Who is this drooling guy in glasses?

Ning Chunchi raised his brows slightly as he watched the Omega, his face bright red, wipe the corner of his mouth while facing him.

"..."

What was with this guy in glasses wiping away his drool?

As a top-tier Alpha, Ning Chunchi was long accustomed to being stared at, but this was the first time an Omega had drooled over him right to his face.

If this was some new tactic for catching an Alpha's attention, then congratulations were in order. It had worked.

The move left quite an impression on Ning Chunchi, prompting him to take a closer look at the Omega.

Half the Omega's face was hidden behind thick glasses frames. His head was slightly lowered, making his eyes difficult to see, but his skin was a cool, pale white, with the chill of someone who rarely saw sunlight. His freshly wiped lips were still faintly moist, his chin was pointed, and his long, straight black hair was tied haphazardly behind his head. An oversized white shirt enveloped his slender body, making him look as though a gust of wind could carry him away.

Compared with the many other Omegas, he could only be described as exceptionally plain and unremarkable.

What was his name again? Ning Chunchi wondered. He had skimmed the guests' profiles before joining the show. Was his surname... Jiang?

Ning Chunchi considered himself to have an excellent memory, but this Omega had genuinely had far too little presence before now.

Still, he was no one important. There was no need to remember him.

Standing to one side, Lin Xu seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere in the room and changed the subject. "Thanks for doing the shopping, Qin and Mr. Ning! Where are Director Leng and Yu? Why didn't they come back with you?"

"They decided at the last minute to buy some flowers to decorate the house," Qin Yuan said.

Jiang Yumiao had still been brooding over his mortifying behavior just now. As an INFJ, he had always been good at reading people, and almost the instant the air froze, he realized everyone must have misunderstood him wiping his mouth.

Although he really did have "ulterior motives" toward the second male lead, and really did want to leave a lasting impression on him, there was no need to cause such a huge misunderstanding right out of the gate.

But as soon as he heard them mention Director Leng and Yu, he perked up, no longer having time to torture himself by replaying the scene in his head.

Director Leng and Yu, whose full names were Leng Haiyue and Yu He, were both Betas.

The former was twenty-seven that year, an internationally renowned music video director and producer who had shot widely acclaimed videos for numerous boy-band and girl-group idols. Mature and steady, he was very good at looking after people, much like Ning Chunchi. The difference was that Ning Chunchi's attentiveness was a social courtesy, a gentle mask concealing his true self, while Leng Haiyue genuinely regarded everyone as younger brothers.

The latter had just turned twenty-five. A few years earlier, he had entered a talent competition and gained popularity with his "beautiful airhead" persona. His skills had fallen short, so he had failed to debut in the final group. Afterward, he had made the rounds of various variety shows, becoming known for his blunt honesty and humor and frequently spawning viral memes without meaning to.

All these guests had impressive résumés. Beside them, Jiang Yumiao, an utterly unknown writer, seemed like little more than a seat filler.

It was worth mentioning the dating reality show they were currently appearing on, Love Mailbox, a long-running livestreamed dating show that had consistently enjoyed high ratings in China. Jointly produced by Fat Duck Media and Apple TV Station, it was primarily broadcast live, with highlights edited together afterward and uploaded as polished recorded episodes.

Each season invited four Alphas, two Betas, and two Omegas as guests. The show's selling point was that it did not limit itself to Alpha-Omega or Alpha-Beta relationships. As long as the guests clicked, the production team wholeheartedly supported Alpha-Alpha, Beta-Omega, and even Omega-Omega relationships. Its exceptional inclusiveness was one reason Love Mailbox had remained popular for so long.

The endlessly unpredictable pairings kept viewers hooked.

But given enough time, viewers were bound to tire of the same thing.

So Yang Qi, the director of the current fifth season of Love Mailbox, had decided to abandon the previous format of casting ordinary people and instead invite well-known figures from entertainment, business, and sports who came with their own followings. This would ensure ratings and generate buzz while also giving viewers something fresh.

Aside from Qin Yuan and Ning Chunchi, the other two Alphas who had yet to appear were also outstanding: the flirtatious fashion designer Mu Yunzhi and the sweet, puppyish professional racing driver An Zhiwan.

Mu Yunzhi had swept the top design awards both at home and abroad while still in university, and in recent years he had mostly lived overseas, developing his own fashion label.

Although An Zhiwan was only twenty-two, he was already an F1 driver and had won the previous world championship, shooting to fame. His wild driving style stood in stark contrast to his shy, adorable appearance, earning him a host of fans who doted on him like mothers or imagined themselves as his girlfriends.

As for Jiang Yumiao, he had no idea how a nobody of his standing had managed to get invited onto the show. After turning it over in his mind, he could only attribute it to the system's mysterious powers, his original self's outrageous luck, or Director Yang simply having terrible judgment.

Meanwhile, inside the production team's RV, several large monitors showed the guests in the living room, relaying their every movement and subtle expression to the director, producer, and writer without leaving anything out.

Director Yang Qi stared at one of the screens, an inexplicable smile on his handsome face.

That screen showed a close-up of Jiang Yumiao.

"Why are you smiling like such a creep?" the producer asked, shooting him a disgusted glance.

"You don't understand. This is the bombshell I planted for our show."

"I really don't understand. Him? He's been here ages and still just sits there looking dazed," Producer Li said dubiously. "Back then, you insisted on picking him as a guest and giving him one of our precious slots. You said he was a writer, but he doesn't have any well-known work to his name. Fine, he's not famous, but he didn't even have any casual photos. Everything was kept so tightly under wraps that I thought he must be something special."

Director Yang paused, narrowing his eyes at Jiang Yumiao on the screen.

"Once you've seen the face beneath those glasses, you'll understand."