There were only two people at the house who weren’t happy about the situation.
One was Lu Nanxun, and the other was Liu Qingye.
Dr. Lu’s expression remained calm and gentle as ever, though a trace of wariness and vigilance flickered in his eyes.
He had originally thought Ji Xizhou was just a hotheaded young man. He hadn’t expected him to be so good at preparing surprises—or even to stage a public flower confession in front of everyone.
First Xu Jinsi, and now Ji Xizhou.
Fortunately, Dr. Lu’s greatest strength was his patience.
As long as he stayed by Yueyue’s side, he was confident that he could simply outlast the competition and watch them leave one by one.
Dr. Lu was brimming with confidence.
Liu Qingye, on the other hand, couldn’t take it anymore and rolled her eyes.
Enough already!
She could understand why Xu Jinsi and Lu Nanxun, who had spent a long time with Ji Liuyue, would be so devoted to her—or keep getting entangled with her.
But Ji Xizhou?
You’re a new male guest who’s only known her for two days.
How did you become so attached so quickly?
How was she supposed to steal her away now?
No, wait.
She hadn’t come to this dating show to steal anyone’s partner in the first place.
She had only come to form a couple for publicity and attract enough attention to boost her acting career.
But now, all the male guests she could have paired up with had run off one after another.
Could it be that she really had to form a couple with Ji Mingtian?
At that thought, she couldn’t help glancing at Ji Mingtian, only to find him grinning foolishly.
She rubbed her forehead helplessly.
Forget it.
Was meeting Ji Liuyue really her fate?
Were all the members of the Ji family born to be her nemeses?
“Thank you for the flowers.” Ji Liuyue accepted the bouquet and smiled openly.
Ji Xizhou glanced at her before asking cautiously, “Are you free now? Would you like to go for a walk together?”
Lu Nanxun’s voice was very gentle.
But his gaze toward Ji Xizhou carried unmistakable murderous intent.
In a mild, unhurried tone, he said, “Yueyue, the tapioca pudding won’t taste good once it gets cold.”
Wang Aitian muttered under her breath, “Milk tapioca pudding can be served cold too…”
Before she could finish, Cen Yu tugged at her sleeve.
It was a warning that, in a battlefield like this, she should choose her words carefully.
Cen Yu then made a zipping motion across her lips.
Wang Aitian quickly shut her mouth and obediently went back to eating.
At the same time, she secretly watched the confrontation from the corner of her eye.
Lu Nanxun’s gaze was as gentle as water.
Flames seemed to burn in Ji Xizhou’s eyes.
Both men turned in unison toward Ji Liuyue, waiting expectantly for her answer.
Watching this scene, Zhang Weiyi whispered, “If Mr. Xu came back right now too, then things would really get interesting.”
She had to admit, she had practically predicted the future.
The moment the words left her mouth, the sound of suitcase wheels rolling across the floor came from the entrance of the house.
Liu Qingye looked expectant as she glanced at Ji Liuyue, clearly eager to watch the drama unfold.
She drawled, “It looks like Xu Jinsi and the new female guest are back.”
“Should we all go to the door to welcome them?”
Ji Mingtian was the first to agree. “Sure, sure!”
The others looked at one another, but no one moved.
Only when Ji Liuyue smiled faintly and stepped forward did she say, “Let’s go, Yezi. We’ll go welcome the new guest together.”
With that, she took Liu Qingye by the arm and walked out as though the two of them were close friends.
Liu Qingye was a little confused. After being led several steps, she asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Why are you linking arms with me? Are we really that close?”
“Our relationship isn’t that bad, is it?” The corners of Ji Liuyue’s lips lifted slightly.
She seemed to have completely forgotten that she had exposed the fact that Liu Qingye’s real name was Liu Cuicui.
She wasn’t some wicked woman.
She had principles.
She was a wicked woman with a simple rule:
If people didn’t offend her, she wouldn’t offend them.
Liu Qingye’s cheeks flushed faintly, and her expression froze.
Could it be that she really thought their relationship wasn’t bad?
But Liu Qingye didn’t know that Ji Liuyue was also unaware of how she had instructed her agent and company to hire a massive number of online trolls to attack her.
A sudden thought struck her.
Was what she had done actually unethical? Ji Liuyue treated her pretty well.
A feeling of “I’m such a terrible person!” began to well up inside her.
After all, she didn’t have the benefit of an omniscient perspective and had no idea that Ji Liuyue was not someone who could be pushed around.
Apart from trading blows with each other inside the house, the two of them had also been hiring online trolls to attack each other outside it, going back and forth without either side giving in.
Perhaps this was another form of love born from mutual hostility.
Liu Qingye said softly, “If you see Xu Jinsi getting along well with the new female guest, don’t cry, okay? Men are all like that.”
Ji Liuyue looked at her with an ambiguous smile.
Liu Qingye asked, “Why are you staring at me?”
Ji Liuyue smiled faintly. “Are you worried about me?”
Liu Qingye turned her face away and said, clearly annoyed, “Who’s worried about you? At least we entered the house together, and we’re even sharing a room here.”
“I’m just worried that you might sneak off to the bathroom and cry in the middle of the night, then wake me up.”
Ji Liuyue asked, “Do I look that fragile?”
Liu Qingye froze.
Fine.
Although she really didn’t want to admit it, Ji Liuyue didn’t seem to have suffered a single defeat so far.
“Then just pretend I never said anything.”
“Thank you, Yezi.” Ji Liuyue tightened her hold on Liu Qingye’s arm. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled with amusement.
Liu Qingye had only just turned her face away when she turned back and met that gaze.
She looked a little awkward as she said, “Hmph! Why are you calling me so affectionately? Do you think I’m Wang Aitian, getting all chummy with you like some little sister?”
Ji Liuyue’s eyes deepened with meaning. “No. You don’t want to be my little sister.”
“Of course I—” Liu Qingye looked as though Ji Liuyue had exposed her innermost thoughts and turned her face away again.
It wasn’t as though she wanted to become friends with her.
She merely thought Ji Liuyue’s methods were impressive and couldn’t help wanting to learn from her and exchange ideas.
As for Ji Liuyue being close with Wang Aitian—
Hmph! She wasn’t jealous in the slightest.
The two of them continued chatting as they walked, and soon they reached the entrance.
At that moment, the doorknob of the island house was gently turned from outside. With a creak, the door was slowly pushed open.
The first thing they saw was the new female guest’s thick, jet-black hair, flowing like seaweed.
Her skin was snowy white, and her delicate, petite face gave her a hint of heroic sharpness.
Beneath her long, slender brows was a pair of deep-set eyes brimming with intensity. Her nose was high and sharply defined.
Her irises were dark brown, and her large, European-style double eyelids gave her an aloof, mixed-race beauty.
Ji Liuyue whispered, “Yezi, she has long, straight black hair just like you.”
There was a hint of teasing in her voice.
Liu Qingye refused to be outdone. “Liuyue, she’s prettier than you.”
By then, the other guests had also arrived at the foyer one after another.
Zhang Weiyi exclaimed, “She’s gorgeous! Is she mixed-race?”
The female guest seemed to hear her.
She raised her head and waved with a bright smile.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Chen Xindi. You can call me Cindy. I’m Chinese-German mixed-race.”
