Chapter 53: Three Questions Awaken the Dreamer

Room 2.

Xu Junze sat in front of his computer. The lighting in the room was somewhat dim, and he wondered if the production team had done it on purpose, using this light to create an atmosphere conducive to prying into secrets.

The computer screen’s glow was piercingly bright.

After logging into the chat account provided by the show, he saw that his contact list contained only one person, marked as “The Person You Wish to Question,” with a dark-colored avatar, currently offline.

Tonight, the name he submitted to the production team for questioning was—Qi Jiajia.

After spending so many days together in the cabin, everyone had formed their own judgments about who was once a couple with whom.

So, seeing just this “Person You Wish to Question” in his contact list, Xu Junze could pretty much guess who it was.

With only one contact, it also meant that tonight, no other male contestant wished to question him.

At that thought, his brow lifted ever so slightly. Did this mean that, up to now, his ex-girlfriend had yet to truly enter another man’s heart?

A faint, irrepressible smile tugged at his lips.

But caught on camera, this expression led the behind-the-scenes cameraman to believe he was suppressing some major question for his target.

A notification sounded as his addressee came online—the avatar of “The Person You Wish to Question” lit up.

Xu Junze opened the chat window, waiting for the program’s go-ahead to start questioning.

Meanwhile, in Room 4.

Wen Yiming had just logged into his own account, only to find two contacts on his list: “The Person You Wish to Question,” and “The Person Who Will Question You.”

He frowned slightly, surprised.

Someone wanted to question him?

Well, it seemed today’s date had left quite an impression on someone, hadn’t it, Qi Jiajia?

A strange discomfort grew in his chest—the feeling of knowing that the woman who was once his now occupied another man’s thoughts was truly unpleasant.

True, they’d broken up, and there was no more entanglement. Wen Yiming had never been one to double back on old relationships, but honestly, it hadn’t been that long since their breakup… Facing this situation, it was hard not to feel at least a little perturbed.

As he sat there lost in thought, a new message arrived.

The other party: [What was the reason for your breakup?]

Wen Yiming frowned again.

So direct, right off the bat? Who was on the other end? Whom did Qi Jiajia go out with today?

The reason for their breakup… Wen Yiming quietly ran his tongue over his gums, pondering how to frame his answer.

The real reason was that Qi Jiajia was often suspicious he had other women outside, checking his phone every so often. Once, she discovered something she shouldn’t have seen and exploded on the spot.

That time, it was a female student from his advanced class—impressive on all fronts—who, after a few fitness sessions, developed a crush on him and often sent him flirty messages outside class.

Out of professional courtesy, he hadn’t explicitly rejected her, but he hadn’t accepted her advances either. When Qi Jiajia found out, she couldn’t take it. She accused him of “keeping fish,” called him a player, and the two fought endlessly about it.

Wen Yiming felt she was too insecure; dealing with her constant drama was exhausting. So he broke it off—better for both to be free.

Qi Jiajia claimed he was a natural flirt, his eyes lighting up at any pretty woman, always “keeping fish,” bound to cheat sooner or later, that he’d never change his ways, and that her insecurity was all his fault.

Their bickering ultimately led to the breakup.

Reflecting on it, Wen Yiming couldn’t help but sigh.

He couldn’t possibly say all that on air; otherwise, once the show aired, the online trolls would have a field day.

After thinking it over, Wen Yiming replied:

[The reason for our breakup? I actually mentioned it in the exes’ recordings before—she’s someone who needs a high sense of security, and I couldn’t give her what she wanted.]

The other party: [Who initiated the breakup?]

Wen Yiming: [It wasn’t really about who initiated it—it was a mutual decision.]

The other party: [I heard you’ve been broken up for half a year. Do you still have feelings for her now?]

Wen Yiming paused a few seconds before replying: [No.]

The other party: [Alright, thank you. That’s all I wanted to ask.]

With that, the other party went offline.

Wen Yiming felt a bit dazed, but honestly, he hadn’t revealed much new information.

He still needed to question someone. He chose Ye Fangfei’s ex.

So, he stopped dwelling on his own ex and began contemplating what he’d ask next.

…

Room 3.

Li Jiayan sat in front of the computer, lost in thought. She’d already questioned the person she wanted to, completing tonight’s task, and was now waiting for the production team to let her leave.

Indeed, no other girl wanted to question her.

When she returned to the cabin tonight, she’d run into Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei getting along harmoniously—she thought she’d be questioned at least once tonight.

But she wasn’t.

Then again, it wasn’t strange.

Human nature is complex; sometimes you really can’t guess what someone else is thinking.

For example, today she went on a date with Zhang Chen. As they flew kites together, she’d genuinely felt her heart race; if her instincts were right, he’d felt something for her too.

But after questioning Zhang Chen’s ex, she’d learned something new.

He wanted to get back together with his ex.

That revelation left her feeling conflicted.

A man still hung up on his ex… well…

…

Room 5.

Chu Yao propped her chin on one hand, the other idly tracing over the keyboard.

She’d finished her questions, but the information she’d gained left her feeling down, an invisible blow to her confidence.

Today’s date with Zhang Chen—how to put it—had basically reached the ambiguous stage, hadn’t it? He’d even carried her like a princess!

But according to his ex, Zhang Chen cared about matching backgrounds.

Her own family was poor; everything she’d achieved was through her own hard work. For the show, she’d even used her connections to dig into Zhang Chen’s family background, finally learning how powerful his family was.

Honestly, her own status was nothing compared to his.

For a top influencer to try to marry into wealth? Not hard.

But to marry someone of Zhang Chen’s caliber, to truly jump social classes? That was another story.

Chu Yao stared at the computer screen.

There was still one contact in her list, marked as “The Person Who Will Question You.” So, someone was interested in her ex today.

Her heart felt as if ants were gnawing at it, but she forced herself to ignore the feeling.

Since she’d chosen not to look back, there was no need to care any longer.

She told herself to look forward.

A new message notification sounded—the other party was online.

Them: [Hi.]

Chu Yao: [Hi.]

Them: [Then I’ll just get straight to my questions, okay?]

Chu Yao: [Sure, go ahead.]

Them: [How long were you two together?]

Chu Yao: [If you don’t count the time we just knew each other, we officially dated for a little over two years.]

Them: [Alright.]
Them: [How long have you been broken up?]

Chu Yao: [A year.]

Them: [Why don’t you want to get back together with him? Could you be specific?]

That last question made Chu Yao knit her brows.

What did that mean? Did they already know she didn’t want to reconcile with Xu Junze? Had he told them himself?

A sense of speechlessness rose in her. After adjusting her emotions, she typed:

[I don’t want to mix career and romance—it easily leads to conflict.]

After typing this, Chu Yao hesitated for quite a while before deleting it and sending a new message:

[Our views on career conflict; we’re just not suited for each other.]

She left it at that.

The other party seemed to be waiting for her to elaborate, but when nothing more came, they simply replied, “Thank you.”

With that, the night’s task was finally done, and Chu Yao let out a long sigh.

Meanwhile, in Room 7, Qi Jiajia was staring at the chat record displayed on her screen, feeling a bit perplexed.

So much for a detailed discussion—they’d brushed it off with just a few words.

Fine…

Dated for two years, broken up for one, the guy wanted to reconcile, the girl didn’t.

Qi Jiajia secretly thought their breakup probably wasn’t just about a “conflict of career views.”

With no more contacts in her list, Qi Jiajia logged off to wait for the show’s end-of-session instructions.

Oddly enough, she felt a bit happy.

Wen Yiming had been flirting left and right on the show, yet now not a single woman wanted to learn more about him—ha! She almost wanted to laugh out loud.

Room 6.

Zhang Chen sat at his computer, staring at the chat app’s “Person Who Will Question You—No. 1” and “Person Who Will Question You—No. 2,” in a foul mood.

When it was time to submit the name of the female contestant he wanted to question, Zhang Chen cheekily sent in Ye Fangfei’s name.

The producers just replied with an ellipsis.

In the end, he chose no one.

He had his boundaries—before things with Ye Fangfei progressed further, there were lines he refused to cross.

He couldn’t let it seem he was interested in getting to know other women in this segment—that would be a disaster.

The persona he wanted to establish was: “See? No matter how many are infatuated with me, I pass through a thousand blossoms, but love only you.”

But what Zhang Chen never expected was that two men in this house would be so bold as to covet his ex-girlfriend!

In his list, No. 1’s avatar lit up first. Not knowing who it was, Zhang Chen waited coldly for the questions.

No. 1: [What are Fangfei’s daily hobbies?]

This question stumped Zhang Chen for a while.

Daily hobbies? He wanted to know that himself!

After a moment’s thought, he replied:

[Singing and dancing.]

The answer must have surprised the other party, who replied with an ellipsis.

No. 1: [That’s vague—say more, please.]

Zhang Chen: [Don’t know anything else.]

The other seemed to go silent, perhaps feeling Zhang Chen was being perfunctory.

But he wasn’t; he was just being honest.

Soon, another question came in.

No. 1: [What kind of men do you think she likes?]

Zhang Chen: [I think she likes guys like me—would you believe that? If I really knew exactly what she liked, we wouldn’t have broken up.]

No. 1 sent a dumbfounded emoji.

No. 1: [Then can I void my last question and ask a new one?]

Zhang Chen: [No.]

No. 1: [……]

Zhang Chen: [You have one last question.]

No. 1: [Do you think you and she are well matched?]

That question instantly darkened Zhang Chen’s face.

Damn it, who was this on the other side?!

He angrily typed back:

[Definitely better matched than you.]

The other party was stunned by this reply, quickly clarifying:

[I… didn’t mean anything by it. Sorry if I offended you.]

Zhang Chen couldn’t be bothered to reply to this idiot.

Contact No. 1 went offline, and No. 2 came online.

Zhang Chen was wildly guessing who it could be.

No. 1’s questions had really irked him; hopefully No. 2 wouldn’t be as annoying.

…

Room 8.

Lu Zhou was logging into his account. Once in, he saw there was only one contact.

No one wanted to question him, but he had someone to question.

That person was Zhang Chen.

Yes, tonight he’d submitted “Ye Fangfei” to the producers.

Initially, he’d planned to write “none,” but then thought that he couldn’t always stay disengaged; for the sake of camera time, he had to stir up some drama.

In the end, he decided to tease his roommate Zhang Chen.

Of course, if he was honest, of the four female guests, he was most interested in Ye Fangfei.

But his mind wasn’t really on romance now, so he didn’t take his feelings seriously.

What should he ask?

Lu Zhou tilted his head, thinking for a while.

Hmm… Zhang Chen, who was obsessed with getting back with his ex, and Ye Fangfei, who acted indifferent.

After some thought, Lu Zhou suddenly knew what to ask.

[Since moving into the cabin, how many times has she messaged you goodnight?]

He sent the question.

Soon, Zhang Chen replied: [Once.]

Lu Zhou smiled at this answer.

[What was your most attractive quality to her when you were together?]

He sent another pre-planned question.

Zhang Chen: [Money.]

Lu Zhou raised an eyebrow at that.

He’d only planned to ask two questions, but suddenly, inspired by that answer, he asked one more:

[Is she really short of money?]

This seemed to make Zhang Chen pause; after a while, he replied:

[Not really…]

Lu Zhou was even more amused. “If you two get back together, I’ll eat my hat,” he thought.

He wrapped up: [I’m done. Bye.]

After sending the message, he logged off, finding this segment unexpectedly entertaining—anonymous gossip at its finest, something the producers clearly understood.

Meanwhile, in Room 6, Zhang Chen, just finished with his questions, felt a fire rise in his chest.

Who was this “Person Who Will Question You—No. 2”?!

Each question seemed innocuous, yet every one hit where it hurt!

Three questions to awaken a dreamer—apart from family wealth and money, did he have any particular shining qualities in Ye Fangfei’s eyes?

Probably not.

Perhaps, in her view, he was just living off his father’s legacy, unable to achieve anything on his own.

So, was “you’re too dull” just an excuse? Did she actually just look down on his abilities?

Damn, maybe he’d found the real issue!

But how to fix it?

…

The anonymous chatroom session ended. All the guests left their rooms and returned downstairs for free time.

No one knew what was said between whom, or what information the exes had revealed.

But clearly, after leaving the chatroom, everyone seemed a little weighed down.

What none of the eight guests realized, however, was that tonight, the production team was even more troubled than they were.

Because for reasons unknown, the two major investors had suddenly taken an interest in the show’s progress and requested to view the solo footage of Ye Fangfei and Zhang Chen.

After watching, both investors’ expressions darkened considerably.