Ten minutes later…
Lu Ren stared at the empty Kang Shuaifu bowl, even the soup drained dry. “…”
Xu Qingqing rubbed her stomach, still savoring the meal.
“This is the seafood flavor, right?” A hint of satisfied fullness touched her cold expression as she elegantly wiped her mouth. “The flavor is quite good.”
“…Uh, I’m… I’m glad you like it.”
I only think it’s “quite good”! How does that count as “liking” it?
Xu Qingqing had been about to say exactly that, but the sight of the glaringly obvious instant noodle bowl made a flicker of awkwardness cross her proud face.
A moment later, she tossed her high ponytail and abruptly stood up.
“Your name is Lu Ren, right?”
Xu Qingqing lifted her chin haughtily.
“When the show’s over, go find Bai Li and tell him this brand.”
Lu Ren let out a confused “Huh?”
Xu Qingqing crossed her arms and huffed. “Just tell him I sent you. He’ll know what to do.”
With that, she swept out of the room.
Lu Ren watched the proud young lady’s departing figure and scratched his cheek guiltily.
Sure, that butler seemed nice enough… but was he really supposed to tell him he’d fed Xu Qingqing instant noodles…?
A cold sweat broke out on Lu Ren’s brow. I have a bad feeling about this.
Shaking his head, he obediently cleared the table and washed the bowls.
The sky was just beginning to lighten. He yawned and headed back upstairs.
Zhou Zichuan was fast asleep, his breathing deep and steady.
The air conditioner had left the room freezing. Lu Ren shivered, fumbled in the dark to draw the curtains, and climbed into bed. As if by some automatic sensor, Yin Beilin immediately pulled him into a tight embrace.
Too exhausted to even put up a token “straight man’s struggle,” Lu Ren closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly.
The next morning, Lu Ren was shaken awake by Yin Beilin.
Lu Ren’s eyes fluttered open, and the first thing he saw was the pink ceiling.
He blinked a few times before realizing the handsome face of the male lead was right beside him.
Lu Ren froze.
Yin Beilin’s long, black eyelashes framed eyes that gazed steadily at him.
Unlike Lu Ren, who looked completely dazed from a lack of sleep, Yin Beilin seemed to be brimming with energy, like a thousand-year-old demon who had just feasted on vital essence.
This dashingly handsome look was perhaps partly due to his new suit.
The light gray jacket was wide and crisp, unlike yesterday’s deep black one that was slightly tapered at the waist. Worn unbuttoned, it lacked the solemnity of the black suit, adding a touch of casual elegance.
Still half-asleep, Lu Ren stared blankly at Yin Beilin, unable to fully process the situation.
…Isn’t this a “poor family” novel? Why does the male lead have so many new clothes?
Though he does look pretty damn handsome.
Seeing the foolish expression on the bed, with his hair a mess and staring straight at him, a hint of a smile flickered in Yin Beilin’s deep black eyes.
It vanished in an instant.
The next second, Yin Beilin straightened up, casually stuffing his hands into his pockets.
His phoenix eyes were half-lowered as he looked down at the person on the bed with a calm, aloof expression. “Now that you’re awake, get up.”
“If your foot still isn’t healed,” Yin Beilin raised an eyebrow, his tone nonchalant, “I wouldn’t mind carrying you out of bed.”
…?
Two seconds later, Lu Ren shot up like a carp, sitting bolt upright.
“No, no, no, no need!” Lu Ren hurriedly flung off the covers, scrambling out of bed to find his slippers. “My foot is completely fine, really!”
Ten minutes later, Lu Ren had quickly gotten dressed and groomed himself before gathering in the living room.
Director Qian stood before the large screen they had set up, looking puzzled. “We left a camera in the dining area last night. Did any of you touch it?”
Zhou Zichuan shook his head, his expression innocent. “Not me. I slept straight through to this morning.”
…The dining area?
Lu Ren instinctively glanced at Xu Qingqing.
Rao Mengmeng and Luo Jiuge exchanged a look, then turned their gazes toward Xu Qingqing as well.
As everyone’s eyes converged on her, Young Lady Xu kept her head held high, her expression impassive. “The camera? I threw it away.”
“Threw it away?!”
“Why did you throw it away?” Director Qian asked, shocked. “Where did you throw it?”
“My hand slipped,” Xu Qingqing shrugged. “I forgot.”
Lu Ren’s lips twitched.
Holy shit… Could you be any more arrogant, Young Lady?! You’re willing to toss a production crew’s camera just so no one finds out you’re hungry?
Just as Lu Ren was cursing her in his mind, Xu Qingqing seemed to sense his thoughts and whipped her head around.
Their eyes met.
The next second, the Young Lady shot him a glare sharp enough to kill!
Lu Ren: “…!”
Lu Ren guiltily averted his gaze, not daring to utter a word.
Much like Lu Ren, Director Qian was equally helpless against Xu Qingqing.
He said with a sigh of resignation, “Young Lady Xu, this time the restaurant was for the evening shoot, and we happened to be using a backup camera. It’s a good thing there wasn’t much footage on it. Next time you want to throw something, at least check what it is first.”
Xu Qingqing gave a nonchalant “Oh.”
Director Qian’s temple twitched again. He sighed wearily, rubbed his temples, and then mustered his energy once more.
“As you all know, this episode of Fantasy Couple is a two-day, one-night trip, and today is our grand finale.”
“From the moment we arrived at this Fantasy Manor, we’ve been emphasizing the theme: Intimacy. At this, Director Qian paused for dramatic effect, drawing out the word, “So now, let’s reveal who, exactly, is the most intimate Fantasy Couple of this episode!”
…?
Lu Ren was bewildered. How could they tell who was the most intimate?
How were they going to judge that?
But the next second, Director Qian clapped his hands.
The production team staff promptly projected a video onto the large screen behind him.
Lu Ren watched curiously.
On the big screen, a clip from the final shoot Director Qian had them do downstairs yesterday began to play.
Lu Ren was a bit puzzled. The video seemed completely ordinary, just a few of them sitting on a sofa until Director Qian walked over and asked them all to stand up.
But the moment they rose, the screen suddenly dimmed.
Lu Ren blinked. The next second, several glowing, multicolored figures appeared on the screen.
Director Qian explained from the side, “From the very first time you entered, I told you all that the theme of this trip is ‘Intimacy’.”
“The clothes you’re wearing were pre-coated with a special fluorescent powder we developed. This powder is invisible to the naked eye, even at night. It can only be seen when scanned with a specific device.”
“Therefore, the level of intimacy between each guest has already been recorded through your interactions,” Director Qian said cheerfully. “For example, our Mengmeng is represented by a simple white. As you can see, the green on Zhou Zichuan’s clothes is covered in traces left behind from his interactions with Rao Mengmeng.”
Zhou Zichuan’s face instantly flushed. “Oh my god, is that for real?”
The big screen showed exactly what Director Qian had described. At first glance, Zhou Zichuan looked like a walking blob of green, but his inner elbows and cuffs were covered in white, the color representing Rao Mengmeng.
Rao Mengmeng was white, and although she was covered in other colors, the most prominent one was Zhou Zichuan’s green.
Holy crap! Lu Ren was stunned.
He had never imagined that the theme of “intimacy” Director Qian kept talking about would be presented in such a way.
Lu Ren cursed inwardly and hurriedly scanned the screen to see what colors were on his own figure.
But the next second, he was dumbfounded.
The fluorescent agent scan had labeled all the guests’ colors.
But…
Lu Ren stared blankly at the “complete mess” of a light-red figure.
Although his assigned color was light red, his collar, shoulders, waist, back, chest, and even his wrists were covered in large, dense patches of deep purple-red. Lu Ren felt he wasn’t even a pure light red anymore,
This is straight-up magenta, holy shit!
Wait…
Yin Beilin was blue.
Blue plus red… equals purple.
…Had he, had he really been that intimate with Yin Beilin? Lu Ren’s mind reeled, still in disbelief. He turned to look at Yin Beilin’s little figure.
The light blue figure was also covered in large, mottled patches of purple.
When he saw the purple near Yin Beilin’s inner thighs, Lu Ren’s face turned pale. “…”
No, this can’t be, Lu Ren thought, his vision darkening.
He was a law-abiding straight man. How could Yin Beilin have purple marks left by him there?!!?