Yun Lan punched her pillow. "And here I thought he was some great guy. Turns out he’s a scumbag who ended up being a total ungrateful wretch."
Zhu Sha chuckled. "Forget it, let’s not talk about him. He’s well-off, sure, but I don’t think he’d make a quality partner. Of course, Yun Lan, if you actually like him, just pretend I didn’t say anything."
Yun Lan’s face twisted. "Do I have such low standards?"
Zhu Sha quickly apologized. "My bad, I misspoke."
Yun Lan huffed twice. "Sigh. It’s just so frustrating to think about. How blind must he be to let a great woman like you go?"
Zhu Sha shook her head. "Alright, what’s said is said. Let’s not bring him up again. He’s always been very concerned with appearances, so I doubt he’ll continue filming this show."
Yun Lan grew excited. "Does that mean a new guest will be coming?"
Zhu Sha shrugged. "You’d have to ask the director. I don’t know either."
Sure enough, after Zhu Sha got up the next day, she received a notice from the director: "Lu Mofeng has withdrawn from the show for personal reasons. A new guest will arrive at the Love Loft this afternoon."
Zhu Sha mulled it over and decided not to stay at the loft that afternoon. She planned to go out and kill some time. If she stayed and ended up alone with the new guest, it might give people the impression that she was being greedy.
Lu Mofeng’s departure didn’t disrupt anyone’s life; people went to work and ate their meals as usual. But the production team’s private group chat exploded. No one had expected such juicy gossip.
After lunch, Zhu Sha headed out with her camera and laptop slung over her shoulder. As for what happened back at the loft, she left the new male guest to his own devices with Yun Lan and the others.
Since she went out by herself, the director didn’t send a camera crew to follow her, so Zhu Sha had a lot of fun. When she got back to the loft that evening, she ran into Zhou Jintang.
"Just got off work?" Zhu Sha asked softly, switching the hand that was carrying a box of takeout dessert.
Zhou Jintang silently took the bag from her. "Yeah. Have you had dinner?"
Zhu Sha patted her stomach. "Not yet. Isn’t there a new guest? It wouldn’t be right for me to eat out, so I saved room to have dinner here."
Zhou Jintang’s brow relaxed slightly. "You left on purpose to avoid him?"
"Mhm," Zhu Sha admitted frankly. "The fact that we keep picking each other is already eye-catching enough. I don’t need to get involved with any other guys and have the editors paint me as some kind of player."
Even though he knew that wasn’t exactly what she meant, Zhou Jintang was still incredibly pleased. His tone lifted unconsciously. "The third date is tomorrow. Where do you want to go?"
Zhu Sha thought for a moment. "I haven’t thought about it. I’m not very good at planning things."
Zhou Jintang said, "Then I’ll plan it?"
"Okay," Zhu Sha agreed. "You’re always great at planning anyway."
Chatting, the two of them walked into the loft. The other guests, who were preparing hot pot, all looked over. Yun Lan was in a great mood. "Sasha, you guys are back?"
She said it as if Zhu Sha and Zhou Jintang had been out together all day.
Zhou Jintang set the dessert aside. "We ran into each other outside. Sasha brought dessert for everyone."
Zhu Sha explained, "I went out to check out a new shop this afternoon. Their pastries are really good—low-sugar and low-fat, so you don’t have to worry even if you’re watching your figure."
Yun Lan was especially supportive today. "Well, thanks, Sasha! We got a new guest at the loft today. Everyone’s met him except you two. Jin Yuan prepared hot pot this afternoon."
Zhu Sha paused for a second. "Hello, I’m Zhu Sha. You can call me Little Zhu or Sasha."
Zhou Jintang sat down across from Zhu Sha. "I’m Zhou Jintang. Call me whatever you like."
Jin Yuan looked at Zhu Sha, then at Zhou Jintang, clearly getting the vibe between them. He smiled. "Hello, you two. I’m Jin Yuan."
Jin Yuan’s arrival had no effect on Zhu Sha’s life. She and Zhou Jintang continued to partner up for the rest of the dating show’s filming, and at last, Zhu Sha returned to the little nest she had been away from for a month.
Although she had returned a few times during filming, the loft was ultimately different from her own home. In front of the cameras, you had to be mindful and couldn’t just be yourself whenever you wanted.
"It’s so good to be home. I can finally breathe," Zhu Sha sighed in relief, lying on her sofa.
Tan You sat down across from her. "So why did you accept Zhou Jintang’s confession on the show?"
Zhu Sha had her reasons. "Given that we picked each other the whole way through the show and went on several dates together, wouldn’t it have been weird for me to reject his confession? I did it for the sake of the show."
Tan You scoffed. "You really think I believe that?"
For once, Zhu Sha got a little pouty. "Well... anyway, I just did it for the show."
Tan You paid her no mind. It was already unprecedented for her to have accompanied Zhu Sha on this dating show in the first place. She wouldn’t interfere too much with Zhu Sha’s future love life—she had plenty of her own things to do.
Tan You wasn’t concerned with Zhu Sha and Zhou Jintang’s progress. Once Zhu Sha’s life returned to normal, she went on a You Li again with her little system. This time, she wasn’t hunting down counterfeit systems but was purely focused on broadening her horizons.
For instance, this time Tan You chose to go to a police station to gain experience. Because of her eyesight, she could likely never become a police officer in the real world, but she still coveted the uniform.
While Tan You was "learning from the masters" at the police station, the dating show finally started airing. Zhu Sha posted a little something on her social media to promote it as a token gesture. That post immediately blew up and stunned her fans.
No one knew their idol had actually gone on a dating show. What more needed to be said? The first thing to do was rush to support it. As a result, the show’s initial wave of traffic came from Zhu Sha’s fans.
But as the show aired, the "couple pairing" of Zhu Sha and Zhou Jintang became increasingly popular. The fact that they chose each other from beginning to end, went on a series of sweet dates, and so on, had the CP fans shipping them like their lives depended on it.
Fans dug up all the sweet, hidden little moments, like Zhou Jintang’s constant attentiveness or the way Zhu Sha would occasionally look at him.
Zhu Sha covered her face. "Were we really that sweet? I thought it was all pretty normal while we were filming."
Tan You looked up from her thick book. "In that kind of environment, everything you do gets magnified. By the way, how are things going with you and Zhou Jintang? It’s been almost two months since the show ended, and I saw you two kissing the other day."
Zhu Sha blushed. "Mr. Tan!"
Tan You looked back down at her book. "I won’t ask anything. Just handle it yourself."
Zhu Sha grumbled, "Honestly. You’re just a kid yourself, why are you worrying so much about me?"
Tan You gave a dry laugh. ’I shouldn’t have asked.’ She might as well get back to her studies.