Chapter 117

Chapter 117

[Ahhh, Ning Xi is my god! Now I finally know how to answer when my family pressures me to get married this New Year!]

The support ratings for the fifth question came out very quickly.

Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen’s group once again reached a terrifyingly high 99.99%.

Fu Zhi and Jiang Sheshe’s group also scored an astonishing 95.10%.

“This question wasn’t that hard,” Ning Xi said smugly.

“I thought so too. Nothing much to it.” Jiang Sheshe stroked her chin, deliberately putting on a profound air.

But when everyone saw the sixth question, their expressions turned subtle.

[Question Six: If you had more chances to interact, among all the opposite-sex guest on the variety show, who would you most want to take the next step with?]

[OMG! The exciting part is finally here!]

[The next step, hehehehehehehe. How is this question any different from a confession?]

The instant Fu Zhi saw the question, he lost all traces of his usual prickly, hot-tempered, ready-to-fight-the-world attitude. His expression turned awkward and bashful.

“W-Well…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Ning Xi.

“Fu Zhi.”

Just then, Ning Xi suddenly spoke.

“What!” Fu Zhi nearly jumped out of his skin.

Xie Lanchen’s breath hitched. His dark eyes quietly settled on Ning Xi.

In a place the cameras couldn’t capture, his hand clenched tight, his knuckles even turning faintly white.

“Oh my, oh my, major gossip.” Jiang Sheshe watched from the side, happily eating it up.

Ning Xi took a few steps forward and looked at Fu Zhi seriously.

“Zhizi, we’ve been friends for over ten years. I have a thought now that’s very hard to say out loud. If I don’t tell you, I’m afraid I’ll hold you back. If I do tell you, I’m afraid you won’t be able to accept it. Since the Program Team has given me this chance today, I thought about it carefully and decided that a short pain is better than a long one. I should just say it…”

“So-” Fu Zhi’s heart was beating unbelievably fast, as if it were about to leap out of his chest. His eyes were filled with a chaotic jumble of anticipation, nerves, awkwardness, and all kinds of messy emotions.

“So-can I be your dad?”

“…”

“Godfather works too,” Ning Xi added specially, as if afraid Fu Zhi would disagree.

“…”

[Fu Zhi: My silence is deafening.]

[I think I just heard something shatter. Listening carefully, it should be Fu Zhi’s heart.]

[The world goes mute as we listen to Fu Zhi’s breakdown.]

“Heh.” A crisp little chuckle slipped from Xie Lanchen’s throat.

Jiang Sheshe laughed even more unrestrainedly, practically turning herself into a reaction meme. “Hahahahahahahahaha!”

“Are you insane?!” What Fu Zhi had thought was a confession had turned into her claiming a son, and he exploded in embarrassment and fury.

“I have never been more serious.” Ning Xi answered solemnly, truly managing to “respond to every line.”

She genuinely couldn’t understand why Fu Zhi, despite clearly hating her, still stuck to her year after year like a little follower.

Wasn’t this complicated, twisted, awkward, suffocating, mutually disappointing emotion exactly the kind of family affection East Asian parents gave?

So, case closed.

Fu Zhi wanted to be her son.

“I’m so tired. I’ve never been this tired before. I really feel like I’m completely drained.”

Fu Zhi closed his eyes. He felt a kind of powerlessness like a beggar who had worked hard begging all day and finally managed to get a stale bun, only to accidentally trip and watch helplessly as the bun rolled into a filthy gutter, but no longer had the strength to keep begging.

[Fu Zhi is about to shatter into 88 pieces again.]

[The imperial physician said that was a confession that had already taken shape.]

[Empresses in the Palace really does cover everything.]

“All right, I’m done. You three can answer now.”

Ning Xi, the culprit who had started it all, still remembered to seriously cue the process.

“No one.” Fu Zhi was already utterly hopeless. His current state could basically be described as a living person experiencing a minor death.

“Mm…” Jiang Sheshe struggled for a moment, but in the end, she made up her mind. “There was someone before. Now… there isn’t.”

The instant she said it, the shadow that had been pressing down on Jiang Sheshe’s heart for so long finally vanished.

She felt indescribably relieved all over.

She didn’t like the feeling of asking for suffering. She had liked Wei Xuan before because Wei Xuan had always put her first in everything, protected her, and comforted her. Though having a secret crush was sour and bitter, most of it had still been sweet.

But now, after joining this variety show with Mingyue, she finally realized that as long as Ning Mingyue was there, she would never be Brother Xuan’s first choice.

That feeling was so painful.

She had endured it for these past few days, and that was already more than enough.

Why should she accept grievances from a man that even her own parents had never made her suffer?

So, starting today, her secret crush was over.

She, Jiang Sheshe, could only ever be the first choice of the person she liked.

[Oh? Is the founding grandmother of romance-brain finally waking up?]

[No, isn’t this awakening way too fast? When the variety show first started filming, Jiang Sheshe only had eyes and heart for her “Brother Xuan~”]

[Is there a possibility that although the rich young lady is romance-brained, she doesn’t wrong herself? The moment someone makes her feel bad, she stops liking them?]

[That sounds a little like “self-centered” thinking: I can pursue whoever I like, and it doesn’t matter if I fail, as long as I’m happy. If he makes me unhappy, then he has no meaning to me anymore. I’ll just say bye and go find the next person who makes me happy. Anyway, I won’t be the one regretting it in the end.]

[Exactly. The key point is: everything in the world revolves around me. I’m the one in control of everything. As long as I’m happy, that’s enough.]

[After reading the Danmaku, I feel terrifyingly powerful now. Somebody send me a man so I can test it out.]

[God of Wealth, I choose you. Come find me yourself. [rose]]

Fu Zhi and Jiang Sheshe had both finished answering, leaving only Xie Lanchen.

Ning Xi looked at Xie Lanchen.

Only to find that his deep, pitch-black eyes had been fixed steadily on her all along.

Ning Xi’s heart gave a soft thump. Then she heard Xie Lanchen say-

“Teacher Ning.”

“I don’t want to be only your friend anymore.”