a bolt from the blue

Ding Xuefei quickly closed the door, trying to calm herself down.

What's going on? Is Elio a new guest on the show? Elio's previous CP (couple pairing) hype had already given him a headache, and now they're going on a dating reality show together. I wonder how happy the CP fans will be. They're probably going crazy with joy during the live stream...?

Bullet comments:

"It's here! The moment I've been waiting for has arrived!"

"I bet the older brother will happily hug his younger brother when he sees him, otherwise how can he assert his ownership?"

"Listen up, other guests! Our 'E-Kiss Ding-Qing CP' is here in style, ready to show you what a real couple is!"

"Aren't you annoying? It's not like you're the only CP fans. Can you please stop spamming the chat?"

"So, the fact that they're both on a dating reality show just means your favorite couple isn't dating and isn't close in private."

"Hmph, my rivals are just jealous that we have candy again. Just you wait and see!"

Ding Xuefei's attempt to treat the patient failed. She composed herself and went inside.

Inside, everyone was gathered in the living room just as they had when welcoming Yu Songlin. Today's protagonist was Elio, dressed like a little prince, who was now nestled softly against Stella.

Ding Xuefei's strategy today is to act like an unfamiliar colleague has arrived, at least not as strange as when Yu Songlin came...

"Oh, we have a new guest."

Stella waved to him: "Yeah, Snowflake, come quick!"

Elio looked at him as if he were food on a plate, and Ding Xuefei couldn't avoid it: "I'll go upstairs and change my clothes first."

He turned and went upstairs, just as Elio, pretending to understand, said, "Brother Xuefei must be shy."

Yu Songlin raised his eyes, his expression unreadable.

"Shy my foot!" Ding Xuefei was furious. She threw herself onto the bed and vented her anger on the pillow. After she had calmed down, she remembered to send a message to Guo Chu to let him know what was going on.

The production team is really inhumane. Why invite anyone? Don't they have enough buzz already? Elio has a big company backing him, and he built his career on creating on-screen couples. If he comes to a dating show, they'll definitely hype him up a lot. I just wonder who he'll choose as his publicity stunt partner…

Could this unlucky guy be Ding Xuefei?

"Forget it," Ding Xuefei thought. "At least he knows what Elio's tricks are. If it were those innocent guys downstairs, wouldn't Elio have tricked them badly?"

With the mindset of "If I don't go to hell, who will?", Ding Xuefei changed her clothes and went downstairs with the heroic posture of going to the battlefield.

Ding Xuefei couldn't even maintain his composure until he sat down; he broke down after hearing Elio say just one sentence.

"Brother Xuefei took good care of me on the show before. When we were filming a wilderness survival show, whenever Brother Xuefei found food, he would give it to me first and go hungry himself. I've always remembered that..."

Elio spoke with great emotion, and Xu Yimeng, who always loves shipping couples, was also moved, crossing her arms and twisting back and forth: "Such a beautiful and lovely relationship~"

"That fruit is too sour, I can't eat it." Ding Xuefei's voice was completely flat.

“No wonder~ Wow, I almost forgot if you hadn’t mentioned it, that fruit was incredibly sour! I’ve never eaten such a sour fruit in my life!” Elio didn’t care about his coldness at all, and took the opportunity to change the subject, his expression exaggerated, “Later, whenever I ate something sour, I would think of Brother Xuefei.”

Ding Xuefei rolled her eyes inwardly, but could only manage a forced smile.

Ke Ran, stirring things up from the side, patted Ding Xuefei on the back and said, "Brother Xuefei, aren't you going to do anything? Look how sincere Elio is, thinking about you for so long. If someone thought about me like that, hey..."

Do you want this good fortune? Ding Xuefei moved Ke Ran's hand away: "That's all in the past."

Elio found it hard to respond to this, so he put on a pitiful expression and pulled Stella aside, saying, "Sister, is Brother Xuefei angry with me?"

Stella waved her hand: "No, he's not usually like this. Did someone upset him today?"

Sorry, although I was annoyed by that unscrupulous reporter, my idol's help has already washed away all my unpleasantness. I was in a good mood before, I was just annoyed by Elio!

"Look what you've done to your brother." Bai Mu looked at Ding Xuefei with a helpless smile.

Ugh, I don't want him to hear those two words, my PTSD is about to flare up again!

"Xuefei is always like this, stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside. You can coax him a little later and he'll be fine." Shang Rou sighed with a smile, "What's this kind of personality called again? Yi Meng told me about it once..."

"Arrogant!" Xu Yimeng immediately realized.

The others laughed and agreed, filling the villa's living room with a cheerful atmosphere.

Bullet comments:

"Ah, Ding Xuebeng is at it again, isn't he?"

"Is this what 'tsundere' is all about? That's an insult to the 'tsundere' archetype!"

"If you have any disagreements, argue them at home. Why bring them onto the TV show?"

"I feel so sorry for Elio, I feel so sorry for him."

Ding Xuefei was heartbroken. He never expected that even Shang Rou would side with the enemy! He thought Shang Shang was a smart person, but how could she have been so easily swayed by Elio's sweet words!

Besides, where is he arrogant...?

Even if we take a step back and say he's arrogant, his dislike for Elio is genuine and unwavering! He could even dislike him more!

Ding Xuefei watched as everyone else smiled, but he couldn't smile. He couldn't share his feelings with anyone... What should he do? The show was still going to be filmed for more than half a month. Was he going to have to stay in the same room with Elio the whole time?

Wait a minute, there's someone who isn't laughing with the others. As everyone's attention is focused on Elio, someone notices Ding Xuefei's dejection.

Yu Songlin.

Perhaps his impression of Elio wasn't very good because of their last meeting at the party. He didn't seem to be immersed in the conversation; his expression was indifferent, sober to the point of being somewhat aloof.

Ding Xuefei stole a glance at him, feeling that he was sometimes looking at her, but it was also like an illusion.

Oh well, it doesn't really matter. He's not going to be on the same side as Yu Songlin anyway. At most, it's just that someone wasn't fooled by Elio, which gives him some comfort.

*

During their free time after dinner, Stella secretly dragged Ding Xuefei outside.

Without her saying a word, Ding Xuefei could guess what she was going to say, and he had no desire to hear it.

Stella hesitated, unsure how to begin, so Ding Xuefei spoke first: "If you still consider me a friend, then don't try to persuade me to reconcile with Elio."

"How could you be like this!" Stella had finally managed to muster a breath, but it was all for nothing. Since that was the case, she didn't waste any more words. "Elio already told me that you two had some misunderstandings before, but now that it's been resolved and you're filming the show together again, why not be more amicable? I don't think you're such a petty person."

"What's wrong with being petty? Can't people be petty?"

Besides, this isn't something to be petty about.

Stella persisted: "Okay, even if you say that, you're still a celebrity. Look how enthusiastic Elio is towards you on camera, and you treat him like that. What are you going to tell the audience?"

Ding Xuefei almost thought Guo Chu had arrived, and her attitude softened a bit, but she still stubbornly insisted: "What's wrong? Anyway, I've been scolded quite a bit."

"I can't reason with you!" Stella, who also had a short temper, was so anxious when she saw Ding Xuefei's unmoved attitude that she jumped up and down, only to say, "Think about it again, don't blame me for not reminding you! Think about it for yourself, not for others!"

*

After talking with Stella, Ding Xuefei curled up alone in a corner of the sofa, wanting to calm down before going upstairs, unconsciously clutching a cushion in her hand.

He noticed someone approaching, but didn't want to pay attention. Since they weren't filming, Ding Xuefei decided to pretend to be mute as long as the other person didn't speak.

But the man clearly didn't think so. He sat to the side, and seeing that Ding Xuefei didn't react, he moved even closer.

Ding Xuefei couldn't stand it anymore. There was only one person in this house who would do such a boring thing.

Turning my head, I was indeed faced with that familiar face. Yu Songlin was holding a cup of hot tea and asked, "How did the recording go this morning?"

"What's it to you?" Ding Xuefei retorted instinctively, but quickly realized he had spoken too harshly. He and Yu Songlin were no longer the kind of people he could casually say hurtful things to.

"It went fairly smoothly." Although there was a minor hiccup afterward, meeting his idol made up for it, so today was still a happy day. "How about you guys? How was the recording this morning?"

Yu Songlin said slowly, "Same as always, welcome newcomer, let's eat and chat, you won't miss anything."

"Oh." Ding Xuefei didn't care how they welcomed Elio; she just found it strange that they could chat like this.

Ding Xuefei raised an eyebrow, looking warily at the man beside her. The latter seemed perfectly normal. Without the pretense he wore in front of the camera, he appeared more easygoing and even somewhat innocent under Ding Xuefei's scrutiny.

"Is there something you need?"

Yu Songlin was taken aback, then quickly said, "It's nothing, I just haven't been very happy since you came back."

Is it that obvious? Ding Xuefei felt she had already tried her best to act...

What's going on? Is it because Yu Songlin has accumulated too many samples in the past, or because he observes more carefully than others?

Ding Xuefei's face flushed, and she stammered, "Really? No!"

Yu Songlin chuckled, as if he had guessed that he would say that. He nodded and said, "Okay, if you say no, then no... I just wanted to say that if you want to talk about it sometime, you can come and find me."

Ding Xuefei didn't respond, but looked at Yu Songlin, who didn't seem to be mocking her.

Having just finished speaking, they stared at each other for two seconds before Ding Xuefei awkwardly looked away.

He clutched the cushion in his hand and whispered, "Okay."

Yu Songlin sat not too close to Ding Xuefei for a while longer, without saying anything, just drinking water.

Ding Xuefei asked, "What did you brew? It smells nice."

"Would you like some black tea?" He didn't care about Ding Xuefei's answer and poured her a cup of tea with a paper cup.

Before eating or drinking, Ding Xuefei would smell the aroma first and then taste it. Yu Songlin's black tea had a gentle and warm fragrance, just like him.

The corner of the living room was warm and cozy. Ding Xuefei remained silent for a while, wanting to call out but feeling embarrassed, so she simply tugged at Yu Songlin's sleeve.

Yu Songlin moved closer and saw that Ding Xuefei's makeup was even heavier today because of the recording, and it looked almost unrealistically exquisite under the dim light.

His voice was low and soft, with a drawn-out ending, almost like a coquettish pout: "Because I met an annoying person today... I'm not talking about you."