8.24

Once a few people had reached a consensus they gathered the players together to announce the decision they had just made.

“For some special reasons, we’ve decided to cut down on the number of shots for Romeo’s hard photo shoots. That means that you will still be entitled to thirty shots and he will only have five, and if he fails to get a great hard photo shot in those five and falls into last place, the show will eliminate him unconditionally.”

As soon as Bonnie’s words left her mouth, cheers erupted among the contestants and Emily even raised her hand and asked, “Did the judges make this decision because Romeo used unorthodox competitive tactics during the competition? If so he should have been made to withdraw from the competition instead of being given five more chances. The decision itself was unfair.”

Gustavo’s icy gaze cut her severely, Bonnie also looked sternly towards her and spoke word for word, “I, Bonnie, can vouch for my personality and my life, Romeo didn’t use any unorthodox tactics during the competition, and the show’s organizers and judges didn’t open a backdoor for him, and he was able to come this far on his own strength. Some people think it’s only fair that we make such a decision, but in my opinion, it’s a crime to kill a talented future star who should be shining brightly with such despicable means. It saddens me that our society has degenerated to the point where there is no room for the talented!”

She shifted her gaze that was frozen on Emily and slowly looked towards the other contestants as she continued, ”If you win the race, you should not feel proud, but rather ashamed because you relied not on your own strength, but on taking advantage of others. It’s like an able-bodied person competing in a sprint race with a crippled person, even if they rush to the finish line first, what they get is not cheers but mockery! This is a serious violation of the principle of fair play.”

She finished by hugging the teenager into her arms hard and patting and caressing him, saying with certainty, “Romeo, it wasn’t my intention to make this decision, but I’m sure you’ll be able to hold on to it until the end. I love you!”

“Thank you.” Zhou Yunsheng hugged her back, a real smile seeping out of his eyes.

Gustavo couldn’t interact with the teenager much more than even a hug. All he could do now was stay as far away from him as possible and stop giving excuses to attack him. He had his hands in his pants pockets, seemingly bland, but his fists were clenched and clicking.

Ivan also walked up to hug the teenager, followed by one of the male contestants who had grown close to Romeo. The other contestants stood blushing.

They were bashful to raise their heads at Bonnie’s words. Others didn’t know, but those of them who were involved understood that Romeo really didn’t use any unorthodox means of competition, and that all he had relied on to get to this point was his own powerful strength. When he entered the shooting state, that kind of domineering pervasive charm called people simply irresistible.

Even if there were only five shots left, he would still be able to take the same great pictures. So if they lost to him again this time, they would be taunted by all the viewers, and the scene would be even more embarrassing.

The few people who had been gloating just a moment ago couldn’t laugh at all at this moment.

Bonnie posted the video on the official website after she left, and the part where she stood up for Romeo was echoed by many. Romeo’s excellence was there for all to see, and if he was given the chance, he would have climbed to the top of the ladder. Is it fair that such a talented young man should be snuffed out because of some people’s despicable jealousy? This is ridiculous!

The winds of public opinion began to tilt rapidly in Romeo’s favor, and his already undiminished fan base surprisingly doubled. The public tends to be more willing to sympathize with the underdog. While Romeo was not considered the underdog, anyone could see that he had been treated unfairly.

Voices telling the ABC executives who made that decision to go eat-shit abounded on the Internet, and someone actually wrapped up a ball of poop and mailed it to ABC headquarters.

Gustav eventually took to his personal page to respond on the matter. Instead of going into a lengthy explanation to appease fans, he simply wrote – I am doubly disappointed by the darkness of the human heart.

Everyone could see that he was condemning the fan bashing of Romeo. In life, who doesn’t have a few special close friends or special characters they admire, so what’s the big deal? Why go to such despicable lengths to hurt each other?

While Romeo’s fans were always a little less resentful of him, his fans began to panic and realized that they had perhaps gone too far. The idol’s guidance is powerful, and the furore over the withdrawal suddenly subsided, with the show receiving many letters of apology from viewers.

But there’s no taking back a resolution once it’s been given, and Romeo still only gets five shots, and the shoot is live-streamed in its entirety, no longer giving anyone a chance to question it. Since the release was only fifty minutes long, Bonnie got rid of the challenge and instead made the hard photo shoot more difficult.

This was a live broadcast, which meant that the audience would immediately see your every move, and if you made a big scandal, there was no way for the program to cover it up for you through editing. This made the contestants nervous and in a cold sweat.

With Gustav no longer acting as cameraman or even present in the studio, Bonnie stands alone in the clearing in front of the stiff-expressed contestants.

“Originally this shoot was going to be a collaboration of two contestants partnering up and picking out outfits, looks and locations for each other. But as you know, Romeo only had five shots to work with, which was very detrimental to his partner, so I changed the theme of the shoot ……”

“No, let’s shoot it as a two-person partnership. I’ll partner with Romeo.” Ivan said suddenly raising his hand.

The cameramen were turning their lenses on her, and the audience in front of the TV was instantly stirred to emotion.

Bonnie knew that she would face many unexpected challenges if she switched to live streaming, but didn’t realize that the first person to challenge her would be Ivan. But she had a feeling what was to follow was something she would enjoy seeing.

Ivan wrapped his arm around his best friend’s shoulders and said with an expressionless face, “Five shots are enough. As far as Romeo can go, I’ll follow. If he gets eliminated because of all that dog-shit, I don’t want to stay in a show like this.”

Girl, you’re so direct with your words! Bonnie, who had proposed the dog-shit resolution, felt her cheeks burning and hurting, even though her original intention had been to keep Romeo.

Viewers have praised Ivan for his forthrightness and righteousness, and then heaped scorn on ABC executives and Gustav’s fans. These two groups are especially hated on the network right now, and along with them, Gustav’s popularity has dropped quite a bit.

Unbeknownst to anyone, instead of being frustrated, Gustavo was happy about it. He hated that everyone was going to support Romeo, and as for his own fans, sorry, he didn’t care what they thought right now. He was going to live for himself.

Bonnie coughed and reconfirmed, “Have you thought this through? Five shots, no more.”

“What’s there to think about, I’d only partner with Romeo.” Ivan bristled.

Cho Yoon Sung laughed softly and gave Ivan a solid hug.

“Okay then, let’s go ahead with the shoot as planned. See that graffiti wall? There are three styles of graffiti there, so once you’ve formed your teams, come to me and draw straws, choose your outfits and looks according to the style of graffiti you’ve drawn, and then stand in front of the graffiti wall to take a picture. Whoever can blend the graffiti wall with themselves perfectly will be the TOP 1 of this installment.”

The contestants turned their heads in unison to look back and found that a huge graffiti wall had indeed been erected in the studio, the wall was divided into three pieces by paint, one piece was in the fairy tale style depicting colorful mushrooms, Alice who had mistakenly entered Wonderland, and all sorts of adorable animals, which looked very dreamy.

On one side, there is an abstract style with a variety of brilliant colors intermingling to give a messy, frenzied, hot-blooded feel.

The last side is the simplest, with little style, just divided into two color schemes, black on the left and white on the right, joined together in the middle by the huge English word freedom in black and white mingled together.

The contestants settled in for a few moments, each with their own plans in mind.

Bonnie pulled out a small cloth bag and asked the contestants standing two by two to send a representative to draw lots. Emily’s group drew fairy tale style graffiti, and she smiled pleasantly, seeming to have chosen a wall she was happy with.

Zhou Yunsheng pushed Ivan out to draw lots, it didn’t matter to him what he drew. Maybe others would feel that five shots were pitifully few, but it was enough for him. The calculating function of his brain was no less than that of James Bond, and he could give the best shooting plan with just a glance at the venue, and the details could be infinitely narrowed down to the position of a hairline. How the five shots should be taken and what effect they would produce he knew better than the photographer.

Ivan drew the black and white wall. She thought it was too monotonous to play very well and turned back to her best friend and shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s okay, it can be filmed.” Zhou Yunsheng wrapped his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her fiery red hair hard to mess it up.

The two came to the clothing room, Zhou Yunsheng did not look more, directly picked two sets of simple style suits, a set of pure black, a set of pure white, white suit inside with a black shirt, black suit inside with a white shirt, the tone of the tie is the same with the suit and the shirt on the contrary.

Yvonne’s heart is wider than the Pacific Ocean, and while her best friend picks out a dress she pulls out her PSP and plays a game, asking from time to time if it’s ready. On the other hand, the other two groups of contestants are arguing over disagreements. Emily has a very strong personality and makes sure that her partner obeys her unconditionally, which leads to a gradual escalation of their fights.

Bonnie hurriedly ran over with her staff to open up, a wonderful scene that made the audience watch with exquisite interest, and by the time they got back to their senses, or by the time the other two groups of contestants got back to their senses, Yvonne and Chou Yoon Sung were already styled and standing in front of the graffiti wall ready to be filmed.

Zhou Yunsheng asked the stylist to dye Ivan’s fiery red hair black; his own hair itself was white and didn’t need much treatment.

Ivan’s features were once again hardened, with thick, dark and slightly raised eyebrows, making her look very sinister. Her character is very unrestrained, or maybe it’s not too much to say that she’s uninhibited, and when she puts on a pure black suit and tie and stands on the white wall, she’s simply handsome and poking at people’s eyeballs.

And Romeo’s handsomeness was as non-intrusive as the pristine white suit he wore, clean and clear and pleasing to the eye. His back was against the black wall, his hands in his pants pockets, his legs folded in a languid stance, his slightly upturned jaw and half-open, half-closed eyelids bringing out a sense of carelessness.

Ivan was also back against the wall with his hands in his pockets, but his expression was the sharp coldness that was the polar opposite of lethargy and diffidence, and the same standing posture revealed a powerful aura.

The two stood in a clear-cut black and white world, strangely mingling each other’s auras together, and the image looked incredibly delicate, pure, and elegant.

“A hit!” The photographer quickly pressed the shutter and shouted excitedly. The so-called minimalism is extreme beauty, which is the eternal theme of fashion.

The audience in front of the TV had been mesmerized by the two. It was the first time they had visualized Romeo in the middle of a shoot. He almost didn’t even have to think about it, and by the time the cameraman had just pressed the shutter, he was already posing for the next action, so naturally spontaneous.

The two slowly approached, one 183 centimeters, the other 180 centimeters, standing together the height difference was barely noticeable, their heads were pressed close together, whispering something, Ivan put his arm on Romeo’s shoulder with a wide smile, Romeo just slightly curved his navy blue eyes, but the pleasant glow that naturally flowed through his pupils was just as heart-wrenching.

Two people a warm, a quiet, a like the sun, a like the moon, in the black and white accompanied by like the yin and yang of the two semicircles, is indispensable to each other’s existence.

“Perfect! You guys are the most perfect team I’ve ever seen! Love you guys!” The photographer yelled frantically as he pressed the shutter.

The two naturally change the shape, the photographer click click click press the shutter, five photos were taken only took less than a minute.

“I finally realize why that Gustav guy admires Romeo so much. You know, he’s the darling of the camera, mind-blowingly perfect from any angle. My blood boils with excitement when I’m photographing him and I don’t want to stop at all. I’m going to ask him to be my exclusive model and never let him be taken by Gustav!”

The photographer turned back to marvel at the cameraman who was following him. He clicked on the computer and showed the audience the five photos he had just taken, and the thrilling sensation of white and black, rigidity and softness, ice and fire mingling with each other immediately struck everyone’s eyeballs.

And this photographer is even more famous in photographic circles than Gustave. He interpreted Gustave’s obsession with Romeo as a creator’s obsession with his muse. He marvelously steered the tide of public opinion, adding to the embarrassment of Gustav’s fans who demanded Romeo’s withdrawal.

God, we have made a huge mistake, we have deprived our idol of his source of inspiration. Maybe he won’t even photograph from now on! I’m starting to get scared now! A fan held his head and cried out in front of the TV.

There are more people than she is seized with. Romeo slapped everyone who thought he was cheating in the face with his actions. Thirty shots, forget it, he only needed five, no, actually just one, to throw the other contestants off their game by several blocks.

The audience then remembered that it seemed like every hard photo of Romeo winning Top 1 was the first pose he had just struck. Every time it was a hit and a miss, he was so powerful!

The two’s brilliant to the core performance put the other two groups of contestants under pressure. They began to doubt their choices and wondered if they should change their clothes and look differently. Their stiff hands and feet and raw expressions made the cameraman jump out of breath so often that he had to walk up to them several times to correct their poses and remind them where the lights were.

“God, the difference between what it feels like to shoot them and what it feels like to shoot Romeo is hell and heaven. Gustav, poor Gustav, no wonder he’s always slack-jawed when he’s filming people.” The cameraman chattered and complained, while the viewers in front of the TV once again understood Gustav’s feelings and clearly realized what a huge gap existed between the other contestants and Romeo.

Romeo relied on cheating to get this far? It’s a travesty!

The filming was finally over and the crew immediately posted the contestants’ photos online for everyone to rate. In the past, they would pick the best one, but this time, they posted all the photos in order to show the fairness and transparency of the competition.

Romeo and Ivan had a pitiful five, the other two groups had thirty each. But it’s not the quantity that counts at this point, it’s the quality, and the audience is all kinds of knee-jerk for Romeo and Ivan, and all kinds of disgust for the other two groups.

Without a doubt, the TOP 1 remains Romeo and Ivan. The other two groups lost convincingly and embarrassingly. Whereas before they felt that the program’s decision to cut Romeo’s filming couldn’t have been any better, they were now contemplating whether or not to plead for Romeo’s favor. At least Romeo won’t look like they lost too badly when he resumes normal filming.

“I don’t care if it’s fair or not, all I know is that people make mistakes. Five chances, what if he’s in bad shape one day and doesn’t capitalize on any of them? I think that’s just fine.” Emily’s one sentence dispelled everyone’s thoughts and made the audience hate her to the bone.

Bitch-woman, why aren’t you eliminated yet? Everyone collectively gave her a zero to get the hell out!

The message got a lot of likes from people who were fed up with psycho Emily. Of course there were some egoists who thought she had a lot of personality and gave her a ten out of ten.

This time it was a male contestant who was eliminated, he was Emily’s partner and was pushed out by Emily to endure the venom of the judges. He hugged everyone one by one as he came off the stage, but rejected Emily, which made her blush with embarrassment.

Due to the change from taping to live broadcast, the contestants’ living conditions in the villa will not appear in the current episode, but will be uniformly edited into a blooper reel to be aired one week before the final, which means that the originally scheduled three weeks to end the competition has turned into four weeks, and the contestants have an extra week of rest.

“Boys, look who I brought in.” Bonnie clapped her hands as a number of people walked in the doorway one by one, Ivan screamed and ran towards a middle aged woman that was her mom. The other two contestants also met their respective loved ones, except for Romeo and Emily.

Emily breathed a sigh of relief, she didn’t want to see her mother, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to resist picking up the vase and smashing her head in. And Zhou Yunsheng had known that Romeo’s aunt couldn’t come. He found evidence on the internet of the other side’s joint lawyer embezzling Romeo’s inheritance and submitted it anonymously to the police, and that woman is still in jail.

He walked alone to the corner and tapped the brain on his wrist. He had already found out who the person was who had incited the netizens to force him to withdraw from the competition, and had prepared a grand ‘gift’, the evidence of financial fraud was enough to make him lose his family’s money and sit in jail. But he was surprised to find out that the other person was currently in the ICU ward due to a drug overdose, and according to the news reports, the doctors had also detected HIV in his blood.

How could it be so coincidental? His mind slid quickly over Gustav’s gentle and modest face, the man was indeed a hot face with a cold heart. Laughing softly, he clicked the send button, not minding pushing the man towards an even more desperate abyss.

“Romeo, are you okay?” Bonnie finished talking to a few parents and saw the teenager hiding in the corner fiddling with his watch, his back looking very forlorn.

“I’m fine.” Zhou Yunsheng looked up and smiled.

“Honey, your aunt was too busy working to come see you, she told you to take care of yourself and said she missed you.” Bonnie didn’t tell the teen the truth, worried it would affect his mood for the game.

“Uh-huh.” Zhou Yunsheng nodded, inwardly thanking Bonnie for taking care of him.

The contestants follow their families as they leave, and they’re looking for a nice meal at a fancy restaurant, the cost of which will be reimbursed by the show, provided they allow the show to film and broadcast their gathering. It’s a good deal.

Ivan was going to invite Romeo and was relieved to find out that Bonnie had already made an appointment with him.

As the host, Bonnie is obliged to take care of the two contestants who are left behind. She booked a French restaurant and exchanged race tips with them while eating a lavish meal.

Zhou Yunsheng and Emily have long since torn their faces apart and will not pretend to be friendly at this time, the cameraman filmed the two fighting (Emily fighting, Romeo silent and relative) and left.

“Romeo, you were aggravated by what happened before. Are you still angry?” Bonnie asked tentatively.

This little thing was not even on Zhou Yunsheng’s mind, he knew what kind of feelings Gustavo harbored for him, he would not accept him, yet he would not resent him for it either. Love is the most precious thing in this world, even if this love is not what you want, you can simply reject it, but you can’t break it with disgust.

“No, I’m not angry. On the contrary, I’m grateful for Mr. Acheson’s appreciation of me.” He shook his head slowly.

Emily’s eyes twinkled as she thought that the reduction in the number of photo shoots did have something to do with Mr. Acheson, but what exactly was it about? She was tempted to buy a copy of the Entertainment Weekly and look through it, but with Bonnie watching, there was no chance of that, maybe when she got back she could ask the other contestants about it, their families must know.

She absentmindedly sliced her steak, from time to time giving the teenager across the table a hostile look.

Zhou Yunsheng asked the waitress for a red wine glass and blinked his big eyes at Bonnie, “Bonnie, can I have a little red wine? Just a little bit, the cameraman is gone, no one will know.”

Bonnie was in a bit of a bind. Teenagers were three months shy of adulthood and couldn’t drink, but it shouldn’t matter that she had been stealing drinks since she was fifteen, right?

She slowly probed towards the bottle of red wine, but a large hand came over Romeo’s head to take the wine away, denying it gravely, “No, only milk.”

Emily’s blood boiled for a moment. She was finally meeting Mr. Acheson again, a man who could decide her fate.