The lights flickered, and the venue fell dead silent.
Director Li nearly fainted.
The topic hadn’t even blown over, and now he himself was about to go over!
Jiang Hua glanced at the number—
Abuse Value +10,000.
She curled her lips, satisfied for the moment.
Meanwhile, the internet erupted in an explosion of discussion.
Less than five minutes after the broadcast began, three hashtags related to the show had shot up the trending charts.
#IsFemaleGuestNo3JiangHe#
#RedefiningKeepingOnesWord#
#MaleGuestNo3YangWeiAndDomesticAbuse#
At the same time, screens everywhere filled with people tagging their best friends, boyfriends, and family to watch the livestream.
[@LuotuoXiangzi, bestie, come quick, this show is a hot mess with juicy drama, I’m going to be glued to my screen all night!]
[@HappinessAndFulfillment, Mom, watch this, it’s fun]
[@InvisibleChickenWings, good evening, Young Miss. I have carefully selected fresh news from all corners of the world for your perusal at your leisure]
[@ImALittlePuppy, baby, let me spoil you instead—I’ll only whip you, never break your legs]
The livestream viewer count skyrocketed, everyone coming to see Female Guest No. 3.
The production team backstage was going crazy.
The assistant said, “Fu Ran’s agent is calling, saying if this keeps up, Fu Ran will suspend filming!”
“What am I supposed to do? It’s a live broadcast! Am I supposed to gag Jiang Hua?!” The assistant director roared into his headset, “Quick, cut the feed, cut to the male guests! Surely there won’t be another lunatic among the male guests!”
Receiving the order, the host immediately shifted the topic to the male guests.
“Now that we have a basic understanding of the female guests, let’s start asking questions to the male guests.”
[Objection! I want to learn more about No. 3!]
[Shouldn’t this segment have a dozen or so questions? Why switch after only three? We didn’t get enough!]
[Dying of laughter. I’ve watched ten seasons, and this is the first time the production team didn’t dare keep asking questions in this segment. Every previous guest was nearly questioned to tears!]
The host pretended not to see these comments and continued:
“Male guests, please share a moment when you found her cute.”
No. 1 said, “Every moment.”
No. 3, Fu Ran, jumped in first, staring across the way with a threatening tone: “When she cries.”
Director Li breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, good, good—let’s go with this! Get the reconciliation segment going!
The next second, No. 2 leaned back in his wheelchair and said, “When she said she wanted to burn me with a cigarette butt.”
As the words fell, Jiang Hua turned her gaze sideways.
Backstage.
“Two! A full two of them!” The assistant director held up two fingers, yelling across the room, “This year there really are two lunatics! What do we do now?!”
Up front, the host, sweating, received no instructions and could only grit his teeth and keep asking.
Fortunately, for the next few questions, Male Guest No. 2 didn’t go too far off the rails.
“How many times have you two broken up?”
Xie Jiumian: “Nine times.”
“Choose one word: family, career, love, freedom, wealth.”
Xie Jiumian: “Love.”
“Please use one phrase to describe your current relationship.”
“She runs, I chase.”
“……”
The host gradually relaxed and finally chose a safe question:
“If you could do something with her right now, what would you most want to do with her?”
Director Li immediately made a pleading gesture.
Xie Jiumian paused longer this time.
Then he spoke: “Kiss, I suppose.”
Director Li breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, it was just a kiss. Given this ancestor’s temperament, he’d truly been afraid he’d say something else.
Xie Jiumian: “In bed, when we pause halfway through, we’d steal a kiss.”
Beep—
The livestream was censored for five minutes.
【AHHHHHH what—what is this, what is this?!】
【This humble believer lives by a balanced diet of meat and vegetables—this is exactly the content I should be watching! Good stuff!】
【Reward! Reward! Reward! Shower him with rewards, everyone! Contestant No. 2, you deserve a place in the imperial temple! This is the breakup show us adults deserve!】
Jiang Hua kept her head turned, watching Xie Jiumian the whole time.
She was a Wraith that fed on human desire—and that desire included lust.
The desire value on Xie Jiumian was the highest-level red, and especially when he answered questions, it burned a frightening scarlet.
She glanced at Jiang He’s small frame and clicked her tongue.
A bean sprout going up against a pile driver.
Could she survive it?
At that moment, Jiang He’s face was slightly flushed. Xie Jiumian’s question-and-answer barrage had left her reeling, so when the host asked them to stand, her legs felt a little weak and her heart was pounding.
After the livestream was restored, the host wiped his sweat.
He quickly moved on to the next segment: “Next, viewers can vote for their favorite guest through the poll on your screens.”
Instantly, voting graphics flew across the screen.
【Runaway Monkey from Flower-Fruit Mountain】: Contestant No. 3 is only a bit fairer than the other two female guests, with prettier lips and slightly more delicate bone structure. Nothing special otherwise.
System: 【Runaway Monkey from Flower-Fruit Mountain】 voted for No. 3.
【Pizza-Hearted】: No. 2, please don’t speak again. You’ve got me wanting to find a man to try in the middle of the night.
System: 【Pizza-Hearted】 voted for No. 2.
【Crayon Shin-Chan’s Old Self】: That hair color and those little mannerisms—No. 1 is obviously my Ke-ge! Charge!
System: 【Crayon Shin-Chan’s Old Self】 voted for No. 1.
【I Love Hehe】: No. 3 is our Hehe! Everyone vote for No. 3!
The final vote came in: Contestant No. 3 among the women and No. 2 among the men led by an overwhelming margin, taking first place.
Then came the moment everyone had been waiting for: the Unmasking.
The door of Room 1 opened, and two people walked out.
“Hi, I’m Ke Wenjun.”
“I’m Meng Yue.”
The moment their figures appeared, the comment count hit its peak.
They had first met on an awards podium. The top star had fallen in love at first sight, his clingy gaze never leaving the presenter, Meng Yue. That photo became legendary, appearing in the comment sections of every post about divine love matches.
This year marked the eleventh year of their long-distance romance, yet even they couldn’t escape the breakup curse.
The comments filled with sighs.
The door of Room 2 opened. The first things to enter the frame were a motorized wheelchair and a pair of hands with well-defined knuckles.
【Wait, those hands—that’s not Fu Ran, is it? Fu Ran has a wound on his hand.】
【That’s not right. No. 1 isn’t Fu Ran, and No. 2 isn’t either, so that limp guy in No. 3…?】
The camera panned again, and no one was talking anymore.
The man wore an intricately patterned ring on his right pinky, and a dark suit of exquisite texture, with a black tie hanging down, extending all the way into the white shirt beneath.
The camera moved upward, sweeping past his long legs to reach that stunning face. His fox eyes lifted lazily, his gaze languid yet shimmering. He looked exactly like a gemstone polished to perfection.
“I am Xie Jiumian.”
Behind him, Jiang He’s face appeared next, wearing minimal, plain makeup, smiling slightly as she greeted everyone: “Hello, everyone, I’m Jiang He.”
【HOLY SHIT!!! Number 2, aren’t you a little TOO handsome?! Who IS this?! Why have I never tasted a delicacy like this in the domestic entertainment scene!】
【Because he’s not from domestic entertainment! It’s Xie Jiumian! Xie Jiumian! The young master of the Xie family! Top-tier old money from the Beijing circle—my god, how did they get him? This director has some serious connections. They didn’t leak a single word about it!】
【I’m dead. A suited beast! That brat Jiang He is eating way too well! No wonder she came on this show to get back together!】
【God, imagining what he just said… my mind is already filling in the pictures! Fuck! I’m thirsting to death!】
Amid the flood of frenzied bullet comments, one or two viewers were still struggling to stay lucid:
【Number 2 is Jiang He, so the female guest in Room 3 is… Jiang Hua?! THE Jiang Hua I curse out every single day?!】
【This is a scam! I was voting for Hehe! I want to take back my vote!!】
“Click.”
The door of Room 3 opened, and the flood of bullet comments froze instantly.
【Fine, fine, everyone can go home now. Like I wouldn’t know what Jiang Hua looks like】
On screen, a figure in a floor-length red dress stepped out.
Then her footsteps suddenly stopped at the threshold.
This was a foam threshold deliberately set up by the production team, with a cameraman crouching right outside, clearly hoping to film the female stars