Inside the room, the camera continued to run as usual, filming everything within the house.
Wen Rong’s expression remained gentle, and her eyes even overflowed with a hint of a smile.
But the words she spoke sent a chill through Xia Weige.
Xia Weige subconsciously took a step back, her hazy mind instantly clearing up.
Wen Rong saw her movement, and her slightly lowered gaze fell back upon her.
This was then accompanied by an extremely faint, soft chuckle.
Xia Weige didn’t understand the meaning of the laugh, but she felt a sudden, inexplicable timidity.
Seven years had passed, and sometimes Wen Rong felt familiar to her, yet at other times, she would exude an aura, like this moment, that made her feel difficult to approach.
“Go and sit at the dining table. I’ll be done in a moment,” Wen Rong said again, still smiling. Xia Weige lowered her head, not daring to object anymore.
The meal was simple, prepared with light flavors, considering she was sick and hadn’t eaten all day.
Xia Weige knew Wen Rong’s thoughtfulness; the other person had always been like this.
Even when facing her, an ex-girlfriend from seven years ago, she could be so considerate.
Xia Weige ate with a bit of resentment, then suddenly thought of something else: if Wen Rong agreed to be on the show, then she must be single now. But had the other person not dated anyone else in these seven years?
Xia Weige bit her lip tightly. She must have dated others. Was she really expecting Wen Rong to miss her for seven years?
She didn’t want Wen Rong to be like that either.
When she was almost done eating, Wen Rong began to clear the dishes. Xia Weige offered to do it, but Wen Rong pushed her to go rest first.
Xia Weige had no choice but to let Wen Rong clean up.
But she refused to leave first, sitting in the chair and propping her chin up as she watched Wen Rong.
The woman wore a long-sleeved shirt on top, with a light gray, thin jacket over it, and simple, fitted black high-waisted wide-leg pants on the bottom.
She hadn’t worn a cheongsam for some time, perhaps because she had to do a lot of work in the retirement community, and a cheongsam wasn’t very convenient.
When Xia Weige occasionally passed the activity room, she had even seen her wearing just an old-fashioned shirt, with sleeves rolled up, looking unfettered.
Xia Weige gazed intently at Wen Rong’s busy figure. Yes, it had been seven years since they broke up, yet she still couldn’t forget.
Perhaps it was because Wen Rong was so wonderful; after having someone like her, no one else could ever spark her interest again.
…
Over the next few days, Xia Weige began to select the location for the date and prepare the invitation gift.
The production team intentionally created hype: the invitations were not allowed to be done privately. Instead, the three individuals had to present their gifts to the people they wanted to invite in front of everyone. The recipient had to accept it in person for the invitation to be considered accepted.
The day before the first date, the production team notified everyone to come to the living room.
Xia Weige, Wen Rong, and Zhuo Jingcheng needed to issue their invitations to their desired person. In fact, everyone already knew who Xia Weige and Zhuo Jingcheng would invite.
From the start of the show, Xia Weige had been focused solely on Wen Rong. Viewers in the live stream knew she was aiming for Wen Rong when she was making the gift.
As for Zhuo Jingcheng, even before the show began, rumors were circulating online that he had come for Xia Weige, despite having only recently broken up with his ex-girlfriend.
However, Zhuo Jingcheng’s fans disliked his ex, Ye Jing, believing she wasn’t good enough for him, so they were quite accepting of their idol’s behavior of chasing someone else soon after a breakup.
Many even shipped him and Xia Weige as a couple, and quite a few thought his relationship with Xia Weige was a tragic romance, believing Wen Rong was always toying with Xia Weige, and therefore they strongly disliked Wen Rong.
So, aside from individual solo fans, everyone was most curious about Wen Rong: would she accept Xia Weige’s invitation, or would she give her gift to someone else?
But when Wen Rong appeared, she surprisingly didn’t bring a gift.
“I don’t have anyone I want to invite yet,” she simply explained, facing the crowd’s confusion.
Upon hearing this, Xia Weige’s heart tightened.
【I’m truly speechless. What is this sister trying to do? Didn’t she prepare a gift?】
【Really? She prepared a gift, so why didn’t she bring it out?】
【…She did make one. I was watching her live stream every day. She made it herself, spent several days on it—a set of glass crafts. They were especially beautiful. I thought she was going to give it to Xia Weige.】
【If she wasn’t Xia Weige’s ex, I’d think she paid to be on the show just for the experience. Since the beginning, she’s sent texts to almost everyone, mainly trying to spread the love, but it seems she hasn’t interacted much with anyone except Xia Weige.】
【Xiaxia was the one who clung to her, boo hoo hoo, my girl is so miserable.】
【I don’t understand, I don’t understand what this sister is thinking.】
【That’s probably what a mature woman is like!】
【Speaking of mature women, the other ‘Jie’ (older sister), Ye Jing, seems to be like that too…】
【Good, good, good.】
Although the live chat didn’t understand Wen Rong’s actions, the production team accepted her decision and let Zhuo Jingcheng start.
Zhuo Jingcheng opened his gift; it was a CD. He took the disc and handed it to Xia Weige, beaming.
“This contains all your songs from your debut until now. I found someone to engrave them all onto this disc, and I want to give it to you,” Zhuo Jingcheng stood in front of Xia Weige. He was nearly a head taller than her at 1.87 meters, a height difference that was popular among CP fans.
At this moment, the production team highlighted his sincere gift-giving with a warm light. Even non-CP fans watching the live stream were moved by the scene.
“Even if you don’t accept my invitation, I hope you can take this disc,” Zhuo Jingcheng added, his expression turning slightly melancholic as he said this, as if certain Xia Weige wouldn’t accept his invitation.
Earlier, during the live broadcast, there was footage of his argument with Ye Jing, where he said he was only approaching Xia Weige for traffic.
However, his public relations had been excellent lately, and his fans believed it was just Ye Jing deliberately slandering him.
Xia Weige has been consistently producing work for seven years since her debut. Besides her popular hits, some lesser-known songs dated back to her trainee days, which even fans had to spend effort finding. Zhuo Jingcheng’s ability to go to such lengths was enough to show the audience and fans his sincerity.
Xia Weige felt somewhat caught in a difficult position.
But her goal for coming here was only one person. She glanced at Wen Rong beside her, only to meet the latter’s gaze.
Xia Weige couldn’t discern the emotion in that look; she could no longer understand the present Wen Rong.
But Xia Weige knew what she wanted.
“I’m sorry, I won’t accept it.” She hugged the gift in her arms tighter, took a slight step back, and shook her head at Zhuo Jingcheng.
She refused very completely, not just declining the invitation, but also rejecting the gift he later offered just to take.
The other people present were surprised, thinking Xia Weige would at least accept Zhuo Jingcheng’s carefully prepared gift.
After all, he had said so much, and furthermore, this was live on air. Xia Weige was a celebrity; such a thorough rejection might lead to criticism from the audience.
Sure enough, as soon as Xia Weige said this, murmurs of dissatisfaction immediately arose in the live chat.
【Xiao Zhu spent so many days preparing this gift. We watched him asking people everywhere just to find all of Xia Weige’s songs. He said he wouldn’t force the date this time, so why still not accept it?!】
【A person who tramples on others’ sincerity won’t have a good outcome.】
【It will be funny if Wen Rong doesn’t accept Xia Weige’s gift later. Let her taste that feeling too.】
【Whose sincerity did she trample on? Did Xiaxia throw the gift away or deliberately ruin it? Does she have to accept a gift from just anyone?】
【Right, is it wrong for Xia Weige not to want to accept someone else’s gift in front of Wen Rong?】
【Exactly. Accepting another suitor’s gift in front of the person she likes—just thinking about it makes me feel bad for Xiaxia. Wasn’t Zhuo Jingcheng intentionally causing trouble?】
【This is a dating show, and the production team required them to send them together. Xiao Zhu was just expressing his feelings. How is that causing trouble?】
【Xiao Zhu’s sincere heart was truly wasted on a dog!】
【Yeah, isn’t Xia Weige just Wen Rong’s simp? Going back and forth, being played by Wen Rong on the show.】
【The previous person needs to watch their mouth.】
【Isn’t Wen Rong always hot and cold with Xia Weige? Oh right, as soon as you say anything, it’s the gentle big sister persona, nice to everyone.】
【Fans, just wait, Xia Weige is in for a tough time.】
Xia Weige was unaware of the insults in the bullet comments. After rejecting Zhuo Jingcheng, she held the gift in her hands up to Wen Rong.
The anticipation in her eyes was like the light of fireflies on a summer night, scattered points of light in the darkness, but when seen up close, they shone so brightly.
Wen Rong refused to send a gift, so many people speculated that she didn’t want to accept the date at all. She had been aloof with Xia Weige, but she had also clearly expressed rejection before.
Everyone was waiting for her stance.
She looked at the gift in front of her. The exquisitely wrapped box was already opened, and inside was a pair of earrings with transparent snowflake pendants.
She had loved this kind of earring seven years ago. Xia Weige had even learned for a long time just to make a pair for her by hand.
But she didn’t like them anymore.
Wen Rong looked at Xia Weige, shook her head, and then smiled, saying, “I haven’t worn earrings like this in a long time.”
Her words sounded like a rejection. Xia Weige’s hands, holding the gift, slowly clenched.
Xia Weige’s face turned pale. She was unwilling to take the gift back, stubbornly holding it out in front of Wen Rong, biting her lip but unable to utter a single word.
She was usually very articulate, but only when facing Wen Rong did she become clumsy and unsure of how to speak.
“Do you want me to accept it?” Just as Xia Weige was about to give up, Wen Rong suddenly spoke again.
Xia Weige sharply lifted her head, her lost heart leaping once more. She desperately wanted to immediately express her hopes, but instinct made her pause, tightly biting her lip.
She stared intently at Wen Rong, her expression extremely serious. Her lips parted and closed as she spoke each word very clearly: “I hope you genuinely want to accept my gift. This is our first date here.”
Xia Weige emphasized the significance of this gift; it was not only required by the production team but also a testament to her sincere feelings.
If she accepted, it shouldn’t be out of pity or compromise.
Wen Rong’s outstretched hand paused because of Xia Weige’s words. Her eyes met Xia Weige’s, their gazes intertwining.
She seemed able to see the emotion in Xia Weige’s eyes clearly.
Then she smiled again, her smile extremely gentle. Her paused fingers moved forward again, lightly picking up the pair of earrings from the box.
“See you tomorrow,” she told Xia Weige.
In that moment, Xia Weige’s breathing went ragged. She tightly hugged the empty box to her chest, her gaze following Wen Rong’s figure.
It was a fervent gaze, as if it could scorch Wen Rong.
She had mentally prepared herself for Wen Rong to refuse for so long. After speaking those words, Xia Weige hadn’t thought Wen Rong would agree.
But the other person accepted the gift, smiling as she told her, “See you tomorrow.”
Xia Weige couldn’t help but use one hand to cool her cheek, biting her lip fiercely but unable to suppress the frantic, leaping joy in her heart.
Ah, truly…