Chapter 124: A Controversial Choice

Because Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan had lingered for quite a while at a scenic spot they encountered on the way back, they returned significantly later than the other guests.

Wen Yiming and Chu Yao were the first pair to arrive back at the luxury homestay, followed by Xu Junze and Qi Jiajia.

Upon discovering that only Wen Yiming and Chu Yao were in the house, Qi Jiajia and Xu Junze felt even more certain of their previous guess that they had taken first place.

Meanwhile, Wen and Chu were beginning to feel confused. Who exactly had won first place? Why was everyone else returning later than them, despite them being the second-place pair? Could it be a tactic to delay their return and cloud everyone's judgment?

Bound by the requirement for confidentiality, no one brought up the subject of rankings, though everyone was secretly guessing who had won.

Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei were the third pair to return.

Upon entering, Zhang Chen noticed that Lu Zhou’s group hadn't arrived yet. He had been worried that Lu Zhou might have taken first place again, fearing that if that kid really had won, he might lose his mind and choose Ye Fangfei for tomorrow's secret date.

Seeing the situation now, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was unlikely that Lu Zhou had placed first; it was highly probable that it was either Wen Yiming or Xu Junze.

He wasn't worried about either of them taking the top spot. Zhang Chen believed that even if they were given a hundred times the courage, they wouldn't dare cross the line to date his woman.

However, there was still a possibility the production team was playing a game of deception. Lu Zhou still had a chance of being first, but based on the current situation, Zhang Chen felt that even if it were Lu Zhou, he likely wouldn't choose Ye Fangfei again.

Last night’s movie seemed to have changed a lot of things. Lu Zhou had gone to the beach for a private chat with Li Jiayan, and today they had pre-arranged to be partners. Now, with both of them returning so late, they must have taken the opportunity to enjoy a world for two.

Analyzing it this way, it was clear that Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan were rekindling an old flame.

They must have had some misunderstanding that caused their breakup years ago, and last night’s movie had helped them resolve it, causing their love to spark back to life.

The more he analyzed it, the more Zhang Chen envied them. If only things were as smooth for him and Ye Fangfei!

On the way back just now, Zhang Chen had seen a nice street and wanted to ask Ye Fangfei to get out of the car and explore, but she had been sleeping like a log. He didn't want to wake her, lest he be labeled as "inconsiderate" again.

It was too difficult. She was a pampered princess; to win her over, he had to play the role of a doting boyfriend who treated her like a precious treasure.

He used to be the one treated that way, but with the roles reversed, it was truly exhausting.

The golden sun dipped below the horizon, and night fell.

Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan stepped into the homestay just as night arrived. It was already dinner time, and the other six guests were already seated in the dining room, ready to eat.

"You guys finally made it back? You were so slow! If you had been any later, we would have finished eating," Qi Jiajia said with a warm smile, spotting Lu Zhou.

The sudden sound made everyone look toward the door.

The moment Lu Zhou stepped in, he scanned the room, his gaze finally resting on Ye Fangfei.

Their eyes met for a fleeting second before Ye Fangfei turned away, picked up her cutlery, and started eating.

"Hurry up and wash your hands, come eat!" Chu Yao greeted them with a smile.

Lu Zhou responded with a smile and turned to the kitchen to wash his hands. Li Jiayan didn't follow; she went to her room to touch up her makeup, afraid to be seen in her current state.

Wen Yiming noticed Li Jiayan was still wearing sunglasses and couldn't help but laugh, "Jiayan, why are you still wearing sunglasses? The day is over—are your eyes still swollen? Can you even see the path in the dark?"

Li Jiayan adjusted her frames and said, "I have eyes of fire and gold, of course I can see."

With that, she headed to her room.

After washing his hands, Lu Zhou came to the table and pulled out the empty chair next to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen turned to scrutinize Lu Zhou’s expression, attempting to find a trace of "excitement" to confirm whether he had taken first place.

But he found none. In fact, he felt Lu Zhou’s mood seemed a bit subdued.

Zhang Chen was finally at ease; Lu Zhou was not the winner.

"What activity did you guys do today?" Zhang Chen asked, taking the initiative.

"A maze."

"Was it a real pain?" Zhang Chen asked with a grin, assuming they must have been trapped until the end and had to be rescued by the production crew.

"It certainly was," Lu Zhou replied, serving himself some soup. He glanced at Ye Fangfei and asked Zhang Chen, "How about you guys? How was it?"

"We went to the maze too, and oh, it was a blast!" Zhang Chen took a bite of roasted chicken, sounding enthusiastic. He deliberately acted relaxed to make others suspect he was the winner, rather than the one in last place.

Ye Fangfei glanced at him, not bothering to expose his poor performance.

Everyone chatted and ate for a while until Li Jiayan returned, her makeup refreshed and her sunglasses off.

She sat down opposite Lu Zhou, next to Ye Fangfei.

"Oh," she sighed lightly as she sat, "I'm so tired today. I don't even want to move."

Hearing her weary sigh, Wen Yiming smiled, "I guess the maze was physically draining?"

"Yeah, my legs went soft from walking around in there," Li Jiayan replied weakly, working hard to hide the fact that she had won.

She looked up to see Lu Zhou eating quietly and asked with a smile, "Lu Zhou, what is that soup in front of you?"

"Clam chowder," Lu Zhou replied, looking up.

"I want some, could you serve me a bit?" Li Jiayan didn't wait for an answer, passing him her bowl.

Lu Zhou put down his cutlery and served her.

After handing the bowl back, Lu Zhou looked around at the others and asked, "Does anyone else want some? Pass your bowls over."

"Me!" Qi Jiajia handed her bowl over.

"Serve me some too, it's too far and I'm too lazy to move," said Chu Yao, who was sitting at the far end.

After helping everyone, Lu Zhou noticed Ye Fangfei’s bowl was empty. "Fangfei, how about you? Do you want some?"

Ye Fangfei looked up, met his gaze, and shook her head. "No, thank you."

Lu Zhou smiled, picked up his fork to twirl some pasta, took a slow bite, and fell into thought.

After dinner, the guests chatted for a while before returning to their rooms to rest.

At 9:00 PM, Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan each received a notification from the production team, asking them to carefully consider their decision and provide the name of the guest they wanted to invite for a secret date tomorrow.

Once the name was submitted, it could not be changed.

Guests who did not place first in today's challenge had no right to refuse if invited, while the first-place winner held the power of choice.

Li Jiayan chose Lu Zhou without hesitation.

Lu Zhou ultimately wrote down the name "Ye Fangfei."

The livestream audience was shocked:
[???]
[Oh my god, it really is a love triangle!]
[How will this go down?]
[The battlefield is about to open!]
...
Less than half an hour later, Lu Zhou received another notification: Li Jiayan had invited him on a date, and he had to choose between her and Ye Fangfei.

Upon receiving this news, Lu Zhou sighed softly and insisted on choosing Ye Fangfei.

Livestream chat:
[Ahhh! I won the bet!]
[Help, I finally waited for them!]
[Fly the flag for the 'Fei-Zhou' couple!]
[So annoying, my CP is gone just like that?]
[Why? You should have chosen Li Jiayan. Do you really think you can handle Ye Fangfei?]
[It’s pointless, why bother?]
...
At 10:00 PM, Ye Fangfei, who was preparing for bed, received a notification: a male guest had invited her on a date, and she needed to name a city she wanted to visit.

Ye Fangfei frowned in confusion.
"Who chose me?"
"You'll know tomorrow."
"Oh, can I refuse?"
"No. You aren't the first-place winner, so you have no right to refuse."
"Fine..."
"Do you have a city in mind? If not, we'll let the male guest decide."

Ye Fangfei was silent for a moment. She had her suspicions about who might have chosen her.

"The City of Angels," she said.

When Lu Zhou received the city from the production team and was asked if he had any objections, he replied, "No objections. Let's go where she wants to go."

That night was destined to be sleepless.

Meanwhile, discussions about the dating show were heating up on the national social media trends.

[So, Lu Zhou likes Ye Fangfei? That's so delusional. Does he really think he has a chance with her? Hahaha, hilarious. He's way too full of himself. He should just get back with his ex; he has no self-awareness.]

[Get back together? They broke up six or seven years ago; they're strangers now. At the start, both said they had no intention of reconciling, but Li Jiayan seems to have gotten too carried away on the show. But I feel like Lu Zhou’s song already stated his stance. I just wonder if Li Jiayan can wake up.]

[Is it possible Lu Zhou doesn't like anyone? Is he choosing Ye Fangfei just to boost his popularity? If that’s true, that’s terrifying.]

[I don't support a reconciliation, and I don't think there will be a result with Ye Fangfei. Maybe he should just be with Qi Jiajia; I like them.]

[Lu Zhou is just a high-level player. Li Jiayan today, Ye Fangfei tomorrow, Qi Jiajia the day after, Chu Yao the day after that. He’s got the whole pond stocked.]

[Are you blind? Aside from Ye Fangfei, have you ever seen him take the initiative with anyone? Wasn't it Li Jiayan who kept sticking to him? He has no interaction with Chu Yao, and he only had contact with Qi Jiajia because they were partners once and had to touch during a game. Who else has he flirted with? This is a player? Please, learn what the word means before you spout nonsense.]

[He didn't flirt with anyone, but he didn't refuse either! Isn't that what a player is?]

[Refuse what? Did anyone confess? How can you refuse if no one has confessed? Should he walk up to them and say, "Don't like me, it won't work out"? What if he misinterpreted it? Wouldn't that be social suicide? Please stop living in a fantasy world. This is the real world. Understand basic social etiquette, okay? Besides, if you're referring to refusing Li Jiayan, his song is already the answer.]

...

Not long after, the topic #LuZhouSingsFirstLove# hit the top of the charts, and short clips recorded from the livestream began circulating widely on social media.

Subsequently, the song "First Love" climbed to number one on the daily charts of major music streaming platforms.

Seeing the backend data, Pan Chengyi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Good grief, I have to hand it to him—using the show’s popularity for promotion like this is genius."