Dating My Drama Queen Girlfriend On A Slow-Paced Variety Show - Chapter 30

Director Liu seemed to feel that Li Yue wouldn’t refuse. Almost the second her “Okay” was sent, Li Yue was pulled into a small group chat. In addition to Director Liu, the group contained the four regular guests of Late Village.

As soon as Li Yue entered the group, a cheerleader puppy sticker started jumping around happily.

Luo Mingzi: Welcome to the group, our baby!

Luo Mingzi: Even though this group was just formed ten minutes ago!

Luo Mingzi: I’m in a car with the teachers. Uncle Da Jun asked me to ask the director what’s going on? Hee hee hee!

You Yang: [Weak]

You Yang: Things are a bit chaotic at my company lately. During a meeting today, I don’t know who started fighting with whom, but I went to watch the excitement and got too excited going down the stairs and sprained my leg…

Li Yue: ? Luo Mingzi: ?

You Yang: …My new album drops next month, plus there’s promotion and all the mess at the company. My manager told me to retreat and recover for half a month, so…my heavy burden is temporarily handed over to Teacher Li!

You Yang: Teacher Li! My respected Master!

Li Yue: OK. Luo Mingzi: Yang-ge! Everyone will remember your contribution! Go in peace! Hahahaha! You Yang: Don’t laugh so loud.

“Hahaha!” Luo Mingzi said, “I’m laughing on behalf of the two teachers. They said if you have any difficulties, just speak up, everyone will help if they can.”

You Yang: Wuwu, thank you everyone! Li Yue: Since you’re resting, practice well. Let’s switch to online lessons. You Yang: Okay!

After the business was concluded, the chat began to drift into random topics. Director Liu, who hadn’t managed to get a word in, felt immensely gratified. Finally, she stepped in: “Once again, welcome Teacher Li Yue to Late Village! From now on, we are a fixed five person guest lineup! Let’s work hard together on the show. I wish for our ratings to soar!”

Everyone cheered enthusiastically. Li Yue sent two confetti emojis and then clicked on her private chat with Luo Mingzi.

Luo Mingzi: Let’s sleep together~

Li Yue: Depends on your performance.

Luo Mingzi: [Shocked Puppy.jpg]

Li Yue chuckled, tapped the puppy’s head, and picked up a call from Yu Bilan. Late Village was a satellite TV program on Mingyue Station, the fact that Li Yue could become a regular guest made Yu Bilan and the company extremely excited. They were pushing or rejecting other invitations left and right. With Li Yue’s current topicality and soaring popularity, there would be no shortage of work in the future!

“There’s a magazine shoot tomorrow, it’s a cover. I’ve booked your flight for the morning after. I’ve already told the production team, you’ll arrive one day later than the other guests,” Yu Bilan said.

Li Yue smiled and agreed, stood up, and looked at the TV screen covered in bullet chat.

The second half of the episode had begun.

At the end of the first half, during Li Yue’s singing, scenes of each guest sleeping in their rooms appeared. The shot of Li Yue and Luo Mingzi snuggling only lasted a second, but it made many people scream until the start of the second half.

[I took a screenshot! It feels like an arthouse film! The dim yellow room, the flickering cinematic lens, and you leaning on my shoulder on the bed, wuwuwu]

[Begging the masters for the picture!]

[I just came to watch a show, I didn’t expect to ship them so hard! This is all the production team’s conspiracy!]

[So beautiful~ My smile didn’t leave my face the whole first half! It’s a pity Li Yue only came for this one episode! She won’t be there at the start of the second half!]

[Li Yue came to save the day. The production team showed a lot of respect, giving her so much screen time for just two days. You know the next group of guests stayed for four days!]

[The Mingyue App has the extended version and various mini-theaters. Everyone can go watch them after the main episode. I just took a peek and saw a title ‘Late Village’s Night of Scares and Screams’ with a cover of Luo Mingzi throwing mahjong tiles, curiousing…]

[Why did Li Yue only come for two days! I want to keep seeing her! I want to see her and Luo Mingzi’s subtle interactions! Whether it’s friendship or romance, it’s so interesting! I can’t look away!]

[No, this is love!]

With the teaser of Luo Mingzi’s shocking statement earlier, and after the audience’s enthusiastic interpretation of the first half, by the time the second half aired, everyone had subconsciously immersed themselves in someone else’s love story.

6:00 AM.

The birds in the mountain forest chirped clearly, one after another. The morning breeze brushed over the hills through the lens, one could almost smell the fresh mountain air.

The cameras in the guests’ rooms quietly began working, scanning the sleeping guests. But when the lens moved to the guest room, the bed that originally held two people only had a bunched-up floral quilt. The quilt next to it was open, with no one in sight.

Post-production text: Where is she?

The camera panned.

On the porch outside the living room, a freshened-up Li Yue put on her shoes and greeted the staff under the low wall.

The cameraman whispered, “Teacher Li woke up so early.”

Li Yue smiled and said, “You guys are even earlier. Thank you for your hard work.”

The editors added a sparkling heart and the word “Warmth” next to her. Seeing Li Yue head silently to the kitchen, the cameraman quickly asked, “Is Teacher Li making breakfast?”

Li Yue didn’t look back and said, “I’ll make breakfast, and then make some long-lasting toppings to put in the fridge.”

The solitary Li Yue was accompanied by a post-production stick figure, who peeked curiously through the window. Due to time constraints, the duration of Li Yue’s cooking was compressed, but every shot was tagged with words like “Brisk,” “Agile,” “Clean,” and “Skilled,” matching the stick figure’s sparkling eyes.

Li Yue put on an apron, briskly beat eggs, kneaded dough, and chopped scallions. The oil sizzled, and a second later, a steaming egg pancake was plated.

Bullet chat:

[???]

[I wanted to learn how to cook from Li Yue, but ???]

[I know it needs eggs, flour, and scallions, and then? What happened? Why did the batter go in and come out in one flip?]

[Magic!]

[Why can’t I cook like this! Out in a second?]

[Maybe because you don’t have Mingyue Station’s editors!]

Millet porridge bubbled in the soup pot. On the long table covered with a beautiful tablecloth sat a wooden tray. The egg pancakes were sliced in the tray, and Li Yue placed washed fruit on the table, covering it with a gauze net before picking up the airtight jars she had washed and dried the night before.

Hot oil splashed into the stove, and flames flared up. Minced garlic and onions were fried until golden and removed. Fresh minced meat hit the pan with a sizzle, blending with the sauce until it turned a mouth-watering dark color.

The cameraman, who hadn’t had breakfast yet, whispered, “That’s a lot.”

“Yeah, I’ll make extra. If you don’t want to cook, just boil some plain noodles and add this,” Li Yue smiled gently. “It’s very simple.”

“Want a taste?”

Li Yue made three types of toppings. While waiting for them to cool, she added hot water to the meat residue remaining in the pot and boiled a huge pot of noodles. The cameraman specifically showed everyone the massive pot on the stove. Li Yue couldn’t help but say, “This is my first time cooking so many noodles, too.”

[This is also my first time wanting to eat noodles so badly.]

The noodles were for the staff. Everyone was very excited, lining up in a long queue holding their stainless steel lunch basins. They scooped the noodles from the pot themselves, while Li Yue stood by with a ladle, scooping toppings from a metal bowl and placing them into the basins held respectfully by the staff.

The camera focused on a lunch basin printed with the words “Laboring People are the Most Glorious,” then gave Li Yue a long shot.

[Hahaha! Why does this canteen-style meal service look so ethereal when it’s Li Yue?]

[The filter is real.]

[Li Yue is so clean. Even after cooking so much in oil and smoke, she’s still fresh and crisp. Unlike me, who gets all sweaty just making one dish.]

[Two hours after finishing dinner, I’ve opened the delivery app. Midnight snacks, launch!]

[Unbelievable! An idol variety show has actually turned into a food mukbang show! This is a miracle!]

[Hahaha, Uncle Da Jun smelled the aroma and peeked his head in, then frantically ran to the first-floor kitchen to find a bowl and rushed back to line up. I’m dying laughing!]

[Our Uncle Jun has such a rustic charm to him, hahaha.]

[Uncle, the noodles belong to the others; you should eat the pancakes.]

[Where is Luo Mingzi? Come and learn!]

On the second floor, Luo Mingzi rolled over and sat up in bed.

Where is my girlfriend? She patted the quilt beside her and scratched her cheek. After getting up, she hurriedly ran to the first floor to take a look. Seeing that Li Yue hadn’t left but was instead making breakfast, she breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly ran back upstairs, washed up, and went to the guest room to fold the quilts.

The small blue quilt and the small floral quilt lay crookedly against each other.

[Not bad at all! Our Mingzi has grown up; she even knows to fold the quilts when she gets up!]

[And she’s doing a decent job of it, too.]

[Li Yue must work so hard at home. It’s tough on you taking care of our Mingzi (Mother-in-law’s gratified smile).]

[She doesn’t know how to sew, and she even complains her wrists are numb when carrying a bowl~]

By the time Luo Mingzi came down and the guests had all gathered, the staff proactively moved the table into the courtyard and brought over the breakfast Li Yue had made, then they went back to continue scooping noodles for themselves.

Wu Xuezhen secretly held a small bowl of noodles topped with meat sauce. Seeing Li Yue’s clay pot simmering on the stove, she walked over to look and discovered it was a pot of tea eggs.

“What time exactly did she get up?” Wu Xuezhen was shocked. How could anyone be this capable!

[Li Yue: Mom, you can rest easy leaving Mingzi to me!]

[Li Yue: Mom, I guarantee she won’t go hungry!]

[I personally raised all the piglets in our village.]

[I can testify, I am that biggest piglet!]

[Alright, alright, the family dynamics are set: Mom Wu Xuezhen, Dad Pi Dajun, Big Brother You Yang, Little Sister Luo Mingzi, and Li Yue, the ‘son-in-law’ who moved in!]

[Li Yue: I came to this family just for your daughter! Don’t resist, her heart is all mine!]

As the bullet chat floated by, Luo Mingzi bounded over and leaned against Li Yue’s back, sighing deeply: “I can’t leave you now. What am I going to do tomorrow!”

The others, who were drinking porridge and eating pancakes, also looked gloomy, already mourning for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Li Yue sat down calmly and said, “Don’t worry.”

Everyone looked at her with sparkling eyes, waiting for the “Li God” to resolve their doubts.

Li God took a sip of water, smiled slightly, and said, “I’m leaving this afternoon. You guys should probably start thinking about what to eat for dinner instead.”

As for tomorrow’s breakfast, it was too early to worry.

The four guests: “…”

Luo Mingzi let out a wail and grabbed Li Yue’s arm.

“I don’t want you to leave!”

[I don’t want you to leave either!]

[I haven’t figured out the secret recipe for the stir-fried chicken from the last episode yet, how can you leave!]

[Look, our Mingzi’s heart is full of you! How can you just abandon her like this? Do you have the heart to!]

[This is the first time I’ve been this reluctant to see a guest star leave.]

[No…]

In the show, no matter how reluctant everyone was, Li Yue eventually had to leave. The road she took when she arrived had been paved with cement, so she had to take a long detour from the other side. The four guests escorted her all the way to where she boarded the car.

[It really feels like a family in this episode. It’s so nice.]

[The ‘married in’ daughter is leaving, wuwuwu.]

[When will they be in the same frame again? I still want to ship them. Luo Mingzi never mentioned Li Yue before, and now that Li Yue has debuted, one is an actress and the other is a singer. It’ll be hard for them to cross paths, right?]

[We can only squat on social media platforms. I hope the two of them interact a lot! Keep the fan service going!]

[So, what exactly is the relationship between these two?]

[A ‘currently dating’ relationship, hahaha.]

As Li Yue left the show, new guests arrived at Late Village. This place was like a post station, a brief stop for those traveling long distances. However, although Li Yue wasn’t in the next episode, her legend was everywhere, especially during mealtimes.

[Hahaha, in just two short days, the sauce Li Yue made is empty! Everyone is so miserable!]

[New guest: I only ate a tiny bit, and then it was gone!]

[Only you, Late Village, would use half a jar of sauce as a game reward!]

[Have you ever seen Luo Mingzi work this hard? She just wants a bite of noodles!]

[When Li Yue was there, Baby Mingzi had two big chicken legs per meal. When Li Yue is gone, she can’t even grab a single piece of green vegetable!]

[How cruel!]

[Luo Mingzi: Desperate to marry!]

[Luo Mingzi is tragic, she says if you have the guts, don’t play physical games, let’s compete at Mahjong instead!]

[Hahaha]

At midnight, Episode 5 of Late Village officially ended. The unsatisfied audience flocked to the app to watch behind the scenes footage, extended cuts, and mini-theaters. Online, fan edits and topics regarding Luo Mingzi and Li Yue sprouted up like mushrooms, their popularity soaring.

The topic of Luo Mingzi “coming out” had already blown over. Some previously believed it was a stunt intentionally released by the show. After watching the program, the interactions between Luo Mingzi and Li Yue were interpreted by some as intentional behavior, a win-win marketing strategy between the artists and the show.

But even more people didn’t care whether it was real or fake, they just shouted that it was fun and they wanted more.

“I reckon it’s just for this one episode. Huaguan can’t seriously be shaping Luo Mingzi and Li Yue into a lesbian couple, can they? One is Huaguan’s cash cow, and the other looks like Huaguan’s future cash cow. There’s no need for Huaguan to give them this kind of persona.”

“Yeah, now that Li Yue’s popularity is up, and the drama about Luo Mingzi being fired from the set has passed, and Late Village is even more popular, it’s a three way win.”

“As a viewer, I’m very happy watching this, hahaha.”

“Stop spreading rumors about her being ‘fired,’ okay? It was clearly a mutual termination of the contract. If she were fired, the production crew would have to pay Luo Mingzi compensation.”

“Only fans believe that kind of talk, it’s hilarious. Let me ask you, Li Yue and Luo Mingzi say they’ve been friends for years, but are they even on each other’s following lists right now?”

“They are! On the ‘Special Follow’ list, on all social platforms, hee hee.”

“???”

Boosted by the variety show, the “Special Follow” status that Li Yue and Luo Mingzi had gone public with at some unknown time, hit the trending searches. Amidst this massive public attention, Luo Mingzi, who hadn’t posted anything on social media since the filming set controversy, updated her feed.

Luo Mingzi: Li Yue…

Li Yue_Audrey: Coming.