Chapter 25: I Come Only to Save Lives

After successfully hoodwinking Li Ze and dispelling the suspicion in his heart, Yu Zhi sat in Grandma Wang’s courtyard.

She certainly hadn’t been thinking about what to do in the afternoon; she was merely lost in memories of her past interactions with Li Ze. To be precise, her line of work had absolutely nothing to do with his, and they had no mutual friends who would have introduced them. It was purely by coincidence that the person she met during a blind date, arranged by her mother, happened to be Li Ze.

It must be said—personality aside—that Li Ze possessed a truly beautiful face. At the very first glance, it had made her abandon her perfunctory attitude.

In a soothing, gentle Western restaurant, Yu Zhi had arrived fashionably late. Extremely dissatisfied with the blind date, she had used her own methods to rebel against her mother’s arrangements. She had hoped the man would be sensible enough to realize her lack of manners and leave on his own before she even arrived.

However, looking at him from afar, she knew he was not sensible at all.

Throwing her bag onto the seat from behind him, Yu Zhi took a step and collapsed into the soft chair. "Yu Zhi..."

The flirtatious words she had prepared died on her lips because he was staring at her with a pair of clear, limpid eyes—eyes that seemed to peer straight into the depths of her soul.

Li Ze, looking quite earnest, extended his hands. "Li Ze, a university professor... In my spare time, I enjoy studying culinary arts, listening to concerts, and visiting museums..."

Tsk. One cannot judge a book by its cover.

Yu Zhi shook her head, casting away the memory of Li Ze’s feigned innocence. Who would have guessed that the person who appeared most pure was actually the most adept at putting on an act?

His cooking was pretty good, wasn't it? It was actually quite decent...

"Little Zhi! The one you brought today is also quite nice. He looks like a respectable person. What does he do for a living?" Grandma Wang leaned her head toward the figure busy in the kitchen, whispering to Yu Zhi.

Yu Zhi closed her eyes and sighed. "Grandma Wang, they can't all be my romantic interests, can they? It’s not even certain if he’s interested in me." She was just fooling the old woman, blackening her own reputation without a shred of guilt.

"I don't think so. He looks like a teacher, has the same air about him that your Grandpa Wang had back in the day! You should study that book I gave you carefully and win him over!" Grandma Wang, despite her advanced age, had the heart of a young girl, smiling as she urged Yu Zhi to study hard.

Yu Zhi: ...

Grandma Wang, you really have misjudged him. This man is even less "respectable" than Zhou Su, who came yesterday.

Resting her hands on the old lady's shoulders, she applied a little pressure to make her sit down. "Don't worry, I won't forget you. Once I have a sweetheart, I will definitely bring him over for your approval!"

[Hahaha, Grandma Wang is so cute. Right, right, Professor Li is such a respectable person. How could a university professor be anything else?]

[Can I see "How to Deceive a Handsome Young Man"? My crush isn't talking to me today.]

[Sister Yu, please open a class and teach us how to catch a rich guy.]

Time flew by. After watching Grandma Wang drift off to sleep, Yu Zhi left with Li Ze.

Meanwhile, at the market, the pair of Zhou Su and Shi Hai-ling, thanks to their superior physical advantages, quickly became the second group to complete their task.

"Sister Ling, did you notice where Yu Zhi and her partner went?"

Shi Hai-ling sat on a chair, pounding her swollen calves. She didn't know where Yu Zhi found the perseverance to keep wearing high heels every single day.

"No, maybe they finished selling and went back? Let's hurry back, too. We still need to think about the afternoon activities."

Zhou Su glanced down at Shi Hai-ling’s movements and, after a long pause, said, "Sister Ling, would you like to wear my shoes?"

"No need, it's only a few steps. It's fine. Grab the baskets, let’s go catch a ride." Having been rejected, Zhou Su followed Shi Hai-ling's lead, picked up the items, and walked behind her.

[Brother is so thoughtful! Whoever is paired with him must be incredibly happy!]

[By the way, I'm very curious about how Zhou Su and Yu Zhi got together. They don't seem to have any connection at all.]

By noon, the market was increasingly crowded with shoppers, and various noisy sounds flooded their ears. Seeing that Shi Hai-ling was struggling to walk, Zhou Su reached out and took her arm. "It rained yesterday, and the road here is rough. Let me steady you. Don't wear high heels for future tasks; try to choose stable, comfortable shoes."

Shi Hai-ling understood this logic, but she hadn't expected the director to make things difficult every single day. Little did she know, this was exactly what he had planned.

"I know, I'll change as soon as I get back."

"Take a rest at noon, and you can wear them in the afternoon if you like. It's free time; we can go sit at that cafe by the creek."

Zhou Su was thoughtful. With no tasks arranged by the director, it was perfectly reasonable for a girl to want to dress beautifully, and his suggestion to Shi Hai-ling was very sound.

"Zhou Su, I'm curious. Why did you choose to come here? Director He has a film waiting for you."

"Sister Ling, you're well-informed!"

Moving away from the market area, Shi Hai-ling pulled her arm from Zhou Su's grip. "I naturally have my channels, but you should know your current situation."

Zhou Su shed his smile, revealing a rare, private sense of seriousness. To him, Sister Ling was both a mentor and a friend who had helped him a lot in his career. But it was Yu Zhi who had given him the key to his professional life.

"I came here to save someone..."

The breeze carried away this vague sentence. Shi Hai-ling suppressed the shock in her eyes. "Is it worth it?"

Is it really worth putting in double the effort for someone who doesn't even acknowledge your existence? Shi Hai-ling didn't know. In all her years, her only motivation had been to live better. Even this show was just a bargaining chip for her to escape.

After a brief moment of surprise, Shi Hai-ling regained her usual expression and continued to play the part of a romantic partner with Zhou Su.

Zhao Li-heng had instructed the staff driving the transport vehicles to try and create some intimate opportunities for the guests, but apart from his success with the groups of Yu Zhi and Shen Jia-yu, everyone else’s attempts ended in failure.

Bai Fu-yuan and Gu Qing, knowing full well that the production team wouldn't give up easily, clutched the safety bars the moment they got on the vehicle, terrified of being thrown out. The driver, not daring to make any aggressive moves, ended up transporting them back to the lodging as the most calm and uneventful pair.

Once off the bus, Gu Qing dared to breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you for your trouble~"

"Brother Fu-yuan, thanks to your wit and courage today, otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do~"

Bai Fu-yuan’s dizzy brain hadn't yet recovered when he was unexpectedly fed a cup of tea. The alarms in his head went off. "Sister Qing~ If it hadn't been for your ideas, we wouldn't have been able to sell everything so quickly. You are the one who is truly skilled~"

He was genuinely in awe of Gu Qing. In such a situation, she could remain composed while enthusiastic aunties scrutinized them both, with hints in their words that he couldn't help but overthink.

If they hadn't run away quickly, surely some middle-aged woman would have dragged her daughter over for an on-the-spot blind date. That would have been the true depth of despair.

The production team was truly malicious...