Chapter 83: The Center of the Fish Pond (18)
“Knock, knock.”
While the cameras could at least capture the transparent glass door of Pao Tong and Annie’s room, Su Mingxiu and Suhui’s side felt completely secluded.
So Wang Zhi, prompted by a staff member, knocked on the door, urging the two people having a private conversation inside to come out.
The black-haired woman had an answer on the tip of her tongue, but the sudden interruption made her turn her head towards the door.
Suhui gazed at her profile, her eyes following the elegant lines of Su Mingxiu’s face to the red coral necklace on her slender, white neck.
Then…
She unconsciously touched the candy-shaped earring on her earlobe. She didn’t know if it was because her body temperature was too low or if the material itself lacked warmth, but despite the earring’s beautiful, shimmering appearance, when she touched it, she felt the cold, hard edges prick her finger.
Her silver hair, caught by her movement, tangled around the earring, causing a slight pain.
She suddenly blurted out: “You don’t have to answer.”
The woman turned back to look at her, her beautiful eyes, more captivating than black pearls, filled with confusion.
Suhui lowered her gaze, avoiding eye contact, and replied calmly: “You humans are always glib, saying one thing to our faces and another behind our backs. No matter what your answer is, I won’t believe it.”
Su Mingxiu: “?”
She hadn’t expected to be preempted by this fish, all her possible answers blocked.
So, her lips, as red as roses, parted slightly, and she asked, “How many humans have you met to make such a judgment? Besides, you haven’t even been in a relationship with a human.”
“Do you have to be in a relationship to know if you love someone?”
Suhui looked down at the floor tiles, suddenly thinking of the men in this program, including Yuchi Xiao. The scent of other people on them was already a sign of infidelity, what was the point of even being in a relationship with such people?
She said, “I’ll find out your choice myself.”
After saying this, Suhui brushed past her. The corner of the earring, hidden beneath her silver hair, flashed in Su Mingxiu’s eyes, momentarily blinding her.
By the time she came back to her senses, the faintly fragrant figure was already gone.
Wang Zhi, seeing that neither of them had red eyes, breathed a sigh of relief. But she still asked Su Mingxiu with concern:
“Are you two… okay?”
Of course, they weren’t okay.
The fish she had almost coaxed back now had a new rift between them. Su Mingxiu walked over to a chair in the now empty cafeteria and sat down, pressing her temples, lost in thought.
Wang Zhi, as if remembering something, leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
Su Mingxiu, who had been looking indifferent, turned her head and chatted with Wang Zhi after hearing her words.
On the other side, Suhui, having declared that she would find out if humans were truly fickle, walked away. After a considerable distance, she realized that she had neither an all-powerful electronic device nor her manager from Neptune Entertainment to consult. She hesitated, then took a few steps back, wanting to see if Su Mingxiu was seriously thinking about how to coax her. Turning the corner, she saw Su Mingxiu chatting and laughing with Wang Zhi.
Where was the flustered and unsure person from earlier?
Suhui’s eyes darkened, a gloomy shadow appearing in her blue eyes. She turned and left without a word.
The discussion hadn’t yielded any progress. While the other members were either trying to relax or offering comfort, Suhui wandered the building alone.
Passing by a remote emergency exit, she overheard a conversation in the stairwell. It was a man anxiously explaining: “How could that be, honey? I’ve just been working overtime. You know we’re filming this show, working double shifts every day—”
“You’re the most important person to me… How could she be more important than you? If you don’t believe me, I’ll forward you the work schedule from my manager… I’ve given you all my vacation days, how could I possibly have time for another relationship?”
“Oh, my dear, you’re the most important… Stop sending me those quizzes. If you and she fell into the water at the same time, I would definitely save you first! May lightning strike me if I don’t!”
…
Suhui slowly stopped in her tracks.
If it weren’t for the live stream camera following her, she would have opened the door and listened more closely. But even so, the man’s voice alone was enough for her to understand what was happening.
A quiz. Who to save first if they fell into the water.
So humans had their own way of measuring love.
The next day, the filming for the MV In the Middle of the Water began.
The seven contestants were taken to the filming location early in the morning by the program’s bus. It was a temporarily rented public swimming pool. When they arrived, the venue and cameras were still being used by a film crew. The seven beauties, their appearance clearly different from ordinary people, stood out even outside the venue.
Wang Zhi gave Su Mingxiu a look, and Su Mingxiu nodded, heading towards the road across from the venue, waving to the others. “I have some personal matters to attend to, I’ll be back in half an hour.”
Coincidentally, Annie and Pao Tong exchanged glances and also excused themselves, heading in another direction together.
Soon, only Suhui and Wang Zhi remained. Wang Zhi smiled at her in a friendly manner. Remembering how Wang Zhi had chatted with Su Mingxiu for so long yesterday, Suhui only looked away, remaining silent.
“Ding, ding, ding.”
As soon as the wind chime on the door rang, Su Mingxiu was greeted by a wave of fragrance.
The scent was incredibly complex, a mix of various notes assaulting her senses, making it hard to distinguish individual components—because this was a private DIY perfume studio.
Thankfully, Wang Zhi had connections here. Yesterday, Su Mingxiu had used the laptop given to her by the film crew to book a session, and today, she was here to try her hand at creating her own perfume.
She wanted to recreate Suhui’s scent and give it to the foolish fish as a gift. After all… Suhui seemed to have complicated feelings about those candy-shaped earrings.
Although Su Mingxiu didn’t know the reason.
Countless bottles and jars were arranged on antique wooden shelves. A staff member led Su Mingxiu to the workstation and, after a brief explanation, she nodded to indicate she understood and started experimenting.
First, she created a light rose fragrance, but it smelled too common, so she discarded it.
Then, lotus… ocean…
She lost track of time. When the staff member came across the road to inform her, Su Mingxiu was trying to mix a few different elements. She sniffed the result—
What is this… salted caramel scent?
The black-haired woman had a strange expression. She hadn’t expected that her attempt to recreate Suhui’s scent would turn into a cooking experiment. She didn’t know if it was because her body’s instincts were too strong.
“Next up is the filming for the MV In the Middle of the Water. You can get in the water to get used to it.”
Soon.
The contestants who had gone out were gathered back at the venue, each carrying shopping bags. To avoid affecting their filming, the staff offered to keep their belongings for them.
Just then, Pao Tong and Annie simultaneously handed over their bags. But perhaps because Annie wasn’t careful, her bag bumped into Pao Tong’s. The girl with pink and white hair, caught off guard, her grip loosening, watched helplessly as her bag was knocked away.
Annie was stunned.
Su Mingxiu, standing beside her, hadn’t expected this either. She instinctively reached out to catch it, forgetting that she was also carrying something. In the chaos, Pao Tong, for some reason, ran straight towards the swimming pool.
“Hey!”
“Splash!” Annie watched in disbelief as Pao Tong jumped into the pool to retrieve her bag.
Just then, Suhui, who had been standing quietly at the side, also jumped into the water without a word, but without creating much of a splash. Even the director was stunned. After a while, someone asked: “Did she also drop something?”
“Does Suhui think the practice has already started?”
Wang Zhi asked worriedly, “Can they both swim?”
Annie waved her hand dismissively. “Pao Tong grew up by the sea, all the kids from her hometown know how to swim.”
That being said, Pao Tong, who had jumped in to retrieve her bag, hadn’t resurfaced yet, and even Suhui, who had followed her in, seemed to be sinking to the bottom.
This made Wang Zhi even more worried. “But… they didn’t even do any warm-up exercises before getting in the water, what if they get cramps?”
What if something happened?
After all, as the old saying went, it’s those who know how to swim who drown.
Hearing this, the girls and the assistant director became nervous, looking towards the lifeguard. Only Su Mingxiu stood there with her arms crossed, looking at the surface of the pool, her expression unreadable, no sign of worry.
Just as they were about to call the lifeguard, she casually pointed at a sign not far away with her bag-laden hand.
Everyone followed her gaze: Water depth 1.4 meters, children’s area.
“Uh…” Su Mingxiu squatted by the pool, looking at Pao Tong, who had already caught her bag but hadn’t resurfaced yet, then at Suhui, who was lying motionless at the bottom of the pool nearby, staring upwards with her blue eyes.
Especially Suhui, her long silver hair swaying like seaweed, pretending to be a dead fish, yet also wanting to see the reactions of the people above, her eyes wide open. She looked like a beautiful, realistic doll that had accidentally fallen into the water in a shop window.
Then, they saw Su Mingxiu, half-squatting on the edge of the pool, ask unhurriedly: “Are you two competing to see who can hold their breath longer? Want me to time you?”
Pao Tong, who had wanted to make her worry: “…”
Suhui, who realized that Su Mingxiu wasn’t going to save either of them: “…”
“Splash—”
The two figures, dripping wet, quickly surfaced. Pao Tong pretended not to hear Su Mingxiu’s words and winked at her with a smile: “Just kidding, did we scare you?”
Suhui’s silver hair, dripping with water, fell around her chest. She stared at Su Mingxiu. Before she could reach out and do something mischievous, Su Mingxiu suddenly raised the bag in her hand and took a step back.
“No.”
She lowered her head, smiling faintly. “These are very important gifts, they can’t get wet. Wait for me to put these away, then you can get back in the pool.”
Hearing the words “very important” and “gifts,” both the human and the fish in the pool looked at the bag in her hand, their gazes intense.
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