Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

Zhang Hongmei took the IOU, stood in the courtyard and sighed for a while, and then she brought Li Yang back home.

"My girl, you're fine, focus on your studies."

"These kind of troubles that leave one destitute, even adults have their share, and anyway, they can't take away the physical things. As a young lady, don't get tangled up with that crowd for now, you'll be at a disadvantage."

"Once this period is over, I'll talk to my son when he comes over, he's quite crafty."

Li Yang looked down at the yellow-brown surface of her tea and hummed in agreement.

"I know, auntie."

Seeing this, Zhang Hongmei couldn't help but sigh.

In the small area of Pingsha, clan sentiment was strong, with villages of a single surname like Qinghe sticking together. Once they moved to the county town, pretty much only an empty shell was left, with the ancestral house rules long gone.

Old Li had passed away two or three years ago, leaving behind an underage daughter, a house, and a shop. Although houses and shops in Pingsha County weren't worth much, wealth was tempting to people.

Bumping into this group of relatives was truly bad luck, but though the local customs were poor, the law was reasonable. Moreover, Li Yang had come of age, so they could only take advantage of her financially.

"My girl, which university are you attending?"

"Xinghai University."

"Xinghai?" Zhang Hongmei paused, then a smile suddenly appeared on her face, "My son also works at Xinghai, five or six years older than you. When he has time, I'll ask him to check in on you."

"Okay." Li Yang often looked without focus, seldom lifting her head.

Although she was afraid of meeting strangers, her heart was full of gratitude toward Zhang Hongmei. Because of the affection for the house, she didn't feel any repulsion and thought the whole family were good people.

For lunch, Zhang Hongmei invited her to eat together. Since she was still recovering, she asked the second aunt next door to help out.

Seeing how strikingly beautiful Li Yang was, the second aunt was initially startled but quickly realized she was the girl who got into university. She greeted her warmly, making Li Yang even more embarrassed.

She squatted by the stove, awkwardly starting a fire, her small face glowing red from the heat.

The second aunt was a clever woman and didn't stop her, only occasionally adding a few sticks of firewood when the fire wasn't burning well.

"My girl, you're pretty good-looking. Which university you're at?"

"Xinghai."

"Oh, my big nephew is also in Xinghai. What a coincidence." While stir-frying, the second aunt chattered away amid the flying grease, praising Xu Qingyan endlessly.

"If my useless son played games only a tenth as well as Qingyan or was half as handsome, I'd be relieved."

Sitting on a small stool in front of the stove, Li Yang listened with her head down to the second aunt's endless praises. She roughly sketched an image of Xu Qingyan in her mind — a good person.

This loan from Aunt Zhang was also provided by Xu Qingyan. He was very capable and also very kind.

After the meal, Li Yang prepared to take her leave.

The only rural bus back to the county left at three, and she would likely reach Pingsha around six. She still had to hurry to catch the train to school that evening; there was nowhere for her in Pingsha County.

"My girl, if you have nowhere to go during the New Year, just come back to your auntie's place. It's just me at home on ordinary days." Zhang Hongmei held her hand, saying, "When Qingyan comes back, it's just the two of us, and it's quite lonely."

Upon hearing this, Li Yang looked up at Zhang Hongmei and saw she was serious. Moved, she bowed her head slightly and respectfully hummed in acknowledgment, saying only one word.

"Okay."

"Auntie, second auntie, I'm leaving now."

"Wait, I'll ask my man to drop you off!" The second aunt stopped her, went home, and called back her husband, asking him to drive her to the town.

At the entrance to the courtyard.

Zhang Hongmei and the second aunt Wang Chunhua stood side by side, watching the nearly scrapped second-hand car disappear at the end of the road.

"That girl is quite a beauty, Hongmei," the second aunt remarked, "She has a good nature and a conscience, though she's not very talkative."

"Yeah, I didn't expect her to come over by herself." Zhang Hongmei said, her eyes with a few wrinkles softly closing, "She's a good girl."

....

At three in the afternoon.

Xu Qingyan was leisurely driving towards the TV station with Pei Muchan. Since they received special treatment from others, there was no need to rush upfront. Acting capriciously occasionally wouldn't really matter.

Being on time wasn't the same as being late, so it wasn't a big deal.

The recording of the show had already started, and Pei Muchan, as the closing challenger guest, naturally had to keep the suspense until the end. The two lingered in the waiting room, watching the live broadcast on the screen.

A camera was set up, capturing the reactions of the challenger guests.

Pei Muchan didn't react much, simply staring seriously at the screen. She was earnest to a fault, unable to act out the exaggerated effects desired for a show, simply watching purely for observation. Stay updated through empire

By contrast, Xu Qingyan was purely playing with his phone, spacing out. Occasionally, he scratched his face towards the camera and then sneakily yawned.

The first guest to perform was Qi Yingying, bringing a folk song turned into a popular love song, and she invited friends from a popular girl group to support her act.

After an intense session of singing and dancing, the effect was not bad, and the voting result: 579.

Qi Yingying was stunned. She looked up at a forty-five-degree angle, nearly dropping her pearl tears. Fortunately, she covered it up with a bow and then raised her head with a radiant smile.

Idol singers choose different paths, but emotional management is still crucial.

After watching the first performance, Pei Muchan couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Her goal for this episode was to stay, as long as her vote count was higher than Qi Yingying and Guan Fengchen.

579 wasn't a high score on this stage. As long as the professional singers didn't mess around, scores generally stayed above 550.

"Feeling pressured?" Xu Qingyan moved close to Pei Muchan and asked in a low voice.

Hearing this, Pei Muchan glanced at the camera and then at Xu Qingyan, ignoring him. At this time, saying anything was inappropriate, so it was better not to express an opinion.