"Huh? There's a key in your room?" Ji Meina was startled. "Where? Could there be one in my room too?"
Her voice immediately drew everyone's attention.
"Let's look, maybe there is." Xia Qingtian winked at Ji Meina and subtly made a "shh" gesture.
"Shh..." Ji Meina immediately shrank her neck like a little hamster, placing both index fingers over her lips in a silencing motion, her eyes curved into crescent moons as she smiled.
"Oh my god, you're so adorable!" Xia Qingtian instantly felt a surge of maternal affection and gave Ji Meina a big hug.
Who wouldn’t want to kiss, cuddle, and lift up such an outstanding legal loli!
"Hehe." Ji Meina seemed used to being doted on like a child. While hugging Xia Qingtian back, she tilted her head up and asked curiously, "You're so tall! How old are you?"
"I'm 168 cm barefoot—not that tall, really. But I'm 19 this year, so maybe I’ll grow another centimeter or two." Xia Qingtian’s goal was actually 170 cm. In her past life, confined to a wheelchair, she had given up on treatment and never paid attention to her height.
Hearing this, Ji Meina fell silent.
Noticing Ji Meina’s sudden gloom, Xia Qingtian immediately sensed something was wrong. "What’s wrong? Meina, you seem upset?"
"I’m already 25... and only 160 cm tall. Probably won’t grow anymore..." Ji Meina forced a pitiful smile, her eyes vacant. "My family’s started pressuring me to get married too... When I was 22, they said it was fine if I stayed like this forever, but the moment I turned 23, it was all ‘when are you getting married?’ and ‘when are you dating?’... Nineteen... such a wonderful age... Heh... heh..."
"Meina, snap out of it!" Xia Qingtian shook Ji Meina’s shoulders.
"Heh... heh..." Ji Meina didn’t look like she was snapping out of it anytime soon.
"There’s dessert in the dining room. Lots of cake." Tong Nianzhe walked past with his hands in his pockets, his tone cool and indifferent. Yet his seemingly offhand remark instantly revived Ji Meina.
"There’s cake?!" Ji Meina immediately perked up, grabbing Xia Qingtian’s hand and dragging her toward the dining table.
Xia Qingtian glanced at Ji Meina, then looked back at Tong Nianzhe, a knowing "auntie smile" spreading across her face.
So Tong Nianzhe had already been looking out for Ji Meina at this point? As expected of the ship she rooted for!
[Meina is so cute! She doesn’t look 25 at all!]
[Short Meina is adorable yet tragic! Who understands the sorrow of being 160 cm?! A 19-year-old is taller than you and has bigger—sob, this is too sad...]
[Comment above, I suspect you’re driving, but I have no proof!]
[I want to take her home so badly! She’s so sweet! No wonder she’s the top sweetheart in the entertainment industry.]
[I’m so jealous of Xia Qingtian! She gets to hug Meina! I wanna hug my Meina too!]
[What’s Xia Qingtian showing off for? Is 168 cm that tall? Mocking Meina like that—who does she think she is?]
[Doesn’t anyone find Xia Qingtian disgusting? First, she latched onto Ling Fenghan, now she’s clinging to Meina. She’s just taking advantage of Meina’s soft personality. No works, just riding coattails!]
[I hate these fake social butterflies too. Acting like sisters with every girl and bros with every guy, pretending they’re so popular.]
[We had someone like that in our class. Friendly to your face, but talked trash behind everyone’s back.]
[Now I’m getting secondhand hate for Xia Qingtian.]
[Ugh, she even smiled at Tong Nianzhe! What’s there to smile about?!]
[She knows Tong Nianzhe is Meina’s junior, so she’s using Meina to get close to him!]
[This woman is such a scheming b*tch!]
[Go cling to your Ling Fenghan and leave our Tong Nianzhe alone!]
[Our group’s soul, Tong Nianzhe, wants nothing to do with you! Xia Qingtian, get lost!]
[Ling Fenghan wants nothing to do with you either! Xia Qingtian, scram!]
[No idea why Xia Qingtian’s even on this dating show. First, she pushed the ‘genius’ persona, studying on livestreams. Now what? The ‘everyone loves me’ act?]
[No works, just riding trends. Won some government award and won’t shut up about it. So annoying, just quit the industry already!]
[Xia Qingtian, get out of the entertainment industry!]
[...]
In Ji Meina’s livestream, the comments were overwhelmingly hostile toward Xia Qingtian. Meanwhile, Xia Qingtian’s own livestream was far more harmonious, with most viewers expressing envy that she got to hug the adorable Ji Meina—or that Ji Meina got hugged by Xia Qingtian.
Over in the dining room, everyone had started eating.
It was clear the villa’s host had put in a lot of effort. The buffet-style dishes were arranged on two long tables, with a lavish spread that included plenty of cakes and desserts.
Ji Meina had stacked several plates of cake in front of herself. Xia Qingtian, seated to Ji Meina’s left, had loaded up on meat dishes.
Qiu Xinxue had only taken two plates of vegetables and deliberately sat next to Xia Qingtian. Beside Qiu Xinxue was Lin Yirou, who had returned last, with a balanced mix of meat and veggies.
Aside from Ji Meina, who only wanted cake, none of the three female guests had taken any carbs.
The four male guests sitting across from them, however, had rice, dishes, and drinks.
"How come none of you are eating cake?" Ji Meina glanced around, suddenly self-conscious about the towering pile of colorful, pastel-hued dessert plates in front of her.
"I like meat," Xia Qingtian said.
"I’m on a diet," Qiu Xinxue said with a smile. "My manager reminded me to watch my weight."
"I don’t like sweets," Lin Yirou said casually.
"No wonder you’re all so tall and have such great figures..." Ji Meina looked at everyone else’s plates, then down at her own, as if genuinely reflecting on whether her diet was too high in sugar and carbs.
"What’s the big deal? Those cakes don’t have calorie labels," Xia Qingtian shrugged. "No label means zero calories. Eat up."
The others burst into laughter, the atmosphere instantly relaxing.
"Anyway, you’re already 25. Not gonna grow taller. Might as well enjoy yourself." Tong Nianzhe, seated directly across from Ji Meina, sliced into his meat as he spoke.
"Shut up!" Ji Meina glared at him. What was his problem? Always picking on her.
Even at the company, he constantly mocked her. Now he was doing it on camera too.
So mean!
Tong Nianzhe shrugged, his smile faintly enigmatic.
Xia Qingtian, watching from the sidelines, silently indulged in her ship, her lips curling into a satisfied grin.
Getting to fangirl this close-up was just too satisfying!