The audience hadn't expected a variety show to come with plot twists.
They'd thought they were watching two cowards brave the Ancient House. Who knew that the moment a ghost dragged Xie Mi away, she'd drop her timid act, strip the ghost, and put its clothes on herself?
Not only did she swagger around the Ancient House, but when a ghost rushed up to scare her, she went berserk and scared it until its eyes rolled back.
Talk about a complete reversal.
[Wait, is she scared or not?]
[Twist after twist after twist! I thought she was a pro, but she was a noob. Then I thought she was a noob, but she turned out to be a legend!]
[So all that fear earlier was an act? Holy shit.]
[Where's she going?]
They watched Xie Mi make her way through the Ancient House without a hitch, figuring out all the secret passages along the way before taking one straight to Shen Yeqing's room.
Then she started pretending to be a ghost to scare Shen Yeqing, even tying him to a chair.
At this point, the viewers in Shen Yeqing's livestream were terrified, while those in Xie Mi's were laughing themselves silly.
[Hahahahaha, you're so evil!]
[I seriously suspect she even planned getting caught by the ghost, just so she could come back and scare Mr. Shen.]
[Old Shen looks genuinely scared. Old Xie, have a heart.]
[Hey, hey, hey, where'd the sound go?]
[They seem to be saying something? Aaaah, I can't hear any of it!]
[Huh??? Why are they hugging?!!]
[Holy shit!! Old Shen was acting too!!!]
The audience finally caught on.
Neither of these two was scared at all. They'd been pretending to be cowards from start to finish!!
The first audience in history to get played by the guests had officially arrived.
"You're not scared?" Xie Mi asked, stunned.
If he'd been utterly terrified, there was no way he could have guessed it was her. That left only one possibility: he wasn't scared at all.
Shen Yeqing lifted the wig covering her face and met her eyes. "You don't seem scared either, Teacher Xie."
Xie Mi's face immediately fell into a sour scowl.
Fine, fine, fine. He'd turned the tables on me.
But she couldn't let such a good opportunity go to waste.
"Since we've come this far, I'll be direct."
Xie Mi got out of his arms and cut straight to the chase. "On the first day of filming, during the Finger-Bending Game, you said you'd come here for someone. I never considered that you might mean me, but looking at everything that's happened since, it seems you did."
"First you staged that collision, then you watched me in secret, then you kept finding ways to approach me. You're clearly very interested in me."
"So here's the question. We don't know each other at all. Why would you come on this show for a stranger?"
A mysterious tycoon who'd never shown his face had revealed his identity for this. That seemed like a rather steep price.
Throughout her barrage of questions, Shen Yeqing kept a faint smile on his face, only speaking once she'd finished.
"You're a public figure, Teacher Xie. I've seen you online, and I admire you. Is that so strange?"
Of course it was strange!
This character hadn't even existed in the original novel, which meant there had never been a plotline where Shen Yeqing saw her online and came to admire her.
If she insisted on chalking it up to the butterfly effect caused by her arrival...
She didn't believe a tycoon worth hundreds of billions would fall in love at first sight with an actress just because she'd spent two days acting unhinged online.
She'd never believed in that kind of melodramatic plot.
"Fair enough."
Xie Mi lifted her chin haughtily. "I am pretty charismatic. A gorgeous, universally adored actress like me, whose beauty puts the moon and flowers to shame and stops birds and fish in their tracks? It's perfectly normal for you to fall for me at first sight."
Since he didn't want to tell the truth, she'd pretend to believe him for now and investigate his background later.
Meanwhile, the other two pairs had arrived at their respective date venues.
Liu Woxing and Qiu Chengye went to the luxurious Spa Cinema, where they enjoyed a top-of-the-line spa package, complete with massages, foot treatments, steam baths, and more. They truly lived up to their wellness team's name.
The romance team, Xu Shuangrong and Xiao Jingxi, toured the Love Art Museum together and visited the Couples' Café upstairs.
Their conversation flowed pleasantly, and their lingering, flirtatious eye contact gave the audience plenty of sweet moments.
When it came time to pay, Xiao Jingxi took out his phone, only for a string of Hot Search notifications from Weibo to catch his eye.
#What makes "Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey" such a god-tier ship?#
#Xie Mi and Shen Yeqing bondage play#
#Modern-day Mr. and Mrs. Smith, eight hundred schemes between them#
Xiao Jingxi's smile vanished instantly.
"What's wrong?" Noticing the change in his expression, Xu Shuangrong instinctively glanced at his screen, then asked in surprise, "Is that Mr. Shen and Teacher Xie?"
"It's nothing."
Forcing himself to remain composed, Xiao Jingxi swiped away the Weibo notifications and calmly paid the bill.
The crew following them, however, began whispering among themselves.
"Mr. Shen and Teacher Xie are on Hot Search. Did you see?"
"I remember their itinerary was an escape room, right? It's normal for that to trend. People online love watching celebrities get scared in escape rooms."
"No, no, no. Their CP got so sweet they made Hot Search!"
"Huh?"
Unable to contain their curiosity, a crew member opened the Hot Search and found fans shipping the pair into a frenzy.
There were also countless fan edits.
The most popular video had already reached three hundred thousand shares. Its title was "[Shen Yeqing × Xie Mi] Super-sweet montage | Flirty bondage | Story edit."
In the video, Xie Mi and Shen Yeqing were together in a dimly lit escape room.
She stumbled backward in fright, and he caught her in his arms, lowering his head to whisper in her ear. She shyly pulled away, lowering her eyes as she blushed.
The first stirrings of love.
Pursued by the Chainsaw Maniac, he took her hand and ran through the darkness. They hid behind a door in a cramped space, their bodies pressed together, their breaths mingling.
Feelings heated up.
A ghost unexpectedly dragged her away. She instinctively turned to him for help, but their clasped hands were forcibly pulled apart, leaving them separated.
Cue the heartbreak.
She shed her innocent little bunny persona, changed into a stunning red outfit, and doubled back to catch him off guard, tying him up and whipping him.
Back for revenge.
He pretended to submit, only to suddenly pull her into his arms. His true identity as the big bad wolf was revealed: it had all been a ploy to win his girl.
A super-sweet ending.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" The crew member couldn't hold back a piercing squeal. "That setup is so compelling!"
Xiao Jingxi frowned and looked over. Xu Shuangrong turned toward them too.
"Shh, shh, shh!"
Another crew member hurriedly covered his mouth. "Keep it down! The most popular ship, Xiao Rong CP, isn't anywhere on Hot Search, while the weirdest ship, Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey, has gone viral beyond the fandom. Imagine if those two found out!"
Xiao Jingxi and Xu Shuangrong: "..."
Thanks, we already knew.
Xiao Jingxi's expression grew darker, and he discreetly clenched his fist.
The next second, he looked at Xu Shuangrong with a tender gaze overflowing with barely concealed affection. "Shuangshuang, may I hold your hand?"
Xu Shuangrong instantly caught on. After a moment of surprise, she shyly lowered her head, a pink flush spreading across her cheeks.
"Don't ask such embarrassing questions."
Xiao Jingxi's smile deepened as his large hand enveloped her small one, stroking it gently with restrained affection.
"Then I'll take that as a yes."
Before you continue