Chapter 13: Have You Found Someone You Like?

After a long day of settling in, everyone was finally able to rest. The guests, exhausted, ate lunch and then retreated to their rooms for a break.

Ye Fangfei, due to work commitments, packed her belongings and left the Pink Cottage, leaving Qi Jiajia alone to occupy the room.

With no one else around, Qi Jiajia no longer had to maintain appearances. She sprawled out on the bed, arms and legs akimbo, and let out a long sigh.

She had met six strangers in a single day and was now expected to live under the same roof with them. To be honest, she was finding it hard to adjust.

What stressed her out even more was that the other female guests all seemed to have excellent qualities. She couldn't help but compare herself to them, and the psychological pressure mounted.

After all, this was a dating reality show.

Before coming, she didn't think much of it, but now that she was here, she realized her mindset had shifted dramatically. She was already worrying she might end up alone, and found herself unconsciously trying to show her best side in front of the male guests—a behavior that made her feel like a stranger to herself.

But she'd come this far; there was no turning back now, was there?

Thinking of her ex-boyfriend, who seemed perfectly at ease here, Qi Jiajia felt she couldn't lose to him.

Lost in her thoughts, she soon drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring sea-view room, the two female guests were full of energy, showing no intention of napping.

Li Jiayan had changed into a comfortable camisole nightdress and was sprawled on her bed, playing on her phone, an air conditioning blanket casually draped over her waist, her long, fair legs kicking aimlessly in the air.

Chu Yao exited the bathroom and caught sight of her in this pose, her delicate brows arching slightly.

She quietly walked to her own bed and sat down. As she dried her feet, Chu Yao's gaze inadvertently lingered on Li Jiayan's enviable figure beneath the nightdress.

She seems to love wearing camisoles… It’s hard not to suspect she’s showing off on purpose.

But with a figure like that, who could blame her for wanting to flaunt it? Chu Yao thought to herself.

“Your videos are really well made,” Li Jiayan said, noticing Chu Yao sitting silently by the bed. She waved her phone and turned to smile.

Chu Yao glanced at Li Jiayan’s screen and realized she was watching one of her videos.

“Why are you suddenly watching my videos?” Chu Yao asked, puzzled.

“Just curious.” Li Jiayan chuckled, turned off her phone, and sat up to face Chu Yao. “Everyone else has seen your videos except me. I didn’t want to be too out of the loop.”

“I searched for your account and realized you’re really popular online. I guess I was pretty ignorant before.”

Li Jiayan’s voice was soft and pleasant, and her friendly attitude was clearly an effort to draw closer.

Chu Yao’s impression of her instantly improved. She smiled and said, “I wish I could find out your professions soon too.”

Li Jiayan’s interest was piqued. She pointed at herself and asked, “Guess what I do?”

Chu Yao’s eyes darted around as she considered. After a moment, she ventured, “You have a great figure—are you a model?”

Li Jiayan laughed but didn’t confirm or deny it, as the show’s producers had forbidden revealing professions at this point.

Chu Yao accused her of being deliberately mysterious.

After their chat, the two quickly grew much closer.

“Jiayan, besides your ex, is there any male guest you’ve taken a liking to?” Chu Yao asked boldly as their conversation warmed.

Li Jiayan was briefly startled, then shyly smiled, “You first—do you have someone in mind?”

Caught off guard, Chu Yao blushed as well.

“There’s someone I think is nice, but… I wouldn’t say I’m smitten yet,” she replied honestly.

Li Jiayan’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Is he handsome?”

Chu Yao refused to be drawn in. “Any more and I’ll give it away—let’s keep it a secret for now!”

Li Jiayan teased, “Don’t tell me it’s my ex?”

Chu Yao laughed.

“Who is your ex, anyway? Tell me and I’ll see if I’m right.”

“Nice try! I won’t fall for that.”

“What about you? Anyone catch your eye at first glance?”

“Me…” Li Jiayan tilted her head in thought. “Not yet. I need to observe a bit more.”

Eventually, their gossip faded into sleep…

Across the hall, the men’s room was an entirely different scene.

In the large sea-view room, Wen Yiming had just finished freshening up in the bathroom, his shirt off.

Xu Junze eyed his physique, lips twitching. “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have agreed to share a room with you.”

Wen Yiming looked baffled. “Why?”

Xu Junze gestured to his torso, joking ruefully, “Your body is a dimensional strike against my self-esteem. With you as my comparison, I’ll never dare to take my shirt off again.”

Wen Yiming burst out laughing. “Why not swap rooms with Lu Zhou? He probably wouldn’t mind having me as a benchmark.”

“Ouch.” Xu Junze mimed being stabbed in the heart.

Wen Yiming flopped onto his bed, not in the mood to chat further. He set an alarm on his phone. “I’m heading to the supermarket with Chu Yao later. I’ll nap for a bit first.”

Xu Junze paused, then glanced over. “What for?”

“To buy groceries. The fridge is empty. How else are we supposed to cook dinner for the two of us?”

“Oh, I forgot about that. Just the two of you going? Need a hand?”

“Are you free? If so, come help. It’ll be hard for just the two of us to handle shopping for eight.”

“I’ve got nothing planned. I’ll join you.”

“Great.”

With that settled, the two lay down for a short nap.

In the next men’s room, Zhang Chen had taken a call and gone out, leaving Lu Zhou alone.

He’d planned to sleep but was interrupted by a message from Nan Qiao.

Nan Qiao: [I heard the dating show officially started today. How’s it going? Are you adjusting?]

Lu Zhou hadn’t expected Nan Qiao to check in on him.

[So far, everything’s going smoothly.]
[Thanks for your help, Sister Nan. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it onto the show.]

Nan Qiao must have been free; her reply came quickly.

Nan Qiao: [We’ve been through a lot together. No need to be so formal.]

Lu Zhou grinned—“been through a lot” was a bit of an exaggeration.

Nan Qiao: [I just found out today that you’ve terminated your contract with the company?]

Lu Zhou: [Yes, it’s been a while now.]

Nan Qiao: [Why?]

Lu Zhou didn’t intend to explain much.

To Nan Qiao, leaving his agency might seem foolish, but he didn’t see it that way. He wanted a chance to find a team better suited to him.

[I asked to terminate my contract a while ago. The company agreed, and once I was discharged from the hospital, I followed through.]

Nan Qiao: [You’re really something.]

Lu Zhou: [haha.gif]

Nan Qiao: [In this industry, having an agency as backup is important.]

Nan Qiao: [I know some agents. Want me to introduce you?]

Lu Zhou: [Not planning to sign with a new agency for now, but thanks.]

Nan Qiao: [Alright.]

Lu Zhou: [Actually, I wanted to ask if you know any decent recording studios that aren’t too expensive?]

Nan Qiao: [Recording studio? Planning to make music yourself?]

Lu Zhou: [Yes, that’s the idea.]

Nan Qiao: [The studios I’ve used were arranged by producers, so I don’t really know much about that.]

Nan Qiao: [If you want to make music, you could contact a music producer—they’ll handle the recording studio and everything else.]

Nan Qiao: [If you like, I can introduce you to an independent producer. You can ask him about studios.]

Lu Zhou: [Great, thanks again!]

Nan Qiao was quick to act and soon sent over a business card: a producer named Pan Chengyi.

Lu Zhou didn’t hesitate to add him as a contact.

When the friend request went unanswered, Lu Zhou’s eyelids grew heavy, and he drifted off.

He’d gotten up too early and had been busy all day—exhaustion overtook him, and he slipped into dreams.

In his dream, Lu Zhou returned to the days of battling illness in his past life, reliving the ordeal, pain seared into his memory.

At the moment of death, he jolted awake.

The nightmare left him drenched in sweat, his clothes clammy and cold.

He didn’t know what time it was, but the room was pitch dark.

Lu Zhou lay there for a while, eyes open, before getting up.

Zhang Chen wasn’t in the room. The last Lu Zhou saw, he’d left to take a call and hadn’t returned—or maybe he had come back, but Lu Zhou had slept too deeply to notice.

He went to draw the curtains—outside, the sun had already set.

He’d slept all the way until nightfall… Impressive.

Lu Zhou grabbed a fresh set of clothes from the wardrobe and showered. Once clean, he tidied his hair and left the bedroom, only to find the villa eerily quiet.

Strange—was everyone still asleep, or had they all gone out?

He searched the second floor but saw no one, so he went downstairs.

Finally, he found a living soul in the living room.

Li Jiayan was half-reclined on the sofa, reading a book she’d procured from somewhere.

“Are you here alone?”

Lu Zhou approached and spoke.

Startled by the sudden voice behind her, Li Jiayan shuddered.

“Oh my god, you scared me!”

She pressed a hand to her chest and glanced back, rolling her eyes when she saw Lu Zhou.

“I nearly had a heart attack… Have you been in your room this whole time?” she asked.

“I just woke up and found the whole place silent. Thought I was the only one here.”

Lu Zhou approached, noted the flush on Li Jiayan’s face, and apologized, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“I thought I was alone too,” Li Jiayan replied.

Lu Zhou sat beside her and peeked at her book—a travelogue.

“Is it that good? You’re completely absorbed.”

“Just passing time. It’s boring being alone.”

“Where did everyone go?”

“Zhang Chen said they all went grocery shopping.”

“And Zhang Chen? Where’s he?”

“He went out to take a call—didn’t say what for,” Li Jiayan replied, flipping through pages without much interest.

Now that it was just the two of them, there was no need to mind their words.

“How are you feeling? Settling in okay?” Lu Zhou asked, genuinely concerned.

“In what way?” Li Jiayan turned to him.

“I mean, are you adjusting? Or did you think I meant something else?”

“I thought you were asking how I felt about the other male guests…” she muttered.

“If that’s your first thought, don’t tell me you already have a favorite?” Lu Zhou raised an eyebrow.

“Is that a problem?”

Li Jiayan closed her book, clearly no longer interested in reading, and met his gaze.

“I didn’t say it was. As long as you’re happy.”

She let out a soft huff.

Lu Zhou heard it. “What’s with the sigh…”

“Shouldn’t I be asking if you already have a favorite?”

“And where did that come from?”

Li Jiayan pouted, then reopened her travelogue, pretending to read.

Lu Zhou couldn’t fathom what she was upset about—women’s hearts were a mystery.

“Lu Zhou, you need to be a bit more careful. Even though we have to pretend we just met in front of the others, there’s no need to go out of your way to ignore me. The more you act deliberately, the more suspicious people will get.”

After a moment, Li Jiayan spoke again, serious now.

Lu Zhou frowned. Had he really been that obvious? Was his acting so poor? He mentally reviewed his behavior throughout the day.

He couldn’t recall doing anything to overtly distance himself from her.

He tried, “I don’t think I was avoiding you on purpose, was I?”

“Weren’t you?” Li Jiayan looked at him, chin slightly raised.

That look told him that, in her eyes, he had indeed been ignoring her.

“Give me a hint?”

“During the luggage moving this afternoon.”

A flurry of question marks filled his mind.

“What about it? I helped carry your luggage upstairs—how could that be ignoring you?”

So he went out of his way to help, only to be accused of “deliberately ignoring her”?

“You did help, but you were so eager to help the other girls first, only coming to me at the last minute. Wasn’t that on purpose?” Li Jiayan’s tone held a hint of accusation.

Lu Zhou: “…”

“How did you get so sensitive and suspicious after all these years?”

“Was I overthinking it?” Li Jiayan frowned.

“What do you think?”

“Fine, I guess I misjudged you,” Li Jiayan shrugged.

As they spoke, Zhang Chen returned.

Li Jiayan immediately switched to a bright, welcoming smile. “Zhang Chen, where did you go?”

Lu Zhou: “…” Now that was a quick change of face.

“Just took a work call,” Zhang Chen replied, glancing around. “Only you two here? The others aren’t back yet?”

“Not yet,” Li Jiayan answered. “I was about to suggest we go to the supermarket and see if they need help.”

“Shall we go now?” Zhang Chen asked.

“Sure!” Li Jiayan put down her book, hopped off the sofa, and glanced at Lu Zhou. “Are you coming?”

Lu Zhou bit his lip and smiled, “No, you two go ahead.”