Chapter 48: Whoever wins gets a date with Fu Mei. ...
The two male guests got into a fight because Chu Ruofu was washing her hands after finishing making ceramics. Li Yichen was next to her and saw her struggling to scrub the dirt off her hands, so he held her hands and helped her wash them.
This scene was witnessed by Lu Xubai, who had just returned from outside. He immediately punched Li Yichen in the face.
The sudden incident left Chu Ruofu and the cameraman stunned. After being hit, Li Yichen naturally couldn't stand it; this was the first time he had been beaten up outside of filming.
揍他的还是陆叙白, 他的头号情敌。
Li Yichen immediately threw a punch back, hitting Lu Xubai hard in the abdomen.
Fortunately, the room was spacious enough, and since both of them had practiced martial arts, their fight looked like action actors filming a fight scene in a movie.
The viewers in the live stream were utterly shocked.
Holy crap, they've really started fighting.
[Quickly record this! This is the first time in the history of dating reality shows that male guests have been seen fighting.]
I'm totally stunned! Will the live stream get banned?
[Program team, are you satisfied now? The male guests got into a fight! Fighting in the competition is way too much!]
Chu Ruofu never imagined that one day she would hear her say, "Stop fighting!"
The two men, caught up in their emotions, ignored her words. Their expressions were cold and stern as they ordered the cameraman to take her to a safe place.
Li Yichen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked coldly at Lu Xubai: "I've disliked you for a long time. You always have a deadpan expression and you're always bothering her."
Lu Xubai's handsome face was gloomy, the veins on his arms bulging, and his voice was icy: "Enough with the nonsense!"
Chu Ruofu looked anxiously at the cameraman: "Tell them to stop fighting."
The cameraman made a few perfunctory remarks to stop them, but the two men were consumed by anger, and there was no way he could stop them.
Live stream chat:
Stop hitting him, stop hitting him, it scares me to watch.
Let them fight. Let's settle this once and for all. The loser will automatically stay away from Fu-mei.
[You people really love making things worse! Two male guests ended up in the hospital after a fight. Who's going to film this dating reality show now?]
[Exciting! Hahaha, this is so much fun! Let's fight! Whoever wins gets to go on a date with Fu!]
Today, Chu Ruofu went out on a date, while Shen Wuyang stayed in his room secretly watching the live stream. When he saw two male guests fighting, an idea flashed through his mind.
It would be best if Li Yichen and Lu Xubai could kill each other, so that they wouldn't have the energy to compete with him for Chu Ruofu anymore.
Competition among men is fierce. In civilized society, it is difficult to kill one another under the constraints of rules and regulations. In ancient times, however, men would have tried every means to kill their rivals.
In the animal kingdom, male competition necessitates fierce battles, and only the victorious male is qualified to mate with a female.
The owner of the ceramics shop heard the commotion and pushed open the door. He was stunned for a moment when he saw two handsome men fighting in front of him. He quickly stopped them, saying, "Handsome guys, stop fighting! You've ruined everything in my shop!"
Chu Ruofu looked anxious and ashamed as she said to the boss, "I'm sorry..."
Li Yichen took a moment to reply to his boss: "I'll compensate for any damage."
Lu Xubai coldly said, "You don't need to pay for it. I will compensate you tenfold for everything that is damaged in the store."
Upon hearing this, the ceramics shop owner frowned. It wasn't about the money; who would have thought that two well-dressed, handsome men, who seemed so refined, would be so rude as to start a fight in his shop?
Seeing the female customer clutching her skirt with her hands hanging limply, the ceramics shop owner quickly exclaimed, "You've frightened this girl!"
This statement proved effective; the two men, who were clutching each other's clothes, stopped and both looked at Chu Ruofu.
The girl's face showed anxiety, her eyes were filled with worry, and there was a hint of fear in them.
The cameraman had already turned off the live stream to avoid it getting leaked and affecting the show, and the guests' cell phones started ringing urgently, echoing throughout the room.
Li Yichen shook off Lu Xubai and said coldly, "It's all your fault for ruining my pleasant date with Ruofu."
Lu Xubai's eyes darkened slightly, and he pursed his lips. As a lawyer, he should act calmly in the face of a case, and only after he had the victory in his grasp should he gradually defeat his opponent.
But how can you compare someone you like to a case? Her every word and action influences everything about him.
Lu Xubai walked up to Chu Ruofu, his voice low and hoarse: "...I'm sorry."
He looked like a defeated wolf king, dejected and somewhat pitiful.
Seeing that the two had finally stopped fighting, Chu Ruofu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Are you alright?"
Hearing her concern, Lu Xubai replied in a low voice, "It's nothing."
Li Yichen quickly moved closer to Chu Ruofu, revealing a face that had been punched several times and was covered in wounds. Compared to Lu Xubai, he looked miserable and pitiful.
"Fu-mei, look at me, he beat me up so badly."
Seeing his handsome face battered beyond recognition, looking somewhat broken, Chu Ruofu sighed inwardly, thinking, "Who told you two to fight like that?"
They're adults, yet they act like teenagers, resorting to violence without hesitation.
Seeing Li Yichen acting coquettishly and foolishly, Lu Xubai pursed his thin lips into a straight line, his eyes showing displeasure.
Li Yichen is a ruthless person who specifically targets the parts of his body that are covered up. He punched that devilish face several times, and although he seemed to have the upper hand in the fight, the two were actually evenly matched.
Chu Ruofu asked each of them a question before answering the ringing phone.
The director's voice came from the other end of the phone: "Ms. Chu, how's the situation on your end?"
To prevent the situation from escalating, the live streamer immediately shut down the broadcast, so the production team was unaware of the guests' situation and quickly called to inquire.
Chu Ruofu glanced at the two injured men and told the director truthfully, "They stopped fighting, but they were injured."
These two fought fiercely, going all out to kill each other. She didn't even dare to watch them fight.
After learning about the two male guests' situation from Chu Ruofu, the director immediately made a decision: "I'll send a car over now. Please accompany the two male guests to the hospital for a check-up."
In such emergencies, the production team's first consideration is the safety of the guests. If a male guest gets into trouble while filming, the show is over.
The director was well aware that the two male guests had gotten into a fight over the female guest out of jealousy. He gently asked Chu Ruofu to calm the two male guests down, end the date, and go to the hospital for a check-up.
Chu Ruofu was equally worried about them and immediately agreed to the director's request: "Okay, director."
After hanging up the phone, she looked at the two men who were seriously injured and said, "The director will send a car over immediately, let's go to the hospital together."
The ceramics shop owner brought over a first-aid kit and said, "I have iodine and alcohol here. Please treat the wound simply first."
Lu Xubai frowned and said indifferently, "I don't need it."
Li Yichen leaned close to Chu Ruofu and said in a coquettish tone, "Sister Fu, my face hurts so much. Can you disinfect it for me?"
Hearing Li Yichen's disgusting tone, Lu Xubai's fist hardened again, and he really wanted to punch him a few more times.
The owner of the ceramics shop felt a chill run down his spine from the cheesy display of affection. How could a grown man act so coquettishly in front of a girl? He looked at Lu Xubai's reaction, hoping the two men would stop fighting.
The ceramics shop owner smiled and said, "Please move to the sofa in the front hall and rest. I'll have my staff come and clean up."
Chu Ruofu left the room first, followed closely by Li Yichen, and then Lu Xubai. Seeing that things had calmed down, the cameraman turned on the live stream again.
Viewers who stayed put were frantically spamming the chat.
How's it going? Is it over?
Why was the live stream turned off? Who won between the second and third male leads?
[Lu Ge doesn't seem to be injured. Lu Ge won, right? The Fu Bai CP is the right one.]
[Crying][Crying][Crying] Brother Li, how did you get beaten up like this? The studio should immediately send a lawyer's letter to Lu Xubai and sue him!
[Are you stupid? Lu Xubai is a top lawyer, why would you sue him?]
If both of them resort to physical violence, it's considered mutual assault, and you can't file a lawsuit. If it escalates, both of them will end up in jail.
The live stream was filled with discussion, with solo fans and CP fans arguing non-stop.
Chu Ruofu sat down on the sofa, with Li Yichen and Lu Xubai sitting on either side of her, forming a pincer movement.
The ceramics shop owner kindly brought over saline solution, saying, "First, wipe the dirty areas with saline solution to clean away any foreign objects, then disinfect with iodine. The first-aid kit has gauze and bandages."
"Thank you, boss." Chu Ruofu smiled slightly at him.
The ceramics shop owner was momentarily stunned, thinking to himself, "No wonder the two men fought over her. This girl seems shy and reserved, but she has a pure and beautiful appearance. Her lovely smile is irresistibly attractive."
Chu Ruofu turned to look at Li Yichen, holding a wet cotton cloth in her hand, and said, "Come closer, let me wipe you down."
Li Yichen, the fox who was disheveled after the fight, was unusually obedient and brought his injured face close to her.
Chu Ruofu wiped the wound with salt water, and Li Yichen suddenly hissed in pain, his eyes showing a wronged look.
"Bear with the pain." Chu Ruofu rarely spoke harshly.
"My face wasn't damaged, was it?" Li Yichen said meaningfully, "If it were damaged, I wouldn't be able to act, and the insurance company would claim compensation."
Chu Ruofu couldn't help but want to roll her eyes. At this moment, she realized she should worry about his face. "No, it will be fine after applying some medicine."
Lu Xubai must have held back, not completely damaging Li Yichen's face. The wounds on his face looked horrific, with only some tearing and bleeding at the corner of his mouth; the rest of his face was fine.
After wiping him clean, Chu Ruofu applied iodine solution to disinfect him.
She focused intently on disinfecting him, and faced with that handsome face, a gift from God, she developed an immunity, and her heart became unusually calm.
She's easily embarrassed; when faced with a man's advances, her hormones surge, causing her to blush and her heart to race. However, if something serious happens, she remains remarkably calm.
When she was taking her driving test, while other students were nervous and making mistakes, she passed the test on her first try on the busy road. In this crucial event in her life, she was always able to make calm decisions.
Live stream chat:
【Fu-mei is so gentle.】
The female lead applies medicine to the second male lead, and he's practically bubbling with pleasure.
[Fu Mei is indeed the most beautiful and adorable girl in the world; she's truly a treasure.]
[Waaaaah, Fu-mei, please also care about Lu-ge, he looks like he's about to break.]
After cleaning Li Yichen's wounds, Chu Ruofu turned to Lu Xubai, who had remained silent, and asked, "Do you have any wounds that need treating?"
Lu Xubai's face didn't look injured, but the two of them had fought fiercely just now, and she didn't believe he was completely unharmed.
Unlike Li Yichen, who is good at pretending to be well-behaved to gain attention, he usually chooses to endure and restrain himself when something happens.
Li Yichen stared intently at Lu Xubai. He had calculated that Lu Xubai was arrogant and unruly, and that making him humble and weak would be harder than killing him.
"Yes," Lu Xubai said calmly.
He reached out and unbuttoned his wrinkled shirt, revealing his abdomen with bluish-purple and red marks, and his well-defined, full abdominal muscles that exuded a beautiful sense of power.
Chu Ruofu was stunned for a moment. Her first thought was to ignore him, but then she turned her gaze back to his wounds with pity.
No wonder Lu Xubai's face was uninjured; Li Yichen had punched him in places where he couldn't see.
Live stream chat:
[Li Yichen, your brother is the sixth.]
[Haha, I'm dying of laughter! Cha Cha's second male lead has been exposed. Those scheming men are truly terrifying.]
[My heart aches for Brother Lu. Even though he was beaten so badly, he endured it all, without trying to gain Sister Fu's sympathy.]
[Fu-mei, please take good care of Brother Lu.]
Chu Ruofu turned to look at Li Yichen. He was so ruthless, yet he was still pretending to be pitiful in front of her.
Li Yichen touched his nose and guiltily looked away.
"It might hurt a little, so bear with it," Chu Ruofu said to Lu Xubai.
Lu Xubai said in a calm voice, "You don't need to worry about me."
Li Yichen muttered under his breath, "If you have hands, why don't you do it yourself?"
Chu Ruofu paused slightly while holding the cotton swab, then looked up at Lu Xubai. His gaze was deep, his thin lips were slightly pursed, and he looked to be in a very bad mood.
She lowered her eyes and gently wiped the wounds on his chest and abdomen.
Lu Xubai's body tensed, blood rushed through his body, and his abdominal muscles clenched, rising and falling with his heavier breathing.
Seeing his reaction, Chu Ruofu felt her ears burning and couldn't help but hold her breath while quickly disinfecting his wounds.
Bullet comments:
[Haha, the second male lead isn't in the scene anymore, I really want to see his expression.]
[The sight of the third male lead's injured abs made my nose bleed; it also gave me a strangely erotic feeling.]
[Who can resist this? It's just applying medicine, but it makes me blush and my heart race! [smirk][smirk][smirk]]
[I'm a bit torn. Both male guests, with their different styles, are very handsome. It's so hard to choose.]
Adults don't make choices; of course they want it all!
After wiping her hands, Chu Ruofu let out a soft breath and said, "I'm going to wash my hands."
She hurriedly ran to the sink in the front hall, and after washing up, the program crew's car arrived outside. Li Yichen and Lu Xubai wrote down their contact information and asked the ceramics shop owner to contact them again to discuss compensation.
The group left the ceramics shop and took a car to the nearest hospital for a checkup.
Chu Ruofu accompanied them to register for the doctor's appointment. After the examination, the doctor said that both of them only had some external injuries and that they just needed to apply medicine and rest properly.
Since the male guest was alright, the director, after some thought, arranged a date restaurant for the three of them to continue filming their date.
That evening, the three of them went on a date at a restaurant.
...
Guests who are single and not on a date today are free to do as they please. Shen Wuyang stayed in his room and did not come out, while Song Yi was busy with work, and Qiao Yimo went out early in the morning.
For guests who are not in the Heartbeat Villa, the production team will send someone to follow them. After Qiao Yimo finishes her schedule, she will send the cameraman away and stay in her private rest room.
The agent opened the coffee and handed it to her, saying, "Li Yichen and Lu Xubai got into a fight this afternoon."
Upon hearing this, Qiao Yimo's face turned ugly, and she said in disbelief, "Fight?!"
This statement is like a fairy tale. Qiao Yimo knows Li Yichen's temperament best. Even though he is high and mighty, he would never fight with anyone.
Li Yichen was the only man she ever truly loved. In order to get close to him, she used all sorts of schemes. He didn't know that before she deliberately approached him, he had felt pity for her.
Unfortunately, there are no secrets in the entertainment industry, and hidden private information will always be exposed by those who can't stand to see her doing well.
"What happened?" Qiao Yimo asked.
The agent showed the video to Qiao Yimo.
After watching the entire screen recording and editing process, Qiao Yimo angrily threw her phone aside.
She initially saw Xia Yuqing as a rival, inciting fans and passersby to cyberbully Xia Yuqing, but now she's being taken advantage of by this minor actress, Chu Ruofu.
She always thought that Li Yichen was only interacting with different female guests to annoy her, so she failed to realize in time that the person he had feelings for was Chu Ruofu.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Qiao Yimo covered her face in anger, her whole body trembling.
Her agent patted her on the shoulder and said, "Why are you so fixated on Li Yichen? The male guests on the dating reality show are just as good as him. You can find someone else to date."
"You think I don't want to?!" Qiao Yimo slapped her manager's hand away.
The agent frowned and said, "How about we discuss it with the production team and have them designate a male guest to interact with you?"
Most dating reality shows have scripts, and the guests each have a persona given by the production team. Everything is rehearsed before being broadcast to the audience.
The agent initially thought that Qiao Yimo was beautiful, and even if her status wasn't as high as before, she was still a female celebrity in the entertainment industry. A smart male guest would choose Qiao Yimo after weighing the benefits.
Who would have thought that things would turn out this way? Li Yichen isn't buying Qiao Yimo's act of playing the victim, and the other male guests aren't interested in Qiao Yimo either.
"Do they all know about your past..." the agent whispered.
Qiao Yimo glared at her coldly and said, "Impossible!"
After using that person's resources to win the Best Actress award, she severed ties with him, and all online information about her was cleaned up so that no one would know.
The agent asked in confusion, "Then why..."
As Qiao Yimo's manager who had been with her since her debut, it was she who connected Qiao Yimo with the powerful figure, making her his mistress. If it weren't for the fact that the man's first wife found out, Qiao Yimo would have had a smooth and successful career in the industry.
Actually, this was all Qiao Yimo's own fault. She was unwilling to just be the big boss's mistress and, relying on her youthful arrogance, provoked the big boss's wife. After being found out, she was almost blacklisted.
That period was the most difficult time for Qiao Yimo. She successfully regained exposure by leveraging Li Yichen's influence, and then used the sympathy of the bigwigs to spend money and build relationships to win the Best Actress award and enhance her image.
Later, she obtained a lot of resources, but unfortunately, even with the crazy buying of fans and data to create a hit drama, as new actresses continued to emerge in the entertainment industry, she was like the old wave being pushed to the beach, and in the end, she still had to find ways to increase her exposure.
Just as she learned that Li Yichen was going to be on a dating reality show, Qiao Yimo used her resources to squeeze out a female guest and get on the show herself.
Li Yichen remained unmoved when Qiao Yimo tried to reconcile and rekindle their on-screen romance, while Qiao Yimo's agent rejected her idea of collaborating.
The agent thought of something terrible: after the drama ended, Li Yichen suddenly stopped seeing Qiao Yimo. Could it be that he found out that she had angered the tycoon's wife to the point of hospitalization?
Li Yichen's fans have been saying online that Qiao Yimo was once kept by a sugar daddy. Such rumors targeting celebrities often appear in the entertainment industry. Netizens are skeptical, some believe that the truth will prevail, while others send lawyer's letters to sue the haters for defamation.
Such things happen countless times in the industry, but without evidence, everyone treats them as laughable rumors.
"Do you think Li Yichen might know about that?"
Qiao Yimo's face paled, and she said, "No, the news has been completely blocked, he wouldn't know!"
The agent quickly calmed the emotionally distraught Qiao Yimo: "That's all in the past. Now you should think about what to do. The dating reality show is almost halfway through, and Chu Ruofu has stolen all the limelight from you."
"If we don't do something, she'll become a popular female guest every episode and steal your advertising and fashion resources."
“She is younger than you. Li Yichen likes her, and she will definitely become the strongest stumbling block on your career path in the future. She may even use you as a stepping stone.”
The agent's words were harsh, but that's the cruel reality.
There is no such thing as harmony and happiness in the world, only the struggle for interests. If she lets things slide and allows her competitors to shine, she will be abandoned by the big capitalists.
Song Yi is a director of a clothing design company and will not enter the entertainment industry. Xia Yuqing has lost her threat. Chu Ruofu is her only enemy.
"What should we do..." Qiao Yimo pursed her lips and thought for a moment, then said, "Should we buy her some well-founded negative trending topics?"
The agent agreed, saying, "I think it's fine. Regardless of whether the rumors are true or not, as long as they spread and netizens misunderstand, it will affect her reputation. The next issue of her and Li Yichen's magazine will not have real sales, and the investors who are waiting to see will have a lower opinion of her."
In the entertainment industry, you have to ruthlessly suppress your rivals in order to help your own artists rise to the top. Resources are limited, so how can you succeed without finding ways to compete for them?
"Go contact the marketing accounts," Qiao Yimo said.
The agent then asked, "Should we contact the production team again and ask them to pair you up with a male guest to form a couple?"
“Of course I want to,” Qiao Yimo said.
The agent asked, "Who do you want to choose?"
Qiao Yimo was ambitious: "Gu Junsheng and Shen Wuyang, they are both beneficial to my future development."
The agent said, "I'll take care of it right away."
...
A date tonight.
Ignoring the subtle and overt verbal sparring between Li Yichen and Lu Xubai, Chu Ruofu quietly and beautifully finished her meal before returning to the Heartbeat House.
After the date, she felt completely relaxed and lazily lay on the sofa, petting the dog and cat.
Unbeknownst to her, her afternoon date was disrupted when Li Yichen and Lu Xubai got into a fight, which became a trending topic. Fans and viewers were initially enjoying the romantic pairing and finding the dramatic situation exciting, but suddenly a bunch of netizens started complaining.
Does anyone else feel the same way, thinking the female lead is quite ordinary, and wondering why the male guest likes her?
[This female guest, the male guests were even fighting for her, and she just stood by and watched. Doesn't she have a brain?]
[It's just a scripted dating reality show. Two men are vying for one woman. Now that they're filming, they'll do anything for ratings.]
I can't ship the female lead with any of the male guests at all; the male guests seem to be obsessed with being in love.
The female lead never expressed any liking for anyone, yet all the male guests liked her. This must be a setup by the production team. I'm waiting for a plot twist.
Netizens who spoke up for Chu Ruofu were blocked and maliciously spammed, while marketing accounts forwarded and stirred up trouble, with comments criticizing and abusing Chu Ruofu appearing one after another.
Chu Ruofu received a call from Xue Fangfei.
Xue Fangfei's voice was heavy: "Fufu, some negative trending topics about you have appeared online. Don't look at them for now. I'll handle it."
Chu Ruofu always listened to her best friend, so she obediently replied, "Okay."
-----------------------
Author's note: I didn't finish writing the midnight update, I'll update it all together tomorrow. I apologize by sending a red envelope to my readers in the comments section of this chapter.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
