“Pfft—” Upon hearing the question, Jiang Xun sprayed out the iced tea he had just sipped. “There’s… there’s actually a question like that?”
Chen Shu pulled out a few tissues and handed them to him, saying with a look of disgust, “Making a fuss over nothing.”
Since the era of live-streaming variety shows began, without the artistic processing and editing of post-production, many celebrities’ instinctive “outrageous remarks” have been recorded in full. The audience loves it, which has led the boundaries of various shows to be pushed much further. A question like this was perfectly normal.
“Fine.” Jiang Xun wiped the water stains off himself while looking at Chu Xingyun, who had yet to answer. He urged, “Answer it then!”
He had already made up his mind. If Chu Xingyun said yes, he would mock him for being an “old virgin” at his age. If he said no, he would call it an “idol failure” for dating behind his fans’ backs!
“Yes and no,” Chu Xingyun spoke with a calm face.
Jiang Xun, who hadn’t prepared for a middle-ground answer, let out a hiss and started ranting: “Are you cheating? What the hell does ‘yes and no’ mean?”
“Half yes, half no,” Chu Xingyun replied sincerely.
“Crap… handled it yourself, did you? ‘Yes and no,’ my ass.” Jiang Xun felt utterly speechless. “…Old virgin!”
The bullet comments followed Jiang Xun’s train of thought.
【A 27-year-old virgin should apply to be a national protected species.】
【Is it really not because he just can’t…?】
【Am I the only one crying? [Wailing] This answer means that 7 years ago, ‘Gaoshan Jingxing’ really never did it! [Wailing]】
【No one actually thought they did it, right?! They were just a CP, family! Wake up! (Shaking you)】
【It’s enough that they’ve done it in the fanfics. [Heh heh]】
Chu Xingyun raised his coffee to his lips, hiding the slight upward curve of his mouth. He leaned closer to Cen Jing and whispered, “This guy is so shallow… but Ge, you should understand what my answer means, right? I didn’t lie.”
Cen Jing lowered his gaze.
Chu Xingyun’s eyes were startlingly bright, like a cat that had found a new toy. Seeing that he had captured Cen Jing’s attention, he tilted his head and flashed a sly smile.
Was this man not afraid that by saying such an answer in front of the cameras, someone would sniff out something unusual and blow his cover?
“…I understand,” Cen Jing spoke with difficulty.
Chu Xingyun’s “yes and no” had absolutely nothing to do with his own hands. His meaning was pure: the before was yes, the after… was no.
As one of the parties involved, Cen Jing couldn’t deny that he understood the answer perfectly.
“Mm-hmm.” Chu Xingyun took a sip of coffee in a great mood. “As long as you understand.”
Cen Jing: “…”
Whether I understand or not, what difference does it make?
“Old virgin, what are you so happy about?” Jiang Xun, seeing his attack hadn’t bothered Chu Xingyun, became annoyed again. “Aren’t you worried at your age?”
Chu Xingyun gave him a kind smile. “Are you worried? Little virgin?”
Jiang Xun didn’t deny the second half: “…I’m only 23!”
Chu Xingyun concluded, “You’re worried.”
Jiang Xun: “…”
This show is impossible to film!
“Alright! We’ll continue with the sixth question.” The PD kindly rescued Jiang Xun. “I want to ask Ye Hancheng: your film and TV performances in recent years haven’t been very ideal. Have you ever thought about moving behind the scenes?”
The phrasing of this question looked normal, but it was actually full of malice.
Ye Hancheng heard it but chose to answer seriously: “No, I’ve never thought about retiring behind the scenes. I love acting; I’ll keep acting until I physically can’t anymore. But I will reflect, and I’ll try new things to strive for better results. I’m not afraid of criticism. If I do poorly? Feel free to scold me.”
Lin Shen: “I scolded you yesterday, why didn’t you just take it then?”
Ye Hancheng scoffed, “You were just nitpicking.”
“Deep love brings harsh criticism,” the PD said with a smile, defining their dynamic. “Seventh question… I want to ask Cen Jing: you’ve been acting for two years straight. Will you return to the stage in the future?”
Cen Jing: “If there’s a good opportunity, I will.”
“Another career-focused fan… alright, eighth question. I want to ask Chen Shu: regarding you and Jiang Xun, who exactly is the ‘dog’ in the bot lane?”
When the two were at their peak, their respective fans often looked down on the other, and unanimously agreed that if you tethered a literal dog to either of them, they could produce the same level of lane dominance.
Chen Shu: “Anyone who has watched the show and has eyes should be able to tell who the stupid dog is.”
Jiang Xun protested loudly, “…I’m not stupid!”
【Shouldn’t you be protesting that you’re not a dog? Your focus is all wrong, hey!】
【Dumb dog, silly dog, stinky dog—pick one.】
【He’s the kind that especially likes to bark.】
【Pro players watching this will be so mad they can’t sleep at night, knowing they lost to a silly dog.】
“Mm-hmm.” Chen Shu nodded dismissively. “I shouldn’t discriminate against the mentally challenged.”
Jiang Xun: “…”
“Ahem… let’s get back to the questions.” The PD rescued Jiang Xun again. “Ninth question, for Lin Shen… when will your aesthetics keep up with the times?”
Lin Shen: “…Perhaps in the not-too-distant future.”
“Tenth question, for Cen Jing: do you eat cilantro?”
Cen Jing: “…Yes.”
“Eleventh, for Chu Xingyun: will there be new work after Long Time No See finishes recording?”
Chu Xingyun: “I always have new work, it’s just behind the scenes.”
“Twelfth, for Chen Shu: have you ever read fanfics about you and Jiang Xun?”
Chen Shu: “No.”
“For Ye Hancheng: you’ve mostly done feature films and dramas. Have you ever thought about trying other genres? Like an idol drama?”
Ye Hancheng: “I certainly want to try more things, but idol dramas are a bit too far… let’s leave those to the young people.”
“For Cen Jing: do you like your dad more or your mom more?”
Cen Jing: “…My mom.”
…
The “Questions from Netizens” segment proceeded smoothly. Some of the later questions were odd, but none were too out of line. Until the final question—
“For Cen Jing: is the current state of ‘Gaoshan Jingxing’ HE (Happy Ending), BE (Bad Ending), or ing (ongoing)?”
After asking, the PD thoughtfully provided definitions for the terms, including “Gaoshan Jingxing” and the abbreviations.
【Oh my god, the ‘face-to-face’ moment I was both dreading and expecting is finally here… I’m almost too scared to listen, what do I do?】
【Are we about to get an official status given by the source himself? (Moved)】
【Gaoshan Jingxing will never BE!!】
“It must be ing, right? HE or BE—hasn’t it already been completely defined?” Ye Hancheng, who had a bit of CP knowledge, spoke up.
“In theory, it should be like that.” Cen Jing’s lips curled into a perfect arc. “But I know this answer might cause many unnecessary misunderstandings. In truth… ‘Gaoshan Jingxing’ never actually started, so there is no HE or BE, and ‘ing’ doesn’t exist either.”
After he said this, the room fell into total silence.
The PD’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t know how to smooth things over. This Cen Jing person looked gentle, yet he used the calmest tone to say the most terrifying words to CP fans…
Saying it “never started” was equivalent to a total denial of “Gaoshan Jingxing.”
Finally, it was Chu Xingyun who broke the silence. He wore the same smile as Cen Jing and spoke as if it didn’t matter: “Then we can just start over now.”
【I feel like I just died and came back to life.】
【I thought they were Kind Father/Strict Mother, but are they actually Strict Father/Kind Mother?】
【I told you not to bring CP shipping in front of the real people!!! What was the person who asked this thinking!!】
【True, if you think about it, if Cen Jing had answered ‘ing,’ he definitely would have been scolded for baiting the shippers…】
“Then I’ll make a statement.” Ye Hancheng raised his hand and spoke with a serious face: “The CP between me and Lin Shen is BE, and there is absolutely no chance of starting over.”
Lin Shen: “?”
Ye Hancheng was very satisfied with his speech. “That’s how it is.”
“Screw you…” Lin Shen, who didn’t understand what this had to do with him, decided to just disagree for the sake of it. “Is it your turn to talk?”
“Hahaha…” The PD found his rhythm again. “Actually, everyone coming here is a new beginning. Well then, that’s it for this episode’s ‘Questions from Netizens.’ You can follow our official account; we’ll have a new round of question collection then.”
The topic successfully returned to the tracks.
“Before the segment officially starts, we want to ask today’s chefs, Teacher Ye and Teacher Cen… was it tiring preparing a meal for six people?”
“Not tiring at all,” Ye Hancheng answered honestly. “With Xiao Cen helping me and chatting with me, I could cook for a whole afternoon without a problem.”
Cen Jing echoed, “Big Brother Ye and I have great coordination.”
“Mm, so as not to exhaust the guests.” The PD ignored their unexpected answers and continued: “The production team is covering tonight’s dinner!”
Then, he changed his tone: “As for how sumptuous the dinner will be, that depends on how well you complete the upcoming tasks.”
“Before starting the tasks, let me introduce tonight’s dinner. They say that when you come to…”
As the PD introduced them, the corresponding dishes were brought out. There were eight main dishes and several side dishes.
“Next, the production team will provide three challenges for you to choose from. The challenges last up to eight rounds. For every failure, you must discuss and remove one of the main dishes. If you fail all eight rounds, you’ll only be eating side dishes today.”
Chu Xingyun raised his hand to ask: “Does that mean if we succeed in the first round, we keep all eight dishes?”
“Exactly.” The PD nodded in affirmation. “If there are no further questions, I’ll start introducing the challenges.”
The three challenges provided were simple in rules and very classic.
The first: Idiom Solitaire. The production team provides the first idiom, and the guests must complete the chain within 3 seconds. One full circuit counts as a success.
The second: Drawing Charades. The production team provides a general category (like TV dramas or characters) and keywords to the first person, who passes it down the line. The last person must guess the answer.
The third: Identify the Face. The production team provides pictures of people, and the guests must name the person or the character. One full circuit is a success.
After confirming that all six had no objections to the rules, the first round of the challenge, “Identify the Face,” officially began.