Resisting Arranged Marriages: Starting with Myself - Chapter 4

The next morning, Ye Jiming had recovered his usual high spirits. He even managed to go downstairs and prepare breakfast before waking Le Xiao, showing not a single trace of the previous night’s dishevelment.

The production team had booked their flight for 9:00 AM. Le Xiao was awakened by Ye Jiming shortly after 6:00 AM. His eyes were bleary with sleep, and he was in the throes of a major “morning grump.” Gan Tiantian arrived to pick them up. While Ye Jiming sat in the passenger seat, Le Xiao claimed the entire back row, sleeping in a tangled heap.

Only when the car came to a slow halt did Ye Jiming turn around to wake the soundly sleeping Le Xiao.

The organizers were wealthy and generous, booking VIP service directly for them. This saved them from many procedures and kept the swarm of enthusiastic fans behind the barricades, allowing the two a smooth, unobstructed path.

Still not fully awake, Le Xiao sat atop his suitcase, hugging the pull-bar and dozing off like a koala clinging to a tree trunk, letting Ye Jiming tow both him and the luggage forward.

In his haze, Le Xiao could hear passionate fans behind the barriers calling his name. Too tired to open his eyes, he simply raised a hand and made a finger-heart as a response.

Ye Jiming leaned down and whispered with a smile in Le Xiao’s ear, “Our Xiao-Xiao is so popular.”

Le Xiao’s face flushed again. He subconsciously adjusted his sunglasses, his eyes shifting restlessly behind the lenses. “Is this your first day finding out?” he muttered before returning to his posture of hugging the pull-bar to sleep, ignoring him further.

Airport staff came to escort them to the VIP lounge. One staff member intended to help with the luggage but hesitated, seeing Le Xiao sleeping soundly on top of the suitcase. Ye Jiming gave her a smile, indicating there was no need for the trouble. He pushed one suitcase in each hand, bringing all the luggage and his Omega into the VIP lounge.

From the moment they arrived until they entered the building, the cameras behind the barricades never stopped clicking. Before long, dedicated fans posted high-quality, edited airport photos of the two.

One was a solo shot of Le Xiao sitting on the suitcase, head turned toward the fans while making a finger-heart, prompting a group of “Mom fans” to cry out, “How is my baby so cute!”

There was also a photo of the two together: Le Xiao hugging the luggage bar lazily like a koala while Ye Jiming bent over to speak to him, a clear smile playing on his lips.

Once posted, this photo struck the hearts of the “Ye-Xiao Girls,” who swooned, “My CP is too sweet!”

Indeed, in the short week since the official announcement of the dating show, Le Xiao and Ye Jiming had successfully gained a sizable following of CP fans. They called themselves the “Ye-Xiao Girls” and had even quickly created a CP Super Topic, dutifully carrying the banner for the Ye-Xiao CP.

The internet was buzzing with discussion, but Le Xiao knew none of it. He slept from the waiting lounge all the way until the plane touched down, finally regaining his energy.

The plane landed at Fengshan Airport. After several more hours of driving, they finally arrived at Nanfeng Village.

Nanfeng Village is located deep in the mountains of Southern China and has become a famous tourist destination in recent years. Surrounded by mountains on all sides with overlapping peaks, the terraced fields stack up to reach the clouds. The village is built along the mountain in an orderly yet staggered fashion. The Qianshui River winds through the village like a ribbon, with a Yanyu Bridge spanning the banks, having witnessed decades of wind and rain.

Le Xiao and his partner arrived last; the other three pairs of guests had already arrived.

Besides them, the guests invited by the production team included an Alpha male and Omega female pair of actors who fell in love during filming and have been married for over ten years, a female couple consisting of a ballet dancer and a violinist who are in a passionate love phase, and a male couple where both are Alphas. Unlike Le Xiao and Ye Jiming, this final pair consists of a university professor and a competitive swimmer who have been a well-known couple online for many years.

The eight guests stayed in a local guesthouse. After settling in, they gathered in the small courtyard to begin official filming.

The production team then announced the first segment: select three items from the provided ingredients and cook one dish to serve as part of tonight’s Long Table Feast.

This segment was not difficult; it was meant to be lighthearted and relaxing, primarily to help the unfamiliar guests break the ice and bond.

However, Le Xiao was at a loss because he did not know how to cook at all.

For the first twenty years of his life, he was a young master who never lifted a finger at home. Wen Yan doted on him and never let him enter the kitchen. Although Le Jiancheng was strict and old-fashioned, he had no expectations for him in this regard. Consequently, the young Le Xiao, though brilliant in music, was a total novice at life skills.

Faced with an array of ingredients, he wavered, his eyes subconsciously darting toward Ye Jiming, hoping for some help.

Ye Jiming clearly understood Le Xiao’s meaning. With a smile, he tucked a head of lettuce into Le Xiao’s hand. “Make a salad; it is simpler.”

Le Xiao looked at him in disbelief and whispered, “In your heart, I am only capable of tossing a salad?”

He had thought he could at least handle home-style dishes like scrambled eggs with tomatoes or stir-fried pork with green peppers.

Ye Jiming tucked a tomato into his hand as well, saying, “Not at all. I am just afraid that since you lack experience, you might get burned by the oil.”

Out of the camera’s view, Le Xiao quietly rolled his eyes.

Ye Jiming smiled without a word and turned to pick his own ingredients.

Le Xiao was not the only one feeling lost. Among the other guests, the swimmer He Chen was also a kitchen novice, standing aside and letting his partner pick ingredients. The two women were even more bewildered, staring blankly at the ingredients and utensils.

The initial selection and washing of ingredients were not too hard, and the four struggling guests managed to get through it. But once it came time to actually cook, it became a chaotic mess.

It was only then that Le Xiao realized how wise Ye Jiming’s quick decision to have him make a salad had been.

“Ah!” Wu Shuo clumsily threw ingredients into the pan, letting out a cry of alarm. The hands that usually held a violin were now awkwardly clutching a spatula, using a pot lid as a shield. “The oil is splashing! Momo, help me!” As she spoke, she leaned toward her partner.

Xie Zhimeng was also struggling. The dancer’s delicate hands looked extremely out of place holding a kitchen knife. The vegetables she cut were crooked and misshapen, looking quite unappealing.

On the other side, He Chen had clearly given up, handing all his ingredients to his partner while he stood by to assist.

Le Xiao’s job was much easier. After washing and peeling the vegetables, he gave them a few quick chops, tossed them into a salad bowl with oil, and he was done.

At this moment, even if he was reluctant, he had to admire Ye Jiming’s foresight.

The two actors were both capable cooks. Seeing the chaos, the actress Chang Si took the initiative to walk over and take the spatula from Wu Shuo’s hand. Chang Si did not say much, only smiled. The woman in her forties still had a graceful charm, and the look she gave the two young women carried a bit of motherly kindness.

Before long, all eight dishes were ready. Although the process had been full of twists and turns, every dish actually looked quite good. Various bowls and plates were lined up in a long row on the table for the Long Table Feast.

What surprised Le Xiao most was that Ye Jiming had actually produced a pot of fish soup.

The steaming fish soup was simmered to a milky white. Pieces of fish, previously pan-fried to a slight golden brown, were visible through the thick broth. The meat was snowy white and tender, and the skin was crispy and golden. The soup also contained winter bamboo shoots and tofu as side ingredients, with bright, chopped green onions floating on the surface, looking fresh and vibrant. He had made a fish soup that was perfect in color, aroma, and taste, making everyone’s mouth water.

“It turns out President Ye is the true master,” the actor Han Ziqian joked with a smile. “Keeping quiet while producing a stunning result.”

“Mr. Han, you flatter me,” Ye Jiming replied with a polite smile. “The ingredients were limited, so I had to make do.”

“If this is making do, then what we made should not even be looked at!” Wu Shuo laughed brightly. “Thanks to Sister Chang Si, otherwise Momo and I would have been running around like headless chickens!”

Everyone was amused by her words, and the atmosphere at the table became increasingly lively, filled with laughter. Under the cover of the noise, Le Xiao gently kicked Ye Jiming under the table and lowered his voice: “How do you even know how to make this?”

Ye Jiming smiled. “Does Xiao-Xiao not like eating fish?”

Hearing this, Le Xiao’s eyes widened even further. He turned his head and asked in disbelief, “You even know that?”

“Xiao-Xiao likes fish and shrimp, and loves drinking fish soup. You like scallops and tofu in your fish soup. You do not like meat; you will not touch fat at all, and you are picky about lean meat, right?” Ye Jiming said unhurriedly, as if they were a couple of many years who knew each other’s eating habits by heart. “It was all written in the document you gave me. Did you forget?”

Yes, Le Xiao remembered. Before moving into Ye Jiming’s house, they had exchanged personal information, including basic facts, living habits, and hobbies. Ye Jiming’s information was only a single page of paper, which Le Xiao had long grown bored of reading. Meanwhile, Le Xiao, in an attempt to be difficult, had sent a document over ten pages long to Ye Jiming. He was already a picky eater, so he had detailed even the most trivial dietary habits with absolute clarity, all to get revenge for that piece of braised pork from their first meeting.

He just had not expected that Ye Jiming had not merely looked at it, but had actually memorized it.

“The ingredients here were limited, so there were no scallops. When we get home, I will make it for you again, okay?” Ye Jiming whispered close to Le Xiao’s ear, his breath brushing against the back of Le Xiao’s ear, making it feel scorching hot.

Le Xiao did not say yes, nor did he say no. He pursed his lips and quickly pulled away. Under the camera lens, they truly looked like a newlywed couple whispering secrets and then shying away with a red face.

The Long Table Feast lasted until nightfall before it ended. The eight people, now having thoroughly broken the ice, returned to their nests in pairs, holding hands, linking arms, or embracing as they walked back to their respective cottages. The production team had rented the best local guesthouse, which consisted of several rows of small houses. Each couple was assigned a two-story cottage.

The luggage had already been moved inside and neatly placed in the corner. Le Xiao grabbed his suitcase, intending to get his clothes to go upstairs and wash up.

The suitcase, which had been a mess, was now organized with military precision. All clothes and daily necessities were sorted into categories. The suitcase that had been stuffed to the point of exploding suddenly had extra space. It closed smoothly and the zipper pulled easily, no longer looking like it was about to burst at any second.

It was as if a kind Snail Maiden had quietly tidied everything for him.

Le Xiao looked up and bumped right into the smile of the Snail Maiden.

The small patch of skin behind his ear began to burn again.

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