Can't Hide My Love for You - Chapter 99

By the time they returned to the dormitory, the production crew’s car that had been parked at the entrance was gone, though the lights inside the villa were still on. Knowing that they were within camera range as soon as they approached the building, the two naturally let go of each other’s hands.

“Are they asleep?”

“Probably not yet.”

Chi Yi was a bit concerned about the lipstick stain on her collar. She had tried to wash it earlier; while it was mostly gone, the red had smeared slightly, looking somewhat conspicuous against the white fabric.

“Aya~” the culprit, Cheng Yixin, said with a laugh. “I’ll help you wash that shirt later.”

“You better actually help me wash it.”

The two spoke in riddles; the audience watching the show wouldn’t know what had transpired, leaving the answer to the unknown.

The night was deep. They stepped through the cold air and pushed open the door. Inside, the heater was set to a comfortable temperature. They immediately saw the other three sitting in the living room, chatting while wearing face masks.

“You’re back~” Yi’er greeted them warmly. “Is it cold outside?”

“A bit, it’s much warmer in here. Are you all done with your showers?” Cheng Yixin took off her coat and hung it on the entryway rack.

“Yes, we’re just chatting. Do you two want to go wash up first?”

“Yeah, we’ll shower first,” Chi Yi said as she took off her jacket, intentionally folding it to hide the red stain on the collar. There was no telling just how sharp the high-definition cameras around them were.

“You guys chat,” Cheng Yixin said, naturally taking the jacket from Chi Yi’s hand and leading her straight inside.

The three in the living room were somewhat puzzled by Cheng Yixin’s sudden action of taking Chi Yi’s jacket. They exchanged looks—clearly all confused—but because they were still being recorded, they just smiled and said, “They have such a good relationship.”

“I’ve seen edits of them online; they have quite a lot of fans.”

The topic ended there. After all, this was a heterosexual dating show; mentioning a same-sex CP might trigger a defensive reaction in some people.

Back in her room, before showering, Cheng Yixin washed Chi Yi’s jacket first to quickly eliminate the evidence. In the room’s camera footage, she could be seen humming a song as she brought a freshly washed jacket out from the bathroom to hang up and dry.

The night passed without further incident.

The next morning at 10:00 AM, the first official day of filming began. The content was “The First Date.” Since the guests didn’t know each other yet, a lottery system was used to form pairs.

While the first episode’s content was a single date, the rule for the subsequent episode would be a two-way selection—a date would only happen if both a male and female guest chose each other, which placed more emphasis on whether there was a “spark.”

The host, holding the lottery box, happened to have worked with Cheng Yixin before and was an acquaintance. He asked with a smile, “Yixin, time for the draw! If there was no lottery, which guest would you choose for your first date?”

“Then I’d choose Chi Yi,” Cheng Yixin replied with a laugh.

She was telling the truth. To the other three female guests, this seemed like a “high EQ” response—at this stage, choosing any of the five male guests would be awkward, but choosing her close friend Chi Yi wouldn’t be taken seriously.

“Hahaha… unfortunately, there are only male guests’ names in the box.”

After a few more opening remarks, the draw began. Out of the five male guests, Cheng Yixin didn’t want to date any of them, but at this point, her mindset was just to “lie flat” and accept it.

The person she drew for her first date was Zhou Zheng. He was over 1.8 meters tall, rated an 8/10 in looks, and was a corporate executive. He seemed decent in all aspects. The one Chi Yi drew was the athlete; that man seemed very “straight” and upright in his speech, which made Cheng Yixin feel a bit more at ease. As for the content of their dates, that would only be revealed once the first episode went live.

This time, Cheng Yixin adopted the persona of an “unmovable, iron-straight girl.”

“Hello to you both, here are our menus.” Seeing the guests had arrived, the waiter brought over two menus.

Cheng Yixin opened the menu and saw that instead of common descriptions, the dishes were all named with four-character idioms—clearly a restaurant designed to trap couples.

“Shall we order ‘A Hundred Years of Harmony’? The name sounds very festive,” Zhou Zheng suggested.

“What kind of dish is ‘A Hundred Years of Harmony’?”

“The main ingredients are celery and lily bulbs (baike),” the waiter replied.

“That’s a bit too plain. Then what is ‘Pure First Love’?”

“The ingredients are tomatoes and eggs.”

“So it’s just stir-fried tomato and eggs?” Cheng Yixin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Your menu is far too subtle.”

After asking about two dishes that turned out to be very ordinary and didn’t match the restaurant’s high-end decor, Zhou Zheng felt a bit awkward. He closed the menu. “Yixin, is there anything you like to eat?”

“My manager has been controlling my diet lately. You don’t mind if I order some meat dishes, do you?”

“Not at all, not at all,” Zhou Zheng said hurriedly. “Order whatever you like.”

“Then let’s get an order of braised pork trotter, spicy chicken, Mapo tofu, and stir-fried kidney…”

Cheng Yixin ordered several famous spicy dishes in a row. Her ordering style didn’t look like someone on a first date trying to maintain an elegant image; it was more like someone just hitting a local diner. But because the cameras were rolling and she was hungry, Cheng Yixin ate quite seriously, listening to Zhou Zheng talk at length as if he were background music.

Once she was full, Cheng Yixin finally had the energy to respond to Zhou Zheng. Even if it was an act, she had to satisfy the audience.

“Yixin, after this meal, what’s your impression of me?” Zhou Zheng asked “affectionately.”

“Hmm…” Cheng Yixin looked at the plates on the table and gave her confirmation: “You can handle spicy food quite well.”

“…” Zhou Zheng’s composure faltered for a moment, but he ended up laughing. “It’s good if our tastes match and we can eat together.”

Leaving the restaurant after lunch, the schedule for the rest of the day was to be arranged by the male guest. Zhou Zheng suggested going to the park for a walk.

Cheng Yixin actually went, even though she was cursing in her mind that Zhou Zheng must be crazy to go for a walk in the cold wind after a meal in the middle of winter. Walking for hours with someone you like wouldn’t feel tiring, but doing it with someone you aren’t interested in was mentally exhausting.

It wasn’t until nearly 6:00 PM that Cheng Yixin showed signs of being tired, and Zhou Zheng finally asked if they should end the date. The male guest dropped her off at the dormitory entrance. After they parted, a staff member handed over a card: the content was a rating for the first date partner and a space to write down who they hoped to date next.

Cheng Yixin raised an eyebrow and glanced at her assigned PD, who was off-camera. She quickly wrote on the card. The content of this card wouldn’t be revealed to the audience until later in the post-production.

Her elegant handwriting paused at the last blank. Please write down who you look forward to dating next: _______

The tip of the pen hovered there for three seconds before she decisively wrote down a name. The staff member took the card and handed it to the PD. Before turning to enter the dorm, she saw the PD’s eyes widen the moment they saw the card.

Cheng Yixin was the first one back to the dorm; it seemed her date had been the most boring one. The jacket she had hung outside was dry. Cheng Yixin touched the white suit, took it off the rack, and then—unbothered by anyone else—carried it into Chi Yi’s room and placed it neatly folded on her bed.

She sat in the living room playing with her phone to pass the time as her roommates returned one by one. Unexpectedly, Chi Yi was the last to return.

“Sister Chi Yi, where did you go for your date today? Did you have fun?” the roommates couldn’t help but gossip.

“It was quite fun,” Chi Yi’s lips curled up. “We went bungee jumping; it was thrilling and interesting.”

The expression on Chi Yi’s face didn’t look faked at all, but… taking a girl bungee jumping on the first date? The man truly was an athlete.

Cheng Yixin’s jealousy flared, but since they were still recording, she held it in. She planned to have a “walk” and a chat with Chi Yi after showering.

In the entire house, the only place without cameras was the bathroom. Before undressing to shower, Cheng Yixin leaned against the sink and tapped on her keyboard to message Chi Yi. Suddenly, she heard a strange patter-patter sound. She turned to see something fly in through the half-closed window. Once she saw what it was, she let out a scream.

She tossed her phone and scrambled out of the bathroom. “Ahhhhh!!! Chi Yi!!! Help!! Something flew in!! Chi Yi Chi Yi Chi Yi!!”

She didn’t have time to think; only Chi Yi’s name was in her head.

Chi Yi, who was chatting with her roommates in the living room, saw her expression change instantly. She quickly put down her hot tea and ran into Cheng Yixin’s room. She saw Cheng Yixin propping herself against the desk, standing in the corner with a terrified expression.

“What’s wrong?” Chi Yi walked over quickly. Cheng Yixin hugged her immediately, pointing toward the bathroom piteously: “A bat flew into the bathroom… it looks so disgusting…”

Specifically, the moment she made eye contact with the bat, it reminded her of a dead bat she saw in the grass as a child—an impact on her young soul that made her beautiful face twist in distress.

“Quick, call the staff to help get it out!” The others who had rushed over upon hearing the news were also horrified by the mention of a bat, shouting as they went to get help.

Hannah had already run out to call someone, but the problem was that the production crew had left after everyone returned to the dorm; no one appeared despite her shouting.

“I’ll go look.” Chi Yi steadied her mind and comforted Cheng Yixin. She glanced around the room and grabbed a clothes hanger as a defensive weapon.

So, Cheng Yixin led the remaining two, following cautiously behind Chi Yi. They could no longer hear the sound of fluttering from the bathroom. They thought it might have flown out, but then they looked up and saw the bat hanging in the corner of the wall above, starting to circle around again, its wings flapping with a patter-patter sound. It seemed to be looking for an exit but couldn’t find one after several loops.

“How did this thing get in here!” Yi’er was on the verge of a breakdown. “I haven’t showered yet!”

The ceiling was very high, and there were no tools to knock the bat down; they feared it would be even more troublesome if it flew further into the house.

“I’m sorry, I was showering and felt a bit stuffy, so I opened the window to let some air in… I didn’t know a bat would fly in here…” Dai Mote admitted her mistake honestly.

“You guys go out first, I have a way,” Chi Yi said calmly. She turned off the lights inside before closing the bathroom door. “Wait for me here a moment.”

Chi Yi spoke and then walked out quickly. They heard the front door open and close.

“Where did she go?” They looked at each other.

“I don’t know,” Cheng Yixin shook her head, only just recovering from the disgust brought by the bat.

Less than five minutes later, Chi Yi returned. “Alright, it’s fine now,” she said. She opened the bathroom door, and when they peeked inside, the circling bat was indeed gone.

“!!!” Cheng Yixin’s eyes widened. “How did you do it!”

Chi Yi closed the window while saying, “I used a flashlight from outside the window. it followed the light source and flew out. It flew in because there was light in the bathroom; if you close the window, it’ll be fine. It was a low-probability event.”

“Oh right! Bats are photosensitive!” Cheng Yixin snapped out of it. “Heavens, you’re too smart! Your reaction was so fast!”

“What happened, what happened? Where’s the bat? I’m definitely going to kill it! Defend the safety of the girls’ dorm!”

Hannah arrived with the five male guests from next door, each holding a different makeshift weapon. Unfortunately, the time for “saving the damsels” had passed. After hearing that Chi Yi had solved the problem within minutes without any chaos…

Hannah’s eyes immediately lit up with little stars. She raised both hands and dropped to one knee: “Sister! You are my one and only Sister!”

Chi Yi instantly became the heroine of the girls’ dorm. The male guests who missed their chance to play the hero looked at each other and sheepishly hid the slippers and other “weapons” they had brought.

Once this glorious episode aired, Chi Yi immediately gained a huge following. Meanwhile, Cheng Yixin was teased for not calling “Mom” when in trouble, but calling for “Chi Yi” instead. Compared to this, as the initial date “CP,” Zhou Zheng didn’t seem as appealing anymore.

Bullet Comments: This is clearly a dating show! Why do I kind of want to ship Chi Yi x Cheng Yixin…!