Chapter 63: Sixty-Third Day as a Salted Fish
The evening breeze blew slightly cold, prompting Qin Jiaojiao to lean closer into Zhou Shaoli’s arms.
“Cold?” Zhou Shaoli took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
Qin Jiaojiao pulled the coat tightly around herself, smiled up at him, and said, “The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is so extreme. It gets super cold at night.”
Zhou Shaoli’s coat was huge on her, wrapping her up completely. Imbued with the man’s warmth, it shielded her from the cool evening draft as the two walked back into the inn together.
The inn’s main hall was brightly lit. Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang sat on the sofa, each scrolling through their own phones, while in the adjacent dining area, Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong were tidying up the table.
“Jiaojiao, you guys are back,” Jin Mingzhu called out with a warm smile.
Qin Jiaojiao trotted over. “It smells so good! Teacher Jin, what are we having tonight?”
Jin Mingzhu replied, “A hotpot feast and barbecue.”
The dining area was open-air, allowing them to sit in the courtyard to eat while admiring the gorgeous starry sky and chatting about life.
The production team had been thoroughly spooked by Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang last time. On camera, Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang had portrayed themselves as down-to-earth wealthy heirs who could cook, only to nearly wipe out all the guests back in Nancheng.
This time, the production team chose to give more screen time to the two seniors, Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong. It was hard work for the Feizhu CP to cook, but they organized the dinner so everyone could eat together while filming the episode.
The core theme of Romantic Lovers was to explore married life, with the whole tone centered on cozy, sweet interactions between couples.
After the previous few episodes aired, fans of the various guests and CP fans felt that the production team was editing the guests maliciously. They demanded live broadcasts to supervise the shooting process.
The majority of the fans bashing the production team for unfair and malicious editing were Shen Xiaoshan’s fans. They believed the crew was intentionally picking on Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang, throwing all the blame onto Shen Xiaoshan after the mushroom poisoning incident.
Tonight was the filming of the fifth episode, and the crew had set up a camera in the corner of the courtyard for a livestream. They had prepared a few questions to ask after dinner to test the couples’ bond.
The production team had already turned on the livestream the moment Qin Jiaojiao stepped back into the inn.
Hearing “barbecue,” Qin Jiaojiao’s eyes instantly lit up. Northwestern barbecue was delicious, and her mouth was already watering. “Teacher Jin, I’ll run upstairs, put on a jacket, and come down to help you.”
She slipped off the coat and handed it back to Zhou Shaoli before pitter-pattering upstairs. Seeing his wife stuff his coat back into his hands and dash off in a flash, Zhou Shaoli froze on the spot for a few seconds, completely unaccustomed to her abrupt exit.
He glanced at the sofa, having zero desire to head over, and then turned toward the dining area. Seeing how harmoniously Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong were getting along, he felt it wouldn’t be appropriate to intrude on the couple. Left standing in place, he looked up toward the second floor, instantly morphing into a literal statue of a husband longing for his wife.
The bullet comments had already gone wild with laughter.
【Why did Qin Jiaojiao just abandon President Zhou and run off like that?】
【Hahaha, why is this so absurdly funny? President Zhou literally cannot be separated from his wife for even a second.】
【Salted Fish Jiao really still only has food in her eyes! Poor President Zhou!】
【Sigh, young couples nowadays really don’t have a eye for chores. They didn’t even think to help Teacher Jin and Teacher Chen.】
Qin Jiaojiao grabbed a jacket from the closet, slipped it on along with her slippers, and walked downstairs. Spotting Zhou Shaoli standing alone in the courtyard looking aloof and lonely, she hurriedly jogged over and hugged his arm.
“Why didn’t you go sit down?”
Zhou Shaoli replied with an indifferent expression, “Waiting for you to come down.”
The corners of Qin Jiaojiao’s lips tugged upward. Why did it feel like without her around, Zhou Shaoli didn’t quite know how to interact with the other guests? Then again, that was just who he was—he disliked socializing with people he wasn’t familiar with.
“The hotpot and barbecue are ready! Everyone, come over and sit down,” Chen Feihong called out.
Since they were filming in front of the camera, a long table had been set up in the courtyard. Qin Jiaojiao pulled Zhou Shaoli over to take the two seats on the far left. Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong had worked hard cooking and prepping ingredients, so the seniors naturally deserved the prime C-position.
Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang, who had been scrolling on their phones in the living room, walked over and sat down directly in the middle seats. The show’s director frowned slightly but didn’t open his mouth to remind them.
The production team had originally promised Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang that they would be the main featured couple when joining the show, so sitting in the C-position facing the camera wasn’t inherently wrong.
If Shen Xiaoshan hadn’t given the guests food poisoning and faked sales during the charity livestream, the crew wouldn’t have edited out some of her scenes to minimize negative backlash. If Shen Xiaoshan refused to yield the seat to her seniors, that was her choice, and she would have to bear the consequences herself.
Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong were here to ‘vacation and honeymoon,’ so they didn’t care much about such trivialities. After bringing out the last dish, the two sat down on the right side.
With all three couples gathered together, the livestream camera zoomed out to capture everyone in a wide shot.
【All three couples are so good-looking! Seeing them sit together is such eye candy!】
【Looking at the delicious food on the table is making me so hungry.】
【Aren’t Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang going to let their seniors sit in the middle?】
【Can we get more screen time for the Yueli CP? They’re almost cut out of the frame entirely!】
【It’s just seating for a meal, you can sit wherever. What is there to argue about? Truly speechless.】
On the table sat cans of beer provided by a sponsor who had joined midway through production. After Season 2 of Romantic Lovers blew up way more than Season 1, numerous sponsors rushed to sign on after just two episodes, requiring the guests to insert product placements during filming.
For tonight’s open-air hotpot and barbecue feast, the table’s beer was provided by a sponsor. The product placement line was originally supposed to be delivered by Jin Mingzhu and her husband, but since Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang took the center seats, the camera naturally focused on them instead.
The bullet comments mocked:
【It’s so obvious the production crew really wants to push the Shan-Meng CP.】
【If sponsor daddy sees that it’s Shen Xiaoshan delivering the ad readout, their heart must be breaking.】
【The livestream audience isn’t as huge as the online video viewers, so the editors will probably cut this part out later anyway.】
Only after Shen Xiaoshan finished reading the sponsored ad did the hotpot feast officially begin.
Qin Jiaojiao raised her glass toward Jin Mingzhu and her husband with a smile. “Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Jin, Teacher Chen! Let’s clink glasses!”
Jin Mingzhu beamed, “Let’s all clink glasses together to celebrate our desert trip!”
Everyone raised their glasses and tapped them together softly.
Zhou Shaoli turned his head, watching Qin Jiaojiao happily enjoying the delicious food. Remembering her getting drunk last time, he unobtrusively swapped her alcoholic drink for a soft drink.
Having just eaten a piece of spicy beef, Qin Jiaojiao took a sip from her glass, only to taste sweet coconut milk. She turned to Zhou Shaoli, leaning in close to whisper in his ear, “Did you swap out my drink?”
Zhou Shaoli looked down at her, his voice deep and steady. “We have to film tomorrow. I’m worried you’ll get a headache if you get drunk.”
Knowing her tolerance was pretty poor and recalling her blackout during her last drinking episode, Qin Jiaojiao conceded that her drinking etiquette wasn’t great. “Alright, fine.”
There was a tiny speck of hot sauce left on the corner of her lips. Zhou Shaoli’s eyes narrowed slightly. He pulled out a tissue and naturally wiped it away for her. Qin Jiaojiao curved her eyes and smiled at him affectionately.
Their intimate interaction right in front of the camera triggered an immediate frenzy of bullet comments.
【AHHH! The Yueli CP is so freaking sweet!】
【President Zhou is so thoughtful and gentle, secretly wiping his wife’s mouth! But why do I feel like he actually wanted to kiss her lips instead?!】
【The way the Yueli CP looks at each other is making me blush!】
【This is definitely the passionate honeymoon phase of marriage! How come after not seeing them for over a week, the atmosphere between the Yueli CP feels even sweeter?!】
【Feed us more sugar, I love shipping them so much!!!】
After the guests had been eating for about ten minutes, the director used a megaphone to call a pause. The highlight of tonight’s show was here.
The director-in-chief announced, “The production team will send a question to each guest’s phone. Please read the question and reply via text message. Before the reveal, do not let your husband or wife see your answer.”
Qin Jiaojiao was quite curious about what kind of question the crew would ask.
Ding-dong. Her phone received a text message.
【If your significant other passed away, what would you do?】
Qin Jiaojiao abruptly raised her head to look at Zhou Shaoli, only to find him turning to look at her at the exact same moment.
Life, death, and separation—death was truly the biggest event in a person’s life. The production team’s very first question was ruthless.
Before the guests could answer, the production crew displayed the question to the livestream audience.
【This question is so hard to answer…】
【The production team is definitely stirring up trouble. The guests are still so young! If their significant other dies, how are they supposed to live through the next few decades? Are they expected to stay single for the rest of their lives?】
【What a sharp, brutal question!】
【My neighbor lost his middle-aged wife, and before her first week of mourning was even over, matchmakers were already knocking on his door to introduce someone new.】
【It’s actually super common for people to remarry immediately after their partner dies.】
【If this question isn’t answered carefully, it’ll definitely cause a rift between husband and wife.】
【Gosh, the crew is nuts! Asking such a jinxed question to young couples who just got married recently.】
Clutching her phone, Qin Jiaojiao fell into deep thought.
If Zhou Shaoli died, what would she do? She felt completely lost. She had never considered a question like this. Once she lost him, she probably wouldn’t ever find another man who treated her so well.
His existence in this world was one of a kind.
Zhou Shaoli lowered his eyes, his grip tightening around his phone. He couldn’t bear to imagine this scenario. Qin Jiaojiao was like oxygen to him; if he lost her, he would undoubtedly suffer a fate worse than death.
Yet, he couldn’t simply follow her into death. He carried heavy corporate responsibilities on his shoulders. For the rest of his life, he would grow old in solitude, sick with longing every single day.
When Shen Xiaoshan saw the crew’s question, her brows knitted together.
Her affection came with pragmatic motives; Meng Zi’ang was not her whole world. She might be heartbroken for a short while, but if Meng Zi’ang died, she would definitely move on, get a divorce, and find an even better man.
She was a realistic person. Her ambition was what had sustained her to this point, and she would never allow her newly launched life to come to a halt here.
However, since they were filming a show, she couldn’t expose her true inner thoughts. She had to think carefully about how to answer in a way that would satisfy the audience and gain their sympathy.
When Meng Zi’ang saw the question, he found it somewhat laughable. Such a hypothetical scenario didn’t exist.
After reflecting for a moment, he thought that if Shen Xiaoshan died, his heart would die too, but he still needed to secure his footing within the Meng family. He would yield to reality and choose a woman he didn’t love to be his wife.
Jin Mingzhu looked at Chen Feihong with a gentle gaze. At their age, they were neither too young nor too old, and their health was beginning to decline. Sooner or later, a day would come when they would have to face death. If Old Chen died, she would take his belongings and try her best to live happily every day.
Chen Feihong turned to exchange a look with her, his heart filled with warmth. She didn’t need to speak; he knew what she was thinking. He didn’t need to say a word either; she understood him completely.
Having been married for over a decade, loving each other until old age was a shared hope. But if they couldn’t grow old together, the surviving partner would carry those beautiful memories forward and strive to live a good life.
The production team gave the guests ten minutes to reflect. Once time was up, they reminded everyone to send their answers to the crew.
After receiving the responses one after another, the director began announcing them one by one.
“Teacher Jin and Teacher Chen have the exact same answer: neither will fall in love with anyone else and will live out the rest of their lives well on their own.”
The director remarked, “An expected answer! Teacher Jin and Teacher Chen’s bond is as solid as gold and iron; they will surely love each other until old age. What an enviable romance.”
Under the table, Qin Jiaojiao quietly held Zhou Shaoli’s hand, playing with his long, elegant fingers. Zhou Shaoli squeezed her hand back tightly, refusing to let her pull any sneaky moves.
The director continued, “Next is Teacher Shen’s answer.”
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