The moment An Shijiu was grabbed, her muscles tensed, and a flash of vigilance flickered in her eyes.
When she reacted and raised her head, Shen Yanjing had already returned to his distant demeanor, standing to the side with an indifferent expression.
The man’s presence carried an aggressive edge. An Shijiu frowned, feeling extremely uncomfortable as she rubbed her ear until it turned red.
She even fumbled over the microphone at her waist a couple of times with her hand.
Ye Qingyin’s smile froze on her face.
Shen Yanjing… what was he doing? Was he trying to be assigned to the An family?
A bold thought suddenly surfaced in her mind—could it be that An Shijiu had not been trying to latch onto him before? Could An Zhe really be Shen Yanjing’s son?
There was no other explanation.
At that thought, a dark glint flashed in Ye Qingyin’s eyes.
“Are you done?” An Shijiu suddenly asked. Her clear eyes made Ye Qingyin instinctively avert her gaze. “What?”
An Shijiu frowned and repeated, “Are you done? You’ve been holding my clothes for quite a while.”
Snapping back to her senses, Ye Qingyin hurriedly released her grip, forcing a composed smile. “It’s done, all set. I’ll go back first.”
At that moment, two cameramen carrying equipment approached. An Shijiu and Shen Yanjing then headed toward the two tent houses.
Watching his mother’s back, An Zhe pressed his lips together. Would Mom and Dad be assigned together?
The setup inside the tent was simple—just a wooden board with six pictures attached to it.
A kitten, a rose, a snowy mountain, fireworks, a small cake, and red banknotes.
An Shijiu’s hand hovered above the first picture for a moment, then she decisively took down the picture of the small cake.
—Whew, that scared me. She almost picked the same one as our brother.
—He didn’t even look before choosing the first one. It felt like they had agreed on it beforehand.
—She really loves food. I remember when she met Director Li and was shocked while eating cake—kind of cute.
An Shijiu’s thinking was extremely black-and-white.
Once she decided someone was her own, she would be completely defenseless—like how she had been with Prince Yan.
But she had already determined that Shen Yanjing was not the Prince Yan she knew. Therefore, she could treat him entirely as a stranger, unaffected in the slightest.
the system: 【You’re not choosing the first one?】
An Shijiu frowned. A faint fire flickered in her glass-like eyes as she muttered in a low voice, “Why should I listen to him?”
That was true. In fact, the system did not want An Zhe and Shen Yanjing to interact too early either—it would too easily affect the storyline.
【Suddenly remembered—when you first met Shen Yanjing, why did you suddenly scold him?】
“I didn’t scold him. I just thought he looked exactly like my former employer, Prince Yan.”
【Prince Yan? A prince? Someone from your world? Are you sure they really look the same?】
An Shijiu did not understand why the system suddenly became so agitated. “They look the same, but they’re not the same person.”
【Are you certain?】
For a transmigration system, if another transmigrator appeared within the same story world, it would practically turn into a horror scenario.
Usually, the heavenly dao of a single world could only allow one minor rule violation.
If there were two or more transmigrators, the world would most likely fall out of control. Such a story world would become like an isolated island—one could enter, but never leave.
Regardless of whether the mission was completed or not, there would be no way to escape.
In An Shijiu’s mind appeared Prince Yan’s gentle eyes, contrasted with Shen Yanjing’s cold gaze that faintly carried disdain. She nodded with certainty.
“I’m sure. They’re not the same person.”
After taking the small cake picture, An Shijiu left the tent.
Shen Yanjing happened to come out as well. His gaze briefly swept over the picture in her hand before quickly withdrawing.
He had never considered the possibility that An Shijiu would not listen to him.
Someone willing to do anything to climb upward—would she really reject someone like him, a massive source of attention and traffic?
An Shijiu paid no attention to any of this. She strode back to her seat and showed the picture to An Zhe. “Doesn’t it look delicious?”
An Zhe took the picture and nodded obediently. “Mm-hmm.”
Next, Qin Yize, who ranked second in Weibo votes, and Ye Qingyin, whose family ranked second in first broadcast popularity, went to choose their pictures.
The moment Ye Qingyin entered the tent, she immediately looked at the first position. Seeing that An Shijiu had not taken it, she felt a surge of delight.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward and picked the first picture.
Only then did she act as if she had just remembered the cameras, smiling shyly.
Holding up the picture to the lens, she said, “Mm~ I’ll choose the first one. I like kittens.”
—She locked onto the first one the moment she walked in—exactly the same as Shen Yanjing. They definitely planned this.
—Didn’t Ye Qingyin say during Director Li’s hidden camera broadcast that she’s allergic to cat fur? Haha, now she likes cats just to be with Shen Yanjing?
—Ahhh, I’m dying from this sweetness! When did you two plan this? Tell us—we’re not outsiders.
After everyone selected in order of ranking, the sky gradually darkened. The production team turned on the lights and gathered everyone together.
“Next, we’ll announce the matching results. Then the managers can follow their respective employers home.”
Shen Yanjing successfully matched with the Ye family; Qin Yize with the Gu family; He Yun’er with the Shang family; Liu Momo with the Lin family; Ji Qingyu with the An family; Qi Xin with the Xing family.
The director’s team wrote the pairings on a whiteboard and pushed it forward for the guests to see.
Looking at the three bold characters “Shen Yanjing” beside her name, Ye Qingyin maintained a surprised expression on her face, though a glint of calculation flashed in her eyes.
Taking advantage of everyone gathering around the board, she walked over to An Shijiu. With a slight frown and an innocent expression, she said, “Did you and Yanjing have some kind of agreement? I didn’t hear clearly at the time, so I just picked randomly. I didn’t expect it to turn out like this—you won’t blame me, right?”
When she approached, An Shijiu glanced at her—there was intent to attack, but weak and powerless.
Safe.
She did not even remember this person’s name.
As for the string of words Ye Qingyin had just said, An Shijiu paid no attention to it, nor did she respond.
Ye Qingyin’s innocent expression gradually became strained in the face of An Shijiu’s silence. She clenched her teeth secretly.
Acting indifferent? Seeing Shen Yanjing taken by her, she must be bleeding inside!
The only reason Shen Yanjing treated An Shijiu differently had to be because An Zhe was truly his son.
Although this was an unexpected development in her plans, she could accept it. After all, she had borne and raised a child herself.
Shen Yanjing remained her primary target for this variety show.
Even if he currently viewed An Shijiu differently because of An Zhe, she was confident that through their time together here, she could change his mind.
Thinking this way, she finally managed to calm the embarrassment brought by An Shijiu’s complete disregard.
Among those present, Ye Qingyin was not the only one who got what she wanted—there was also a hidden fan of An Shijiu.
Ji Qingyu used all his strength to keep his excitement from showing on his face.
Ahhh! He was in the same group as An Shijiu!
Shen Yanjing’s face darkened as he stared at Ji Qingyu, who was trying hard to hide his excitement, without saying a word.
Under his boss’s gaze, Ji Qingyu felt a chill run through his body. He quickly squeezed forward under the pretense of looking at the board.
Shen Yanjing’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he accurately locked onto An Shijiu’s face within the crowd.
Why had she not listened to him?
His gaze lingered on her features as if glued there, tracing them again and again.
She clearly did not spare him even the slightest bit of attention. Under the glow of the setting sun, her dark brown eyes appeared lighter.
Looking at her eyes alone, one could see a hint of innocence.
But when combined with the thick black brows hidden beneath her peach-pink bangs, there was a wildness between her brows and eyes—a sharpness like a predator locking onto its prey when her pupils moved.
Her rounded nose and soft, plump lips softened that aggressiveness.
Sitting there idly, she resembled a dozing big cat—gentle, yet somehow… a little cute.
She wrinkled her nose and yawned lazily. As if sensing something, she was about to turn her head.
Shen Yanjing’s pupils shifted, and he focused instead on An Zhe beside her.
This instinctive, almost panicked avoidance made him slightly annoyed. His hand clenched, his knuckles cracking audibly.
An Shijiu had schemed against him, married casually, neglected her child, and since becoming an internet celebrity, had relied on maintaining a fabricated single persona to gain attention.
With such character, he did not believe he would ever become so desperate.
A cold glint filled his eyes.
All of this was because of that strange dream.
Ever since meeting An Shijiu, the dream had progressed, beginning to show fragmented and blurry scenes.
In a grand mansion adorned with carved beams and painted rafters—
That woman always stood silently beside him. They barely spoke, yet he could feel his heart wrapped in a layer of honey.
Sticky and sweet.
As long as she was there, it felt as though he could calmly endure all storms, treating the world with greater gentleness.
Even after waking, that quiet sense of contentment lingered in his heart.
Logically, such a dream should have been far more pleasant than the one that caused him heart-wrenching pain.
Yet it irritated him immensely.
Because although the woman’s face in the dream was unclear, for some reason, he always unconsciously overlaid An Shijiu’s features onto her.
Was it because of the child that he had developed some strange bias toward her?
Once a man and woman had a child, it was like a chain that could never be severed.
That had been An Shijiu’s goal.
Unfortunately, he despised being manipulated the most. Taking advantage of this show to spend some time with the child, he would quickly separate the child from her afterward.
When the time came, accounts would be settled properly. He would make sure she understood the consequences of scheming against him.
Within his narrow eyes, his dark pupils resembled a deep abyss, as if a ferocious beast imprisoned for a thousand years was struggling to break free.
Seeing that Shen Yanjing’s expression had clearly turned unpleasant, Ye Qingyin still composed herself and walked over with a gentle smile.
Her gaze carried the softness unique to an intellectual woman, calm like water. “Mr. Shen, please take care of me over the next 30 days.”
—Ahhh, I’m dying from this sweetness!
—A mature, restrained male star paired with a gentle, intellectual woman—this kind of push-and-pull between adults is exactly what I love!
—What’s funny is that An Shijiu—she tried to latch onto him before, but now that she’s actually on the show, she doesn’t even dare get close. Is our brother’s aura just too strong?
—Enough already. Stop bringing up the past. Since joining the show, An Shijiu hasn’t even glanced at your “brother.” Isn’t that enough? Can’t everyone just focus on their own careers?
—Bah, a scandal-ridden internet celebrity—what career does she even have? Without controversy, would she still have any traffic?
Director Li said, “Alright, if there are no issues, it’s getting late. Let’s wrap it up.”
Shen Yanjing suddenly spoke in a low voice, “Wait a moment.”