After the Scheming Girl Joined a Dating Show - Chapter 1

—— “Little sister, I’ve secured an amazing gig for you!”

When the call came, Xia Mozhu was brushing her teeth. It was 4:00 PM, and she had just woken up.

It was currently winter break. As an 18th-tier “nugu” (obscure) idol with zero work on her schedule, what else was she supposed to do with this glorious time besides sleep?

Xia Mozhu spat out the foam, her voice carrying a hint of post-sleep nasality as she asked, “What gig?”

—— “A dating show. The lineup confirmed so far is full of big names.”

Xia Mozhu: “…”

She was only nineteen and had just debuted. They wanted her to go on a dating show?

Is this guy really her biological brother?!

The person on the phone was Xia Hefeng, her brother who was five years her senior. He had debuted at eighteen as a top-tier idol and, six years later, had successfully transitioned from an artist to a shareholder of his entertainment agency. Outside, he charmed hundreds of millions of girls; at home, he was a “sister-obsessed dog” who hovered around her constantly.

But that was exactly why his behavior—sending his sister to a dating show—was so suspicious.

“Hold on.” Xia Mozhu tossed the phone aside, finished brushing, rinsed her mouth, and picked the phone back up. “Brother, say that again. What gig?”

—— “The dating show The Stars’ Guide to Love. They haven’t started filming yet, but the promotional materials are already all over the internet.”

She hadn’t misheard. It really was a dating show.

Xia Mozhu had heard of this program; it had been rumored to feature various popular celebrities for a while now. The heat from fan wars alone had already surpassed the official announcements of most shows.

The show was good, but putting aside the fact that Xia Mozhu had zero interest in romance, running off to date before she even had a proper body of work… wasn’t that like “dying mid-way through a revolution”? Her dreams hadn’t even grown wings yet and they were already being buried in the dirt!

Xia Mozhu refused flatly: “I’m not going.” She might be obscure, but she wasn’t desperate. Even an 18th-tier idol needs to have backbone!

—— “Just think of it as helping your brother. Maybe you’ll actually have a sister-in-law by the end of the year.”

Xia Mozhu made a face like the “confused old man looking at a phone” meme. “Brother, are you overworked? Is this something I can help with? Next time you call, are you going to ask me to help you film Where Are We Going, Dad? too?”

“I’m not asking you to date for me!” Xia Hefeng said soothingly. “My ‘White Moonlight’ has already agreed to the show, but my schedule is completely packed. You go there and stir up some trouble. Just make sure no other guys swoop in and take her.”

Xia Mozhu sighed. “Fine.” She didn’t have any other work anyway, and it would be good to get some screen time. Besides, causing trouble was right up her alley.

She asked, “Which unlucky soul is your White Moonlight?”

“What do you mean ‘unlucky soul’!” Xia Hefeng cleared his throat awkwardly. “Su Qin.”

Xia Mozhu had just taken a sip of water and nearly choked.

Su Qin had debuted as a child star. Though she was only twenty-four now, she had been famous for over a decade. When Xia Mozhu participated in her girl group survival show, the media articles called her “Little Su Qin,” which led to her getting blasted by Su Qin’s massive fan base.

However, the reason the media wrote that was because there really was a resemblance in their eyes and brows. When Xia Mozhu was in elementary school, Su Qin had already won a prestigious Best Supporting Actress award.

After a long coughing fit, Xia Mozhu said to her unreliable brother, “You really love me too much.”

Brother: “What?”

Xia Mozhu suppressed a laugh. “Your White Moonlight even looks a bit like me.”

Brother: “You’re a creep!”

To prevent his sister from saying anything else shocking, he quickly added, “Eat less for the next two days. I’ll have your manager handle the details.” Then he hung up.

Xia Mozhu made a face at the phone. “Just a joke, why so serious?”

Participating in the same variety show as Su Qin, huh?

Xia Mozhu flopped onto the soft sofa, sucked in her stomach, raised her legs, and started doing “air bicycle” exercises.

If she had known, she wouldn’t have snuck that midnight snack last night. Was it too late to train her abs?

In the blink of an eye, the day of filming arrived.

The guests were staying in two adjacent villas—one for the women and one for the men.

Xia Mozhu was the first to arrive with her luggage. The production crew told her she had priority in choosing a room. Being a world-class “lazy bum,” she naturally wanted a room on the first floor. She headed straight for the door, ready to drop her bags without even looking inside, when her manager, standing behind the cameras, cleared her throat loudly.

Seeing her manager’s meaningful look, Xia Mozhu tearfully changed direction. She muttered under her breath, “Let’s go check out the second floor.”

The first-floor bedroom was a large suite, complete with a bathroom and a mini-bar. The second floor had two bedrooms. One was similar to the first-floor suite, while the other had two 1.2-meter beds side-by-side, and the bathroom wasn’t even inside the room.

Xia Mozhu: “…” The production crew did this on purpose. With such different room layouts, were they trying to see the guests fight?

She glanced at her manager and, leaning against the doorframe, said against her will, “I’ll just sleep in this room.”

Her PD asked at the right moment, “Teacher Xia, why did you choose this room?”

Xia Mozhu: “I’m the youngest, and the other guests are likely my seniors. I should leave the bigger rooms for them.” If I don’t pick this, Sister Li (the manager) will nag me to death.

She gave the camera a brilliant smile and immediately ducked into the hallway bathroom. The car ride here had been way too long, and there hadn’t been a single bathroom break. If she didn’t go now, her bladder was going to explode.

…

After washing her hands, Xia Mozhu walked out and headed toward the stairs. She felt her pocket—her phone was still in the room upstairs.

“…” She had to climb the stairs again? All this up and down—she was going to be skin and bones by the end of the show!

She spun around like a little whirlwind to run back up, but as she turned, she crashed into someone. Before the other person could react, Xia Mozhu let out a startled yelp. She lost her balance and took the other person down with her, both of them tumbling onto the stairs.

Xia Mozhu’s mouth slammed into the other person’s chin, leaving a perfectly shaped lipstick print.

Regaining her senses, she realized the person she was using as a human cushion was Su Qin. Her hand was still gripping Su Qin’s collar.

Xia Mozhu blinked, her long lashes fluttering. In this situation, should she say sorry first or get off Su Qin first?

After half a second of deliberation, Xia Mozhu said very sincerely, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Su Qin replied.

Xia Mozhu: “I accidentally got lipstick on your face. Let me wipe it off for you.” She started rubbing Su Qin’s chin with her thumb, but the more she rubbed, the guiltier she felt. “Sorry, I made your chin all messy.”

She scratched her head in frustration, pulled a small mirror from her pocket, and whispered, “Here… look at the evidence of my crime. I didn’t mean to.”

Although Xia Mozhu truly didn’t mean it, her series of actions made it very hard for anyone to believe it was an accident.

Su Qin’s face remained expressionless. “Are you… planning to get off me?”

Her voice was soft, but every word was perfectly articulated. It was the result of a decade of acting experience; just listening to her speak was a treat.

“Uh…” Xia Mozhu awkwardly grabbed the banister and scrambled up, her mouth moving faster than her brain. “My bad. You were just really comfortable.”

Su Qin’s pupils dilated slightly. She seemed unsure how to respond to that and stood there in silence.

Xia Mozhu scratched the back of her head. “I thought I was the only one here.” She looked around, trying to break the silence. “I wonder who the other ‘sister’ will be.”

She was convinced no female guest would be younger than her, so she was already calling everyone “Sister” to be polite.

“I don’t know either,” Su Qin said.

The conversation died right there. Coupled with Su Qin’s cold expression that suggested she wasn’t much of a talker, the atmosphere turned awkward.

The fixed cameras in the house were recording everything. The two cameramen responsible for following them looked at each other, both feeling the secondhand embarrassment.

The early stages of lifestyle variety shows are the hardest to get “good footage.” When guests don’t know each other, there are often moments of dead silence, just like this.

Xia Mozhu was like a sloth with a delayed reaction. Long after Su Qin finished speaking, she blinked and said seriously, “Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

Cameraman: “…” With some special effects in post-production, this might actually be funny.

Su Qin stood still. Xia Mozhu reached out, grabbed a corner of Su Qin’s clothes, and gently pulled her a little to the side—very cautiously.

Su Qin gave her a puzzled look.

Xia Mozhu: “I need to go upstairs to get my phone.”

“…” Oh, I was just in the way.

The cameramen and directors nearby were trying their best to hold back their laughter so their voices wouldn’t be picked up. They hadn’t expected the meeting between these two to be so hilarious.

By the time Xia Mozhu returned to the first floor, the lipstick on Su Qin’s face had been cleaned off.

She sat on the other side of the sofa, leaving a “Milky Way” of space between herself and Su Qin.

Just then, two more people entered. One was An Nuo, one of the “Four Small Flowers” (rising top actresses), and the other was Song Yanran… also one of the Four Small Flowers. One was twenty-four, the other twenty-three.

In other words, half of the “Four Small Flowers” were in this show.

Xia Mozhu muttered to herself: Didn’t these two both date the same male star? It was all over the trending searches back then.

The production crew really knew how to stir up trouble.

Wait, something was wrong.

One, two, three… four.

Four female guests?

Xia Mozhu secretly texted her brother: “Didn’t you tell me the script was four men fighting over three women? Why are there four female guests?”

Brother: “Forgot to tell you. You’re in the ‘spectator’ seat. You think a good thing like dating would actually involve you?”

Xia Mozhu: “…” Don’t get mad, don’t get mad. If I die of anger, who will take my place?!

Her hand on her knee unconsciously started picking at her nails, her anxiety rising.

They said there would only be two other women besides her. Even though it was only one extra person…

Xia Mozhu picked up a glass from the table and took a few sips of water. Her hand was shaking slightly, and the glass nearly tipped over when she put it back down.

Su Qin, who had been sitting a whole galaxy away, was suddenly right next to her. “What’s wrong?”

Xia Mozhu shook her head. “Nothing, just a bit of anemia.”

After a few seconds, Su Qin said, “Then drink more hot water.”

Xia Mozhu: “…Thanks.”

She really wanted to leave, but they were filming; she couldn’t just bolt.

The crew had been focused on the newcomers, An Nuo and Song Yanran. Only after filming them choosing rooms did the cameras focus back on the two on the sofa.

The head director rubbed his chin. Weren’t they sitting at opposite ends a moment ago? When did they teleport next to each other?

Do they know each other? I haven’t heard anything about that.

Two essential elements of variety shows are guest relationships and gimmicks. As a director, he was instinctively sensitive to shifts in chemistry.

But that wasn’t the focus right now. Since all the female guests were here, the next highlight was the meeting between the men and women.

Dating show audiences are here for the “sugar” (romance).

Clap clap. The head director clapped his hands and spoke into a megaphone: “Now, we will release the first mission. Based on the clues provided by the crew, see if you can guess the identities of our male guests.”

If they could guess, the eagle-eyed fans would definitely dig into the timeline of when the guests met—that would be an instant boost in popularity.

“Director Xu, sorry, I’m not feeling well. You guys record this part first,” Su Qin suddenly said.

Director: “How about we adjust the cameras and let you rest a bit before we record?”

Su Qin: “I won’t waste everyone’s time. This segment should be fine without me.”

The director hesitated a few times but finally said, “Then Teacher Su will be positioned as the ‘mysterious guest’ who appears last.”

“Thank you, Director Xu.” Su Qin stood up from the sofa and looked at Xia Mozhu. “You, help me upstairs.”

Director: “…” Why does she want to take another one with her?!