggest."
Therefore, on the first day of recording, 'Role Play: Escape From The Secret Chamber' announced that it was officially renaming to 'Me and My New Roommates.'
This strange action of suddenly changing the name of a variety show midway, which had never been seen before or since, immediately caused a furor among the netizens, and related topics rushed up the hot search.
The crew struck while the iron was hot and posted the clips from the day online along with: 【[ ] We could only flee in tears after being bullied by Sister Ruan Tian, and we've provisionally decided to rename our show to 'Me and My New Roommates.'】
【 P.S.: We will also continue to do regular live broadcasts~ Every Saturday night at ten o'clock, watch it with us on Fruit TV. 】
Five minutes later, Ruan Tian forwarded their post along with the comment: 【Sorry, hehehe 】
After that, the clips of Ruan Tian's innocent "I seem to have found the key.", and Qin An's sorrowful face began to circulate. The netizens found these shots just too funny, so they shared them all around.
"Hahaha, I laughed like crazy."
"It's really too funny. I think Ruan Tian has some real comedic talent. Her innocent delivery of that line was so funny."
"She's really a magician when it comes to variety shows. Every time she appears it's always something new."
"I'm Sister Tian, I found it."
"It seems that Qin An and Ruan Tian are also a pretty good CP."
"Okay, I really didn't plan to watch this show, but after seeing these clips I'm definitely going to be squatting in Fruit Station's livestream next week. "
"I caught him!" A certain excited poster suddenly appeared.
The excited poster quickly continued: "I've caught Xu Jing taking another peek at Ruan Tian again. If it isn't real this time this old lady will do a handstand!"
Soon after that, a skilled video editor appeared from among the netizens, and overnight a new masterpiece was created.
It was a series of edited clips that made it look like Ruan Tian and Xu Jing were a real couple. There was beautiful and romantic background music, a sweet pink filter, soulful lyrics that seemed to perfectly match the images… all in all the quality of this video was already comparable to a well-made idol drama.
Of course, this masterpiece was quickly forwarded over ten thousand times by the crazy CP fans.
Xu Jing's fan club and the TianTian Group were already used to it though.
Especially Xu Jing's fans, after squabbling with the TianTian Group so many times, they were already calm.
By now they just had the attitude of 'just do whatever you want' and 'my heart doesn't hurt anymore anyway'.
As long as these crazed CP fans didn't create anything overtly yellow or trample on their brothers, they could keep one eye closed as if they didn't see their shenanigans. (tl note: yellow as in 'yellow books' as in explicit in a lewd way)
While all this excitement was happening online, the show continued with its usual schedule and recorded for three days at a time. The two female guests were living on the second floor of the villa while the three male guests lived downstairs.
Meanwhile, Qin An was still shuddering from Gu Jianghe's "I don't like women", so he refused to live next door with him. He wasn't gay, okay? ! !
However, when Gu Jianghe found out Qin An was avoiding him he was speechless. After that, he boldly declared: "I don't like men either."
"What's the point of falling in love? It's better to earn more money, then buy a house, a car, and walk forward to reach the pinnacle of life.
Ruan Tian on the side: Makes sense to me!
After that, the two of them talked about buying homes and cars. From discussing car prices to housing prices, they chattered happily.
Qin An quickly felt as if he had been isolated from their discussion.
In the end, he couldn't help but ask sincerely: "Are houses very expensive?"
Ruan Tian: "…"
Gu Jianghe: "…"
Could this be the world of rich people? ?
Ruan Tian scratched her head, "If not, can you buy one for me?"
Qin An put on a reluctant expression, but he couldn't immediately take back what he had just said. Finally, he thought of a retort: "You are not my wife, so why should I buy a house for you?"
ok ok.
Ruan Tian suddenly didn't feel like talking to Qin An anymore.
But at the same time, on the barrage screen, a row of 'She is your wife, she is your wife' and 'Marry her, marry her, marry her' flooded by. (tl note: the barrage screen is like superchats on twitch? Messages from the people in chat that show up on the stream.)
After all, it had been decided that the program would first be broadcast live on the Fruit Video app, and then later the edited version would be broadcast on their TV network.
And as it turned out, the amount that the live broadcasts were bringing in was actually quite considerable. It seemed that the show's producer had a talent for making money, and he had managed to set up various special reward chains which hinged on battles of donations between fans. According to his scheme, those with high donation numbers would be able to get various rewards on the Fruit Video app and also reach out to their favorite stars.
The fans immediately raged.
" FruitVideo, I think you are short on coffin money."
" FruitVideo, you know you've become like a nouveau riche now, with only money in your eyes."
" FruitVideo, I, your father, won't give you any money for your so-called membership. This sister here isn't short of this one livestream."
Of course, many of these fans, who would normally loudly fight to the death in flame wars, ended up quietly caving in and opening their wallets in the end.
In response, several large fan clubs issued a joint statement that they wouldn't partake in these special donation battles, and would only use the regular donation channel.
Although the incident was a bit unpleasant, in the end, the number of people that were watching the live broadcast only continued to increase.
And that evening Gu Jianghe looked and found that the refrigerator was empty, with no more food inside at all. He found the others and said: "Alright guys, we need to decide on a division of labor. Who will go to the supermarket to buy food, who will cook, who will wash the dishes, who will walk the dog and so on…"
Before anyone else could speak, Cen Bei raised her hand and said, "I can cook."
Gu Jianghe said, "Then I will wash the dishes."
Xu Jing added in, "Ruan Tian, let's go to the supermarket to buy the food."
Ruan Tian, who was suddenly pulled into the conversation: QAQ
Qin An, who had been happily sitting on the sofa with his arms folded, suddenly felt all of the eyes in the room turn to him. His scalp turned numb, and he muttered, "Well, I will walk the dog then…"
Xu Jing took the car keys and beckoned for Ruan Tian to head out together.
Although Ruan Tian and Xu Jing were high school classmates, in reality, they had never been very familiar with one another. Ruan Tian's understanding of Xu Jing could pretty much be summed up as 'cold second generation rich that likes to act pretentious'.
When the two arrived at the supermarket, Xu Jing pushed the cart while Ruan Tian picked out all the ingredients.
Taking advantage of the fact she had been volunteered for this job, Ruan Tian attempted to make some small private gains and threw several large bags of potato chips into the cart, happy to be able to gain more junk food without spending any money.
Xu Jing's mouth twitched when he saw this. Then he reached out and put the potato chips back on the shelf, "Eating too much of these things isn't good for a person's body."
Ruan Tian was stunned and responded, "I wasn't planning to feed them to you."
"It's not like I was trying to harm you!"
She had clearly bought all of them for herself, okay?
Xu Jing fell silent. He wasn't good with words, so he didn't try to explain further.
Ruan Tian was very protective of her junk food, fierce like a small animal. Of course, as a female star, it wasn't like she was unfamiliar with the idea of managing her figure.
She also felt very distressed, okay?
After all, for some reason no matter what she ate she didn't seem to gain any weight!
When they got back from the supermarket, Qin An was staring at the two of them fiercely, as if he were looking at a pair of adulterers.
Recently, Qin An felt that the world was too damn hard to understand. Why did his brother like this woman, Ruan Tian?
Moreover, he didn't know if it was his illusion, but he somehow felt that ever since Shen Shu and Ruan Tian divorced, Shen Shu always seemed to be in a bad mood. Plus, although it wasn't to the level of 'he seemed to have lost his soul' or anything, these days he always seemed restless and he was also smoking a lot more often than usual.
It was as if the two of them were under some sort of spell, and it all made Qin An very confused.
While Qin An was pondering about life, Cen Bei had quickly appeared to take the ingredients and then went to the kitchen to cook.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian plopped down on the sofa with her beloved big bag of potato chips and began to eat them with relish. Qin An couldn't help but look over at her a few times. Eventually, he couldn't stand it, curled his lips, and said "Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"
He continued: "You know, actors need to maintain their weight. Even I've lost five or six pounds recently for this job."
Ruan Tian chomped down on another chip, then turned to face him and said calmly: "I've also lost more than ten pounds recently."
Qin An didn't believe that at all, "Heh, yeah right."
Ruan Tian innocently continued in an offhanded tone, "And I recently noticed that I've been forgetting to wear the ring one of my many crazy suitors gave me. It's a twenty-carat diamond ring actually, so it's a bit of a shame."
Qin An sneered, "Ruan Tian, do you have to be so shameless!?"
Like that, the two of them traded barbs for a while, neither of them giving any ground.
At the same time, the audience watching through the livestream were all laughing to death watching the exchanges between the two. How did Ruan Tian have such a natural talent for making cold jokes! ? Every time, her delivery was so serious but also so hilarious.
Xu Jing, who had been sitting on the edge of the sofa nearby, suddenly cut in at a perfect moment: "Qin An, have you walked the dog?"
【Wow】
【Oh my】
【Is the long-awaited Shura Field finally arriving? Fight, fight, fight!】
【Pay attention to this question everyone. Didn't Xu Jing's sentence sound almost like: Hurry up and walk the dog, and stop trying to hook up with my wife! 】
【I'm delirious, the TianxJing CP is finally here! 】
【During the time they were in supermarket, I really wanted to say… Xu Jing is so spoiled~ Ruan Tian is so sweet~ I'm sure they are absolutely in love! There's no way their relationship is bad. 】
【If I were Ruan Tian, I would sleep with one each day. Whoever behaved best would be who I slept with that day!】
Qin An had been happily ignoring this task before Xu Jing suddenly mentioned it. Unfortunately, now that the task had been mentioned, it seemed he would have no choice but to go do it. Suddenly forced to work, Qin An didn't even know who he could vent his anger to.
The dog invited by the crew this time was actually very large and fierce-looking.
Obviously, this dog wasn't very clever and he would happily give a dog grin whenever someone approached him. And, although he didn't bite, his dog legs were a little painful whenever they slammed against a person's face…
As it turned out, not to mention walking the dog, Qin An couldn't even put the dog's leash on, and during the process of trying he was nearly kicked to death!
"I can't." Qin An finally said frankly.
Ruan Tian said from the side faintly, "A real man shouldn't give up on a task he has agreed to carry out! You must do it, you have to do it! Even if you really can't, you still have to."
Qin An felt like going berserk. Enduring his rising temper, he screamed in his mind: **** your mother, Ruan Tian!
Xu Jing and the other staff members: "…"
Finally, Qin An tossed away his dignity and said in a cheeky tone: "Despite giving it my all, it seems it's just impossible for me."
Ruan Tian set down the snacks in her hand and went over to the large dog, who was still acting a bit crazy and restless. She squatted down and patted his head a bit, and he immediately calmed down. Ruan Tian immediately felt a bit speechless and felt that Qin An had been exaggerating, or else the dog wouldn't let her pat his head so obediently.
Ruan Tian reached down and fed the dog a treat, patted his head a few more times, and then turned around. She blinked and looked at Qin An.
Qin An saw deep contempt in her eyes.
—-
Cen Bei cooked four dishes and one soup. She had watched Ruan Tian on 'Star Transmformations' and seen how the other woman had won over the other guests with food. Thus, from the very start, she had some small thoughts of wanting to imitate Ruan Tian and gain good impressions from the rest of the cast and also popularity online using the same method.
After all, who in this circle didn't want to be popular?
Cen Bei didn't want to always just be working a small supporting role like a variety show hostess, she also had dreams. And, although she wasn't a professionally trained actress, in this day and age there were many instances of people crossing over from other professions to enter the industry, it wasn't like acting school was a requirement.
She also wanted to walk among the stars.
Thus, the food that Cen Bei brought out looked very good.
There was fried shrimp, beef stewed radish, celery fried pork, fried spring rolls, and a yam stewed chicken soup.
However, the taste was just okay. Ordinary really. Not unpleasant but also not amazing.
Qin An, the rich young master, had picky taste buds, so he only took two bites before putting down his chopsticks.
He felt the shrimp was tasteless, the beef was too salty, and the chicken soup was too greasy.
Cen Bei was nervous and she clenched her chopsticks tightly in her hand. In the end, she was too ashamed to ask if it was delicious, so she changed the question and asked gently, "Are you full?"
Qin An wasn't full.
He suddenly had a faint sense of reminisce. He missed it a little. Back in that small village, Ruan Tian had made bacon fried rice which was somehow both salty and delicious, with a flavor that lingered for days.
Xu Jing also only took a few bites before his chopsticks stopped moving. He said: "Well, I'm full."
Only Ruan Tian and Gu Jianghe ate everything in front of them seriously.
Even after doing herb est to cook Cen Bei didn't get the response she wanted, so she felt very disappointed. What happened made her lose her appetite and, in the end, she didn't even eat much of her own food.
Meanwhile, in the chat room, some viewers' had terrifyingly sharp instincts, to the point that they could almost be called professional appraisers.
【This Miss Cen seems to be trying to imitate the road Ruan Tian has walked? 】
【I can see that Qin An is a real prince, no wonder his mouth is so picky. 】
【Xu Jing didn't eat much either, has Sister Bei already been defeated in the first battle? 】
【Ruan Tian is a professional at beating up these sorts. Last time, the way she handled Zhao Meng'er on that travel variety show made me laugh so much. It was a wonderful scene, and I recommend everyone go and watch it. 】
【Even if you paint a dog it won't be a tiger. I think Sister Bei should change her path, there's no need for her to try to learn from Ruan Tian. 】
After Gu Jianghe finished washing the dishes, everyone found Director Liu waiting for them in the living room of the villa.
He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, with rows of cameras behind him.
"Next, everyone will have to complete a game." Director Liu took out a microphone and showed it around. "I will play some preludes to certain songs and if you can guess the song and sing it to the end, you will win the round and avoid punishment. Everyone who can't do it will be punished."
Director Liu was determined to make them kneel and beg for mercy this time.
The gathered stars all exchanged glances. Among them, only Gu Jianghe could barely be regarded as a singer, so everyone unanimously decided to push this important task onto him.
Gu Jianghe shrugged, "My skills are a combination of singing and dancing. However, I can neither sing alone nor dance alone very well."
"…"
Cen Bei spoke up weakly, "I should be able to do it? I've done radio programs before that involve singing."
With the victim decided, Director Liu quickly called out to start. The first song was a lesser-known folk song.
Cen Bei sweated profusely. She racked her brains thinking about it, but in the end, she couldn't think of what song it was.
Ruan Tian suddenly piped up: "'The Boy'?" (tl note: 那个男孩, you can google it. It's a real song)
Director Liu immediately felt exhausted. Why was it her again? ! !
After all, this song was really very unpopular, so it shouldn't be easy to guess. Even among the millions of people in the live broadcast chatroom, there still hadn't been anyone able to guess it before Ruan Tian said out the answer.
【Is this the expression of Ruan Tian's girlish heart or something? How did she know? 】
【Hmm, she is an actress, but I've never heard her sing. This time she won't be able to use her cooking skills to skate through haha 】
【I expect her to be terribly out of tune. 】
【I have turned off my computer's volume in advance. Everyone remember, you are responsible for protecting your own ears.】
In fact, Ruan Tian actually could sing this song. After all, deep down she did have a somewhat girlish heart.
Thus, back then, when Ruan Tian was still a mental patient without an illness, she had hypocritically learned this song.
Of course, it had been so she could sing it to Shen Shu. At that time she had gone to the New Year's art performance with a shy face and, in front of all the teachers and students of the school, she had sung this song to Shen Shu, the outstanding student representative sitting in the audience.
Qin An didn't notice her distracted appearance, and he nudged her with his arm, "Why aren't you singing? Or can't you do it?!"
Qin An, with the depths of his neurosis, seemed to enjoy asking questions and answering them himself, and he continued before she could respond: "It seems that you really can't do it!"
He ruthlessly mocked, "You've really made a fool of yourself this time!"
Ruan Tian just ignored Qin An. Of course, it had already been years since the last time Ruan Tian sang this song, but she still hadn't forgotten the lyrics.
She took the microphone from Director Liu and then sat on the large chair in the center of the room. Under the shadows cast by the stage lights, her eyes seemed faint and distant, and her voice was soft.
Her slightly hoarse voice flowed through the microphone. Her tone was soothing and pleasant, but there seemed to be an underlying feeling of sadness in the quiet singing.
After Ruan Tian sang the entire song, everyone except for Xu Jing was shocked and could hardly react. No one had expected her to sing so well.
Of course, Xu Jing had actually heard this same song once before, back in the school auditorium that year. He had been sitting in the audience with his classmates, watching with amusement, but not actually paying much attention. Xu Jing could only remember feeling that Ruan Tian had seemed a little bit more beautiful that day, but he had still just dismissed her as a troublemaker as usual and not paid much attention.
Once the song ended, Director Liu had no choice but to reluctantly announce that Ruan Tian had won the round and escaped punishment.
Ruan Tian felt that Director Liu certainly had a particular skillset. He was even able to take a regular run-of-the-mill variety show and add in a bunch of extreme punishment games so naturally. It was really no wonder that so many people that had appeared on his shows once were always reluctant to appear a second time.
Meanwhile, with the second round was starting, Cen Bei was hyping herself up and encouraging herself with the thought that she would definitely be able to guess the second song.
Unfortunately, the second song was another song that she had never heard before.
And, after a dozen or so seconds, Ruan Tian spoke out the answer again.
Hearing her answer a second time, the smile at the corner of Director Liu's lips froze.
Was there anything she didn't know? Wasn't she an actress? Why was she so good at singing? !
Three rounds went by quickly and each time Ruan Tian not only guessed the songs, she also sang them completely. The crew shooting the show were all incredulous.
For this actress to suddenly come out with skills that weren't inferior to a singer's, it was truly too shocking.
Even the typically harsh and strict netizens watching on suddenly became kind.
【Huh, she turned out to be an alright singer. 】
【Ah, I can feel the angst of the song~ Her voice is so sweet. 】
【Her singing is really nice, it's not out of tune at all, and her voice is very suitable for the song. Color me surprised. 】
【 She really has skills. Much better than those stars who only know how to stir up drama to create hype for themselves. 】
After Ruan Tian finished singing her last song and set down the microphone, she gave a small sigh with a hint of pride and said: "I think that if I went on a talent show I could achieve a 'C' at least, right? If I joined an idol group I could be the ace! I could easily become a big star singer!"
Sigh, back then she shouldn't have let herself be fooled by that talent scout and signed with a film and television company.
Qin Yu really harmed her with his little tricks and caused her to miss her road to stardom!
—–
During the rest of the time they recorded, Cen Bei continued trying to imitate Ruan Tian in both subtle and overt ways. Sometimes, she would even deliberately imitate Ruan Tian's way of speaking, pretending to be blunt and straightforward.
However, the effect wasn't actually all that good. Her bluntness just came across as rudeness, and she offended other members of the cast and also the watching audience.
No matter what kind of tricks she employed, in the end, the audience was much more interested in the other four people, and her popularity was left lagging far behind. Before long the degree of online discussion surrounding her was comparatively extremely low.
Eventually, Cen Bei could only secretly make up her mind to wait until the next recording session to try again.
'Me and My New Roommates' quickly shot up and became the most popular live show on the entire network.
The Fruit Video app took advantage of the immense popularity to earn a lot of money in membership fees.
Of course, such a big surge in popularity would naturally provoke the envy of certain people. Especially Liu Yilee, who had repeatedly conflicted with Ruan Tian over resources in the past. Moreover, her last attempt to damage the other party's reputation with the news that Ruan Tian had been expelled from school had unexpectedly failed to do any lasting damage, leaving Liu Yilee filled with resentment.
And recently, several of the advertisers and investors that she had been in talks with, thanks to Ruan Tian's sudden rise to fame, all suddenly began to hesitate and delay in hiring her, which only made Liu Yilee feel even more annoyed.
She had spent ten years quietly at the bottom of the industry and only earned a single lousy award.
Something with "prestige" but which brought no actual increase to her fame or popularity.
Moreover, Liu Yilee could be regarded as a ruthless person, otherwise, she never would have been able to make it to where she was today.
And, spurred by the flames of jealousy, she had already forgotten about the warning she received last time. Thus, in a fit of rage, she coordinated all the marketing accounts under her hands and dispatched them all to attack.
After thinking for a long time, she came up with a way to use the conversation surrounding the still red-hot 'Obscurity' to attack Ruan Tian's reputation.
EntertainmentCircleTalk: 【'Obscurity' already has a cumulative box office of 900 million a mere ten days after its release. Not only has this film propelled the male and female protagonists to stardom, even the insignificant secondary female lead Ruan Tian has managed to profit hugely off of her role. However, not many people know that the original candidate for the role that ultimately went to Ruan Tian is a certain star who has appeared many times on the small screen. 】
A large number of water armies were hired, and the comments below were all clearly being pushed in a certain direction.
Many passersby were commenting, taking both sides of the argument.
"How could our kind Sister Tian do such a thing? Whose cake did Ruan Tian touch? It's impossible for Sister Tian to steal away someone else's resources."
"This marketing account sure is bold. Taking aim at the most popular actress of tomorrow, Ruan Tian? Is she someone you can besmirch?"
"Ruan Tian has really had a lot of marketing recently, and she just shows up on hot search one day after another. Her 'explosion of fame' is so ****ing forced. Everyone, please pity my eyes for always having to see this garbage."
"She really managed to use her connections to steal Liu Yilee's role!"
"I've always wanted to say that Ruan Tian's acting skills are not as good as Liu Yilee's! Goodness, have none of you ever seen any of the dramas Liu Yilee performed in before? That's called true acting."
While the netizens were passionately arguing, Ruan Tian was just feeling confused. She really couldn't understand why Liu Yilee was always targeting her like this. Was it all because she asked her for an autograph that one time?
Wasn't she way too stingy!
Jiang Lili repeatedly confirmed with her, "You're sure you haven't offended that woman before?"
Ruan Tian shook her head back and forth like a rattle drum, "No way, where would I ever even have the chance to meet her?"
Unfortunately, Jiang Lili had never actually had a real celebrity artist working under her before, so she didn't understand that it was just the regular routine in the entertainment industry for whoever was popular to get targetted by smear jobs for no reason at all.
Thus, in her confusion, she even came up with a ridiculous theory: "Could it be that Liu Yilee likes Shen Shu? Perhaps she's jealous of you, his ex-wife?"
Ruan Tian let out a long sigh and replied, "It's not impossible."
Shen Shu, the dog man, was still probably considered to be very attractive to most people. He was rich and powerful, and his company had so many affiliates under its umbrella that he could be said to own nearly half of the entertainment industry, so it wouldn't be too surprising for a few female stars to have their eyes on him.
Jiang Lili gritted her teeth and said, "She really made a bold move this time." She sighed, "But even though we clearly know she did it, there's no way for us to prove it."
"She obviously just wants to drag your name down and ruin your popularity among the passers-by, I really want to get back at her!"
Ruan Tian nodded along, "En, you're completely right!" Then she muttered, "I really don't know what our company's public relations department even does. You notice that every time I'm being smeared, they suddenly all play dead? I've begun to seriously suspect that it's all just Qin Yu taking revenge on me."
Jiang Lili thought about it seriously for a moment before saying: "Well, it seems that the public relations department has helped us at least one time."
Ruan Tian, who had already completely forgotten about this incident, asked blankly: "Have they really?"
Jiang Lili, being her agent, remembered this event much more clearly than Ruan Tian did. She said with certainty: "They did. Back then the public relations department sent out lawyer letters to anyone who dared to uploaded those photographs, and even now they're still in the process of taking those people to court."
Ruan Tian fell into a daze as she tried to recall.
As she remembered, that was also the time when Qin Yu had appeared to specifically warn her that the company did not allow artists to fall in love, and that she needed to mind her image. So she supposed they had indeed helped her once.
Meanwhile, while Jiang Lili was still hesitating over whether to set aside her face and go to the public relations department for help, Liu Yilee's name suddenly exploded up the hot search.
Her name was near the top of the list, with a crimson 'Fire' icon next to it.
A certain account with the obvious throwaway username ahejnskldhyeuiw had posted a series of photographs.
And, although the moderators were quick to pull everything down, the images were still saved by those netizens with especially quick eyes and hands.
Thanks to that, these photos quickly spread all across the internet.
Basically, these photos exposed Liu Yilee's dark side. In the circle, her 'love' had a price tag, and she would willingly do all kinds of things, go to all kinds of shady backroom dinners, and sit on anyone's lap, all for the sake of popularity.
This one tossed stone caused a thousand waves of waves, and facts showed that the netizen's interest in this kind of juicy gossip far outstripped their interest in whether a role had been stolen or earned legitimately.
After this event, Liu Yilee shut herself up at home and didn't dare to go out. She was disheveled and looked haggard, and she seemed to have lost her last bit of reason, screeching: "How dare he do this to me? How dare he really do this!?"
Her agent tried to console her but it was to no avail.
Huai Mo, this young master of the Huai family who hardly ever showed his face, wasn't someone just anyone could afford to provoke.
After all, Huai Mo didn't have something like a normal person's three views, nor did he have any moral compass.
He would never even try to think for someone else's sake, and in his dictionary, there was no such word as 'compassion'.
The fact that he had let her off with only a warning the first time was already considered a great kindness.
"What am I supposed to do now? You tell me, how are you going to fix this?!"
Despite being screamed at, Liu Yilee's agent didn't dare to raise his voice in response. He just said meekly, "The company plans to let you avoid the limelight for a while first."
What 'avoid the limelight'? Putting it bluntly, they planned to bury her!
Of course, Liu Yilee wasn't a person who would easily concede just like that. She quickly retorted, "What 'avoid the limelight'? As long as I don't admit that the person in the photos is me, what can they do? I'll never admit it! I'll sue anyone who dares to slander me!"
However, Liu Yilee wasn't the only artist under this agent, so there was no way he would risk his career and offend the boss by helping her carry out this sort of scheme.
He just said calmly, "You just take a good rest at home for now. When the heat from this incident dies down a bit and everything passes, it will all be fine."
Of course, they both knew that this matter would never pass.
Now, whenever Liu Yilee dared to appear in public, the first thing people would think of would be this scandal and these photos.
Her acting career had basically been ended right here.
Liu Yilee still didn't want to give up. She got up and, with trembling hands, she picked up her phone. She called the boss of the film company that she knew before, but the one who picked up was a woman who said, "I'm his wife."
Liu Yilee was so scared by this that she threw the phone down immediately.