After the Scheming Girl Joined a Dating Show - Chapter 17

Without the obstruction in the middle, Xia Mozhu tumbled into the other duvet in just a few tosses and turns.

Su Qin, showing no ripples of emotion on her face, hugged her back, fulfilling her request.

When Xia Mozhu woke up the next morning, she was, naturally, dumbstruck once again.

Staring at Su Qin’s face inches away, her throat swallowed nervously in fear. She felt the position of her limbs under the blanket: her “claws” were hooked around the other’s waist, and her legs were entwined around her body. Unlike the previous two mornings, Su Qin was also lying on her side, holding her back.

The pillow that was supposed to be between them had vanished without a trace.

Impossible, impossible. A pillow that big couldn’t have been thrown away by her in her dreams.

Xia Mozhu rubbed her chin with her finger, turning a suspicious gaze toward Su Qin.

Could it be that Senior Su Qin has some kind of “just loves hugging people… or maybe hugging dogs to sleep” habit, so she secretly removed the pesky pillow in the middle of the night and reached out a sinful hand toward this delicate flower?

It must be so!

Just as she was thinking this, Su Qin slowly opened her eyes.

Xia Mozhu struck first, saying with feigned shock, “Oh my! How did the pillow between us disappear? Did Senior Su Qin take it away?”

Having just woken up, Su Qin’s eyes were still a bit dazed. Paired with her goddess-like features, she looked exactly like an innocent celestial being from the heavens—the kind that looked very easy to fool.

Afraid Su Qin hadn’t heard her, Xia Mozhu asked again, “The pillow between us, was it…”

“I removed it,” Su Qin admitted openly.

Xia Mozhu froze for a second, then raised her eyebrows triumphantly. As expected, she hadn’t guessed wrong—Su Qin did it! She had almost felt guilty and self-reproachful for accidentally “eating the senior’s tofu”!

“If Senior Su Qin really likes hugging me to sleep, we don’t have to use a pillow in the middle next time.” Smelling the pleasant fragrance on the person beside her, she made a proposal she thought was “good for you, good for me, good for everyone.”

Su Qin didn’t speak. She silently withdrew her arm from under Xia Mozhu’s head, picked up the phone from the nightstand, and played a video.

“Hug me.”

“I’m so cold, why won’t you hug me?”

“Hug.”

Looking at the images on the phone screen, Xia Mozhu’s brain lost all function. She spoke like an AI: “This must be the latest deepfake technology; it’s so realistic.” However, listening to the shy voice in the video that perfectly matched her own, her lie carried zero conviction.

“Then watch it again,” Su Qin said, her tone flat.

The expression gradually drained from Xia Mozhu’s face. She lay flat quietly, then realizing Su Qin could still see her, her dark pupils trembled. She rolled over, grabbed the duvet to cover herself, and muttered, “I think I’m feeling unwell. It looks like I can’t get out of bed today.”

Su Qin ruthlessly shattered her ostrich-like fantasy: “Our date is scheduled for today.”

What date! What date! It’s clearly just a normal afternoon tea!

Xia Mozhu howled like a puppy in her heart. She was so embarrassed her whole body felt like it was steaming. At this point, if she put two strips of bacon on her skin, she could probably grill them for breakfast.

“I haven’t heard of any date,” Xia Mozhu grumbled, pulling the blanket over her head, trying to perform a “death on the spot.”

Su Qin got up and turned on all the cameras in the room.

Xia Mozhu closed her eyes tight. The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt, and she began to squirm inside the duvet like a white water snake.

Su Qin “kindly” made a point to inform her: “I’ve turned on the cameras.”

The long “duvet” immediately stopped squirming. After a few seconds, Xia Mozhu jumped out of bed with an expression like she’d swallowed a lead ball. She had a grievance but couldn’t speak out, and she certainly couldn’t explain to the camera why she was squirming earlier—otherwise, she’d only embarrass herself further!

She pressed her palms together and bowed to the camera, casting a mental spell: Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, please, Editors, you must cut that part out!

Su Qin didn’t forget to add one final blow: “I was only fulfilling your request.”

Xia Mozhu’s sense of shame had been completely ground down, leaving only the memory of Senior Su Qin’s “wicked” behavior. Flower on a high mountain? White moonlight? Celestial? Not a single one of those words described Su Qin. She’s a villain!

“A-choo!” Su Qin, who had just entered the bathroom to wash up, sneezed several times. However, it didn’t affect her good mood; the corners of her mouth, usually pursed into a straight line, tilted up a few degrees.

The date was set for the afternoon, leaving a bit of free time in the morning.

Xia Mozhu hadn’t forgotten the task her manager gave her to post on Weibo. She meticulously chose a corner of the room and asked the BTS staff lady to help her take many photos.

Since she was here to record a show, wouldn’t it be bad to only post photos of herself?

She recalled the “old mother” style concern from her fans during yesterday’s live stream. If they saw her getting along happily with the sisters here, the fans would surely be glad. Before she came, many fans were worried she would be sidelined because of her low seniority and status, and they had left many instructions in the Super Topic. She had seen them all; although it was “monk-like chanting” just like Manager Sister Li, it warmed her heart.

Holding her phone, Xia Mozhu skipped over to An Nuo, her eyes curving into obsidian-like crescents. “Sister An Nuo, can I take a photo with you?”

“Sure!” An Nuo happened to want to post on Weibo as well and was worrying about a lack of material.

Xia Mozhu handed her phone to the staff lady and shot a “sofa blockbuster” series with An Nuo. Most were goofy photos. After the shoot, she sent all the original photos to An Nuo.

An Nuo looked at the photos on her phone, then at Xia Mozhu’s face—which did somewhat resemble Su the Celestial—and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Little sister, can you please use your face properly? Those who knew better would see them playing around on the sofa; those who didn’t might think she was in labor!

Still, that nineteen-year-old face was full of collagen. It’s great to be young!

Xia Mozhu looked at the photos and gave a big thumbs-up to the staff lady’s photography skills. “I’m leaving all my future photos to you, Sister!”

The staff member, who was only responsible for BTS footage but had been “conscripted,” blinked silently. She took it as an agreement—who could say no when the girl was this cute? Doing one extra job was just doing one extra job.

After the shoot with An Nuo, Song Yanran came down as well. Xia Mozhu trotted over, calling her “Sister Yanran” sweetly, coaxing her into a beaming smile. Before they could even start their morning bicker, An Nuo and Song Yanran were pulled into the garden for a set of photos.

However, after seeing the final results, her thoughts and An Nuo’s were uncannily identical for the first time.

With such a good face, if you don’t want to use it, you can donate it.

Song Yanran, who was always quite proud of her looks, even suspected that Little Bamboo was intentionally making “ugly” faces because she was worried about looking better than her in the photo.

Song Yanran looked at the group photo and sighed. This little sister is already this pretty before she’s even fully grown. In two years, my reign as the ‘visual queen’ will be in jeopardy!

So weird, yet so good-looking. Let me look again.

Su Qin, who had been silent the whole time nearby, let out a soft cough as if seeking a bit of “presence.”

Xia Mozhu rubbed her nose and walked over. She wasn’t as enthusiastic or honey-tongued as she was when inviting An Nuo and Song Yanran. She didn’t even say a word; she just pointed at her phone toward Su Qin. Five, four, three, two, one—she held up her phone and took a blurry selfie of the two of them, the kind where you could barely distinguish human shapes.

She ran off immediately after taking it, giving Su Qin zero time or opportunity to speak.

It wasn’t that she had a problem with Su Qin; she was just afraid of remembering her unbearable experience from last night and turning into a red-faced shrimp in front of the senior and the others.

The “internal radar” of the BTS staff member started blaring. Years of industry experience told her that there was definitely something between Little Bamboo and the Celestial!