“Hi, Cindy. Welcome, welcome.” Wang Aitian was a total sucker for pretty faces, and she greeted the new female guest with a beaming smile as she warmly shook her hand.
Ji Liuyue also gave her a polite smile and nod.
Only Liu Qingye stood with her arms folded, studying and scrutinizing the new arrival.
With a critical gaze, she tried to find some flaw in the woman before her.
But no matter how closely she looked, she couldn’t find one.
The woman standing before them was simply too perfect.
Her mixed-race features were beautiful, and she carried herself with effortless poise. Even though it was her first time entering the house and meeting everyone, she showed no sign of social anxiety.
Even the smile at the corners of her lips was so practiced and flawless.
It was too good.
So good that it felt a little fake—unlike a real person.
Liu Qingye suspected that she might also be an actress, someone who practiced her smile in front of a mirror every day.
As everyone exchanged greetings, Xu Jinsi, the CEO, came in behind Chen Xindi, pulling the female guest’s pink suitcase.
Ji Mingtian immediately put on a teasing expression.
“Bro, taking such a gorgeous female guest on a date? I’m jealous.”
Xu Jinsi gave him a helpless look.
After helping carry the suitcase to the entrance, he asked, “Cindy, where should I put your suitcase?”
“I don’t know where I’m staying yet.”
Chen Xindi blinked her large eyes in confusion. Her long, curled eyelashes looked like tiny brushes.
She had the air of a real-life Barbie doll.
Zhang Weiyi spoke up first.
“All the rooms here are doubles. Tiantian and I are sharing one, and Yueyue and Yezi are sharing another. You’ll probably be given the spare room by yourself.”
“Huh? I have to live alone?” Chen Xindi pointed at herself with a fingertip, looking disappointed and dejected.
She glanced at the others, then added, “...But I want to share a room with someone.”
As she said this, her gaze landed precisely on Ji Liuyue’s face. She smiled brightly.
“Hi, you’re so beautiful. You must be Liuyue, right? Can I share a room with you?”
Ji Liuyue hadn’t expected Chen Xindi to send such a friendly signal her way. After all, she had just gone on a date with Xu Jinsi.
Chen Xindi should have known about Xu Jinsi’s romantic history with the others before entering the house.
Before Ji Liuyue could answer, Liu Qingye stepped between them and cut in first.
“Yueyue is mine! Cindy, you don’t need to steal a roommate the moment you enter the house, do you?”
“That’s not very polite.”
There was a faint smile on her lips, but her eyes were as cold as ice, slicing toward Chen Xindi like knives.
“You must be Yezi.” Chen Xindi smiled and extended a hand, hoping to shake hers.
But Liu Qingye kept her arms folded and didn’t acknowledge the gesture at all.
Chen Xindi didn’t seem embarrassed in the slightest. She calmly withdrew her hand.
“Then shall I share a room with you?” she asked.
Liu Qingye’s lips tightened as she firmly refused. “No need! I only want to share a room with Yueyue.”
Ji Liuyue was utterly baffled.
When had her relationship with Liu Qingye become so close? Not only had Yezi turned into Yueyue, but now she was insisting on sharing a room with her.
Could it really be because of that brief conversation just now?
Chen Xindi sighed regretfully.
In a small voice, she said, “All right. I know I’m the last guest to enter the house. I just wanted to fit in with everyone.”
“I really didn’t mean anything by it. I was born overseas and lived abroad for several years while I was growing up. I only returned to China after finishing school.
“My Chinese isn’t very good. Maybe I didn’t express myself properly, but I truly meant well.”
“Yezi, please don’t misunderstand me.”
As Liu Qingye listened, she couldn’t help feeling that this was strangely familiar.
The tea.
It was the same tactic she used to rely on.
Only Chen Xindi had her mixed-race identity and her upbringing abroad to back her up, making every word she said seem several times more believable.
Seeing everyone awkwardly crowded around the entrance, Ji Liuyue decided they couldn’t stay there forever.
She invited everyone to sit on the living-room sofa and chat.
Chen Xindi took the opportunity to hurry to her side. Pretending to be curious, she asked, “Yueyue, how many days have you been on the island?”
Ji Liuyue answered, “This is our second day here, but we already spent a week at the Heartbeat House in Haishi.”
“Was the Heartbeat House in Haishi beautiful too? I’m so jealous that you’ve all spent a week together. You must already be friends, and know each other really well, right?”
Her movements were incredibly natural.
She slipped between Ji Liuyue and Liu Qingye, then lightly bumped into Liu Qingye from behind.
Liu Qingye lost her balance and nearly twisted her ankle.
Fortunately, Wang Aitian quickly caught her.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I-I’m fine.” Liu Qingye’s voice sounded anything but fine. Her gaze burned as it landed on Chen Xindi standing in front of her.
Wang Aitian followed her line of sight and tried to reason with her.
“Don’t be angry. Cindy said she grew up overseas. Maybe she really doesn’t understand that people in China tend to speak more indirectly.”
“Maybe she just says whatever she’s thinking.”
Liu Qingye was stunned. “You believed everything she said?”
Wang Aitian blinked at her.
Her expression seemed to say, If not, then what else am I supposed to do?
A wave of bitterness rose in Liu Qingye’s heart.
No one understood a fox better than another fox.
From the moment Chen Xindi walked through the door, Liu Qingye had sensed the unmistakable aura of one of her own.
That hundred-percent mastery of tea-dripping charm, that innocent and blameless expression she put on—
She was an upgraded version of Liu Qingye herself!
Once everyone had taken their seats on the sofa, they began properly introducing themselves and describing their occupations one by one.
Chen Xindi propped her chin in her hand and listened attentively.
When everyone had finished, she praised them.
“You’re all so impressive. And your jobs sound really interesting too, unlike mine...”
Liu Qingye couldn’t stand it anymore.
She gave a cold snort and asked, “What do you do?”
Chen Xindi answered with studied modesty, “I worked on Wall Street for a while when I was abroad. After returning to China, I became a financial analyst.”
The company she worked for was among the top three in its industry in China.
She was beautiful, and she was highly capable at her job.
Wang Aitian glanced at her, then at Xu Jinsi, looking thoughtful.
“So your profession is pretty similar to Mr. Xu’s, Cindy.”
“Yes!”
Chen Xindi smiled, then complained lightly, “When we were chatting over dinner just now, it felt as if I’d gone back to having lunch and chatting with my coworkers at the office.”
She gave Xu Jinsi a helpless sidelong glance.
“For a moment, I couldn’t tell whether I was on a dating show or at a professional networking event.”
Xu Jinsi had been called into the conversation, so he replied politely, “Not a networking event, Ms. Chen. You’re the professional analyst here. I should be the one learning from you.”
Chen Xindi covered her lips and gave a soft laugh.
“Don’t call me Ms. Chen. We’re all about the same age.”
Their exchange was perfectly harmonious, with even a hint of mutual understanding.
Seeing this, Liu Qingye instinctively looked at Ji Liuyue.
Oh no. Cindy the Little Vixen actually seems to know what she’s doing!
Ji Liuyue was probably going to lose this round. Would she cry later?
Yet Ji Liuyue merely continued resting her chin on her hand, her smile unchanged.
She looked as calm as ever, as if she didn’t care about their interaction in the slightest.
