Compared to Su Han, who was anxious after not receiving a love text message from Bo Shenyu or Jiang Boyan for four days, Bo Shenyu and Jiang Boyan—who hadn’t received one from Bai Baozhu for three and four days respectively—were also… quite bothered by it.
These two men had been sending love text messages to Bai Baozhu for several consecutive days, but during that time, Bai Baozhu hadn’t replied to a single one.
Although neither of them showed it on the surface, what they were most concerned about deep down was who Bai Baozhu was sending her love text messages to.
“Achoo—!”
Lin Dong, who had recently been receiving the most love text messages from Bai Baozhu, sneezed violently.
“Are we playing games today?”
Because he had never received a love text message from Ye Jingyu, Lin Dong had been wanting to show off his skills in his area of expertise, hoping Ye Jingyu would notice him.
And that area of expertise was gaming.
Although Glory of Kings wasn’t the same game he played professionally, and the controls were somewhat different, among this group of ordinary non-gamers in Love Cottage, it was more than enough to impress, especially in front of Ye Jingyu!
However, to his disappointment, the dating guests in Love Cottage didn’t seem to have any interest in gaming.
“Forget it. With you, the esports champion, carrying us, winning feels like it has zero game experience!”
“You can literally one-versus-five. We’re completely unnecessary. Playing with you really isn’t fun.”
…
After being rejected by two of the female guests, Lin Dong rubbed his head, feeling a little dejected. He muttered to himself in confusion, ‘This isn’t what my friends told me before I joined the show!’
His friends had clearly told him that if he wanted to show off his charm and boyfriend material, he didn’t need to do anything else—just take girls gaming! So why was it now…
What Lin Dong didn’t know was that his flirting method wasn’t wrong; it was just that the person he was trying to impress wasn’t interested in him at all!
“How about we play Truth or Dare instead!”
After Lin Dong’s gaming suggestion was vetoed, Su Han, glancing at Bo Shenyu who was sitting next to Bai Baozhu, suggested with a smile.
In contrast to the group rejection Lin Dong’s idea received, Su Han’s suggestion of Truth or Dare was met with support from the female guests.
Even Bai Baozhu was a little curious about the game.
“Alright, I have eight playing cards here. The person who draws the Joker has to choose ‘Truth’ or ‘Dare’,” Jiang Boyan announced after shuffling the deck. He then fanned all the cards out face down on the coffee table surrounded by everyone.
Following ladies first, the four female guests chose and drew their cards from the face-down pile. After all eight cards were drawn, everyone nervously and excitedly flipped theirs over.
“Haha! Not me!”
“Not me either!”
…
Once all the cards were revealed, everyone saw that the first person to flip over the Joker was—Bo Shenyu.
When Su Han and Ye Jingyu saw it was Bo Shenyu who had drawn the Joker, their eyes lit up instantly.
The whole reason they had wanted to play this game was because of Bo Shenyu. They never imagined they’d get so lucky right off the bat!
“Haha~ Brother Shen’s luck is really something.”
“I can already feel a barrage of truth questions heading Brother Shen’s way!”
The male guests, happy to stir the pot, waited for the female guests to start questioning Bo Shenyu.
Considering Bo Shenyu was the first to draw the Joker and this was the first round, Su Han and Ye Jingyu reined themselves in a bit, not asking anything too direct or provocative.
They just asked Bo Shenyu a very simple, easy-to-answer question.
“Brother Shen, since joining Love Cottage, what has been the thing that made you happiest in the last two weeks?”
In everyone’s eyes, this question was really easy to answer. After all, there were plenty of happy moments; he could just pick one or two and talk about them casually.
But… this seemingly simple question stumped Bo Shenyu, much to everyone’s surprise. He didn’t answer.
Faced with the question, Bo Shenyu fell silent for a long time. In the end, he chose to forfeit.
“Sorry, I can’t answer that question.”
“Huh? Seriously? Brother Shen, is it that hard? We’re not asking who you like the most in Love Cottage,” Su Han said, looking at Bo Shenyu with astonishment.
The others reacted similarly to Su Han, all puzzled by Bo Shenyu’s response.
But how could they know? This question was a landmine for Bo Shenyu! The damage was too great!
Because if he answered it truthfully, his secret love for sweets would be exposed.
So! This was a question he absolutely could not answer, even if beaten to death!
After accepting a very simple penalty, Bo Shenyu’s gaze subtly drifted towards Bai Baozhu before quickly looking away again.
Although none of the other dating guests noticed this, the ever-present cameras faithfully captured it…
“Is there anyone in Love Cottage who makes your heart flutter? How many?”
“What’s the most ambiguous thing that has happened between you and an opposite-sex guest in Love Cottage?”
…
The eight dating guests went back and forth like this, having quite a fun time. Some of the questions and answers also made the relationship dynamics within Love Cottage clearer to everyone.
As the game continued, Bai Baozhu, whose luck had been good—never drawing the Joker and always being a spectator on the sidelines—finally, as ‘expected by all’! For the first time! Drew the Joker!
“Wow—! It’s Zhu Zhu!”
“Finally! Zhu Zhu finally drew it once!”
“The question this time has to be a bit challenging!”
…
Amidst the clamor, Bai Baozhu thought for a moment and still chose the safe option: ‘Truth’.
After all, it was just answering a question. Even if she couldn’t answer, she could just take the penalty. No big deal!
However, Bai Baozhu was soon to be proven wrong by her own thoughts!
“Ahem, ahem!”
After a unanimous discussion, Su Han cleared her throat, smiled sweetly at Bai Baozhu, and asked the final ‘Truth’ question.
“Please tell us, since joining Love Cottage, what has been the thing that made your heart flutter the most?”
This question was basically asking Bai Baozhu which male guest she liked.
Everyone looked at Bai Baozhu with great anticipation, especially the two male guests who had been sending her text messages recently.
However, when faced with this question, Bai Baozhu also chose to refuse!
“Sorry, I choose the penalty.”
Bai Baozhu pouted in frustration, complaining inwardly, ‘Why did it have to be this question!’
Heaven knew she didn’t feel her heart flutter for any of the four male guests in front of her! More importantly, she didn’t plan on liking anyone!
But this was a dating show, and they were already halfway through filming. If she honestly voiced her feelings, it probably wouldn’t be good.
So, poor Bai Baozhu had no choice but to miserably choose the penalty. _(:з”∠)_
“Haha, looks like our Zhu Zhu is a bit shy!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. If you don’t want to answer, that’s okay!”
“Our Zhu Zhu is still young. For the penalty, let’s just go easy on her.”
With Xia Tiantian’s biased help, the penalty Bai Baozhu ultimately received was—
“Zhu Zhu studies dance, so how about dancing to a randomly selected piece of music?”
For someone who studied dance, this penalty should have been no challenge at all.
But… Bai Baozhu wasn’t very familiar with dance! Although she had the Original Host’s memories and had inherited her skills, she had never actually danced herself!
Now, being asked to dance suddenly, and worse, to improvise, Bai Baozhu immediately felt immense pressure!
She suddenly felt that it would have been better to just answer that question honestly earlier!
“OK! I’m going to play the music now! Zhu Zhu, are you ready?” Su Han asked with a gentle smile, looking at Bai Baozhu. It was impossible to tell that she had secretly switched the supposedly random music to a song that was absolutely guaranteed to make Bai Baozhu look foolish!
“If I say I’m not ready, can I not dance?” Bai Baozhu grumbled, looking at the group of dating guests waiting for her performance.
“Of course not!”
“Go for it, Zhu Zhu! You’re the best!”
Amidst the cheers, Bai Baozhu had no choice but to brace herself and go for it!
Her mind raced, trying to recall the dances the Original Host had learned. She thought she’d just mimic those moves later! It didn’t matter if the moves matched the music or looked good!
However, when the music started playing, Bai Baozhu was dumbfounded. The dance moves she had prepared froze on the spot.
But when the music played, the ones who were dumbfounded weren’t just Bai Baozhu!
The other dating guests, who were ready to enjoy her dance, were also stunned.
Because this music was… something else!
“What the… Whose playlist is this? How is there Loyalty to the Country?”
The randomly selected music wasn’t a beautiful lyrical piece, nor a strong rock song, nor a trendy pop tune.
It was—a majestic, grand patriotic song!
It was hard to imagine how to choreograph a dance to such a song. Especially since they were recording a show, improvising without any preparation could easily make the dancer seem frivolous. In short, this song was… a total trap!
Just as everyone was sweating for Bai Baozhu, thinking it would be hard to dance to; just as Su Han was gleefully waiting for Bai Baozhu to make a fool of herself…
The person in question, Bai Baozhu, actually—let out a sigh of relief!
Perfect! This song! She could do this!