Chapter 3 – This is a Dating Show? Wait, That Can’t Be Right! (2/2)

The anti-fans immediately began to celebrate, using praise of Jiang Qi as an excuse to drag Jiang Wan down.

[Jiang Qi and Jiang Wan went to the same university. Could it be there was some private conflict?]
[Half an industry insider here—when Jiang Qi had just debuted, he rejected a project that included Jiang Wan. Who knows why? So mysterious.]
[So they have old grudges? Jiang Qi! A real man! He’s upfront about who he likes and who he can’t stand. The only honest person left in the entertainment industry!]

The corners of Jiang Wan’s lips twitched faintly as she struggled to maintain a calm expression.

Since Jiang Qi didn’t want to talk to her, she certainly wasn’t going to throw herself at him and get a cold shoulder.

Strictly speaking, Jiang Wan and Jiang Qi did count as acquaintances—he had attended the same high school as she did, just in a different class.

Back then, her deskmate and one of Jiang Qi’s good friends had started dating early, so sometimes the four of them would have meals together.

At the time, they could be considered friends.

Until later…

On the day of their high school graduation, Jiang Qi got drunk and called her, rambling incoherently about who knew what.

He was so drunk his tongue was thick, and Jiang Wan couldn’t understand a word. She was in a hurry to play her game, so she just hummed and perfunctorily agreed to everything.

After that—

Jiang Qi suddenly stopped talking to her altogether. If they ran into each other at banquets, he wouldn’t even greet her, even if his parents scolded him for it.

If their eyes accidentally met, Jiang Qi would actually glare at her?

Back then, Fu Siyue had been standing right beside her, one hand draped casually over her shoulder, laughing loudly as he asked, “Huh, isn’t that the Jiang family’s young master? What did you do to piss him off?”

Jiang Wan had shaken her head to show she had no idea.

Jiang Wan’s personality was simple—

You want to hang out? I like you, I’m happy to spend time together.

You don’t want to hang out anymore? Even if I like you, I won’t chase after you.

So, later on.

After they started university, naturally they didn’t stay in touch.

As the saying goes, as long as the two of them didn’t feel awkward, it was everyone else who would.

[…The air is so quiet. Is it going to stay like this forever? My toes are curling from secondhand embarrassment.]
[Could someone please break the ice already?]

Then someone else arrived—

Unfortunately, maybe it would have been better if no one came.

The third person to show up was Shi Lan, the former captain of the idol girl group ISR—a cool girl with a high ponytail, smoky eye makeup, a tank top, and black cargo pants.

She was famous in the industry for her aloofness and was rumored to have a rather bad temper in private.

But thanks to her formidable skills, she maintained huge popularity despite always wearing a cold expression and never pandering to fans.

She stepped into the living room and saw Jiang Qi and Jiang Wan sitting at opposite ends, each acting like the other didn’t even exist. Her footsteps paused.

Jiang Qi and Jiang Wan both made as if to stand and greet her.

But Shi Lan merely frowned slightly, then without hesitation, averted her eyes and walked straight toward another corner.

[…How to put this… things just got even stranger.]
[Lan-jie! Why are you so cold too!!?]

From Shi Lan’s perspective, her reasoning was simple.

She had eyes. She could see perfectly well that the two of them were not on good terms.

Which meant that no matter who she greeted, she’d be inviting trouble or becoming a pawn caught between them.

And Shi Lan hated nothing more than unnecessary drama.

So she simply walked farther away to leave the problem to whoever came in next.

At this point—

The atmosphere was getting progressively weirder, because the fourth person to arrive was none other than the famously socially anxious Xie Yanyi.

He kept his gaze lowered, with a very clear objective.

The living room was rectangular, with four corners.

Now that three people each occupied one corner, it was obvious he needed to fill the last empty one.

Xie Yanyi picked up a small stool, walked over to what he decided was his spot, and sat down.

The air fell into utter silence.

The four of them just sat there stiffly in the corners of the living room.

Anyone who knew they were guests on a dating show might still be confused, but anyone who didn’t know would think they were sworn enemies.

It was as if an invisible crow flapped across the ceiling, leaving six little black dots behind in its wake.

[Friendly reminder: everyone watching this can still speak, you know.]
[…Is this some kind of try-not-to-laugh challenge? Fine, I admit defeat.]
[I’m about to die laughing! How did this situation turn into this? Who will save them?]
[What are you four even doing?! Are you casting some bizarre summoning ritual???]
[Listen to me—dating shows absolutely do not work like this!!]