Get Ready to Move Up in the World

As expected, Xiao Jingxi taking Xu Shuangrong's hand sent the live chat into a frenzy.

[Aaaaaah, they finally held hands!!]

[Leaving my mark to commemorate Xiao Rong CP's first time holding hands offscreen!]

[And Best Actor Xiao called her Shuangshuang! Did anyone notice? He always called her Shuangrong before, but this time it was Shuangshuang!]

After the ship's fans posted the footage in their Weibo Super Topic, Xiao Rong CP hashtags soon appeared on Hot Search.

#Xiao Jingxi Holds Xu Shuangrong's Hand#

#Xiao Rong CP Is Too Sweet#

#Real Couples Are the Best to Ship#

Xiao Rong CP fans frantically posted under the hashtags to boost their popularity, but awkwardly enough, the Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey hashtags remained firmly in the top three.

Xiao Rong's hashtags couldn't even crack the top five on Hot Search.

Not to be outdone, Xiao Rong CP fans also turned footage from Xiao Jingxi and Xu Shuangrong's date that day into fan edits.

"[Xiao Jingxi × Xu Shuangrong] Sweet from Start to Finish | Lingering Gazes | Love Is Holding Back"

"[Xiao Rong CP] Shuangshuang, May I Hold Your Hand?"

"Dating Show Highlights | Xiao Rong CP Is God-Tier"

Once the videos were posted, their popularity rose quite quickly with the ship's fans collectively supporting and sharing them.

But another look at the viral Xie Yeqing Kills Donkey CP video showed that it had already passed five hundred thousand shares-a height they could hardly surpass.

Some of the more extreme shippers lost it and jumped straight into hurling abuse.

[God-Tier Smiles]: Are the Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey paid trolls ever going to stop? Your ship's Super Topic is only third, and you never had this many fans before. Now you're suddenly spamming everywhere? Do you seriously think everyone else is stupid?

[Mint Blue]: First she tried to latch onto Best Actor Xiao. Now that he's ignoring her, she's pulling the same stunt with Mr. Shen. Girl, can you behave for once? Will you die without publicity?

[Snow over Mount Xiao]: You people must be starving. You'll ship anything.

Their coordinated attack immediately flooded the Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey hashtag feed.

What they hadn't expected was a counterattack just as swift and vicious.

[Little Shit]: Wow. Pretty sure nobody on the Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey side mentioned either of those two at any point. What exactly are certain fans losing their minds over?

[Total Blockhead]: What, casual viewers aren't allowed to ship people? I saw a ship edit, got hooked, and came to Weibo for more content, and now I'm a paid troll? Are you paying my wages?

[Diga]: Thanks for the reminder. Going to follow the Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey Super Topic right now.

[No Haircuts Here]: Lmao. You copied their fan edits, then threw a tantrum because yours weren't as popular.

[Destroying Snide Jerks]: I was watching a Xiao Rong CP video on the subway, and the person behind me reached over and swiped past it.

Not only had Xiao Rong CP fans failed to beat Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey, they had also provoked casual viewers into following the rival ship's Super Topic.

The Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey Super Topic instantly overtook Star Cheng CP for second place and was closing in on Xiao Rong in first.

Meanwhile, plenty of new content had begun appearing in the official Human Love Observation Room Super Topic.

Many fans had run into the show's guests in Hai City that day and uploaded candid photos from the filming locations.

That was when the incident happened.

Xie Mi rode in the production team's car with Shen Yeqing to their next date location, only to see an egg flying toward her the moment she got out.

Xie Mi swiftly crouched to tie her shoelaces.

Splat!

The egg struck the unsuspecting assistant director square in the face.

It was rotten, too.

The stench made the assistant director's eyes roll back, and he vomited with a loud retch.

"Get that bitch Xie off the show!"

"You're just trash trying to climb the social ladder!"

"Bitch! Stay away from our Mr. Shen!"

A large crowd of haters had already surrounded their car.

All of them wore black masks and carried rotten eggs and spoiled cabbages. Clearly, they had come prepared and staked out the location in advance.

"Well, well!"

Far from panicking, Xie Mi even joked casually with Shen Yeqing. "Who knew you had so many fans?"

Shen Yeqing wore a faint, knowing smile. "I doubt they're my fans."

Xie Mi looked up at him just as he turned his gaze toward her.

Sure enough, they had reached the same conclusion.

"Security! Where's security? Get over here and stop them!" the assistant director cursed furiously.

Before the bodyguards could approach, the haters suddenly surged forward, snatched the filming equipment without a word, and smashed it onto the ground.

The camera, worth over a hundred thousand, was smashed to pieces. They ran as soon as they were done, with one of them leaving a threat behind.

"If Xie Mi doesn't leave, you're not filming anything!"

The assistant director froze for a few seconds, then burst into tears. "Fuck you! What did I do to deserve this?! Waaah-"

He'd said he didn't want to follow this pair, but Niu Bi had insisted! Fucking Niu Bi, that dumbass! Fuck!

As he sobbed, a pack of tissues suddenly appeared in front of him.

Xie Mi was holding it out.

"Why are you crying? Tears of joy?"

The assistant director: "?"

What the hell are you talking about?

The camera's smashed, my clothes are filthy, everything's a disaster, and we can't film the show anymore!

"Get yourself together and get ready to move up in the world." Xie Mi tossed the tissues into his arms, then turned and got into the car.

The assistant director still had no idea what she meant when Shen Yeqing walked over, too.

"What Teacher Xie means is..."

Shen Yeqing rested a hand on his shoulder, a subtle, unsettling smile tugging at his lips. "You're about to hit peak viewership."

#Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey Is Over#

#Shen Yeqing's Fans Attack Xie Mi#

#Xie Yeqing Kills the Donkey Livestream Interrupted#

Following the abrupt interruption of the livestream, the incident involving haters mobbing Xie Mi quickly shot up Hot Search, pushing all the shipping hashtags down.

[I Guess I'm Tired]: Mr. Shen's fans are way too crazy. They even smashed the camera. They're really trying to stop the show from filming.

[Didn't Bother Anyone]: I watched the whole thing live. Does anyone get how terrifying that was? At first I thought it was a stunt for the show, but the longer I watched, the more real it looked.

[Hehe My Bad]: Shen Yeqing's fans hate Xie Mi this much, and you can still ship them? I can't anymore.

[Can't Win So I Liked]: Don't even start. The irrational fans on both sides are already tearing into each other. It's getting ugly. This ship is done.

[Hate Dumb Dogs]: So is the show still filming or not? If the stream doesn't come back soon, I'm going to watch Xiao Rong.

[Only You Have a Mouth]: Guys, the stream's back! Go watch!

Viewers who saw the news rushed back to the livestream, only to discover that the video quality had taken a massive plunge.

Even the audio had become much noisier. Clearly, they weren't filming with professional equipment.

[Did you film this with a landline or something?]

[They really won't quit. The camera got smashed, so they switched to a phone. Very dedicated, but the video quality really is awful.]

[Sigh. I was already struggling to ship them, and now the picture looks this bad. Kind of want to switch to the other stream.]

"Don't rush off."

Onscreen, Xie Mi suddenly spoke to the camera.

She lounged against her seat, relaxed and unhurried. Beside her, Shen Yeqing wore an equally composed smile.

The phone footage was a little blurry, and without the lighting equipment, the light was poor, too.

Yet somehow, that only gave the two of them the air of a villainous duo.

"Had enough of sweet romantic dramas? Want to try a different genre?"

Xie Mi propped her chin on one hand, her smiling eyes curving into crescents.

"How about a satisfying revenge drama?"