Zhang Xiaotao couldn’t help smiling along with the scene.
Wow!
And from the audience’s bird’s-eye view, Cen Yu and Wang Aitian had actually chosen each other.
Who would’ve thought the very first pair in the very first episode would be this sweet?
With eager anticipation, she continued watching.
The scene cut to a bookstore.
Zhang Weiyi was engrossed in her book when someone lightly tapped on the table. She looked up and found herself face-to-face with a man.
He looked cheerful and immediately introduced himself in a friendly manner.
“Hi, I’m Ji Mingtian, your temporary date.”
“My name is Zhang Weiyi.” She pushed up her glasses, then pointed to the seat across from her. “You can pick out a book you like and read it over there.”
“Ah… okay…”
Ji Mingtian’s smile stiffened slightly, as though he hadn’t expected their first date to consist of the two of them sitting in a bookstore reading separately.
And that was exactly what he did. He obediently went to the shelves and picked out a cultivation novel.
They sat in silence until even the production crew couldn’t stand it anymore and reminded them, “Why don’t you two talk? If you don’t say anything, how are we supposed to edit this into an episode?”
Ji Mingtian took the initiative to start a conversation.
“Do you usually like reading by yourself?”
Zhang Weiyi nodded. “Mm.”
“What kind of books do you like best?”
“Philosophy, psychology, sociology. I also read books on architecture.”
Ji Mingtian lowered his head and glanced at the cultivation novel in his hands, then silently swallowed.
An awkward atmosphere hung over their date.
Their segment was especially short. In less than five minutes, the scene shifted to the next pair.
A vinyl record store.
The female guest, Liu Qingye, was standing with her head lowered, listening to a record, when the door opened.
She looked toward the sound.
A tall man stood there, wearing a white shirt.
His hair was deep black, his brows straight and defined, and his gaze quiet and reserved.
“Hello, I’m Lu Nanxun.”
He turned his head and met Liu Qingye’s smile.
“Hi, I’m Liu Qingye. My friends all call me Yezi. You can call me that too.”
After exchanging names, Lu Nanxun still looked somewhat nervous and awkwardly repeated, “Hello.”
He kept a cautious distance between them.
Liu Qingye smiled and joked, “Why have you said hello twice? Do I look that scary?”
Lu Nanxun grew even more nervous. Catching sight of a chair from the corner of his eye, he pointed at it.
“Why don’t we sit down and talk?”
“Sure.”
As soon as Liu Qingye sat down, Lu Nanxun handed her a blanket.
“You can cover yourself with this.”
“Thank you. You’re very considerate and good at taking care of women.”
“Maybe it’s because I have a younger sister…”
Liu Qingye nodded along. “What a coincidence. I have a younger brother too, but he’s always arguing with me. I’ve always been jealous of people who have younger sisters.”
The atmosphere was awkward at first, but Liu Qingye was very good at keeping a conversation going. Before long, Lu Nanxun’s tense back gradually relaxed.
They began talking about their educational backgrounds and discovered that they had both attended the same school.
The atmosphere slowly grew more comfortable.
Before they knew it, they had talked about quite a lot.
Just as Lu Nanxun was about to ask whether she wanted to have lunch together, a staff member reminded them, “Yezi, your time is up. You need to head to the next stop.”
Lu Nanxun froze.
He looked at Liu Qingye.
In an instant, he understood. He had chosen the message written by Liu Qingye, while Liu Qingye had chosen someone else.
They hadn’t chosen each other.
Liu Qingye smiled and waved.
“I’ll be going first, then. See you at the house.”
Lu Nanxun nodded. “Okay.”
Watching this, Zhang Xiaotao couldn’t help feeling disappointed and let out a soft sigh.
Why did Liu Qingye have to leave for her next date just when Zhang Xiaotao had started to sense a little chemistry between them?
Besides, the third male guest, Lu Nanxun, clearly seemed like a complete novice when it came to romance. If he didn’t take the initiative, she had a feeling the woman he liked would easily be stolen away.
Zhang Xiaotao was emotionally invested and started worrying for him.
Fortunately, the scene soon shifted again.
It was another pair’s date.
A man walked toward the camera against the sunlight, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.
With broad shoulders, a slim waist, and a tall, lean build, he wore a pair of black sunglasses.
If she hadn’t known he was a male guest on a dating show, Zhang Xiaotao would have thought he was some celebrity making an appearance in public.
At first, Zhang Xiaotao had the worst impression of this fourth male guest, Xu Jinsi. After all, he had said at the beginning that he’d dated so many people he couldn’t even count them. She had assumed he was nothing but a playboy.
But seeing him make such a striking entrance, she was still completely captivated by his looks.
This guy was seriously handsome!
Xu Jinsi took off his sunglasses, revealing a sharply defined face.
“Hello, I’m Xu Jinsi.”
The camera then shifted to the female guest. It was Ji Liuyue, the fourth female guest, whom Zhang Xiaotao had previously praised for looking like a red peony.
She wore a very figure-hugging silver sequined mini dress.
In her hands, she held a bouquet of vivid red flowers.
Her chestnut-brown hair, styled in big waves, was tied into a high ponytail, making her look energetic and radiant.
However, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead and neck, and her skin was faintly flushed from the sun.
Zhang Xiaotao found it strange and muttered, “Huh? Wasn’t this group supposed to have the male guest arrive first? Why is Ji Liuyue so sweaty? Did the female guest arrive first and wait for him?”
As a longtime viewer of dating shows, she knew the production crew sometimes resorted to some truly disgusting editing tricks.
They would deliberately leave out the good moments and instead focus on dramatic scenes and sensational storylines.
Almost instinctively, Zhang Xiaotao sensed the production crew’s hostility toward Ji Liuyue.
Clearly, the female guest had arrived first and waited, yet they had chosen not to show any of that. Instead, they showed the male guest’s entrance.
Who knew how long Ji Liuyue had been standing under the sun waiting? Fortunately, the beauty was naturally gorgeous. Even with some of her makeup melted away, she was still stunning.
Once she noticed this, Zhang Xiaotao unconsciously began to feel sorry for Ji Liuyue.
She watched the footage frame by frame, wondering whether the production crew would give her another unfair edit later on.
On-screen, the two of them stood together—a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
They looked extremely well-matched.
Ji Liuyue offered Xu Jinsi the bouquet she was holding, but he merely responded with a detached “Thanks.”
Zhang Xiaotao cursed inwardly.
What a jerk!
Ji Liuyue smiled and said, “You wrote on your card that you were hoping someone might occasionally make you lose control of your emotions, so I figured you probably haven’t received flowers from a girl before. So, what do you think? Surprised?”
Xu Jinsi’s tone remained indifferent.
“Not bad.”
Zhang Xiaotao was so angry that she began pounding the table!
Aaargh! What was he putting on an act for? A beautiful woman had given him flowers and even said something so sweet, and all he could say was “Not bad”?
Zhang Xiaotao made up her mind. From this moment on, she was officially Xu Jinsi’s anti-fan!
She only liked that face of his. She had absolutely no interest in his words, actions, or personality.
…
