On the first day of the dating reality show, the production team provided a buffet breakfast with a rich variety of choices. Xia Yan was the first to arrive, picking a little bit of everything.
He originally wanted to take a double portion, but thinking about how he wouldn’t have much time to work out during the show’s recording and couldn’t burn off the extra calories, he reined in his appetite.
About five minutes later, Gu Xiaoran came downstairs. Today, she was wearing a gray-brown long dress. The hem draped with a flowing sense of movement and lacked any superfluous decorations, setting off her calm and elegant temperament.
“Good morning, Teacher Gu,” Xia Yan greeted her proactively when he saw her.
“Good morning, Xiaoyan.” Gu Xiaoran looked at Xia Yan’s slightly bulging mouth. Originally planning to just get by with a cup of coffee for breakfast, she suddenly developed an appetite.
She asked, “Is the breakfast good? Do you have any recommendations?”
Xia Yan recalled what he had just eaten and said earnestly, “Teacher Gu can try the beef buns. The skin is thin with plenty of filling, and it’s not greasy at all. It’s really delicious.”
Gu Xiaoran accepted Xia Yan’s recommendation, went to grab a beef bun, and sat down in a seat leaving one space between her and Xia Yan.
She took a bite. Just as Xia Yan described, the skin was thin, the filling was abundant, and the flavor lingered in her mouth and teeth. Listening to the gentle chewing sound from Xia Yan not far away, she finished a bun in just a few bites.
Usually, a single bun would be completely enough to fill her up, but this time it felt like her appetite had been whetted, and she still wanted to eat more.
Gu Xiaoran looked at Xia Yan expectantly, “Xiaoyan, the beef bun is really good. Are there any other recommendations?”
Xia Yan wasn’t very familiar with Gu Xiaoran, and coupled with his own less-than-stellar reputation, he hadn’t proactively struck up a conversation while eating to avoid making things awkward.
Now that Gu Xiaoran asked, he kindly answered, “Teacher Gu can try the shrimp wontons. I just tried one, and they are so fresh they’ll make your tongue drop off.”
Gu Xiaoran nodded, “Mm-hmm, thanks for the recommendation.”
She got up to fetch some wontons. Just as she took a step forward, as if remembering something, she turned back and said to Xia Yan, “Xiaoyan, calling you ‘Teacher Gu’ sounds too distant. You should call me Sister Xiaoran.”
Feeling the goodwill radiating from Gu Xiaoran, the corners of Xia Yan’s lips curved into a well-behaved smile, “Okay, Sister Xiaoran.”
Xia Yan wasn’t surprised by the goodwill Gu Xiaoran showed him.
He was naturally popular with girls; needless to say, older relatives like aunts and great-aunts, as well as many girls during his school days and after starting work, liked him. It wasn’t romantic liking; it seemed they just liked his type of looks, wanted to be his older sister, and absurdly even wanted him to call them mom.
Who could understand, family? A strapping young man standing at one hundred and seventy-five centimeters, which rounded up to one hundred and eighty centimeters, was forced to call a younger girl “mom” during a game of Truth or Dare.
A youth who was loved by everyone and adored by flowers just like him wasn’t surprised to be treated kindly by Gu Xiaoran, Xia Yan thought to himself.
By the tenth minute of Xia Yan and Gu Xiaoran eating at the same table, the two of them were already engaged in a very pleasant conversation.
Xia Yan: “Sister Xiaoran, the outfit you’re wearing today is truly gorgeous. It has such a queenly temperament.”
Gu Xiaoran: “Little bro’s outfit today is also very handsome, both handsome and cute, enough to kill someone with charm.”
Xia Yan: “Sister Xiaoran, you have a stomach condition and shouldn’t eat this. This is irritating, and eating it will make your stomach upset again.”
Gu Xiaoran: “Ah, is that so? Good thing you’re here, otherwise I’d have to suffer again.”
After grooming meticulously, Lu Chengyan came downstairs and saw the two of them happily chatting, with Gu Xiaoran even using a tissue to wipe a grain of rice from the corner of Xia Yan’s mouth.
He brought his breakfast and forcefully squeezed into the seat between the two of them.
It wasn’t for any other reason; he just felt that this spot faced the air conditioner directly and blew a nice cool breeze.
Today, Lu Chengyan was wearing a black shirt paired with matching suit trousers, the collar unbuttoned by two buttons, and a silvery-white necklace around his neck.
The stray locks of hair on his forehead were combed back, revealing his sharp brow bones. He wore a pair of thin-rimmed gold-wire glasses with a chain on the bridge of his nose, blending a detached and aloof temperament with a touch of scholarly elegance.
Xia Yan glanced over, his heart skipping a beat, his eyes glued to Lu Chengyan and unable to move away at all.
He really liked Lu Chengyan’s type—aloof and outwardly scholarly yet seemingly roguish underneath.
Truth be told, it really wasn’t that he was too picky before; it was just that his destined partner was too strong and crowded out all those unworthy prospects.
Lu Chengyan was simply his fated husband!
Noticing the gaze Xia Yan cast upon him, the corners of Lu Chengyan’s lips rose by a single pixel.
Acting utterly nonchalant, he discovered that Xia Yan was looking at him and asked, “Is there something on my face? Why are you looking at me?”
Completely bewitched by the handsomeness, Xia Yan blurted out whatever came to his mind, “Looking at how handsome my husband is.”
“Pfft—”
Gu Xiaoran spat out her food with zero poise. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and covered her mouth with a tissue, preventing the whole table from suffering.
She felt like she should be under the carriage instead of inside the house. Xia Yan, this younger brother, looked well-behaved, but who would have thought he was so wild.
Lu Chengyan froze, clearly not expecting Xia Yan to make such an outrageous statement. Even someone like him who had spent years in the entertainment industry didn’t know how to respond.
[Ding! Capture target favorability increased by 14 points, current favorability is 30.]
[Oh my god, host, you are so amazing! You’re simply a little expert at farming favorability points~]
Xia Yan came back to his senses, realizing what heaven-shaking words he had just uttered.
To be honest, he didn’t feel awkward at this moment.
After all, he had long since thrown away his integrity for the sake of capturing Lu Chengyan.
However, Lu Chengyan and Gu Xiaoran looked extremely awkward.
Being considerate, he found an excuse to ease their awkwardness.
“Haha,” Xia Yan smiled shyly, “Sorry, I haven’t woken up yet and was talking nonsense.”
“Actually… I’m a two-dimensional fan. I usually ramble on and like to call anime characters husband and wife. Just now, looking at Brother Chengyan, I mistook him for an anime character in a daze. Please forgive me, you two.”
He continued flattering: “Speaking of which, Brother Chengyan is really handsome, looking like he walked right out of a manga. Can you blame me for mistaking him?”
[Ding! Capture target favorability decreased by 1 point, current favorability is 29.]
“Like who?” Lu Chengyan’s deep pupils gazed straight into Xia Yan’s eyes.
Xia Yan inwardly clicked his tongue; why didn’t this guy take the step down when he offered it, and instead even dropped his favorability?
For a moment, Xia Yan couldn’t think of anyone. He had just made it up on the spot, who would have thought he’d have to provide after-sales service too.
Fearing that his favorability would continue to drop, he wrung his brains to think of the male lead of a boys’ love anime he had watched some time ago.
“Eugene Bernayde?”
Eugene Bernayde was the gong protagonist of the anime Lock You in My Embrace, a handsome mixed-blood who was also the heir to the empire.
In the anime, he fell in love at first sight with the best actor shou protagonist who came to work in the empire, followed the shou protagonist to his Federation, and then threw himself at him, clinging stubbornly to him.
Xia Yan didn’t watch anime with mild ratings; this anime had a substantial rating, with plot and romance split evenly, and romance taking up half of every episode.
Xia Yan wasn’t trying to hint at anything to Lu Chengyan; he just blurted it out when he thought of this anime character, and he didn’t think Lu Chengyan would actually look it up.
Unexpectedly, right in front of him, Lu Chengyan realistically took out his phone and searched for it.
Lu Chengyan entered the name, pressed search, and the search entry popped up. His pupils shrank slightly, and the tips of his ears turned a suspicious shade of red.
He calmly locked his screen and said coldly, “Doesn’t look like it.”
Xia Yan didn’t miss Lu Chengyan’s reaction and laughed inwardly: Yo, quite the pure and bashful one.
He immediately took it upon himself to tease him.
Supporting his chin with one hand, he gazed at Lu Chengyan with affectionate eyes, sweet words rolling right off his tongue: “Mm, it doesn’t look like him, but he has a fraction of Big Brother’s charm, and just that single fraction was enough to make me fall for his looks.”
[Ding! Capture target favorability increased by 6 points, current favorability is 35.]
Xia Yan raised an eyebrow, thinking that Lu Chengyan was a closeted flirt; aloof on the surface, but in reality, he really ate up being praised and flattered by others.
These favorability points were so easy to raise. At this rate, he could win Lu Chengyan over in three days.
Chasing handsome men still required taking the initiative; some people looked hard to approach, but if you gathered your courage and tried, you might just get the result you wanted.
He forgot that some people, braver than him, had long since been forced off to dig for coal in Africa.
Gu Xiaoran felt as if she had been force-fed a mouthful of dog food, but fortunately, the other guests arrived shortly after, and Xia Yan reined himself in a lot.
The first day of the dating reality show was a group outing. The eight of them could choose wherever they wanted to go, and the production team would provide dating funds. However, the dating funds had to be earned by the guests participating in a compatibility game.
Most of the guests weren’t very familiar with each other, so the compatibility game could also serve to break the ice and close the distance.
The first game was “You Act, We Guess.” One guest would act out clues based on prompts while the other guests guessed.
The acting guest could not speak and could only mime. Each person had a time limit of five minutes, and every correct guess added 20 Euros to the group dating fund.
With travel funds at stake, the guests were extremely cautious, discussing many guessing techniques, such as holding up fingers to indicate the number of characters in the title upon seeing the prompt, and passing directly if they couldn’t guess.
When the game actually started, it was still a chaotic mess.
Sheng Xingci volunteered to go first. After seeing the prompt, he held up four fingers and then flashed a mysterious smile.
The guests, including Lu Chengyan, guessed in unison that it was a “mysterious smile,” but Sheng Xingci shook his head and continued with his mysterious smile.
Su Yi grew anxious watching: “Stop just smiling, act it out!”
Unable to speak, Sheng Xingci widened his eyes in anxiety, expressing that he was acting it out.
Song Yutong waved her hand: “Pass, pass, pass, hurry up to the next one.”
Seeing that everyone couldn’t guess, Sheng Xingci passed to the next one.
He looked at the cue board and felt it was a sure thing, then started acting with full confidence. He raised his index finger and rubbed it furiously against his ear.
Seven blank stares from the audience.
Four characters, probably an idiom, but which idiom had to do with rubbing one’s ears until they smoked up?
Five minutes passed, and everyone only managed to guess “inseparable as shadow and body,” earning 50 Euros.
Sheng Xingci felt he had acted very well. When stepping down, he spread his hands and asked the remaining seven in utter confusion: “Such a simple thing and you guys actually couldn’t guess it?”
“Simple?” Su Yutong questioned.
Sheng Xingci: “Simple! The first one was obviously ‘smiling at each other.’ The second one was ‘whispering sweet nothings!'”
Jiang Yi couldn’t help laughing: “Teacher Sheng’s expression might be a bit on the abstract side.”
Next came the turns of Jiang Yi, Yu Wan, Gu Xiaoran, Lu Chengyan, Song Yutong, Su Yi, and Xia Yan in a rotating order.
With a Best Actress and a Best Actor present, the first seven people had already accumulated 1850 Euros in dating funds by the end of their turns. Coupled with the 100 Euros per person compensated by the director yesterday, given Santorini’s price levels, they could have a very comfortable time playing today.
When it was Xia Yan’s turn, he felt practically no pressure.
However, the prompts set by the director’s team gave him a strong urge to perform.
Prompt 1: Flirting with the eyes.
With a prompt like this, if he didn’t seize the opportunity to flirt with Lu Chengyan, he’d be doing this opportunity a disservice.
Following the guessing techniques discussed earlier, Xia Yan held up four fingers, pointed at his eyebrows and eyes, then lowered his gaze, slowly lifted his eyelids to look at Lu Chengyan, and cast a charming, alluring wink.
This prompt was simple; “eyebrows and eyes” was explicitly pointed out, and the guests could easily think of the last two words, but no one went to answer.
Whomever Xia Yan was flirting with was the one who should answer!
The few of them tacitly looked at Lu Chengyan.
Gu Xiaoran remembered what happened during breakfast earlier. She and Xia Yan were right in the middle of a conversation when Lu Chengyan ruthlessly squeezed himself between them, looking as if his wife would run away if she spoke two words to someone else, radiating a strong sense of possessiveness.
Harboring a bit of mischief, Gu Xiaoran raised her voice and said, “Oh my, this prompt is so hard to guess. Can Teacher Lu figure out what it is?”
Song Yutong knocked on her own head, playing along despite her poor acting skills: “I’m such a little dummy, I can’t guess this prompt either. Teacher Lu, you look like you have the answer in your heart! It’s all up to you!”
She was acting, and she was acting too; the rest of them were acting as well, all turning into not-so-smart-looking people.
Lu Chengyan: …
“Flirting with the eyes.”
Xia Yan smiled like a cat stealing cream, and fiercely complimented Lu Chengyan: “Big Brother is so amazing, being able to guess this prompt is entirely thanks to you!”
[Ding! Capture target favorability increased by 1 point, current favorability is 36.]
Lu Chengyan’s fingertips curled slightly. Keeping a straight face, he said politely, “You acted it well.”
Prompt 2: Hearts beating as one.
Xia Yan held up four fingers, pointed at his own heart, made a heart shape with his left hand, then pointed at Lu Chengyan’s heart, made a heart shape with his right hand, and then slowly brought the two hearts close together.
“Cough, cough,” Gu Xiaoran started acting again: “So hard to guess…”
Lu Chengyan had learned his lesson. Rather than being teased one by one by the others, it was better to take the initiative right from the start.
Interrupting Gu Xiaoran’s words, he answered directly: “Hearts beating as one.”
However, his miscalculation lay in the fact that even if he answered immediately, he would still be teased one by one by the others.
“Wow, such great synchronization, Teacher Lu guessed it right again.”
“Is this telepathy?”
No one knew who started it, but Xia Yan and Lu Chengyan seemed to have already been bound together on this show.
Lu Chengyan didn’t like being shipped in a CP, but since the other person was Xia Yan, he felt he could barely tolerate it.
All signs indicated that Xia Yan liked him, or at least showed that he liked him very much. If he rejected Xia Yan’s face in public, Xia Yan would definitely feel hurt.
He and Xia Yan were colleagues on the same show, and they needed to leave each other some dignity.
He tacitly allowed everyone’s behavior of pairing him and Xia Yan together.
And because of his tacit approval, everyone became even more enthusiastic about pairing the two of them up.