"Xie Zhuzhou, come here!"
Early that morning, as he was about to head out to buy breakfast, the director stopped him at the entrance. "There's a date activity today. You..."
"Me?"
"Want to try something exciting?"
Xie Zhuzhou frowned, looking down at Director Wang, who looked full of schemes. "What are you getting at?"
"As long as you take part in today's date activity properly, I can give you a few days off."
Xie Zhuzhou smelled a trap. There was no such thing as a free lunch, or a free braised egg, either. The braised egg in front of him didn't look like a good person!
"Ahem. Well, there are nine people on the show, so someone is bound to be left out. That's why we're planning a three-person date."
Xie Zhuzhou took a step back, thinking, You sneaky-looking braised egg. You really do know how to play!
"So?"
"So we're planning to put you in a group with Wen Nan and Wen Ruohuai."
Xie Zhuzhou's gaze gradually turned cold. He visibly wanted to stab someone.
Director Wang immediately changed his mind. "Then how about a group with Zhang Yin and Wang Zhengxiao?"
Xie Zhuzhou shook his head unhappily. Those two were burly men over six feet tall, nearly six foot three. Standing beside them, he would be the shortest! Didn't he have any dignity?
"Then Zhuang Xingye and Bai Shankui?" Director Wang didn't actually want Xie Zhuzhou to third-wheel those two. He had recently noticed that Zhuang Xingye, that troublemaker, only behaved a little better around Bai Shankui.
Xie Zhuzhou shook his head again. "Don't want to."
"That leaves Xuelai and Yu Wei. Those two beauties might go shopping. Can you accept that? You won't have to show your face."
Xie Zhuzhou paused at that, then swiftly agreed.
Director Wang could only settle for that.
In the end, Xie Zhuzhou became a bag carrier.
All the guests were satisfied with the scripted arrangements.
Being grouped with Wen Ruohuai was just as Wen Nan had expected. Didn't the viewers just want to see how they would tear into each other?
These days, Wen Nan loved seeing Wen Ruohuai look like he wanted to kill him but couldn't.
It felt damn good.
After breakfast, the livestream began.
Today, Xie Zhuzhou wore another inconspicuous NPC outfit, all in black, with a baseball cap, two ruby ear studs, and a very cool black mask. His eyes were almost entirely hidden under the cap; only Bai Shankui, who was much shorter than him, could see them.
Bai Shankui looked at him with sparkling eyes, thinking, Why didn't the director put him in our group?
Wang Zhengxiao and Zhang Yin felt equally regretful, as though they had missed a chance to get to know Xie Zhuzhou. It wasn't necessarily that they liked him. It was just that the colder someone was, the more magnetic they became, making people endlessly curious.
As the only gentleman in his group with Yu Wei and Xuelai, Xie Zhuzhou had led them to assume he would at least look after them a little. Yet they still had to carry their own bags during the date!
It wasn't that Xie Zhuzhou was unwilling to carry them, but it would really hamper his escape.
At last, the moment came when fans spotted Yu Wei and Xuelai. The bodyguards concealed inside the mall immediately rushed over to escort the two women away, while he, an inconspicuous extra, was overlooked and completely swallowed up by the crowd.
Then he ran off with the crowd.
When he emerged from entrance one, his steps were light. He ran to the roadside and was about to hail a taxi when he saw the window of a luxury car slowly lower. In the back seat sat a handsome man in an immaculate suit, his hair meticulously styled and his bearing distinguished.
Yes, that man was Ji Wangchen.
Looking around again, he saw more than a dozen burly bodyguards.
Xie Zhuzhou, whose first instinct was to run: ...
There's really no need for this. This is going too far. What happened to trust between people?
What else could he do?
Being on the show made his movements even harder to hide. This older brother of his really had the patience to lie in wait.
After getting into the car, Xie Zhuzhou sat obediently. A faint fragrance, crisp as the depths of winter, lingered inside.
"Finished with work?" There was a hint of teasing in Ji Wangchen's tone.
Xie Zhuzhou gritted his teeth. "Yes."
Yesterday, it had seemed on the surface that Ji Wangchen was giving Xie Zhuzhou time to think. In reality, he had been giving Xie Zhuzhou time to mentally prepare himself.
Xie Zhuzhou couldn't have escaped even if he had wings.
"Can't I go abroad?"
"Do you want to be cut into pieces without anyone knowing? Our uncles and aunts are abroad. Their influence and businesses are all over there."
Xie Zhuzhou: ...
See? This is the price of being a freeloader.
Xie Zhuzhou felt rather as though he had nothing left to live for. His only consolation was that the original plan to visit the original owner's father over the weekend was still going fairly smoothly.
"Is Father at that house?"
"Yes. It'll be your home from now on, too."
Xie Zhuzhou lowered his eyes, unable to help remembering how his health had kept him confined to the rear courtyard for years in his previous life. But at least his heart had been free.
For now, he could only go along with them.
"I'll call the director first to let him know I'm safe."
"Go ahead."
Ji Wangchen seemed easy to talk to, but he actually wasn't. Xie Zhuzhou felt as though those eyes could see right through him.
"Hello, Director. Are Xuelai and Yu Wei all right?"
He had just seen the two women securely protected by their bodyguards, who formed a barrier as solid as a city wall against the fans. As expected of bodyguards for top stars.
"They're fine. What about you? I heard they didn't manage to look after you!"
It was actually fine if they couldn't look after him. Dressed entirely in black, he was unlikely to become a target, though it had indeed been a little dangerous when he nearly got hemmed in earlier.
He had foreseen this scene as soon as he learned that the two women naively intended to go shopping.
"I'm fine. I'm a little tired, so I won't be returning to the dating show for now. Didn't you give me three days off? I want to start using them tomorrow."
Director Wang now felt guilty toward Xie Zhuzhou and felt that he had been put through an ordeal, so the moment Xie Zhuzhou brought it up, he agreed.
After hanging up, Xie Zhuzhou met Ji Wangchen's meaningful gaze. It was as though he could see right through him but wouldn't say so, making him terrifyingly dangerous.
But Xie Zhuzhou was only afraid on the inside. His expression remained utterly calm, as though he hadn't been the one who had just been through that commotion.
"Take off your mask. Isn't it stuffy?"
Xie Zhuzhou's hands immediately obeyed of their own accord.
That little bit of cowardice inside him was laid completely bare.
Ji Wangchen withdrew his gaze, finding his little brother, fierce on the outside but timid within, quite amusing. "There are clothes for you at home, and everything is ready. Just settle in without worrying. After that, go to school when you're supposed to. You don't need to concern yourself with anything else."
"The dating show..."
"You don't need to stay overnight there. Your director will agree."
Xie Zhuzhou: ...
Fine. What else can I do?
Staying elsewhere at night was dangerous, too. The Ji Family had such vast holdings, with influence extending across the country, but their enemies were spread everywhere as well.
Now everyone knew Ji Wuqiu had such a "precious" son.
"You don't need to be nervous. Those two at home may be... not quite normal, but they probably won't hurt you."
Xie Zhuzhou: ...
So you're saying they might?