Zhong Yi sluggishly returned to the small house, probably never before had he driven so slowly in his life. The other three had already arrived; hearing the sound of the car parking, they walked out from the hall on the first floor and knocked on the car window, condemning him, “You took twenty minutes for such a short distance? Why didn’t you just walk back?”
Zhong Yi turned off the engine and rolled down the window. Upon seeing Tong Sui properly buckled in his seatbelt and napping against the seat without any suspicious marks on him, the expressions on their faces became somewhat normal.
Fortunately, Zhong Yi didn’t have the guts to make any wild moves. Once the car stopped, Tong Sui woke up; he hadn’t been in deep sleep and, after a moment of pause, unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
As Tong Sui entered the first floor, he saw Sang Cai still eating, “Sui Bao.” When they left, they had packed extra meals for Sang Cai and Qin Xiuxian.
Tong Sui sat down, still a bit dazed from sleep, with red marks on his cheeks from pressing against the car seat.
Sang Cai asked, “How was today’s date?”
Tong Sui thought for a moment; he had not spent much time with Zhou Siyuan before running into Chi Xingyu and Zhong Yi, so there was no real dating vibe—more like a team-building outing.
“It was okay, just a bit crowded,” he replied.
Sang Cai laughed, “The production team is really something, promising a private date and taking so many people out. By the way, those guys seem to like you a lot.”
Tong Sui could feel that too. There were four task targets in this world, a number that had never appeared before, but the task wasn’t very challenging.
Seeing him silent, Sang Cai thought he was troubled. In reality, it was common for guests in dating shows to concentrate their affections on one person. Sang Cai said, “But you don’t need to rush to give a response. The show is essentially a selection process.”
Tong Sui nodded, “You eat slowly; I’ll go take a shower.”
“Go ahead,” she said.
Tong Sui returned to his room, grabbed his pajamas, and headed to the bathroom. By this time, apart from the regular interviews and letter deliveries, there shouldn’t be any other segments.
So he washed up without worry, dried his hair, and sat at the desk to prepare to write letters.
At this stage, the barrage of comments was at its most intense:
—— Bet, bet, will Sui Bao write to Zhou Siyuan today?
—— Zhou stock is booming! I’m all in!
—— How could this happen, no one betting on Chi Xingyu?
—— Lock in Zhou Sui CP!
After reflecting on the day’s events—from the jet skiing in the morning, Chi Xingyu had indeed surpassed his expectations. During the one-on-one date, Zhou Siyuan was as attentive as ever, and being with him was always comfortable.
At mealtime, Jiang Ciyuan unexpectedly shared his taste in food, and Tong Sui hadn’t enjoyed a meal this satisfying in a long time.
But after dinner, it was Zhong Yi who brought him back. Adding it all up, he had some contact with each of them throughout the day; how was he supposed to write this letter…
Tong Sui bit on his pen for a while, then finally opened the drawer, took out a blank sheet of paper to write, and then tore it into several pieces, crumpling them into balls to randomly select one to open.
The comments on the screen read:
—— ?????
—— Is he playing a very new game?
—— Who knew you could draw lots; didn’t see that coming.
—— Does Sui Bao really not have any man he likes? Has he been pressured into this?
After finishing the letter, Tong Sui did not throw away the little paper balls but carefully preserved them for next time. He took the written letter downstairs and walked into the yard, dropping it into the appropriate mailbox.
According to the original schedule, he only needed to wait for everyone to finish writing their letters before a quick interview and could then return to sleep.
However, the production team clearly wasn’t going to let them off that easily.
“Everyone gather around; there’s a new task announcement.”
This season had a string of trending topics, a great start, and the number of viewers in the live broadcast remained high; no one wanted to watch them stay in their rooms without talking.
Thus, the production team was putting in extra effort for dramatic content.
The six of them gathered on the first floor sofa, facing several cameras. Unlike other dating reality shows that required 24-hour makeup, each of them appeared in their most natural look, no makeup—and their attractiveness was proving to be a definitive advantage.
—— Help, is this a recording for an idol drama?
—— The no-filter scenes are really refreshing, thank you! Other shows should take note, choosing good-looking regulars would save a ton on post-editing face-touching.
—— How did I get so lucky to watch so many handsome and wealthy men in love?
—— The production team is up to something again.
Once everyone was present, the lights in the hall suddenly dimmed, and a projection screen lowered in front of them.
Tong Sui hugged his knees, barefoot on the edge of the sofa. Is this a movie screening?
The executive director stepped forward, “The jet skiing in the morning was a test of endurance, which was unfair for those reliant on brainpower.”
“So this time, we have added a new segment—”
Suddenly, a nine-grid Sudoku appeared on the screen.
Sudoku is a mathematical logic game that requires players to deduce the numbers for remaining empty grids based on the provided digits in a 9×9 board. Each row, each column, and each 3*3 subsection must contain all the numbers from 1 to 9 without repetition.
Seeing this, Tong Sui felt somewhat overwhelmed; no student who had left school would still enjoy doing puzzles. He would prefer if the production team had included more physical challenges.
The others also seemed uninterested; tasks like this can be solved with determination; it’s just a matter of time.
The executive director continued, “Everyone will take turns to solve the puzzle, and the fastest cumulative time wins.”