Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"No, sigh, you know what my situation has been like recently," Jiang Fangmao sighed. "I'm so anxious all the time, I can't sleep and my hair is falling out in clumps."

"Old Jiang, I really have to say something to you," his colleague said earnestly, half-joking, "Health is the most important thing. If you're not healthy, who are you working for?"

"I know, but the mortgage... sigh," Jiang Fangmao sighed again.

Upon hearing this, his colleague lost all enthusiasm.

"You can still afford to buy a house; I can't even scrape together a down payment. Last year I went to a temple and drew a fortune stick; it was terrible luck. The Taoist told me to throw it away within five seconds and draw again eight times."

"See? You have to take control of your own destiny. Besides, it's all about perspective with sales figures. If you keep focusing on the bad luck, you'll just get more anxious," his colleague continued.

"I'm not anxious now, Come here, take a look at this," Jiang Fangmao beckoned his colleague over. "I have a feeling this TV series is going to turn my fortunes around this month."

"What series? Let me have a look," his colleague leaned in, adjusting his glasses. "The Legend of Martial Arts? What kind of crappy name is that, a drama by Wei Wufeng?"

"Damn, Old Jiang, this is Schrödinger's situation. You've been watching it all morning; did Wei Wufeng actually not make a trashy show this time?"

"Ah, I don't even know what to say," Jiang Fangmao hadn't planned on explaining too much to his colleague. "Anyway, I'm taking this show, I need to talk to the manager about it right away."

"What's the rush? Eating comes first," his colleague advised.

"Forget it. If someone else gets to it first, then it'll be a hassle," Jiang Fangmao replied.

...

At nightfall, in the suburbs of Xinghai, a barbecue stall.

Xu Qingyan, Wei Wufeng, and Zhou Mian sat together drinking and skewering barbecue. A gust of night wind blew, and the three of them tightened their coats around themselves.

"How come it's still so cold at night in April?" Xu Qingyan complained, lifting a skewer of meat, his mouth full of grease. "Damn, it's freezing."

"It's normal, the temperature dropped these past two days." Zhou Mian was the only reasonable one among them; in contrast, both Xu Qingyan and Wei Wufeng were somewhat eccentric characters.

"Pfft, it's just because you have a weak kidney." Wei Wufeng said disdainfully.

"Your mom, my virginity is still intact!"

"Is that something to be proud of?" Wei Wufeng looked at him with contempt. "Who knows about such things? What if you just love a lonely island?"

"Bitch!" Xu Qingyan cursed.

In reality, he knew the three of them just found an excuse to come out for barbecue, to ease their inner tension. They had pitched to the TV station, and also to the video websites.

Unfortunately, a day had passed and there was no news, as if a stone had sunk into the sea.

"Speaking of which, I remember my first date with a girl." Wei Wufeng began to reminisce, holding a skewer. "It rained that day, and everything just followed naturally."

Once conversation at a men's gathering turns to such topics, it's hard to stop.

Zhou Mian couldn't help but join in, "The first time I dated my first love, I just felt like my balls were aching badly. Even though I hadn't done anything, they hurt all day long."

Hearing this, Xu Qingyan couldn't help but ask.

"Mian, did you ever get that sorted out?"

"Yeah, it's sorted."

"Wait, when you say 'sorted' you don't mean you sent a long, vague love confession in the middle of the night?" Xu Qingyan waved his skewer, his eyes narrowing.

"And the other person, though sleepy and not sure what you were trying to say, still agreed to get to know you again and start over as friends, right?"

"Damn, how did you know?" Zhou Mian was shocked.

"What's that about?" Wei Wufeng was confused, and with the three of them being of similar age and having had a few drinks, "Mysterious stuff, tell me about it."
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Xu Qingyan just looked down at his drink, saying nothing.

Zhou Mian had drunk quite a bit too. His neck flushed, he spilled everything that had happened to him, causing Wei Wufeng's eyelids to twitch.

"Damn, you're such a damn turtle!" Wei Wufeng couldn't help but curse. "Are you blind, bro? So... you had a chance with that girl at the start."

"But you were too self-conscious and backed off, ending up with your ex-wife. Then she got knocked up by someone else, lied to you about being pregnant, and you two got married in a hurry?"

"And then you got cucked in the end?"

Zhou Mian was speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Yes."

"Damn, you really asked for it, wimp. No good fate for cowards." Wei Wufeng clinked glasses with Zhou Mian. "Bro, take my advice, if you don't change, you'll ruin your life."

"I've changed, I've changed, I've realized now," Zhou Mian downed several drinks at once. "Some people, once you miss the chance, it's truly a blessing. I was bewitched back then, too."

At these words, Xu Qingyan simply smiled to himself and suggested, "Just drinking is too boring, let's find some fun."

He stood up to ask the owner for three dice cups, putting them down on the table with a thud, one in front of each person, leaving Zhou Mian and Wei Wufeng looking flabbergasted.

"What fun?"

"Truth or Dare, whoever rolls the lowest number chooses." Xu Qingyan grinned, his eyes roving over the faces of his two friends. "Are you in or not?"

"I'm in, who's afraid of a challenge!" Wei Wufeng was always bold.

"Me... I better not, this kind of thing..." Zhou Mian knew Xu Qingyan all too well, knowing that this guy couldn't be up to any good. If he agreed, he'd probably end up being pushed into making a confession.

Before Xu Qingyan could even speak to persuade him, Wei Wufeng slapped Zhou Mian's shoulder hard. His face glowing red, he said loudly,

"Bro, do you know why, even though you feel you're honest and have done no wrong, you still ended up in this mess?"

Zhou Mian was confused and just shook his head.