Chapter Ninety-Four: Refusal

Sang Qiwu was stunned, taking a long moment to process what he’d just heard. He stared at his mother in disbelief. “Mom, is all of this true?”

“You’re not joking?” Sang Qiwu felt as if his entire worldview had shattered and needed to be pieced back together, bit by bit.

His mother shot him a glance. “Why would I joke with you?”

“Jiajia can absolutely have someone marry into the family. With us around, who would dare bully our Jiajia?”

Sang Qiwu was left utterly speechless.

——

A little while later, Sang Yijia looked at the balloons the staff had prepared, her brows furrowing. “Are you sure we can really pop these?”

“I’m not sure.” Lu Wenchuan was holding a balloon as well. He pinched it, feeling that a bit of force would easily burst it.

“Want to give it a try?” He glanced at the balloon in his hand from side to side. “Hmm, doesn’t seem like a big problem.”

Sang Yijia looked silently at the balloon and shook her head. “No need.”

She was genuinely afraid of the sound of popping balloons; it felt very unsafe.

“Here,” Lu Wenchuan suddenly took a small box from his pocket and handed it to her. “Earplugs. Would you like some?”

Back when he’d escaped the dark room, the world had been filled with thunder, lightning, and raging winds. He’d never forgotten those sounds. Even though Sang Yijia had lost her memory, Lu Wenchuan thought she might still be afraid.

“Thank you.” Sang Yijia had not expected Lu Wenchuan to even have earplugs ready. She took them and looked them over. “What made you think to bring these?”

The earplugs were a light green, soft, and easy to fit into her ears.

She planned to wear them just before the contest began.

“I heard yesterday there’d be a balloon-popping challenge, so I figured they might come in handy,” Lu Wenchuan replied. “It’s about to start.”

“All right.” Sang Yijia glanced at the director, saw the venue was ready, and put on the earplugs.

They didn’t block out all noise, but muffled it somewhat.

Sang Yijia gave Lu Wenchuan an “OK” gesture. The second round of the contest was about to begin.

Viewers in the livestream were envious of Lu Wenchuan’s thoughtful preparation.

[Honestly, I’m really curious—does Brother Lu just like Sang Yijia for her looks?]

[To be fair, after watching the livestream for a few days, I don’t find Sang Yijia all that unlikable. She’s quite beautiful, too.]

[I know, right? I still can’t understand why she’s so hung up on Shen Jin.]

[Maybe it’s love?]

...

Lan Qing noticed Lu Wenchuan giving earplugs to Sang Yijia, then looked over at Shen Jin, seeing his gloomy expression and tightly furrowed brows.

“Shen Jin.” If she wanted the Shen family’s support, she had to win Shen Jin’s affection. Lan Qing clenched her fists. “Are these balloons really going to pop?”

“Won’t it be very loud?” She raised her voice to a delicate, helpless pitch, as if she were fragile and he was her entire world.

Shen Jin’s attention snapped back. Seeing the vulnerable Lan Qing, he softened. “It’s fine, I’m here.”

“If you’re scared, I’ll cover your ears for you, all right?” Of course, he’d noticed Lu Wenchuan’s preparations, and he’d already decided—since the balloon-popping was face-to-face, he couldn’t use his hands.

So, he’d help Lan Qing cover her ears, increasing their physical contact and perhaps deepening their feelings.

“Okay.” Lan Qing was certainly pleased.

The whistle blew.

Lu Wenchuan was mindful of Sang Yijia’s fear and didn’t dare use much force.

Sang Yijia, meanwhile, felt awkward facing him so directly; she couldn’t even bring herself to look up, resulting in their group only popping two balloons by the end.

Lan Qing and Shen Jin’s group performed quite well; Shen Jin held Lan Qing, let her cover her own ears, and popped the balloon in one go.

The winners of the second round were Lan Qing and Shen Jin’s team.

With the morning activities concluded, the guests were free for the remainder of the time.

Sang Yijia breathed a sigh of relief, but looking at their poor score, she couldn’t help but apologize to Lu Wenchuan. “Sorry, it was because of me.”

“Not at all.” Lu Wenchuan shook his head. “I was part of it, too.”

To hold Sang Yijia while popping a balloon would mean making her watch it burst right in front of her—it would be too cruel.

He simply couldn’t do it.

“There’s still time. Shall we visit the garden?” Lu Wenchuan checked his watch. Eleven o’clock.

How had time passed so quickly with only two games played?

With the show ending the day after tomorrow, Lu Wenchuan felt reluctant to part with Sang Yijia.

“Sure.” Sang Yijia had just agreed when her phone rang.

“Sorry, I need to take this.” The caller ID showed her agent, Mo Yani. Sang Yijia frowned; the last time, she’d called about a movie role, but it was for the second female lead.

Sang Yijia didn’t act. She hadn’t taken any courses or had any experience.

Before being transported into the story, Sang Yijia had been a scriptwriter; she could write stories but couldn’t bring them to life as a performer.

“Is something wrong?” Sang Yijia answered the call.

“Jiajia,” Mo Yani exhaled in relief, “did you recently help the SWAT team catch a suspect?”

“The police just issued a notice to thank you for your bravery, and they’ve sent over a banner as well.”

Mo Yani hadn’t known about this—she’d been busy managing a boy band. She’d seen the trending topic that day but hadn’t looked into it.

Just now, the police had delivered the banner, leaving Mo Yani a bit dazed.

“When you have a moment, repost the notice on Weibo,” Mo Yani said, still doubtful about her artist’s skills. “Jiajia, how did you get so good at this?”

“I never heard you mention it before.”

Sang Yijia thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be this. “I learned it from my second brother.”

“He runs a martial arts school,” she explained.

Mo Yani understood. “After the show, we’ve arranged for reporters to interview you about this. Just answer a couple of questions.”

She’d meant to say the prepared script was already in her inbox, but she decided Sang Yijia could handle it.

“All right,” Sang Yijia agreed. “Anything else?”

Mo Yani hesitated, then brought up the movie again. “Jiajia, won’t you reconsider?”

“The script is excellent, and the director is talented. Even though it’s just a supporting role, we—” She was cut off by Sang Yijia’s refusal.

“I already said, after the reality show, I want to rest for six months.”

“Mo-jie, you promised me.”

Mo Yani fell silent.

Sang Yijia thought: We agreed on a six-month break; how can you go back on your word?

Mo Yani thought: The timing is perfect right now! If you miss this, the chance is gone!

The listing PK is over—one round and out.

The author says they’ve applied for a rerun on the 16th, but if that doesn’t work out...

Well, this book will likely finish this month.

As for whether there will be another one, I’m not sure...

But there’s good news: this book is free to read on the QQ Browser. Everyone can head over there to check it out~~~

(End of this chapter)