Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Well, crap, I wish I hadn't had the soup.

He now felt a bit bloated, like Shuiwa from the Calabash Brothers. There was no need for a monster to show up; he could perform a water escape technique and fix dams all by himself.

"Like...like it," Xu Qingyan forced a smile.

Oh well, he was committed now, ready to take one for the team.

"Oh, then I'll share some with you, I...I don't really like duck blood," Lin Wanzhou whispered, voice as thin as a mosquito. When she spoke, her face didn't turn red, but her earlobes did.

The girl couldn't even lie properly—who comes for a duck blood noodle soup and just focuses on the noodles?

"I'll just have one piece. I'm worried I won't be able to sleep tonight," he said, excelling at making excuses. His twisted logic didn't seem off at first, but it couldn't hold up to scrutiny.

So Lin Wanzhou picked out three pieces of duck blood for Xu Qingyan, instantly halving the amount of duck blood in his bowl.

Under the lampshade, his hand holding the chopsticks trembled ever so slightly. He gulped down one piece, then another. As he bowed his head, Xu Qingyan had already figured out where he wanted to be buried after he died.

Fortunately, in the end, he didn't throw up and forcibly swallowed it down.

After dinner, at Xu Qingyan's strong insistence, the two of them took a turn to go for a walk. They deliberately avoided the food street and seemed to be walking by a residential area, with only half the windows lit.

The lighting on the road was dim and because it was located behind the residential area, it seemed rather deserted.

In the distance, high-rises faded into the darkness. The six hundred-year-old ancient capital city half-closed its eyes, nestled in the dim light, appearing peaceful and serene.
Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

Tree-lined Jianye was filled with plane trees that, under the dull streetlights, looked like golden canopies.

The two of them walked side by side on the dimly lit avenue, with few vehicles passing by. Even though the path ahead was shrouded in endless darkness, Lin Wanzhou felt more and more at ease as they walked.

"I'll be coming to Jianye to record a show next week. Will you come?" she asked, turning her head.

If Pei Muchan got eliminated, he probably wouldn't come for the excitement. After all, Lin Wanzhou had her assistant Qi Ting with her, and Wen Yun had connections in Jianye.

But at the tip of his tongue, he changed the way he was going to say it.

"If you still feel uncertain about it, I can come over anytime," Xu Qingyan said without mentioning Pei Muchan, setting a condition that only related to Lin Wanzhou.

He didn't say he would come just because she wanted it.

If he did, it would almost suggest that she had a desire for him to appear. Saying it outright would have blocked all possibilities, obliging him to come no matter what.

Upon hearing this, Lin Wanzhou didn't know what to respond.

She remembered Xu Qingyan explicitly saying he had prepared two or three songs for her selection for the show. Saying she was unsure would mean she doubted the quality of his songs.

But after all, she was facing the challengers who survived from the top eight to the top six—some of the most powerful veterans in the music industry. Being unsure didn't seem wrong, and how it would actually turn out could only be known on the day of the show.

In an instant, Lin Wanzhou's mind was in turmoil, unsure whether she should be confident or not.

"I.....I don't know," she said.

"Then we'll talk about it when the time comes. If you get nervous, just tell me, and I'll come right over," Xu Qingyan concluded decisively, bringing the topic to a close.

"Oh, okay."

A gust of night wind swept through, making Lin Wanzhou shiver.

Xu Qingyan turned to look at her and extended his hand to her back, naturally clasping her arm. With a slight force, he steered her a full one hundred eighty degrees in a new direction.

"Let's go, it's getting late. Let's head back," he said.

Lin Wanzhou was still a bit stunned, having been redirected in a weird posture. By the time she came to her senses, Xu Qingyan's hand had naturally let go.

Her face flushed instantly, the arm he had touched was burning hot, and she almost began to walk in an uncoordinated manner.

Youth doesn't fade with age; it simply waits for its season to bloom.

Half an hour later.

Lin Wanzhou stood at the hotel entrance, waving goodbye as Xu Qingyan turned and walked away, with his car still parked by the curb. She waited until his figure had completely disappeared before she lightly stepped into the lobby with her hands clasped behind her back.

She tiptoed in, only to be caught red-handed.

"Sister Zhou Zhou, were you out on a date?"

"No," she stiffened instantly, turning her head sharply and seeing a face plastered with a mask; she swallowed hard, "Ting Ting, when did you wake up?"

Qi Ting, wearing a headband and a face mask, sat cross-legged on the bed, speaking eerily.

"After you sneaked out."

"This...." She laughed awkwardly.

"Well then, how's it going with Teacher Xu? Any progress on your date?" Qi Ting changed the subject, her facial muscles unable to move due to the mask, her eyes blinking continuously.

"What... what date?" Lin Wanzhou panicked, her eyes darting about, embarrassedly saying, "It wasn't a date. We just went out to eat something and then went for a walk."

"Psh, that's just too boring."

Qi Ting waved her hand, seeing Lin Wanzhou was about to slip away, "Then... Sister Zhou Zhou, have you guys done 'that' yet?"

"Which 'that'?" Lin Wanzhou's face turned beet red.

"This 'that'." Qi Ting's voice was muffled by the face mask, emotionless, as she raised her hand and brought it slowly together in mid-air, clearly mimicking a kiss.

"No!!! That kind of thing, Ting Ting! Don't... make stuff up." Lin Wanzhou turned her back, her earlobes so red they seemed about to bleed, and just thinking about it made her heart pound.

"How dull, what about holding hands then?"

"Just... a normal walk, why should... we hold hands?" Lin Wanzhou said and immediately fled, rummaging through her clothes ready for a shower, her heartbeat sped up again as she crouched down.

"That's not right either, logically speaking. If Teacher Xu didn't like you, Sister Zhou Zhou, he wouldn't have stayed out so late with you," Qi Ting said, sitting like the Guanyin.

With a face mask on, she began to analyze seriously.

"But what you guys are doing is just too weird, since you both like each other, why not hold hands? I see that Teacher Xu and Pei Sister aren't that close, what is he thinking exactly?"

"Could it be!!!"

Lin Wanzhou opened her suitcase to grab clothes, saying she was going to shower, but she kept dawdling in picking out clothes. It seemed she was waiting on purpose for Qi Ting to finish, her lips slightly pursed.

"Teacher Xu doesn't like women!!"

Lin Wanzhou was immediately speechless, having wasted a precious minute of her life listening to Qi Ting's blah blah blah. She hastily picked up clothes and, without looking back, sprinted straight for the bathroom.

How could he possibly not like women, doesn't she know her own sexual orientation?

...

The car slowly entered the hotel's underground parking garage, and just as he got upstairs, before entering the room,

suddenly, a message from Pei Muchan came through.

"Back from your date?"

Darn it!

Xu Qingyan felt numb all over. It was bad enough Lin Wanzhou had a keen nose, but when did Pei Muchan get clairvoyance and superhearing? What, are they secretly evolving or something?

He coughed, opened the door without entering, and leaned against the frame to reply.

"Qi Ting had something going on, we went out for a meal."

"Oh."

He looked puzzled, glancing over at the neighboring room.

"How did you know I went out?"

There was silence for a while, then it showed that the other party was typing...

"I wanted to see you half an hour ago, knocked on your door but you weren't there."

Xu Qingyan was silenced by that line for a few seconds before he entered the room. With a click, he shut the door, turned on the light, and headed for the bathroom, replying,

"What's up?"

While stripping off his clothes with one hand, he held his phone in the other, staring at the screen and hoping she wouldn't reply with "Nothing," which would really make his heart skip a beat.

About a minute later, Pei Muchan sent a message.

"Hmm."

With a muted sigh of relief, he took the initiative to ask,

"What is it?"

A few seconds later, Pei Muchan replied.

"Can't say clearly over the phone, let's talk in person."

Xu Qingyan stopped undressing for a moment, then thought better of it and continued, tapping out a reply rapidly,

"Give me five minutes."

After a while, Pei Muchan knocked on the door right on time.

The door opened promptly, and Xu Qingyan had just finished showering, his hair still wet and unstyled.

"Feel free to sit, do you mind if I blow-dry my hair first?"

"Go ahead."

In the midst of the whirring noise, Pei Muchan sat on the couch wearing a thin nightgown, playing with her phone. She looked unhurried, with a long, deep gaze, seemingly lost in thought.

After the shower, Pei Muchan exuded a cool fragrance, her nightgown loose but unable to conceal her fine figure.