After becoming the stand-in for the four big guys - Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Su Hua could only silently thank Yu Jing for her kindness and continued playing the role of the infatuated girl.

“Xiao Jiujiu, by the way—how is the jealousy score measured? Is there a specific standard?”

While brushing her teeth in the bathroom, Su Hua was still thinking about the points. She had a rough idea, but decided to ask the system anyway—know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a battle.

“Dear host, the score is based on your behavior and the reactions those behaviors trigger in others around you—including online viewers. For example, people around you already believe you’re secretly in love with Chu Zhi, and viewers have noticed too. So the 10-point milestone was reached.”

“To put it simply: as long as you act like a lovestruck supporting female character infatuated with Chu Zhi—just like in the novel—and fulfill that role, the task counts as complete.”

The role of a supporting female character, huh?

Ah… so that meant not only did she have to secretly love Chu Zhi, she also had to be a catalyst for the romance between the male and female leads…

Good thing she asked—now she knew exactly what to do.

“Ahhh, voting ends soon! Who did you vote for?”

“To count as mutual, both sides need to write each other letters. I was going to vote for Su Hua and Chu Zhi, but after Guest No.4 arrived, I knew that ship sank.”

“I picked No.1 male guest and No.4 female guest—a perfect match of talent and beauty.”

“Am I the only one who picked Yu Jing and Chen Kai? They worked well together cooking. And if both vote for each other, you get a chance to win prizes—discount coupons from Brand A yogurt or Fresh Delivery App, even a shot at the new H-brand phone! Only 100 phones per night, but hey, I could be lucky!”

“Forget the coupons—I just want Chu Zhi and Bai Xueyi to be together! Ahhh, get together already!”

At 10 o’clock, the program team notified the guests that one person from each group could go pick up the letters. Su Hua, who was applying skincare provided by a sponsor, immediately stood up and volunteered.

No one objected, so she walked downstairs in slippers, each step filled with nervous anticipation.

“This girl just wants to see if Chu Zhi wrote her a letter. But if you ask me, it’s hopeless.”

“A woman deep in unrequited love always deceives herself. The way Chu Zhi looked at Bai Xueyi—I knew that crush wouldn’t end well.”

“Chen Kai’s picking up letters too—wonder if anyone wrote to him.”

“There’ll definitely be letters for Ji Yanshu and Chu Zhi. Let’s be real—this is a face-based dating world. If I were in it, I’d choose them too.”

“Is Su Hua really bare-faced during the day? She just put on toner after a shower and looks exactly like she did earlier.”

“Anyone on a show would have at least some makeup on. Maybe it’s ‘no-makeup makeup’? I can’t even tell the difference. But could it be she, like me at 20, doesn’t know how to apply makeup?”

Of course Su Hua knew how to do makeup. Unfortunately, after transmigrating, her character was dirt-poor—she didn’t even have skincare, let alone cosmetics. All she had was one bottle of cheap lotion.

Luckily, she was playing a plain supporting role not meant to be loved, so her appearance didn’t matter much. In fact, when acting as an extra or minor role before, she often went bare-faced to avoid upstaging the leads.

“Chu Zhi, this one’s for you.”

Chen Kai walked ahead of Su Hua, flipping through the envelopes. When he saw Chu Zhi leaning lazily against the doorframe, hair still damp, he cheerfully handed one of the letters over.

The moment Chu Zhi took the letter, his charming rogue-like face lit up with a smile. The tired, disenchanted look in his eyes softened considerably, exuding a warm charm that contrasted with his usual carefree demeanor.

“Ahhhh, that handsome rogue’s gentle smile—my heart just melted!”

“Did you see Su Hua’s expression? She probably thinks Chu Zhi smiled at her! She literally froze in place, holding her chest. Even if she’s trying to hide it, I can tell her heart is racing!”

“She’s so relatable. Honestly, my heart almost jumped out of my chest too just now. Sob sob sob~”

Amidst the viewers’ screams, Su Hua earned another point. Blushing, she looked down and quietly examined the envelopes in her hands.

To her surprise, there really was a letter addressed to her. Su Hua was a little curious, but the shy anticipation on her face grew stronger.

She looked just like a girl in love, holding a letter and hoping it was from her crush.

Of course, Su Hua already knew—Chu Zhi would never write her a letter.

She opened the envelope almost reverently, but the moment she saw the signature, a look of disappointment was plainly visible. Still, she didn’t dwell on it and calmly read the content.

The letter was from Ji Yanshu. It was short and simple.

Miss Su Hua,

Nice to meet you. Thank you for the pen.

Also, your cooking was delicious.

– Ji Yanshu

His handwriting was stunning. Though they used the same type of pen, his writing looked like artwork—so elegant that even someone like Su Hua, who didn’t know much about calligraphy, felt envious.

His words were just like him—refined and classy.

In the original novel, Ji Yanshu’s first letter was also written to the supporting female character, simply because he didn’t like any of the four women in particular. Noticing her feelings for the male lead, he used her as a kind of emotional “mailbox.”

This time, because Su Hua arrived early and even cooked, the contents were a bit more detailed than just “hello.” But Su Hua understood his meaning and didn’t take it to heart.

She didn’t, like the original female side character, get emotionally entangled just because an excellent man wrote to her. The original character was conflicted and even hesitated the next day when she saw Ji Yanshu—until he grew colder and wrote to someone else, only then did she realize the letter was just a test.

That was typical of the novel’s structure—showing that early on, everyone’s affections were unstable, and the female lead’s shifting feelings were more easily forgiven.

“The author clearly favors the female lead. The supporting girl gets scolded for wavering once, but when the lead girl switches her feelings, everyone just says it’s part of the journey to true love…”

While Su Hua was silently complaining about the plot, the others were also opening their letters.

Yu Jing received a letter from Chen Kai. Bai Xueyi received letters from Mo Yawen and Chu Zhi. As for Zhu Zihan—who didn’t receive any letter—when she saw others, especially Su Hua and Yu Jing, had gotten letters, her eyes turned red with frustration. Her gaze toward Bai Xueyi became especially hostile, clearly assuming that Ji Yanshu’s letter had gone to Bai Xueyi.

Su Hua quietly put her letter into a locked drawer. After all, only mutual letters (two-way arrows) would be publicly read. The letters between her and Ji Yanshu were completely safe—at least until the final day’s letter-reading session.

In the male guests’ dorm:

Ji Yanshu received two letters. After glancing through them, he showed no visible change in expression and silently tucked them into the corner of his drawer.

Chu Zhi glanced at the envelopes in his hands and suddenly had a bad feeling.

He opened the letter—and just as he suspected, it was from one of the low-tier extras the show hired to write to him. What did that mean? It meant that the goddess’s letter was now in Ji Yanshu’s hands.

Ahhhh!

That jerk Ji Yanshu—he’d already made Chu Zhi suffer endless comparisons growing up by constantly outperforming him in school. Now, as adults, he had the nerve to come steal his future wife?

Unforgivable!

Chu Zhi was so furious he could practically feel his molecules splitting. He thought running into his campus goddess on this show was destiny itself… but fate also had to throw in the person he hated most.

Even worse, Ji Yanshu’s family business had been doing better than the Chu family’s in recent years. Back in middle school, both families were on equal footing. But after college, for no apparent reason, his family was suddenly a level below.

That was still manageable.

But while Chu Zhi was only taking dividends from his father’s company in a carefree lifestyle, Ji Yanshu was nothing like the average second-gen rich kid. He didn’t inherit the family business—he started his own company and turned it into a success.

Back in school, when Chu Zhi had a crush on Bai Xueyi but never confessed, he thought the only thing missing was fate.

But now that fate had delivered her to him, he realized the real issue was reality.

He used to brush off Ji Yanshu’s workaholic lifestyle as boring and robotic. But now, Bai Xueyi’s letter choice told him the truth:

A man with a career might be more attractive.

After shooting Ji Yanshu a glare, Chu Zhi picked up his phone and walked up to the third-floor rooftop. There, he called his father and declared he would no longer hold a mere honorary position—starting tomorrow, he would go to the company and seriously learn the business.

Su Hua had a great night’s sleep and was woken up by her biological clock the next morning.

After quietly washing up, she changed into workout clothes and headed downstairs for a run. She originally wanted to jog around the area, but Xiao Jiujiu (the system) said that without a task-related reason, it wouldn’t give her a map. Since she was directionally challenged, she had no choice but to run around the villa’s garden.

“Whoa! Guest No.1 is already up running? I just finished gaming all night and thought I’d take one last look before bed—didn’t expect to see someone awake.”

“This is some immortal-level stamina. I’m already making breakfast for my kid, thought I was the only tired mom here.”

“Set an alarm just to watch my ship—aaaah, Ji Yanshu looks so good! Even in casual clothes his figure is amazing—I’m dead!”

“Su Hua’s got a strategy, huh? Running downstairs on purpose. Too bad Chu Zhi isn’t even up yet.”

“Maybe she’s got multiple targets and wants to catch Ji-ge too—after all, they’re all handsome and look rich.”

“Stop with the conspiracy theories. Who tries to seduce someone while wearing baggy long-sleeved workout clothes? If she wanted to attract attention, she’d be in a sports bra and leggings, hanging out in the third-floor gym.”

“Wait, someone just showed up upstairs—Bai Xueyi!”

“Ahhh! Tight-fitting activewear queen! Her figure is unreal—I’m getting a nosebleed!”

Bai Xueyi had written a love letter to Ji Yanshu back in school, but he didn’t even accept it—just plainly said, “I’m not interested in dating right now.”

Ji Yanshu was the most outstanding peer Bai Xueyi had ever met, and the first man to reject her. Even after going abroad for two years, she couldn’t forget him.

When her best friend told her Ji Yanshu was joining a dating show, she signed up immediately.

Unfortunately, her debut didn’t go well—he didn’t give her the letter.

Bai Xueyi figured he was trying to maintain control. So she got up early the next day to create more chances to interact.

On the treadmill in the gym, Ji Yanshu’s firm muscles moved rhythmically as he ran, radiating masculine energy.

Bai Xueyi walked over and turned on the treadmill beside him. She tilted her face slightly toward him and watched the sweat roll down his perfect jawline, soaking into his workout shirt—it felt like it was seeping into her heart too, making her face flush and her heart race.

“Good morning~”

Bai Xueyi pretended to be surprised to see him, greeting him with a mix of elegance and restraint. But to her surprise, Ji Yanshu didn’t even notice her. His eyes were fixed on the morning news, focused and completely unaware of her presence.

“Ji Yanshu, Su Hua made breakfast—do you want to eat?”

Just as Bai Xueyi was about to raise her voice to grab his attention, a shout came from the doorway.

She turned and saw Chu Zhi—who’d been so sloppy yesterday—now standing there in a well-fitted suit, arms crossed, gazing toward them with a determined expression she’d never seen from him before.

Hmm. A dark horse?

Bai Xueyi considered him for a moment, then turned back to Ji Yanshu, expecting him to ignore Chu Zhi. But to her surprise, Ji Yanshu actually turned off the treadmill and calmly walked out the door.

Thank goodness—he’s going back to the male dorm!

Bai Xueyi kept running on the treadmill. She would never stoop so low as to beg a man in front of another suitor.

What she didn’t know was—while she was chatting with Chu Zhi, Ji Yanshu had already taken a shower and gone downstairs to the living room, where he quickly finished off the breakfast Su Hua had “specifically” made for Chu Zhi.