Chapter 16

Bai Siyi was alone in the Pink House’s kitchen, searching for something to eat. He found some noodles and greens, quickly boiled a simple bowl of vegetable noodles, mixed it with soy sauce and chili, then wolfed it down before heading to bed.

He was truly exhausted. For years, he had been holding on, constantly reminding himself to endure. As long as he could pay off the millions in debt, he could return to the countryside and live with his mother.

But millions—while it might not sound like much—was an impossible amount for someone like him, with no education and no particular skills.

So, he had always told himself not to think about it. Step by step, earn money steadily, and one day, he would finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But today, when he returned to the neighborhood of his childhood, when he walked once more through the playground that had held all the happiness of his youth, he felt like he just couldn’t hold on anymore.

After ending the call, Bai Siyi didn’t bother with the live stream audience. Instead, he turned to the director accompanying him. “Sorry, I’m exhausted. Can I go to my room and rest?”

Even now, for the sake of that 500,000 yuan, if the staff had said no, he wouldn’t have gone to rest.

That was just how the adult world worked—there was no room for selfish whims.

The staff member could tell that Bai Siyi was feeling down. There were no tasks at the moment, so they nodded. “Of course. Get some good rest, Xiao Bai.”

—

Meanwhile, the live stream audience was heartbroken:

【Xiao Bai looks really upset. Is it because he didn’t get to go to the amusement park?】

【Sigh… Xiao Bai really had it rough today. He stayed up all night looking forward to it, got up early to work at the factory, labored non-stop until 1 o’clock… and then that guy tricked him into going to a children’s amusement park?!】

【Xiao Bai’s life is way too tough. I just hope the meetup day comes soon so he can block that jerk! The production team needs to find him a better male contestant!】

【Don’t worry. Once this show is over, there’ll be a line of people waiting to take Xiao Bai to an amusement park!】

—

Bai Siyi wasn’t upset because Piupiustar had tricked him into going to a children’s playground.

But he didn’t know the audience had misunderstood. And even if he did know, there was no way he could explain it.

Whatever.

Right now, all he wanted was a good sleep, to pull himself together, and to get through the last two days of online chatting.

Just two more days.

It would finally be over soon!

Whenever he felt down, he only had to remind himself that he’d be leaving with 500,000 yuan—and his mood would instantly improve!

—

Bai Siyi took a nap, and by the time he woke up, it was already past five in the afternoon

It was autumn, so the sun was setting early.

The other three female contestants had also returned, and the production team had delivered dinner for them.

The women gathered around the dining table, chatting.

When Qiu Bo saw Bai Siyi, she looked surprised. “Xiao Bai? You were home?”

Bai Siyi had just woken up, wearing loose long sleeves and long pants. He had just washed up, and his damp hair draped over his shoulders.

Pulling himself together, he walked over with a smile. “Yeah, I was exhausted when I got back, so I took a nap.”

Just waking up, Bai Siyi’s skin looked even more rosy. His long black hair draped over his shoulders, making his complexion appear even fairer, and his lips more vibrant. Under the warm lighting, his delicate features had a beauty that was almost androgynous.

Xi Mo looked at him in admiration and sighed, “Xiao Bai, you’re just naturally stunning. I feel ashamed standing next to you.”

Qiu Bo slung an arm over Bai Siyi’s shoulder in a brotherly manner and said, “Xiao Bai, no joke—once the show ends, how about joining our company? My manager is pretty good.”

Bai Siyi awkwardly shook his head. “I don’t think so… I can’t sing or dance.”

Qiu Bo clicked his tongue. “You don’t need to. As long as you can ‘^[1]“wiping windows” (擦玻璃) is an internet slang term in China referring to a specific style of seductive waist movement in dance videos. It originated from male dancers in short videos … Continue readingwipe windows,’ that’s enough.”

Bai Siyi looked confused. “Wipe windows? You can become an idol just by wiping windows?”

“Pfft—”

Sitting across from them, Jiang Mianshu couldn’t hold back her laughter. She looked at Bai Siyi and said, “Actually, Xiao Bai, if you did wipe windows, I bet a lot of people would watch.”

Bai Siyi: “…?”

Live Stream Comments:

【LOL, Xiao Bai really doesn’t know the ‘wiping windows’ joke.】

【To be honest, if Xiao Bai had started a video channel earlier and performed the ‘wiping windows’ dance for us every day, would he even have to worry about money?】

【It’s not too late! I’m heading to Xiao Bai’s Weibo right now to make a wish—I need to see this!】

—

Qiu Bo pulled up a few short videos of handsome men twisting their waists to music and handed his phone to Bai Siyi. “Here, this is ‘wiping windows’.”

Bai Siyi: “…!”

That’s when he realized he had completely misunderstood the term. His ears turned red with embarrassment. “Ah, this is what you meant by wiping windows…”

Well, this he could do!

At “Bright Blue Bar,” he worked in the hype crew, and his dancing was better than most. His slim waist and perky hips were so captivating that even Meng Chen once said his moves could dazzle people.

He wasn’t interested in joining the entertainment industry, but… if simply posting dance videos online could make money… then maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea?

—

The female contestants casually chatted about their dates, but none of them asked Bai Siyi about his.

It was obvious his date didn’t go well—otherwise, he wouldn’t have come back so early to sleep, looking so down.

Just then, the production crew, seeing that their conversation was winding down, handed them an envelope.

As expected, it contained tonight’s task—also their final online interaction task.

Tomorrow night, they would begin preparing for their face-to-face meeting.

Qiu Bo opened the pink envelope and pulled out the task card. Bai Siyi and Jiang Mianshu immediately leaned in. Jiang Mianshu slowly read aloud:

“You’ve known each other for four days now. You’ve gone through introductions and the getting-to-know-you phase. You’ve exchanged unforgettable gifts and experienced your first thrilling date! Now, it’s time for… your photo reveal!”

Bai Siyi’s mouth fell open slightly. “Huh? We’re revealing our photos this soon?”

Well, that makes sense. In a normal online romance, people usually wouldn’t chat for this long without exchanging photos.

Most people send pictures on the first day—how many actually drag it out this long, exchanging gifts and even going on virtual dates?

The live stream viewers had been waiting in the chat for ages just for this moment!

Live Stream Comments:

【Finally! The day has come! I need to see whether that “^[2]“pp油男” (PP yóu nán) is internet slang, usually referring to someone sleazy, overly flirtatious, or giving off a greasy/untrustworthy vibe. “PP” might stand for … Continue readingoily PP man” is human or a ghost!】

【My guess? He’s probably a rough-looking construction worker. To be honest, as long as he’s not too hideous, that style can still be kinda appealing.】

【Come on, Xiao Bai is this gorgeous—no matter what the guy looks like, they won’t match! Ahhh, when is the production team finally going to replace his male partner?!】

—

Qiu Bo put down the task card and said casually, “Revealing photos? Easy. A quick online search will bring up tons of mine.”

As she spoke, she actually started searching for her own pictures online.

Bai Siyi was speechless. He had plenty of personal photos too, but most of them were of him dressed as a guy. He did have a few in women’s clothing, but those were rare and mostly from his time working as part of the atmosphere team at the bar.

At that moment, Piupiustar had probably received the task card as well.

Soon, Bai Siyi got a message: 【Hey, macho man, let’s see the photo. Kitten rubbing paws emoji】

Bai Siyi: “…”

He replied: 【Brother, you go first. Hook finger emoji】

After sending the message, he scrolled through his phone album. Back at the bar, they had dress codes for special occasions like Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and Christmas.

It took him a while, but he finally found a photo from last year’s Christmas event, where the atmosphere team had done a reindeer cosplay.

All the young members dressed as reindeer, wearing red tank tops and red shorts, with reindeer antlers on their heads and cute reindeer-style face makeup. Bai Siyi had always had long hair, and that day, he happened to wear it down.

In the photo, he really looked like a girl. The adorable reindeer makeup played a big part, and the golden bell around his neck conveniently covered his Adam’s apple.

Satisfied with his choice, he turned to Qiu Bo and asked, “What do you think of this one?”

His real question was: Does this photo make it obvious that I’m a guy?

Qiu Bo took a glance and gasped, “Wow, Xiao Bai, this is too cute!”

Bai Siyi felt a bit embarrassed and muttered, “I don’t have many photos of myself in women’s clothing, so this is all I’ve got.”

He wasn’t about to go back to his room just to put on makeup and take new pictures—that was way too much effort. Right now, he just wanted to lie down and relax.

Besides! Piupiustar isn’t worth it!

Qiu Bo teased him, “Aren’t you afraid he’ll fall for you after seeing such a cute photo?”

Bai Siyi hesitated for a moment. “…He probably won’t, right?”

After chatting for the past few days, to be honest, Bai Siyi felt that his attitude had already been quite clear. Besides, Piupiustar’s responses to him were getting more and more perfunctory.

Bai Siyi could definitely sense it.

Meanwhile, Huo Xingming had no such trouble choosing a photo.

Confident and self-absorbed, his phone album was full of pictures of himself.

But to maintain his “character setting,” he carefully selected a photo from one of his past hiking trips.

In the picture, he was wearing a windbreaker, with his muscles completely concealed by the layers of fabric. The only thing visible was his sun-darkened face.

A perfect way to ensure that the so-called “macho man” wouldn’t catch a glimpse of his well-built physique!

Even though he was mixed-race, his skin tone took after his mother. During that period, he had been obsessed with hiking, so his skin had tanned significantly. He had also shaved his head close.

While none of that could truly hide his strikingly handsome features, at the very least, he no longer looked like a macho hunk—more like an unkempt street punk instead.

Huo Xingming was very satisfied with his choice. “Not bad. This one fits my character setting perfectly.”