Chapter 68: Boiling the Frog in Warm Water

Strangely enough, she had only herself to blame. From the very beginning, Jiang Mingzhao had been somewhat hard to approach. He appeared easygoing, but once you got close, you could feel a certain distance. She was spoiled and didn’t like Jiang Mingzhao, so she would never humble herself to get close to him.

Later, her thoughts wandered elsewhere—she set her sights on Wen Jingxing. After that, Jiang Mingzhao gradually began to mock and ridicule her. Perhaps he was jealous that she could so easily care about another man while remaining indifferent to him.

Indeed, she could only blame herself for having always ignored him. Now, seeing him so happy, deliberately giving her no face in front of everyone, it was a kind of retribution. If Jiang Mingzhao knew what was running through Shen Yue’s mind, he might have left the variety show long ago, fleeing this den of tigers and wolves.

At this moment, he was gleefully dancing with joy because he finally wouldn’t have to participate in tomorrow’s task. He had utterly abandoned all pretense of being a young master.

“It’s absolutely true, truer than pearls!”

“It ended so quickly, not even a minute. These two are definitely interesting!”

The live broadcast room was still buzzing about Song Waning and Wen Jingxing. The topic hadn’t cooled, and everyone was still discussing it.

“What’s the difference between fifty-two seconds and one minute? Tell me.”

“Fifty-two! That’s fifty-two! If they had more time, the two of them could definitely make it to five hundred and twenty!”

“Are you stupid? It’s just a coincidence.”

“As long as these two’s heartbeats go over a hundred in under a minute, I’m convinced there’s something between them.”

“I think it only counts if they’re like Yun Ze and Nan Yan.”

But before anyone could reach a conclusion, the live broadcast ended.

“What? It’s over already?”

“Let’s go, let’s keep talking somewhere else. No one here is allowed to leave! Whoever leaves is a dog!”

“Fine, I’m leaving anyway. Who’s afraid?”

“Alright, see you on Weibo forums!”

...

After the game ended, Li Weiwei let everyone go their separate ways. Since the contestants didn’t live together, they rarely returned home as a group.

But tonight, Song Waning and Nan Yan walked together, neither mentioning going back. The two of them wandered in circles, making no move to leave.

Wen Jingxing and Yun Ze both frowned, trailing reluctantly behind the two women. The worst part was, they couldn’t say anything—if they did, the women would just tell them to leave first.

The two men were determined to keep an eye on them, waiting to see how long they would stall before finally returning. After tonight’s game, everyone could sense that the relationships between the partners had subtly changed, no longer just simple variety show pairings, but tinged with the nervousness and excitement of budding romance.

Of course, all this excluded Shen Yue and Jiang Mingzhao, as well as Jin Jianyi, who harbored a one-sided affection.

Eventually, the two women could stall no longer. As long as the guests didn’t return to the house, the cameramen had to keep following them. Song Waning, seeing the weary cameraman shivering in the cold, finally chose to compromise, dutifully following Wen Jingxing back.

Nan Yan, cheeks flushed, followed Yun Ze, still embarrassed by what had happened during the evening’s game. Yun Ze, however, was in rare good spirits, a faint smile softening his usually stern face. When Nan Yan glanced up and caught that smile, her heart skipped a beat, seized by an inexplicable thrill. But the smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

On the other side, Song Waning didn’t fare much better than Nan Yan. The slower Song Waning walked, the slower Wen Jingxing matched her pace, patiently waiting.

But as the night deepened, Song Waning—dressed only in a short-sleeved top—hugged her arms, clearly cold. Wen Jingxing, noticing this, said, “If you’re cold, why don’t you walk faster?”

He only chided her once, but Song Waning’s voice took on a hint of grievance. “I’m just a little slow…”

Before she could finish, Wen Jingxing had already taken off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Song Waning looked up and saw he still wore a white shirt underneath.

She was instantly at a loss for words, murmuring a soft “Thank you.”

Glancing back at the shivering cameraman, she picked up her pace. After all, the cameraman had been so kind to her; she couldn’t let him freeze on her account.

Song Waning kept her head down the whole way and didn’t notice when they reached the door to the house.

She didn’t even realize Wen Jingxing had stopped, and walked straight into him.

“Ow…” Song Waning clutched her sore forehead. How could Wen Jingxing’s back be so hard? She’d only bumped him lightly, yet it hurt so much.

Wen Jingxing quickly turned around. “Let me see. Are you hurt?” He reached out to touch her forehead, eyes keenly focused on the spot, the distance between them shrinking unconsciously.

Song Waning felt his warm breath on her skin and snapped to attention, quickly stepping back. “No… it’s fine, it doesn’t really hurt.”

The cameraman, who had been dozing and shivering in the wind, instantly perked up and began filming with renewed vigor.

But before he could enjoy the moment, Song Waning, a little embarrassed, opened the door and slipped inside. Wen Jingxing didn’t linger either; he followed her in and closed the door.

The cameraman was a bit disappointed. Such a sweet moment, and it ended just like that!

Once inside, Song Waning hurried upstairs, only tossing over her shoulder, “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

Wen Jingxing watched her retreating figure and chuckled helplessly. Never mind, better not push too hard, or she might just run away.

On the morning of the ninth day, Song Waning was still asleep when Wen Jingxing came to knock on her door.

She was nervous, afraid he’d bring up last night, and dawdled as she got dressed and opened the door.

But Wen Jingxing greeted her as usual. “Good morning, Waning. It’s getting late, we should get going.”

She glanced at him and saw that his expression was perfectly normal, as if nothing at all had happened the day before.

She was nervous, afraid he’d bring up last night, and dawdled as she got dressed and opened the door.

But Wen Jingxing greeted her as usual. “Good morning, Waning. It’s getting late, we should get going.”

She glanced at him and saw that his expression was perfectly normal, as if nothing at all had happened the day before.