“Jiang… Jiang Qiyu?!”
“You’re Teacher Changmao?!”
Two exclamations of surprise rang out simultaneously. Almost everyone showed astonishment at her appearance, and the barrage on the big screen exploded into chaos.
【What?! Teacher Changmao is actually Jiang Qiyu? What kind of magical opening is this?】
【I just thought this mysterious guest was a bit crazy, but I didn’t expect her to be a real lunatic. The production team is stirring up trouble.】
【Thanks for the invite, I’m disgusted. What is the production team doing? Can anyone just join a dating show now?】
【Wasn’t there a rumor recently that she was clinging to Lu Heng? She’s not here chasing after Lu Heng again, is she?!】
【So gross. I’m here to watch our handsome Heng and Mianbao interact, not to see Jiang Qiyu, the clinger!】
【…Am I the only one who thinks this lady is pretty good at rhyming?】
Humans are strange creatures. Once they form a fixed stereotype about someone, no matter what that person does, they instinctively dislike them based on preconceived notions.
Even if they felt a flicker of goodwill when her identity was unknown, the moment it was revealed, that feeling would rebound into even stronger disgust.
Jiang Qiyu had long anticipated this. Without even glancing at the barrage, she left her suitcase aside, calmly greeted everyone, and walked forward to take a seat.
You have to admit, the production team really knows how to pick people. Among those present, almost half had a grudge against her.
The female lead, Jiang Mian, had long been thoroughly offended by the original host. The second female lead, Jiang Ling, was the mastermind who instigated the original host to harm her, leading to her being kicked out of the Jiang family.
As for the male lead, Lu Heng, it goes without saying—the way he looked at her was as if he wanted to eat her alive.
【This… what kind of battlefield is this?】
【Jiang Qiyu has a one-sided crush on Lu Heng, Lu Heng and Jiang Mian are an on-screen CP, and Fang Xubai is actually interested in Teacher Changmao… Hiss… Suddenly, I feel this variety show is going to be very entertaining.】
【Now I understand why they brought Jiang Qiyu in as a surprise guest. Production team, you really know how to stir things up.】
The atmosphere at the table was tense, and Jiang Qiyu, being part of it, felt it deeply.
However, she had always taken a relaxed view on making enemies.
If she were kind to everyone and made friends everywhere now, she would naturally experience many painful partings and losses in her old age.
But if she offended one person every day while she was young, she could harvest a bit of happiness each day in her old age. Why not do it?
Under the gaze of disdain and scrutiny, Jiang Qiyu sat down without blushing or her heart racing, her eyes fixed on the bubbling hotpot in the center.
“Ah, the color of this hotpot… Let me taste what’s going on.”
Just as she picked up the utensils beside her to get down to business, someone suddenly interrupted her:
“Teacher Changmao, nice to meet you.”
She turned her head and suddenly met a pair of bright, crescent-moon-like smiling eyes.
Fang Xubai.
A 20-year-old male idol who, for some reason, joined this dating show during the peak of his career. In the original story, he had little screen time and was just a good-looking background character.
But today, unlike the reserved and quiet person from the original story, he seemed particularly enthusiastic.
As soon as Jiang Qiyu settled into her seat, he eagerly struck up a conversation:
“You just said you grew up with one of us… Who is it?”
Fang Xubai had only intended to casually strike up a conversation, but he inadvertently stepped on someone’s tail.
“…”
Upon hearing this, Lu Heng’s already unpleasant expression darkened further. He couldn’t help but curse inwardly at this guy for bringing up such a sensitive topic.
Jiang Qiyu, however, seemed to take interest in his warning glare. Calmly meeting his eyes, she curled her lips into a faint, provocative smile:
“As for that, of course it’s…”
Without any hesitation, she looked directly at Lu Heng and spoke coolly under his increasingly gloomy gaze:
“My dear cousin, Jiang Ling.”
Jiang Ling, Jiang Mian (who had been living outside the family), and Jiang Qiyu were all cousins under the same grandfather.
Their second uncle, Jiang Shinian—Jiang Qiyu’s father—had passed away young. Due to some hidden past events, Jiang Qiyu, born out of wedlock, was taken back into the Jiang family and raised alongside Jiang Ling, the mistakenly swapped fake heiress.
To say they grew up together was no exaggeration.
But to Lu Heng, who felt guilty, these words sounded like a threat regarding their engagement.
“Qiyu…”
Though Jiang Ling’s mind raced with thoughts, when her name was called on live broadcast, she immediately responded with a friendly smile, teasing familiarly:
“Really, you kept even me in the dark about joining this show.”
Beside her, Fang Xubai widened his eyes in surprise:
“You’re really relatives? How come I’ve never heard about it?”
Hearing his question, Jiang Ling naturally prepared to use her usual white lotus rhetoric, subtly shifting blame onto Jiang Qiyu.
But before she could speak, Jiang Qiyu, who had already seen through everything, cut her off.
“Well…”
As she dropped meat into the boiling pot, she casually answered first:
“Strictly speaking, we aren’t really relatives.”
Jiang Ling had been mistakenly swapped at the hospital and shared no blood relation with the Jiang family, so of course, they weren’t relatives.
The words were spoken intentionally, and the listener took them to heart. In her panic, Jiang Ling nearly knocked over the plate beside her.
“Qiyu!”
She had gone to great lengths to convince Grandpa Jiang to keep the true and fake heiress matter a secret. In the eyes of outsiders, she was still the wealthy socialite and celebrity.
If Jiang Qiyu exposed it now, her persona, her fame…
Faced with everyone’s puzzled looks and Jiang Qiyu’s half-smiling gaze, Jiang Ling could only force an awkward smile and try to change the subject:
“Qiyu, you… didn’t used to be like this…”
In her memory, her cousin, having lost both parents at a young age, had been spoiled rotten by the family and was pitifully foolish.
So why… was she so difficult to deal with now?
As soon as she mentioned this, everyone present immediately recalled Jiang Qiyu’s public reputation.
Green tea, vase, throwing tantrums, and the recent trending “crazy” incident, combined with the mysterious guest’s dramatic behavior…
Which version of her was real?
“Cousin, you’re thinking too small, aren’t you?”
Facing everyone’s curious and probing gazes, Jiang Qiyu kept her eyes fixed on the shrimp paste with fish roe she had just added, speaking unhurriedly:
“As the saying goes, reputations vary—some good, some bad. The past is the past; now, it’s abnormal.”
“Huh?”
“Now.”
Because of her words, the live chat was once again flooded with comments.
【Four bars, half the rap game’s cake is yours.】
【Was that slip of the tongue intentional or accidental?】
【The one before, I bet it was intentionally accidental.】
【Feels like she’s the only one at the table who’s genuinely here to eat.】
【Has Jiang Qiyu completely switched up her style? Going for the quirky female celebrity persona?】
【Just seeking attention! As long as she stays away from our handsome Heng, no one cares if she really turns crazy!】