Xia Qingtian sighed softly, then passed by Ji Jun and entered his room.
As soon as the door closed, Qiu Xinxue, who was lingering at the corner of the stairs leading to the attic, held up her phone, pointed it at Ji Jun's door, and pressed the pause button on the video recording.
She had originally intended to find Tong Nian- Zhe, but she had seen Xia Qingtian on the way.
Without much thought, she followed her, even contemplating whether to orchestrate a chance encounter.
Who would have thought she'd capture such an interesting scene.
When this woman lets herself go, she's truly unrestrained.
The live broadcast in this room had only been off for a few days, and Xia Qingtian was already offering herself so eagerly.
The corners of her mouth curved into a subtle angle, and Qiu Xinxue sneered before turning to leave.
Meanwhile, Ji Jun poured a glass of warm water and placed it in front of Xia Qingtian. "Only warm water, I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind." Xia Qingtian surveyed Ji Jun's room. It was designed in a mine theme, with small pickaxe ornaments on the walls and a tiny mine cart in the corner.
Miniature, exquisite, and adorable.
However, the ceiling height was indeed not very friendly for Ji Jun's height of 1.87 meters.
"What you said earlier... did Rou Rou say something to you?" Ji Jun asked, looking down at Xia Qingtian with his arms crossed.
"What do you think Rou Rou would say to me?" Xia Qingtian retorted.
Ji Jun was momentarily unsure of Xia Qingtian's attitude and couldn't guess what Lin Yi-Rou might have said to her.
Logically, Lin Yi-Rou wasn't someone who easily trusted others, nor would she readily confide in others.
However, Lin Yi-Rou had indeed shown an extra fondness for Xia Qingtian.
This made Ji Jun feel uncertain.
For so many years, he had believed himself to be the person who knew Lin Yi-Rou best, understanding each other with just a glance.
Regardless of any collaboration, they possessed unparalleled tacit understanding.
But now...
Ever since entering this program, Ji Jun felt as though the person he knew best was gradually drifting away from him.
First, she deliberately avoided eye contact with him, then she refused his invitation to go shopping with Xia Qingtian and Ji Mei-Na, and then there was the displayed compatibility and shared interests with Ling Feng-Han...
Damn it!
He had watched Woody Allen films with Lin Yi-Rou, and those documentaries too, he had dragged Lin Yi-Rou along to watch because he liked them.
For so many years, he had shared all his interests with Lin Yi-Rou, so how did it suddenly become the tacit understanding between Lin Yi-Rou and Ling Feng-Han?
Although he had intentionally participated in the dating show, and had then "casually" revealed his participation to Lin Yi-Rou.
That was also because he wanted to see what his weight in Lin Yi-Rou's heart was – more than a friend but less than a lover, or if they could truly move forward.
His earlier suggestion for Lin Yi-Rou to consider the other male guests was just casual talk at the time.
But, but who knew that when Lin Yi-Rou genuinely got along well with other male guests, he would feel so distressed!
She was the childhood sweetheart he had held in his palm, cherished in his heart, and protected for so many years!
What was up with that Ling Feng-Han?
"What do you want?" Ji Jun hadn't forgotten that it was Xia Qingtian who had facilitated Ling Feng-Han and Lin Yi-Rou's harmonious interaction.
"I want you to be with Rou Rou," Xia Qingtian said directly.
"What?" Ji Jun was stunned.
"Is there a problem?" Xia Qingtian asked.
"Then why did you introduce Rou Rou to Ling Feng-Han?" Ji Jun asked, frowning.
"Because they are a pair. If these two socially anxious people were to have an awkward chat, all the footage would probably be edited out," Xia Qingtian said. "Rou Rou and my idol both need exposure."
"Just this?" Ji Jun asked skeptically.
"Otherwise?" Xia Qingtian raised an eyebrow, then crossed her arms. "After all, I don't have those complicated schemes in my heart."
"Like is like, dislike is dislike. I wouldn't deliberately join a dating show, make a girl follow me eagerly, only to then pretentiously keep her hanging, vaguely giving out a tiny bit of weak signals, and expecting the girl to throw herself at me for free." Xia Qingtian snorted.
Ji Jun's face instantly turned red at her words. "You! Did Rou Rou tell you all this?"
"Do these words sound like something Rou Rou would say?" Xia Qingtian said. "These are all common tropes, like 'Childhood Sweetheart Actress Lives Next Door', 'Naive Childhood Sweetheart, Pamper Me', 'Domineering Actor's Clumsy Little Sweetheart'... these tropes are overused in novels."
Ji Jun's face turned even redder. He propped up the edge of his glasses with his hand to hide his embarrassment. "You don't understand our situation."
For so many years, he had made countless advances, but Lin Yi-Rou was always a beat too slow to understand the situation.
If he didn't give Lin Yi-Rou a strong medicine this time, perhaps in another ten years, she still wouldn't truly face their feelings for each other.
"I don't understand, but the bystander sees clearly while you are lost in the situation!" Xia Qingtian said. "You rushed into the dating show to stimulate Rou Rou, aren't you afraid that Rou Rou will genuinely find true love and completely dump you? If it backfires, you'll be in trouble!"
"She is mine!" This time, Ji Jun was unusually resolute.
No one would snatch his childhood sweetheart away.
"Then be more proactive, big brother!" Xia Qingtian had initially thought that the pair of Ji Mei-Na and Tong Nian-Zhe was enough to tire her out, but she hadn't expected this childhood sweethearts CP to also wear her out.
"I... will try my best." Ji Jun raised his hand to adjust the frame of his glasses again.
"I will be there to support you, but only to a certain extent," Xia Qingtian said, standing up. "You, take it easy, save those showy maneuvers, be more sincere, and less calculative, understand?"
Ji Jun did not answer, merely nodding somewhat reluctantly.
"It's getting late, you should get some rest. I still need to find young master Tong." Xia Qingtian waved and walked towards the door.
"Why are you helping me?" Ji Jun asked, looking at Xia Qingtian's retreating back.
"Who's helping you? I'm helping Rou Rou," Xia Qingtian left him with this sentence before leaving Ji Jun's room and heading straight for Tong Nian-Zhe's room.
At this moment, Qiu Xinxue was at Tong Nian-Zhe's door, being blocked by Tong Nian-Zhe from entering.
"Young Master Tong, let's chat! We're partners for this week's activities, just discussing how to carry out the activities. You want to win too, right?" Qiu Xinxue wore an innocent smile.
She just didn't understand what was wrong with this Tong Nian-Zhe, why he was so difficult to communicate with.