Qin Wei was quite surprised to hear Li Yao swear in public, but she also knew it was not the time for such thoughts.
"Ahem...ahem..."
Qin Wei shook her head.
"No, what's up?"
Li Yao had her sit in front of the mirror. Qin Wei sat down and looked at herself in the mirror, stunned for a moment.
"An allergic reaction?"
Qin Wei looked at her reddened jaw and slightly swollen lips, and finally realized what Li Yao meant.
She was allergic to peanut butter, and the sauce in that salad box very likely contained peanut butter!
"Damn! I only ate one salad box, how...what should I do now?"
Qin Wei touched her face. If she didn't go to the hospital soon, her whole face might break out in hives!
Li Yao rubbed his temples. He thought to himself that she was so careless, when she clearly knew she had a peanut allergy yet still didn't pay attention when eating things?
He blamed himself for spoiling her too much in the past, not letting her worry about anything.
Li Yao glanced at his watch and asked Qin Wei, "Did you bring any medication?"
Qin Wei was confused, "What medicine?"
"Loratadine tablets."
Qin Wei shook her head. Because she didn't know she was allergic to some foods, she had never paid any attention to it before.
Li Yao felt a headache coming on. They hadn't even gone on stage yet, and everything was already over.
"Why did you buy food yourself? Normal salads don't contain peanut butter unless specifically requested. Did you do this on purpose?"
Facing Li Yao's questioning, Qin Wei felt a little annoyed.
"What do you mean I did this on purpose? Do you think I'm that kind of person? Since I came, of course I want to participate in the competition! Are you doubting that I have a negative attitude towards the competition?"
Li Yao pointed to the lunchbox on the table next to them, "Then how do you explain this?"
"The program team ordered it for all the artists."
Qin Wei truthfully said,
"Someone else reminded me about it before I even noticed. She walked past me and took it from the delivery box sent by the TV station staff...Are you saying there's something wrong with the salad?"
Li Yao was also surprised for a moment. If it was left by the station it should be fine, but he also vaguely felt something was off.
"Qin Wei, who reminded you?"
"A young female artist named Youyou. She said we were alumni. What's up? Did she tamper with the salad?"
Li Yao shook his head.
"There are cameras backstage. She's also a public figure, how could she dare tamper with anything? But she's an artist under Shengshi Entertainment, and her older sister is Liu Xin..."
When Qin Wei heard him say this, she also felt terrified upon further reflection, but it wasn't just her who ate it, other people did too. And she didn't even open her box, so how could it be possible for the program team to collude with Liu Xin's company and the delivery store to target her?
Impossible. The salad boxes all looked the same, whichever one they gave her would be random, it wasn't meant to harm her.
Maybe there was a little peanut butter in every salad box.
So was Youyou deliberately harmful or innocent?
"This is too suspicious. The program team has no reason to target only you, but with Shengshi Entertainment involved, I don't think it's a coincidence either...
But in the end, it's also my fault. I shouldn't have let you come up alone. Little ancestor, it may not have been an accident that I was led astray. The two of us may have been set up."
Li Yao picked up the lunchbox and used his finger to scoop up some of the remaining sauce to carefully taste it. There was very little peanut butter, it would be easy to miss if you weren't paying attention.
He looked back at the other lunchboxes left on the table, those were all leftovers from other people. Li Yao frowned, then randomly grabbed one and scooped up some of the sauce to taste.
Sure enough, it was no different from hers.
If all this was really targeted at Qin Wei, then the other side went through a lot of trouble. He was truly negligent that they were in the light while the opponent was in the dark.
Li Yao sighed. Things had become like this, blaming her would be meaningless now. He knew his own artist well. Her previous arrogance was an act, and her dramatic change in temperament now was also an act. Ultimately, she didn't have so many schemes.
"I'm sorry. I forced you to participate in the competition, but in the end we can't even get on stage. We'll have to stop here. Let's go, to the hospital first, then home."
At this time, the screen was showing Liu Xin's performance. She was dancing jazz to the song "River", the same song Qin Wei had chosen.
She had great explosive power, strong rhythm, smooth movements, and most importantly, her eyes were full of high spirits.
What she presented to the camera was pure confidence.
She also chose "River"?
Although she didn't want to overthink it, she also didn't believe this was a coincidence.
Feeling unwilling arose in her heart. For the first time in months, Qin Wei didn't want to back down, but it was too late.
Some things, you just have to accept fate?
She glanced at the screen, then turned to Li Yao and said,
"Looks like this is it. I feel a little bad for General Manager Xu, but there's no other way. Let's go."
"Ms. Qin, please wait a moment."
After hearing their conversation, the stylist ran out and quickly came back, panting and telling Qin Wei to wait. In her hands was a box of medication.
"I have allergic rhinitis, loratadine is medicine I always keep on hand. The medicine box is unopened, don't worry, please take it quickly!"
This was medicine Li Yao had seen before. After checking it, he gave it to Qin Wei to take.
After taking the medicine, Qin Wei's allergic discomfort was much relieved.
Li Yao was also clinging to the last thread of hope waiting for results, while anxiously glancing at his watch.
It would be her turn soon...
...
"Click!"
In the studio, the director said to Shen Kai,
"We got through that take, thanks for the hard work, Kai!"
Shen Kai nodded slightly at the director, then walked away while taking off his costume and throwing it to his assistant, striding quickly towards the rest area.
"Xiao Jin, who's on the livestream now?"
In the rest area, only Shen Kai's assistant Xiao Jin was present. Today he had followed Shen Kai's arrangements and not gone on set, but rather stayed here to watch Lizhi TV's live broadcast gala.
Although he didn't know why Kai had arranged it this way...
But the set was hot while here there was air conditioning and drinks, he would just take it as Kai giving him a treat!
Xiao Jin handed the tablet to Shen Kai:
"Right now it's Kong Yi from Huanyi Entertainment. She sang pretty well, but I think the most explosive scene was Qiao Xiao's."
Shen Kai didn't respond, staring at the screen.
Xiao Jin guessed that perhaps Kai wanted to select the female lead for his next drama from these contestants. Why else would he pay attention to a variety show like this?
"Who's next?"
Shen Kai suddenly asked him.
Xiao Jin didn't know either, but didn't dare reply that way. He quickly checked online trends:
"They didn't release a program schedule for this livestream, but based on the process of elimination, netizens guess the next most likely one is Qin Wei."
Qin Wei...
So she hadn't performed yet. He had caught the livestream on time.
The corners of Shen Kai's mouth curled up involuntarily.
Meanwhile from Xiao Jin's perspective—
"So it turns out Kai is interested in Kong Yi..."
...
After Kong Yi left the stage, the host still didn't come out. The audience and judges started whispering amongst themselves. The next one was Qin Wei, could it be that after seeing the other contestants were stronger than her, she lost confidence and wasn't coming?
The bullet screen comments also started mocking—
[Grass, is Qin Wei a turtle? We waited all night for her and when it's her turn she's shrunk into her shell?]
[Can those in front be more patient? Maybe it's an issue with the program team? Are you at the scene? Are you backstage? Do you know what happened?]
[Qin Wei hurry up╰(‵□′)╯]
[Hurry hurry fast fast!]
[Stop wasting time, if you don't want to compete just withdraw!]
[Right, hurry up!! There are other sisters after you, don't delay the time!]
[Qin Wei give us a clear answer, either come out or get lost!]
[It's been a minute folks, has Qin Wei decided not to come?]
[Squatted here all night for nothing, f*ck, blacklisting for life!]
[Does it really matter if she comes or not? Haven't you all see her in previous galas before? Can't sing, dances like doing calisthenics, watching her perform is mental pollution.]
[doge]
...
Shen Kai also felt she was taking too long to come on stage...
"She wouldn't have gotten cold feet, right?"
Shen Kai frowned, stroking his chin.
"Why isn't she coming out yet?"
Xiao Jin muttered beside him,
"Next should be Yan Jinyu...a Huoyu Entertainment artist, graduated from a music conservatory, active in many areas, looks pretty good too..."
Shen Kai glanced at him and he immediately shut up.
"If this drags on, the program team will also just cancel her qualification to compete! Useless decorative pillow, and here I was starting to change my view after seeing your recent performance. What a waste."
Shen Kai sighed, about to put down the tablet.
"After all, that's how it is. Other than a pretty face, there's nothing else."
Xiao Jin was taken aback, listening to Shen Kai's soliloquy. Perhaps what he wanted to see was not Kong Yi, but...
Xiao Jin carefully asked:
"Brother Kai, the one you picked is Qin Wei??"
