Chapter 53: Exploded

“Our Guesthouse” received invitations from a total of eight celebrities. Among them, Guan Xi had more contact with Cheng Xingyue and Zhong Tingting. The two provided excellent service and spent the entire next day accompanying her around.

In the evening, all the people from the guesthouse gathered for dinner.

Following the program’s cue, each guest at the dinner table needed to express their views and opinions on the homestay. However, since the guests were all big stars, the initial remarks were quite polite, with mostly positive comments.

Guan Xi came with a mission, so naturally, she couldn’t just say a few polite words like ordinary tourists. This would make her appear unprofessional.

After standing up, she first thanked Cheng Xingyue and Zhong Tingting for taking care of her, and then proceeded to evaluate the guesthouse itself and its associated activities. Since the homestay was newly opened and the celebrities lacked experience, there were many flaws, leading to plenty of “critiques.”

Because Guan Xi spoke candidly and without any pretense, after her speech, the several celebrities managing the inn were left somewhat stunned.

After summarizing a few directions for improvement, Guan Xi finally sat down, concluding her speech.

“Sister, you’re amazing! Although I didn’t quite understand, being amazing is enough!” Zhong Tingting, sitting next to her, leaned over and whispered.

“Is it too much?” Guan Xi glanced at the person next to her and asked, “Did I say too much?”

Zhong Tingting: “Not too much, not too much, it’s great!”

Relieved, Guan Xi nodded.

Later in the evening, she returned to her room to rest, and someone knocked on her door.

Guan Xi went to open the door and was surprised to find that it was Zhao Tong, the artist serving as the “boss” of the homestay. She was a more experienced artist, serious in her work, and had high standards for many things.

Guan Xi was somewhat surprised to see her coming over, “Is there something you need?”

Zhao Tong politely said, “It’s like this, Miss Guan. During dinner, the improvement suggestions you mentioned caught my attention. I’d like to hear more details. May I come in and seek your advice?”

Guan Xi replied, “Sure, please come in.”

“Thank you, and sorry for the disturbance.”

“No problem.”

In the next two hours, Guan Xi stayed in the room chatting with Zhao Tong about the matter. After Zhao Tong left, it was already late into the night, and Guan Xi forgot to reply to Jiang Suizhou’s messages. She lay on the bed and fell asleep.

The next day, upon waking up, Guan Xi discovered that Jiang Suizhou had called her several times.

“What’s up…” she rubbed her eyes, lying in bed as she returned his call.

At that moment, Jiang Suizhou was on his way to a meeting. Hearing her soft and somewhat impatient voice, he asked, “Just woke up?”

Guan Xi replied, “Yeah, I slept late yesterday.”

“What were you doing yesterday? I called you so many times, and you went to sleep without replying?”

“I forgot. I chatted with the people at the homestay too late yesterday and fell asleep.”

Jiang Suizhou was somewhat displeased, but seeing that she was okay, he didn’t press further. “I’ll pick you up tonight.”

“Oh…” Guan Xi struggled to get out of bed. “Then let me pack my luggage first; I need to check out.”

“Sure, see you tonight.”

Guan Xi had stayed for two nights and, after checking out and packing, started her journey back.

Back home, Guan Xi continued to follow the reality show “Our Guesthouse.” Initially, she used to watch it with Jiang Suizhou, but she later found out that he easily got distracted while watching reality shows. Out of annoyance, she stopped watching with him.

Three weeks later, after the fourth episode of “Our Guesthouse” aired, it was the episode where Guan Xi participated. Watching the preview at the end of the fourth episode, Guan Xi saw herself.

Originally, she was looking forward to her part, but as she watched the preview, she felt something was off.

In the preview, the part where they discussed at the dining table was shown, and Guan Xi’s words were included.

Standing up, Guan Xi addressed everyone, “There are many flaws in this guesthouse. For example, in terms of cleanliness, the rooms are not cleaned promptly after guests leave, and they come back to messy rooms… The recreational activities are quite boring… The food lacks uniqueness… I think it’s not good…”

“I think it’s not good… quite boring… many flaws… lacks uniqueness…”

These lines from Guan Xi were repeated twice in the preview, and Zhao Tong’s serious face was enlarged on the screen. The editing included dramatic music and four big characters next to Zhao Tong: “Life is meaningless.”

Following that, the second scene showed Zhao Tong crying in a dark and hard-to-capture location. Under the streetlight, with shadowy figures, it portrayed how Zhong Tingting had comforted Zhao Tong in the past.

“I know I did poorly…” Zhao Tong’s choked voice came through, “I’m not good, can’t satisfy others…”

Zhong Tingting also seemed to be crying along, “Zhao Tong, don’t say that, you’ve already worked so hard…”

The preview ended at this point. After watching the complete preview, Guan Xi remained stunned for a full minute.

Zhao Tong… cried?

Did the words she said that day make her cry? What did she say that day? Was it too harsh?

No… she just discussed things without attacking anyone.

But if it wasn’t too harsh, Zhao Tong wouldn’t have cried?

Guan Xi began to doubt herself… she quite liked Zhao Tong. If she had known that speaking too truthfully would make someone cry, she would have been more careful.

When Jiang Suizhou came out of the shower, he saw Guan Xi staring blankly at the paused TV screen.

“Has the meal been delivered?” Jiang Suizhou asked.

Today, the housekeeper took a day off, and they ordered takeout for dinner.

Guan Xi came back to her senses and pointed to the dining room, “It’s there.”

Jiang Suizhou said, “Then come over and eat.”

“Oh.” Guan Xi walked to the dining table and sat down without moving, completely in a “waiting to be served” posture.

Jiang Suizhou didn’t say much, just set the table for her, “What are you daydreaming about? Eat.”

Guan Xi picked up the chopsticks slowly, ate a few grains of rice slowly, and suddenly said, “I think I made someone cry.”

Jiang Suizhou didn’t think much of it, “Isn’t it normal for you to make someone cry?”

Guan Xi said, “I’m serious!”

Guan Xi put down her chopsticks with a frustrated expression.

Jiang Suizhou paused, looked at her, and seeing her genuinely upset, changed his tone, “Okay, I was kidding. Why are you getting mad?”

Guan Xi rested her hands on the table, losing her appetite, “It’s about that variety show. They asked me to suggest improvements for the homestay and nearby activities. So, I spoke my mind. I didn’t expect Zhao Tong to cry secretly after I spoke. That night, she even came to discuss how to improve things without telling me what I did wrong to make her sad. I had no idea she cried.”

As Guan Xi continued, she became more frustrated, “Did I say anything really hurtful back then? I can’t remember the details. I only found out she cried when I saw the preview today. Nobody told me before, really…”

Seeing her upset, Jiang Suizhou put down his chopsticks, “It’s okay, even if you said something, it was unintentional. Were you trying to maliciously attack someone at that time?”

“Of course not, I’m very professional. I was just analyzing the situation.”

“That’s it then. It’s just a preview; these shows like to create some drama in them. Once the variety show airs in a few days, everyone will understand. Let’s just eat first.”

“Yeah…”

Relieved by his words, Guan Xi picked up her chopsticks to eat. However, at that moment, her phone rang. It was a call from Wang Qing, so she got up to answer in the living room.

“Hello, what’s up?”

“Guan Xi, did you see the preview for the next episode of ‘Our Guesthouse’?”

“Yeah, I saw it.”

“Did you really speak so honestly that day… Oh dear, going on a variety show, why be so genuine.”

Guan Xi: “…No, the program asked me to speak the truth.”

Wang Qing: “You only need to listen to half of what the production team says. Why be so harsh?”

Harsh? She doesn’t recall anything? Guan Xi herself is a bit fuzzy, remembering the words repeated twice in the trailer. It seems… a bit unreasonable?

Wang Qing sounds a bit anxious, “Oh, you don’t know, do you? Many fans from other celebrities are coming to criticize you on Weibo. Those people’s words are really harsh. If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have forced you to take on this show!”

Guan Xi didn’t pay much attention to what Wang Qing said later. She hung up the phone and logged into her Weibo.

The celebrities in “Our Guesthouse” are all well-known, and Zhao Tong and Zhong Tingting are especially well-regarded artists. So, at this moment, Guan Xi’s Weibo is really lively.

【Who is this nobody, criticizing Zhao Tong like that?】

【If you think it’s not good, just say it. What’s good, you can tell us. It’s not easy for them to manage, all talk and no action.】

【Making Zhao Tong cry, must have cut out a lot of more malicious words.】

【To be honest, I find this girl very beautiful…】

【Beautiful what? Can she speak properly, speechless.】

【Zhong Tingting also cried. Looking at the preview, it seems Tingting and Cheng Xingyue are her playmates. It’s really tough, this person seems difficult to handle.】

【Xi Xi understands hotels and homestays well. Speaking the truth, what’s wrong with that?】

【Who the girl is doesn’t matter, what’s important is that her looks crush those few female celebrities, hahaha.】

【Variety shows are all about selling looks and…】

…

Guan Xi sits on the sofa, reading the Weibo comments.

Expressionless on the face, but internally thinking, “Damn! Seriously!?” A series of curses flow through her mind.

Now this feeling brings her back to when she saw netizens criticizing her sister Guan Zhiyi. At that time, seeing netizens crazily attacking Guan Zhiyi, she thought: What a garbage entertainment industry! Why are they cursing her precious sister! She won’t stand for it. She must drag her back to inherit the family property! Quitting this trashy celebrity business!

However, she had calculated in every possible way, but she never expected that she would have such a day herself.

“Whose call is it? What are you looking at?” Jiang Suizhou noticed that she had been sitting there without eating for a long time and walked over.

Guan Xi’s face drooped, and after he sat down beside her, she directly snuggled into his arms. “Oh, no one called, and I wasn’t looking at anything.”

While speaking the toughest words, her body exuded the softest charm.

Guan Xi rubbed against his chest and said with a pout, “There’s nothing going on!”

Jiang Suizhou touched her head and frowned, “Let me see.”

Guan Xi didn’t give in, “I told you there’s nothing.”

How could Jiang Suizhou believe her? He directly snatched the phone she was holding.

Guan Xi protested, “Hey—”

Jiang Suizhou held her down with one hand, raised the phone with the other, and tilted his head to look at the comments still on the screen.

His face gradually darkened.

Jiang Suizhou didn’t speak, directly using Guan Xi’s phone to search for that trailer.

At this point, Guan Xi didn’t resist anymore, quietly waiting for him to finish watching the trailer.

“Wait a moment, I’ll make a call.” Jiang Suizhou put down the phone and was about to get up.

Guan Xi grabbed him, “What are you calling for? Don’t just call the program team directly.”

Jiang Suizhou looked down at her, his expression clearly saying: What’s the problem?

Guan Xi stopped him from leaving, “Weren’t you just saying it’s just a trailer? Wait until the variety show airs in a few days, and everyone will understand. Why are you changing your stance now?”

Although Guan Xi was angry about the netizens’ insults, she didn’t want to go directly to the program team to exert pressure. She participated in this variety show seriously, believing that she hadn’t done anything wrong and had always been professional.

So why should she go and pressure them, making it seem like she had really bullied someone!

Jiang Suizhou: “Not going to address it? Just like this?”

Jiang Suizhou had just mentioned that it was just a teaser, and everything would be clear once the full episode was released. That was because he thought it was nothing serious. However, after reading those comments, he found it hard to keep quiet.

Guan Xi pulled him back to the sofa, saying, “Address what? I haven’t done anything wrong. Besides, the teaser has already been released. What else can be done? Let them delete it… that will only make others more suspicious of me. Anyway, we’ll know the truth when it airs, and then we can slap these online mobs in the face!”

Jiang Suizhou: “So, you don’t mind being inexplicably criticized like this?”

“I do mind.” Guan Xi bit his jaw, angrily saying, “That’s why you should comfort me!”

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