Chapter 35: The Greedy Deceiver Part 1

Within the dim, eerie room, someone flirted, and someone wept.

“Wuwuwuwu…” Faint sobbing came from beneath the Red Bridal Veil.

The two embracing exchanged a glance and turned to look at the Woman in Bridal Gown.

Xie Moluo batted Lian Mei’s hands away, giving her a warning look not to go too far. She then spoke gently to the Woman in Bridal Gown. “Um, Miss, don’t cry. You can tell us about any troubles you have.”

Lian Mei nodded from the side. “Yeah, share them so we can have a good laugh.”

Hearing this, the Woman in Bridal Gown cried even louder.

Bullying! First disrespecting my profession, then forcefully stuffing Dog Food down my throat! Now they’re laughing at my pain!

It’s just too much! Wuwuwu…

Xie Moluo led her to sit down at the table. “Sit and talk.”

The Red Bridal Veil was abruptly yanked off by Lian Mei. Reaching into the tissue box on the table, Lian Mei pulled out a few tissues marked with red “bloodstains” and handed them to the Woman in Bridal Gown.

Lian Mei said, “Wipe up. You’re ugly when you cry.”

The Woman in Bridal Gown stopped crying and reached out to take the tissues from Lian Mei. Seeing the fake blood, she paused, a little embarrassed. These bloody tissues were originally meant to scare the two of them, and now she was using them herself. She folded the stained side inward before starting to wipe her face.

Woman in Bridal Gown: “Thanks.”

Xie Moluo shook her head. “No need. I was scared earlier and threw a bucket of water on you. Do you want to change clothes?”

Woman in Bridal Gown: “…I didn’t prepare a second outfit.”

Xie Moluo: “We have one here. There’s another outfit on that rack. You can take it.”

The Woman in Bridal Gown lifted her face—still not fully clean and streaked with fake blood—and looked at them gratefully. “Thank you. I’ll go change then.”

She quickly went to the bathroom and changed into the red cheongsam. She also washed her face clean. Now she looked much neater, a girl with delicate features, seemingly not very old, probably just in her early twenties.

No wonder she had cried so sadly earlier. Likely with little life experience, her mental fortitude wasn’t strong enough yet.

The Woman in Bridal Gown walked up to the two, stammering, “Then I’ll… take my leave now.”

Lian Mei nodded. “We won’t see you out.”

The door opened and shut. The bedroom now held only Lian Mei and Xie Moluo.

Lian Mei stood up and stretched. “Let’s find the food. Or we’ll go hungry tonight.”

Xie Moluo: “…How do you know there’s food in this room?”

Lian Mei winked. “I guessed. We haven’t eaten anything. The Production Team definitely arranged food for us. They can’t really starve us.”

No, I smelled it. It’s under the bed, and the food is…

Lian Mei directed: “You search that side, I’ll search this side. Whoever finds it calls out.”

She deliberately assigned the area around the bed to Xie Moluo, giving her the satisfaction of finding the snacks herself.

Xie Moluo, completely unaware, nodded obediently. “Okay.”

The yellow light overhead flickered. The two searched for food. Just as Lian Mei was pretending to check inside the wardrobe, Xie Moluo’s delighted voice came from behind.

“I think I found something!”

Lian Mei closed the wardrobe door and turned around, feigning surprise. “That fast?”

She walked over to Xie Moluo and saw her dragging a large box out from under the bed.

“The Production Team must have put this here. It was way too easy to find, right under the bed. I saw it as soon as I crouched down.”

“Really? But I feel like the Production Team wouldn’t be that nice.”

“We’ll know once we open it.”

“I’ll do it.”

“No need.”

Xie Moluo carefully lifted the lid. After seeing inside, she was so annoyed she laughed out loud.

Inside were not only fresh meat and vegetables but also rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. An induction cooktop, a Kitchen Knife, bowls, and chopsticks were all provided as well.

They were meant to cook for themselves.

Crouching on the floor, Xie Moluo looked up at Lian Mei, who was standing beside her. Lian Mei spread her hands. “Then we cook.”

Xie Moluo withdrew her gaze and looked at the raw meat and vegetables, pressing her lips together slightly.

The two took everything out of the big box and placed it on the table. Then, they moved the table to the balcony. Conveniently, there was an outlet near the balcony door. They plugged the induction cooktop in and found it worked.

After arranging everything, as Xie Moluo was putting on gloves to chop vegetables, she asked, seemingly casually, “Did you ever learn to cook before?” while Lian Mei brought a bucket of clean water from the bathroom.

Lian Mei dried her hands with a tissue, yawned, and slumped into a chair lazily. “Nope. I can’t cook, only eat.”

Eat raw, that is, tearing flesh and drinking blood… at most, if conditions allowed, I’d roast a catch over a fire.

“Oh.” Xie Moluo gave a simple response and started chopping vegetables with the Kitchen Knife, asking nothing else.

Amid the rhythmic sounds of chopping, drowsiness crept over Lian Mei. She was still accustomed to sleeping as soon as night fell. Such a long-standing habit wasn’t something a few days as a human could change.

After Xie Moluo finished cutting the vegetables and meat, she took off her gloves and turned around to ask Lian Mei what she wanted to eat, only to see Lian Mei asleep in the chair. Her fine features looked exceptionally striking under the moonlight.

Xie Moluo stood quietly at the table, looking at Lian Mei without speaking. No one knew how much time passed. An autumn breeze blew into the bedroom. Lian Mei, sleeping in the chair, seemed to sense the chill. She curled her legs slightly sideways, hugging herself with both arms.

Xie Moluo pursed her lips, walked over to the large red matrimonial bed, and grabbed a thin blanket. Sitting next to Lian Mei, she was just about to drape it over her when Lian Mei suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze sharp and vigilant.

Realizing the person before her was Xie Moluo, Lian Mei’s eyes instantly softened. She lowered her curled-up legs and spotted the thin blanket in Xie Moluo’s hands, the corner of her mouth lifting.

“Honey, were you going to cover me with a blanket?”

Xie Moluo neither confirmed nor denied it. She simply tossed the blanket to Lian Mei, leaving a remark, “If you want to sleep, go sleep on the bed. Don’t sleep here,” before continuing to prepare dinner.

Lian Mei didn’t sleep any longer either. She got up, tossed the blanket back onto the bed, and walked over to Xie Moluo. “I’m done sleeping. Need help?”

“No… Go sit over there. I don’t need your help.” Xie Moluo blocked the stove, not letting Lian Mei see.

Lian Mei: “Mm? Really no need? I can still help pass ingredients or something.”

Xie Moluo: “No need.”

Xie Moluo refused so flatly, Lian Mei had nothing more to say. She lay back in the chair and promptly fell asleep again, though this time she was covered with a thin blanket.

No work, then sleep. It whitens your skin and keeps you young! And it lets me temporarily forget the fact that I’m ravenously hungry.

The rich aroma of stir-frying food wafted through the air, gently rousing Lian Mei. Her nose twitched, and she opened her sleepy eyes to find four dishes laid out on the table, along with two sets of bowls and chopsticks. The induction cooktop and other tools had been put away.

“You’re awake? Come eat then,” Xie Moluo said, her voice holding a thread of nervousness.

It’s been a long time since I’ve cooked. The dishes I used to make, even my parents, who loved me, didn’t want to eat. That’s how bad they were. Crushed my confidence so much I stopped cooking altogether. And this time, I ended up in the kitchen again.

But the presentation is good this time. I secretly tasted a bit earlier—it’s… edible.

Lian Mei should be able to stomach it, right? If even Lian Mei finds it unpalatable this time, I’m never cooking again! The humiliation!

“So good!” Lian Mei chewed a piece of carrot and pork belly and exclaimed in wonder.

“Really?”

Seeing Lian Mei’s excited expression, Xie Moluo was skeptical. She also picked up a bite of food. It didn’t taste especially delicious to her, just decent. Edible. Compared to the feast they’d had at lunch, it was night and day. So why, in Lian Mei’s mouth, was it so delicious?

“You’re really not lying to me? These dishes are good?” Xie Moluo gripped her chopsticks and asked seriously.

Lian Mei nodded. “Why would I lie to you? Of course, it’s true! Super delicious!” With that, she picked up a large bite of chili stir-fried pork. “Ooh, this is good too! Just a bit spicy…”

Damn, this is the first time I’ve ever eaten chili. I’m going to cry from the spice!

Seeing Lian Mei’s expression didn’t seem fake, Xie Moluo silently ate her meal, but the smile on her lips couldn’t be hidden anymore.

“Then, from now on, whenever I have free time at home, I can cook for us—” Mid-sentence, Xie Moluo’s smile froze.

We’d already agreed to divorce. What ‘from now on’…

Right, I almost forgot. Everything Lian Mei does on this show… can’t be real, right? She just wants to use this show to get famous. Everything she does… is fake…

Facts she had almost forgotten floated back to the surface with that one joyful phrase.

She thought about her own fluttering heartbeat earlier and hated herself for being so starved for affection that she’d be moved by the smallest kindness someone showed.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Moluo’s disappointment was so obvious that Lian Mei, sitting across from her, could clearly sense it.

Xie Moluo’s expression cooled slightly. “It’s nothing. There’s hot water in the bathroom. After we eat, let’s shower and go to bed.”

Lian Mei: “…Okay.”

What happened to her this time?

After dinner, looking at the dishes on the table, Lian Mei asked, “Is there dish soap?”

Xie Moluo searched around. “Didn’t see any.”

Lian Mei stretched lazily. “If there’s none, the Production Team will probably wash them. Let’s just leave them outside the door for them to take back and wash.”

Xie Moluo: “…Is that okay?”

We ate off these dishes, and we’re making the Production Team wash them? Isn’t that a bit much?

Lian Mei shrugged. “If they didn’t prepare dish soap, they probably didn’t plan for us to wash them.”

Knock, knock. A knock came at the door. The two walked over and opened it. Behind the door was a woman dressed head-to-toe in black, wearing a black mask and cap.

She handed them a bottle of dish soap, slightly out of breath. “Guests are required to wash their own dishes. The Production Team will not wash them for the guests.” With that, she turned and left, quickly disappearing from sight.

Lian Mei: Oh? They overheard our conversation and delivered dish soap from miles away.

Xie Moluo chuckled softly. “We’ll wash them ourselves. They wouldn’t be so kind as to wash them for us.”

Lian Mei: “Tsk. They really won’t take a single loss, will they.”