Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Care To Step Inside?

Xia Zhiran had originally planned to seriously paint a portrait of Cheng Shiyuan.

After all, the spontaneous silhouette she created on the table wasn’t as easy to keep as one on canvas—

However, the moment she realized that Wang Shu and Cheng Shiyuan’s simple “cake-making” date wasn’t as innocent as she had imagined, all the childish notions in Xia Zhiran’s mind vanished.

Even if Cheng Shiyuan followed her into the studio, she no longer had any interest in picking up a brush, unless that brush was to be used to truthfully document Cheng Shiyuan’s “purity.”

She wanted to use these eyes to see if Wang Shu had left any improper marks on her.

To use the brush to part her collar, her waistband, examining every inch of her skin.

Especially.

To see if the scent of cream had squeezed into places it shouldn’t have.

Would the pure white cream stain the skin beneath her clothes, just as the paint was currently contaminating Cheng Shiyuan’s hands?

There was no reason why the places her niece could go, the views she could see, were off-limits to her, was there?

Xia Zhiran’s expression was a cold, almost cruel calmness.

But the paint that crisscrossed over most of her face was like a fiery mask, threatening to ignite those phoenix eyes.

For a moment, she recalled her time in life drawing classes during her youth.

Even if the teacher found a model with the most perfect lines, bold and unrestrained, lying naked in the sunlight, in Xia Zhiran’s eyes, they were nothing more than boring lines.

The light and shadow of the skin, the height and depression of the bones, even the texture of the bulging veins—to Xia Zhiran, it was no different from drawing trees, birds, or the sky.

But now, she suddenly wanted to replace the models in her memory with Cheng Shiyuan.

She wanted to place Cheng Shiyuan on the sunniest windowsill, compelling her to honestly display every part of her body to her.

Not allowing her to conceal even an iota.

The lighting was dim in the escape room last time, and she didn’t actually see clearly. She wondered if the skin where the whip fell was as red, swollen, and hot as she had imagined.

Did the whip’s tip stray, sweeping across softer, more pain-sensitive areas?

It would be best to trigger the body’s instinct, secreting some self-protective fluid, which would slowly gather in the scorching sunlight.

Until the body could no longer support the weight of that single droplet.

Under Xia Zhiran’s gaze, it would slowly lengthen, drip, and fall onto the clean windowsill.

And she would still be able to righteously question the model, asking why she was so unprofessional, why she had dared to allow her body to show unnecessary changes without permission.

Her eyes gradually became fraught with impending storm.

Until a voice abruptly broke the beautiful scene.

“Shi Yuan.”

Xie Zhiqing, standing by the kitchen, glanced over and calmly reminded her: “Dinner is about to be served. Go wash your hands.”

Cheng Shiyuan responded, already smelling the fragrant ingredients wafting from the steamed chicken on the stove.

With summer approaching and the show being filmed on an island with high humidity, Xie Zhiqing must have added Five-fingered Fig Root to dispel dampness. That unique milky fragrance instantly made her mouth water.

Watching her prey, which was about to jump into the trap, get startled by another sound and escape just like that, Xia Zhiran looked at Xie Zhiqing with a gloomy, displeased expression.

Xie Zhiqing, however, remained unmoved, letting her stare.

Ever since Cheng Shiyuan returned to this villa in the afternoon, from Cheng Shiyuan’s instinctual habit of always lingering around her, Xie Zhiqing guessed that she had probably done something she felt she shouldn’t have.

Because it had always been this way.

Cheng Shiyuan, who automatically became the center of attention wherever she went, was well aware of the allure of her beauty.

She knew that few of her admirers dared to genuinely express their love or have the courage to pursue her. So, it was always her whimsy, choosing people to experience different kinds of romance.

For example, when she wanted to approach the handsome footballer, she felt too embarrassed by the injury he got while playing. During her recovery, Cheng Shiyuan, unusually, was very fond of sticking to Xie Zhiqing.

During the trip to the supermarket just now, Xie Zhiqing had observed her all along.

Watching Cheng Shiyuan deliberately pick things that Xia Zhiran liked and play that childishly scary game with her using ingredients—

She was clearly feeling guilty.

And the source of that guilt, no matter how she thought about it, could only be related to that mixed-race pup from the Xia family.

Of course, a hint of sourness arose in Xie Zhiqing’s heart. However, the “sense of propriety” she was warned about during their exclusive date was like a collar tightening around her neck. If she were to reach out again, it would only incur Cheng Shiyuan’s disgust.

She could only silently defuse the situation for her, like this.

Anyway.

In any scenario, the person surnamed Xia was at fault.

Xia Zhiran was already malicious enough, but she also used despicable means to bring her family’s child over to compete for favor. That child, clearly raised overseas, must have an even more open mind and behavior.

Xie Zhiqing would absolutely not tolerate the younger one using all sorts of tricks to pretend to be obedient and gain benefits, only for the parent to dare to turn around and accuse her in front of her, claiming the child was corrupted, and thus seeking to exact a “debt” from Cheng Shiyuan.

The Xia family would win twice, coming and going?

How could such a good thing exist in this world?

…

The two of them, as always, continued their rivalry, operating on the principle that if one of them couldn’t eat, the person across from them certainly wouldn’t be allowed to eat either.

Until a voice suddenly joined the dining table: “Are you just having dinner now?”

It was Chen Chuxing who had returned.

Her concerned gaze fell upon Cheng Shiyuan.

What she heard earlier was Ji Sheng’s voice, urging her while avoiding the camera:

“Big Star, are you even capable? You took my deposit and promised me this, but I haven’t seen a shadow of it yet. You couldn’t even get her date opportunity. Could it be that you’re past your prime and have lost your charm?”

“The media praises you as the ‘Scandal Queen,’ claiming there’s no tycoon you can’t conquer. Did you buy all those articles yourself?”

“Fine, I’ll give you a chance. My birthday is in a couple of days. The Cheng family’s old house will be celebrating. I’ll give you an opportunity. If you fail this time, refunding my deposit won’t be the end of it.”

The child’s jealousy was too obvious to miss.

Chen Chuxing barely had to look up to know what kind of plan Ji Sheng would have. It was nothing more than wanting Cheng Shiyuan, the former heir, to be relegated to an unnoticed background leaf, highlighting her, the booming red flower.

Furthermore.

Given Ji Sheng’s previous attempt to sabotage someone’s styling and slash someone’s dress in the studio, her thinking this time was probably still the same old trick.

Was she planning to use the same despicable drugging method she had used before? Or had she lined up the media, ready to write sensational articles about Cheng Shiyuan?

Chen Chuxing could think of a hundred ways to make this new heir lose her reputation just by considering it casually.

But.

On her way back, she received that phone call.

Just seeing the caller ID was enough to make Chen Chuxing’s heart clench. She even forgot to speak the moment she answered the phone.

It was the other party’s melodious voice that actively showed her a sense of friendliness:

“Planning on attending the Cheng family’s banquet, Chuxing?”

But the very first sentence made Chen Chuxing’s skin crawl.

It was like this again, just like this—

For many years at the beginning, Chen Chuxing always suspected that she had been secretly implanted with bugs and cameras, and even felt that everyone around her was an existence sent by Shen Lingxi to monitor her.

It wasn’t until she realized that if she continued like this, her paranoia would first lead her to spend a fortune at a psychiatric clinic that she forced herself to adapt to Shen Lingxi’s way of doing things.

But every time she heard Shen Lingxi feign closeness, mimicking an ordinary person’s concern for a friend’s latest news, asking questions like “Have you eaten dinner yet?”, Chen Chuxing couldn’t help but feel a chill.

She couldn’t control herself from frantically trying to figure out what Shen Lingxi meant.

Did this person also plan to go to the Cheng family’s banquet?

Or was it because her recent investigation into Cheng Shiyuan’s specific whereabouts over the past few years had overlapped with Shen Lingxi’s itinerary? Had she tipped her off? Was her boss warning her?

“Don’t be nervous.” The other party seemed to be able to see her expression through the phone, slowing her speech as if to comfort her.

But whether it was due to poor imitation or an intentional breach of protocol, the words, uttered deliberately and slowly, only reminded Chen Chuxing of the image of slowly slicing flesh with a blunt knife.

Sure enough, the person on the other end of the phone slowly but surely changed the topic.

“—Haven’t you already found out about Cheng Shiyuan and me?”

She quietly took a breath: “Boss, I…”

“Shhh.”

A short shushing sound, passed through the receiver, yet seemed to blow a gust of wind.

As a chill rose in her heart, Shen Lingxi’s voice was laced with a hint of a smile: “I’m not blaming you.”

“We’ll see each other at the Cheng family’s place then.”

“By the way, don’t do anything unnecessary to ruin the surprise I’m preparing for her, okay? That would really trouble me.”

Chen Chuxing couldn’t even remember how the call ended.

The faint echo of that light, airy phrase, “That would really trouble me,” resonated in her ears.

Before her eyes, however, appeared the image of a foreign tycoon she had once seen. He had completely abandoned the high spirits of their first meeting, kneeling before Shen Lingxi without an ounce of dignity, weeping and begging her to show mercy and let him go, saying he had an old mother and young children.

Shen Lingxi quietly listened to his pleas, raised a hand and pressed her forehead, giving him a very standard smile.

She advised him not to be like this, as it would trouble her greatly.

But the man put on a big show, even gathering a crowd to cry in front of Shen Lingxi’s door, vowing for everyone passing by to see how vicious Shen Lingxi’s methods were, to be so merciless to a competitor.

But a few days later, all the commotion vanished.

Chen Chuxing initially thought the man had felt embarrassed and quietly given up.

It was only later that she heard a maid who had resigned from the Shen household casually mention this to someone else:

“I heard that the boss hired people to record and contacted the media, but that night, he received news that his old mother passed away in the middle of the night. The other younger relatives were in a hurry to bury her and collect the funeral meal money, but they were so stingy they didn’t even hire a chef and insisted on cooking the meals themselves.”

“Guess what? The string beans were undercooked, and the chicken was one that died from accidentally eating pesticide. Half the family was poisoned on the spot, and the whole village was brought down by their family. The boss couldn’t rescue anyone, losing his family overnight, and he couldn’t take it and jumped into the river.”

“Sigh, you really shouldn’t cross someone like Boss Shen, who makes big money and has great fortune. See, even heaven is helping her.”

Chen Chuxing was suspicious, always feeling that the story was specifically told for her to hear.

Coincidentally, the second time she went to Shen Lingxi’s mansion, Shen Lingxi also brought up the matter, mimicking someone’s tone of complaint in a believable way:

“I was actually having a headache over that matter.”

“Thankfully, heaven has eyes. By the way, Chuxing, you shouldn’t do anything like that in the future that would trouble me, okay?”

In Chen Chuxing’s dream that night, she saw those abyss-like eyes, devoid of any emotion, staring straight at her.

She even had nightmares for a whole week.

….

Her wrist was suddenly pulled, startling her into instinctively dodging.

Until she met those beautiful, questioning, and caring eyes: “Is big sister fainting from hunger?”

Cheng Shiyuan chewed on her chopsticks, examining her, “Your complexion is so bad. Did Ji Sheng not treat you to anything on the date today? Do you want to sit down and eat something?”

She knew.

Chen Chuxing was a workaholic who could spin herself into a top when busy. Unfortunately, her entire team was the same way. Sometimes, during a film shoot, she could rely on just two candies given by fans to sustain herself from three or four in the morning until past midnight the next day.

Cheng Shiyuan used to hate that there was no one around her to force her to eat. Many times, she had to forcefully pull the script away from her, forcing her to finish her meal in front of her before allowing her to immerse herself in work again.

Chen Chuxing, absent-mindedly, sat down beside her.

Only then did she realize there were no extra chairs by the table.

Xie Zhiqing and Xia Zhiran were seated on either side of her, so Cheng Shiyuan was sharing half of her chair with her.

Seeing Cheng Shiyuan seemingly intending to give her her utensils as well, Xie Zhiqing closed her eyes, “I’ll go get a new set of bowls and chopsticks.”

Xia Zhiran smiled, speaking unhurriedly to the newcomer in the field of competition:

“Is Great Star Chen nearsighted? Or does she have poor eyesight? There’s such a large empty chair over there. Do you want me to help you move it over?”

She shook the gauze on both her hands, expressing her “concern” sarcastically.

Chen Chuxing, however, had no time to respond to either of them at this moment.

She just calmly assessed them.

The one surnamed Xie, too predictable, pass.

This one surnamed Xia is aggressive enough, but unfortunately, she seems to be all bark, pass.

As for her niece, she couldn’t rely on her at all.

—Did Shen Lingxi specially select and tolerate these non-competitive people to be on the stage?

Chen Chuxing was so anxious that she felt a slight irritation. She cycled through the people around Cheng Shiyuan in her mind, but couldn’t pick out a single character who could stand on equal footing with Shen Lingxi.

She could even hear in her mind the sound of Shen Lingxi, when bored, asking her to play chess to pass the time. The crisp, loud sound of her holding a piece and knocking off the obstructing pieces one by one from the chessboard.

“Splat.”

She seemed to see her own chess piece, head and body separated, smashed into pieces again.

“Chuxing, you seem distracted.”

“Big sister, you seem distracted.”

The exact same voice sounded close by.

Chen Chuxing heard the strange, clear articulation and suddenly realized: Shen Lingxi’s style of talking to her was an imitation of Cheng Shiyuan’s?!

Cheng Shiyuan felt that Chen Chuxing was extremely suspicious tonight.

But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t figure out what that Ji Sheng could have done on a date to scare her person like this.

Although she hadn’t had much contact with the Cheng family over the years, the circle was small. Cheng Shiyuan had heard a little about Ji Sheng’s style and methods.

Childish, extreme, and presumptuous.

If it weren’t for the old fogeys of the Cheng family doing their best to protect her, she didn’t know how many times she would have messed up.

Based on her past experience, Cheng Shiyuan would rather believe that Chen Chuxing had encountered a major demon like Shen Lingxi. After all, the two of them at least shared one thing in common: both were born in Hong Kong.

But the next second, she automatically dismissed that option.

Impossible.

She had been by Shen Lingxi’s side for three years and had never heard the name Chen Chuxing.

It was understandable, too. Aside from her, the lover, she had never seen Chen Chuxing get close to any other woman. The usual news of her appearing in tabloids made everyone naturally assume Chen Chuxing was heterosexual.

Cheng Shiyuan just assumed her mind was being affected by that lingering ghost of a person, Shen Lingxi. She stuffed the chopsticks into Chen Chuxing’s hand:

“Hurry up. These two dishes won’t taste good if they cool down.”

However, an uninvited guest rang the doorbell at that moment.

Ji Sheng entered the villa, holding several invitations.

She immediately saw the untouched dinner in front of them.

“Good evening, everyone. Am I interrupting you right now?”

Xia Zhiran rolled her eyes: “Aren’t you already interrupting? Just say what you need to say.”

Ji Sheng clenched her molars.

If it weren’t for the close business cooperation between the Cheng family and the Xia family, barely qualifying them as upstream and downstream in the industrial chain—damn it, she had to figure out how to get the board to agree to switch partners for the next project when she got back.

She could tolerate it for the show, but seeing this bunch of Cheng Shiyuan’s sycophants in a work context too? It would drive her crazy.

On the surface, however, Ji Sheng smiled naturally: “I’m here to deliver birthday invitations. The Cheng family is holding a birthday banquet for me in a few days. I figured since we’re all on the same show, it saves the butler the trouble of mailing them to each of you.”

She looked at Cheng Shiyuan, asking expectantly: “Cousin, you’ll come, won’t you?”

Cheng Shiyuan didn’t really want to go herself.

But she couldn’t fend off the constant phone calls she had received over the past two days. Various elders from home and abroad all told her not to make things too difficult, because this event was essentially a public announcement of Ji Sheng’s heir status.

If Cheng Shiyuan didn’t go, people would assume there was some shady internal affair regarding the Cheng family’s transfer of power. Those below would also be prone to malicious thoughts. In short, she had to play the part of a “harmonious family” even if it was just for show.

Cheng Shiyuan lazily took her copy.

She could even feel Xie Zhiqing and Xia Zhiran’s attention focused on her.

She found it amusing and suddenly wanted to know, if she said she wasn’t going, given the relationship between the Xia, Xie, and Cheng families, would they dare to follow suit and say “no”?

She twirled the gold-stamped invitation in her fingers for a while. Then, she suddenly spoke, asking the person whose eyes were watching her invitation, though she hadn’t noticed until now.

“What about Big Sister?”

Chen Chuxing was startled: “What?”

Ji Sheng quickly interjected: “How could I leave her out? We’re all on the same show. I already sent her copy.”

Chen Chuxing slowly nodded: “Right.”

Cheng Shiyuan said, “Oh,” meaningfully.

She waved the invitation in front of Chen Chuxing: “Then what do you think? Should I go?”

Ji Sheng’s face instantly darkened.

Whether to attend her birthday banquet was Cheng Shiyuan’s decision alone. What was the meaning of asking an actress?

But to her surprise, Chen Chuxing was slightly more useful than she thought. She was worthy of being the one who had once infatuated Cheng Shiyuan to the point of losing her mind, making her give up this golden throne for her. She was barely more useful than her other exes—

Ji Sheng stared coldly at Chen Chuxing.

Silently urging her.

‘What are you waiting for? Just say yes!’

Chen Chuxing’s mind was screaming rejection, yet Shen Lingxi’s voice reappeared devilishly in her head.

“I would be very troubled. I would be very troubled. I would be very troubled, you know…”

“Go.” Finally, she heard herself answer with a smile: “Everyone will be there, right? A banquet is a lively place. I remember you liked liveliness when you were little, didn’t you?”

She stared at those affectionate, cunning peach blossom eyes.

In her heart, she couldn’t help but wonder.

If she had said “don’t go,” would Cheng Shiyuan have obediently listened?

She wouldn’t.

Rebellious children hated her self-imposed interference the most. The more Chen Chuxing obstructed her on this matter, the more Cheng Shiyuan would ultimately want to do it.

The moment she spoke her answer, a sudden relief washed over her, but it wasn’t one of celebration, but a kind of despair at only being able to watch the other person walk into a trap.

Shen Lingxi clearly knew that even without that phone call, the outcome of this matter wouldn’t have changed.

But her boss was that malicious—

She liked to announce the inevitable outcome beforehand, then watch the prey repeatedly contemplate escape in her palm, only to be helplessly driven towards the ending she had arranged.

Cheng Shiyuan showed a bored expression.

She thought she might hear some of her hypocritical advice, like how she should go home and spend more time with her family, or perhaps hints that she should be polite in front of the cameras. But after waiting for a long time, all she got was such an airtight answer?

True to form for the experienced Queen Chen of the screen.

She turned her head and gave Ji Sheng a professional fake smile as well: “Of course I’ll go. It’s my cousin’s birthday. I definitely have to show up, right?”

Ji Sheng looked at her with a beaming smile: “Of course.”

She glanced at everyone in the villa, “I promise this banquet will be enjoyable for all of you. Well, I wish you all a pleasant dinner.”

With that, regardless of anyone else’s reaction, she left as arbitrarily as she arrived.

Cheng Shiyuan casually placed the invitation on the corner of the table.

She was about to ask what was up with Chen Chuxing’s abnormal behavior, but the corner of the table was tapped.

Xia Zhiran looked at her pointedly: “You haven’t touched your chopsticks for a while; you must be full.”

“Then come with me for your dressing change.”

Before dinner, she had already gone to the next building to command Wang Shu to skillfully clean off the paint on her face. Only the treatment of her hands was rough, with only a simple change of the bandages.

There were still scattered colored marks below her wrists.

If you didn’t look at the coffee table in the living room, which had completely turned into a piece of art, and the paint splattered on the floor, no one would guess her earlier madness.

Xia Zhiran thus, brazenly, got up and walked to the bedroom she was staying in, right in front of the two other competitors.

Click.

She turned the doorknob.

The door opened a crack, revealing the faint light and view inside to Cheng Shiyuan.

Xia Zhiran stood at the door, slowly raising an eyebrow at her: “Care to step inside?”