At six thirty in the morning, Jiang Yumiao's alarm went off right on time.
They were actually supposed to gather at nine, but to avoid oversleeping again, Jiang Yumiao had deliberately set his alarm much earlier, with another one going off every five minutes.
After the alarm rang five times, he finally crawled out of bed, bleary-eyed, picked out one of the identical white shirts the original owner had brought as though he'd bought them wholesale, put it on, then drifted into the bathroom to wash up.
Aaah, how was he supposed to make this hair look good!!!
Jiang Yumiao touched his long hair in frustration. All he knew how to do was tie a low ponytail; otherwise, he had to leave it loose. But loose hair got in the way, and with all the wind on the island, it could easily blow right into his face.
Just then, someone knocked on Jiang Yumiao's door again.
He went to answer it with his hair still a mess.
It was a woman who looked very capable and efficient.
Jiang Yumiao remembered her. He'd seen her talking with Director Yang yesterday afternoon. She seemed to be the show's producer.
The producer, Li Ming, smiled at Jiang Yumiao. "Good morning, Jiang. I came to ask whether you'd like the production team to help with your hair and makeup."
Jiang Yumiao paused, then realized that the production team couldn't stand his styling either and had decided to step in.
On a dating show, of course, the better the guests looked, the more viewers they could attract.
Li Ming had already thought it over yesterday. Jiang Yumiao's face was the show's big draw, and they absolutely couldn't let his styling hold him back. If the omega didn't know how to dress himself up, she could arrange for the production team's stylists to do it.
The production team's kindness came just in time. Jiang Yumiao had been worrying about what to do with his hair.
Li Ming took Jiang Yumiao to another of the production team's RVs, which was reserved for the guests to rest or get styled.
When stylist Amelia learned she could style Jiang Yumiao, she was beside herself with excitement.
She'd been completely stunned when she saw Jiang Yumiao take off his glasses yesterday, and had hoped she might get a chance to give him a makeover. That white shirt really didn't fit him well. She'd even decided what style she would go for if she got to transform his look.
She hadn't expected Li Ming to give her the opportunity so soon.
Jiang Yumiao greeted Amelia and sat down at a vanity ringed with white lights.
Looking at Jiang Yumiao's long hair, as silky as fine brocade, Amelia said, "Teacher Xiao Jiang, it would be such a waste not to give you a modern Chinese-style look with this hair! If you're willing, leave it to me. I think it'll look gorgeous!"
Jiang Yumiao didn't really mind what style she chose for him. Anything would be better than what he had now, so he nodded. "Okay. Sorry for the trouble, Amelia."
Amelia first gathered a thin layer of hair from the surface, tying it back from just above his ears. Then she loosened the sides and crown to give them volume, leaving a few wisps beside his ears while the rest of his long hair fell down his back.
A simple Chinese-style hairstyle was complete.
Jiang Yumiao stared in amazement. The stylist's hands were so deft. In no time, she'd tamed his unruly hair, and the result even gave him an air of cool elegance.
The omega's skin was fine and smooth, his face like beautiful jade. There was really no need for makeup, so she only added a little lip balm.
Amelia admired her handiwork with satisfaction, then took Jiang Yumiao to change clothes.
On closer inspection, Jiang Yumiao's features were actually of the cool, aloof sort. When expressionless, he resembled snow atop a distant mountain, something to admire only from afar. Yet his manner was gentle, and his eyes often curved with his smile, softening that chilly beauty as though he'd suddenly returned to the mortal world.
Amelia still chose a subtle color for Jiang Yumiao: a moon-white silk shirt with a Chinese-style diagonal closure, paired with black trousers that draped beautifully.
Jiang Yumiao's new look was complete.
After finishing preparations for the upcoming filming, Li Ming returned to the RV to check on their progress. The moment she stepped inside, she saw the freshly styled Jiang Yumiao.
Even Li Ming, who'd spent years in the entertainment industry, froze for two seconds before giving Amelia a thumbs-up.
Jiang Yumiao hurried to thank her. "Thank you for putting so much care into styling me, Amelia! I've never tried this style before. It looks amazing!"
Amelia waved a hand happily. "As long as you're pleased, Teacher Xiao Jiang. Dressing up a beauty is a pleasure."
Her praise made Jiang Yumiao blush.
It was only seven thirty when they finished. Jiang Yumiao got out of the RV and returned to the house, where his assigned follow PD, Xiao Wu, reminded him to check his mailbox later.
Only then did Jiang Yumiao remember that part of the show.
They called it a little house, but it was actually an island villa. Most of the other guests were either still asleep or hadn't left their rooms, and the living room was silent.
Jiang Yumiao instinctively lightened his footsteps. Returning to his room on the second floor, he looked at the pink, heart-shaped mailbox the production team had specially made.
To be honest, he didn't think he would receive any letters.
Even if he'd spent all of yesterday hanging around the second male lead, there was no reason for the man to write to him.
Lin Xu was so sweet and thoughtful, Yu He was beautiful and entertaining on camera, and Leng Haiyue was calm and dependable. It would be perfectly normal for Ning Chunchi to write to any of them.
Yet the thought of him writing to someone else made Jiang Yumiao's chest feel oddly tight.
Jiang Yumiao opened the mailbox anyway.
There were actually three letters!
He was dumbfounded.
In the original novel, the nobody hadn't received a single letter from beginning to end, so Jiang Yumiao had already braced himself for an empty mailbox.
With trembling hands, Jiang Yumiao took out the first letter and unfolded it. In a chicken scratch scrawl, it read, "What do you eat to look like that? I'm learning from you next time I pursue someone."
The handwriting in the second letter was a little more legible. It read, "You look so different with and without glasses, Jiang, but both are pretty cute. Looking forward to getting to know you!"
Jiang Yumiao could more or less guess that the second letter came from An Zhiwan, because he was the only one who'd addressed him that way yesterday.
The sweet puppy boy had actually written to him! As a doting mom fan, he was absolutely delighted. But the boy actually thought he looked cute in glasses... That was probably just politeness. Yes, the sweet puppy boy really was considerate.
As for the first letter, judging by that blunt tone and the handwriting, it was probably Yu He. The writing was simply too ugly to associate with any of the other guests.
He'd thought Yu He would write to Mu Yunzhi. After all, when choosing someone during yesterday's game, he'd said himself that Mu Yunzhi's looks were most his type.
Jiang Yumiao hadn't expected Yu He to want to learn courtship techniques from him. He seriously wondered whether Yu He had trouble with his eyesight too. Learning to pursue someone from him-did he want to stay single forever?
Jiang Yumiao carefully put both letters back into their envelopes, then opened the third.
The first thing he saw was bold, vigorous handwriting with the elegant spirit of the Wei and Jin dynasties.
It contained only three words.
"Don't look around."
Jiang Yumiao: "..."
Only the second male lead would write something like that to him.
What did "don't look around" mean? Did the second male lead not want him looking at him?
Jiang Yumiao scratched his head. He didn't think he'd stared at Ning Chunchi all that much. He'd already been very restrained.
Got it. Choking on his water while staring at the second male lead must have left too strong an impression on Ning Chunchi.
Teacher Xiao Jiang never once considered that President Ning might be warning him not to go around flirting with everyone.
He simply felt that, whatever it meant, receiving a letter from the second male lead was enough to leave him utterly content.
The system suddenly popped up. "Congratulations on successfully completing your fourth task, host! You've earned the reward 'silky, tender baby skin'! Effective immediately. Please check your reward~"
By now, Jiang Yumiao had completely adapted to the system's reward mechanism, and was even a little excited.
He happily put the letters away, then rolled up his sleeves to examine what had changed about his skin.
At a glance, it didn't seem very different from before.
Jiang Yumiao reached over and touched it.
So... so smooth!
His eyes widened in shock. It really was "silky, tender" baby skin. The system's reward name hadn't lied to him.
Unable to resist, he gently pinched it twice more, only to see red finger marks appear on the cool, jade-white skin of his forearm.
*???*
He hadn't used any force at all!!!
Apparently, having skin that was too tender wasn't such a good thing either. It marked far too easily!!!
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