If Qi Xiao hadn’t been chatting with Lu Xingliang just ten minutes ago, he would have assumed Lu Xingliang’s account had been hacked.
Fortunately, another message popped up shortly after: “Sent to the wrong person.”
Qi Xiao replied that it was no problem.
With that, their chat window fell silent once more.
Just as Qi Xiao assumed the other man wouldn’t write back, his screen suddenly flashed:
“Was the cake good?”
“Huh?” Qi Xiao didn’t catch on for a second.
“I saw you retweeted it a few days ago.”
Qi Xiao remembered. Bringing it up made him feel annoyed all over again. That shop had always maintained high standards in the past, yet their new release turned out to be utterly terrible. What a complete disappointment!
“It was terrible,” he quickly warned. “Senior, definitely don’t buy it!”
After a brief pause, Qi Xiao added: “Zhou Chongyu recommended a few other dessert shops to me that have pretty great reviews. Senior, if you’re interested, I can send them over to you.”
Lu Xingliang’s side remained quiet for a moment before replying: “Sure.”
Qi Xiao suddenly recalled that when he was taking the couple photos with Jiang Fei, she mentioned Lu Xingliang wasn’t a fan of sweets. So why was he asking? Was it on behalf of someone else, or did he want to buy a gift for somebody?
However, given his relationship with Lu Xingliang, it clearly wasn’t appropriate to pry into his personal affairs. Qi Xiao dropped the thought and simply forwarded the list Zhou Chongyu had compiled.
And with that, the topic came to an end once again.
Lu Xingliang stared at his phone. If he were to catch his reflection in the car window right now, he would notice a flash of disappointment on his own face.
Beside him, Ji Liaoyang had been talking to him for a while without getting any response. He couldn’t help but turn his head. Seeing Lu Xingliang staring blankly at his phone, he immediately understood. “Are you texting him?”
Lu Xingliang didn’t deny it.
“What’s your deal here? You haven’t actually fallen for him, have you?” Ji Liaoyang found it quite novel. “Granted, he is exceptionally good-looking, but I didn’t think you were that superficial. So many beauties in the industry have tried to hit on you before, and I’ve never seen you bat an eye.”
Lu Xingliang said indifferently, “There are more relationships between people than just romantic ones.”
“Then what do you mean.” Ji Liaoyang wracked his brain for a moment. “Are you like my younger sister? Is this actually wait, no, paternal affection?”
Lu Xingliang fell silent.
After a long pause, he said, “Don’t you think he looks a lot like a certain small animal?”
“Huh?” Ji Liaoyang couldn’t keep up with the sudden leap in his train of thought.
“I think he looks a lot like Black Bean.”
This time, it was Ji Liaoyang’s turn to go silent.
Of course he knew who Black Bean was. After all, he had been playing with Lu Xingliang since they were toddlers. Black Bean was a rabbit Lu Xingliang raised when he was a child—smart, adorable, but tragically died of an illness after only two years.
Ji Liaoyang couldn’t comprehend how a person could resemble a rabbit. After holding it in for a while, he asked, “So what, love me, love my rabbit?”
Lu Xingliang put away his phone and brushed off the question without answering directly. “If I were really looking to date, I wouldn’t pick someone that young.”
“Is there really that big of an age gap between you two?”
“It’s not a matter of age gap.” Lu Xingliang couldn’t be bothered to explain further. Just then, his screen lit up. Thinking it was another message from Qi Xiao, he tapped it open, only to see it was from Song Shishuang instead.
“I checked into it. Apparently, Cai Siyuan demanded a higher fee while the crew was already low on budget, putting both sides at a standstill. The project wasn’t favored to begin with, and one of the investors ended up withdrawing their funds entirely. It was only after Qi Xiao joined the cast that someone invested a sum of money—otherwise, ‘Autumn Frost’ might never have been filmed.”
“Why are you paying so much attention to him lately? You’ve been in this industry for years; I shouldn’t have to remind you of these things. In my opinion, this Qi Xiao definitely isn’t as simple as he seems. You’d better keep your distance.”
Lu Xingliang locked his phone.
In the beginning, he had thought the exact same thing.
A long while passed before Lu Xingliang sent out a message—though not in reply to Song Shishuang.
“I’ll attend Saturday’s class.”
On Thursday evening, it was time for the routine decision on whether the guests would attend this week’s class.
After the director dropped a message in the group chat, several guests enthusiastically replied. Aside from Qi Xiao, Liang Yi and Song Mei signed up one after the other, followed closely by Lin Zhiyao. Shen Ye and Jiang Fei hadn’t made their decisions yet, seemingly holding back to see how things unfolded.
After their date that day, Shen Ye had posted an update on his Moments with photos taken at a local zoo, including a picture of him and Jiang Fei together. Jiang Fei, however, hadn’t posted anything at all. Qi Xiao couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Shen Ye—how did he manage to pick someone whose heart already belonged to someone else every single time?
A short while later, Lu Xingliang also sent a message confirming his attendance.
To everyone’s surprise, Jiang Fei didn’t follow suit with the same choice. The director called out in the group chat twice, finally confirming that except for Jiang Fei and Shen Ye, all six other guests would be attending.
At this point, Qi Xiao was completely baffled by the current romantic lines. He couldn’t help asking Zhou Chongyu: “Do you think everyone is serious about this?”
Although he had no personal experience in love, as far as Qi Xiao could see, he felt Jiang Fei held the deepest feelings for Lu Xingliang. After all, they had known each other the longest, dating back to their university days. As for the other guests, they had only known each other for half a month; he didn’t think there could be any deeply rooted feelings yet.
Zhou Chongyu replied after a brief pause: “Sometimes feelings aren’t measured by time.”
Qi Xiao was slightly confused: “If you’re going to like someone, shouldn’t you like them more the more you interact with them?”
“Liking someone isn’t necessarily something that accumulates over time.”
Zhou Chongyu seemed to hesitate over something on his end. After a long moment, he sent another message: “There’s also a situation known as love at first sight.”
Seeing this sentence, Qi Xiao became even more perplexed. Wasn’t love at first sight just about judging someone by their looks? Although he certainly liked attractive faces, he had never fallen in love with someone just from a single glance.
In the blink of an eye, the day of the show’s broadcast arrived.
At 8:00 PM on Friday, the first episode of Sweet Trap officially premiered online.
Thanks to the show’s promotional blitz over the past ten days or so, online buzz was already soaring. Fans from every camp were eagerly waiting, tuned in right on the dot to watch.
The episode opened with shots of the guests stepping out of their cars. The first to arrive was the model Song Mei, instantly triggering a wave of simping across the bullet screen:
Ahhhh those legs are insane! Sister, I’m yours!
As expected of a model, her aura is massive!
Song Mei is so dominant, truly the top pick of the sapphic circle!
Next up were Shen Ye, Liang Yi, and Lin Zhiyao. Since they weren’t public figures in the entertainment industry, they didn’t have much brand recognition. Still, the bullet comments were mostly praising the handsome guys and pretty girls; viewers tended to be much more forgiving toward non-celebrity guests.
Then came Zhou Chongyu.
Although he wasn’t an idol singer-dancer, his unique vocal tone and top-tier visuals among singers meant his fanbase was by no means inferior to certain top-tier stars. The moment the camera caught just his shoes, viewers were already screaming in the comments.
And when Lu Xingliang appeared, the entire bullet screen practically exploded, leaving behind nothing but a sea of screaming and “I’m down.” Since his debut, Lu Xingliang had rarely participated in variety shows, only appearing occasionally to promote his work. A reality show like this was a complete first for him, so not only were his fans thrilled, but plenty of curious passersby tuned in as well.
Qi Xiao was the last to arrive, but this time the bullet comments took a different turn—half were fans praising how cute he looked today, while the other half were full of passive-aggressive snark.
Over the past few days, Qi Xiao’s popularity had been steadily rising. Because he had been linked with multiple guests, several fanbases were displeased. While the rational fans stayed quiet, some simply couldn’t stand seeing Qi Xiao anywhere near their favorite star, unleashing a barrage of nasty remarks.
At this point, pre-recorded solo interviews of the guests were spliced in, asking about their ideal types, who they hoped to meet, and so on. The answers from the previous guests were fairly standard, but when it came to Qi Xiao, the style took a wild turn:
“What about your ideal type?”
“I like people who are good-looking.”
Hahaha, isn’t that a bit too direct?
Lmao, handsome guys really only care about faces.
Is Qi Xiao trying to build an ‘unfiltered and honest’ persona? Unnecessary, truly unnecessary.
NGL, saying that outright comes off pretty low-class.
What’s wrong with liking good-looking people? Didn’t you become a fan of your fave for their face too? Talk about double standards.
Next was the scene where all eight guests dined together at the buffet. When Qi Xiao and Zhou Chongyu ran into each other at the food station, the editors deliberately added a pink romantic filter, complete with background music that oozed romance. The “Qi-Yu” CP (Couple) fans immediately flooded the screen:
Ahhhh this is where they first met!
A fateful encounter!
They really look so good together ahhhhh!
What was clearly a completely normal exchange between two people somehow turned extraordinarily flirtatious under the post-production edits. When Qi Xiao invited Zhou Chongyu to sit together, the editors even slapped a blushing effect onto Zhou Chongyu’s face.
Ahhhh Zhou Chongyu got shy, didn’t he?!
This pair is way too sweet!
I’m already grinning like a proud mom without realizing it.
The camera then cut away to show the conversations at both tables. Shen Ye’s table relied entirely on him to carry the scene, not to mention Lin Zhiyao chiming in alongside him. Liang Yi and Song Mei, on the other hand, were much quieter. Just then, a sharp-eyed viewer spotted a subtle detail:
Liang Yi didn’t even say a word, but Song Mei noticed she was looking for napkins. That’s so thoughtful!
I ship it, I ship it!
Then came Qi Xiao’s table. When the scene from the earlier preview played out between him and Zhou Chongyu, the screen was practically swallowed by comments.
Sponsorship promo or not, Qi Xiao’s expression clearly shows he likes Zhou Chongyu!
After watching this, who dares to say Qi-Yu isn’t real?!
Zhou Chongyu’s eyes are so gentle. I always felt like he was pretty distant before.
Just then, Jiang Fei asked, “Are you a fan of his?”
Qi Xiao nodded. “I suppose so.”
Although this snippet had appeared in the preview, no one knew what their actual conversation was about until now. This segment triggered another round of celebration among CP fans.
Unbeknownst to them, in the very next second, Lu Xingliang—who was sitting nearby—let out a subtle chuckle.
Am I the only one who thinks Film Emperor Lu’s smile was really subtle here?
Me too, it felt a little weird. Does he dislike Qi Xiao?
Class rep here! If I calculated the dates right, that day happened to be when ‘Qi Xiao successfully fanboys over Lu Xingliang’ trended on search. So everyone gets what Film Emperor Lu’s smile means now, right?
Oh yikes, so Qi Xiao was just clout-chasing?
Clout-chasing Lu Xingliang wasn’t enough, he had to target Zhou Chongyu too. Gross.
Haters have no conscience. Qi Xiao NEVER said he was a fan of Lu Xingliang—that was all fake news spread by marketing accounts. The Film Emperor doesn’t need to flatter himself, and saying he ‘thought of a joke’ right then? Classic passive-aggressive behavior.
Hahahahaha sis, you tell ’em!
Moving on to the beach scene, the production team gave Qi Xiao and Zhou Chongyu a close-up shot. When Zhou Chongyu delivered the line, “This isn’t the first time we’ve met,” the audience was left completely stunned.
I thought it was love at first sight, but it was a long-planned scheme all along?!
Holy crap, what kind of idol drama plot is this?!
Too fake, clearly scripted. Couldn’t the show come up with something more realistic? Qi Xiao and Zhou Chongyu belong to completely different worlds, where could they have met before?
Yeah yeah, everything’s scripted. Why don’t you just stop watching then, ok?
Sobbing, this is too sweet! What kind of gorgeous romance is this!
Next up was the couple photoshoot. Since it was a brand-new concept for this season, viewers found it very refreshing. The shooting process for the first few couples looked quite harmonious, but when it came to the pairing of Zhou Chongyu and Lu Xingliang, the audience fell silent for a moment.
There’s an indescribable awkwardness between these two.
Probably two tigers can’t share the same mountain?
The previous groups were all tender and affectionate, but these two look like they’re about to throw hands any second hahahaha!
What to do, I suddenly want to ship this crack ship.
I’m in deeper trouble, I actually think they look like rivals in love meeting face-to-face with eyes blazing!
Are Qi Xiao’s fans planning to push a ‘everyone falls for him’ main character trope? Speechless.
With the photoshoot finished, the first day’s recording was nearly at an end. After the production team announced the rules for sending rings, viewers were left guessing who the guests would send theirs to, while also looking forward to the next lesson topic.
That night, the guests returned to their respective rooms. The show edited together their room activities: the female guests were taking off makeup and doing skincare, while Lu Xingliang sat by the bed reading a book, and Qi Xiao was tidying his things. The two had zero interaction the entire time, prompting bullet comments to seize the opportunity:
Knew it, Film Emperor Lu doesn’t like this kind of eye-candy.
No need to drag others down. This is a dating show, not a ‘who’s the Film Emperor’ contest, ok?
It feels so awkward when the two of them don’t say a single word.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Shen Ye enthusiastically brought over late-night takeout, and Qi Xiao, who excitedly stepped forward, was met with Lu Xingliang’s ruthless sarcasm.
It really feels like Lu Xingliang genuinely dislikes Qi Xiao, there’s clear disdain in his tone.
Oh, so you know everything now? Are you the tapeworm in Lu Xingliang’s gut?
Hahahahaha what on earth is a dumpling-eating contest? Though Qi Xiao really ate a lot today.
No way, no way, it’s 2026 and there are still celebrities trying to push a ‘foodie’ persona?
Soon after, Lu Xingliang delivered that classic line:
“Give me a skewer.”
Viewers: ????
Did I just hallucinate?
As expected, no one escapes the ‘hypocrisy warning’ (zhen xiang).
Hahahahahahahahaha!
The Film Emperor’s aloof persona crumbled in a second!
Qi Xiao makes eating look so delicious, who could possibly resist!
Scene transition: Early morning.
Accompanied by upbeat music, the second day of recording kicked off, with the camera focused on Qi Xiao and Lu Xingliang’s room.
Qi Xiao’s alarm ringtone is Zhou Chongyu’s song, right? I ship it, I ship it!
Qi-Yu is real, I’m tired of saying it.
To be fair, Qi Xiao’s skin is so fair and smooth, slurp.
Screen is dirty, let me lick it clean.
Wait wait wait? Why did the screen suddenly go black?
I thought my computer broke!
Did Film Emperor Lu just cover the camera with something?
That’s so thoughtful, probably because Qi Xiao was still sleeping.
Actually kind of sweet, lowkey want to ship it.
He would do that for anyone though. Film Emperor Lu has always been gentlemanly, CP fans don’t go hyperventilating over nothing, ok?
Next came the scene where the guests exchanged rings with one another. Viewers immediately took sides and cheered for their favorite couples, though when they saw Qi Xiao give his ring to Lin Zhiyao, quite a few comments flooded in declaring, “Qi-Yu is dead!”
Giving a ring doesn’t mean anything though. They explicitly said it was for someone they felt familiar with. Is there any point in spamming ‘BE’ (Bad Ending) non-stop?
Qi Xiao is probably straight as a board. A straight guy playing gay—heaven forbid, karma’s gonna strike!
Next was the segment where they drew straws to ride bicycles.
Since Qi Xiao and Lu Xingliang hadn’t had much interaction prior to this, when the scene played of Qi Xiao acting coy and coaxing the other man, the bullet comments turned noticeably less friendly:
Didn’t you learn ‘do not impose on others what you do not wish for yourself’ as a kid? Qi Xiao forcing others like this is truly repulsive.
The thing is, Xiao-Xiao doesn’t know how to ride a bike! Zhou Chongyu even offered to trade with Lu Xingliang, but Lu Xingliang was the one who refused to swap—how can you blame that on Xiao-Xiao? Film Emperor fans are truly impossible to deal with.
Does nobody think Lu Xingliang’s attitude is really weird? Almost like he’s throwing a huff? Did something happen between him and Qi Xiao?
Don’t ask—if you ask, the answer is Film Emperor Lu hates eye-candy the most.
Afterward, the breathtaking sunset and the magical Fluorescent Sea completely captivated the audience, significantly thinning out the trolls on screen.
At the very end of the episode, just as viewers assumed things were wrapping up, Qi Xiao unexpectedly received another bouquet of sunflowers and a ring.
I bet ten packs of spicy strips it’s from Zhou Chongyu!
I’ll bet a hundred packs!
Why do I feel like it was sent by Lu Xingliang? Did the production team deliberately edit out a bunch of their interactions? Their attitudes toward each other look so strange.
It’s probably just that Film Emperor Lu despises a certain someone so much he refuses to even share the screen.
Did some of you open your third eye or something? Like you know so much?
As soon as the episode aired, several related topics surged straight into the top ten trending searches. Aside from the high-profile “Qi-Yu” CP between Qi Xiao and Zhou Chongyu, the focus of public attention was his relationship with Lu Xingliang. Because their interactions on the show were trimmed down to just a few shots and their attitudes were subtle, internet users were left endlessly speculating—some even wrote full-blown essays analyzing the dynamic.
Lu Xingliang’s fans naturally adopted an attitude of “don’t bring our boy into this,” while Qi Xiao’s side didn’t want to be associated with him in the slightest either. In short, both sides just wanted to be left alone to shine on their own.
After the episode finished broadcasting, the show’s official Weibo account posted a voting link for the viewer-favorite segment: “Who do you think is most likely the Liar?” Instantly, the bickering netizens quieted down, transforming into detectives as they tried to sniff out the hidden liar among the eight guests.
First off, let’s use the process of elimination—the Liar is definitely not Qi Xiao.
I think Lu Xingliang is the Liar. A Film Emperor is a Film Emperor for a reason.
I feel like Shen Ye fits the bill. Chatting up so many female guests right from the start—classic scumbag behavior.
I’m a Qi Xiao hater, and I feel uncomfortable if I don’t see him suffer at least once a day, so I’m voting for Lu Xingliang.
I’m different—I think Zhou Chongyu’s feelings for Qi Xiao are all an act. I’m casting my vote for him.
You can tell Qi Xiao is being totally genuine on the show. I vote Lu Xingliang.
In a short amount of time, Lu Xingliang’s vote tally remained sky-high, with Zhou Chongyu close behind. Shen Ye also gathered a portion of the votes. As for Qi Xiao, his vote count was so pitifully low it couldn’t even match a fraction of the other three male guests’.
On the female guests’ side, since no one had exhibited obvious “bad girl” behavior yet, netizens were locked in a stalemate. The votes were evenly distributed among the four, though Jiang Fei—being an actress—accumulated the highest number.
When Qi Xiao saw these voting results, his head was filled with question marks.
So, he was winning by doing absolutely nothing?
Qi Xiao didn’t have a habit of rewatching his own work, so he idly clicked into the comment section under the official Weibo post to gauge public feedback on the first episode. To his surprise, after scrolling through a few pages, he found that many comments were flaming him. While he wasn’t without hater comments on a normal day, they had decreased significantly ever since he joined the show, so he hadn’t expected them to surge back up like this.
Glancing through them briefly, Qi Xiao realized the malicious comments were all targeting his performance as Qiu Yinyu in Autumn Frost. He couldn’t help but feel utterly baffled—that drama had finished airing nearly a year ago, so why were people coming out to flame him for it now? Even if they were late to the show, this delay was ridiculous!
Driven by a touch of curiosity, Qi Xiao took a look around the Weibo trending search list and found that the hashtag #1stAnniversaryOfAutumnFrost was currently ranked in the thirties, with a subtle upward trend.
So it really had been a year, huh? With that thought, he tapped into the hashtag topic. The top trending post was made by a well-known marketing account:
“Alleged alt-account of Cai Siyuan posts a reflective message on the 1st anniversary of ‘Autumn Frost’, lamenting his past missed opportunity for the role of Qiu Yinyu. Previously, netizens leaked that the original lead choice for ‘Autumn Frost’ was Cai Siyuan, who was replaced due to unknown reasons.”
Qi Xiao scrolled through his screen for a while. The comments section below was entirely filled with people stepping on him to elevate Cai Siyuan—whether these were paid astroturfers or genuine outpourings from Cai Siyuan’s fans was hard to tell.
It was an issue from a year ago, yet they pulled it back out to reheat cold rice.
In truth, his landing the role of Qiu Yinyu was purely the result of various coincidences. The original male lead was indeed supposed to be Cai Siyuan, but right before joining the cast, he suddenly demanded a higher pay, leading to a deadlock with the crew. The director negotiated with him while simultaneously setting up auditions again just in case.
That was when Qi Xiao was called in by his agency to audition. He could still vaguely recall that when he first walked in, an expression of surprise had flickered across the director’s face. After he finished performing, the director looked heartbroken and pained, waving a hand at him to go home and await further notice.
At the time, Qi Xiao felt he had zero chance at the role. However, an investor suddenly withdrew their funds shortly after, leaving the production team in a desperate financial crunch. They definitely couldn’t afford Cai Siyuan anymore, and after picking through their options, they actually ended up choosing him. After all, his face suited the character extremely well—and, most importantly, he was the cheapest option available.
After thinking it over, Qi Xiao decided to mention the matter to Su Mei.
On the other end of the line, Su Mei went silent for a moment before saying, “It’s difficult for us to issue a unilateral clarification for something like this.”
Qi Xiao was well aware that given his agency’s track record, they wouldn’t want to spend money on PR anyway. Rather than caring about it, he turned around to comfort her instead: “It’s fine, Sister Su Mei. Just consider it free clout.”