The Female Lead Insists on Being My Wife [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Stealing the Wife in a Romance Reality Show (Part 3)

A topic titled #MonkeyIsExpertAtMatchmaking quietly climbed the real-time trending searches. Relying purely on word-of-mouth recommendations, the heat of the romance show surged once again.

Monkey Sui-sui did not sleep peacefully; her bloated stomach kept her tossing and turning. In the middle of the night, there seemed to be a knock on her door. The sound was faint; had she been sound asleep, she likely wouldn’t have heard it.

She rolled out of bed, put on her fluffy slippers, and opened the door. There was no one in the hallway, but a box of digestive medicine had been left on the floor. The live stream had already been cut for the night as the guests prepared for rest, so Chen Suihe had no way of knowing which kind soul had delivered the tablets.

After taking the medicine, her stomach felt much better. Hugging an oversized plushie—one with a special meaning that took up half the bed—she fell into a tranquil sleep.

Early the next morning, Chen Suihe got up early to do her makeup, but no matter how she rummaged through her bag, she couldn’t find her pure black foundation. Sitting before the vanity, she thought long and hard before finally pulling another bottle from her suitcase.

Pitch-black Monkey Sui-sui made a shiny new appearance for the new day! Before heading out, she reviewed the pairings she had brainstormed last night. Once she was sure they were memorized, she stepped out with confident strides.

Matching CPs? Easy!

Waking up too early meant the Heartbeat Cottage was still silent. With nothing to do, Chen Suihe ducked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. For the six of them, she made four different types and flavors of breakfast.

During yesterday’s meals, she had noticed the details: Shen Chuli was a bit picky with her food, Jiang Wan didn’t like green onions, Wu Yang preferred sweeter flavors… After just one day, she had learned and memorized the taste preferences of every guest.

When Shen Chuli returned from her outdoor run, Chen Suihe happened to be plating the final dish. “Good morning, Movie Queen Shen.”

Shen Chuli nodded. “You can just call me by my name.”

This was the second time Shen Chuli had said this. Not wanting to be coy, Chen Suihe complied and obediently called her “Chuli.” Shen Chuli nodded in acknowledgment and went upstairs expressionlessly to shower.

At 8:00 AM, the other guests woke up one after another. They were all lured out by the aroma of food. Following the scent to the dining table and seeing dishes that perfectly suited their tastes, the guests’ eyes lit up.

Shen Chuli came down after changing and sat naturally beside Chen Suihe. Before even taking a bite, she praised: “Hard work on the breakfast. It smells great, so it must taste delicious.”

The other guests looked up from their bowls, staring in disbelief at the meal that catered to everyone. “Did you make all of this yourself, Suihe?”

Not being overly humble, Chen Suihe nodded with a smile and puffed out her chest with a bit of pride: “How is it? Not bad, right?”

It was more than “not bad”! Having met only yesterday and shared only one and a half meals, Chen Suihe had memorized and accommodated everyone’s tastes. How much attention to detail did that require!

Wu Yang and the others were astonished. Words of praise rained down on Chen Suihe as if they cost nothing, making her feel a bit light-headed with joy.

After breakfast, Chen Suihe asked about everyone’s schedules. Since no one had much to do during the day, they decided to hang out and play games. With no host present, “Tool-person Xiao Chen” went online, automatically guest-hosting to cue the flow of the show.

Although Chen Suihe was pitch-black on the outside, her aura was exceptionally comfortable. The guests spontaneously gathered around her, unconsciously relaxing their tense minds and bodies. Once people relax, they become talkative.

The group chatted about everything—from their dreams when they first entered the industry to their future expectations, from poetry to the stars and the moon. They talked until they lost track of time. In their excitement, they completely forgot about the $365^circ$ all-around, no-blind-spot live cameras in the cottage!

Secret gossip, the truth about relationships—they simply used pseudonyms like “So-and-so” and “What’s-their-face” and blithely spilled all the inside tea. It was a literal harvest festival of “melons” (gossip)! Chen Suihe was the personification of the audience, huddling to one side happily crunching on melon seeds.

As the guests spoke freely, fans and gossip-seekers took the opportunity to spread the word, bringing in many curious passersby who were ultimately hooked by the hardcore gossip.

Behind the lens, the producer looked at Chen Suihe—who looked like a little squirrel turned black by a lightning strike—and felt a warmth in her heart. She called over the hair and makeup department: “Didn’t that bottle from yesterday go ‘missing’? How does she have another one? Send someone to her room later and steal every single bottle of that charcoal-black foundation. Throw them all away! Throw them far away!”

Chen Suihe, showing off a row of pearly white teeth, was happily guest-hosting, completely unaware that her beloved foundation was about to meet its doom.

Her throat was parched from all the melon seeds. Chen Suihe smacked her lips, and in the next second, a glass of warm plain water was handed over.

“?” Chen Suihe took the glass blankly. Seeing Shen Chuli’s cold, elegant, and noble face, she suddenly felt a bit hesitant to be as giggly and intimate with her as she was with the other guests.

“Thank you,” Chen Suihe thanked her with stiff politeness. “Thank you, Chuli.”

After chugging the water, Chen Suihe felt like she had come back to life! Having eaten too much gossip, she got a bit bored and her eyes started darting around. Suddenly, she spotted a mission card on the nightstand in the common area.

“Welcome to the Heartbeat Cottage. This season welcomes six guests whose orientations are unknown. Please use your sharp eyes to discover the most authentic couple among them!”

After reading it, she looked up blankly: “What does that mean?”

Jiang Wan leaned over, read it carefully, and summarized with feigned solemnity: “Reporting to the organization: it seems someone is secretly dating behind our backs! And we don’t know if it’s GL, BL, or BG!”

If it weren’t for Chen Suihe’s ten-year history as a “bookworm,” she almost wouldn’t have understood the acronyms! Her eyes wandered dangerously between Jiang Wan and the others. After all, all five of them were currently very suspicious! Especially Wu Yang and Li Chengxi. Their movements last night were very… off.

“Sherlock Sui-sui’s” sharp gaze shifted between them. Jiang Wan started acting too, jumping next to Jiang Suizhou and grabbing his arm: “What do we do, Captain? Our romance has finally been discovered!”

Those who were innocent took the opportunity to joke in front of the public; those with a guilty conscience hid in the corners and quietly let out a sigh of relief. However, it was only the second day, and many small details hadn’t been revealed yet. It wouldn’t be good to jump to conclusions too hastily.

Chen Suihe shook away the thoughts in her head and returned her focus to matching CPs.

“LMAO, Monkey Baby, stop trying so hard to pair Shen Chuli with others. Can’t you see the look in her eyes has changed?”

“I’m dying. I want to interview Shen Chuli on her mental state: ‘About the person I like constantly pushing me onto other people.'”

To match the “pairs,” Chen Suihe stayed busy all day. She would learn about one person’s personality, then interview another about their ideal partner… one after another, she couldn’t stay still.

As the second day came to a close, the producer—who had been missing all day—made a grand entrance: “In our program, we have an anonymous voting date segment every two days. The two successfully paired guests can enjoy a sweet candlelit dinner~”

After introducing the rules, the props team brought out a small box. The guests wrote their notes and stuffed them in, everyone stretching their necks to wait for the news.

“Except for Chen Suihe who abstained, the remaining five guests all chose Chen Suihe,” the producer announced the results with a smile from behind the camera.

“!”

Chen Suihe, being singled out, felt her brain stall. She was just a “matchmaking tool”; why did they all choose her? In truth, the guests all had their own reasons for choosing her.

Chen Suihe turned a pleading gaze toward the producer, her pitiful and lost expression making the audience’s hearts soften.

“What are you doing! Our Monkey is still small, what kind of date is this? The ‘Protect the Monkey Association’ strongly protests!”

“Our Monkey is just a child. Didn’t you see she abstained? No dating!”

“Baby, be good, you’re still young. Mama doesn’t allow you to go on dates with bad people (except Shen Chuli)!”

For a moment, the bullet comments were flooded. The director’s eyes ached from seeing the word “Monkey” fill the screen. Looking at Chen Suihe on the monitor—who was still facing off against the producer with watery eyes—she couldn’t help but marvel: with such high engagement, they had truly lost a sesame seed but found a watermelon. They had picked up a real treasure!

If she could, the producer also wanted to intervene in this anonymous selection. After all, even if Chen Suihe had great public favor right now, it was hard to guarantee she wouldn’t be torn apart by fans after a one-on-one date with any of the five guests. After all, she was just a regular person working for the crew who had been pulled in to fill a spot.

But when the program was promoted, the main selling point was: “No script, no interference.” If the producer intervened on the second day, she’d be slapping her own face. Forget future ratings—it would be a question of whether they could even keep current ratings!

The producer guiltily looked away, ignoring Chen Suihe’s plea: “The guests must decide for themselves.”

Failing to get help, Chen Suihe’s head drooped. Decide for themselves? A grand matchmaking plan quietly formed in Monkey Sui-sui’s mind…

If there was no script, Chen Suihe would create her own! Matching one pair was matching; matching ten pairs into a “big chaotic stew” was also matching! The production team only said the paired guests get a candlelit dinner, but they didn’t say the unpaired guests couldn’t go out on a date together!

Chen Suihe decided to go for broke and organize a “CP Chaotic Stew” multi-person date. To prepare, she spent her free time over the past two days frantically studying “100 Things Couples Must Do” and integrated that knowledge into the filming.

When Chen Suihe confidently took her plan to the producer, not only was it heartlessly rejected, but she also saw the producer directing the hair and makeup staff to throw something away. Chen Suihe poked her head out to look, then turned all her attention back to her proposal for the “Multi-person Date CP Stew.”

But the producer’s heart was ice-cold. She ruthlessly rejected Chen Suihe’s plan, put on her sunglasses, and walked away, a woman who loved no one.

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