Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The director, fearing that the two might say something shocking again, quickly shot a threatening glance at Gu Yunshuang, hoping to exert pressure on him through Xinchao Entertainment behind the scenes.

Unexpectedly, Gu Yunshuang averted his gaze as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

Qi Yue sneered coldly, “You don’t need to pressure Shuangshuang either. Although Shuangshuang and Sister Hua are bound by contracts and can’t reveal much, only cooperating with your arrangements, I’m different. I have no contracts with your production team or Xinchao Entertainment. It’s obvious this so-called task is targeting our Shuangshuang.”

“Ah, but maybe it’s not so certain. I noticed the others just now didn’t seem to be acting either. Could it be that they really didn’t see us at the time? Could this be some kind of supernatural event? I recall a paranormal phenomenon called ‘ghost’s eye,’ something even little spirits can use. Could we have encountered a ghost?”

Qi Yue inhaled sharply, then looked at Xue Tinghe with a mock-serious expression. “Master Xue, what do you say?”

Xue Tinghe could not stand anyone challenging his expertise in metaphysics, especially Qi Yue, whom he disliked from the start. Without hesitation, he retorted coldly, “Impossible! There is not a trace of yin energy here, nor could any little spirits be so brazen in front of me without me noticing.”

The director tried to intervene but was too late, so he could only close his eyes helplessly.

Qi Yue smiled confidently, as if he had everything under control.

This Qi Yue was definitely not ordinary!

The director secretly grew wary of Qi Yue but dared not delay any longer. The longer this conflict dragged on, the more people would enter the live broadcast room. Eventually, the truth they were trying to hide might be uncovered.

They had considered temporarily shutting down the live stream or showing ads, but the broadcast room had spiraled out of control. No matter what they tried, the staff were trembling with fear. If not for the director’s stern prohibition, they would have rushed to the bus to seek Xue Tinghe’s protection.

Qi Yue’s meaning was clear: they could continue making excuses, but he could also drag Xue Tinghe down with them.

“Oh, right, I must have misremembered. The contract indeed has Qi Yue’s name on it. It must have been my mistake. This task was my personal idea—I was careless, only thinking of making the show more eye-catching to boost ratings, without considering how it might negatively affect certain guests. Teacher Gu, I apologize.”

The director promptly bowed deeply to Gu Yunshuang and apologized, then sincerely bowed to the other guests as well, promising that future task arrangements would be carefully considered, fair, and just, with no repeats of this incident.

He even offered compensation to Gu Yunshuang and Qi Yue, asking what kind of compensation they would like.

Qi Yue smiled, “If the director really wants to compensate Shuangshuang, arrange for more competent moderators to manage the live chat. If I’m not mistaken, the personal attacks against me and Shuangshuang have yet to be deleted, right?”

The director was speechless.

He could only apologize once again and hurriedly assign moderators to mute and ban the troublemakers.

Qi Yue didn’t press the matter further, and the issue was thus quietly resolved.

The director breathed a secret sigh of relief, finally shouldering the blame as he wished. He didn’t care how harsh the online criticism was—he was a director, not a celebrity. Which director doesn’t get scolded? As long as he had the Jiang family backing him, they would ensure his smooth rise.

As for Qi Yue and Gu Yunshuang, the director thought bitterly to himself: just wait.

Qi Yue caught his resentment but smiled faintly without a word. Once you take the blame once, there will be a second and third time. The director was merely a disposable scapegoat.

***

Sun Jiayuan, watching all this, finally realized that her benefactor’s strength far exceeded what she had imagined. At least, Xue Tinghe was like a mere child before him, unable to detect even a blatant attack in his face.

Or rather, what Xue Tinghe considered a powerful strike was merely a trivial flick of a finger for her benefactor.

She pondered this. Her benefactor was Gu Yunshuang’s childhood playmate; they grew up together and seemed very close. He cared deeply for Gu Yunshuang.

So her benefactor must be eager to protect Gu Yunshuang and clear her name. The purpose of coming on this variety show with Gu Yunshuang was obviously to stir up trouble. Well, she might as well help him.

She immediately pushed the hashtag #ChildhoodFriendsAdventure# to the top of trending searches on all major platforms.

The traffic generated was enormous, and many casual viewers flooded into the live broadcast room.

The director watched the rapidly climbing viewer numbers backstage, but instead of feeling pleased, he grew anxious.

However, thinking of the Jiang family backing him, he gradually relaxed. Though Qi Yue was a bit uncanny, could he really surpass the entire Celestial Master Association behind Xue Tinghe?

He instinctively made excuses for Xue Tinghe not noticing the supernatural occurrences on the bus. Perhaps there were insider secrets unknown to outsiders like them. He firmly believed in Xue Tinghe’s genuine strength.

Maybe the more basic and harmless the spell, the easier it was to go unnoticed—like how people rarely notice ants on the ground.

With these thoughts, the director felt more at ease, though he was still troubled by how to subtly explain the earlier misunderstanding to Xue Tinghe without angering him.

After some fuss, the bus finally departed.

But the atmosphere inside was strange; no one spoke.

Hu Lijing glanced at the cold-faced, icy emanating Xue Tinghe in front and then at Qi Yue behind, who was whispering with Gu Yunshuang and occasionally chuckling lightly, clearly in high spirits. Her eyes darted around, and unwilling to let things slide, she called out to Qi Yue, “Qi Yue, are you really childhood playmates with Gu Yunshuang?”

Qi Yue raised an eyebrow. “Of course, no doubt about it.”

Hu Lijing sighed, “Honestly, you do resemble Xue Tinghe a bit. Are you two really not brothers or relatives?”

Qi Yue replied, “Do I? I don’t think we look alike at all.”

Xue Tinghe had already received a message from the director and was shivering all over.

He refused to believe that some unknown entity had sneaked around him without his noticing. He suspected someone tampered with the cameras and that hackers had taken over the live stream. There was no way it was due to supernatural causes. That Qi Yue was highly suspicious—maybe he bribed the staff and arranged hackers just to ride on his coattails for attention.

Hearing their conversation felt like an insult. Qi Yue claimed they didn’t look alike but was clearly trying to leech off his image. It made Xue Tinghe even more disgusted.

He had thought they were true childhood friends, but it wasn’t long before their true nature showed—nothing but a vain, profit-driven actor trying to gain traffic.

He sneered coldly, with a disdainful air as if garbage shouldn’t be compared to him, and sneered at Gu Yunshuang, “Is this the childhood playmate you brought? Mere mediocrity.”

Everyone on the bus heard his scorn and mockery.

***

Qi Yue smiled in reply, “So this is the famous Master Xue—how the times have changed.”

Sun Zhanyuan, a devoted fan of Xue Tinghe, could not stand anyone mocking him, especially this so-called inferior imitation of Xue Tinghe present before them. He immediately challenged, “What do you mean by that?”

Qi Yue responded, “Young and able-bodied, yet choosing superstition scams over honest work—if that isn’t a sign of moral decline, then what is?”

Others wanted to defend Xue Tinghe, but Qi Yue continued, “Are you saying what he does isn’t superstition scams, but real? That ghosts and metaphysics truly exist? Do you want to promote superstition live on stream? No. We should believe in science. As public figures, you should promote science and reject superstition, so you don’t mislead the kids watching.”

As he spoke, he looked at Gu Yunshuang and saw agreement in her eyes, which pleased him.

The others were speechless. Although the authorities had been ambiguous on metaphysics lately, with no clear ban, there were still explicit rules against promoting feudal superstitions.

Anyone wanting to keep their live stream from being shut down couldn’t openly claim that ghosts and metaphysics were real.

The supposedly highest-status and most praised among them, Xue Tinghe, was swiftly branded by Qi Yue as a fraud peddling superstition, leaving them all awkward.

Many online believed in metaphysics, but more were atheists. Xue Tinghe had many fans but also numerous detractors accusing him of being a scammer and charlatan. Seeing him take a hit, the haters emerged to mock.

“Ha! So well said! What a so-called master, pretending to be grand but just a fraud. Such a tall and strong young man—why can’t he earn a living honestly? Instead, he chooses to scam money!”

“I hate these superstitious scam artists the most! So what if Qi Yue is an actor? He earns money with his looks and acting skills, unlike some people who scam hard-earned money by pretending to be mystical.”

“My grandmother was once scammed by a fraud like that—lost over a hundred thousand in her coffin money, and they even beat my son to death with willow branches for supposed ghost exorcism! My sweet little son is gone! These fraudsters have no conscience and deserve no good end!”

Xue Tinghe’s face darkened. He glared coldly at Qi Yue. Since becoming the strongest young generation figure in the Celestial Master world, no one dared to embarrass him face to face like this. He silently vowed to teach this man a lesson.

Qi Yue met his gaze with a provocative smile, then turned and feigned sadness as he asked Gu Yunshuang, “I heard you liked him? Well, I’ve been away so many years. You forgot our promise and naturally fell for someone else.”

Gu Yunshuang immediately sat up straight and denied vehemently, “I’m not, I’m not. Don’t slander me. I’m not close to him. Don’t associate me with someone like that. I just thought he looked a bit like you, which reminded me of you, so I couldn’t help but glance a few times.”

This was undoubtedly a slap in Xue Tinghe’s face. The proud young master of metaphysics was reduced to a mere stand-in in Gu Yunshuang’s eyes—a complete insult.

Gu Yunshuang didn’t even notice Xue Tinghe’s icy glare; instead, she looked wronged toward Qi Yue. “Honestly, it’s your fault. If you hadn’t disappeared for seven years without a trace, would I be like this?” She then shot Qi Yue a glare and turned away.

Qi Yue cursed inwardly—he had accidentally stepped on a mine again and quickly apologized, “My fault, my fault, I’m sorry. Here, Shuangshuang, have a candy. Candy makes your mouth sweet, so you won’t be mad at me.”

He took a chocolate from the snack bag Sister Hua prepared, smoothly unwrapped it, and fed it into Gu Yunshuang’s mouth.

Gu Yunshuang instinctively licked the corner of her lips where Qi Yue’s finger had touched, clearly savoring the sweetness of the chocolate spreading in her mouth. Her eyes curved into a gentle smile.

Qi Yue looked at her like this, his expression darkening subtly. The faint touch of her lips on his fingertip, soft and bouncy, felt as if it had touched his heart—tingling and warm. He unconsciously caressed his finger and gazed at Gu Yunshuang with tender affection.