Have you ever had a sandwich cookie?

Asta used the car's smart communication system to tell everyone there was an even better superstore nearby.

So both cars changed course. Along the way, they passed a vast bed of flowers. Shi Zhou couldn't name many of them, but the floral arrangements were beautiful and distinctive, and he turned toward the window for a few more looks.

Xie Jiali smoothly picked up the conversation, and the two started talking about flowers. Shi Zhou said with genuine admiration, "You know so much."

Of the three male leads, Su Yue and Asta both had broad knowledge, while Bai Shen's expertise was more specialized.

So should the gentle beauty be paired with the playboy or the icy major general? Ah, what a hard choice.

[Any suggestions, System?]

The system said, [You could try a threesome or a foursome. I looked through this world's StarNet, and there's something called a sandwich cookie...]

[What are those?] Shi Zhou had never had the chance to look into such things. The online spaces for minors were completely different from those for adults.

[You'll find out later.]

All right, then.

Shi Zhou simply smiled at Xie Jiali. The other man had a slender waist and long legs, his long, fair fingers resting on the steering wheel. He looked refined, with an air of freshness about him.

Xie Jiali glanced at him, then suddenly reached out and switched off the small light above the front seats.

The light dimmed a little, but Shi Zhou could still make out the slight reserve and shyness in Xie Jiali's smile. He pressed his lips together before saying:

"Not really. If you choose this direction for an art project later, you're welcome to discuss it with me."

Shi Zhou couldn't have asked for more. "Yes, absolutely!"

Bai Shen raised his head, his gaze unreadable behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

He was perceptive and good at analysis. Naturally, he could tell from Xie Jiali's words that he knew exactly who Shi Zhou was and what he had done. He certainly didn't sound as though he had forgotten him.

The "victim" had let bygones be bygones and fallen for the "instigator"?

The aristocratic young gentleman the distinguished Xie family had poured all its resources into raising wasn't the sort to do that.

Indeed, true to Bai Shen's way of doing things, he had already thoroughly checked everyone's information before joining the show.

Shi Zhou's profile could be summed up as follows: a muddled gaze, a vicious temperament, and a narrow mind. A little success had gone to his head until he forgot who he was, and he had ultimately become the final straw that crushed his family's business, falling from modest affluence into the mud.

Supposedly, he had come to his senses after the academy suspended him and planned to use his earnings from the show to pay off his debts.

It was a truly foolish, laughable idea.

Yet, now that they had met, Shi Zhou was completely different from the artificial intelligence's prediction. Even repeated checks had uncovered nothing unusual.

It was as though someone had been walking down a road perfectly fine, inexplicably fallen into a well and lain there for two years, then just as inexplicably figured things out and climbed back out.

Could something be wrong with the AI algorithm our company developed?

Deep down, Bai Shen was unwilling to believe it. The algorithm had a verified success rate of 99.9 percent, yet Shi Zhou was the one case that didn't fit.

What exactly had caused this?

Bai Shen refused to believe this was a failure of the algorithm.

"...Isn't that right, Bai Shen?" Zheng Yu raised his voice, sounding a little shrill.

Bai Shen frowned and pulled himself out of his thoughts. Looking down, he could easily see the displeasure and hint of calculation in the eyes of the man beside him.

As the car sped along, his eyes were half-hidden in shadow, his features sharply defined. His voice was low and cold. "What?"

Zheng Yu's chest heaved with anger. What was going on?

Hadn't Mom and Dad said Bai Shen was the gentlest, most gentlemanly man? Since getting into the car, he had found excuses to speak to him three or four times, only to receive either a perfunctory answer or the sight of him staring at that stupid personal terminal.

After learning he had passed the interview for Heart-Pounding Expedition, his parents had forced him to memorize all sorts of Bai Shen's preferences and a mountain of irritating technical knowledge.

He wasn't interested in any of it.

He liked having fun. He liked partying.

He had been keeping up this act since before the auditions, for months now. He could barely keep it up anymore!

Wasn't he a pampered young master at home, too? Did they think he wanted to do this? If his parents hadn't threatened to freeze his cards, he wouldn't have bothered.

After meeting Asta today, he felt Asta was far better than someone as cold as Bai Shen...

What's he so full of himself for? Zheng Yu curled his lip.

He thought he had been discreet, but the camera had captured it all perfectly.

-Uh, who is this guy? Just because you talk to a big shot like Bai Shen, he has to respond? Please, learn to read the room.

-That's not really fair, is it? They're all guests, after all. Why does he keep ignoring him? So rude.

-That last comment made me laugh in disbelief. If this nobody hadn't been lucky enough to get picked for the show, he would never have had the chance to sit this close to a big shot and talk to him, okay? You're trying to suck up to someone, and you expect them to put you on a pedestal? How entitled can you get?

-At the end of the day, it's a dating show. It's perfectly normal to like someone who doesn't like you back.

-Does he like the man, or does he like his money?

Zheng Yu quickly caught himself, too. His expression twisted briefly before he forced a smile and said:

Lowering his voice, "I heard you know a lot about flowers too, Bai Shen. Apparently, quite a few flowers can be used medicinally."

Forget it. Even if I can't keep pretending, I have to.

This queen isn't afraid of a little crisis like this.

I'll put up with it!

Zheng Yu instinctively reached up to touch his hair, only to remember it had already been cut short. His face darkened, and he leaned against the window on his side without another word.

Bai Shen gave a casual "Mm" without even looking at him.

The front and back seats might as well have been two different worlds.

Shi Zhou and Xie Jiali smoothed things over.

"So these flowers have medicinal uses, too. Jiali, how much longer until we get to the supermarket?"

The car sped along the No. 3 Low-Speed Flightway for seven or eight minutes. Xie Jiali turned the steering wheel and said, "Once we leave the flightway, it's just around the corner."

The superstore was exactly as Asta had described: fewer people, but apparently a larger floor area. The surrounding shops looked nicely decorated, too.

After they parked, they found the other three guests waiting nearby.

Xie Jiali felt privately resigned. He had wanted the two of them to browse the supermarket together, only to end up with a whole crowd tagging along.

They were all good-looking, too, and with a camera crew following them, they naturally drew plenty of attention.

Once they got out of the car, everyone's expressions returned to normal. Yu Manman couldn't wait to explore some new things. Xie Jiali said:

"Let's have one of the guys go with the girls to help carry their things."

Everyone readily agreed. They had only just met, and neither girl was particularly forward, so they wanted Shi Zhou, who had the gentlest air and got along best with them, to help.

"But the question is, which of you can cook?"

Shi Zhou asked helplessly. If he went with them, the people left behind might not know what to buy.

Lin Yuxi hesitated. "I can make instant noodles."

Asta said, "I can cook a little. How about I treat everyone to bacon and eggs tomorrow morning?"

Unexpectedly, Bai Shen spoke up. "I'll go."

Huh? Could Bai Shen actually be interested in Yu Manman?

Shi Zhou pondered this as an amused bystander.

Lin Yuxi went to get a self-driving shopping cart. "See you in a bit, then!"

Asta watched the man and two women walk away, then made a show of rolling up his sleeves. "No problem. Let's go shopping!"

Shi Zhou laughed at his antics. Come on, shopping carts haven't needed anyone to push them for ages.