Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 50: Even If You Turn To Ashes, I’ll Still Remember You.

　　“Just kidding.”

　　Chu Ling let out a small laugh to ease the tension, then added, “But you admitted defeat yourself. You can’t blame me. Time to drink.”

　　“Of course.”

　　Zhou Yu picked up the glass of alcohol that had already been poured, downed it in one go without hesitation, and tilted the empty glass toward the camera. “That works, right?”

　　Gao Yan clapped with a laugh. “Now that’s clean and decisive.”

　　“Let’s move on to the next round,” Zhou Yu said.

　　The game continued for several more rounds. Chu Ling never once drew the king’s card, nor was she picked by anyone else.

　　The system muttered, “Wow, your luck is seriously terrible.”

　　So many draws, and not a single king.

　　“I think it’s perfect,” Chu Ling replied calmly. “If I did get the king, I’d probably tell everyone from number one to number seven to transfer some money straight into my account.”

　　The system was left speechless.

　　By now, the game had gone on for a while and time was running short. Gao Yan announced, “Alright, this will be our final round.”

　　The cards were dealt again.

　　Chu Ling lifted her card with a tiny spark of hope.

　　A plain two of hearts.

　　What a shame.

　　She chuckled to herself, thinking she’d lost the chance to squeeze some money out of them.

　　“I’m the king again!”

　　Gao Yan flipped her card, then stood with a gleam in her eyes. “Since it’s the last round, let’s make things interesting.”

　　After a brief moment of thought, she directed, “Alright then. Whoever has number two, please step forward.”　　

　　Chu Ling blinked and turned over her card. “What’s going on?”

　　“Bring me a blindfold.” 

　　Gao Yan said, handing it to Chu Ling. “Number two, cover your eyes first.”

　　“...”

　　Chu Ling had a bad feeling, but since it was all part of the game, she obediently slipped the blindfold on.

　　“Now, number four, step forward,” Gao Yan continued. “Number two will touch number four’s face and try to guess who it is. If she’s right, number four drinks. If she’s wrong, number two drinks.”

　　【Wow, a blindfold guessing game!】

　　【This is new, hurry up and show us who number four is.】

　　Chu Ling let out a helpless little laugh. “Why do I always get the hardest tasks?”

　　The blindfold was pitch black, shutting out every bit of light.

　　She perked up her ears, listening carefully to the sound of footsteps approaching.

　　“Alright, number two. Number four is standing in front of you now,” Gao Yan announced. “Go ahead.”

　　The room fell into silence, as if everyone was holding their breath, refusing to give Chu Ling even the slightest hint.

　　She reached forward, testing the waters with her fingertips.

　　First, she touched the person’s shoulder.

　　Tall. That ruled out the women.

　　Her hand moved upward, brushing against his face.

　　The skin felt smooth, youthful. That eliminated Qin Shuo.

　　Further up—no glasses. So it wasn’t Lin Zirun either.

　　That left only two possibilities.

　　On camera, Sheng Yi stood stiffly, hands shoved into his pockets, his face deceptively calm. Only his rigid posture betrayed the storm brewing inside. His soul had practically flown away already.

　　Chu Ling poked and prodded at his face for a while before her fingers slid down, grazing his collarbone.

　　Sheng Yi swallowed unconsciously, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

　　Her fingers just so happened to pause there, brushing against that very spot, as if she was deep in thought.

　　【Ahhh help!!】

　　【Who can resist this kind of tension! Every little touch between them is so shippable I can’t handle it!】

　　【Where’s the Bully Dogs?!】

　　【I rushed over like crazy! I haven’t had a proper meal in days. As expected, they’re still that perfect match when they’re together. What a perfect pair! [Crying my eyes out]】

　　【I’m doomed, I’m just as nervous as Sheng Yi right now.】

　　The height, the distance—it all pointed to the answer.

　　Chu Ling focused, certain she had figured it out.

　　But at the very last second, she changed her mind.

　　“Zhou Yu?”

　　The heart Sheng Yi had been holding up high came crashing down with a dull thud. His fingers curled slightly as a flood of sour, complicated feelings surged inside him.

　　【Ahhh she actually guessed wrong, I’m crying!】

　　【But Sheng Yi isn’t that hard to recognize, their heights are different… I guess blindfolded it really is tricky.】

　　【Or maybe it’s because Chu Ling has been interacting with Zhou Yu more, so she instinctively leaned toward him.】

　　Chu Ling pulled off her blindfold.

　　The moment her eyes met Sheng Yi’s, she gave a small laugh. “Looks like I got it wrong. My bad.”

　　The blindfold had mussed up the strands of hair over her forehead, giving her smile a kind of effortless, natural beauty.

　　Sheng Yi’s heartbeat pounded wildly. He almost reached out to smooth her hair, but caught himself and pressed his hand down instead.

　　“No big deal,” Sheng Yi said. “Guess I’m not that easy to recognize.”

　　Chu Ling stretched out her hand. “Give me the drink.”

　　“I could—”

　　“Hey, a bet’s a bet.”

　　She took the glass herself and downed it in one go.

　　Her alcohol tolerance wasn’t bad at all. One drink barely made a difference.

　　Setting the glass back down, she tossed her playing card onto the pile and smiled. “What a pity, we couldn’t end on a high note. We’ll just have to play again another time.”

　　……

　　The game ended, and after everyone packed up the props, they scattered off to do their own thing.

　　Zhou Yu wandered over to Chu Ling and said, “Jiejie, you mistook me for someone else today.”

　　As he spoke, he reached out and deliberately took hold of her hand.

　　Chu Ling: “?”

　　She was startled by his sudden move. “What are you doing?”

　　But Zhou Yu brought her hand up and pressed it against his cheek.

　　His eyes softened as he looked at her, his voice dropping into a husky, almost airy tone. “You should remember my face, so next time you won’t get it wrong.”

　　Chu Ling was left speechless.

　　Just then, Sheng Yi’s voice cut in from the side. “Want me to call the police for you?”

　　The mood broke instantly.

　　Zhou Yu frowned, clearly unhappy, and turned to Sheng Yi. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

　　“Nothing much,” Sheng Yi said casually. “Just looks a bit like harassment.”

　　He had actually been watching the two of them for a while. At first, he thought Zhou Yu was just talking with Chu Ling, but he hadn’t expected him to actually grab her hand.

　　He had held back until now, but this was really pushing it.

　　Zhou Yu shot back, “This is between me and Jiejie. She hasn’t said I can’t—”

　　“I’m saying it now.”

　　Chu Ling pulled her hand free with a smile, deliberately rubbing it against her clothes. “So this is how you usually flirt? Pretty smooth, I’ll give you that.”

　　“Not really.” Zhou Yu’s smile faltered for a moment, but he quickly recovered. “Some things just come naturally, you know.”

　　Yeah, right. Who was he trying to fool? Moves like this were straight out of a playbook, the kind you only picked up after practicing on more than a few girls at the bar.

　　Chu Ling arched a brow and nodded. “Alright then, I’ll remember it.”

　　Zhou Yu’s expression eased, and he smiled again.

　　“I’ll remember you even if you turn to dust,” Chu Ling added.

　　Zhou Yu: “…”

　　Why did it sound less like a compliment and more like a threat?

　　He gave a couple of awkward laughs, then quickly changed the subject. “So, Jiejie, is there anything you want to eat tomorrow? I can prepare something for you.”

　　“Not decided yet.”

　　Chu Ling said, “I don’t even know what time I’ll get up.”

　　“That’s okay, no matter how late, I can wait for you,” Zhou Yu said.

　　Hearing it for a while, Chu Ling felt a little fed up with this kind of sweet talk and said, “Then it’s up to you.”

　　Her tone sounded a bit like she was brushing him off. Zhou Yu took the hint and didn’t push further, leaving first.

　　Sheng Yi frowned, looking like he wanted to say something but held back.

　　Chu Ling saw that he wanted to speak, and naturally stepped aside to a spot out of the camera’s view.

　　Sure enough, Sheng Yi spoke, “Don’t you think he’s a little…”

　　“Overly attentive?” Chu Ling guessed.

　　Sheng Yi couldn’t exactly say the guy’s intentions seemed shady and slimy, so he just nodded and added, “Too attentive.”

　　Chu Ling thought for a moment and said, “A little, yeah.”

　　Even though she wasn’t buying it, she figured that if Zhou Yu was trying hard to push the CP angle, this behavior was understandable. Wanting attention isn’t shameful. She wanted to make money too.

　　It was just that he came on too strong and too fast, which made things a little uncomfortable. Who starts holding hands on the first day of meeting someone?

　　That kind of move—using physical contact to instantly close the distance—was classic old-hand player behavior.

　　“Oh, right.”

　　Sheng Yi suddenly remembered, “Am I hard to recognize?”

　　He muttered quietly, “I don’t really look much like Zhou Yu, do I?”

　　Of course, just touching someone’s face makes it tricky to tell them apart. He was just subtly annoyed that he had been confused with Zhou Yu. Was it because Zhou Yu was the first person Chu Ling thought of?

　　Chu Ling paused, then smiled. “Actually, it’s not that hard.”

　　“But aren’t you not supposed to drink?” she added.

　　She had figured it out. Dancing a duet with Sheng Yi had left a clear memory of his height, the position of his Adam’s apple, and the distance between them. The instant she touched him, it all came back.

　　In that split second, she almost blurted out the correct answer, but then remembered Sheng Yi never drank to protect his voice.

　　It was just a game anyway, so she didn’t mind taking the penalty.

　　Chu Ling looked at Sheng Yi, tilted her head, and smiled, “But I do like drinking, you know.”

　　Sheng Yi froze.

　　After she finished, seeing that Sheng Yi didn’t respond, she nodded to him and walked away, leaving him standing there with his chest pounding.

　　For a long moment, he finally raised a hand to cover part of his face, trying to suppress the whirlwind of emotions inside.

　　He had reminded himself many times.

　　Liking Chu Ling was a bad idea. It was a hopeless crush, and this was absolutely not the time or place for it.

　　But it was too hard.

　　Not liking her, really, was just too hard.

 

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