Peng Hu’s intention was far too obvious, prompting Chao Bei to remind her, “Sister, this is a divorce reality show.”
The amnesiac jellyfish was adept at taking words literally. “The show’s script says it is an emotional program.”
Her eyes struggled to focus, giving her a strong sense of detachment; some people who did not know her at all even mistook her for being blind.
“This is my emotional journey.”
Sitting next to Chao Bei, Lu Yan crumpling a paper ball applauded. “So deep! So, sister, where have you been living all these years?”
Among the guests, the divorce between her and Chao Bei was the most transparent.
It was difficult for good friends to remain lovers for long. They had both taken a step back, yet they could not erase the fact that their marriage had existed. In the eyes of the viewers, Chao Bei’s gaze followed Lu Yan everywhere, always seeming reluctant, like a plea to hold on.
“At…”
Peng Hu thought for a moment. The world under the sea was a secret. “On a small island.”
She did not specify the name. Lu Yan rolled her eyes slightly, seemingly guessing some unspoken difficulty, and did not press further.
At that moment, Jin Fuxiao walked over, and Peng Hu turned her gaze toward her.
The woman still seemed lingeringly angry. She did not understand why Ju Cixin was so stubborn about the brand name Daybreak Hours, which instead made Jin Fuxiao, who was arguing with her, look like a fool.
She sat down next to Peng Hu, her short hair tucked behind her ear. Peng Hu rested her face on her hand and stared at her.
Jin Fuxiao grew even more annoyed. “What are you looking at?”
Peng Hu seemed startled, but then broke into a smile. “Fufu, pretty.”
At least she did not say “grown-up Fufu” this time, which was already progress.
“Was this pair’s style always like this before? There is so little background material! Compared to idols and actors, they are complete non-celebrities.”
“Jin Fuxiao’s taste in beauty is also great! In the early years, she was just a rural entrepreneur, tanned so dark; if not soy sauce-colored, it was at least oyster sauce-colored.”
“I have some impression of Chao Bei’s and Lou Zimiao’s family backgrounds. Those two are bosses of big enterprises, but why are there no famous stories about these two?”
“I watched a documentary. One was an orphan vagrant, and the other was a rebellious girl who ran away from home. It seems there isn’t much more to tell.”
“A few years ago, when Jin Fuxiao attended an event, someone attacked her, right? It seemed to be a member of her family?”
Off-camera, Wu Tou coldly read out the schedule. “Every day, the balance of each guest pair will be announced. The balance will affect the accommodation conditions for the next stop.”
“Now, we will begin collecting the guests’ mobile phones and hand out sports cameras and Instant Cameras for everyone to record with.”
Lu Yan was the first to express dissatisfaction. “Every pair?”
“We are already divorced. Do we still have to act in pairs?”
The camera gave the director a shot. Jin Fuxiao pointed at the woman dressed entirely in black within the frame and asked in a low voice, “Is this another relative of yours?”
Peng Hu gave a quiet “Mm,” taking the opportunity to lean closer.
Even after taking her medicine, her head still hurt, making her gaze appear even more dreamy. “Not very close relatives.”
Many members of the sea folk transformed into humans to come ashore. In ancient times, there were merfolk; now, there were mermaids and various shellfish turning human, active in the human world.
Peng Hu’s household registration had been processed separately. The window clerk was an old sea turtle whose movements were so slow that Dai Buyu almost filed a complaint against him.
“Considered a relative, in a way.”
She spoke ambiguously, making Jin Fuxiao feel even more furious. “You used to say you had no relatives. You…”
She instinctively wanted to say “You only had me,” but meeting Peng Hu’s bewildered gaze, she felt as if stung and hastily turned her face away.
“Used to?”
Peng Hu only possessed the meaning of her twenty-year-old self. She knew her memory was incomplete, yet she could retrieve the part about having no relatives.
“I was brought back by the factory director.”
Peng Hu’s voice was pressed too low and too soft, forcing Jin Fuxiao to lean closer to hear her speak. In the frame, the two were huddled together.
The viewers all saw Lu Yan sitting opposite covering her mouth in a smile; the meaning was far too obvious.
Why are you shipping other guest couples while participating in a reality show!
“I know.”
“Fufu didn’t know. At that time, I remembered nothing at all.”
Jin Fuxiao was silent.
She only knew that back then, everyone called Peng Hu a fool.
The fool was more efficient on the assembly line in the workshop than anyone else. Even when bad luck struck and a factory worker inexplicably died while out, the boss still wanted to keep her.
She ate little, worked hard, had no relatives, and would not be poached by others; where else could anyone find such a rare talent?
“You never told me,” Jin Fuxiao raised her eyes in surprise, filtering through her own memories. “You just said your parents and family were all dead.”
Peng Hu’s deep blue eyes gazed at her, like a deep abyss at the bottom of the sea. “I didn’t say that.”
Jin Fuxiao did not allow any flaws in her memory and insisted, “You did.”
Peng Hu had not retrieved her later memories, but she had searched through her past over and over again, feeling very certain. “That day was Monday, March 31st, at 5:00 PM.”
This could hardly be considered an argument between them; their logic was practically pressed up against each other. Lu Yan thoroughly enjoyed watching this and pinched Chao Bei’s thigh hard.
The washed-up idol nearly failed to maintain her facial expression and almost screamed out loud. Lou Zimiao’s gaze was gentle, appearing more concerned about Shu Huaidie, who had left.
“Please maintain distance between the two of you while the director announces the rules.”
Wu Tou was not blind. Her eye corner twitched as she reminded them, fully able to imagine what the tricky photographer was shooting.
In front of the camera for a reality show, there gathered resource-connected figures, a top company lady, those who brought investment to join the cast, and a team mixed with a certain ribbonfish’s confidants, alongside a wedding photographer whose true form was a small yellow croaker.
“No need to maintain distance! This is exactly what we came to see!”
“Could it be that among the three pairs, someone actually didn’t get divorced? Or are they going to remarry?”
“Although we call it a divorce show, it’s not written in the title! It really is an emotional program.”
“Peng Hu looks so icy, yet she loves leaning toward her wife like this.”
“Isn’t Jin Fuxiao a mysterious, cold, and glamorous chairman? Her expressions are quite rich on the reality show.”
“Ten years ago, I worked at Morning and Dusk. Back then, Chairman Jin was responsible for being glamorous, while Chairman Peng was responsible for being cold. But both of them were quite mysterious and hard to see.”
Lu Yan finally stopped pretending and burst into loud laughter.
Chao Bei, whose thigh had been both slapped and pinched by her ex-wife, slumped on the table, seemingly losing all her strength and composure.
Jin Fuxiao pushed Peng Hu away, reprimanding her like a child, “Sit up straight.”
The immortal jellyfish glanced at the director standing outside the camera frame; Wu Tou did not meet her gaze.
“Is that a threatening look?”
“How can a person’s eyes be this lifeless…”
“Her hair is dyed with so many layers! Which stylist did that? I think Chao Bei can recruit this stylist; her pink hair is as frizzy as a sea urchin.”
“Now, draw your room numbers.”
The show crew had rented a certain inn in this small city. Aside from the guests, there were only staff members inside the inn. Just as Wu Tou finished speaking, the screen displayed the inn’s room numbers.
“Are they still going to live with their ex-wives after a divorce?”
“It seems to be a mix of double beds and twin beds.”
“I hope the couple I saw break up gets trapped on this bed and never separates!”
“Didn’t they say the platform is very rich? Looking at the inn, they are still so stingy.”
“Six people in three rooms?”
Lu Yan raised her voice after seeing clearly, her gaze almost turning physical.
“If I draw a room with you, I would rather…”
Before Chao Bei could finish her words, Lu Yan took over, “I would rather smash my head and die.”
Lou Zimiao tried to smooth things over. “There is no need to speak so decisively. What if it actually happens? It wouldn’t be good for the crew to see blood.”
“You didn’t spare them either.”
“Can we pay money? I am willing to pay so they can live together.”
“What vicious viewers, actually making divorced wives live together! Then change it to a water bed!”
Chao Bei was speechless.
Lu Yan was speechless.
Peng Hu raised a question: “Can we designate the choice of partner?”
She had not considered these things when meeting Wu Tou; the last time the immortal jellyfish was human, she had never recorded such a program.
Due to their species background, very few sea folk who came ashore were willing to show their faces in front of the camera.
Peng Hu had always disliked taking photos.
After she left, Jin Fuxiao sorted through her belongings.
Only then did she realize that after all their years together, there were very few photos of them together. Most were formal event photos, annual meeting compilations, while audio recordings were actually more numerous.
Wu Tou’s voice came from the side: “You cannot.”
“I forgot to tell everyone.”
“Among the six guests, two of them have a strong desire to remarry.”
“Does two mean two pairs?”
“So it really is written as a divorce show but actually a remarriage show? No wonder there are emotional experts acting as guest stars.”
“Good grief! Are they letting us play a Divorce Battle Royale or a Remarriage Battle Royale?”
“It should be Peng Hu, right?”
“PD, respond in person!”
Perhaps because the viewers’ reaction was very intense, the director off-stage looked at the screenshots and offered an on-the-spot response.
“The two individuals are not necessarily two pairs.”
“This show merely analyzes emotions; it does not care whether the guests remarry, remain divorced, or start over as friends after getting off the show.”
Wu Tou’s voice sounded extremely robotic, very much like the guiding audio played at an examination room.
“On the final day, we will announce all the preliminary interviews. Fill in your guesses in the live-stream pop-up box; if you guess correctly, you can win a mysterious grand prize.”
Peng Hu asked, “Can I fill it in?”
She did not play by conventional rules. Right now, all the viewers were guessing the answer based on the guests’ reactions. With Peng Hu being so enthusiastic, it became even more bewildering.
“You have already handed over your phone, what are you going to fill in?”
Jin Fuxiao felt exhausted in her heart; she regretted participating in the reality show.
Peng Hu’s state was neurotic, and she should go to a hospital rather than be on a reality show.
Could this group of her relatives be using her to gain traffic?
Was there anyone who truly treated her well with all their heart?
“Why doesn’t it look like this sister?”
“I choose Lou Zimiao, but there were news reports earlier saying she already had a new love. I am so hesitant.”
“The answer to this question must be Chao Bei! Her eyes are practically glued to Lu Yan!”
“Can I fill it in before handing it over?”
Peng Hu looked at Wu Tou. The squid did not know what she was thinking either, but gave a low “Mm.” “There are still five minutes left.”
Jin Fuxiao asked, “Why are you so keen on this?”
Peng Hu pointed at what was written on the screen: “The mysterious grand prize.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“I don’t know, but in the past, whenever Fufu saw these four words, she couldn’t move her feet.”
“We bought a lot of soda and opened a lot of beer bottle caps just for the mysterious grand prize.”
Fufu was right before her eyes. Jin Fuxiao knew that she was still missing the version of herself in her memory.
This feeling was terrible.
Clearly it was a very sweet past, yet for some reason, the atmosphere between the two of them was so strange.
Lou Zimiao was not interested in the grand prize. She was the first to draw a room number and asked, “Where did Xiao Die go to rest just now?”
Wu Tou said, “The staff lounge.”
Lou Zimiao asked again, “Then is she not going to draw?”
“Miss Shu said she is fine with whatever.”
Lou Zimiao drew a room named Parting Sentiments, which was a double room.
She did not show any other expression and quickly went upstairs carrying her luggage.
“Who is next?”
At the scene, only Jin Fuxiao did not participate in the mysterious grand prize. That pair of exes who argued all day long looked more like high school students in her eyes.
She also drew a room with two single beds, and the room number was Coldheartedness.
“Hahaha, what kind of names are these!”
“I have stayed in this inn! The naming is super rustic! Does the show crew really not change it!”
Peng Hu leaned over. “Fufu, Coldheartedness.”
Jin Fuxiao pushed her away hard. “Isn’t the coldhearted one you?”