Chapter 1

Late at night, outside a certain gay bar, a loud exclamation drew the attention of nearby passersby: “A variety show? Xiao Bai, are you finally about to make it big?”

Bai Siyi quickly reached out, covering Meng Chen’s mouth and dragging him to a corner beside the bar. Lowering his voice, he scolded, “Keep it down!”

Bai Siyi himself was deeply conflicted. The director who approached him to record the show had stopped him on the street just the day before.

At the time, he thought the person might be a scammer.

Meng Chen whispered, “But it’s Director Liu from First Heartbeat! That show’s first season was a nationwide hit, and the amateur guests on the program are all top stars now, earning appearance fees in the tens of millions.”

Bai Siyi was well aware—he had already looked up everything there was to know about First Heartbeat online.

The fee they offered him was 500,000 yuan after tax.

Half a million. For someone in his current situation, it was like a lifeline in a snowstorm.

Meng Chen stroked his chin. “Xiao Bai, just the other day you said a fan tipped you a million, but you didn’t dare take it. Now this variety show comes knocking—I think you should totally go for it.”

Bai Siyi sighed. “Yeah, 500,000.”

Working in the factory earned him 4,000 yuan a month, which was 48,000 a year. His math wasn’t great, but someone could help him figure out how many years he’d need to work to make 500,000.

As for that fan who tipped him—well, that was a long story.

Because of his family’s financial struggles, Bai Siyi had dropped out of high school to work. Without an education or skills, it was hard for him to find a good job or earn big money.

Fortunately, he was young, good-looking, and had some experience with dancing and voice acting. During the day, he worked on a factory assembly line, earning a basic wage with meals, accommodations, and social insurance covered. At night, he danced at a bar to make extra money.

But those incomes barely made a dent in his expenses. So, he started experimenting with voice acting videos, becoming a two-dimensional voice actor on social media. On his days off, he’d find time to clip classic scenes from anime, voice all the roles himself, and post them online. Slowly, he gained a following and now had over 100,000 followers on his channel, “Xiaoyang Baibai(Little Lamb Baibai).” Occasionally, he even received small sponsorships.

One particular fan of his account, Xiaoyang Baibai, had been following him for a long time, occasionally sending him private messages of encouragement. They said they loved his videos, praised him for being amazing, and hoped he’d keep producing great content.

But then, out of the blue, that fan tipped him a million yuan. Bai Siyi couldn’t help but overthink it, especially since his account was marked as female.

Back in high school, his family went bankrupt, owing millions. His mother suffered from depression and separation anxiety, leaving Bai Siyi constantly short on money.

Still, millions weren’t an insurmountable amount—he believed he could pay it off within his lifetime. There was no need to compromise his conscience.

It was just like his dancing at the bar: he only worked as part of the low-paying atmosphere team, refusing to perform spicy table dances.

There were plenty of ways to make money, and he felt he hadn’t reached the point where he needed to cross his bottom line.

Meng Chen slapped him on the shoulder. “It’s just an online dating show, isn’t it? Go for it! If you don’t click in seven days, you can just ghost them, take the money, and leave. Plus, with your looks, you might even blow up and become famous!”

Bai Siyi replied listlessly, “The director wants me to cross-dress for the show. Isn’t that just lying to people?”

Not to mention, just thinking about it was already social suicide.

Meng Chen said, “Oh, come on! The director and the crew all work off a script. Why are you so worried about this? I watched the first season of First Heartbeat—there was even a rich second-generation guy pretending to be a factory worker to win over the female guests. It’s all scripted personas! Since the director wants you to cross-dress and do online dating, who knows? They might even pair you with a total hunk!”

Bai Siyi: “…”

Speechless, Bai Siyi replied, “How is that even possible? You’ve got quite the imagination.”

That being said, he couldn’t deny his heart skipped a beat at the idea. Without wasting any time, he went online to search for information about the second season of First Heartbeat.

To his surprise, the online dating show was indeed trending. The first season was still wildly popular, and discussions about the second season were everywhere.

【Everyone, everyone! The second season of First Heartbeat is coming soon!】

【What? So soon? I just rewatched the first season, and now the second one is already here? Director Liu works fast!】

【Whew, I just got back from checking the official account. All I can say is—it’s going to be intense! The production team really knows how to stir things up.】

【Four men and four women, with a seven-day online chatting phase. On the eighth day, they meet in person, and if someone gets rejected on the spot, they’re out. Then, a new guest replaces them. Woohoo! Wouldn’t being rejected like that be super embarrassing? hides face and laughs.jpg】

【I heard the male contestants are a mix of a businessman, an actor, an athlete, and a student. I’m just wondering, if the businessman gets rejected, will it be like the end of the world for him? dog head emoji.jpg】

—

The hashtag #SecondSeasonOfFirstHeartbeat quickly shot up to the trending topics.

Bai Siyi realized he was late to the party. Only now did he notice that the show inviting him to participate was already trending online.

Bai Siyi sighed. “It looks like this show has plenty of money to burn. They haven’t even finalized the cast, and they’re already spending on trending topics. Chen, I guess I’ll have to give it a shot.”

Meng Chen, also scrolling through the trending news, said enviously, “Xiao Bai, if you make it big, don’t forget me! When you’re famous, pull me up with you. I’m so tired of working night shifts as a bar hype guy.”

“Damn, I’ve had enough of this crappy life,” he muttered.

Bai Siyi patted him on the head. “Don’t worry. If I make it big, I’ll fund you to open your own bar. We’ll be our own bosses.”

Bai Siyi himself was drowning in debt, owing millions. Compared to most, he was in even greater need of money. Over the past few years, he had been juggling three jobs every day to pay off his debts, working harder than most people could imagine. So he completely understood Meng Chen’s desperation to change his circumstances.

And he, too, wanted to stop dancing at bars late at night.

If you could walk on a proper path, who would willingly wade through the mud?

First Heartbeat was the first online dating variety show of its kind. With the massive success of the first season, the second season was highly anticipated.

The more attention the show got, the greater the pressure on the production team.

Director Director Liu hadn’t slept well for days.

As the live stream date drew closer, Director Liu grew increasingly anxious, most of which stemmed from the overwhelming success of the first season.

The more successful the first season was, the greater the expectations for the second. If this season turned out to be a flop, his peers in the industry would surely laugh him out of the room.

In the production office, Director Liu paced back and forth, tugging at his hair in frustration. He asked his assistant, “Has that Xiao Bai returned our call yet?”

The assistant, who was busy contacting the other contestants, replied with some concern, “Not yet, Director Liu. To be honest, our request is… a bit much.”

Last night, Director Liu had taken his team out for drinks and late-night snacks at a street-side eatery. Midway through their drinking session, Director Liu suddenly rushed out and grabbed a passing girl—wait, no—a long-haired, very pretty young man.

He asked if the guy wanted to make some money.

It was laughable, the young man kicked Director Liu on the spot. Even now, Director Liu still had a bruise on his stomach.

After much effort to clear up the misunderstanding, the young man finally sat down to hear about the online dating live stream. But as soon as Director Liu opened his mouth, he proposed that the man participate dressed as a woman.

Cross-dressing for an online dating show, matched with straight men!

Even if no romantic connection was required, with such a large live audience, any guy would face ultimate public humiliation, right?

The assistant thought, Unless the guy is drowning in debt and absolutely desperate for money, no sane person would agree to cross-dress for an online dating live stream just for 500,000 yuan!

Director Liu kept pacing anxiously. He had a lot of faith in Xiao Bai. If Xiao Bai didn’t agree, where could he find another handsome guy of the same caliber?

It would all be perfect viral content!

If Xiao Bai didn’t come, the viral moments wouldn’t come either. How could Director Liu possibly sleep at night?

Smacking his forehead, Director Liu declared, “If he hasn’t called back by today, I’ll contact him myself tomorrow! Meanwhile, reach out to the backup contestants and check their availability. We need to have multiple options ready—time is running out.”

The assistant nodded seriously, “Understood, Director Liu.”