Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: I Can’t Lick the Paint, So How About I Lick You?

For the first time, Cheng Shiyuan realized there seemed to be a generation gap between her and the young people.

—What “illicit underground lover”? Why was she trying to become her mistress?

Realizing that if she let the child cry any longer, she might secretly invent another shocking new identity behind her back.

She curled her fingers and tapped Wang Shu’s forehead.

“Stop.”

She commanded with a helpless laugh: “Stop overthinking and get up. Don’t you want your wound bandaged?”

Although Cheng Shiyuan was in a special situation and had to navigate among these people using a life-extension system, she truly hadn’t considered the ‘mistress’ possibility that Wang Shu had mentioned.

A patch of red appeared on Wang Shu’s forehead.

It was a painful sensation, but since the one who did it was Cheng Shiyuan, a hint of happiness bubbled up in her.

She was willing to bandage her wound and even talk to her. Did this mean Cheng Cheng wasn’t mad at her?

Wang Shu had always been very sure she could understand the other person’s heart, but at this moment, she couldn’t help but hesitate, worried that if she let go, Cheng Shiyuan would disappear from her world.

So, after blinking for a long time, she suddenly leaned her head closer and tentatively asked:

“Cheng Cheng, hit me again?”

Cheng Shiyuan: ?

That damned Xia Zhiran, how did she teach this child? How did she turn her into such a masochist?!

Unable to bear it, she pinched Wang Shu’s cheek and said helplessly, “Hurry up and get up, I can’t breathe.”

Like a big dog that had accidentally tackled its owner and was unaware of its size, Wang Shu finally realized something and moved back.

Seeing the messy state of Cheng Shiyuan’s skirt as she got up, Wang Shu’s eyes darkened again.

But her movements were considerate as she helped straighten out the hem of her clothes.

Her fingertip touched the cold, damp fabric. Wang Shu stared at it intently for a moment.

Just as Cheng Shiyuan was starting to get creeped out by her small, beast-like gaze, fearing she was about to pull the same trick again, she heard her ask, “Do you… want to change clothes?”

Wang Shu obediently said, “I have new clothes from a sponsor. Cheng Cheng, change into a set before you go back, okay?”

She didn’t just want to leave marks on her beloved’s body.

She also wanted to leave her mark in a more obvious place.

…

So, after Cheng Shiyuan reapplied medicine and carefully bandaged Wang Shu’s wound, while the other girl was taking a shower and washing her hair, she opened the door of the villa across the way, wearing a clean and fresh set of new clothes.

As she opened the door, she had expected everyone to be out on dates today, so her steps instantly halted when she unexpectedly met two pairs of eyes.

“You two…”

Cheng Shiyuan looked at Xie Zhiqing, who was calmly standing by the kitchen, and Xia Zhiran, who was openly occupying the living room sofa and looked completely idle, her tone laced with subtle meaning.

She couldn’t help but sound a little gleeful: “—Did you get paired up again?”

Xie Zhiqing, seemingly calm, raised a hand and pressed her forehead.

Xia Zhiran tossed the pillow she was hugging aside and narrowed her long, phoenix-like eyes dangerously as she looked at her.

At first glance, Cheng Shiyuan seemed to be wearing a casual, loose-fitting athletic style, but looking closely at the stitching where the short-sleeved top hung over the shoulders, and the thickness of the cuffs rolled up at the bottom of the pants.

Xia Zhiran abruptly asked:

“Whose clothes are you wearing?”

Yet, the answer had already surfaced in her mind.

Among all the guests on the show, the one who could create such a noticeable height difference with Cheng Shiyuan was precisely Wang Shu, the person she was supposed to go make a cake with today.

Making a cake in the kitchen—such a simple thing—required a change of clothes?

What in the world did those two do?!

Cheng Shiyuan tilted her head, leaned against the door, and gestured towards the kitchen: “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to care about me like this in front of your new date?”

Xie Zhiqing’s forehead twitched: “Shi Yuan.”

Xia Zhiran’s attention was instantly diverted, and she showed a look of disgust: “There’s no such thing, and no such date.”

She recalled yesterday’s gift-selection segment.

The second person to pick a gift was Ji Sheng, and she directly took Chen Chuxing’s gift.

Those two seemed to have formed some secret alliance.

But Xia Zhiran didn’t care about such things. She only knew that if her gift didn’t reach the right person, it was better to throw it away.

So, she took her own gift back.

Following her lead, Xie Zhiqing seemed inspired. Ignoring the production crew’s loudspeaker loudly shouting “Guests are prohibited from selecting their own gifts,” she also took the Barbie doll back.

And so, these two who publicly defied and challenged the show’s rules—

Were punished.

“Ms. Xia and Ms. Xie, as the two people forced to stay, if you have not decided on a location for your ‘forced date’ before 6 PM this afternoon, you will both lose the qualification for the next group date.”

The staff’s loudspeaker blared the final ultimatum once more.

Cheng Shiyuan burst into gleeful laughter.

She even waved at the production crew, asking them to recount the details of how the two of them spent the entire day in this house, stuck in an awkward silence.

Xie Zhiqing numbly squeezed out a new option from between her teeth: “A bookstore.”

Whether it was the business development direction of their respective companies or their usual hobbies, their book categories were not on the same floor.

Just go, check it off the list, and finish the formalities.

Xia Zhiran sneered, “What’s with the pretense of being studious? You didn’t win more awards than me in school competitions, did you?”

She was extremely bothered by the fact that Cheng Shiyuan and Wang Shu had to change clothes just to make a cake.

So, after vetoing Xie Zhiqing’s option, she opened her mouth nonchalantly: “The kitchen then. No one said we couldn’t stay in this house, right? Perfect, I’m already hungry, and I can cook a couple of dishes.”

Xie Zhiqing stood at the kitchen entrance, expressionless, and rolled up her shirt sleeves.

“The only status I can accept for you stepping into this kitchen—”

“Is as an ingredient.”

Unless Xia Zhiran honestly found a stew pot and climbed into it to wait, Xie Zhiqing would absolutely not tolerate cooking with her.

Xia Zhiran scoffed, “Seems like there’s no room for negotiation then?”

Xie Zhiqing looked at her calmly: “Why? Sending you to the hospital is also a good option, isn’t it?”

…

“But… I want to go to the supermarket.”

A pleasant voice slowly sounded between the two of them.

Xia Zhiran instinctively sneered, but after clearly seeing who spoke, she inexplicably fell silent.

Xie Zhiqing had already instinctively pulled out her phone. After a moment, she read out, “There are two Hema stores within five kilometers, a Sam’s Club eight kilometers away, and an Ole. Which one do you want to browse?”

Cheng Shiyuan raised her hand with a beaming smile: “Any one is fine, mainly because I want Seafood Congee Hotpot for dinner!”

Then, as if remembering something, she turned to ask Xia Zhiran:

“Didn’t you have an allergy to a few types of seafood? How about adding a Steamed Chicken dish?”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned back to Xie Zhiqing: “Perfect, I remember your family has a farm in the suburbs. How about having them send over a fresh free-range chicken?”

Xie Zhiqing looked at her for a few seconds.

Her dark eyes seemed to be telling her off for constantly bossing people around.

But the action in her hand was honest as she made a call, asking the specialized farm in the suburbs that provided Xie family with daily produce and poultry to send the ingredients over.

Actually, she could also call someone to get fresh seafood, but it was already near evening. Choosing some from the supermarket’s seafood section would suffice.

Cheng Shiyuan reached out to Xia Zhiran: “She provided some of the ingredients, so the other expenses tonight should be paid by Boss Xia, right?”

Xia Zhiran originally intended to signal her to take her black card from her wallet.

But seeing that outstretched, pristine palm, she paused, rested her chin on it, and asked meaningfully:

“What are you going to contribute?”

Cheng Shiyuan rarely saw her in a position of weakness. She curled her finger and hooked her chin.

As if scratching a puppy, she replied with a smile, “I’ll contribute the person. My time is quite expensive, you know? Now that I’m willing to accompany you two to the supermarket, what more could you want?”

Of course she wasn’t satisfied—

Xia Zhiran lazily turned her head and looked ominously at a certain bothersome person.

They were rivals, yet they shared a unique understanding. Their eyes met, and they saw mutual disdain.

‘If only she weren’t in the way, it would be perfect.’

However, when Cheng Shiyuan casually grabbed the car keys and prepared to walk out, the people who had been occupying different corners of the room like territorial rivals immediately followed suit.

No one wanted to be the one left behind.

Cheng Shiyuan didn’t forget to confirm with the production crew: “Can other people join their date? Does this count?”

The crew also didn’t want to miss out on the more exciting group interaction segment.

The camera nodded at her, and a staff member answered with a sigh of relief that as long as the two of them agreed, it was fine.

In the parking lot, Cheng Shiyuan was still contemplating the car keys to figure out which one it was.

The guests participating in this season’s recording were all wealthy and influential, and the parking lot was full of familiar luxury cars.

Although Cheng Shiyuan had her own car, she usually traveled with her studio’s schedule, and her assistant and driver were mostly with her, so she hadn’t driven here and couldn’t recognize whose luxury cars these were.

Until the key ring was suddenly taken by a hand.

Xie Zhiqing sighed almost imperceptibly, “This way.”

Cheng Shiyuan said, “Oh,” and followed her towards a Porsche, asking curiously, “Weren’t you taking a Maybach the day before yesterday?”

“The driver has the day off today. She drove it to the 4S shop yesterday for maintenance and drove this one here.”

Xia Zhiran listened from behind to their casual conversation, which sounded like they could recite each other’s family tree.

She couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.

The aloof artist, who had always hated vulgar displays of wealth, spent a second considering if there was still time to have her family driver bring a Rolls-Royce over.

…

However, this was just the beginning—

They had barely been in the supermarket for a minute.

She saw Cheng Shiyuan standing in front of the display shelf with a beaming smile, pointing at a seemingly cheap, artificially flavored milk and asking that irritating person:

“Do you want sweetened milk?”

The irritating person, however, was ungrateful: “…No.”

Cheng Shiyuan looked over, her hands behind her back, curious: “Really? Old Xie. You can’t forget your roots. You clearly loved this sweetened milk the most when you were little.”

Xia Zhiran could no longer hold back.

She took a huge step in front of the shelf, completely blocking Cheng Shiyuan’s view.

She narrowed her eyes: “You only pick out what she likes? What about me? Cheng Little Bird, you’re so biased, aren’t you?”

When did she get this nickname?

Cheng Shiyuan blinked, her gaze shifting to the side, “I remember your preferences too. Do you want to buy some durian to eat?”

Durian was the one fruit that Xia Zhiran hated the most, most, most.

Her face visibly darkened.

Yet, the wounds on both her hands hadn’t healed. No matter how much she wanted revenge, she couldn’t do anything to Cheng Shiyuan.

Cheng Shiyuan rarely saw her in such a state of impotent fury. She happily clapped her hands, pushed her away from the shelf, grabbed the milk, turned around, and didn’t see Xia Zhiran make any move to stop her until she was about to leave.

—A victory achieved too easily was just too boring, wasn’t it?

Not quite accustomed to the sight of the listless little dog-snake, especially since she had just indirectly bullied the person’s “niece,” Cheng Shiyuan pushed the shopping cart and turned to the next aisle of snacks.

After two seconds of hesitation, she tossed a box of Godiva dark chocolate into the cart.

Then, she poked her head out to ask Xia Zhiran, who seemed reluctant to follow: “Just dark chocolate? Do you want any ordinary nuts?”

If Xie Zhiqing had only briefly been obsessed with candy and sweetened milk as a child.

Then Xia Zhiran was a complete sugar addict.

Even during competitions, while athletes from other schools were hastily flipping through their papers to save time, she would slowly tear open a chocolate wrapper, a sight that made the school administrators’ eyelids twitch.

Xia Zhiran snorted.

The expenses tonight were all being paid by her, so why was Cheng Shiyuan being stingy? Did she even need to ask a question like that?

She was extremely unhappy, but her mouth didn’t slow down: “Yes!”

Xie Zhiqing hadn’t said much the whole time, but as she passed each shelf, she would casually and unblinkingly place one or two specific brands into the shopping cart.

By the time Cheng Shiyuan turned away from the colorful, seemingly delicious ice cream freezer.

She found the shopping cart piled high with snacks she had loved from childhood up to the present.

Small braised quail eggs, strawberry-filled cookies, tasty mini puddings—every brand was correct.

She was even cautious about the calories and confirmed with her: “You haven’t been restricting your diet recently, but your weight hasn’t increased. You should be able to eat all of this, right?”

Xie Zhiqing still remembered the incident at the hospital.

Thinking about Cheng Shiyuan’s recent habit of eating whatever she wanted, unlike other actresses, yet still showing no increase in weight.

Xie Zhiqing was both worried about Cheng Shiyuan’s digestive and absorption system and afraid she was being overly suspicious, so she didn’t dare to buy too much for her.

Cheng Shiyuan gave her a noncommittal smile: “Of course I can. What’s wrong, aren’t you envious of my good appetite?”

The only answer was a palm resting on her head.

Xie Zhiqing sighed.

Regardless of anything else, as long as she was healthy and safe.

Gained Xie Zhiqing Love Value: 0.5

Cheng Shiyuan was stunned.

In the bustling supermarket, the air was filled with the scents of various foods and fruits, a completely mundane place full of life’s mundane pleasures.

She had thought that Xie Zhiqing, who had grown accustomed to giving to her and whose actions were based on instinct rather than love, had, in this moment, once again expressed pure love for her.

—It wasn’t that love had turned into a habit, but that love had been engraved into her habits? And in every single moment of giving to her, she still remembered loving her?

She stared blankly at Xie Zhiqing’s retreating figure as she walked toward the fresh food section.

A very subtle, sour feeling emerged in her heart.

She even felt a little absent-minded while signing autographs for the fans who recognized her and gathered around.

…

Until her back was poked. Cheng Shiyuan turned around and was met with a menacing, large lobster pouncing toward her face.

Her pupils constricted sharply!

She even forgot to dodge.

Just as a drop of water was about to land on her face, a hand suddenly shot out from the side.

Xie Zhiqing, who had been asking about the price, looked at Xia Zhiran expressionlessly.

The splashing water droplets landed all over her palm.

She calmly shook them off, making sure to wipe her hands clean with a tissue she always carried, and then glanced at the gauze on Xia Zhiran’s wet palm:

“Seafood infection includes Vibrio vulnificus, Gram-positive bacteria, and anaerobic bacteria. If you don’t want your hand, I can help. Why are you trying to scare her?”

Xia Zhiran “Tch”ed.

She released the lobster and placed it back into the nearby tank, like a bad kid whose prank had failed, feeling bored and uninterested.

After confirming multiple times that she wouldn’t cause any more trouble in the seafood area, Xie Zhiqing had the seafood prepared, and didn’t forget to pull Cheng Shiyuan behind her.

But Cheng Shiyuan would always be drawn to the various seasonal seafood in the tanks.

Xie Zhiqing inevitably had moments where she couldn’t keep an eye on her.

In a momentary lapse of attention, she was gone from her field of vision again, like a bad owner who promises to walk a dog but always insists on letting go of the leash, secretly hiding to see if the dog notices and turns back.

“Drip.”

A strange wetness dropped onto Xia Zhiran’s neck.

She casually wiped it off, but a second drop fell.

Raising an eyebrow, she sighed, “How childish. I’m not going to be scared.”

Sure enough, she heard the avenger’s voice from behind: “Really? If you don’t turn around, I’m going to let go, you know?”

Xia Zhiran lightly rubbed her fingertips together.

She found that it wasn’t just water, but more like… slime?

Her expression changed. As she was still guessing what Cheng Shiyuan had grabbed, she turned around just in time to see a long, wriggling creature slip from the beautiful fingertips of the woman and fall to the floor, its patterned skin nauseating.

It was about to hit her shoe.

Xia Zhiran instinctively took a step back: “Hey!”

“Hahahaha—” Cheng Shiyuan’s hands were dirty, but it was worth the effort she spent grabbing the eel, which almost fell on herself:

“What’s the matter? I thought you’d have a lot in common with this cold-blooded creature. Why, are you afraid of this?”

Xia Zhiran had long known that she was the same kind of person as herself—the kind who enjoyed seeing others embarrassed.

She liked to play pranks and was especially excited by anything mischievous.

Only Xie Zhiqing would be fooled by her sweet talk and think she was some kind of good girl.

At this moment, Xie Zhiqing walked over patiently to wipe Cheng Shiyuan’s hands, and dutifully bought all the food that had been messed with.

Not only that, after returning from the supermarket, Xie Zhiqing knew Cheng Shiyuan would only cause trouble in the kitchen. She preferred to lift her onto a clean countertop, letting her watch the fire, rather than bear to chase her out of that small space.

Xia Zhiran watched, her teeth itching.

She was annoyed that Xie Zhiqing could always easily capture all of Cheng Shiyuan’s attention, and that Cheng Shiyuan, in turn, completely fell for that kind of repressed, silent dedication and hypocritical sacrifice.

If it were before, she would have ruthlessly fought and snatched.

As long as she could draw Cheng Shiyuan’s attention, even if it meant lifting her chin so her eyes could only see herself, Xia Zhiran would have done it without hesitation.

But in the past few days.

She gradually realized that Cheng Shiyuan was precisely the type who wouldn’t be driven by a whip and would stubbornly resist, but once you spoke softly and pretended to be pitiful, she might soften her heart and offer some compassion in return.

Otherwise, how could an ignorant child like Wang Shu have managed to snatch an opportunity from the hands of the rest of them?

Appeasing was Xia Zhiran’s least favorite thing to do—

And even more so, bowing her head to Cheng Shiyuan.

Hearing the light clinking of cutlery and utensils in the kitchen, unconsciously signaling Xie Zhiqing’s pleasant mood.

Xia Zhiran sat in the living room, expressionless, knocking down one block of Jenga after another.

She didn’t know who had been bored earlier and poured out several palettes of paint from the art studio in the house.

“Pat-a.”

“Pat-a.”

The long wooden blocks fell into the paint trays, splattering the table everywhere.

Blue, yellow, and red paint splashed up, flicking onto Xia Zhiran’s jaw, but she didn’t care at all.

Cheng Shiyuan occasionally looked up and saw this silent, oppressive scene of unspoken madness.

She didn’t mind Xia Zhiran making a mess of herself. Even if Xia Zhiran intended to use herself as a paintbrush and jump into a barrel of paint, Cheng Shiyuan wouldn’t interfere.

However…

“I applied your medicine this morning. You messed with seafood, and now you’re playing with paint here. Do you enjoy trampling on my hard work?”

She asked, standing righteously in front of the table.

Xia Zhiran’s eyes moved. She turned her head towards her and indicated, “Then you throw them.”

What was wrong with her? She just loved the sound of things being thrown?

Cheng Shiyuan frowned, half-heartedly throwing a few blocks for her, but Xia Zhiran complained that it wasn’t enough.

So, she threw a block with force—

Splat.

Red paint splashed up, almost landing in Xia Zhiran’s eye.

Her eyelashes fluttered, but her phoenix eyes curved, showing a smile: “Continue.”

Cheng Shiyuan inexplicably felt a surge of wicked pleasure in randomly smearing paint on Xia Zhiran. She began to find this boring activity interesting.

“Don’t throw there, a little to the center.”

“To the left, yes, right there.”

Xia Zhiran actually started directing her, looking quite serious.

Unbeknownst to them, more and more paint landed on her. Cheng Shiyuan felt like she was painting a dark black snake into a seductive red python from a myth, its scales shining in all colors.

Her palm was already layered with random colors, just like the other woman’s face.

She was the one randomly throwing things and unilaterally teasing Xia Zhiran, but in the process, she was constantly getting closer to her.

“Stop.”

When she heard this, Cheng Shiyuan was still a little slow to react.

After a moment, she looked at Xia Zhiran impatiently, “Satisfied? You won’t be able to wash your face clean tonight.”

Xia Zhiran, however, just stared down intently.

After a while, she raised her hand and slowly began to smear, scrape, and layer the messy, randomly splattered paint on the table with the gauze-wrapped hand, doing it patiently and repeatedly.

A few minutes later—

She slowly stopped her hand.

Cheng Shiyuan accidentally glanced at the center of the muddy, messy piles of paint on the table.

Unbeknownst to her, a silhouette of her profile had appeared there, surrounded by a faint halo of light scraped out.

She had been pulled into this chaotic, muddy world.

But she was also the light in the mud.

Xia Zhiran stared at the haphazardly drawn image. After a long time, she propped her head up and laughed softly.

Gained Xia Zhiran Love Value: 1

She seemed to finally understand something.

Her expression was clearly one of unwillingness, yet she had to bow her head to that unwillingness, surrendering her arms.

After a long pause, when the laughter stopped, she looked at Cheng Shiyuan with her colorful face, and lazily spread open the gauze that was now beyond recognition:

“Ah, now it’s completely dirty.”

She stared at Cheng Shiyuan without blinking: “Are you still going to help me tonight?”

Cheng Shiyuan looked into her eyes, knowing clearly that the person she wanted to dirty was herself.

But shamefully, she was always drawn to scenes of a genius’s madness, unable to control herself and fixating her gaze on Xia Zhiran.

She didn’t speak.

Xia Zhiran, however, seemed to have heard her answer. She licked the slightly bitter paint on her lips, a satisfied smile appearing.

Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t stand the fact that she was desperately trying to stay alive here, yet in a short half-day, she saw a person frantically engaging in various suicidal behaviors.

“Do you want to be poisoned? Stop licking it.”

If she hadn’t been infected by that bout of madness just now, she would definitely have pinched Xia Zhiran’s mouth shut.

Xia Zhiran casually replied, “I can’t lick the paint, so how about I lick you?”

“…”

It was just a casual teasing remark.

But seeing Cheng Shiyuan’s body suddenly freeze, a sudden realization struck her, as if an answer had been found.

Xia Zhiran narrowed her eyes dangerously—

Staring once again at the set of clothes on her, which clearly belonged to someone else.

Even though Cheng Shiyuan quickly masked her brief moment of unnaturalness and even had the presence of mind to remind her, “Everything you just said was recorded. What are you going crazy for?”

But Xia Zhiran felt like she had already guessed the extent to which one would have to go while baking a cake that required even a change of clothes.

Tsk.

Little liar.

To think she was secretly doing such things behind her back. This time, a simple reapplication of medicine wouldn’t be enough to earn her forgiveness, would it?