Chapter 30
Fu Zhi couldn’t believe it. “I said I’m annoyed, and all you can think about is eating strawberry mille-crepe?”
Ning Xi nodded seriously. “Yeah. I mean, we can’t just waste it, can we?”
[…Ning Xi, that’s so you.]
[Eat up, eat up, you little glutton.]
[Princess Fu: Heartbroken. Real heartbreak isn’t loud and dramatic.]
[Fu Zhi: Do you know how much ‘uterine chill’ that sentence gives people?]
[Fu Zhi: I’m gonna shatter again.]
Fu Zhi’s face went green. He glared at Ning Xi viciously.
In the end, he took a deep breath and asked, his tone awkward:
“So, right now… you’re on a date with the new Guests? I don’t really care or anything. It’s just, you know, they’re new Guests-normal people would be a little curious. But if you don’t want to say, I don’t mind at all, haha.”
Ning Xi looked at Fu Zhi steadily.
Fu Zhi’s heart lurched. He thought she’d noticed something. “You don’t have to say it, haha. I seriously don’t care-”
“Can I finish the mille-crepe first before I answer?”
The two voices fell one after another.
Fu Zhi: “…?”
Fu Zhi watched as Ning Xi’s attention was completely stolen by the cake. He closed his eyes. “Fine. Eat.”
His voice carried a distinct, dead-inside kind of despair.
[Keep pretending, keep pretending, hahahaha. Hit a wall this time, didn’t you?]
[Princess: stubborn, acting like he doesn’t care, jealous.]
[Even if the sky falls, Fu Zhi’s mouth will hold it up.]
Downstairs, in the living room.
Xie Lanchen had only just arrived at the villa when Ning Xi said her clothes were wet from the rain and she needed to change. She left him alone with the other Guests.
As the most mature and oldest among the Guests, Wei Xuan took the initiative and extended his hand. “Hello, I’m Wei Xuan.”
Xie Lanchen stared at Wei Xuan’s hand for two seconds, then loosely shook it. “Xie Lanchen.”
He released him almost immediately.
Jiang Sheshe’s eyes were practically shining. She quietly whispered to Ning Mingyue beside her, “The new Guests is so handsome!”
It was a kind of handsome that was different from Wei Xuan, Fu Zhi, and Shen Yibai.
If she didn’t already have Brother Xuan in her heart, she would’ve fallen for Xie Lanchen at first sight.
But Jiang Sheshe’s fangirling didn’t get any agreement from Ning Mingyue.
She glanced at Ning Mingyue.
Only then did Ning Mingyue seem to snap out of her trance. She gave Jiang Sheshe a gentle smile. “Yeah.”
Then she sank back into that same dazed mood.
When Xie Lanchen passed by her just now, she thought she’d caught a faint, cool-toned woody scent.
It smelled so good-and it suited his cold, sharp, handsome face perfectly…
And for some reason, she felt like she’d seen Xie Lanchen somewhere before.
At this moment, Wei Xuan’s small talk with Xie Lanchen had reached the topic of age.
“Lanchen doesn’t look that old. Twenty-three? Twenty-four?” Wei Xuan prompted.
Jiang Sheshe puffed out her cheeks and suggested, “That’s no fun. How about we let Lanchen guess whether we’re older or younger than him?”
“You’re all older than me.”
Xie Lanchen drawled lazily.
With that single sentence, the chattering crowd went silent.
Jiang Sheshe froze. Huh?
[LMAO, Jiang Sheshe probably wanted Xie Lanchen to guess she’s younger. Didn’t expect the new Guests to be the dense type-he just straight-up said both Jiang Sheshe and Wei Xuan are older than him.]
[Wait, so Xie Lanchen is that young? Twenty? He can’t be nineteen, right?]
Seeing everyone staring blankly, Xie Lanchen suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth in a smile, his posture relaxed and languid.
“Didn’t this young lady ask me to guess who’s older and who’s younger? I’m twenty-two. And I heard you’re all seniors in the entertainment industry, so you must be older than me, right?”
His words were clearly aggressive; after all, a man with high emotional intelligence would usually compliment a girl by saying she looked younger than him.
But because of Xie Lanchen’s casual, faint smile, it instead made people feel like he had seriously considered it before coming to that conclusion.
Hearing Xie Lanchen’s words, Jiang Sheshe finally smiled and said, “We’re the same age, both 22.”
Then she introduced the occupations and ages of Shen Yibai, Wei Xuan, and Fu Zhi to Xie Lanchen.
“…Fu Zhi isn’t in the living room, but you’ll recognize him the moment you see him later. He’s always acting weird for no reason, and he’s the youngest of us all-childish and short-tempered.”
Jiang Sheshe was still nursing a grudge over her escape room date with Fu Zhi, so she added a bit of personal bias to her description of him.
Xie Lanchen gave a faint smile and didn’t ask more about Fu Zhi. Instead, he looked at Shen Yibai, who hadn’t spoken yet.
“Mr. Shen, hello.”
Shen Yibai gave a slight nod, showing no emotion.
Just then, Ning Mingyue stared at Xie Lanchen and asked in shock, “Feynman! Are you Feynman?”
Xie Lanchen finally looked at Ning Mingyue. He frowned and didn’t answer her.
But Ning Mingyue seemed to have already confirmed the answer, and her eyes lit up.
“Two years ago, I attended an international film festival with a friend. The director who won Best Documentary left a deep impression on me. I’ve been looking forward to his new work, but unfortunately, there was never any follow-up. Feynman, is it you?”
Because of her rebirth, she didn’t remember some things very clearly, but Xie Lanchen was different.
His looks and aura were too outstanding.
That brief glimpse at the film festival had piqued her interest.
But Feynman was too mysterious. After winning the award at the festival, no more information or works were ever released.
She had gradually forgotten about it.
She never expected to meet him again two years later on a live-streamed variety show!
Ning Mingyue was pleasantly surprised by this twist of fate.
However, Xie Lanchen merely gave a casual nod, seemingly unmoved by this so-called “fate.”
“I suppose so.”
Shen Yibai, who had been indifferent all along, suddenly had a change in expression. He looked straight at Xie Lanchen.
“An international film festival two years ago? Could it be the Victoria Film Festival?”
Xie Lanchen met Shen Yibai’s gaze, a shimmering smile suddenly flashing in his dark eyes. “I think so.”
Shen Yibai’s expression instantly became more scrutinizing.
Meanwhile, Jiang Sheshe finally caught up and searched for information on the Victoria Film Festival.
“Let me see if I can still find the documentary Feynman won for… Oh? Why are there reports about Ning Xi from that day? Her disbanded girl group performed at the festival? Then I’ll go find Ning Xi’s performance video first to see if she looked the same two years ago as she does now, hahaha…”
The netizens were even faster than Jiang Sheshe.
[Holy crap, Xie Lanchen’s award-winning documentary is actually really good. Why didn’t he keep directing?]
[I found Ning Xi’s performance video! I remember it trended on the hot search several times two years ago. She gained a ton of fans abroad too. Her beauty is so comforting.]
[So Ning Xi, Xie Lanchen, and Ning Mingyue all attended the Victoria Film Festival? And then they reunite two years later on a live variety show? Heavens, even a novel wouldn’t dare write it like this!]
[Wait, Ning Xi’s performance was so dazzling back then, Xie Lanchen must have an impression of her, right? Could his appearance on this show have something to do with Ning Xi? (Suddenly excited)]