Chapter 48
Xu Shuangrong was very good at steering the rhythm. She originally wanted to sow discord between Xie Mi and Lai Bingxuan, then quietly step back and enjoy the show. Who would have thought Xie Mi wouldn’t take the bait at all—
Instead, she dragged her into the battlefield too.
Xu Shuangrong’s eyes instantly reddened. “Teacher Xie, I only spoke up because I was afraid you were being bullied.”
“You helped very well. Don’t help next time.”
Shen Yanqing suddenly cut in, his tone ending with a teasing lilt.
“Our Teacher Xie’s smile is practically reaching her ears, and you still managed to interpret that as her being bullied and forcing a smile. That’s some real talent in comprehension.”
“Pfft—”
A staff member couldn’t hold back their laugh, then quickly covered their mouth in horror.
No helping it—Shen Yanqing’s words were way too savage.
Xu Shuangrong was struck speechless.
And just as the whole play was about to wrap up, Lai Bingxuan, who had almost been falsely accused, finally reacted belatedly. She looked at Xie Mi in shock.
“You’re actually not a local?!”
[Pfft! Is that really the key point here?]
[Good lord, no wonder she’s been silent for so long—she was busy chewing on this.]
Then Lai Bingxuan processed another layer and glared angrily at Xu Shuangrong.
“You actually tried to frame me?!”
[…lmao 6]
[Not joking, her reaction time could circle the Earth.]
[The atmosphere was so tense, and then this just cracked me up.]
Even though she was slow to catch on, Lai Bingxuan wasn’t going to waste this chance to make life difficult for Xu Shuangrong. She immediately spoke with schadenfreude.
“Why did you try to set me up? Sure, we didn’t get along in high school, but you don’t have to target me like this, right?”
That line was loaded with information.
Xu Shuangrong knew she was in the wrong and wanted to pull her old trick—playing the pitiful card again.
But just as things looked ready to spiral, the eternal peacemaker Liu Woxing rushed to smooth things over.
“Alright, alright, it’s all just a misunderstanding. Now that it’s out in the open, let’s not ruin the harmony.”
The matter was temporarily put to rest.
But netizens wouldn’t just let it go. They quickly dug it up and pushed it onto the trending searches.
#Xu Shuangrong and Lai Bingxuan were high school classmates
#Dating show female guests are tearing each other apart
Before long, insiders came forward to confirm that they really had been classmates, and their relationship was indeed very strained.
As soon as they saw the news, Xu Shuangrong’s fans couldn’t sit still.
Seeing how timid Xu Shuangrong had looked on the show when Lai Bingxuan appeared, they immediately connected the dots—thinking Lai Bingxuan must have bullied Xu Shuangrong in high school.
The Xu Army mobilized in full force, ripping Lai Bingxuan to shreds online and even threatening the production team to revoke her guest spot, or else they’d cause trouble.
But Lai Bingxuan wasn’t one to take hits lying down. With capital backing her, a flood of paid posters surged in, spreading smear articles about Xu Shuangrong everywhere.
The two sides officially went to war. The outcome: mutual destruction, neither side getting off easy.
And Xu Shuangrong, who had wanted to stay pretty and invisible, ended up pulled straight into the battlefield’s center.
Meanwhile, the guests arrived at the beluga pavilion, sitting in rows to watch the beluga show.
“Little White! High five!”
The trainer stood proudly on the shore, giving a command. The elegant beluga surfaced, flicked its tail, and sent a massive splash smacking right across the trainer’s face.
The trainer was slapped flying on the spot.
But in the split second of hitting the ground, he seamlessly propped himself up with both hands, did two push-ups, then stood gracefully with arms outstretched.
“That’s right, what you’re seeing is our hidden performance—the Beluga Water Play!”
[That was a spectacular crash.]
[Low EQ: botched the show. High EQ: you unlocked the hidden act.]
[The beluga perfectly captured the spirit of a burnt-out worker clocking in for the day lol.]
[Beluga: work is already annoying enough.]
“As you can see, our Little White is very fond of interacting with people. So now it’s time for the interactive segment! Let’s invite our seven guests up to the stage!”
The trainer, master of talking nonsense with a straight face, forcefully pushed the process forward, yanking everyone’s attention back to the guests.
Thunderous applause filled the hall, and all eyes turned to the last row.
Liu Woxing smiled stiffly. “Fond of…interacting with people?”
Xie Mi, who was stretching and preparing to wrestle with the beluga, explained casually, “If you can openly slap your boss across the face, tell me that’s not fun.”
Liu Woxing was instantly convinced.
Yeah, that did sound pretty fun.
Obviously, this was a show arrangement. No matter how unwilling they were, the guests had to walk up on stage, greeted by even louder cheers from the audience.
“Wow! Such a big production, they even invited celebrities today!”
“Ahhh, isn’t this that super popular dating show recently? I can’t believe I stumbled into the filming site!”
“Mom! I’m on TV!!”
Amid all the exclamations, a voice pierced through the crowd, cutting straight into Xie Mi’s ears, “Why is there a local mixed in here?!”
Xie Mi jolted, then roared back angrily, “I’m a goddamn guest!!”
The venue went silent for two seconds, then erupted into deafening screams.
“That uncensored outburst, ignoring the show’s survival—yep, that’s Old Xie!!”
“Who’s Old Xie?”
“That really crazy one lately!!”
[HAHAHAHA Old Xie never imagined she’d blow up this way.]
[Old Xie has officially lost her name—no longer “that local,” now just “the crazy one.”]
[Sister Xie, queen of defiance. Being mistaken for staff so many times, and she still won’t take off the makeup.]
[Or maybe…she really just likes her look today that much?]
[…mind blown.]
The trainer, who had nearly mistaken Xie Mi for staff and tried to escort her out, pulled back just in time, hastily continuing the script so no one would notice.
“Actually, our Little White has a special skill—it can understand human confessions and deliver them.”
“To test this, we’ll have our male and female guests stand on opposite sides of the pool!”
They adjusted their positions—three male guests on the left, four female guests on the right.
The beluga swam back and forth, then stopped on the women’s side.
The trainer smiled mysteriously. “Little White will surface one by one to hear your whispers. Please quietly tell it who you like, and it will swim to that person’s spot.”
“Now then, Miss Liu, please go first!”
Liu Woxing hadn’t expected to be first. She approached nervously, but seeing the beluga’s calmer state, she carefully leaned in.
She whispered something, then watched the beluga swim toward the men.
It circled among the three, then finally stopped in front of Qiu Chengye.
[Ahhh Xing x Cheng CP is real!]
[Not a big fan of Qiu Chengye, but this pair is the most stable so far.]
[Qiu Chengye is a bit chauvinistic, while Liu Woxing is gentle and virtuous. Perfect complement!]
[You two are killing me with sweetness!!!]
Qiu Chengye, selected, looked unsurprised—confident and arrogant as he walked toward Liu Woxing.
But only Xie Mi, standing nearest Liu Woxing, heard a barely audible whisper, “Golden Boy.”
Xie Mi couldn’t hold back her laugh.
Truth was, the beluga “whisper relay” was a complete sham, just a gimmick by the production team to attract viewers. Liu Woxing hadn’t whispered a thing, yet the beluga had gone straight to Qiu Chengye.
In short—it was all prearranged.
