NOVEL NEXT Chapter 35
Song Wanzhuo used to be a skeptic about love developing from working together.
Although it’s not uncommon for people to be influenced by in-movie emotions, he was known in the industry as a staunchly straight man, famously indifferent to romantic scenes. Even after filming *Legend of Emperor Ming* and clearing his reputation, he felt no flutter in his heart when meeting Tong Zhao in person…
So, he became a fan of Tong Zhao’s looks.
A very pure fan of her looks.
Unlike those boyfriend fans who call Tong Zhao their “wife,” he was very noble.
Until he saw Tong Zhao in *King of the Sea*…
Forget about calling her “wife”—she was his beloved concubine QAQ!
In the past, during promotional events and movie screenings, he had plenty of opportunities to see her. Tong Zhao gave Song Wanzhuo the impression of a slightly aloof but polite beauty. Working with her was very pleasant, but no romantic sparks flew. As a hidden fan of her looks, it was perfectly normal for him to admire her beauty…
But at that moment, Song Wanzhuo realized his pure admiration had transformed.
He instantly upgraded from a fan of her looks to a boyfriend fan.
If it weren’t for the paparazzi discovering him and causing trouble for Tong Zhao, he would really want to change his phone’s wallpaper to a picture of his beloved. Song Wanzhuo, thinking this way, casually took a few screenshots of Tong Zhao. His beloved concubine truly passed the test from every angle with her breathtaking beauty!
Her unedited photos are stunning!
A beauty in a golden age!
Remembering that this is a month-long dating show, Song Wanzhuo felt both envious and regretful.
If he had known earlier, he would have squeezed in time to join the show, even for free. Living with his beloved concubine—could it be called a loss? Probably not. The only issue might be that his manager would tear him apart. Moreover, *King of the Sea* wasn’t well-known before the trailer went viral. From any angle, it was unlikely he would be on the show.
Logically, Song Wanzhuo thought this way.
But emotionally…
Song Wanzhuo’s fingers flew across the screen, crazily posting in the bullet comments:
[I also want to help Zhao Zhao move her luggage!]
[Help! What an unbelievably cute profile, Zhao Zhao, please start dating me immediately!]
[Can’t understand what He Shun can do that I can’t. How can someone who helps her move her luggage not be me?]
You can’t imagine the happiness of being a boyfriend fan!
For Song Wanzhuo, who had just been promoted to a boyfriend fan, his happiness lasted less than five minutes.
To keep the show’s pace tight, after Tong Zhao went upstairs to freshen up, the show quickly moved on to Han Zhi’s appearance.
At this moment, VIP viewers with special privileges were even sending animated emojis.
What kind of animation?
It was the scene where Han Zhi and Tong Zhao were about to kiss.
In other words, Dog Emperor experienced everything from falling in love to heartbreak in just four and a half minutes, with a hint of being cuckolded, enriching his life experience all at once.
To make matters worse, as Tong Zhao finished freshening up and walked out of her room in slippers, she made eye contact with Han Zhi.
Before Song Wanzhuo had a chance to admire his beloved concubine’s cute, fresh look, he heard her voice expressing admiration for Han Zhi, which was in stark contrast to her pure and innocent appearance.
…
[Haha, the princess is too cute! Han Zhi is indeed exceptional!]
[Brothers who think they’re a good match, type “perfect match” on the screen!]
[Perfect match, perfect match, perfect match, perfect match, perfect match]
[Boyfriend fans, calm down! They’re a natural pair of handsome guy and beautiful girl. How can you monsters oppose them? Tong Zhao didn’t debut as an idol, so calling her “wife” won’t get her attention. I suggest you learn to be a mother fan like me. Mommy loves you, and Mommy agrees with your early romance!]
…
Song Wanzhuo’s heart was bleeding.
He couldn’t help but think—
Look at him, he’s handsome too, he could be exceptional!
However, after Han Zhi introduced himself, the bullet comments with green hat jokes were quickly overwhelmed by a tide of female viewers.
Even the audience was surprised by how quickly things escalated.
Every star who becomes big has, to some extent, a breakout moment.
It might be a glimpse of brilliance in their work.
It could be a random candid photo of a newcomer going viral.
Even a pre-debut bare-faced look could become a breakout moment; you never know.
The question is whether one can have such a moment and when it will arrive. No one can say for sure. Even the strongest marketing company can only try desperately and continuously, and the real breakout moment might come from an offhand remark like “It’s impossible to work,” or a candid bare-faced photo uploaded by an ordinary person, which spreads more than a professionally shot photo set done by top photographers, leaving the company frustrated.
And Han Zhi’s line:
“I’m Han Zhi, Zhi as in persistent.”
It was so surprisingly perfect and struck a chord with a large number of female viewers.
While the typical boyfriend fan mindset was shattered, Song Wanzhuo was not.
He was quite resentful.
To become a star, Han Zhi indeed has good looks. While his charm is different from his, Song Wanzhuo still felt he had a right to compete with Han Zhi. At the very least, he was Tong Zhao’s senior. If he were in a relationship with her, he could share resources and connections, offering her a lot of experience…
Just then, Tong Zhao was sitting on the sofa, drying her hair, and let out a small sneeze.
Her nose tip was red from rubbing, like a delicate little white rabbit that had been wronged.
It melted the hearts of the audience.
It was a direct hit for Lolicon fans!
Then they heard her, while glancing at Han Zhi, sighing internally: [I really want to sleep with him.]
The extent of explosive moments in instinctive variety shows is always unpredictable.
In any case, the buzzwords [exceptional] and [sleep with him] were sure to trend.
The manager, seeing this scene, almost had a heart attack. He composed himself and consulted with the company about marketing strategies—after all, during the era of instinctive filming, they had seen all sorts of shocking comments. Since nothing really happened, they just needed to manage the narrative to avoid negative backlash.
Unexpectedly, Tong Zhao’s sigh hit a chord with many of Han Zhi’s newly arrived fans. They felt the same way, and the mainstream discussions on Weibo leaned towards this newcomer guest being incredibly exceptional, like a walking hormone.
Song Wanzhuo remained resolute.
After all, his Weibo also had countless female fans wanting to be with him, and he had received many explicit photos in private messages.
In terms of charisma, he shouldn’t be left behind.
Men are always so confident!
Soon after, the show featured Han Zhi preparing a full meal with limited ingredients.
…
Song Wanzhuo really didn’t know how to cook.
Sigh.
Fortunately, with the progress of the times and Tong Zhao not relying on selling romantic illusions to attract fans, male fans, while heartbroken, could still focus on posting self-deprecating comments like [I don’t believe it, I need to see them kiss with my own eyes], [What era is this! I don’t mind a polyamorous relationship QAQ], and [If worst comes to worst, I’ll switch to being a CP fan. I can do it]… and similar comments.
The audience thought this pair of handsome man and beautiful woman might fall in love at first sight.
Then they heard Tong Zhao, while smiling sweetly and softly, internally mocking Han Zhi, seeing through his true face as a scumbag playboy.
This AI-captured inner voice at least retained the interest of 30% of the audience.
“King of the Ocean” isn’t just a romance variety show; it includes elements that test both intelligence and emotional quotient. Viewers who are only interested in pure romance might not be drawn to the show from the introduction, leaving those who are excited about the clash between Han Zhi and the other contestants. When they saw Tong Zhao excessively praising this amateur male guest as if she had fallen for him at first sight, some viewers were disappointed, feeling that the main attraction was gone.
Who wants to watch a young girl being unilaterally dominated by a scumbag?
It doesn’t matter how beautiful the female guest is.
What’s exciting is the back-and-forth, the battle of wits and emotions.
Tong Zhao’s remark, “There must be a demon behind showing weakness; it’s just a ploy to sell a deep affection persona,” struck a chord with the audience, resonating well.
They were hooked!
Thus, the audience honestly stayed tuned.
Tong Zhao didn’t disappoint; her subsequent inner thoughts continuously hit the smart AI’s sweet spots and were played one after another. She critiqued every male guest, behaving like a noble and picky beautiful cat, with humans offering various treats and services, yet not necessarily winning her favor.
If you ask why?
Ah, that’s the wonderful thing about the little cat—it’s inscrutable.
During filming, the production team thought Tong Zhao’s “true self” was too much of a green tea (i.e., manipulative), and that it might be off-putting if released. Male viewers couldn’t bring themselves to dislike her, given her stunning looks (field assistant interjects: “You straight guys probably can’t even see where she’s being green tea”), but female viewers’ impressions of her might have been significantly diminished…
However, the production team missed something.
From the omniscient perspective of female viewers, since this isn’t a serious pure romance show, they accepted Tong Zhao’s role as a scheming woman and even identified with her.
This sense of identification is the most lethal.
Who hasn’t dreamed of being a beautiful woman charming the world?
If you had Tong Zhao’s face, most people probably wouldn’t be dating ordinary men.
Even if it’s 1v1, it would be with a handsome guy like Han Zhi.
So what if she’s picky?
She deserves it!
Female viewers identified with her perspective. A beautiful woman who is both clear-headed and rational, with high emotional intelligence—playing with a self-important man like He Shun is simply exhilarating.
A small portion of male viewers’ dissatisfaction was drowned out by the mainstream wave.
[The real face of the green tea girl is indeed scary.]
[Wait until she turns thirty, and then others will be able to pick on her.]
[What kind of strange species are those who keep calling her a green tea girl on the bullet screen? Hurry up and block them. Our Zhao Zhao will still be a wealthy, beautiful woman who’s out of your league even after she turns thirty!]
The stricter the moral guardians are in real life, the more excited the audience becomes about the “immorality” in instinctive variety shows. After all, she hasn’t done anything wrong. She came to this show fully prepared to be a schemer and to be schemed against. A little bit of cunning, is she a green tea cat or what? Even the poop scooping job isn’t fit for losers!
The debate brought attention.
And the catalyst for ending the debate about green tea was a little puppy.
The dog was transformed by Wei Zekai.
The production team’s sensational move truly shocked the audience.
The key is that, according to the promotional material before the show aired, Wei Zekai was portrayed as the cat-like handsome man in the show—aloof and noble, like an expensive Siberian Forest cat, nearly twenty thousand per cat. Love it or leave it, and even if you buy it, it’ll give you a super fierce look.
Then he turned into a little dog.
The twist came so suddenly that it shocked the audience and left them astounded.
#LetHanZhiDebut# and #RichSecondGenerationDoesn’tActLikeAHuman# both trended on social media, with Han Zhi leading due to his exceptional looks, while Wei Zekai’s puzzled “woof” followed closely behind.
The passersby were quite amused.
The second-generation circle who knew Wei Zekai laughed uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the Wei family elders, who had heard that their only son had invested in several entertainment industry projects recently, were not optimistic. They criticized him as an unfilial son and suggested he should have just donated the money to charity to save on taxes.
Despite their complaints, he was still the only child.
How could they not watch him on the show?
And upon watching, they saw their son had even changed species.