Chapter 40: The Pine Nut CP Is Real

There were so many viewers watching this episode of Love of a Limited Season live that almost as soon as someone asked how the new pairings would work, someone else had already compiled the results.

According to the new round’s rules, the second-highest voted pairing from before, Sang Zhiyi and Song Ying, successfully paired up.

The other options had to first exclude the two guests related to this pair, then also exclude combinations that had already been paired in the previous round.

The final result was Zhongli Miaomiao with Yu Zilin, and Zhong Yueyi with Lou Yanchen.

This was completely consistent with the production team’s final announcement.

Fans who liked the “Pine Nut” CP were extremely excited.

[!!!

Wow wow wow, the mermaid sister and Director Song are in a pair again?! “My CP, a huge sugar rush from the heavens!”]

[This is true fate!

Forget the name homophones earlier; our “Pine Nut” is solid—whether by random draw or audience vote, they end up together!]

[Song Ying and Ren Xiaoqian were already super sweet together last episode of Limited Season, and now they’re collaborating outside the show too, taking their relationship a step further.

I can’t even imagine how sweet this pair will be!]

Song Ying himself was also quite satisfied.

Upon hearing that he would be in a group with Sang Zhiyi again, Song Ying, who had been distracted throughout the entire previous activity, had his eyes light up instantly.

Immediately, he strode across half the camera frame with his long legs, completely abandoning Zhong Yueyi beside him, and headed toward Sang Zhiyi.

At that moment, Sang Zhiyi was also standing with her own partner.

She and Yu Zilin stood shoulder to shoulder, less than a fist’s distance apart.

Song Ying didn’t hesitate at all, directly barging into the small gap between Sang Zhiyi and Yu Zilin, tearing it open and pushing Yu Zilin aside.

The barrage was stunned by Song Ying’s seamless set of moves.

[Damn, I knew Director Song had personality, but I didn’t expect him to be this individualistic!

Doing this to another guest right during the live show!]

[What a display of overflowing possessiveness!

And Song Ying’s action is so decisive!

If you tell me he has no feelings for Ren Xiaoqian, I won’t believe it!]

[Aaaaah “Pine Nut” is real!!!

Director Song really loves Ren Xiaoqian!!!]

[Song Ying’s combo was too fast.

Best Actor Yu didn’t even have time to react; he instinctively stepped aside when pushed.

Otherwise, I think Song Ying would have kept using brute force, hahaha.]

[All I can say is, the Best Actor is too gentlemanly and polite, which is why his partner got snatched away like that, hahahaha.]

After shoving the annoying Yu Zilin aside, Song Ying generously stood in the gap he had forced open, pressed close to Sang Zhiyi, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, what a coincidence.

I’m in a pair with Xiaoqian again?”

Song Ying’s entire upper body leaned toward Sang Zhiyi, as if he had no bones.

Glancing casually in Yu Zilin’s direction, Song Ying’s smile was both smug and provocative.

[Damn, I can’t even look.

Director Song’s smile is so radiant it could blind someone!]

[Holding a beauty and specifically showing off to your love rival, huh!

Director Song, why does your smile look so asking for a beating?!]

[Song Ying’s possessiveness over Ren Xiaoqian is really unmatched… In a dating show with non-ordinary guests like this, do genuine couples actually form?

I remember Song Ying didn’t even know Ren Xiaoqian before the show?]

[Is this my favorite love triangle moment?!

Bring it on, don’t stop!]

After the new round of pairings was announced, there was another guest whose eyes lit up instantly.

Zhongli Miaomiao perked up completely, hopping in place several times, raising both arms in celebration.

“Great, great!

I finally don’t have to be in a pair with that surnamed Lou anymore!”

Zhongli Miaomiao spun around and directly gave a strong thumbs-up to the staff behind the camera, expressing her approval.

[Although I predicted this scene, seeing the little princess so elated still makes me laugh, hahahaha.]

[That thumbs-up is just too funny?!

I have a feeling a new meme king is about to be born!]

[Huh, I thought President Lou would also be happy not to be partnered with the little princess, but why does he look even worse?]

Lou Yanchen’s expression was indeed quite bad.

Being partnered with Zhongli Miaomiao for show activities was just annoying to Lou Yanchen, since they had known each other for years and he was several years older than her—he wouldn’t make too much of an issue with a younger girl.

But being paired with Zhong Yueyi made Lou Yanchen feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart.

This woman who had repeatedly made small moves trying to usurp his power—if she weren’t Starlight’s only presentable female artist with considerable value, he would have kicked her out long ago!

Sang Zhiyi looked indifferently at Lou Yanchen, the corner of her lips curling into a mocking arc.

The expression Lou Yanchen now wore while looking at Zhong Yueyi was exactly the same as back when he had pulled her into the garden corner outside this villa and scolded her, “You really think you’re something special?”

It was just that Zhong Yueyi, who had been perfectly hidden behind the scenes back then, had now replaced Sang Zhiyi, facing Lou Yanchen’s wrath face-to-face.

And Sang Zhiyi herself had become a bystander to it all.

Their positions had been completely reversed.

A hand suddenly appeared in front of Sang Zhiyi, waving quickly to assert its presence.

“Hey.”

Song Ying maintained his posture of blocking Sang Zhiyi’s view and spoke in a low voice.

“What are you looking at that surnamed Lou for?

What’s so great about that idiot?”

Song Ying leaned even closer to Sang Zhiyi, his warm breath almost brushing against her cheek.

“With that kind of time, you might as well look at me more.”

At the end, Song Ying’s enunciation was especially forceful.

“I am your official partner!”

[Holy shit, is this something I can watch for free?!

Director Song, what are you doing?

You’re about to kiss Ren Xiaoqian’s face!]

[I knew that when these two got together, there would be no lack of sexual tension!

So much chemistry!]

[You two always whisper at crucial moments, don’t you?!

At least the last sentence was loud enough.

What a declaration of ownership!]

[“I am your official partner” aaaaah, I’m shipping this so hard I could die!!!]

[No choice, I have to invest in “Pine Nut”!]

Sang Zhiyi found Song Ying’s words quite amusing.

She turned her head and carefully examined Song Ying’s face.

Feeling Sang Zhiyi’s focused gaze at such close range, even Song Ying, who usually had a thick skin, became embarrassed.

Just a second before Song Ying was about to break, Sang Zhiyi finally withdrew her gaze.

“Director Song is right,” Sang Zhiyi tilted her head and smiled.

“You’re much better looking than him.”

Her voice was soft and sweet.

[Qian Bao’s voice is so nice to listen to?!

Baidu Maps, Amap, please get Qian Bao to record a voice pack—I want to listen to her every day!]

[How does Ren Xiaoqian manage that tone that sounds both like she’s acting cute and like she’s comforting a child, yet it’s so sincere?

Never mind Song Ying, even I feel like if she told me one plus one equals three, I’d nod along!]

[What?

Better than whom?

Who was Ren Xiaoqian just looking at?

The camera wasn’t on that side!]

[Damn, I knew there was something familiar about this.

Ren Xiaoqian’s intensity in staring at Song Ying is exactly the same as Song Ying’s intensity in staring at Ren Xiaoqian to figure out her size last episode!

Ren Xiaoqian did that on purpose!]

Realizing that Sang Zhiyi was deliberately imitating him wasn’t just limited to the audience—Song Ying himself noticed too.

Sang Zhiyi’s imitation was very accurate, with a level of detail in expression that Song Ying found very familiar at first glance.

Song Ying, already a bit shy from Sang Zhiyi’s staring, now had a redness on his face that even the audience could see.

[?!

What did I just see?

Director Song can actually blush?!]

[Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.

I originally thought Song Ying was so aggressive that he would be the dominant one in this pair, but Ren Xiaoqian, seemingly soft and weak, actually has incredible control, like using a feather to move a thousand pounds!]

[I remember last episode, the mermaid sister was also the one taking the initiative, and Director Song backed out halfway!

Their dynamic really is the mermaid sister being the one in charge!]

After the pairings were finalized, the production team of Love of a Limited Season immediately announced the next game segment—the guests, working in their pairs, were to cooperatively cook at least one dish.

The punishment for Song Ying and Zhong Yueyi, who had failed the previous activity, was that they had to sample every dish all the guests made.

“Huh?!”

Zhongli Miaomiao’s eyes widened.

“What if I don’t know how to cook?!”

She couldn’t even make instant noodles well!

Lou Yanchen also frowned.

He had never cooked before either.

The live stream audience became excited.

It was clear that among the six guests this episode, more than one obviously had no culinary skills, and they were sure to provide plenty of entertainment.

Even Song Ying’s expression changed for the first time on the show.

So the punishment was actually this?!

Song Ying had a rough idea of Zhongli Miaomiao and Lou Yanchen’s cooking abilities.

Thinking about having to taste the dishes they would make…

Song Ying felt a chill in his heart.

[Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter.

Director Song, do you remember how suave you were when you gave up on the task? [doge]]

[Director Song, do you regret it? [doge][doge][doge]]

[This is really ridiculous… Sister Yueyi was completely dragged down by Song Ying.

She wouldn’t have had to face this punishment at all originally!]

[That surnamed Song makes a mess and makes others clean it up…]

[Wait, wait, wait.

Aren’t they cooking in pairs?

Can’t their teammates save them?!]

As it turned out, their teammates could not save them.

On Zhongli Miaomiao’s side, she wanted to make the only dish she knew: scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

But she dropped the first egg on the floor, and the next one she scrambled into a black, burnt mess.

She then haphazardly cut a whole tomato into three chunks and threw it into the pan, where it also burned.

Yu Zilin actually wanted to help, but unfortunately, Zhongli Miaomiao did everything in a flurry, and Yu Zilin had a habit of letting others go first rather than competing.

The final result was entirely Zhongli Miaomiao’s own doing.

On Lou Yanchen’s side, Zhong Yueyi was actually quite a good cook—her technique clearly showed she was an experienced chef.

However, Lou Yanchen, feeling he could improvise, kept making demands of Zhong Yueyi.

Zhong Yueyi knew she was currently annoying Lou Yanchen, so she silently did everything he said.

The result was that what should have been a nice dish of yu xiang rou si turned into an unrecognizable, bizarre mess.

In comparison, the dish Sang Zhiyi and Song Ying made together—stir-fried celery with shrimp and lily—was practically a delicacy.

Sang Zhiyi knew how to cook.

Although her skills weren’t top-notch, they were far from bad.

With her handling the cooking and Song Ying, who couldn’t cook, assisting, they worked together quite harmoniously, leading many live stream viewers to exclaim that they were witnessing the “Pine Nut” CP’s married life.

The two disastrous dishes during the cooking process had already entertained the audience.

The final tasting punishment segment gave viewers exactly what they wanted to see: Song Ying, the one who usually enjoyed watching others suffer, became the joke himself.

When tasting the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and the yu xiang rou si, he looked like he was heading to the execution ground, his face as grim as Lou Yanchen’s.

By the time the official staff announced the end of this episode, the live stream audience was still wanting more.

[???

How is it over already?!

Too short, right?!]

[Compared to the previous two episodes, the length is actually acceptable, but still not enough to watch!]

[What about the second floor of the villa?

It’s already the third episode, and they still haven’t revealed what that magical second floor is for?

It can’t just be decoration, right?!]

[Aaaaah, I don’t want it to end.

We have to wait another half month for the next episode!]

[Someone knock me out and wake me up in half a month, please!]

Amid the audience’s reluctance, the recording of this episode of Love of a Limited Season officially concluded.

Zhong Yueyi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

During the cooking segment, Zhong Yueyi had endured Lou Yanchen’s criticisms and pressure, yet still maintained her signature cheerful smile, completing the entire segment.

To maintain her image and for the show’s effect, Zhong Yueyi had actually eaten all three dishes during the tasting.

She had started feeling nauseous long ago.

After vomiting in the bathroom for a while, she finally felt a bit better.

Looking at her pale, haggard face in the mirror, Zhong Yueyi gripped the edge of the sink with force.

If she hadn’t known before why Song Ying was targeting her, after this entire episode, she knew all too well.

Song Ying was warning her for Sang Zhiyi’s sake!

Zhong Yueyi had watched the recordings of the first two episodes of Love of a Limited Season, but what appeared on screen could never compare to the detail and reality of witnessing it in person.

It was only after seeing Song Ying shove Yu Zilin aside, and after he got jealous because Sang Zhiyi looked at Lou Yanchen, that Zhong Yueyi fully confirmed that Song Ying had fallen for Sang Zhiyi.

Because he had fallen for Sang Zhiyi, Song Ying had deliberately cold-shouldered her, making her the one ignored in front of the camera!

Zhong Yueyi knew that the animosity between her and Sang Zhiyi was now out in the open.

Sang Zhiyi had already made Lou Yanchen so furious with her; it was easy to understand her bringing another man to make her life difficult.

Zhong Yueyi saw in the mirror that she was biting her lower lip hard.

Pushing aside her jealousy that Sang Zhiyi could attract so many outstanding men, Zhong Yueyi’s chest was now filled more with anger.

Sang Zhiyi… just you wait!

The next day.

Sang Zhiyi took half a day out specifically to visit someone.

She went to see Lu Yaqi, the female artist who had been swaggering around Sang Zhiyi at the Starlight building but had been caught by Lou Yanchen and immediately fired.

Thanks to Lou Yanchen’s current feelings for her, Sang Zhiyi had little trouble finding Lu Yaqi’s current address and contact information through her new agent.

Lu Yaqi’s life was currently not good.

She wasn’t from A City, and at Starlight, she had been sitting on the bench, just getting by.

Once she left Starlight, she couldn’t find work in A City for the time being.

When Sang Zhiyi saw Lu Yaqi, the woman was throwing something into a dumpster at the entrance of an alley, dressed in simple black and white clothes with no makeup, looking unwell.

Behind Lu Yaqi was the urban village where she now lived—cramped, oppressive, dim, and dilapidated.

Suddenly, a rat darted out from under the dumpster, quickly scurrying over Lu Yaqi’s foot, startling her into a shriek.

Sang Zhiyi watched Lu Yaqi’s predicament indifferently.

Sang Zhiyi remembered quite clearly that back at the Starlight building, Lu Yaqi had been wearing curled, wavy hair and a wine-red dress, looking gorgeous and alluring.

More precisely, Lu Yaqi’s style back then closely resembled Zhong Yueyi’s.

This wasn’t strange.

Starlight was known for having many successful male artists but few successful female ones, with most female artists making no waves.

Only Zhong Yueyi carried some weight.

Many of the lower-level female artists at Starlight imitated “big sister” Zhong Yueyi.

Sang Zhiyi’s lips curled.

After Lou Yanchen thoroughly investigated Zhong Yueyi, she had naturally shifted a lot of the blame onto people like Lu Yaqi, whom she had once used.

She wondered how these scapegoats would view Zhong Yueyi once they learned the truth?

Sang Zhiyi unhurriedly stepped forward.

“Miss Lu Yaqi, long time no see.”

Wasn’t this using others as knives?

She would return the favor to Zhong Yueyi with interest.

During the half-month gap between the third and fourth episodes of Love of a Limited Season, Sang Zhiyi remained busy with work, juggling multiple matters simultaneously.

Feast of the Prisoners was progressing steadily.

Yu Zilin had officially announced his participation, drawing even more attention to a film that was already highly anticipated.

Sang Zhiyi’s collaboration with Zhongli Hanyu was also progressing smoothly.

Both were outstanding young talents with vision and skill, and the arrangement was quite pleasant.

Soon, it was time for the fourth episode of Love of a Limited Season to begin filming.

That day, Sang Zhiyi went to the production team’s rented villa together with Jiang Yingru.

A week earlier, Jiang Yingru had been discharged from the hospital and was recovering well.

Sang Zhiyi hadn’t missed any opportunity to consult Jiang Yingru about acting and had also visited her home twice.

Face-to-face, targeted learning and practice was still much more effective than simply communicating online.

Conveniently, starting from Jiang Yingru’s home was closer to the production team than from Sang Zhiyi’s current apartment.

On the way, they talked about Zhongli Miaomiao.

“Miaomiao really isn’t coming to this episode,” Sang Zhiyi told Jiang Yingru.

“She’s withdrawn from the guest list of Limited Season.”

As early as the last episode, Zhongli Miaomiao had said she didn’t want to play anymore, and Sang Zhiyi had encouraged her at the time.

After all, Zhongli Miaomiao had originally joined this dating show to get close to someone she liked.

But after she saw his true colors and stopped caring, she found herself with nothing to do on Love of a Limited Season.

She wasn’t interested in the other male guests and often got paired with Lou Yanchen, which annoyed her to death.

It was better to just leave.

This also directly solved the problem of the show having only three male guests but two female guests—Sang Zhiyi, Jiang Yingru, and Zhong Yueyi could all participate normally.

The production team’s producer had actually wanted to invite another new male guest, to turn the original six people and three pairs into eight people and four pairs, but this was unanimously opposed by the two financial backers, Song Ying and Lou Yanchen.

Producer: “…”

Seeing the two financial backers opposing each other suddenly made the producer feel a bit unaccustomed when he saw them on the same side.

Lou Yanchen also took the opportunity to ask why the matter of Yu Zilin becoming a special guest hadn’t been reported to him promptly.

Song Ying, rarely, chimed in. “Why are you acting on your own?”

Producer: “…………”

The producer broke out in a cold sweat.

In the end, the matter of a new guest had to be dropped.

Jiang Yingru wasn’t a talkative person, but with Sang Zhiyi, she was happy to say more.

“Jinxiu is pretty much stable now,” Jiang Yingru said.

“If you want to change companies, you can consider coming here.”

During the recent upheaval at Jinxiu’s upper management, Jiang Yingru had been hospitalized and didn’t know much.

Moreover, she had never been very interested in such matters and hadn’t taken sides.

Given her transcendent status in the entertainment industry, any changes wouldn’t affect her much.

But Jiang Yingru knew that Sang Zhiyi was preparing to terminate her contract with Starlight.

After that, she would still need to sign with another reliable film and television company.

Jiang Yingru would do her best to offer advice.

Sang Zhiyi smiled and agreed.

“Okay, I’ll think about it!”

By the time the two arrived at the filming set, they were, as usual, the earliest among all the guests.

The live stream camera, which had been on in the villa’s first-floor hall for a short while, soon captured Sang Zhiyi and Jiang Yingru walking in through the main entrance together.

Hundreds of millions of viewers had already flooded into the live stream, and the barrage was buzzing with voices.

[They’re here, they’re here!

Ah, is Zhongli Miaomiao really not here this episode?

I wanted to keep screenshotting her memes!]

[Boo hoo, my Unpleasant Couple has tragically met its end!]

[Sister Yingru is back!

She looks to be in good spirits.

I’m much more relieved!]

[“Gingerbread Men” takes the lead!

These two actually showed up together!]

[This pair are true best friends.

They came in together and went straight to sit by the bookcase to read and chat.

The vibe is great.]

When Lou Yanchen walked into the villa’s first-floor hall, he saw Sang Zhiyi and Jiang Yingru sitting together.

The cover of the book in Sang Zhiyi’s hand happened to face the entrance, and Lou Yanchen could clearly see the five large characters on it: Three Hundred Song Ci Poems.

Lou Yanchen: “…?!”

Lou Yanchen’s footsteps instantly froze.

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