This question really hit a blind spot for Tiantian. She didn't know Chen Dongyang at all, not even how many family members he had, and yet he had fallen for her so bewilderingly…
As the two walked out, the girl looked Chen Dongyang up and down, her face flushed with shyness.
Seeing that she wasn't leaving, Tiantian knew the girl was insistent on finding a partner, so she asked Chen Dongyang on her behalf.
"Do you have any brothers? Cousins, second cousins, any would do. This young lady wants you to introduce her to someone."
Chen Dongyang was fortunate he didn't have water in his mouth, or he would have spat it out.
"I only have an older sister, sorry."
"Ah?" The girl was very disappointed. "No younger cousins either?"
"They're all in Jin City, and we haven't been in touch for years. I'm truly sorry."
The girl could only leave dejectedly.
Chen Dongyang took Tiantian to eat, and Tiantian asked him, "You have an older sister, why have you never mentioned her?"
"It's best not to mention it."
"Why?"
"We haven't been in touch for a long time. We had some disagreements, and she doesn't want to associate with me anymore."
Well, it was his family matter, and if he didn't want to talk about it, there was no point in her prying. Tiantian stopped asking.
After the two had lunch, they continued on their way, stopping and starting, and surprisingly ended up arriving at the destination in the last group.
They were greeted by staff and arranged rooms. After putting their luggage away and resting for about ten minutes, the dinner banquet began.
The organizer sent a leader to dine with them and organize an ice-breaking activity, which everyone had to participate in.
Chen Dongyang pushed Tiantian into the conference room. Wow, as expected, it was the Young Designer Competition. All the participants were young men and women with high颜值. The moment they entered, there was a vibrant, refreshing, and invigorating feeling.
Whether it was Tiantian seeing Chen Dongyang through rose-tinted glasses or not, even with so many young people, she still felt Chen Dongyang was the most handsome.
With only two seats left, they took their seats.
The host went on stage and first explained the purpose and intention of the event, offering good wishes for everyone's future, and then invited the leader to speak.
The leader spoke in a bureaucratic manner, asking everyone to introduce themselves.
Chen Dongyang was sitting in the closest seat to the host's podium, so he went first.
He stated his name, age, and city of residence, and then didn't say much more, passing the microphone to Tiantian.
Tiantian was similar in age to him, and they came from the same city, so her introduction was similar. Everyone realized they had come together and looked so well-matched. After she finished speaking, the host made a joke.
"Are you two perhaps a couple? What a coincidence. I didn't expect our event, in its second year, to welcome such a young couple of designer partners. It's truly enviable."
Tiantian felt a little embarrassed and instinctively wanted to explain, but Chen Dongyang subtly pinched her hand underneath.
Anyway, no one knew each other, so being misunderstood was being misunderstood. They would part ways after the event, so it didn't matter; he couldn't be bothered to explain further.
Tiantian thought this way and no longer explained.
After everyone had introduced themselves, the dinner commenced.
As they headed to the restaurant, several designers from Nancheng walked up to them spontaneously.
"Hello, we are also from Nancheng. We didn't expect to meet such a good-looking couple while participating in a competition. It's so exciting."
"You two are really a feast for the eyes, and your relationship seems good too. May I ask which company you work for? Is it an office romance?"
Tiantian saw the misunderstanding deepening and was too lazy to explain, shifting the question to Chen Dongyang.
Chen Dongyang didn't mention the company name, but instead said,
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. My girlfriend accidentally injured her leg a few days ago, and it's inconvenient for her to get around. You might need to help her quite a bit over the next few days."
One girl said, "So that's what happened. I was wondering why she was in a wheelchair. No problem. I'm very willing to help her."
They exchanged names, talked and laughed as they headed to the restaurant, and naturally sat at the same table.
Since they were peers and of similar age, there were no restraints during dinner. They ate, drank, and chatted, and time passed pleasantly. It was nine o'clock in the evening in the blink of an eye.
The dinner ended, and Chen Dongyang bid farewell to everyone, saying he needed to take Tiantian back to rest.
A girl tugged at him and said,
"It's only nine o'clock, and you're going back to sleep? You're too health-conscious! The competition officially starts tomorrow, and I'm so excited. I can't sleep anyway. How about we play some games?"
Play games?
Upon hearing this, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.
"What games shall we play?"
"Truth or Dare, or Werewolf, you choose."
Some suggested Truth or Dare, others suggested Werewolf, so they decided to vote.
Ultimately, to break the ice thoroughly, they decided to play Truth or Dare.
A few playful young people at other tables saw them about to play and proposed to join them. A crowd of eleven people gathered at one table.
Each person wrote ten questions they wanted to ask on a piece of paper, and they all put them into an empty box and shook it.
Using the remaining wine and an empty bottle, they began their ice-breaking journey.
Since it was the girl who proposed to play, she was designated to start.
She casually spun the bottle with her hand, and it slowly began to turn.
It stopped in less than three rounds, with the bottle opening pointing at a man wearing glasses.
He chose truth and went to the box to draw a lot. The first question drawn was: How many relationships have you been in so far?
Tiantian had been a good girl all her life and had only seen such scenes in movies and TV shows. This was her first time experiencing it.
The first question was so tricky that she was instantly dumbfounded.
She quietly whispered to Chen Dongyang, "Truth or Dare is about prying into other people's privacy? If I had known the game was played like this, I wouldn't have joined."
Chen Dongyang was a little surprised, "You haven't played before?"
Tiantian was also surprised, "Have you played?"
Of course, he had.
Before Chen Dongyang returned to China, he had been a playboy who frequented nightlife.
However, a hero doesn't boast of his past glories, and there was no need to tell Tiantian about it.
"It's okay. If you don't want to say it, you can choose Dare later."
As they were talking, the girl who was managing the game clapped her hands forcefully.
"No whispering. Even if you're a real couple, no whispering. Respect the players. Come on, let him share his dating experiences with us."
Everyone started to clamor, and the man smiled indifferently and said, "Three relationships."
"Tsk."
Everyone scoffed, disbelieving.
"Scumbag. Sounds like an experienced scumbag. That's a standard answer copied from the internet. Who believes you've only been in three? If you don't tell the truth, this game will be boring."
The man said, "It's the truth. It just so happened to be three, and I can't help it."
"Whether it's the truth or not, if everyone doesn't believe it, it's a lie. You have to drink three cups as a penalty."