Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Before she could retract her words, Xu Qingyan chimed in.

"Write, why can't I always write songs for you?"

"What if someone else offers a higher price?" Pei Muchan's face turned beet red as she naively asked.

"Ah? I charge Lin Wanzhou the same rate; she doesn't pay me any extra," Xu Qingyan said, a bit confused, and after pondering for a while, added, "If I have the capacity, I'll just sell some songs."

"Anyway, there will always be songs you guys can't sing. Frankly speaking, if I'm just keeping them, I might as well sell them. If I can sing it, I'll sing it; if not, I'll naturally sell it."

Being charged the same as Lin Wanzhou, Pei Muchan felt as if she had been stabbed again.

She sighed deeply, truly a nemesis for life.

"What if... what if one day I go bankrupt and can't pay you? What then?" Pei Muchan persisted, asking this rather childish question.

Xu Qingyan was genuinely baffled. Do all women consider 'if' scenarios?

"Then I just won't take the money. Frankly, I've never enjoyed any great wealth in this lifetime. Telling me to go back to living in poverty doesn't seem too bad."

"If you lose out, I'll cover for you. Even if I have to pour all my earnings back in, that's fine."

Pei Muchan couldn't help but look away, pursed her lips, and once again nearly burst into tears.

"Xu Qingyan, why are you so good to me? You..."

She almost let out "Do you like me?" In truth, with what Xu Qingyan had said, it was either that he liked her or he wanted to be her dad.

The former seemed more likely, as Pei Muchan believed she had some appeal.

Not to mention the number of times Xu Qingyan sneakily glanced at her, he wasn't exactly a gentleman. Occasionally, she could see those risqué pictures on his phone.

As for the latter, it seemed guys liked playing the role of a dad.

"I think I've mentioned it before, why I joined the reality love show," Xu Qingyan didn't choose either of the two options but instead revealed an unexpected answer.

"Your mother's medical bills?"

"Yes, that period was really painful for me, and actually, there were even tougher times before. The hardest was when I had no money for school," he paused, his voice filled with emotion, "Taking the bus in the wind and the rain without an umbrella, having to huddle in the pavilion waiting. Taking a taxi wasn't that expensive, twenty yuan, but the bus was only two yuan."

"When you're poor, you can't even bring yourself to buy a one-yuan bottle of mineral water; you'd rather stay thirsty until you get home to drink free tap water. But sometimes, I found out my mom hadn't taken her medication on time, and when I asked her why, she didn't eat."

"She said one of the medications wasn't covered by health insurance, and it was too expensive."

"Every time I heard that, it really hurt me, but I couldn't break down. My dad died early, and the subsidies were long gone; my mom only had me. Things eventually turned around, and I could earn some money while in college. Just when it seemed I would make it through, something happened, and I couldn't raise that much money by myself."

"The company laid me off, and I was jobless. That's when the reality show approached me. You probably already know the rest, so I won't go into it."

Pei Muchan was stunned; at that time, it was herself...

"I asked Zhou Mian about it, and he said you specifically requested my information," Xu Qingyan continued, "so I am really thankful to you, even if it was just a casual gesture on your part."

"But for me, I got the money. My mom's illness was cured, and that's enough. At least I can face my dad; he can't blame his son for being useless."

"And me... I really don't care about making a lot of money, being poor doesn't bother me."

"I'm just an ordinary person, with no special talents or big ambitions. There's not much I can do except write songs for you."

"If someone bullies you, I'll have your back. You know I'm not very cultured, but I do believe in an eye for an eye; I can do the things you can't."

"Once you're famous, you won't get bullied, whether by Ji Chen or anyone else."

"You want to be famous, I'll write songs to make you famous. Even if one day you want to act, I can make movies for you. I will keep following you until you become the star everyone watches."

In the dimly lit hotel room, Pei Muchan looked at Xu Qingyan, who was voicing his feelings for the first time. There was no shyness in his eyes, just endless apprehension.

Fortunately, the room was dimly lit; she bowed her head, concealing all her emotions.

Her shoulders trembled slightly, not out of being touched, but because of unease. Things weren't at all as he said, she only joined the love show because of Lin Wanzhou...

It was just a moment of displeasure, stemming from a lock screen photo, making a rough guess to irritate Lin Wanzhou, and on a whim, she joined the reality love show.

The reasons were flimsy, and reality held no logical foundation at all.

She had completely forgotten about it, but now that the past was being brought up again, Pei Muchan was trembling. She didn't know how to feel touched, Xu Qingyan was too good to her.

Had all of this not been built on the premise of an absurd prank, had it not been a comedy of errors. He had said to judge deeds, not the heart, but Pei Muchan couldn't claim herself to be guilt-free.

It was like stealing the cake that belonged to Lin Wanzhou, and indeed, Lin Wanzhou's reaction afterwards proved to be extremely intense, not even waiting for the reality show to end before storming over.

She had guessed that during the birthday banquet that day, Lin Wanzhou had planned to get dressed up to meet Xu Qingyan. But something happened, and the meeting was interrupted.

A personal phone, with a low-resolution screensaver, originally belonged to them...

At this moment, Pei Muchan's mind echoed with his words, "If someone bullies you, I'll have your back," "I will follow you until you become the center of attention as the diva."

Her mind was a mess, she wanted to explain, but was afraid to shatter it all.

Pei Muchan gave herself many reasons, such as judging deeds not the heart. Lin Wanzhou didn't know that it was because of that screensaver that she had remembered Xu Qingyan.

But a lie was still a lie, Xu Qingyan said he didn't care, only judged deeds, not the heart. Even if it was an unintentional act, he was a man of his word.

Yet, the fatal flaw lay with Lin Wanzhou, who needed only to ask Xu Qingyan, "When did you and Pei Muchan meet?" and the truth would naturally come to light.

Lin Wanzhou could guess it, get very close to the truth.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qingyan asked.

Pei Muchan stopped trembling, she lifted her head, suddenly understanding the most critical link.

"Do you really judge deeds, not the heart?"

"Of course, could there be any falsehood?" Xu Qingyan was a bit embarrassed to speak his mind, but that's how the 2D world worked.

Barge through first and never look back at the explosion.

But this wasn't a confession, and the feeling of shame wasn't that high after saying it out loud. Hmm… Repaying kindness, that's what good young people do, and he didn't think following Pei Muchan would lead to poverty.

Kidding, of course only the songs sung by the little diva would be hits, only those could make enough money.

Pei Muchan was unaware that the man in front of her was calculating everything to make a profit, his internal monologue was sincere and simultaneously strategic, moving, isn't it? If it's moving, that's right!

However, Xu Qingyan felt the effect was average. Perhaps the world of 2D couldn't fully blend with reality? He would have to switch to another buff next time, the usual drill.

Refresh an abstract buff each week, that should cover up his true identity as a male lead.

"If someone else asks when we met, can you say we knew each other two years ago?" Pei Muchan asked with a conflicted expression.

"Uh... why?" Xu Qingyan scratched his head.

"No reason, I just like it," Pei Muchan lifted her head, suddenly showing a smile, "I hope my memories from two years back also have someone like you in them."

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingyan was stunned, a spark seeming to pass through his heart.

"Alright."

...

Night fell.

At 8 PM, an alarm woke the two people who were napping in the same room. So, they quickly began packing their things in a rush and hurried out the door.

"Hurry up, we're going to be late for the recording!" he said, "This time, the program won't lend us a car, damn it!"

"I know, do you want to eat something on the way?" Pei Muchan asked.

"No, I'm not eating! Go press the elevator button!"

Meanwhile, "I Am the Music King" third episode officially began airing.

Zhou Lili, who was staunchly supporting her against the haters, was in front of the computer watching the live broadcast from the TV station. She had been eagerly waiting for sister Pei to finally appear, eager just to hear what song she would sing.

But first, a man with a rock guitar came out, with a beard and sunglasses, one glance and you knew it was rock.

Zhou Lili immediately lost interest, as the man on the screen belted out with all his might. She silently left her chair, then slipped away for five or six minutes before returning.

She endured until Lin Wanzhou took the stage, a melodious accompaniment slowly beginning, and when her singing started, it was explosive!

"In that hurried year, how many times did we say goodbye only to put off our farewell."