After becoming the stand-in for the four big guys - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Whoa! Ji Yanshu must be some rich second-generation heir!”

“Heh, even for rich heirs, this restaurant usually takes a long time to book—unless he made the reservation long ago and picked it up today.”

“Who would casually take out XQT private dishes? Most people book it for major deals or important family events. He must be someone big.”

“Rich and handsome—no wonder even Bai Xueyi can’t take her eyes off him!”

Netizens were clearly sharp. With just a few lines, they’d already uncovered Ji Yanshu’s status. But this was exactly what the production team had planned to reveal in tomorrow’s broadcast segment.

Sure enough, after dinner, the eight guests sat in the living room on bean bag sofas and started chatting about their professions.

“Let’s start by guessing the male guests’ jobs, shall we? The scope is too wide otherwise. How about each of us gives a little hint to help everyone learn more?”

Chen Kai had always been the life of the party among the guests. Once he warmed up the atmosphere, the female guests began guessing, starting with Male Guest No.1.

“Ji Yanshu, give us a clue already! I’m really curious about your job!”

Yu Jing chimed in too. After all, a man who could casually bring back signature dishes from XQT’s private chef—she had never met anyone of that level in real life… Not that she was trying to curry favor; she was simply curious.

It was like ordinary people feeling a bit dazzled when they saw a celebrity, fully aware of the gap between them.

“Currently an entrepreneur in the new energy vehicle industry.”

Ji Yanshu didn’t care for guessing games. With a single sentence, he made it clear that he was the owner of a new energy car brand—though he didn’t specify which company.

Still, it was obviously impressive.

Who could casually venture into the new energy vehicle industry without solid capital?

And while he was speaking, the TV in the living room automatically began playing footage of his daytime meetings—no sound, but the pixelated data charts on the projected screen, the row of suited executives in the conference room, and the deferential posture of a senior staff member in front of him all screamed CEO.

The livestream comments erupted in excitement. Bai Xueyi and Zhu Zihan’s eyes sparkled differently as they looked at him.

Su Hua and Yu Jing also let out a quiet “wow,” but their reactions were clearly more rational.

Next was Chen Kai’s turn—it turned out he was a radio host.

“No wonder your Mandarin sounds so standard. So you’re a broadcasting major.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m that good—otherwise I’d be like the top seniors at the station, reporting on national news, hahaha!”

His job matched his outgoing personality well. But what surprised everyone was Mo Yawen. He looked like an artsy guy who liked to draw, but he turned out to be… a programmer.

“Ah, about my hair… I actually pulled several all-nighters for a project and didn’t have time to get a haircut. Then people started saying long hair looked good on me, so I just kept it.”

“Drawing is just a hobby. After staring at a screen all day, I don’t want to look at another device when I get home, so I travel and do sketches to relax.”

Chu Zhi thought he might not be as impressive as Ji Yanshu yet, but he was definitely above Chen Kai and Mo Yawen. So he smugly dropped a vague hint:

“My family runs a supermarket chain. Not that big, just a few hundred stores nationwide. I just help manage it a little—my old man’s still in great shape.”

A few hundred stores, and he calls that not big?

Netizens were stunned. Especially when they saw footage of him in a suit inspecting a supermarket—his aura was overwhelming.

“Damn, no wonder this guy acts so cocky. He actually has the capital to be cocky!”

“Hundreds of locations?! That’s got to be a mega-rich second gen. No way his dad built that empire from scratch alone.”

“Honestly, his family might be even wealthier than Ji Yanshu’s. Who even knows what brand of new energy cars that is? But a chain with hundreds of stores—that’s concrete proof of wealth. The scale looks like HW Group.”

“Is he the heir of HW? Are the guests on this show really *this* high quality now? With that kind of background, shouldn’t tons of actresses be lining up to marry him?”

“Maybe he’s just here for fun?”

“No way the production team could afford to invite someone like that.”

“Even though the logo is pixelated, with my sharp eyes I swear it looks like HW’s emblem… let me go compare!”

Sure enough, sharp-eyed viewers dug deeper and confirmed Chu Zhi’s identity.

As one of the leading supermarket giants in the country, HW was a household name. The heir had rarely been seen in public, and now that he appeared with such striking looks and overwhelming wealth, many viewers who previously thought he was arrogant quickly changed sides.

Suddenly, people felt that with that kind of background, it was only natural for him to be a little haughty—and many joined his fanbase, screaming online that they wanted to bear his children.

In no time, the title “National Boyfriend” trended, and the show’s viewership skyrocketed.

—

On the female guests’ side, Su Hua was the first to be asked.

“Me? I’m currently working odd jobs. Just a regular working girl.”

While she spoke, it was obvious she didn’t dare look at Chu Zhi. Her shy and insecure demeanor—down to the way she curled her fingers—perfectly captured the inner conflict of a poor girl realizing her crush was out of reach.

Especially as the video cut to Su Hua wearing a cartoon bear costume, clumsily handing out flyers to passersby—many of whom ignored her or tossed the flyers away. It was a sharp contrast to the earlier footage of Chu Zhi being flattered by staff during his store inspections.

“Sigh, they really aren’t from the same world. Su Hua, just face the reality and give up.”

“No wonder her hair was soaked in sweat when she came back. Wearing that thing all day—how could she not smell bad?”

“I don’t think she’ll give up that easily. She probably already figured out Chu Zhi was rich and is dreaming of a Cinderella moment. Just look at Yu Jing—she’s so rational, she didn’t even write a letter to either of the handsome guys yesterday.”

“She’s just quietly crushing on someone. Haven’t we all done that? Stop acting salty just because you can’t have him. Why can you all fangirl over Chu Zhi, but she can’t fall in love at first sight?”

Though some kind-hearted girls online empathized with Su Hua, most viewers were pessimistic about her. They believed she’d only bring suffering on herself if she kept going.

Su Hua didn’t see the comments, but she could more or less imagine them.

After all, in novels, when the **female lead** falls in love, it’s called “love knows no class,” but when the **female supporting character** does it, it’s called “not knowing her place.”

This wasn’t a deeply emotional scene, so Su Hua didn’t let herself get swept away. She acted pitiful and insecure on the surface, but in reality, she didn’t care one bit.

Her real goal was to reach for the stars in the entertainment industry. A man would only distract her from her ambitions.

And besides—what’s wrong with doing odd jobs? Without diligent laborers, how could the country stay prosperous and stable? How could the rich live so comfortably?

Many of today’s wealthy elites had ancestors who started out as regular workers too…

Although Su Hua wasn’t a second-gen or Nth-gen rich kid, she was still young—with endless possibilities ahead. Who’s to say she couldn’t become the *first* generation of wealth?

“Su Hua, you looked *so* cute in that bear costume!”

Yu Jing had no idea that Su Hua’s shy behavior was all an act. Seeing her hanging her head like she wanted to shrink into the floor, she generously and sincerely complimented her.

“My brother used to hand out flyers too. Once the right opportunity comes, you’ll find a job you like and are good at. Don’t get discouraged!”

Chen Kai also offered timely encouragement.

Su Hua usually acted opposite professionals—they all knew it was a performance, so there was no pressure.

But now, with her housemates unaware of the truth and earnestly offering warm words one after another, Su Hua almost couldn’t keep up the act. She sighed inwardly, then lifted her head with eyes full of hopeful longing:

“Thank you for comforting me. I’ll do my best!”

“By the way, Jing-jie, what kind of work do you do?”

The body Su Hua had transmigrated into was only 20 years old. She had privately asked Yu Jing before and knew she was six years older, so she respectfully addressed her as *jie*.

“Auto modification. If any of your friends need something in the future, feel free to stop by…”

“Jing-jie, that’s such a cool job—just like you!”

Su Hua really liked this big sister. Yu Jing was genuinely bold and straightforward, not just pretending to be a “tough girl.” Her concern was heartfelt. Su Hua silently promised herself that when she became successful, she’d definitely support Yu Jing’s business.

Of course, for now, she couldn’t even afford a car—she didn’t even have a driver’s license yet.

Then it was Zhu Zihan’s turn. She didn’t have a job either, but since her family was wealthy, the concepts of “inferiority” or “pressure” didn’t apply to her at all.

“Why would I need to work? I don’t even finish spending my annual dividends. My future husband wouldn’t let me work either. My mom told me that my only responsibility is to stay pretty and be happy.”

When asked about work, she lifted her chin slightly with pride, but her eyes kept drifting toward Ji Yanshu, clearly implying that he was her ideal husband.

Characters like her were usually foils to the female lead, so the moment she said that, online viewers started criticizing her.

“Honestly, I just graduated and haven’t started working yet. But before I returned home, I received an offer from SJ Company—they hired me as their lead designer.”

That comment from the female lead made Zhu Zihan’s lack of ambition even more obvious.

“I heard SJ hired the top protégé of international fashion designer G as their new chief designer—could Bai Xueyi be G’s protégé?”

“Wow, she’s so young and already the top student of a global master—she must be incredibly gifted!”

“They say SJ paid an astronomical price to get her. If she didn’t have real talent, they wouldn’t have dared hire her.”

“There aren’t many people with the surname Bai. With Bai Xueyi’s elegance, could she be from the Bai family of Jiangnan textile fame?”

“Chu Zhi really matches better with Miss Bai. No matter how hard Su Hua works, she’s just not from the same world.”

After everyone finished their introductions, the guests had a general understanding of one another. It was only 8 PM—not quite time to shower and sleep—but the show rules didn’t allow guests to use their phones.

Otherwise, if each person had their own phone, the show would lose its appeal, and it wouldn’t help deepen the interactions between male and female guests.

“Senior, would you like to have a drink with me?”

After Ji Yanshu was called away by a work call to the third-floor study and didn’t return, Chu Zhi quickly took the opportunity to invite his goddess for a drink. But Bai Xueyi simply smiled and replied:

“The weather’s a bit stuffy. I think I’ll go for a swim.”

Su Hua recognized this scene. The novel didn’t describe every detail of the show, but the swimming pool incident had been written into three full chapters.

First, the female lead knew the third-floor windows faced the pool. Dissatisfied with the second male lead’s coldness, she decided to try seducing him. But he wasn’t interested. Instead, it was the male lead and the female lead who had their first spark of chemistry by the pool.

After all, hormones + physical contact = the novel’s planned mini-romance climax.

As the supporting female character, Su Hua also had a small part in this scene.

She didn’t have many lines or interactions—just changed into a swimsuit and quietly followed them to the pool. There, she felt ashamed seeing the female lead’s figure, grew jealous at the intimate atmosphere between the leads, and ended up crouching alone in the shadows, crying silently in the pool after the two went upstairs.

“Su Hua, want to play cards?”

Zhu Zihan saw Ji Yanshu wouldn’t be back anytime soon and decided to go do her nails. There were just four people left in the living room. Su Hua was about to go upstairs to change, but Yu Jing called out to her.

They were one player short~

What fun was watching the leads flirt compared to a game of Dou Dizhu?

Besides… spying wasn’t really appropriate… squatting for an hour would make her legs numb…

“I’m in!”

Su Hua hesitated for 0.1 seconds, then decided to delay her scene for a bit—the system said she could adjust depending on the situation.

Of

course, Su Hua still took her acting seriously. Look at her—even while playing cards, she kept glancing toward the pool. The unbeatable champion of Dou Dizhu actually lost a round to Yu Jing!