Chapter 75: The Hated Miss of the Dating Show (24)

Chapter 75 The Dating Show's Least Popular Heiress (24)

The day after the production team met with Sun Ziang, an official update announced that Sun Ziang had dropped out of the show due to personal reasons.

A male guest leaving a dating show mid-season immediately sparked heated online discussions:

"Knew it—he’s gone. So last night’s Truth or Dare was legit?"

"Sun Ziang is shameless—hounding that female contestant like that. When she wouldn’t agree to date him, he went straight to blackmail. Total creep."

"He’d be terrifying to be in a relationship with. You’d never know when he’d stab you in the back. Hope the show tightens its screening process and stops letting lowlifes in!"

The new male replacement was a viral university lecturer teaching law at C University, known for his good looks and humorous teaching style.

Even more notably, this person was Wen Yixuan’s ex-boyfriend—Xie Jinran.

"So, did Xie Jinran come on the show specifically for Wen Yixuan?" Tang Qing asked.

The white light sphere in her mind nodded. "Yes, that’s how it goes in the original plot. Originally, Xie Jinran wasn’t supposed to appear until later, but since Sun Ziang left early, the storyline might have shifted, bringing Xie Jinran in ahead of schedule."

Since he came chasing after Wen Yixuan, Tang Qing could already guess the ending. "So in the end, he and Wen Yixuan get back together?"

"That’s the plot. They become another popular ship on the show."

"Tang Qing, I detected Love Points fluctuations yesterday."

"Mi Yang’s Love Points for you are now like 17, Xiang Xiuran’s at 41, and Su Chengwen’s at 26."

"They all increased." The young mistress smiled, pleased. "Looks like all three were worried about me yesterday."

"Mi Yang kept blocking Sun Ziang for you. Otherwise, Sun Ziang might’ve lost it and charged at you again..." The system saw everything clearly last night—the moment Sun Ziang started moving forward, Mi Yang immediately stopped him.

This fiery-tempered pop star could be surprisingly attentive at times.

Like during An Shenshen’s setup earlier—it was Mi Yang who silently dove in and fished out the key evidence.

"Cold on the outside, warm on the inside," the little ancestor summed up Mi Yang’s personality. "Our Male Lead #1 talks the toughest game in the room, but deep down, he’s shyer than anyone else."

Having long figured out Mi Yang’s temperament, Tang Qing’s fox-like eyes sparkled. "Did ordinary people’s Love Points increase too?"

"Detected current Love Points from ordinary people: 3,730,000."

After roughly calculating the total Love Points she’d accumulate by the end of this world, Tang Qing fixed her stare on the system.

"What? Why are you suddenly staring at me like that?" Sensing her gaze, the system felt uneasy.

"Just confirming one thing. We’re working together—you want to go back and save Gu Xiaoman, and I won’t stop you. I only have one condition."

They'd discussed this at the start of their partnership, but Tang Qing had never explicitly stated what that condition was. The system guessed it probably had something to do with her memories...

"I’m working this hard. When the time comes, you can’t turn down my request."

Feeling doubted, the white light sphere got defensive. "When I make a promise, I keep it—no backing out!"

"And same here. Once I save my master..." Mentioning Gu Xiaoman again, the system couldn’t help recalling the mind games it used to play with Tang Qing—and felt a twinge of guilt. "Once we return, we’ll go our separate ways—no more trouble between us."

True, the system used to have such a rigid impression of Tang Qing, seeing her as nothing more than a manipulative femme fatale. But after being bound together, it realized she had a resilience beyond most people—and was scary smart.

She could get the job done nearly on her own.

Against such competition, the system suddenly lost confidence—after returning, would Gu Xiaoman still be able to defeat her?

"As long as your little swan doesn't make things difficult for me, I won't trouble her either." It was a tentative truce. Tang Qing seemed to foresee what was coming, her smile revealing nothing.

In the afternoon, everyone received a notification on their phones—a new dating challenge had arrived.

Each male guest prepared a gift, and the female guests could freely choose. Based on the chosen gift, the male and female guests would pair up, with the male guest planning the day's date plans.

"To think the date arrangements would work like this..." Upon receiving the message, Shi Jia immediately found her best friend. "Shenshen, who are you hoping to pick?"

An Shenshen had just learned of Sun Ziang’s withdrawal from the show; her expression was unreadable.

Sun Ziang had left too quickly—meaning all the time she spent putting up with his unwanted advances had been wasted.

Originally, Mi Yang would have been ideal, and the other two male guests were also good options. But now... all three of them seemed focused on Tang Qing.

This woman had ruined all her plans.

"Shenshen, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing her friend silent, Shi Jia waved her hand. "There’s a new male guest today, Shenshen. What do you think of him?"

Though they hadn’t met him yet, the official announcement had shared his details. In his ID photo, he looked quite handsome.

"I... don't know yet," An Shenshen feigned shyness, her lowered gaze hiding all her scheming. "It's luck of the draw—whoever I pick is whoever I get."

Four gifts were placed on the table: a squirrel plushie, a drawing board, a cute sandwich keychain, and a piece of amber.

Tang Qing knew instantly who each gift was from.

Xiang Xiuran’s was the most obvious—it might as well have had his name on it...

"It seems Dr. Xiang really wants to go on a date with me." The young miss took one look and knew the sandwich keychain was his. It was likely handmade—not as neat as store-bought ones but charming in its own way.

The drawing board was undoubtedly Xie Jinwei’s gift specifically for Wen Yixuan, who was a comic artist.

The amber was almost certainly Su Chengwen’s. As for the least thoughtful gift—the slightly worn-out squirrel—it was clearly something Mi Yang had grabbed at random.

The system was amazed. "You got them all right!"

"The others I understand, but how did you know the squirrel was Mi Yang’s?"

Tang Qing smiled faintly. "What do you think? The other three gifts were at least prepared with care. This squirrel doesn't even have packaging. Just think—who’s the least eager for a date? That’s whose it is."

Among the male guests, the other three had clear targets in mind. Only this young master was still playing hard to get, probably hoping to avoid being picked. He’d likely grabbed the keychain from somewhere without much thought, secretly wishing no one would select it.

"So, Tang Qing, who are you going to choose?"

"Mi Yang," Tang Qing declared firmly. "Since someone hasn’t made up his mind yet, I'll make up his mind for him..."

"It's been long enough now. It's high time the young master fell for me."