The next day, Jiang Qingzhou was woken up by an annoying alarm. He squinted in irritation, slapped it off, and rolled over to sleep a little longer, when he suddenly spotted the camera on the nightstand covered with a towel, and instantly snapped awake.
Whoa! How had he forgotten, he was still carrying the important mission of winning Liang Tingyun over!
If he failed, he might actually end up dead!
Under the threat to his life, Jiang Qingzhou willingly climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom with his makeup bag, a smile already on his face.
Besides needing to present a perfect version of himself in front of Liang Tingyun, there was one more important detail, since he’d transmigrated in, he only had one mole at the corner of his left eye, while the original protagonist in the book had two.
Actually, the original protagonist had only had one at first too, but couldn’t stand that Liang Tingyun had two.
To look more like Liang Tingyun, Xiao Wenyao had taken the original protagonist to a tattoo shop and had a second mole inked in below the original one.
From then on, the original protagonist had two moles, and never once got the chance to remove that mark Xiao Wenyao had left on him, right up until his death.
After washing up, Jiang Qingzhou picked up his eyeliner pencil, dotted a small mark at the corner of his left eye, then compared it against a photo of Liang Tingyun, and finding nothing wrong with it, left the bathroom satisfied.
Downstairs at the dining table, everyone except Zhong Yu and Jiang Qingzhou had already gathered, quietly eating breakfast, and the live chat was in a cheerful mood too.
Then Jiang Qingzhou shuffled into frame in his slippers.
【I’m speechless, little bitch Jiang really knows how to kill a vibe.】
【Why does Jiang Qingzhou have so much nerve? He actually got up even later than his seniors, I genuinely can’t understand how someone like this is still hanging on in the industry.】
【Ahhh I really don’t want to see Jiang Qingzhou, can the production team please add a “who I want to see” and “who I don’t want to see” option?】
【Jiang Qingzhou is the biggest flaw of this whole show, I’m speechless.】
Completely unaware of the shift in the chat’s mood, Jiang Qingzhou walked toward the table with a big smile. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Morning.” Pei Songming waved at Jiang Qingzhou. “Xiao Zhou, come try Tingyun’s breakfast, it’s really good.”
Jiang Qingzhou’s eyes lit up at once, and he said, delighted, “Actor Liang made it?”
“Yep, no idea what time he got up, but he made this whole spread.” Having said that, Pei Songming went back to his bowl of vegetable congee.
Liang Tingyun said flatly, “I’m used to getting up early.”
At the six-person long table, Liang Tingyun sat at one end, Pei Songming next to him, Chao Shu and Du Xinnuo across from them, and one seat left empty with no breakfast in front of it.
Jiang Qingzhou sat down on Pei Songming’s right and glanced at the empty seat across from him. “Has Ms. Zhong already eaten?”
“She doesn’t eat breakfast,” Liang Tingyun said, without a trace of emotion. “No need to worry about her.”
【Oh my god, this is killing me, how well do you have to know someone to already know they skip breakfast?】
【So sweet, so sweet.】
【Just get together already.】
“I see.” Jiang Qingzhou steadied himself and studied Liang Tingyun, and finding no change at all in his handsome features, relaxed and turned his attention to the congee in front of him.
He’d read plenty of the online rumors about Liang Tingyun and Zhong Yu, if the two of them really were a couple, he wouldn’t be able to go around playing homewrecker.
He’d have to find a whole new big shot to latch onto, too.
“No wonder it’s Actor Liang’s cooking, smells amazing just from here.”
Eyes full of anticipation, Jiang Qingzhou picked up his spoon and took a gentle taste, and before he’d even finished swallowing, the flattery came pouring out. “So good! Actor Liang isn’t just handsome and talented, he even cooks this well, I really don’t know who’s going to be lucky enough to end up as Actor Liang’s partner someday.”
【It definitely won’t be you, so don’t bother worrying about it.】
【Little bitch Jiang, what are you putting on now? The fakeness is basically leaking off the screen and into my face!】
【Ahhhh I still haven’t gotten to try Daddy Tingyun’s cooking, why does little bitch Jiang get to eat it?!】
【Not allowed to eat Daddy Tingyun’s cooking, spit it out right now!!!】
Across from Liang Tingyun, a flash of distaste crossed Du Xinnuo’s eyes, and she cut off Jiang Qingzhou’s flattery. “Chao Chao, where are you and Songming going for your date today?”
Chao Shu said, “Haven’t decided yet, I heard there’s a forest park around here that’s supposed to be fun, might go check it out.”
“Take some pictures for us when you go,” Du Xinnuo said. “I’ll set up a group chat later and add everyone in it, so we can all share photos of the fun spots we find, if anyone else wants to go, they’ll have something to reference.”
“Sure thing.”
After breakfast, Chao Shu and Pei Songming headed out on their date. Zhong Yu still hadn’t come downstairs, leaving Jiang Qingzhou, Liang Tingyun, and Du Xinnuo alone in the living room.
Jiang Qingzhou, still thinking about the “date card” the staff had mentioned yesterday, spoke up before the staff could even start. “Can we choose to complete a task and redeem a date card now?”
The staff member said, “Sure. Who do you want to use the date card on?”
Jiang Qingzhou said without hesitation, “Actor Liang.”
“Understood.” The production team had already seen Jiang Qingzhou’s comments from yesterday, while the show’s original intent had indeed been for men and women, after what Jiang Qingzhou had said, they could hardly turn around and act like they were going against national policy.
Besides, Jiang Qingzhou’s pursuit of Liang Tingyun was giving the show more to talk about and better numbers.
That was, in fact, the very reason they’d agreed to let Jiang Qingzhou on the show in the first place.
The staff member glanced at Du Xinnuo and asked, “Does anyone else want to use a date card on Teacher Liang?”
【Come on, Xin, don’t let that bitch Jiang Qingzhou get his way!】
【I’m not on Du and Daddy Tingyun’s side, but I really don’t want to see little bitch Jiang succeed here.】
“Me too.” Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Du Xinnuo finally stood up. “I’d also like to use a date card on Tingyun.”
Jiang Qingzhou froze for a second, looking at Du Xinnuo in surprise.
Then it clicked, Liang Tingyun had gotten three confession letters yesterday, and setting aside his own and Liang Tingyun’s own letter to himself, that meant the remaining one had to have been Du Xinnuo’s.
“All right.” The staff member said, “When two guests both want to redeem a date card for the same guest at the same time, they can compete fairly under the production team’s arrangement.”
“Best two out of three decides the winner. Whoever wins gets the date card.”
Du Xinnuo and Jiang Qingzhou answered in unison, full of determination, “Okay, sounds good.”
The only one who showed absolutely no reaction, despite being the very subject of the date card contest, was Liang Tingyun, who sat quietly on the sofa reading his book, a freshly brewed cup of coffee on the coffee table in front of him, looking utterly at ease.
Jiang Qingzhou and Du Xinnuo followed the staff out to the courtyard outside the villa, while Liang Tingyun stayed leaning against the sofa, unbothered, reading his book.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Jiang Qingzhou caught a glimpse of the back of Liang Tingyun’s perfect head, and couldn’t help but marvel to himself.
No wonder he’d set his sights on this man, Liang Tingyun really did have presence.
Other people were bleeding themselves dry fighting over him, and he couldn’t care less.
Liang Tingyun’s aloof, hard-to-reach personality only fired up Jiang Qingzhou’s competitive streak all the more, he really wanted to pull this untouchable flower down from his pedestal.
He wanted to see what that untouchable flower looked like once his heart had been won.
Just as Jiang Qingzhou was lost in thought, the staff member’s voice came from beside him. “The first round is ‘Pop the Balloon.'”
The staff member explained the rules. “Each contestant will have two balloons tied to their feet. Once the judge announces the start, both sides will try to stomp on each other’s balloons, whoever pops the other’s balloons first wins.”
Jiang Qingzhou glanced down at the balloons tied to his feet, then looked back up at Du Xinnuo with a small smile, saying sincerely, “Ms. Du, there are no friends on the battlefield, I might have to be a little rude in a minute.”
Du Xinnuo’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “No need to worry about rude or not. Besides, who’s going to win is anyone’s guess.”