An utterly baffling video appeared on the trending searches.
It started with Xie Mi spilling secrets, followed by two famous directors suddenly rushing into frame and chasing her all over the place, then Qiu Chengye crawling at lightning speed like an abnormal Titan, before finally freezing on his cry of "Dad!"
The internet was dumbstruck.
[My Family Is Alive and Well]: Huh? Huh? Huh?
[Male Cockroach with a Booty]: Excellent, the world has finally lost its mind.
[Female Monkey on the Run from Mount Huaguo]: Even someone as badass as Qiu Chengye got completely tamed by Xie Mi? I genuinely don't understand anymore.
[Old Pickled Shancai]: To this day, we still don't know what Xie Mi was about to say.
[Oh My Duck]: Help, I was determined not to watch this show because I was boycotting Xie Mi, but now I really want to watch it because of her. Does anyone understand my internal conflict?
[My Grandma Slaps Zhao Zilong]: Come watch, girl. It's a super sweet dating show with great couples to ship. Watching it at noon really warms your heart.
[Heaven's Dumpling]: There really are more bad people than good in this world.
Xie Mi's insanity was so absolute that some of those who had firmly believed she was putting on a persona had begun to waver.
They were starting to think she really was unhinged, not faking it.
The show's icebreaker game continued.
When Xu Shuangrong's turn came around, things finally returned to normal.
"I..." She seemed a little shy, her gaze darting somewhere before she quickly looked away. "I have someone I like, and he's right here!"
As expected of the novel's female lead!
She had single-handedly saved the day, dragging this deranged show back onto the proper path of a dating show.
Director Niu and the entire crew bowed in gratitude.
"That was quick," Liu Woxing teased. "It's our first day filming, and we've all only just met. Don't tell me it was love at first sight?"
Xu Shuangrong shyly lowered her head, while Xiao Jingxi sat across from her, watching her with a smile.
Pink hearts practically filled the screen.
[Ahhh, Woxing, I love you!]
[Help, I'm losing my mind over this ship! XiaoRong is absolute perfection!]
[Show me that bitch Xie's face! I refuse to believe she can keep pretending!]
The broadcast director knew how to stir up drama and cut to a close-up of Xie Mi.
Xie Mi covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, her shoulders shaking wildly.
The viewers: ?
According to the original novel's plot, Xiao Jingxi and Xu Shuangrong hadn't developed feelings for each other yet. They had only joined the dating show together to help their company drum up publicity.
Every flirtatious interaction between them on the show was an act.
Watching the two of them show off their acting chops live, it was genuinely hard not to laugh.
The person most displeased by Xie Mi's reaction was Xiao Jingxi. His expression darkened. "What are you laughing at?"
She wasn't jealous?
[Best Actor Xiao is fiercely protecting his wife!]
[Ah! Tell her off! That felt so good!]
"Sorry." Xie Mi folded down one finger. "My mouth's got a touch of Parkinson's."
Xiao Jingxi's eyes abruptly darkened.
She folded a finger?
She actually folded one?!
[Xie Mi survived all those insanely difficult conditions earlier, but now she's folding a finger??]
[What's she pretending for? She obviously likes Best Actor Xiao.]
"Xie Mi, the statement for this round means you don't need to fold a finger if someone you like is here," Liu Woxing helpfully reminded her.
Once again, the viewers hailed her for saying what they were thinking.
Xie Mi shrugged it off. "Right, which is why I folded one. Is there a problem?"
Liu Woxing was momentarily speechless, but she still wouldn't give up. "So you're saying there's no one here you like?"
"Who am I supposed to like?" Xie Mi asked with a smile.
Liu Woxing froze, then quickly shook her head. "Never mind, then."
Everyone except Xiao Jingxi folded down a finger that round.
In the live comments, some kept cursing Xie Mi while others kept shipping their favorite couple.
Only Xiao Jingxi clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Xiao Jingxi's turn came next.
He seemed to have decided what to say long ago. "I came on this show specifically for one person."
At those words, Xu Shuangrong shyly lowered her head again.
[Ahhh, you two might as well kill me with all this sweetness!]
[You've turned a perfectly good game into a public display of affection, but I love it, hehe.]
[Show off! Keep showing off! Make sure Xie Mi sees it all!]
Yet no one noticed that Xiao Jingxi's eyes were fixed intently on Xie Mi as he said those words.
This time, Liu Woxing and Qiu Chengye folded down a finger.
Xu Shuangrong didn't, which was expected.
Shen Yeqing didn't either, which was rather unexpected. The viewers began guessing who he had come for.
Xie Mi didn't fold a finger.
Xiao Jingxi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little, and his lips curved into a confident smile.
She had come for him after all.
That explained her earlier behavior, too. She was just playing hard to get.
Xie Mi bent her raised finger a little, hesitated, straightened it again, then bent it once more.
Xiao Jingxi: "?"
"I originally came for someone, but that person isn't here. Does that count?" Xie Mi asked.
She had come for You Hongxuan, but You Hongxuan hadn't come.
"Well..." Director Niu thought for a moment. "I'd say it counts. The statement is 'I came for someone,' after all. As long as you meet that condition, it doesn't matter whether that person showed up."
"Great, then." Xie Mi confidently held her finger up.
The corner of Xiao Jingxi's mouth twitched.
Playing hard to get stopped being interesting when she took it too far.
Shen Yeqing's turn came next.
He pretended to think, then smiled faintly. "I've staged an accident to scam someone."
A one-hit kill.
"Screw you!" Xie Mi, his victim, erupted in outrage.
Everyone else silently folded down a finger.
[Hahahahaha, now that's seriously badass.]
[I love how bizarre Mr. Shen's style is. I feel like no one on this show could possibly be on his wavelength.]
[No... I think Xie Mi could.]
[They're both unhinged.]
At this point, the standings were as follows: Qiu Chengye and Liu Woxing had one finger left, Xu Shuangrong and Xiao Jingxi had two, and Shen Yeqing and Xie Mi had three.
It was Xie Mi's turn.
"Let me say a few words." At some point, Xie Mi had moved to the center of the living room, and a tour guide's portable voice amplifier had appeared at her waist.
Director Niu instinctively felt around his waist. "?"
Where was his amplifier?
"As everyone knows, I was stabbed on the street a while ago." Xie Mi's voice came through the amplifier, accompanied by electrical crackling.
"What I'd like to share is what happened back then."
Everyone suddenly understood. She was about to play the victim.
The live comments were already filling with phrases like [Playing the victim], [Fishing for sympathy], and [No whitewashing].
"It was a terrifying situation. It had just rained, and there wasn't a soul around on that little street. The attacker lunged at me with a sharp knife, and I was powerless to fight back."
Xie Mi covered her mouth and choked up.
[I was wondering why she suddenly joined a dating show. So this was her plan all along.]
[Oh, look, she's even crying. How pitiful.]
"In that desperate moment..."
Xie Mi wiped away a bitter tear. "I had no choice but to shove the automatic umbrella I was holding into his-"
Director Niu: "?!!!!"
He had no idea what she was about to say, but he already had a sinking feeling that he was about to die!
With the fastest reflexes of his life, Director Niu rushed over and switched off the camera pointed at Xie Mi, mentally congratulating himself on his quick thinking.
Then he heard Xie Mi pitifully address another camera.
"Butthole, and open the umbrella."
Before you continue