Chapter 61

Hearing Ye Leyao laugh out loud, the other guests couldn’t hold back either.

Some covered their mouths, others turned their heads, and of course, there were those who, like Ye Leyao, laughed out loud without any reservations.

Apart from Huo Yan, the loudest laugh came from Li Siyuan.

After Li Siyuan finished laughing, he even nastily repeated the question: “Zhang Qiran, is what Song Zhehan said true? Is your persona also fake?”

After asking, Li Siyuan watched Zhang Qiran with great interest, waiting for his answer.

At this moment, in the live broadcast room, the laughter grew louder and louder, with exaggerated “hahahahas” flooding the screen.

—”This is perfect! I considered every possible reason, but I never thought it would be this! Truly worthy of you, Teacher Gou Shi!”

—”Teacher Gou Shi: Since I’m fake, I advise you all not to fake it either.”

—”Exactly! Isn’t it better to be honest? Right, Teacher Gou Shi?”

—”I can’t take it anymore; this whole situation is already lively enough, and now Li Siyuan, you’re making it worse by repeating it! Fine, fine, I’m too scared to cause trouble, so I’m temporarily quitting the fan club!”

Seeing this, a bystander couldn’t help but say, “Why do Li Siyuan’s fans act exactly like Teacher Gou Shi’s fans? They really have no backbone!”

To this, the witty fans who had just ‘quit’ responded: “Yes, yes, we have no backbone. We’re definitely not as strong as Teacher Zhang Qiran’s fans, right?”

What a clever move to shift the blame!

Truly worthy of being fans taught by Gou Shi and Li Siyuan; they’ve learned their masters’ ways perfectly.

So, the onlookers in the bullet comments stopped posting for a moment.

They had been too excited earlier, posting so fast that they didn’t even see the comments from Zhang Qiran’s fans!

Zhang Qiran’s fans: “…”

So frustrating!

Had they been wasting their time all along?

Before Zhang Qiran’s fans could continue speaking, another onlooker chimed in: “Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let’s continue watching the live broadcast. Zhang Qiran is sweating on his forehead, isn’t he?”

The show’s cameras were extremely high-definition, so the audience could see everything clearly.@@novelbin@@

Ye Leyao, who was present, also saw it clearly. Zhang Qiran wasn’t just sweating on his forehead; he was sweating all over, and his shirt was a bit damp.

The more Ye Leyao looked, the more he wanted to laugh:

[I see it clearly now, our show’s regular guests really are just a bunch of troublemakers!]

[So, after this recording is over, will other artists still dare to participate in our show?]

Huo Yan chuckled lightly at these words.

Well, that would depend on the other artists’ courage.

As long as they had nothing to hide, why would they be afraid to join their variety show?

After all, the regular guests here wouldn’t eat people!

They were just keen on gossip.

Qin Yao shared the same thoughts as Huo Yan.

Moreover, there were always people in this world who had a sense of luck and believed they were the exception.

Thinking of this, Qin Yao looked up again, staring at Zhang Qiran and Song Zhehan standing in front of him.

Song Zhehan was standing right next to him, wearing his familiar signature smile, still patiently waiting for Zhang Qiran’s answer.

Zhang Qiran was in a real dilemma at this moment.

At the same time, he genuinely began to regret it. Why on earth did he agree to participate in this show?

Before signing the contract, his manager had repeatedly reminded him that since Song Zhehan no longer planned to maintain his previous persona, he certainly wouldn’t keep up the facade of peace between them.

It was even highly likely that he would directly make things difficult for him, and the production team hadn’t disclosed whether it was the show or Song Zhehan who had invited Zhang Qiran.

In other words, the person who invited Zhang Qiran to participate in the show could have been Song Zhehan, who had won the right to invite guests in the second episode.

In that case, Zhang Qiran had all the more reason not to accept the offer for this variety show.

But despite his manager analyzing things to this extent, Zhang Qiran still resolutely signed the contract.

Not for any other reason, but because previously Zhang Qiran had always overshadowed Song Zhehan. But who would have thought that just because Song Zhehan participated in this variety show, his endorsements, business deals, and even his popularity on Weibo would surpass Zhang Qiran?

Before this, two business deals had already started contacting Zhang Qiran’s team, but in the end, both of them rejected him and chose Song Zhehan instead.

In the past, it was always Zhang Qiran who snatched business endorsements from Song Zhehan. Now the tables had turned, and how could Zhang Qiran swallow this anger?

So, when the show’s invitation came, Zhang Qiran ignored his manager’s advice and immediately agreed.

But at this moment, Zhang Qiran finally realized that his manager was right. The reason Song Zhehan invited him was to find fault with him and enjoy the spectacle.

It was Zhang Qiran’s impulsiveness that led him to this situation.

Now Zhang Qiran deeply regretted it, extremely regretted it!

If it weren’t for the cameras still filming him, and if he hadn’t signed a contract that he couldn’t breach, he would have definitely turned around and left.

These two constraints left Zhang Qiran completely unable to move his feet.

To maintain his persona and not fall into Song Zhehan’s trap, he had to keep a polite smile on his face.

But Zhang Qiran couldn’t really smile!

His face was about to freeze from the forced smile!

After what seemed like a long time, Zhang Qiran finally took a deep breath and barely maintained the smile on his face. He turned his head and, in the calmest tone possible, said to Song Zhehan, “That joke wasn’t funny, and besides, I’ve always been like this.”

Before Song Zhehan could respond, Li Siyuan snickered first, “Don’t say that, but your acting really isn’t as good as Song Zhehan’s. At least Song Zhehan kept his expression in check before, right?”

“Right?” Li Siyuan turned to look at Liu Yan and Zhou Zijian.

His voice wasn’t loud, but the entire carriage could hear him clearly.

Liu Yan and Zhou Zijian immediately felt like they were in trouble.

Why did they have to get dragged into this?

Although they indeed witnessed everything in the first two episodes.

That was… really hard not to respond to!

Liu Yan, remembering her manager’s advice, just slightly nodded her head and then continued to act like a quail.

But Zhou Zijian, after glancing at Wen Xiangyue, whispered, “Ah Yue also watched Xiao Song’s drama before and even praised his acting, right?”

Wen Xiangyue nodded.

The onlookers in the bullet comments almost laughed themselves to death and passionately commented:

—”Liu Yan is just pretending to be dead, but not completely!”

—”Zhou Zijian is trying to be tactful. Even if he might offend someone, he’s doing it so politely that it shouldn’t count as an offense, right?”

—”Zhang Qiran probably won’t be petty enough to get angry over such polite words, right?”

—”Zhang Qiran fans, what do you think? I remember your idol is usually very magnanimous!”

Zhang Qiran’s fans: “…”

Damn it, they were really angry!

But the netizens left them speechless.

To say that Zhang Qiran wouldn’t get angry.

But who said Zhang Qiran’s acting wasn’t as good as Song Zhehan’s?

In their eyes, Zhang Qiran’s acting was the best.

But to say that Zhang Qiran would get angry.

That didn’t seem right either.

Zhang Qiran was usually gentle and easygoing, very Buddha-like, and rarely got angry!

So, the fans could only angrily respond: “Zhang Qiran doesn’t get angry because he’s good-tempered, but we don’t have a good temper, and we’re angry!”

Mischievous netizens: “Hahahahaha who cares if you’re angry? What does your anger have to do with me?”

They were just here to enjoy the drama, as long as they were having fun.

So Zhang Qiran’s fans were fuming even more.

The regular guests, fans, and viewers of this variety show were really too much!

Fortunately, Zhang Qiran’s fans couldn’t hear Ye Leyao’s inner thoughts; otherwise, they would probably be even angrier.

After finishing his laughter, Ye Leyao began to seriously evaluate in his mind:

[Indeed, Zhang Qiran’s acting isn’t as steady as Song Zhehan’s, nor is his personality as composed. Song Zhehan may be a vengeful schemer, but at least before his persona collapsed, he could still hide his emotions well!]

[But look at Zhang Qiran. Since getting in the car, his expression has changed several times. Any little thought is written all over his face.]

[It’s just that the artists who collaborated with Zhang Qiran before were easygoing and didn’t expose him.]

[What a pity.]

Ye Leyao shook his head with a smile:

[There aren’t many easygoing people on our show!]

Thinking this, Ye Leyao couldn’t help but glance at Qin Yao in the front row.

[Hmm, but at least President Qin is one.]

Qin Yao couldn’t help but bring his hand to his lips, hiding the smile that was forming, with a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Suddenly, the smile on Qin Yao’s lips froze. Wait a minute, how did Ye Leyao suddenly bring the topic onto him out of nowhere?

Could it be that Ye Leyao was looking at him again?

Qin Yao furrowed his brows slightly, holding back the urge to turn his head and confirm.

But Ye Leyao’s gaze only lingered on Qin Yao for a brief second before quickly shifting to the two people next to him.

Zhang Qiran was clearly angered by what Li Siyuan had just said. Although he was still smiling, anyone with a keen eye could see that his jaw was clenched tightly!

The bullet comments chimed in at the right time:

—”Hahahahaha, quick, look at Zhang Qiran’s microexpressions.”

—”He’s clearly pissed off, trying to hold back his anger, huh?”

—”Damn, no way, is Zhang Qiran’s persona really about to collapse this quickly?”

—”Not sure, let’s keep watching.”

Song Zhehan was obviously pleased with Zhang Qiran’s reaction. After enjoying Zhang Qiran’s expression for a moment, he leisurely said, “Alright, anyway, there’s still plenty of time to prove things later; I’m not in a rush. Let’s go sit down. Do you want to sit with me?”

Zhang Qiran looked at Song Zhehan as if he were about to shoot fire from his eyes. How could he possibly sit with Song Zhehan?

After several seconds, Zhang Qiran forced out a smile: “No, I prefer the window seat. I’ll sit by myself.”

After saying that, Zhang Qiran directly walked towards the seat near Qin Yao and sat down in the second row.

Song Zhehan watched Zhang Qiran, smiling as he walked back to his seat. As he walked, he didn’t forget to say, “It seems Zhang Qiran really doesn’t like me; he doesn’t even want to sit with me. Ah, how heartbreaking.”

Ye Leyao: “Pfft—”

[Could you act any faker?!]

[How could Zhang Qiran dare to sit with you?!]

[He’s already sulking from your jabs. If he were to sit with you, what if his persona really collapses?]

[Zhang Qiran still needs to keep up his persona for his career!]

Ye Leyao deliberately looked at Song Zhehan with a look of reproach, just in time to meet Song Zhehan’s gaze.

So, Song Zhehan directly stood in the aisle next to Ye Leyao’s row, glanced down at Yu Bai, who still had a cold expression on his face, and politely said, “Could you move aside, please?”

Ye Leyao looked puzzled.

Yu Bai, on the other hand, raised his head with a face full of displeasure.

He was already holding back a stomach full of anger, which hadn’t subsided yet. Hearing the bursts of laughter from the carriage only made him more annoyed. Thinking back to how Song Zhehan had sided with Ye Leyao earlier when he had been embarrassed, Yu Bai’s face grew even colder: “What do you want?”

Sensing the tension, the netizens watching the drama grew excited again:

—”No way! Is Teacher Gou Shi really about to go on a rampage indiscriminately?”

—”Ahhhhh, I really want to smash my head against the wall for Teacher Gou Shi. Stop being so cool!”

Song Zhehan slightly raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed by Yu Bai’s cold words, and directly reached out to grab Ye Leyao by the arm, speaking in a gentle tone: “Of course, I’m taking Ye Leyao with me. Otherwise, should I leave him here to continue making things awkward for you?”

Ye Leyao: “Cough cough cough…”

[Seriously, I’m not exaggerating, when it comes to roasting people, there are really few guests here who can match up to Teacher Gou Shi!]

[Teacher Gou Shi is amazing!]

Ye Leyao was pulled up from his seat by Song Zhehan.

At this moment, with the two of them standing on either side of Yu Bai, his face alternated between red and white. After a tense few seconds, he finally said coldly, “Move your hand first; otherwise, how am I supposed to get out?”

Yu Bai actually didn’t want to sit with Ye Leyao any longer, but he had been the one who had come over first. Even though Song Zhehan’s words were still unpleasant, at least he had offered a way out, so Yu Bai decided to take it.

Only then did Song Zhehan suddenly act as if he realized something, dropping his hand and smiling as he said, “Oh, my apologies. It’s just that you’re a bit short, Teacher Yu Bai, so I thought this height wouldn’t be an issue for you.”

From the seat in front, Huo Yan: “Cough cough…”

He couldn’t hold it in anymore.

But even louder than Huo Yan’s laughter was Li Siyuan’s. As soon as Song Zhehan finished speaking, he burst out laughing.

Even Wen Xiangyue, who was usually composed in front of large crowds, couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.

For a moment, the carriage was filled with the deliberately stifled laughter of the guests.

Ye Leyao tried his best to think of many sad things, but at this moment, he still couldn’t suppress the smile on his face.

Ye Leyao gave Song Zhehan a thumbs-up.

[Song Zhehan! You’re really going all out today!]

[So cool!]

The livestream viewers were even more hysterical:

—”Teacher Gou Shi’s unexpected angle of attack!”

—”Strong, really strong!”

—”I can’t take it anymore; my face is going to freeze from laughing. Every episode of this show is especially amazing!”

—”Yes, yes, especially the guest appearances, always a surprise.”

—”So good, love watching; keep it up!”

Meanwhile, Yu Bai was completely stunned by the roast.

No, he was already prepared to take the exit Song Zhehan offered, so what was the meaning of this?

Yu Bai sat there glaring at Song Zhehan, unable to decide whether to stand up or stay seated.

Luckily, the gap between the front and back seats of the bus was wide enough that even if Yu Bai didn’t get up, Ye Leyao could still squeeze out, though he’d need to be careful not to step on Yu Bai’s foot.

After coming out of the seat, Ye Leyao took the initiative to grab Song Zhehan’s arm: “Let’s go, let’s go.”

[Alright, alright, I wasn’t even mad anymore anyway, haha—]

Ye Leyao pulled Song Zhehan’s arm and moved to the row in front of Li Siyuan. As soon as he sat down, he saw Li Siyuan stick his hand through the gap between the two seats and give Song Zhehan a thumbs-up.

Ye Leyao smiled, giving Song Zhehan two thumbs-up: “Awesome!”

Song Zhehan slightly tilted his chin: “Did I need you guys to say that?”

Ye Leyao instantly burst out laughing even more.

The livestream viewers were also amused by this scene:

—”Alright, alright, as expected of our Teacher Gou Shi! He has his own style!”

—”My face is going to crack from laughing—”

—”Alright, looks like things are calming down for now. So, as a die-hard fan of Song Zhehan, I’m back!”

The bullet screen was once again filled with exaggerated “hahaha” comments.

Shortly after Ye Leyao and Song Zhehan sat down, the director boarded the bus.

Seeing the slightly awkward yet somewhat lighthearted and funny atmosphere in the carriage, the director tried hard to suppress his smile, making sure it wasn’t too obvious before speaking, “For this episode’s recording, we invited a total of four guest stars. You must be curious why only two have arrived so far, right?”

Upon hearing that there were two more guests, the current guests didn’t react much, but the bullet screen exploded:

—”Two more?”

—”Help, I really don’t want to see the regulars roast the guest stars anymore. Please, just bring out the other two guest stars quickly!”

—”Hey, I’ll give you another chance to say whether you really want to watch or not?”

The previous commenter immediately changed their tune:

—”Hehehe, I really want to watch! Hurry and bring out the other two guest stars!”

But there was no way the remaining guest stars would come out so easily to satisfy the audience.

The production team deliberately held them back at this moment, clearly having their reasons.

The director briefly explained the upcoming arrangements.

This time, the travel destination was a newly built tourist village in the city.

Inside the mountain villa, there was also a large amusement park. The ten guests on site needed to first go to the amusement park, find the other two guests based on the clues provided by the production team, and then be led to the accommodation by these two new guest stars.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

However, Ye Leyao was somewhat puzzled.

[Isn’t this show supposed to be unscripted, with the production team not interfering with the guests’ decisions? Why is there an additional task of finding guests this time?]

Huo Yan was also puzzled after Ye Leyao’s comment.

Indeed.

They were on a travel variety show. Although the production team had assigned tasks before, those tasks were either cooking together or something similar, which hardly counted as real tasks.

But today’s task seemed quite formal.

Ye Leyao thought for a while and then suddenly looked up at Qin Yao in front.

Seeing this, Song Zhehan directly asked, “Why are you looking at President Qin again?”

His voice was loud enough to attract many people’s attention, including Huo Yan and Qin Yao, who both turned around.

Huo Yan looked at Ye Leyao and then at Qin Yao.

Has Ye Leyao looked at Qin Yao a bit too often?

Ye Leyao didn’t notice Huo Yan and Qin Yao’s gazes. He was just puzzled and asked Song Zhehan, “Why did you use ‘again’?”

[It sounds like I often look at President Qin.]

Huo Yan: “……”

Isn’t that the case?!

Qin Yao cleared his throat and couldn’t help but think for a moment.

Does Ye Leyao often look at him?

It seemed… he did.

This thought surprised Qin Yao, and he suddenly felt a trace of inexplicable emotion, which he couldn’t quite figure out.

Song Zhehan snorted lightly, showing no intention of speaking further.

Ye Leyao didn’t ask more questions and started to think about why the production team suddenly assigned them a task.

Unfortunately, within two minutes, Ye Leyao was tired and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, they had already arrived at the destination, the amusement park.

The guests got off the bus in turn.

After getting off, Ye Leyao was much more awake, so he immediately checked on Yu Bai and Zhang Qiran.

Yu Bai’s expression was noticeably better, clearly having adjusted himself on the way over.

Zhang Qiran also had returned to the gentle smile he had when he got on the bus.

Ye Leyao was about to look away with a smile when he suddenly saw Qin Yao walking towards the director, whispering something to him.

While chatting, the director seemed to glance at Yu Bai and Zhang Qiran.

Ye Leyao stared at Qin Yao for a few seconds, suddenly realizing something and his eyes widened:

[From my interactions with President Qin, he doesn’t seem like someone who would change his mind without reason. So the fact that he replaced Yu Bai must have been due to something he discovered!]

[Since he noticed something wrong with Yu Bai, why did he still invite him to our show?]

[So President Qin must be doing this on purpose! Planning to expose Yu Bai’s true nature to the audience during this recording?]

Huo parents just arrived and heard Ye Leyao’s inner thoughts.

Mama Huo’s eyes immediately brightened: “See, I told you! Xiao Qin is indeed very reliable.”

Huo Ze suddenly thought of the production team’s task mentioned by Ye Leyao and became excited: “Could it be related to the sudden task arranged by the production team?”

Papa and Mama Huo and Huo Jing all looked over.

Huo Ze analyzed: “Look, the production team had never assigned tasks before. Why would they suddenly give the guests a task today? It must have some deep meaning!”

At this moment, Ye Leyao’s inner thoughts echoed again:

[Hmm? President Qin didn’t choose me for a team! I’m upset!]

[Forget it, Second Brother is fine too.]

Ye Leyao put his arm around Huo Yan’s shoulder: “Let’s go, Second Brother, we’re off!”

Huo Yan helplessly pulled Ye Leyao’s arm down: “Just walk properly!”

Ye Leyao: “Oh.”

The production team allowed the guests to form their own teams, five people per team, divided into two groups, entering the amusement park from different entrances to find people according to the clues.

Ye Leyao, Huo Yan, Liu Yan, Zhou Zijian, and Song Zhehan were in one group, with the remaining people in the other group.

The task assigned by the production team wasn’t too difficult; the clues along the way were easy to find. Thus, the group quickly arrived at the entrance of a castle.

“Is it inside here?” Song Zhehan asked.

Huo Yan looked at the clue in his hand: “Yes, it’s here. Push the door.”

Zhou Zijian, at the front, pushed open the castle door. Before he could ask if anyone was there, a charming female voice said, “Did you guys come a bit late?”

Ye Leyao: [This voice sounds a bit familiar.]

Huo Yan recognized the speaker’s identity and exclaimed in surprise: “Qian Yue?”

Ye Leyao’s pupils instantly widened.

[Wait, isn’t Qian Yue Yu Bai’s current girlfriend?!]

Huo Yan was even more shocked.

What did Ye Leyao just say?

Yu Bai’s current girlfriend?

When did Qian Yue’s taste become so poor?

Before Huo Yan could finish his surprise, Qian Yue smiled and walked out, introducing herself to everyone present.

She had collaborated with Huo Yan several times before, so they had a good relationship.

Seeing Huo Yan looking at her with a strange expression, Qian Yue frowned: “Why are you looking at me like that? Is it because my makeup doesn’t look good today?”

Huo Yan: “……No.”

It’s surprising how poor your taste is.

But Huo Yan couldn’t say that out loud and made a random excuse: “I didn’t expect you to join our show.”

When Qian Yue mentioned this, her smile suddenly became a bit sweeter: “I have my reasons for joining the show.”

Ye Leyao looked at Qian Yue and then at Huo Yan.

Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to Qian Yue: “Sister Qian Yue, so the other guest in the amusement park with you is Xia Yang, right?”

Qian Yue was taken aback for a moment and then showed a bright smile: “How did you guess that? Do you know Xia Yang?”

Ye Leyao: “……”

[No, I don’t know him.]

[It’s just that you and Xia Yang, one is Yu Bai’s current girlfriend and the other is Yu Bai’s current boyfriend.]

After saying this, Huo Yan felt a moment of brain blankness.

Ah?