Things Went Wrong When I Faked a Couple Ship with My Celebrity Rival

*

One day, Qin Siyan ran into a very handsome young man. He took a liking to him and decided to pursue him.

Thinking of himself as a patient sugar daddy, he learned that the young man was going to compete on a talent show and followed him onto the program. To keep from scaring him off, he disguised himself as a trainee and threw money and connections at the production team until they increased the number of contestants from the planned 100 to 101.

He thought everything would go smoothly. After all, he was handsome, fit, rich, well-connected, well-resourced... and about to take over his family’s entertainment company. No one could lose out by being with him.

But the young man’s ex-boyfriend, Bo Xishi, also joined the show. When the two saw each other, their eyes practically spoke volumes. They were overflowing with affection and seemed to have so much left unsaid.

Qin Siyan: “...Couldn’t you have told me sooner if you were going to rekindle your old flame? I’ve thrown all that money away for nothing!”

Even worse, he’d always been one of the top students at school, but on a talent show he somehow ended up dead last?

He couldn’t stand it. If he couldn’t win the game, he’d win the respect! So he devoted himself to figuring out how to drum up buzz, working tirelessly until he became the runaway winner of the fan vote.

Qin Siyan: “I’m very satisfied, but I’m supposed to inherit the family business and become a domineering CEO! Being an idol who can’t date doesn’t fit my life goals.”

*

The first time, Qin Siyan seemed to be seeking an exchange of favors and got rejected. The show’s chief director ushered him politely out of the room with an impassive face. As Qin Siyan turned around, he saw Bo Xishi, who had come to speak with the director, giving him a meaningful look.

The second time, Qin Siyan took the hand of a powerful woman in the industry and kept calling her “Sis” in a coquettish voice, only for her to shove him away. After apparently being rejected by the chief director, he was rejected without mercy by the powerful woman, too. Bo Xishi happened to pass by and helped him up.

The third time, Qin Siyan was so drunk he went to the wrong room and mistakenly thought someone had sent him a lover. He decided to go along with it, and had a wild night. When he woke up, he saw that the person on the other half of the bed was his rival, Bo Xishi.

After successfully being “kept,” Qin Siyan watched as Bo Xishi coldly tossed him a contract. The rewards were generous, the terms tempting...

Qin Siyan thought: I was looking for the chief director because the show’s production team barely gives my artist any screen time. I wanted to talk about post-production editing and get him more exposure. The powerful woman I called “Sis” really is my sister. She was going to spend money to get me a spot in the debut lineup. The seven-member group had already been decided, but she insisted on putting me in and making it an eight-member group. I wanted to keep someone else, not get kept. Do you believe me? Oh, and who do you think you’re fooling with this hastily written contract?

*Upcoming: The Chosen Rivals

There’s a pair of rivals in the entertainment industry who seem destined to compete. What makes them chosen rivals? Gu Nanjun won Best Actor for his debut film, and so did Ruan Xiuhuan. Gu Nanjun had a breakout role, and so did Ruan Xiuhuan. Gu Nanjun landed a top endorsement, and so did Ruan Xiuhuan. Gu Nanjun’s new movie flopped, and so did Ruan Xiuhuan’s. Gu Nanjun’s romance was exposed, and so was Ruan Xiuhuan’s. Gu Nanjun finally won Best Actor again after years of hard work, and so did Ruan Xiuhuan...

There are far too many coincidences. They’re the same age, entered the industry only two years apart, and compete in the same field. One is an academy-trained actor who has honed his acting skills to perfection, while the other is an immersive method actor who came to acting by a roundabout route. They’re naturally compared in every respect, so of course the media, marketing accounts, and gossip-loving netizens treat them as rivals. Even within the industry, it’s rare to find a pair so perfectly suited to be compared, whose names alone are guaranteed to draw attention. Who wouldn’t call them rivals chosen by fate?

Their fans even call each other’s idols their “other half,” and spend every day comparing their achievements, trading blows back and forth.

According to industry insiders, each man is also at the top of the other’s list of people he refuses to work with.

Netizens: We already knew that, okay? Do you really need proof that these two don’t get along?

Just how many coincidences have these rivals shared? When Gu Nanjun refused to renew his contract, his company sold him off at an exorbitant price to a variety show famous for its outrageous drama, hoping to squeeze out one last profit before his contract ended. The same thing happened to Ruan Xiuhuan.

And by sheer coincidence, it was the same show.

*

Gu Nanjun and Ruan Xiuhuan have a personal grudge: one of them stole the other’s partner. Ruan Xiuhuan stole Gu Nanjun’s partner, and from then on they each became the number one person on the other’s list of people he refused to work with.

After his partner was stolen, Gu Nanjun got blackout drunk. A friend dragged him away, and all the way there he kept muttering, “What kind of taste does Ruan Xiuhuan have? He bent himself for someone who can’t stay faithful.” The guy used to say, with a look of disgust, that all gay men were perverts.

In the shadows nearby, Ruan Xiuhuan stood watching Gu Nanjun get drunk over his “broken heart.” He sneered at his friend. “What kind of taste does Gu Nanjun have? He fell for someone who’ll leave him the moment anyone else crooks a finger.”

His friend was shocked. “Someone else crooking a finger and you, Ruan, the great Best Actor, crooking a finger aren’t the same thing!”

Ruan Xiuhuan ignored him. He kept watching Gu Nanjun’s retreating figure. Even after it disappeared from view, he kept staring in that direction.

“I’m going to break them up. So what?”

His friend: “...”

Theme: Once you’ve made a choice, you have to work hard for it