ASPWL Ch45: Surprise or Not

Ye Leyao couldn’t move a step.

[Should I stand here and listen, or walk closer to hear?]

[Would it be impolite to walk straight over?!]

[Huh? Why did Lu Bo’s voice lower? Should I walk closer or not?]

Ye Leyao stood there in utter indecision.

At the same time, Huo Yan and Qin Yao, who were helping clean up, paused their actions.

Although they were a bit far, the distance was still close enough to hear Ye Leyao’s thoughts.

Huo Yan put away the last cleaned dish, looked around, and said to Qin Yao, “I’m done here, I’m going to the restroom.”

He had to hurry and find Ye Leyao, he must be there for the gossip!

Qin Yao picked up an empty bucket next to him: “I need to get a bucket of water too, let’s go together?”

With Lu Bo’s instability about to explode, Qin Yao needed to go early to understand the situation and prepare for public relations.

It’s definitely not because he wanted to hear the gossip!

Since fetching water was a valid reason and not to waste time, Huo Yan nodded, and they both walked quickly towards Ye Leyao.

At the shower room entrance, Ye Leyao eventually let his curiosity for gossip win over his rationality.

Taking a deep breath, Ye Leyao walked towards Lu Bo.

As he approached, Ye Leyao intentionally made some noise, “Eh?” and asked in a slightly puzzled tone, “Oh? It’s Brother Lu, what are you doing here in the dark?”

Lu Bo obviously didn’t expect anyone to be there. He was about to cover the phone and speak when he heard a woman’s angry voice from the other end: “Lu Bo! Who’s next to you?!”

The voice was so loud that even without the speaker on, it was incredibly clear on the vast grassland.

At this moment, Ye Leyao definitely couldn’t pretend he didn’t hear. Lu Bo’s wife already had some evidence of Lu Bo’s infidelity, and it wouldn’t do to let her misunderstand further.

So Ye Leyao quickly explained, “Hello, I’m Ye Leyao. Sorry to interrupt your conversation. Lu Bo, who is this?”

Ye Leyao raised his eyes, full of gossipy curiosity.

[It must be your wife, right!]

Lu Bo’s expression was a bit colorful, but he managed to control himself and not show his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he explained to Ye Leyao, “This is my family…”

Ye Leyao deliberately drew out his words, “Oh, I see. It’s getting late, shouldn’t you go wash up, Lu Bo?”

Lu Bo’s expression immediately became somewhat speechless.

Normally, when someone says they are on the phone with their family, shouldn’t you, Ye Leyao, take a hint and give them some privacy?

Why are you still standing here chatting with me?

If it were any other time, he might be happy to chat with Ye Leyao, as he looked quite good and fit Lu Bo’s aesthetics, but now he had no mood for chatting.

Lu Bo could only suppress his irritation and explain to Ye Leyao, “It’s still early; I need to talk with her a bit longer.” After a pause, he lowered his voice to speak into the phone, “It’s getting late, you should rest. I’ll stop talking now…”

Before he finished, the woman on the other end said, “Wait! Lu Bo, I want to come to your filming location!”

Lu Bo’s expression changed again. Before he could respond, Ye Leyao quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, “Sure! Lu Bo, if your family wants to come, just inform the director. In the last episode, my parents were with me the whole time, and the program arranged everything well.”

[I guarantee they’ll arrange it perfectly, without any issues!]

Lu Bo immediately looked up, extremely surprised at Ye Leyao.

What? What are you talking about?

How long are you planning to eavesdrop, Ye Leyao?

Which eye of yours saw that he wanted her to come?

Lu Bo felt a surge of anger but couldn’t really vent it at Ye Leyao.

Lu Bo took a deep breath, having suffered twice from the loud volume on his phone, quickly turned down the volume, then stepped back a few steps to put some distance between himself and Ye Leyao before speaking, “No need to trouble…”

“What trouble?” Huo Yan couldn’t hold back and directly asked.

Hearing Huo Yan’s voice, Ye Leyao was delighted and quickly turned around, only to find that not only had Huo Yan come, but Qin Yao had also followed.

Seeing the two of them, Lu Bo’s expression changed again.

He had painstakingly chosen a secluded place to make a call, so why were people gathering around him one by one?

Did these people not understand the concept of boundaries?

Obviously, Ye Leyao understood; he was just pretending not to.

Seeing the two of them, Ye Leyao quickly repeated what he had just heard and then gave Huo Yan and Qin Yao a strong hint: “In the last episode, my parents came and the production team arranged everything. It should be no problem for Lu Bo’s family, right?”

Qin Yao struggled to suppress a smile, then looked past Ye Leyao at Lu Bo.

Though the lighting here was dim, with the light from the nearby hut, he could see Lu Bo’s expression of terror and panic clearly. The phone seemed to still be emitting voices from the other end, and Lu Bo couldn’t help but hold the phone farther away: “No need…”

“Of course, it’s possible!” Huo Yan interrupted Lu Bo with a smile, looking at him, “Don’t worry, even if President Qin doesn’t help you arrange it, I will.”

Eating gossip online can’t compare to eating gossip in person.

And since we’re eating gossip, all parties must be present!

Ye Leyao’s smile widened.

[My second brother is the reliable one!]

Qin Yao: “…”

He hadn’t even said anything yet, right?

Why is it only Huo Yan who is reliable?

So Qin Yao directly said, “The program doesn’t restrict guests from bringing family members or staff. If they want to join the group, just contact the director for arrangements.”

Lu Bo’s face instantly fell.

Wait a minute, since when did they start making decisions on their own?

When did he ever say he wanted his family to come?

He really didn’t want her to come at all!

But it was already too late.

The woman’s angry voice came through the phone again: “That was Qin Yao and Huo Yan speaking just now, right? Since Qin Yao has agreed, you still don’t want me to come? Lu Bo, tell me honestly, do you have a guilty conscience? Do you dare to confront me face to face?!”

[Of course he doesn’t dare! After all, you already have evidence!]

Ye Leyao’s tone was excited, his eyes exceptionally bright in the dim grassland.

Lu Bo: “…”

He was going crazy.

Even though he had turned down the phone volume, the voice was still clear on the quiet grassland.

“Can you lower your voice!” Lu Bo raised his volume.

Ye Leyao almost couldn’t hold back his laughter.

[Look how touched Lu Bo is, he’s almost in tears!]

Huo Yan and Qin Yao both smiled.

Are you sure those are tears of being moved?

But it didn’t matter.

After all, they weren’t speaking for Lu Bo to hear, as long as the person on the other end of the phone heard it.

“I… I also want to speak gently with you, but why did you suddenly speak so loudly?” Lu Bo seemed to be at his wit’s end with the person on the other end, lowering his voice and explaining through gritted teeth.

“You’re coming over? What are you coming over for!” Lu Bo’s head was about to explode. He didn’t care about Ye Leyao and the other two anymore, and quickly walked away with his phone.

Lu Bo couldn’t let them hear any more.

“Lu Bo, it’s too dark over there, don’t go too far!” Ye Leyao still reminded him.

Lu Bo stumbled and almost fell.

Ye Leyao quickly feigned surprise and covered his mouth: “Did I remind him too late?”

[Hahahahaha, look how excited Lu Bo is.]

It wasn’t that you reminded him too late, but rather too timely.

Huo Yan patted Ye Leyao on the shoulder: “Alright, let him continue his call, let’s go.”

After all, they’ve said what needed to be said, now it was up to her if she wanted to come.

Qin Yao had made it clear: if she wanted to come, she could contact the director anytime.

In other words, it didn’t require Lu Bo’s consent. If she wanted to come, she could bypass Lu Bo and come directly.

Now, all they needed to do was wait patiently.

Couples tearing into each other on camera—just the thought of it was thrilling!

When Qin Yao returned with water, he saw that Lu Bo was still far away making his call.

Noticing Qin Yao’s gaze, Lu Bo walked even farther away.

[Walking so far away shows Lu Bo is truly scared.]

Ye Leyao couldn’t stop smiling.

“Let’s go back,” Qin Yao said to Ye Leyao and Huo Yan.

On their way back to the camp, they ran into Song Zhehan and Zhou Zijian, who were also carrying toiletries.

After a brief greeting, Song Zhehan suddenly asked, “Did something happen just now?”

All three stopped in their tracks.

Ye Leyao was puzzled.

[Hmm?]

“Why do you ask?” Huo Yan inquired.

Song Zhehan’s probing gaze landed on Ye Leyao’s face, curling into a smile: “Just a hunch. It feels like you encountered something interesting. Can’t you share it with us?”

Zhou Zijian looked confused.

What interesting thing?

How come he hadn’t noticed anything?

Ye Leyao couldn’t help but criticize internally.

[As expected of the cunning Song Zhehan, you picked up on it!]

So Ye Leyao said, “Not much, just that Lu Bo was on a call and we chatted briefly.”

[As for what exactly happened, that’s really something I can’t tell you!]

[But Lu Bo’s wife is definitely a woman of action, you won’t have to wait long! By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, we’ll be able to meet her.]

Song Zhehan was clearly dissatisfied with Ye Leyao’s answer, but he didn’t press further. He just gave a meaningful smile and turned towards the hut.

Zhou Zijian still looked confused, but seeing that no one intended to explain, he just smiled at them and followed Song Zhehan.

When the three returned to the camp, they saw Duan Haoyan sitting at the tent entrance.

His back looked lonely, his eyes were red, and his gaze was unfocused, staring blankly at one spot.

[Hmm… seems like he just finished a call with Su Rui?]

[So heartbroken, it looks like he finally realized he was deceived and is now heartbroken?]

Ye Leyao pursed his lips and looked at Huo Yan with a smile.

Huo Yan was baffled.

Why look at him?

Then he heard Ye Leyao’s internal monologue:

[My second brother looked exactly like Duan Haoyan when he was heartbroken.]

[Both in the same boat, shouldn’t my second brother go comfort him?]

Huo Yan: “…”

This afternoon, Duan Haoyan was still causing them trouble.

Where did you see that he’s someone who doesn’t hold grudges?

Huo Yan unhesitatingly turned and entered the tent. It was getting late; he needed to wash up.

Qin Yao also turned and went into the tent.

It wasn’t that Qin Yao didn’t want to comfort Duan Haoyan, but his instinct told him that what Duan Haoyan needed most right now wasn’t comfort; he needed time to calm down. Not being disturbed was the best comfort.

Seeing the two leave, Ye Leyao looked regretful.

[I’m not good at comforting people either, so let Duan Haoyan calm down on his own.]

[By the way, I really want to check Weibo! I remember Lu Bo’s ex-wife has a Weibo account, and before exposing Lu Bo, she posted some updates…]

Ye Leyao was hesitating when Huo Yan suddenly came out of the tent again.

“Second brother, weren’t you going to take a shower?” Ye Leyao asked, puzzled.

Huo Yan, holding his phone, said with a straight face, “I suddenly remembered I have a brand promotion Weibo to post, so I’ll go connect to the satellite signal.”

Ye Leyao quickly followed: “I want to go too!”

[Once I’m online, I can search for Lu Bo’s wife’s Weibo account!]

Ye Leyao was visibly excited.

Huo Yan was even happier.

Joining this program was definitely the best decision he had ever made!

What could be more fun than getting the scoop before everyone else?

The answer was—nothing!

Soon, both of them connected to the satellite signal.

Ye Leyao returned to the tent, while Huo Yan took his phone to shower.

It was still early, and the program’s live broadcast hadn’t ended yet.

To capture more useful footage, the program even had cameras inside the tents.

At ten o’clock at night, the live room was bustling.

Numerous gossip-hungry netizens, having just finished consuming the latest scandal on Weibo, eagerly opened the live room of “Let’s Go Traveling Together.”

As soon as they entered, the main live room showed Duan Haoyan’s lonely figure.

The gossip crowd immediately burst into laughter.

—”The program team knows exactly what we want to see!”

—”Okay, okay, I see now. Your program team is as fond of gossip as Ye Leyao!”

—”How despicable! You’ll do anything for ratings!”

—”But Duan Haoyan really does look pitiful!”

—”Yeah, look at him, looking all dejected. He really looks heartbroken, haha!”

—”Su Rui! This is all your fault!”

—”But it still feels like something’s missing. If the show played some heartbreak background music right now… hehehe.”

—”I’ve tagged the show in my comment above. You’re a genius!”

—”By the way, where’s Ye Leyao?”

Outside the camp, aside from Duan Haoyan, all the other guests had gone to wash up.

The viewers searched around and finally found Ye Leyao in the last live broadcast room.

The show thoughtfully provided sleeping bags for each guest inside the tents. The tent was spacious, and Ye Leyao had moved his sleeping bag to the innermost part, then started scrolling through Weibo inside it.

Maybe he was too engrossed in Weibo, but Ye Leyao didn’t realize that his spot was the closest to the camera. Although this angle didn’t show what he was looking at, viewers could clearly see every change in his facial expressions.

A small light was on in the tent, and in this dim environment, Ye Leyao suddenly burst into laughter, holding his phone, and even started hitting his legs as he laughed: “I can’t take it anymore, Gou Shi’s intuition is really spot on, he even figured this out!”

The comments exploded: Huh?

—”Ye Leyao doesn’t seem to be gossiping about Su Rui and Duan Haoyan?”

—”Who did he say has spot-on intuition? And who discovered what?”

—”Could it be some new gossip?!”

—”Ahhhh—I can’t take it, Ye Leyao, why can’t you speak a bit louder? Is there something we can’t hear?”

—”Yeah! Ye Leyao, I’m your most loyal fan, please share some of your gossip with us!”

Unfortunately, no matter how loud the comments were, Ye Leyao couldn’t hear them.

Only two people knew what Ye Leyao was laughing about at that moment: Huo Yan and Qin Yao.

On their way back from showering, Huo Yan had also found Song Zhehan’s side account and read the few Weibo posts Song Zhehan had posted a few minutes ago:

[Gou Shi: The Scatterbrained Guy is really generous, giving away five million in breach of contract compensation just like that. Su Rui’s luck is amazing.]

Huo Yan was shocked.

Duan Haoyan gave Su Rui that much money?

Looks like he’s not as much of a love-struck fool as Duan Haoyan!

Though he did spend quite a bit…

Never mind, back to Weibo!

[Gou Shi: But the Happy Mama can’t be happy for long. The Scatterbrained Guy just cried to the director, saying he wants to sue him when he gets back, hahaha. He cried so miserably, I can’t even make fun of him.]

[Gou Shi: Interesting, our show is really interesting. Seeing Kappa’s face turn green, I guess he’s the next one to suffer.]

Huo Yan couldn’t help but laugh and quickened his pace back to the tent.

Qin Yao first went to find the producer and briefly told him that Lu Bo’s wife might be coming tomorrow, suggesting they prepare in advance.

Ideally, they should keep it a surprise for Lu Bo.

The producer, though not understanding the deeper meaning behind Qin Yao’s words, readily agreed.

Preparing surprises for the guests is his specialty!

As the night grew later, the tents gradually turned off their lights.

Only Ye Leyao’s tent was still lit.

Their tent was quite large, with Ye Leyao and Huo Yan each taking one side, and Qin Yao simply placed his sleeping bag in the middle.

At this moment, all three were lying in their sleeping bags, each holding a phone. Anyone who didn’t know better might think they were all checking the night’s hot searches.

In reality, only Ye Leyao was looking. The other two were patiently waiting for Ye Leyao to find Lu Bo’s wife’s Weibo account.

At ten o’clock, Ye Leyao turned over.

[Ugh, why can’t I find it?]

[I remember Lu Bo’s wife was the admin of Lu Bo’s fan group, but I’ve looked through all of them and none seem to match?]

Qin Yao was a bit shocked.

An admin of Lu Bo’s fan group, huh? No wonder Lu Bo’s wife could get evidence of his cheating.

What’s the saying?

You can’t catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger’s den?

Huo Yan quickly switched to his gossip account, followed Lu Bo, and applied to join all of Lu Bo’s fan groups.

Maybe Ye Leyao missed it because he was scrolling too fast?

He also started looking.

Ye Leyao carefully looked through each admin’s profile picture in several fan groups again.

[No, not here.]

Ye Leyao frowned.

[Lu Bo got married to his wife three years ago, just as his career was taking off. His wife not only provided financial support, but also managed Lu Bo’s support club.]

[Could it be that the fan club’s management changed recently?]

Huo Yan paused.

That’s possible.

When a celebrity suddenly becomes popular, they often change the people around them.

With the sudden surge in fan numbers, they would definitely replace some of the important tasks with more experienced people.

Of course, someone like Lu Bo, who has secrets, would take the opportunity to replace the fan club’s members with people he trusts.

Ye Leyao was still pondering.

[Changing members is possible, but I remember in the storyline when Lu Bo got exposed, his wife was still the admin, ugh—wait, could his wife be the super-topic admin?]

The super-topic admin, also known as the moderator.

It’s usually managed by the celebrity’s major fans or staff.

Ye Leyao quickly opened Lu Bo’s super topic and started searching for key information.

Before long, he exclaimed excitedly:

[Ah! Found it! Hahaha—]

Huo Yan and Qin Yao’s eyes lit up at the same time.

So who exactly is his wife, the moderator?

Can we get some key information?

While scrolling through Weibo, Ye Leyao sighed:

[No wonder Lu Bo was hammered into the ground by his wife. Lu Bo’s wife’s side account is a super-topic hardcore fan. She initiated all previous promotions and anti-black campaigns.]

[The latest Weibo post—oh? A plane ticket!]

[The destination is exactly where we’re filming this episode?!]

Ye Leyao got excited.

With the plane ticket as the key information, Huo Yan and Qin Yao quickly found the Weibo account—Xin Xin Loves Lu Bo.

Opening the account’s homepage, the latest post was indeed the plane ticket that Ye Leyao mentioned.

Huo Yan squinted—3 AM?

If she doesn’t rest, she could arrive at their filming camp by tomorrow morning?

Huo Yan couldn’t help but smile.

Qin Yao opened the comments section of the first Weibo post.

As a big fan in Lu Bo’s super-topic, Lu Bo’s wife’s Weibo followers were almost all Lu Bo’s fans.

Seeing the destination on the ticket, Lu Bo’s fans were excited, asking:

—”Xin Xin, are you going to Lu Bao’s filming location?”

One minute ago, Xin Xin Loves Lu Bo replied to this fan: —”Yes, to catch a cheater.”

The fans thought Xin Xin Loves Lu Bo was joking, and the comments were filled with “hahahahaha.”

Ye Leyao, seeing the naive fans, couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

[I really feel for the fans. They probably never imagined that Xin Xin Loves Lu Bo was serious about catching a cheater.]

Ye Leyao was so happy thinking about it that he almost wanted to roll around in his sleeping bag if it wasn’t so small.

After scrolling through Xin Xin Loves Lu Bo’s historical Weibo posts for a while and finding no other useful information, Ye Leyao gave up.

[Well, as expected, before everything is exposed, Lu Bo’s wife wouldn’t be so careless as to post evidence on Weibo.]

[So we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to meet!]

[Anyway, I remember in the original plot, Lu Bo and his wife had a very dramatic confrontation! And Lu Bo wasn’t just cheating, he also had a male sponsor, and secretly kept a male college student lover… right?]

Huo Yan and Qin Yao widened their eyes at the same time.

Lu Bo… he’s really playing around.

It was getting late, and Ye Leyao was feeling sleepy, too lazy to check his notes.

He would find out tomorrow anyway!

Ye Leyao reluctantly put down his phone, ready to sleep.

Seeing this, Qin Yao asked, “Going to sleep?”

Ye Leyao nodded.

Really sleepy.

Qin Yao then turned to Huo Yan.

Huo Yan yawned and put down his phone too: “Turn off the light.”

The tent went dark instantly.

Before putting on his eye mask, Ye Leyao took a piece of clothing and covered the camera, making the live stream go dark.

They were asleep, but the live stream viewers were now wide awake.

—”Hey, you all saw that, right?”

—”Saw what?”

—”Ye Leyao’s expression just now was the look of someone who got some juicy gossip! So what did he find out?”

—”Damn, I wish I could crawl into Ye Leyao’s sleeping bag and see with him!”

—”Count me in!”

—”Hahaha, Ye Leyao’s sleeping bag would probably explode if we all tried that!”

The viewers chatted excitedly for a long time, but Ye Leyao didn’t know any of this.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already bright outside.

Ye Leyao sat up and saw Qin Yao and Huo Yan were already up. He changed clothes and walked out, just in time to hear the director speaking into a megaphone: “This morning we have prepared a sumptuous breakfast for everyone, and once all the guests are here, we have a surprise for everyone!”

Ye Leyao instantly woke up, his eyes wide.

[A surprise? For Lu Bo?]

Ye Leyao quickly turned to look for Lu Bo.

Not knowing what Lu Bo’s wife told him last night, Lu Bo showed no signs of panic; he even seemed relaxed. He sat next to Duan Haoyan, quite close, whispering something to him.

Duan Haoyan, with vacant eyes, clearly wasn’t listening at all.

[Wow, Duan Haoyan is really devastated by the breakup.]

[Hey, wait a minute, why are Brothet Zhou’s dark circles so heavy?]

Noticing Ye Leyao’s comment, Huo Yan and Qin Yao turned to look at Zhou Zijian and indeed saw he had very dark circles.

Seeing Ye Leyao’s gaze, Zhou Zijian slowly walked over.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Leyao asked in a low voice.

Zhou Zijian glanced at Lu Bo, looked pained, and said nothing.

At this moment, Song Zhehan came over, smiling faintly: “They chatted until 3 AM. I could hear it through the tent. Brother Lu is really very concerned about Brother Duan.”

Ye Leyao immediately understood and pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.

“You mean he has his eyes on Brother Duan, right!”

“Look how happy he is,” Song Zhehan raised his eyebrows, “It seems like things are going smoothly this time.”

As Li Siyuan also walked over, Song Zhehan asked, “Right?”

Li Siyuan instantly frowned and muttered, “Indeed, there aren’t many as shameless as him.”

Ye Leyao had a hard time holding back his laughter.

“No worries, Lu Bo won’t be smiling for long!”

Qin Yao nodded noncommittally.

He got up early this morning and saw the surprise!

After chatting a bit more, Wen Xiangyue and Liu Yan, fully made up, came out together.

Seeing everyone present, the director excitedly raised his megaphone: “We contacted her last night. The reason she’s here is because one of our guests is about to have a birthday, and she’s here to give birthday blessings! Now, let’s welcome our mystery guest!”

Upon hearing the director’s announcement, the guests were puzzled.

“Whose birthday is it?” Li Siyuan asked.

Ye Leyao’s eyes, anticipating a good show, were already fixed on Lu Bo.

Qin Yao and Huo Yan also looked over early.

Seeing Song Zhehan looking over too, the other guests followed suit.

Lu Bo was still comforting Duan Haoyan, even leaning his shoulder against Duan Haoyan’s, their heads very close together as if sharing a secret.

Actually, it just looked that way. Duan Haoyan was completely spaced out, not hearing a word Lu Bo was saying, leaving Lu Bo to play a one-man show in Duan Haoyan’s ear.

At that moment, a female voice suddenly rang out: “Lu Bo, are you itching to bloom in spring like a chrysanthemum? The person just got dumped and you’re making a move already!”

Lu Bo’s face changed upon hearing this, instinctively retorting, “What nonsense are you spouting, I’m just comforting—”

In that instant, an entire cake was smashed into Lu Bo’s face with force.

Gasps echoed around them.

Ye Leyao couldn’t help laughing:

[Hahahahahahaha, what a godlike ‘chrysanthemum blooming in spring’!]

[But Lu Bo, you’re completely done for.]