Chapter 82
Su Jia’s departure did not affect the production team or the contestants at all. The filming of Idol Star Dream continued to go very smoothly.
It was just that every now and then—only every now and then—Lin Zhiqiao would feel a tiny bit lonely—
For a melon addict like him, days with no gossip to eat were indeed unbearably lonely.
So Lin Zhiqiao turned his attention back to Ming Ye.
He still remembered what 888 had secretly told him the first time he saw Ming Ye on the day the show officially started airing.
Ming Ye had a cheat halo on him called “Crown from the Deep Sea.”
But sadly, although Lin Zhiqiao had opened quite a few blind boxes on Ming Ye over the past several days, they had all just been trivial little bits of gossip.
[Little System] Lin Zhiqiao finally could not help asking curiously, [can you figure out the exact effect of this “playboy” halo?]
[Probably… probably yes.] That was what 888 said, but its tone did not sound very certain. [I’ll try, but the chances are much higher if Ming Ye happens to be using the halo’s effect at the time.]
Lin Zhiqiao thought for a moment and asked, [Didn’t he use his cheat ability on Su Jia before?]
888 recalled for a bit. [Probably not. I didn’t sense any fluctuations.]
Lin Zhiqiao gave an “oh” and could only drop the matter for now.
The second elimination round sent ten trainees home. After the last week of special training, the final twenty remaining contestants would enter the final debut battle.
Ji Ran and Cheng Xia’s rankings were rock solid. They once again advanced into the finals in first and second place.
Ming Ye remained steadily in third, though the contestants in fourth and fifth had changed compared to the first elimination round.
The pressure on all the contestants visibly increased again, and the atmosphere in the practice rooms often felt so heavy it was hard to breathe.
Out of concern for the mental health of the young trainees, Director Xu waved a generous hand and gave the entire production team and all the trainees who had made it into the finals a three-day mini break.
During this time, the trainees could choose for themselves whether to stay at the base or go out and relax. They could also decide on their own whether to keep their livestreams on.
On the first day of the break, Lin Zhiqiao finally got to eat the meal he had been craving all this time—the one cooked by that chef trainee.
That contestant, the one from New Oriental whose lucky charm was an iron wok spatula, said that cooking delicious food was how he relaxed. So he specially set aside an entire day and took over the whole cafeteria kitchen at the base, staying busy from start to finish.
The cafeteria uncle’s cooking was not bad, but to be fair, the chef trainee’s skills were still better.
Lin Zhiqiao was extremely satisfied with this meal.
After eating, he carried a plate of beautifully arranged fruit and sat at a table chatting with Ji Ran.
Thanks to the chef trainee’s contribution, on the first day of the break, everyone—including the production team—chose to stay at the base, which was really giving that chef trainee a lot of face.
Lin Zhiqiao secretly glanced at the comments online.
‘Thank you to everyone who voted for Brother chef, letting me live long enough to witness something this delicious [wiping drool.jpg]’
‘Chef little bro looks so delicious—ah no, I mean, the food chef little bro made looks so tasty hehe’
With just one meal, the chef trainee’s popularity soared. He even briefly made it onto the trending topics and received a lot of praise from passersby.
The only question was whether people were actually interested in the food he made, or in the chef who could cook.
Just as Lin Zhiqiao was thinking about that, Ming Ye’s voice suddenly came from behind him.
Lin Zhiqiao snapped back to attention and only then realized that Ming Ye was sitting not far behind him.
He secretly checked behind him using his phone camera reflection and discovered that another contestant was sitting next to Ming Ye. He looked delicate and cute, one of Mentor Zhu Ge’s students from Class B. Lin Zhiqiao remembered that his name was Qi An.
Lin Zhiqiao instantly perked up. Had Ming Ye found a new target again?
The keen little melon-eating weasel had caught the scent of gossip once more!
The fruit on Ming Ye’s plate was almost gone. Qi An asked eagerly, “Brother Ming, do you want more? I still have some here.”
Ming Ye shook his head. “No need.”
Qi An still split a few pieces of watermelon from his own plate and gave them to him.
Ming Ye said softly, “Thanks.”
His tone sounded a little low.
To be exact, ever since Su Jia’s scandal was exposed and he left the show, Ming Ye’s mood had not been very high.
Qi An, who had been paying close attention to Ming Ye all along, naturally knew why. He asked carefully, “Brother Ming, are you okay?”
Ming Ye gave a quiet “mm.”
Qi An curled his lips and thought, That’s obviously fake, then tried to comfort him. “If you’ve got something on your mind, just tell me. It’ll feel better once you let it out. Don’t bottle it up until you make yourself sick.”
“It’s not really something on my mind,” Ming Ye said instead. “I’m just feeling a little… emotional, I guess.”
Qi An listened quietly and did not interrupt.
Ming Ye picked up his cup and took a sip. It was filled with freshly squeezed juice, but the way he moved somehow made it feel like he was drinking alcohol.
“It’s rare for me to meet someone I like this much. I thought…” Ming Ye shook his head and let out a deep sigh. “But maybe this is better too. I tried showing goodwill to him before, but he never really responded. I kept thinking he was just a little slow to react, but now it seems… he understood everything. He just ignored me because he probably was never interested in me to begin with.”
“It’s a good thing he wasn’t interested in Brother Ming,” Qi An could not help saying. “Someone like him would never be sincere with anyone anyway. If you had really fallen too deep for him, you’d only end up getting hurt more in the future.”
Ming Ye lowered his head and drank another mouthful of juice, his expression dark and silent, looking just like someone still immersed in heartbreak.
That earned him another long round of comfort from Qi An.
‘Really feel bad for my Brother Ming. It’s so rare for him to fall for someone, and then he runs into trash like Su Dog. That’s seriously too miserable.’
‘Sigh, my Brother Ming is good at everything except judging people.’
‘Help, this look—so this is what people mean by looking at even a dog with deep affection [clutching chest.jpg]’
‘Who fell first? Turns out it was me, wuwuwu.’
Lin Zhiqiao heard every word of their conversation and clicked his tongue in wonder.
[If I didn’t already know Ming Ye had the playboy halo, I really would’ve thought he was some deeply devoted guy.] Lin Zhiqiao sighed. [So, Little System is he using his cheat ability right now?]
888 said excitedly, [He is! He is! Let me analyze it real quick—almost done!]
So Lin Zhiqiao waited patiently.
888 did not keep him waiting long. [I got it!]
[“Crown from the Deep Sea.” After binding this halo, when facing someone he likes, the host will radiate charm from the deep sea, making the other person quickly fall in love and start self-PUAing.]
Lin Zhiqiao asked in confusion, [Self-PUA? What’s that supposed to mean?]
[It means when something unreasonable comes up—like hearing news that Ming Ye is acting ambiguously with someone else—the other person will make excuses for him on their own,] 888 explained with an example. [Like saying that person is Ming Ye’s younger brother or sister, or that it’s just evil marketing accounts making things up and overinterpreting things, or that it’s only CP fanservice for the sake of the show.]
[Oh, got it. So basically self-deception.] Lin Zhiqiao clicked his tongue twice. [It really is a playboy halo. This is basically a top-tier tool for two-timing people.]
888 strongly agreed. [But this cheat ability has pretty big restrictions. For example, it can only be used face-to-face, only one person can be targeted at a time, and there’s a time limit. After a certain period, the cheat has to be used again, otherwise the halo effect wears off.]
[Still, there’s also a risk of the cheat failing. Like if the target clearly realizes Ming Ye’s true playboy nature, or if love turns into hate…]
Lin Zhiqiao summed it up: [So the whole thing is about thrills.]
888 nodded. [Exactly.]
*
The next afternoon, Ji Ran came looking for Lin Zhiqiao and asked whether he wanted to go sit at a nearby bar.
Lin Zhiqiao had originally wanted to refuse, but Ji Ran said, “Ming Ye went too.”
Lin Zhiqiao immediately changed his mind.
Naturally, Cheng Xia and Ji Yuan were not going to miss out on something this good either. The four of them disguised themselves a bit and headed to that bar.
Even though it was a weekday afternoon, the place was still pretty crowded. Lin Zhiqiao had to put in some effort before he finally found Ming Ye and Qi An, both disguised as well, sitting in a dim corner.
Luckily, the seats behind them were empty.
Lin Zhiqiao and the others shamelessly occupied that prime melon-eating spot.
Cheng Xia was sitting with his back to them and did not notice their arrival. Qi An, on the other hand, glanced in their direction twice, but said nothing.
At that moment, Ming Ye was leaning back in the soft chair. Maybe he had drunk a little too much, because his eyes were closed and he seemed to be resting.
Qi An moved to sit beside him, gently pushed him twice, and called softly, “Brother Ming?”
Ming Ye did not respond.
A faint blush stained Qi An’s delicate face. It was hard to tell whether it was because of the alcohol or because he was drawn in by the handsome face in front of him, so completely defenseless.
Seeing that Ming Ye seemed drunk, Qi An quietly took hold of his hand. When Ming Ye still showed no reaction, he boldly intertwined their fingers.
Just secretly holding hands with the one he liked like this was already enough to make Qi An excited and shy, and his face turned even redder.
The lighting in the corner was dim, and an ambiguous atmosphere slowly spread.
Just then, Qi An suddenly heard Lin Zhiqiao’s voice: [That doesn’t make sense. Ming Ye’s alcohol tolerance is really good. Two cocktails shouldn’t be enough to get him so drunk he’s out of it.]
Qi An’s heart immediately skipped a beat.
Wouldn’t that mean… Ming Ye was actually pretending to be drunk?
If he was not really drunk, then that meant he could feel all of Qi An’s little secret actions. And even so, he still had not pushed him away…
Qi An’s heart started beating even faster. Suppressing the wild joy surging up in him, he leaned close to Ming Ye’s ear and whispered, “Brother Ming, I know you’re not drunk.”
Ming Ye’s eyelashes moved slightly, but he did not open his eyes.
Qi An continued, “If you don’t reject me, I’m going to take that as your consent.”
As he said that, he leaned even closer to Ming Ye.
Ming Ye suddenly opened his eyes and pulled back a little. Before Qi An could feel disappointed, Ming Ye abruptly said, “Not here.”
Qi An’s eyes immediately lit up.
Not here meant they could go somewhere else.
That was not rejection. It was a naked invitation.
Their hands were still tightly interlocked, and Qi An immediately stood up, pulling Ming Ye along as if he wanted to go somewhere else.
Lin Zhiqiao lowered the brim of his hat a little. [As expected of a playboy. His flirting techniques are way too practiced.]
Hearing that, confusion appeared in Qi An’s eyes.
Playboy?
What playboy?
Who was he talking about?
The next second, Lin Zhiqiao’s voice suddenly shot up, excited and thrilled: [Good lord, seriously, good lord!]
[Using the exact same tricks, Ming Ye has flirted with four people before this—Qi An is the fifth! He used the “hero saves the beauty” routine on three people, and “love at first sight” to hook four others…]
Lin Zhiqiao tried hard to count the numbers. [Not even counting Qi An, Ming Ye has actually dated more than twenty people! Eight of them still haven’t broken up with him yet! And some are men and some are women… so he’s actually the kind of playboy who swings both ways!]
[Eight boats at once! A playboy really is a playboy. He’s basically some kind of modern-day tentacle monster reincarnated!]
Qi An stared in shock, mouth hanging open. His forward steps abruptly stopped, and quite a few of the pink little bubbles floating around him shattered on the spot.
But Lin Zhiqiao was not done—
[Holy shit! One of the playboy’s current fish is nearby! They’re on the way to this bar right now… no, no, no—they’ve already reached the entrance! They’re about to push the door open!!!]
Lin Zhiqiao screamed in excitement: [Ahhh! Am I really about to witness a playboy flip his car with my own eyes?!!]
