The day ‘Shall We Date?’ officially began airing arrived.
At 6 a.m., Jiang Qingzhou, still drifting through a good dream, was woken by an annoying string of doorbell rings.
Still carrying the irritability of being woken up, Jiang Qingzhou stormed to the door in his slippers, ready to snap at whoever it was the moment he opened it.
But the other person’s single line, “Mr. Jiang, Mr. Xiao asked me to take you to the airport,” immediately took the fire out of him.
Judging by the appearance and age of the man standing at the door, this had to be Xiao Wenyao’s driver, Uncle Zhang.
Among all the people around Xiao Wenyao in the book, Uncle Zhang was the only one who genuinely respected Jiang Qingzhou.
Drawing on his memory of how the Jiang Qingzhou in ‘Fall into the Abyss’ carried himself, Jiang Qingzhou said gently, “All right, sorry to trouble you, Uncle Zhang. Give me a moment, I’ll be ready soon.”
“No rush, Mr. Jiang, take your time,” Uncle Zhang said. “I’ll wait for you in the car.”
The door closed again, and Jiang Qingzhou went back to the bathroom to shower, then pulled on the outfit he’d picked out the night before.
He sat down at the vanity and did himself some simple makeup.
To make a good impression on Liang Tingyun, he pulled out all the stops, refining himself down to every last strand of hair.
‘Shall We Date?’ was being filmed on a small island in S City, a famous tourist destination more than two thousand kilometers away.
Jiang Qingzhou set out from Xiao Wenyao’s villa at 7:30 in the morning.
He first spent over an hour in a private car to the airport, then three hours on a plane to reach S City, then went through another hour or so in a car arranged by the production team and a twenty-minute cruise.
All told, the whole trip took more than seven hours.
At three in the afternoon, an utterly exhausted Jiang Qingzhou finally dragged his suitcase onto the island, carefully preserved hairstyle still intact after the entire journey.
To build up a sense of mystery, the production team’s camera moved slowly upward from the simple black-and-white canvas shoes on Jiang Qingzhou’s feet.
The floor-length, high-waisted black wide-leg pants paired with a plain white T-shirt had the live chat going wild.
【Those long legs, I knew right away it had to be my Daddy Tingyun.】
【Those familiar canvas shoes, that’s got to be Daddy Tingyun for sure!】
【Ahhh, such long legs, such a slim waist, Daddy Tingyun I can’t take it!!!】
【Is Daddy Tingyun’s waist really that slim? Feels like I could wrap one hand around it.】
Finally, shielding his eyes with one hand against the harsh sunlight, Jiang Qingzhou, brows slightly furrowed and expression lost, looked toward the villa not far off, and his face appeared on camera.
The fans who’d been camped in the livestream since early morning, guessing the newcomer was Liang Tingyun, exploded on the spot.
【What the—it’s actually that little bitch Jiang Qingzhou!!!】
【Ahhhhh, Jiang Qingzhou’s wearing the same outfit as Daddy Tingyun again, when I saw those shoes I really thought Daddy Tingyun had arrived, turns out it’s that little bitch Jiang Qingzhou, I’m so mad!!!】
【Jiang Qingzhou must be desperate for attention, he actually dared to come. Isn’t he afraid Daddy Tingyun will tear him apart?】
【Quick, quick, bring the incense burner, this is seriously bad luck.】
Jiang Qingzhou, a theater and performance major who’d been busy preparing his graduation thesis right before transmigrating, had a fairly sharp instinct for cameras.
The instant he caught sight of the lens, he immediately smoothed out his furrowed brow and put on a bright, sincere smile, waving hello to the viewers watching. “Good afternoon, everyone.”
In the original book, Jiang Qingzhou had completely burned through all his goodwill with the public because of Xiao Wenyao’s antics.
If this kept up, he’d never get anywhere in the entertainment industry.
Over the past few days, he’d thought it over, besides currying favor with Liang Tingyun, he also needed to build up his own strength.
Otherwise, once the dating show ended, if he still hadn’t won Liang Tingyun over, he might never get another chance to be near him.
He had to use this one month to turn things around, clean up his image, and win the audience’s goodwill.
【Ahhhh, he actually has the nerve to smile! Who the hell wants to say good afternoon to him?! If it weren’t for Daddy Tingyun, I wouldn’t even open this trash show!】
【I don’t get it, how did a nobody who only knows how to ride on other people’s fame like Jiang Qingzhou even get on this show?! Never mind that the other five guests are all bigger names than him, even their ages don’t match up.】
【Obviously someone’s backing him. Wasn’t there a rumor that some big shot is keeping him? With that little bitch’s poor family, there’s no way he could afford that many outfits matching Daddy Tingyun’s.】
【Which big shot? I should start a crowdfund to get him some glasses.】
【That doesn’t add up though? Would a big shot who’s keeping him let him go on a dating show?】
【Not everyone who goes on a dating show is there to date, take that little bitch Jiang Qingzhou, for instance. I bet he’s only here for the exposure!】
【Everyone, let’s boycott little bitch Jiang starting with ourselves.】
After saying hello, Jiang Qingzhou looked away and kept dragging his suitcase, huffing and puffing as he made his way toward the villa.
Only once he stepped inside the villa, the muggy outdoor air shut out behind the door, did his furrowed brow finally relax.
Jiang Qingzhou set down his luggage, changed into slippers, stood in the doorway, craned his neck toward the living room, and called out softly, “Hello? Anyone here?”
Only silence answered him.
Clearly, he was the first one to arrive.
With nothing else to do, Jiang Qingzhou decided on his own to take a tour of the villa.
The villa had three floors total, and to let viewers get a better look at the guests’ daily lives, cameras were installed everywhere, inside and out.
Besides the standard amenities, the villa was also specially equipped with a gym, a small home theater, an outdoor swimming pool, and a rec room and small karaoke room for entertainment.
Jiang Qingzhou toured the whole place, muttering to himself the entire way.
He was extremely pleased with the villa’s rec room.
He didn’t have many hobbies on an ordinary day, just reading novels and playing mahjong, and this rec room felt like it had been built straight out of his heart’s desire.
【Wait, what is he even smiling about?!】
【Why hasn’t Daddy Tingyun shown up yet? Even any other guest would do at this point, looking at that little bitch’s face is starting to make me sick.】
【Fam, I can’t take it anymore, I’m out. Someone let me know on Weibo when Daddy Tingyun shows up.】
In the short half hour since Jiang Qingzhou had appeared, the livestream’s viewer count dropped straight from 13 million to 3 million.
Facing a screen full of abuse and a viewer count that kept plummeting, the production team was frantic, at their wits’ end.