Chapter 42
The moment she heard that scream, Yao Wan gave a violent start and practically sobered up on the spot.
That was close!
She had almost been fooled by that scumbag’s gentle exterior!!!
She glanced at Xu Mo in front of her. He was still wearing that tender, affectionate smile, which clearly meant he had not heard Lin Zhiqiao’s inner voice at all.
Maybe her manager had been right. If the right opportunity came along, she really should seize it in time.
But looking at things now, Xu Mo was obviously not that “opportunity.”
Yao Wan weighed her words for a moment and said, “Sorry, I—”
As if sensing her intention to reject him, Xu Mo cut her off. “Xiao Wan, don’t reject me so quickly, okay?”
No, not okay.
Yao Wan muttered inwardly.
Xu Mo said, “I know the pace right now may feel a little too fast for you, but the program isn’t leaving us much time. I just don’t want us to end up with too many regrets because of some meaningless hesitation…”
He rambled on and on, completely unaware that the person standing before him was not paying attention to him at all.
All of Yao Wan’s attention was fixed on another voice—
[Good lord, just good lord! He’s practically a fighter jet among scumbags!!!]
[Having one girlfriend is bad enough, but he’s actually dating three at the same time! All three girls are his fans too! And two of them are rich fan-site admins!]
Lin Zhiqiao was pounding his chest in grief. [Rich big sisters, open your eyes and see clearly! Why are you all charging straight into the arms of scumbags one after another, ahhh!!!]
Ji Yuan, who had also once been a wealthy fan-site admin and had likewise embraced a scumbag, felt as if several swords had pierced her heart at once. It hurt so much she could barely breathe.
[The three girlfriends are spread across the north, south, and east of the country. Every time he travels for work, a different girlfriend secretly goes to pick him up at the airport. Each girlfriend is responsible for a different airport region, so to this day they’ve never run into each other…]
Lin Zhiqiao let out a gasp of admiration. [Amazing, amazing! Is this what they call a modern-day master of regional management?]
‘Sure enough, the god of raccoon-dogs rewards every raccoon-dog who actively eats melon. Getting to eat something like this so late at night is just too blissful [hehehe.jpg]’
‘I thought having a partner and still coming on a dating show was already scummy enough. Didn’t expect something even more explosive…’
‘False accusations are illegal… then I forgot the rest. In short, anyway and anyhow, I’m waiting for the hard proof [dog head.jpg]’
‘Dreaming that we’ll get the full melon before dawn’
Xu Mo had absolutely no idea that all his dirty laundry had already been exposed. He was still playing up his “sincere” persona.
Yao Wan quietly took half a step back, widening the distance between herself and Xu Mo.
Once he had been tagged as a “scumbag,” even Xu Mo’s handsome face now seemed to have lost several layers of its appeal. He no longer looked nearly as handsome.
“Xu Mo,” Yao Wan directly cut off his endless stream of words, “sorry, but I don’t think we’re suitable for each other.”
Being rejected so bluntly, Xu Mo visibly stiffened. The expression on his face almost slipped entirely.
Yao Wan clearly saw the shock that flashed through his eyes.
—Had he been so certain that she would not reject him, and that was why he was this stunned now?
A trace of lingering fear flashed across Yao Wan’s heart. If she had not heard Lin Zhiqiao’s inner voice and found out Xu Mo’s true face in advance, she might really have hesitated and, in the end, agreed to Xu Mo’s “pursuit.”
“It’s getting late,” Yao Wan said. “I’m a little tired, so I won’t keep walking with you.”
After saying that, she turned around and left, not sparing Xu Mo behind her a single extra glance.
Yao Wan walked straight to the large rock where everyone was hiding.
Although she already knew people had followed her over, when she actually saw this many people, she still got startled.
“…You all came?” she murmured in shock.
Wen Li smiled at her gently. “Mm. Everyone was a little worried about you.”
Yao Wan looked touched. Her gaze swept across everyone present and lingered on Lin Zhiqiao for two extra seconds.
“Thank you, all of you. I’m fine,” she said.
888 reported: [Favorability +100 from Yao Wan. Please take note, Host!]
Lin Zhiqiao was slightly shocked. [I just came here to eat some melon…]
Was it because she was relatively simple and innocent? No wonder Xu Mo had not chosen Wen Li or the others, but had instead picked Yao Wan as his target.
The night had already grown deep, and everyone drifted back toward the tents.
Lin Zhiqiao and Zhou Zenian had already returned to their respective beds. Only after quite some time did Xu Mo come back from outside.
It seemed to have rained outside. When the tent flap was lifted, a trace of dampness drifted in, along with the faint sound of rain falling.
Lin Zhiqiao was still awake.
888 was currently live-broadcasting tonight’s hot searches for him.
#XuMoHasCollapsed#
#DatingShowXuMoThreeCivilianGirlfriends#
#ModernRegionalManagementMasterXuMo#
…
Shu Lin and Qin Ye’s hot searches still had not gone down, and now Xu Mo’s had added several more. Celebrity Island Survival was practically dominating the entire trending board.
For some reason, Xu Mo’s three girlfriends had managed to get in touch with each other.
The three of them quickly compared timelines and Xu Mo’s travel routes, and while Xu Mo was still in the middle of filming the program and cut off from the internet, they rapidly organized all the evidence and posted it to Weibo.
Xu Mo’s collapse had already become an ironclad fact.
The program team had confiscated Lin Zhiqiao’s phone, but 888 had secretly helped him get online, so right now he was sneaking around on Weibo.
[Joining the dating show was the management company’s demand, and pairing up with a female guest on the dating show was part of the program script, so he says he had no choice and it was only for work? Pah! Washes himself completely clean and makes himself the only innocent one, right?!]
[Good lord, he was actually flying to three different places in a single day—seeing one in the morning, one at noon, and another at night, making sure not to neglect any one of the three girlfriends… this schedule management is way too good!]
[And the anniversary gifts were exactly the same too! He didn’t even bother changing the color! Is this what they call keeping three bowls of water perfectly level and favoring no one?]
[I feel bad for the rich big sisters. They thought Xu Mo was always carrying matching couple items with them, but it turns out they were actually four-person matching items… too tragic!!!]
Lin Zhiqiao was eating the gossip with delighted cackles, completely unaware that Zhou Zenian in the same tent, as well as the female guests in the tent next door, were also all secretly tuning in to his channel for melon.
Tonight was destined to be another sleepless night.
The next morning, everyone had two enormous dark circles under their eyes.
Yawning, Lin Zhiqiao walked out of the tent and happened to run into the group coming out of the female guests’ tent—
listless expressions, dark shadows under their eyes, spirits utterly drained.
As though something filthy and unclean had sucked all the vitality out of them in the middle of the night.
[Brother Zhou, sure, he’s understandable—heartbroken people having insomnia is normal. But… what happened to everyone else? Don’t tell me after Director Shu and Qin Ye left, they somehow triggered mass insomnia?]
The crowd, who had spent the entire night piggybacking on gossip and had become so mentally stimulated they could not sleep: “…”
Jiang Qianqian yawned and said, “The rain was so heavy last night. It was so noisy I couldn’t sleep at all.”
Everyone immediately echoed in unison, “Yeah, yeah, it was way too loud, way too loud.”
Lin Zhiqiao suddenly understood.
Last night, he had been so immersed in eating gossip that he had only known it rained, but had not realized the rain had actually been that heavy.
He secretly glanced at Xu Mo.
The program team confiscating all the guests’ phones really had been the correct decision. Even now, Xu Mo still had no idea that he had already flipped his car.
The entire internet had already exploded. The melon had been turned over several times already, yet Xu Mo alone knew nothing.
There was only one day of filming left for Celebrity Island Survival. Xu Mo’s collapse had already been confirmed beyond doubt, yet the program team did not immediately suspend filming.
Xu Mo did not know he had already crashed, so after being rejected by Yao Wan last night, he was still trying very hard today to maintain his “deeply affectionate” persona.
Not only did he put on an appearance of being heavily struck by the rejection, but every now and then he also kept trying to talk to Yao Wan.
Unfortunately for him, everyone now knew Xu Mo’s true face, so Yao Wan was never left alone again. There was always someone beside her.
Even the heartbroken Zhou Zenian seemed to have improved in mood just a little.
The final day passed in a flash, and very soon it was time for the wrap.
After a full week, everyone finally boarded the cruise ship again to leave—but there were two people fewer aboard this time.
The program team handed everyone back their phones. Almost in perfect sync, everyone powered them on and opened the hot-search board they had been separated from for so long.
Xu Mo had always been very confident in his own persona. When he saw the 999+ notification on his Weibo backend, he almost thought he had become wildly popular overnight.
That was until he saw the hot-search entries, whose popularity still had not gone down.
Only then did Xu Mo finally learn that he had already collapsed, and his whole face went pale almost instantly.
Once the truth of him juggling three relationships had been exposed, the deeply affectionate persona he had built as a man longing desperately for unattainable love instantly became a joke.
His manager had sent him many messages, from the early ones asking whether the matter was true, to the later ones that were practically giving up, and Xu Mo panicked completely.
In his confusion, he accidentally clicked open one of the voice messages his manager had sent.
‘The company is very disappointed in you. Get yourself ready. We’re terminating the contract…’
Xu Mo fumbled frantically to close the voice message, and a sheet of cold sweat instantly broke out over him.
—He had gone undiscovered for this long, so how had he suddenly crashed?!
Xu Mo could not figure it out, but suddenly thought of one person.
If it were him, if it were Senior Mubai… maybe there was still a way he could help? Maybe pull him up one more time?
Thinking of all the extra care and attention Lin Mubai had shown him over such a long time, Xu Mo’s heart settled slightly.
Without caring that he was still out at sea and surrounded by other people, he directly called Lin Mubai.
The call was hung up.
One time, two times, three times… until finally the system prompt told Xu Mo that the number he had dialed no longer existed.
Lin Mubai had blocked him.
In that instant, Xu Mo felt as though he had been plunged into an ice cellar.
Lin Zhiqiao took in every change of expression on his face and could not help sighing:
[If people are not to know, unless you did nothing at all. If he’d known it would come to this, why bother in the first place?]
Unfortunately, Xu Mo only understood that truth now—but it was already far too late.
*
Xu Mo called several times in a row. Lin Mubai hung up on each one and then decisively blocked him.
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
Lin Mubai came back to himself and said warmly, “Come in.”
The person entering was his manager, Zhao Ming—who also happened to be Xu Mo’s manager.
Xu Mo’s collapse had come too suddenly, and the force of it had been swift and impossible to stop, catching both his manager and the related PR team completely off guard.
With the evidence stacked high as a mountain, there was obviously no room left to salvage Xu Mo’s image.
“Director Tang sent word that he’s preparing to replace Xu Mo,” Zhao Ming said. “Mubai, did you know about this?”
He was speaking very quickly, and his breathing was a little rushed. Clearly, he had been run ragged these past few days dealing with Xu Mo’s mess.
Director Tang was the director of the TV drama Glimpsing Mountains and Seas. He had worked with Lin Mubai many times before and held him in very high regard, and the two of them also had a very good private relationship.
Glimpsing Mountains and Seas was Lin Mubai’s upcoming new drama, set to begin filming in just a few days. The cast and official styling photos had already long since been finalized and announced.
Lin Mubai was the lead, and Xu Mo was the third male lead.
Hearing Zhao Ming’s question, Lin Mubai nodded. “I know. Director Tang just told me a little while ago.”
Zhao Ming looked a little nervous. “Director Tang didn’t blame you, did he?”
“No.” Lin Mubai smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Director Tang isn’t that kind of unreasonable person.”
Only then did Zhao Ming relax.
Xu Mo was only a rookie actor who had entered the industry not long ago, and his fame was not especially high. The only reason he had gotten the opportunity to audition for the third male lead under Director Tang had been because Lin Mubai recommended him at the time.
Now that Xu Mo had collapsed, for the sake of the drama’s reputation and future development, there was no way Director Tang could continue to hand the role of third male lead to Xu Mo.
In Glimpsing Mountains and Seas, the third male lead was a very important role. Replacing the actor at the last minute when filming was about to begin would undoubtedly disrupt the entire production team’s original plans.
As the one who had introduced Xu Mo, Lin Mubai could very well have been dragged into the fallout if the director had a bad temper.
“Director Tang just said that he already has backup candidates on hand, so it won’t delay the official start of filming,” Lin Mubai said.
The company had already decided to give up on Xu Mo, so what Zhao Ming was worried about was not Xu Mo at all, but whether Xu Mo’s collapse would affect Lin Mubai.
After getting the answer he wanted, Zhao Ming hurried away. He still had a mountain of things to deal with—mainly cleaning up the mess Xu Mo had left behind.
The door closed, and the warm, gentle smile on Lin Mubai’s face instantly cooled.
Xu Mo’s collapse had also come completely outside his expectations.
[System, what exactly happened with Xu Mo?] Lin Mubai asked. [How did he suddenly collapse? In the original worldline you told me about, his future was nothing like this.]
Lin Mubai’s system, 066, had once spoiled Xu Mo’s future for him.
According to the original development route, after entering the entertainment industry, Xu Mo would gain a small wave of popularity through a dating show, attract a batch of CP fans, and land several fairly decent resources.
One of those resources had been exactly the role of third male lead in Glimpsing Mountains and Seas.
That role would make Xu Mo explode into fame in one shot, and enviable resources would continue coming one after another. Even after he later broke up with his dating-show girlfriend, most of the CP fans would not leave because of it. Instead, he would successfully convert them into personal fans.
There had never been any “three girlfriends” incident, nor any sudden collapse like the one now catching everyone off guard.
Lin Mubai knew that if things had followed the normal worldline, then even without his intervention, the role of third male lead in Glimpsing Mountains and Seas would definitely still have gone to Xu Mo.
All Lin Mubai had really done was go with the flow and use the matter to build a favor.
The impact of the incident on Lin Mubai himself was not that great, but what he could not understand was why things had moved to such an opposite extreme.
After thinking for a moment, 066 said, [Maybe it’s the butterfly effect.]
Lin Mubai fell into thought for a moment. [You mean that my involvement changed his fate?]
[Maybe it was you, maybe it wasn’t. No one can say for sure.] 066 replied. [What I can provide you with are only the unaltered trajectories of those people’s original fates. Every move you make can directly or indirectly change their destinies.]
[Host, you’ve become too reliant on my ability. Please be more cautious in the future.] It continued. [A lot of your abilities were exchanged using favorability values gathered from your targets. If the influence of those targets changes, it affects your abilities too.]
After hearing 066’s explanation, Lin Mubai actually became calmer.
[Then that’s still his own problem. If he hadn’t really done that kind of thing, he wouldn’t have ended up like this.] Lin Mubai sounded unconcerned. [At worst, when choosing future targets, I’ll just add a few more rounds of screening.]
He believed Xu Mo was merely an exception and would not truly affect him.
[Enough. He’s only one Xu Mo. If his favorability is gone, I can get other people’s instead.] Lin Mubai said. [Forget about him. I have a dinner appointment with Song Chuan tonight.]
066 followed his train of thought. [Exactly. Someone like Song Chuan has far more investment value.]
Lin Mubai lifted his eyes to the mirror in front of him. In the reflection, the young man showed a mild, elegant smile, gentle as bamboo.
[Don’t worry. Song Chuan won’t get away.] He said softly in his heart. [Although I don’t know what he’s been busy with lately. He’s been acting mysterious. It’s been hard enough just to secure a meal with him.]
If Song Chuan’s favorability had not remained steadily between 95 and 100, Lin Mubai would almost have suspected that something had gone wrong with his pursuit, and that Song Chuan’s interest in him had cooled considerably.
[As long as the favorability stays stable, it’s fine.] 066 said. [His company seems to have run into some trouble. Its stock price has been dropping badly lately.]
[Really? His personal company?] Lin Mubai’s tone was light. [As long as it’s not the Song family having problems, it’s fine… Anyway, that company of his was only ever a side hobby, just a little small-scale toy business. Even if it goes bankrupt, it doesn’t matter.]
After all, his target had never been Song Chuan’s own company.
Lin Mubai lowered his eyes, and the contempt and confidence of certain victory in them were almost impossible to hide.
Once Song Fengshi ran into trouble, and Song Chuan formally entered the Song family business, that would be when the real good show began.
When that time came, all Lin Mubai would have to do was sit back and reap the fisherman’s profit—and he would become the true winner!
*
Filming for Celebrity Island Survival came to a complete end, and Lin Zhiqiao happily entered another blessed idle period.
After returning home, Lin Zhiqiao lay on his bed and thought again of the owner of this villa.
Ever since Qin Ye and Shu Lin withdrew from the program early, they had practically vanished, leaving behind no news at all.
He wondered how Shu Lin was doing now.
Lin Zhiqiao thought to himself.
Was he in the hospital getting checked out and quietly nurturing the baby, or had Qin Ye already brought him home to the Qin family to meet the parents? Or perhaps they had already rushed off to get their marriage certificate?
His heart itched with curiosity, and in the end he could not resist sending Shu Lin a message.
Shu Lin very quickly sent back a location pin.
He was currently at a private hospital. Male pregnancy was not unique to him, but it was still rare enough that caution was better.
Lin Zhiqiao decided that while he had no work in the next few days, he would make time to go visit him.
And at the same time, he could check in on the latest developments of the harp CP.
Following a CP halfway and only seeing them reconcile without getting to watch them register their marriage and reach the happy ending… somehow, it still felt like something was missing.
After setting a time with Shu Lin, Lin Zhiqiao prepared to rest.
At that moment, another notification popped up on his phone.
It was an entertainment news push. At some industry gathering, a President Lin and a President Jiang had been chatting happily and seemed to be leaning toward a collaboration, blah blah blah…
Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes swept quickly across it.
President Lin he knew well—Lin Chen, his cheap elder brother.
As for the other President Jiang… he looked young, capable, and pretty handsome too, and there was something vaguely familiar about him.
Lin Zhiqiao thought for a moment, then suddenly realized—
President Jiang Ling… wasn’t that Pei Ning’s boyfriend of seven years?!
