Chapter 68
“Why… are you avoiding me?”
Ye Yuyuan’s voice was low—so low it was almost husky, a sound only Fang Huai could hear.
His left hand rested lightly against the sink as he reached out with his right to grab a small dish from the cabinet. His lips were so close to Fang Huai’s ear that his breath was distinctly audible.
A tracking camera had been installed in the kitchen, but the streaming platform’s screen was still displaying the living room—there was a one-to-two-minute delay. The viewers in the comment section were still completely unaware of what was happening in the kitchen.
Dusk had fallen. The snow from the previous night had already melted, and droplets of water traced winding paths down the glass windows. Inside, the atmosphere felt inexplicably tense.
Fang Huai hesitated. “…I—”
He was a little confused. Was he avoiding Ye Yuyuan? He hadn’t even realized it himself. But from an outsider’s perspective, it probably seemed that way.
Lately, he hadn’t been acting like himself. Something must be wrong—he must be sick. Until he figured out what was going on, it was best to keep his distance from Ye Yuyuan. What if it was contagious?
Fang Huai quickly found a justification for himself.
“I’m not avoiding you,” he said. “You should stay further away from me. It’s not safe.”
His voice, usually clear and bright, was slightly muffled with a nasal tone, as if he were holding something in, “I’m dangerous.”
He added the words very seriously.
Ye Yuyuan: “…”
His right hand had already grasped the dish, but after a moment of thought, he let go. The man remained silent for a few seconds, pressed his lips together slightly, then stepped back, giving Fang Huai some space.
Fang Huai let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.
He didn’t look at Ye Yuyuan. Instead, he lowered his head and continued slicing radish strips, his lips slightly tensed. The kitchen lights hadn’t been turned on yet, and the evening light outside was gradually deepening. The last rays of the sunset streamed in through the window.
Fang Huai seemed to have grown taller—probably around 181 to 182 cm now. His back was straight, and he was dressed in a soft cotton shirt and long pants. His slender frame carried a unique balance between youthful sharpness and the elegance of early adulthood.
He was actually a very easy person to read. Every expression was right there on his face—whether he liked or disliked something was always clear. And with people he was close to, he was even more transparent.
Ye Yuyuan watched him in silence for a long while before suddenly asking, “Do you hate me? …Am I disgusting to you?”
Fang Huai’s hand trembled. The knife slipped, cutting into his finger. Instantly, a drop of blood beaded at the wound.
But he didn’t even bother to check his injury. Instead, he turned to look at Ye Yuyuan, his expression visibly upset. He hadn’t even sorted out his thoughts before blurting out, speaking hastily, his words tumbling out with no clear logic.
In a voice filled with disappointment, he said, “Ye Yuyuan, if—if that’s what you think, then I feel really sad.”
Ye Yuyuan remained silent. His index finger curled slightly, and his expression darkened—he was angry too.
His dark eyes fell on the wound. Fang Huai casually shook his hand, then roughly wiped it with a tissue, but the bleeding didn’t stop.
“I’m sad too,” Ye Yuyuan said in a low voice.
He paused for a moment, then took Fang Huai’s hand into his palm and lowered his head—gently placing his lips over the wound.
Fang Huai’s fingers trembled slightly. He stayed still, watching Ye Yuyuan’s downcast eyes, and said seriously, “I don’t hate you. I barely have enough time to like you.”
Ye Yuyuan: “…”
The man instantly froze, his entire body stiffening.
A moment of silence filled the room.
Then, suddenly, Ye Yuyuan straightened up, turned around, and took an apron off the rack. In a calm tone, he said, “Go outside and bandage it. I’ll handle dinner tonight.”
Fang Huai: “…”
Ye Yuyuan glanced at him from the corner of his eye—his expression clearly asking, Why are you still here?
Fang Huai hesitated but ultimately had no choice. After a moment, he left, looking frustrated.
The livestream had just switched to the kitchen, capturing the moment of their tense parting. The audience watched as Fang Huai walked out to get his hand bandaged, leaving Ye Yuyuan standing silently at the counter, washing and chopping vegetables alone.
[CEO Ye is so scary!! I’m terrified!! Even our sweet, easygoing Fang Fang had a falling out with him.]
[Was that really necessary? They’re all adults—why does he have to be so aggressive?!]
[New here? Heartbeat Signal has always had this atmosphere. They’re not just housemates; they’re also competitors. Especially the same-gender guests—remember last season when two female contestants had a full-blown argument face-to-face? This is normal.]
[But… why do I feel like CEO Ye is actually in a good mood? Did he… smile???]
[Of course he’s in a good mood—he doesn’t have to share a room with someone he doesn’t like anymore.]
That viewer wasn’t wrong.
The tall man stood with his back to the camera, silently chopping vegetables. His long, well-defined fingers handled the knife with precision, though his movements gradually slowed.
He stared at the stream of water in the sink, lost in thought. Then, unconsciously, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.
A quiet cough escaped his lips as he tried to suppress the growing smile, but his dark eyes had already softened.
Dinner time arrived, and the others who had gone out returned one by one.
“Tonight’s meal is delicious,” Lin Huan said with a restrained smile, holding her fork. She was a delicate and refined young woman. “Thank you, Mr. Ye and Huai Huai.”
Since both Yin Wanyue and Feng Lang had started calling Fang Huai Huai Huai, Lin Huan hesitated for a moment before following suit.
For some reason, the moment the words left her mouth, Ye Yuyuan cast a faint glance in her direction.
He didn’t respond to the compliment—just gave a slight nod.
Lin Huan’s smile wavered slightly. “…”
An awkward silence followed.
In the end, it was Fang Huai who broke the tension with a sheepish smile. “No, he did most of the cooking. I just sliced some radish strips. Did you like it?”
Lin Huan let out a breath of relief and said, “I really liked it. You cut the vegetables so neatly. If you have time, you should teach me next time.”
Yin Wanyue glanced at her with a half-smile but said nothing.
Throughout dinner, Ye Yuyuan barely spoke. On the other hand, Feng Lang occasionally chatted with Yin Wanyue and exchanged a few words with Fang Huai. Even Duan Yang, who had seemed exhausted in the morning, was more engaged—he answered questions and participated in conversations, making the atmosphere much livelier.
Once again, everyone was impressed by Feng Lang’s emotional intelligence. Despite his reputation for being a flirt, he knew how to keep things balanced—never making anyone feel left out.
As the group ate, the livestream chat was filled with lively discussions. Since it was right after work hours, and with the entire day’s publicity gaining momentum, the number of live viewers had unexpectedly reached 800,000—already surpassing the production team’s expectations. They had initially projected peak traffic to be around 9 PM.
And a significant number of votes had already been cast.
[I think Lin Huan’s initial arrow was pointing to CEO Ye… Did anyone notice that the first cup of tea she made was handed to him? And when she spoke earlier, she also mentioned ‘Mr. Ye’ first.]
[A typical admiration-for-power mindset. Honestly, no offense, but even if you combined the assets of the other three male contestants, they wouldn’t come close to CEO Ye.]
[She might have changed her choice just now—Ye Yuyuan ignored her, which was a bit awkward.]
[Wait, does this mean Fang Huai might end up as the most popular pick today? That would be crazy. My baby is unintentionally radiating charm! ]
[Nah, at least CEO Ye wouldn’t pick him.]
As expected, the voting results still placed the “Ye Yuyuan ? Fang Huai” arrow at the very bottom.
After dinner, the production team announced their “ice-breaking activity.” Everyone had anticipated something cliché, but no one expected it to be this cliché.
Telling ghost stories.
The audience: “…”
Alright. It was only the first day. They decided to give the production team one more chance.
The six participants turned off the lights and lit some emergency candles they had dug out from the back of a cabinet. They settled onto the sofas, ready for the activity. Nothing particularly unusual happened—except for Lin Huan, who was visibly scared. She wasn’t pretending; she was genuinely afraid.
Fang Huai was in the middle of sharing a paranormal story from his childhood. But when he saw how frightened Lin Huan was, he had a change of heart and altered the ending:
“The little girl returned home alone. The house was empty—there was no one there… But the dog she had raised as a child was waiting for her. It stayed by her side all night, keeping her company until sunrise.”
After hearing this version of the story, Duan Yang glanced at Fang Huai—whether intentionally or not.
[LMAO, where’s the scary part of this ghost story?! Something feels off here. ]
[Oh no… Lin Huan is probably going to pick Fang Huai now too. Another rival joins the race.]
Next, it was Duan Yang’s turn to tell a story. His husky, slightly smoky voice rang out in the dimly lit room:
“I once saw a dog.”
“It had been skinned and its tendons pulled out. It was left out in the rain, its blood slowly trickling away… The injuries should have been fatal, and yet, somehow, it was still alive.”
As the story reached this point, Fang Huai’s brows furrowed slightly, while Yin Wanyue and Lin Huan remained unaware.
However, both Ye Yuyuan and Feng Lang’s expressions subtly shifted. Feng Lang, who had been lounging lazily on the sofa, sat up straight, and Ye Yuyuan lowered his gaze.
The ghost story segment soon came to an end, and everyone returned to their rooms to shower and prepare to send their text messages.
As Duan Yang stood up to leave, someone suddenly called out to him.
He raised an eyebrow, turned around, and locked eyes with the silent man.
Ye Yuyuan rubbed his thumb against his cufflink. By the time he looked up again, the darkness in his eyes had faded. In a calm, indifferent tone, he asked, “Who are you?”
Duan Yang looked at him, his expression somewhat bored. After a moment, he replied, “What do you think?”
“…”
He let out a soft chuckle and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not like you.”
With that, Duan Yang shifted his gaze away, slipped his feet into his slippers, and walked back to his room.
Ye Yuyuan remained in place for a brief moment before silently turning to leave as well.
Livestream chat:
[???]
[“Who are you?” …Who is he? What is he?? Are they communicating via brainwaves? I don’t understand.]
[Wait, is this… an arrow?? Is Ye Yuyuan about to pick my man? Please no, let Yang Yang stay uniquely beautiful on his own, I’m begging you.]
While the guests were showering, the livestream chat grew even more heated, and the number of voters kept increasing. Since the voting closed at 11:30 PM, with results announced at midnight, everyone was eager to cast their final votes.
So far, the most popular arrow remained “Yin Wanyue ? Fang Huai.”
Of course, the first day’s picks didn’t hold much weight—past seasons had shown that initial choices rarely aligned with the final pairings.
After finishing his shower, Fang Huai took a moment to seriously consider who he should send his message to.
How should he put it…
He knew this was just a variety show, so his first instinct wasn’t to send it to the person he really wanted to. After thinking it through, he decided to send his message to Lin Huan.
Yin Wanyue had quietly told him earlier that he didn’t need to send one to her—she didn’t want to be targeted by fans. And while people talk about gender equality, in situations like these, female contestants were still at a disadvantage.
Lin Huan was a quiet and reserved person. She had tried hard today to interact with everyone but didn’t get much response. For a girl, not receiving even a single text message tonight would probably be quite embarrassing. So, Fang Huai thought, I’ll at least make sure she gets one.
He typed, “You’re a thoughtful girl. Keep going.”
As soon as he hit send, his phone suddenly vibrated. Just as he was about to check his inbox, he noticed snowflakes drifting down outside his window.
The snowfall was intense, even heavier than the night before, blanketing the windowsill in no time.
Having grown up in the far south, even further south than Nan City, he had never seen snow this heavy before. He stood there for a moment, mesmerized.
By the time he snapped out of it, his phone had already run out of battery and shut off.
Fang Huai: “…”
He plugged in his phone to charge, and just then, the door opened—Ye Yuyuan had returned to the room.
Fang Huai suddenly felt nervous again!
He didn’t even know why. They had already cleared things up in the kitchen earlier, but the moment he realized he was alone in a room with Ye Yuyuan, that tingling, numbing sensation crawled up his spine, making it impossible to speak properly.
So when Ye Yuyuan walked in, the first thing he saw was a small lump on Fang Huai’s bed.
Fang Huai’s bed was positioned further inside the room. He had curled himself into a ball under the covers, completely hidden, with only a few strands of hair peeking out from the blanket.
Ye Yuyuan: “…”
He silently stared at the little lump for a moment before placing the item in his palm onto the windowsill.
After that, he let out a soft sigh and walked over to sit on the sofa. Holding his phone in his hand, he glanced at it from side to side, his expression somewhat puzzled.
The “Heartbeat Signal” results hadn’t been announced yet, and the livestream chat was at its peak activity.
Livestream chat:
[LOL is President Ye checking if his phone is broken because he didn’t receive a single text?]
[Honestly, not surprising! He’s way too distant! I can’t take it anymore—his emotional intelligence is in the negatives, even our baby can’t handle him.]
[But he’s rich… shouldn’t someone have sent him a message at least??]
As soon as the clock struck midnight, the livestream feed was cut off. Viewers could no longer watch, and many sighed in disappointment, already looking forward to tomorrow.
Tomorrow was Date Day—half of the guests would design their own date scenarios, while the other half would draw lots to determine their partner. Unlike previous seasons, dates weren’t restricted to male-female pairs, opening the door for more dramatic and unpredictable outcomes. It was bound to be even more exciting.
With that in mind, viewers eagerly checked the show’s announcement of the initial “pick” results.
As expected…
Wait, what?!
I bet all three men picked Fang Huai