At the end of July, the weather on the island was clear and sunny.
The Love Cabin.
Lin Wanzhou sat quietly on the living room sofa on the first floor, her eyes slightly downcast, her gaze drifting over the beverage bottles placed on the table. Her figure seemed solitary and still.
From the moment she appeared on the camera of the program group, clearly marked as a special flying guest of the "Love Hunter" show, the barrage of comments exploded instantly.
"Is that really Zhouzhou?"
"Holy shit, they've really upped the ante, seeing Zhouzhou in a love reality show?"
"Huh? Is this show so lacking in integrity? Bringing in a high imitation to impersonate my Zhouzhou! Damn, have they never heard of copyright infringement? Trash program, dumb love reality show!"
"I've been a fan of Zhouzhou for ten years! There's been no interaction on the official Weibo, it's a fake at first glance! Does this program have problems? They've found a stand-in to mooch off her popularity, it's utterly shameless!"
The director's team couldn't withstand the pressure and had an unknown intern bring a microphone with the program's name tag up to her, and the technical team added a large name tag.
The obscure intern, nervously wanting to preserve his dignity, wore a mask and a hat – wrapped up tightly to avoid the camera – and cautiously approached to speak.
"Hi, Zhouzhou, we're thrilled to have invited you to our 'Love Hunter' show. Say hello to your fans!"
"Hello everyone, I'm Lin Wanzhou." She waved her hand, her smile slightly tense.
In the camera frame, Lin Wanzhou wore a mustard yellow off-the-shoulder blouse with droit shoulders, which made her skin look pale and white. She wore a light-colored denim skirt on her lower half.
She appeared somewhat slender with a youthful face. Her peach blossom eyes looked shallow and long when she gazed elsewhere.
It looked like she was hiding treasures in her chest, and her waist-to-hip ratio was excellent. Her legs were fair and long, calves neatly slanting, without an ounce of excess fat—exquisite like an artwork.
As soon as she finished speaking, the barrage of comments surged again. Everyone was stunned, disbelieving and asking repeatedly if it was real or fake, with all sorts of comments flashing by.
With just one sentence from her, the barrage of comments quintupled instantly. The show's live audience was still growing, with more and more people joining in.
The music industry is always about new faces replacing the old, and compared to the explosive popularity when Pei Muchan first appeared, Lin Wanzhou's entrance created a gap of several magnitudes with her.
One was a semi-past-her-prime pop princess, and the other was the currently popular pop princess, a rising star in the music world that made countless young singers look up in admiration.
The veteran forum users in the comments reacted quickly, immediately flooding the screen with legendary text.
"Damn it, little fairy, stop throwing a fit, punch your mom!"
"Stop clinging on, acting like a suck-up, did your brain grow in your appendix?"
"Thanks for the invitation, but brain-dead fans, please stop writing your family tree on the internet, this isn't a sewage pit, bugger off. 'Your brother,' your brother must be a songstress, right!!"
Lin Wanzhou couldn't see the chaotic comments; when she heard Bai Jinze say "long time no see," her eyes lowered slightly, and her expression visibly cooled.
Long time no see, Bai Jinze did not deserve to say those words. She didn't want to hear anything from him, so she turned and left without a response.
Bai Jinze's extended hand stayed suspended in mid-air, his expression turning awkward in an instant.
At that moment, footsteps came from the stairs. Pei Muchan walked down step by step, her gaze landing on Lin Wanzhou with a touch of surprise.
She rarely used her phone to watch the show crew's live broadcasts, and coincidentally didn't go for a run that morning. Having stayed up late the night before working on a score, she was not fully awake, so she decided to indulge in an hour of lazing around in her room.
Lin Wanzhou saw Pei Muchan too; the two had a competitive relationship but had barely met a few times. Mainly because of Pei Muchan's personality, which limited her interactions to work and rarely involved the outside media.
"Hello, I'm Pei Muchan." Pei Muchan stopped in front of her, extending her delicate hand.
"Hello, I'm Lin Wanzhou." She shook hands, her eyes fixated on that hand, and couldn't help thinking to herself, my hand is whiter than hers.
The new and former divas shook hands briefly before quickly parting ways.
"Hello hello!" A neurotic, crisp female voice rang out in the lobby as an adorable, busty young girl burst in, "I heard the new guest has arrived, who is it!"
Lin Wanzhou took a step back, recognizing the girl as a guest only after two seconds; she remembered Shen Jinyue's name and so went forward to shake hands.
Before the introductions were complete, Shen Jinyue suddenly turned her head and yelled outside.
"Xu Qingyan, come quick, the new guest is a pretty sister, you'll never guess who she is!"
Footsteps approached from outside the living room. Lin Wanzhou's grip on Shen Jinyue's hand suddenly tightened, going from a light hold to a firm grasp, a thin layer of sweat quickly breaking out on her palm.
Xu Qingyan walked in and paused for several seconds when he saw Lin Wanzhou.
"Long time no see," he said.