Since there were no group activities, Xi Yue hadn’t returned all night.
For an artist of his caliber, having many schedules is normal—it’s impossible for him to spend all day playing around in this livestream room with them.
The entire villa was basically filled with livestream cameras everywhere.
This morning, it was Zhong Hui, the male guest, who cooked, and it was quite delicious, earning widespread praise.
After the meal, Jiang Ning sat on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.
With Xi Yue not back, no group activities could proceed.
At this hour in the morning, with Xi Yue—the traffic magnet—absent, the livestream room only had a small number of viewers occasionally sending a comment.
Jiang Ning suddenly felt the sofa beside her sink.
Turning her head, she saw Shen Yiqiao sitting next to her, who said, “Ningning, the viewers are all asking you to open a Weibo account.”
“Alright.” Jiang Ning perked up and took out her phone. “Can you teach me? I’m not very good at it.”
Shen Yiqiao was happy to help, taking Jiang Ning’s phone and tapping away.
“You still need artist verification. I’ll help you with the auxiliary verification, but we need someone else to help too. I’ll go to the kitchen and find Qin Lang.”
Just as Shen Yiqiao was about to stand up with Jiang Ning’s phone, a hand reached out from behind her and took the phone.
Shen Yiqiao turned around. “Huh? Brother Xi, you’re back?”
“Just got back.” Xi Yue glanced at the verification interface on the phone. “Why make it so complicated?”
He leaned lazily against the wall beside the sofa, took out his own phone, and tapped away with his thumb, performing a series of operations.
Afterward, he even took the liberty of following his own account from Jiang Ning’s Weibo.
Once done, Xi Yue returned the phone to Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning couldn’t shake the feeling that Xi Yue was up to no good.
She checked her phone back and forth several times.
Xi Yue scoffed. “What are you looking for? I didn’t do anything.”
Jiang Ning: “I’m afraid you’re eyeing the fifty cents in my account.”
Xi Yue: “Me, eyeing your little money? I didn’t even accept the fifty thousand you transferred to me.”
Jiang Ning said coldly, “I thought you had the self-awareness to know that your plain congee and steamed buns aren’t worth fifty thousand.”
Shen Yiqiao, who had been standing nearby, had been dying of curiosity.
She finally couldn’t hold back and whispered to Jiang Ning, “Ningning, did you and Brother Xi know each other before?”
Xi Yue: “Yes.”
Jiang Ning: “No.”
Xi Yue’s face instantly darkened, his expression so gloomy it seemed like water could drip from it.
“Is knowing me embarrassing? Back then, when we were dating—”
Jiang Ning caught sight of the livestream camera nearby and quickly interrupted him.
“I’m just afraid that if your fans find out, I won’t be able to resist telling them about how you fought with the school bully from the neighboring school in high school. Even though you won, you were so arrogant you laughed up at the sky and ended up falling butt-first into a fountain. Everyone thought you were so scared you wet your pants.”
Xi Yue: “…”
Shen Yiqiao: “…”
…
A few minutes earlier.
Xi Yue’s Weibo account, which hadn’t posted personal updates in ages, popped up with a system notification.
[I’m helping Jiang Ning apply for verification…]
A group of fans, seeing that Xi Yue had posted, immediately rushed to grab the top comments.
[First! Brother Xi, notice me!]
[Brother Xi, I’ve been a fan for three years. It’s my turn to be noticed, right?]
[What is Brother Xi doing? Helping Jiang Ning with verification?]
[Wait, who did Xi Yue follow???]
Xi Yue’s follower count had always been a big fat zero, so when a single “1” suddenly appeared, it immediately drew the attention of many fans who clicked to check.
It turned out to be Jiang Ning, who had just registered on Weibo.
And the two were following each other.
【Quick, go check the livestream, I’m dying of laughter. How are these two so hilarious together?】
This comment instantly grabbed the attention of Xi Yue’s fans.
【Sisters, hurry and beg Jiang Ning to say more! I’m so curious about what the troublemaker Xi-ge was like in high school!】
【Blind students, haven’t any of you noticed the key point?! Jiang Ning and Xi-ge went to the same high school!】
Although fans could guess from the way the two interacted that they knew each other, no one expected they had known each other since so early—they were actually high school classmates!
Xi Yue’s family background was completely public. Everyone assumed he must have attended a well-funded private high school. If Jiang Ning could get in too, her family background probably wasn’t bad either, right? So how come she didn’t even understand online shopping?
【What would a true young lady who’s waited on hand and foot know about that? Her everyday clothes are probably all custom-made.】
【But wait, even if she’s a young lady, she wouldn’t buy no-name brands when shopping online, would she?】
Everyone thought of Jiang Ning’s head-to-toe PDD outfit that cost less than a hundred yuan and fell silent.
【Maybe… maybe she was a special admission student from a poor background?】
【A special admission student studying abroad?】
【Government-sponsored, of course. My dad’s brother’s son’s girlfriend’s aunt’s best friend was a special admission student—her scholarship was hundreds of thousands a year. Those schools are loaded.】
Jiang Ning’s background had everyone scratching their heads in curiosity.
Meanwhile, the show’s popularity continued to soar.
After just one day of livestreaming, it had already shot to number one in variety show ratings.
Jiang Ning’s Weibo account also gained hundreds of thousands of active followers within hours of being created.
The second group bonding activity kicked off live on air.
It was a wilderness adventure project, lasting two days and two nights.
The six guests could only blindly choose one supply pack each. Food, daily necessities, sleeping gear, first aid supplies, and so on were all packed into different backpacks.
In other words, the six guests had to work together to survive these two days and two nights.
The thought of going into the wilderness to feed mosquitoes made several guests groan in misery.
The director, right on the bus, pulled out a large banner, unfurled it, and tried to motivate them.
“Everyone, we must have team spirit! A new adventure lies ahead!”
Jiang Ning’s wandering gaze fell on the banner, and she murmured the words aloud.
“No challenge.”
“Fear victory.”
“Sleepy sleepy sleepy.”
“Hard hard hard.”
Everyone: “…”
The furious director shoved the banner right in Jiang Ning’s face.
“It’s meant to be read vertically!”
“Fear no hardship!”
“Challenge hardship!”
“Overcome hardship!”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She apologized sincerely, “I’m sorry, Director.”
The livestream audience was practically laughing themselves silly.
【With just a few words, little sis made this already uninspired team-building activity even more depressing.】
【Haven’t you all noticed that this girl has a really strange quality? She answers every question, but she seems completely uninterested in everything, like an office worker forced to work overtime for a year.】
【Why make it so complicated? It’s just a simple, faint sense of lifelessness.】
【Mouth: Okay. Heart: Fuck this.】
【Hahahaha, exactly!】
#Jiang Ning, A Subtle Sense of Death# became a trending topic after being joked about by viewers.
Jiang Jintao deeply detested her depression, as if Jiang Ning were a stain on his life.
He often demanded that Jiang Ning not act abnormally in crowded places.
When Jiang Ning was young, her mother, seeing her love for performing, used the reasoning, “Aren’t you worried she might have an episode in public if it gets worse? Letting her practice in crowded places might help,” to mediate with Jiang Jintao on her behalf.
But after her mother died, there was no longer anyone to stand gently in front of her like that.
…
After getting off the bus and arriving at the gathering point, the director suddenly announced mysteriously, “Today, we have a special guest joining us for the team-building activity.”
After variety shows gain popularity, they often bring in popular guests or those needing promotion in this way.
When the special guest stepped out in front of the camera, several guests let out a “Wow,” clearly indicating this guest was the former type.
“Wow! Huang Wanqing!”
Hearing the name, Jiang Ning finally glanced up slightly to look at the newcomer.
Huang Wanqing, a top-tier actress.
Of course, Jiang Ning knew her too.
Huang Wanqing greeted everyone.
When it was Jiang Ning’s turn, she smiled warmly, appearing particularly familiar. “It really is you. Before I came, I thought it might just be someone with the same name.”
Both the live-stream audience and the people on-site were surprised.
First knowing Xi Yue, and now a top-tier actress—was Jiang Ning’s network in the industry this impressive?
Shen Yiqiao clicked her tongue directly. “Ningning, do you two know each other too?”
Jiang Ning replied indifferently, “We’ve only met a few times.”
Huang Wanqing said with a bright smile, “Why so cold to me? Your brother often talks about you.”
Jiang Ning sneered, “Is that so? I’m honored.”
Shen Yiqiao seemed to sense that Jiang Ning and Huang Wanqing’s relationship wasn’t as good as Huang Wanqing claimed.
So, she kept quiet in front of the camera.
When the live-stream camera wasn’t focused on them, Shen Yiqiao whispered, “You two don’t get along? I’ll quietly tell Zhong Hui and Qin Lang later not to bring up you and Huang Wanqing. What’s your relationship?”
Jiang Ning said, “My brother’s fiancée.”
“Shouldn’t she be trying to win over you, her future sister-in-law?” Shen Yiqiao scratched her head, confused. “Why does it feel like…”
She racked her brains for a long time but couldn’t find the right words to describe Huang Wanqing’s insincere, smiling attitude.
“My dad didn’t want me to inherit the family business, so he adopted someone—my current brother,” Jiang Ning said calmly. “Once, he told my dad he could marry me and take care of me for life. Huang Wanqing overheard it.”
Shen Yiqiao: “…”
Damn, what a jerk.