Chapter 42: The Greedy Deceiver Part 1

“Sweet Travel,” as a show, had a certain fanbase. After all, among all the variety shows, this one was practically notorious for tormenting celebrities.

After participating in the previous two seasons, stars were unwilling to even mention “Sweet Travel” for a long time afterward, which showed the psychological scars it left. But netizens didn’t care about that.

They just loved watching celebrities who wanted to quit but couldn’t quite bring themselves to, crying while completing the tasks.

When they previously saw that the chief director of “Sweet Travel” had been arrested and the show was suspended for modifications, quite a few fans even went to the comments to cry, demanding that “Sweet Travel” at least release the footage they had already shot for them to watch. No one expected they’d actually do it.

Official Weibo of “Sweet Travel”: [Due to certain reasons, Season 3’s recording has been suspended. After the show is re-planned, recording will resume. This video is a rough cut of the original Season 3, Episode 1. Feel free to watch.

Four couples: Zhao Chun & Wu Shuyi, Han Hao & Zhang Xingyan, Wang Jianxi & Tang Su, Xie Moluo & Lian Mei (arranged from oldest to youngest average age of each couple).

This video features a horror-themed villa survival. Proceed with caution, the faint of heart!]

Oh boy, the words “horror-themed villa survival” sent netizens into a frenzy! Goodness, when it came to tormenting celebrities, it had to be “Sweet Travel.” Previous seasons had poor village survival and deserted island survival; this time, it was straight-up horror villa survival. Quick, let them see if these eight guests would be scared to tears.

Whining… they loved watching celebrities with tear-streaked faces the most…

One person scared to tears, driven to tears, tormented to tears, then clinging to their partner sobbing softly while the partner comforted them gently.

See, wasn’t that incredibly sweet? So sweet!

Some of the braver ones clicked into the video directly to watch. The timid ones dragged family members to watch with them. Fans of the participating celebrities rallied in supertopics, fan groups, and other places to go watch. The video was instantly flooded with many simultaneous viewers.

The more timid ones thought: With so many netizens accompanying me, I’m safe, safe.

Clicking on the video, the first to appear were Wang Jianxi and Tang Su, the newlywed couple who had just gotten their certificate a week ago. When the technical director and field director arrived at their home, the camera gave a full, detailed shot of the luxurious villa. The opulence hit them right in the face.

Wang Jianxi’s fans immediately flooded the screen with comments.

[Happy newlywed life, Xixi! You must be happy!]

[Wow, look, CEO Tang is using a napkin to wipe Xixi’s mouth, and her eyes are so doting on our Xixi!]

[CEO Tang isn’t just successful in her career, she’s also beautiful and gentle. Xixi really married the right person!]

[Exactly. And our Xixi is capable too. In such a flop-to-the-point-of-obscurity girl group, she still managed to blow up through her own strength. Not like some other teammate who’s still singing in bars…]

Xie Moluo’s fans fell silent: Hey, good burn!

Many fans of other celebrities and passersby couldn’t stand it anymore. Praising your own fave is one thing, but why drag others into it? Why such a loose mouth!

[Did she eat your family’s rice or drink your water? None of your damn business!]

[Tsk tsk tsk, ‘through her own strength,’ huh? Then why haven’t we seen any works from this ‘capable person’ lately? Just popping up in some online variety shows. So much ‘strength’ indeed.]

[Does this face look a bit stiff to anyone else? Is she still in the recovery period? Fans, you should advise her more. Don’t rush out to make money right after surgery; wait until it’s healed before coming out.]

Only the first couple had appeared at the video’s start, and the comments were already tearing each other apart. It let many viewers witness the combat power of current popular idols’ fans.

The later appearances of Zhao Chun and Wu Shuyi, and Han Hao and Zhang Xingyan were calm and uneventful since these two couples had been married longer, and netizens already somewhat knew about them. Naturally, they felt little emotional impact, even finding it a bit boring. But the appearance of the fourth couple finally stirred up some interest.

People still online watching videos at this hour were likely heavy Weibo users. Combining the filming date shown in the video with the recent trending topic #LianMeiSuspectedOfMeetingLover#, Xie Moluo’s fans couldn’t stay quiet anymore and became active.

[Stay away from straights pretending to be gay. Happiness for you, happiness for me, happiness for her!]

[Promiscuous woman Lian, scram! Let our Luoluo shine solo!]

[Luoluo darling, can we just focus on our career?]

[Wishing divorce.]

[Wishing divorce.]

[Wishing divorce.]

…

Some fans informed the “XieMoluoLianMeiDivorce” supertopic about “Sweet Travel” uploading a video. Many supertopic fans who hadn’t slept yet rushed over, covering this section with green [Wishing divorce] comments.

This shocked fans of other celebrity guests and passersby.

Damn, this couple was so unwelcome by their fans, yet they still dared to get married, and even dared to go on this couple-focused show. This couple was quite stubborn!

The camera first showed the technical director, who smiled and rang the doorbell of Xie Moluo and Lian Mei’s home. For a long time, no one answered. They rang several more times, still no answer. The technical director forced a smile, took out his phone, dialed Xie Moluo’s number, and put it on speaker.

“Hello…” Xie Moluo’s groggy voice came from the phone speaker, making the technical director’s smile slip.

Good lord, did she not know they were recording today? Still in bed!

Watching this, the commenters also laughed their heads off.

[The production team hit a brick wall, didn’t they? Every one of the first three couples got up early, opened the door the moment the doorbell rang, and even prepared a lavish breakfast for the crew. This couple is actually still sleeping! Hahahaha!]

[The crew for this pair is so pitiful. The other crews are already eating steaming hot breakfasts, and they can’t even get through the door…]

The technical director smiled and informed the still half-asleep Xie Moluo on the phone of his identity. Xie Moluo said she’d come and open the door immediately. This “immediately” took five minutes.

Five minutes later, the door blocking them was finally opened from the inside.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Xie Moluo revealed a sweet smile from behind the door.

Seeing such a sweet smile, whatever anger the technical director and his crew had dissipated. They smiled back, “No, no, we also just arrived.”

Xie Moluo opened the door fully, stepped aside to let them in. “Come in and sit. I’ll get you some water.”

The technical director and the crew walked in. The camera swept around the apartment. Apart from a wedding photo of the two on the wall, there wasn’t a single other couple photo in the living room. However, the room was decorated in warm tones, very cozy, and looked well-arranged.

But at that moment, only Xie Moluo was hosting them. The other main character was nowhere to be seen.

After his thoughts whirred, the technical director smiled directly and asked, “Are you the only one awake? Is Miss Lian still sleeping?”

A trace of embarrassment flashed in Xie Moluo’s eyes. She stood up and said, “She wasn’t feeling well last night. I’ll go wake her now.”

Xie Moluo’s embarrassment angered her watching fans, who voiced their discontent through comments.

[According to the timeline, that promiscuous woman Lian was meeting the other woman last night, right! I really want to bite her to death! Luoluo, don’t cover for her! Divorce her quickly!]

[Luoluo, the next one will be better!]

[Stop being so stubborn! It’s not too late to turn back!]

The fans painstakingly advised Xie Moluo, but Wang Jianxi’s fans, still smarting from earlier, also jumped in with snide remarks.

[Yo, isn’t this just deceiving the audience? Already has a mistress, yet comes on the show to act all lovey-dovey? Worthy of an actress, can even act out love.]

[One radish, one hole. The main person chose it. As long as she’s happy. One word: wishing them 999…]

At this point, passersby also stepped in to break up the fight: [Lian Mei hasn’t even appeared yet. Can you guys stop fighting? Look at what the comments have become because of you lot.]

Both fandoms: [Mind your own business! Are you Lian Mei’s fan?]

Many people supported Lian Mei for her rescue act, but only appreciated her bravery. Being labeled her fan? Many wouldn’t accept that.

[Hey hey hey, I’m not a fan! I’m purely a passerby!]

[Irrelevant personnel, please step back. There are no true passersby here!]

This remark angered passersby who were just waiting to watch “Sweet Travel” torment celebrities.

Passerby: [Originally, I wasn’t Lian Mei’s fan, but since you insist on giving me this label, fine, I’ll take it. From now on, I’m Lian Mei’s fan! Wow, she did a good deed today and even got praised by official news! Do your faves have that?]

Xie Moluo fans: [Hmph, the earlier one was definitely a fan pretending to be a passerby. Still claiming ‘I’m just a passerby,’ pfft, so fake!]

Wang Jianxi fans: [Yo, you successfully turned a passerby fan into a Lian Mei fan. Lian Mei wins by doing nothing!]

…

Multiple sides tore into each other in the comments, making them a chaotic mess. Someone who didn’t know better would think the celebrities in this segment were super popular. Looking closer, aren’t these just two minor celebrities? Was all this fuss necessary? Did they really think the whole internet knew who they were?

Cough, perhaps many who browsed Weibo today knew about Lian Mei now, but only that she saved someone. Many still didn’t know much about her.

The video didn’t pause for the explosion of comments.

When Xie Moluo said she’d go call Lian Mei, the technical director smiled and asked, “Can we go with you? We’re not sure if filming your bedroom is convenient?”