Volume 1, Chapter 8: What is the matter? Do you not like any of them?

His friend asked, “Does taking a piss really take that long?”

“I’m heading home. The kid’s drunk. We’ll drink next time.”

“Shen Nianchi, you were the one who asked me out for drinks, and now you’re blowing me off!” He Hao ran cursed under his breath. “This meal’s on you!”

“Fine.”

“That’s more like it. Not choosing romance over friendship after all…”

He Hao ran muttered a few more complaints before finally hanging up.

Shen Nianchi tossed the phone onto the bed and went into the bathroom.

When Wen Zhi woke, it was already noon the next day. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, throwing off the blanket.

Her head was heavy, and her stomach felt awful.

A hangover was miserable.

Wen Zhi pressed a hand to her forehead and tried hard to think back to the night before. She remembered eating fruit in the private room, and then...

Senior Wei Yuan seemed to have come over to invite her to dance...

What happened after that, she could not recall very clearly, though there was faintly a little impression.

It seemed she had seen Shen Nianchi, and then she fell asleep. After that... she could remember nothing at all.

Ding.

A WeChat message came in. Wen Zhi picked up her phone and saw that it was from Qin Yi.

[Sheng Sheng, the flow for the first live episode of the dating show has been adjusted. Pick a prompt, pair up in twos, wear masks and go on a dinner date. If your heart rates both go above 85, take off the masks. On the second day, choose your own date itinerary for the livestream.]

Wen Zhi stared at the message for a long while, instinctively feeling that something about it was off.

Hadn’t they said at the start that it would be the same as the first two seasons, with a ten-person bloodbath right from the beginning?

How had it changed so suddenly?!

Wen Zhi sent Qin Yi a message: [No more bloodbath?]

[Too old-fashioned. No ratings. We’re trying something new!]

Fine. Then so be it.

Anyway, she was dead either way, so it made no difference.

Wen Zhi got up and was about to wash up when she noticed a lunch box on the bedside table. She picked it up and opened it. Inside were all fairly light dishes, and at the bottom was a bowl of congee—century egg and lean pork congee, her favorite.

Who had bought this for her?

Last night she had been drunk... oh no. About her relationship with Shen Nianchi, could Qin Yi have...

Wen Zhi froze for a moment. She picked up her phone and opened her chat with Qin Yi again.

[Did you bring me back last night?]

In less than a few seconds, Qin Yi replied:

[Last night you said your brother was coming to pick you up, so I didn’t bring you back.]

So she still didn’t know about her relationship with Shen Nianchi.

Wen Zhi let out a breath of relief. Good.

Otherwise, with Qin Yi’s personality, she would definitely have interrogated her properly. Wen Zhi was not ready yet to explain that Shen Nianchi was her brother.

Later. She would think about it later.

She opened her chat with Shen Nianchi again, but he still had not replied to her.

Wen Zhi sighed helplessly, tossed the phone aside, set down the lunch box, and got up to wash up.

She turned on the tap and splashed cold water on her face, only then feeling her head clear up a little.

After washing up, she picked up the lunch box and began to eat.

The century egg and lean pork congee was still warm; it must not have been bought long ago.

After a few bites, Wen Zhi felt much better.

As she ate, the events of last night surfaced again in her mind, and she vaguely seemed to remember a few images.

[Teacher Shen? Wen Zhi? You two...]

It seemed she and Shen Nianchi had been tugging at each other by the restroom door, and someone had just happened to see them?

Then she seemed to have told someone that he was her brother?

Oh no. Was she doomed?!

Who was it?!

Wen Zhi pressed a hand to her forehead. Her head was starting to swim again, and her thoughts were in complete chaos.

What should she do...

The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became, the discomfort in her chest like ants biting at her.

If she really had said it, she could not guarantee that person would keep it to themselves. Who exactly had she told...

Wen Zhi took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She still could not remember everything that had happened last night. What if she was only imagining it? Wouldn’t she be agonizing over nothing?

No, she needed to think it through again.

She rubbed her head hard, then recalled it carefully once more. It seemed... it seemed she had told the faceless person.

She really could not remember!

Wen Zhi was caught off guard and choked on the congee. Covering her mouth, she coughed hard, nearly coughing up tears.

This time she truly was doomed either way.

After finishing breakfast and going downstairs, she heard the doorbell.

Wen Zhi instinctively held her breath, afraid that the faceless person she had imagined was coming to threaten her.

She went to the door and opened it a sliver. Seeing a woman standing outside, she asked cautiously, “Who are you?”

“Teacher Shen asked me to deliver the evening dresses. May I ask if you are Miss Wen?”

Evening dresses?

Wen Zhi paused slightly, surprised. She opened the door a little wider and only then saw that quite a few people were standing behind the woman, each carrying clothes, shoes, and the like.

“I... I’m Wen Zhi.”

Wen Zhi looked at the group, unable to process what was happening.

The woman led them into the house and set everything down in the living room. Then she turned to Wen Zhi and said, “These are all the evening dresses Miss Wen will need to wear for the dating show livestream in a few days. You can pick whichever ones you like. Teacher Shen has already paid for everything.”

Wen Zhi blinked. “What?”

Before she could react, the woman motioned to the others behind her, and they stepped forward one after another, holding up the dresses and introducing them to her, from design to details.

“Miss Wen, may I ask which style you prefer?”

Wen Zhi stared blankly at the dresses. Hadn’t Qin Yi said the production team would prepare them?

Why was Shen Nianchi buying clothes for her?!

Full of confusion, she finally spoke after they had introduced the shoes as well. “Did... did Shen Nianchi send you here?”

What was he trying to do?

He wasn’t replying to her messages. Wasn’t that a sign of defaulting to this distance?

They were even pretending not to know each other, so why buy her evening dresses?

The woman nodded. “Yes. Teacher Shen said he had a rough idea of your size, so he asked us to bring them directly.”

“...”

Wen Zhi was stunned and could not react for a long while.

After the others finished their introductions, they left, leaving only the woman behind.

“Miss Wen, if you have any problems with these clothes or shoes, please contact me anytime. This is my business card.”

As she spoke, the woman handed her a gilded card—General Manager Lin Daijiao of Anima Allure.

Wen Zhi took it and nodded dazedly. “All right, thank you.”

Only then did Lin Daijiao turn and leave. Looking at the more than ten evening dresses in the living room, Wen Zhi’s head was buzzing.

What was going on?

Should she call and ask Shen Nianchi about this?

After hesitating for a moment, Wen Zhi picked up her phone and prepared to call him.

Just as she was about to dial, she stopped again. After a second’s hesitation, she decided to send him a message instead and ask what he meant.

Wen Zhi: [Did you buy all these clothes?]

After waiting about ten minutes, Shen Nianchi finally replied:

[What’s wrong? You don’t like them all?]