"Why didn't you ask how I knew where your shop was?"
Zhou Yun asked from the car.
She was trying to get a conversation going. In Tang Zhi Chu's eyes, she had always been a social black hole.
"The bag you used to carry things last night?"
"Clever."
Zhou Yun rolled her eyes. He was sharp enough to understand, but apparently he just didn't know how to talk.
The bag they'd used to carry the ingredients yesterday had come from the shop. It was custom-made and had the shop's name on it.
Clearly, the conversation wasn't going anywhere. Tang Zhi Chu fell silent again.
Zhou Yun thought to herself that this guy was resisting her with every fiber of his being.
If Chen Si Yang had come instead, wouldn't he have asked whether she'd eaten? Wouldn't he have invited her in for a sit-down, since she was already at his shop?
Fortunately, Zhou Yun had already learned just how stubborn this rock was. She thought to herself that he'd be in for a rough time soon enough.
Tang Zhi Chu had more or less guessed what Zhou Yun was up to.
Ever since she'd first picked on Chen Si Yang, Tang Zhi Chu had suspected that Zhou Yun wasn't interested in Yang Jia Xing. At most, he was a tool for her to use.
She was after Chen Si Yang.
If Chen Si Yang had sung the first time, Tang Zhi Chu could already imagine Zhou Yun using it to stir up a fuss once the show aired.
Then there was the fact that she was nice to everyone. Compared with her, wouldn't Chen Si Yang come off as arrogant and aloof? That was another talking point.
If you're such a nice person and so good at socializing, why are you cold to Chen Si Yang in particular? Wouldn't that make it obvious you were picking on her?
But what was Zhou Yun's goal?
Was she trying to break into the entertainment industry? Or become an influencer after filming wrapped?
For a moment, Tang Zhi Chu actually felt a little sorry for Chen Si Yang. She'd done nothing, yet someone had already set their sights on her.
Was he treating Chen Si Yang well? But was he doing it wholeheartedly?
Given where things stood between Tang Zhi Chu and Chen Si Yang, the better things were for Chen Si Yang, the better they were for him, too.
It wasn't that he was deliberately targeting Zhou Yun. It was just that their goals were similar in some ways, so they couldn't avoid clashing.
Still, Tang Zhi Chu felt he was more straightforward about it. At least what he was doing benefited everyone.
"You're not taking me out of town, are you?" Tang Zhi Chu suddenly asked.
Zhou Yun was driving, and with one turn she was on the ring expressway.
A hint of a smile finally appeared on Zhou Yun's face. "Are you scared?"
Tang Zhi Chu frowned. He wondered if Zhou Yun was planning something really outrageous—like the two of them not returning to the villa that night.
"Not really. I'm just curious where we're going."
Yuzhou was a mountain city. Even within the main urban area, mountains surrounded it on all sides.
Zhou Yun drove for an hour and eventually stopped at the foot of a mountain. Tang Zhi Chu couldn't immediately tell which mountain it was.
A sudden sense of foreboding came over him. A girl like Zhou Yun wasn't asking him out because she liked him, so how could this possibly be a traditional date?
"Get out, Tang."
Tang Zhi Chu suddenly clutched his stomach. "I think my stomach hurts a little."
"Your stomach hurts?"
"Yeah."
Zhou Yun pointed toward a small cluster of buildings on the left side of the parking lot. "There's a little clinic over there. Come on, I'll help you get checked out."
Tang Zhi Chu froze for a moment, then rubbed his stomach hard. "How strange. It suddenly feels better."
Zhou Yun: "..."
Once Tang Zhi Chu got out of the car, Zhou Yun took a backpack from the trunk and handed him a bottle of water.
"Our gym sometimes organizes outdoor workouts. This is one of the places we come to often. See those stone steps up ahead? We'll climb the mountain that way." Zhou Yun had prepared thoroughly; it was obvious from her backpack.
Tang Zhi Chu glanced at his legs and said irritably, "We're climbing a mountain?"
"Yeah. We're already here. Don't tell me you're going to back out?" Zhou Yun said with a smile.
Before Tang Zhi Chu could reply, she opened her backpack and took out a set of clothes. They were white, the kind of thing you'd wear for exercise.
"Here, these are for you. They should fit—I bought the largest size. You can have this hat, too. Want knee pads? And I brought sunscreen, though the April sun isn't too bad."
Tang Zhi Chu looked around, wondering what would happen if he simply turned and left.
His concern wasn't Zhou Yun. He'd noticed the film crew holding their equipment.
The production team had obviously approved this date, and there were probably plenty of crew members around.
After a few seconds of silence, Tang Zhi Chu took the clothes from Zhou Yun.
This place didn't seem to be a public area, but there were lockers for clothes. You just had to register and get a key.
After changing, he stepped outside and happened to see Zhou Yun tying up her hair, gathering it into a ponytail.
She'd changed into a different outfit, too. Tang Zhi Chu noticed her yoga pants, though her jacket covered her upper body and hid her figure.
"You've got a nice build. You usually wear such baggy clothes, but as soon as you put on something a little more fitted, your advantages show. Your frame's good, too. You're just skinny. Why not get a membership at my gym? I'll train you."
Zhou Yun had spotted Tang Zhi Chu and smiled as she spoke.
Tang Zhi Chu let down his guard. Since he couldn't get out of it, he might as well enjoy it. It was just a mountain climb.
"I'm a shut-in. I'm the kind who can't stand gyms."
"That's only because you haven't been. I guarantee you'll like it once you go. Listen, our gym has tons of pretty girls with great figures. We have events sometimes, too, where we play games together."
"I've been. It's not as fun as playing games at home."
No matter what Zhou Yun said, Tang Zhi Chu refused to take the bait.
Zhou Yun rolled her eyes at him, then headed out.
It was afternoon, and fortunately it was April, so the sun was just warm enough to be comfortable.
There were other people around, too. Before long, they'd run into people coming down the mountain, including some carrying fishing gear.
Zhou Yun was in front of Tang Zhi Chu. The stone steps came in stretches of a few dozen, with a small landing after each one.
At first, the two of them could walk side by side. Gradually, Tang Zhi Chu fell behind, then leaned on his knees, panting hard.
Zhou Yun, on the other hand, looked completely at ease, her steps light.
From the landing up ahead, Zhou Yun looked back at Tang Zhi Chu with a grin. "Can you keep going?"
Tang Zhi Chu didn't reply, but he picked up his pace.
The path wasn't a steady climb, which made it even more torturous. It wound this way and that with the slope of the mountain, and there was no way to see where it ended.
They climbed like that for about an hour before Tang Zhi Chu gave up and dropped onto a stone bench on the landing.
Sweat had beaded on Zhou Yun's forehead, and her face was a little flushed.
Zhou Yun knew her own pace, but she was still surprised.
She'd thought he was a useless weakling, but it turned out he had some stamina after all.
Zhou Yun sat down beside Tang Zhi Chu and handed him a tissue. "Take a picture of me, would you? I haven't been here in a long time."
Tang Zhi Chu took the tissue and wiped away his sweat, then tried to steady his breathing. "No wonder. No wonder people say a woman's heart is the most venomous thing of all."
Zhou Yun froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
It was true. She hadn't enjoyed herself this much once during all her time on the show.
She hadn't received a single text message on the first night, and she'd felt a little disappointed.
That night, she hadn't fallen asleep until three or four in the morning. Then she'd realized she couldn't go on like this, or all the effort she'd put into joining a dating show would leave her on the sidelines.
What would be the point of going on a dating show, then?
So she'd planned to challenge Chen Si Yang to a showdown.
But Tang Zhi Chu kept ruining her plans.
Asking Tang Zhi Chu to climb a mountain with her had, to some extent, been an act of revenge.
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