When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 15

Volume One: Those Years I Was a CEO

A Guaranteed Loss

Kong Yushu’s 《Once More, A Fluttering Heart》¹ was already in preparation, and Yixin Entertainment’s official Weibo account had posted about the variety show’s concept and the invited guest members. Instantly, it shot up the Weibo hot search rankings, with clicks rapidly surpassing several hundred thousand. Both topic discussion and traffic² heat were soaring rapidly³. Many viewers expressed anticipation for this kind of never-before-seen variety show, especially since the invited guests were couples who had publicly announced their relationships, and all were currently popular celebrities paired with non-celebrities⁴, directly maxing out⁵ the audience’s expectation and curiosity levels.

Especially the first and last guest pairings.

The first pair was You Jiayi and Xu Corporation’s CEO, Xu Wen Nuan. The last pair was the Film Queen⁶ Lin Shuyi and Qi Corporation’s CEO, Qi He, who were about to register their marriage.

All four were individuals currently generating high levels of topic discussion.

Qi He was participating in the recording because he felt the variety show would be a hit, so he invested a portion, considering it a second collaboration with the Xu Corporation Group.

You Jiayi and Wen Nuan’s recording for 《Once More, A Fluttering Heart》 had to be completed before the New Year, totaling two weeks. As soon as You Jiayi finished recording 《Crazy Saturday》, she would have to go record 《Once More, A Fluttering Heart》.

《Crazy Saturday》 was recorded in B City and was currently the hottest indoor variety show. It had three fixed MC⁷ hosts, was an entertainment variety program focusing mainly on game competitions, supplemented by singing and dancing.

No matter what tier⁸ of celebrity you were, getting on this show proved you were genuinely popular⁹.

This time, 《Crazy Saturday》 invited the main creative team and lead cast of the drama series 《Qing Yan》.

Director He Chuan.

Female lead You Jiayi, male lead Gong Yurao, second female lead Cai Zi, and second male lead Qiao Si¹⁰—five people recording together.

There were nearly five hundred people in the live audience, and it was also being recorded via live stream.

The recording time was nearly five hours, divided into song and dance performances, drama promotion and actor introductions, followed by game segments and punishment segments for the losing side.

You Jiayi had participated in a talent show before, so she performed a dance segment on the spot. The audience found it familiar and immediately recognized it as the theme song dance from that year’s 《Star Show Girls》¹¹, instantly flashing back to the frenzy of fan C-voting¹² back then.

They screamed from the audience seats: “Six plus One, Six plus One, top-notch looks and talent…”¹³

As You Jiayi danced, she felt increasingly awkward. This fan voting slogan had indeed sounded rousing back then, but hearing it now was truly mortifying.

Especially since the main cast of their 《Qing Yan》 drama team were all suppressing laughter beside her. It was utterly humiliating¹⁴.

You Jiayi quickly finished dancing, thinking the audience might forget after others performed.

But during the host interviews, it was intentionally brought up again.

“Wasn’t the dance Jiayi just performed the theme song dance from 《Star Show Girls》?” Host A teased.

You Jiayi felt helpless inside but put on a shy smile outwardly: “Yes, that’s the only dance I know. Please excuse my poor performance¹⁵.”

“Not poor, not poor at all! On the contrary, it made us nostalgic for those passionate days of fan voting,” Host B laughed, looking towards the audience. “Everyone, am I right?”

The audience immediately cooperated, shouting: “Yes——”

You Jiayi: “…..”

Infinite social death¹⁶.

There were three rounds in the game segment. Each round, one team member would be chosen for punishment, determined by spinning a large wheel to select the penalty item.

Three rounds of games, You Jiayi’s team lost all three. By the last round, You Jiayi was the only one left to choose the punishment.

Holding a dart, You Jiayi stared intently at the large wheel. With a flick of her wrist, she threw the dart, directly hitting the yellow section of the wheel.

Host C drew a slip of paper from the yellow box, opened it, and chuckled, “Eh? This punishment is quite interesting.”

Seeing the host’s gloating¹⁷ smile, You Jiayi’s heart dropped¹⁸.

“We all know Jiayi has recently hit a double harvest in career and love¹⁹, so this time the punishment is related to Jiayi’s love life,” Host C held the slip towards the camera. The large screen quickly captured the paper’s content and projected it behind them.

Everyone looked over, all surprised and excited.

You Jiayi looked, her eyes widening, her heart tightening abruptly.

On the large screen was written: Call your lover. You must compel him/her to say “You’re too annoying” within five minutes. Considered punishment task success. Otherwise, considered failure, and you must continue receiving punishment.

You Jiayi: “……”

Host A immediately called out to You Jiayi’s manager below the stage: “Come on, let’s have Jiayi’s phone brought up on stage.”

Shu Changning, seeing the staff member already in front of him, could only smile resignedly and hand over You Jiayi’s phone.

Host A handed the phone to You Jiayi, raising an eyebrow. “Alright, Jiayi, accept your punishment.”

You Jiayi took the phone, feeling utterly despondent²⁰. She opened her contacts; the first number was Xu Wen Nuan’s, but she had saved it as “CEO Xu.”

When it was broadcast on the big screen, the entire nation’s audience saw that the name You Jiayi saved for Xu Wen Nuan was too formal. It didn’t feel like a contact name appropriate between lovers; this kind of name felt more like one between a company superior and subordinate.

[Live Comments]

: No way, could You Jiayi and Xu Wen Nuan really be in a sugar daddy/mommy relationship? This contact name is way too proper, right?

Flowery Brocade: Told you long ago, how could the CEO of the Xu Corporation Group possibly fall for an actress²¹?

Little Cutie: The Xu Corporation Group is practically a super-rich family²², their CEO is destined for a power marriage²³ with another rich family. How could she possibly fall for a woman? It’s impossible between two women.

Heaven and Earth: Thought You Jiayi found true love this time, turns out, hehe, she’s nothing in the eyes of the rich.

Laughing Last: You Jiayi’s base nature is hard to change²⁴. That incident with the Qi Corporation CEO last time definitely had some hidden story. She probably couldn’t latch onto CEO Qi, so she went to hug the thigh²⁵ of the Xu CEO.

Hehe Smile: Agreed. After all, people climb upwards²⁶. Compared to the Qi Corporation Group, the Xu Corporation Group is much more powerful. CEO Xu’s net worth is in the tens of billions²⁷.

…..

In an instant, the live stream was flooded with negative comments²⁸, continuously scrolling.

The director saw the live stream feed and immediately signaled the host to quickly ease the atmosphere.

Host A gave an awkward laugh: “Aiya, the way you two save contacts is quite unique, hahaha.”

Shu Changning watched the live stream interface on his phone, his expression dark.

They were all scolding You Jiayi, saying she was clingy, had a terrible personality, that she was being kept by Xu Wen Nuan.

He hadn’t expected You Jiayi’s contact name for Xu Wen Nuan was still “CEO Xu.” Even if it wasn’t something intimate like “Dear” or “Baby,” it should at least have been “Xu Wen Nuan,” right?

What on earth were these two playing at?!

You Jiayi smiled slightly, “Mm, I respect her very much.”

Host A: “Shall we start dialing then? Timing starts the moment CEO Xu picks up. Remember to turn on speakerphone.”

“Okay.” You Jiayi took a breath and tapped dial.

[Live Comments]

Chirpchirpchirp: See that? You Jiayi looks panicked and scared. I bet this call won’t even connect.

Chrysanthemum Ground Sore²⁹: Sigh, another simp³⁰-level person, tsk tsk, the entertainment circle is truly dirty dirty.

Laughing My Ass Off: People nowadays, so dark, can’t stand to see others doing well.

Few Birds Slag Slag³¹: Aiyo, the person above is clearly one of You Jiayi’s simp fans, tsk tsk.

……

The bullet comments³² had already erupted into a flame war between You Jiayi’s fans and the general netizens, arguing incessantly.

Back at the recording site, You Jiayi’s heart pounded as she dialed the number.

It was already past 7 PM. At this time, Wen Nuan might still be handling business at the company. She was afraid of disturbing her work.

The phone rang three times (‘Du du du’) and was then answered. The moment it connected, the online bullet comments stopped their arguing, wanting to hear what the relationship between these two was like.

“Hello, what’s wrong?” Wen Nuan was still dealing with matters. Her phone rang, she saw it was You Jiayi, and thought, Isn’t she recording a variety show at this hour?

Why would she call me?

“Aren’t you recording a variety show right now? Why are you calling me?” Wen Nuan asked, surprised.

You Jiayi thought Wen Nuan was watching the live stream and asked in surprise, “Are you watching the live stream?”

“No, still handling things at the company.”

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. If Xu Wen Nuan had been watching the live stream, this punishment would lose all its meaning.

You Jiayi exhaled in relief. “Are you very busy? Did I disturb you?”

Wen Nuan chuckled. “Not disturbing. Have I ever not answered your calls?” She glanced at her computer screen. “It’s this late, have you eaten dinner? I didn’t receive your dinner photo.”

Still recording a show, how could she possibly have eaten dinner?

“Not yet, I’ll eat in a bit. I’ll send you a picture then, okay?”

“Alright. If you don’t eat dinner, just watch how I deal with you,” Wen Nuan said, pretending to be fierce.

The female lead needs to be disciplined when she gets disobedient!

You Jiayi blushed and stammered an “Mm.”

[Live Comments]

Got It³³: What the heck is this? Managing your three meals a day, isn’t this love?

Fairy Arrives: Dying! Dying! So sweet, CEO Xu sounds so gentle when she talks, even when threatening someone she sounds so gentle!

Fate³⁴: This clearly looks like true love, okay? Only people with warped views always assume relationships in this world are dirty.

……

Host A saw the two chatting hotly and immediately nudged You Jiayi, pointing at the screen, silently mouthing: Do the task, time’s ticking.

You Jiayi suddenly remembered she still had a task.

“Um, CEO Xu?”

“CEO Xu? How many times have I told you, what should you call me?” Wen Nuan felt the female lead just ate but didn’t learn her lesson³⁵.

You Jiayi got nervous and forgot about the address issue again. “Wen Nuan, um, when are you eating dinner?”

“I’ve already eaten.”

“Then… what did you eat?” You Jiayi didn’t know what to ask and could only seek help from her teammates.

“Ate broccoli and beef, not bad. Next time you come over, I’ll take you to try it.” The cafeteria made steak today, the taste was great. Wen Nuan tearfully ate two servings.

You Jiayi saw Gong Yurao shaking his head, signaling her to be deliberately unreasonable.

She said awkwardly, “But… but I don’t like broccoli and beef. You don’t understand me at all?”

“…..” Wen Nuan glanced at her phone. It was You Jiayi’s number, but those words didn’t sound like something You Jiayi would say?

“Haven’t you always quite liked broccoli? I’ve seen you eat beef too. Aren’t the things you dislike fish and eggplant? You won’t eat tomatoes still on the vine, find cantaloupe too sweet, and many others I remember?” Wen Nuan had thoroughly researched the female lead back when doing tasks. “What? Have your tastes changed now? Then tell me now, I’ll jot it down.”

The sound of Wen Nuan picking up a pen and paper transmitted through the microphone; everyone present heard Wen Nuan intending to record You Jiayi’s preferences.

[Live Comments]

Little Kid Here: Oh my god, what kind of heaven-sent fairy-tale love³⁶ is this?

Grave Digger: Aren’t CEOs supposed to be cold and awesome³⁷? How come this CEO Xu is so doting?

: CEO remembers You Jiayi’s preferences very accurately. As an old fan of You Jiayi, what the CEO just said was all correct.

Wind Stops, Heart Still Beats: Does this kind of love really still exist? I thought it was extinct?! My worldview was too narrow.

……

You Jiayi hadn’t expected Wen Nuan to remember her preferences, and so accurately too. Her heart filled with emotion and gratitude.

She felt she couldn’t continue the task anymore.

Host A immediately gave You Jiayi a suggestion, prompting her to guide Xu Wen Nuan to say that phrase.

“Um… I was kidding. My preferences haven’t changed.”

Wen Nuan breathed a sigh of relief. “See? The person who understands you best is me. How could your preferences change so easily?” My investigations are never wrong.

The System coolly interjected: 【Then did you investigate that the female lead would fall for you?】

Wen Nuan: “……”

“You’re still working, and I keep disturbing you like this,” You Jiayi asked under Host A’s urging gaze, “Do you maybe feel… I’m too annoying?”

“How could I?” Wen Nuan felt the female lead loved to overthink things day in and day out³⁸. “Didn’t I tell you? I like it when you take the initiative. Anytime, anywhere, you can ask me for anything, and I will satisfy you.”

“Even if you check my post³⁹ twenty-four hours a day, I wouldn’t find you annoying,” Wen Nuan chuckled.

The System sighed emotionally: 【No wonder you could play the field⁴⁰ in your original world, manipulating various men without being condemned. With these methods of yours, getting someone you want should be incredibly easy, huh?】

Wen Nuan sighed. “Circumstances forced me back then. It was a faster way to make money. At most, it involved saying a few sweet nothings⁴¹ to men, promising them they were the only one⁴². Lying is simple.”

And disgusting.

【Then are these things you’re saying to the female lead also lies?】 the System asked curiously.

Wen Nuan paused. “….No.”

Since I said I’d give it a try, there’s no need to deliberately resist or avoid some greetings and words of affection.

The entire national audience and everyone present were force-fed a huge bowl of dog food⁴³.

Host A looked at the timer and immediately shouted, “Punishment task failed!”

“CEO Xu, Jiayi failed the game just now, so the punishment was to call her lover and get the lover to say ‘You’re too annoying’ to succeed,” Host A quickly explained to Wen Nuan. “Unfortunately, you never said it, so Jiayi failed.”

You Jiayi said embarrassedly, “I kept trying to lead you on, but you wouldn’t say it.”

“What could I say?” Wen Nuan teased, “Shouldn’t you have known this outcome already?”

You Jiayi paused. “Known what?”

“That for this punishment, you were definitely guaranteed to lose.”

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