Chapter 119: The Grand Finale of the Dating Show (Part One)

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Wang Xiucai is a prominent entertainment blogger on DY with over three million fans. He gains followers by critiquing and poking fun at the entertainment industry—the messier it gets, the more he benefits. Wang Xiucai is among the top influencers in this regard.

Lately, the industry has been relatively calm—no scandals involving young idols, no cheating rumors. For bloggers like Wang Xiucai, this kind of lull is tough; they can only produce videos reviewing works or discussing artists, which barely garner likes or views.

However, since he began analyzing a breakout dating reality show a month ago, his views and likes have soared dramatically, his traffic surging to satisfy his hunger for hits. Energized, Wang Xiucai rolled up his sleeves, ready for some serious work.

At noon sharp, episode seven of the dating show was released. Wang Xiucai immediately skipped to the ending, where he saw Chen Siyang and Tang Zhichu parting ways. He was instantly thrilled.

This was major material!

He quickly sent a message in a small copywriting group: “Everyone, go watch the latest episode of ‘Heartbeat’ and write your drafts ASAP.”

Wang Xiucai had made six episodes analyzing the show so far; the one about QQ Candy had the highest likes, exceeding 600,000. This was one of the most-liked videos he had ever produced, comparable to his peak performance.

Thanks to his video work, he knew the show inside out. A team helped analyze it, and he summarized their insights into his videos. He even listed over a dozen standout moments that made the show go viral.

Many viewers, after watching the dating show, habitually returned to Wang’s long videos to feel complete.

Tang Zhichu’s DY account, named “Little Tang Who Can’t Sing,” was made famous by Wang Xiucai. That account now boasts over two million followers despite having no original content—gaining over a million fans in just one month.

Other bloggers tracking follower growth on Douyin were stunned. The top account this month had no content other than fan analyses—truly a testament to the “Candy God’s” influence.

Wang Xiucai opened the episode and fast-forwarded three minutes past a slew of ads. The scene shifted to the analysis panel in the observation room, and the host had just dropped a hint about the candy.

“Wow, is that the QQ Candy made by the Candy God?”

“Good omen! That’s like getting candy ahead of time!”

“Ah! It tastes better than the ones I made myself! I never managed to grab one; it’s so popular!”

The guests were recording this episode shortly after the QQ Candy hype, equally amazed.

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Not only the dating show but no other commercial program had ever sparked such an event—a candy featured in the show sold out instantly, impossible to find.

Even more astonishing, it boosted sales of jelly candies worldwide. If you couldn’t get QQ Candy, why not try a substitute?

As the largest jelly candy manufacturer, Changwang Group posted a photo of Tang Zhichu on Weibo. That post cemented Tang Zhichu’s title as the Candy God.

These viral highlights were so explosive that when problems arose between Chen Siyang and Tang Zhichu, many fans pushed back, unable to accept the fallout.

“In the last episode, we saw some issues between Yangyang and the Candy God. Yangyang is an industry insider with irregular work hours and locations. Candy God is excellent but clearly more traditional. It’s normal to have some conflicts in family and career views. This is real. They aimed for a long-term relationship, so their worries are understandable. If it were just casual dating, why think this much?”

“Because of these issues, I actually like them more. Adult love is never a fairy tale. I believe the audience understands that it’s those real-life conflicts and the gradual compromises that define love.”

After the guests’ analysis, a psychology-trained writer stepped in to summarize and fill in gaps.

Wang Xiucai glanced at the live comments. Surprisingly, few were insulting anyone; some seemed convinced by the panel’s reasoning.

Still, Wang anticipated the reactions after Chen Siyang and Tang Zhichu’s breakup.

The scene shifted to a campsite.

It was April, with vast stretches of green grass blending shades of fresh spring. In front of the tents, several figures were busy with different tasks.

Tang Zhichu was tending the charcoal fire, Zhou Yun sat peeling garlic nearby, while Jiang Lan and Huang Zejun washed vegetables.

When the wind tousled Zhou Yun’s hair, she asked, “Hey, I was so good to you from the start, even brought you medicine—why didn’t you choose me?”

Seeing this, Wang Xiucai felt an unexpected pang in his chest.

He had watched every episode carefully, knowing Zhou Yun had been harshly criticized. Yet she never sabotaged Chen Siyang and Tang Zhichu’s relationship; she was the one who initially approached Tang Zhichu, even staying up late to make porridge for him.

As Tang Zhichu was about to respond, Zhou Yun said, “Forget it, I don’t want to hear it.”

Wang sighed, sensing the spark in Zhou Yun’s heart had just been extinguished.

In the comments, there were hardly any insults towards Zhou Yun this time; instead, many viewers were moved to tears.

“So, meeting someone too dazzling can be a curse if you can’t hold on.”

“Candy God, please be with Yangyang!”

“Candy God, your singing is amazing. Join the entertainment circle! We all support you. Just be on variety shows with Yangyang forever—I’ll definitely watch, forever, really!”

“Poor Yun’er, feeling for little Yun!”

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“Yeah, don’t mind it. Candy God, your singing is fantastic. Join the entertainment industry like Yangyang. Your little eatery isn’t really yours—you should be somewhere bigger!”

“Join Tianhe Entertainment, the same company as Yangyang. Your popularity is sky-high now, no worries. Yangyang is super nice!”

By the final episode, the audience’s bitterness had greatly softened. Wang Xiucai watched the comments and found himself unexpectedly moved.

He had originally disliked the so-called CP fans, but watching Candy God and Yangyang’s fans was endearing.

Perhaps this was why the show became so popular.

“It’s so heartbreaking to watch. Candy God isn’t even paying attention to Yangyang anymore!”

“I want to punch him. Yangyang has been so proactive—how hard is it to teach you how to grill eggplant? How can he be so cruel?”

“There’s definitely a breakup. They didn’t communicate well in the last episode. Both are too young. Candy God had reservations from the start, and Yangyang’s words didn’t sound very firm. So the gap widened. Like the writer in the observation room said, this is unavoidable reality. Some relationships are destined to be crushed by reality!”

“I don’t care, I want Candy God and Yangyang together. It’s such an incredible start—an artist going on a dating show and having mutual feelings. It’s so rare. You two better make it!”

Wang Xiucai sighed, feeling the rawness of it all.

If there were a script, they wouldn’t have ended like this. With their current popularity, staying together peacefully would maximize benefits.

From Wang’s perspective, it was simply too real.

They didn’t even want to fabricate or perform a fairy tale for the audience.

From another angle, wasn’t that a kind of romance too?

Wang Xiucai thought their breakup might be the truest ending.

As he watched and summarized for his next video, the campfire blazed, flames almost as tall as the tents, sparks flying with the wind.

Three women sat together, drinking and singing, while Tang Zhichu quietly grilled skewers alone.

Huang Zejun and Yang Jiaxing glanced between the women and Tang Zhichu, looking unsure what to do.

(The chapter ends)