I Took the Villain Role on a Dating Show, and Now the Whole Internet Wants Me to Debut

Ji Ye desperately needs one million yuan to save a century-old opera house from imminent demolition.

So he signs a sky-high penalty contract and plays the most universally despised, cringe-worthy guy on the top-tier dating show Heartbeat Gambit.

While the other men cruise around in sports cars to set the mood, he takes his date to the market on a shared bike to haggle over groceries.

While they play piano and make heartfelt confessions, he starts a livestream on camera to show off his god-tier woodworking and bead-making skills.

He does the bare minimum, and his painfully blunt remarks keep leaving the scheming female contestants fuming.

Viewers across the internet launch a furious boycott, demanding he get out of showbiz. The powers behind the scenes also move to suppress him, eager to watch him fail.

But as the show airs, the online reaction gradually takes a very strange turn.

A chef who cooks for state banquets tastes a simple home-cooked dish Ji Ye casually whipped up, bursts into tears, and drops to his knees begging to become his apprentice.

A nationally renowned composer hears half a line of a lost melody that Ji Ye hums, books a flight that same night, and shows up at his door to ask for guidance.

Then his countless secret identities are exposed one by one: master of intangible cultural heritage, mysterious hit songwriter, masked singing champion, and more!

The internet’s haters completely lose it, crying and begging him to debut on the spot and save Chinese pop music.

Even the nation’s frosty, top-billed actress, who had only come to go through the motions, corners him herself.

Her eyes redden and her voice trembles. “Forget the script. You’re never getting out of my grasp for the rest of your life!”