How should I put it? People are just suckers for punishment, you know?

Jiang Lan sensed an intense murderous intent and was about to offer a few words of explanation: his "just what I wanted" hadn't meant that.

But on second thought, Wen Zhiyan was just an ex. A couple of glares wouldn't kill him.

Jiang Lan braced himself and said nothing. Wen Zhiyan merely looked at him a few more times before turning his gaze away.

The third person to open an envelope was Yu Nan.

After seeing the writing on it, Yu Nan rather helplessly said the same thing to Qiao Xin that Ye Qiunian had:

"Qiao Xin, I think you might be disappointed, too."

After all, besides secondary gender, there was also primary gender.

Although some people were very flexible about their sexual preferences, most people's orientations were relatively fixed.

An alpha who liked male omegas wouldn't necessarily like female omegas, and vice versa.

Qiao Xin had been the first to reveal that morning that she had voted for Xu Can the night before.

So Yu Nan instinctively ruled himself out of Qiao Xin's pool of potential partners.

But Qiao Xin showed no sign of discomfort.

She treated cute, charming omegas completely differently from annoying alphas.

Especially seeing the slight embarrassment on Yu Nan's little face, Qiao Xin was even less inclined to let him feel awkward at a time like this.

She looked at Yu Nan. "No, try that again."

Yu Nan froze. "What should I say?"

Qiao Xin smiled. "Say, 'Lucky you.'"

Of the nine guests on this season of the show, Yu Nan had the least established career.

Six years ago, just after coming of age, he had gone viral with an original song and been tricked into signing with an unscrupulous company, wasting several years.

Only last year had he finally terminated his contract, switched companies, and competed in a talent show, where he'd placed well. His career was only just starting to pick up.

Inevitably, surrounded by all these big names, he trembled and lacked confidence.

Hearing Qiao Xin say that now, he couldn't help feeling a little touched, his cheeks flushing slightly.

"Thank you, Qiao Xin."

Watching Qiao Xin charm Yu Nan into a daze with just a few words, Pei Du couldn't help silently rolling his eyes, inwardly cursing her for being so slick.

Now Wen Zhiyan was the only one left on the alpha side, while there were still two omegas on the other side: Lin Ziyou and Xu Can.

Lin Ziyou exchanged a glance with Xu Can. "You go first."

Xu Can opened the envelope and took out the card inside.

"Blank."

She sighed, put the envelope back, and smiled at Lin Ziyou.

"Enjoy your date."

Xu Can could accept this result.

Earlier, once Ye Qiunian had drawn Jiang Lan, Xu Can had already stopped expecting anything from that afternoon's date.

She hadn't slept soundly last night, sharing a room with two other people. She was quite happy to have the afternoon free to catch up on sleep.

Lin Ziyou put the envelope back on the shelf, there being no point in opening it now, and walked over to Wen Zhiyan. He gave him a reserved nod, his thoughts unreadable.

Wen Zhiyan's expression was cool, seemingly just as unruffled.

The ruffling was all in Jiang Lan's fingertips, clenched white inside his trouser pocket.

It wasn't really surprising that Jiang Lan was upset.

After all, he had long felt that Lin Ziyou was no pushover.

And in all honesty, Lin Ziyou really was good-looking.

He must have had a few tricks up his sleeve to have his team subtly link him to Jiang Lan and promote them as a couple.

Ji Wanxing had mentioned before that Lin Ziyou had someone backing him.

A backer in this industry-there was no need to think too hard about it. A sugar daddy, without a doubt.

The fact that Lin Ziyou could come on this dating show now very likely meant his previous backer was no longer reliable.

That made a young, handsome, wealthy alpha like Wen Zhiyan an obvious prime candidate to become his new backer.

Jiang Lan felt that, aside from an exceptional alpha with extraordinary self-control like himself, few other alphas would be able to escape Lin Ziyou's clutches.

Everyone loved to condemn fake innocents and calculating flirts, but in reality, that was only because they weren't the ones being flirted with.

If a beautiful, understanding little innocent actually served you a fragrant cup of that tea, you would probably have picked it up and drained it already.

Originally, whatever kind of person Lin Ziyou was had absolutely nothing to do with Jiang Lan.

If Lin Ziyou hadn't previously piggybacked on Jiang Lan's popularity, prompting Ji Wanxing to bring him up every day, Jiang Lan might have long since forgotten who he was.

But now Lin Ziyou was going on a date with Wen Zhiyan.

That made it very much Jiang Lan's business.

He couldn't openly show anything toward Lin Ziyou, so he could only direct his pressure and displeasure at Wen Zhiyan, giving him a decidedly long face.

Although Jiang Lan had only just steeled himself to ignore Wen Zhiyan's displeasure a few minutes earlier, when Jiang Lan looked his way, Wen Zhiyan still discreetly took half a step back, putting some distance between himself and Lin Ziyou.

The production team had arranged all the date activities. Once everyone had their partners, they set off as instructed and left the villa.

The production team had provided cars for the guests, and Jiang Lan was the first to choose, picking the bright red one from five differently colored Panameras.

He first opened the passenger door for Ye Qiunian. Only after Ye Qiunian thanked him and got in did he give Wen Zhiyan a look that said, "You'd better figure it out," then climb into the driver's seat and drive off.

At first, neither of them spoke.

Only when the car followed the navigation instructions onto the coastal road did Ye Qiunian speak.

"I voted for you last night because your looks are my type. But to me, appearance is the least important factor in whether two people can be together, so don't feel pressured."

Jiang Lan rolled down the window and rested an elbow on its edge, keeping one hand on the wheel.

"You're very direct. That's good."

He said, "Ye Qiunian, honestly, your personality is pretty likable. But me-how should I put it? People are just suckers for punishment, you know? I like the scheming type, someone who won't say things outright and insists on making me guess. And when I can't guess, he gets all awkward with me and makes me uncomfortable all over."

Ye Qiunian was rather speechless at that. After taking a moment to digest it, he said, "That does sound like being a sucker for punishment."

Jiang Lan nodded, utterly unconcerned.

"What about the other person, then? If you keep failing to guess, wouldn't he get even angrier?"

Jiang Lan thought for a moment. "No. He'll tell me in the end, actually. It's just a question of what price I have to pay."

Ye Qiunian's first reaction to that was, "Money transfers? Gifts?"

Jiang Lan paused, then quickly shook his head and chuckled. "Something else."