The moment Lin Xi heard there was a fire, he wiped away his tears, turned, and bolted outside.
Heartbroken, Su Mian reached out like Erkang. "Don't go! I was so close!"
With no other choice, she could only follow him out in tears.
Backstage.
Lu Zhou sat before a monitor, his expression cold and grim as he watched the flames onscreen.
That tirade Su Mian had directed at Lin Xi had actually earned her another twenty thousand followers.
The livestream comments were becoming increasingly favorable toward her, too.
That was why he had immediately orchestrated this fire to divert the viewers' attention.
He took out his phone and called Fang Nuonuo.
Although the other guests' phones had all been confiscated,
Fang Nuonuo was someone the company intended to promote, so naturally, they could not treat her that way.
"Remember, you have to go rescue someone. This is your best chance to turn your reputation around. Don't worry, the fire isn't serious. You won't get hurt."
Fang Nuonuo hesitated before answering, "All right."
Except for Duan Xuanyu, all the guests and production crew ran outside the villa.
It turned out that a small building in front of the villa was on fire.
Flames blazed inside, and black smoke filled the air.
It was the production team's storage room, where they kept things needed for filming.
Director Zhao suddenly shrieked, "Ah! Our young assistant is still in the storage room!"
Fang Nuonuo knew this was the opportunity Lu Zhou had created for her.
She immediately charged into the fire!
Gu Yichen wanted to rush in too, but the director blocked him, whether intentionally or otherwise.
The comments instantly filled with [Our goddess is beautiful inside and out]!
Fang Nuonuo ran inside and saw that although the assistant was unharmed, her face was covered in soot.
It was not the messy black of a few smudges on her face. She was as black as someone from Africa.
Hideous.
She worried that staying too long would dirty her own face and ruin her image.
So she turned around and went back out.
Once outside, she sank weakly to the ground, clutched her chest, and began coughing.
"Cough, cough... The fire inside was too intense. I didn't see that girl. Cough, cough, cough... I'm sorry. It's all my fault..."
Two trails of clear tears slid down her cheeks.
[Goddess, don't cry! This isn't your fault. You already did your best!]
[Our goddess looks so fragile and delicate. My heart aches for her!]
[You're already so much better than the other women! Except for our goddess, all the other guests are acting like corpses!]
Su Mian rolled up her sleeves and charged straight inside.
She had seen that the fire was small and thought Fang Nuonuo really could rescue the person inside, which was why she had stayed out.
Who would have thought she would just plant herself by the doorway and come back?
As soon as Su Mian rushed into the storage room, she realized something was wrong...
The fire was even smaller than she had estimated, and all the smoke came from smoke bombs commonly used by production crews!
So this was an opportunity Lu Zhou, the boss behind the scenes, had deliberately created for Fang Nuonuo?
Tsk.
When she read that post earlier, she had not even realized Fang Nuonuo and Lu Zhou were having an affair!
It seemed there was plenty of inside information about this that she did not know!
Su Mian quickly grabbed the assistant and ran outside!
Just as they reached the doorway, the door suddenly toppled outward, about to crash down on them!
At that critical moment, Duan Xuanyu appeared out of nowhere and sent the door flying with a kick!
[Holy shit! Did I see that right? Did Duan Xuanyu just flash over? Is he Han Xin?]
[This livestream hasn't gone viral overseas yet, has it? Otherwise, we won't be able to hide the fact that everyone in China knows martial arts again!]
[Aaaah, now I seriously suspect he's an ancient emperor who transmigrated here!]
Su Mian helped the assistant over to sit down nearby.
"Are you okay?"
The young assistant was dazed from the smoke and only came to her senses after a long while.
She gave Fang Nuonuo a speechless look.
Everyone on the production team knew Fang Nuonuo was someone the boss wanted to promote.
The boss had deliberately staged this fire to build Fang Nuonuo's public persona!
Yet even knowing she would be fine, she had not gone all the way inside to rescue her!
Because of her, she had inhaled so much chemical smoke that her head still hurt a little!
She then gave Su Mian a grateful look.
Su Mian had not known the fire was fake, yet she had still rushed in to rescue her. That alone made her intentions more genuine than Fang Nuonuo's!
Moved, the assistant wiped away her tears.
We working stiffs know good from bad, too!
Even if I can't outright betray the boss and expose Fang Nuonuo's true colors,
I'll definitely give Sister Su Mian lots of help in secret on the show from now on!
Amid the flood of comments praising [Fang Nuonuo is beautiful inside and out], many different messages slowly began appearing!
[Uh, what's onscreen right now is so ironic.
Fang Nuonuo only got a tiny smudge of soot on her forehead and didn't rescue anyone, but she's wailing for her parents over there. The director, the host, and two male guests are all gathered around fussing over her, and all the comments are praising her.
Meanwhile, Su Mian rescued someone. If Duan Xuanyu hadn't shown up in time, she and the assistant would've been crushed. Not only did she not cry, she's even checking on the assistant. But Duan Xuanyu is the only person beside her, and nobody in the comments is praising her either.
I don't understand why?]
[I suspect this dating show is doing it on purpose! Yesterday's teaser only included some of Su Mian's bad remarks, so lots of viewers came today specifically to bash her!]
[Exactly! After watching the edited clip, I thought she was an average girl with delusions of grandeur and came here planning to bash her. But after watching the livestream, I've totally become Sister Mian's fan!]
Backstage, Lu Zhou saw that public opinion was going in a completely different direction from the one he had tried to steer it in, and panicked again!
Well, well, Su Mian!
You really do know how to buy people's hearts!
Lu Zhou was so angry his heart hurt.
He hurriedly took a deep breath.
Public opinion was turning increasingly against Fang Nuonuo.
He quickly instructed the directing team, "Stop the livestream for now. Put out an announcement saying Fang Nuonuo was injured and that the livestream will resume tomorrow morning."
After the "fire" was extinguished, everyone returned to the villa to continue resting.
The livestream was also suspended under Lu Zhou's arrangements.
Duan Xuanyu went back to reading on the sofa.
Fang Nuonuo, Gu Yichen, and Cheng Qin each returned to their rooms.
Lin Xi looked at Su Mian's retreating figure and hesitated.
When she had berated him earlier, he had truly been furious.
He had even wanted to kill Su Mian.
But once he calmed down and thought about it, he felt there was some truth to what she had said.
Besides, she had just rushed in to rescue the young assistant.
She seemed, indeed, not to be quite that awful.
Lin Xi quickly caught up with Su Mian, cleared his throat, and said in a low vocal fry, "Su Mian, I can share a bed with you."
Su Mian: "..."
Duan Xuanyu, some distance away: ?!
I shall kill you, you dog who dares covet my empress!
He picked up the fruit knife on the table and hurled it at Lin Xi!
At that same moment, unable to stand Lin Xi's sleaziness, Su Mian lashed out with a kick and sent him flying!
That kick sent Lin Xi's Disgust Points straight up to 99!
But the next second, Lin Xi saw the knife fly past and plunge deep into the wall.
So Su Mian had just kicked him to save him?
His Disgust Points immediately dropped from 99 to 0!
Even his eyes sparkled as he looked at Su Mian, as though filled with stars!
Su Mian looked at the knife, then at Lin Xi, then at Duan Xuanyu, and then at the Disgust Points panel.
凸(艹皿艹 )!
A flurry of moves as fierce as a tiger-one look at the results, and she had not budged an inch!