Zhou Jintang ladled a bowl of soup for her. "You’re not the one who’s ridiculous—they are. They lost someone as warm and caring as you. Sooner or later, they’ll regret it."
"At this point, I couldn’t care less whether they regret it or not," Zhu Sha said, in no mood to eat. "His ex gave birth, dumped the kid on him, and left the country."
"I hadn’t even graduated from college, and I was already helping him care for the child and rebuild his business. When the boy was two, he was diagnosed with autism. I took him to practically every hospital imaginable."
"When the doctor diagnosed him with autism, I looked up so much information and even started studying psychology on my own, just hoping I could help him somehow."
"I poured almost all of my motherly love into him, but that child... he said those things to me." Zhu Sha actually managed a smile. "He completely invalidated my six years of devotion. He made me feel like all my care during those years was utterly wasted."
Zhou Jintang sighed. "That’s all in the past. You’ve left the people who were draining you. Aren’t you doing great now?"
"When I first met you, I thought you were like a wilting flower. But look at you now. You’re so exceptional, so vibrant."
Zhu Sha lifted her bowl. "You’re right. I can’t let them drain me anymore. They aren’t worth it."
"Exactly. That’s the way you need to think," Zhou Jintang said. "So, did you come on this show because you’re actually looking for a relationship?"
Zhu Sha didn’t shy away from the question. "To be honest, I wasn’t planning on getting into a relationship. I’m the type of person who warms up to others very slowly. I was just thinking I’d get out, see the world, meet new people, and eventually, I’d be able to forget my past."
Zhou Jintang understood her meaning. He lowered his gaze and smiled, then suddenly made a suggestion. "Since that’s the case, how about we write to each other during the upcoming letter-writing segment?"
"Huh?" Zhu Sha faltered. "Why?"
"Don’t you want to forget your past?" Zhou Jintang said. "And we already know each other, sort of. If you write to someone else, what if you get in the way of their budding romance? Besides, there aren’t any female guests I’m interested in at the moment. I don’t mind if you use me."
Zhu Sha hesitated. "I’m not so sure about that. If you write to me, what if another female guest likes you? Wouldn’t I be getting in your way...?"
"I really don’t have my eye on anyone right now," Zhou Jintang said. "So we’d just be... helping each other out?"
The director had no choice but to cut in. "Uh, we’re still rolling here. President Zhou, exploiting the rules like this... that’s not really okay, is it?"
Zhou Jintang tactfully shut his mouth, but not before giving Zhu Sha one last nudge. "Just think about it. If we write to each other, the rest of our time in the house will be very peaceful."
Zhu Sha actually began to seriously consider it. Tan You couldn’t help but facepalm. "He’s playing you. I’ve never met anyone so gullible."
"I know he’s playing me," Zhu Sha said—she wasn’t a total fool. "But you have to admit, it’s a good suggestion. If you want to keep things peaceful on a dating show, having a stable person to write to is the best way to do it."
’That way, I won’t get entangled in the other guests’ romantic drama...’ The more Zhu Sha thought about it, the more promising the idea seemed. She had come on the show to have a relaxing time; she had no interest in getting caught up in scheming and infighting.
Tan You felt it was hopeless trying to persuade her. Zhu Sha knew it was a trap, but she was still willing to walk right into it.
"A guy like Zhou Jintang, you think he’s really being that nice?" Tan You added as a final warning, basically telling Zhu Sha not to be too trusting.
Zhu Sha didn’t pay it any mind. "I know. We’ll just stop talking once the show is over, anyway."
Tan You let out a dry laugh. ’She’s so naive,’ she thought. With a guy like Zhou Jintang, if you give an inch, he’ll take a mile. In the end, he always gets what he wants.
Her mind made up, Zhu Sha clinked her glass against Zhou Jintang’s. "Well then, I’m counting on you for the foreseeable future."
Zhou Jintang was delighted. "Of course. And Sasha has to promise me she won’t have eyes for any of the other male guests."
"I’m not looking at any other guys anyway," Zhu Sha said. "Besides, I don’t want to get a reputation as a player."
Zhou Jiyun teased, half-joking, "Is that so? But just a moment ago, Sasha was talking about how all the other guys have stomach problems..."
Zhu Sha said with exasperation, "I can’t win an argument with you. It’s not like I was observing them on purpose."
The cameraman watched as Zhou Jintang sealed the deal with Zhu Sha in just a few sentences, and he couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity for her. ’Everyone here is a sly old fox,’ he thought. ’How could I not see what Zhou Jintang is up to?’
All he could think was that it was a dog-eat-dog world.
After striking a deal with Zhou Jintang, Zhu Sha and he wrote to each other exclusively for the rest of the show’s taping. Perhaps because everyone knew the two of them were a locked pair, the other five guests—everyone except Lu Mofeng—diligently continued to play out the dating show’s drama.
But that evening, just as Zhu Sha had mailed her letter and was about to head upstairs, she was stopped by Lu Mofeng.
Lu Mofeng’s gaze was much darker than it had been two weeks ago.
Zhu Sha took a slight step back. "Can I help you?"
Lu Mofeng suppressed his impatience. "We need to talk."
"We have nothing to talk about," Zhu Sha said without a trace of hesitation. "I told you when we got divorced: if we ever met again, we’d pretend to be strangers. Weren’t we doing a perfectly good job of that until now? Why did you suddenly show up?"
Lu Mofeng looked at Zhu Sha. "Do you... do you have to be so prickly? Can’t we just be civil with each other?"
"We can never be civil," Zhu Sha said sharply. "I’m going upstairs now."
"Wait," Lu Mofeng called after her, his voice a bit hoarse. "Chenchen... Chenchen really misses you. It’s his tenth birthday next month. Will you please see him?"
"I’m not his mother, and I don’t want to see him," Zhu Sha said, her nails digging into her palm. "He said it himself. He has his own mother, one who’s a thousand, ten thousand times better than me."
Lu Mofeng grew frantic. "Do you have to be like this? I admit I was wrong to hurt you, but Chenchen... Chenchen’s just a child! Are you really going to hold a grudge against a child...?"
"’He’s just a child...’" Zhu Sha repeated, turning back to face him. "I wasn’t even out of college when I started helping you take care of him. He was only a week old when I first met him."
"In those six years, you barely spent any time with him. But me? I poured everything I had into that boy. When he was sick, I nursed him day and night. He’s had autism since he was a toddler, and I was the one taking him from doctor to doctor, seeking treatment."
"You said that given his condition, it wasn’t a good time for us to have a child of our own. You told me to wait—that we could have one once Lu Chenling’s condition improved. I listened to you. And I waited."
"In six years, if I had raised a dog, it would have at least known to wag its tail for me. But your son? He meets his birth mother one time and completely flips to her side. He made my six years of devotion into an absolute joke."