Time rewounded ten minutes.

“You absolutely won’t believe where I saw Wang Qi’s older cousin.”

Feng Chuan stared at Song Yun, who looked a bit awkward in front of the livestream, and typed in the group chat in disbelief.

She had only planned to relax her nerves today and happened to notice a new livestream variety show on Pineapple TV, so she clicked in to watch.

—And then she got completely captivated by Wang Qi’s older cousin.

“Where?”

Her friends in the group chat asked curiously.

Feng Chuan immediately dropped the link and sighed.

“I never thought I’d get to witness this live. By the way, does Wang Qi know?”

“That guy definitely knows. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been online so little recently. He’s probably watching live right now. But it seems the older cousin and the brother-in-law have reconciled.”

Her friends in the chat said.

“Can’t help it—they’re married. And that brother-in-law only seems to mishandle things with the older cousin and his parents. Otherwise, he seems like a normal person.”

“Look, he’s whispering to the older cousin. They seem to get along pretty well.”

Her girlfriends said this while Feng Chuan shook her head at the flurry of scrolling live comments.

‘Whispering?’ ‘Cute couple alert!’ ‘Teacher, I report someone secretly dating and sneaking away!’

She screenshot them and said: “Now I truly understand the feeling of being an NPC in those gossip articles. Watching these clueless viewers, I feel so satisfied.”

Her girlfriends sent agreeing emoji reactions.

“We get it. That feeling of knowing the truth while everyone else doesn’t.”

At that moment, the observation room guests finished their self-introductions, and the host took the opportunity to explain the rules.

The four couples present would observe the non-celebrities, give comments, and finally select the couple most likely to end up together each day.

The winners would receive a prize sponsored by a company.

Feng Chuan didn’t care much about the prize—it would eventually be donated to some obscure, unheard-of foundation.

Whether it reached those who needed help was a frightening question.

She only wanted to see what kind of non-celebrities were being observed. In past seasons, the non-celebs often looked shockingly unattractive.

While it didn’t cause cyberbullying, the ratings did plummet.

Fortunately, this time the director was competent. The first three female guests were stunning in their own ways, and the male guests were reasonably attractive.

None of them exuded that fake “manly” aura created by overused scents.

Feng Chuan nodded in temporary satisfaction.

The live comments started streaming.

“The quality of these non-celebrity guests is so high. At least their features are good, and the girls are super pretty.”

“I’m excited to see who comes in next.”

“By the way, why three girls and five boys? That’s uneven.”

“It’s an old variety show trick. Wait until the show reaches mid-season and everyone has fixed Cps, then they’ll introduce the remaining two female guests. Chaos always sells.”

“And now that the country has relaxed rules a bit, the chaos might get even wilder.”

The director smiled at the scrolling comments.

Yes, that was her plan. The script was meant as a big free-for-all since management had loosened restrictions. She aimed to give the audience the drama they wanted.

In the end, she’d elevate the story, remove the most flirtatious participants, and promote faithfulness—something management would approve of.

She didn’t mind the audience guessing the plot. A good script still made people want to watch the chaos unfold live.

Besides…

The director looked at the host, who was introducing the fourth male guest.

—Her secret weapon had not yet appeared.

Thinking this, she chuckled “hee hee hee,” startling her assistant.

Luckily, no one else was paying attention, everyone else managed the live traffic.

Feng Chuan noticed the fourth male guest’s entrance differed from the others.

—He even had BGM!

This obvious preferential treatment made the three other male guests’ expressions sour, while the female guests looked intrigued.

The next second, a figure appeared at the door.

Once viewers saw his face, the live comments exploded.

“No way—this guy with that face is on a dating show? Are you sure he’s not a trainee from some company?”

“That face could instantly make all those average-looking guys look like country bumpkins!”

“Damn, I was about to vote, but then I opened the comments and realized this isn’t a talent show.”

“Can I really watch this face for free?”

“How does he have such striking features and still give off such a fresh vibe?”

“Not only that, there’s a subtle hint of lifelessness, but unlike the usual deadpan of a worker—it’s like he just walked out of a castle, carrying a faint dark and damp aura. Subtle, but unique.”

“Now I finally understand the memes describing ‘a younger brother with charming and radiant features.’ Before, it seemed awkward, but now… hmm, perfect, really striking.”

“You’re just after his body, you’re disgusting.jpg”

“Wu Zetian: You’re new here? I’ve never seen you before.jpg”

The live comments began to spam wildly, but the studio itself remained relatively calm.

The three male guests started clapping for the handsome young man, though they swayed their heads a bit as if mocking themselves.

The female guests remained more reserved, at most showing some interest in their eyes.

At that moment, the host began the usual routine of asking the handsome young man why he joined this dating show.

“…After all, with your looks, you probably aren’t lacking partners, right?”

The host said with a smile, teasing slightly, which was standard variety show operation.

The live comments were already accustomed to this.

“Here we go again, is this one a pure young guy, or busy with work and studies?”

“Not sure, but based on my experience with relationships, this man is definitely experienced.”

The comments teased, and then they heard the handsome young man pause before speaking slowly: “…First, I thank the director for the invitation. Secondly, my husband passed away last year. My family—that is, my brother Song Yun and my brother-in-law Shi Xuanzhu—were very concerned about my mental state. They hoped I could participate in this show and move on from this relationship.”

The handsome young man added coldly: “Although I think it’s unnecessary—I had a very good relationship with my husband.”

The six guests and the host in the studio: “…”

The live comments: “…”

“Ah???”

The studio fell silent, but the comments section went wild.

“Did he just openly say he won’t sell products on livestream anymore?”

“His brother-in-law is Shi Xuanzhu, so he probably doesn’t need to, right?”

“Come on, Shi Xuanzhu is capable, but his popularity isn’t great!”

“The clothes he’s wearing are custom-made and can’t be returned, and the watch on his wrist isn’t a fake. He probably wouldn’t bother with livestream sales.”

“So after welcoming a pure short male, a busy professional, and a cheerful bald athlete, we finally have a handsome widower?!”

“If anyone was dissatisfied before, at least he’s good-looking. Even if his sexual orientation isn’t straight, the director must have had a reason for putting him here—probably to increase show effect and discussion.”

This comment made sense, and the audience began to agree.

“I think he’s just here to be eye candy…”

“Yeah, and the widower persona really…”

“I understand the previous ones. Though not very moral, they seemed almost broken, and so intense.”

“Great, it’s a widower! We’re saved!”

“I knew my instinct never fails. He’s definitely a mature man!”

The comments exploded with discussion. Feng Chuan watched the flood of messages pass by and secretly felt satisfied.

‘They know he’s a widower, but they definitely don’t know how many suitors are after him.’

Meanwhile, the girlfriends’ chat also erupted again. They were a bit puzzled why such a big boss would join a dating show.

Fortunately, Wang Qi provided an explanation:

“Second brother couldn’t leave first cousin alone, so he decided to accompany him on the show. At the same time, first cousin worried second brother wouldn’t move on from that past relationship, so he went too. It also helps with company promotion—second brother just opened an entertainment company.”

This explanation made the girlfriends understand a bit. Then they saw Wang Qi smugly say: “I was planning to resign, but second brother got me a job at his company, covered my social insurance, even paid for a lawyer to help me file a labor arbitration with my previous company. Not a single hour of overtime will be lost, hehe.”

The girlfriends immediately started jokingly attacking Wang Qi, all shouting “never forget to hug the rich one’s leg.”

Feng Chuan followed suit with a few messages, then put her phone down to watch the final male guest.

However, with Ye Wangxing’s widower persona already established, she knew any subsequent male guest, regardless of their persona, would inevitably be overshadowed.

One minute later.

Feng Chuan saw the red-haired man carrying the handsome young man.

She froze.

The live comments were similarly stunned. At first, they were just discussing the fifth male guest’s looks.

“Is he a foreigner? Wow, so handsome! But why sunglasses?”

“No idea, maybe a fashion accessory. But his face is really good-looking.”

“His body’s really fit too, wow.”

But when he didn’t go to the host and instead walked straight to Ye Wangxing, the comments started acting strange.

“Does this foreigner not understand, or is he pretending? Why go straight to the widower—he didn’t even glance at the female guests.”

“Proves a good-looking widower is really attractive.”

“I have a bad feeling. Could this be the director’s second surprise for us?”

“What! Did he just kiss him? Love at first sight isn’t this fast!”

“Does this count as xsr?”

“No way! Even a foreigner can crash a widower’s game!”

“No way, even a foreigner can just storms into the widower’s territory at night?!”

“The one in front didn’t kick at night, he kicked openly!”

Only when the loud slap rang out did the bullet comments pause temporarily. Feng Chuan finally snapped out of it, staring at the red-haired man who had been pushed aside—his mouth was still pixelated, and even a second less censoring could have shut down the entire live broadcast.

Even through the screen, Feng Chuan heard the groans of the director and the staff.

But there was no denying that the red-haired man looked really handsome.

He was tall and muscular, wearing a dog tag that, though scratched, still shone. His jacket was stylish in a streetwear way, but not to the point of being overdone—just perfectly fashionable.

Although his eyes had been hidden behind sunglasses before, his high nose bridge and prominent jawline proved that even if he were ugly, he wouldn’t be very ugly.

Now the red-haired man turned his face, half of his sunglasses knocked off by the slap, revealing his eyes, which seemed like flowing gold—and his model-like face.

His lips were straight, making him look angry.

The handsome young man, who had just slapped him, instinctively stepped back a little, as if afraid of his anger.

Meanwhile, the bullet comments exploded: “Oh oh oh! The slap landed! Well done!” “One slap is not enough for this kind of person.”

Until a new comment appeared: “Wait, something feels off—why does it look like he’s being rewarded?”

As the comment appeared on the screen, the red-haired man pressed his tongue against the cheek that had been slapped and revealed a teasing smile.

“Sweetheart, after a month apart, is this how you treat your friend?”

He didn’t seem to care at all, even curling his lips slightly as he turned to the handsome young man, speaking in a familiar, teasing tone.

The bullet comments went wild again. Some people were already exhausted and couldn’t keep up, but this live broadcast proved to be high-energy the entire time.

“I didn’t forcefully kiss my friend when I got here—also, how did you manage to replace your passport and ID in just a month?”

The handsome young man’s words confused everyone a little, while the red-haired man laughed.

“Sweetheart, next time you destroy my ID, put it on fire—the originals exist, so replacing them is easy.”

Bullet comments: “…”

Even Feng Chuan typed a series of question marks, but just as she tried to send them…

“Too many people, the live room is overcrowded~”

The platform’s little mascot appeared on the screen with a black screen, crying.

The audience, who had been waiting to comment, panicked.

After the live broadcast went offline, everyone flocked to Weibo. Within half an hour, the topic #WhoseTrueHeart reached number one.

After angrily scolding the director and the platform’s maintenance staff, the audience calmed down a bit and started investigating what had happened.

Then they found a screen recording.

—The live viewer count in the top right corner showed that in that instant, over a million people flooded into the live room like a tide.

It crashed the platform.

Although understandable, the internet immediately filled with people going crazy over this dating show.

“I was only halfway through my melon-eating! Mr. Widower Ye and that red-haired guy—what’s their relationship that he didn’t get angry a month ago when his passport was torn, and now he’s forcefully kissing him!”

“Is this a celebrity collapse? Mr. Widower looks really close to his husband!!!”

“Help, fix the live room! Director, I don’t want to watch any fan fights or old-school arguments, I just want to know what’s going on between them!”

The whole internet wailed. Other confused netizens, seeing the screen recording and the two men’s looks, joined the wailing.

Meanwhile, Feng Chuan’s small group chat was also in chaos, all groaning about what happened.

Luckily, they had Wang Qi for inside information.

“My god, the whole director team is in chaos. They contacted the platform and tried to resolve my second cousin’s conflict with that red-haired guy. They almost fought, but security stopped it. It seems my second cousin doesn’t want to continue the live broadcast,” Wang Qi sent in an excited, long message.

The group chat exploded with questions.

“What happened with the passport? What’s your second cousin’s attitude? Is this a case of XSR? Should we call the police?”

After a short disappearance, Wang Qi continued.

“The passport is literal—my second cousin destroyed all of that red-haired guy’s ID and documents to prevent him from coming to China. But unfortunately, this guy’s financial power paved the way, he still came.”

“I wanted to call the police, but…”

Wang Qi typed with visible frustration.

“My second cousin said they have a project with the red-haired guy, deeply tied. The red-haired guy must not enter a police station!” The group’s friends all sent sighing emojis.

“If it were a relationship issue, it could be forgiven, but if it’s a project, it’s really hard to touch…”

After all, it affected many people.

Feng Chuan sighed and asked: “What about your older cousin? What does he think now?”

“What else could he think…”

Wang Qi sighed, looking at Song Yun in Shi Xuanzhu’s arms, typing: “He’s now trying to kill the red-haired guy who forcefully kissed his brother.”

“…But the red-haired guy kept cheerfully calling him ‘big uncle,’ almost making my older cousin spit blood in anger.”

When the live broadcast returned, everyone saw the haggard director, exhausted staff, the other six guests smiling awkwardly, the red-haired handsome guy with bandages on his face, and the cold, beautiful widower.

Under a barrage of bullet comments, the director apologized, and then the platform apologized, saying they had expanded capacity.

This temporarily satisfied the live audience, but questions about the two men dominated the comments, completely covering up fan fights and ranking disputes.

“—Seriously, this kind of drama isn’t even fun to watch!”

One viewer’s comment immediately gained universal agreement.

The director did not clearly answer the incident but vaguely brushed it off.

However, she emphasized the police question.

“—Mr. Ye said there was no need to call the police for now. If needed, his assistant would call the embassy immediately.”

This made the audience speculate wildly, bombarding the comments, but the director remained unmoved and instructed the host to proceed with the script, asking each guest about their ideal type and icebreaker questions.

Even with furious bullet comments, she did not yield.

If she revealed all the truth now, the show’s ratings would drop. She had finally captured a sensational moment and needed to maintain viewership.

—Besides, she didn’t know the truth herself.

The director watched the young man resting on the sofa and the red-haired man happily isolated from Ye Wangxing, her eyes showing no fear—only a desire for ratings.

But she knew she had to control the situation, otherwise, Mr. Ye might get so angry he would quit the show.

She immediately pulled out the next script and started editing in front of all viewers.

While editing, the host approached the handsome young man.

His answer was concise and professional.

“Silver hair, blue eyes, handsome.”

This surprised the host, she thought he would mention his husband. But before she could respond, the red-haired man said, smiling: “Sweetheart, sometimes a change of taste is good. Don’t always cling to that man—by the way, sweetheart, if you got a stand-in, would that old man crawl out of the ground in anger?”

The red-haired man clipped his sunglasses to his collar, blinking his golden eyes at the handsome young man.

Unfortunately, the handsome young man ignored him, turning his head coldly.

Luckily, the host quickly intervened and asked: “By the way, what’s your ideal type…”

The red-haired man perked up, smiling: “Black hair, black eyes, temper not great, but with principles, can’t hit carelessly—strong hitting power…”

He rambled on, making everyone constantly glance at the handsome young man.

The handsome young man’s face grew darker. The director, sensing trouble, instructed the host through an earpiece to interrupt him.

The host, professional as ever, seized a pause and asked: “By the way, you haven’t introduced yourself yet. Would you like to greet the audience?”

The red-haired man smiled and gave his full name.

“Chris Aldrin, nice to meet you!”

He elegantly performed a European aristocratic bow. Then, a short male scream distracted everyone.

The audience turned to see the third guest, a white-collar worker, shocked at the red-haired man. Unsure what happened, they heard the trembling voice: “Sorry, the suspect in the wealthy man’s confinement case a month ago apparently has the same name. I overreacted…”

He apologized instinctively.

Then the red-haired man’s voice came: “Oh, mate, you don’t have to apologize. In fact—”

He adjusted his sunglasses with a smile.

“That was me.”

 

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