Chapter 40

Zhai Xingchen returned to his room, tossed the tie clip in the drawer, and immediately flopped down.

Now that he was suddenly lying down, he felt his whole body and mind just... dissolve.

He was still thinking about the gift Pei Xu had prepared.

Should he prepare one too?

What if everyone else had a parting gift ready and he didn't? That'd be awkward.

But he genuinely had no idea what to give them.

Probably too late to prepare anything now anyway.

Supporting male lead is supporting male lead for a reason—when it came to romance and thoughtfulness, he was way behind the male lead.

Next time they met, he'd bring a gift for every guest.

He lay there spacing out for a bit, found the phone the Production Team had given them, and figured he'd send his message first.

He really wanted to sleep. So tired.

The seven guests' faces drifted through his mind one by one, and he immediately crossed Duan Yihua off the list.

He wasn't sure whether Duan Yihua actually liked him or not, but just to be safe, he'd better not send Duan Yihua any message.

He thought it over and decided sending it to Hu Ying made the most sense.

They had the best relationship, and before their date they'd already laid everything out between them—she was the obvious pick.

So he composed a message and sent it to Hu Ying.

'Zhai Xingchen sent his first! He sent it to Hu Ying!'

'Expected. Finally sent it to Hu Ying.'

'Now let's see who Hu Ying sends hers to.'

'I think we're about to get our first mutual arrow!'

'This is getting good, the shura field is about to open up!'

Hu Ying was still lying on the sofa when her phone buzzed.

She picked it up and saw it was a message.

She sat up with a jolt and tapped it open.

The message was short: 'I'll make you Mao-style braised pork tomorrow.'

Obviously from Zhai Xingchen.

Because on their date, when they ordered, they'd gotten a braised pork dish but it wasn't good, so she'd told Zhai Xingchen she liked Mao-style braised pork, but South City didn't have many authentic places—she'd had the best one at a century-old restaurant in Jingzhou.

And Zhai Xingchen had told her he could make it himself.

Ah, that message hit Hu Ying right in her maiden heart.

Her heart was a mess—touched for no clear reason, a weird sourness in her chest. She flipped the phone face-down, hugged the pink bunny at the head of the sofa, and rolled around on the cushions.

Lin Qingning had just come out of the bathroom. 'You haven't showered yet?'

Hu Ying rubbed her face, let out an 'ah,' and sat up looking troubled, messing up her hair.

'Hahahahaha.' The Production Team next door cracked up.

'That's the vibe, that's the vibe.'

'Today's Three Fires really made an impact, huh.'

Lin Qingning smiled at Hu Ying. 'What's up?'

'Nothing.' Hu Ying got up from the sofa and went to shower.

'Are they sending messages now?' Lin Qingning asked. 'Did you send yours?'

Hu Ying shook her head. 'Not yet.'

'Do you know who you're sending it to?' Lin Qingning smiled, didn't speak, mouthed: 'Yan Zhi?'

Hu Ying shook her head, troubled. 'Don't know yet.'

Lin Qingning laughed, watched Hu Ying head into the bathroom, then went back to his own bedroom. He pulled a face mask out of his suitcase, put it on, and lay down on the bed.

He picked up his phone.

Nothing on it. Not a single message.

Honestly, when he'd first come on the show, Lin Qingning had never imagined he'd end up with zero votes.

In real life, people were always chasing him.

He thought about it, then sent a heart-fluttering message to Pei Xu.

But aside from those two, no one else had sent their messages yet.

The Production Team was staying up waiting.

'Don't rush it. Everyone's got way too much they want to say today.'

'They're about to split up for a bit tomorrow. Tonight they've all got a bellyful of words and no idea where to start.'

'I get sending slow, but why'd they all cover the cameras?!'

In all eight rooms, except Zhai Xingchen who'd already fallen asleep and Wen Nu tossing and turning, everyone else had long since covered their bedroom cameras—pitch black, nothing to see.

A phone buzzed on a nightstand.

Pei Xu picked it up and glanced at it.

The message was simple:

'You can smile now. Looking forward to next week's you.'

Pei Xu pressed his lips together, sat quietly for a moment, then sent a message to Zhai Xingchen.

Zhai Xingchen was so tired, he was nearly asleep.

His phone buzzed several times in a row and jolted him awake.

At first he thought it was a call, but when he opened his eyes he realized he'd gotten five messages in a row.

Sure enough, everyone was being polite—they'd all chosen to send their messages to him today.

Fighting off sleep, he blinked his dry eyes and read through them.

First message: 'Zhai Xingchen, nice to meet you.'

This one felt like a wrap-up of the whole week.

Second message: 'Want to learn how to make crawfish from you.'

Huh? Their tastes were close—who else liked crawfish too?

Zhai Xingchen yawned and opened the third message.

The third message was... blank. Nothing on it.

He froze, thought he'd read it wrong, looked again—definitely nothing.

Probably just hit the spacebar by accident.

What was that supposed to mean?

Nothing to say, just sending it out of politeness?

Zhai Xingchen opened the fourth.

The fourth was long—obviously from Wen Nu. Just reading it, you could hear exactly how he'd said it.

'Met a brand-new you today. You look great dancing, you look great in a suit. Hope I get to see more of your shine. Go for it.'

The fifth—he could tell who it was from at a glance.

Pei Xu.

The message read: 'I saw you keep rubbing your waist. Put a patch on before you sleep.'

Zhai Xingchen stared at his phone in a daze when it buzzed again.

Sixth message.

'Zhai Xingchen, you looked way too good in that suit.'

Obviously Hu Ying!

Six messages at once, and Zhai Xingchen was oddly calm about it.

No way all six of them loved him.

Even the Ten Thousand Admirers male lead didn't have that much charm.

Still, he was touched. These were a class act, a warm bunch of guests. They were about to split up, messages were important, and they'd still chosen to send them to him. But the dance was over, his spotlight moment had passed—this was probably his peak on the show.

Zhai Xingchen sat up, pulled open the nightstand drawer, took out two medicated patches and stuck them on his waist. The patches burned with a sharp heat—some weird kind of relief—and he fell asleep fast in the faint herbal scent.

The night had gone deep.

Duan Yihua tossed and turned, dying of thirst.

He got up, drank some water, and ended up staring at the Rose Flower on his nightstand.

He glanced at the covered camera, then leaned in gently and breathed in the lingering scent of the rose.

Wen Nu rolled over and pulled the covers over his head.

He wanted to try.

Just in case.

Zhai Xingchen had told him to be brave.

Hu Ying was troubled, tugging at the pink bunny's ears in her hands.

She felt confused.

The first time she'd met Zhai Xingchen, she'd thought he was one of the girls.

On their date, she'd thought he had a bit of a top vibe.

At the bar, she'd felt like she wanted to pin him down. This little fox!

But just now, his suit had killed her heart!

How was he so top?!

Downstairs, Yan Zhi—who always dressed the most buttoned-up, whose body no one had ever seen—was lying naked in the dark.

His whole body was burning hot, a dried tissue pressed to his face.

Even the makeup scent on the tissue had faded—you could barely smell anything—but what he was trying to smell wasn't any specific scent.

He pressed down with both hands and took a deep breath, veins bulging red on his neck, his body in some strange twisted pose.

The phone screen's light lit up Huo Cheng's sharp features.

Huo Cheng lay on his bed in the dark, watching Zhai Xingchen dance on the screen.

He laughed to himself for a bit, pressed his lips tight, looked away from the screen, lay on his arms for a while, then sat up.

And Pei Xu—who'd thought cartoons were boring since he was a kid—was now lying in bed watching Bugs Bunny.

Listening to Zhai Xingchen's favorite singers, watching Zhai Xingchen's favorite cartoons.

He figured cartoons were actually pretty good.

But Zhai Xingchen watched Bugs Bunny for simple childhood fun.

Pei Xu watching Bugs Bunny clearly had other purposes.

Look—even something as innocent as a cartoon can carry an adult man's schemes and desire.

When feelings are at their hottest and a short separation comes, the old saying goes that a brief parting beats a wedding night—a sudden split at this point is more like adding fuel to the fire. A few days from now in North City, Huo Cheng and the others will definitely have a burst of missing-each-other agony. Then comes the Room Assignment, the frequent dates, the wild tasks and games—that's when the real battlefield opens.