```
Four-star hotel.
After some communication, Xu Qingyan received the advance payment the production team had promised, fifty thousand yuan.
As soon as the money was in his account, he transferred it all to the hospital's account, not only clearing the previous debt but also setting aside this month's medical expenses for his mom.
Having done all this, Xu Qingyan lay on the bed and started scrolling through videos when a message popped up with a buzz in the background.
"Romance Hunter" props team, Zhou Mian: "Brother Xu, I got the electric scooter for you, it's in the underground garage."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
Seeing this, Xu Qingyan was about to continue scrolling through videos when he noticed that the other party was still typing. Out of politeness, he decided to wait and see, but Zhou Mian kept typing for a long time and was still typing.
"?"
"Brother Xu, are you really planning to pick up the female guest on an electric scooter?"
"What's the problem?" Xu Qingyan replied casually.
"But the other male guests have come in nice cars, or at least rented a luxury car overnight to keep up appearances." Zhou Mian replied very quickly.
"But Brother Xu, riding an electric scooter, you've got no chance of winning."
He didn't want to say he had spent all his money. After thinking for a while, he replied.
"Don't make this difficult for me, I have high emotional intelligence."
Zhou Mian: "???"
Xu Qingyan, tired, said bluntly, "I just don't want to spend the money, it's that simple."
On the other end of the phone, Zhou Mian was stunned. These days, even pursuing an ordinary girl requires a sequence of snacks then flowers, with an endless stream of gifts on every significant holiday.
Online, this behavior is mockingly called "worshipping the Dragon King."
Looking at Xu Qingyan's words about not wanting to spend money, Zhou Mian's heart full of advice dissipated into nothing. He typed for a long time, not knowing what to say. He could only send an emoticon.
"Awesome."
Xu Qingyan didn't think renting a car would increase his chances, so he replied with a very calm "Hmm."
Seeing that the other party had no more to say, he comfortably shifted position on the soft, large bed and continued scrolling through videos, completely pushing the guests and the production team's affairs out of his mind.
In Xu Qingyan's view, the official live broadcast of the show hadn't started yet, so this evening was his off-duty time.
Maybe the air conditioning was a bit cold, after lying on the bed scrolling through videos for a while, he felt an inexplicable itch in his throat and nasal passage, so he got up late at night and opened the window.
Before going to sleep, Xu Qingyan came across a short video.
"If you won thirty million, but then your mom suddenly fell ill and needed twenty-nine million nine hundred and fifty thousand for hospitalization, what would you do?"
The top-liked comment below the video was, "If it's before tax, I'd be grateful that I'm not completely helpless, if it's after tax, fifty thousand is enough for me and my mom to eat plenty of ribs!"
Xu Qingyan scrolled further down with an expressionless face. Comments about what to do with the remaining fifty thousand had the same kind of ending.
"Love you! Mom! See you tomorrow!"
"Mom is never a multiple-choice question."
He now actually had a job worth a million, and after taxes, minus his previous debts and pre-and post-surgery recuperation expenses, there would be about a hundred thousand left.
Fifty thousand spent on a wedding wouldn't make any splash, but it could save his mom's life.
The flowers on Valentine's Day might end up in the trash bin, but those on Mother's Day never will. That's why Xu Qingyan wasn't willing to spend two thousand to rent a car.
If a female guest chose him because of the car he rented, she might abandon him for something else in a few days. What is built upon chips can only win more chips.
```
Besides, there are four female guests and five male guests, so what's the big deal about him riding an electric scooter?
The night was deep.
Zhou Lili was a college student, a seasoned night owl.
At this moment, she was sprawled on her bed when she suddenly came across a teaser for the love variety show posted by the pop diva Pei Muchan on her official Weibo, and she couldn't help but shout out in excitement.
There was a knock on the door.
"What the hell are you yelling about! You come home and do nothing all day; yell one more time and I'll break your legs!"
"Mom!" Zhou Lili leaped up from the bed with a bounce, excitedly opened the door, and pointed to her phone screen, saying, "Do you know about this show?"
It turned out that for middle-aged women, chasing celebrities was a self-inflicted torment, with a generational gap as deep as several large supermarkets offering discounts on flour.
"What kind of mess is this? Go back, turn off the light and sleep!" Zhou Lili's mother stood with hands on hips, clearly impatient.
"That one! Didn't my cousin mention it once in the group chat?" Zhou Lili was a bit incoherent, "He's working on it, a love variety show!"
At this, Zhou Lili's mother paused momentarily, then hesitantly said,
"It seems so, what's it called again?"
"Love Hunter! My favorite celebrity is on this show! I have to get my cousin to get me an autograph!" Zhou Lili screamed in excitement.
"Raving in the middle of the night. Why can't you learn from your cousin, see what kind of university he attends... Coming home for summer vacation and not stepping out once, gaining a few pounds a day."
Zhou Lili's mother's nagging did not dampen Zhou Lili's enthusiasm. After closing the door, she lied back down on her bed, kicking her legs up in the air joyfully. After deftly leaving her set of comments and reposts, she then excitedly opened up the teaser.
As soon as she did, the screen was immediately covered with a dense barrage of comments, but the content left Zhou Lili a bit confused.
The comments were divided into four factions, with the largest being fans of Pei Muchan who had heard the news and swarmed in, occupying nearly half of the screen.
"Discourage! Discourage! There's a shrimp head guy!"
"Is the production team out of their minds? Pairing my Sister Pei with these stinky fish and rotten shrimp men!"
"Disgusting!!! So disgusting!!!"
"Boohoo, Sister Pei is too pitiful, can't she be beautiful on her own!"
"Why is my Sister Pei whispering with that guy? Could they know each other? Can someone tell me? I'm too anxious to sleep now, it's driving me crazy!"
"So Batman isn't in Gotham after all. Turns out you've escaped."
Another wave of comments belonged to Shen Jinyue's beauty fans, who went straight into screens licking mode, flooding the screen with comments about the goddess's stunning beauty, such as "The Fairy Shen."
The third wave came from the old lechers, continuously scrolling with risqué comments.
"Damn! That's huge, the screen is huge!"
"Who's that girl decked out in designer labels? That bag's gotta be close to six figures, right?"
"Those melons are too big, what kind of show is this? I'm only watching the preview for today. Should I continue? Continue!"
"The girl-next-door type isn't bad either, so radiant white! Those legs! That waist! I could play for a year!"
"Too fake, I could play for two years!"
Zhou Lili couldn't help but sneer to herself, thinking what foul comments these were, and continued to scroll down. The fourth wave of comments came from ordinary audience fans who were curious about the show's gameplay.
"The female guests on this show are really interesting, aren't they!"
"Yeah, the male guests seem rather average. What's with the production team?"
"Maybe all the budget went to inviting Pei Muchan! Her appearance fee isn't cheap, but Shen Jinyue is probably for free."