Ever since Limited-Time Heartbeat began airing, it had appeared on trending searches almost every day.
But this time was undoubtedly the biggest uproar in the show’s history.
Weibo crashed outright.
Several entertainment sections returned 404 errors.
The show’s official website announced that the livestream could not continue for the time being and would be suspended for two days.
Chu Wei sat with his head lowered in a company executive’s office, being thoroughly scolded.
“Ancestor, I’ll call you my ancestor, alright?! I already told you last time to watch what you say and do. You just refused to listen, didn’t you? Your public image is collapsing again and again. When your fans completely discover who you really are, just wait until your career crashes straight through the center of the earth!”
“Do you have any idea how much effort we spent getting you to this position?! Even if you’ve earned enough money and don’t care about your career anymore, think about the hundreds of people in this company who still need to make a living! You want to get back together with Shen Fu? Fine! Did the company stop you? But why the h*ll did you create a group chat?!”
“And even if you created one, why did you call Xiang Lingyun ‘all looks and no brains’ in it? Do you know how badly Xiang Lingyun’s fans are tearing you apart right now?!”
Since his debut, Chu Wei had never publicly uttered a single curse word.
His image had always been that of an innocent, pure puppy.
Well, now everyone had discovered that the clean little puppy spent his private time barking like crazy.
Unable to hold back any longer, Chu Wei raised his head and faced the spray of his manager’s spit.
“But how is this my fault? Jiang Shu stole my girl first, and then he violated my privacy using underhanded methods. I think we should sue him!”
“Privacy my *ss! You don’t have any privacy!” his manager shouted, throwing a contract at him.
…
Over on Xiang Lingyun’s side, his manager and assistant were far more polite.
Though both were busy enough to be drenched in sweat, they still patiently explained things to him.
“Ling Ge, before the show started, we signed a performer privacy agreement with the production team. According to Clause 18, the phones provided by the show are completely open to public viewing.”
“Most cooperation contracts contain a similar clause. You probably just didn’t read it carefully.”
“Of course, this isn’t your fault. It’s the company’s fault for not checking properly. We honestly never imagined an accident like this would happen.”
“An accident?” Xiang Lingyun exploded. “You call this an accident?”
Although he had no direct evidence, anyone could see who benefited the most.
It was one hundred percent Jiang Shu’s doing.
Xiang Lingyun had spent years at the top of the entertainment industry, getting whatever he wanted.
Never in his life had he suffered such humiliation.
Unlike Chu Wei, who was already embracing a “nothing left to lose” attitude, Xiang Lingyun cared deeply about his image.
At this point, he practically wanted to drag Jiang Shu down with him even if it meant mutual destruction.
His manager awkwardly corrected him: “It’s not mutual destruction. It’s an egg hitting a rock.”
“Brother, no matter how many millions of fans we have, we’re still just entertainers. We can’t compete with capital.”
“The Jiang family hasn’t even bothered entering the entertainment industry. What does that tell you? It means people in their world don’t even care about this piece of meat called show business. If they don’t even value this industry, why would they fear your so-called mutual destruction?”
“Even if we mobilize the fans for an online war, who’s to say the entire internet won’t mysteriously go down tomorrow? Other than helping us curse at people online, what can the fans actually do for us?”
Xiang Lingyun became irritated. “Whose side are you on, exactly? Why are you boosting someone else’s morale and crushing our own?”
The manager pulled over a chair and sat down across from him.
With a sigh, he said: “The company has already analyzed the situation. The only option is to let this go. Besides, other than being a little embarrassing, Ling Ge, you haven’t actually suffered any real losses.”
Among the exposed chat messages, he had called Chu Wei an idiot.
But swearing wasn’t a big deal.
Xiang Lingyun had previously shown displeasure toward fans and even cursed at reporters.
As long as it didn’t involve any major moral or professional scandal, it wasn’t a serious issue.
Xiang Lingyun frowned. “So what’s your actual solution?”
….
Wen Zhenghan’s Studio
“The impact on us is actually the smallest,” his manager said. “Zheng Ge, you didn’t really say anything in the group chat. You only suggested that Chu Wei dissolve the group.”
“Compared to the other two, your public image hasn’t really collapsed.”
Although Wen Zhenghan’s expression wasn’t great, he reluctantly agreed with the analysis.
“Besides, this is a dating show. Guests are free to pursue whoever they like.”
“If this had happened on an ordinary dating show with non-celebrities, the reaction probably wouldn’t have been this huge. The audience would just enjoy the drama and get excited about such an incredible love battlefield.”
“The problem is that you’re all famous and there are fandom wars involved, so preserving face becomes much more important.”
The manager continued: “We might as well fully commit to the image of someone suffering from unrequited love.”
Photos of Wen Zhenghan visiting Shen Fu on a drama set had also been dug up over the past two days.
Originally, the manager had been desperately trying to buy the photos from paparazzi at an outrageous price.
Now it seemed there was no need to hide anything.
He said to Wen Zhenghan: “We’ll say that you happened to meet Shen Fu on a film set in the past. At the time, you noticed that she was willing to take on any role and admired her professionalism.”
“Then, by coincidence, you met again on a dating show. Feeling it was fate, you wanted to get to know her better.”
“But you never expected to be repeatedly obstructed by Mr. Jiang Shu.”
Wen Zhenghan considered it.
At the moment, this really was the best damage-control strategy.
Some viewers might even switch sides and support him. “As for Miss Zuo Mei, we’ll just say you’re friends.”
Xiang Lingyun’s Side
Xiang Lingyun’s manager said: “After our analysis, the best solution is to openly and honestly admit that you do have feelings for Miss Shen Fu.”
“But because Jiang Shu never gave you an opportunity to get to know her properly, when Chu Wei created the group chat, you had no choice but to join.”
“There’s nothing shameful about pursuing someone.”
“In fact, viewers may appreciate your honesty and become fans because of it.”
….
Chu Wei’s Side
Chu Wei’s manager snapped: “Just wait and see. The Film Emperor and the Top Star are definitely going to dump all the blame for that group chat on you.”
“It’s already too late to explain.”
“The only option is to fully embrace the image of a crazy obsessive simp.”
“When the show starts airing again, you need to be even crazier. Become controversial enough to generate discussion.”
“A crazy obsessive character is at least trendier than your old innocent-and-harmless image.”
“It’s unconventional and risky, but there’s no other choice.”
“This is your only chance to recover even a little.”
…
…
…
While the three companies scrambled to repair the damage, Xiang Lingyun’s fans and Wen Zhenghan’s fans remained silent for an entire day.
Their mental state had been shattered beyond repair.
Before their idols joined the show, they had already prepared themselves mentally.
They knew their favorite celebrities would be dating on the program.
They knew they might develop feelings for female guests.
But suddenly discovering that every male guest’s crush was Shen Fu, that was still difficult to accept.
Wasn’t this basically a direct slap in the face?
When the show first aired, they had mocked Shen Fu in the comments.
They had confidently declared that an obscure eighteenth-tier actress like her would never be chosen by anyone.
But thinking about it carefully now…
It actually made sense.
Among all the female guests, Shen Fu really was the most attractive.
At first, they had believed the online rumors:
A pretty vase.
A bad actress in terrible dramas.
Someone who got roles through money and connections.
But after half a month of watching the show, they realized none of that was true.
Yes, she was beautiful.
But her personality was appealing too.
Yes, she’d appeared in bad dramas.
But her acting wasn’t bad at all.
And the rumors about buying her way into productions were even more ridiculous.
As a result, there really weren’t any substantial black marks against her.
Meanwhile, her follower count on Weibo kept skyrocketing due to her constant appearances on trending topics.
Her status in the industry was rising rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, she’d landed three new endorsement deals.
Judging purely by fashion resources and brand endorsements, her industry standing had already surpassed both Chu Wei and Gu Qingshuang.
Most of the fans’ emotional collapse wasn’t actually because of Shen Fu.
It was because their own idols had personally proven them wrong.
While the fans suffered, ordinary viewers felt as if it were New Year’s Day.
Since the livestream was suspended and they had nowhere to post comments, everyone crowded into forums instead.
[I’m dying of laughter. This is the kind of legendary love battlefield that deserves to go down in entertainment history. Thank you to my past self for starting this show half a month ago. Every single day since then has brought new entertainment.]
[What I’m worried about now is that one of the guests might quit out of embarrassment. Please don’t! What am I supposed to watch then? I petition for the livestream to come back immediately. Dear guests, please return. We absolutely promise not to laugh at you.]
[Agreed. There’s nothing wrong with falling for someone!]
As for Shen Fu’s fans, half a month ago, they had been terrified that nobody would choose her.
How could they possibly have imagined today’s situation?
In just two weeks, the world had completely turned upside down.
Because one male guest after another had revealed their feelings, there were far fewer people criticizing Shen Fu now.
Who had been attacking Shen Fu before?
Besides Zuo Mei’s fans, it was mostly the fandoms of those three male guests.
Now that their own idols had personally proven them wrong, their faces were swollen from the metaphorical slap.
How could they still have the energy to insult anyone else?
“Too funny,” Little Zhen said in the fan group.
“I don’t even need to organize shifts anymore for monitoring Weibo and livestream comments.”
“There are so many fan groups now that we’ve completely lost count.”
Overlord Flower added: “We don’t even need to pay video editors on Letter Site anymore.”
“I opened the homepage today, and every single recommendation was a compilation video about men simping for our girl.”
The tide of public opinion was visibly changing day by day.
When someone is at rock bottom, everyone kicks them while they’re down. When someone is famous, everyone comes flocking over, drawn by the promise of traffic and attention.
Now, not only were there fewer people criticizing Shen Fu, but the number of people praising her was growing like crazy.
Rong Xiaozhen and the others had lived through the period right after the variety show first aired, when malicious comments flooded the screen and left them barely able to breathe. The memory of everyone in the group chat crying themselves red-eyed and staying up all night from being attacked online was still vivid.
So now, seeing all those marketing accounts start praising their Shen Fu, they naturally felt those people were just a bunch of hypocritical opportunists chasing profit.
At the same time, though, they couldn’t help feeling a small thrill of satisfaction at finally turning things around.
The forums were still discussing things.
【What I’m most curious about now is this: all four male guests seem interested in Shen Fu, but what about Shen Fu? Who is her arrow actually pointing toward?】
【Same. D*mn it, watching a dating show feels like watching a mystery thriller. One twist leads to another.】
Someone compiled the popularity rankings of various CP tags across major forums and shared them.
【#JiangShuShenFu# is currently miles ahead of the others, with over 110,000 popularity points. Next is #ChuWeiShenFu# with over 80,000. Right behind that is #XiangLingyunShenFu# with over 50,000. Last place is #WenZhenghanShenFu# with just over 20,000.】
【Besides those, although it doesn’t comply with the rules of a certain green website, #AllFu# has over 10,000 popularity points, and #XuTiaotiaoShenFu# also has more than 8,000.】
【LMAO, the Film Emperor’s fandom really isn’t cutting it. Maybe reflect on why Xiang Lingyun and Shen Fu barely interact yet still rank ahead of you guys? Could it be your guy just lacks masculine charm?】
Wen Zhenghan’s fans were already on the verge of a mental breakdown. Now that random viewers were specifically mocking them, they felt even more aggrieved.
A major fan quietly said in the group chat: “Where did all those people shipping Chu Wei and Shen Fu come from? It must be those idiots in Chu Wei’s fandom secretly boosting the tag. Should we boost ours too?”
“Yeah.”
Another fan sent a voice message in a low voice: “Pairing him with Shen Fu is still better than pairing him with the Film Empress. Her fandom is pretty soft and never wins fights anyway. Why don’t we use this opportunity to completely tear apart those toxic Emperor-and-Actress CP fans?”
While the forums were discussing CP popularity, the popularity of #WenZhenghanShenFu# suddenly increased by several thousand points out of nowhere, all from Wen Zhenghan’s fans flooding in.
The livestream still hadn’t started, and the chaos-loving spectators were running out of entertainment.
Then someone suddenly posted on the forum:
【Everyone hurry over to Letter Site and watch the Simp PK video. I’m dying of laughter hahaha.】
Recently, Letter Site had been flooded with Limited Heartbeat fan edits.
Videos editing together Shen Fu and Jiang Shu were usually paired with sweet first-love songs like What’s Wrong With It.
Videos editing Shen Fu and Chu Wei together usually used sad songs like The Truth Is Fake or Missed Lover.
As for the other two male guests and Shen Fu, the music choices were even more varied, both sweet and tragic edits existed.
One famous editor had just uploaded a new video that combined all four male guests’ iconic moments.
It included the Spring Date episode where Jiang Shu snatched Shen Fu away from Chu Wei.
It included Jiang Shu personally delivering all eight food items to Shen Fu’s door during the hidden mission.
It included all the scenes where Chu Wei repeatedly invited Shen Fu only to be rejected every single time.
It included Xiang Lingyun’s seemingly meaningful gazes at Shen Fu from across the dining table.
It even included Wen Zhenghan moving closer to Shen Fu on the airplane.
And the ending?
Three loud “bang, bang, bang” sounds, followed by the stunned expressions of the three male guests other than Jiang Shu after being shut out outside Shen Fu’s room.
By the time forum users rushed over to watch, the fandoms were already tearing each other apart in the comments section.
“D*mn it, this uploader is obviously a Jiang Shu/Shen Fu shipper, right? Shen Fu rejected the Crown Prince too. Why did you specifically edit in scenes of our guy getting shut out?”
“Holy cr*p, I noticed something else! This uploader added filters to Shen Fu and Jiang Shu’s scenes for a full minute and fifteen seconds! Nobody else got filters!”
“Why is Shen Fu and Jiang Shu’s screen time so long when every other pairing got less than one second?!”
After being attacked from all sides, the uploader finally came out to explain:
“The reason Pairing D got more screen time is because he and Shen Fu appeared together more often. The reason there wasn’t a scene of him being shut out is because I rewatched Limited Heartbeat and literally couldn’t find such a scene! As for the filters, you people are just looking for trouble. I didn’t add any filters at all!”
“…”
The crowd of casual viewers watching the drama unfold was laughing themselves to death.
Who said things got boring without the livestream?
These fandoms were comedians every single one of them!
…
Meanwhile…
Chu Wei had been kept at the company by his manager and told to calm down and think carefully about his next move.
After several days without touching his phone, he finally couldn’t resist taking it out.
He definitely couldn’t check Weibo. It was probably full of people mocking him, and he was afraid he’d end up arguing with them.
So he searched around and eventually found some fan edits featuring himself and Shen Fu.
One of them used the song “Those Dreams You Dared to Dream.”
“When your eyes learn to evade.”
The scene showed Shen Fu opening her door, seeing that it was him, and the cold expression on her face gradually softening.
“Distance stretches like a shadow being dragged away.”
It was from the night of the three-minute blackout, the moment the lights came back on and his shadow overlapped with Shen Fu’s.
“Yet you don’t want to understand, only choosing to walk the other way.”
Spring Date. Shen Fu walking away from him step by step, heading toward Jiang Shu.
…
“Those dreams you dared to dream, I was willing to go crazy with you.”
The footage showed photos taken back when they were together, laughing happily side by side.
Then the scene changed.
The laughter faded away. The lights gradually dimmed.
“When the story of love remains only as hearsay.”
The sensational breakup headlines from back then filled the screen, overwhelming everything.
The video slowly faded to black, leaving only the singer’s soft sigh.
A line of text appeared on the screen:
“Although they ended in a BE, I believe they once loved passionately.”
Chu Wei hugged his phone.
He almost burst into tears.
Even outsiders could tell how real their feelings had once been!
…
Shen Fu happened to take advantage of the livestream hiatus to go shoot a commercial endorsement that Liang Xiaochun had arranged for her.
Jiang Shu, meanwhile, stayed completely uninvolved. After leisurely finishing an apple, he drove away from the villa, planning to head over to Wang Xuanheng’s place to deal with some matters first, then pick Shen Fu up that evening after she finished filming.
He hadn’t driven very far when a notification popped up on the car’s phone screen.
Some trashy entertainment website’s news alert.
“The Four Hottest CPs of Limited Heartbeat: Four Male Guests Battle Fiercely for Love, Who Are You Rooting For?”
One-handedly steering the wheel, Jiang Shu instinctively tapped it open.
Confidently assuming that he and Shen Fu would surely be ranked first, he clicked in.
“…”
The people voting on this website were all idiots.
Wen Zhenghan and Shen Fu were far ahead in first place. The other two male guests and Shen Fu followed closely behind.
As for him and Shen Fu?
Their vote count was pitifully low.
“What’s going on?” Jiang Shu’s face darkened like an incoming storm. He immediately called Wang Xuanheng.
The other side answered: “Calm down. Overall, among actual viewers of the show, the majority still support you and Shen Fu. But these weird polls run by marketing accounts, since you don’t really follow the entertainment industry, you probably don’t know, it’s basically all fans voting to inflate statistics.”
“You’re not from the entertainment industry and don’t really have a fandom. Of course you’re getting beaten by the other three.”
Jiang Shu replied coolly, “Can’t you buy me some internet trolls?”
He and Shen Fu were obviously a match made in heaven.
Who were those three idiots to crush them in the rankings?
Wang Xuanheng said, “Sure, we could buy internet trolls. But the problem is, the other three all have genuine fans passionately promoting them. Their fans praise them as perfect men who can do everything under heaven, on earth, in the kitchen, and in bed.”
“What exactly are people supposed to praise you for?”
Jiang Shu nearly choked.
What did he mean there was nothing to praise?
Every inch of him was full of advantages, okay?
“I’m driving right now. Tell those executives to figure something out. What am I paying them for?”
Jiang Shu hung up angrily.
…
Several dozen minutes later, Jiang Shu finally drove into the city.
Suddenly, another notification popped up.
It was from the same voting website.
“Shocking Reversal! In the final thirty minutes before voting closed, the mysterious Male Guest D’s votes skyrocketed, shooting straight into first place!”
“We interviewed several fans who voted for D and asked why they chose him, and what qualities they believed would win the heroine’s heart!”
“Their answer was surprisingly, Male Virtue!”
Jiang Shu almost jerked the steering wheel and crashed into a nearby tree.
What the h*ll?
Meanwhile, the Jiang Shu/Shen Fu shippers who had been fighting on the forums suddenly found inspiration.
They had finally discovered how to defeat the other fandoms.
They immediately began proudly posting:
【Everyone else, get lost!】
【Look at D, the purest, most self-disciplined, most morally upright man among all the male guests! A man who doesn’t value himself is like rotten cabbage. The other male guests have all filmed kissing scenes with other people. Only our D hasn’t!】
【Come join our community and vote for our CP! If you don’t vote and I don’t vote, how can the CP we’re shipping ever become reality?】
As much as they wanted to argue back, the other three fandoms found themselves completely unable to refute this point.
Their idols had genuinely lost in this category.
As the campaign spread, the popularity of Jiang Shu and Shen Fu’s tag doubled once again.
Even the vote counts for magazine covers featuring Jiang Shu and Shen Fu began rising rapidly.
…
Jiang Shu’s expression turned strangely complicated.
It seemed the executives he employed weren’t completely useless after all.
