Night had fallen.
The Qin family had also concluded their eventful day and set off for home.
Qin Yiyang slumped in the back seat of the car, feeling a bit dazed.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had forgotten something very important.
Soon, a text message arrived.
Producer: [Dear, we’ll start recording the prelude episode the day after tomorrow! You and your fiancé should prepare well. Don’t be nervous—just act as loving as you usually do!]
Prelude episode?
Qin Yiyang abruptly sat up straight and let out a sharp, piercing scream!
[Help! I completely forgot about the variety show!]
Hearing the noise, the Qin family members were startled and all turned to look at Qin Yiyang.
They saw her frowning, her face on the verge of tears.
When she had signed up as a female civilian guest, the production team had only two requirements:
Come from a wealthy family.
Have a boyfriend who also comes from a wealthy family, is handsome, and is 188 cm tall.
[Where am I supposed to find a fiancé who meets the criteria of “coming from a wealthy family, being handsome, and being 188 cm tall”?!
The three people in the car exchanged glances, all thinking there was no need to worry about this.
It was just a variety show. If she didn’t participate, she could just pay the penalty fee.
Qin Yiyang counted on her fingers, her face crestfallen. [But the penalty fee is 500 million! Even a tenant farmer for a landlord isn’t this miserable!]
The Qin family: How much?!
[But this does align with the original plot.]
[Bo Mingze accompanied Shen Yan to participate in the show, leaving me alone. To avoid paying the huge penalty fee, I had to post online, offering a hefty reward for a male partner.]
[Finally, I found someone who met all three criteria, but it turned out he was a famous gigolo! After the show aired, many wealthy women flocked to the village, wanting to reconnect with him…]
The Qin family: …That’s too outrageous!
But while three-legged toads are hard to find, aren’t two-legged men everywhere?
The three of them, full of confidence, opened WeChat and searched their respective social circles for men who met the criteria.
Soon, they put down their phones and pretended nothing had happened.
Maybe it would be better to help Yiyang find a three-legged toad instead…
The System couldn’t help Qin Yiyang either.
It could only modify the future, not change the past.
All it could do was share a few pieces of gossip to distract Qin Yiyang.
[Zhang San passed away three years ago, but his wife recently gave birth to a son. The whole family celebrated the continuation of the Zhang family line!]
[Li Si recently heard a woman’s cries for help coming from inside a wall, leaving him unable to sleep at night! He contacted the “Approaching Science” program team, and when they dug open the wall, they found a Bluetooth headset left behind by construction workers.]
Hahaha!
The System’s data stream was practically laughing uncontrollably, but Qin Yiyang showed no reaction at all.
Oh right! There was one more piece of gossip!
The System shared excitedly, [Beijing circle magnate Lu Wu has mysteriously disappeared, and his whereabouts are unknown. To stabilize the Lu family, his mother wants to find a woman to pretend to be his wife, claiming that her son—who was once as stubborn as iron—has finally blossomed into a love-struck fool, and that he hasn’t been seen lately because he’s busy accompanying his girlfriend.]
…
Qin Yiyang was on the verge of tears.
Was now really the time for idle gossip?
Her fingers unconsciously swiped across her phone screen—a habit of hers whenever she felt anxious. She would “pretend to look at her phone.”
The effect was the same as an ostrich burying its head in the sand when faced with danger, leaving its rear end exposed.
It was all about self-deception.
“Buzz—”
She didn’t know what she had touched, but her phone vibrated.
A progress bar appeared on the screen:
[《Saving the Poor Soul Stranded on a Deserted Island》 is downloading]
Qin Yiyang: “…”
Along with the words “Download Complete,” a game with a simplistic art style appeared on her screen.
It showed a pixelated little character lying weakly on a blue island.
In the top left corner was the protagonist’s introduction.
[Name: Xiao Wu]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 24]
[Height: 188cm]
[Wealth Level: Five Stars]
[Health Points: 2/100]
[Current Need: Water]
Qin Yiyang: …
Perhaps overwhelmed by grief, her first instinct wasn’t to delete this virus-like game but to think:
Isn’t this the “chosen fiancé” who’s “born into a wealthy family, handsome, and 188cm tall”?
She shook her head, dismissing the strange thought.
The health points on the screen dropped to 1/100, and the character was about to die. Qin Yiyang decided to do a good deed for the day and bought the protagonist a bottle of cola.
After the cola appeared on the beach, the protagonist paused, looking somewhat wary.
Only after confirming the water was safe to drink did he gulp it down.
What a cautious little thing!
A line of text popped up on the screen:
[Health Points: 5/100]
At the same time, the game’s art style became slightly more refined.
While other games focus on leveling up the protagonist, this one upgrades the art style, cleverly appealing to players’ psychology.
The protagonist’s need also changed from “water” to “food.”
Qin Yiyang clicked into the shop again.
This time, she selected a burger, but a line of text immediately appeared on the screen.
[Insufficient coins. One burger costs 5 coins. Please recharge 500 yuan.]
What the…
Qin Yiyang was filled with confusion.
Why does the protagonist have a five-star wealth level but still lack coins?
Why is a digital burger worth 500 yuan?
This is such a scam!!
Meanwhile, Shen Yan’s agent quickly received a reply confirming the variety show recording.
To promote it, Shen Yan even bought trending hashtags.
#Shen Yan The Face of the Runaway Heroine in a Wealthy Family Drama#
#Shen Yan Joins 《The Heir’s Romance》#
She thought that transforming into a wealthy heiress would surely shock the entire internet.
Not only would it make her rivals jealous, but it would also serve as a slap in the face to those who once looked down on her background.
However, when she opened Weibo, Shen Yan was stunned.
Why was this completely different from what she had expected?
—【Shen Yan became the Shen family’s stepdaughter? Birds of a feather flock together—I’m turning against her!】
—【The capitalist’s ugly kid comes with a buy-one-get-one-free deal?】
—【What a vicious trending topic! Shen Yan’s features are so bland it’s like they forgot to add salt. I thought she got famous by shipping herself with others, but it turns out she has a good mom who found her a rich stepdad!!】
Shen Yan was utterly shocked!
Previously, netizens’ attitude toward the Shen family wasn’t like this.
Her father was gentle and refined, her eldest brother was young and accomplished, and her second brother was handsome and charming.
In the comment sections of the Shen father and sons’ Weibo posts, many people left comments like, “This old servant has arrived late.”
There were also plenty of girls writing love letters to the eldest and second brothers, praising them for their good looks, refinement, and upbringing.
Occasionally, when they went live, they would receive hundreds of thousands of yuan in gifts, which clearly showed how much people adored and pursued the Shen family.
But now, public opinion had completely changed.
Shen Yan clicked back into the trending list and found two hashtags had gone viral.
#The Long-Lost Prince of the Queen and Crown Prince Has Been Found# Trending!
#Qin Mu, How Could You Be So Foolish# Trending!
Shen Yan’s right eye twitched violently as she clicked into the trending topic.
Then she heard the woman wearing a crown in the video say coldly, “Cease all related activities of the Shen Group within the borders of Country M.”
Another man in a white robe also said angrily, “We will also cease all related activities of the Shen Group within the borders of Country S.”
Shen Yan’s face instantly turned deathly pale!