Old maid (part one)

Xie Jiali snorted and glanced back over his shoulder. Two men were following him, one behind the other, with some distance between them.

Tonight was important, so Director Zhang naturally had to oversee things in person. He chuckled quietly to the person beside him.

"Even choosing a seat for dinner has turned into such a fierce competition."

But the fiercer it got, the happier the production team was.

Editor Liu really had been right. This season's guests were actually fiercer than last season's. He was willing to bet none of them had taken off their masks yet.

He refused to believe they could keep wearing them forever.

At that thought, Director Zhang grinned excitedly.

Shi Zhou led the way, carrying a plate in his left hand. He pushed the door open with his right, paused midstep, and let out a "Whoa."

The rain outside had grown heavier. Sheets of water streamed down the glass conservatory, dragging distorted reflections of flowering branches and leaves with them, like a woman's thick hair...

Tree shadows, some close and some distant, swayed in the wind and pouring rain.

The room wasn't particularly bright-in fact, it was rather dim-and an eerie red glow was coming from somewhere...

"What's wrong?" Xie Jiali asked with a frown.

The question snapped Shi Zhou out of it. Only then did he notice the camera operators standing in various corners. The red light was coming from their cameras.

Scared me for a second, haha.

Recovering, he gave an awkward laugh. "The conservatory's beautiful. It took me by surprise."

Asta held two wine bottles in his right hand, his left tucked into his pocket. A short distance behind them, he gave a muffled chuckle. Surprised, was he?

His voice had clearly been shaking.

Poor thing.

Asta had never met a guy who was this afraid of ghosts.

The guys Asta knew were all bold. They had gone on plenty of trips to test their courage, and all kinds of extreme sports were second nature to them. Anyone who got scared would leave on his own without needing anyone else to mock him.

After all, they wouldn't have anything in common.

But Shi Zhou was different. He could ride a motorcycle, yet the view outside a conservatory could scare him this badly...

A warmth flared in Asta's chest, a feeling he couldn't quite describe. Listening to Shi Zhou's explanation as he pretended nothing was wrong, Asta lazily shifted his stance, a smile lingering on his lips.

Someone behind them asked in confusion, "Why aren't you going in?"

Shi Zhou swallowed, his voice still trembling.

"I am. Just admiring the scenery."

The livestream chat and crew were already laughing themselves silly, yet he still thought he could hide it from the ultra-high-definition cameras.

Xie Jiali picked up on something, narrowed his eyes, and couldn't help chuckling either.

God, why did I have to go first?

*I've sacrificed too much for this production team. ε=(´ο｀*))) Sigh.*

The corners of Shi Zhou's eyes drooped. His porcelain-pale face looked especially fragile and pitiful as he inched inside. Whatever happened, he absolutely wasn't sitting with his back to the windows...

He surveyed the room. There were two long sofas, with a small backed stool at each short end of the table. The two stools faced each other and were both angled toward the cameras-important seats.

Maybe I should sit on the sofa by the door?

Seeing him waver while the other guests came in behind them, Xie Jiali pressed him down into the middle of the sofa nearest the door.

"Sit down already. You're making me dizzy." Xie Jiali's gaze softened as he chuckled.

From his first look at the seating arrangement, Xie Jiali had known this was the only place Shi Zhou would sit.

But to make the most of it, he should have taken the middle himself. That would have separated Shi Zhou from another guest while guaranteeing they sat together.

Still, seeing how scared Shi Zhou was, he would probably feel safer with someone on either side.

Shi Zhou plopped down.

He let out a small sigh of relief and shifted his legs apart, then together, feeling rather embarrassed.

Sitting in the middle would separate guests who might be interested in each other, but he was already seated now.

Asta ambled in behind them. Seeing Shi Zhou sit down, he made as if to casually take the seat on his left.

But Shi Zhou patted the spot beside him and looked up at Xie Jiali with a smile. "Jiali, Jiali, come sit here."

Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Xie Jiali turned and cast Asta a fleeting glance through the lenses before answering Shi Zhou gently.

"All right."

Asta frowned at Xie Jiali, then saw how Shi Zhou relaxed the moment someone sat beside him, looking as though he didn't have a care in the world.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth, a sour feeling rising inside him.

I treat you like a close friend, but you'll get along with just anyone?

Do you think just anyone gets to be my friend? I don't even care about the others.

He was upset and sulking, but Shi Zhou was chatting and laughing with Xie Jiali without so much as glancing at him, which left him feeling wronged too.

Forget it. Maybe Xie Jiali matters more to Shi Zhou than I do.

That thought only made him angrier, so he simply went to sit on the opposite sofa.

"There's all this space, and you two have to squeeze together?" He still wore a cheerful smile.

Normally, he would have lost his temper by now. But for some reason, today he didn't want anyone to notice.

Asta sprawled on the opposite sofa, boldly crossing one leg over the other and leaning back with a smile. Somehow, even that posture carried an innate touch of elegance when he did it.

Su Yue was the fourth to enter. Seeing an empty seat, he seemed to sit down at random.

The scent of cedar settled beside Shi Zhou. He glanced at Su Yue, whose face looked cool and handsome under the lights.

Shi Zhou shifted to make room for him. Feeling perfectly safe now, he answered with complete confidence.

"We're not squeezed."

Sitting somewhere with so much masculine energy, he had absolutely no reason to fear ghosts. He looked at Asta with a cocky expression.

"I'm drinking you under the table tonight."

Asta had still been upset a moment ago, but that single remark cheered him right up. A ticklish feeling stirred inside him, and his narrow eyes seemed to flow with honey as he laughed aloud.

"Sure! No one gets to run off early tonight!"

By then, everyone else had come in too. Zheng Yu thought for a moment and sat to Asta's right. Yu Manman hesitated before taking one of the little stools.

Lin Yuxi thought about Bai Shen, who hadn't arrived yet, and glanced at Yu Manman. With Su Yue sitting on the opposite sofa as well, she gathered the skirt she had specially worn for the occasion and sat to Asta's left.

Bai Shen was busy again today. By the time he finished his work, everyone was already seated.

There was no helping it. On a Dating Reality Show, you had to compete. Arrive late, and there would be nothing left.

Bai Shen's eyes were dark as ink as he gave a quiet chuckle.

But it didn't matter. He hadn't joined this show to fall in love.

Someone called to him, "Brother Shen, come on over! We're just waiting for you!"

Bai Shen went over and sat down too.

The little stool automatically rose slightly so he could sit comfortably.

That reminded Bai Shen of the apron material Shi Zhou had mentioned that evening. Was it the same as this stool?

"Everyone's here! Hurry up and open the cards!" Zheng Yu's call interrupted Bai Shen's thoughts.

But Asta knew how to keep people in suspense.

"Easy, easy." He pressed both hands downward, sweeping his smiling, narrow brown eyes around the group. "Let's not go too big right away. How about Joker Card?"

It was a great idea. A lot of them probably hadn't played much and were still rather reserved. Starting with a simple game would help everyone relax.

The rules of Joker Card weren't difficult.

Both Joker Cards were left in the deck, and everyone received a share of the cards. Going clockwise or counterclockwise, each player drew a card from the person beside them and discarded any matching pairs.

Whoever ended up holding either Joker Card had drawn the losing card and would receive a punishment.

The punishment would then be drawn from the deck provided by the production team.

"Sure, sure, let's get started!"

"Hahahaha, this one's easy. It's all luck, right?"

Everyone took their cards. They played fairly honestly for the first two rounds, but afterward, little tricks began creeping in, with psychological tactics coming one after another.

By the third round, everyone was out except Bai Shen, Su Yue, Shi Zhou, and Xie Jiali.

"You four are even sitting in a row!" Yu Manman took a bite of grilled meat and burst out laughing.

The interstellar grill kept everything at a constant temperature, so the food stayed hot whenever they wanted to eat it. It was especially comforting in this weather.

Everyone laughed along. "You got out of the first two punishments by drinking. That's not happening this time."

"Exactly. Whichever two get the Joker Cards have to accept their punishment."

That made Shi Zhou a little nervous.

The player before him was Su Yue, whose expression gave nothing away. Shi Zhou's long, pale fingers wandered back and forth over his cards without drawing one.

All that touching was getting Su Yue worked up.

Su Yue said, "I only have two left. Haven't you touched them enough?"

Outwardly, his tone was calm.

The others ate meat and enjoyed the show. Asta was drinking, which hardly counted as a punishment for him.

He glanced at Su Yue and said meaningfully, "That line sounds pretty dirty, Yue."

They all called one another brother anyway; the idea was that nobody lost out.

No one else had been thinking along those lines, but now everyone was laughing uncontrollably.

The livestream chat went wild too:

-Choo choo, here comes the dirty train!

-What a fucking talent. He can turn anything into something dirty.

-Holy shit, that one line has corrupted Su Yue. I don't think the thought ever even crossed his mind.

Urged on, Shi Zhou finally touched one card and prepared to draw it. Su Yue's previously straight lips curved up slightly. Shi Zhou's eyes lit up, and he immediately drew the other card!

"Ah! When did you learn to be so sneaky?"

Shi Zhou revealed his card. In his hand was the flamboyant red big joker.

This time, Su Yue actually laughed aloud. He had never said he wasn't sneaky.

The thought warmed him inside, and he drank another glass of wine.

Across from them, Asta watched Shi Zhou's frustrated face with a smile. So innocent.

Why announce that you've drawn a Joker Card?

Shi Zhou didn't care about that. As long as everyone had fun, he didn't have to win.

Now he only had two cards left too. He shuffled them around for ages, but Xie Jiali sat beside him, gazing gently into his eyes.

"Zhouzhou, which one do you want me to draw?"

Torn, Shi Zhou couldn't help covering his face. He tilted sideways and leaned against Su Yue. "...Sitting between you two is really something."

All you do is put me in a difficult spot.

Xie Jiali was so gentle, and Shi Zhou had wronged him before. It made him too embarrassed to try any tricks.

Everyone laughed again. Xie Jiali was straightforward about it, though. Whether he truly had bad luck or there was some other reason, he looked perfectly composed as he drew the big joker.

Amid everyone's roaring laughter, he casually showed it with a smile.

"...I've got it."

"Brother Shen, it's up to you now."

Bai Shen glanced at Su Yue, whose face was already beginning to flush, then at Shi Zhou, who was watching him eagerly, and shook his head helplessly.

With them deliberately throwing the game like this, the two Joker Cards naturally ended up with Bai Shen and Xie Jiali at either end of the row.

"All right, all right. We agreed you can't just drink this time," Yu Manman said with a laugh.

"Who's drawing the punishment, then?" Zheng Yu asked, smiling.

"Let Zhouzhou do it. He has terrible luck," Asta said.

Shi Zhou had been looking down, pulling meat off a skewer with his teeth. At that critical hit, he raised his head in bewilderment. He hadn't imagined this could still have anything to do with him.

Xie Jiali said, "Then let Zhouzhou draw."

Bai Shen nodded with a smile, indicating he had no objections.

Shi Zhou scoffed and turned to the two of them. "Don't worry. I'll definitely draw you the lightest punishment."

He stood up and took a card from the middle of the table. After looking at it, he smiled and asked the production team sitting in the corner,

"Director, can I draw again?"

"Absolutely not!"

"What is it? Let me see!"

The others immediately grew excited when they heard that, jumping up and rushing toward Shi Zhou to snatch it!

Shi Zhou was ticklish, and their tickling made him release the card. Xie Jiali stretched an arm along the sofa, almost as though he were half embracing him from behind, and reassured him.

"It's fine. Whatever you draw is all right."

Ideally, it'll involve intimate contact with someone else. Then I can just choose the person who drew the card.

Shi Zhou will definitely be too embarrassed to refuse anyway.

Xie Jiali adjusted his glasses with his other hand.

Noticing his movement, Su Yue turned to look, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

Asta had been having a wild time, but an accidental glance across the table made his smile fade too. His grip loosened, and the card fell to the floor.

The production team's microphones were specially designed so their conversations wouldn't be recorded.

Watching the monitor, Director Zhang shouted himself hoarse. "Quick, quick, quick! Get their expressions! Capture every single frame!"

Among the guests, Lin Yuxi read it out with a laugh. "...Anyone who draws this card must change out of-take off their top."

"Can we take it off?" Bai Shen asked with a faint smile, his tone calm.

A crew member said, "Keep one layer on. Do you get cold?"

Neither of them was wearing much to begin with. Bai Shen took off his jacket, leaving only a black turtleneck sweater underneath.

The atmosphere instantly heated up.

"Whoa-"

"Oh my God, oh my God, he's so muscular."