Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After the first meeting ended, I went to ask the director what exactly was going on.

The director said the script they had arranged was angst first, sweetness later.

“Audiences these days don’t like manufactured sweetness. If it’s sweet, sweet, sweet the whole way through, they get sick of it! There have to be twists and turns. Teacher Xi and Tian Tian are the official couple, but we won’t let them get together right away. First we torment the fans to keep them loyal, film some of that restless yearning for what they can’t have, and then have Xi Yan win Tian Tian back. See? A few ups and downs, and it becomes entertaining.”

“Then what role am I playing in all this? Why do I feel like Teacher Xi has aimed all his fire at me?”

“You’re not important. You’re just there to make Tian Tian look better,” the director said frankly. “Anyway, in their romance arc, you’re just a supporting character. In the early stage, just create some sweet moments with Xi Yan. We can’t make it all angst, right? Think of yourself as that pair of shoes that doesn’t fit.”

Fine. So it really was that kind of setup.

No wonder Best Actor Xi was happy to stir the pot and insisted on dragging me into it.

Green leaves set off the red flower, and I was the pitiful ex.

But even a tool had a temper, okay? Why did I have to happily create sweet moments with him? I refused.

In the next round, when we voted for the lover in our hearts, I chose my junior colleague, just as planned.

Bao Jialin was from the same company as me. He didn’t have many gigs, so when he got a spot on this dating show, he was thrilled.

I bought him a few Honor of Kings skins in exchange for him forcefully tying himself to me so we could hype up a ship and wash away some of the blame I was taking in Xi Yan and Ren Tiantian’s story.

The moment I called out Bao Jialin’s name, everyone started booing.

Because of Xi Yan’s dedicated performance just now, everyone was looking at him with pity.

Xi Yan muttered listlessly, “You really won’t choose me…”

“Teacher Xi, are you really worried no one will choose you? I genuinely like younger wolf-dog types. Older-woman-younger-man romances are very popular right now.”

“Your production team has a problem with its values. You’re discriminating against older men.” Xi Yan laughed as he scolded them. “You’ll pay the price for this. Older brothers can be very childish too. Just you wait.”

There was an unconcealable disappointment in Xi Yan’s voice, and Tian Tian looked at him hesitantly.

The host smoothly went along with it. “Since Teacher Xiao Bai isn’t interested in you, Yan Ge, would you like to choose someone else? You’re the senior here, so you can go first.”

Xi Yan waved a hand. “In my current state, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to date someone else. It would be disrespectful to them. The girl I like would also think I was especially frivolous and look down on me even more.”

The light in Ren Tiantian’s eyes dimmed, and according to the script, she chose another young actor.

After everyone had paired up, Xi Yan was actually left alone.

“We really didn’t expect the Best Actor to be the one left single on the first day. Let me explain the rules to everyone. We have five men and four women in total, and there is one chance to choose love every day. Of course, that means one person will always be left single each day.”

It was just like musical chairs.

A group of people circled the chairs to the music.

When the music stopped, one unlucky soul would be left standing.

Xi Yan was today’s unlucky soul.

Seeing his gloomy expression, I thought to myself that he truly lived up to being a Best Actor. He made it look so real.

If I hadn’t asked the director, even I would have thought he really liked me.