[The outdoor adventure lifestyle livestream show "Real Life" is officially launching. Its premiere will begin today at noon. Stay tuned.]
As soon as the Weibo post went up, the participating guests and their celebrity friends began reposting it one after another. As Tencent's hottest flagship show at the moment, its official account's post had racked up hundreds of thousands of reposts in barely half an hour.
[Yes, yes, finally no more delays! (crying)]
[Does anyone get it? I've waited so long the flowers are about to wilt.]
[The crown prince we've all been waiting for dropped out, but Shen the Bitch is still shamelessly clinging to his spot. The production team really doesn't give a damn about us viewers.]
[Shen the Bitch, you've made my life hell!]
[Back when yours truly was still a little brat, nobody under heaven could beat me in a flame war. Since Shen Shuangjian still dares to come on this show, he can't blame me for what comes out of this venom-soaked mouth.]
[I'm genuinely pissed. I don't know whether he's really got a secret crush on the crown prince, but just for disgusting our crown prince into quitting the show, I wouldn't let him off even if I became a vengeful ghost.]
[Everyone, don't let this Shen Shuangjian off.]
[It's live, it's live! Go flood the screen, everyone. Let's try to curse him off the show.]
On the first day of the broadcast, all the guests would gather in the capital. Once they had gotten a little more familiar with one another, split into teams, and made it through the initial adjustment period, they would travel far and wide.
Their gathering place was an estate covering a dozen or so mu on the outskirts of the capital, with a quaint, elegant medieval manor house and swathes of roses in full bloom around its perimeter.
The production team knew how to stir things up, routing every guest's arrival along a winding path through the roses.
Nearly all the guests this time were popular young actors and actresses, each good-looking and poised. Just those few steps were enough to give their fans a feast for the eyes.
[Pant, pant, my baby Weiluo is drop-dead gorgeous! Red roses with a red dress, an unforgettable cinnabar mole.]
[Waaaah, Gu Xuanlin, how can he be so good-looking? So refined and gentle. Looking at him suddenly reminds me of a line I once scrolled past: a breathtaking visitor journeying far into the mortal world.]
[I'm still sad about Crown Prince Xie. He clawed his way out of a niche fandom on looks alone. If he could come on the show, I can't even imagine what a happy little girl I'd be.]
[It's all Shen Shuangjian's fault. I'm begging everyone, don't let this bitch off.]
[I'm feeling a little sick. After seeing all these gorgeous men and women, just thinking about some plain-looking nobody showing up at the very end... I can't imagine how sick I'll feel.]
[Hehe, Shen the Bitch sure throws his weight around. All those big names arrived early, but this one just had to squeeze in at the last minute. He really knows how to grab attention.]
[That's not all. Wasn't the broadcast delayed for him too? I heard he was sick and couldn't get out of bed.]
[Sickly bastard, get off the show.]
[Bruh, he's that frail and he's joining a lifestyle show? Is he planning to use his poor health to guilt-trip the other guests?]
[Exactly. I'm speechless. They just had to shove dead weight into a perfectly good show. Great, now everyone has to look after him.]
[Barf, can they make him get off the show?]
[I heard he has a secret crush on Crown Prince Xie and forced the crown prince to quit overnight. Then the crown prince went off with a whole bunch of passive-aggressive digs on Weibo.]
[Does the crown prince need to be passive-aggressive when he insults someone? Doesn't he always just say whatever he wants, without pretending?]
[You don't know shit. Doesn't the guy have a powerful dad and brother? If the Xie Family practically has a throne in the capital, then even at its worst, the Shen Family would still be a vassal king.]
[No wonder the crown prince still has to show him a little respect even though he finds him so annoying.]
[The Shen Family and the Xie Family used to be evenly matched, but in recent years, the Xie Family seems to have changed leaders. Then they soared to the top and usurped the throne in a comeback.]
[Die, you nepo baby!]
[Nepo baby, my ass. If you don't know anything, stop making shit up. Shen the Bitch is an illegitimate son. The Shen Family's actual eldest young master doesn't acknowledge him at all. Nobody in those circles takes him seriously, okay?]
[Whatever. I want to see just what kind of trash Shen Shuangjian is.]
The premiere livestream had nearly a million concurrent viewers, and almost the entire screen was filled with filthy abuse interspersed with Shen Shuangjian's name.
The guests who had arrived a while earlier sat at a long table laden with sumptuous dishes. Though they could clearly see every comment on the large relay screen, they continued chatting and laughing with perfect composure.
Perhaps, in their own hearts, they too harbored more than a few complaints about this sickly man with his bad reputation and poor health.
After all, the show they had joined was neither a dating show nor a beauty pageant, but an outdoor show focused on everyday living. Shen Shuangjian couldn't carry a load on his shoulders or lift anything with his hands. What was he if not dead weight?
"Looks like someone's coming."
One of the guests waiting for everyone to arrive before starting the feast looked up and seemed to glimpse a vague figure. His casual remark also roused the livestream chat from its nonstop abuse.
[Well, well, Shen the Bitch, get ready to be roasted.]
[Shen Shuangjian, the worst person in the world, get your affairs in order and prepare to ascend to heaven.]
[From this blurry view, his figure looks pretty good.]
[Barf, is the person above blind?]
[Please don't cut to a close-up. I'm eating, and I don't want to puke!]
Yet, as though the camera were determined to defy them, once that figure finally entered the rose bushes, it abruptly zoomed in, almost shoving itself right into Shen Shuangjian's face.
The comments floating across the screen almost completely obscured Shen Shuangjian's face. Indignant viewers switched them off, ready to take a good look at the only non-celebrity's appearance.
But once they did, they could no longer tear their eyes away.
Throughout the ages, the word "sickly" had often brought to mind such unflattering images as haggardness, listlessness, and emaciation.
Yet on Shen Shuangjian, illness became the embodiment of fragility and brokenness.
Through a thousand-mu rose garden in full bloom, the pale, cool beauty slowly approached. The roses blazed red, yet he was like a fleeting night-blooming cereus, a touch of purity amid a myriad of brilliant blooms.
He seemed to dislike facing the camera directly. Beside his lowered eyes, a blue-black tear mole at the corner of his eye held a quiet, graceful allure. His pale lips bore only a faint wash of blood-red, without the slightest curve.
Perhaps the camera had gone too far, or perhaps, through the screen, he had caught a distant glimpse of those thousands upon thousands of gazes.
Shen Shuangjian raised his eyes. With just a momentary turn of those tender, tea-brown eyes, his aloof, otherworldly chill shattered entirely, leaving only countless delicate threads.
As his gaze gently settled, it dragged the beholder into the boundless depths of the mortal world.