Every second of comfort counted

Seeing this, Chen Sinian raised his own water glass too and called for everyone to join in.

When Su Tangtang saw everyone else getting up, she stopped what she was doing and stood as well, raising her glass to clink it lightly against theirs.

[Honestly, as long as a certain someone doesn't act up, the atmosphere is pretty nice.]

[Go, Ruzhi and Xuliang! Don't worry about whether I survive. Kill me with sweetness, please!]

[Just politely asking, once they're done eating, is it time to write letters?]

[Should be. It's the part I'm looking forward to most!]

After eating their fill and sitting for a while longer, they did indeed head off to write messages to the guests they were interested in.

The production team had arranged a separate little room for each of them.

"Heartbeat Moment?" Xue Ruyin looked at the sign on the door and said with a gentle smile, "The production team really knows how to pick names."

Liao Xuliang nodded, then opened a door and went in first.

There wasn't much in the room, just a small sofa and a table.

After taking a look, the others followed suit, each choosing a room at random and going inside.

Su Tangtang had barely entered and sat down when the young female assistant assigned to her by the production team came in with a cameraman.

The cameraman pointed his lens at her, while the assistant sat beside her and asked with a smile, "Tangtang, of the four male guests you've met so far, is there anyone you like?"

Su Tangtang's hand paused just as she picked up her pen, and she instantly gave the assistant a wary look.

Apparently unsettled by that look, the assistant held a fist to her lips and coughed softly. "Well, this is a requirement of the show. We have to ask every guest. The others have assistants asking them too, so don't worry. We're not singling you out."

"Oh," Su Tangtang replied, then asked, "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

"?"

How was she supposed to answer such a blunt question? Besides, they were on camera, broadcasting live...

[Wow! She's acting up again, huh?]

[I just want to know, can't she behave herself? If she keeps this up, people will only dislike her more.]

[Leave her be. The more she does this, the better /doge/]

"Well..." The assistant looked at her and smiled. "Naturally, our show values honesty."

As she spoke, she shot Su Tangtang a meaningful look. Fortunately, the cameraman kept his lens trained on Su Tangtang rather than her, or this would have been even trickier.

Now she could only hope Su Tangtang understood her signal.

Su Tangtang: "..."

Of course she understood. She answered earnestly, "Of course."

"Oh?" The assistant breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, Tangtang, could you give us a little hint?"

The corners of Su Tangtang's lips curled slightly. "Well, he's male."

"..."

[What, was he supposed to be female?]

[Well, isn't that possible? I think Su Tangtang has a pretty dominant-looking face?]

[But there's nothing dominant about how she acts! All she does is grin foolishly at everyone she meets!]

[Could it be that all the hate has scared her?]

[I don't care. If it's a woman, I think I have a chance /doge/. I just love watching pretty girls get all cuddly!]

Having said that, Su Tangtang paid no further attention to the assistant's abruptly darkened expression. She began writing with her pen, and when the cameraman tried to come over, she quickly raised a hand to block him. "Didn't you say no one could look yet?"

The cameraman had no choice but to give up and move the camera across from her.

After an unknown amount of time, she finally put down her pen.

She slipped the letter into an envelope, then turned to the assistant and asked, "Who do I give this to?"

"Just give it to me." The assistant reached out to take it.

Su Tangtang said, "No peeking."

The assistant: "..."

Do I look like that sort of person?

After a moment of speechlessness, the assistant accepted the envelope she held out and replied with a cheerful smile, "Don't worry. I definitely won't peek. They'd dock my pay."

Those words immediately struck a chord with Su Tangtang, and even the look on her face changed as she gazed at the assistant. [We're both just working stiffs!]

[I apologize for doubting you just now!]

[We must have committed far too many sins in our past lives to be reduced to working stiffs in this one.]

The assistant: "!"

Had someone finally voiced her innermost thoughts?

She didn't want to work this damn job at all!

In the morning, she had to clock in with the sun, and now she had to work overtime with the moon!

Two thousand five hundred a month, and a life more bitter than coffee!

Girl! I apologize for being so speechless at you earlier too! /clasped hands/

She took the envelope and left.

Su Tangtang watched her leave, then found herself at a loss for what to do. No one seemed to have told her what came next.

She glanced at the cameraman beside her. Seeing that he was still expressionlessly holding the camera toward her without saying anything, she decided not to worry about it.

[Slack off a little, check the clock. Every second of comfort counted.]

[Oh, right, that name, Qi Zhaoyi, sounded kind of familiar too. Let me see who he is!]

[Hehe, juicy gossip, here I come!]

٩(๑^o^๑)۶

Huh???

Su Tangtang's voice?

Chen Sinian, who had also handed in his envelope and been told he could leave, suddenly stopped as he passed the door to her room.

He leaned his ear toward the door and listened.

Even the cameraman following him was baffled by what he was doing.

His fans also posted question marks in the comments: [?]

[What's my husband doing?]

[Haha, Chen Sinian, I never knew you had this side to you!]

[Who's in this room? Is it the person my husband's interested in?]

[Report from the front lines: the person in this room is Su Tangtang.]

As soon as that comment drifted across the livestream, everyone fell silent.

After a long stretch without any comments, one or two finally appeared.

[My husband definitely doesn't know who's in there. Don't make such a fuss, everyone~]

[I think so too, hahahaha. But seriously, Chen Sinian leaning against the door to eavesdrop is way too cute. I've never seen him like this. Love it, love it!]

[Sinian, our Ruzhi is right next door. How about eavesdropping on her instead?]

Just like before, barely had that comment been posted when An Ruzhi opened the door of the adjoining room from inside.

The sight of Chen Sinian pressed against the next room's door startled her so badly that she nearly screamed. But Chen Sinian reacted swiftly, bringing his hand to within a few centimeters of her lips and making a "shh" gesture.

Neither of them thought there was anything particularly remarkable about the moment, but the fans in their livestreams went wild shipping them.

[Aaaaaah, go, my Zhi and Nian!]

[What's the cameraman doing? Zoom in! Let me see whether her lips touched his hand!]

[I don't care. I'm shipping these two first!!!]