Chapter 60: Swept Onto the Trending List

Onlookers who love to follow the latest gossip are never ones to shy away from a spectacle. Many mindless trolls were busy denouncing Ye Fangfei, claiming her career was over, vowing to unfollow her from that day forward, and confidently predicting that her fan count would plummet by the end of the day. Yet, at the same time, they eagerly awaited the premiere of the romance reality show, hoping to witness firsthand the emotional secrets between this top-tier celebrity and her ex. Major accounts would unfollow Ye Fangfei in public, only to quietly switch to their alternate profiles and follow her again.

As a result, not only did Ye Fangfei not lose any fans—her numbers visibly skyrocketed before everyone’s eyes. What an absurd and amusing world this is.

Meanwhile, thanks to a clever redirection strategy from Ye Fangfei’s PR team, a new topic shot up the trending list: #GuessWhoYeFangfei’sExIs#. Some opportunistic marketing accounts even started polls, which only fueled netizens’ curiosity and drew a massive wave of participation.

The buzz grew ever larger, and somehow, Lu Zhou found himself unexpectedly dragged into the spotlight. Staring at the poll for “Ye Fangfei’s ex,” with “Ye Fangfei VS Lu Zhou” topping the list, he was rendered speechless.

Who could have predicted that, one day, Lu Zhou would be dubbed “Ye Fangfei’s ex” by the masses simply because their looks matched so well, and that this title alone would send him trending?

Even more outrageous, netizens began a process of reverse deduction based on the poll results. First, they decided Lu Zhou must be Ye Fangfei’s ex, then scoured the internet for any trace of interaction between the two to support their conclusion.

This led to the unearthing of Lu Zhou’s social media accounts, and then to the revelation that he was the original singer of the wildly popular Doule song “First Love.” They soon dug up Ye Fangfei’s debut video on Doule, which turned out to be a collaboration with Lu Zhou. Coincidentally, Lu Zhou had released his new song “First Love” on the very same day!

Netizens were touched to their core: “Surely Lu Zhou wrote ‘First Love’ for Ye Fangfei, right? Oh my, I’m suddenly shipping this breakup!” Every detail seemed to point toward one truth: Lu Zhou was undoubtedly Ye Fangfei’s ex.

One has to admit, today’s netizens are truly gifted. Such intricate reasoning—yet every single deduction was wrong. How delightfully entertaining.

Lu Zhou had not foreseen any of this. The day before the show’s premiere, he found himself swept up in the trending frenzy, his follower count climbing rapidly as gossip-hungry fans flocked to his page.

Lu Zhou: “…”

Well, free publicity is nothing to complain about.

His private messages exploded.

[Are you Ye Fangfei’s ex?]
[Can you give us a spoiler? Did you two get back together?]
[When did you and Ye Fangfei start dating?]
[Why did you break up?]
[Do you really think you’re good enough for her?]
[Your account is so dead, lol.]

…

Lu Zhou was thoroughly amused. These netizens were something else.

Meanwhile, the trending topic left others equally dumbfounded—especially Zhang Chen.

Halfway through a game at home, he was interrupted by a call from his best friend, informing him he’d been “forcibly cuckolded.” Zhang Chen, bewildered, went online and checked the trending topics. When he saw the content, his face darkened completely.

In that poll initiated by some idiotic marketing account, “Guess Who Ye Fangfei’s Ex Is,” Zhang Chen came in second to last.

Ha! What were the netizens implying—that his looks weren’t up to par for Ye Fangfei?

But that wasn’t even the most infuriating part. What really got under his skin was how many people on the trending list had already decided Lu Zhou was Ye Fangfei’s ex. Zhang Chen couldn’t help but grind his teeth.

What terrible taste, these useless netizens!

He couldn’t help cursing them out.

…

Li Jiayan, who was also following the trending list, was left utterly stunned.

What was happening? How had Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei gotten tied together again?

Watching the swelling wave of attention, Li Jiayan felt a strange sense of foreboding stirring in her heart: Was Lu Zhou on the verge of hitting it big?

Her mood shifted in a curious way.

Elsewhere, at Jinhua Entertainment.

After following the trending developments, Liu Yali arched her brows and smiled.

She’d always wondered how Lu Zhou had gotten involved with Ye Fangfei; now she finally understood. So, they’d both joined this romance reality show.

As for the netizens’ speculation that Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei had dated, the credibility was next to zero.

What surprised Liu Yali was that Lu Zhou actually agreed to participate in the show. How did he get that invitation? And when had he decided to join?

He’d always been a nobody in the industry, yet suddenly he’d chosen such an unconventional path.

She realized, in a flash, that she had barely scratched the surface in understanding Lu Zhou.

If Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei only met because of this show, then how did he manage to catch her eye in such a short time—and even have her willingly help him ride the wave of popularity?

It was all so perplexing.

But the facts were plain: ever since Lu Zhou left Jinhua Entertainment, every path he’d chosen for himself seemed to go remarkably well…

Liu Yali suddenly felt she’d gained a black mark in her professional history.

As for why Ye Fangfei chose to join this show out of nowhere—now that was even more baffling.

Her head spun. Liu Yali found herself suddenly very curious about what the actual episodes of this reality show would contain.

…

Among the onlookers, Pan Chengyi couldn’t resist messaging Lu Zhou—

Pan Chengyi: [Who was your first love? Come on, tell me, let me judge if she’s worthy.]
Lu Zhou: [We already broke up, what’s there to judge?]
Pan Chengyi: [Breakups can lead to reconciliation! Anything’s possible after joining a show like this. I can help you see if getting back together is a good idea.]
Lu Zhou: [You’ve gained supernatural insight? One look and you know if it’ll work out?]
Pan Chengyi: [Hahaha]
Pan Chengyi: [So, are you going to tell me?]
Lu Zhou: [Signed an NDA. No spoilers.]
Pan Chengyi: [Just tell me who it is, I’m not going to tell anyone. Who would know you broke the NDA?]
Lu Zhou: [Secrets usually spread because of that mindset.]
Pan Chengyi: [Tsk, I didn’t expect you to be so professional.]
Pan Chengyi: [Is your ex really Ye Fangfei? The rumors online are so convincing, even I’m starting to believe it.]
Lu Zhou: […]
Pan Chengyi: [No?]
Lu Zhou: [You really know how to fish for information.]
Pan Chengyi: [Busted again.GIF]
Pan Chengyi: [If it’s not Ye Fangfei, yet you still managed to get shipped as exes and gain followers because of one song, you’ve really mastered the entertainment industry’s rules.]
Lu Zhou: [Pure coincidence.]
Pan Chengyi: [Most coincidences in this world only happen if you know how to seize opportunity—and you did.]
He sent Lu Zhou two screenshots: one from each of the two biggest streaming platforms’ new song charts.

Pan Chengyi: [Climbing higher again. Looks like today’s trending uproar brought you a lot of new traffic.]
Lu Zhou: [Once the show airs, the numbers should rise even more.]
Pan Chengyi: [Honestly, I’m not even focused on the numbers. I just can’t wait for tomorrow night’s episode.]
In truth, Pan Chengyi wasn’t the only one eagerly anticipating the premiere of “Shall We Swap? Exes” tomorrow night; Lu Zhou’s parents were even more excited—they’d already downloaded the Orange TV app and set an alarm...