Chapter 42: Unnoticed by All

Zhang Chen’s phone was the first to ring, the sound loud and insistent, vibrating as if it wanted the whole world to know he’d received a message. Lu Zhou couldn’t help but suspect this guy had deliberately set his phone up to be so dramatic…

Everyone’s eyes fell on Zhang Chen. He remained composed, expressionless as he picked up his phone and opened the message.

[Chu Yao has chosen you for a date]

Reading this, Zhang Chen raised his brows. He’d already been out with Chu Yao once before; now she was actively choosing him again. They were all adults—everyone knew what this meant.

He was about to put his phone down when another message arrived.

[Li Jiayan has chosen you for a date]

Oh? Another one.

The smile at the corner of Zhang Chen’s eyes was becoming impossible to hide.

At the dinner table, only Zhang Chen was checking his messages. The other three male contestants’ phones were silent; all they could do was focus on the food.

The atmosphere became subtly awkward.

The girls exchanged glances, searching for topics to keep the conversation afloat and prevent awkward silence.

After a minute or two, Zhang Chen’s phone rang again—and almost simultaneously, Wen Yiming’s phone vibrated as well.

Zhang Chen checked his latest message.

[Qi Jiajia has chosen you for a date]

His brows arched higher, and he raised a fist to his lips.

All of them had chosen him?

That was a bit tricky.

But then, Zhang Chen suddenly realized something—no, not all of them had chosen him. Ye Fangfei couldn’t pick him!

So who would she choose?

Zhang Chen glanced up at Lu Zhou, Wen Yiming, and Xu Junze.

Just then, Wen Yiming, sitting at the other end of the table, opened his message.

[Ye Fangfei has chosen you for a date]

He read the message, eyes widening as he murmured, “What the—?”

For real?

Lu Zhou caught Wen Yiming’s reaction, puzzled by what could surprise him so much in a message.

Xu Junze, who hadn’t received a single message yet, was quietly observing everyone’s responses. Lu Zhou’s gaze met his in the air.

Xu Junze smiled, a little helplessly.

Just then, both their phones buzzed with new messages.

Xu Junze picked up his phone—

[No one has chosen you]

Xu Junze: “…”

No one picked him, fine, but did the production team really have to send a message rubbing it in? Incredible.

Lu Zhou lowered his head to swipe open his screen—

[No one has chosen you]

As expected, nothing surprising. He closed the screen without expression and continued eating.

Zhang Chen then received a message from the production team:

[Please eliminate one female date candidate]

He absentmindedly used his chopsticks to stir the rice in his bowl, sighing softly.

Who to eliminate?

Li Jiayan, Chu Yao, Qi Jiajia…

He had some feelings for Li Jiayan; maybe he should give her a chance. He’d already gone out with Chu Yao last time, so perhaps he should eliminate her?

But then Qi Jiajia…

Zhang Chen’s gaze lingered briefly on Qi Jiajia. Back in his student days, he might have been attracted to her type, but now… something about it just felt lacking.

Besides, with what happened in the morning, Ye Fangfei had been present and even made some pointed remarks. If she found out he’d gone out with Qi Jiajia again, who knows what she’d think.

Better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Having decided, Zhang Chen made his choice.

[Eliminate Qi Jiajia]

He sent the message to the production team.

Dinner was winding down, nearly finished.

Just as everyone began tidying up to leave, Qi Jiajia received a message from the production team.

She opened it in surprise and saw—

[Your date invitation was declined by Zhang Chen. Please choose another male contestant for a date, excluding your previous choice.]

Qi Jiajia: “…”

She sat stunned.

She’d thought tonight’s gift could dissolve the awkwardness and bring them closer, but…

While packing up dishes, Chu Yao noticed Qi Jiajia’s odd expression and asked, “Jiajia, are you full? Want any more?”

“Oh, I’m full, you can take them.” Qi Jiajia snapped out of her thoughts, smiled awkwardly at Chu Yao, and set down her chopsticks.

Who should she pick now?

Her gaze settled on Lu Zhou and Xu Junze.

After a moment, she edited a message and sent it to the production team—

[Xu Junze]

After sending the message, Qi Jiajia got up and left the table.

Xu Junze, chatting with Lu Zhou, felt his phone vibrate and instinctively checked it.

[Qi Jiajia has chosen you for a date]

Xu Junze: “???”

That was quite a lot to take in.

Finally, someone had chosen him. He should have felt happy, but instead, a sense of disappointment lingered.

He was only the second choice.

…

At 9 p.m., on DouLe Short Video, Ye Fangfei’s official account, freshly registered, released a ten-second clip right on time.

In the video, Ye Fangfei shed her usual style and, with no idol burden, performed a playful dance—her moves exaggerated just enough, her expressions comical and lively, the whole video bursting with joy.

The caption read:

[#WhatIsImageAnyway# The amateur photographer @Lu Zhou said my previous dances were too restrained, so I became like this. Anyone want to challenge me?]

The moment the video went live, the official team pushed it hard and the platform boosted its popularity. In no time, “Ye Fangfei” shot to the top of DouLe’s trending list.

In the comment section—

[Wow! Ye Fangfei is on DouLe!]
[First glance: This influencer really looks like Ye Fangfei; second glance: Wait, is this an official account? Third glance: Damn, it’s really her!]
[Fangfei, where did your idol persona go?]
[Goddess instantly becomes a goofball, but I love it!]
[This photographer really knows what fans want to see! @Lu Zhou]
[If you know how to film, film more! @Lu Zhou]
…

Lu Zhou finished washing up and was about to urge Pan Chengyi about the editing of the “First Love” music video they’d shot today, but when he picked up his phone, he saw a missed call from Pan Chengyi.

He called back.

“Hey, Chengyi, is the video ready?”

“I was just trying to reach you. The video’s been edited and sent to you—upload it ASAP.”

“Alright, I’ll post it soon.”

“Don’t wait—do it now! You were right, Ye Fangfei really did join DouLe tonight. Her team already posted a video and even tagged you. Her video’s already trending number one. Hurry up, don’t miss out on the traffic.”

Pan Chengyi spoke quickly and hung up after giving his instructions.

Lu Zhou tossed aside the towel, sat on the bed with his phone, and opened the DouLe app.

Trending number one was indeed “Ye Fangfei,” shining bright.

He clicked in—the top video under the topic was posted by Ye Fangfei’s official account. He tapped in and read the caption, which naturally mentioned his account.

The caption didn’t look like something written by her team.

He glanced at the comment section—most of the top comments were fans joking around, and scrolling down, he found some fans tagging his DouLe account as well.

Lu Zhou exited the video. The message icon displayed a glaring “99+” in red.

He raised his brows—this wave of traffic was coming in even faster than he’d anticipated.