Just as they reached a stalemate, Meng Yun suggested a solution.
"Why don't we all play a round together?"
Yan Yi said nothing. He shifted closer to Shen Ting and looked at him without a word, seemingly waiting for his answer.
Shen Ting nodded casually. "Sure!"
Forgotten off to the side, Mao Jingjing wasn't about to pass up such a good opportunity. She hurriedly raised her hand to join in.
And so Shen Ting, Yan Yi, Meng Yun, Su Yu, and Mao Jingjing entered the game.
Su Yu picked support as soon as he entered. Looking at the support slot on his phone, he shot Shen Ting a smug glance.
"Yan Yi, I'll protect you." Su Yu gave him a sweet smile.
Yan Yi gave him a cold look, then turned to Shen Ting, who was pressed close against him. "Pick a damage dealer. I'll protect you."
"You got it. Then I'm putting my life entirely in your hands, mighty gaming god."
Not long after the game began, Meng Yun died.
Meng Yun opened the map in disbelief to check on his teammates.
"Fuck! What are you all crowding together for? My reputation as a gaming champ!" Meng Yun was furious.
Mao Jingjing and Su Yu blinked.
Yan Yi's brows were tightly furrowed. "Can you two fuck off?"
"Yan Yi, I'm protecting you," Su Yu explained.
"No need." Yan Yi rejected him coldly.
"If you have time to circle around him, could you come help me? There are several people over here! Are you blind?" With his screen black again, Meng Yun looked angrily at Su Yu.
When had a young master like him ever played a game without people eagerly following him around? It was bad enough that they weren't following him this time, but they wouldn't even spare him a glance. This was going too far.
Mao Jingjing laughed off to the side.
"What are you laughing at? Our base is about to get smashed, and you're still laughing over there. Now I understand why Yan Yi won't play with you two. Playing with you is a guaranteed loss." Meng Yun didn't mince words with Mao Jingjing, either.
Mao Jingjing's eyes reddened at his words.
Sure enough, it ended in a crushing defeat.
Meng Yun was so angry that he flung his phone onto the couch.
"I don't even want to get started on you two. Playing with you is the biggest mistake of my life."
Su Yu clenched his phone in both hands and gritted his teeth.
Mao Jingjing's entire face flushed with anger. Forget marrying into a wealthy family. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
But just as she rounded the couch, she collided head-on with Qian Duoduo, who was carrying a dish out of the kitchen.
A plate of hot food spilled all over Mao Jingjing's bag.
"Ah!!! What are you doing?" Mao Jingjing shrieked at the sight of her ruined bag.
Qian Duoduo was already in a bad mood. He had been about to apologize and leave it at that, but her accusatory demand stirred up his anger, too.
Back in the kitchen, he had been full of anticipation, thinking that being alone with award-winning actor Si would surely give him a chance for a little physical contact. Instead, Si Chen hadn't known a single thing he was asked. He had stood there like some lofty deity, unable to cook yet still issuing instructions, leaving Qian Duoduo to do two people's work all by himself. From the look of things, he would definitely be washing the dishes alone afterward, too.
The more Qian Duoduo thought about it, the angrier he became. Looking at Mao Jingjing, who was still demanding answers, he didn't want to put up with it anymore.
"It's just a bag, isn't it?"
"What do you mean, just a bag? Do you know how many creditors I'll have now that you've ruined it?"
"Creditors... creditors..." The word exploded through the living room.
"Oho! That bag isn't hers. It belongs to several people." Sitting on the couch, Shen Ting leaned over its back, savoring the juicy drama unfolding before him.
Yan Yi sat sideways beside him and nodded at his words.
"If my instructor finds out, they definitely won't help me borrow one next time!" Mao Jingjing frantically wiped the sauce off her bag.
"Instructor? So she's taking socialite training classes?" Shen Ting pulled some sunflower seeds from his pocket and started cracking them.
[Fuck! This is huge! Mao Jingjing takes socialite training classes!]
[Scandal alert. Mao Jingjing's fans, brace yourselves and stop being her fans ASAP.]
[Why do I feel like Shen Ting's little mouth gets prettier and prettier the more I look at it?]
[It sounds good, too. He cuts right to the heart of it.]
[Mao Jingjing's finally been exposed. There have been rumors online several times that all her stuff was scripted. Turns out her whole persona was packaging, too.]
Qian Duoduo had heard Shen Ting, of course, and delight filled him. Mao Jingjing was an influencer working the same angle as him, his biggest competitor. If she went down, wouldn't he have the whole market to himself? Could he really get that lucky?
"Mao Jingjing, I never imagined you were this kind of person. How can you face the fans who love you?" Qian Duoduo looked at her with feigned solemnity.
Only then did Mao Jingjing snap out of it. Her face went white. It's over. It's over. Everything's over.
Looking at the smug Qian Duoduo before her, Mao Jingjing lifted her bag and smashed it into his face.
Thump!
"Ah! My nose!" Qian Duoduo clutched his nose in pain.
Shen Ting's entire upper body nearly pitched over the back of the couch. Fortunately, Yan Yi steadied him from behind.
"Easy!"
"Yan Yi, I think his nose is crooked!" Shen Ting excitedly patted Yan Yi beside him.
"Plastic surgery? Didn't he say he'd never had any work done and was all natural?" Once again, Yan Yi's jab hit the mark.
[I'm numb. Two influencers exposed in one day.]
[Socialite training vs. plastic surgery?]
[All I want to say is that this show is absolutely incredible.]
[A show that looks like a dating show but is actually a scandal show.]
[Shen Ting, Yan Yi, keep talking. I love hearing it.]
Looking at Qian Duoduo's nose, which had bent to one side, Mao Jingjing laughed and spat. "So your face was made with technology, too."
"You! Mao Jingjing, just you wait!" Looking at the cameras around him, Qian Duoduo covered his nose in terror.
"Fine, I'll wait. We'll both be washed-up nobodies by then. Who's afraid of whom?" Mao Jingjing brought her bag down on Qian Duoduo's head.
Black hairpieces fluttered to the floor, and Qian Duoduo's firmly upright hair suddenly lost half its volume.
Shen Ting and the others looked at the hairpieces on the floor, enjoying their sunflower seeds even more.
"Mao Jingjing! I'll fight you to the death!" Qian Duoduo lunged at her, clawing wildly.
Refusing to back down, Mao Jingjing clawed at him, too.
Qian Duoduo yanked off Mao Jingjing's necklace. "You'll have to pay tens of thousands for this necklace, too, won't you?"
The sight of the necklace thrown on the floor made Mao Jingjing's eyes burn red. She grabbed Qian Duoduo's coat and tore it off. "You're no better. Those square shoulders of yours are just a pile of shoulder pads, aren't they?"
Looking at the shoulder pads scattered across the floor, Qian Duoduo bit his lower lip until it split.
"That bracelet of yours! Those rings..."
"Those height-boosting insoles of yours! Those fake abs..."
Everyone in the living room watched, dumbfounded. Even the production crew stood frozen in shock.
The director had been overseeing everything from his tent, but when he saw this, he couldn't help running out of the tent and into the living room, roaring.
"Pull them apart! Pull them apart! We're a dating show!"
Before you continue