16: Chapter 16: She covered him with a blanket, and his ex-girlfriend's eyes turned red!

A slight sense of weightlessness in the cabin pulled Li Li out of his light sleep.

It wasn't the sound of Old Zhou; it was the physical sensation of the plane beginning its descent.

He opened his eyes. Outside the porthole, vast stretches of ocher-yellow land extended to the horizon, bleached by the sunlight.

Desert.

They had arrived in Ala Country.

The military news alert in his brain about the "highest state of combat readiness" hadn't fully dissipated, making him feel inexplicably restless.

He shifted his body and realized a dark blue blanket was covering his chest, carrying the dry scent characteristic of fabric.

He never covered himself with a blanket while sleeping.

In his past life, during lunch breaks at construction sites, even napping against a wall for ten minutes was a luxury. When delivering food, he'd doze off on his electric scooter in winter wrapped in a down jacket; blankets were just too pretentious.

He didn't move, sweeping his peripheral vision toward the 1F seat next to him.

Jiang Rumu was sitting bolt upright, holding an in-flight magazine. The page was open to an aerial view of a desert highway, her fingertips pressing against the paper, her posture as calm as if she had just finished a yoga session.

She wore an expression of "I know nothing, I've done nothing."

Li Li picked up the blanket, folded it into a square, and placed it neatly on the armrest.

He didn't ask. She didn't say anything.

Some things are better left unsaid.

His left wrist burned without warning.

[Host, while you were sleeping, your channel gained 11,483 followers.]

[Reason for growth: The seven-second clip of a top-tier actress covering you with a blanket has surpassed 100 million views across the internet.]

[Note: You were completely unaware of this. The system feels relieved for you, yet also embarrassed for you. Gaining followers by having someone else cover you with a blanket is unprecedented.]

Li Li pulled down his sleeve to cover the blue light.

Relieved, my ass.

Just then, the cameraman Old Zhou, his face full of weariness, poked his head out from behind the business-class curtain and walked quickly between the two.

"Teachers, it's good that you're awake. A new segment from the Production Team."

He didn't waste words, placing two stacks of cards on the small tables of 1E and 1F respectively, then lowered his voice to a volume only they could hear:

"The rules are on the cards. First-class privileges are also a test."

After saying this, Old Zhou gave them a "you know what I mean" look and turned back to business class.

Li Li picked up the two dark blue cards on the table.

The cards had a nice texture, with the gold-stamped program logo on the front and the rules on the back.

[No. 1 Privilege Card]:

1. The holder must give the two [No. 1 Cards] to any male guest and any female guest respectively.

2. The guest who receives the [No. 1 Card] must pass their own [No. 2 Card] to the next guest of the same gender.

3. And so on, until all guests hold a numbered card.

4. Finally, the man and woman holding the same numbered card will automatically become partners.

Information asymmetry.

The Dating Reality Show version of Tian Ji Horse Racing.

He and Jiang Rumu had become the dealers of this card game, holding the starting point for everyone's pairing.

And those people in business class were still kept in the dark.

He turned his head, and Jiang Rumu happened to put down her card and looked up at him.

---

In Su Wantang's livestream, 23,000 people were online.

She was vividly recounting the bizarre behavior of her second ex-boyfriend, saying he had posted on his social media "Finally got rid of the materialistic girl," and she had screenshotted and roasted him for three days.

The secondary screen at the corner of the table wasn't turned over; it was muted, with the feed synchronized with the official Dating in Travel livestream.

She told jokes while glancing at it on the side.

In the feed, Li Li was asleep with his head tilted. A dark blue blanket was covering him.

A blanket?

It wasn't there just a moment ago.

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't stop her jokes, but her fingers quickly dragged the secondary screen over and dragged the progress bar back three minutes.

In the video, Jiang Rumu stood up.

She pulled the blanket down from the luggage rack.

Walked over to Li Li and covered him gently.

She even leaned over and tucked the edge of the blanket near his shoulder.

At that moment, her fingertips seemed to brush very lightly against the back of his hand resting on the armrest.

Then, she sat back down as if nothing had happened.

The whole process took less than ten seconds, silent and quiet.

Su Wantang's fingernails dug fiercely into the silicone case of her phone, pressing out a crescent-shaped deep mark.

She had dated Li Li for a year and a half.

She remembered very clearly: one winter, he rode that beat-up electric scooter to pick her up after her livestream ended. The midnight wind cut like a knife, and his lips were purple from the cold. She sat in the back, wrapped up tightly, her hands tucked into her pockets, not moving a muscle.

It wasn't that she hadn't thought about sharing half her scarf with him.

But the abacus in her heart clicked loudly: a scarf cost two hundred yuan, and his monthly salary was three thousand two. If she handed it to him, he would think she felt sorry for him. Once a man thinks you feel sorry for him, he gets clingy; if he gets clingy, you have to spend a lot of time coaxing him.

Not worth it.

So she didn't hand it over, not even once.

But now, an actress with 32 million followers, whose net worth was a hundred or a thousand times hers, just stood up so naturally, took a blanket, walked over, and tucked it in.

She didn't say a word. She didn't even let the sleeping man know.

Su Wantang's thumb rubbed hard against the cold edge of the secondary screen.

The comments were already seeing sporadic messages— "That non-celebrity on the other dating show looks just like Tangtang's ex-boyfriend!" "He really looks like him!"

She didn't deny it, nor did she admit it.

She just turned toward the camera, her natural fox-like eyes curving as she smiled, a smile that was sweet with an imperceptible edge of sharpness.

The clip of "Jiang Rumu covering him with a blanket" was already spreading virally across all platforms. The search term was climbing faster than any of her carefully planned livestream clips.

Jiang Rumu, Li Li, Dating Reality Show, non-celebrity.

Ex-boyfriend.

These three words lit up in her mind like neon lights.

The person she wanted to leech off was never just Li Li, who only had a few hundred thousand followers.

What she wanted was Jiang Rumu's massive traffic.

Su Wantang closed the secondary screen, swiped open her phone's notepad, and tapped quickly on the screen.

Title: [Comeback Plan]

Line 1: Tomorrow's livestream topic — My ex-boyfriend who delivered food. Keywords: messy short hair, hundred-yuan perfume, poor but affectionate. No names, just descriptions.

Line 2: During the livestream, lose control of emotions once. Duration: thirty seconds, cry with restraint and grievance.

Line 3: Buy search term #FeelSorryForSuWantang#.

---

First class.

"Thoughts?" Li Li asked, tapping the card with his fingers.

Jiang Rumu didn't answer immediately. She looked at Li Li, then at the card in her hand, as if assessing pieces on a chessboard.

Three seconds later, she spoke, her voice light but firm.

"Let's set the women's line first."

"Reason?"

"The male guests have more flexibility in their choices and can make do with whoever they are paired with. The women can't." She paused and added, "If you pick the wrong person, the filming for the next week will be a disaster."

Li Li understood instantly.

"Among the female guests, who should get the No. 1?"

"Sister Qi." Jiang Rumu didn't hesitate at all this time.

"Reason?"

"She is the most self-contained of everyone. She won't throw a tantrum because of the pairing results, nor will she act in front of the camera. Giving her the No. 1 card is like taking out insurance for this line; nothing will go wrong."

The image of the woman holding hot water and wearing a plain silver ring flashed through Li Li's mind.

Transparent, steady. She was indeed the best choice.

"Okay. No. 1 goes to Qi Wanyin." He looked at Jiang Rumu, "What about the male guests?"

"You decide."

Two words, crisp and clean.

This wasn't politeness; it was pure trust. She handed the decision-making power that required "reading people" directly to him, a man who had seen tens of thousands of faces while delivering food.

Li Li took less than two seconds.

"Cen Ye."

Jiang Rumu's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly.

"Why?"

"When everyone was choosing, everyone was staring at their preferred target. Only Qi Wanyin looked in Cen Ye's direction first. It wasn't that she chose him, but rather she gave a quick glance, then looked away." Li Li imitated that look, "Like she was checking if something was still in its place."

Jiang Rumu's fingers pressing on the card relaxed.

"You were observing who others were looking at during that segment?"

"Basic skills of a food delivery driver," Li Li said as if it were a matter of course. "In the two seconds when a customer opens the door, you scan their expression, and you know if this order will get a bad review. That look Qi Wanyin gave Cen Ye — no bad review."

Jiang Rumu looked at him, silent for a few seconds.

Then, she smiled. This time it wasn't a polite attitude; she really smiled.

"Then it's settled. No. 1 card: Qi Wanyin, Cen Ye. Our No. 1 cards, let's give them to them."

If the starting point is right, even if the transmission chain goes astray later, it won't go too far off.

Li Li stood up, clutching the blue card, and walked toward business class.

He lifted the curtain.

In business class, eight guests were scattered in their seats, the atmosphere somewhat subtly stagnant. Shen Jue was still holding his phone for a livestream, Han Xubai was scrolling through his phone, and Gu Zeyan appeared to be closing his eyes to rest.

Li Li's gaze locked directly onto Cen Ye, who was dozing with his head tilted, and he walked over.

Just as he passed Wen Ditang's seat, his peripheral vision caught a detail.

Wen Ditang was looking down, seemingly organizing her canvas bag. But the moment he walked by, she looked up.

Her gaze didn't land on his face but was nailed firmly to the blue card in his hand.

That look was like a hungry wolf locking onto its only prey.

Only for a moment, she quickly lowered her head, so fast it was as if nothing had happened.

Li Li didn't stop his pace.

Behind him, Wen Ditang's fingers loosened from the strap of the canvas bag and quietly reached into her dress pocket, twisting a cold ribbon.

One circle, then another.