My ex-girlfriend's best friends are getting restless right after the breakup.

Chapter 31 Bei Weiwei's Straight-Ahead Offensive

"Weiwei," Chen Bo sighed, "Even if you like me, I just broke up with my boyfriend, I'm in a mess, and I have a competition coming up soon, so I don't have the mind to talk about relationships."

"I didn't ask you to date me right now!" Bei Weiwei blinked. "I can wait, wait until your competition is over, wait until you calm down, wait until you're willing to look at me."

She rested her chin on her hands, like a kitten waiting to be fed: "Chen Bo, give me a chance. I'm no worse than Yue Qing, and I'll treat you even better. Besides, my parents really like you. They saw your picture at my house last time and said you're a really handsome young man..."

Chen Bo rubbed his forehead.

This offensive is too fierce.

Just then, footsteps came from the doorway.

Zhou Lingyan was wearing a sports vest and yoga pants, with a towel draped around her neck, as if she had just finished exercising somewhere in the garden-like villa area.

She walked into the living room and saw the heart-shaped mountain on the coffee table and the giant teddy bear on the sofa, raising her eyebrows high.

"Oh," she said sourly, "Miss Bei is delivering goods again? This time she even brought a teddy bear. What, are you worried Chen Bo will be lonely at night and need a pillow?"

Bei Weiwei blushed, but quickly regained her composure and retorted with a smile: "Lingyan, are you jealous of how good I am to Chen Bo? Well, yes, you're nice to him with ulterior motives, but my feelings for him are genuine. It's a different story."

Zhou Lingyan was taken aback, then snorted coldly: "Sincere? Weiwei, your sincerity comes at a very opportune time. You couldn't wait to get involved as soon as Yueqing broke up. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been staking out her for three years."

"So what if I've been staking out this place for three years?" Bei Weiwei readily admitted, standing up and looking directly at Zhou Lingyan. "I've liked Chen Bo for three years. He used to be Yue Qing's boyfriend, and I respected them and didn't do anything. Now that he's single, what's wrong with me pursuing the person I like?"

Zhou Lingyan opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a rebuttal.

She suddenly realized that Bei Weiwei's direct attack style was simply invincible.

You're mocking her for taking advantage of a vulnerable moment? She openly admitted that she's liked him for three years.

You say her motives are impure? She's clearly just trying to woo him.

"Okay, you're something else." Zhou Lingyan rolled her eyes, walked to the refrigerator to get some water, "But Weiwei, let me remind you, Chen Bo is living here now, he's my boyfriend (in quotes). If you want to pursue him, you'll have to get past me first."

Chen Bo tacitly agreed; he had no choice, for he was beholden to those who offered him food and drink.

Besides, he just committed a butt-grabbing murder last night, and he's been waving a knife around looking for weaknesses, waiting to deliver a fatal blow. He can't afford to turn against them.

"Chen Bo, aren't you going to say something?" Bei Weiwei said aggrievedly.

"A mere tool has no right to speak." Zhou Lingyan glared at Chen Bo, then looked at Bei Weiwei, "Weiwei, does Yueqing know you've liked Chen Bo for three years? If she does, will your fake sisterhood still be intact?"

Bei Weiwei's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her composure: "I will find an opportunity to talk to Yueqing. When it comes to matters of the heart, we can't give up on relationships just because of friendship. Lingyan, if you truly consider Chen Bo a friend, you should support him in finding someone who is genuinely good to him, instead of using him as a tool for you and Yueqing to fight."

Zhou Lingyan tightened her grip on the water bottle. Bei Weiwei's words struck a nerve with the guilt she was unwilling to acknowledge deep inside.

Yes, she took Chen Bo back with the intention of provoking Xu Yueqing.

Although Chen Bo himself didn't mind and even enjoyed it, in essence, she was indeed using him.

"Say what you want." Zhou Lingyan turned her face away, her tone stiff. "Anyway, he's staying here now, so he has to listen to me."

"Then I'll come here often." Bei Weiwei sat down again with a smile, picked up a cream puff and handed it to Chen Bo, "Chen Bo, try this, it's really delicious."

Chen Bo took the cream puff and looked at the two women who were at odds with each other. Suddenly, he felt like he had become some kind of hot commodity.

"Um," he mumbled, taking a bite of his cream puff, "you can argue all you want, but don't treat me like a prize, okay? I'm a person, I have the right to choose."

"What do you choose?" Zhou Lingyan and Bei Weiwei asked in unison.

Chen Bo was speechless.

He glanced at Zhou Lingyan—beautiful and flamboyant, with a fiery temper, but not a bad person at heart, and she had provided him with such a good place to live and such facilities.

He looked at Bei Weiwei again—gentle and sweet, sincere, and she had liked him for three years; her persistence was touching.

"I choose..." Chen Bo swallowed the cream puff with difficulty, "to prepare for the competition first, and we can talk about the rest after the competition."

"Coward." Zhou Lingyan scoffed.

"It's okay, I'll wait for you," Bei Weiwei said gently.

"Oh, right," Bei Weiwei suddenly remembered something, "Chen Bo, when is your competition? I want to go to the stadium to cheer you on!"

"Next Wednesday," Chen Bo said. "However, the challenge match will not have an audience; it will all be recorded internally."

"I can get a work pass!" Bei Weiwei's eyes lit up. "I know someone on the show's production team; getting a staff member's ID is easy. I'll cheer you on backstage!"

Zhou Lingyan immediately said, "I'll go too."

Bei Weiwei looked at her: "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to watch the play," Zhou Lingyan said matter-of-factly. "I want to see how Chen Bo gets eliminated in the first round, and I want to see Yue Qing's expression in the audience—isn't she going too?"

Chen Bo: "..."

The recording session next Wednesday is likely to be very, very lively.

Xu Yueqing was in the audience, Bei Weiwei was backstage, Zhou Lingyan was in some unknown corner, and he himself was on stage...

This is hardly a singing competition.

This is clearly a live broadcast of a chaotic scene.

"I'm suddenly a little nervous," Chen Bo murmured.

"What are you nervous about?" Bei Weiwei comforted him. "You sing so well, you'll definitely be fine!"

Zhou Lingyan patted him on the shoulder: "Teacher Chen, remember, you're not just singing, you're providing the soundtrack for all of our love, hate, and passion. Is it stressful? That's right, that's the fate of a tool."

At this moment, Lin Wei sent a message: "The song has been submitted to the program team. Zhang Guanhai replied that he will take special care of it. Good luck."

A few days later, in Haicheng, in the office of the "Singer Battle" program team.

Zhang Guanhai stared at the two emails open on his computer screen at the same time. The goji berry water in the thermos on his left had gone cold, and he was completely unaware that the cigarette in his right hand had burned down to the filter.

An email from Lu Ze, though elegantly worded, carried a sinister undertone.

"Director Zhang, I heard that your program is being recorded this week, and a newcomer named Chen Bo is participating as a challenger. This young man is dishonest and relies on climbing the social ladder by attaching himself to women; I'm afraid he's not up to the task of carrying the weight of the stage. If you could make some 'adjustments' to his costumes and lighting to make him appear 'naturally' dimmed, it would surely benefit the overall tone of the program. I've also included a small gift as a token of my respect."

The email did indeed include an electronic gift card with a considerable value.