Chasing an Ex on a Dating Show Is No Big Deal

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[The story ends when the dating show ends. The cover is from Bishui. Thanks to my friend Ruan Mianmian for suggesting the lettering.]

Yi Bai, an unknown newcomer who landed the male lead role in his debut, has a film with 700 million yuan at the box office to his name. He's a terrible actor, but handsome.

On the night the film premiered, #YiBaiBackstage# shot to the top of the trending list. An industry insider revealed that he was willing to make sacrifices, backing it all up with a long, detailed post and predicting his future career.

Onlookers mocked him: You can't be so desperate for prestige that you don't even want money.

Six months after the film came out, Yi Bai hadn't appeared in public again. Netizens had pretty much forgotten him when Lemon TV suddenly announced the cast of a dating show. One guest had no tagged account, just a name in plain text.

Only then did netizens realize that Yi Bai seemed not to have registered on Weibo.

The old memories came flooding back. The drama-lovers rushed over to stir things up, only to discover that almost half the cast of this dating show were villains.

When the dating show aired, Yi Bai didn't flirt with the popular young actress or accept the up-and-coming young actor's invitation. Instead, he sat next to an unknown gaming creator.

Netizens were baffled: Could this creator be from a rich family?

[Gong's POV]

People especially long to make up for the things they didn't have as children once they grow up. Chen Zui took this saying as gospel.

Yi Bai said that as a child, he'd really wanted a plush toy, but he didn't have a teddy bear of his own until he was eighteen.

Chen Zui's heart ached for him. Every holiday, he came up with a new way to give him stuffed animals.

Yi Bai said that in elementary school, all his friends wore red cords around their necks. He asked his parents for one, but they gave him a present that had everything except a red cord.

Chen Zui placed an order that very night and deliberately bought the most expensive version: 29.8 yuan.

Yi Bai said, "How about I come see you next week?"

Chen Zui felt bad for his boyfriend, whose family was poor. The round trip would cost a lot, so he coaxed him into waiting until the following month, when the May Day holiday would begin. He'd already bought the tickets.

They broke up before May Day.

The next time Chen Zui saw Yi Bai was on a dating show.

One of the guests knew Yi Bai well. He laughed and said that when Yi Bai was seven and wanted a plush toy, his dad had responded with a uniquely bizarre idea: he bought him a claw machine.

Note:

1. Rekindled romance + mutual secret crush, both pursue each other.

The blurb sounds pretty serious, but this is actually a light, sweet story.

2. This is an entertainment-industry story, so it'll inevitably touch on fandom culture. The author is not a fan of anyone, and none of the artists in the story are based on real people. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.

Theme: Persevere and stay resolute.