After the Soul Swap Between Love Rival AO - Chapter 30

Cheng Luanxin blushed and muttered under her breath: “Well, obviously. Only now realizing how reliable I am?”

Song Qiuchi hugged her back tightly: “Enough talking. Let’s get ready.”

The staff fastened their ankles together and secured additional safety measures around their waists, guiding them step by step to the outermost edge of the glass walkway.

“Hold tight, everyone. I’ll count down from three, and then I’ll push you. Don’t be nervous—the initial weightlessness might feel a bit uncomfortable, but once you get used to it, you’ll feel free and relaxed. Have fun!”

The more nervous Cheng Luanxin got, the more she wanted to talk: “Get used to it? I find that hard to believe.”

“Three, two, one—”

“Wait, wait—”

Before Cheng Luanxin could protest, the staff stepped forward and pushed them off—

Though mentally prepared, the moment she experienced the intense weightlessness, Cheng Luanxin felt a vast emptiness in her chest and momentarily lost her voice.

The howling wind and the screams from above filled her ears, yet it felt as if she were in another world.

All she could do was cling tightly to Song Qiuchi’s waist and shoulders.

Song Qiuchi’s reaction was equally visceral—her long nails dug painfully into Cheng Luanxin’s back, making her regret ever getting such long manicures. In the end, she was the one suffering.

The agonizing seconds finally passed. After several strong rebounds, the rope’s swaying gradually slowed, and the discomfort from the weightlessness faded. Of course, with their limbs bound, freedom and relaxation were still out of the question.

Only then did Cheng Luanxin regain her voice: “Song Qiuchi, are you okay?”

Song Qiuchi was drenched in cold sweat but didn’t want Cheng Luanxin to notice: “I’m fine.”

Cheng Luanxin rasped: “I’m not. You’re about to claw holes into my spine.”

Song Qiuchi froze and instinctively loosened her grip.

Cheng Luanxin quickly tightened her hold: “Just kidding. Hey, how do you think the camera will capture us? Will we look like roasted ducks on a spit?”

Song Qiuchi: “…”

Cheng Luanxin chuckled to herself: “Nah, roasted ducks don’t hug each other.”

Song Qiuchi: “…”

Cheng Luanxin: “Say something! Can’t you tell I’m trying to cheer you up?”

Song Qiuchi: “…Most people wouldn’t be happy being compared to roasted ducks.”

The two floated in the air for about five minutes, clinging to each other until their limbs went numb, before finally being retrieved by the recovery device and brought back to the Mirror of Clear Skies. The staff untied their ropes and awarded them bravery medals.

The other guests applauded and crowded around to ask about their experience.

Having already recovered, Cheng Luanxin began boasting, “Actually, it wasn’t as scary as I imagined! Just a bit nerve-wracking at first. Don’t be afraid—be brave, okay?”

She swaggered forward, only for her legs—still weak—to give out the moment she lost support. She collapsed onto the ground with a thud, landing squarely on her backside.

Song Qiuchi: “…”

The irony came far too quickly.

Song Qiuchi felt that the aloof persona she had carefully cultivated over the years had been thoroughly ruined by Cheng Luanxin. Annoyed, she stepped forward to help her up. “Get up, roast duck.”

Bullet comments:

LMAO why roast duck??

Song Qiuchi: I wasn’t scared. Song Qiuchi’s legs: I was.

Honestly, weak legs are understandable—that was terrifying!! Qiuchi was already plenty brave!!

Let me say it again: Luanxin is sooo doting toward Qiuchi!!

Roses ×2

Encouraged by Song Qiuchi and Cheng Luanxin’s example, the other guests overcame their fears and took turns experiencing the bungee jump. About half an hour later, everyone had completed the challenge.

After finishing the second half of the Mirror of Clear Skies, the group began their descent. By the time they reached Yihua Peak, exhaustion had set in, compounded by the bungee jump ordeal. They unanimously chose to take the cable car back down the mountain.

With that, the second group activity came to an end.

On the return trip, Anna announced the final vote counts for the event. Cheng Luanxin’s popularity remained undiminished, securing her first place again. However, as the audience grew more familiar with the other guests, the votes became more evenly distributed. Cheng Luanxin ended up with 74 votes, while He Ran—who had received only single-digit votes last time—garnered 18.

Cheng Luanxin paid no attention to the results, having already fallen fast asleep on Song Qiuchi’s shoulder.

By the time they returned to the villa, it was past five in the evening. The guests were about to retreat to their rooms to rest when Anna stopped them.

With a smile, she said, “Our initial room assignments were temporary, based on the number of rose tokens each of you had. Now that you’ve spent a week together and gotten to know each other better, we’ll be reassigning rooms for the second week based on a brand-new criterion. Please bear with us.”

Duan Mengshu asked, “And what exactly is this ‘brand-new criterion’?”

Anna explained, “This time, the allocation method is called Rising Surprise. The principle is simple: for example, we all know the hottest CP right now is Hidden Feelings for Qiuchi, so we’ll deliberately separate Song Qiuchi and Cheng Luanxin, pairing them instead with their less popular CP partners to create more possibilities.”

The announcement sparked murmurs among the guests. Cheng Luanxin was dumbfounded. “Rising Surprise? More like rising heresy!”

Anna continued, “Now, I’ll announce this week’s room assignments. The pairings are based on survey responses from the Romantic Observers during the first week. If you have any questions, you may verify the data.”

“This week’s dorm assignments are as follows: Song Qiuchi and Du Zhiruo, Cheng Luanxin and Su Ling, Liang Shengxia and Bian Ning, Duan Mengshu and Lin Zhiyun, Zhuang Mingchu and He Ran.”

Cheng Luanxin widened her eyes. “Me and Du Zhiruo?”

But thinking about it, it made sense. Apart from Du Zhiruo, she hadn’t exchanged more than a few words with anyone else during last week’s program recording. Even if they tried to force a pairing, it wouldn’t have worked out.

Du Zhiruo hadn’t expected this outcome either, and she seemed pleasantly surprised. She blinked at Cheng Luanxin and said, “Looking forward to working with you.”

At Anna’s command, the guests began swapping dorms. After discussing with Song Qiuchi, Du Zhiruo decided that Song Qiuchi would stay in her original room while Du Zhiruo moved into Cheng Luanxin’s.

Du Zhiruo quickly packed her belongings, and Song Qiuchi saw her to the door.

Du Zhiruo said politely, “Thank you for putting up with me this past week.”

Song Qiuchi shook her head lightly. “You’re being too formal.”

Du Zhiruo smiled. “As we’ve talked about before, since the program has given me this opportunity, I’ll naturally do my best to pursue Qiuchi. I hope you don’t mind.”

Song Qiuchi didn’t want to discuss this topic with her. “You don’t need to tell me. Do as you please.”

Du Zhiruo tilted her head. “Really? You won’t get jealous?”

Song Qiuchi was indeed irritated and retorted, “Why would I be jealous?”

Du Zhiruo feigned innocence. “Nothing, I’m just worried. If Song Qiuchi goes on a date with me, you’d surely feel bad, wouldn’t you?”

Song Qiuchi stared at Du Zhiruo for a long time, the longer she looked, the more unfamiliar she seemed.

Then, she chuckled darkly. “Are you so sure you can even get her to agree to a date?”