Chapter 50: Wishful Thinking

Chapter 50: Wishful Thinking

When Shi Ling learned about this and went to Weibo to check the trending topics, he couldn’t find a single picture related to him and Ji Mingxiu.

However, it was evident that his past interactions with Ji Mingxiu had sent the internet into a frenzy, with fans of the "CP" shipping them loudly.

Even now, he could still see countless people crying out that they hadn’t saved the pictures in time, scrambling within the super topic to get their hands on a few photos.

However, Ji Family’s team was extremely efficient. Any photo related to Ji Mingxiu and Shi Ling was taken down as soon as it was posted, resulting in a "content unavailable" notice. This left the obsessed fans no choice but to exchange photos like secret agents, sending them privately.

Shi Ling didn’t know what kind of code they were using, but he was curious. He turned to Ji Linze and asked, “You must have seen this already. Do you have those photos? Can you show me?”

Ji Linze had indeed saved them. He even shared them in the “Loving Family” group chat.

After all, it was quite a rare event that Ji Mingxiu was seeing someone. The whole family should know about it.

However, when faced with Shi Ling’s question, Ji Linze, who was about to agree, suddenly closed his mouth.

His eyes darted around, and he let out a sly chuckle. “I do have them, but you’ll have to trade me the latest version of ‘Natural Disaster’ to get them!”

Shi Ling raised an eyebrow and turned away. “I’ll go ask Ji Mingxiu and maybe file a complaint…”

Before he could take two steps, Ji Linze grabbed the hem of his shirt. “Bro, I was wrong, bro! I’ll send them to you right now!”

Ji Linze pulled Shi Ling back to the couch and fumbled to find Shi Ling’s contact information, muttering, “Why is it so hard to get the latest version of ‘Natural Disaster’?”

Sitting comfortably on the couch, Shi Ling adjusted his position. “Actually, when you were participating in that dating reality show, Ling Yun sent you the latest version. There aren’t many changes, just a bit of refinement. The overall gameplay is pretty much set, and there won’t be any more adjustments, except for a new event when it launches.”

After his explanation, the photos Ji Linze sent appeared on Shi Ling’s phone.

It had to be said; the atmosphere in those photos was indeed great.

Sunlight poured in through the glass windows, casting a soft golden glow over the two people by the window. One of them was serving food to the other, with a gentle look in their eyes, as if gazing at their true love.

If the person being served wasn’t himself, Shi Ling might have believed that the two were long-time partners.

He clicked his tongue. “These are pretty good. Did they use some weird filter?”

Ji Linze shook his head. “No, the person who first captured these images was just a regular viewer. According to her, the guests the show invited weren’t as compelling as the two random civilians they bumped into. At least those two were genuine and pure love warriors. She didn’t add any filters.”

“But I have to say, although the show’s team is quite unreliable, the photos they took are really nice, with excellent composition and lighting. Even my aunt and uncle said that my second cousin looks really good in these photos. They’ve never seen him look so gentle.”

Shi Ling was a bit surprised. “Was Ji Mingxiu looking at me like that in the Central Restaurant?”

After appreciating the photos for a while, Shi Ling quietly saved them and put his phone away. “But this show’s team is really unreliable. They edited our footage into the show without our permission. I’m one thing, maybe they didn’t care much about me, but to treat Ji Mingxiu the same way? Are they not planning to do another season?”

Ji Linze coughed lightly. “Well, it’s possible they didn’t really know who my brother is.”

Shi Ling looked at him and then glanced toward the study, where Ji Mingxiu had just taken a call and gone to handle some urgent work.

He asked, “How could the show not know who Ji Mingxiu is? I thought everyone knew him. It feels like many people recognize him.”

Ji Linze replied, “Well, my brother became quite famous when he first took office, completing several major projects, which made him well-known. But in reality, he’s only been in office for less than two years and has never made a public appearance or given an interview. So, apart from those who already know him or have worked with him on projects, most people wouldn’t recognize him if he stood in front of them.”

“The entertainment industry is even further removed. They probably haven’t even heard of my brother’s name. It’s normal that they wouldn’t recognize him. But since he took you to the Central Restaurant, anyone with a bit of insight should have investigated further. Whether they could find out or not is another matter, but to just put him on the show like that, I don’t know what they were thinking.”

Shi Ling and Ji Linze couldn’t figure out what the show’s team was thinking, and neither could the netizens, though their confusion was directed in slightly different ways.

After the regret and shock, the netizens were left confused.

[Seriously, you had a potential CP about to blow up. Even though they weren’t guests you invited, the traffic would still belong to the show. Why didn’t you seize the opportunity and instead removed them from the show? Do you even want this variety show to continue?]

[And it’s not just that all the photos were removed from the trending topics, but even the latest episode was re-edited, completely cutting out our nameless CP.]

[Who are these two people anyway? I asked all my friends who follow celebrities, even on the opposing side, and they all asked me if I had more photos but couldn’t provide any information. So frustrating!]

[Even if we wanted to go back and re-screenshot, we can’t. Our nameless CP is truly gone, wuwuwu, the show has no heart!]

After collectively venting their frustrations and blaming the show’s team, a sudden message caught many people’s attention.

[Hmm, the more I think about it, the more something feels off. It feels like the situation now isn’t because the show doesn’t want to take advantage of this CP’s popularity, but because they daren’t. Not sure, let’s wait and see.]

A few hours later, a message appeared in the super topic.

[Rumor, not sure if it’s accurate, but these two are actually civilians, not celebrities. The show’s team filmed them without permission and edited their segment into the show. Now, they’ve probably received a complaint and had to re-edit urgently.]

[Wait, civilians? You’re telling me two good-looking people like them are civilians?]

[I know one of them. He’s a freshman at our university this year and quite famous. He started a business not long after enrolling and has been quite successful.]

[Starting a business as a freshman, I’m not saying it’s impossible, but that’s quite a big step…]

[Hey, before you question, check his main profession. He’s from Jing University.]

[……Respect.]

With some clues in hand, the netizens turned into detectives, piecing together the puzzle.

Due to his academic and career commitments, Shi Ling was relatively low-key. However, most people are visual creatures. Since he was good-looking, it was hard for him to stay completely under the radar. Although not everyone had interacted with him, many people knew him. Shi Ling didn’t deliberately hide certain things and often set his phone to “Do Not Disturb” for strangers, so his background was no secret at Jing University.

Soon, the story of Shi Ling being switched at birth began to spread widely. Similarly, information about his biological parents and their deeds became known.

It was the Zhou family who had created the "young noble gentleman" persona for Zhou Su when he entered the entertainment industry.

Some netizens: [So… this Zhou Su isn't actually a real "young noble gentleman," but a fake one who has taken the identity of someone else's real son?]

Zhou Su's fans: [Su Su has been raised in the Zhou family since he was young and has received elite education from the Zhou family. How is he not a young noble gentleman? As for the real young master, who knows which countryside he's from? He's probably a country bumpkin. The Zhou family doesn't even recognize him, and even if they did, would he dare to claim the identity of a young noble gentleman?]

[First of all, I don't think this real young master wants to return to the Zhou family. According to alumni from Jing University, when the Zhou family contacted him, he added them to his blacklist and even set them to "do not disturb" mode. Secondly, he got into Jing University on his own merit. If you look down on him, try getting into Jing University yourself and show your strength. Lastly, if you watch the variety show again, when Zhou Su approaches the real young master, you'll suddenly realize how manipulative Zhou Su seems.]

[+1, I prefer the real young master over Zhou Su. At least the real young master got into Jing University on his own merit, not relying on a hollow persona of a "young noble gentleman" built on money. The real young master actually has real substance.]

[+1, but I'm different from the above. I'm a sucker for good looks, and I'm just here for the face. I just think the real young master is handsome. Of course, everything said above is true. The real young master definitely has real substance, which makes me like him even more, hehehe, but his photos have been banned… sigh…]

[……]

As things started to ferment, Shi Ling was having hotpot with the Ji brothers.

Shi Ling couldn't have imagined that in just a few hours, things would develop to this point.

He quietly put his phone away and covered his slightly burning ears.

He felt a bit embarrassed from the praise.

Ji Mingxiu naturally noticed and gave Shi Ling a slice of beef roll, placing it in his bowl: "Good-looking and capable Shi Xiaoling, eat more."

Shi Ling stuffed the beef roll into his mouth and gave Ji Mingxiu a glare.

This guy was actually enjoying his embarrassment!

Ji Linze was quite interested in the latest developments and was looking at his phone while eating hotpot.

After a while, he suddenly exclaimed, "Ah."

Ji Mingxiu raised an eyebrow at him: "What's with the shout? Did your phone fall into the hotpot?"

Ji Linze scratched his head: "No, but the netizens seem to have uncovered your identity! Well, they didn't really uncover it, but they just assumed you're Shi Ling's boyfriend, and they have good taste..."

Ji Mingxiu nodded in agreement.

Ji Linze continued: "Hmm, the netizens are saying..."

But for some reason, he stopped mid-sentence and secretly glanced at Ji Mingxiu.

Shi Ling became curious and leaned over: "What are you saying?"

Ji Linze cleared his throat and handed his phone to Shi Ling: "See for yourself, this post..."

Shi Ling read aloud: "Once again, we call on the real young master's boyfriend, your boyfriend is so handsome, don't be stingy, show him to everyone..."

As he read, he looked over at Ji Mingxiu.

Sure enough, Ji Mingxiu's expression wasn't great.

Ji Mingxiu snorted: "Hmph, he can dream!"