A Milky Orange-Flavored Omega Becomes Famous Through a Dating Show [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 24.1

Pei Yi temporarily abandoned the shopping cart beside a product display cabinet. Her walking speed suddenly quickened, her heels striking the floor with crisp clicks as she searched through different sections and shelves one by one.

After passing a certain row of white shelves, a small white figure suddenly darted out from the opposite side. Zhong Lin was holding something in her arms and walking hurriedly. She collided straight into Pei Yi, her face almost burying itself in Pei Yi’s shoulder.

Pei Yi froze for an instant, then lowered her eyes to look at her. Her tone carried a hint of reproach. “We’re still livestreaming. Where did you run off to again?”

“I… I found this.” Zhong Lin handed over the thing in her arms.

It was a porcelain cup. To be exact, it was a pair of couple-style porcelain cups. Their shapes were very cute, with cartoon relief patterns. One was a soft, adorable light beige little hamster, and the other was a cold, arrogant-looking gray-blue cat.

“I want to give you this.” Zhong Lin handed over the gray-blue cat cup and carefully observed Pei Yi’s reaction. “Do you like it?”

Zhong Lin glanced at the camera, raised a hand beside her lips, and lowered her voice. “For what happened before, thank you.”

—She was talking about the night of her heat period, when Pei Yi and her assistant had sent her to the hospital together.

Pei Yi lowered her eyes and looked at the cat cup. Her cups were usually custom-made by international brands, and she had never used open-shelf goods from supermarkets before. Yet at this moment, she felt that gray-blue cat cup was especially cute.

Perhaps it was because the person holding it looked too cute… like a little hamster handing a pine nut to a friend.

“For me?” Pei Yi raised her brow slightly, feeling somewhat surprised. A tiny bit of joy stirred in her heart, but on her face, she deliberately pretended not to care. “It’s average… I don’t like it that much.”

“Then I’ll put it back.” Zhong Lin drew her hand back, holding the two cups as she turned to walk back. “Wait for me a moment.”

“Don’t.” Pei Yi suddenly spoke, unintentionally lightly grasping her arm. “Buy it. I like it.”

At the sudden touch, the arm being held felt a little hot. Zhong Lin lowered her eyes and looked at that slender hand. Its bones and flesh were well-proportioned, exquisite and beautiful as though carved from white jade.

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened. Pei Yi realized that perhaps it was a little too intimate and hurriedly let go of Zhong Lin’s arm.

“Don’t worry, I’m not using this to offset the medical fees,” Zhong Lin explained softly. “The money I owe you, I’ll pay it back after I get my announcement fee.”

Pei Yi’s gaze gradually turned indifferent. The light in her eyes scattered, and the corners of her lips that had just lifted pressed down again. The feeling of arrhythmia instantly disappeared.

It had only been a joke before, yet this girl actually thought Pei Yi truly wanted her to pay back the medical fees?

This girl’s brain circuit was beyond anything she could imagine!

The CP fans went wild. This scene was simply too meme-worthy!—

[Ahhhh, just now I was still screaming—ah, this was clearly an idol-drama-like scene before! Why did the style suddenly change into a debtor trying to please her creditor? [Laughing crying]]

[On the CP feeling gradually heating up and then instantly dropping to freezing point, hhhhh.]

[Hahahahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Does she really think Yiyi cares about that tiny bit of medical fees? Next step, I suggest Yiyi study “The Basic Rules of Overbearing CEO Speech”: Woman, if you can’t repay the debt, use your body to pay it back… [Covers face]]

[Ho, person upstairs, hurry and publish a book. My latrine is short on paper again!]

…

After retrieving the shopping cart from earlier, they quickly finished purchasing everything on the list. Zhong Lin’s gaze was soon attracted by the cooked-food area in the center of the supermarket.

She stared fixedly at the iron compartments of the oden.

Pei Yi’s voice drifted leisurely from behind her. “Want to eat?”

Zhong Lin nodded repeatedly. “Want to eat.”

“I want that and this… this one looks tasty too…” Through the glass cover, Zhong Lin pointed out the human foods she wanted to the boss. “Is Pei Yi not eating?”

Pei Yi had originally not planned to eat. Looking at the food all soaking together in water, she inexplicably felt a little apprehensive. In fact, she rarely tried this kind of street snack. But the experience at Happy Valley before seemed to have been pretty good.

The boss was a slightly plump middle-aged woman. Wearing an apron, she smiled kindly. “This is delicious. Don’t you want to try?”

Pei Yi curled her lips. “Then I’ll have the same as her.”

The proprietress scooped up the noodles from the little iron strainer, placed them in a plastic bowl, squeezed on sauce and seasonings, mixed them evenly, and served them to a boy waiting nearby. “There are also cart noodles. These are tasty too. Would you two like a portion?”

At the tip of her nose, Zhong Lin smelled the rich savory scent of seafood sauce. She stared at the little plastic bowl filled with cart noodles until that fragrant bowl of noodles was handed to the boy in front of them.

The Bai Ze cub got greedy again. Zhong Lin wanted to taste everything.

“I want it.” Zhong Lin nodded at the proprietress. “I want to eat these noodles too.”

“Do you want the same as well?” The proprietress turned to ask Pei Yi.

Pei Yi’s expression instantly stiffened. Most artists in the entertainment industry ate very little and had small appetites. It would already be a stretch for her to finish the oden just now, let alone have another serving of noodles…

But Pei Yi still nodded. “One for me too.”

“Cash or electronic payment?” The proprietress printed out a receipt and raised her eyes to look at them.

The production team required the guests to avoid playing with their phones in front of the cameras as much as possible, so neither of them had brought their phones.

“Card, then.” Pei Yi took out a bank card from her card holder and handed it to the proprietress.

What era was this? Someone actually wanted to swipe a card?!

The proprietress hurriedly blocked the card back. “No, no. There’s no POS machine here.”

“I’ll pay.” Zhong Lin moved quickly. She took a pink bill printed with the kind smile of an old grandfather from her small crossbody bag and handed it to the proprietress.

The proprietress smiled as she accepted the money, then counted the change and returned it to Zhong Lin. When handing over the change, she intentionally or unintentionally glanced in Pei Yi’s direction, her gaze seeming to carry a different meaning.

This gave Pei Yi the illusion that she was living off a woman. She seemed to have turned into—

The kind of pretty-boy Alpha being kept by a rich Omega woman.

[Look at the proprietress’s expression. Amazing. It’s full of disdain toward a soft-rice-eating Alpha. The light of righteousness… shines upon the earth~]

[Hahahahahaha, Yiyi is stunned. She got treated as someone eating soft rice! XSWL.]

[Are you trying to make me laugh to death and inherit my Ant Forest? The cameraman can always accurately capture the main point every time!]

…

A few minutes later, Pei Yi and Zhong Lin each received a bowl of cart noodles and a long plastic cup—inside were white radish stewed until flavorful, beef balls skewered on long sticks, kelp, fish roe pouches…

A whole full cup!

The cooked-food area had high tables and chairs where customers could eat and rest.

Pei Yi and Zhong Lin found an empty seat and sat down, placing the yogurt milk handed over by the staff at the very front of the table—the yogurt milk provided by the sponsor.

Zhong Lin held a long skewer, stabbed a ball, and busily brought it toward her mouth. She bit through the ball in one bite. The juice inside was very hot, scalding her little tongue until it faintly tingled. Because of the high temperature, her lips became even redder, bright and dripping.

Zhong Lin opened her mouth slightly and stuck out her pink little tongue. “So hot…”

Pei Yi’s gaze paused for several seconds before quickly moving away from her lips. “Hot? Then eat it later.”

Zhong Lin gave a low “mm,” but still held up that ball, puffed her lips and blew on it, then continued eating.

“Are you happy today?” Pei Yi suddenly asked.

Zhong Lin chewed the ball and answered unclearly, “Happy.” (^o^)/~

“Were you unhappy last time we recorded?” Pei Yi gazed at her from the side, her eyes deep, her expression obscure and unreadable.

Zhong Lin was chewing the fish roe pouch in her mouth. The fresh fragrance of the fish roe completely occupied her taste buds and her heart. “Hurry up and ead or id’ll ged cold.”
“Hurry up and eat or it’ll get cold.”

[Why did Pei Yi ask, “Were you unhappy last time?” Any class representatives here to explain?? [/Question mark face]]

[Can’t you tell? Pei Yi’s whole face says, “Were you unhappy being with me?” and “Why didn’t you write a letter to me?”

This is a death question! Clearly, Pei Yi cares about Zhong Lin… She wants to know why Zhong Lin stopped writing letters to her!]

[[/Shrug] But Zhong Lin only cares about eating, eating, eating. She didn’t notice the meaning in what Pei Yi said at all. [Laughing through tears]]

[Who did Zhong Lin write to last time? Class representative, please! [Little cat head with giant question mark.jpg]]

[Liang Shan!! It was edited into the last episode! The heartbeat connections were revealed at the ending!! Shocked my mom for a hundred years!]

[Last episode’s letter results were: Zhong Lin 1 letter, Pei Yi 2 letters, Zhou Xiaoduo 1 letter, Liang Shan 2 letters, Zhu Ying 0 letters, Chu Yunze 0 letters. Besides Zhong Lin, the other two Omega guests both gave their letters to Pei Yi! Shocked my whole family!!]

[Love it, love it. A true dating variety show’s inherited Shura field.]

…

Zhong Lin ate relatively quickly. After finishing, she held her face in one hand, her eyes darting between the shelves and passersby not far away. Finally, feeling that there really was nothing worth looking at, she turned her gaze back. Those light brown eyes looked at Pei Yi in boredom.

From just now, aside from eating a few bites of noodles, Pei Yi had not touched the oden at all, silently resisting this kind of food.

But she had been stared at by Zhong Lin the whole time, and suddenly a sense of guilt for wasting food sprouted in her heart.

It felt like if she did not eat… she would be letting down Zhong Lin, who was staring at her so eagerly.

“You want to eat this?” Pei Yi finally reached toward the long bamboo skewer, picked up a fish roe pouch, and slowly handed it toward Zhong Lin.

Zhong Lin’s thoughts had flown to the sky before, but now her body completely returned. Her scattered gaze instantly focused. Those light brown eyes suddenly sparkled as her sight locked onto the “human food” pierced by the bamboo skewer in Pei Yi’s hand.

Pei Yi deliberately drew a circle in the air with the skewer, as if intentionally teasing a cat or dog, harboring a tiny bit of bad intention.

Following Pei Yi’s movement, Zhong Lin’s light brown eyes also circled after the path of the food. Her attention was completely attracted.

Look how greedy the child is. (:з)∠)

Pei Yi laughed softly and handed the food to her lips.

Zhong Lin opened her mouth and bit down on that fish roe pouch. Her pink lips shrank slightly, and the whole fish roe pouch was stuffed into her mouth. One small bulge instantly appeared in her thin cheek, and she chewed seriously, one bite at a time.

Zhong Lin looked like a little hamster eating. In short, she was super cute!

Pei Yi withdrew her hand and placed the bamboo skewer back into the long plastic cup, then reached toward Zhong Lin’s direction again.

Zhong Lin was concentrating on chewing and did not notice a hand approaching her cheek. She was startled and could not help shrinking her neck.

But Pei Yi’s hand stopped only a few inches from her cheek. Her long fingers picked up a strand of hair near Zhong Lin’s cheek, and her fingertips lightly rubbed the ends of her hair.

Then she bent her knuckles and lightly brushed past the soft side of Zhong Lin’s face. The movement was gentle.

Zhong Lin’s chewing instantly froze. Heat gradually climbed up to the roots of her ears, and the entire ear on the side closer to Pei Yi turned completely red.

It felt… like the side of her face had suddenly become so hot.

“It was sauce. It got on you.” Pei Yi pulled out a tissue and slowly wiped her fingers clean, then crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

Waves of heat climbed up the side of her face. Zhong Lin felt her face was a little hot. Her voice was soft and low, sounding somewhat embarrassed. “Thank you.”

Her knuckles holding the plastic cup slowly rubbed against it. Pei Yi picked up the bamboo skewer and thought of Zhong Lin’s expression while eating: those watery light brown eyes, the slightly puffed little pink cheeks, the soft lips moving gently.

That serious and focused appearance was especially cute.

Pei Yi raised her hand. Her long fingers undid the top button of her white shirt. Her throat was dry, and the root of her tongue felt somewhat astringent. Suddenly, she felt a little hungry. She did not know whether it was physical or psychological.

She suddenly wanted to eat something too…

…

Ten minutes later, Pei Yi pulled out a tissue, folded it into a square, and wiped the corners of her mouth with the edge. Her movements were elegant and proper. It felt as if what Pei Yi had eaten was not oden, but French cuisine at a revolving restaurant.

Pei Yi raised her head and looked at Zhong Lin, curving her eyes. “Go?”

Zhong Lin nodded obediently. With a “dong,” she threw the leftovers she had finished eating into the trash can. “Mm-hm.”

The bullet comments were shocked again—

[Oh my god, Pei Yi fed her! She even wiped her clean with her hand! It has that flavor. So sweet! It’s that taste of love~]

[I want to ship Pei Yi x Zhong Lin’s CP~ Yi-Lin CP, body and soul united! prprprpr~ I’ll lick first as respect!]

[Watching Pei Yi go from resisting oden to “it smells so good” with my own eyes. Starting from takoyaki and egg waffles, I feel like Zhong Lin opened the door to street snacks for Pei Yi, hahahahahaha.]

[Lu Xun once said, someone used to eating steak will one day fall in love with oden!]

[Lu Xun [/Helpless]: I never said that.]

Some bullet comments began comparing the CP combinations between the other Omega guests and Pei Yi—

[I think Zhong Lin is much more genuinely cute than the other two Omega guests. I just like this kind of little sister. I don’t like that roundabout feeling at all… I hope Pei Yi can change her opinion of Zhong Lin in the end, and Zhong Lin can also turn back and look at Pei Yi!]

[+10086. Even if there’s a script, I still feel Pei Yi x Zhong Lin is easier to ship.]

[Even if it’s business, I hope Yiyi can find a better little sister to do business with. As an E fan, I feel like Zhong Lin seems to have become obedient, different from before. I feel like I can barely accept it.]

Zhong Lin’s fans, the Little Bells, revealed disdainful smiles—

[Does your face hurt, person upstairs? The ones who scolded the harshest before were you “E fans,” and now the ones wanting business are also you “E fans.” Really, just asking, does your face hurt? Taking away our cub. Excuse us, we won’t accompany you!]

[Taking away my Zhong Lin~ Cub should be beautiful alone! Today’s cub is someone you can’t climb up to~ hehe~]

…

As evening gradually fell, the barbecue rack and the teppanyaki station prepared by the production team had already been set up in the courtyard.

Fresh beef and lamb had been skewered, along with all kinds of seasonal vegetables. The various ingredients had been properly prepared and displayed on the rack between the barbecue grill and the teppanyaki station.

Tonight’s dinner partners were Chu Yunze x Zhou Xiaoduo—

Chu Yunze was in charge of the barbecue grill. The smokeless charcoal burned red-hot, and the temperature became very high. Her exposed neck was now covered in fine beads of sweat. This spicy Alpha looked like she was about to be grilled and melted…

By contrast, on Zhou Xiaoduo’s side, he held two teppanyaki spatulas and stir-fried left and right. His movements were fairly skilled, but his little face was also flushed from the heat, and he panted lightly.

Teppanyaki was similar in nature to cooking in a large pot. Many dishes could be fried on one iron plate at the same time, so the serving speed was relatively fast. Zhou Xiaoduo finished in about half an hour.

He waved and asked Liang Shan and Zhu Ying to help carry the dishes and clean up the aftermath, while he himself carried a plate of teppanyaki beef tenderloin and walked toward the direction he had been observing from the corner of his eye just now.

There was one seat between Pei Yi and Zhong Lin.

Pei Yi stood beside the dining table, both hands resting against the back of a chair. She turned her face toward Zhong Lin and seemed to say something softly to her. Zhong Lin sat on the chair, her eyes also looking at Pei Yi, her chin nodding slightly as she silently agreed.

Zhou Xiaoduo pulled open the empty chair between them with one hand and seemingly unintentionally inserted himself between the two. He placed the plate in his hand on the table and asked with interest, “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.” Pei Yi’s expression instantly turned cold. The curve of her red lips slowly pressed downward, but out of politeness, she still said, “You worked hard.”

“How could it be hard work? As long as you all like eating it.” Zhou Xiaoduo laughed softly.

Zhong Lin did not interrupt. Her attention was completely attracted by the teppanyaki beef tenderloin Zhou Xiaoduo had just brought over—the beef tenderloin had been pan-fried to a browned color, and the side ingredients were green pepper and sweet, crisp onion. The colors were very bright, and at the tip of her nose, she smelled the fresh fragrance of beef.

Zhong Lin: “…” So hungry. (:з)∠)

Almost out of instinct, Zhong Lin picked up the chopsticks beside her and slowly reached toward the delicious food in front of her.

A hand suddenly reached over. With a “smack,” Zhong Lin’s hand was hit loudly, and the chopsticks fell from her fingers, rolling onto the ground.

“You can’t eat yet,” Zhou Xiaoduo smiled at Zhong Lin. His male Omega voice was very soft, as if coaxing a child. “We have to wait for everyone.”

Although Zhong Lin was a little greedy, she still nodded obediently. “Okay.”

Zhong Lin bent down under the table to pick up the chopsticks that had fallen just now. One chopstick had landed near her foot, while the other had fallen farther away.

She reached out to pick it up. Just as her fingers gradually approached that chopstick, the leg of the person beside her suddenly moved. That foot wearing a white canvas shoe happened to step on the back of Zhong Lin’s hand.

Her hand was suddenly stepped on. Zhong Lin had been completely unprepared and let out a low “ah” of pain. Her bent waist reflexively moved upward.

“Bang—”

Her head hit the underside of the table, making a dull sound.

Zhou Xiaoduo looked shocked. He abruptly took a step back and lowered his eyes to look at Zhong Lin, his gaze full of apology. “What happened?”

“Did I step on you? Does it hurt?”

“I’m really sorry… I didn’t do it on purpose…” Zhou Xiaoduo’s eyes lowered slightly, the corners reddening. His tone was extremely panicked.

After picking up the chopsticks, Zhong Lin crawled out from under the table and slowly stood up straight. One hand rubbed the back of her head, which hurt a little from the bump.

Her other hand hung slightly down. That was the hand Zhou Xiaoduo had stepped on. There was a brown shoe print left on the back of it. Her hand was very fair, so the area around the shoe print looked slightly red.

Zhong Lin waved her hand to signal Zhou Xiaoduo not to feel guilty. “It’s okay. I’ll just go wash it.”

After saying that, Zhong Lin left with the chopsticks.

Zhou Xiaoduo glanced at Zhong Lin’s retreating back, then quickly turned his head to look in Pei Yi’s direction. He helplessly sighed. His almond eyes curved.

“She’s been like this since high school. She has always been reckless and careless, and doesn’t know how to restrain herself. She’s like a child.”

“When you partnered with Zhong Lin before… she didn’t cause you trouble, right?”

Zhou Xiaoduo’s tone carried apology, as if he were apologizing on Zhong Lin’s behalf.

The implication was that Zhong Lin had always been childish and caused trouble for others. Zhou Xiaoduo was hinting to Pei Yi that Zhong Lin was a burden who had no sense of propriety at all and could easily drag others down on a variety show.

“You two were high school classmates?” Hearing this, Pei Yi raised her head slightly. Her previously slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and her expression softened a little.

“She looks quite young.”

“We were just from the same school. I was even one year below her.” Zhou Xiaoduo sighed and continued speaking, yet once again emphasized the fact that he was actually younger than Zhong Lin.

“We hadn’t seen each other for several years before this. We used to be very good friends. Now, she still has such a heavy student-like air. I even wonder… whether she hasn’t changed at all over these years…”

“You can’t really tell that I’m actually younger than her, right?” Zhou Xiaoduo paused for a moment, then suddenly blinked. His eyes shone as if discharging electricity, and his tone sounded playful.

“I really can’t tell. Zhong Lin does look more like a student than you.” Pei Yi gazed at Zhou Xiaoduo, her eyes deep, her gaze seeming able to pierce through everything. Out of nowhere, she asked him, “Did you enter the industry too early?”

“What industry? I’m a pure amateur…” Zhou Xiaoduo tilted his head to look at her, his face full of confusion as he asked.

Pei Yi’s voice was clear and cold as water. “After all, dropping out of high school as a teenager to become an online model—your experiences are indeed much more complicated than hers.”

Over the past few days, Zhong Lin had simply seemed like a completely different person from before and after. Pei Yi had had someone investigate her, yet nothing abnormal had been found.

As long as Pei Yi wanted to look, all the guests’ information was listed in her email.

Zhou Xiaoduo seemed to have his throat seized by Pei Yi’s words in an instant. His lips were pressed so hard they turned pale. A trace of panic flashed through his eyes. His back stiffened instantly, and his fingers tightened and loosened on the back of the chair.

Zhou Xiaoduo first opened his mouth soundlessly, his eyes full of disbelief. “You… how do you know…”

After dropping out of high school, Zhou Xiaoduo had first worked as an online model. During a dinner gathering with a little male Omega model from the same company, he came into contact with a group of middle-aged wealthy businessmen, and from then on became immersed in the world of feasting and pleasure.

Because of this, he latched onto his current financial backer, who sent him to a certain community college in the United States to gild himself for a year. After that, Zhou Xiaoduo thoroughly whitewashed himself and was packaged into the image of a noble young gentleman returning from studying abroad, an occasional fairy descending to earth to take some internet photos.

Zhou Xiaoduo had struggled in the circle for several years and had seen all kinds of methods used in the industry, as well as the shadows beneath the glamour. Yet he told Zhong Lin he was an amateur, only wanting to use Zhong Lin to help him enter the production team.

Doing so would also better hide his past, making others think he really was a “pure amateur.”

The original “Zhong Lin” had foolishly believed he was an amateur and had sincerely gone all out to help him connect with others, recommending him for the interview.

Originally, with the means of the financial backer behind him, ordinary people would not have the ability to dig up his past. Zhou Xiaoduo was obedient and lovable enough to gain fans and debut through the dating show.

But the person before him…

How did Pei Yi know… those past events that had already been deeply buried?

A chill ran through Zhou Xiaoduo’s heart.

Pei Yi looked at him coldly. A sharp glint flashed in the depths of her dark brown eyes. Her shoulder-length black hair left a faint shadow over the side of her face as she said in a low voice,

“Do fewer little tricks.”