“Whoa, there were actually three people who picked her!”
“I thought I was hallucinating!”
Jin Xiaoyu secretly whispered to Jiang Qianfan beside her, “I was sitting next to her just now and heard her phone buzz three times.”
Jiang Qianfan was also confused and clicked her tongue. “Shao Yuye obviously hates Shen Wanwan. Why would he choose her?”
The director turned to Shen Wanwan with a question.
“Three people have chosen you. May I ask, who is your choice?”
Shen Wanwan walked toward Shao Yuye.
This outcome shocked everyone present.
Weren’t they supposed to dislike each other?
Why on earth did Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye end up choosing each other?!
Jin Xiaoyu quietly muttered, “Could it be scripted?”
“Feels like it,” someone responded.
Jiang Qianfan almost rolled her eyes to the back of her head. “The pair least likely to choose each other did choose each other. If that’s not a script, what is?”
The director asked Shen Wanwan, “Do you have anything you’d like to say to the other two?”
Shen Wanwan looked at Li Yan and Jiang Yuan.
“You both have great taste.”
Her voice was full of praise.
Zhang Yiran, who didn’t choose Shen Wanwan: “…”
He sneaked a glance at Qi Luozhou next to him and, to his surprise, found Qi Luozhou was staring at Shen Wanwan.
Looking amused, the corners of Qi Luozhou’s mouth were slightly lifted, and his peach blossom eyes curved into an elegant arc.
Zhang Yiran thought, Well, I’m not as magnanimous as God Zhou.
Only the two of them hadn’t chosen Shen Wanwan.
So what, did that mean they had no taste?
Li Yan was also smiling.
He had only picked her because Shen Wanwan was the prettiest girl there.
But now he thought, This woman really is something else!
She was so unique.
Even though she didn’t talk much and occasionally gave off a bit of a ‘Queen of the world’ vibe…
…She really was too unique.
“No worries, let’s collaborate next time~”
Director: “Congratulations to Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye for successfully matching and earning the [Love Stronger Than Gold] item card!
“Unfortunately, everyone else’s matches failed.
“Now, we’ll begin the second round of mutual selections…”
Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye sat together in the seats reserved for matched pairs.
Ever since earlier, Shao Yuye’s gaze had practically been glued to her, burning with intensity.
Now that they were sitting together, he seemed to want to say something, but hesitated.
{If it weren’t for the cameras, I bet he’d already be grilling you about how you know so much information.}
Shen Wanwan was quite pleased with Shao Yuye’s current state.
“Hmm, I’ll think about whether I want to tell him.”
The little ball of light was frantic.
{Hey hey hey!!!
{Stop messing with your brother!
{All these years, he’s always been thinking about you.}
“Hm?” Shen Wanwan raised her brows. “What do you mean?”
001 : {Seems like you’ve misunderstood him. Hold on, I’ll find you some footage from his early audition days!}
The early footage wasn’t very high quality.
Eighteen-year-old Shao Yuye looked a little green, but the sharpness in him was even more intense than now.
He had a kind of unique, fierce energy about him.
The host asked, “Why are you participating in this show?”
“I want to be famous.
The 18-year-old boy faced the camera, hiding nothing about his ambition.
“To get big.”
At the time, people didn’t like this kind of overtly ambitious persona. They preferred polished, PR-friendly answers like ‘chasing my dreams’ or ‘proving myself.’
But Shao Yuye was direct and said exactly what he thought.
“I want everyone to see me.”
He was absolutely slammed by online comments.
[This guy is clearly desperate for fame!]
[Just because he’s good-looking doesn’t mean he can be so full of himself!]
That audition became a disaster for Shao Yuye.
Malicious comments poured in like a tidal wave, and countless hands tried to drag him down into the abyss.
But in that chaotic darkness, he was like a sharply defined bolt of lightning—cutting through the gloom, reborn from the fire.
{He’s had a really tough time these past years.}
The little light orb’s voice also slowed down.
{After Shao Yuye’s limited-time idol group from the talent show disbanded, he became the cash cow of an unscrupulous company, which booked him for an overwhelming number of jobs.
{Later, Shao Yuye paid a sky-high penalty fee to terminate his contract with that company, and only then did his career gradually get back on track.}
Only then did Shen Wanwan finally dig up the name of that scumbag father from her distant memories.
“Where’s Shao Hongyuan?”
{Shao Hongyuan was still counting on him to return and take over the family business. There’s no way Shao Hongyuan would’ve supported him.
{But it’s okay—your brother is still amazing. He climbed his way up with his own abilities, step by step. The title of ‘Strongest ACE’ really isn’t just fan hype.}
Shen Wanwan’s expression suddenly turned cold.
Meanwhile, the second round of mutual partner selection had just ended.
In the end, Bai Ling and Su Tingxuan became a team;
Jin Xiaoyu and Zhang Yiran became a team;
Jiang Qianfan and Li Yan became a team;
Only Qi Luozhou and Jiang Yuan kept their original team. But unfortunately, since Jiang Yuan had chosen Shen Wanwan in the first round, they didn’t win the reward of the [Love Stronger Than Gold] item card.
With that, the first recording session officially came to an end.
Once all the cameras were turned off and the guests were preparing to go their separate ways, Shao Yuye suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Shen Wanwan by the wrist.
“Come with me!”
He couldn’t wait a second longer!
Everyone’s eyes snapped toward them.
This time, Shen Wanwan didn’t pull away. She only gestured for him to let go.
“You’re hurting me.”
Shao Yuye paused, looking as if he were fighting an intense internal battle, then finally let go of her.
As soon as he released her, several red finger marks appeared on Shen Wanwan’s fair skin.
The two of them left the studio side by side, leaving behind a crowd of clueless onlookers.
“Holy crap, did you see that? Brother Ye didn’t look good at all.”
“The way he dragged her off—it looked like he was about to pick a fight.”
“Well, no wonder he’s mad. Let me analyze this logically: he hates Shen Wanwan, finally made it to the re-selection round, and then got forced by the capital to pick her again. Wouldn’t you be pissed?”
“For real! I’d be fuming! Shen Wanwan just got lucky being born into the right family—ugh, so unfair. I wanna become the capital and save my poor Brother Ye!!”
Shao Yuye led Shen Wanwan into the break room. After confirming that there were absolutely no cameras running, he slammed the door shut and got straight to the point.
“How do you know so much about me?”
Shen Wanwan looked at him with a faint, teasing smile.
“I know a lot more.”
Shao Yuye : “?”
Shen Wanwan: “When you were little, you got chased by a goose in the countryside, and then climbed a tree to get a beehive, only to end up stung so badly you looked like a pig’s head.”
The goose chase was because she said she wanted to ride it. The beehive? Because she wanted to eat honey.
Shao Yuye : “……”
Shen Wanwan : “You also burned off your eyebrows roasting sweet potatoes.”
He ended up a total mess but still brought her back a warm little roasted sweet potato.
Shao Yuye: “……”
Shen Wanwan: “And you have a red mole just above your right hipbone…”
She had once complained that the little red mole on her hand was ugly, so he lifted his shirt to show her his own and told her that it was there so Mom could tell them apart.
So many memories that time had worn away into haze.
The answer in Shao Yuye’s heart was suddenly screaming to be let out.
“…How do you know all that?! Do you… know me or something…”
“Because I’m your sister.”
They spoke in unison.
This pair of siblings, who usually had no sense of rapport, displayed a rare and extraordinary synchronicity in that moment.
Then, both fell into silence.
The room was so quiet, one could hear a pin drop.
Shen Wanwan looked into his eyes and slowly added:
“The blood-related kind.”