Chapter 195: An Eerie Resemblance

Wen Jingxing had no choice but to lie down as well.

However, no sooner had he lain down than Song Wanning, who had been sleeping near the inner edge of the bed, immediately pressed close against him.

"Feeling rather proactive today, aren't you?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Wen Jingxing pulled Song Wanning into his arms, quilt and all.

Yet Song Wanning offered no reply.

With a sigh, Wen Jingxing turned off the light and went to sleep.

Throughout the night, Song Wanning slept with extreme restlessness, tossing and turning constantly. Even when Wen Jingxing tried to move away from her, it was of no use, for as soon as she drifted back into sleep, she would inevitably burrow against him once more.

Deep into the night, Wen Jingxing remained wide awake.

Mindful that tomorrow's filming tasks awaited them, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Slipping directly under Song Wanning's quilt, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, securely trapping both her hands and her hyperactive legs within his embrace.

In her sleep, Song Wanning tried to struggle a few times, but finding herself utterly unable to break free, she finally settled down. Only then did Wen Jingxing manage to get some peaceful rest during the second half of the night.

On the morning of the twenty-eighth day, when Song Wanning awoke, she once again found herself sleeping soundly inside Wen Jingxing's arms.

This time, it was actually Wen Jingxing who had crawled under her quilt. But the moment she remembered how she had clung to him like an octopus earlier that morning, any words of reproach she was brewing in her mind instantly vanished.

Having drunk alcohol the night before, she still had a mild headache upon waking. As she sat by the table to eat, she looked thoroughly dejected.

In stark contrast, the elderly monk sitting nearby still beamed with radiant cheer.

Song Wanning thought to herself that he had consumed far more than she had the previous night, yet he showed no aftereffects whatsoever!

Finally, Xiao Mi, who was eating noodles beside them, broke the silence. "Sister Wanning, aren't you two leaving today? Why hasn't Brother Jingxing gotten up yet? Could it be that you both messed things up by drinking last night?"

Song Wanning hurriedly grabbed a large steamed bun and shoved it into Xiao Mi's mouth. "Eat your food! Your Brother Jingxing will be up in a moment. Nothing happened at all."

She felt thoroughly guilty precisely because she had clung to Wen Jingxing like an octopus that morning.

Thus, when she slipped away earlier, she had moved so lightly that even Wen Jingxing remained completely unaware.

She certainly cared little about when Wen Jingxing chose to wake up.

The viewers, who had just flooded into the live broadcast room, cared about none of this.

The moment they entered, they happened to hear Xiao Mi suggesting that Song Wanning and Wen Jingxing had ruined things by drinking.

Coupled with Song Wanning's guilty expression, everyone immediately jumped to their own conclusions.

[Oh, oh, oh! Wanning is blushing!]

[No way! I looked away from my precious girl for just one single night, and the two of them are up to no good again? Is... is this the prelude to giving me a little grandnephew? Ah哈哈哈!]

[The variety show is almost coming to an end, and more and more people online are betting against the Wen-Wan couple! Wanning, you must pull yourself together! You have to become the third Mrs. Wen and make them green with envy!]

[By the way, I wonder what the final variety show task will be?]

[It might be a grand and glamorous finale.]

[And then the moment they return to reality, they'll part ways instantly! Hahahahaha.]

[You haters are simply the most annoying lot!]

[Forget it, pay them no mind. Don't get angry with these unscrupulous people. Take a leaf out of Wanning's book and be more Zen-like—that'll drive them crazy!]

[If you ask me, what on earth makes Wen Jingxing look twice at Song Wanning? All of this is just scripted anyway, arranged purely by the director for the sake of ratings.]

[If you're jealous of Song Wanning, just say so. Your words are so sour—are you trying to turn yourself into a vinegar jar and pickle yourself to death?]

After the three of them finished breakfast, the production team delivered a letter as promised.

Song Wanning took the envelope, finally stirred by a flicker of curiosity, and immediately opened it.

At that moment, Wen Jingxing had not long been awake and was sitting at the table eating, fixing Song Wanning with a sullen, resentful gaze.

Having entirely forgotten what she had done the previous night, Song Wanning found his stare so bizarre that she rubbed her chin in confusion. "Are you hoping to read this together with me?"

Wen Jingxing remained silent, merely fixing his eyes on her.

"Since you're not saying no, I'll take that as a yes?" Song Wanning muttered to herself.

She then carried the envelope over to Wen Jingxing's side and expertly slid it open.

Yet the moment she pulled out the contents, Song Wanning froze in her tracks.

The first page of the envelope contained only a single photograph depicting two children, a boy and a girl.

Standing side-by-side with their hands linked, they posed against the backdrop of an unfamiliar, large flowerbed. The boy in the picture was none other than the child from the photograph Wen Jingxing had asked her for that day.

Song Wanning's fingers trembled slightly. "Jingxing, is this little boy you?"

To think that back then, she had casually offered to give that very photo away right in front of its owner. Fortunately, she was simply returning it to its rightful person.

Had she handed it to a complete stranger, she would never have been able to explain it.

However, the moment Song Wanning caught sight of the little girl's facial features in the photograph, her heart skipped a beat.

The young face of the original host looked identical to her own childhood appearance.

Sharing the same name and similar height might be coincidences, but this little girl's face was carved from the exact same mold as her younger self.

Even if she were to examine it with her own eyes, she might still fail to distinguish between herself and the original host.

In truth, had Song Wanning troubled herself to reflect carefully, she would have realized that even as adults, the two of them bore a striking resemblance.

Only, the original host had never known a single worry, her life devoid of material hardships. In other words, she was carefree and rather foolish, a greenhouse flower from birth whose every gesture naturally exuded a delicate pampered air.

As for Song Wanning in her past life, though her early years had also been comfortable, she had suffered through devastating dynastic and familial upheavals. Having fought tooth and nail just to survive, tempered on bloody battlefields and frequently disguised as a man for years, her features naturally leaned toward a more neutral and hardened look.

Consequently, Song Wanning had never suspected that the face of the original host was simply herself dressed in women's clothing.

Noticing that something seemed amiss with her, Wen Jingxing took the initiative to ask, "A-Ning, what's wrong?"

Recovering her wits after a brief trance, Song Wanning shook her head. "Nothing, I'm fine."

Only then did Wen Jingxing say, "The person in that photo is me, and the little girl is you. But it's only natural that you don't remember things from your childhood, nor do you remember me."

Recalling the past incident, Song Wanning scratched her head guiltily. "I'm sorry I didn't recognize you back then."

Hearing this, Wen Jingxing posed a question of his own: "Since you didn't remember me, why did you hold onto that photograph for all these years?"

"Perhaps I felt it was very important? Or maybe I just thought the little child looked cute and kept it."

While her first explanation was sheer nonsense, the second reflected her genuine sentiment upon first seeing the photograph. Because her words were half-true and half-false, Wen Jingxing actually found himself half-believing her.

Nevertheless, he merely asked, "Is that so?"

Without dwelling on it, Wen Jingxing added, "Let's see what the task is this time."

"Alright."

Acknowledging his words, Song Wanning flipped the letter over. The task instructions this time were even briefer, yet those few short words caused her breath to catch in her throat.