Chapter 14 – The Night Before the Date

“Finally back?”

For some reason, everyone was sitting in the living room when Cheng Yichi and Li Yi returned together. It seemed no one was busy today—though it wasn’t even five o’clock yet, everyone was already home.

Wei Buyan sat on the innermost sofa casually flipping through a magazine. When he saw them return, he snorted and asked in a rather unfriendly tone, “Finally back?”

Cheng Yichi, who was bending down to change his shoes, felt his eyelashes tremble slightly in frustration. He couldn’t figure out where he had offended this young master—wasn’t Wei Buyan supposed to like Tang Yinuo or Bai Ruyu?

Then it hit him—ah, this guy probably wanted to flirt with multiple people at once.

Li Yi helped Cheng Yichi hang his coat in the closet and said, “We just went out for a meal.”

The air instantly froze. Silence fell over the room as everyone gritted their teeth. Going out to buy gifts, then having a meal together—how was that any different from a date?

But they couldn’t bring themselves to ask. After all, they had no right to.

Cheng Yichi sat down next to Bai Ruyu, who looked up at him in surprise before instinctively scooting over to make more space.

“Tomorrow’s the first official date,” Jiang Heng suddenly spoke up. “Anyone have someone in mind?”

“I’ve already said it,” Wei Buyan chuckled. “Teacher Cheng and I have fate on our side.”

“Not necessarily.” Li Yi had just stepped out of the closet when he heard this and coldly retorted with three words.

Wei Buyan wasn’t fazed. “Then we’ll see tomorrow, won’t we?”

Cheng Yichi found it baffling—how were they all so confident? It was downright ridiculous.

Bai Ruyu stole a glance at Gu Zichen, who seemed completely absorbed in his work, staring intently at his laptop without joining the discussion.

Bai Ruyu was puzzled: If he was so busy, why stay here instead of working in his room or study?

Unless…

Unless there was someone he wanted to see.

Bai Ruyu’s heart twisted with conflict.

Tang Yinuo and Fang Yunshi didn’t seem particularly interested. Jiang Heng glanced at Cheng Yichi, then, realizing his chances were slim, turned his gaze toward Fang Yunshi instead.

For the past few days, he had voted exclusively for Fang Yunshi—no particular reason, except that he was utterly taken with Fang Yunshi’s leather jacket. When he later learned Fang Yunshi was a professional racer, his eyes lit up, hoping Fang Yunshi could teach him a thing or two. He wanted to learn racing too.

But the moment he saw Cheng Yichi again, all those thoughts vanished. He just wanted to get closer, even if he knew his chances were slim.

Clearly, everyone had been torn between restraint and the urge to approach Cheng Yichi in the first two days, but they’d mellowed out slightly since then.

Unaware of their inner turmoil, Cheng Yichi smiled and said, “I won’t be joining for dinner tonight. Tomorrow’s the first date, so everyone should rest up early.”

—

However, when Cheng Yichi received photos of all the gifts and prepared to start voting, he was stunned:

There were ten gifts in total!

The two latecomers weren’t even interacting with them—they were jumping straight into the first date. Cheng Yichi was deeply confused: Wouldn’t that be awkward?

Moreover, he sensed the production team’s malicious intent. If he ended up paired with a new guest, wouldn’t his identity as the “liar” be exposed?

Biting his lower lip, Cheng Yichi agonized over which gift to choose.

The first gift was a limited edition L’Artisan Parfumeur men’s fragrance, with a woody and fresh scent—luxurious but not overpowering. The second was a white shirt that appeared ordinary at first glance, but the production team had deliberately labeled it with the brand and price: Louis Vuitton. The third was a small tin of tea leaves, which caught Cheng Yichi’s attention—he quite liked it. The fourth was an Armani men’s belt, and Cheng Yichi already had an idea who sent it—so formal. The fifth was his own massage gun, standing out awkwardly among the high-end gifts, though he personally liked it. Priced at a few thousand, it should suffice as a first-date gift. The sixth was a bottle of XO, and—well, he could guess the sender here too. Aside from Wei Buyan, who else would give alcohol as a first gift? The seventh was a black racing suit. Wow, so blatantly biased—he couldn’t even pretend not to know. This had to be from that kid Fang Yunshi. The eighth was a Montblanc men’s wallet, stylish and mature, quite handsome. For some reason, Cheng Yichi felt it suited Li Yi. The ninth was a pair of gold cufflinks, striped and possibly inlaid with gold—bright and beautiful, but Cheng Yichi only gave them a passing glance.

The final gift turned out to be an Alienware mechanical keyboard with tea switches! Cheng Yichi immediately understood—this had to be from the new guest, and the gift likely hinted at his profession. Maybe an author, or more likely, an esports player. The latter seemed more probable.

Cheng Yichi quickly eliminated the last gift and chose the tea leaves. He couldn’t help it—he loved the packaging too much. Elegant, refined, and engraved with delicate patterns.

Voting concluded.

The production team soon sent the results. To Cheng Yichi’s surprise, his massage gun ranked first—with four votes! Did everyone… care so much about their health?

The remaining chosen gifts were: the racing suit, the white shirt, the tea leaves, the belt, and the gold cufflinks.

The racing suit got two votes, while the white shirt, tea leaves, belt, and cufflinks each received one.

The production team let Cheng Yichi pick first, leaving the other guests to negotiate the rest. Without hesitation, he chose the tea leaves. Later, the team sent the finalized pairings: the white shirt and belt were mutually selected, automatically forming a pair; the racing suit and L’Artisan fragrance were matched; the XO and gold cufflinks paired up. The remaining wallet and keyboard, unclaimed, were automatically grouped together.

Not getting the result he wanted, Li Yi sat on his bed, frowning. He glanced at Cheng Yichi’s expression but found Yichi-ge’s lips pressed tight—unreadable. Then he checked his phone again, eyeing the keyboard pairing, and licked his molars:

At least they were still living together. He still had a chance.

—

Since Cheng Yichi was the chooser, the next day’s date location and itinerary were entirely arranged by the selected guest. The same applied to the other pairs. Considering scheduling, the production team had contacted the selected guests the day before to confirm the venue, then set it up the following morning. The dates would begin around noon.

By the time Cheng Yichi stepped out, Bai Ruyu was already on a boat with Gu Zichen.

The boat rocked gently on the water’s surface. Bai Ruyu and Gu Zichen sat side by side, chatting idly. A soft smile graced Bai Ruyu’s face as he tilted his head to look at Gu Zichen, who returned his gaze with relaxed posture. This leisurely dating style felt comfortable and effortless—Gu Zichen was certain they were kindred spirits.

“Shall we take a photo together?” Bai Ruyu asked.

“Sure,” Gu Zichen replied. “Your phone or mine?”

“Let’s use mine, though it’s a bit tricky to operate.” They leaned in together, their smiling faces perfectly matched in the frame—Bai Ruyu thought so too.

He even felt their relationship was progressing smoothly.

Then Gu Zichen’s question sent him plummeting:

“I wonder what the others are doing now.”

Bai Ruyu wondered: Was he asking about everyone… or just Cheng Yichi?