Chapter 23
There was a row of people directly in front of her, and the camera bluntly captured every move. Wen Zhiling didn't have much experience in front of the camera. Zong Linhan had taught her that the best way to avoid making mistakes was to be herself.
She bent down to cut the mango, the fruit knife moving swiftly and precisely, she cut with abandon, absorbed in the process, with an aggressive air, just like the fleeting gaze someone cast upon her.
Wen Zhiling picked the sliced mango flesh into the fruit plate and reached out to Lu Siyi for the next piece of fruit. Lu Siyi carried two fruit bowls to the large table, turned around and said, "They're all cut up, everyone come and eat."
"Wow, there's food! I'm starving!" Li Wan changed into a bohemian maxi dress, put on a pair of black sunglasses, and went downstairs.
There were four seats on each side of the long table. Zong Linhan pulled out a chair next to Wen Zhiling, his gaze sweeping over the two fruit bowls. "Both plates are filled with mangoes. Li Xu is allergic to mangoes, so it looks like he won't get any."
The sentence was poorly structured, and there wasn't a trace of regret in his tone. Wen Zhiling looked at him, and he remained calm and composed, picking up a mango with a fork, even though he didn't usually like it much.
Lu Siyi sat opposite her, forking two cherry tomatoes and eating them. "Brother Zong, you're quite different from your on-screen image."
Zong Linhan: "Hmm?"
Lu Siyi: "I've met you before, do you remember? It was at the year-end gala two years ago. There was a gathering after the banquet. I had a cold and was taking anti-inflammatory medicine, so I couldn't drink alcohol. You helped me out. Wow, I was so touched. I thought you were like your on-screen image, sickly and weak, out of breath after walking three steps. I didn't expect you to be so tough in private. You're also a very nice person and don't have any airs of a senior at all."
Zong Linhan: "Yeah, I'm a pretty good person."
Lu Siyi was surprised that he answered so directly, which changed her impression of him once again. She teased, "Hey, you don't even have the humility of a senior."
"What's with the modesty?" Zong Linhan looked at Wen Zhiling. "Make a note of this. It's more important than a mango allergy."
Wen Zhiling was speechless, while Lu Siyi laughed even harder, "Hahaha, I thought you two weren't familiar with each other."
After she finished speaking, she held the cherry tomato in her mouth but didn't bite down, looking embarrassed as she realized she had said the wrong thing.
I had heard before that Wen Zhiling was a child who was only found this year. Logically speaking, the two of them should not be familiar with each other. Her joke was like rubbing salt into her wounds. It's only the first day of the first episode.
Lu Siyi looked up at Lu Qin, sending out a distress signal, but Lu Qin remained unmoved, forking off a slice of watermelon and enjoying it immensely.
She was at a loss, imagining the barrage of insults and accusations of lacking emotional intelligence that would follow the broadcast.
Wen Zhiling: "We're quite familiar with each other."
Her tone was neither too loud nor too soft, like a gentle evening breeze dissolving the awkwardness, "This senior is a good person, and a good person who isn't allergic to mangoes."
Lu Siyi has a very low threshold for laughter. Just because of this sentence, she was able to defuse the situation and make fun of the two of them. She laughed very happily.
Zong Linhan returned the cherry tomatoes that Wen Zhiling had placed on his plate. "Hmm, this is your reward."
The distant sky resembled an orange ribbon, slowly spreading out from the horizon.
After a quick bite to eat, everyone decided to go to a nearby town to buy some ingredients for dinner. The coastal boardwalk was tinged with pink and orange by the sunset, and the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks came and went as evening fell.
Lu Siyi wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, and her skirt billowed as she twirled. "The air smells of the sea, it's so comfortable."
Li Wan took off her sunglasses and tucked them into her collar. "What are we having for dinner? Who's the best cook?"
Lu Siyi peeked out and asked, "Sister Zhiling, do you know how to cook seafood?"
Wen Zhiling: "What kind of seafood? Anything should be fine."
Lu Siyi: "Wow, I eat everything, I'll eat whatever you cook."
Li Wan followed closely behind: "Me too."
"How about something simpler?" After browsing the seafood market, Wen Zhiling suggested a menu: "Seafood porridge, stir-fried whelks, steamed grouper?"
Just in front of the grouper stall, the stall owner greeted her warmly, "Little sister, you know your food! The grouper is lively and fresh today."
Wen Zhiling squatted down, lifted the fish to look at its gills. The gills were red and the eyes were bright, so it was indeed fresh. After asking the price, she bought two.
Li Wan: "I thought you would try to bargain with the boss."
Lu Siyi: "Yes, yes, I feel like you're a master at bargaining. You cut the price in half and left no room for negotiation."
The shopkeeper turned around and said with a smile, "Hey, you little girl, you're so small, but you're really good at bargaining. You can't even scrape the fish scales that cleanly."
Lu Siyi chuckled.
Wen Zhiling: "I'm not very good at bargaining."
Li Wan: "What if the price is too high?"
Wen Zhiling: "I won't eat it."
Lu Siyi was taken aback, not expecting such a simple and honest answer. "That makes sense, hahaha."
Li Wan took the fish and casually handed it to Zong Linhan behind her. The group chatted as they walked, "Does the coffee shop still need to make these things?"
Wen Zhiling: "I used to work in the kitchen of a restaurant, and that's when I learned how to kill fish, but I still don't dare to do it."
Zong Linhan followed behind the three girls. A damp sea breeze, carrying a salty scent, blew by. The setting sun bathed the stone street, bricks, tiles, and people walking on it in a gentle light. Wen Zhiling was very close to him, yet seemed very far away. If it weren't for what happened today, she would never have brought up the past.
"You seem quite surprised."
Three girls were bending over looking at jewelry stalls by the roadside. Li Xu, who was walking next to Zong Linhan, also stopped.
Zong Linhan looked at him: "What's surprising?"
Li Xu smiled and said, "Your sister is quite the little culinary prodigy. Have you tried her cooking? How did it taste?"
He's never eaten it before.
In front of him, Wen Zhiling's breakfast was tomato instant noodles, and her dinner was tomato noodles. If she was willing to have an extra cherry tomato, she was considered diligent.
Zong Linhan smiled and said, "It tastes pretty good. She really enjoys cooking. You should try her other dishes sometime."
Li Xu: "What's your specialty dish?"
Zong Linhan remained unfazed: "Tomato noodles, she was a tomato spirit in her past life."
Li Xu: "What do you hate the most?"
Zong Linhan: "..."
Li Xu seemed surprised. "Huh? I don't know."
He smiled and replied, as if to comfort Zong Linhan, "It's a good opportunity to learn more about her on the show. I don't know what Li Wan dislikes either, so I don't really understand her."
The weather was hot and humid, and my hands were covered in seafood and sand as I carried my things.
Upon entering the villa, Zong Linhan went straight to wash his hands, wishing he could scrub off a layer of skin and wash away his inexplicable irritability.
It was his first time recording a reality show, and he inevitably wanted to linger a little longer in places where there were no cameras.
After rinsing away the odor, turn the tap down slowly, making a soft, intermittent sound, and rinse it again.
Li Xu pushed the door open and turned on the tap on the other side.
The sound of rushing water overlapped in the narrow space. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was a little awkward.
Zong Linhan turned off the water first, his voice abruptly stopping, as if the space had been cut in two.
“So you’re just like me,” Li Xu said, turning off the water. His low voice was particularly clear in the quiet environment, tinged with a hint of a smile.
In the mirror, Zong Linhan was wiping his hands with a tissue, his expression indifferent, more mature and composed than he had been in middle school. The sharp edge of his youth had almost completely transformed into a composed and effortless demeanor, his emotions never showing.
The tissue was thrown into the trash can, and he said calmly, "What do you mean?"
Li Xu smiled easily, "She didn't tell you anything about her past in the Li family."
Zong Linhan remained silent, as if waiting for a long advertisement to end so that Li Xu could continue.
Li Xu clenched the wet paper in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging. "The Zong family and the Li family have been friends for many years. For the sake of this relationship, I advise you not to take her too seriously."
"Their identity is unknown, their origin is unclear, and they cannot be tamed."
"When they turn their backs on you, they disappear without a trace."
The last sentence was almost uttered through gritted teeth. His powerful voice, honed by his background as a singer, made the words rise and fall, as if filled with intense emotions of love and hate.
Zong Linhan lifted his eyelids slightly.
The production team was absolutely right to reject Li Xu back then, refusing to let him join the production with his own investment. He can't hide his emotions at all.
Having received no useful information, Zong Linhan turned to leave. Li Xu called after him, her eyes narrowed, "Aren't you curious at all? Don't you care?"
Zong Linhan turned around, and the cold light shone on his profile, making his skin appear almost translucent.
He curled his lips into a smile, the curve like a scratch from an ice skating dart. "Is it you who cares more about it?"
After Zong Linhan left, the air in front of the sink was still stuffy. He slammed his fist heavily against the wall, making a loud bang.
-
Just as dinner preparations were beginning, Lu Siyi noticed how beautiful the sunset on the beach was and called everyone out to watch it.
The damp sand, just receding from the tide, was cool; if you stood there for a while, your heels would sink in, like a soft water cushion.
Lu Qin bought a lot of coconuts at the market. They were originally meant to be dessert after dinner, but now they were cut up ahead of time. Everyone held freshly cut coconuts in their hands, inserted straws, and enjoyed the refreshing and sweet coconut juice.
Lu Qin, like an elderly man, sat on the beach watching the sea. Beside him were Lu Siyi and Li Wan posing for photos, along with Li Xu, who had been chosen as the photographer.
After taking two photos with them, Wen Zhiling crouched down and hid to the side to pile up sand.
"Did you have fun today, little Wen Zhiling?" Zong Linhan walked over and sat down next to Wen Zhiling, watching her build sandcastles.
"I'm so happy! There's seafood porridge to drink later, I'm even happier." Wen Zhiling's eyes were filled with happiness when she talked about food. Fresh grouper, plump and big shrimp, and stir-fried whelk with chili were super delicious.
Zong Linhan lifted her eyelids to look at the little girl in the sand. She was sitting cross-legged on the ground, wearing a long dress that made her look dashing. A layer of sand covered her ankles, which looked like tiny diamonds in the setting sun.
His face was beaming with a happy and content smile, he looked incredibly satisfied, probably because he was thinking about the seafood congee for dinner.
Zong Linhan felt a sense of defeat, as if he had been outshone by the other ingredients.
Wen Zhiling stretched out her leg and nudged Zong Linhan, "Hey, it's not too late for you to curry favor with me now. I'll serve you two big prawns later, two of them!"
Zong Linhan scoffed: "Then you serve five large prawns to everyone else, five per person."
Wen Zhiling chuckled twice, "It's clearly because you don't really like eating shrimp."
"What do you hate to eat?" Zong Linhan asked.
“I like… um? I hate it?” Wen Zhiling was taken aback, then realized, “Stir-fried beef with celery.”
After answering, he gave Zong Linhan a smug wink, as if to say, "See, I remembered it right."
She answered with the character preferences that some employee had made up, and thought that Zong Linhan was randomly testing her.
But what he wanted to ask was what she truly hated.
During the spring outing, the children played with abandon, completely absorbed in their play, oblivious to the world around them, probably unaware of what they were really concerned about.
Zong Linhan patiently watched the children build their ugly dream castles. His heart gradually grew old, and he had to brainwash himself to be patient, gentle, and wait for her to speak. He couldn't rush it, even though the clam itself could be petrified until the end of the world and still refuse to speak...
But when he recalled Li Xu's words from not long ago, it was as if hot oil had been poured over him, and he became more and more agitated.
Even when he encountered a supernatural being plotting to bomb the Bureau of Supernatural Investigations and had two hundred bombs strapped to nearby locations, he wasn't this agitated.
Zong Linhan concluded that the island was too hot, and the environment severely affected his judgment.
He decided to shift his attention and focus on watching the children build sandcastles, stacking two, three, and four layers, and then adding different types of sand around them.
"That's not how you build a Christmas tree," Zong Linhan said, offering his opinion.
Wen Zhiling looked at him with an incredulous expression.
Zong Linhan solemnly helped her shape the sand: "Put more sand over here to make it look more like a tree."
Wen Zhiling felt deeply humiliated. "Who told you it was a tree!"
Zong Linhan frowned. "There's a platform at the bottom with conical rings on top. Isn't that a Christmas tree?"
"This is my castle! My dream castle!" Wen Zhiling threw a handful of sand at him.
Zong Linhan dodged as if he had anticipated it, a smile spreading across his face.
Wen Zhiling realized that he was deliberately causing trouble, and with a flick of her wrist, the sandstorm intensified.
Li Wan, who was passing by, couldn't help but take a second look. The two children playing around had a good relationship, even better than Zong Yue.
"Wow, this is shocking gossip! Is this something we can film? Is this something we can film?"
Wherever Lu Siyi is, there's excitement. Her shout drew the attention of almost everyone on the beach.
Lu Siyi and Li Xu stood and sat, respectively, with three lines of words drawn on the ground.
Lu Siyi's ears turned red with excitement, "We were just playing a question-and-answer game! I asked Brother Li about his favorite singers and songs! And then! And then!"
On the beach, there is a foreign singer's name and a Chinese song title.
The last line contains three characters.
Lu Siyi almost jumped up: "Did you guys get a picture? Just now! My God, Brother Li, are you serious or joking?"
Li Wan leaned closer, "What? What did you ask at the end?"
Lu Siyi hugged her shoulders, feeling inexplicably shy and wanting to bury herself in the sand. "I asked him if he had anyone special!"
"Me—!" Li Wan was also startled, automatically silencing a curse word, and then she saw the words on the beach. "Who is it! Little Lingzhi?"
While eating melon seeds, Lu Siyi distanced herself from the situation, saying, "Brother Li, I was asking about someone special. You wrote it down yourself. If I didn't cross any lines, you can explain everything to the camera yourself!"
"How come I don't know anyone called Little Lingzhi? This is too ambiguous! Who is it? An online friend? A pet? Or something...?" Li Wan's mouth was so wide it could fit two eggs. "Does your mom know?!"
The director suggested, "We're filming the secret exchange tonight, you could ask that!"
Wherever there's excitement, there's Lu Siyi. She crossed the line she had drawn herself and excitedly said, "I want to hear too! Can my brother and I bring our stools to your door and listen?"
Lu Siyi: "Brother! Let's go tonight! -- Brother Zong and Sister Zhiling, are you coming?"
After finishing her task, Li Xu lay lazily on the beach, looking up at Zong Linhan and Wen Zhiling sitting next to her.
Wen Zhiling shifted her gaze away from the words "Little Lingzhi" and looked up to meet Zong Linhan's ambiguous smile.
He didn't say he was going, nor did he say he was going; he just looked at her with a smile.
Wen Zhiling silently worked on the dream castle, then glanced at him cautiously, "Shall we go?"
Zong Linhan: "Hmm?"
Wen Zhiling whispered, "You seem quite interested in hearing this?"
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