Chapter 141 He Is a Bit Strange

That night, however, some things did not unfold as everyone had predicted.

Hotel C.

"Are you feeling sore?" Wen Yiming asked Li Jiayan on the way back to their hotel.

"Yes, my whole body feels so soft and weak that I don't want to move at all." Li Jiayan leaned back in the car seat, let out a long yawn, and punched her thigh with her right hand. "It was fun while it lasted, but now the aftereffects are kicking in."

"How about a hot spring soak later? It can help relieve muscle soreness," Wen Yiming suggested.

"A hot spring? Is there one here?" Li Jiayan asked, skeptical.

The car stopped at the hotel entrance, and the two stepped out one after the other.

"I asked when we left; there is a hot spring," Wen Yiming replied as he closed the car door.

"That’s great." Li Jiayan rubbed her waist and walked into the hotel.

Wen Yiming followed behind her, a satisfied smile on his face.

However, the scene he had imagined did not come to pass.

They did go to the hot spring, but Li Jiayan was inexplicably conservative this time, changing into a swimsuit that showed only a sliver of her waist and covered everything else completely.

This style was not Li Jiayan at all!

What was going on? Wen Yiming felt frustrated.

He, on the other hand, was as carefree as ever, stepping out in just his swimming trunks. Before entering the pool, he deliberately stretched his limbs, his muscular physique standing out prominently with every movement.

Li Jiayan glanced at him and couldn't help but smile to herself: Is his intention to show off his body not a little too obvious?

In the livestream chat:
[Wen Yiming really seizes every opportunity to show off his muscles.]
[Gif: Heart eyes. Show more, us old ladies love watching it.]
[Li doesn't seem interested in Wen's body; there’s no spark in her eyes.]
[She only has eyes for Lu Zhou now; there's no room for any other man.]
...

The two sat in the hot spring pool with a respectful social distance between them. There weren't many people there, just a few scattered individuals.

The warmth enveloping her body instantly eased her tension. Li Jiayan started to feel comfortably drowsy, her mind wandering, and she couldn't help but wonder what Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei were doing at this very moment.

Are they soaking in a hot spring too? Are they together?

Hypothetical images flooded her brain, making her feel quite agitated.

"What are you thinking about?" Wen Yiming noticed her distraction and broke the silence.

Li Jiayan snapped back, smiled at him, and said, "Nothing, just zoning out."

"Then I’m a failure," Wen Yiming sighed heavily.

"Huh? How did we get to that?" Li Jiayan couldn't keep up with his train of thought.

"During a date, my partner is so bored she’s zoning out—isn't that my failure?" Wen Yiming explained with a smile.

"..." Li Jiayan was so embarrassed she could have curled her toes, but she still managed a smile. "It’s not boredom. I’m just a little sleepy. We did too much ice skating this afternoon; my body is exhausted."

"Then let's go back and rest early after the soak," Wen Yiming said considerately.

Li Jiayan nodded. Feeling she should find a topic of conversation, she remembered what Wen Yiming had said to her in the phone booth that morning and asked curiously, "Since coming on this show, have you ever had the urge to get back together with Jiajia?"

Wen Yiming said without hesitation, "Never."

Hearing the word "never," Li Jiayan was slightly surprised. Was it really that final? Usually, when couples who broke up half a year ago meet again and get entangled, the desire for reconciliation is relatively strong, unless the person is very rational about their feelings.

"What I told you this morning is my true inner thought." Wen Yiming looked at Li Jiayan earnestly. He felt that since this woman was starting to care about whether he had thoughts of reconciling with his ex, she must have been shaken by him.

Not wanting to leave a bad impression, Wen Yiming decided to speak well of Qi Jiajia. "She’s great in many ways; it’s just that we weren't a good fit."

"I think if a couple can break up, it means they weren't as compatible as they imagined."

"Actually, people are strange. We are easily bewitched by beautiful memories and selectively forget the pain we once endured. In reality, many couples break up and get back together several times, only to end up completely brokenhearted before they finally give up."

"I know very clearly that even if Jiajia and I got back together, we would just repeat the same mistakes, and I don't want to suffer that kind of emotional trauma again. Life is short; isn't it better to choose a new connection and be happy?"

Wen Yiming clearly projected an attitude of having "long since moved on from his previous relationship."

"Then how can you be sure the next connection will be the right one?" Li Jiayan pressed.

Wen Yiming: "Of course I can't be sure, but isn't that how people live—by constantly trying?"

Li Jiayan: "And if the next one isn't a good fit either, won't you suffer the same emotional damage?"

Wen Yiming: "That possibility certainly exists, probably a fifty-fifty chance, but we can't stop trying just because we're afraid of getting hurt, can we?"

Li Jiayan: "I just think if you're willing to try a new connection, why not try to repair the old one? It’s a gamble either way; you never know until you try."

Hearing this, the smile on Wen Yiming’s face froze for a split second.

He retracted his earlier thought that she was wavering... she still hadn't seen the facts clearly? Lu Zhou didn't choose her for today's date—wasn't that enough for her to give up?

"Actually, just follow your heart," Wen Yiming said with a smile, following her lead. "Only you know what you really want, right?"

"I personally have a scale of measurement: if two people are together and the happy times outweigh the bad, I will try to repair the relationship. If being together makes us less happy than before, I choose to give up."

Wen Yiming felt he had tried hard enough to hint at Li Jiayan. He wanted to tell her: *Your state at the beginning of the show is in stark contrast to how you are now. You look unhappy every day; why are you still clinging to a man who makes you miserable?*

Li Jiayan felt his words made sense. She recalled the time she spent with Lu Zhou.

Oh! There were still more happy moments!

She couldn't give him up.

In the livestream chat:
[Wuwuwu, Yanyan is so loyal, I’m crying.]
[Lu Zhou, look back at your Yanyan!]
[Sister, you have ultimately given your heart to the wrong person.]
...

Hotel D.

The aftereffect of eating a lot of high-calorie food at noon was that they didn't feel hungry at all by dinnertime.

Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei pushed dinner back, deciding to order food once they felt hungry.

After returning to the hotel, the two didn't plan to go out again and went back to their rooms to rest for a while.

Apart from the living room, no cameras were installed in their respective bedrooms.

Closing the door, Lu Zhou went to the bathroom to take a cold shower to clear his head.

After coming out, he stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought, gazing at the night view for a long time.

It wasn't until a knock on the door that he snapped out of it. He smoothed his slightly messy hair and turned to open the door.

Ye Fangfei stood outside, asking if he was hungry yet.

Eventually, they decided to order dinner to the room. While waiting, they sat on the living room carpet and played Jenga to pass the time.

You pull one, I pull one; as long as it didn't cause the rest to collapse, they would feel a little thrill. Happiness was so simple; at this moment, they looked like two childish kids.

The further the game progressed, the harder it became, and each attempt to pull out a block required extreme caution.

After carefully examining the architecture of the tower, Lu Zhou chose a block from the middle. Just as he was cautiously pulling it out, he suddenly asked a question: "Do you know what my family does for a living?"

Ye Fangfei’s attention was entirely on the block he was slowly extracting, wondering if he would succeed or fail. She didn't pay much attention to his sudden question.

She shook her head and countered, "What do they do?"

Lu Zhou paused after pulling the block halfway out. He looked up at her earnestly and said, "They raise fish in the countryside."

Seeing him stop, Ye Fangfei looked up at him. "Raising fish?"

Lu Zhou: "Yes."

"So, if you want to eat fish, do you just go and catch one?" She laughed.

Lu Zhou laughed along. "Indeed. But isn't your focus a bit off?"

"Huh? How is it off? Isn't the first reaction to fish just eating it?"

Seeing him holding the block frozen in place, Ye Fangfei thought he might be trying to distract her to cheat.

"You've already chosen this one, pull it out quickly! Don't even think about sneaking a swap—no way," she said.

"..." Lu Zhou smiled helplessly. He yanked the block out, and immediately, the rest of the tower collapsed with a crash.

Ye Fangfei clapped her hands excitedly, laughing. "I knew it! You're going to lose!"

Lu Zhou spun the small block in his hand and tossed it back onto the carpet. They began stacking the blocks again.

"Are your parents involved in the arts, too?" Lu Zhou continued his line of questioning, pretending to know nothing.

Ye Fangfei’s hand, which was stacking the blocks, paused imperceptibly. She kept stacking without looking at him and replied nonchalantly, "No, they’re in business."

Hmm... in business... that was technically true.

"Is the business doing well?" he continued.

Ye Fangfei’s lips curled up slightly. "It's alright."

Lu Zhou: "..."

When it came to "humble-bragging," she was a pro.

"What about your parents? Do they raise the fish well?" Ye Fangfei asked casually while stacking.

"..." Lu Zhou pondered in his heart and confessed, "I don't know much about the business side. Personally, I think they taste good, but they aren't always easy to sell."

Ye Fangfei nodded knowingly and smiled. "Market fluctuations are normal, actually. So, your parents are in business too."

"Yeah..." Lu Zhou didn't know what word to use to describe his current mood.

"A small business," he emphasized.

"Take it slow. Businesses don't grow overnight," she replied, following his lead.

"If there’s an opportunity, let me taste your family's fish and see if it's really as good as you say." Ye Fangfei placed the last block and clapped her hands. "Come on, let's play another round."

"???" Lu Zhou suddenly felt that even though he had planted the topic so casually, she didn't seem to take it very seriously...

In the livestream chat:
[Holy crap, that was fast. Are you two already planning on meeting the parents?]
[It's happening! It's happening! Official announcement tonight!]
[Lu Zhou: Come to my place, I'll cook you a full-course fish feast.]
...

The two started a new round of Jenga.

After some deliberation, Lu Zhou decided to change his approach.

"Do you mind if I ask you a rather realistic question?" he asked with a serious expression as Ye Fangfei was concentrating on picking a block.

"Ask away, and I'll see how I answer."

Ye Fangfei pulled out a small block; the tower held, and she smiled, signaling Lu Zhou to continue.

Lu Zhou picked a block at random and pulled it out quickly. At the same time, he asked:

"Do you consider 'matching social status' when choosing a partner?"

Ye Fangfei paused, not expecting such a direct question.

His meaning was already very clear.

They were both adults; they both had a sense of how the day had gone.

So, as Ye Fangfei heard Lu Zhou’s words, it felt like he was telling her: *I want to date you, but there’s a big gap between our family backgrounds. Will you not give me a chance because of this?*

A sweet ripple spread through her heart. Ye Fangfei lowered her eyes, not looking at him, and pretended to be very focused on picking a block. "I wouldn't consider such a boring condition."

That was her personality. Lu Zhou knew that; in fact, before he asked, he already knew what she would say.

"What about your parents?" Lu Zhou pressed.

Ye Fangfei’s hand faltered, and she made a mistake—crash—the whole tower collapsed.

She let out a soft exclamation, looking regretful.

She looked up at Lu Zhou, thinking: *What is up with him tonight?*

From the beginning, when he proactively shared his family's situation, to the subsequent string of topics centering around family background, and finally asking if her parents cared about "matching social status"...

Clearly, the person who was truly worried about whether their backgrounds matched was Lu Zhou himself.

They hadn't even started dating, so why was he worrying about this already?

Had he been hurt by this before?

Thinking of this, Ye Fangfei made a bold guess: the reason Lu Zhou and Li Jiayan broke up was likely because their backgrounds didn't match?

She arched her eyebrows slightly, suddenly understanding why Lu Zhou cared about this; he obviously had a psychological knot from the past.

If that was the case, she couldn't be vague about the truth, or he might suffer secondary trauma without being prepared.

"How should I put it?"

Ye Fangfei tilted her head, pondering how to express it, and smiled.

"As parents, they probably consider the 'matching status' situation to some degree, right?"

"But a relationship is between two people. I think it mainly depends on the attitude of the people involved. Other people's opinions are secondary."

"I have always believed that one should be the master of one's own life."

Ye Fangfei expressed her point of view directly, without hiding anything.

She lacked experience in romantic relationships, but she felt this was how it should be. In any case, she had always made decisions about her own life; actually, she had been like this even before becoming an adult... maybe her family just spoiled her.

She said exactly what she was thinking.

Lu Zhou looked at her silently, his mood complicated.

In the livestream chat:
[Lu Zhou is acting a bit weird tonight.]
[He keeps harping on family background; is he insecure?]
[What's wrong with raising fish? Pond owners can be very wealthy. Besides, he's not relying on his parents, so that's unnecessary.]
[Can someone tell me what Ye Fangfei's background is?]
[Actually, 'matching social status' is just an excuse. It's mostly about how much you like each other.]
...

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Their eye contact was interrupted, and Lu Zhou stood up to open the door.

Their ordered food had arrived, interrupting the somewhat heavy topic, and they got up to eat.

This night was one that invited deep reflection.

Thanks to Qin Guanxi for the 1500 Qidian coin tip!
Thanks to Sezhong Hangmo for the 300 Qidian coin tip!
Thanks to GrandBlue for the 100 Qidian coin tip!
(End of chapter)