Liar

The scene fell silent. Liang Shining said nothing more, Lu Jing frowned, and Xin Wan let out a cold laugh.

'Lu-shixiong, haven't you always avoided your little shidi like the plague?' Xin Wan turned his head and said mockingly. 'Why are you suddenly throwing yourself at him today?'

Lu Jing turned his head and said calmly: 'I don't think I've thrown myself at him as many times as Teacher Xin.'

Xin Wan's expression darkened.

He let out a cold laugh, about to say more, when he suddenly heard the Director's barely-held-together voice from the side: 'It seems everyone is in a hurry, but room assignments aren't chosen so casually—they have to be decided through a game.'

The Director clearly hadn't anticipated this development.

This variety show was positioned by the company as a lifestyle group variety show, and for the first episode, to generate buzz, it was made into a live-stream format.

The Director hadn't expected the first episode to start off so intense.

None of the people in front of him were ones he could afford to offend, but free variety show content wasn't something to turn down.

The Director took a deep breath and could only helplessly throw the hot potato to the person he was most daring to offend here: 'Teacher Ying, why don't you also say something—who do you most want to room with?'

The person half-leaning in the corner lifted his peach blossom eyes slightly.

Today he was wearing a casual hoodie and jeans, a red bead accenting the ends of his hair, the whole person elegant and at ease.

Ying Huai looked around, then suddenly laughed softly: 'What if the one I want to choose isn't among them?'

The Director froze, and the live stream chat burst into laughter.

[Hey, gotta say, Ying Huai's variety show effect is pretty good, he caught the funny beat just now.]

[Never really watched Ying Huai on this kind of variety show before, thought he'd be boring, didn't expect him to be pretty interesting.]

The Director also secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said: 'Haha, then we'll wait and see. Alright, let me first announce the rules for the room-selection game.'

'The game is simple—blindfolded guessing.'

'Each round, the director team will give each person ten horror boxes. Each person needs to identify what's inside the horror boxes within the allotted time. Only after guessing correctly can they move on to the next one.'

'Whoever finishes fastest and guesses the most correctly gets priority in choosing their room and roommate.'

This game required not only courage but also extremely fast reflexes and discernment.

The moment the Director finished speaking, the expressions of the people before him varied.

'Will there be live things in these horror boxes?' Le Xi couldn't help but ask directly.

The Director smiled mysteriously: 'I can't guarantee that.'

Le Xi's face went white instantly.

The game order was decided by six people drawing lots. The first was Le Xi, the last was Ying Huai.

Le Xi walked to the table, trembling as he picked up the blindfold, and suddenly said in a tearful voice: 'No, I can't do it.'

He turned somewhat helplessly toward Xin Wan: 'Xin Shu, could you stand beside me and keep me company...'

Before Le Xi could finish, he heard Xin Wan behind him say slowly: 'If you don't dare, just give up. Picking up whatever's left over is even better—easier too.'

Le Xi's expression turned ugly.

He actually wasn't afraid in his heart, but after that previous incident, he was eager to find a backer to break his current predicament.

The police were still investigating related evidence, so Le Xi was able to use the excuse that the facts hadn't been determined to bribe connections and return to the variety show.

His original target for a backer was Xin Wan, but for some reason, Xin Wan's attitude toward him was completely different from before.

Le Xi gritted his teeth and put on the blindfold after all.

His previous plan had fallen through, and no longer deliberately playing weak, he instinctively sped up, wanting to grab a good room first.

But the next second, Xin Wan spoke slowly again: 'Little Le is pretty fast.'

The memories in his mind gave Xin Wan a vague hostility toward Le Xi. He let out a cold laugh: 'That fear just now—surely it wasn't fake?'

Le Xi's movements froze instantly.

He gritted his teeth and was forced to slow down.

The person after Le Xi was Xin Wan.

Xin Wan didn't wait for the Director to speak, and confidently put on the blindfold first.

Over the past few years as an illustrator, in order to control the details of his paintings, he had developed his own method of observation and memory, and was already intimately familiar with the details and forms of many things.

He also indeed got a perfect score first.

Lu Jing and Lu Corporation's newly-debuted Su Yun had relatively average scores.

Lu Jing held himself too stiffly to let go, turning a game into the tension of a business negotiation; Su Yun was naturally a slow-paced person, taking forever to react even after touching something.

'Alright, currently Xin-ge is in first place,' the Director directed the swap of boxes and said cheerfully, 'let's look forward to Liang-ge's performance.'

Ying Huai, who had been sitting in a corner drowsily catching up on sleep, lifted his eyelids at the sound, then closed them tiredly again.

Liang Shining and Lu Jing's temperaments were very similar, even calmer than Lu Jing.

If nothing unexpected happened, Liang Shining, in order to maintain his image, wouldn't be very fast in touching the boxes either...

The next second, the Director's exclamation instantly pulled Ying Huai back from his half-dreaming state.

'Liang-ge, as a Best Actor, truly has his own observation and memory of the things around him! Congratulations to Liang-ge for surpassing Xin-ge—perfect score and the fastest time.'

Xin Wan's expression was terribly ugly, while Ying Huai somewhat blankly raised his head.

He watched Liang Shining slowly walk up to him, eyes slightly bright, like a little dog seeking praise.

Ying Huai looked at Liang Shining for a few seconds in confusion, then said as if suddenly understanding: 'Are you supposed to throw down a challenge first?'

Liang Shining's expression froze.

Ying Huai yawned, smiling and curving his eyes: 'I will definitely surpass Mr. Liang.'

The moment his words fell, he saw Liang Shining's expression visibly pause for a moment.

Ying Huai was stunned. He somehow felt a little dog's tail droop dejectedly.

—Liang Shining actually wanted to beat him this badly?

Ying Huai's expression paused.

—He had thought Liang Shining didn't hate him that much anymore.

'Teacher Ying... if you can't do it, don't say that.' Le Xi suddenly said quietly from the side.

After that previous incident, he no longer dared to randomly call him 'Shifu,' but the words he said were still loaded with ulterior motives.

'Liang-ge's score just now is really hard to beat. If we deceive the audience's feelings and get misunderstood as dragging Liang-ge down, that wouldn't be good.'

Ying Huai didn't answer. He casually fidgeted with the eye mask in his hand, then suddenly said: 'Don't worry, when I say I'll do something, I definitely will.'

He glanced at Liang Shining, his peach blossom eyes curving: 'Besides, I only ever cheat money, never feelings.'

The words carried a double meaning. Liang Shining's expression turned strange, and the Live Stream Chat went wild with laughter.

[Hahaha, Ying Huai really has Variety Show sense—he both deflected Le Xi's words and distanced himself from Liang Shining.]

[To be fair, that line 'when I say it, I do it' is a bit domineering.]

[But can Ying Huai really get first place? Where does his confidence come from?]

[Don't know, let's wait and see. My keyboard is ready anyway.]

Outside the live stream, Ying Huai put on the eye mask and stood quietly behind the table.

He still looked languid, with a hint of fatigue from not sleeping well the night before, forming a stark contrast with the others who had been poised and ready.

Even when the Director called 'Start,' Ying Huai seemed to finally come back to himself.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Le Xi's lips, but then his expression gradually changed.

—Ying Huai's speed was really too fast.

His expression remained as casual as ever, but the moment his hand went into the horror box, he could immediately tell what was inside, feeling his way through to the end without any pause.

—Until the last box.

Ying Huai reached his hand in, and his expression suddenly shifted for a moment.

His face instantly went pale, and his body swayed before he barely steadied himself.

Liang Shining beside him immediately sensed something was wrong: 'Ying Huai?'

He stepped forward to support him: 'What's wrong?'

'Don't come over!' Ying Huai blurted out.

His body suddenly trembled for some reason, but he still gritted his teeth and quickly said: 'The last one... artificial blood plasma.'

The Director excitedly announced Ying Huai as the winner of this round.

Ying Huai removed the eye mask with one hand and slowly withdrew the other.

—A dripping blood-red covered Ying Huai's palm.

The others hadn't reacted yet, but Liang Shining's face instantly changed.

At the same moment, the Director's exclamation came from the side: 'Huh? Who broke the plasma bag? Quick, get a towel for Teacher Ying...'

Ying Huai didn't move.

He lowered his eyes, looking at the black horror box before him, his expression carrying a strange indifference.

The artificial blood plasma was very realistic; when he reached his hand in, he could even feel the warmth of real blood, instantly covering his entire palm.

—And made him uncontrollably think of the blood from his chest that he couldn't stop in his previous life at the end.

Ying Huai didn't know if this was accidental or intentional. He lowered his eyes, looking at his now-cleaned palm, but still felt the smell of blood wafting through time.

Ying Huai suddenly turned his head and dry-heaved twice, but the next second, he felt his palm warm again.

'Don't touch me—'

Ying Huai suddenly turned his head.

But the next moment, Liang Shining suddenly placed a small piece of Mint Chocolate at his lips.

'Feeling better?' Liang Shining stood before him, speaking softly.

His warm palm firmly wrapped around Ying Huai's hand from earlier, unobtrusively shielding it at his side.

'Ice cream isn't good for your stomach, but Mint Chocolate can help with low blood sugar.' Liang Shining said softly.

The slightly bitter taste of chocolate, accompanied by the fresh scent of mint, quickly spread through his mouth.

Ying Huai barely came back to himself and said quietly: 'Yes, I accidentally had low blood sugar just now.'

He lowered his head to look at the hand held by Liang Shining, and for the first time felt an unwillingness to let go.

Ying Huai closed his eyes, but in the end slowly pulled his hand back.

'Ah, it's fine, it's fine, let's quickly assign rooms and rest,' the Director finally reacted and said quickly. 'The room-assignment game has concluded successfully. First place is Teacher Ying, so Teacher Ying gets to pick his room and roommate first.'

Ying Huai's gaze swept over the three—Lu Jing and the others—then he suddenly smiled: 'Alright.'

'I'll choose Su Yun.'

Su Yun slowly raised his head.

Liang Shining frowned, Lu Jing's expression instantly darkened, and Xin Wan spoke out in disbelief: 'Why?'

Before Ying Huai could speak, the next second, a curious voice suddenly came from the side.

'Can I ask, how did Teacher Ying do it?'

Le Xi said softly with 'reverence': 'That speed was too fast, it's like you already knew what was in the box, like cheating.'

Ying Huai's expression didn't change; a faint smile even slowly appeared at the corner of his lips.

Le Xi continued innocently: 'Does Teacher Ying usually like observing things?'

'Yes,' Ying Huai suddenly raised his eyes and laughed lightly, 'I not only like observing, I also like self-studying.'

'For example, Braille.'

Le Xi froze, and Ying Huai curved his lips.

In his previous life, when his heart function was at its worst at the Sanatorium, he had experienced a brief period of blindness.

The endless darkness stretched on forever. Ying Huai gradually got used to feeling around his surroundings to pass the time, and gradually memorized Braille one character at a time.

Ying Huai didn't notice that Xin Wan beside him suddenly stepped back, pressing hard on his brow.

He opened his mouth to continue, but suddenly heard two voices from behind: 'Ying Huai didn't cheat.'

Liang Shining and Xin Wan spoke simultaneously.

Ying Huai was startled.

Unlike Liang Shining's calm tone, Xin Wan looked flustered, gazing at Ying Huai as if wanting to say something but holding back.