My cousin asked me to go to Wuha, and Hanikezi stuck to me.

At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Chen Yi squeezed off the subway during rush hour.

Holding a freshly bought Shaxian duck leg rice, his head was throbbing from two days of intense overtime work.

Before leaving get off work, my supervisor threw three more reports at me, demanding they be submitted first thing tomorrow morning.

Chen Yi pushed open the door to the rented room.

Place the lunchbox on the table and pull out a chair to sit down.

My phone was vibrating incessantly in my pocket.

When I took it out, Chen Chichi's name was flashing on the screen.

Chen Yi pressed the answer button and turned on speakerphone.

"Cousin! Quick, check Weibo!"

Chen Chichi's loud voice boomed in the small room.

"I'm looking at the duck legs." Chen Yi broke apart a pair of disposable chopsticks. "The boss gave me an extra spoonful of braising sauce today."

"Why are you eating duck legs?! You're famous now!"

Chen Chichi was so excited that he stammered.

"The show has only been airing for an hour! And you've already topped the charts!"

Chen Yi picked up a mouthful of rice.

"Brother, if you have nowhere to spend the money you spend on hiring online trolls, you can give me the cash to pay your rent."

"Who hired online trolls?! They're all real, living people!"

Chen Chichi was so anxious that he kept slamming his fist on the table.

"Old Wang just called me and said the backend data has been overwhelmed!"

"Go check it out on Weibo yourself! I'm not going to argue with you anymore, Lao Wang is online again!"

The call was unilaterally disconnected.

Chen Yi put down his chopsticks and opened Weibo.

The trending topics list came into view.

Sixth place: "Chen Chichi's cousin has such a strong sense of variety show humor."

Ninth place: "Chen Yi, a new guest of Wuha".

Chen Yi paused and clicked on the first entry.

The top trending post was a GIF of him appearing in that fluorescent green tracksuit.

The comments below have already exceeded 10,000.

"Is this level of beauty even real? The Chinese entertainment industry is finally saved!"

"I thought Chen Chichi's cousin looked like him, but he's a real heartthrob!"

"He actually managed to make this fluorescent green outfit look like something out of a haute couture male model!"

Chen Yi swiped the screen.

The next video is a compilation of his criticisms of Chen Chichi.

"You earn eight figures for recording one season of a show, while I'll start working next week and earn eight thousand a month."

Coupled with Chen Yi's clean-cut and handsome face with no expression.

The comments section was buzzing with excitement.

"This guy's mouth must be blessed!"

"The mouthpiece of today's working class! So outspoken!"

"I watched the part where he roasted Chen Hechi ten times; it was extremely satisfying!"

Chen Yi exited Weibo and switched to a video app. A huge banner on the homepage recommended the release of the island version of "Five Ha".

Chen Yi clicked into the main feature, and the progress bar had only been moving for two minutes.

The screen was completely covered by a dense barrage of comments.

He had to turn on the semi-transparent mode.

The scene shown is him pulling his suitcase out of the guest room.

Old Wang added an extremely exaggerated, shiny special effect here.

The accompanying text reads: "The all-around dark horse has arrived."

The comments section was flooded with messages.

"Warning: High-energy content ahead!"

"Check off your favorite scenes!"

"I even got a membership just for this man!"

Chen Yi picked up a piece of duck meat and put it in his mouth.

He found it tasteless and underestimated Lao Wang's ability to stir up trouble.

This isn't just keeping footage; it's editing him as the core of the main storyline.

As the progress bar moves forward, we reach the beach volleyball and password box puzzle sections.

Every prediction and every move Chen Yi made was replayed by Lao Wang using multiple slow-motion cameras.

Deng Chao and Lu Han's shocked expressions were made into memes and pasted next to the screen.

The comments section exploded.

"Intelligence crushes him!"

"His athletic ability is just too good!"

"What does this guy do for a living? Is he really an ordinary person?"

"A 20,000 yuan appearance fee? Old Wang, that's a scam!"

Chen Yi put down his chopsticks, feeling that things had spiraled out of his control.

He originally only planned to work part-time to earn enough to cover rent, but now it seems Old Wang is preparing to send him straight into the entertainment industry.

The video continues playing; the main event is about to begin.

After the afternoon's group competition ended, the scene switched to the "Pictionary" segment.

Chen Yi's heart skipped a beat.

During the recording, he was only focused on getting points by relying on the system prompts.

I didn't feel there was anything wrong at all.

But the final cut has completely changed.

Old Wang downplayed the shots of everyone else.

Only he and Hanikzi remained on the screen.

The background music was changed to a sweet, slow song.

Hanikzi made a gesture of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow, then pointed to the sky.

Chen Yi answered instantly: "Hou Yi shot down the sun."

Hanikezi opened her eyes wide in surprise and stared straight at Chen Yi.

The camera gave an extremely exaggerated close-up here.

The light in the girl's eyes, Chen Yi's casual and composed smile.

Their eyes met in the air.

Later, they even added a pulsating pink heart between the two.

The style of the comments suddenly changed.

"Aaaaaaah!"

"I'm totally shipping them! I'm totally shipping them!"

"That intense look in their eyes! I don't believe they haven't been in contact privately!"

"I'm locking this pairing in! I'll swallow the key!"

"Brother is so handsome! Sister is so beautiful! They're a perfect match!"

Chen Yi looked at the screen and felt his cheeks burning. He touched his ears and found they were quite hot.

Old Wang's editing technique is simply a clever and subtle maneuver.

They edited together normal team chemistry and turned it into an idol drama.

The progress bar continues forward, leading to a walk on the beach after the bonfire party.

Night, sea breeze.

Chen Yi's statement, "The hole cards are just tools left on the poker table," is relevant.

The screen was immediately flooded with this sentence.

"This man is so charming!"

"Clear-headed, insightful, and handsome!"

"Honey's gaze towards him has completely changed!"

"This is definitely not scripted! A script couldn't produce such a natural reaction!"

Chen Yi opened the comments section and, to his surprise, there was no flame war, only a group of people urging him to agree.

"A handsome ordinary guy and a popular female star, this combination is so appealing!"

"Please, Lao Wang, you absolutely have to let them team up again in the next episode!"

"I've moved the Civil Affairs Bureau here; you two can get married right here!"

Chen Yi turned off the video software; he needed to calm down.

This level of interest is highly unusual.

How could an ordinary person possibly generate such a huge discussion in just one hour?

There must be a production team behind it all.

Old Wang has staked everything on him for the sake of ratings.

The phone vibrated again, but this time it wasn't Chen Chichi.

At the top of the WeChat list, the profile picture of a girl holding a cat popped up.

Hanikezi, Chen Yi stared at the screen.

I clicked on it a few seconds later.

The other person sent a shy, peeking emoji.

This was followed by a text message.

"Are you off work yet?"

Chen Yi's fingers tapped on the keyboard.

"I just finished eating."

The reply came instantly.

Have you watched the latest episode of "Five Huskies"?

Chen Yi recalled the screen full of pink hearts just now.

"I've seen a little bit."

Did you see the comments...?

Hanikezi's message was followed by a row of ellipses.

Chen Yi hadn't decided how to reply yet.

The next message popped up.

"It seems like everyone's shipping our couple."

The text was followed by a facepalm emoji.

Chen Yi looked at the line of text.

My heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.

He took a deep breath and started typing.

"Netizens have such vivid imaginations. Don't take it to heart."

After sending that message, Chen Yi felt a bit awkward.

He added an awkward yet polite smiley face.

The message was sent successfully.

The dialog box displays a message indicating that the other party is typing.

Intermittently.

I typed for a long time, but no new messages came in.

Chen Yi's gaze lingered on that smiling expression.

My heart rate didn't slow down at all.

Just then, deep in my mind...

The emotionless, mechanical electronic voice suddenly exploded.

"Ding!"

"Host-related topics detected have sparked heated discussions across the internet!"

"Program broadcast feedback settlement in progress..."

A semi-transparent blue virtual screen popped up in front of Chen Yi's eyes.

The numbers above are jumping wildly.

"Popularity is skyrocketing!"

Current popularity score: 3000!

Current popularity score: 5500!

The numbers finally settled.

Current popularity score: 8500!

Ps:

[New book launch, seeking support! Three quick actions: add to bookshelf, urge for updates, write a review. The writer is online begging for support!]