Be the most beautiful female guest?

No, no, no, she’d rather not. That would be too high-profile.

Ning Xiaoyu often felt that this love system had probably bound itself to the wrong host.

It was meant for someone ambitious, eager for fame, and yearning for a sweet romance. Definitely not for a laid-back person like her, who had no grand aspirations.

Seeing these options only made her belief stronger.

For the sake of everyone’s well-being, Ning Xiaoyu couldn’t help but suggest, “How about we just part ways peacefully?”

In any situation, if both parties could separate on good terms, that would surely be a happy ending for all. Of course, before that, she had to exchange all her love points for real-world currency.

Upon hearing Ning Xiaoyu’s thoughts of parting ways, the love system immediately protested angrily, 〖Girl, don’t even think about ditching me!〗

Ning Xiaoyu: “……”

It seemed that, for now, she couldn’t get rid of the love system.

After glancing at the three options again, Ning Xiaoyu made her choice.

It was still early. She informed the director and left the Friendship House.

It had been more than a week since her last visit to the hospital to see her father. Ever since he had become comatose, Ning Xiaoyu made sure to visit on time. Now that her visit was overdue, she couldn’t wait to see him.

She didn’t care much about the cameras, and since the director gave her the green light, she was able to leave smoothly by taxi. Some of the other guests were curious about where she was going, but with one less person competing for screen time, they were more than happy to let her go. No one was tactless enough to pry further.

Ning Yuwei, on the other hand, wanted to say something, but since no one asked, she had to swallow her words.

────ρя


Ning Xiaoyu arrived at the hospital around ten in the morning.

Inside the ward, her father’s condition was the same as before. His eyes remained shut, with no sign of when he might wake up.

Whenever she asked about his chances of regaining consciousness, the doctor always gave the same answer.

Maybe soon.

Maybe never.

She sat beside him, just like every other time, and began talking about her daily life.

“Dad, actually, the last time I was here, I wanted to tell you something. Lately…… something strange has happened to me. Something so strange that it has completely thrown my life off balance. I don’t even know if the outcome will be good or bad.”

She was, of course, referring to the love system.

The love system chimed in excitedly, 〖Girl, of course, it’s a good thing!〗

Ning Xiaoyu ignored it and continued, “I see Ning Yuwei every day, but don’t worry, we haven’t had any major conflicts……” At least, not on the surface.

“I ran into that woman at a birthday party the other day, but we had no intention of exchanging pleasantries.

I’ve been doing quite well recently. The audience seems to like me and I’ve gained a lot of new fans.

Seven years, Dad.

I used to hate you, and I used to hate that woman too. Why did something like that have to happen during the most crucial years of my high school life? But now, I just want you to wake up. I’m so tired of being alone……”

If none of this had happened, Ning Xiaoyu would probably still be studying for her master’s degree at a top university in the country.

But as she had said before, there were no ifs in this world.

So now, she was just a minor celebrity, and she would remain a minor celebrity.

She paused for a moment and was about to continue when suddenly, a single teardrop slid down from the corner of the middle-aged man’s eye.

It rolled down his thin face, soaking into the pillow, leaving a faint, wet mark behind.

Ning Xiaoyu caught it immediately and, acting on instinct, pressed the call button by the bedside.

The doctor arrived quickly. After checking on her father, he smiled genuinely and said, “This is a good sign. It shows that the patient is gradually responding to external stimuli. If you have time, visit him more often. Who knows? One day, he might suddenly wake up.”

For the past seven years, no matter how much she spoke to him, her father had never reacted at all.

Yet today, he finally responded.

Was he feeling sad just now?

Could this be the love system’s doing?

────ρя


On her way back to the Friendship House, Ning Xiaoyu stopped by the mall and bought herself a few new outfits.

She had used up all her love points, exchanging them for real-world currency.

Most of it went to paying off expenses, leaving her with only a few thousand yuan for daily use.

The moment she stepped back into the Friendship House, she ran into the group of guests who had just returned from the beach to change clothes.

Shen Yueyue spotted her right away and jogged over with a cheerful smile. “Xiao Yu, you’re back?”

“Mm.”

Shen Yueyue grinned. “Perfect timing! Let’s go change together. The director said that after we change, we can head to the beach for the bonfire party anytime before five in the afternoon.”

During the day, the guests wore casual outfits, but for the bonfire party at night, they needed to dress up.

As Ning Xiaoyu walked back to the room with Shen Yueyue, she listened to all the gossip from earlier in the day— like how the guests had played a game of palm push.

Ning Yuwei, being cunning, had worn a spaghetti-strap top and shorts, making the male guests hesitate to touch her. One by one, they lost the game to her.

Ning Xiaoyu listened patiently. She had no particular questions and nothing she was especially curious about. The love system, however, eagerly chimed in, 〖Girl, in that palm push game, no matter how careful they are, people always end up touching each other in some way…… So the movie king didn’t even participate! He just forfeited right away. Ning Yuwei was so pissed off, hehe.〗

The system’s laugh had the smugness of a villain gloating over someone’s misfortune.

Clearly, Ning Yuwei hadn’t dressed like that for the other male guests. Xu Cheng was nothing more than a popular backup option. Her real target was always Lu Jingdu.

Yet Lu Jingdu would rather forfeit the game than entertain her.

Of course, Ning Yuwei was bound to be upset.

Just then, Ning Xiaoyu arrived at her room. Shen Yueyue smiled and said, “Xiao Yu, just head over on your own once you’re ready. You know me. I take forever to get ready.”

Ning Xiaoyu nodded, entered her room, and began changing.

Other female guests might take an hour or two to prepare their outfits. But for Ning Xiaoyu?

Five minutes was enough.

The love system had known since that morning that Ning Xiaoyu had chosen option b.

So, what kind of outfit would she choose to highlight her best features?

Honestly, the love system was getting a little excited.

It eagerly watched as Ning Xiaoyu got ready, and then……

It fell silent.

Once again, it began doubting its entire existence.

Who would have thought that ‘highlighting her best features’ could be interpreted like this?

Why did its host always think so differently? Why?

Ning Xiaoyu had chosen to wear a full-body animal onesie.

This year, animal onesies were wildly popular, especially the dinosaur design, which had practically sold out everywhere. Many people found them cute and comfortable.

However, when Ning Xiaoyu had gone shopping that afternoon, she ignored the trendy options and picked a salted fish onesie instead.

The outfit was entirely blue with a fishhead-shaped hood. While the rest of it looked ordinary, the fish head had two round, vacant-looking eyes— mostly white, making it look both silly and adorable.

After putting it on, Ning Xiaoyu stuffed her hands into the pockets and said, “It’ll be chilly by the beach tonight. This is just right.”

The cotton fabric really was cozy, far more comfortable than any tight-fitting evening dress.

〖Love System: N-no…… Wait…… This…… Option b was supposed to……〗

Ning Xiaoyu asked in return, “Doesn’t dressing like this highlight my strengths?”

The love system had been completely led astray by its unconventional host.

〖Love system: ……It seems like it does.〗 It highlighted her saltiness…… After all, she had practically worn an entire salted fish on her body!

Ning Xiaoyu continued to question, “Can’t it attract the movie king’s attention?”

〖Love System: Well…… it probably can.〗

She was so unique so how could she not attract attention?

Ning Xiaoyu shrugged. “Then it means I strictly followed option b for my outfit.”

〖Love System: Uh…… when you put it that way, it does make sense.〗 But something still felt off.

With her hands in her pockets and the fishhead hood of her onesie pulled over her head, Ning Xiaoyu strolled along. Hardly any staff members recognized her.

However, their eyes were all subtly drawn to her outfit.

The fishhead hood was truly something. It was the soul of the entire onesie.

Seeing it, people had only one thought, which was they wanted to buy one too!

Ning Xiaoyu arrived at the beach neither too early nor too late. After her, only Shen Yueyue had yet to arrive.

As soon as she showed up, she drew the attention of the other guests.

Xi Rui immediately burst into laughter. “Xiaoyu, your outfit is amazing! Where did you buy it?”

“The mall.”

“I love it! I think I’ll get one later too.”

【Hahaha, this outfit suits Xiao Yu so well!】

【I have the same one, I’m proud! No need to buy another.】

【Another unexpected move from Xiao Yu! Honestly, as a fan, you can never guess what she’ll do next! （shouting）】

【This fishhead hood is killing me with laughter.】

【Among all the celebrities, Xiao Yu’s outfit truly stands out!】

【A salted fish has become sentient and turned human! Dog head.jpg】

Meanwhile, Ning Yuwei wore a black sequined mermaid dress, an expensive piece that initially attracted many female guests asking about the price.

But with Ning Xiaoyu dressed so casually, she unwittingly turned Ning Yuwei’s extravagant attire into a joke. It was as if all the things she cared about— the traffic, the fan count, her performance on the variety show— meant nothing to Ning Xiaoyu.

She, Ning Yuwei, would remember this humiliation!

────ρя


Ning Xiaoyu didn’t care at all what Ning Yuwei thought.

She only cared about wearing something comfortable.

Coincidentally, this salted fish onesie was incredibly comfortable to wear. Not only that, but it was also affordable and high quality.

Before long, it was 5:30 p.m. All the guests had arrived and the bonfire had been lit.

But before they could start dancing around the fire, they had to fill their stomachs.

Tonight, the program team had prepared a full barbecue set for the guests to use. They could grill their own food. Aside from barbecue tools, there were also various baking supplies, allowing them to choose whatever they wanted to eat.

Mu Jiajia smiled. “I love barbecue the most!”

Xu Cheng volunteered, “I’m not hungry yet, so why don’t I grill for everyone? It would be my honor to serve you all.”

Ling Zige quickly followed, “I’ll join too. My friends always say I have a talent for grilling!”

The director chuckled. “Wanting to grill for the other guests? Easy! You’re hired! Might as well make use of some free labor!”

Everyone laughed.

Of course, the other guests were free to grill their own food as well. The barbecue rack was big enough for four or five people to use at the same time.

Ning Xiaoyu was carefully selecting her ingredients for grilling.

She definitely needed a sweet potato.

Two skewers of eggplant, three skewers of gluten meat, one skewer of enoki mushrooms……

As she was still picking, the love system’s voice rang in her ears right on cue.

Sure enough, where there was excitement, the love system was never far behind.

〖Girl, neither the guests nor the true fans know this, but the movie king absolutely hates barbecue. He would rather go hungry than eat even one bite. But habits aren’t set in stone, and maybe tonight, he’ll make an exception for someone? To prevent him from going hungry, you can:

A. Use the baking tools to make him a sweet chiffon cake.

B. Personally grill something for him to eat.

C. Prepare an unforgettable edible item for him!

Girl, if you want to capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach! Get closer to him through food. I believe in you!〗

Believe?

Which eye of yours sees I can do it?

Oh, right. Ning Xiaoyu suddenly remembered that the love system didn’t have eyes.

Never mind, then.

After finishing her ingredient selection, she finally looked at the options.

She would definitely complete the mission.

Earlier today, that single tear from her father had given her hope that he would wake up.

However, she didn’t want the love system to get too cocky either. If it got too full of itself, it might just float away.

Her gaze swept over the three options, and soon, she knew exactly what she was going to make.