Zhu Jinzhao, slightly out of breath, looked at Shi Jing with her big, misty eyes and said, "Because I want to protect you, as I promised."
Shi Jing curled his lips into a smile, his sharp eyebrows casually raised: "Protecting me doesn't necessarily require holding hands."
"..." Zhu Jinzhao was stunned for a moment.
Shi Jing's eyes flickered, and she looked at Zhu Jinzhao with a half-smile, ambiguous gaze: "Chaozhao, you're holding my hand so tightly, is it because..."
"Shut up!"
Before Shi Jing could finish speaking, Zhu Jinzhao had already guessed what he was going to say next.
She pulled her hand away from Shi Jing's and glared at him fiercely: "You, you're not allowed to talk nonsense! Shut up!"
Shi Jing nodded, quite obediently.
"Okay, I'll shut up. I won't ask Chaochao whether she likes me or not."
"...Aaaaah!!" Zhu Jinzhao, enraged and embarrassed, swung her fist at Shi Jing. "You're so annoying!"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" Ning Shi pushed Qin Ming aside and leaned in front of Zhu Jinzhao, asking gossipily, "What's wrong with Shi Jing? Why are you so annoyed with him?"
"He...he's so annoying!" Zhu Jinzhao was too embarrassed to tell the truth, so he could only fum and try to evade the question.
"Huh?" Ning Shi was completely confused. "What do you mean by 'it's so annoying'? What happened?"
"Ahem..." Shi Jing coughed deliberately, a meaningful smile on his face.
"No, what happened?" Ning Shi was so anxious about not being able to get any gossip that she kept scratching her head. "Tell me, tell me, tell me now!"
Shi Jing took a deep breath, pretending to be about to speak.
"!!!" Ning Shi stared at him expectantly, her eyes wide with anticipation.
He paused, then said, "...It's nothing."
Ning Shi: "..."
"ill……"
Shi Jing raised an eyebrow smugly and reached out to touch Zhu Jinzhao's hand: "Don't be angry, let's go eat hot pot, okay?"
"Hot pot?" Zhu Jinzhao's eyes lit up, and she reluctantly agreed, "Okay."
Jiang Jingwen and Ning Shi had decided to have hot pot at noon, but eating in the mall was too risky. They were afraid that Zhu Jinzhao might accidentally run into someone from the Zhu family again, so they booked a private chef in advance and moved the hot pot to the Shi family's house.
Halfway through the meal, the production team suddenly launched a surprise attack by initiating a video chat in a WeChat group called "Sharing the good times, leaving the group in times of trouble".
"Run!"
Zhu Jinchao picked up her phone and started running, rushing towards the rooftop terrace without looking back.
Shi Jing watched her retreating figure and called out anxiously, "Chao Chao! There's an elevator!"
Zhu Jinzhao: "It's too late!!!"
"Quick, quick, give me some advice! Where should I go to receive the video call?!" Ning Shi was frantically pacing around the living room, clutching her phone.
Jiang Jingwen brainstormed and pointed to several places for her: "You, you, you, you, go to Laifu's doghouse, go to the kitchen, go to the toilet, go squat by the roadside!"
“…The roadside!” Ning Shi picked out a reliable spot from a bunch of useless places. “I…I’m going for a walk by the roadside!”
After saying that, she turned and ran.
"What about me? What about me?" Shi Jing stood in front of Jiang Jingwen, wanting her to give him some advice.
She pointed and said directly, "Go to the yard and find another corner to squat in!"
Shi Jing: "Okay!"
"And what about us?" Qin Ming looked at Jiang Jingwen expectantly. "Where should we go?"
Jiang Jingwen pulled out a chair and sat back down at the table, saying expressionlessly, "You bunch of random passersby, go wherever you want."
Qin Ming: "Oh..."
"Bang!"
Zhu Jinchao burst open the terrace door, strode out, and randomly picked a chair to sit down.
The video call ringtone kept ringing incessantly. Zhu Jinzhao held up the phone, took a few deep breaths to calm his breathing, and then dared to press the answer button on the screen.
"Haha, why are you late again today?" Fang Lei took a bite of the cucumber in his hand, and then tapped Zhu Jinzhao on the screen with the cucumber.
Zhu Jinzhao tried hard to suppress her panting and said calmly, "I was just dealing with work and had my phone on silent. If Mingyue hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known there was a video call in the group."
"Still working so late?" Li Weiwan wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel, her eyes filled with obvious concern as she looked at Zhu Jinzhao.
Zhu Jinzhao hummed in agreement, then glanced at Li Weiwan. Seeing that Li Weiwan was slightly out of breath, his face was flushed, and he hadn't had time to change out of his sportswear, he smiled and asked, "Is Brother Li still working out so late?"
"Sigh..." Li Weiwan sighed helplessly, "I gained four pounds in just three days on Flower Island. If I don't hurry up and work out to lose it, how can I eat without worry in the next episode?"
"Aren't you right, Leizi?"
"..." Fang Lei paused in his cucumber-eating motion, then said somewhat guiltily, "I think Brother Li is absolutely right! Although I stood up my personal trainer today because I was too busy with work, I've been keeping up with my diet!"
"See this cucumber? That's my belated dinner!"
"Hi! I'm here!"
As soon as Fang Lei finished speaking, Ning Shi joined the video chat.
"I'm here too!" Shi Jing was only a second slower than her.
"You two old foxes, you're late again today!" Fang Lei criticized them sternly.
Ning Shili retorted defiantly, "I was late because I was just going for a run at night, but I was a little disheveled, so I couldn't answer the video call right away."
"And what about you?" Zhu Mingyue raised an eyebrow at Shi Jing. "Why were you late again?"
Shi Jing lay leisurely on the rocking chair and yawned at the camera in a mock manner: "I ate too much for dinner and fell asleep because I felt dizzy. I didn't hear my phone ringing."
Zhu Mingyue: "...You three old foxes, your excuses for being late are all more interesting than the last."
"Hehe..." Zhu Jinzhao squinted and chuckled apologetically, "It was an accident, purely an accident."
"Good evening, everyone!" The assistant director in the video finally greeted everyone after all seven guests had arrived.
"Good evening, assistant director!" The seven people responded to him very cooperatively.
He sat upright in his chair, smiling broadly, and said, "It's time for our evening chat again. Are you all having fun?"
Su Ying: "I'm quite happy, but I still want to ask, are you doing a live broadcast again?"
"..." The assistant director didn't say anything, but simply flipped the camera to show her the live stream interface.
"As expected..." Su Ying smiled wryly, "Luckily I haven't removed my makeup yet, otherwise I would have to appear on camera without a face again."
The assistant director chuckled a few times and then got straight to the topic of tonight's chat.
"Today is the third day that we've all been separated by distance. Have you all kept in touch with your partners after three days of not seeing each other?"
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