Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"Thanks a lot, you're really a good person," Xu Qingyan said gratefully, stuffing the unopened milk tea into the hand of the staff member, "You've helped me a great deal."

The two of them managed to escape from the night market town. Just as Xu Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt someone staring at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... nothing," Lin Wanzhou found herself at a loss for words, "You just said..."

She actually wanted to say "girlfriend", but the word reached her lips and she couldn't bring herself to say it. She looked somewhat foolish, lowering her head and stammering without making much sense.

"Oh, things were a bit urgent just now, it was just an excuse I made up on the spot," Xu Qingyan said, "I won't make up such excuses next time, in case fans recognize me, it wouldn't be good."

Was it really just an excuse?

Lin Wanzhou flattened the straw of her milk tea into a thin strip, as if Xu Qingyan had turned into the straw. She took a forceful sip. Then she flattened it again.

Suddenly, screams and roars erupted from the neighboring night market, startling the young girl.

Someone was shouting not to push, others were crying out for help, with women's screams and crying. All these sounds surged into the night sky and echoed for a long time.

Lin Wanzhou was stunned and turned her head to look in the direction of the adjacent night market.

"What happened?"

Where they were, at the back end of the night market, had people walking towards them from the mouth of the alley, but the end was a dead end.

"Inside it's jam-packed, people are squashing against each other, there might have been a small stampede," he said casually, grabbing Lin Wanzhou's hand and pulling her forward.

"Not sure how many people are outside the night market, from now on stay close to me, let's get out first," he said.

Lin Wanzhou's mind buzzed for a moment, the clamor from the nearby night market ringing in her ears. She suddenly realized why Xu Qingyan had wanted to leave.

If it weren't for him, she might have been caught up in the night market too... With that thought, she couldn't help but feel a wave of fear. The whole incident happened in a short five to six minutes.

Sure enough, the alley outside was also crammed with people. Workers were already trying to maintain order, but it didn't seem very effective; the distant sound of police sirens could be heard.

The crowd began to divert, with those at the back still clueless, not knowing what had happened in the night market. People were still trying to get in, but were being stopped by the workers.

Xu Qingyan glanced over and pulled Lin Wanzhou in another direction. The street was nearly blocked by the crowd, probably because the lantern festival was unimpressive and people had run off to the night market instead.

There, the flow of people was rapidly depleting and then instantly filling up the neighboring night market, leading to a sudden spike in attendance.

"Xu..." Lin Wanzhou caught his hand, sounding uneasy, "Do you think the people in the night market will be okay? I saw a lot of them squeezing in."

"They should be fine, but the roads there are narrow, hard to say," he replied while pulling Lin Wanzhou through the dense crowd, thankfully it wasn't too packed.

If someone squeezed through, Xu Qingyan would not hesitate to push them away to avoid being cornered.

The area around the night market was swarming with people, looking endless at a glance. The crossroads were jammed with cars, and despite the red light, throngs of people continued to cross.

"Looks like it won't get better until the police arrive," Xu Qingyan said, not quite reassured, he pulled Lin Wanzhou closer, thinking to himself that this was a real mess.

If it weren't for his noticing that the girl seemed particularly excited that evening, he would never have come out to the night market late at night like a lunatic.

But who would have thought that the supposed emotional value of the moment, the most valuable one, would turn out to be right now. He hadn't wanted to waste this opportunity to please her, but now they had almost been crushed into reincarnation.

Luckily, they made a quick exit, having no idea what the situation was like inside.

The sound of police sirens grew closer, and he caught sight of a dozen police officers in fluorescent vests abandoning their vehicles and running from afar, bringing immediate relief.

If the situation could be controlled, that would be good. Since the incident had only happened a few minutes ago, there probably hadn't been anything serious.

Up ahead, a policewoman stood at the intersection redirecting the crowd in different directions for evacuation. Holding a vendor's megaphone, she stood atop the flower bed orchestrating the movement.

The pressure from the crowd in front eased a bit and Xu Qingyan was able to slowly make his way out with Lin Wanzhou by his side. He was tall and didn't notice the nervous expression of the little girl in his arms.

Lin Wanzhou was worried about the safety of the people in the night market, yet felt a tingling sensation as Xu Qingyan's breath warmed her neck from behind.

"We'll be out soon," he said.

After the police arrived, the scene outside the night market was brought under control. Four or five officers joined hands and held back the crowd, directly cutting off the opposing flow of people at the plaza.

A police officer directed traffic at the intersection, dispersing the cars.

The firefighters also arrived, and more officers made their way against the current into the night market. Their fluorescent vests shone under the light, with whistles sounding continuously as they began to clear the crowd.

Xu Qingyan looked away, pulling Lin Wanzhou towards the exit.

Eleven o'clock.

The two sat at the side of the road, backs turned to the sparse crowd. Lin Wanzhou pulled down her black mask, sat down next to Xu Qingyan, and let out a soft sigh.

"There are so many police officers over there, and the 120 emergency team just went over too."

"Yeah, but it's only been a few minutes, there shouldn't be any problems," Xu Qingyan echoed, looking up at the distant streetlights, "But we can't get through, the car is on the other side."
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"Let's wait a bit, anyway it's too early to go back... I wonder if Ting Ting got back," Lin Wanzhou said, opening WeChat to send Qi Ting several messages.

Soon after, Qi Ting returned a video call, sounding anxious.

"Sister Zhou Zhou, are you still at the night market town? Are you okay? I saw in the group chat, some people were taken to the hospital after being trampled, carried away by the 120 emergency team."

"It's fine, I'm currently with... him," Lin Wanzhou's phone panned, quietly capturing the road crowd and Xu Qingyan, who was sitting there playing with his phone.