Chapter Seven: My Gratitude to You All

“Hello, Lan!” Zhou Yun sat on the sofa and made a hugging gesture toward Jiang Lan, who had just returned. Jiang Lan returned the gesture and smiled, “Hello, good evening, everyone.”

The two girls giggled together.

Seeing how familiar Jiang Lan and Zhou Yun were, Tang Zhichu guessed that the two of them must be roommates. By that logic, she and Chen Siyang had both been assigned to single rooms.

“Have you eaten?” Huang Zejun asked Jiang Lan.

Jiang Lan glanced toward the kitchen, where Yang Jiaxing and Chen Siyang were still busy.

“I’ve already had dinner, but I brought you all some dessert!” With that, Jiang Lan pulled a box out of her bag, revealing small cakes inside.

“Wow! Thank you, Lan!”

“You all have fun. I’ll go put my bag upstairs.”

“All right, but come back down quickly once you’re done.”

After Jiang Lan went upstairs, Huang Zejun also looked toward the kitchen, then got up and headed upstairs as well.

Only Tang Zhichu and Zhou Yun remained in the living room.

“Want some?” Zhou Yun pointed at the cake in her hand.

Tang Zhichu shook her head. “I’m full. You go ahead.”

“I’m full too, but I want to try it…” Zhou Yun said as she took a small cake and glanced at Tang Zhichu before getting up.

She wanted a taste but didn’t want to finish a whole piece by herself, so she ran off toward the kitchen.

Tang Zhichu stretched, watching Zhou Yun head to the kitchen, lost in thought.

Truthfully, Zhou Yun was always a bit of a mystery to Tang Zhichu, though of course, their interactions were limited.

She was too enthusiastic, treating everyone this way, and could chat with anybody.

Yesterday, she even went upstairs to call Tang Zhichu down for a meal she’d saved.

At first, Tang Zhichu thought this was just her being kind—or perhaps maintaining a flawless persona.

But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case. Earlier, she’d deliberately taken the seat Yang Jiaxing had saved for Chen Siyang, making it clear she was interested in Yang Jiaxing.

So, following that logic, the message Yang Jiaxing received must have been from Zhou Yun.

Continuing along this line, since Huang Zejun also received a message, that one must have come from Jiang Lan.

Previously, Zhou Yun hadn’t just claimed the seat, she’d also subtly jabbed at Huang Zejun.

Her words were nuanced—not only did she undermine Huang Zejun’s attempt to defend Chen Siyang, but she also showed agreement with Tang Zhichu, since it was Tang Zhichu who had first mentioned the food was a bit bland.

In other words, those remarks both flattered Yang Jiaxing and sided with Tang Zhichu, while placing Huang Zejun and Chen Siyang together as a team.

If Huang Zejun thought about it later, he might even feel grateful to Zhou Yun, because he’d been indirectly supported while defending Chen Siyang—a move that would gain him points in Chen Siyang’s eyes, and an outcome Huang Zejun would happily accept.

The key point was, Yang Jiaxing hadn’t picked up on any of these subtle shifts.

From the moment Zhou Yun had taken the seat, Yang Jiaxing had become the most dazzling presence at the table—blinded by attention, the higher one is lifted, the less one sees.

This only confirmed Tang Zhichu’s initial instinct: this show was far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.

…

In the kitchen, Zhou Yun held the cake and looked at Chen Siyang with a pitiful expression. “Yangyang, let’s share one. I’ve already eaten so much of your food today—if I eat dessert too, I’ll get fat. But I just can’t resist!”

Chen Siyang looked up, helpless. “Seventy-thirty, I’ll take thirty, you seventy.”

Zhou Yun glanced at the cake, hesitated, and was about to agree when Yang Jiaxing interjected, “How about we split it three ways?”

Chen Siyang paused—she wasn’t keen on that idea.

In dating shows, the kitchen is prime territory for sweet, romantic moments. Chen Siyang was very mindful of this, believing that in an idol drama, there should be no second male lead in the kitchen.

Whenever they cleaned up, her first move was to put on her apron, wary that Yang Jiaxing might offer to help her with it.

So, when Zhou Yun came into the kitchen, Chen Siyang was secretly relieved.

As she was mentally preparing herself to accept the idea of three people sharing, Zhou Yun immediately refused, “No way. If you want to eat, you have the whole thing. Yangyang and I will split ours seventy-thirty.”

Chen Siyang shot Zhou Yun a grateful glance. What a good friend.

In fact, earlier, when Zhou Yun had claimed the seat at dinner, Chen Siyang had already thought the same.

Zhou Yun split the cake, then she and Chen Siyang each took a piece.

After savoring a bite with her eyes squinted in delight, Zhou Yun pulled out another piece and handed it directly to Yang Jiaxing.

At that moment, Yang Jiaxing was busy washing dishes.

He was in a great mood. From the moment he’d come back to the villa and seen how organized Chen Siyang had made the kitchen, he’d been thrilled.

It proved his judgment was impeccable—Chen Siyang was not only beautiful, a public figure with a certain aura, but could also cook. Absolutely perfect!

Add to that, at dinner another beautiful and accomplished female guest had openly shown interest in him, while he’d also seen his rival falter—today couldn’t have gone better for Yang Jiaxing.

He was slightly floating.

When Zhou Yun handed him the cake, he glanced at Chen Siyang out of the corner of his eye.

Yang Jiaxing even felt he might nudge Chen Siyang a little.

“See? You don’t send me messages, Tang Zhichu is clueless and has no ability, Huang Zejun is capable but pompous and a bit dumb, only I am completely open with you, but you remain distant, aloof, and ambiguous. Maybe it’s time to let you see how charming I can be!”

After a moment’s thought, Yang Jiaxing and Zhou Yun shared a glance.

But Zhou Yun was even bolder than he expected; she went straight for his mouth.

“Mmm… delicious!” Yang Jiaxing had been fed by her.

Zhou Yun grinned, “Right? Lan brought it!”

Chen Siyang’s back tensed, and she nearly got goosebumps. She thought, Thank you both so much!

…

It was still early, so everyone gathered in the living room.

Huang Zejun brought down his guitar, and they started chatting about music and their favorite artists.

The music scene here was much like the one Tang Zhichu had known in her previous life—rock music had once swept the country, followed by the rise of folk, and now pop music was king.

In every era and background, there were always musicians and the industry that shaped each other.

As for current top singers? Tang Zhichu felt it was much the same as before—the internet’s rapid development meant almost no one released albums anymore, and even the biggest stars were considered prolific if they released one or two singles a year.

Why? Because just one or two singles were enough to keep them going, with no one pushing them to do more.

Tang Zhichu believed this logic was unchanging: when the top people in an industry stopped producing, it was either because they were too comfortable or had become their own bosses.

Her thoughts drifted; she hadn’t really joined in the conversation.

Huang Zejun and Yang Jiaxing sat on either side of Chen Siyang, while Zhou Yun leaned against Jiang Lan, still watching the others with great interest.

Huang Zejun said, “Roselyn is great too, especially that song ‘Blue.’ I had it on repeat for a while.”

The topic of foreign singers was brought up by Yang Jiaxing, who, intentionally or not, glanced at Tang Zhichu several times, confirming she couldn’t really join in.

More than half of those present had studied abroad.

Yang Jiaxing nodded, “I’ve listened to her. She has a good friend named Sandy—I like him, he leans toward blues. I’ve seen him perform live—the vibe was incredible…”