Chapter 39

Chang Xun felt terror overwhelm him when he thought of Jin Si’s furious face.

He had only planned on letting Qi Wu have some fun. He did not think much of it. It would only be about two weeks, then he could return her to Jin Si.

However, with the current situation… If Qi Wu stayed on any longer or actually made a debut in the entertainment industry with her beautiful face…

Chang Xun suddenly shuddered.

He could already envision Jin Si’s killer glare.

He did steal Jin Si’s bodyguard away, even if he actually did not believe that Qi Wu was Jin Si’s bodyguard.

Qu Man was shocked.

With the hint of gossip in the air, she subtly tried to probe for more information. “Why tell Jin Si about this?”

“I…”

Chang Xun abruptly realized what he was going to say as soon as he started speaking.

“You were trying to pull a fast one on me!”

“Ah.”

Since Chang Xun realized what was happening, Qu Man lost interest and moved away.

She started trying to kick him out once again. “Why are you still here?”

As Chang Xun stood up, he asked, “Where’s Hu? I haven’t seen him around. The first episode is airing soon, right? Overtime?”

“Ah, so you do know about overtime. Why are you asking?”

Upon hearing that, Chang Xun did not ask any more questions.

He headed toward the exit and waved at Qu Man as he called out over his shoulder, “Let Song know that I’m going.”

*

“Aren’t you going to throw it in?”

Tan Song was confused.

He watched as Qi Wu, glass bottle in hand, lined up with the other contestants by the tree the production team had transplanted over. He did not understand what was happening.

“If you do that, you’ll definitely get ten points.”

Tan Song now had absolute faith in Qi Wu.

“I don’t need it.”

Qi Wu did not turn around as she solemnly focused on tying her glass bottle to the tree branch before climbing down the ladder.

In the past, she was the only one who would listen to the believers’ prayers and their tales of joy and woe. No god had ever responded to her prayers.

That was because there was only one fate waiting for her.

All other desires were just unnecessary burdens.

Tan Song dazedly stared at Qi Wu’s back. For some reason, he felt a strong sense of unmistakable loneliness and sorrow radiating from her.

That was not something that should be found coming from a happy young woman.

Qi Wu walked over to him. “Today’s tasks are done. I’m happy to have teamed up with you today.”

“Same…”

Tan Song smiled at her.

Still, it was this complicated and contradictory individual who helped him out.

“I’m thinking of editing and redrafting the manuscript I showed you before. Do you mind taking a look once I’m done?”

His heart was filled with hope and warring emotions as he asked that.

While he hoped for his changes to be acknowledged and approved, he was also afraid of being rejected.

“Sure.”

Qi Wu agreed.

Hence, Tan Song walked away with a skip in his step.

*

When Qi Wu returned to the villa, she spotted Tong Luo bustling about in the kitchen while Jiang Xuxu and Ke Lu sat on the living room couch.

The other two housemates were nowhere to be found.

Jiang Xuxu quickly waved Qi Wu over when she spotted Qi Wu. “Come quick! It’s our lucky day!”

Ke Lu stood up. “I’ll go help Tong Luo.”

Now, the only ones left in the living room were Qi Wu and Jiang Xuxu.

Jiang Xuxu placed an arm over Qi Wu’s shoulder and lazily asked, “Did you throw your bottle into the pond?”

Qi Wu shook her head. “No.”

“Heh. Ke Lu didn’t either. She said it was better to depend on herself than believe in superstition. You two really are very pragmatic.”

Then, her shoulders drooped. “Tong Luo and I didn’t get the bottles into the mouth anyway. It was so hard. How did Tan Song do it?”

Qi Wu smiled and kept quiet.

However, Jiang Xuxu did not think about it for long and soon threw it out of her mind.

“Let’s talk about other things. I hear the production team will be posting the promotional posters tonight. They’ll also announce the first episode. Remember to keep an eye out!”

“Okay.”

Qi Wu nodded.

Once they were done with their meal, Jiang Xuxu and Ke Lu headed back to their villa while Qi Wu and Tong Luo retreated to their room.

When Qi Wu pulled out her phone, which she had not checked for a very long time, she realized the last message she received had been an hour ago from Jin Si.

Jin Si: Do you still want lemon drops?

Lemon drops!

Her mind automatically clung to those words as Qi Wu happily leaped from her bed to hide in the bathroom.

Tong Luo’s face was blank with dejection as she watched Qi Wu’s reaction.

There was no doubt that the other person was Qi Wu’s sugar daddy.

Yet Qi Wu was foolish enough to be happy about it!

Unbeknownst to Qi Wu, Tong Luo now thought of her as a foolish woman who was being cheated. The moment Qi Wu entered the bathroom, she cheerfully called Jin Si.

“Jin Si,” Qi Wu happily greeted as soon as the call was answered.

She sounded so happy that her voice sounded very sweet when calling out his name.

There was a moment of silence before Jin Si replied, “Speak properly.”

Qi Wu blinked in confusion. She had spoken in a proper sentence.

However, she did not voice that thought and sweetly said, “Lemon drops, Jin Si.”

“Ha!” A chuckle burst from Jin Si’s lips. “You still want lemon drops? I thought you’d been lured away by chocolate.”

“Huh?”

With a confused look on her face, Qi Wu asked, “Chocolate can’t lure me away.”

Her reply rendered Jin Si speechless.

If chocolate could not lure Qi Wu away, could lemon drops lure her away?

However, he soon went stiff.

It must have been Qi Wu’s influence. Why else would he think something that childish?

“I told you not to befriend those who spin stories or eat candy given by just anyone,” he coldly stated.

Qi Wu did not seem to sense the frigid tone in his voice, however. She solemnly explained, “You never said the second part.”

Jin Si did not say anything.

Her retorts had him at a loss for words.

However, she was evidently not done yet as she continued, “Ke Lu is not ‘just anyone’ either.”

Jin Si fell silent once more.

First, it was a man called Tan Song. Now, it was someone called Ke Lu.

Qi Wu, this innocent and naïve ghost, had befriended so many people in just a few days.

He had been quiet for so long that Qi Wu softly spoke up once more, “Jin Si, my lemon drops…”

Her reminder snapped him out of his thoughts.

“If you eat my lemon drops, you can’t eat chocolate again. Are you sure?”

There was a trace of a vague and indistinct mix of emotions in Jin Si’s icy voice. It was as if he did not even realize there was anything wrong with those emotions.

“Okay…”

There was a sullen tone in Qi Wu’s voice.

“Wait for me at the doors of the stadium at 8:00 p.m. later.”

With that said, Jin Si ended the call.

The moment Qi Wu heard that she would be getting her lemon drops, there was a skip in her step as she walked out of the bathroom.

In Tong Luo’s eyes, that reaction meant Qi Wu was ecstatic just because of a single phone call. In her mind, Qi Wu’s sugar daddy was great at spinning stories.