Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Will You Come to My Wedding?

Cheng Shiyuan didn’t like this kind of controlling possessiveness, applied without her permission in the name of “protection.”

It triggered a conditioned reflex, reminding her of a certain annoying person who particularly liked to make decisions about her life without consulting her.

“Latest announcement—”

At this moment, borrowing the path cleared by Xie Zhiqing’s security team, the reality show crew, who had been unable to follow during the previous commercial shoot and hospital visit due to privacy concerns, finally had a legitimate reason to intrude on the tense scene.

They even handed out an invitation card to each of them.

Although most of the guests invited to The Path of Love 2 were non-celebrities, they were all busy. The production team only required them to return to the villa together in the evenings.

During other times, staff members, carrying cameras, would film their daily interactions whenever possible and permissible for post-production editing material.

Even so, Guest No. 6, who was supposed to appear on the first day, was still nowhere to be seen due to her busy schedule.

“Because Guest No. 6’s personal itinerary has changed, she cannot arrive at the reality show on time. To protect her rights, the production team has decided to invite the five guests to prepare a special welcome ceremony for her tonight.”

“The location of the welcome ceremony is in the invitation card.”

Cheng Shiyuan casually opened it and found a concert ticket inside.

The first line of text made her eyelids twitch.

Chen Chuxing’s ‘Picking the Stars’ Tour Concert

“Chen Chuxing? She seems very famous.”

Wang Shu spoke first. Having signed with a media company, she now had one foot in the entertainment industry.

But she didn’t comment further, just pretended to look naturally and inquisitively at Cheng Shiyuan: “Cheng Cheng, do you know her?”

Cheng Shiyuan pinched the ticket, thinking: Know her? If it were only simple acquaintance, that would be fine.

Just then, the sharp-eyed staff member, noticing their lack of enthusiasm for the new guest, had a flash of inspiration: “The welcome ceremony will be allocated in groups of two. You can draw lots to choose your partner.”

“Already have a crush and don’t want to meet someone new? That’s okay, we also encourage everyone to spend this unforgettable concert together with their crush!”

At this remark.

The few people who had been uninterested in the new guest simultaneously looked up at him.

Wang Shu candidly raised her hand, not hiding her intention: “I want to draw! I want to be grouped with Cheng Cheng!”

But the look on her face after drawing her card wasn’t very pleasant.

Close behind, the expression of Xia Ziran, who drew the answer, was even worse, as if she had swallowed a fly.

Cheng Shiyuan, who had initially been resigned to the draw results, thinking that anyone other than Ji Sheng would grant her a reprieve, suddenly became interested and drew a card as well.

The card face flipped over, showing only three familiar characters:

Cheng Shiyuan.

She: “?”

She shook the card in her hand and asked the staff member: “What does this mean?”

“Teacher Cheng, there are currently only five guests. According to the principle of dividing into groups of two, one person will be left out. Unfortunately, you are the one left out,” he said.

Left out?

Cheng Shiyuan turned the card in her hand, but didn’t think so.

This clearly meant that no one could completely possess her except herself.

Meanwhile, the staff member’s gloating voice sounded again: “Then, the remaining two pairs of partners are: Xie Zhiqing and Xia Ziran in one group; Wang Shu and Ji Sheng in one group—”

“Please prepare seriously for the welcome ceremony. The pair that successfully invites ‘Chen Chuxing’ to move into the cottage tonight can unconditionally make one request to the production team during the filming period.”

Even if the price was to be temporarily separated from her lifeline, seeing the unpleasant looks on the faces of the people in front of her, Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t help but smile gleefully.

She gave a casual wave to the remaining two pairs of pure-hate combinations and turned, following the staff to the concert rehearsal site.

Xie Zhiqing, who had remained silent the whole time, only stared deeply at Cheng Shiyuan’s receding figure.

Even seeing the arranged bodyguards follow her seemed not enough to put her at ease.

This “wife-gazing stone” posture truly offended the eyes of a certain “teammate.”

Xia Ziran was already annoyed by crowded scenes and had no interest in any “welcome ceremony” or “program reward.”

When she turned around, she found her forcibly bound, most undesirable partner still wearing an icy expression that looked like it could freeze anyone.

Fortunately, when facing this person, she didn’t need to restrain herself and could even openly vent her anger:

“I see young CEO Xie looks quite robust; why didn’t you consider becoming a bodyguard yourself?”

“Is it because you don’t want to, or because you don’t dare?”

Xie Zhiqing, who was directly mocked for being useless, slightly lifted her dark eyes, but her gaze was substantial, like an abyss, falling upon her.

As a childhood friend who had never completely lost touch with Cheng Shiyuan over the years, Xie Zhiqing knew much more than Xia Ziran.

When she saw the name “Chen Chuxing,” she couldn’t help but recall many interview clips she had watched from Cheng Shiyuan’s early debut.

Cheng Shiyuan, who had just started acting, had no popularity and little audience appeal, and received few interviews in total, yet every now and then, she would mention one person in those interviews:

“Is there any senior in the industry you’d most like to work with? Chen Chuxing, perhaps? Is it okay to say that my dream is to collaborate with her?”

“My favorite work? Hehe, testing my memory of my idol? I can definitely get full marks on this question because my idol has so many works! And they are all super famous!”

“Singing isn’t my strength, but my favorite senior recently sang the ending theme for a work she participated in. How about I hum a couple of lines for everyone?”

Looking across the screen, meeting those peach blossom eyes that clearly and profoundly revealed deep affection.

For the first time, Xie Zhiqing felt a sense of unfamiliarity.

Unfamiliarity that Cheng Shiyuan could have such a deep and devoted side.

She recalled many holidays from the past when Cheng Shiyuan always dragged her along to watch new dramas by some idol. Later, when she went abroad for studies, she uncharacteristically chose a directing major, which everyone strongly opposed.

But Xie Zhiqing, who was always calmly doing homework or reading nearby, never once looked directly at the so-called idol.

Even when Cheng family elders asked her, under the guise of flying abroad to visit Cheng Shiyuan, to persuade her suddenly rebellious childhood friend to change her mind, Xie Zhiqing remained unconcerned.

Even if there was no legitimate heir before, studying a major that had nothing to do with family business management.

But Cheng Shiyuan wasn’t stupid, after all. When she got tired of chasing stars, she would naturally know to return.

Xie Zhiqing firmly believed that no one in this world, after tasting the flavor of power, would foolishly abandon all easily obtainable benefits.

Worst case, she would first intern at the family company, and when Cheng Shiyuan encountered difficulties, she would then figure out a way to teach her those experiences and lessons.

She had systematically and unilaterally planned their future in this manner.

And then, one day, while following this plan, she suddenly faced the darkest moment of her life—

Even today, Xie Zhiqing’s mind can clearly reconstruct the scene.

Cheng Shiyuan’s tone, which seemed both like a joke and a serious request for her opinion:

“Xie Zhiqing. If I decide to get married, will you come to my wedding?”

After inheriting the family business, the usually calm Xie Zhiqing could still remember the day she frantically searched and laid out all her properties, self-deceptively trying to use them to prove the fact that she and Cheng Shiyuan were a “perfect match.”

On the surface, she pretended to be calm, walking through the crowd toward the backstage, knowing that the only way to prevent Cheng Shiyuan and Chen Chuxing from rekindling their relationship was to complete the task first.

She glimpsed Xia Ziran tripping on a step out of the corner of her eye.

She notified her expressionlessly: “If the ‘not-so-robust’ young CEO Xia doesn’t want to do the task, find a cool spot and stay there. Don’t drag your weak body around trying to pick a fight.”

Hearing such venomous words from the usually composed and mannered Xie Zhiqing, Xia Ziran was stunned.

She quickly reacted, seeing through Xie Zhiqing’s abnormality, which seemed to be because… she was wary of someone?

She sneered, shaking her phone. On the screen was the information about Chen Chuxing that she had urgently searched for:

“She’s just a notorious actress who’s always stirring up scandals with others. Haven’t you ever seen a big scene like this, young CEO Xie?”

Xie Zhiqing looked at her characteristic arrogance, never putting anyone in her eyes.

For a moment, she suddenly looked forward to seeing if Xia Ziran could still smile like this if she knew that the Cheng Shiyuan of that year had given up her position as heir for this “notorious actress” she spoke of—

The two were, as before, incompatible because they were talking about the same person.

But at this moment, Cheng Shiyuan, the subject of their conversation, used her familiarity with such venues to take charge, bringing the staff with her to the backstage.

Even the bodyguards Xie Zhiqing assigned to her for protection were now skillfully used by her to block passing fans who recognized her.

Cheng Shiyuan heard a hoarse, sexy, mature voice coming from the stage.

Instinct preceded reason. Unable to resist the attraction, she was like a sailor lured by a siren, wanting to walk toward the stage step by step.

She could even see the outline of that profile, which she could familiar trace even with her eyes closed.

In the many days and nights they slept in each other’s arms, Cheng Shiyuan’s fingers had countless times traced that full forehead, that straight nose bridge, sliding like a slide onto those red lips she was so captivated by.

Just hearing this person’s voice, her body, which had known the taste of ecstasy, already spontaneously brought forth a wave of heat.

The moment she raised her foot to step onto the stairs:

“Teacher Cheng?”

A voice suddenly called out to her.

Cheng Shiyuan instantly sobered up, turned around, and looked at Chen Chuxing’s assistant, who had walked up to her at some point and seemed unsurprised by her arrival.

“Long time no see. You’re here for Chuxing, right? She’s still rehearsing now. Can I take you to the lounge first?”

The assistant spoke to her with familiarity: “You used to like drinking black tea. Shall I brew you a cup?”

Cheng Shiyuan was momentarily lost in a daze, thinking she and Chen Chuxing were still passionately in love as before.

But the next second, seeing the reality show camera following her, Cheng Shiyuan instantly snapped back to reality.

Mindful of her purpose for being there, she displayed a flawless smile:

“Sure.”

She didn’t look at the stage again, as if the superstar whose charm could captivate all beings was merely a slightly beautiful flower by the roadside in her eyes, only worthy of a moment’s pause for appreciation.

There wasn’t a trace of lingering attachment to their sweet past.

Cheng Shiyuan walked away resolutely, without looking back.

But she didn’t know—

The moment she turned around.

The star of the show, standing on the stage and the focus of all eyes, had already looked past the adoring crowd, locking onto her retreating figure with precise accuracy.

The cameraman in charge of coordinating the shots suddenly noticed that Chen Chuxing, who was portrayed as an unapproachable figure at this concert, suddenly showed her first smile of the day.

Like someone trapped in the mud finally catching sight of the only light.

…

Do you think Chen Chuxing will be able to successfully get Cheng Shiyuan to join her tonight?