Chapter 118
Chapter 118
The moment those words came out, the entire Danmaku exploded, and the number of viewers reached an all-time high.
[Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap-is this a confession?]
[Aaaaaah, a straight shot! I love people who go straight for it. Being open and honest about liking someone really does make your heart flutter!]
[Breaking news: he is SO in love.]
[I’m shipping them so hard I’m about to pass out. Leopard-Cat CP, I want to be your only daughter!]
Meanwhile, in the livestream room.
Ning Xi asked instinctively, “Then what do you want to be?”
“Something a little more than friends… what would that be?” Xie Lanchen asked softly.
His expression looked as calm and composed as ever, but only he knew how nervous and uneasy his heart was as it pounded violently in his chest.
He didn’t want to be just one of her friends anymore.
He wanted a little more. He wanted her gaze to fall on him often. He wanted her first choice of partner to always be him, no matter how many options she had…
Something a little more than friends-what would that be?
That question struck Ning Xi’s heart just as heavily, sending tremors through her.
Even when she lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, she still couldn’t come up with an answer.
She had many friends. Some she had known for more than ten years, while others she might have known for barely ten days. But without exception, they were all people she felt comfortable being around.
At first, that was how Ning Xi had defined Xie Lanchen too: a friend like that.
But Xie Lanchen had actually asked her what something a little more than friends would be.
Just then, she received a message.
Boss Xie: [I bought some late-night snacks. Want to have some?]
Ning Xi’s fingers moved faster than her brain.
Don’t Let the Dishonest Off: [Be right there.]
After replying, she started struggling with herself again.
She still hadn’t figured out the answer. If Xiao Xie asked her that question again later, how was she supposed to respond?
While agonizing over it, Ning Xi arrived in the courtyard at lightning speed.
“What late-night snacks? Late-night what? What kind of night snack?”
Xie Lanchen lifted his chin and gestured at the things on the table.
When Ning Xi saw the crayfish, boneless chicken feet, grilled oysters, and watermelon, her eyes lit up once, twice, then a third time.
“Aaaaaah, they’re all my favorites!! Xiao Xie, are you Doraemon or what?”
“Maybe I am.” Watching how happy Ning Xi looked, Xie Lanchen couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from curving up.
He seemed to be in an excellent mood.
In tonight’s House Defense Battle, Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen unsurprisingly earned the highest score, and both chose to continue living together.
As for the other guests, the Program Team divided them into three pairings: Jiang Sheshe and Wei Xuan, Ning Mingyue and Fu Zhi, and Qin Se and Shen Yibai.
Almost all of them were pairings that hadn’t happened before.
And they were also extremely wicked.
For example, even though everyone already knew Jiang Sheshe had said on the livestream that she was giving up on Wei Xuan, they still insisted on arranging those two together.
Yet before Jiang Sheshe gave up tonight, the Program Team had never once assisted in giving the two of them time alone together.
As for grouping Ning Mingyue with Fu Zhi, that was purely because Fu Zhi had previously arranged Ning Mingyue with Wei Xuan and Shen Yibai every time. The Program Team wanted to know whether those two might spark something different if they lived in the same house.
As for Qin Se and Shen Yibai… the Program Team felt that their personalities were similar, so perhaps they might find some common ground.
[This grouping is spicy enough. Director Qin really does know what we want to see.]
[Sheshe, that lovesick brain of yours was only cured an hour ago. Please, please don’t relapse.]
[By the way, do you guys still remember Ning Mingyue avoiding the cameras to talk to Fu Zhi the night before last? I’ve always wanted to know what the two of them said that they had to keep it away from the livestream.]
[I keep feeling like Ning Xi, Fu Zhi, Shen Yibai, and Ning Mingyue are still hiding something. They’re clearly all familiar with each other, but the way they interact is always so weird.]
[Ning Xi and Ning Mingyue… they’re both surnamed Ning, and they’ve known each other since they were kids. Could they be related?]
The new room arrangements sent the netizens’ gossip radar into overdrive, and the Danmaku buzzed nonstop with chatter.
Meanwhile, in Room 4.
Ning Xi was leisurely eating crayfish when something suddenly occurred to her.
“Xiao Xie, it’s so late. Why did you order midnight snacks?”
She remembered Xiao Xie having a pretty regular routine. He rarely ate anything at night.
Xie Lanchen unhurriedly removed his gloves and pushed the entire plate of peeled crayfish meat in front of Ning Xi.
“Because… Teacher Ning ate one bowl of rice less than usual tonight. I guessed Teacher Ning would definitely want something to eat.”
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!”
Ning Xi kept coughing.
She never would have expected that to be the reason.
Even more unexpected was that Xie Lanchen would notice even something that small.
At that very moment, the words Xie Lanchen had once said-“I listen to every word you say”-suddenly echoed in her mind again.
A few galaxy-like ripples abruptly stirred in Ning Xi’s heart.
Those words… seemed to actually be true.
“I know!”
Ning Xi suddenly stood up.
Xie Lanchen lifted his eyes and looked at Ning Xi, whose clear, bright eyes shimmered with a dewy glow under the moonlight.
“Our relationship isn’t defined as just friends.
It’s a little more important than that, a little more intimate.
That’s the kind of relationship we have.”
“Soulmate?” Xie Lanchen raised his eyelids, his dark eyes fixed steadily on Ning Xi.
Ning Xi’s heart skipped a beat out of nowhere.
She scratched her head. “I guess… you could put it that way.”
As expected of someone who grew up overseas. So worldly. He could even come up with a word like soulmate.
“Then how many important soulmates does a person meet in one lifetime?” Xie Lanchen asked again. His tone seemed casual, but in truth, it carried a slight tightness, low and tense.
“Two? Three? Two or three should already be a lot, right?” Ning Xi guessed.
The corners of Xie Lanchen’s lips lifted out of habit, but the smile was very faint.
Two or three… Two or three was fine too.
Not the most important person, but one of the two or three most important people by her side. That was fine too.
It was already much better than before, when he could only be a passerby, one of the unfamiliar new guests, or one friend among many, wasn’t it?
[Fine, fine, fine. So city people call their boyfriends soulmates now, huh?]
[I think the word soulmate already says a lot. After all, you can have plenty of friends to eat, drink, and have fun with, but a truly compatible, in-sync soulmate is rare. It’s a luxury item in a relationship.]
[I don’t care. That was definitely them confirming their relationship just now. Xi-Lan Flower, I’m shipping it, shipping it, shipping it so hard!]
After figuring this out, the heavy stone that had been weighing on Ning Xi’s heart was finally lifted.
At last, she felt sleepy.
But in the other three rooms, hidden currents were surging.
Qin Se and Shen Yibai basically had no interaction under the livestream cameras.
All of their communication could more or less be handled with “okay,” “mm,” “sure,” and “no, thank you.”
But after the livestream was turned off…
Qin Se, who had just finished practicing her song and was about to return to her room, looked at the silent, distant, and cold Shen Yibai, then suddenly spoke.
“I remember you.”