Chapter Summaries

Fu Yingying, Fu Yunxi, and Xie Lin navigated their awkward family dynamic during the compatibility challenge, while Xie Lin and Lu Ye revealed that Lu Ye had rescued him when he was kidnapped. Yue Lan and Yu Zhiwei matched answers too, and Yue Lan encouraged Yu Zhiwei by promising to protect her and help her career.

• Director Sha began the compatibility challenge and paired Fu Yunxi with Fu Yingying, prompting Yue Lan to tease them about being siblings.
• Xie Lin and Lu Ye both wrote that they first met at an abandoned factory, and Lu Ye privately reassured Xie Lin that he would never be scared like that again.
• Xie Lin told the audience that Lu Ye had rescued him when he was kidnapped.
• Yue Lan and Yu Zhiwei both named the set of Eternal Summer as their first meeting place.
• Yue Lan recalled Yu Zhiwei working as an extra and promised to protect her and help her find opportunities after filming.

The pairs answered questions about their shared pasts and how they would handle arguments, revealing mismatched memories, flirtation, and Fu Yunxi’s continued interest in Xie Lin. Fu Yingying realized Fu Yunxi was describing Xie Lin as his ideal partner and fumed at being ignored.

• Jin Tiancheng asked whether meeting online counted, hinting that he had been interested in Wu Xinyou before they met in person.
• Fu Yingying and Fu Yunxi gave conflicting answers about when she joined the Fu family, and Fu Yunxi embarrassed her by recalling her refusal to eat radish.
• Xie Lin and Lu Ye joked that arguments would end with beatings, while Yue Lan kissed Yu Zhiwei after they revealed their affectionate answers.
• Jin Tiancheng said he would never talk back to Wu Xinyou, and he studied Yue Lan’s approach as a lesson for winning her over.
• Fu Yingying said she would prioritize her future husband’s family, while Fu Yunxi praised her but admitted he liked little chili peppers and glanced toward Xie Lin.

Lu Ye accused Fu Yunxi of having dirty thoughts about Xie Lin, and Xie Lin struck Fu Yunxi with a chair leg. The group then played a partner-food guessing game, where Xie Lin ate every dish and Lu Ye concluded that his babe liked everything.

• Lu Ye accused Fu Yunxi of fantasizing about Xie Lin, and Xie Lin said Lu Ye was more reliable than Fu Yunxi before hitting Fu Yunxi with a chair leg.
• Fu Yingying protested that Xie Lin had hit Fu Yunxi during the livestream, while Xie Lin said Fu Yunxi deserved it.
• Director Sha introduced a game in which each guest had to choose food they thought their partner would like.
• Xie Lin hurriedly ate the sandwich, grilled fish, and durian fruit salad, mistaking the game for lunch.
• After the partitions were removed, Lu Ye saw that Xie Lin had emptied all three plates and said he had guessed right because Xie Lin liked everything.

During the dating-show lunch, Lu Ye delightedly interpreted Xie Lin eating his leftovers as proof of their love, while Xie Lin focused on the food and brushed off the crew’s teasing. After lunch, Lu Ye told his friends he was getting married and boasted about his relationship with Xie Lin.

• Lu Ye offered Xie Lin his plate after removing the fish bones, and Xie Lin happily ate the leftovers.
• Lu Ye announced that he liked everything Xie Lin liked, while Fu Yunxi criticized him and the livestream comments argued over the couples’ behavior.
• Yue Lan and Yu Zhiwei explained their food choices, and Jin Tiancheng and Wu Xinyou showed how well they knew each other’s preferences.
• Xie Lin burped during Fu Yunxi’s lecture about healthy eating and insisted he would still eat lunch after the morning games.
• Lu Ye messaged Jiang Si, Mu Huazhang, and Yan Su that he was getting married, citing Xie Lin eating his leftovers as proof of their closeness.

Lu Ye and Xie Lin teased their friends and prepared for a horror escape room, where Fu Yunxi and Fu Yingying had to carry the equipment as punishment. Xie Lin watched Fu Yingying complain while Lu Ye kissed him to silence his laughter.

• Lu Ye told Xie Lin he had teased Jiang Si and the others, and Xie Lin named their group W4, the Crooked Ways Four-Person Group.
• Lu Ye and Xie Lin went to Xie Lin's room to rest before the next filming activity.
• Director Sha announced a team horror escape room and assigned Fu Yunxi and Fu Yingying to carry the equipment as their punishment for placing last.
• Xie Lin encouraged Fu Yunxi to carry the heavy equipment, and Fu Yunxi agreed while Fu Yingying carried lighter items.
• Fu Yingying complained that Xie Lin was not gentle or considerate like her, and Lu Ye kissed Xie Lin to stop him from laughing.

After Lu Ye and Xie Lin’s kiss went viral on the live broadcast, Jin Tiancheng confessed his feelings to Wu Xinyou and hugged him. The guests were then separated for a supposedly low-horror activity, while Lu Ye overheard Director Sha secretly ordering extreme difficulty and continued boasting about his wife to the staff member escorting him.

• The guests and production crew watched the broadcast replay of Lu Ye and Xie Lin kissing, while Yue Lan encouraged Jin Tiancheng to make a move on Wu Xinyou.
• Jin Tiancheng told Wu Xinyou his heart was with him, and Wu Xinyou praised him for being himself; Jin Tiancheng then hugged him.
• Xie Lin discovered that cameras had recorded his kiss with Lu Ye, and Fu Yunxi and Fu Yingying explained that the activity would have full camera coverage.
• Director Sha sent all eight guests to separate locations and secretly ordered the staff to give them extreme horror difficulty despite promising it would be low.
• Lu Ye overheard the order, then told his escort that staying single was best because no Omega could compare with his wife.

Xie Lin escaped a mirror-filled room in the horror game and discovered the team needed to collect clues from their separate rooms. After brushing off several ghostly encounters, he was ambushed by an A-Rank Alpha, and another person’s black sandalwood pheromones surged down the corridor.

• Xie Lin found an Audience identity card and a paper slip marked with a dark red thumbprint behind the mirror, then deduced that each of the eight players had a different identity and a clue to collect.
• Xie Lin opened the room and ignored a red-clad female ghost who had no information for him.
• A blood-covered male ghost attacked Xie Lin and used A-Rank Alpha pheromones to weaken him.
• Xie Lin resisted the pheromone suppression, kicked the male ghost into the wall, and prepared for his next lunge.
• A powerful wave of black sandalwood pheromones surged from the other end of the corridor and cut off the male ghost’s retreat.

Lu Ye found Xie Lin fighting an attacker during the livestream and helped capture him, discovering the man bore a tattoo linked to Xie Lin’s earlier kidnapping. Though shaken by the danger, Lu Ye agreed to let Xie Lin keep filming so they could uncover who was behind the attack.

• Lu Ye ignored a water-ghost scare, searched the theater, and followed an Alpha’s pheromones to Xie Lin.
• Lu Ye overwhelmed the attacker while Xie Lin blocked his escape and pinned him against a wall.
• Lu Ye found a familiar black tattoo on the attacker, and Qin Zheng suspected an underground organization was involved.
• Police escorted the attacker away, while Xie Lin insisted the show continue so he could find whoever was targeting him.
• Lu Ye treated Xie Lin’s injured palm, and Xie Lin comforted him with a kiss offer; Lu Ye gently kissed the top of his head.

Xie Lin and the others gathered in a circular hall, where their identity cards and seat slips hinted that they were part of a play. After Yue Lan found a script, Xie Lin stopped Fu Yunxi from touching it and accused him of being untrustworthy.

• Xie Lin and Lu Ye entered the hall together, followed by Fu Yunxi and Fu Yingying, and the group noticed wax figures filling the dark audience seating.
• The group placed their slips on the table and found that they all pointed to row 13, seat 8, so Fu Yingying went to investigate but returned without finding anything.
• The guests revealed identity cards identifying Xie Lin as an audience member, Lu Ye as the director, Fu Yunxi as the male lead, and the others as members of a production crew.
• Yue Lan searched the audience seating and returned with a battered notebook that appeared to be a script.
• Fu Yunxi reached for the notebook, but Xie Lin struck his hand with a chair leg and warned that he might get everyone killed.

The group read a haunted-house script and acted out its scenes, while Xie Lin secretly struck Fu Yunxi with a chair leg and framed Fu Yingying. The performance grew frightening again when a second red light appeared in the audience seating and unseen applause echoed through the hall.

• Lu Ye warned that only the screenwriter could read the script, so Yu Zhiwei read it aloud and plunged the room into darkness.
• Xie Lin hit Fu Yunxi with a chair leg and planted it in Fu Yingying's hand, leading Fu Yunxi to accuse her.
• The group drew roles from the script, and Lu Ye teased Fu Yunxi by saying, “Your dad will always be your dad.”
• The cast acted out a family dinner, where Fu Yingying blurted out a pregnancy line that was not in the script.
• Fu Yingying screamed when another red light appeared above the audience seating and unseen applause began.

Xie Lin and Fu Yingying were the last people left in the wax-figure performance, and they entered a hidden passage to continue the challenge. Fu Yingying tried to use a secret about her lost baby as leverage, but Xie Lin revealed he had recorded her confession, exposing it to the livestream audience.

• After Fu Yingying fainted, the performance continued as the other cast members were replaced by wax figures until only Xie Lin remained at the table.
• Fu Yingying woke up, and Xie Lin led her through a concealed door after the lights came back on.
• Xie Lin told Fu Yingying to stop interfering and address him as Mr. Xie, then walked into a dark corridor with her following.
• Fu Yingying removed her microphone and told Xie Lin that the baby she had lost was her brother's.
• Fu Yingying claimed the secret gave her leverage, but Xie Lin revealed a second microphone and told her the whole world had heard her confession.

Xie Lin exposed Fu Yingying’s scheme and suggested she marry Fu Yunxi, then reunited with Lu Ye as the group discovered a photograph and mysterious mirrors showing different versions of “The Banquet.”

• Xie Lin revealed Fu Yingying’s scandal online and suggested she get engaged to Fu Yunxi to solve her predicament.
• Fu Yingying considered forcing Zhao Yating to accept her into the Fu family, while Xie Lin privately enjoyed watching the family conflict unfold.
• Xie Lin found Lu Ye and recounted what had happened; Lu Ye kissed him while Fu Yingying watched.
• The group gathered around a mummy, and Wu Xinyou noticed a photograph of all eight people dated 1932.
• Four mirrors began showing the eight actors performing “The Banquet” in different eras, including a version featuring Xie Lin and the others.

Xie Lin worked out the theater game's keyword and escaped, but the staff separated him for one more task before releasing him. He reunited with Lu Ye and the others, then went with police officers for questioning while Lu Ye insisted on accompanying him.

• Fu Yunxi completed the unfinished script, while Xie Lin and the others discussed the theater's curse and searched for the keyword.
• Xie Lin declared that he disliked the performance and wanted a refund, triggering the game-clear announcement and opening an exit.
• The theater separated Xie Lin from the group for an additional task, but staff quickly entered and escorted him back to the safe room.
• Xie Lin saw police cars outside, and two officers asked him to answer questions about the incident.
• Lu Ye followed Xie Lin despite the officers' hesitation, saying he trusted no one else, then admitted he was worried about him.

After Xie Lin and Lu Ye gave statements to the police, Qin Zheng revealed that the tattoo belonged to an underground organization, and Lu Ye arranged security for Xie Lin. The show was suspended, and Lu Ye and Xie Lin suspected Fu Yingying was behind the attack before sharing an intimate moment in the car.

• Xie Lin pulled Lu Ye aside and told him to speak politely to the police, then the officers questioned them and asked them to report any new leads.
• Qin Zheng told Lu Ye and Xie Lin that the tattoo marked an underground organization for hire and that the contact number was overseas and deactivated.
• Director Sha announced that Heartbeat Time Difference had been temporarily suspended, while the other guests discussed the attack and departed.
• Xie Lin and Lu Ye left for Snow Hall, and Lu Ye told him that he had stationed bodyguards there.
• In the Maybach, Xie Lin said he suspected Fu Yingying had arranged the attack, and Lu Ye kissed and teased him.

Lu Ye planned to propose to Xie Lin and sought advice, while Xie Lin reassured his grandfathers that Lu Ye was investigating the threats against him. The chapter ended with Xie Lin discovering an invitation from the Fu family and laughing at what Fu Yingying had arranged.

• Lu Ye asked his friends for proposal advice, but none of them offered useful suggestions.
• Lu Ye returned home and told his family he planned to propose, prompting Shen Qing'an to rush back to help him.
• Xie Lin's grandfathers worried that people from the Fu family were targeting him, but Xie Lin said Lu Ye was already investigating.
• Wen Xubai acknowledged that Lu Ye was reliable and let Xie Lin reassure him about the investigation.
• Uncle Nian delivered an invitation from the Fu family, and Xie Lin laughed when he read it, praising Fu Yingying for pulling it off.

After learning that Jiang Song’s child with Song Yingying was his, Xie Lin joined Lu Ye for a Jiang family gathering that was tied to the Fu family scandal. Lu Ye said the Fu family’s downfall was already certain, leaving Xie Lin eager to see what would happen next.

• Xie Lin called Jiang Song to ask whose child Song Yingying had lost, and Jiang Song confirmed the baby had been his and said he would consult his eldest brother about revealing the truth.
• Lu Ye teased Xie Lin over messages and invited him to a gathering hosted by Jiang Xun.
• Xie Lin excitedly told Xie Yanqiu he was going to watch the spectacle and left with Lu Ye.
• Lu Ye explained that Jiang Si and Jiang Xun were paternal first cousins and said the Fu family was already finished.

Lu Ye brought Xie Lin to meet the Jiang family, where Jiang Xun discussed exposing Song Yingying at the Fu family’s engagement banquet and offered to help Dingchi oppose Fu Corporation. Xie Lin joined a dice game and repeatedly rolled two ones, leaving Jiang Si and Mu Huazhang suspicious of his uncanny luck.

• Lu Ye arrived at Kaisman KTV with Xie Lin and introduced him to Jiang Si, Jiang Xun, and Jiang Song as his wife.
• Jiang Xun said the Jiang family planned to reveal Song Yingying’s alleged deception at the Fu family’s engagement banquet and offered Lu Ye help against Fu Corporation.
• Xie Lin asked whether wealthy families relied on arranged marriages to grow stronger, and Lu Ye said the Lu family did not need such methods.
• Xie Lin joined Jiang Si and Mu Huazhang in a dice game and repeatedly rolled two ones, making Jiang Si and Mu Huazhang drink.
• Jiang Si asked whether Xie Lin could choose his rolls, and Mu Huazhang pointed out that Xie Lin kept rolling two ones or seven and never rolled an eight.

Xie Lin learned Xie Lin’s dice trick, played cards and drank with Jiang Si and the others, then left with Lu Ye and spent the night with him. He woke sore and exhausted in Lu Ye’s apartment, where Lu Ye admitted he had told Grandpa that Xie Lin was sleeping at a hotel.

• Xie Lin showed Jiang Si how to roll three sixes, then joined him and the others in a game of Fight the Landlord.
• Lu Ye ended the game when Xie Lin became tipsy and took him out of the gathering.
• Outside, Xie Lin kissed Lu Ye, and Lu Ye carried him to his nearby apartment, where they spent the night together.
• Xie Lin woke up the next afternoon sore and thirsty, and Lu Ye gave him honey pear water.
• Xie Lin learned that Lu Ye had told Grandpa he was staying at a hotel, then asked Lu Ye to help him get up so he could eat.

Xie Lin returned to Snow Hall after spending the night with Lu Ye, then went to Zhao Dan’s office to review scripts and other work offers. He told Lu Ye he had been thinking of leaving the entertainment industry, but the chapter ended with Zhao Dan presenting him with several scripts.

• Xie Lin ate with Lu Ye, told him he had been thinking of leaving the industry, and fell asleep on the drive back to Snow Hall.
• Xie Lin learned that Wen Xubai and Xie Yanqiu had gone to see Old Mr. Xiao about the kidnapping case, while the Lu family used its connections to investigate.
• Xie Lin returned to his room, saw the bruises on his body, and went to sleep after showering.
• Lu Ye drove Xie Lin to Zhao Dan’s office, and they teased each other about how sore he had been.
• Xie Lin passed an unfamiliar hostile man in the office building before Zhao Dan showed him several scripts she had selected.

Xie Lin signed an IF Jewelry endorsement despite telling Zhao Dan he was considering leaving the industry, then confronted Zhang Shimian and other newcomers for insulting him. Zhang Shimian attacked Xie Lin but missed and hit the wall instead.

• Xie Lin told Zhao Dan he was thinking about leaving the industry after his contract ended, and she agreed to reduce his script workload.
• Xie Lin signed IF Jewelry's endorsement contract and went to the shoot with his newly assigned assistant, Yu Xiaoyu.
• Lu Ye called Xie Lin, asked when he would finish the shoot, and arranged to bring him food and pick him up.
• Xie Lin and Yu Xiaoyu overheard Zhang Shimian and others accusing Xie Lin of sleeping his way into the endorsement and mocking his relationship with Lu Ye.
• Xie Lin entered the room and insulted Zhang Shimian and the others for their jealousy and gossip.
• Zhang Shimian charged at Xie Lin, but Xie Lin dodged and Zhang Shimian crashed into the wall.