After Rebirth, My Ex-Girlfriend Became Obsessive - Chapter 14
When they arrived at their accommodation by car, An Yu checked the time. Excluding the time she had spent painting, the two of them had taken about forty minutes to sell all the fans. There was still some time left before noon.
She had assumed they would be the last team to finish the task, but to her surprise, when they reached the villa, they were actually the only ones who had completed it so far.
“The other two teams are still working on their tasks. You two can rest and wait for now,” a staff member explained. “And without a doubt, you’re the first team to finish. As for the reward, we’ll announce it when all the members gather later.”
“Ah Yu, what do you think the reward will be?” Lin Duxi asked An Yu with a smile.
An Yu retrieved the fruits and vegetables they had bought at the supermarket from the car and replied calmly, “Probably some benefit designed to foster closer relationships between team members. After all, this is a dating show-they definitely want the audience to ship the couples.”
Maybe it was her imagination, but the moment An Yu said the words “dating show,” a faint glimmer flickered deep in Lin Duxi’s eyes, only to be quickly concealed by her delighted gaze.
“A dating show, huh?” Lin Duxi deliberately drew out the last syllable, her tone lilting upward with an indescribable allure, like a seductive siren luring prey with her voice-utterly enchanting.
She took slow steps toward An Yu, the light fragrance on her body drifting into An Yu’s senses with the breeze. When she reached An Yu, she raised her hand, her fingers brushing lightly against An Yu’s cheek before resting on her shoulder, tapping gently. Then, she leaned in closer.
In an instant, the rich, intoxicating scent overwhelmed An Yu’s senses. Her hands were full with the groceries, leaving her no way to push away the hand on her shoulder. And with the staff right behind her, taking even a single step back would mean being caught on camera. An Yu frowned-since when had Lin Duxi become so bold?
The world before her spun amidst the dizzying perfume. Under the familiar sensory stimulation, the 24-year-old Lin Duxi in front of her seemed to morph into her eighteen-year-old self-using clumsy yet earnest tactics to tease her.
Naïve, yet utterly lethal.
Lin Duxi’s warm breath brushed against the exposed skin of An Yu’s neck before slowly, deliberately trailing upward, aiming for that small, fair ear. An Yu’s heart pounded violently, the sound reverberating in her eardrums, forcing her to close her eyes.
A few seconds passed, but the expected sensation of damp heat against her ear never came. The frantic beating of her heart gradually slowed, and the lingering fragrance began to fade. An Yu felt someone adjusting the collar of her clothes. Puzzled, she opened her eyes to see Lin Duxi standing in front of her, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles in her outfit.
“There,” Lin Duxi said, stepping back to admire her handiwork, her eyes curved into a harmless, cheerful smile. Yet An Yu could detect a trace of triumphant delight hidden within.
An Yu: “…Thanks.” She glanced at Lin Duxi and was about to walk past her when Lin Duxi suddenly grabbed her arm.
“Ah Yu, you said this is a dating show. Since it’s a dating show, and we’re a team… how about we fake a CP relationship?” Lin Duxi proposed half-jokingly, the other half of her seriousness buried deep in her dark, unreadable eyes as a silent plea.
But An Yu replied, “There’s no need for that. I’m just here to gain some exposure.” She met Lin Duxi’s gaze and smiled. “Besides, forming a CP with you, Teacher Lin, wouldn’t be worth the effort. You have better options.”
She pulled her arm free and walked away quickly, her words resolute, yet her retreating figure almost seemed like she was fleeing in panic. A strange, complicated emotion churned inside An Yu-whether it was because of Lin Duxi’s teasing, the overpowering perfume, or the familiar pounding of her own heartbeat, she couldn’t tell.
Lin Duxi lowered her eyes, lightly rubbing the fingers that had just touched An Yu. Her long lashes trembled slightly like rain-soaked feathers, lost in thought. After a long moment, she let out a soft laugh.
“Better options.”
Nearly an hour later, the other four members from the remaining two teams arrived one after another. Only then did the production team turn on the equipment to begin the second live broadcast of the day.
“First of all, congratulations to everyone for completing the tasks we prepared for you this morning. Among the three teams, Lin Duxi and An Yu finished in the shortest time, so they are the winners of this round and will receive a special reward.”
Pei Lu was shocked, his gaze toward An Yu tinged with jealousy.
“What’s the reward?” Xie An’an asked eagerly.
“Well…” Qiao Qingzhou deliberately dragged out the suspense. “We’ll reveal it when everyone sits down for lunch. For now, you can start preparing the meal. There are ingredients already stocked in the kitchen, and Lin Duxi’s team also bought some groceries. Feel free to cook whatever you’d like.”
“Ugh, Director, you’re such a tease!” Xie An’an pouted. “Getting us all curious and then leaving us hanging. So annoying.”
[Xie An’an, you’re too adorable!]
“When I came this morning, I walked around the villa and noticed a new barbecue grill in the backyard. We could have a barbecue,” Xie An’an suggested. “Plus, it’s convenient and hard to mess up.”
“But isn’t barbecue more atmospheric in the evening?” Yu Fei countered.
“Do you really think the few of us could prepare everything for a barbecue in just two hours without any mistakes?” Xie An’an shot him a faint glance and retorted.
Yu Fei fell silent after her rebuttal.
[Hahahaha]
[Xie An’an, my entertainment industry spokesperson.]
An Yu’s lips curled slightly in amusement. Given their past livestreams, none of them had showcased much cooking skills, so Xie An’an’s skepticism was understandable.
Her thoughts drifted, and she instinctively glanced at Lin Duxi, recalling that Lin’s livestreams hadn’t featured any cooking segments either.
As if sensing her gaze, Lin Duxi turned her head toward her. Their eyes met in a moment of intense connection. Lin Duxi was still smiling, her earlier amusement from Xie An’an’s remark lingering-her brows relaxed, her eyes free of any other emotion, filled only with pure, unguarded joy.
An Yu froze for a moment.
Lin Duxi looked puzzled but, seeing An Yu’s expression, maintained her smile before turning away.
The group didn’t deliberate further and unanimously chose the barbecue option. Two of them went to buy charcoal and seasonings, while the others stayed behind to prepare.
An Yu placed the purchased vegetables by the kitchen sink to wash and chop. Beside her, Lin Duxi stood quietly with the meat, waiting without complaint or impatience, her gaze gentle as she watched An Yu meticulously rinse each vegetable.
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the transparent window, casting a warm glow on the floor. The two of them moved in harmony, like an old married couple comfortably preparing a meal together. It should have been a serene and peaceful scene-but the next second, a crackling static noise erupted in An Yu’s mind. She frowned slightly but kept working.
“Host, you haven’t made any progress in the last few hours.”
“That’s because I’ve only been with Lin Duxi this whole time,” An Yu replied coldly.
The system fell silent for a long moment. An Yu felt a small sense of vindication-she had finally gotten back at it for the electric shock punishment from this morning.
“Then why not drop hints? Subtly imply how great the male lead is, make her regret her choices,” the system suddenly countered.
An Yu: “…”
“Since you’ve been reborn and know the mission, you should work hard to complete it so everyone gets a happy ending. Enough talk-now that you have the chance to interact with both of them, remember to spare no effort.” After this instruction, the system quickly vanished from her mind, leaving only a drawn-out static hum.
An Yu exhaled through her nose in frustration. Spare no effort sounded simple in theory, but how exactly was she supposed to do it?
“Ah Yu? Ah Yu?”
Lin Duxi’s soft call snapped An Yu back to reality. She had almost forgotten Lin Duxi was standing right beside her-thankfully, she hadn’t spoken to the system out loud.
“What is it?” An Yu steadied her voice.
Lin Duxi said, “You’ve been washing this cabbage for a while now. It’s already very clean. I just wanted to remind you to switch to the next vegetable.”
An Yu looked down at the nearly shredded cabbage in her hands and quickly let go. “I was worried there might be bugs, so I washed it a bit longer,” she explained, hastily setting the cabbage aside and picking up another vegetable.
The sound of running water filled the space between them, almost too loud. Lin Duxi lowered her eyes, watching An Yu’s hands under the stream, her expression puzzled.
She had only voiced half of what she wanted to say-the other half remained unspoken, swallowed back.
Why did Ah Yu sigh just now? And why was she staring blankly like that?
What was she thinking about?
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Zei_An
Oh it’s nothing, Lin Duxi. Just how to set you up with the supposedly male lead…?