Pretending Not to Love You [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Liu Min gave them their drinks and went back inside the cabin. Zuo Qiu lowered his head and took a sip of coke, but he didn’t dare to continue asking Xiao Baijun what type of person he liked. After all, a straight man’s preferences would never be related to homosexuality.

Seeing Zuo Qiu busy looking down and “killing fish” (focusing on the task), Xiao Baijun didn’t talk to him anymore. He felt a little disheartened. Doesn’t this person care at all about what type I like?

After everyone ate lunch, Liu Min arranged for them to rest in the cabin rooms. Because the number of rooms was limited, Zuo Qiu and Xiao Baijun were once again arranged in the same rest area.

Zuo Qiu closed his eyes, listening to Xiao Baijun tossing and turning on the other bed. After a while, he heard the sound of a lighter clicking, and then the room filled with the smell of smoke—the kind Xiao Baijun usually smoked. Breathing in the familiar scent, Zuo Qiu slowly drifted off to sleep.

Xiao Baijun exhaled a smoke ring and glanced at Zuo Qiu, who was sleeping with his back to him. He felt resentful. Is this guy a little too carefree?

After their afternoon nap, Liu Min summoned everyone to the cabin lounge for a gathering, ostensibly to “get to know each other and enhance relationships,” which basically meant playing games.

“Let’s play a game called ‘I Tell You Left’,” Liu Min announced. “The rule is, if I tell you to look left, you must look right. If I tell you to look up, you must look down.”

The game was actually very simple; it tested a person’s reaction time. The player just had to quickly perform the opposite action of the command.

“Look, do you see this box? This is the Punishment Box. It contains many small slips of paper, each detailing the punishment you will receive. I hear the punishments are quite outrageous, so everyone, be careful!”

For fairness, everyone would get a chance to be “God” (the one giving the commands). Liu Min was the first to be God.

The six people other than Liu Min sat in a row on stools. Liu Min walked up to the first person, Zheng Yang, and before issuing the command, told him, “You’re the first, and you’re the boss. You can’t let the residents laugh at you.”

Zheng Yang nodded seriously. “I guarantee I will complete the commander’s mission.”

Liu Min nodded solemnly, then pointed her right index finger to the left. Zheng Yang immediately followed and looked left.

“Hahahaha, Brother Yang is victorious in his first battle!”

“Amazing, Boss Zheng. Never contradict the boss’s wife!”

“Hurry up and draw a slip, hurry.”

Liu Min sighed in exasperation, saying angrily, “You’ve completely disgraced the production team.”

Zheng Yang pouted like an aggrieved wife: “Honey, I’m sorry~”

Liu Min ignored him. Zheng Yang had no choice but to hope that the punishment wouldn’t be too tragic.

Lin Xiao eagerly brought the box to Zheng Yang. Zheng Yang reached in, pulled out a slip, opened it, and immediately fell to the floor.

Lin Xiao quickly went over, snatched the slip, and burst into laughter: “Oh my god, are we finally going to witness someone jumping into the sea?”

Zheng Yang lay on the ground, heartbroken. “Baby can’t swim!”

Liu Min came over to comfort him: “It’s fine. You are allowed to wear a life jacket to jump, and we have special personnel down there to save you.” The production team was well-prepared. Before Zheng Yang “jumped into the sea,” there were several lifeguards waiting in the water.

Zheng Yang couldn’t refuse. He got up and walked towards the bow of the boat. The other six people, eager for a show, rushed forward to watch despite the strong sun. Zheng Yang hesitated, not daring to jump. After a long moment, he turned back to Liu Min and said, “You jump, I jump.”

Liu Min rolled her eyes. Did he really think he was Jack? But I’m not Rose!

“You go first!” With that, she kicked Zheng Yang into the sea.

Zheng Yang screamed as he went into the water, splashing a huge wave.

Xiao Baijun stood on the periphery and said to Zuo Qiu, “If you drew the ‘jumping into the sea’ punishment, I would definitely jump with you.”

Zuo Qiu said angrily, “Who said I’d be punished!”

Facts proved that one should never speak too confidently, or one’s face would hurt. When it was Xiao Baijun’s turn to be God, Zuo Qiu made a mistake.

Since jumping into the sea, Zheng Yang seemed reborn and never lost again. So, every time someone made a mistake, he would happily carry the Punishment Box over.

“Come on, Qiuqiu, draw a punishment that belongs to you.”

Zuo Qiu closed his eyes and reached into the box, randomly choosing one slip. Before he could open it, Zheng Yang snatched it away, quickly scanned it, and started slapping his thigh, laughing uncontrollably. Once he had laughed enough, he began to read the contents of the slip.

“The person who draws this slip, if your gender is female, the punishment is waived. If your gender is male, please put on the beautiful dress the production team has carefully prepared for you. We look forward to seeing your beauty!”

Hearing this punishment, Zuo Qiu couldn’t find the words to describe his cursed mood.

Lin Xiao was the most enthusiastic. She grabbed Zuo Qiu and pulled him toward the changing room prepared by the production team. “I’ll help you dress up. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make you look like a celestial fairy.”

Zuo Qiu was being pulled forward with great force. He really wanted to tell Lin Xiao that he just wanted to be a quiet, handsome man, not a celestial fairy!

Thirty minutes later, after the people outside had finished a round of afternoon tea, Zuo Qiu was finally led out by Lin Xiao, who was hooking his arm.

Zuo Qiu was wearing a long, pure white ancient-style dress, walking slowly, and indeed possessed a certain classical charm.

“Hey, why is he covering his face? Is he too ugly and afraid of scaring us?” Zheng Yang saw Zuo Qiu covering his face with a round fan and quietly asked Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao, who had returned to her seat, heard him and said, “He is quite ugly, so ugly that I just want to swap faces with him.”

The people nearby became even more curious.

“Qiuqiu, I’ll count to three, can you put the fan down?” Liu Min asked.

Zuo Qiu nodded, still holding the fan.

“One… Two…”

Listening to Liu Min count, Xiao Baijun felt his heart was about to pound out of his chest. When she reached three, Xiao Baijun’s heart didn’t jump out; instead, it seemed to stop beating.

Zuo Qiu was before him, with his hair styled in a looped bun with trailing strands, light makeup on his face, a full chest, a slender waist, and a slight smile when he lowered his gaze. Paired with the white trailing gauze dress, he was simply an actual fairy maiden.

“Qiuqiu, you look too beautiful!” Liu Min stood up and walked closer to Zuo Qiu, circling him once. At this moment, she somewhat understood why Lin Xiao said she wanted to swap faces with him. Zuo Qiu’s appearance easily surpassed many female celebrities in the entertainment industry!

Deng Zhong’s eyes were twinkling. He asked Zuo Qiu, “Zuo Qiu, do you have an older or younger sister? A cousin, either older or younger, would also work. If not, a niece would be fine too.”

Zuo Qiu: “I don’t have any sisters, only a niece who is still an infant.”

The masculine voice, paired with the utterly feminine look, made Deng Zhong clutch his head. “My goddess fantasy is shattered! Why did I have to be a loudmouth and make you speak?”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Afterward, Zuo Qiu cooperated with everyone’s requests, turning a few times, taking a few steps, posing for various photos, and then he started to get anxious. Not only was the clothing hot, but the tightly bound chest was making it hard for him to breathe.

“Can I go change my clothes now?”

Liu Min knew Zuo Qiu was uncomfortable, and everyone had taken enough photos, so she waved her hand at him. “Go ahead.”

Xiao Baijun saw Zuo Qiu enter the changing room, and everyone else was chatting. He slowly wandered to the outside of the changing room, leaning against the wall to wait for Zuo Qiu.

Ten minutes later, Zuo Qiu, having removed his makeup, came out and saw Xiao Baijun lost in thought.

“Here.”

Xiao Baijun snapped back to reality and took the orange from Zuo Qiu. “Why is it warm? Was it sun-drenched?”

Zuo Qiu cleared his throat awkwardly. “Maybe it’s because my body temperature is too high and it warmed it up.”

Xiao Baijun glanced at Zuo Qiu’s chest. When he was wearing the dress, his chest was plump, which must have been the work of these two oranges. Xiao Baijun brought the orange closer to his nose to sniff, as if he could smell Zuo Qiu’s unique body scent this way.

“What are you smelling? It’s not spoiled, feel free to eat it!” Zuo Qiu said.

“Mm.” Xiao Baijun thought to himself, It would be great if you could so actively invite me to ‘eat’ you with confidence.