8.18–8.19

8.18

Seeing Hayden struggling and pouncing towards him, Zhou Yunsheng hurriedly ducked behind Gustav, and this shelter-seeking demeanor tugged at Gustav’s heartstrings. Feeling sweet and heartbroken, he stretched his arms and wrapped the kitten in his arms.

“You say Romeo is a thief, do you have proof?” He questioned in a cold voice.

Hayden was dumbfounded for a moment and growled in color, “My diamond necklace was on the table, and he was the one who cleaned up his book bag and desk this morning, so who else could have stolen it if he didn’t?”

“I remember there was no diamond necklace on the tabletop at all.” Zhou Yunsheng poked his head out of Gustav’s strong arms and retorted with red eyes.

“Mr. Acheson, I’ve got the footage from that moment on film, I’ll turn it over and take a look.” John immediately set the camera on the table and pressed the playback button.

The scene was reversed and the crowd clearly saw the tabletop with wallets, keys, gum, condoms, and other odds and ends, just not any diamond necklaces.

John found the clearest image and framed it to enlarge it for a better view.

Bonnie double-checked it several times before raising her eyebrows towards Hayden who had an embarrassed expression, “Well, where exactly is the legendary diamond necklace? Can you help us find it? You said Romeo stole it, but the truth is the thing wasn’t even there when he helped you pack. Hayden, are you still hungover? Or is it the spermatozoa that’s gotten to you? Everyone else is taking the game seriously, but you’re the only one drinking, picking up girls, and causing trouble… what do you think our show is? A rave?”

John had been following Romeo right and left, so the images were all coherent; Romeo hadn’t taken anything when he entered the room, just opened his backpack and swept in the bits and pieces from the table, in a move that just couldn’t have been slowed down a few hundred times to find any suspicion of theft. Hayden opened his mouth a few times not knowing what to say.

His instincts told him it was bad.

“And where the hell did my necklace go?” He spoke weakly.

Gustav said in a deep voice, “That should be asked of yourself, not us. For the sake of the show’s reputation and the innocence of all the contestants, I will send someone to search the villa, so please sign this authorization if you agree.” Without a warrant, not even a lawman could search someone’s private belongings at will.

Hayden didn’t know what to do with himself. Things seemed to be out of his control and it made him doubly uneasy.

“You don’t agree? Then I have reason to suspect that you are framing Romeo. In fact, the diamond necklace was hidden by you, right?” Gustav deliberately irritated him.

“How can it be! I literally can’t find it!” Hayden was in a cold sweat of weakness, he now realized that he had been too impulsive, maybe the necklace had just been left in the bathroom or something. He’d made a big deal out of it regardless, and Romeo had every right to sue him for slander and personal injury.

What’s worse is that he stirred up the issue, pissed off Acheson, and left irrefutable visual evidence. God, he’d driven himself to a dead end, what the hell was he thinking at the time? It was stupid!

Seeing that he didn’t move for a long time, Gustavo warned again, “If you don’t agree, I’ll call the police, who will naturally apply for a search warrant from the judge. At that time, whatever they find out is out of your and my control. And it suddenly occurred to me that if we broadcast their investigation process truthfully, our ratings will definitely be frighteningly high.”

In fact, it’s ridiculously high now, all thanks to the poor little thing in your arms. Hearing this Bonnie thought darkly.

Creeped out, Hayden hurriedly grabbed a pen and signed the authorization form.

The staff who had already arrived at the villa immediately launched a search, followed by several cameramen following the whole process, just in case Hayden popped up and accused them of planting evidence.

They started by looking through Hayden’s personal belongings, and after half an hour finally rummaged through Hayden’s jeans to retrieve the necklace. Hayden was speechless when the video reached Acheson’s phone. Now that he thought about it, he also thought that he might have put the necklace away when he changed his clothes.

But the problem now is how to explain that he didn’t mean to frame Romeo. He stammers and stutters, unable to give a clear account of what happened, and can only keep apologizing to Atchison and Romeo.

Completely unwilling to listen to his explanation, Gustav led his party down the hall, stroking his palm to attract the attention of the players.

“The matter has been investigated and the necklace is not missing, it was hidden in Hayden’s jeans. Due to Hayden’s unauthorized assault in violation of the show’s rules, we are removing him from the competition.” He waved his hand at Hayden, “Go back and pack your things and leave immediately.”

“No, you can’t! I’m going to tell my mom and dad! Gustav Acheson, how dare you do this to me!” Hayden storms out, only to be forced out by the staff.

Zhou Yunsheng almost spewed out laughter, telling mom and dad? How old is Hayden Brown? Has he been weaned yet?

There were many others who harbored the same thought as him, and snickering continued in the hall. Bonnie waved her hand in a mosquito chasing motion, her expression disgusted. Luckily, BOSS’s background was countless times tougher than the Brown family, otherwise there was no telling when she would be able to get rid of this bear child.

The winner of today’s challenge was still Romeo, a set of photographs that Acheson had taken of him were enlarged and developed by Bonnie, the teenager in a white shirt and jeans, sitting under a transparent dome and playing his guitar was as beautiful as an angel, a myriad of morning rays of light cast down and sprinkled with colorful points of light all around him, and the breeze that flowed through the curly tresses of his hair seemed to be enraptured by the emotive sound of his song.

It’s a photo and a song, fresh and lovely.

Jeffrey held the photo and kissed it several times, exclaiming, “It’s beautiful! I love Romeo!”

Bonnie added, “I love Romeo too, so he’s the winner of this challenge, congratulations.”

The contestants couldn’t even be convinced that some of them simply didn’t find all three slips of paper and therefore wore the wrong clothes and walked into the wrong camera position, and some of them hadn’t yet receded from their shock and took photos with very stiff expressions and limbs, where as Romeo’s photos had an airy aura about them.

They all send their well wishes to Romeo, this time more genuinely than any other time in the past. Romeo’s rush to get out of the car in the morning to wake up Hayden and Emily had changed their opinion of him, at least none of them could have been as selfless as he was.

Bonnie told the contestants to go back to rest, but saw Gustav beckon and call out, “Kitten, come here.”

Who is Kitty calling? The contestants looked at each other in disbelief. Bonnie squeezed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, making a dilemma-ridden face.BOSS must be so used to shouting it internally that it just came out of his mouth.

Embarrassed, Gustav coughed with a fist against his lips and said instead, “Romeo, come here, I want to talk to you.”

Zhou Yunsheng awkwardly walked over. This title he had also heard a few times from Bonnie and Jeffrey’s mouths, so it turned out that the judges and producers had the habit of giving the contestants nicknames in private.Kitty, which reminded him of HelloKitty with a pink bow tied around it, and he was instantly in a somewhat subtle mood.

He thought he was a prehistoric monster but didn’t realize that he was a kitten in other people’s minds, which means that he is a good enough actor to fool the whole world.

Walking over to the man, he tilted his head and blinked his wet eyes in a maliciously cute manner.

Gustavo’s nose tingled a little and he immediately turned his back towards the lounge, and when he saw that there was no one and no cameras nearby, he made a quick, unable-to-take-it-anymore excited face. He seriously suspected that the kitten was purposely trying to seduce him. Lord knows, his self-control was wearing clean away day by day, and he probably wouldn’t last until the day the match ended before he exploded.

“Have a seat.” He settled on the double sofa and patted the spot beside him.

Zhou Yunsheng finally saw that Gustav seemed to have a favorable impression of himself. After a quick deliberation, as long as the other party did not cross the line and interfere with the match, this kind of favor was only beneficial and not harmful to him at the moment, so it was perfectly fine to pretend that he didn’t know.

He sat over and smiled weakly at the man.

Gustavo’s heart tingled at the tip and he wanted to tear him into his arms and sit on his lap to kiss his pale pink mouth and curled eyelashes. With his heart in his mouth, but his face very serious, he inquired, “Romeo, what are you going to do about this incident?”

“Isn’t it already taken care of?” Zhou Yunsheng blinked in confusion.

“Fool, it was the show that just handed down the punishment to Hayden, he hurt your body and reputation, you have the right to sue him. If you want a little justice for yourself, I’ll get you a lawyer.”

Sue him baby, drop all love for him, my arms are always open for you! Gustav cried out inwardly in pleading, yet to his dismay, the teenager considered for a moment and slowly shook his head.

“No, I don’t want to sue him.”

“Why? If I hadn’t stopped it in time, you would most likely have been seriously injured.” Gustav was annoyed by the teenager’s deadheadedness, and his tone couldn’t help but be a bit heavier, “You have to realize that falling in love with the same sex isn’t your fault, but falling in love with an asshole and still being obsessed with it is your biggest fault. Knowing that it’s a plate of rancid food, why must you suffer the consequences of gastrointestinal discomfort to finish it? You are abusing yourself!”

Zhou Yunsheng tried to open his eyes wide with a hurt expression.

Gustav immediately calmed down and softly apologized. He wanted to take him into his arms and kiss him, but was afraid of provoking him to recoil. He was like a yellow boy in love now, completely at a loss as to what to do.

Zhou Yunsheng accepted his apology and explained, “Mr. Acheson, I understand what you mean. It is precisely because I have broken free from Hayden’s quagmire that I don’t want to sue him. In fact I should even thank him for teaching me to see the world with my heart, not my eyes. All I want to do now is be myself and stay firmly on the path I’ve chosen. Can you understand that?”

Even if he sued Hayden, so what, the most serious result of the trial would only be a few months of detention, as long as he had the money, he could go in one foot and get out on bail the next, why would he bother to do this kind of thankless thing, if he wanted to retaliate, he had to do it according to his ability. Moreover, he believed that Gustav would never help him for free, and he didn’t want to cause any trouble before he had found his lover.

Gustav saw strength and openness in the teenager’s clear eyes. His heart melted like ice and he couldn’t help but take the teenager into his arms, his lips gently, without touching him, kissed his soft hair.

Baby, I don’t know how to love you any better anymore, can you feel it?

8.19

The Browns intended to offer Gustav another sum of money to have the footage of their son’s violence removed, but were rebuffed.

Gustav hit both men where it hurts as soon as he opened his mouth, “I found out that Hayden Brown, like his grandfather, has a deep hatred of homosexuality. He was very unkind to Jeffrey, saying several times that Jeffrey made him sick. I don’t know exactly how you two feel, but if he were my child, I would be heartbroken.

The Browns walked out of the ABC building with gray faces.

They traveled to the villa to pick up their son in person. As soon as Hayden got in the car, he couldn’t wait to turn on the cell phone the show had returned to him and go online to see what viewers were saying about him and the first few episodes of the show.

“Oh god, Romeo has a crush on me! I’m too sick to eat just thinking about the fact that I was with him for weeks at a time! Grandfather was right, gays should be burned at the stake!” He made a vomit face when he saw the scene of Romeo’s confession.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s faces grew harder and harder.

The two men looked at each other and it was Valentine who finally spoke, “Hayden, there is something I want to tell you. I am also gay with your mother and we have never been together, even giving birth to you was by artificial insemination. If I hadn’t, my father would have kicked me out of the family and severed his relationship with me completely.”

Susan sneered, “That’s putting it mildly, dear. I don’t think he’ll kick you out, he’ll just put you in a mental hospital.” The words fell out of her mouth as she looked over at the frozen Hayden and asked, “Now, my son, tell me do you find us disgusting? Think your origins are disgusting? When someone falls in love with you, no matter who they are, noble or humble, same sex or opposite, ugly or beautiful, the first thing you should learn is to be grateful, not mocking. If it is not because of love for you, who is willing to risk being eliminated to wake you up? Who would want to pay for you silently against misunderstanding? Don’t take for granted the good that others do for you, or no one will ever love you again.”

Hayden opened his mouth several times but couldn’t speak, he felt like his whole world was shattering, the agonizing feeling of his body and soul falling apart piece by piece.

While Hayden was going through a reorganization of his worldview and values, the contestants were gathering for dinner. Ivan aimed the Coke bottle at Emily and pulled the pull-tab, spraying sticky Coke all over Emily.

“Oh God, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize this Coke had been shaken.”

“No, you did it on purpose!”

“Well, whatever you think. So does that mean I can also suspect that you did it on purpose?”

“What did I do on purpose?” Emily giggled inwardly, and her tone was suddenly less reasonable.

“You purposely hid Hayden’s necklace in his jeans then asked me to help clean it up in order to get him to pick on me then cause the three of us to fight. He said he remembers it clearly and unclipped the necklace and left it on the table last night before he showered. You were the only one in the house before I packed up, you had every motive and timing to do that.” Zhou Yunsheng put down his half-drunk milk and said in a clear and organized manner.

The contestants had already asked about the circumstances, and at the time, they only thought it was Hayden’s carelessness, but now when they heard this, their suspicion of Emily immediately rose to the highest point. This is already the seventh week of the competition, they have learned all the hooks and tricks, they know each other’s tactics too well.

Everyone in the room, except Romeo, has betrayed their teammates.

John immediately turned the camera around and snapped away at Emily’s reddened face.

Emily barely suppressed her panic and sneered, “Romeo, your reasoning is brilliant, but do you have any proof? Don’t think I can’t see what you’re up to, you’re trying to disrupt me and lower my netball score by slandering me, then get me out of the game right?”

She appeared to be calm, but in fact, she was already in disarray. If this conversation was aired, with or without evidence, viewers would be suspicious of her thus lowering their favorability towards her. Her Netflix score was plummeting every episode and it was dangerous to continue like this. So she can’t make another tactic against Romeo, the viewers will see it.

And she knew that the heartless camera crew would air any footage out there (except for restricted images) to ensure ratings. Romeo didn’t even have to do any scheming, but a single word could put her at a complete disadvantage.

Zhou Yunsheng finished the milk and left with a circle of milk mustache in a flourish, leaving behind only a glib, “I’m not as despicable as you.”

Everyone knows that Romeo is just a mouthful, but really has the softest and kindest heart. Put a young boy in a room with a smart and capable barmaid, and any fool knows who to trust.

The contestants had taken their food and left, not wanting to speak to Emily again, and even Daphne, who was closest to her, didn’t dare to stay longer.

If Emily’s ploy had worked, all three of them – Hayden, Ivan and Romeo – would have been eliminated and nothing would have happened to her. Hayden is still her boyfriend and the two of them are constantly getting all mushy and sweet, and it’s horrible that she’s not hesitant to lay her hands on them!

The contestants deepened their fear of her, and Hayden, who watched the episode, hated her so much that he ordered the Brown family’s fashion label to never hire Emily. This added to Emily’s already rocky modeling career.

The thrilling day was finally over, Zhou Yunsheng finished his shower and came out with wet hair on top, Yi Fan helped him blow dry his hair and couldn’t help but rub it hard.

“Stop it, so sleepy.” The teenager looked fresh and cute with his fluffy hair and rosy cheeks, his eyes covered in crystal tears from weariness. He yawned and rolled the covers around his body to get ready for bed, seeing John, who was still diligently filming himself, and said a vague goodnight.

Good night my baby. Sitting in the surveillance room Gustav rubbed his fingers over the sleeping, stoic teenager reflected on the screen, completely ignoring the creepy ‘are you a pervert?’ glances cast by the camera crew chief.

————————

The next day, as usual, the first contestant to wake up found a note on the TV that read – Men and women, stand in each other’s shoes, maybe you’ll get to know each other better.

What does this mean? Could it be a combination of male and female players partnered together? Everyone voiced their guesses. Zhou Yunsheng came over to whisper in Yi Fan’s ear, “It should be that the male and female contestants are reversing each other’s roles and then filming in groups of two or two.”

Ivan’s eyes bugged out and he laughed strangely, “Honey, I can’t wait to see you as a woman, you’ll be a thousand times prettier than Emily!”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Emily went downstairs. Normally she had quite a few friendly players, and it was very lively to see everyone going in and out together. She wasn’t as arrogant as Hayden, but instead was very good at reading people’s eyes, so she was very well liked. But after yesterday’s fiasco, the contestants all spontaneously stayed away from her.

Even the closest boyfriends can be counted on, let alone others. Emily is definitely a ruthless character!

Because of her appearance, the living room was quiet for a moment. As if she was unaware of it, Emily greeted several of her friends in a natural manner, which made everyone feel more and more that she was unpredictable.

Zhou Yunsheng made two sandwiches and nibbled on them with Ivan while walking towards the bus waiting outside the door. The two didn’t need to dress up in makeup at all, so they always moved the fastest.

The bus arrives at the studio, where Bonnie and Jeffrey stand side by side with somewhat wry smiles, and Gustavo stands off to the side tuning up his camera. He was in charge of taking the hard photos of the contestants for the day.

“Has everyone seen today’s cue cards?” Bonnie asked with a grin.

“Saw it.”

“So can you guess the theme of today’s shoot?”

The contestants spoke up, “It’s a male-female partnership, right? Two people taking pictures together.”

“It’s the men and women who pick out outfits and looks for each other, right?”

“It’s a couple’s picture, definitely!”

Bonnie shook her head back and forth, and seeing that Romeo’s face was holding a red color as if he was very embarrassed, she singled him out and asked, “Kitten, did you guess?”

“Is it a male and female reverse couples photo shoot? There are exactly ten of us, five men and five women.” Zhou Yunsheng held out two slaps.

“Darling, your cranium is as outstanding as your little face!” Bonnie snapped her fingers and laughed while the contestants let out a collective wail.

When it came to grouping, Bonnie was kind enough to put the two oddballs into a group, which aroused the jealousy of the other female contestants. If they had something to say, they could say whatever they wanted to say to the camera, so many of them made the same cry, “I want to be grouped with Romeo, his features are very delicate, even more so than our female contestants, I’m sure he’d be great in a reverse role. If I’m partnered with him, I’ll definitely be able to advance.”

And the male contestant who was unfortunate enough to be grouped with Emily said to his cameraman, “I really don’t want to work with Emily. She seems like a nice person, but she’s even more of a snob than Hayden, and she loves to steal the show, and she’ll do whatever it takes to put someone else down in order to emphasize herself. She’s horrible, and I had a crush on her back in the day, so it’s a good thing she didn’t have her eye on me and aimed for that fool Hayden instead.” He made a shuddering motion as he clutched his shoulders.

Emily, who was standing not far away, heard this clearly, but didn’t show the slightest bit of displeasure on her face. Her strong mental qualities surprised even the cameraman who was responsible for following her. If such a person was given a chance or a ladder, she would definitely be able to climb to the very top.

But sadly, she stepped on her own ladder and ruined a wonderful opportunity for The Next Top Model. Viewers will never like someone so devious, as long as they don’t have any problems with their three views. So her future may not be as bright and sparkling as she thought it would be.

While the men and women were still lamenting and protesting, Ivan and Zhou Yunsheng had already been grabbed into the dressing room by the stylists, who had been drooling over the two androgynous beauties for a long time. Bonnie and Jeffrey immediately ran upside down to watch, and Gustavo pretended to fiddle with his camera for a moment before following them in with what looked like a graceful but was in fact an impatient stride.