“Zhu Zhu, did something happen between you and Xiao Han just now?”
Bai Baozhu, who had just received word from the production team that it was absolutely impossible for her to quit the show, was sitting in the living room looking utterly dejected, pounding a cushion in her lap. Just then, she heard Xia Tiantian sit down beside her and quietly ask this question.
Hearing Xia Tiantian’s words, Bai Baozhu blinked in confusion. “Huh? No, nothing happened.”
“Then why has the atmosphere between you two been so weird since you got back? The way she looks at you… it always feels like there’s a trace of resentment. I thought you must have done something to upset her.”
Xia Tiantian sneakily glanced over at Su Han, who was chatting with Wei Wenbo not far away.
“?”
Bai Baozhu widened her eyes and also looked toward Su Han. As a result, Su Han caught her looking.
But then Su Han gave her a gentle smile, which only made Bai Baozhu even more confused.
“I didn’t do anything to upset her. Why would I go out of my way to upset her?”
If anything, she was trying to learn from her.
Bai Baozhu silently grumbled to herself.
“Then I must have been mistaken.”
Xia Tiantian didn’t dwell on it either. After dropping the topic, she asked Bai Baozhu about the Sun Date.
“Is the production team pressuring you again to use your Sun Date privilege soon?”
“Mhm…”
Just mentioning this made Bai Baozhu a bit depressed.
The production team hadn’t only told her that quitting was impossible; they had also urged her once more to hurry up and use her Sun Date privilege.
Now, every other dating guest in the cottage had used their Sun Date. She was the only one who hadn’t.
“So, who are you planning to ask?”
Xia Tiantian asked with a hint of gossip in her tone. The relationship dynamics within Love Cottage had changed so dramatically recently.
Originally, Jiang Boyan had liked Su Han, but judging by recent signs, he seemed to have switched his interest to Bai Baozhu.
And Bo Shenyu, the popular male heartthrob of their Love Cottage, seemed to have developed mortal feelings, showing quite a bit of favor towards Bai Baozhu.
So, right now, Bai Baozhu was genuinely the most popular female guest in Love Cottage!
“I…”
Bai Baozhu was just about to voice her plans when her gaze suddenly caught on a camera. She immediately shut her mouth and then gave the camera a light humph.
“It’s! A! Secret!”
Seeing Bai Baozhu like this, Xia Tiantian immediately understood.
Bai Baozhu must have remembered the last time she said she didn’t want to use her date privilege, and the production team cut off her escape route. That’s why she wasn’t planning to reveal who she intended to ask out this time.
But still…
What was so secretive about this answer?!
Once she’d chosen her date, could the production team really stop her?
Xia Tiantian’s current thoughts were exactly the production team’s thoughts. They were desperate for Bai Baozhu to hurry up and have her Sun Date, to quickly move into the female-exclusive Moon Date segment. Where would they find the will to stop Bai Baozhu from dating now?
However, neither Xia Tiantian nor the production team could have anticipated that Bai Baozhu, this steel-straight blockhead, would truly… give them a massive ‘surprise’!
…
Sunday, 8 PM.
Because of the trending topics surrounding Song Zhi and Bai Baozhu on Friday and Saturday, the already wildly popular dating reality show Love Cottage had completely broken out of its niche!
The audience chasing Love Cottage now truly spanned the entire nation! It was a show the whole family would choose to watch together.
Viewers across the country were all worrying about the lifelong happiness of a little girl with a fantastically bizarre thought process, who wanted to be a green tea .
There was no helping it. After all, Bai Baozhu was the one they had voted to keep on the show, one person, one vote! The responsibility was truly immense! They had to keep a close eye on this uniquely-minded young lady.
Following yesterday’s Episode Eleven, today’s Episode Twelve was practically a Bai Baozhu special!
First, it sprinkled a handful of sugar: she ‘specially’ made the slightly bitter dessert, crème brûlée, for ‘Bo Shenyu’ that she had mentioned in last night’s love text message. Countless viewers who had seen the previous episodes screamed that it was too sweet!
The Sweet CP was sprinkling sugar!
“Oh my god! Bo Shenyu is so lucky! Sister Zhu Zhu just sent a love text saying she’d make him a bitter dessert! And she actually did it! It’s too sweet, too sweet! I’m standing firm with the Sweet CP, never wavering!”
On the show, the celebrity observers were all squealing in unison, sweetened by the interaction between Bai Baozhu and Bo Shenyu over the crème brûlée.
At this moment, as this scene played on TV, it wasn’t just the celebrity observers squealing together. The viewers watching the broadcast were also frantically screaming in the online live discussion thread.
【Ahhhh——! Lock Bai Baozhu and Bo Shenyu together forever! I’ve swallowed the key!】
【Oh my goodness, so sweet! Our Zhu Zhu is so virtuous, so considerate! Knowing Brother Shen doesn’t like overly sweet desserts, she specially made him a slightly bitter crème brûlée. This is just too sweet!】
【And she successfully let Bo Shenyu know that she was the one who sent that love text message. These two can basically be locked in, right?】
【Locked! Locked! The Sweet CP is just too sweet! I’m really looking forward to their date!】
But, just as everyone was screaming over the sweet interaction between Bai Baozhu and Bo Shenyu, there was one exception.
That was—
“Song Zhi, why do you look so serious?”
While everyone was fangirling over the interaction between Bai Baozhu and Bo Shenyu, watching with pink, romantic bubbles floating around them, Song Zhi’s brows were subconsciously slightly furrowed, and his expression looked a bit sour.
“Pfft! Brother Zhi, relax. This is a dating reality show, you know! Not some serious program.”
Amidst everyone’s teasing, Song Zhi’s sour expression finally relaxed a little.
However, his expression still seemed somewhat different from before.
And this expression was noticed by many attentive, imaginative viewers, and… it even spawned a very heretical CP.
【Pfft—! Friends! I have a bold conjecture! Don’t you think Song Zhi’s sour face is because of Bai Baozhu?】
【Song Zhi’s expression was still fine when he saw Bai Baozhu making dessert alone earlier! His eyes were even sparkling. But after Bo Shenyu arrived and interacted with Bai Baozhu, Song Zhi’s brows subconsciously knitted together. His face also grew increasingly sour because of the other celebrity observers’ comments!】
【Ahhh! I can’t take it, I can’t keep imagining such a heretical CP! These two are way too impossible!】
…
When it came to this episode’s Truth or Dare segment, after Bo Shenyu and Bai Baozhu both chose to refuse to answer such simple questions, netizens once again screamed about how sweet it was and frantically analyzed why Bo Shenyu and Bai Baozhu wouldn’t answer such simple questions.
Analyses like: when Bo Shenyu chose to refuse to answer “What has made you happiest in the last two weeks?” his gaze subconsciously drifted toward Bai Baozhu. This meant he had developed feelings for her.
Or: when Bai Baozhu chose to refuse to answer “What is the thing that has made your heart flutter the most?” her body subconsciously leaned slightly in Bo Shenyu’s direction. This meant the thing that made her heart flutter was related to Bo Shenyu, and so on—all these ‘little details’ that they found particularly sweet.
When the show reached the part where Bai Baozhu’s punishment song turned out to be Loyalty to the Country, and the camera captured Bai Baozhu’s stunned face along with the other dating guests’ shock and internal cursing, all the viewers in front of their TVs were amused, bursting into laughter.
But, just when no one thought Bai Baozhu could possibly dance well to Loyalty to the Country, no one could have anticipated that in the very next second, all the viewers sitting in front of their TVs would have their faces metaphorically slapped by Bai Baozhu!
It was at this moment that all viewers truly realized Bai Baozhu really did study dance. She wasn’t just a pretty face; she had skill! She really, truly was an artist ready to debut at any moment!
Just as all the viewers were captivated by Bai Baozhu’s dance—a performance that was domineering, carrying a hint of murderous aura, perfectly matching the song Loyalty to the Country—they saw at the end of this episode that Bai Baozhu had actually received love text messages from all the male guests this round. The internet instantly erupted!
【4 votes!! Bai Baozhu is incredible! But this dance alone was worth all four votes!】
【Bai Baozhu’s dancing is just too cool! She’s overflowing with dominant energy! If female guests could vote for female guests, I bet Bai Baozhu wouldn’t have gotten just four votes this time!】
【After watching Bai Baozhu dance, all I can say is: stop participating in dating reality shows! Hurry up and debut as a singing-dancing idol!】
【To be fair, Bai Baozhu is really suited to be a star! With this face, this figure, this professional skill level, she’s practically top-tier in the entertainment circle! If she debuts, she’ll definitely be a nationwide sensation!】
…
However, amidst this flood of comments praising Bai Baozhu, a force of ‘heretical CP’ supporters was steadily rising.
While most viewers were marveling at how Bai Baozhu’s one dance had made all four male guests send her love texts, praising her high professional standards…
A small, slowly growing faction of non-mainstream viewers was more focused on—
【Sisters! Song Zhi snapped the pen in his hand when he heard Bai Baozhu got four love text votes! Oh my god, I suddenly find that so sweet!】
【I think it’s sweet too! Song Zhi must be jealous of our Zhu Zhu, right? He couldn’t control his emotions and just… snapped the pen. Ahhh, I just imagined a 10,000-word fanfic about a jealous wall-slam kiss!】
【Considering Song Zhi’s performance this episode, plus the fateful encounter he and Bai Baozhu had in the game, I have reason to believe that Song Zhi and Bai Baozhu are the heaven-sent perfect match!】
…