There was no way Lu Nanxun was going to leave.
And Xu Jinsi was even less likely to do so!
Thus, for the first time, the little house witnessed three people taking out the trash together.
Wang Aitian watched from a distance, silently enjoying the show, the corners of her lips lifting uncontrollably.
Ahhhhhh! What a battlefield of love!
This was too good.
Sitting on the second-floor terrace, Liu Qingye had an excellent view. Naturally, she was the first to see the front door of the little house open. Ji Liuyue came out first, carrying a black garbage bag.
Lu Nanxun and Xu Jinsi followed close behind.
There was no point in getting angry anymore. What Liu Qingye felt now was more helplessness and dejection.
Lu Nanxun and Xu Jinsi were like sand slipping through her fingers—the tighter she held on, the more impossible it was to keep them.
Meanwhile, Ji Liuyue treated both men with neither warmth nor coldness, yet they were the ones scrambling to get close to her.
Men really were hopeless!
Liu Qingye cursed inwardly.
A strange thought rose in her mind. Just how did Ji Liuyue manage to keep them both under her thumb? Her technique seemed even better than Liu Qingye’s. She wondered if she could learn a few tricks from her.
Study and improve?
But the very next second, that idea was killed off in her mind!
What a joke! Who was she, and who was Ji Liuyue? Why would Miss Liu lower herself to ask her for advice?
As for what the other people in the little house were thinking, Ji Liuyue was completely unaware.
All she knew was that after they finished taking out the trash, the two little tails following behind her started arguing again.
The dating-show house had been built beside a river. To the left was a quiet path leading into the countryside, while to the right was the way to the village and the main road beyond it. At night, there were even lively late-night food stalls along that route.
Lu Nanxun insisted on going left. Xu Jinsi said they should go right.
They argued endlessly.
In the end, they turned to Ji Liuyue in perfect unison.
“You decide. Which way should we go?”
Ji Liuyue pointed to the left.
“This way.”
Lu Nanxun smiled, while Xu Jinsi’s face turned livid.
Ji Liuyue added, “If I go for a walk late at night and end up at a food stall, I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself.”
Xu Jinsi’s expression improved considerably, and he said soothingly, “You’re not fat. It’s fine to eat a little.”
As luck would have it, Lu Nanxun, the medical student, began speaking.
“Eating less at night is healthier. And the food at those stalls is usually loaded with oil and salt. It isn’t healthy.”
Xu Jinsi’s brows furrowed so deeply they could have crushed a mosquito.
Ji Liuyue hurriedly cut them off. “Enough! Weren’t we supposed to be taking a walk? Then we’ll do it my way. Let’s go.”
At long last, the two people behind her stopped arguing.
Then the interview began.
Lu Nanxun asked, “Liuyue, before coming on a dating show, did you ever imagine what kind of person you might meet?”
Xu Jinsi asked as well, “Is there anyone in the house you’ve developed feelings for?”
Ji Liuyue rolled her eyes.
Who asked questions like that?
Was she supposed to say that she had come on the dating show to become famous? As for whether there was anyone she liked…
Well, both of you, obviously.
Seeing that she remained silent, Lu Nanxun asked again, “I’ve never been in a relationship, so I don’t know how to talk to girls… If I said anything that offended you, I’m sorry.”
Xu Jinsi gave a soft scoff. He had originally wanted to say that he had never been in a relationship either.
But then he remembered that, during his preliminary interview, he had deliberately claimed that he had dated so many times he couldn’t count them.
He quickly swallowed the words.
Then he let out a couple of dry chuckles instead.
After the walk, not only had the two male guests failed to get to know Ji Liuyue any better, but the hostility between them had nearly become tangible.
The moment Ji Liuyue entered the house, she collapsed onto the sofa in exhaustion.
Wang Aitian was sitting there, scrolling through her phone and eating fruit. Seeing Ji Liuyue, she handed her the bowl.
“What’s wrong, Yueyue? Was the walk unpleasant?”
Her gaze drifted toward the two male guests coming in behind her.
Ji Liuyue took a blueberry and lazily replied, “There wasn’t much wind tonight, so I worked up a sweat.”
Wang Aitian said with concern, “Then go back to your room and rest for a while. Take a shower, too. The heart-flutter messages will start again in half an hour.”
“Mm.”
When Ji Liuyue reached her bedroom door, she noticed a gift bag on the floor.
Puzzled, she picked it up and found a sleep-aid incense inside.
Who had sent it?
During the evening’s heart-flutter message segment, Ji Liuyue sent a message to Ji Mingtian to maintain her troublemaker persona.
Since the four people in the sports group had acted together that day, it wouldn’t have been appropriate to send one to Cen Yu.
The message itself was simple:
“Basketball and bowling KO’d you!”
A moment later, her phone chimed.
Two messages popped up one after another.
“My feelings seem to be getting clearer.”
Who was that?
Could it be Lu Nanxun?
The other message read:
“Next time, I want to spend some time alone with you. Wuwu~”
Acting cute was shameless.
But honestly, she had originally guessed it was Xu Jinsi. That cutesy tone, however, made Ji Liuyue hesitate.
The next day was a workday.
The guests gradually left the house that morning.
And after resting for many days, Ji Liuyue finally had a print-ad shoot to attend. The moment she received the call from her agent, she practically jumped for joy.
She finally had work!
Having work was great. Otherwise, she was going to starve to death with no money.
A little after eight, Ji Liuyue put on light makeup and hurried out. As she was putting on her shoes in the entryway, Xu Jinsi also came out.
He asked in confusion, “Do you have a date today?”
“No, I have work!” Ji Liuyue’s voice rose with excitement, and her eyes and brows came alive.
“I’ve never seen anyone so passionate about working,” Xu Jinsi said with a smile.
“Of course. Work is much more important than dating.” She muttered the last sentence under her breath, making sure the cameras didn’t pick it up.
Otherwise, her haters would probably let their imaginations run wild and start making all sorts of guesses.
The shoot went very smoothly that day. The work was finished in roughly three or four hours, and even her agent, Sister Jing, had personally come to the set.
Afterward, the two of them went to a café beneath the company and had coffee.
Sister Jing asked, “How’s filming the dating show going? Everything smooth?”
Ji Liuyue nodded, her fingers wrapped around her coffee cup.
“It’s going smoothly enough. I just don’t know how much screen time I’ll get after the editing.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already spoken to someone on the production team.”
Sister Jing hesitated before continuing.
“But I heard through the grapevine that the production team isn’t very satisfied with Liu Qingye’s performance. It’s different from the script they had envisioned, so the fifth female guest they’re bringing in later will probably be a catfish contestant.”
Ji Liuyue asked, “Is she pretty?”
“That’s a given. She’s a highly intelligent beauty who returned from studying abroad—the pure, first-love type.”
Ji Liuyue wondered inwardly why it was always the first-love type.
It was fine. She wasn’t afraid of her.
She asked again, “What about the fifth male guest?”
Sister Jing took another sip of coffee and smiled.
“Don’t bother guessing. I heard Liu Qingye’s agency plans to pair her with the new fifth male guest.”
“Oh. I thought they were determined to hang themselves from the same tree,” Ji Liuyue said, somewhat surprised.
Still, the trip had been worthwhile. At least she had gotten the latest news.
