Chapter 35 The Prerequisite for Breaking Off Ties

Rewind to half an hour earlier, and the dating selection process finally came to an end.

From the moment he received the envelope, Mu Jiu was lost in thought.

Although Meng Shuning's choice of her wasn't entirely unexpected for Mu Jiu, she still couldn't help but be surprised when the other party actually handed her the envelope.

Even though everything that is happening now has deviated from most of the plot of the novel, the program "Our Past" still includes a segment on "choosing a date for your ex".

The male and female leads, Fang Yucheng and Meng Shuning, love each other and overcome various difficulties in the show. By this point, the viewers have accepted the unshakeable status of "Meng Xiang Cheng Zhen".

In this part, Meng Shuning chose the original owner of the body as Fang Yucheng's date, which caused many CP fans to break down and accuse the production team and the original owner of having malicious intentions.

Even if the original owner was the one who was chosen, the CP fans would only think that it was because the original owner had been actively binding herself to Fang Yucheng that Meng Shuning was hurt too deeply in her previous relationship, which is why she pushed Fang Yucheng away from her again.

Even if it were Mu Jiu now, who had already made so many statements during the program, he still couldn't avoid this trend.

In tomorrow's date, besides considering the sudden public opinion storm surrounding Ling Zhao, she also needs to find a way to get Meng Xiangcheng's CP fans to focus their attention on their "real idol"...

Just as Mu Jiu got up from the sofa, he left the living room while thinking.

Just as she was about to step onto the stairs, she heard someone call out to her.

Mu Jiu looked over in the direction of the sound.

Perhaps it was the corner lighting, but when the other person looked up, there was an inexplicable darkness in their eyes: "We're going out together tomorrow, how about we talk in a few minutes?"

Such a plot does not exist in the novel.

After learning that she could go on a date with Fang Yucheng, the original owner was completely absorbed in her own world. She happily spent the whole night choosing her favorite dress and shoes, just to make sure she could look beautiful on the date the next day.

However, considering that the original protagonist's partners in the original storyline did not suddenly stop recording, perhaps this is another way for the production team to guide public opinion.

Mu Jiu nodded and followed Fang Yucheng without giving it much thought.

Mu Jiu didn't realize something was wrong until she saw the other person walk into the staff lounge, which required a card to enter.

This is not a lounge for guests, but a place that only staff responsible for maintaining the equipment are allowed to enter.

Therefore, there are no live streaming cameras here.

Her gaze swept warily across the ceiling before she stopped at the doorway instead of entering the room.

Mu Jiu: "If it's just a date..." We can talk about it in the attic.

Before she could finish speaking, Fang Yucheng raised his hand and made a "shush" gesture, then turned off the live stream microphone in front of her.

Mu Jiu stared at him for a few seconds, then obediently turned off the microphone, but remained standing at the doorway outside the room.

"...You really have changed."

Fang Yucheng looked at her with obvious scrutiny: "I don't know how you convinced Ling Zhao to help you, but it's obvious that he's the substitute you found, right?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Jiu looked at him in surprise.

Seeing her gaze, Fang Yucheng's gloomy mood finally dissipated somewhat.

He was right.

Those guys with no intelligence or judgment, saying he's Ling Zhao's stand-in?

ridiculous.

Over the past few years, he had clearly seen the admiration in the other person's eyes, but he did not feel that the gaze was looking through him at another person.

Given his achievements, it's hard to imagine that a woman who once admired him would so incomprehensibly and passionately fall in love with someone who merely resembles him.

The only explanation is that she was hurt.

A woman like her will only quickly shift her attention to another man because of emotional trauma.

But at this point, how could he allow such a variable to occur?

“I know that Shu Ning’s existence hurt you, but you also know that we have no feelings for each other. We only finalized the cooperation in advance to broaden our career path.”

Fang Yucheng's eyes darkened: "I have never denied my relationship with you to anyone."

He knew perfectly well what kind of attitude and what kind of words the woman in front of him would like.

So he stepped forward and, in a sweet tone as if he were talking to his lover, patiently coaxed her: "This period has been difficult for you. If you're willing, we can go back to how things were before in private... But I hope you won't see Ling Zhao anymore, okay?"

He watched as Mu Jiu lowered his head, and he was already seventy or eighty percent certain of his answer.

If it weren't for the obstructive camera, a further intimate gesture would have drawn her heart back to him...

"I'm sorry, my thoughts are all jumbled up right now."

The figure, head bowed, spoke sullenly, "Let me think about it."

Seeing Mu Jiu take a step back, Fang Yucheng said helplessly, "Okay, I'll give you time... I hope you can give me an answer by tomorrow's date."

"..."

Mu Jiu frowned and looked up only after the other person had completely left.

She hadn't expected Fang Yucheng to be so bold as to bring her to that kind of place. If she actually stepped into the room, even if he didn't do anything, the time he was gone from the live stream would be enough to make the viewers suspect that their relationship wasn't pure.

Isn't he afraid that his fans will stop supporting him because of this? Or does he have other plans?

In any case, thanks to this incident, Mu Jiu finally managed to sort out some of the doubts in the novel's plot—

The original owner was not the type who lacked love, nor was she a person without self-respect.

Therefore, Mu Jiu had wondered before why the original owner had been so convinced of Fang Yucheng for so long, even though the outside world ridiculed him so much.

Unless, in the original owner's eyes, this was a two-way journey.

Mu Jiu originally thought that Fang Yucheng's feelings for the original owner were just due to the drama. As long as he withdrew from the "Meng Xiang Cheng Zhen" dispute, he could avoid the "main plot" and successfully break free from Ling Zhao's bond after the variety show ended, returning to a normal life.

But now everything has been overturned.

Everything that happened to Ling Zhao is probably more or less related to Fang Yucheng.

This means that, so far, what she has done is not enough.

Simply avoiding conflict is unlikely to change the terrible outcome.

Mu Jiu's tightly clenched fist gradually loosened.

To achieve her desired outcome, she would have to resort to more intense and flamboyant methods.

——

The constant stream of messages made Tan Xi, who had just returned to her dorm room, somewhat confused as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

There are especially many negative topics about Ling Zhao today. The fans in this small group seem to be college students who don't usually follow celebrities and have never seen anything like this before.

Because I impulsively joined a sharing group for the "Morning and Evening" couple using a secondary account, and now, although the group administrators are trying their best to control the situation, the number of people in the group is gradually decreasing over time.

The rest of the discussion revolved around whether or not to respond to the comments attacking Chaomu, and controlling the comments from the front row.

Even worse, some naive people were swayed by the comments and thought that the "Meng Xiang Cheng Zhen" CP fans were attacking Chao Mu.

Seeing that things were getting increasingly out of control, Tan Xi finally couldn't help but send a message.

[Sigh: @Everyone, don't be misled by trolls into attacking other guests! It's clearly a setup by marketing accounts. Don't reply to comments attacking Chaomu. For these trending comments, just say "wait for an official response!"]

She did this simply to reduce the number of people attacking her brother. If these people remained stubborn, she could simply leave the group like everyone else.

After a period of panic in the group, a steadfast leader finally emerged. After a moment of silence, the group admin proactively asked for her opinion.

[Group Admin: What do you think we should do?]

Because of her idol worship, she understands better than the average person that there aren't many genuine feelings in this industry.

The reason why people ship Meng Xiangcheng is because both of them are top in their respective fields. Since they are top, they don't need to act out likable couple personas for exposure like ordinary celebrities.

Therefore, what she ate must have been real candy.

As for morning and evening...

She only admitted that she was a little curious about their past, but that was all.

[Sigh: At times like this, we can only wait for and trust the official response. If our CP fans continue to act aggressively when negative news has already surfaced, as if someone is framing us, it will only further damage other people's perception of Chaomu.]

In her opinion, this couple's relationship ended the moment the man's affair was exposed.

Although she verbally comforted everyone, she was actually pessimistic about how things would develop.

Once negative news is exposed by a marketing account, even if it's a rumor, it can take several years to clear one's name.

To be realistic, the best course of action now is to protect the other party in the CP (couple pairing) from the public opinion storm.

Just as Tan Xi was lost in thought, another message suddenly popped up in the group:

[A bunch of people are here: Jiu Jiu is live streaming again!!!]

Why start a live stream at a time like this?

Tan Xi stared wide-eyed in surprise.

If a live stream is scheduled for this time, it's almost certain that the topic will be discussed.

However, for the woman, any response at this point in time would be extremely irrational.

If Mu Jiu were truly as she perceived him to be, she should be trying her best to distance herself from him, instead of inviting criticism by trying to silence him.

After hesitating for a while, Tan Xi couldn't help but click on the live stream.

No one knows what Mu Jiu just said, but all sorts of comments quickly flooded in:

Are they crazy? They'd jump into any pit they can get their hands on!

You say it's fake, but without evidence, how can anyone know if it's true or false?

Why did Jiu Jiu speak up for that person?

...

Amidst a barrage of questioning comments, a clear voice rang out: "Ling Zhao has long harbored the idea of ​​retiring from the entertainment industry. In the past two years, he has almost completely stopped all acting-related work. His participation in this program was at my request."

“He only suffered this because I put him on camera, but he didn’t even complain about me.”

"When the incident happened, their first reaction was to cut ties with me and suspend the recording of the show to avoid appearing on camera and affecting my popularity."

Mu Jiu slowly raised his head, looking directly at the camera without flinching: "This is why I'm doing a live stream."

The moment Tan Xi met that gaze, her head buzzed.

A sense of absurdity welled up in her mind.

If Mu Jiu is this kind of person, are those so-called acts of fawning over others and being a simp really something he did?

Before Tan Xi could figure out why she felt this way, a vibration from her phone brought her back to her senses.

The number of messages in the group suddenly surged.

The group members, who were just moments ago feeling low-spirited, suddenly became incredibly enthusiastic, shouting that they could fight for the future for hundreds of years to come.

[A multitude of things arises from dawn till dusk: If Jiu Jiu can go to such lengths for Zhao Zhao, what are we still confused about?]

[0909: Tap tap open! Tap tap open! For dawn and dusk!!!]

I don't know who started it, but some people in the group started saying they wanted to make CP (couple) edit videos, some said they could write scripts, and some provided materials.

The group was completely caught up in the excitement, and even Tan Xi, who was looking at the group messages, had mixed feelings.

Just as she was thinking about how to reply to the messages in the group, she suddenly noticed a familiar voice coming from the live stream.

After a faint static sound, the phone was connected.

Making a phone call during a live stream?

Tan Xi stared blankly at the woman on the screen.

Objectively speaking, Mu Jiu is indeed unbelievably beautiful. It's the kind of beauty that radiates even in a random corner without any lighting or backdrop.

Even now, with her face lazily propped up, she still looks like a beautiful, languid cat.

Just as Tan Xi was momentarily lost in thought, those beautiful eyes swept over her, suddenly making her shudder.

"I know you're watching the live stream."

Mu Jiu: "Now that things have come to this, may I get your permission to talk about your past?"

Upon hearing the first sentence, Tan Xi had a strange feeling of being caught in the act of adultery, but after hearing the second sentence, Tan Xi suddenly realized something and her eyes widened.

No way...!

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Finally, it sounded like a heavy sigh: "What if I'm not innocent?"

"Then I will investigate each matter thoroughly."

Mu Jiu didn't care about the barrage of comments flashing wildly in the live stream after the other party spoke. He just kept his head down, staring at the phone screen during the call, and said slowly and deliberately, "Until I found evidence that you deceived me, and discovered that you are actually a heinous and wicked person."

"At that time, let's break off all ties completely."