Chapter 52: A Little Excitement

What’s going on? How did the two of them end up together? Ye Fangfei chose Lu Zhou for her date?!

This thought flashed through Li Jiayan’s mind.

Immersed in the music, Lu Zhou watched Ye Fangfei with a smile at the corner of his mouth, playing the violin with elegance and charm. Ye Fangfei, meanwhile, sang softly beneath his music. A handsome man and a beautiful woman—the scene was harmonious to the point of perfection.

Something stabbed at her chest, a strange feeling. Quietly, Li Jiayan walked closer.

Lu Zhou noticed her arrival, glanced at her without any change in expression, but the smile on his lips grew a bit more pronounced, as if greeting her.

When the song ended, he finally set down the violin.

Li Jiayan smiled and applauded from the side, “That was lovely. You two really know how to have fun.”

Ye Fangfei had been sitting with her back to Li Jiayan, unaware anyone had approached. Startled by the voice, she turned, then smiled and greeted her.

“All three of us understand music. We could form a band,” she joked.

“Do you all really have that much energy?” Li Jiayan rubbed her neck, looking tired. “I need to lie down for a bit. I’m exhausted.”

She declined, not wanting to join Ye Fangfei’s so-called “band session.” Or rather, to be precise, she was feeling a bit petulant for reasons she couldn’t quite explain.

Maybe it was last night’s new song, “First Love,” by Lu Zhou. She’d thought she’d moved on, but the song dredged up so many memories, and she felt an inexplicable closeness to Lu Zhou once more.

When they were dating, he never played the violin for her. Now, he played for another woman with such passion.

Honestly, it felt strange.

Li Jiayan returned to her room.

Ye Fangfei was also tired, chatted with Lu Zhou about music for a while, then returned to rest.

The other guests returned in sequence: Xu Junze, Wen Yiming, Chu Yao, Qi Jiajia, and Zhang Chen.

Chu Yao walked in wearing a cheongsam, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Yao Yao, you look amazing today!” Wen Yiming’s eyes lit up, lavish with praise.

Xu Junze, however, eyed Chu Yao secretly, feeling uneasy.

It was obvious she had put a lot into today’s date.

Where did she take her partner? Was it somewhere they had visited together before? She seemed in high spirits—did she have a good time? What did they do?

This show really tests one’s nerves.

The last to return was Zhang Chen, who appeared utterly exhausted, as if his demeanor was announcing to everyone that two dates in one day had worn him out.

Lu Zhou was the only one who hadn’t gone on a date today, and he seemed relaxed.

At this stage of the show, he could finally let go and not worry about whether anyone was paying attention to him, nor about which ex was watching whom.

He seemed like an outsider, but suddenly realized that staying too detached from the game might be bad for his exposure.

On a dating show, if you don’t want to reconcile and don’t actively approach any of the women, your screen time might be heavily edited out.

It seemed he had to get more involved, try to rack up some more popularity, since he was here anyway.

At 10:30 PM, all the guests were asked to gather in the living room.

Each harbored their own thoughts—some watched their exes’ faces, some reviewed their date details, some observed their rivals’ moods, some guessed who their ex had dated, some simply spaced out.

A few minutes later, everyone received a text message from the production team:

[The Anonymous Ex Chatroom is now open.
Tonight, everyone may ask three questions to the ex of a single opposite-sex guest that you most wish to know about.
Those questioned cannot refuse to answer.
You have half an hour to think; please send the name of the opposite-sex guest you wish to select to this number within the allotted time.
If you don’t wish to learn more about anyone, you may forfeit this opportunity.
In half an hour, please proceed to the rooftop chat room.]

With the new task issued, everyone looked surprised.

Tonight, they weren’t doing the usual bedtime text routine?

Anonymous questions to the ex of another guest—three questions, and the respondent couldn’t refuse?

This was a bit exciting.

Time ticked by, half an hour passed quickly.

Everyone went up to the rooftop together.

To be honest, the rooftop door had always been locked during their stay; no one had ever gone up. Who’d have thought it would be used for this?

On the rooftop, each guest was placed in a separate space containing a table, chair, and computer, with the login screen for a particular social communication app displayed.

After entering and closing the door, they waited a bit before the production team sent each guest a unique account and password.

Room 1:

Ye Fangfei sat before the computer. After logging in, she found two contacts in her friends list, nicknamed: “Questioner-1” and “Questioner-2.”

She raised her brows with interest. Ah, it seems Zhang Chen is quite popular?

That’s a good thing.

She smiled, twisting her hair around her finger, lazily watching the screen, waiting for the two unknown women to begin their questioning.

Soon, “Questioner-1” went online, their avatar lighting up.

[Hello.gif]

The other party sent a cute sticker.

Ye Fangfei found it amusing, and sent back a similar sticker.

1: [Then I won’t hold back. If any of my questions are offensive, I hope you’ll forgive me.]

Ye Fangfei: [Go ahead.]

1: [Why did you two break up?]

Ye Fangfei stared at the question, silent for a moment.

Ah, she’d expected something novel, but it was just like the production team’s interviews? Boring.

Expressionless, Ye Fangfei typed: [He’s just not my type.]

1: [I see.]

1: [Could you specify in what ways he wasn’t suitable?]

Ye Fangfei: [Specifically? Mainly we couldn’t connect; our values didn’t align.]

1: [Do you think he wants to get back together with you?]

The last question was rather clever.

Ye Fangfei raised her brows and answered truthfully: [He does, I don’t.]

1: [Understood.]

1: [I’m done. Thanks for your cooperation~]

Ye Fangfei: [You’re welcome.]

Then 1’s avatar turned gray; she’d logged out.

Not long after, “Questioner-2” came online.

2: [Hello]

Ye Fangfei: [……]

Ye Fangfei: [We’ve lived together for days now; no need to be so formal.]

2: [Haha]

2: [Are you ready?]

Ye Fangfei: [Go ahead.]

2: [I’m a bit curious—how long did you two date?]

Ye Fangfei: [Three days.]

2: [Shocked.gif]

2: [Three days?!]

Ye Fangfei: [Yes.]

2 seemed stunned, and took a while before sending the next question.

2: [I heard you broke up because you found him boring. After spending so many days together on the show, do you think he’s become more interesting?]

Ye Fangfei raised her brows; it seemed this person had discussed her with Zhang Chen beforehand.

Interesting—2’s questioning style was a bit different from 1’s.

Ye Fangfei answered honestly: [No.]

2: [Do you think he cares if his girlfriend is from a similar background?]

Hmm?

Ye Fangfei’s attractive brows arched again; this question was intriguing.

Apparently, the other person was concerned about her family situation?

Smart—she’d phrased it as “do you think.”

Ye Fangfei pondered a moment, then replied: [I think he does care, but honestly, I don’t know him well.]

2: [Alright.]

2: [Thank you for your honest answers.]

Ye Fangfei: [It’s my pleasure.]

And so, Ye Fangfei completed tonight’s anonymous chat task.