PANT - Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Yuan Yuyue didn't sleep all night.
She was just too excited.
After watching the entire first day of the livestream, she felt as if she'd been injected with a stimulant and couldn't sleep even if she wanted to. When she put down her phone, her mind was completely filled with thoughts of Shi Ning and Su Tianxue.
Although she had liked Shi Ning since she was a child, and had reluctantly gone on a blind date with her at her mother's urging to fulfill a lingering regret, she knew it was impossible between them. It was precisely because she had known her for so long, hearing countless of her "heroic" deeds—some true, some false—since childhood that Yuan Yuyue knew they had no chance.
To be honest, when she first started watching the show, there was a bit of spite in her heart.
She thought: Let me see which little vixen managed to capture Shi Ning's affection.
The result... she could now say she had gone from a solo stan to a CP fan.
Not only did she browse all over Weibo and join the "First Time Seeing Snow" CP Super Topic, but she also constantly shared news, posting it in their 【Peerless Beauty O, Paging Online】 group chat.
She was hyped until six in the morning and was just about to go to sleep when a push notification popped up on her phone.
Regarding the Guests of This Variety Show, You Can't Miss These Secrets.
The accompanying image was clearly the official promotional picture for Love Bus 2.
Yuan Yuyue yawned and clicked on the webpage, originally planning to just browse it casually as some bedtime reading to pass the time.
Who knew that the more she read the article, the angrier she became.
...It completely chased away her sleepiness!
The article exposed Shi Ning as a promiscuous person in the past, claiming she dated many girlfriends at once and was an N-timer. It even seemed to have found some credible people to prove it. Yuan Yuyue glanced at the IDs, looked them up online, and found they were all minor internet celebrities. They were somewhat attractive, but based on Yuan Yuyue's years of pining for Shi Ning, she knew none of them were Shi Ning's type.
Shi Ning liked the all-natural type.
And she wasn't the type to accept just anyone.
The woman was actually quite picky.
Yuan Yuyue was furious. She immediately sent the post to the group chat to defend Shi Ning.
【Peerless Beauty O, Paging Online】
Yuan Yuyue: I'm so mad, so mad!! How can these people write such nonsense!!!
Yuan Yuyue: If Shi Ning could fall for them, I would have found a chance to make my move ages ago!!
Yuan Yuyue: I haven't even gotten in line! Why are these people cutting in!!
Driver on Akina Road: Little sister, why aren't you asleep yet?
Yuan Yuyue: Busy watching the show...
Driver on Akina Road: What's so interesting about watching other people date? You should be dating yourself.
Yuan Yuyue: No, I now think that dating is only interesting when you're watching other people do it.
Yuan Yuyue: By the way, Che Jiejie, are you awake? Why are you up so early?
Yuan Yuyue felt something was off.
Che Jiejie usually slept until two or three in the afternoon. Did the sun rise in the west today?
Yuan Yuyue: You haven't slept yet?
Driver on Akina Road: Mmm, just finished a heated battle. Kicked the person out to go buy breakfast.
Yuan Yuyue: ........
As expected of Che Jiejie!
Driver on Akina Road: What's this post? Let me see.
Ten minutes later, Che Jiejie was also enraged.
Driver on Akina Road: This is complete and utter nonsense.
Yuan Yuyue was also angry: Exactly!
Driver on Akina Road: At most, Shi Ning would only date one after another. She would never date several at the same time.
Driver on Akina Road: Even a scumbag woman has principles, okay?!
Driver on Akina Road: And who are these people? How come several people on Weibo have come out to prove they were cheated on by Shi Ning?
Yuan Yuyue: Huh??
She hurriedly checked Weibo and discovered that as soon as the article was published, several accounts, as if it were all planned, started dropping a lot of bombshells.
The key was, what these people were saying was a mix of truth and lies, making it impossible to tell what was real.
Some of the information related to Shi Ning was actually correct.
Yuan Yuyue was confused, but she didn't know that this information was all provided by W. The little diary that W had picked up, left behind after Jiang Ningran's death, contained some intelligence related to Shi Ning. To be precise, it had information on eight people. Besides Shi Ning and Su Wanxing, there were others.
It was all fragmented.
W didn't know where Jiang Ningran had gotten this information, but that didn't stop her from using it to cause trouble.
If she were to actually find Shi Ning's ex-girlfriends, who knew how long it would take. W couldn't be bothered, so she simply paid people to act, hired someone to write some copy, gave them the information, and fabricated a story. In her view, netizens' intelligence was worrisome; they'd believe anything they heard and were easily swayed, completely lacking minds of their own.
It was easy to sling mud at someone, to accuse them of being "unclean."
Sometimes, when one person says something, it doesn't sound like the truth. But if you get a few more people to say it, it starts to look like the truth.
Once this "truth" was accepted by the public, even if the slandered person tried everything, it would be difficult to change their image in the public's mind.
Just like the current situation.
All at once, many people came forward claiming to be Shi Ning's victims. They were all able to reveal Shi Ning's personal information, like her favorite dating spots, the hotels she frequented, and the location where she kept her sugar babies.
Yuan Yuyue was dazzled by it all.
She couldn't help but wonder if it was actually true.
Fortunately, Che Jiejie had a brain.
Driver on Akina Road: Someone's probably trying to mess with her.
Driver on Akina Road: I went and asked around. People who actually know Shi Ning say she never dates, she only has lovers. And she doesn't have many at once, finds it too tiring. As for that apartment the internet claims she uses to keep her sugar babies, they say she's never been there, so who knows if it's true.
Driver on Akina Road: But my friend said Shi Ning would never take different girls to the same place for a second date. So that supposed "love nest" for her sugar babies is probably fake too.
Yuan Yuyue: Sigh, so many people online are cursing her out now.
Driver on Akina Road: That's normal. Don't take it so hard. Netizens don't just curse her, they curse everything. Look, isn't Su Wanxing getting cursed out too?
Yuan Yuyue: Why is she being cursed out again??
Driver on Akina Road: .......Did you not finish reading that article?
Yuan Yuyue had indeed gotten so angry after reading about Shi Ning that she immediately came to the group to complain. After hearing what Che Jiejie said, she went back to look and discovered that besides exposing Shi Ning's little secrets, the article had also revealed Su Wanxing's online alias.
It presented countless clues, overtly and covertly pointing out that she was Night Star.
Then it started calling her a delinquent girl, saying she used to do covers of songs like Qing-Mei-Hu, Xiao-Man-Yao, and Wei-Feng-Tang-Tang...
It also said she publicly voice-acted those kinds of clips on YY with another person...
Someone jumped out and started commenting: At her age, getting into all sorts of trouble. What kind of judgment does the production team have for picking guests? What kind of people did they choose!
Yuan Yuyue did a quick search online and found that, whether it was someone leading the charge or an internet water army, Weibo was in an uproar over the article's revelations early in the morning.
It was only then that Yuan Yuyue clearly realized there were so many early risers in the world.
She thought everyone would be asleep at this hour! But instead, they were all full of energy, cursing heartily and obscenely.
Cursing Shi Ning as scum, cursing Su Wanxing as indecent.
All sorts of messy things, they cursed whatever they could.
The spectacle was so grand, anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was some crusade to Southeast Asia.
Che Jiejie was probably also reading. After a while, she grew even more furious and started ranting in the group. She had always been a free-spirited person and wasn't a "good girl" in the conventional sense. Now, seeing those curses, those words...
Sometimes she couldn't imagine why fellow women, or fellow Omegas, could use such excessive language to curse one of their own kind.
【Peerless Beauty O, Paging Online】
Driver on Akina Road: This bunch of idiot netizens, don't they know that having someone sing lewd songs for you is like a Bodhisattva descending to earth? What kind of people are they! They should be kneeling and saying thank you when they listen! Not calling others promiscuous!
Driver on Akina Road: What's wrong with being seventeen or eighteen? Can't a minor experience the diversity of literature, music, and art? I refuse to believe there's any minor who hasn't heard a few lewd songs!
Driver on Akina Road: Damn it, I've been searching for ages and can't find where Night Star's deleted songs are. I'm going to post a request for them.
Driver on Akina Road: Oh, right, my friend said she thinks people slandering Shi Ning for two-timing is a grave disrespect to her intelligence and taste in people. She's already contacted Shi Ning's other ex-lovers and is preparing to post a counterattack!
Yuan Yuyue stared at her screen with the expression of a grandpa looking at a smartphone.
How should I put this...
She felt like things were heading in a completely uncontrollable direction.
Strange, so strange.
The production team's schedule was to leave at nine in the morning.
Shi Ning set an alarm, planning to get up at eight to get ready and do her makeup, which would take about half an hour. Then she'd go downstairs, have breakfast, and dawdle until nine, which was perfect timing.
Who knew that Su Tianxue was a human alarm clock, waking up punctually at seven-thirty, just like an elderly person. Because the two of them were sleeping in the same bed under the same blanket, when Su Tianxue got up, Shi Ning also groggily opened her eyes.
She could feel the blanket being pulled up, and a draft of wind secretly snuck in, squeezing into the space between them.
The chilly wind instantly yanked Shi Ning out of her sweet dream.
Thinking about how Su Tianxue had held her while they slept last night, she reached out and coaxingly pulled the other woman back, nuzzling against Su Tianxue's neck like a clingy puppy. "Wife, wife."
Because she had just woken up, her voice was sticky and thick, with a hint of a whine.
Su Tianxue froze for a moment.
She had never heard Shi Ning make this kind of sound before. It was... actually kind of cute.
She didn't dislike it.
So she didn't struggle, just turned her head to ask, "What's wrong?"
Shi Ning yawned. "Want to sleep a little longer?"
Su Tianxue shook her head.
"I'm awake." She looked at the still drowsy woman. "You want to rest a bit more?"
Shi Ning, half-asleep, nodded.
Su Tianxue looked at her face. Shi Ning's eyes were beautiful, but they were also beautiful when closed.
During the day, this person seemed uncontrollable and dissolute, but she was very well-behaved when she slept at night. When held, she didn't move at all. In Su Tianxue's imagination, she had thought Shi Ning would be a wild sleeper, kicking all over the place.
When she woke up in the middle of the night, Su Tianxue realized she was the one who was a bad sleeper, with her leg draped over Shi Ning, hugging the other woman and refusing to let go.
She seemed to have been a little drunk last night, feeling dizzy and light-headed. It was Su Tianxue's first time being drunk. Only after getting drunk did she realize that she didn't go crazy when intoxicated. At most... at most, she would just act a little differently than usual.
The thought of how she had actively hugged Shi Ning and even kissed her yesterday made Su Tianxue want to run away immediately.
But she couldn't run. An awake Shi Ning was not as peaceful as a sleeping one.
Now, this woman was hugging her tightly, like a koala.
The situation was the complete opposite of last night.
Based on Su Tianxue's understanding of Shi Ning, this person was the type to take a mile if you gave her an inch.
After what happened yesterday, she estimated that today...
Before Su Tianxue could finish her thought, Shi Ning hummed twice and tilted her head up slightly towards Su Tianxue. "Where's my good morning kiss?"
Su Tianxue: ".......What."
Shi Ning pierced through the woman's attempt to play dumb. "You said you'd grant my wish."
She opened her eyes, her gaze falling on Su Tianxue's lips. After a night with the air conditioner on, her lips were a little dry, but they still looked very kissable.
She wanted to kiss them until they were wet.
Shi Ning pouted. "Good morning kiss."
Seeing this, Su Tianxue thought, See? If this isn't taking a mile, what is?
But then she remembered that she had indeed been the one to act that way and say those things last night. She had to solve the trouble she herself had caused.
Having no choice, Su Tianxue leaned in and pressed her lips against Shi Ning's.
"Good morning," she said calmly. "Is this okay?"
Shi Ning, holding Su Tianxue, said softly, "It's okay."
"But Su Tianxue, what should I do? I'm getting a little greedy."
The pad of Shi Ning's finger gently rubbed over her lips, and then, when the woman wasn't paying attention, she leaned in and licked all over her slightly dry lips.
And so, the surface of her lips became shiny and moist.
Shi Ning restrained her impulse to deepen the kiss and nuzzled Su Tianxue's nose. "Let's get up."
Mmm.
She even liked Su Tianxue's nose.
Su Tianxue watched her turn over and get up, feeling that Shi Ning had changed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on how.
If it were before... if the old Shi Ning had shown that kind of look in her eyes, she definitely would have pinned her down and kissed her fiercely.
She would never have been content with just a shallow kiss like that, doing nothing more.
Su Tianxue lowered her gaze.
Mmm, she should be happy about this.
So why did she feel a little strange inside?
After Shi Ning finished her makeup but before she left the room, she heard a knock on the door. She asked who it was and got a reply from the director's team.
She raised her hand to look at her watch; there was still some time before filming was scheduled to start.
Why was the director's team looking for her?
To go over the script early, or was there a hidden mission?
Shi Ning opened the door to find the director standing outside awkwardly, seemingly with something to say. Seeing her expression, Shi Ning understood. She stepped out, closed the door behind her, and followed the director to the side.
Shi Ning: "Did something happen?"
The director raised a hand to wipe away the sweat that had beaded from excessive nervousness and handed her phone to Shi Ning. "Boss, take a look."
With no one else around, the director felt it was more appropriate to address Shi Ning this way. Calling her anything else, she worried that after the show was over, Shi Ning would settle accounts with her. That wouldn't be worth it.
Shi Ning took the phone and glanced at it. It was densely packed with words, all of them curses. It was clear the person cursing had put a lot of effort into it, striving to make every line different, but Shi Ning felt nothing as she read these negative comments about herself.
She was very familiar with this kind of scene.
In her past life, when she participated in a law-related variety show, people had also dug into her background, writing clearly about everything from her family's wealth to her romantic relationships and even how many classes she had skipped in school. And then people started cursing her. Anyway, she was the person on the screen; if they wanted to curse her, they could find any reason.
The people in this world were even less efficient than those in her last life.
They'd been digging for ages and still hadn't figured out her identity.
As for those ex-girlfriends...
Shi Ning didn't have the memories of this world's "Shi Ning," so for the moment, she really couldn't say whether these people's revelations were true or false.
"Got it," Shi Ning grunted.
The director glanced at Shi Ning cautiously. "Boss, should we handle this?"
Shi Ning: "How would you handle it? Are you going to help me prove I wasn't two-timing, or help me prove this is all fake?"
Director: "........"
Shi Ning: "Let's wait and see. Someone is fanning the flames. It won't be this simple."
She glanced at the phone again. "But do remember to have someone keep an eye on news about Su Wanxing and Su Tianxue for me. If anyone tries to sling mud at them, contact Secretary Ye. She'll know what to do."
The director had never dealt with Ye Wanlan directly, but she had heard many legends about her. She immediately shrank back. "Boss, why don't I give you the phone? You can monitor the situation during filming and contact Secretary Ye yourself then?"
Shi Ning's lips curved. "Hm?"
Under her gaze, the director hurriedly raised her hand. "No! I'll contact Secretary Ye myself! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"
Shi Ning: "Just have your subordinates help keep an eye on it."
The director nodded repeatedly, thinking, This boss is really something else.
People were cursing her and her entire ancestry, and she still had no reaction.
All she cared about was worrying about Su Wanxing and Su Tianxue...
Shi Ning had already turned to leave when a thought struck her. She came back and asked the director, "Why don't you give me the scoop? What exactly is the schedule for today?"
Yesterday, when everyone found out they were going to the first date location today, they all made a lot of guesses.
Amusement parks, restaurants, camping.
They all sounded like places young couples nowadays like to go.
Shi Ning was also a little curious.
As soon as she was asked a question related to the show, the director's attitude changed. She shut her mouth, shook her head, and pushed Shi Ning towards the room. "You should fix your makeup, fix it up a bit."
This obvious attempt to shoo her away amused Shi Ning.
She returned to the room with a smile and saw Su Tianxue standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her clothes.
Su Tianxue's style of clothing was always formal. Today it was another shirt; she didn't like wearing skirts. Her makeup was always light.
Unlike Shi Ning, whose eyeliner was winged so sharply it could fly, and whose red lips were painted brightly.
Shi Ning walked to the mirror, leaned forward, and observed herself.
My makeup is pretty good, isn't it? Is there anything that needs fixing?
Su Tianxue fastened the last button, looked at the woman in the mirror, and asked her, "Did the director come looking for you?"
"Mmm. She told me some random stuff about the show's schedule."
Shi Ning didn't plan on telling Su Tianxue about the messy business online.
She looked at herself in the mirror a few more times, dissatisfied. She turned around, tilting her face from side to side for Su Tianxue. "Do you think anything looks off?"
Su Tianxue shook her head.
Shi Ning frowned. "Take another look?"
Su Tianxue said softly, "It looks very nice like this."
Although she didn't want to admit it, from an aesthetic perspective, Shi Ning was a first-class beauty. It was just that she was too fierce, too scorching. Logically, she was the kind of person who should never have appeared in Su Tianxue's life or had any contact with her.
Shi Ning found it strange. "The director just said my makeup doesn't look good."
Although her makeup skills weren't at Mao Geping's level, they were still good enough to be seen in public.
Shi Ning had always been very confident in her makeup skills.
What was wrong today?
As she worried, Su Tianxue looked at her seriously again.
After a moment, Su Tianxue said softly, "Is the lipstick color a bit too dark?"
It was a plum color, which didn't match the other red Shi Ning was wearing today.
Shi Ning said, "Oh. Then can you get me a cotton swab?"
The cotton swabs were behind Su Tianxue, in a small plastic container, looking like a pair of cotton bean sprouts that had just grown.
Hearing this, Su Tianxue turned and picked up a cotton swab.
Shi Ning looked at her cold expression and started making trouble again, pouting. "You wipe it for me."
Su Tianxue glanced at her. "Are you sure?"
Shi Ning thought, What's there to be unsure about?
If Su Tianxue didn't wipe it well, couldn't she just remove it and reapply it?
It wasn't a big deal.
The only problem might be that it was a bit of a waste of lipstick.
So she nodded as if it were a matter of course.
Seeing this, Su Tianxue raised the hand holding the cotton swab. Shi Ning lowered her head slightly in her direction, looking into Su Tianxue's eyes.
Su Tianxue's eyes were beautiful. They were the kind of beautiful that, if Su Tianxue kept looking at her with that gaze while they were making love, she wouldn't be able to take it and would want to reach out and cover her eyes.
Being looked at by eyes like that for too long would mess with one's heart.
And when the heart was in chaos, things tended to happen.
Just like now.
Shi Ning thought it would be the cotton swab in Su Tianxue's hand that would land on her lips. Who knew it would be Su Tianxue's lips that leaned in.
She wrapped her arm around Shi Ning's neck. The cotton swab, pinched between her fingertips, was held there as they kissed, lightly brushing against the back of Shi Ning's neck. It tickled, like a tiny feather grazing her skin.
In this posture, Su Tianxue raised her hand, tilted her head up slightly, and kissed Shi Ning.
When she was first kissed, Shi Ning was stunned.
Then her hands reacted before her brain did, grabbing the woman's waist and pulling her into her embrace. It was a little strange to kiss without their bodies being close; it wasn't right for there to be a wide gap between them.
When kissing, Shi Ning liked to embrace Su Tianxue fiercely, with a force that felt like she was trying to knead the other person into her own body.
It's hard for a person to catch a snowflake.
If you use too much force, the snowflake will break, melt, and turn into gentle yet fickle water, flowing away through the gaps between your fingers.
Shi Ning was afraid that Su Tianxue was just such a snowflake.
So when they kissed, their lips pressed together more tightly, and when her tongue surged forward, it teased more fiercely inside Su Tianxue's mouth.
Their breathing gradually grew heavier, breath by breath. Su Tianxue was almost out of breath, so she reached out and tapped Shi Ning's shoulder.
Shi Ning sensed the signal and let her go—but she only released her lips. Her hands were still wrapped around her waist, their bodies pressed close together.
The curves of a woman and a woman fit together perfectly.
When they clung to each other so tightly, there was an illusion of perfectly merging with another person.
Looking down at Su Tianxue like this, the woman who had only been wearing light makeup and looked incomparably cold just moments ago now had lips stained red after their passionate kiss. Her cheeks were flushed pink, the corners of her eyes looked as if they'd been rouged, and her starry eyes were shimmering with moisture.
Shi Ning smiled from the bottom of her heart. "Beautiful."
Su Tianxue saw that her lips were a little lighter than before and said, "You can let go of me now."
As if Shi Ning would.
She was curious. "Why did you kiss me?"
Had Su Tianxue had a change of heart? Or had she finally figured things out?
In response to her question, Su Tianxue looked up. "Didn't you ask me to kiss you?"
Shi Ning thought, Did I say that?
No, wait, was her treatment now so good that as long as she said something like that, Su Tianxue would be willing?
Shi Ning's thoughts twisted and turned, and she finally concluded that Su Tianxue had probably misunderstood her.
She had asked Su Tianxue to help her wipe off her lipstick—with a cotton swab, not with her own red lips.
But... this small misunderstanding had brought her a sweet kiss in return.
Mmm, this feeling wasn't bad. It was quite nice.
It would be great if there could be more misunderstandings like this in the future.
Shi Ning leaned in again and nuzzled Su Tianxue's nose.
Su Tianxue's expression was cold, her brows furrowed, as if she were a little resistant.
Shi Ning didn't care.
She was clingy for a while longer before letting Su Tianxue go and looking at herself in the mirror.
Now, at this very moment, this shade of red matched her clothes perfectly.
The two of them got ready and walked out the door. Downstairs, Zhu Yu and Su Wanxing were already awake.
Downstairs, filming and the livestream had already been going for a while.
Zhu Yu and Su Wanxing were busy in the kitchen.
Compared to Su Tianxue, an absolute kitchen idiot, and Shi Ning, a half-baked kitchen novice, Zhu Yu's cooking could be considered an art.
She never used it for publicity or as a selling point, and she had almost never shown her skills on a show. The only time she cooked for others was when Shi Ning had asked her to take care of Su Wanxing.
Today, because she woke up early, she thought she might as well prepare breakfast for everyone.
A very simple breakfast.
Su Wanxing was at her side, helping out.
Occasionally, a strand of Zhu Yu's hair would fall loose. She would call her name and tilt her head towards her. Then Su Wanxing would step forward, reach out, and gently tuck the stray hair back in place.
Su Wanxing: "Should I go find a hair clip?"
Zhu Yu smiled. "No need, this is fine."
【Shipping it, shipping it!!】
【Can the person above not be so unlucky first thing in the morning? You really aren't picky, are you? You can ship something like this?】
【Actually, to be honest, ever since someone said this morning that Night Star is Su Wanxing, I've felt like I'm shipping it. Night Star's early songs were all covers of Zhu Yu's songs. Maybe the little sister is a true fan?】
【Rejecting this bundle sale. Please, a certain lady needs to learn to walk on her own. Zhu Yu is just here to work, not to date.】
【Aah, my baby is so amazing! Xiao Yu can actually cook!! I'm so jealous, wuwuwu!!】
【Holy crap, I've been a fan of Zhu Yu for so long and I never knew she could cook!!! Kid, how much more is there that we don't know about you?】
【I'm so jealous of these people. They get to eat breakfast made by Xiao Yu just by being on the show.】
When Shi Ning arrived and heard their conversation, she clicked her tongue.
Is this Zhu Yu interested in Su Wanxing?
But there was no romantic plotline between them in the book at all.
What is this, the butterfly effect of my arrival?
"Jiejie, good morning!" Su Wanxing heard the voices and turned to look. Seeing it was Shi Ning and Su Tianxue, she immediately and happily clung to Su Tianxue.
Only when standing next to Su Tianxue did Su Wanxing feel safe.
"Jiejie, why are you wearing perfume today?" Su Wanxing sniffed lightly, then looked up to examine Su Tianxue closely. "Wow, your lipstick is so pretty."
Su Tianxue cleared her throat.
Su Wanxing: "Jie, did you not sleep well last night? Did you catch a cold?"
The moment Su Wanxing remembered that her sister and Shi Ning were just pretending to be a couple for the show, she suddenly thought that maybe, when no one was around, that villain Shi Ning would make her sister sleep on the floor!
So she looked at Shi Ning and asked with a bit of an imposing air, "Did you bully my sister last night?"
Shi Ning proclaimed her innocence. "How would I dare?"
"Your sister didn't catch a cold, don't worry." How could she catch a cold when I was holding her all night?
As she got closer to Shi Ning, Su Wanxing noticed something else was off.
Shi Ning had the same perfume scent as her sister.
Shi Ning had the same color on her lips as her sister.
Su Wanxing's eyes sharpened. The look made Su Tianxue feel a little guilty.
She didn't want her sister to know about her strange relationship with Shi Ning yet, and she especially didn't want her sister to know how she had ended up with Shi Ning's perfume on her, or how she had come to be wearing the same lipstick.
But Su Wanxing, with the confidence of a detective who had made a discovery, said, "Are you guys deliberately wearing matching couple's perfume and lipstick today?"
Zhu Yu placed a fried egg on a piece of toast, added ham and lettuce, pressed it flat, took a knife, cut it into a triangle, and chimed in, "The lipstick is nice. What's the shade? Let me borrow it."
Shi Ning grinned smugly, like a cat that had stolen a fish. "I'm not telling you. This is an exclusive shade."
Zhu Yu rolled her eyes slightly.
【I love the atmosphere between everyone, ahhh! I could watch a hundred episodes of this daily life!】
【Is it just me who finds this conversation and the expressions on Shi Ning and Su Tianxue's faces a little strange?】
【Is it possible that there's more than one way to apply lipstick?】
【Shi Ning*scum*cheater*two-timer*get out of the romance show*break up with Su Tianxue!】
Amidst the harmony, such a cursing comment suddenly popped up.
Where there was one, there were two. It was as if someone had planned it, and they were all posting the same thing in the bullet comments in unison.
The director had long since arranged for staff to save evidence, check the account numbers, and block them, but the other viewers watching the livestream all noticed these abusive comments.
Some people's attitude was that it was annoying.
【I just want to watch a show in peace. If you want to fight and curse people, can't you go to Weibo! Can't you find another place!】
But others felt that if such a thing were true, the production team should hurry up and give an explanation.
【Although First Time Seeing Snow seemed quite shippable yesterday, I don't want to ship a CP with a scumbag. It feels like being suddenly fed a mouthful of shit. Can the production team please come out and clarify?】
Seeing this, the director thought, This is bad. If things continued to develop like this, they would probably start fighting again in no time.
She quickly told the livestream team to switch the camera, focusing it on Xin Ya and Zhou Lu.
Who knew that they would capture the exact moment Xin Ya was carrying a blanket, sneaking out, seemingly trying to return it to another room.
........
Feeling the camera's gaze, Xin Ya's movements froze.
She fell silent.
It was awkward to step forward, and awkward to step back. It was all very strange.
Xin Ya was at a loss and called out, "Lu Lu."
Zhou Lu, having changed her clothes, came out yawning and saw Xin Ya giving her a pitiful look. Zhou Lu glanced behind Xin Ya and understood the reason.
She gave Xin Ya a little push. "Hurry up and put the blanket back. You can come get it again tonight."
Xin Ya winked and nudged Zhou Lu, signaling her to drop the subject.
Zhou Lu: "It's fine. It's normal to kick off the blankets when you sleep. That's why I had you get an extra one, so I wouldn't be left without a cover when you kick yours off."
Xin Ya didn't have a habit of kicking off her blankets at all; she was a very still sleeper.
So was Zhou Lu.
Last night, the two of them had slept each under their own blanket, wrapped up, lying flat on their backs and staring at the ceiling. If it weren't for the cozy surroundings, it would have looked okay. But if you put them in an ancient tomb, they would have looked no different from two old corpses.
After hearing Zhou Lu's words, the thing Xin Ya had worried about all night before bed was resolved just like that.
It was only when she went downstairs to find the others that Xin Ya realized something was wrong.
If Zhou Lu had this excuse ready, this solution, why didn't she tell her earlier? Why let her worry all night and then sneak out with the blanket in the morning like a thief?
Xin Ya raised her arm and threw it around Zhou Lu, who had to grab the staircase railing to steady herself.
Zhou Lu turned back, confused. "What's wrong?"
Xin Ya said huffily, "Did you do that on purpose?"
Zhou Lu: "On purpose what?"
"On purpose—" She couldn't say the rest of the words because it couldn't be said in front of the camera. Annoyed, Xin Ya simply lowered her head and bit Zhou Lu's ear.
Zhou Lu sucked in a sharp breath.
After going downstairs, she still couldn't figure out why Xin Ya had suddenly gone crazy.
But she soon let it go.
Xin Ya was the kind of person who was either going crazy or on the verge of going crazy. There was no point in trying to understand her thought process.
The two of them came down and had breakfast.
At the breakfast table, the director announced the day's schedule to the three pairs of guests.
First day of dates: escape room, let's go!
Hearing this, Shi Ning silently put down the sandwich in her hand.
Su Tianxue noticed her action and took note of it.
As everyone packed up and headed to the escape room location, they were noisy and lively. Away from their phones and the internet, the few of them had no idea that in a short period of time, the public opinion about Shi Ning and Su Wanxing online had undergone a shocking reversal.
First, Qiao Luo, who had long since become a popular voice actress, came forward to confirm that her old alias was Chen Shuang. She explained that the reason Night Star had covered a few lewd songs back then was because their voice acting club was playing a game, and there was a penalty for losing.
As for the widely circulated clips of her and Night Star voice acting that kind of thing on YY, it was a request from a lucky fan who was chosen at the voice acting club's annual meeting.
Chen Shuang stated that as an adult at the time, she should have set a better example and reminded Night Star not to engage in such behavior. Unfortunately, the internet culture was more open back then, and no one realized it was a problem. She apologized to everyone.
Then she added that although she and Night Star were only online friends, she knew that Night Star was actually a very hardworking girl who would practice a song cover like crazy until her voice was hoarse. She believed that everyone has a past and their own hobbies, and that period, whether for Night Star who had already left the scene or for herself who had transitioned into commercial work, was a purer and happier time.
It was just a group of people having fun together.
The Weibo post from Chen Shuang, a.k.a. Qiao Luo, quickly resonated with people. Many legendary figures from the online voice acting circle who had long since disappeared came out to repost it, starting a wave of nostalgia.
Some people started asking for old resources, while others went to listen to Night Star's few remaining covers over and over again, spamming comments begging her to debut and to continue singing.
As more voices spoke up about Su Wanxing, the atmosphere became more peaceful.
The abusive voices were gradually replaced by others.
The matter of singing lewd songs actually became a tag for Su Wanxing that showed a surprising contrast.
After all, she looked exceptionally innocent.
As for the mud slung at Shi Ning... that matter was a bit comical.
Ye Wanlan had been about to make a move, but when she checked online, she found that some people were already working together behind the scenes, trying to clear Shi Ning's name of the rumors.
She was initially confused. Someone like our little Ning has fans?
The show has only been on for one day.
Later, when she looked closer, she realized with a sense of amusement and exasperation that the ones joining forces to clear Shi Ning's name weren't fans, but the women she had been involved with in the past.
As well as the members of the 【Peerless Beauty O, Paging Online】 group chat.
This group first threw out evidence to slap down the internet celebrities who had casually posted text to slander Shi Ning for multi-timing and cheating. They cornered them until they were speechless and finally had to apologize and admit they had been paid by someone to post those messages.
Then, her fleeting lovers all pieced together a timeline, proving that although Shi Ning hadn't lacked for women by her side over the past few years, she had never multi-timed. Whether starting or ending a relationship, she handled it properly and never embarrassed anyone.
Some netizens were suspicious: "You guys are fake too, right? Where can you find exes with such a good relationship that they'd all come out together to defend someone? Did you get paid?"
.......Cough.
To be honest, some of these beautiful women knew each other mainly to curse "Shi Ning."
After all, after being by her side for a long time, it was hard not to get used to her gentleness.
But as soon as "Shi Ning" sensed the slightest hint of them developing feelings, she would call a halt without hesitation.
Were they angry? Of course they were.
There were ugly breakups and lingering resentment, but after a long time, when emotions had cooled, they realized this outcome had been predetermined from the start.
All "Shi Ning" wanted was liveliness, companionship, and having another person in the house when she came home. She didn't want love.
They all shared this common experience and formed a group to curse her out together. Later, they didn't talk much in the group. Until today, when someone started slinging mud and spreading rumors online.
By each laying out their timelines and comparing them, it was clear that other people were lying.
People around them who knew about their relationships with "Shi Ning" repeatedly came to ask if they had also been cheated on, if they were also one of the five, six, seven, or eight girlfriends.
It was annoying, so annoying to be asked.
It was better to take the initiative.
This wasn't just helping "Shi Ning," it was also helping themselves.
But there was no need to say all this to the netizens. After some discussion, they found a young lady who usually loved to write long posts and had her publish a Weibo.
"You can call her scum, you can call her unfaithful, I agree. But you can't say she sleeps around, you can't say she cheats—those are slander. She has her crimes, but you can't add trumped-up charges. With her, when you're together, you know perfectly well she doesn't love you, but she does everything well. She's thorough, gentle, and considerate, providing everything from money to emotional value. Those who got involved all had their own motives and did so willingly. We're all adults, and none of us are saints. It was all consensual, there's no need for this."
Originally, seeing this, Ye Wanlan thought the matter was over.
But then, things suddenly took a strange turn.
I'm Not a Drug-Addict: Then Shi Ning marrying Su Tianxue and going on the show, doesn't that mean... hehe, hehehe? I like this plot.
Don't Tell Me It's HE: Reality isn't a fairy tale. People who aren't compatible will ultimately not be compatible.
Brave New World: But Shi Ning said she fell for Su Tianxue at first sight!!!
Youyou the Great Demon King: So, to summarize the entire day's flame war, in the end, it was all just to patch up Shi Ning's story and prove she's got the prodigal son returns script?
Some people shipped it, while others suspected it was fake.
There were also rational people advising the excited youngsters not to think a playboy can truly change. At most, they've just gotten tired of playing and are taking a break. Don't try to challenge yourself to become a playboy's harbor. Be careful, or you won't even know how you were played to death in the end.
The director saw the reversal of public opinion online and breathed a sigh of relief.
Just then, they arrived at the old castle where the escape room was located. She hurriedly packed her things, got out of the car, and called for the teams to get ready.
As soon as Shi Ning's group got out of the car, they were surrounded by staff, and a dark camera was hung on each of them.
Su Wanxing was curious. "What's this?"
Zhu Yu explained on behalf of the staff, "It's probably a night-vision camera, specifically for filming in the dark."
Hearing this, Shi Ning fell silent.
She pressed her lips together, considering whether to suggest backing out of this date.
Su Tianxue saw this, leaned over, and asked in a low voice, "Are you afraid of the dark?"
...Her damn competitive spirit reared its head again.
Shi Ning gritted her teeth. "I'm not."
"I'm very brave."
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