Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

According to the original plan, Gu Yunshuang’s role here was simply to serve as a contrast to Jiang Mingshuang.

Throughout the variety show, they would gradually leak some ambiguous information bit by bit, allowing everyone to see Gu Yunshuang’s arrogance and terrible temper. Ideally, they wanted footage of Gu Yunshuang “bullying” Jiang Mingshuang.

In contrast, Jiang Mingshuang was always gentle and amiable, smiling kindly at everyone, neither arrogant nor prideful, but humble and courteous.

Most importantly, Xue Tinghe showed disdain toward Gu Yunshuang but spoke softly and treated Jiang Mingshuang with great care.

With such a stark contrast, if they could capture Gu Yunshuang’s jealousy and dislike toward Jiang Mingshuang, and even better, footage of deliberate bullying or making things difficult for Jiang Mingshuang, despite Jiang Mingshuang’s sadness, she would still remain gentle and forgiving—soft and heart-rending.

Once Jiang Mingshuang appeared sufficiently pitiful in front of the audience and garnered enough sympathy, they would begin to gradually reveal her true identity. In the end, her identity would be completely exposed, creating a massive twist that would skyrocket the show’s popularity.

Only then could they use Gu Yunshuang as a stepping stone to boost Jiang Mingshuang’s momentum, winning more fans and favorable public opinion.

After all, the heir of New Tide Entertainment, invested in his own company’s program, being bullied by another artist but still greeting everyone with a smile and good temper, spoke volumes.

So without proper buildup, Jiang Mingshuang’s identity could not be revealed now.

Moreover, because of Qiyue’s earlier remarks in the car, there were already rumors online that New Tide Entertainment and Gu Yunshuang were at odds.

If suddenly another heir of New Tide Entertainment appeared among the guests, who would believe that the show was meant to rehabilitate Gu Yunshuang’s image? Their entire plan would be ruined.

But if they denied it now, then when Jiang Mingshuang’s identity was exposed later, netizens would realize they had deliberately concealed it from the start, and Xue Tinghe would be publicly proven wrong.

Would Xue Tinghe rather be criticized than help Jiang Mingshuang keep the secret?

The host felt uneasy, the director was uncertain, and both were sweating nervously.

The director was furious and wanted to curse—weren’t all the comments supposed to be prearranged? How could these two bizarre comments suddenly appear?

Thanks to the sudden influx of massive viewership, the number of viewers had already surpassed twenty million and continued to rise rapidly. If they cut the live broadcast or switched the comments now, it would be tantamount to admitting something was amiss.

Xue Tinghe paused briefly and replied, “There are many people who look alike in this world, like me and Qiyue. But I don’t think we share any blood relation.”

After speaking, he signaled to the host to draw the next comment.

The host understood and thankfully the next comment was one they had arranged—a normal, positive remark. The director secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This denial appeared subtle; it neither confirmed nor denied, leaving them ample room to maneuver.

Qiyue did not expect these two comments alone to cause the pair to fail, but it was enough to plant a seed of doubt in the audience’s minds.

The next pair to enter were Xie Yuhua and Qiao Yuanzhong. They claimed to be neighbors and childhood sweethearts who had grown up together, living right across from each other.

When asked why they joined the show, Qiao Yuanzhong smiled happily and said they had both been enthusiastic about playing supernatural games in high school. Now that they were about to marry, they wanted to revisit those memories as a kind of honeymoon trip before their wedding.

Xie Yuhua’s smile was sweet, and her words echoed Qiao Yuanzhong’s.

The comments they drew were all blessings, making the interview proceed smoothly—until Xie Yuhua responded to the last comment and something unexpected happened.

Qiao Yuanzhong’s father was a renowned director who had won international awards. A comment mentioned one of his award-winning films, and Xie Yuhua smiled and said, “I often hear my uncle mention that the huge success of this film was thanks to Uncle Jiang’s investment.”

Realizing she might have misspoken, she quickly covered her mouth and glanced awkwardly at the host.

The host wanted to scream silently—why cover your mouth after speaking? It makes people suspicious even when there’s nothing to hide.

Sure enough, the comment section exploded.

“Which Uncle Jiang? Same surname Jiang—could it be Jiang Honghui, the largest shareholder of New Tide Entertainment?”

“Why does Xie Yuhua look like she said something wrong? Is this Uncle Jiang someone you’re not supposed to mention? Why not? Could it be that Jiang Mingshuang is this Uncle Jiang’s son?”

“Impossible! Our Jiangjiang is just an ordinary college student. If he really had a father who could be an investor, why hasn’t he gotten good resources till now? Don’t just assume relationship because of the same surname.”

“How could there be no good resources? Maybe this variety show is precisely to boost Jiang Mingshuang by suppressing Gu Yunshuang. They even sacrificed their company’s biggest star to launch a show just for their own son—that’s quite a grand gesture.”

“Uncle Jiang doesn’t have to be Jiang Honghui. There are plenty of wealthy people with the surname Jiang. Don’t jump to extremes.”

“Can we stop discussing whether this rich man named Jiang is someone’s father? It’s time for Xie Yuhua’s interview now. Please keep unrelated topics out.”

“Xie Yuhua and Qiao Yuanzhong are so sweet and perfect together! I’m dying from the sweetness!”

Eventually, some fans led by netizens steered the conversation away from Jiang Mingshuang’s identity, successfully pushing those skeptical comments off the screen.

The director and host both wiped cold sweat from their brows.

However, Xie Yuhua still looked guiltily as if she’d made a mistake in front of the camera, which made the director and host want to curse again.

Next up were Sun Zhanyuan and Hu Lijing.

Hu Lijing was blunt: “Although I’ve lived next door to him since early on, we barely spoke because he’s such a show-off. Every time I see him, I want to smack him. I’m on the show because he wanted to come and gave me a lot of benefits.”

The host was a bit embarrassed by her frankness.

Unexpectedly, Sun Zhanyuan was even more straightforward, his eyes shining with passionate affection: “I’m here for Master Xue. Master Xue, I’m your devoted fan. I’m so happy to be on the same show with you!”

Jiang Mingshuang, watching the live broadcast from the living room outside, smiled stiffly.

Xue Tinghe, however, showed a trace of helplessness mixed with a hint of fondness. Immediately, netizens screamed that they were totally shipping it.

The Xue-Jiang fans quickly jumped in, harshly criticizing the “evil cult pairing,” even cursing Sun Zhanyuan, firmly declaring that Master Xue belonged to their Jiangjiang and that Sun Zhanyuan was a shameless interloper trying to be the third wheel.

When it came time to read each other’s comments, no matter if good or bad, the two behaved with an “Oh, whatever” attitude, perfectly embodying a purely plastic childhood friend relationship.

After this group’s interview, the two hosts forced awkward smiles until their faces nearly froze.

Finally, it was Gu Yunshuang and Qiyue’s turn—the last pair—and the hosts visibly regained their energy.

Host: “When did you two first meet? Do you remember the circumstances?”

Gu Yunshuang smiled nostalgically: “I remember. I was only three years old. My parents had just changed jobs and moved us to a new place. From the balcony, I saw an older boy next door lying on the ground motionless. It was very hot, the sun blazing. I thought he had heatstroke, so I…”

Qiyue’s lips twitched twice, his tone tinged with helplessness: “…he sprayed me all over with a water gun. Because he thought I had heatstroke and wanted to cool me down. The water smelled weird. Later I found out he had taken the water directly from a bucket on the balcony used for watering vegetables.”

Qiyue was born at midnight during the Ghost Festival. His birth mother died before he was born. Half human, half ghost at birth, he disliked sunlight and could survive without earthly food, feeding only on yin energy.

Old Master Qi feared that if this continued, Qiyue’s half-ghost body would grow stronger, eventually transforming fully into a ghost. So every day he forced him out onto the balcony to soak up some yang energy from the sun, dispelling some yin energy, and to eat normal human food.

To avoid sunbathing, Qiyue always pretended to be half-dead and miserable, lying motionless on the balcony as if dead, hoping Old Master Qi would pity him and allow him to shorten his sun exposure.

Old Master Qi worried more and more about his condition.

Then Gu Yunshuang’s water gun drenched the “dead” Qiyue awake. Smelling the strange water, Qiyue thought Gu Yunshuang had sprayed him with urine and flew into a rage, jumping up yelling curses, lively and energetic without a trace of weakness.

Old Master Qi immediately realized he had been tricked and furiously scolded and chased him with a broom.

Chaos ensued at the Qi household, while Yunshuang stretched his neck over here, laughing merrily—his laughter clear and pleasant—while Qiyue’s cries formed a joyful duet.

Afterward, Qiyue glared at Gu Yunshuang with clenched teeth, his nose and eyes twitching in anger.

Old Master Qi thought these two children were destined to meet. Especially Gu Yunshuang, who was the perfect nemesis for this little troublemaker Qiyue.

So he visited the Gu couple and learned that they were busy with work during the day and had no one to look after the child. They had just moved and hadn’t found a suitable kindergarten for three-year-old Gu Yunshuang. The little boy was often locked at home, leaving them anxious and fearful of accidents when they weren’t around. Old Master Qi offered to help take care of the child.

The Gu couple inquired and found out Old Master Qi had lived here for over ten years, had only one grandson about five years old, and was well known and highly regarded by neighbors. The couple gratefully agreed and even offered payment, which Old Master Qi firmly declined.

From then on, every day before work, the Gu couple entrusted Gu Yunshuang to Old Master Qi, who assigned the child a task—to watch over Qiyue sunbathe, eat and drink on time, awarding him a small red flower for completing the mission.

Little Yunshuang adored the red flowers and watched Qiyue closely every day. Whenever Qiyue skipped sunbathing or secretly dumped his food, Yunshuang eagerly reported him to Old Master Qi, resulting in Qiyue facing another round of “bamboo shoot stir-fry,” which infuriated him to no end.