Chapter 21

The news about Tong Zhichen caused a stir online for quite some time. He first admitted he was married and then, in front of the entire internet, publicly revealed his wedding date.

His complete disregard for his fans led to a large number of followers unfollowing him on Weibo.

Tong Zhichen didn’t care about this. Nearly facing a near-death experience made him realize many things. Perhaps in life, work, career, and status aren’t the most important. Right now, the most important thing to him is his wife, Jiang Manwen, and he wanted to introduce her to the world.

Qiao Chuchu also received Tong Zhichen’s wedding invitation. The couple even specially chose a time to thank her in person, giving her many expensive gifts, including a million-dollar card and a sports car.

After a few days of rest, Jiang Manwen’s complexion had regained some color, and she looked much better.

She said, “Thank you for your help that day. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to escape so smoothly.”

Her gaze turned to Qiao Chuchu, and she smiled, saying, “I heard you’re in your first year of university now, attending a great music academy. Nowadays, many college students have cars, so we’ve arranged a car for you too.”

Qiao Chuchu felt confused by their overly polite attitude.

“You’re too kind. We didn’t do anything.”

【We didn’t help at all, yet they’re sending so many expensive gifts. How can we accept them?】

When Jiang Manwen heard the voice, a crack appeared on her face. What Tong Zhichen said was true. They could really hear Qiao Chuchu’s inner thoughts.

It was unbelievable!

Qiao Cen, however, was very clear. “No need to be polite, we’ll accept the gifts, and wish you a happy marriage!”

Jiang Manwen smiled gently. “Thank you. We hope you can come to our wedding.”

After the Tong-Jiang couple left, Qiao Chuchu looked at the pile of expensive gifts and said, “Xiao Cen, is it really okay to accept these things?”

“It’s fine, sis. Tong Zhichen is worth billions. These things are nothing to him. If we don’t accept them, it’ll be like looking down on him.” Qiao Cen handed her the car keys and said excitedly, “Sis, want to try the new car?”

Qiao Chuchu took the keys and fell into deep thought. Is this how gifts are exchanged in the upper-class circles?

Once again, she had witnessed it firsthand.

—

Due to the impact of Tong Zhichen’s marriage, the topic surrounding him had gained significant attention, and discussions about him were skyrocketing. The variety show Dear Us also received a lot of attention.

Ratings soared, discussions peaked, and the number of shares surpassed 100 million. It became the ^[1]“dark horse” refers to someone or something that is relatively unknown or unexpected but emerges to achieve success or prominence. It often describes a competitor, candidate, or entity … Continue readingdark horse of the variety show world, jumping straight to the number one spot and becoming the most popular show of the season.

The director was overjoyed and very grateful for Tong Zhichen’s sacrifice—no, for his contribution to the show’s viewership. Even if he were to break the contract and not participate in the second season or any future shows, it wouldn’t matter.

The director had already found the right star to join the second season—a beautiful, delicate friend of his who was also the person he had first dated online.

Even though they had met many times, he was still looking forward to seeing her again!

He sent a few WeChat messages:

“Hehe, the recording time for the second season of the variety show is at eight o’clock tomorrow, remember to wake up early~”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“(Sending love)~”

On the other side, after finishing the advertisement shoot, the girl in the pink dress arrived at the rest area. Upon seeing the news, she tugged at the corner of her mouth and casually replied with a cute emoji.

She then ignored the barrage of messages and instead opened a recent photo she had saved. The youthful and handsome face in the photo was none other than Qiao Cen.

She spoke casually, “Qiao Cen, we’ll be meeting soon~”

—

The recording rules for the second episode of the variety show were similar to the first. The production team arrived at the guests’ homes promptly at eight o’clock to pick them up.

With the experience from the first episode, Qiao Chuchu waved goodbye to her parents and boarded the production team’s vehicle. However, things didn’t go as smoothly as last time. The car broke down halfway, and the location was quite remote.

The driver informed them, “I’ve contacted the mechanic. It will take about an hour to arrive. Waiting for my car will likely delay the afternoon recording. The director suggests you can take another guest’s car, one will arrive in about five minutes.”

Five minutes or an hour—everyone knew which option to choose. Qiao Cen said, “Sis, an hour is too long. How about we take another guest’s car?”

Having already recorded one episode, everyone was familiar with each other.

Qiao Chuchu nodded, “Okay.”

【If we delay the live recording, Qiao Cen’s anti-fans will definitely use it as an excuse to criticize him heavily, and his reputation will be damaged. This is something we cannot tolerate.】

Hearing Qiao Chuchu’s thoughts, Qiao Cen was moved to tears. Sob sob sob, my sister is so good to me!

Qiao Cen: I will spoil my sister even more!

Sure enough, five minutes later, a car stopped in front of them. The driver opened the door and said, “Please get in.”

“Sis, you go first.” Qiao Cen carefully helped Qiao Chuchu into the car, then followed her inside.

Just as Qiao Chuchu was about to sit down, her eyes met those of a pure and beautiful girl sitting in the backseat.

The girl waved at her, “Hello, nice to meet you.”

The unfamiliar beautiful face made Qiao Chuchu pause for a moment. “Hello, who are you?”

【I don’t think I’ve seen her before. Is she a new guest? Or did we get in the wrong car?】

The girl was slightly taken aback. It seemed like the other party only spoke four words, but she had heard so much more.

People in the entertainment industry were very good at controlling their facial expressions, and her confusion quickly faded. She immediately broke into a perfect smile.

“My name is He Xuan, I’m a new guest for the second episode of Dear Us. It’s nice to meet you both.”

Her gaze passed over Qiao Chuchu and landed on Qiao Cen in the back. She smiled brightly, and Qiao Cen was left staring at her in shock.

Qiao Chuchu was puzzled: 【He Xuan? Why does that name sound so familiar?】

She quickly checked He Xuan’s profile and was stunned: 【So she’s the female lead of the ^[2]“white flower” (小白花) is often used metaphorically to describe a person, typically a woman, who appears pure, innocent, delicate, and sometimes overly virtuous.little white flower role! The woman who made Qiao Cen fall head over heels in love! We need to get away! Get away! Get away!】