Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Don’t Climb Around

However, the person chosen by Cheng Shiyuan and receiving her favor did not seem to show the joy of a victor.

After Cheng Shiyuan finally walked out of the dark corridor and made her debut in front of the program’s cameras, she looked at Xie Zhiqing’s unusual silence and wrinkled her nose in distress.

It wasn’t until they were familiarizing themselves with the living quarters provided by the production team that she discovered a very spacious indoor sports court.

Cheng Shiyuan suddenly recalled that this morning, Xie Zhiqing’s run had been shorter than usual just to accompany her to the filming—a large canine, if it doesn’t meet its daily activity quota, might develop mental health issues.

She immediately pulled out a badminton racket.

She thrust it into Xie Zhiqing’s hand.

Then, she turned her head, contemplating how to trick some unlucky staff member into being Xie Zhiqing’s sparring partner.

However, the “large canine” seemed to have no intention of switching handlers.

Half an hour later.

Cheng Shiyuan endured the cursed life value on her head—which would drop mercilessly if she moved one meter away from Xie Zhiqing—while the other person deliberately played her like a kite, dragging her across the court diagonally, making her run around like a dog to retrieve the shuttlecock.

Her wrist trembled, her eyes glazed over, and tiny beads of sweat broke out on the tip of her white nose.

Seeing another shuttlecock lobbed high, flying over the net and heading towards her—if she didn’t quickly run back and jump to return it, the shot would land inside the out-of-bounds line, costing her a point—

Cheng Shiyuan ignored it and instead ran in the opposite direction of the shuttlecock, towards the “opponent” on the other side of the net.

“The shuttlecock isn’t here.”

“You’ve fouled.”

Compared to her pathetic appearance, with skin flushed from intense exertion, Xie Zhiqing, who had also been moving for half an hour on the other side of the net, showed not a single bead of sweat on her face or neck.

Her dark eyes were as calm as an abyss, and she even casually twirled the racket on her wrist.

“I concede…” Cheng Shiyuan’s voice trembled. Her legs, even at the knees, lost their strength to support her. She tumbled onto the floor and looked up at Xie Zhiqing, announcing with a shaky breath: “You-you won.”

She forced a brief pause, glanced at the life value above her head that had only just increased through physical contact, only to be knocked back to its original number by Xie Zhiqing’s deliberate spacing. She curled her lips with a touch of helplessness.

She repeated: “You won, Xie Zhiqing.”

She asked persistently: “Aren’t you happy about it?”

In fairy tales, the evil dragon has to fight the warriors, get scarred, and still might not win the princess. Yet, here the princess actively chose to leap into the dragon’s embrace and even helped her slay her enemies. What more could she be dissatisfied with?

Was the reward not enough?

So hard to appease.

Thinking this, Cheng Shiyuan let out a long breath, disregarding the surrounding cameras. She dropped the racket, stretched out her hands toward Xie Zhiqing, and requested with a bright smile:

“I really have no strength left.”

“How about you carry me back?”

Xie Zhiqing’s cold, dark eyes reflected the petite figure in her shadow from above.

The face, barely the size of a palm, was damp with sweat and flecked with stray hairs, yet it inexplicably brought to mind a peach that had been baked by the sun and then sprinkled with rain—making one’s teeth itch with desire, wanting to bite into it fiercely before it fully ripened, savoring its sweet juice and soft flesh.

She pressed her tongue against her back teeth. Her gaze deepened.

Xie Zhiqing closed her eyes, yet still couldn’t resist the passion and desire surging in her chest. Before she realized it, her body had already instinctively obeyed the person’s command, turning her back to Cheng Shiyuan and half-squatting down.

The tall, slender figure bowed its head submissively.

The sleek black hair tied up fell onto her shoulder, looking wonderfully soft to the touch.

When Cheng Shiyuan climbed onto her back, she couldn’t help but raise her hand to savor Xie Zhiqing’s healthy, smooth hair texture, like stroking prized satin at a fabric store.

The production team loved this couple, who automatically started displaying affection during the house tour. Over a dozen cameras clustered around from all directions, capturing every small interaction between them.

Cheng Shiyuan felt the back muscles of the person beneath her gradually tense up from discomfort.

She suddenly felt that only touching the cold black hair wasn’t enough.

If I increase the contact area, can I extend my life value even more?

Having found a suitable justification for herself, she licked her lips and casually mentioned: “I think I saw a sauna and steam room here earlier. It’s been ages since I tried those. Should we go check if they’re any good?”

The cameras wouldn’t be able to follow them into such a private space.

Xie Zhiqing naturally understood her little scheme.

She pressed her thin lips together but ultimately did not utter the “sweating after exercise is not advisable” that was on the tip of her tongue.

So, the moment Cheng Shiyuan stepped into the wooden, dedicated floor connected to the steam room, she was eager to rush straight to the destination, only to be forcibly twisted by Xie Zhiqing into the shower room.

I almost forgot this person is a clean freak—

Remembering Xie Zhiqing took at least three showers a day during exercise periods, Cheng Shiyuan held onto the shower room door after stepping inside and looked at the person outside with blinking eyes: “I’ll be quick, you stand right here and wait for me, okay? Don’t wander off, I’ll wait for you too afterward.”

Childish, like elementary school students who are afraid of boring ghost stories and have to hold hands to line up for the restroom.

Xie Zhiqing said nothing.

But Cheng Shiyuan knew she wouldn’t refuse, so she didn’t make her wait long. She quickly rinsed off and came out wrapped in a towel, announcing: “It’s your turn now~”

But the person in front of her had a different plan: “Your stamina is too poor. If you don’t relax your muscles after exercise, you probably won’t be able to get up tomorrow.”

Remembering that Xie Zhiqing had apparently passed some sort of sports medicine certification, Cheng Shiyuan found it hard to resist such professional temptation.

Besides, if she let Xie Zhiqing help her relax her muscles first, and then they went to the steam room together, wouldn’t she be getting double the reward after that hellish sparring session!

Cheng Shiyuan: I get two waves of pleasure!

…

Wait, I think I’ve been tricked.

“Don’t be so rough… a little lighter.”

Cheng Shiyuan, lying face down on the bench, struggled to reach out, groaning and trying to escape the devil’s claws behind her.

Xie Zhiqing looked expressionlessly at the patch of snow-white back. A casual press and twist of her finger seemed to brand a dazzling red plum blossom petal on the white skin, which was thinner and more delicate than cloth.

Like a flowing cloud, utterly different from her thick-skinned, robust, and sturdy partners.

Xie Zhiqing felt like she only had to touch her skin to hear Cheng Shiyuan’s whining protests. For a moment, she even suspected she was being framed, so she couldn’t help but follow a muscle fiber and add a bit more force—

The next second.

The person beneath her almost shot up, scrambling on the bench, fleeing on her knees without any regard for her image: “I-I-I’m not getting a massage… I don’t want it, I don’t want it…!”

Xie Zhiqing only extended a single index finger and hooked the back collar of her bathrobe.

“Stop moving around.”

She mercilessly yanked her back and pressed her down onto the bench by the back of her neck.

Like a large predator in the wild gently grabbing a small animal by the scruff of its neck, warning it not to move.

Glancing at the audio equipment that the production team, unable to install cameras, had reluctantly placed nearby, Xie Zhiqing thought of the sticky, highly suggestive sounds that had just escaped Cheng Shiyuan.

She moved her palm from the back of the neck, tracing the delicate, exquisite jawline and then covering those soft lips. She asked calmly: “Do you need my help?”

Cheng Shiyuan imagined the scene of her lips being muffled from behind and shivered violently.

If she couldn’t make a sound, this person would definitely not hold back. She might be pressed to death on this chair today.

She shook her head vigorously, for the first time pulling away the hand from her lips when being touched by the other person.

She then looked at the equipment placed not far away, lowered her head spitefully, and actively bit the corner of her bathrobe, softening her voice indistinctly:

“Be gentle… I can’t bear your strength…”

In reality, the adhered muscles and fascia had mostly been relaxed.

But Xie Zhiqing didn’t reveal this. Instead, in the face of her concession, she leaned closer, her lowered voice drifting softly into the ear that was flushed red, either from pain or heat:

“Bear it even if you can’t.”

“Didn’t you choose this?”

Thinking of how Cheng Shiyuan, in the dark corridor earlier, had switched from Xia Ziran’s side to hers merely because of the phrase “doesn’t like the aggressive type,” Xie Zhiqing felt no joy, only a sense of absurdity.

She looked at the delicate body beneath her. Although her athletic ability was inferior to hers, and her intelligence was inferior to Xia Ziran’s, she could effortlessly twist both of them around her finger—

It was like setting a flimsy paper hat and a handful of dog food in front of two fighting fierce dogs and symbolically declaring one the winner.

How could Xie Zhiqing swallow this insult?

She reached out, traced the spine, and pressed again on the sensitive area of Cheng Shiyuan’s lower back, which reacted intensely to pain. As the sound of extreme, unbearable suppression escaped Cheng Shiyuan’s throat again.

She bit down on the flushed earlobe.

She even deliberately ground her sharp teeth against it, wanting to verify if the taste was as sweet as it looked earlier.

“Mmmph—!”

Beneath her palm, the delicate skin trembled violently.

Like an incredulous owner who had been bitten by the loyal pet she had raised.

So, Xie Zhiqing’s voice, containing a slight amusement, whispered into that ear: “When you treat others like dogs to tease them, didn’t you consider that you might get bitten?”

Cheng Shiyuan’s fingers clenched the corner of the bathrobe, so hard that her knuckles were white. The air in her ear was cold and hot, and her lower back was both painful and itchy. Yet, her body felt comfortable and pleased by this treatment because her life value was being extended.

The fierce sensory conflict made her look lost and bewildered for once.

She didn’t even notice when tears began to fall.

But the fragile body could only endure so much stimulation. Sensing that the person behind her was still dissatisfied with all she had gained, and as the rough, calloused palm began to rub against her tender skin again.

Cheng Shiyuan’s knees instinctively moved.

Then, her ankle was gripped by a large palm.

“Don’t climb around.”

“Lie still.”

Xie Zhiqing warned.

Hearing this cold, deliberately fierce voice, Cheng Shiyuan knew this was purposeful retaliation for her “doesn’t like the aggressive type” comment, but she felt a strange sense of grievance and subconsciously reached out to push her away.

Her palm pressed randomly, accidentally landing on a patch of skin that felt soft but quickly tensed up.

She could even feel the lines and contours of firm muscle.

Cheng Shiyuan’s fingers involuntarily retracted.

From Xie Zhiqing’s perspective, she could easily see the hand grabbing haphazardly at her abdomen.

She gave a self-mocking twist of her lips, never expecting Cheng Shiyuan to be so incorrigible, selfishly using these seductive tactics in such a situation, regardless of her feelings.

Her voice turned colder: “Open your eyes and look clearly.”

“I am not one of your exes you can casually sleep with.”

Cheng Shiyuan was utterly baffled by her fury.

Although her relationship with Xie Zhiqing had been on-again, off-again since childhood, she had never easily invited this person to a sexual encounter.

Was she tired of living? Sleeping with Xie Zhiqing, this heavy-handed brute?

This person, who had never dated anyone other than herself from the past to the present, could she even figure things out in bed? Could she find the right spot? Does she know how many fingers to use to make her comfortable?

Cheng Shiyuan raised a hand and rubbed the ear she’d been bitten on, feeling a few deep teeth marks. Recalling the posture she had taken just now, as if she wanted to eat her raw, she sneered inwardly, What’s the problem with treating her like a dog?

A bad dog that is incredibly difficult to appease and satisfy.

In the past, Cheng Shiyuan would have stopped indulging her long ago. Now, she sat up from the chair with a dark expression, just about to comment on Xie Zhiqing’s awful massage technique and give her a one-star bad review—

When her foot accidentally kicked something under the bench, causing a loud noise.

“Doo-doo-doo-doo!!”

Both of them were distracted by the sudden sound. Cheng Shiyuan simply picked up the device, straightened her robe, and opened the door to question the production staff outside.

“Congratulations, Teacher Cheng, on discovering one of our program’s ‘Dating Props,’ the Love Traffic Light!”

Cheng Shiyuan: “?”

Seeing her confusion, the staff member immediately explained: “This is a little surprise we placed randomly. Every house has one. The person who finds it can choose to press one of its red, yellow, or green lights.”

“If, while your light is on, a guest finds another similar device and lights up the same color as you, both of you will receive a special romantic date arrangement!”

Cheng Shiyuan immediately pressed the Green light.

Then she turned and raised an eyebrow at Xie Zhiqing.

She seemed to have completely forgotten the nasty things Xie Zhiqing had just said, opening her mouth with exceptional magnanimity: “I’ll leave it on just like this until I help you find another one, okay?”

Hmph. The bad dog better be touched by her generous gesture of putting aside their differences and actively inviting her on a date, and then apologize and admit her mistake!

She knew Xie Zhiqing was always susceptible to gentle persuasion.

However, this time, it wasn’t Xie Zhiqing who broke her plan.

It was the light in her hand that started squealing again, and the activated green light became even brighter! Like a shining green hat! (A Chinese idiom for being cheated on)

Before her look of confusion could fully form, the reality show staff member beside her had already rushed to answer:

“Teacher Cheng, congratulations! You have successfully matched with a dating partner—”

Cheng Shiyuan hadn’t yet reacted.

Huh, huh, huh?? Wait, Xie Zhiqing hasn’t found the other light yet, right?

She saw unconcealed schadenfreude in the staff member’s eyes, and at the same time, the person raised the megaphone to announce the procedure:

“Congratulations to guests Cheng Shiyuan and Xia Ziran for successfully matching with the ‘Love Green Light!’ You have both won one exclusive date reward~”

Cheng Shiyuan: “…”

Cheng Shiyuan: “…………”

She saw it.

Xie Zhiqing’s face was greener than the green light in her hand.