rsvt_06

The moment Yu Ran'er finished speaking, it belatedly dawned on her that they weren't alone in the car. She clapped a hand over her mouth in alarm, glancing anxiously at the driver in the front seat, sent by the production team to pick them up. Thankfully there was no camera in the car, and the driver seemed entirely focused on driving.

Di Jing set his phone down.

It wasn't that Yu Ran'er's words had gotten through to him, it was simply that every flight from Haicheng back to Beijing that day was already fully booked. A flicker of irritation rose in him, but he quickly suppressed it, getting angry wouldn't solve anything.

Still, he finally understood why Yu Xiaochong had been acting so strange lately, turns out he'd been quietly digging a hole for him to fall into.

Di Jing rubbed his temples. He understood exactly why Yu Xiaochong hadn't dared tell him the truth. This year, he'd spent most of his time holed up in his composing room, turning down countless engagements, and even if he did agree to a variety show, a dating show would never have been his choice. But Yu Xiaochong was a capable manager, and he needed to get Di Jing some exposure.

"Zero Distance With You" had generated massive buzz on Weibo, even someone like Di Jing, who only checked Weibo occasionally, had heard of the show.

Last month, Yu Xiaochong had asked for his opinion on it, and he'd flatly refused. The very next day, Yu Xiaochong had told him he'd landed a travel variety show instead, and once Di Jing agreed, he'd brought over the contract. Given how deeply Di Jing trusted him, Yu Xiaochong had never once dropped the ball since becoming his manager, Di Jing had signed his name without even glancing over it.

Now, all he felt was regret.

Utter, overwhelming regret.

Even with someone he trusted completely, he should have read the contract carefully before signing.

"Driver, where are we headed now?" Di Jing asked.

"Luoyue Bay," the driver replied succinctly.

Di Jing searched for hotels near Luoyue Bay. He'd been there once before, it was one of Haicheng's famous scenic spots, drawing plenty of visitors, and unsurprisingly, all the nearby guesthouses and hotels were already fully booked by tourists.

Di Jing scrolled through the results and couldn't find a single place to stay. With nothing left to say, he simply turned to stare blankly out the window.

The car merged onto the highway, no chance to stop now.

"Brother Xiao Yu said, please, he's begging you to read through the whole show schedule and details." Seeing Di Jing had gone quiet, Yu Ran'er spoke up timidly.

"Mm." Di Jing closed his eyes.

Forget it. It's just one month.

He could grit his teeth and get through it.

His creative work was stuck in a rut anyway. Even if he went back, he'd just be wasting his time aimlessly in the composing room regardless.

"Brother Di Jing, so you're agreeing to film the show?" Yu Ran'er asked, delighted.

"Mm."

"That's wonderful! Having you there with me, I'm really happy. I was a bit nervous at first, but with Brother Di Jing by my side, I feel at ease now. Oh right, Brother Di Jing, I heard you did a tour stop in Haicheng before. Do you know any good food or fun spots around here? The production said guests can arrange their own date locations, so maybe the two of us could go out together sometime..."

Di Jing's eyes glazed over, staring blankly out the window.

They'd actually put him on a dating show together with Yu Ran'er.

Yu Xiaochong. You are so dead when I get back.

Meanwhile.

Yu Xiaochong was pacing anxiously back and forth at the company. Seeing someone approach, he hurried forward to meet her. "We're from the same company, aren't we? Why would you keep something like this from your own colleague? Yu Ran'er's going on the show too, you should've told me!"

The woman walked in holding a coffee, startled enough by Yu Xiaochong's outburst to take two steps back. She was the same woman from the break room a few days earlier, the one who'd heard Yu Xiaochong complaining—Yu Ran'er's manager, Luo Xiao.

"How was I supposed to know you could actually talk Di Jing into going on a dating variety show? Given his personality, there's just no way he'd take on that kind of show."

"Didn't I already tell you? The show's PD already contacted me about moving up the filming date, and the contract had already been signed before that. How could you, of all people..." Yu Xiaochong trailed off, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

He was done for. He could already imagine exactly how Di Jing must be feeling right now.

Watching Yu Xiaochong practically losing his mind, Luo Xiao said guiltily, "Sorry, I really didn't think you'd actually manage to pull it off."

Based on how well she knew Di Jing, even with a signed contract, there was no way anyone could force him into something. He simply never made himself do things he hated.

"You could've at least mentioned that Yu Ran'er was going on it too!"

Di Jing had brought up the issue with Yu Ran'er to him before, and Yu Xiaochong had passed that along to Luo Xiao as well, but Yu Ran'er still hadn't reined herself in at all.

"Didn't the production say to keep it confidential? I was just cooperating with that," Luo Xiao said, sounding a bit regretful herself now. "I just hope Di Jing doesn't take it out on me once he's back."

"Don't worry, the first person he's coming for is definitely going to be me."

Yu Xiaochong slumped dejectedly onto the sofa. Luo Xiao quickly nudged him. "Don't do that, it's bad for the company's image if someone sees."

"At this point, image doesn't really matter anymore. I'm worried Brother Di's going to fire me the second he's back."

Yu Xiaochong had gone straight to KG for an interview right after graduating. It had happened to be right when Di Jing was looking to switch managers, and Di Jing had picked him out at first glance. Di Jing was actually Yu Xiaochong's idol, it was because of him that Yu Xiaochong had applied to KG in the first place. After being chosen, he'd thrown himself into the job every single day like he was on fire, incredibly dedicated, managing all of Di Jing's affairs meticulously. It had been nearly three years now.

He'd probably not survive to see the three-year itch through.

Getting Di Jing to go on a dating show, he could live with the fallout from that. But Di Jing going on a dating show together with Yu Ran'er?

He could already picture exactly how miserable he was going to be a month from now.

"It's not that serious, is it? Ran'er's a little quirky, sure, but she's easy enough to get along with. Who knows, maybe the two of them will actually end up together."

Yu Xiaochong reacted like he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "Are you kidding me, sis? It's not like you haven't seen how they interact. Brother Di practically has 'disgust' written across his face whenever she's around. But seriously, sis, Ran'er's barely even debuted, why would you put her on a dating show?"

Luo Xiao fell silent.

Sensing something was off, Yu Xiaochong got up from the sofa to get a look at Luo Xiao's expression.

Luo Xiao guiltily turned her head away.

"Oh, I see how it is. Is this because you couldn't handle Ran'er's personality, so you just dumped her in Haicheng for a month to get some peace and quiet for yourself?"

Luo Xiao had occasionally vented to Yu Xiaochong about Yu Ran'er's moody, unpredictable personality before, but Yu Xiaochong had always figured it was just a young girl fresh out of school, still adjusting to her new identity, on top of struggling alone in Beijing.

But ever since Di Jing had brought up Yu Ran'er overstepping boundaries, and Yu Xiaochong had passed that along to Luo Xiao, Yu Ran'er hadn't corrected her behavior in the slightest.

Yu Xiaochong couldn't help but start doubting Yu Ran'er's character.

What was going on with her? She seemed like such a cheerful, outgoing girl on the surface.

Why couldn't she just take a hint?

"Try raising her yourself and see," Luo Xiao said helplessly. "She can't control her own temper, and even when she's clearly in the wrong, she doesn't think she's done anything wrong. Sure, her singing ability is genuinely excellent, but if she wants a long-term career in this industry, she needs to change herself. This buzzy variety show happened to come looking for me at just the right time, if she messes up, public opinion will make her see herself clearly."

"You're not worried public backlash could destroy her?"

"Anyone with glass-thin skin doesn't last long in this business anywhere." Luo Xiao took a sip of her coffee. "But even if public sentiment turns bad, KG will still be there to protect her. I just want this girl to genuinely recognize her own mistakes, let society give her a proper lesson."

"She shouldn't think that winning first place on one show means everything will go smoothly from here on out. This is only the beginning. If she still has ambitions for her career, then while she's still young, there's still time to change herself."

"Sis..." Yu Xiaochong hesitated.

"You're treating this dating show like some kind of reform bootcamp, aren't you?"

.

The kitchen storage shelves had been stocked with fresh vegetables, fruit, and meat, purchased by the production team, but only enough for one day. After that, all the guests would need to buy their own groceries.

Luo Xiangxun rolled up his shirt sleeves and started chopping vegetables.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Mu Qi walked out of her room.

Since the remaining two guests still hadn't arrived, the production had sent word that they wouldn't be reaching the house until around 3pm.

So the six of them already at the house had gone ahead and sorted out the rooms, settled with a quick round of rock-paper-scissors. Mu Qi won and picked the room on the lower left floor, for a simple reason.

Pure convenience.

Plus, she wouldn't have to haul her ridiculously heavy suitcase up the stairs.

Su Zhizhi and Lu Shutong took the rooms on the second floor. On the first floor's right side were Luo Xiangxun and Mu He; on the second floor's left side were Cui Ran and the guest who hadn't arrived yet.

Mu He and Cui Ran were helping Su Zhizhi and Lu Shutong carry their luggage up.

Mu Qi tossed her suitcase into her room and came right back out, she didn't have much to unpack.

"Could you boil these noodles for me? Thanks." Luo Xiangxun pointed to three packets of noodles on the counter.

"Sure."

Mu Qi dropped the noodles into the water and stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for them to cook through.

Luo Xiangxun turned to ask her, "Any food you can't eat?"

"None."

"Good."

Mu Qi, bored with nothing to do, struck up a conversation. "Do race car drivers have to be pretty strict about their diet? Like eating low-fat foods and stuff?"

"Depends on the person. Everyone has their own diet plan that works for them."

"I see." The noodles were done cooking, and Mu Qi scooped them out into a large bowl.

Watching Luo Xiangxun bustling around the kitchen, this side of him completely overturned her first impression of him.

"Watching you like this, I think I need to learn how to cook too." Mu Qi watched him skillfully mix the sauce, feeling a bit envious.

"It's actually pretty simple."

"I think I actually do know how to cook," Mu Qi said, pausing to think for a moment. "It's just that only I can stomach eating it."

"Like what?"

"Plain congee with soy sauce, soy sauce fried rice, soy sauce noodles."

Luo Xiangxun: "That's certainly..." He finished mixing the sauce and glanced over at Mu Qi.

Mu Qi could've sworn she saw pity in his eyes.

Back when she was working, she'd order delivery for lunch, but by the time she finished work at night, the restaurants would already be closed, leaving her to fend for herself. She never had much interest in food, fast and filling was all she asked for. The most extravagant thing she'd make was fried rice, and she'd even treat herself to an added egg. That had been how she'd handled her meals in her past life too.

No wonder she'd died so young.

"Let me help too." Su Zhizhi came down from upstairs.

Mu Qi was in the middle of setting out bowls when Su Zhizhi naturally picked up the large bowl of noodles and started portioning them out.

"Mu Qi," Su Zhizhi said suddenly.

"We already picked out our rooms before the rest of the guests arrived, I wonder if they'll have any objections."

"I don't think so," Mu Qi said. "The layouts on the first and second floor are pretty similar anyway."

They weren't kids, after all, would anyone really object over something as small as a room assignment?

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