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Gu Si: “Today, I’m just…”
Faced with Sheng Mingzhu’s sharp-tongued criticism, Gu Si was momentarily speechless.
He had nothing more to say and couldn’t be bothered to explain himself to outsiders. He turned on his heel and headed toward the shaded area where lunch was being prepared.
Sheng Mingzhu immediately regretted her outburst. Why did she let those thoughts slip out? If Gu Si held a grudge against her, how was she supposed to survive in the entertainment industry?
Huo Qi and Qiao Li had already left, uninterested in this farce, leaving Sheng Mingzhu alone. She frowned nervously and quickly followed Gu Si.
Soon, everyone arrived at the shaded area where the program team had set up lunch.
The production team wasn’t entirely ruthless; they provided lunch, leaving only dinner for the guests to prepare themselves.
Everyone took their seats and started eating.
Throughout the meal, Gu Si’s irritation grew as he watched Ning Qingyan laughing and chatting between Wen Shijin and Xu Ruanruan, even helping them with condiments.
For someone as self-centered as Gu Si, he couldn’t understand why he had teamed up with this stubborn, ungrateful little sycophant. He had agreed to guide her and shield her from being deceived by other women, yet here she was, confidently flaunting her alliance with Wen Shijin.
Watching Ning Qingyan, oblivious to his frustration, nearly drove Gu Si mad.
He decided to give her the silent treatment! She could come crawling back to apologize before he’d even consider forgiving her.
From then on, Gu Si barely spoke to Ning Qingyan. Even when they accidentally made eye contact, he quickly turned away as if avoiding her completely.
When he walked past her to grab a drink, he deliberately chugged it all at once and crushed the bottle loudly right next to her. But just as Ning Qingyan turned her attention to him and opened her mouth to speak, Gu Si lifted his chin and walked straight back to his seat.
Ning Qingyan: “Huh?”
Why was he back to his mysterious, evasive behavior from the morning?
But Ning Qingyan was soon distracted by the food, happily indulging herself. She sampled every dish, savoring the flavors, with no sign of pickiness.
When she tried the spicy dishes, her face lit up with satisfaction, her eyes narrowing in delight.
After all, in her previous life, her taste buds had been nearly nonfunctional, leaving her unable to enjoy spicy foods. The exhilarating, sweat-inducing spiciness was something she hadn’t experienced in ages.
The table was filled with spicy dishes: spicy crawfish, kimchi, spicy chicken, and more. The aroma had her salivating, completely forgetting about Gu Si’s sulking.
Wen Shijin noticed her struggling to peel a few crawfish, sweating from the spice but still persistently working at it. When their eyes met, she even offered him one with a pained smile.
He couldn’t help but smile.
The “Green Tea System”: “Wen Shijin’s Favorability +1.”
With deft hands, Wen Shijin picked up a clean plate and started peeling crawfish for her. His long, slender fingers moved skillfully, as though accustomed to delicate tasks, quickly filling the plate with succulent, fragrant crawfish meat.
He placed the plate in front of Ning Qingyan and handed her a napkin, along with a glass of water, as he noticed her teary eyes and flushed nose from the spice.
Ning Qingyan wiped her sweat, her eyes lighting up at the mountain of spicy, aromatic crawfish meat. She smiled brightly and said, “Big Brother, you’re amazing! From now on, you’re my real brother!”
Wen Shijin’s gentle gaze softened further. “Don’t drink too much water with spicy food; it’ll upset your stomach. Grab a bottle of milk later—it’s better for you.”
Ning Qingyan responded playfully, “Yes, sir!”
The “Green Tea System”: “Wen Shijin’s Favorability +1.”
Meanwhile, Gu Si, maintaining his aloof demeanor nearby, felt his irritation spike.
“She gets bribed with a plate of crawfish?” He looked away, thinking he’d seen enough. How tough must her past have been for her to be this easily contented?
Across the table, Sheng Mingzhu, feeling the chill from Gu Si’s aura, hastily finished her meal and escaped to a corner.
As a result, an invisible one-meter radius around Gu Si remained empty.
On the other side, Huo Qi quietly observed Ning Qingyan enjoying the crawfish peeled by Wen Shijin. Doubts about her preferences began creeping into his mind.
“So, that’s why she was so kind to a stranger like me? Because she prefers men?”
Huo Qi clenched his lips and looked away, deciding her personal preferences were none of his concern as long as she stayed out of his way.
Meanwhile, Xu Ruanruan reveled in her rare moment of triumph. Watching her rival Sheng Mingzhu suffer the same disdain she had once endured, she gloated, “Didn’t Mingzhu say some things can’t be envied? Well, now they’re mine.”
Sheng Mingzhu, humiliated, shot back coldly, “What goes around comes around. One day, you’ll cry just like I did. Let’s see if you can still gloat then.”
Xu Ruanruan smirked, her posture confident and proud like a victorious rooster. “Hah, you’ll be waiting forever! My dear Qingyan would never let me cry, right, Brother Qingyan~?”
Sheng Mingzhu scoffed. “Calling someone younger than you ‘brother’? Have some shame! It’s enough to make me lose my appetite.”
Xu Ruanruan, unbothered, responded cheekily, “My dear Qingyan and I are a CP. I can call him whatever I like! How would you understand our fun~?”
“You! Qingyan wouldn’t like a shameless girl like you! Right, Qingyan?” Sheng Mingzhu retorted.
“You’re wrong! Qingyan doesn’t like people who obsess over other CPs! Right, Brother Qingyan~?”
Both turned expectantly toward Ning Qingyan, who was quietly focused on her meal.
Caught in their crossfire, Ning Qingyan’s chopsticks trembled slightly.
“Ahem, sorry, sisters! What were you saying? I got a little distracted and didn’t catch that.” Ning Qingyan scratched her head awkwardly, flashing an embarrassed smile.
Nearby, Wen Shijin couldn’t help chuckling at Ning Qingyan’s attempt to remain neutral, despite the trembling chopsticks that still pushed food into her mouth.
“He’s really too cute,” Wen Shijin thought.
The “Green Tea System”: “Wen Shijin’s Favorability +1.”
The live stream’s chat exploded with comments:
At that moment, Gu Si kicked his chair with a loud “BANG”, startling the two bickering girls into silence.
They turned their gazes toward him, frozen in place.