Chapter 7 She's fine, it's my fault.

After finishing selecting vegetables and marinating meat, Ling Zhao noticed Mu Jiu's unnatural movements but didn't make a sound. Instead, she dried her hands and went straight upstairs.

Unlike during the day, all the rooms on the second floor were empty, with only bursts of laughter coming from the attic.

Although he was a little confused, Ling Zhao didn't pay much attention to it. After rummaging through his suitcase and finding an item, he pushed open the door and prepared to go downstairs.

However, the sudden sound of footsteps coming from the attic interrupted his plans.

"square……"

Meng Shuning was looking around when she saw Ling Zhao, and her expression unconsciously froze.

Out of self-discipline as a female idol, she quickly regained her composure and said, "We're going to play a multiplayer game in a bit. Would you be willing to come up and join us? It'll only be two minutes, not long."

The sudden invitation left Ling Zhao somewhat confused: "I just came up to pick something up..."

Before he could finish speaking, Meng Shuning pulled out the sponsor's mascot from behind her back and waved it in front of him.

The contract stipulates that guests must actively cooperate with the sponsor's promotional activities. These promotional activities are time-sensitive and must be completed during a specific prime time.

Ling Zhao: "...I'll go up."

——

Deng Minzhou: "This program is sponsored by Quan Quan Dairy, known for its delicious and healthy products. Thank you for your support!"

"Although I'm not a professional host, I'm quite the party person, so I'm taking the liberty of hosting in front of all the teachers today."

Deng Minzhou lightly raised the sponsor's mascot as a microphone: "Today's game is 'I Have What You Don't Have'! The rules are that each person starts by holding up 5 fingers, and then takes turns saying something that they have done but others may not have done. Of course, it must be the truth."

"If others have done it, they all bend a finger. But if no one else present besides the speaker has had the same experience, it doesn't count."

He winked mysteriously: "But this level isn't enough for our show, so—this has to be related to an ex."

I can't wait!

Why did Chengbao come downstairs at this time?

[It's related to an ex...it feels more exciting than Truth or Dare!]

"I'll set an example for everyone."

Deng Minzhou raised his hand first, bending his index finger, and said confidently, "I fell in love with my ex at first sight."

His words were met with good-natured laughter from those around him.

Xiang Wan hesitated for a moment, then bent down as well.

Guo Zifu raised an eyebrow, a meaningful smile appearing on her face, and slowly bent her index finger.

Meng Shuning pursed her lips and smiled as she retracted her fingers.

"Are there really so many people?"

Deng Minzhou exaggeratedly drooped his chest: "I thought this question would be the trump card."

Meanwhile, the chat in the live stream started spamming with funny comments:

Oh dear, I fell in love with Shushu at first sight!

I fell in love with Xiao Xiang at first sight.

[Falling in love with Fufu at first sight]

My heart is like the pointed ends of a durian, and on each point stands a person.

"After all, everyone here is good-looking, so it's normal for anyone to be the one who falls in love at first sight... Is it my turn?"

Meng Shuning smiled and continued, "Well, I once had a fever of 40 degrees Celsius and was taken to the hospital by my ex."

"Wow, that sounds dangerous."

Xiang Wan looked worried: "It's better if no one has had this experience."

Deng Minzhou glanced back and raised an eyebrow in surprise: "Xiao Xiang, you have one too? Was it during the concert?"

Qi Youxiang nodded, bending his finger: "I wasn't feeling well during that time."

[Waaaaah, Xiao Xiang, don't casually use this to hurt me!]

Shushu, you must take good care of your health!

[I hope everyone can stand on stage healthy and well, and not push themselves too hard.]

When it was Ling Zhao's turn, he was already the last one.

As everyone's eyes turned to him, his mind raced, trying to figure out how to slip through the cracks in this game.

The game is designed so that at least one person present must have had the same experience as you, but if everyone has had the same experience, no points are scored.

Moreover, it needs to be related to an ex.

Therefore, he had to find something that wasn't very common, but that someone might have experienced.

"When I first saw my ex, I thought I would never have anything to do with her."

He spoke slowly, his naturally cold tone unexpectedly carrying a hint of lingering affection at this pace: "In the end, it was she who initiated the breakup."

As his voice fell, a hint of surprise flashed across Meng Shuning's face, while the others were either deep in thought or moved, but remained silent.

No one spoke.

Ling Zhao looked around. Although he didn't show it on his face, he felt a chill run down his spine from the moment he started walking. He only looked away when he saw Xiang Wan also bend her finger.

Looks like we passed this time.

He had just stood up, ready to say some polite words and leave, when he heard Deng Minzhou's voice: "Do you still like her?"

"..."

They don't actually care about the answer to this question; they ask it simply out of boredom and voyeuristic desire.

Even so, he still needed to find a reason to end the conversation.

Ling Zhao lowered her eyes, avoiding eye contact with the others: "She has already decided to end this relationship. Does it matter what I think?"

[This is so classic, my ex did the same thing.]

[I always thought the original poster (OP) looked like a total jerk, so why does it seem like he's the one who suffered the most heartbreak?]

[Those mentioned above, don't be fooled; these are the types of people who are most likely to pretend to be victims.]

Yes! Those womanizers use the facade of someone who's been in love and can't move on to deceive others into falling in love with them!

After getting away with it, Ling Zhao finally breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of their sight.

Before he could even step down the last step, he saw Fang Yucheng not far away, looking at him with a deep and complex gaze.

The only entrance to the kitchen was also blocked by the other party.

Ling Zhao subconsciously glanced at Mu Jiu, who was standing on the inside.

Not long ago, she had a genuine smile on her face, as if she could start cooking right away, but now only a faint trace of melancholy remains.

When I saw him, the sadness hadn't faded. This change, no matter how I looked at it, was related to Fang Yucheng.

Although he didn't want to interfere in his "employer's" love life...

Ling Zhao: "Excuse me, please move aside."

Upon hearing him speak, Fang Yucheng's expression became even more peculiar, but in the end, he still turned away.

Ling Zhao handed Mu Jiu the iodine swabs and band-aids from his pocket: "You cut yourself while chopping vegetables, didn't you?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Jiu stared at him blankly for a moment.

[Just came down from the live stream above, what's going on? The atmosphere seems a bit strange.]

Fang Yucheng asked Mu Jiu if she was avoiding suspicion, and Mu Jiu directly revealed that she couldn't let go of her ex.

Wow, she's finally given up on riding on Fang Yucheng's popularity?

I wonder if the production team will include this segment in tonight's edited version. I feel like I missed out on a fortune!

[Didn't any of you notice Ling Zhao's actions? My CP radar was going off from the very beginning!]

Even if these two are exes, besides being funny, what's there to ship about them?

The ambiguous atmosphere only eased after everyone went downstairs for dinner.

Meng Shuning and Fang Yucheng returned to the center of attention for the viewers in the live stream, and the incident that had just occurred seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and cleaned up the pots and pans, the doorbell rang again from the entrance hall.

"Previous letter of introduction? Are you enrolling today?"

Guo Zifu stared wide-eyed at the envelope handed to her by the staff at the door, then let out a wail: "Oh my god—I got carried away and wrote something so cheesy, and now I have to reveal my dark history in front of so many people?"

Seeing this, the other guests echoed their sentiments and sighed in agreement.

On the other side, Mu Jiu was idly poking at the band-aid on his hand.

To the viewers in the live stream, the romantic relationships of the male and female celebrities present may seem elusive and confusing.

But for her, it was like watching a TV series that had already ended once, and now she was watching it again.

Leaving aside Meng Shuning and Fang Yucheng for the time being, the remaining two couples are Deng Minzhou and Guo Zifu, and Qi Youxiang and Xiang Wan.

In the novel, Deng Minzhou and Guo Zifu are portrayed as bickering, playful soulmates. Qi Youxiang and Xiang Wan, on the other hand, are first loves they missed in their youth.

Furthermore, with the male and female leads being each other's guiding light, the introduction letter segment was sure to evoke strong empathy and tears from the audience.

It's fair to say that standing out from the crowd is difficult, but blending into the crowd is incredibly easy.

With this in mind, Mu Jiu felt quite relaxed before opening the envelope.

When it was her turn to read the letter, she even had the mind to quickly review everyone's expressions as they read their lines, selecting the best emotional state before slowly tearing open the letter.

[To Mu Jiu]

However, upon seeing the first line of text, a string in her heart snapped.

My mind went completely blank.

Mu Jiu suddenly clenched the letter where his name was written, and looked up in disbelief.

The viewers in the live stream only saw her suddenly turn her head as if she were deeply stimulated, but then she managed to stop herself from looking at someone.

Such a large movement quickly caught the director's attention.

Then, just two seconds later, the main screen of the live stream zoomed in on the contents of the letter:

She's the good one; it's my fault.

It was just one short line of text.

Compared to others, this letter was excessively concise.

But after seeing Mu Jiu lose control without warning, the comments section almost immediately began to analyze the situation:

I never imagined I'd smell the scent of a tragic love story emanating from Mu Jiu.

[Why are you being so dramatic? If you want to watch, just look openly! The male guests are all sitting diagonally opposite each other; how is anyone supposed to know who you want to watch?!]

[No way, could Fang Yucheng have actually talked to Mu Jiu?]

Am I the only one who thinks she looks like she's about to break?

...

Mu Jiu even felt as if his breathing had stopped for a moment.

The amount of information in my head began to expand wildly, and one trivial fragment after another appeared chaotically before my eyes.

For example, Ling Zhao never asked her name.

For example, her resume was downloaded directly from XX recruitment website, and the resume name was Mu*.

For example, because her social media accounts had names already taken, she eventually changed them all to "mujiu".

It seems that every tiny mistake ultimately led to this result.

It's unlikely that anyone else is so unfamiliar with their ex that they would misspell their name.

She completely understood. Her manager must have felt that she and Ling Zhao were completely unfamiliar with each other from head to toe.

Mu Jiu took a deep breath, picked up the letter, and casually poured himself a glass of water.

Her instincts as an actress allowed her to quickly suppress her outward emotions.

Calm down, it's not hopeless yet.

In just a few seconds while drinking water, just like when her fellow actors' performances disrupted her rhythm during filming, Mu Jiu's mood gradually returned to calm.

If you think about it carefully, the problem isn't really that big of a deal with just writing the name as Mu Jiu, right?

Just like some people use homophones in their nicknames and usually address each other by nicknames, it's normal for them to subconsciously use the most familiar way of writing when writing letters.

Just as Mu Jiu was quickly composing herself and trying to cover up her lapse in composure, the program team's text message notification rang at the opportune moment.

[Dear guests, your first day at the cabin has come to an end. Was there anyone you felt attracted to? Please send us your honest thoughts via text message.]

[P.S.: The text message will be sent anonymously]

At the same time, voting for the first day was also opened in the live broadcast room.

[Guess Your Ex - Voting Rules:]

[Each True Love Detective has a maximum of one vote per day. If they guess the ex correctly, they can vote in the second round the following day. Otherwise, they enter the 'Detective's Fatigue' cooldown period.]

[The ex-couple with the most votes will be the first to release their judgment. If the detectives are correct, they can unlock the trailer for the ex-couple with the most votes.]

[Once all the exes have been revealed, the Love Detective can use their daily voting chances to support their favorite couple.]

【Ahhhhh, the part I've been waiting for the most is here!】

When will the program team release the text message content? I have a feeling Meng Xiangcheng really does exchange text messages!

Everyone just read the letters of introduction; you'll probably send them to your exes, right?

[Want to see the text message content? +1]

[Regarding the voting, if you don't vote correctly, doesn't that mean you've wasted your votes?]

[Once all the exes are revealed, you can support your favorite couple—meaning regardless of whether they're exes or not, as long as you guess all the rest correctly, your ship can also be active together, right?]

Don't get too excited yet; most people need to vote correctly here.

...

And so, as the clock struck 10 p.m., the first day of the live stream came to an end.

Online discussions about "Our Past" have reached new heights.

Somewhere in City S, the production team is working overnight to edit a condensed version of a variety show.

"Shouldn't the first couple to be exposed be Fang Yucheng and Meng Shuning?"

After the live broadcast ended, the producer browsed several online posts discussing the show and couldn't stop smiling: "This couple has always had a lot of fans."

The first day's live stream generated far more buzz than expected, which is a great start. Once the edited versions of the variety show are released, it's foreseeable that the viewership will stabilize at a decent level.

Like most netizens, he believes that all of this is thanks to Fang Yucheng and Meng Shuning.

Similarly, it is only natural to guess that the two of them were the first to have their ex-partners' identities revealed.

Upon hearing the producer's question, the director, who was watching the pre-recorded clips, shook his head: "The rule is to guide the audience to choose the most authentic ex as quickly as possible. The one who interacts the most in front of the camera is more likely to be guessed."

Producer: "You mean...no way?"

However, the actual result was indeed unexpected.

Just half an hour after the voting ended, a complete trailer was quietly released online along with the voting results.

Many "night owl" netizens clicked on the video the moment it was posted.

It was the early hours of the morning, and not many people had posted comments yet; most were still immersed in the atmosphere created by the program.

Sunlight streamed down through dappled shadows of the trees, and a gentle breeze brushed against my face, carrying a faint scent of wood. Outside the café, decorated in an antique English style, the soothing melody of a violin drifted softly.

As the door was pushed open, the wind chimes rang out with a clear, melodious hum.

Mu Jiu.

She wore a white casual shirt and blue wide-leg jeans. Her overall demeanor was neither sweet nor charming; she looked fresh and capable.

Not long after they sat down, the clanging sound came from outside the door again.

She seemed to feel that intense gaze fixed on her from the other side.

So, before looking up, she smiled casually and said, "You haven't changed much..."

"It feels like the memory of our first meeting is still from yesterday."

These words were like a spell, easily freezing the man in place.

The footsteps outside the door stopped.

In the scene, the man's tense body relaxed slightly, and he pulled out the seat in front of Mu Jiu and sat down: "You have changed a lot."

They met each other's eyes with a tacit understanding.

In the interplay of black and white, an unusual undercurrent seems to be slowly flowing in the air amidst the interplay of light and shadow.

Here, the scene of the reunion in the coffee shop is cut off, and in its place is the background of the program crew's post-interview room.

In contrast to the glamorous atmosphere inside the coffee shop, Mu Jiu in the picture is wearing an ordinary dress, and even her makeup is much lighter.

[Have you ever considered getting back together with your ex after breaking up?]

She paused for a moment, and after a few seconds of silence, she slowly said, "If you come to this show and say you haven't considered it at all, you must be lying."

Do you think your ex feels the same way?

"He won't want to overlap."

When she got to this point, she said it with absolute certainty: "He's not the type to dwell on the past, and once he makes a decision, he won't regret it."

The scene shifts to a coffee shop.

Why did you agree to participate in this program?

Mu Jiu: "Didn't you say when we broke up that we were already strangers?"

This is a clip from the initial trailer released for the show.

Meanwhile, the person in the other seat was no longer the heartbroken Fang Yucheng shown in the edited footage.

Faced with such a pointed question, the man was not at all as unapproachable and unfathomable as his appearance suggested.

He seemed to relax when he was with her, both in his tone and his posture.

Why did you choose to come?

Ling Zhao scoffed lightly, her tone still nonchalant: "You have other exes?"

[Why did you fall for your ex?]

"On a day like any other, a girl dressed extravagantly suddenly appeared in front of me and asked, 'Excuse me, can you be my boyfriend?'"

When he said this, the man in the picture seemed to recall something rather ridiculous, and only a hint of unnatural hesitation flashed in his eyes: "At the time, I thought that this girl had terrible taste."

"But then she said..."

The male voice disappeared, just like the abrupt end of a movie.

The "female lead" turned her head away, concealing the thoughts in her eyes.

In the previous scene, the words she blurted out sounded like a hedgehog with its quills raised.

But now her face carries an almost self-mocking sense of melancholy.

His cool tone was like a long sigh.

Mu Jiu: "I will never meet anyone better than him."

A note from the author:

----------------------

The program asked participants to provide reasons for their attraction to each other:

Mu Jiu: I won't meet anyone better (at deceiving) than him.

Ling Zhao: Excuse me, can you be my (ex) boyfriend?