Wake Up, This is Not a Dating Show! Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Is this person a friend or a foe?

The man playing the guitar turned his head. His features were clean and cold, like a translucent lake surface with thin ice floating on top. The curve from his brow bone connecting to the bridge of his nose was extraordinarily superior, as if meticulously carved by an excellent craftsman.

Ye Nai found him somewhat familiar but couldn’t call out his name. When participating in performances, he never cared about who the other guests were; if Jiang Kuan hadn’t reminded him, he wouldn’t even have known Li Wan was at this event.

However, that person merely cast a faint glance over, then turned his face away without uttering a single word, acting as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

Ye Nai recalled that this was exactly how the man had ignored that staff member earlier. The fact that he was actually pulling the same trick on him right now made the fire in his heart even harder to suppress.

“What’s your deal? Can’t make a sound? If you’re not going to use your mouth, donate it to someone who needs it…”

Before he had said enough, he noticed Li Wan’s face was gloomy, as if he had experienced some sort of humiliation and was momentarily unable to back down gracefully.

Ye Nai was baffled. Could it be that the guitar sound concealed a language he couldn’t understand, which only produced an attack effect on Li Wan?

“Do you dare to make a bet with me?” Li Wan’s tone remained vicious, but he took a few steps away, as if deliberately trying to avoid that man.

“Bet what?” Ye Nai’s attention returned from the man.

“If you don’t win the championship, you will admit to everyone that you can’t win a championship based on your skills.”

“And if I do win?”

“Then I will admit that my skills are inferior, and you beat me on your own merits.”

Ye Nai let out a “pshaw” of a laugh. “Boring. That’s already the truth, I won’t bet.”

“Then what do you want?” Li Wan couldn’t figure out his unpredictable thoughts and was very annoyed.

Ye Nai thought for a moment and said, “If I win, you have to post a rap on all social media platforms. The theme will be that you only slandered me before because you were jealous of me winning the championship, and you must express your repentance and apology.”

This wager was a bit harsh; Li Wan didn’t agree immediately.

“Scared?” Ye Nai’s tone rose slightly, stimulating the other party’s nerves.

“It’s a bet then!” Li Wan truly couldn’t stand his arrogant appearance. He gritted his teeth and threw caution to the wind. “Then if you lose, you also have to write your psychological journey of not being able to win without buying it with money into a rap and post it.”

“Deal.” Ye Nai nodded carelessly.

“Then it’s settled…”

“But I don’t plan on going on that show.”

Li Wan froze, failing to react. He stared blankly for a long while before angrily saying, “Then why did you say so much to me?!”

“Just messing with you.” Ye Nai shrugged.

Li Wan’s face flushed red with anger. He was just about to lash out when a staff member came over to remind Ye Nai to get ready to go on stage.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be an awkward silence later.” Ye Nai shot Li Wan a sidelong glance, interlocked his fingers, and pushed his palms outward in a stretch, looking as if he were about to show off his skills. “I’ll go blow up the stage for you right now.”

As he passed in front of the man playing the guitar, Ye Nai’s gaze swept over. He had thought the man still wouldn’t look up, but unexpectedly, he met a pair of tranquil eyes. His heart inexplicably sank, feeling the chill of falling into a quiet, deep lake.

The other party still didn’t speak, but he strummed the strings a few more times, playing a series of rather imposing notes.

This time Ye Nai understood; it seemed to be cheering him on for his stage performance.

Was this person a friend or a foe?

Ye Nai didn’t have time to analyze it further; he took a few quick steps onto the stage.

The high-quality sound system played his original arrangement. The musical notes seemed to become three-dimensional, flowing everywhere in the space. The rap lyrics directly expressed his inner feelings, venting the emotions he couldn’t hold back.

At this moment, whether or not he was the focal point of this music festival, and whether or not the audience below the stage was as enthusiastic as before, became irrelevant.

Enjoying the stage was the only thing that mattered right now.

Ye Nai sang to his heart’s content, sweeping away all his previous displeasure. Stepping off the stage, he was packing his things and preparing to leave, when he suddenly heard the host introduce the next guest.

He hadn’t paid attention to the preceding banter; he only clearly heard the final sentence.

“Let’s welcome with a round of applause—Yi Xingzhi!”

Yi Xingzhi, was this the full name of that “Brother Yi”? It also seemed somewhat familiar.

Ye Nai stopped what he was doing, deciding on a whim that he wanted to watch his performance.

He took out his phone, opened the browser, and was just about to type the three characters “Yi Xingzhi” into the search bar when he suddenly received a phone call.

The caller ID read “Old Dad”.

His mood instantly soured.

Ye Songbo usually couldn’t be bothered to manage him, relying mostly on his secretary to relay matters. For him to call personally this time probably meant nothing good.

“The performance is over and you’re still not coming out, have you settled down in there?” As expected, the tone on the other end was very aggressive. “Old Li sent you where the car is parked, get over here immediately.”

His old man came in person and was waiting for him in the car? What matter required such a grand spectacle?

Their tempers were half a pound to eight ounces, but Ye Nai still restrained himself a lot in front of his dad, otherwise the two of them simply wouldn’t be able to communicate.

“Got it.” He hung up the phone, glanced at Yi Xingzhi, who had just walked onto the stage with his guitar slung over his shoulder, and drawled, “Forget it, it’s not meant to be, can’t watch it.”

Shoving his phone into his pocket, he left the venue.

Following the parking spot sent by the driver, Ye Nai found his family’s car. He pulled the door open and sat in the back seat alongside Ye Songbo. Seeing a briefcase next to him, it seemed he hadn’t come specifically for this but was probably just passing by on his way home from the company.

“You brat, you feel uncomfortable all over if you go one day without causing trouble, don’t you?” Ye Songbo spoke, hating iron for not becoming steel.

The car started moving, and the streetlights along the way shone into the car, illuminating his tightly knit brows.

“What did I do now?” Ye Nai was baffled.

Ye Songbo handed his phone over with a dark expression.

A video was playing on the screen. It started from Li Wan asking if he dared to make a bet, all the way to Ye Nai saying he didn’t plan on going on the show and was just messing with him. Someone had secretly recorded it from the side just now.

The speed of transmission was truly astonishing, it had reached his dad’s hands this quickly.

“Do you know where this video came from?” Ye Songbo said coldly. “Someone planned to send it around to all the major marketing accounts, then start a wave of rhythm to smear you. My subordinates discovered it just now.”

“This can be used to smear me too? I didn’t even bet with him.” Ye Nai was momentarily speechless.

Ye Songbo raised his voice. “You pushed the talk to that point, and then finally said you weren’t betting or going. Don’t you know how others will view you and what they’ll say about you?”

“Eyes and mouths are on their faces, how they view me and what they say, I can’t control.” Ye Nai leaned against the seatback, casually crossing his legs. “My legs are on my body; if I don’t want to go, no one can control that either.”

Ye Songbo snorted, as if he had long anticipated this attitude. “Oh, really? Do you think I’ll help you take down the video and trending searches this time?”

“I wasn’t counting on it anyway,” Ye Nai said without a care.

Since he entered the rap circle, Ye Songbo hadn’t really managed his affairs. Only when the negative rumors were truly overwhelming and affected the company did he exercise some control, contacting people to take down some of the materials that threw dirty water on him.

Ye Nai had always done things brazenly, only doing what he considered right, fearlessly criticizing the people and things he couldn’t stand in the industry, and mercilessly firing back at people who pushed their luck.

Even without Ye Songbo covering for him, there wouldn’t be any change. He never intended to rely on others to quell crises and clean up after him.

“Then haven’t you considered the consequences?” Ye Songbo, well-versed in these matters, said seriously. “If negative public opinion intensifies, the situation will only be worse than it is now. By then, how many stage opportunities will you still have?”

Hearing this, Ye Nai finally sat up straight.

He truly didn’t care how others evaluated him, but a decline in popularity and negative reviews caused by misunderstandings would inevitably lead to the loss of his stage. This was what he didn’t want to see.

Ye Nai, in a rare move, didn’t retort and fell into silence.

“I’ve looked into it, that show isn’t as bad as you think.” Ye Songbo’s tone softened a bit. “The first and last episodes are stage shows, and the audience votes based on the performance. Aren’t you willing to go as long as there’s a good stage? It’s the perfect chance to show your skills to those who doubt you. Moreover, many of the segments in between are also closely related to music, they are all ready-made opportunities to turn the tables.”

So it was like that. Jiang Kuan hadn’t even mentioned this to him, had he?

“You have that much confidence in me?” Ye Nai looked thoughtfully at his old man.

Ye Songbo glanced at him, answering a question with a question: “Do you not?”

“Since I dared to say those words, of course I don’t think I’ll lose.”

Although when making the bet with Li Wan, Ye Nai didn’t plan to go to that variety show, much less think that this scene would be recorded and posted online, he had never been someone who was all talk.

Whenever there was something he truly wanted to do and went all out for, there was nothing he couldn’t accomplish.

“Then go and win,” Ye Songbo said.

Just as he spoke, Ye Nai’s phone vibrated. It was a call from Jiang Kuan.

“Nyle, have you made up your mind? You’re not really planning on skipping it, are you?” He was calling to persuade Ye Nai to go on the show again.

“I’ll go.”

“I’m telling you, you’re not the only rap champion. From what I understand, Zhuolai also found…” Jiang Kuan poured out the pitch he had spent half a day preparing, then suddenly paused. “Wait a minute, what did you say?”

“Forget it if you didn’t hear it.” Ye Nai said, about to hang up.

“Don’t hang up!” Jiang Kuan anticipated his move and asked loudly, “You’re going? You agreed?”

Ye Nai gave a low “Mhm”.

“I knew you couldn’t bear to let me resign!” Jiang Kuan instantly rejoiced. “Why didn’t you tell me yourself? Waiting for me to call you to say it, were you trying to give me a surprise? Love you~”

Ye Nai: “…”

Sometimes he genuinely admired his manager’s imagination.

“You’re loving me too early,” he muttered.

“What?” Jiang Kuan didn’t catch that, entirely immersed in his own script. “Then it’s settled! Boldly go forth, go take back everything that belongs to you!”

Ye Nai stayed silent for a few seconds. Ultimately, he decided to be a decent human being and didn’t interrupt his beautiful fantasy, merely replying, “Okay.”

However, peace was fleeting after all. By the time the car arrived home, the search term “Li Wan and Ye Nai Bet” had already climbed onto the Weibo trending list, and its popularity was still steadily rising.

The style of the comment section was roughly what Ye Nai had expected, basically completely one-sided.

[I really don’t understand, what exactly is yn acting so arrogant for? Buying a championship is justified now, is it?]

[Really treating bad manners as genuine personality. Isn’t he just a rich second-generation kid? Who is he looking down on? When Li Wan was winning awards till his hands went soft, who knows which mud puddle he was playing in.]

[Insolence, you dare make irresponsible remarks about the young master, see you under your next ID!]

[Why isn’t the young master going? Is it because he doesn’t want to? I think it’s because he doesn’t dare. After all, if he loses too miserably, it’ll be hard to wrap things up, hehe~]

[He can only satisfy his craving by running his mouth. Would he actually go make a fool of himself on Zhuolai’s turf? It’s not like it’s territory his family can control.]

For the past few months, malicious comments had become a daily routine for Ye Nai. This level was practically just an appetizer.

He was scrolling through expressionlessly when, unsurprisingly, he received another call from his manager.

“So this is the real reason you agreed to go on the show, right?” Jiang Kuan said in despair. “Can you let me have just one day of peace?”

“Look on the bright side,” Ye Nai comforted him lazily. “At least I made it onto the trending list. How long has it been since I was last on it? Shall we celebrate?”

Jiang Kuan: “…”

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Translator’s Note: Welcome back! A quick note on the Weibo comments: you’ll see “yn” used by the netizens. In Chinese internet culture, people often use pinyin initials (like yn for Ye Nai) to avoid directly naming celebrities when gossiping or criticizing them, mainly to dodge angry fan searches. Also, “Nyle” seems to be Ye Nai’s English stage name used affectionately (and desperately) by his manager Jiang Kuan. Hope you are enjoying the drama!