"But aren't you Xia Wan's best friend? You've fallen for her ex-fiancé, don't you think that's a betrayal of friendship? Aren't you afraid she'll resent you?"

An Xinrong had thought about this issue before, and she had been trying her best to restrain herself, but matters of the heart are not something she can control just because she wants to.

"Lu Yan has taken a liking to him. She's also Xia Wan's aunt. If she's always worried about this and that, why would she participate in a dating reality show?"

Many people say she's a bit slow and doesn't consider the consequences of her actions, but in reality, she has thought things through carefully.

If she could, she would love to go back to when she first met Zhuang Yan. If she hadn't spoken ill of him at the beginning, would their relationship be closer now?

Fang Chen finally understood that An Xinrong was very good at being brainwashed. Not only could she be brainwashed by others, she could also brainwash herself.

Judging from her appearance, she won't change her mind anytime soon.

"If you really like Zhuang Yan, I can help you."

"How can I help?" No matter what, An Xinrong wanted to try. If she succeeded, she would explain things to Xia Wan and resolve their conflict. If she failed, things would just stay the way they were.

“Zhuang Yan is now completely under Lu Yan’s control. You should learn more from Lu Yan.”

"How should I learn from her?" Should I learn from her clothing and style, or from her way of doing things?

She and Lu Yan are not the same type. If she were to imitate Lu Yan's style of dress, firstly, her figure wouldn't be able to pull it off, and secondly, in terms of style of doing things, she admits that she is far inferior to Lu Yan. She doesn't know how to flirt with people as well as Lu Yan.

In this respect, An Xinrong was somewhat self-aware.

“Learn from her strategy of playing hard to get. Actually, men don’t like women who are too proactive. Like Lu Yan, when she first took the initiative, didn’t Zhuang Yan ignore her? Men prefer challenges. The more proactive you are, the cheaper you seem. Once you get her, you won’t cherish her. Lu Yan cleverly changed her strategy and suddenly distanced herself from Zhuang Yan, which made Zhuang Yan start to care about her.”

An Xinrong asked earnestly, like a primary school student, "So what should I do?"

“You can do what Lu Yan did. Since close contact doesn’t elicit a reaction from him, then distance yourself from him. You can also pretend to find another man to test his reaction. You have to understand that only good things are worth fighting for. With more competitors, he will naturally panic and will look at you more often when he sees you with another man.”

Is that really the case?

Fang Chen is smarter than her. He got into a top university, started his own business, and created a popular game while he was in college. What he said must make sense.

And isn't it said that only men understand men better?

"Can I look for you then?"

Late at night, Fang Chen smiled slightly and said, "Of course, we're friends, and I'd be happy to help you test Zhuang Yan."

...

At 10 p.m., Lu Yan greeted Zhuang Yan and teased him to say goodnight before slowly returning to her room.

Jiang Ning was already waiting for her in the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at Lu Yan with a deep gaze ever since Lu Yan came in.

It was clear that Lu Yan was in a good mood today. She was humming a song when she returned to her room, and when she met her gaze, she only paused in her singing, but her smile remained unchanged.

“Lu Yan, you are not suitable for Zhuang Yan, and he is not a toy that you can manipulate at will.”

"Whether I'm suitable for him or not, he'll only know after he tries. But you, you tried and then broke up, so you're obviously not very suitable." Lu Yan is very good at this kind of emotional manipulation.

Jiang Ning pinched the back of her hand until red marks appeared, but she didn't let go.

"I'm turning off the lights and going to sleep. I have to get up early tomorrow to drink my mung bean porridge." Lu Yan boasted for a moment, then turned off the lights. In the darkness, only rustling sounds could be heard.

Lu Yan reached into her t-shirt, unhooked her bra, and took it off.

After adjusting to the darkness, Jiang Ning looked in Lu Yan's direction and saw a hazy figure.

"Lu Yan, do you want to know about what happened between me and Zhuang Yan?"

"I don't want to know, and I'm not interested." The past can't be retrieved, so what good would knowing it do? It would only make her feel a little uncomfortable, nothing more.

Jiang Ning's existence is a thorn in her side. She was able to remove Xia Wan, this poisonous thorn, so why would she be afraid of not being able to remove her?

Lu Yan was absolutely certain that Zhuang Yan would not get back together with Jiang Ning.

If Zhuang Yan was avoiding her recently, then he was avoiding Jiang Ning like the plague. Zhuang Yan is usually gentle with people, so for him to be so cold to Jiang Ning must mean that she did something irreversible.

Lu Yan was indeed curious about what had happened between the two of them in the past, but she preferred to hear Zhuang Yan tell her the story rather than ask Jiang Ning.

"Jiang Ning, I won't get involved in your past, and what happens between Zhuang Yan and me in the future is none of your business. If you want to earn it, I won't stop you, but I will absolutely not give you a chance to get back together. If you don't believe me, try me."

Jiang Ning sneered, "You're so confident? Don't forget, I still have another chance to go on a date with Zhuang Yan. I'm still young, and I have plenty of time. Who can predict the future? We have mutual relatives and friends, and we grew up together. Even after the show ends, we can still see each other often."

Lu Yan didn't care about her provocation. She lay down on the bed and said, "Then we'll wait and see."

...

At seven o'clock in the morning, the director announced that there would be no free time today. Lu Yan came to Zhuang Yan's side in front of everyone and said, "Go to your room and wait for me. Leave a crack for me, and I'll sneak in."

Zhuang Yan was unaware of what was about to happen. Seeing Lu Yan's furtive behavior, he found it both amusing and somewhat nerve-wracking.

What a perfect way to "show affection," but Lu Yan didn't plan to let more people know, fearing that she would be disturbed later and have her mood affected.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!