Friend Contract
"It's great, it eats and sleeps well. We take it out for a long run every day before coming back. It got sick with the flu last year, but it's back to normal now. I'll show you a video of it..."
Ding Xuefei asked, "Then who takes care of it when you're not around?"
Yu Songlin said, "My assistant goes for a walk for me every day when I'm not around."
He opened the video. The little white dog stuck out its tongue and wagged its tail at the camera. In the background, a female voice said, "Nicholas, go." The tennis ball was thrown, and the little white dog chased after it and ran far away. After picking it up, it immediately ran back with the ball in its mouth.
Ding Xuefei felt good too, and couldn't help but whisper "Baby".
Yu Songlin's eyes trembled slightly. Only when Ding Xuefei was staring at the phone screen could he stare at her so brazenly.
"Isn't it cute? My assistant sends me one every day. Want me to send one to you?"
Ding Xuefei nodded. He took out his phone, only to realize that he needed to add Yu Songlin back in order to answer this video call.
What a blunder!
It was too late to back out, but Yu Songlin had already caught Ding Xuefei's momentary hesitation.
"Don't treat me like this! Can't you even treat me like a regular colleague?" The big star probably rarely experienced such rejection, and he was unusually flustered. However, Yu Songlin quickly adjusted his expression and said hesitantly, "The way you are is giving me the wrong feeling."
Ding Xuefei raised an eyebrow: "What misconception?"
It seems you still have feelings for me.
Ding Xuefei nearly sprayed the entire drink onto Yu Songlin's face, almost choking him and causing his face to turn bright red instantly.
"Stop talking nonsense! Who the hell still has feelings for you! Don't be shameless!"
Yu Songlin said matter-of-factly, "That's true. Why are you treating me so differently? It's really easy for people to overthink things."
Ding Xuefei tried to run away again, but as soon as he stood up, he was pulled back by the rope. He had nowhere to escape, so he could only sit in the chair and continue arguing with Yu Songlin.
Thinking about it carefully, this statement, though crude, makes sense... Not to mention that it's easy for people to misunderstand, it does seem a bit suspicious. I wonder how the audience will interpret it. It would be better if they just criticized him for having a bad temper. I'm afraid that someone with ulterior motives will see something and bring up those past events.
Ding Xuefei calmed down a bit and asked as calmly as possible, "Okay, then what do you suggest we do?"
Yu Songlin couldn't help but chuckle: "It's very simple, just treat me like an ordinary colleague."
Ding Xuefei gave him a question mark look.
"I think Brother Xuefei was very friendly to every guest..."
Ding Xuefei interrupted him: "Stop pretending to be a green tea b*tch. When have you ever called me 'brother' before?"
"It's just to be more polite on TV. If you want to hear me call you like I used to, I'm fine with that too."
Yu Songlin mouthed something, but seeing that Ding Xuefei was about to explode, he quickly said it was a joke.
“Okay, I mean, you’re very friendly and relaxed with the other guests, but you avoid me like the plague, and I don’t want that.”
Yu Songlin's eyes were burning, and he could hardly hide his true thoughts.
Could you please give me an equal opportunity, a chance to get closer to you, and to be kind to you, even if it's just in the name of a show, just in front of the camera, even if you think it's just for show?
I want to be good to you.
Ding Xuefei, however, did not notice Yu Songlin's expression at this moment. He was seriously considering whether or not he should agree to Yu Songlin's proposal.
In fact, Yu Songlin is not wrong. The more you act like an enemy, the more attention you will attract. Just like when CP fans are shipping, those who openly sell BL are straight men, but those who hide it and don't sell it will be accused of being gay and avoiding suspicion...
But is Yu Songlin really that kind-hearted? Even if we assume he has no other intentions, does he?
Well, Yu Songlin isn't a scammer from northern Myanmar. What could he possibly want from an ex-boyfriend like him? He just wants the show to be more entertaining...
Seeing that Ding Xuefei's expression had softened, Yu Songlin knew he couldn't rush things, so he composed himself and continued to coax her gently: "Brother Xuefei, didn't you also come on the show this time to clear your name of any scandals? If this continues, I think you'll have another scandal to cover up."
"That's not dirt on me, it's fabrication!" Ding Xuefei defended himself, not understanding Yu Songlin's last sentence, "What do you mean?"
"The audience will think you are disrespectful to your colleagues."
Yu Songlin said quietly, staring straight at Ding Xuefei with his innocent round eyes, as if he were looking at a bad person.
"Don't pretend."
Yu Songlin remained silent, shrugged, and sighed, as if dealing with a good-for-nothing student.
While cursing Yu Songlin in her heart, Ding Xuefei also felt uneasy about her conscience.
"Wait a minute."
When it comes to acting, you still have to be a Best Actor...
For the sake of the bigger picture, Ding Xuefei ultimately accepted the suggestion to be just an ordinary colleague and promised not to act as if Yu Songlin owed him money or had cheated on him.
Yu Songlin successfully added Ding Xuefei's contact information, which is cause for celebration.
*
About half an hour after they finished, Bai Mu and Stella found the treasure and returned to the meeting point. Another half hour passed, and Shang Rou and Ke Ran finally returned as well.
The guests were put through a lot of trouble today. The production team didn't let them cook for themselves, but instead prepared a sumptuous seafood feast.
The staff brought over a plate of garlic butter shrimp, and Ding Xuefei instinctively tensed up. Before she could even complain, Ke Ran said, "Brother Lin, we have shrimp today!"
Fortunately, the shrimp was shelled, and fortunately, she had today's exemption card. Ding Xuefei breathed a sigh of relief, exchanged a calm glance with Yu Songlin, and, remembering the agreement they had just reached, calmly picked up a shrimp and put it in Yu Songlin's bowl—out of pity for Yu Songlin's right hand, which was still handcuffed.
Yu Songlin naturally appeared flattered: "Thank you, Brother Xuefei."
Ding Xuefei offered a friendly smile, thinking to herself that this was just ordinary concern, without any emotion or attempt to sell bromance.
As everyone shared their experiences of today's treasure hunt, aside from the thrilling cave exploration by the trio, the other two groups were also thoroughly tricked by the production team. Bai Mu was buried in the sand, and Ke Ran even went for a swim in the sea.
When they were almost finished eating, the production team announced: "Now we're announcing the winner of this treasure hunt!"
"When will you untie us?" That wasn't what Ding Xuefei was most concerned about right now.
Production team: "Don't rush, don't you think it's fun to be tied together?"
"That would be so interesting!" said one of the others.
"Not at all!" That's Ding Xuefei's answer.
The staff handed over the key, and Yu Songlin, holding Ding Xuefei's hand, took off the pink toy handcuffs and put them aside.
A card was handed to Ding Xuefei, who read it aloud to everyone: "Tomorrow, 'Heartbeat Mystery' will have its first solo date event, and the team members who won first place in today's treasure hunt will have priority in drawing their date partners."
"Wow, that sounds pretty good." Ding Xuefei was finally free and in high spirits, already mentally calculating who she would choose...
Yu Songlin, who was sitting next to him, leaned closer and spoke in Ding Xuefei's ear, startling him.
Yu Songlin pointed at the card in his hand: "It's just drawing, not choosing. In the end, it still comes down to luck."
"This is such a rip-off!" Xu Yimeng wailed, then angrily accused, "The production team is so mean!"
Next, the three of them entered the waiting room one by one to draw their date partners.
Ding Xuefei stared at the five cards in front of him, silently praying, "Please don't choose xxx." Given his consistently bad luck, he decided to blur out his prayers so that any passing deities wouldn't hear and play tricks on him.
He randomly picked a picture, intending to flip it over to look at it himself, but the production team stopped him, so he obediently put it down.
The production team said, "You can't see it yourself, but you can face the camera and let the viewers watching the live stream take a look."
Ding Xuefei nodded, waved to the camera fixed to the side, and said, "Hello everyone, I am Ding Xuefei," before smiling with her eyes crinkled.
"I've chosen him/her as my date for tomorrow—"
Bullet comments:
Wow, this is a combination I'm really looking forward to!
A way of thinking that has never been seen before.
"A pair that's very good for my eyes."
"He's so handsome even up close, I'm totally mesmerized by his face."
"Her voice is so soft, even though she has a deep voice, what's going on?"
After the draw, it was time for the mystery-solving segment of "The Heart-Fluttering Answer".
[Ding-dong! Detectives, it's dessert time! The answer to yesterday's riddle will be revealed, and today's heart-pounding challenge will be released. Are you ready?]
First! Regarding the mystery of D1: Among the six initial guests (excluding the charming detective Yu who suddenly appeared), how many have only ever dated someone of the opposite sex (i.e., 'heterosexual' as defined by the production team)?
A huge, slowly rotating question mark appeared on the screen, accompanied by an exaggerated heartbeat sound effect: "thump! thump!"
Bai Mu said, "I don't think it's that many."
"Oh, really?" Xu Yi's dream seemed a little different.
【The answer is revealed——】The question mark suddenly shattered, and a huge number [2] jumped out!
"Ahhh, I was so close to getting it right!" Ke Ran wailed, clutching her head in despair.
"Wow! Only two?" Stella couldn't hide her surprise. "I thought there would be more!"
Ding Xuefei clicked his tongue slightly when he saw the number. Sure enough, his gay test had been malfunctioning for years... Oh well, he already knew he was wrong, so he wasn't too bothered.
[Ta-da! Here comes today's heart-pounding quiz! It's much easier than yesterday's~]
Ding Xuefei: "You'd better be."
[D5 Heart-Fluttering Riddle: Who is the current 'Most Popular'? Please guess—who received the most text messages during the previous four days of the heart-fluttering text message round? (Helpful tip: There may be more than one answer; guessing any one counts as correct!)]
Bai Mu understood: "Ah, so it seems there are some tied."
Ke Ran slumped into her chair: "Sigh, yesterday's was at least somewhat technically challenging, but today's was pure guesswork!"
"Oh, that's easy." Ding Xuefei raised an eyebrow, feigning nonchalance.
To be honest, Ding Xuefei isn't very good at observing people, and he's a bit slow to notice emotional changes. He's not good at these kinds of games, and he had already prepared to start playing, but it seems like he happens to know the answer to this question today.
Because he receives a steady 1-2 text messages every day, it's impossible to tell who sent them. He's thought about it, but he has no clue.
In short, it feels good to be liked by someone (except for one person).
He's starting to like the show.
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