At eight o’clock on Saturday night, countless viewers sat in front of their televisions, waiting for the broadcast of Love Cottage Episode Nine.
As the familiar music played from the TV, all the young viewers seemed to perk up as if given a shot of adrenaline, their eyes wide open as they focused intently on the screen.
After all, this was the episode that had been rumored online for a long time—the one where two celebrity observers supposedly ‘argued’ over one of the female guests on the show!
They really had to pay full attention and watch this episode with one hundred percent focus. It wouldn’t do to miss any details.
However, what none of the viewers expected was that despite their serious viewing to witness the famous scene of the two celebrity observers feuding, what they ended up seeing was—
『Huh? Why does Su Han seem a bit like a white lotus this episode?』
Right from the start, the episode showed the clip of both Bai Baozhu and Su Han getting up very early.
The battle for the kitchen to make breakfast was in no way inferior to the legendary clash between the two celebrity observers!
Although the dialogue was brief, it always gave people a sense of undercurrents flowing between the two girls.
And Jiang Boyan’s involvement made the tension between the two girls even more palpable.
However, it also made—Jiang Boyan’s behavior seem utterly ungentlemanly, which made some viewers feel uncomfortable.
But this discomfort was quickly dispelled by the teasing and joking of the celebrity observers, turning the mood light and funny again.
In fact, viewers who already knew about Bai Baozhu’s exceptional culinary skills even predicted how face-slapping the following plot would be!
But what all the viewers didn’t expect was that even though they knew the upcoming plot would be face-slapping, they never imagined it would be even more… high-energy than they thought!
Watching Bai Baozhu use her incredibly beautiful hands to swiftly peel crabs and then create one translucent, paper-thin crab roe soup dumpling after another left everyone dumbfounded and drooling.
The more they watched, the hungrier they felt!
It was just a dating show! They weren’t brought to tears by the affection showered on them by the dating guests; instead, they were driven to tears of craving by the breakfast in the show. Countless viewers once again suspected they were watching a fake dating reality show!
And they quietly questioned whether the production team was deliberately ‘poisoning’ them late at night!
Just as all the viewers were mesmerized by the crab roe soup dumplings Bai Baozhu made, the famous ‘feud’ scene they had been anticipating suddenly appeared without any warning!
And, to everyone’s shock—
『Holy crap! I guessed Xu Bingying! But I truly never guessed Song Zhi! I guessed all five celebrities, but I never guessed it would be the always polite and courteous Song Zhi!』
Because it was just too shocking! And the clip of their argument in the show was too shocking!
As a result, no one even paid attention to the subsequent plot in Love Cottage where that Big Pig’s Trotters, Lin Dong, didn’t ask Xia Tiantian out but instead went on a sun date with Ye Jingyu!
Everyone’s train of thought was still stuck on what Song Zhi had said…
Episode Nine hadn’t even finished airing yet! Many viewers had already taken out their phones and were eagerly discussing the content of Song Zhi and Xu Bingying’s argument online.
This was also the first time Love Cottage trended on the hot search list before the episode even finished airing!
Song Zhi, Xu Bingying#, #Song Zhi’s Fierce Retort#, #Song Zhi, Bai Baozhu#…
Song Zhi was originally the top-tier traffic star in the industry with a massive fanbase. Anything even remotely related to him having high topic heat was perfectly normal.
Moreover, this time, it was Song Zhi’s first time publicly ‘breaking’ his polite and courteous persona on a show, speaking so sharply and aggressively. This caused Love Cottage Episode Nine to trend on the hot search list even before it aired, all because of that clip of his argument with Xu Bingying!
By the time Love Cottage Episode Nine finished airing completely, the hot searches related to Love Cottage and Song Zhi had taken over the hot search list!
There were only a few spots on the hot search list, but the related keywords for Song Zhi and Love Cottage already occupied more than half! This showed just how high the discussion heat for Episode Nine was!
However, it was no wonder the discussion for Love Cottage Episode Nine was so heated! After all, this episode had too many points to criticize! There were just too many plots and guests worthy of ridicule!
For example, the somewhat white lotus-flavored Su Han, the not-at-all-gentlemanly Jiang Boyan, Bai Baozhu’s crab roe soup dumplings, and the suddenly ‘Bad Ending’ Winter-Summer CP, etc., etc. This episode’s plot was really full of highlights.
However, none of these highlights were as shocking as Song Zhi’s fierce retort against Xu Bingying!
Moreover, Song Zhi’s words were just too real! They also woke up many viewers who had been led by Xu Bingying’s rhythm and brainwashed!
The sentence, “Following your logic, can’t I just assume you’re deliberately smearing Bai Baozhu?” was like opening a blocked meridian. It not only left Xu Bingying speechless but also ‘woke up’ everyone!
『What Song Zhi said when he retorted Xu Bingying was so right. Everyone is an independent individual; who can define one hundred percent what kind of person she is? Also, watching the recent episodes, you can tell Bai Baozhu isn’t some green tea or Fish Pond Manager like Xu Bingying claims. Bai Baozhu is clearly a very lovely girl.』
『As a former Bai Baozhu anti-fan, let me say something fair. Honestly, our perception of Bai Baozhu as a green tea and Fish Pond Manager was actually us being led by Xu Bingying’s rhythm. Just like Song Zhi said, Xu Bingying was deliberately smearing Bai Baozhu. She started doing it from the first episode when everyone liked Bai Baozhu. You can trace this through the clues in the show.』
『This is the first time I’ve felt Song Zhi is so handsome! Seeing him speak up for Bai Baozhu and retort Xu Bingying, he really looked incredibly cool! I genuinely feel Song Zhi’s values are so upright! Love it!』
『This episode of Love Cottage was practically a special showcase for Song Zhi and Bai Baozhu to gain fans! Especially Song Zhi! He was really too handsome!』
『Song Zhi is indeed very handsome, but I feel more heartache for Bai Baozhu. She was blacked for a full seven episodes! Fortunately, Love Cottage was recorded in a fully closed-off state, so Bai Baozhu didn’t know she was being blacklisted and cyberbullied by the whole internet. Otherwise, how much harm would that have caused her?』
…
After this episode aired, not only did Song Zhi gain a huge wave of fans, but even Bai Baozhu benefited from Song Zhi’s popularity, gaining support from many of Song Zhi’s fans.
Furthermore, the guy who previously edited the video A Bite of China: Bai Baozhu specially edited another video titled The Misunderstood Bai Baozhu in Those Episodes. He meticulously clipped out each segment where Xu Bingying led the rhythm, adding subtitle explanations. This further ignited netizens’ anger towards Xu Bingying and their guilt towards Bai Baozhu.
Heartache for Bai Baozhu#
This hot search term shot up the rankings like a rocket, instantly trending!
It stood out prominently among all the hot search terms related to Song Zhi!
After witnessing Song Zhi’s fierce retort against Xu Bingying in Episode Nine and the specially edited clips of Xu Bingying’s rhythm and implied smearing of Bai Baozhu, countless netizens were completely awakened!
Bai Baozhu, who was originally blacklisted by the whole internet, was completely whitewashed by the end of this episode. And the person who became blacklisted by the whole internet turned into Xu Bingying, whose career was originally flourishing!
[Countless netizens flocked to Xu Bingying’s Weibo, frantically cursing at her.]
There were even countless viewers who went to the official Weibo of Love Cottage, strongly suggesting the production team expel Xu Bingying from the show! They boycotted Xu Bingying from continuing as a love observer on Love Cottage.
In the past, Xu Bingying was a star who rose by disparaging Bai Baozhu, feeding off Bai Baozhu’s popularity. The more fiercely she criticized Bai Baozhu in the past, the more benefits she gained from her.
Now, Xu Bingying had to spit it all back out! And, she had to spit it out twice as much!
After just one night of fermentation, Xu Bingying’s Weibo followers had already dropped by five digits! And the comments under her Weibo were even more unspeakably abusive.
All the evil consequences generated by her previous rhythm and smearing of Bai Baozhu now backfired onto her own body, letting her taste the bitter fruit that Bai Baozhu had once experienced…
In the darkness, Xu Bingying looked at the malicious words on the screen, watching one stranger after another, like righteous crusaders, condemn her. Her entire body trembled.
When she decided to lead the rhythm and smear Bai Baozhu, she had considered this possible outcome.
But, she thought the Bai Baozhu in the show was truly stupid; she couldn’t possibly crash.
However, how could she have anticipated that Bai Baozhu’s behavior would suddenly change, and… a big star like Song Zhi would anomalously speak up for her.
And, the production team had clearly promised that this segment would only be edited into the premium version for online streaming, but the result was it aired on the original version on television…
This was something she truly never imagined!
Everything was going so smoothly, everything was proceeding according to plan…
But now wasn’t the time for regret. Now, she should be thinking about how to resolve this matter, how to end this incident with the minimum loss.
Just as Xu Bingying was anxiously thinking how to solve this matter.
She suddenly saw a comment—
『So, why does Xu Bingying have such great malice towards Bai Baozhu? They’re clearly strangers who don’t know each other, right? What deep-seated hatred could there be? Xu Bingying seems to treat the other female guests quite normally, especially Su Han. She seems to really like Su Han. Can any big shot dig up the dirt on this?』
Looking at this comment, Xu Bingying’s lips pressed tightly together.
Finally, she decided to take a desperate risk! To use the move she originally didn’t want to use!
…
—A Certain County Town—
“Xinyi, look, what did I say back then? What’s the use of a girl studying so well! Look at your cousin Zhu Zhu. Her grades were never as good as yours in school. But look at her now. Not only is she going on blind dates on TV, but she’s also making money…”
Chen Xinyi listened as her mother started nagging again. Her face looked extremely unpleasant, especially after watching this episode of Love Cottage where her cousin was rehabilitated from being blacklisted by the whole internet…
“Sigh, why did I give birth to such an unpromising child. Tell me, in what way am I not better than your aunt? But look at you now, in what way are you better than your cousin? You don’t have a proper job, and you don’t have a decent boyfriend. Look at your cousin again. The male guests on the show are each more outstanding than the last. I really wish I could pack you up and send you in there too…”
Listening to her mother’s words becoming increasingly mean and unpleasant, Chen Xinyi argued back defiantly.
“Mom, it’s not that I don’t want to find a job now, it’s that the current situation doesn’t allow it! Besides, there are too many people with bachelor’s degrees now. I want to continue studying…”
“Study, study, study! Study my ass! I’ve told you, what’s the use of a girl reading so many books? It’s better to find a good family to marry into early. Look at your cousin, she’s much smarter than you!”
“How is my cousin smart? She didn’t join the show to find a boyfriend or get married at all…”
Seeing that she really couldn’t see eye to eye with her mother, Chen Xinyi simply returned to her own small bedroom, locked the door, and shut out her mother’s caustic words.
She unconsciously looked at the words on her computer screen expressing heartache for her cousin Bai Baozhu, feeling as if a lifetime had passed.
Clearly, the last time she called her cousin, her cousin was still being blacklisted and reviled by countless people.
But, in just these few short episodes, her cousin, who was originally hated by the entire internet, had suddenly become the object of everyone’s sympathy?
And the person who helped her cousin out of the predicament was Song Zhi, whom she really liked…
Just thinking about this made Chen Xinyi’s heart feel heavy.
Ever since she was little, the beautiful Bai Baozhu had been more likable than her. Whether it was the friends they played with or their elders, everyone preferred Bai Baozhu…
As long as Bai Baozhu was by her side, she was always the one who was overlooked.
To escape this feeling of being invisible, she studied hard and strove to make herself more outstanding.
But… what she never expected was that even after all her efforts, it seemed nothing had really changed in the end…
For a moment, Chen Xinyi felt lost. She didn’t understand what all her years of hard work had amounted to.
She couldn’t help but think back to that day when she went to see her cousin. The talent scout had noticed her too.
Yet, her cousin had said she wasn’t cut out for it…
She wasn’t cut out for it… Why wasn’t she cut out for it…
A kind of indescribable oppression weighed on Chen Xinyi’s heart.
Just then, she suddenly saw someone gossiping about the male guests on Love Cottage in her small social media group.
『Did you hear? The four male guests on Love Cottage all have unusual backgrounds! Especially that Male Lead Number Four, Jiang Boyan. He’s a super rich second generation; his family is loaded! I just got back from being spoiled—they say later on, Jiang Boyan falls for Bai Baozhu again?』