Chapter 8
The group returned to Youai Villa.
There was a group photo session scheduled for the afternoon, but before that, the Program Team let everyone chat freely.
Jiang Sheshe suggested, “Let’s play Truth or Dare?”
No one had any objections.
Fu Zhi was about to complain that it was too childish, but as soon as he saw Ning Xi sit down, he quickly took the seat next to her.
Jiang Sheshe said, “Is everyone ready? Then I’ll start. I’ll ask a question. Whoever gets it wrong has to choose Truth or Dare. A is the sofa, B is the TV, C is the coffee table-so what is D?”
Everyone: ?
Fu Zhi frowned. “The carpet?”
Jiang Sheshe shook her head. “No.”
She then looked at Wei Xuan. “Brother Xuan, you must know the answer.”
Wei Xuan pondered for a few seconds. “D is the fish tank.”
“Correct!”
Everyone: ?
Fu Zhi was bewildered. “Fish tank? Where is there a fish tank in this villa? Jiang Sheshe, are you giving Wei Xuan a free pass on purpose?”
“You just couldn’t figure it out.” Jiang Sheshe rolled her eyes and turned to Ning Xi. “Ning Xi, what’s your answer?”
Ning Xi raised an eyebrow. “D is a hammer.”
“Hahahaha, Ning Xi, are you crazy? What does a hammer have to do with this…” Fu Zhi burst out laughing.
“Correct.” Jiang Sheshe answered, not looking too pleased.
Fu Zhi: ?
Shen Yibai had never played this game before, but after listening to the first three answers, he’d already figured out the pattern. He said coolly, “D is the remote control.”
“Correct.”
Ning Mingyue also caught on. “I know the answer. D is the carpet.”
Jiang Sheshe nodded. “Correct! That means only Fu Zhi has to take the punishment. Truth or Dare?”
Fu Zhi took a deep breath. “Truth.”
Jiang Sheshe: “Tell us about your first love.”
Fu Zhi: ?
Ning Xi, sitting to the side, almost burst out laughing. She hadn’t expected Jiang Sheshe’s first question to be so sharp!
Except for her, who’d already seen all the plotlines, probably no one could have guessed:
Fu Zhi, the eldest young master of the Fu Family in Xiangcheng, the King of Mischief, had actually never been in a relationship!
Not only had he never kissed anyone (Lu Ming from this morning didn’t count for now), he hadn’t even held a girl’s hand!
Ning Xi silently added a “Pure-hearted Simp” tag to Fu Zhi in her mind.
Seeing Fu Zhi say nothing, Jiang Sheshe, under his glare that looked ready to kill, pressed him relentlessly:
“Why won’t you say? Trying to protect the other person? Or hiding it from someone here? Is there someone you like in the group?”
At that, Fu Zhi bristled like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. “First love? That was so long ago-I’m trying to remember how old I was.”
“Oh-” Jiang Sheshe drew out her tone, not revealing whether she believed him.
Ning Xi silently updated her tag to “Stubborn Pure-hearted Simp.”
But to Ning Xi’s surprise, Fu Zhi actually gave an answer.
“My first love was at five.”
Everyone was stunned at the age.
“Oh my god-five years old? What could you even know at that age?”
“Didn’t expect Fu Zhi to fall in love so early.”
“He’s joking, right?”
Jiang Sheshe, relishing the gossip, leaned in eagerly, “And? What happened between you two?”
Fu Zhi glanced at a certain someone next to him who was also relishing the gossip, then added reluctantly:
“She kissed me first.”
Jiang Sheshe sighed, “That’s so sweet!”
Ning Xi felt her mind go blank at this plot twist.
She knew Fu Zhi was stubborn and sharp-tongued, but he would never lie about something in Truth or Dare.
…So Fu Zhi really did have a little first love?
Holy-how did I not know this?!
She genuinely had no idea about this twist!
From then on, no matter what Jiang Sheshe asked, Fu Zhi refused to say another word about his first love.
Jiang Sheshe was eager to start another round of the ABCD Game, but this time, once Fu Zhi calmed down, he figured out the trick.
You had to say “D is xx,” not just “xx,” and the xx could be anything, no matter how outrageous.
Jiang Sheshe then led the group in more games: How Many Horses, Black Magic, Catch Butterflies.
Except for Ning Xi, nearly everyone ended up having to choose Truth or Dare at least once.
Jiang Sheshe’s eyes darted around, then she simply spun a bottle on the table. Whoever the bottle pointed at would have to take the punishment.
Ning Xi saw the bottle land on her: “…”
“I choose Dare.”
“Then send ‘I like you’ to the last person you messaged on WeChat,” Jiang Sheshe said, lifting her chin.
As soon as she said it, a subtle undercurrent swept through the room.
Shen Yibai’s lashes trembled, and his hand unconsciously tightened around his water glass.
Ning Xi, meanwhile, was like… well…
The last person she messaged was none other than Fu Zhi-the one who’d deliberately picked a fight with her at the dining table.
Sending “I like you” to Fu Zhi would be the ultimate test of her embarrassment threshold.
And it would come with all kinds of forbidden, taboo romance undertones.
After all, Fu Zhi and Shen Yibai were distant cousins!
Even if the relation was remote, everyone had always assumed Fu Zhi and Shen Yibai were especially close.
And right now, she was still, in name, Shen Yibai’s fiancée…
Ning Xi looked at Fu Zhi beside her. “Zhizi, let’s play a game.”
Fu Zhi narrowed his eyes, sure that Ning Xi was up to no good, but he was curious about her plan.
In the end, he just snorted and agreed.
“Let’s both delete each other from WeChat, and then use WeChat’s Shake feature to see how long it takes us to find each other.”
Fu Zhi sneered with contempt, “Heh.”
Ning Xi swiftly deleted Fu Zhi’s WeChat and shook her phone perfunctorily.
Fu Zhi, not to be outdone, deleted Ning Xi’s WeChat as well, then started shaking his phone frantically.
Jiang Sheshe frowned and urged, “Ning Xi, stop messing around with Shake, hurry up and finish your dare!”
Ning Xi responded twice, then sent a message to her most recent contact displayed on her phone:
“I like you.”
The recipient was a female friend from her circle, also a singing and dancing idol.
The reply came instantly: “Sis, don’t do this, my orientation is already kind of ambiguous.”
The barrage of comments was dying of laughter at their exchange.
[I’m so jealous of Ning Xi’s friend, I want Ning Xi to send me ‘I like you’ too]
[How is this a dare? It’s clearly a benefit for fans!]
[I’m speechless at Ning Xi’s fangirls, good thing I’m one too]
Meanwhile, Fu Zhi was still playing the Shake game, his hand sore from shaking, but he hadn’t managed to get Ning Xi’s WeChat.
Just as he realized he’d been tricked by that brat Ning Xi again, the beer bottle pointed at him once more-
“I choose dare!”
Fu Zhi spoke up before Jiang Sheshe could say anything.
Jiang Sheshe was a bit disappointed; she’d wanted to keep asking Fu Zhi about his first love.
“Call back your most recent contact and guide them to say who you hate the most.”
Fu Zhi frowned and opened his call log. Seeing it was Lu Ming, his face darkened.
But he braced himself and dialed.
Once connected, Lu Ming’s bashful voice came through the speaker, “Zhi Ge, why are you calling me?”
Fu Zhi clenched his teeth, trying to stay calm:
“Tell me, what happened this morning, who was involved?”
Lu Ming seemed to catch on instantly, his tone returning to normal:
“Reporting to Zhi Ge, I get what you mean. Just now, I finished the 836th review of your failed argument with Ning Xi this morning. Next time Ning Xi dares call you loose-assed, I’ll casually retort that you work out every day, you’ve got an eight-pack, a stud’s waist, a mermaid line, a model’s body-she’ll have nothing to say…”
Fu Zhi hung up expressionlessly.
Everyone fell silent.
Only Ning Xi couldn’t help but marvel, “Impressive.”
So she’d already beaten Fu Zhi 836 times.
Really… not much of an accomplishment.
The game segment finally ended when Director Qin entered the living room.
Director Qin: “Hello everyone, I’m your friendly Youai Butler for this variety show recording. This afternoon, the Program Team will take promotional photos for each pair of guests.
As the saying goes, the camera has feelings-those who love you know which angle and style make you look your best. So for these promo shots, your friend will be in charge of your styling. Feel free to discuss your preferred makeup and hairstyle with your friend!”
Upon hearing this, Fu Zhi flashed Ning Xi an extremely wicked smile for a second.
Ning Xi raised an eyebrow in response.
The three pairs of guests officially began styling. The Female Guests’ makeup was already quite complete, just needed a touch-up.
The atmosphere was harmonious for both Ning Mingyue & Shen Yibai and Jiang Sheshe & Wei Xuan, especially when the male guests leaned in to help the Female Guests with their makeup-the barrage was full of screaming fans.
In the control room, Director Qin watched this scene with a gratified smile.
But when his gaze landed on Ning Xi and Fu Zhi’s group, his smile froze.
How did Fu Zhi come up with the idea to put red eyeshadow on one of Ning Xi’s eyes, blue on the other, and turn her lips into a poisoned-looking bloody maw?
[Now I finally get what the domineering CEO means by ‘You look better without makeup’-Fu Zhi, what have you done to Ning Xi’s beautiful face!]
[Only Ning Xi could still look like a beauty even after being made up like this]
And then, even more outrageous, Fu Zhi insisted on curling Ning Xi’s hair.
After the hairstyle was done, Netizens felt something was off, but couldn’t quite put their finger on it.
Only Ning Xi saw through it all. With a blank expression, she asked, “Did you deliberately curl my hair into grilled gluten skewers?”
Fu Zhi shrugged, eyes full of schadenfreude, “If that’s how you want to see it, I can’t help you.”
Ning Xi: “Heh.”
Seeing Ning Xi’s calm smile, Fu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat uncontrollably.
No, that brat’s expression definitely wasn’t simple.
But Fu Zhi wasn’t worried-he was a guy, even if his makeup was ugly, he didn’t care.
The next second, Fu Zhi saw the scissors in Ning Xi’s hand and his expression changed, “Ning Xi, what are you doing? Murder is illegal!”
Ning Xi raised her eyebrows, then calmly tied her whole head of ‘grilled gluten’ into two high ponytails.
Then, with her hand behind her back, she wiped her mouth, smudging a streak of red across her lips.
Her movements were smooth and practiced.
There was a strange sense of madness, and an irresistible charm that made it impossible to look away.
[Oh my god! Harley Quinn! That swipe of lipstick and the hairstyle-Ning Xi just paid tribute to Harley Quinn’s iconic look!]
[This kind of wild, crazy beauty-ahhh I’m dead!!!]
[First glance: beauty, second glance: master]
[There are no slaves in New China, but I can be big sister’s pet]
[Who understands the look in Ning Xi’s eyes when she wiped her mouth-such a crazy beauty vibe]
In the living room.
Ning Xi pressed Fu Zhi’s shoulders down onto the chair, and facing Fu Zhi in the makeup mirror, enunciated each word:
“I don’t kill.”
“But I’ll make you wish you were dead.”