If I'm Guilty, Let the Law Punish Me

"What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever steal anyone else's opportunities?"

Zhong Xi's chest heaved with anger, his breathing uneven, but he soon calmed himself and retorted:

"I know I've always been pretty blunt, and sometimes what I say really is unpleasant. I've upset you, but I would never fabricate baseless stories to smear someone. That's a matter of morals. A person can lack every skill there is, but if their character is rotten, they really are nothing."

"Oh, I didn't expect you to have a brain!"

Ye Yizhou brushed the sandwich crumbs off his hands and looked at Zhong Xi, his mocking tone infuriating. "Just not much of one."

Zhong Xi said nothing, merely watching Ye Yizhou with a frown, extremely wary of him, afraid he might say something else that would spiral out of control.

The other guests didn't dare speak carelessly at a time like this.

After all, watching the drama was much more enjoyable than drawing the fire onto themselves.

Director Ji, who was also on camera after being invited to sit down for tea and snacks, struggled to suppress the upward curve of his lips.

I can't make it too obvious.

Oh my God!

What a recipe for views!

What a battlefield!

He had never expected this. His show was supposed to be a dating show, a battlefield of tangled romances, but he had never imagined it would end up like this!

It really had to be Ye Yizhou!

Sure enough, as long as he appeared, the episode would have more than enough explosive moments and buzz. He had hit the jackpot.

"First of all, making up baseless stories to smear someone goes beyond a moral issue. It's a legal issue. If you think I'm spreading rumors and defaming you, if I'm guilty, let the law punish me, instead of standing here making vague statements to try to steer the narrative and incite ignorant, uninvolved, brainless people into cyberbullying others for you."

Ye Yizhou wasn't remotely intimidated by Zhong Xi. In fact, he went straight for the kill. "Second, I've been in the entertainment industry for over two years. I might not be good at much else, but I've heard plenty of dirt. Just try provoking me again."

"Finally, a word of advice: watch yourself."

A smile curled at Ye Yizhou's lips, yet it sent a chill surging up from deep within Zhong Xi.

Zhong Xi stood completely frozen.

His reason told him that he needed to refute Ye Yizhou now, and refute him forcefully.

Otherwise, his silence now would become a tacit admission.

Zhong Xi's lips moved, but when his gaze met Ye Yizhou's stunning, smiling face, it was as though a fishbone had lodged in his throat. He couldn't get a word out.

[Say something, Zhong Xi! Deny it!]

[What does it mean that he's chickening out now? Did Ye Yizhou actually hit the nail on the head?]

[Zhong Xi looks way too guilty!]

[Ye Yizhou even dared to say on a livestream that he should sue him if he thinks it's defamation. That means it can't be fake.]

[Has his straight-talker persona collapsed?]

[Karma! He should've known this would happen when he stole opportunities from our little nobody.]

In this world, anything someone had done was bound to leave traces.

No secret stayed hidden forever.

Especially when it came to stealing opportunities, because some people would resent it, and others would speak out against the injustice. In the adult world, plenty of things couldn't be said outright; most were conveyed through veiled digs.

Once the scandal broke, those earlier veiled digs would all be dug up like bamboo shoots after the rain, providing enough evidence to nail the culprit.

"Ahem, ahem. Everyone's finished breakfast, right? Let's head over to our love house!"

Director Ji broke the awkward atmosphere at just the right moment, giving Zhong Xi a way out.

But inwardly, Director Ji couldn't help scoffing. That's it?

And he dares to run his mouth and provoke Ye Yizhou every day? I thought he had more in him!

He hadn't even lasted one exchange against Ye Yizhou. A single basic attack had scared him stiff. With fighting ability like that, Director Ji had really overestimated Zhong Xi when he thought this would be a battlefield.

"Let's go, let's go!"

Seeing that Director Ji intended to smooth things over, and that Ye Yizhou had no intention of pressing the attack, the other guests finally laughed and chimed in.

Only Zhong Xi still looked noticeably unhappy, and he even secretly glared at Ye Yizhou from behind.

Unexpectedly, Ye Yizhou suddenly turned around, startling Zhong Xi into hastily averting his eyes.

Tch. Useless.

Before leaving, Ye Yizhou said a word to Aunt Chun, then boarded the bus first and sat directly in the middle of the back row.

The other guests boarded one after another, each coming face-to-face with Ye Yizhou in the middle of the back row as they got on.

Ye Yizhou had just exposed Zhong Xi's dirty laundry live, and it was real dirt, too. Who wouldn't be intimidated after seeing him go for the kill like that?

Besides, Ye Yizhou had already said outright that he knew plenty of dirt.

Whether that was true or false, the smartest thing to do now was to avoid provoking him.

Without discussing it, everyone looked away the second they saw Ye Yizhou and found a seat near the front.

Li Chonghua and Pei Lan, the rumored couple who frequently trended online, sat together after boarding. After filming the previous two livestream episodes, the two clearly seemed to be planning to go public.

Zhong Xi and Sang Xiangwan, the former couple whose unresolved story left fans aching, sat even farther apart than in the first episode, with a great distance between them.

Only after they had all sat down did Jiang Chuyu board. Song Jincheng followed behind Jiang Chuyu like a gentle, courteous gentleman, neither hurrying nor lagging.

"Chuyu, there are seats right here."

Following behind Jiang Chuyu, Song Jincheng grew a little puzzled as Jiang Chuyu kept walking toward the back, and couldn't help offering a reminder.

"I want to sit in the back. There's more room back there, so it's more comfortable."

Jiang Chuyu stopped and turned back to Song Jincheng with a sweet smile.

The tone, the smile, and even the reason seemed impossible to fault.

Ye Yizhou leaned back against his seat with his arms folded, watching them, no longer able to contain his smile. This is getting interesting.

Jiang Chuyu sat down beside Ye Yizhou and even turned to look at him, eyes sparkling.

Ye Yizhou: ?

"I'm married."

Although he didn't understand what Jiang Chuyu's look meant, Ye Yizhou still made a point of emphasizing that.

"I'm not..." Jiang Chuyu froze for a moment, but quickly caught on, only to be interrupted just as the words came out.

"Mm, I know."

Ye Yizhou reached out to pat Jiang Chuyu's shoulder and nodded with an expression that said, "I understand everything."

"You're great, but compared to my partner, you still fall just a tiny bit short. Don't be sad. After all, he came into my world first. We crossed paths, but we aren't meant to be."

Standing in the aisle, Song Jincheng had been hesitating over whether to follow and sit there too. Then he heard what Ye Yizhou said to Jiang Chuyu, and his expression instantly turned strange.

He wasn't the only one. Everyone else also looked back and forth between Ye Yizhou and Jiang Chuyu in shock.

This dating show was starting to get a little wild.