Raising the unfamiliar
Jing Dan was eating when she suddenly felt a gaze on her, causing her to pause mid-bite.
In fact, there wasn’t just one pair of eyes on her, but it was that particular gaze that made her feel strange inside. She turned around silently, only to meet He Ying’s deep look.
Jing Dan: “…”
How could she describe this look? It was like a woman who caught her husband cheating, watching you with a deep, condemning gaze that made you want to blame yourself.
This thought was even more absurd. Why would He Ying look at her with such eyes?
“Finished eating?” He Ying spoke softly.
Jing Dan’s cloth cross-body bag had fallen to the front, stuffed full of food.
He Ying: “…”
The reason she had given her this little bag was for her to act cute, not for her to pack it with food others had given her!
Jing Dan felt that He Ying’s expression was growing even stranger. She lifted a paw and tapped her arm, gesturing towards the big screen in front of them, indicating for her to focus on her work and to watch the screen instead of her.
He Ying was left speechless and choked up by her actions.
——Hahaha, the little cub is too cute, is she reminding Teacher He to focus on her work?
——Not sure if it’s just my imagination, but I feel like the atmosphere between these two is so weird, haha!
——It’s like those who cheated returning home, trying to please their original partner with a guilty conscience. Daidai, how can you be so adorable?!
The program group seems to know what the audience wants to see. The camera occasionally focuses on He Ying and the panda cub pair, and because of this, the CP of the two is building skyscrapers, with their popularity soaring higher and higher.
Meanwhile, in another high-rise building, within a spacious and bright office, the woman sitting behind the dark desk has a slight frown creasing her brow like a little mountain as she looks at the tablet screen in front of her, silent.
Jing Shiyue never would have dreamt that she’d see her little cub in such a manner through the internet.
Holding the video in which the little cub had a bowtie around its neck and was being held in someone’s arms, she was so silent for a moment that she almost didn’t want to acknowledge her.
Especially since there was a panda milk bottle hanging on the arm of that woman. If she hadn’t misunderstood, that milk bottle was meant for Jing Dan, right?
She put down the tablet and covered her face, unable to watch any longer. It really was a mess ever since that day she received a careless phone call—she originally thought it was just her returning to her true form, being discreetly taken away by Hu Tu. Who would have known she’d be picked up and raised by someone else!
She lifted her head and with a strained face started to search for related information, then she found out that Jing Dan is now called Daidai, and the woman holding her is He Ying, a very impressive dancer who currently runs her own dance troupe. The reason they’ve ended up together is because of the dating show that Jing Dan’s company is starting to film.
Jing Shiyue: “…”
On the show?!
Losing face in front of the entire nation?!
Watching such a scene, her only hope was that others wouldn’t recognize Jing Dan, yet she understood that such a possibility was extremely slim.
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Why? Because of Jing Dan’s uniquely beautiful and silly tuft of fur – she’s the only one in the Panda Clan to have it!
She smiled wearily, hoping the clan would think this was just an ordinary panda, just a regular panda with a tuft of fur similar to Jing Dan’s.
Jing Dan was oblivious to Jing Shiyue’s inner turmoil. Along with the others, she watched the large screen in front of them which was playing footage from their first night staying in the villa. Before going to sleep, there was one more thing to do – send a signal to the person who made their heart beat faster.
Here, the show took a shocking turn, one that arguably reached the climax of viewership.
Out of the four men and four women, three men sent signals to female participants, while the remaining man sent his signal to one of the men. As for the women, not one sent a signal to the men. Two abstained, and the other two sent signals to each other.
Jing Dan’s eyes widened; even she hadn’t expected such a turn of events. She had thought there would be mutual signaling between men and women…
Are same-sex relationships so widely accepted in the human world now?
She was surprised. Although her silly friend Hu Tu does like women, changing partners frequently, the same-sex couples she had seen among humans were still in the minority. Yet, unexpectedly, this show featured three such individuals at once.
Not only was Jing Dan caught off guard, but other observers were also surprised, to the extent that someone even asked, “Is this content permissible to air?”
While the current scrutiny on such matters wasn’t as strict as before, no one had yet ventured to broadcast content of this nature.
With a smile, Qiu Shuhuai reassured, “There’s nothing that can’t be broadcasted. If it’s been shown to all of you here, then it can certainly be aired.”
With Qiu Shuhuai’s comment, everyone else seemed to think so too. After all, it was just the sending of a message – how controversial could that be?
He Ying just felt a moment of surprise and then showed no further reaction, casually feeding a small piece of apple to the cub in her arms.
The little cub ate naturally.
— Ahhh, someone in our country finally dared to shoot this!
— Girls, please lock this down!
— Wuu wuu wuu, finally no more fake sister-brother affection, this is love!
— Raising my hand to ask, is Daidai male or female?
— It’s better if Daidai is female! I want to see them have a same-sex romance!
In this show, by the end, the most tragic figure has to be the man who sent a message to another man. When they met the next morning, the embarrassment between the two men was visibly palpable.
In contrast, the two female guests who sent each other love signals have already gathered to prepare breakfast, planning to go see a movie together after eating.
This contrast couldn’t be more tragic, especially since the male recipient of the message tried to avoid the situation as if evading a flood or fierce beast, sending the awkwardness meter skyrocketing!
“I’m so embarrassed for them I want to hide in a three-bedroom apartment,” He Ying murmured.
As soon as the camera cut to these two, the live comments exploded:
— Quick, quick, quick! Skip forward, the awkwardness is killing me!
— Hahaha, Teacher He is so funny. Is she also cringing to death?
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Actually, sending a heart-thumping signal to the other man might not have been as embarrassing as this one. This man just screams straightness, and he showed up with such a macho attitude, how could he possibly like men?
The show’s guests filmed for a month, and it was broadcast online almost in real-time. What no one expected, though, was that the hottest couple in the show wouldn’t be the guests who took up most of the airtime, but rather He Ying and the panda cub from the observation room…
And their popularity as a couple was almost on a completely different level…
An unexpected He Ying: “…”
Looking at the CP name tag made for them, she felt a deep realization of how random netizens can be in naming CPs.
Crain Bear? What the heck is that? And their CP image is a white crane next to a cluelessly cute panda cub sticking its butt out.
He Ying: “…”, Although you’ve drawn it quite accurately, it still doesn’t make up for the ugliness of your CP naming.
As the show became hotter on the internet, there were increasingly more related topics trending on social media. At the same time, many people were also surprised when they found out which company was behind the scenes of the program.
They’ve never heard of this company before.
After digging around, it turns out it’s a newly established company that’s only been around for a few months. Yet they managed to produce such a hit show in such a short period. And when people learned that the idea for the show came from the boss, they scrambled to find out who this boss was.
Soon after, a photo started spreading wildly online. In it, a woman is dressed in a sleek black ladies’ suit with the top two buttons of her white shirt undone, revealing a hint of collarbone. She’s looking down slightly, her expression cool and demeanor proud. Just from the photo, you could feel the stunning charisma coming through.
— Ahhh! Who is this? I need all her info in three minutes!
— Incredible, who wouldn’t utter an ‘incredible’ upon seeing this!
— These genes are killer, wife, take a look at me!
In the end, nobody expected that the most popular would turn out to be Jing Dan…
After seeing Jing Dan become the undeniable queen of popularity, the production team started getting ideas. Their own boss was a gem right under their nose—why not utilize her?
But to do this, they’d have to discuss it with Vice President Hu first.
When the show ended, Qingzhu Entertainment followed through on their promise made before filming: to donate to educational projects in the name of the show’s top couple.
Inside a large transparent box, filled with numerous paper slips, whichever slip they grabbed, Qingzhu Entertainment would donate an amount dictated by the figure written on it.
For this, the show’s team even hosted a special live broadcast. As soon as the broadcast started, hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded in, and the barrage of comments began furiously scrolling across the screen, with various gift effects making viewers’ heads spin.
Since they had become the hottest couple on the show—even though the partner’s persona wasn’t human—He Ying was not at all shy. Holding the little cub, they appeared in the live broadcast room, greeting the audience while holding onto the cub’s arm.
This time, He Ying had a little red packet-style pouch on the little cub, the dash of red between black and white looking strikingly bright and eye-catching.
“Who wants to do the draw?” Qiu Shuhuai asked, barely containing her laughter.
She looked at Jing Dan, who had maintained her original form for over a month. Spending time with her, she was reminded of another panda, and the scenes of them together seemed not much different from the one with her.
“Let’s do it together,” He Ying said with a light laugh, holding the little cub, “I’ll lift you up to the slot, and you can reach in and grab one.”
Jing Dan had no objections.
He Ying held her as she stretched her paw into the transparent box and pulled out a folded paper slip.
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He Ying unfolded it and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes. Then, smiling, she handed the slip to Qiu Shuhuai to show to the audience.
“Eight million.”
Qiu Shuhuai smiled and said, “Great, the result is out. Our silly Daidai sure has some good luck. We’ve won eight million. Next, Qingzhu Entertainment will donate to educational causes in the name of Crain Bear CP, eight million.”
He Ying: “…” So Crain Bear just can’t catch a break, huh?
However, the end of the program also meant she had to part with the little cub. He Ying looked at her, showing no reaction, and felt a pang of melancholy.
After taking care of her for so long, why is she still not warming up to her?
Watching Hu Tu take the little cub away, He Ying let out a deep sigh.
As expected, ‘White-eye Bear’ isn’t just a nickname for nothing. Not even a wave goodbye when leaving, huh?
On the other end, held in Hu Tu’s arms, Jing Dan looked at her with an indifferent glare, watching her laugh as if she’d found a treasure, which was utterly embarrassing.
No wonder Hu Tu was grinning from ear to ear; although she and Jing Dan grew up together, chances to hold her were pitifully scarce. Now with the national treasure in her arms, she felt so delighted she could almost burst with joy.
