Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

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Tick-tock, 11:56 PM.

Almost four hours had passed since the 8 PM broadcast of "Love Hunter."

Xu Qingyan pulled out her phone, scrolled through her chat history with Pei Muchan, exited, and found that Lin Wanzhou still hadn't replied.

It was unprecedented for her to not respond to anything Xu Qingyan asked, with her last message being, "Sister Yun said canceling the contract might make the past few years all for nothing."

The tone was a bit urgent, with no follow-up.

In this month's time, their contact could be considered close. Even because they couldn't meet, whenever Lin Wanzhou had nothing to say, she would crazily click away, ceaselessly sharing.

The meals she ate, the trinkets she bought, even interesting trees she saw were photographed and shared.

Xu Qingyan could feel she seemed to be earnestly cultivating their little world, like a little girl adorning her study desk with cute images, gradually decorating their conversation history bit by bit.

Midnight struck, no reply.

He sighed deeply, his mind clouded with thoughts of the not-yet-completely-transcribed song "What I Miss" and Lin Wanzhou's last message.

He couldn't grasp what he was thinking, and for the moment, all he could do was wait patiently for a message, deciding to work on the score first.

He put his phone aside and closed his eyes to sleep.

.....

The dimly lit private room was filled with deafening music.

With a bang, Ji Chen furiously threw a glass, shattering the computer in front of the table.

The music stopped abruptly, and the men and women sitting on the black sofa stiffened, casting wary glances towards the core of the commotion.

The dim light flickered, passing over Ji Chen's chiseled face. His hand was stained with the remains of spilt alcohol, his posture somewhat haughty, the other hand with pronounced knuckles pinching a cigarette.

Even under everyone's gaze, he leisurely lit the cigarette and took a deep drag, the fiery glow ebbing and flowing like breath.

He said nothing, and no one dared to move, fearing to provoke the anger of the mega-celebrity just below the top-tier stars.

The private room fell silent, and the atmosphere reached an all-time low. None of the men dared to speak, and the girls in sexy spaghetti strap dresses started to get antsy.

"Brother Chen," a girl with her voluptuous chest half-exposed leaned in close, about to whisper in his ear, "what's so upsetting to get you this angry?"

The girl was strikingly attractive, her upper half bare and rounded like white jade. On the other end of the sofa, another girl grew restless, perhaps worried that her sister-in-arms wouldn't be able to grasp the fleeting chance at opulent wealth.

"Not in the mood today, get lost."

Ji Chen's voice was husky from the smoke, low and unyielding, laced with an air of unmistakable refusal. His gaze was cold, his fingers roughly snubbing out the cigarette on the table.

He was tall and well-built, with a bad-boy charm, his eyes holding a hint of darkness, his entire face spelling out "I'm not pleased."

The girl was pushed away but wasn't angry; she just looked up at Ji Chen, slowly rising under the faint light. Her heart pounded at the sight of his handsome face.

Ji Chen was the lead singer of the Xiliang Band, the dream of thousands of young girls, a rising star in the rock world. Onstage, he was the darling of the rock and entertainment circles; offstage, he was the owner of the West Sea brand.

Rich, handsome, and talented, how could a charming playboy like him not be adored?

"I'm really good at comforting people, Brother Chen." The girl mustered her courage again. Chapter Stay:

Ji Chen was already on his feet, giving the girl a glance as he said, "I don't need comfort now, don't overestimate yourself."

After speaking, he didn't care about the tense atmosphere in the room. Like an emperor, with a cigarette on his lips, his indifferent gaze pushed open the door and left.

Stepping out of the private room, Ji Chen took out his phone from his pocket and swiped to unlock it.

He glanced at the trending topics. "Love Hunter" had paid its way to the top, and the third trending entry was #Xu Qingyan, Pei Muchan#, followed by a red explosion icon.

The more he looked at the trending search, the more disgusted he felt, his dark lashes shadowing his expression filled with gloom.

Why would Pei Muchan choose to pair up with a nobody for a love reality show? A person both poor and unknown; there was no benefit for Pei Muchan to partner with him.

What Ji Chen couldn't stomach were the words Xu Qingyan had spoken that day, being rebuked by someone so beneath him; even if he professed to be down-to-earth, he could not tolerate such insolence without limits.

He told himself it was just Xu Qingyan's good fortune; if it had been a few years earlier, he wouldn't have needed to beat around the bush to crush an unknown like that, it'd have taken far less effort.

Walking down the corridor, he found an unoccupied soundproof booth. The room was dark, the only light coming from the glow of his phone screen.

After a moment's hesitation, Ji Chen called his agent, Li Mingwei. After a few seconds, the other side picked up.

"Young master, what's up?" Li Mingwei was the agent for the entire Xiliang Band, but he mostly served Ji Chen since he was their cash cow.

"Are you still out?"

"How novel. Surely Lord Ji doesn't forget that his humble servant is out running errands, pulling in resources for you all?" said Li Mingwei, his voice suggesting he was at a social gathering, fading into a quieter tone.

"Is there an issue? I'm at another event with people from Yun Yi's side, trying to make connections. With some luck, you might become the true top star this year."

Every time he heard Li Mingwei affectionately refer to him as "young master," Ji Chen felt a bit displeased.

He vaguely felt it was mocking, but could never pin down the proof.

"Pei Muchan's new song is climbing the charts again, have you seen it?" he asked, anger suppressed as he lit another cigarette, "Didn't you say you were sure to bring her down?"

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