Chapter 16: Living With Someone Else, and You Still Have the Nerve to Ask…

Ji Wushan was perfectly clear on one thing: she was distracted.

It had started the moment she saw Xue Erbai.

Watching her speak so fluently, smiling so brightly, something strange quietly rose in her chest.

She had thought the difference between Xue Erbai in public and in private was probably something only she knew.

But now it seemed that wasn’t quite true.

What’s more, she only belatedly realized that this strange feeling hadn’t started now. It had begun even earlier, from that phone call she hadn’t bothered to ask about in detail.

The Xue Erbai on the phone had been more relaxed than Ji Wushan had ever seen her—more relaxed than at any other time she’d witnessed.

Her face had been lit with smiles, her charm overflowing.

The seed had been planted then, and now it was slowly sprouting.

Yet the shoots growing now made her feel as if it was slipping out of control.

Even forcing down her emotions gave her a splitting headache.

Almost unconsciously, she raised a hand to her forehead. Yi Fan, sitting across from her, noticed and looked concerned.

“Ji-jie, are you not feeling well?”

Suppressing her emotions like this was hardly pleasant, especially when her head felt like it might burst.

And yet Ji Wushan strangely felt as though she were used to it.

When faced with the question, she still lifted the smile she’d prepared. “No, I’m just a little hot.”

The afternoon sun really was rather strong; Yi Fan nodded and cooperated by saying a few more things.

Ji Wushan didn’t catch them very clearly.

Her thoughts felt as if they’d been stirred into a muddle.

But when it came to work, she had no choice but to focus completely.

She finally pulled her gaze away from Xue Erbai and looked at Yi Fan’s chicken salad and the few other extremely plain diet dishes in front of her. Her brow furrowed noticeably.

They both had to appear on camera, but Ji Wushan wasn’t as self-disciplined as actresses who treated every meal like part of a strict regimen. She didn’t gain weight easily; she only needed to rein herself in a little, and the past half month had proven that was true.

So she ordered seafood pasta, cheesecake, and baked sweet potato with cheese without much hesitation.

She liked high-calorie food; if conditions allowed it, she even wanted to order a serving of the braised pork she loved.

When Yi Fan across from her showed a hint of surprise, Ji Wushan gave a soft laugh.

“Wow! I didn’t expect Sister Ji to eat those. Your naturally slim figure is really enviable.”

Ji Wushan handed the ordering tablet to the server and brushed back a loose strand of hair. “Not really. I just indulge myself a little more at lunch.”

She kept a faint smile on her face. As she listened to the server confirm the dishes, the smile softened a little and she said quietly, “Appetite is both the simplest desire and the most complicated one. I very much want to satisfy myself.”

From childhood to adulthood, Ji Wushan had always been very good at pampering and indulging herself in this regard.

But obviously, she didn’t need to explain that to Yi Fan.

With professional poise, she parried back and forth with Yi Fan in a harmless, probing exchange at the table. She occasionally offered a spring-wind smile and gave the other woman a fitting compliment on her beauty.

In truth, she was already weighing in her mind whether she should choose Yi Fan or Fu Lingnan.

By the end of the meal,

she was full, and she had made her choice.

The two lunch partners were clearly easier with Yi Fan, because Ji Wushan didn’t need to say much; if she had to share a place, however, that would become a drawback.

Yi Fan was too talkative.

As for Fu Lingnan, she was even quieter. At the table, Ji Wushan would have to carry the conversation herself; she wouldn’t want to, but she would still have to.

So she hadn’t eaten much either.

This time, though, she let herself indulge a little, though every so often she still looked toward Xue Erbai.

After the meal, she sat upright with a gentle smile and spoke to Yi Fan in a light, professional tone: “After all, Lingnan-jie was the one I drew by lot; you could say she’s my first choice.

“But Xiao Fan, lunch with you was really enjoyable. If possible, next time…”

Yi Fan across from her froze, a flash of trouble and disappointment crossing her eyes before she quickly put a smile back on for the camera.

“I knew it. Who could refuse getting to live with Sister Lingnan? I’m the one who should be jealous of Sister Ji! But living together with a senior like that would also be a lot of pressure!”

As the conversation, easy to misread and full of suggestive implications, came to an end, the final room assignment also arrived on everyone’s phones.

Ji Wushan and Fu Lingnan; Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai; the two internet celebrities living together; Yi Fan living alone in a room.

As soon as the news came out, some were happy while others worried.

Yi Fan had her own space, so naturally she wasn’t as troubled or disappointed as she’d seemed; everyone was unfamiliar with one another, and there was no real need for it.

And Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai, who during lunch had gone completely off-script and were now staying in the same lodging, both fell much quieter.

Mutually, and almost in unison, they fell silent.

Xue Erbai didn’t know what Zhong Dai was thinking; as for herself, she was regretting things.

She regretted not maneuvering things sooner; ideally, she should have been able to eat and live with Ji Wushan!

But then, thinking it through more carefully.

Would that even be allowed to air?

Although she wanted to be inseparable from Ji Wushan, best of all to drive everyone crazy shipping their CP...

To show that kind of closeness so openly...

She’d be very shy!

Better to wait until next time. Next time she’d prepare properly.

Xue Erbai let it go after thinking that, only to be “bothered” by someone else immediately afterward.

Over the past few years, she’d lived a fairly comfortable life, but when she was young, her parents were busy, and most of the time she had been on her own.

It was the same when she grew up. She was used to handling everything herself, so she was very quick; and according to the check-in rules, she had to visit the neighbors and get on good terms with them before dinner. Once Xue Erbai finished settling herself in, she silently watched Zhong Dai bustle around aimlessly.

She didn’t know Zhong Dai at all and had no idea what this person was capable of, but for now, something seemed off.

Zhong Dai was all thumbs, like a headless fly.

“The toiletries are here!”

Seeing Zhong Dai turn twice more while looking for things, Xue Erbai couldn’t help reminding her.

Zhong Dai was still dazed. After turning half a circle more, she finally picked up the toiletry bag and thanked Xue Erbai with a smile. “Thank you!”

She didn’t use any honorifics. Turning briskly, her little ponytail bouncing, she put the toiletry bag away. Then she looked back, glanced around at the cameras, and leaned in very quietly.

“I don’t know which of us is older. Calling you Xiaobai doesn’t seem quite right.”

“Can I call you Erbai?”

Her eyes were round, and when she asked, she stared even rounder. She was also standing very close, and for a moment Xue Erbai didn’t know what to say.

Instead, she found herself thinking that this person’s contrast personality probably wasn’t something deliberately designed.

She really was… pretty contradictory.

A bit like a husky. When she wasn’t smiling, she looked a little cool; once she leaned in like this, she became adorably simple-minded.

“Sure. Call me whatever you want.”

“Just don’t call me President Xue.”

The disappointment from not being able to live with Ji Wushan had eased a bit, and Xue Erbai lowered her head with a soft laugh.

“You look really good when you smile.”

“Ah… thank you!”

“You do too.”

That compliment was only polite small talk, but Zhong Dai froze for a moment and then, with a shy smile, asked Xue Erbai, “…You really think so?”

For some reason, Xue Erbai felt that side of her was familiar.

But she couldn’t quite remember where from, so she could only shake her head and say frankly, without much concern, “Really. You look pretty… cool!”

At least on the outside, that was how she seemed.

Medium-length hair, several strands dyed icy blue; a little ponytail, a somewhat individualistic look.

It was just that the way she spoke was overly soft and clingy.

And that clinginess far exceeded Xue Erbai’s expectations.

After the two of them stepped out, Zhong Dai seemed even more familiar with her. Even though they walked with a person’s width between them, there was an air about her that made Xue Erbai feel Zhong Dai was closing in on her.

It wasn’t just her impression, either; at dinner, Zhong Dai sat right next to her, Yi Fan on her other side, while across from them sat Ji Wushan, Fu Lingnan, and two other internet celebrities she wasn’t familiar with at all, Deng Lu and Chang Zichen.

Those two had been assigned to the same room and, being in the same line of work, were clearly closer to each other.

As for the rest...

There was a bit of awkwardness and silence.

Especially Fu Lingnan; Ji Wushan came next.

After finishing her task, Ji Wushan put down her script, folded her hands over her lap, and wore a faint smile that was very distant.

For some reason, Xue Erbai felt rather guilty.

Especially when Yi Fan teased, “Why do I feel like Xiaobai and Dai-dai are wearing matching couple outfits?”

What nonsense are you talking about?!

How do we even look alike...

Xue Erbai shook her head several times; out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Zhong Dai had really frozen for a moment.

Her style of dress was rather varied.

To put it simply, she liked too many styles. Aside from her work suits, the dresses she wore when she first arrived on the show, the crop-top camisoles, and the utility jackets...

The real reason was that she had gotten cold!

But how, how could it be such a coincidence that she was wearing the same outfit as Zhong Dai, just in different colors!

“Ha! Not at all~!”

“Zhong is clearly cooler than I am when she wears it.”

“I’m just cold.”

Xue Erbai said with a smile, and as she did, she rather casually crossed the open jacket over her chest, a little unrefined about it.

But in the eyes of everyone else, it looked like she was deliberately avoiding suspicion.

The very essence of this show was a jumble of ambiguous CPs; a program that gave people endless room to imagine but no ending at all. With just a few words, even the executive director’s eyes lit up.

This wasn’t a script; this was Xue Erbai’s real-life portrayal.

Reality was the rarest thing of all!

Ji Wushan’s role in the program, beyond hosting when necessary, was to keep the momentum going; clearly, no one wanted to miss out on this piece of “sugar.”

She made a reluctant face and tugged at the corners of her mouth again.

This time it wasn’t faint or distant; instead, it carried a trace of flirtation.

Xue Erbai, sitting diagonally across from her, saw it all too clearly; she practically couldn’t sit still. She edged away from Zhong Dai a little, leaned forward, and moved her lips as if she wanted to say something.

“Alright! Change scene!”

A woman’s loud, booming voice called out, and dinner ended.

Xue Erbai felt regretful and a little disappointed. Watching Ji Wushan rise unhurriedly, she followed behind her in a daze.

Because it was the first day of filming, the production team had deliberately let everyone rest properly; there was no FPD, and not even a site director, so it was relatively free, yet also relatively constrained.

But since everyone was staying in the same villa, no one thought there was anything wrong with it.

It wasn’t until they reached the courtyard gate that Xue Erbai finally caught up to Ji Wushan and grabbed her wrist.

Immediately, several pairs of eyes turned toward them at once.

Closest of all was Fu Lingnan, who had stood up at the same time as Ji Wushan and would be eating and living with her for the foreseeable future.

There was also Yi Fan, blatantly ready for gossip, and Deng Lu and Chang Zichen, who were quietly observing.

Only Zhong Dai was fine; she didn’t look over.

But Xue Erbai still felt immense pressure. Holding Ji Wushan’s wrist, she moved it in circles over and over, her fingers tracing the wrist endlessly as if drawing loops.

The two of them were watched like that; Xue Erbai held on stubbornly, while Ji Wushan’s cheeks gradually took on a faint flush.

But in the end, she still didn’t shake Xue Erbai off.

She clearly could have, but simply chose not to.

Xue Erbai led her through the courtyard gate, into the woods, and over to the quiet swing.

The restraint on her wrist vanished. Ji Wushan stood with her back to her, as if she could hear her own heartbeat.

The next second, she heard Xue Erbai’s careful question.

“You living with Fu Lingnan… was that arranged by the production team?”

Instantly, the heartbeat went quiet.

Ji Wushan turned around and looked at Xue Erbai with a smile that was almost not a smile.

Xue Erbai was living with someone else herself; how did she have the nerve to ask her that?

And she was even wearing a matching couple outfit.

Author’s Note:

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I’m back!!!!!