Chapter 22: So You Used Your Power for Personal Gain.
As for whether Ji Wushan had ever been in love...
That had always been a question mark in Xue Erbai’s mind.
From every angle, she didn’t really believe Ji Wushan had never been liked by anyone. So naturally, she would imagine that Ji Wushan might have dated before; might have held someone’s hand, hugged them, even kissed them.
But there were contradictions too. For example, Ji Wushan hadn’t liked smiling much since she was little, though she did show a certain dependence when she saw her mother.
Still, that had been so long ago; the years that followed could have changed everything.
Just like how Xue Yanhe’s daughter had once been a little willful in front of her, but as an adult, almost never was anymore, because it was pointless.
But what exactly had happened to Ji Wushan?
Xue Erbai was very curious; not just about feelings, but about everything.
It was just that their relationship was neither close nor distant, not the kind where they could bare their hearts to each other.
Some answers, she could only get from Ji Wushan herself; or from her expressions.
If she didn’t ask, she would keep wondering; keep being curious about Ji Wushan as a person.
But once she asked, and saw Ji Wushan freeze with her lips slightly parted...
Her face grew paler and paler, until she clutched her head and pressed lightly at it.
Xue Erbai couldn’t care about the answer anymore. She pulled Ji Wushan’s hand away and held her in her arms, gently rubbing her head as she soothed her over and over again. “Relax, relax...”
Ji Wushan’s breathing in her arms was heavy. Gradually, under her repeated comfort, she improved a little, but when she looked up, her eyes were slightly red as she choked out, “I... I don’t remember.”
“But I remember my mother...”
At the mention of Song Quwen, tears welled in Ji Wushan’s eyes and slid down her cheeks. When Xue Erbai saw that, she frowned.
While waiting for her to continue, she gently wiped away the tears and kissed the corner of her eyes.
But Ji Wushan didn’t go on.
She quickly stopped crying, dodged Xue Erbai’s kiss, and leaned against her arm.
The warmth on her cheek was much higher than on her arm, like cold water being splashed over her.
A few seconds later, she calmed down. The tips of her eyes were still red, but her voice had softened with a hint of lingering sweetness. “I didn’t date anyone in college, and I didn’t like anyone either.”
Memory fragments were uncertain and blurred; the Ji Wushan who had lost her memory had no grounds to say anything definitive.
So she could only state what she was sure of.
Then she sat up straighter in Xue Erbai’s arms. The flushed skin on her cheeks, neck, and collarbones had already returned to its original color, though Xue Erbai couldn’t help staring a little blankly.
She hadn’t gotten the answer to the question, but she had gotten the answer to Ji Wushan’s attitude very clearly.
Ji Wushan’s eyes were moist, yet clear.
Just a little... fragile.
Knock, knock...
A crisp knock suddenly came from outside the door, clear and abrupt.
Ji Wushan instinctively shrank a little; her back stiffened as she unconsciously moved closer. Xue Erbai’s hand around her waist tightened, and she gently stroked her back as Cong Yuan’s voice rang out from outside. “Erbai-jie, Ji-jie, are you both awake?”
“What is it?”
Xue Erbai’s voice was a little unsteady, because Ji Wushan in her arms was looking up at her with wet eyes, her expression shifting from mild confusion to waking clarity.
She bit her lip slightly and brushed against Xue Erbai’s collarbone.
The contact sent a wave of tingling numbness through her, and Xue Erbai heard Cong Yuan continue, “Director Lü asked me to let you know filming starts in half an hour.”
Xue Erbai’s throat tightened. Her arms shifted from one hand around Ji Wushan’s waist to both hands, almost holding her entire body in her embrace.
But Ji Wushan’s gaze became even clearer. Within earshot of an outsider, her voice was cool, distant, and restrained. “We’re awake. We’ll go down in a moment.”
The words were proper and natural, but the breathing against her collarbone was heavier, and the tingling sensation grew even more intense.
Xue Erbai had never known her own neck and collarbone could be this sensitive; the sensation even seemed to spread deeper under her skin...
The camera was outside; other people were outside. In front of others, Ji Wushan was always composed and self-restrained, but in the sealed little space of the bed, she shed all her armor.
Her breath was warm against Xue Erbai’s ear, her voice pressed low, soft and light, meant for Xue Erbai alone. “You go downstairs first; I want to take another shower.”
After a pause, she added quietly, “You can also go wash up first.”
If not for the fact that she had lived side by side with Ji Wushan these past few times, Xue Erbai truly would not have dared imagine how often Ji Wushan showered or washed up.
In circumstances where conditions weren’t great, it was at least morning and night.
If conditions allowed... four times a day.
That made her want to be a little more “clean” too.
Her arms around Ji Wushan loosened slightly as she said in a low voice, “You go first; I’ll rinse off too.”
----
The first guest meeting for Her Romantic Encounter was held in the living room.
Host: Ji Wushan.
Guests: Xue Erbai, Zhong Dai, Yi Fan, Chang Zichen, Deng Lu, and show assistant Cong Yuan, who was taking notes on behalf of the absent Fu Lingnan.
“Welcome everyone to Yunzhi Island, and to the official start of this journey to make friends.”
“We’ve prepared a number of operating projects on the island; participation is completely optional. There are back-of-house kitchen shifts after meals, public relations area maintenance, convenience services..."
“In addition, the production team supports independent business ventures. Encounter Coins and RMB are exchanged one-to-one; ten Encounter Coins will be issued daily. Medium and large projects may be planned and discussed by the production team, which will also provide additional investment..."
“The Encounter Coins you earn are used for daily purchases during your stay. Once you accumulate 100 Encounter Coins, you may request a date with any guest. Priority for room changes afterward can also be exchanged with Encounter Coins.”
Frequent room changes and invitations; these were the very foundation of the show’s CP chaos. The contract spelled it out clearly, and that was one of the reasons Xue Erbai had been able to join the program.
She would become the manager of the snack shop, Qimiao Snack House, on this show; that was also written into the terms.
So when it came to the operating project, Xue Erbai didn’t even need to think much.
As for Ji Wushan, as the show’s host, she would receive twenty extra Encounter Coins every day for this job, basically the equivalent of having a stable position on the program. She didn’t have much else to worry about either.
In the end, the final assignments were Ji Wushan’s “host” role, Xue Erbai serving as the manager of Qimiao Snack House, Chang Zichen preparing to open a nail salon, and Deng Lu, Yi Fan, and Zhong Dai all temporarily without fixed businesses.
Fu Lingnan was not in the show; her status remained unknown.
Next came the distribution of today’s Encounter Coins. Each person received ten; after that, the production team would no longer provide ingredients for the three meals, and the six of them would need to leave the villa.
Xue Erbai looked at Ji Wushan and quietly asked what she wanted to eat.
Ji Wushan looked around; not very interested, she said in a low voice, “I don’t want to eat tonight. I want to go upstairs and catch up on sleep.”
The ease of a “public servant” left Xue Erbai momentarily speechless. She kept nodding and watched Ji Wushan go upstairs, only to be called to the door by Zhong Dai.
The other three decided to go to the stalls at the entrance and see what ingredients were available. With her hands behind her back, Zhong Dai watched their retreating figures and called out to Xue Erbai in a solemn tone, “Boss Xue.”
Xue Erbai: “?”
“Does your snack shop need staff?”
“I want a part-time job.”
Xue Erbai’s mouth twitched. If not for the camera being on, she might have wanted to beat Zhong Dai’s dog head in.
Why make such a simple thing sound so dramatic?
Besides, although Qimiao Snack House cost her nothing to open, the share of profits she got was not much; only one percent.
This villa was a little remote, and the shop’s scale was only one-third that of a normal store. With limited foot traffic, the revenue would definitely take a hit.
Forget city store revenue; it probably wouldn’t even match a new shop in a township. Even in a good scenario, the turnover would probably be cut in half.
No, even more than half might be cut.
If she could earn fifty a day, that would already be pretty good. How was she supposed to hire anyone?
So she refused without mercy. “This shop is enough for me to survive. Besides, since I’m here to make friends, I’m definitely going to be sending invitations.”
At that, Zhong Dai’s face fell.
She was just a game streamer; she didn’t have any business sense, and the major she studied was useless here.
“Then I guess I can only do sanitation.”
“Go on.”
“I still need to make money too; send out invitations.”
She turned and walked back toward the living room. Not only had her face fallen, her shoulders had too. Seeing that, Xue Erbai felt a little sorry for her and grabbed her wrist, then covered the mic and asked, “Your contract wouldn’t have you aiming at me, would it?”
Zhong Dai stopped, giving her a disgusted, speechless look, and covered her mic too. “You’re overthinking it. I’m just supposed to interfere wherever a pair starts getting ambiguous development.”
“Right now, you and Ji Wushan are the most ambiguous!”
“...Do you have any manners?”
“Sorry, it’s part of my job.”
----
Xue Erbai left Zhong Dai to handle the cleaning by herself and headed to Qimiao Snack House.
After the renovation, this was still her first time coming here.
Yesterday, a lot of things still hadn’t been put in place. Now the staff was waiting for her, and there would be a very ceremonious handover.
The staff were employees of Qimiao; when they saw her arrive, they softly called her Boss Xue and handed over the key.
For the next two hours, Xue Erbai stayed at the snack shop earning Encounter Coins.
The situation was worse than she had expected. In two hours, she only sold three hundred yuan worth of goods, and Chang Zichen and Yi Fan even contributed ten coins...
Those were earned from going out to do convenience services.
The news left Xue Erbai feeling both happy and miserable. Happy because she could earn money elsewhere; miserable because this snack shop was not even as good as doing convenience services outside.
She sold three hundred, but only earned three Encounter Coins.
That was equivalent to three yuan; this was really too heartbreaking!!!
Xue Erbai’s whole spirit deflated.
This current job was basically no different from what her mother had done more than ten years ago. But back then, relying on a year’s income, Xue Yanhe had bought the family a bigger house.
What kind of thing was this? Economic regression could not regress this badly.
At this moment, the fighting spirit inherited from Xue Yanhe took the upper hand. Xue Erbai decided to go stand at the entrance and act like a human loudspeaker.
The results were good. By the time night fell, her turnover had reached one thousand!
She had earned ten coins in half a day!
Tomorrow would be another day full of hope!
And she was one step closer to inviting Ji Wushan.
Xue Erbai closed the shop and sneaked back to the villa.
Zhong Dai was collapsed in exhaustion in the living room; the other three were cooking in the kitchen. Seeing that Ji Wushan was not around, Xue Erbai nodded at Zhong Dai and went upstairs to look for Ji Wushan.
Zhong Dai, who hadn’t even managed to say anything to her, only saw her back disappearing like the wind.
She climbed the stairs with heavy steps, thumping up them, and even the act of opening the door was not gentle.
Ji Wushan, seated at the desk reading the script, paused and slightly lifted her head.
Through the thin lenses, Xue Erbai could see a hint of curiosity in those clear eyes, a little less detached than usual, with a touch of warmth.
The frustration from poor earnings changed shape.
Ji Wushan looked like a wife waiting at home for her to finish work and come back...
“What are you staring at?”
Seeing that she only blinked and didn’t move, Ji Wushan tilted her head and asked. Just as she was about to stand and walk over, Xue Erbai had already crouched down beside her feet. “Wuwu, Shengsheng-jie!”
Xue Erbai felt soft all over inside; not caring how Ji Wushan reacted, she clutched her trouser leg and said aggrievedly, “It’s too hard to make money outside. I spent four hours and only earned ten yuan.”
“I can only buy you some...”
Ji Wushan lowered her head to look, and her brows furrowed slightly.
Blueberry candies, lemon candies...
Two packs of crispy instant noodles, and... two servings of spaghetti plus a box of cherries.
Ji Wushan was familiar with the show’s rules. Although the exchange rate was one to one, prices inside the show were much lower than in real life.
The ten Encounter Coins issued, plus the ten Encounter Coins Xue Erbai earned, would be enough to buy everything except the cherries.
But the cherries... absolutely could not have been bought with that money.
She pointed at the cherries and asked with some hesitation, “How did you buy this?”
“From the snack shop, of course!” Xue Erbai answered with righteous confidence, her voice loud, but Ji Wushan still looked a little doubtful.
Or rather, not doubtful so much as certain. “So you used your power for personal gain?”
---
Author’s Note: I’ll do my best to keep updating daily, but this novel probably won’t be very long, so please be mentally prepared.
A little extra rambling: I’ve been writing for more than five years, and I really feel like I’ve dried up. I keep rewriting things until I’m not satisfied even with my own writing, and the comments on these chapters have been full of familiar friends. Thank you for your support; it’s really heartwarming.
After I finish this book, I’m planning to change my lifestyle. I want to ride a bike around and do food delivery! Or just find somewhere to work! I’m looking forward to a burst of inspiration! I’ll bring everyone good works.