Only then did Sha Chuan realize that a camera was pointed straight at the stream. Damn it, didn't that mean his entire humiliating display had been filmed?
At that thought, Sha Chuan found it even harder to breathe.
Ignoring the others' questions about how he was doing, he dragged his weak, aching legs over to the monitor. Only after seeing that the viewers had already come up with an excuse for him did he breathe a sigh of relief and go limp again.
Then, at just the right moment, he put on a forlorn expression, looking grief-stricken.
This was hardly his first time using his dead girlfriend to build his devoted-partner persona. By now, it came effortlessly.
The camera captured his expression perfectly, and the viewers immediately began discussing it with renewed enthusiasm.
[Ah... did he come over to read the comments to check whether seeing his girlfriend just now was a hallucination?]
[Oh my god, that heartbroken expression. His girlfriend's death really hurt him deeply, didn't it?]
[If I remember correctly, he and his girlfriend both went to Q University. They were both talented and good-looking... heavens, why would you torment two people in love like this!]
[Just a passerby here. I don't know what happened before. How did Sha Chuan's girlfriend die?]
[You can watch this heartbreaking compilation. It has all of Sha Chuan's Weibo posts about his girlfriend.]
[Sha Chuan went to Q University? How come I've never heard of him at school?]
[I do know about his girlfriend. I heard she developed depression from the heavy academic workload and jumped off a building.]
[If Sha Chuan loved his girlfriend so much, how did he not even notice she had depression?]
[Come on, let's not blame the victim. Sha Chuan was a victim of this too.]
Thanks to those deeply moving compilation videos, the number of viewers who genuinely sympathized with Sha Chuan immediately grew, and they spoke up for him in the comments.
The accompanying medical staff examined Sha Chuan. Since he also insisted on continuing the shoot, the production team had him change into clean clothes, and filming continued.
When Song An asked why he had gone into the water, Sha Chuan tilted his head slightly, showing off the jawline he took such pride in, and lowered his eyes, looking forlorn. "I'm sorry. I saw someone very important to me in the water... I know she's gone, but I just miss her so much."
Crying whenever he mentioned his girlfriend had already become muscle memory for Sha Chuan, and this time was no exception.
Song An had apparently heard that Sha Chuan once had a girlfriend he loved dearly, so he merely patted his shoulder in comfort.
Qi Gu, however, looked puzzled by what he heard, his brows knitting slightly. "Judging by your face, you aren't someone who's faithful in relationships."
Besides, he was currently dating at least three people at once.
Sha Chuan was briefly at a loss for words, but quickly replied, "Facial readings aren't necessarily accurate, are they? Aren't there people who look vicious but have done lots of good deeds?"
Qi Gu said, "That does happen, but it's actually because ordinary people misunderstand physiognomy. You don't analyze someone's face based on a single feature. You have to consider the features together to read their fate as accurately and completely as possible. For example, someone's nose might be shaped in a way that indicates they lose money, but if they have large earlobes, that means they're blessed, which can compensate for that financial loss."
Sha Chuan knew that if he said nothing now, there would be plenty for people to criticize Qi Gu over, so he simply lowered his head and gazed forlornly at the flowing stream.
[Holy shit, is something wrong with Qi Gu? Sha Chuan trusted him so much, and he still called him unfaithful.]
[He really just says whatever he wants. Reminds me of the charlatan who said I was destined to bring disaster to everyone around me and told my grandma to abandon me.]
[I'm so mad. He doesn't have a shred of sympathy. He's barely even human.]
[Qi Gu, get out of the entertainment industry!]
[I mean, aside from this web variety show, Qi Gu doesn't really have any entertainment industry gigs, does he? Isn't he more of an influencer than a celebrity?]
[Everyone, calm down. Qi Gu said that based on Sha Chuan's facial features... maybe there's more to it?]
[Ha, the fan above is taking sides, huh?]
[Anyway, I've thought Qi Gu was no good for ages. He's only on this show to show off and build a persona. Every time he sees a ghost, he acts all calm, just to make himself look special.]
[So what if he has real skills? Talent without morals won't get him far!]
Among those hurling abuse at Qi Gu were ordinary viewers, as well as fans of celebrities he had previously criticized.
They couldn't let Qi Gu actually become hugely popular. If he did, wouldn't everything their idols had suffered have been for nothing?
The things Qi Gu had said about their idols would also be dragged out again and again in the future.
One monitor was directly opposite Qi Gu, with abusive comments flashing across it one after another, but he paid them no mind and kept his head down as he ate.
The haters assumed he would read the comments once he finished eating and be hurt by the barrage. At the thought, they couldn't help looking gleeful in front of their screens.
But as if he knew what they were thinking, Qi Gu refused to lift his head. He nudged Lin Hanzhi beside him with his elbow. "Spicy strips."
Lin Hanzhi understood and took some spicy strips out of his pocket for him.
And so, as the haters waited eagerly, Qi Gu ate packet after packet without stopping.
They went from eager anticipation to utter numbness, their minds filled with nothing but: how much food did this idiot bring, and why hadn't he finished it yet?
Just as Qi Gu finally took out a wet wipe at his leisure to clean his hands and seemed about to look up, the haters' eyes lit up with anticipation, only for Song An's voice to ring out. "It's getting late. Everyone, pick up your trash, and let's keep moving."
The haters: ???
The haters: What?!
They had waited all this time to see Qi Gu hurt by the screen, repeatedly sending nasty comments for half an hour until their fingers went numb just to make it happen, and this was what they got to see!!!
How could Song An, with a body temperature of thirty-six degrees, say something so cold?
Yet however unwilling they were, the small comment monitor was picked up again by a staff member and carried farther away from Qi Gu.
It was already seven in the evening. Darkness closed in around the mountain forest. The swaying branches and leaves looked like countless ghostly arms reaching and crawling outward, while the standing tree trunks resembled silent ghostly figures watching them with bowed heads.
The cries of birds and beasts sounded all the more eerie and desolate in the darkness. Occasionally, a call rang out that sounded like a baby crying or a woman's shrill scream. Merely hearing it was enough to send goosebumps all over their bodies.
More seriously, the temperature on the mountain had begun to drop.
The higher the altitude, the lower the temperature to begin with. Now that night had fallen, the temperature on Qingji Mountain plunged as though off a cliff, soon forcing everyone to take the windproof jackets the production team had prepared out of their backpacks and wrap themselves in them.
[So climbing mountains at night is this scary. Those sounds are making my heart pound even at home.]
[I got so scared I immediately turned the volume down, aaaaaah!]
[In a place like this, someone as paranoid as me wouldn't even need a ghost to do anything. I'd scare myself to death...]
[Ah, our little champ has walked so far. Can he still keep going?]
[To the person above, switch to camera A.]
[Holy shit, that's our little champ for you. His energy is insane. He's actually out in front.]
[Kids have great stamina. When I went to climb the Great Wall, I was done halfway up, but my daughter was still charging ahead...]
[College girl who struggles to run a thousand meters passing through. What a useless life, outdone by both the old and the young.]
[Wait, unless I'm seeing things, is that Qi Gu at the very back? Isn't he a master?]
[Being a master doesn't mean he has good stamina. He looks pretty laid-back.]
[If I were on this show, I'd be the one in last place. ()]
Before you continue