Xia Qingtian finally managed to calm Ji Meina, coaxing her to eat breakfast first, before pulling Tong Nianze aside. "Big Brother, are you serious?"
She really couldn't handle this.
"For a moment... a sense of desire to win or lose surged uncontrollably..." Tong Nianze rubbed his nose, looking a little embarrassed.
"???" Three giant question marks floated above Xia Qingtian's head. "Can't your competitive spirit be channeled into the right place? Can't you just control it a little?"
"I can't control it." Tong Nianze didn't want to be like a porcupine, but he couldn't help it. Anyone who provoked him easily made him impulsive.
"You have to control it even if you can't! You do your best when we look for the keys later." Xia Qingtian shook her little fist. "I'll help you form muscle memory!"
Tong Nianze turned his head away, twitching his lips. "I'll try my best."
Xia Qingtian felt so weary.
One was a petite, shy little cutie who had been bullied because of her appearance since childhood, afraid of men. The other was a king of verbal sparring who was addicted to bullying and occasionally triggered his passive skills.
Why did the CP she shipped make her so tired!
"Qingtian, what are you guys talking about?" Qiu Xinxue, walking down the stairs, saw Xia Qingtian and Tong Nianze seemingly whispering.
Qiu Xinxue's eyelids twitched as she put on a harmless smile.
"Nothing," Xia Qingtian gave a dry laugh and gave Tong Nianze a look.
Receiving Xia Qingtian's silent cue, Tong Nianze put his hands in his pockets and walked away coolly.
"Did I interrupt you?" Qiu Xinxue said with a look of surprise. "Oh dear, I didn't mean to."
"It's alright, we were just chatting casually. Go eat first, I'll go up, shower, and be right down." Xia Qingtian patted Qiu Xinxue's arm and then trotted upstairs.
Watching Xia Qingtian's retreating back, Qiu Xinxue's gaze narrowed.
This Xia Qingtian was a bit too difficult to handle.
Earlier, on the set of "The Moon Blossoms Cherish Spring," she had deliberately not brought her wallet and phone, expecting Xia Qingtian to help her out and build a private connection.
Later, when she tried to become closer friends with Xia Qingtian, she felt as if there was an invisible barrier between them.
Xia Qingtian seemed easy to talk to, always smiling at everyone, but that was just polite small talk.
Logically, at this dating show, Xia Qingtian didn't know the other female guests, so she should naturally gravitate towards the person she knew best. But somehow, Ji Meina had appeared.
And that Tong Nianze, who dared to ignore her in public and not even say hello, was equally annoying!
Qiu Xinxue walked towards the dining table step by step. Upon seeing Ji Meina, a flicker of disgust crossed her eyes.
It's fine, there's still time. She didn't believe she couldn't win over Xia Qingtian!
Ji Meina already felt uncomfortable sitting at the same dining table as Tong Nianze. When Qiu Xinxue finally arrived, Ji Meina became more lively.
However, after only a few words, Ji Meina keenly felt that Qiu Xinxue seemed to be perfunctory when speaking to her.
It wasn't an exaggerated hostility, but she probably didn't like her very much either.
Sensing this, Ji Meina stopped talking to Qiu Xinxue, and the table fell into an awkward silence again.
It wasn't until Ling Fenghan and Ji Jun came over for breakfast that there were a few greetings.
Then it quieted down again.
Xia Qingtian took a shower and changed into casual clothes. As she came out, she saw Lin Yirou walking down the stairs yawning.
"Rourou, good morning," Xia Qingtian called out, waving.
"Morning," Lin Yirou waved her hand uncomfortably, then fiddled with her caramel-colored wavy hair. The sunlight streaming through the window seemed to cast a faint halo around Lin Yirou at that moment, making her look incredibly beautiful.
"Wow..." Xia Qingtian couldn't help but exclaim with starry eyes. "Rourou is truly a goddess worthy of the name! So beautiful!"
"Thank you." Lin Yirou seemed accustomed to such compliments and merely replied with a faint smile.
"When you're with Ji Jun, you don't need to say anything, you're like a painting!" Xia Qingtian couldn't help but recall the CP fan bonus pictures she had seen in her previous life.
Lin Yirou visibly paused, looking at Xia Qingtian defensively. "What?"
"It's 'The Legend of the Immortal Exile'." Xia Qingtian immediately brought up a recent historical fantasy drama starring Lin Yirou and Ji Jun. "One is an ethereal immortal lord, the other is a demon lord who bewitches all beings. When you two stand together, every second can be screenshotted for a wallpaper. You're a perfect match, and I don't know if you know this, but I'm a CP fan of you two!"
With that, Xia Qingtian spread her arms and made a large heart shape.
"Really?" Lin Yirou's lips curved subtly, and her eyes twinkled with amusement. "A perfect match?"
"Of course, exceptionally so." Xia Qingtian felt that this pair was much smoother sailing than Ji Meina's.
After the dating show "First Step of Heartbeat," the two filmed a campus romance comedy and soon announced their relationship.
With the foundation of the dating show and the incredibly sweet campus romance comedy that followed, fans were quite accepting.
Later, everyone found out that they were childhood sweethearts.
The reason they participated in the dating show back then was because Ji Jun had never known how to break the ice, so he thought of participating in the dating show as a transition, and he secretly wanted Lin Yirou to know about it.
As expected, as soon as Lin Yirou heard that Ji Jun was participating in the dating show, Lin Yirou, who was usually laid-back and only wanted to act, had a rare burst of motivation to go all out and immediately followed suit.
They were a super sweet CP who had secretly loved each other for ten years but neither had confessed.
Looking at them, Ji Jun appeared to be ascetic and detached, while Lin Yirou seemed beautiful, delicate, and quick-witted. In reality, it was the opposite.
Ji Jun was the shrewd, dark-bellied man behind the glasses, while Lin Yirou was a very laid-back, natural beauty who rarely socialized outside of filming, and Ji Jun took care of her in everyday life.
Xia Qingtian also really loved this couple. After all, the默契 (mòqì - tacit understanding) of childhood sweethearts was there. The subtle feeling of understanding each other with just a glance made many CP fans gush with sweetness.
After they got married, they were also very happy and never had any scandals.
Xia Qingtian chatted and laughed with Lin Yirou as they went downstairs. Once they were seated, the quiet dining room finally became lively.
"Idol, how's your flower room? A 360-degree panoramic view, does it give you a sense of returning to nature?" Xia Qingtian asked Ling Fenghan as soon as she sat down.
"It's okay. I wake up whenever the sun comes out, completely saving on the alarm service." Ling Fenghan said with a wry smile. "It's fine this season, but in the summer, I expect insect chirps to play, which would make it truly impossible to sleep."
"Listening to that... it sounds like it could be the inspiration for a new song!" Xia Qingtian's eyes lit up. "Don't waste this experience, write a song!"
"You really are my fan!" Ling Fenghan felt like crying.
Giving him two thumbs up, Xia Qingtian smiled brightly.
The others were also amused by the interaction between Xia Qingtian and Ling Fenghan.
"Did you guys find your keys?" Qiu Xinxue changed the subject, seeing the situation. "Most rooms should have one."
"Really? Then I'll go back and look." Ling Fenghan nodded. "Did you find Qingtian's?"
"I found it yesterday," Xia Qingtian said. "I'm going to help Meina look for hers later."
"Okay, then we'll all go back and look in our rooms later." Ling Fenghan nodded. "Besides the keys in each room, the villa should have two more keys. Where could they be?"
"We'll find them slowly. We have five days, can't we find two keys?" Qiu Xinxue said with a smile.
Xia Qingtian, standing beside her, subtly hooked her lips and didn't respond.
They might not be able to find them after all.
Admittedly, the production team was quite clever at hiding things.