After Joining a Dating Show, My Silly Ex Got Jealous - Chapter 6

Zheng Jingren and Si Wen were clearly masters of their craft. In no time at all, the dining table was covered with a spread of dishes that looked and smelled incredible.

Zhen Jiankang took it upon himself to bustle about, pouring red wine for everyone.

*****

【Here it comes! The high-stakes, heart-pounding seating segment!】

【I feel like Shen Ruan is playing with an open hand now. Film Emperor Qin is definitely sticking with Ting-ge, but the others are anyone’s guess.】

*****

“Chefs first, please take your seats,” Shen Ruan said with a smile.

Zheng Jingren sat in the first seat on the left. “Then I won’t stand on ceremony.”

“I’ll sit next to you,” Si Wen added, taking the seat beside him. The two exchanged a quick, knowing smile.

Wait a second, Ji Xiting thought. The vibe between those two is a little off. Did something happen in the kitchen while I was gone?

He was busy wearing his most enigmatic “I know everything” smile when Qin Zheng suddenly grabbed his arm and hauled him to the side opposite Si Wen and Zheng Jingren.

“Sit down. What are you waiting for?” Qin Zheng pulled out the outermost chair for him.

Ji Xiting shot him a side-glance but sat down gracefully. He’d let it slide just this once, considering Qin Zheng had actually listened and changed his clothes.

As Qin Zheng sat beside him, Zhen Jiankang took the spot on Qin Zheng’s other side, and Shen Ruan naturally followed suit. Gu Pei finally rose from his wheelchair, his long legs carrying him over to sit next to Si Wen.

“Do you want to switch and sit further in?” Zhen Jiankang suddenly asked Shen Ruan.

Shen Ruan looked confused. “Why?”

“If you sit that far away, you won’t be able to reach the food.”

“It’s fine, I don’t eat that much anyway,” Shen Ruan said, his face flushing slightly.

Zhen Jiankang stood up anyway. “Don’t be shy. Go on, move over.”

Blushing furiously, Shen Ruan swapped seats with him.

Aha, Ji Xiting noted. So those two didn’t just play basketball today. He nodded to himself, satisfied with another discovery.

“Um… do you want to switch with me?” Qin Zheng asked awkwardly.

Earlier, he had only been thinking about keeping Ji Xiting away from everyone else, so he’d effectively blocked him into the corner. But looking at it now, sitting on the far edge really was inconvenient for eating. More importantly, he realized he’d just become the “bad example” compared to Zhen Jiankang. If that scatterbrained kid knew how to take care of people, he certainly couldn’t afford to lose.

But then again, he really didn’t want Ji Xiting sitting right next to Shen Ruan. It was a dilemma!

Ji Xiting saw right through him. “No need, I—”

“Great!” Qin Zheng cut in, eager to settle the matter. “Then just tell me what you want to eat, and I’ll get it for you.”

Heh.

With all seven of them finally seated, the audience had likely already imagined a three-act play based on this simple seating arrangement.

“A toast to our first day!” Zhen Jiankang raised his glass, and the others followed.

Ji Xiting took a bite of the spicy chicken, and his eyes lit up. “This is delicious!”

“It really is,” Shen Ruan agreed, nodding as he ate. “Every dish is amazing.”

The two chefs were remarkably humble. Si Wen pushed up his glasses and said, “I just threw some things together. Old Zheng is the real professional here.”

Zheng Jingren engaged in some mutual flattery. “Don’t say that. Your cooking is so fragrant that I don’t even want to eat my own anymore.”

“No, no, yours is definitely better.”

Ji Xiting suddenly felt that nothing romantic had happened in the kitchen after all. This polite, distant back-and-forth felt far more like two strangers being professional.

“Who made this?” Gu Pei suddenly broke his silence.

The table went quiet as everyone looked at the shredded pork with garlic sauce he was pointing at.

After a moment of silence, Si Wen spoke up. “I did.”

“It’s very good,” Gu Pei observed. “You should make it every day from now on.”

Si Wen paused, offering a look of mild pity. “Mr. Gu must not get to eat home-cooked meals like this very often.”

Gu Pei nodded solemnly.

“Then I’ll make it more often in the future.”

In that moment, Qin Zheng saw that familiar “self-sacrificing teacher” aura radiating from Si Wen again. He felt a shiver of dread crawl up his spine.

“Should we talk about our ages and professions?” Zheng Jingren asked, nudging the program along. It seemed he wasn’t just the resident chef; he was also moonlighting as the host.

“Ting-ge and Film Emperor Qin are at a bit of a disadvantage in this round,” Shen Ruan joked.

Ji Xiting wiped his mouth. “It’s fine. We’ll go first. I’m a singer, and I’m 26.”

“Actor, 23,” Qin Zheng added.

“The Film Emperor is younger than Ting-ge?” Zhen Jiankang asked, looking shocked. “I thought Ting-ge was the younger one.”

That one sentence managed to please two people at once. Anyone over twenty-five starts getting sensitive about their age, and Ji Xiting was no exception. He couldn’t help but smile. Since when did Xiao Kang become so socially savvy?

Qin Zheng was also pleased. Every time they fought, Ji Xiting called him a “brat.” Being younger was his biggest insecurity.

“Why did you think that?” Zheng Jingren asked curiously.

Zhen Jiankang blurted out, “Because Ting-ge looks so childi—” He stopped mid-word as Ji Xiting’s sharp gaze practically executed the rest of the sentence in his throat.

After a few seconds of mental gymnastics, Zhen Jiankang finished, “…so youthful! He has a very young face!”

Ji Xiting finally retracted his “death stare” and let the boy live.

Qin Zheng, however, was delighted. He ladled a bowl of soup for his “youthful” Ting-ge and added gently, “Drink slowly. Be careful, it’s hot.”

******

【Oh, the ‘older-younger’ energy is hitting hard!】

【My Qin finally stopped looking like a lost puppy following his brother around. I’m crying.】

【The younger one pampers, the older one indulges. You two need to go get a room right now!】

*****

“Let’s go in order then. Xiao Ruan, you’re next,” Zheng Jingren prompted.

“I’m 22,” Shen Ruan said. “I run a small styling studio and occasionally do styling for others.”

“Wow,” the group applauded. It fit perfectly. From his name to his clothes to his job, Shen Ruan was the quintessential “Bottom.”

Zhen Jiankang marveled, “No wonder you look so polished and handsome. I’ve heard there are a lot of gay guys in your industry.”

“We’re usually not the ones ‘giving,'” Shen Ruan said shyly. “Most of us are ‘taking.'”

Ji Xiting nearly choked on his wine. Was he using “giving” and “taking” in the way he thought he was? He hadn’t expected the innocent-looking Shen Ruan to start driving the smut-bus so casually.

It took Zhen Jiankang a moment to catch on, but once he did, he laughed so hard he nearly keeled over. After he caught his breath, he clutched his aching chest. “I’m 21. I’m still a student.”

“Twenty-one? What year are you in?”

“Second year of my Master’s program.”

The group stared. “!”

Zhen Jiankang paused. “I skipped a few grades. What, can’t you tell I’m a genius?”

“Honestly… not really,” Qin Zheng said, re-evaluating him. He suddenly felt like the kid had become much more intelligent.

Si Wen asked curiously, “What are you studying?”

“Clinical medicine.”

Another shock. A future doctor!

Shen Ruan said hesitantly, “For some reason, you suddenly seem different to me.”

“To be honest, I feel like he’s suddenly become more stable,” another added.

“And wiser.”

Embarrassed by the praise, Zhen Jiankang mimed another basketball shot toward the ceiling. “I guess I didn’t make a very smart impression this afternoon.”

“Now that you’ve ‘thrown’ that ball, I feel like you’re back to being yourself,” Ji Xiting joked. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I’ll go next,” Zheng Jingren said. “I’m 30. I’m a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. My work involves classified information, so I can’t say much more than that.”

*****

【Holy crap! A medical Master’s student and a top-tier scientist? This show is stacked!】

【With a top singer and a Film Emperor as well, no wonder the show has been trending at #1 all afternoon.】

*****

Ji Xiting felt a little overwhelmed. He felt like his IQ was lagging behind. He looked toward Qin Zheng for some mutual comfort, but then he remembered that Qin Zheng was a top finance graduate from Jing University and only acted as a hobby.

Qin Zheng looked over and placed a few peeled shrimp in Ji Xiting’s bowl. “I wanted to wait until I had ten to give you, but six is a lucky number too,” he whispered.

Ji Xiting raised an eyebrow. “Then make sure you get those other four to me later.”

“Four isn’t lucky. I’ll peel another six for you instead.”

“Can I even eat that many?”

“If you can’t, I’ll help you.”

“Oh.”

“You two, stop whispering. Next person, please,” Zheng Jingren interrupted.

Si Wen gave a gentle smile. “I’m 29. I teach at a university.”

“A professor!”

As the only student, Zhen Jiankang’s “student instincts” immediately kicked in.

Gu Pei suddenly spoke up. “Student-teacher romances aren’t allowed, right?”

Everyone: “…” True, but why is your mind always going to such weird places?

Zhen Jiankang said innocently, “I’m about to graduate, and we aren’t at the same school, so it shouldn’t matter, right?”

“Different schools?”

“I’m at Hua University. What about you, Professor?”

“I’m at Jiang University,” Si Wen replied.

“Then it’s fine,” Zhen Jiankang said, relieved. “Otherwise we’d have to worry about appearances.”

Finally, all eyes fell on the tycoon. Gu Pei didn’t disappoint, speaking in his rich, cello-like voice: “Thirty years old. I’m in investment.”

He made it sound simple, but everyone had seen Gu Pei’s name in the financial news many times.

With ages and professions out in the open, everyone had a new understanding of one another, and the first faint sparks of romance seemed to be flickering. The atmosphere shifted, and as Ji Xiting ate a shrimp, he felt a surge of excitement.

Yes! Exactly like this! A dating show was only fun when there was tension, drama, and a messy “I love you, but you love him” web of chaos!

After dinner, the guests who hadn’t cooked prepared to clean up. The kitchen was too small for everyone, so it ended up being the “Uncle and Nephew” duo, Gu Pei and Qin Zheng. The others watched them for a while, and seeing they were actually doing a decent job, they drifted away.

Zheng Jingren, however, didn’t trust them and stubbornly stayed behind to supervise.

Zhen Jiankang invited Shen Ruan out for a walk, so Ji Xiting headed to the second-floor terrace with Si Wen to look at the stars. It was such a romantic idea, exactly the kind of activity a university professor would suggest. Ji Xiting was excited, thinking he was about to be enlightened by some high-level intellectual conversation.

“Do you really like the stars?” Ji Xiting asked, breaking the silence.

Si Wen gazed at the sky and said softly, “Don’t you think they’re beautiful?”

“I do,” Ji Xiting agreed, looking up.

“Every star has its own trajectory, and every star has a destined end.” Si Wen’s voice was light and soothing, making the world feel quiet and still.

Ji Xiting asked, “Is your field related to the stars?”

Si Wen shook his head with a touch of melancholy. “My field and the stars are as far apart as the sky and the ground.”

“No profession is ‘higher’ than another,” Ji Xiting comforted him. “Every field deserves respect.”

Si Wen nodded. “I teach geology.”

Ji Xiting: “…”

Well, that really is as different as sky and ground, isn’t it? Heh.

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