Chapter 28: Which Mom is More Beautiful?

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Which Mom is More Beautiful?

The ice-breaker game was a compatibility quiz. There were ten questions in total, and the family with the highest score would get first pick of the houses.

"Are the houses very different?" Gu Qingyin asked, a little worried as she recalled other variety shows she’d seen. "There won’t be any thatched huts, will there? Or tents?" The island was humid and hot; without air conditioning, it would be impossible to sleep at night.

The director smiled smugly. "Don’t worry, everyone. Our show has a big budget. All the houses are nice, they just have very different styles. The first-place winner gets to choose the house that best suits their taste."

Gu Qingyin just said, "Oh," and immediately stopped caring. She had no preference for style. A place to live was a place to live; as long as it had a bed and air conditioning, she was fine.

However, Huo Xinghai, who was beside her, frowned and asked with concern, "What styles are they?"

The director clapped his hands, and an assistant immediately brought out three printed pictures and began to display them.

The first was a Japanese tatami style, the second was a bohemian style, and the third was a futuristic tech style.

After the presentation, the director added, "The futuristic tech house comes with a smart butler. The technology is very cutting-edge, highly interactive, and worth experiencing."

Gu Qingyin made a sound of interest. "Hm?" She was a little intrigued by the smart butler. ’Could this thing actually be more useful than a ghost servant?’

The director glanced at the backstage data and decided to start with the family with the lowest numbers: Lin Tian and her brother, Lin Xian.

Lin Tian was an idol singer who debuted through a talent show. As her name suggested—Tian, meaning "sweet"—she had a sweet face and a sweet voice. Her fans affectionately called her Tian Tian or "Sweetie," and she had a huge online following of "mom and dad fans."

Lin Xian was a non-celebrity. He was quite handsome on his own, but standing next to Huo Xinghai and Fu Zimo, he looked rather plain. It just went to show that there’s a world of difference between a regular handsome guy and a celebrity.

The siblings took a step forward and stood back-to-back, each holding a whiteboard, ready to answer.

"Alright, if you’re ready, let’s begin." The director chuckled mischievously and asked the first question: "How old was Lin Xian when he first fell in love?"

Lin Tian, who had been full of confidence, now had a flicker of bewilderment in her eyes. She stared at her board with her pen in hand, not moving for several seconds.

[The show’s producers are so savage! What kind of older brother reports to his little sister about his love life?!]

[I love it! Ask more!]

[I want to know how old Tian Tian was when she first fell in love.]

[Hey, don’t talk nonsense! Our Tian Tian is still young! No puppy love!]

Lin Xian was also speechless, but after a moment’s thought, he finally put his pen to the board.

The director began the countdown, and then the siblings revealed their whiteboards at the same time.

Lin Xian’s answer was nineteen. Lin Tian had written seventeen, with a question mark after it.

"Explain yourself. Tian Tian, why did you write seventeen? Did you discover your brother was dating when he shouldn’t have been?"

Gu Qingyin’s eyes lit up as she watched. Beside her, Mrs. Fu shot her a look she thought was subtle, a flash of disdain in her eyes. ’So young,’ she thought. ’Obviously a stepmother.’

’Kids these days. All they know is how to take shortcuts instead of working hard. Willing to get involved with a man over fifty for money, tsk tsk tsk.’

While Mrs. Fu was busy with her silent criticisms, Lin Tian was already glaring at her brother in dissatisfaction. "Did you write nineteen because you don’t want to admit you were dating back then? I definitely saw you walk a girl home! And you stood there chatting at the corner of her street for a long time!"

Lin Xian looked at her, completely incredulous. "You were following me?!"

Lin Tian guiltily rubbed her nose. "Following you? That sounds so awful. I was just concerned about my brother!"

Lin Xian rolled his eyes, thought back, and then explained, "The person you’re talking about is the same one I wrote down. We did have feelings for each other when we were seventeen, but we weren’t together. It was more of a ’will they, won’t they’ phase. We promised to go to the same university, and we only made it official in our freshman year."

[If you really like someone, you should become better together!]

[I love this kind of positive relationship!]

[This is like a sweet campus novel come to life! Ahhh, I’m shipping this so hard!]

[I’m different from you guys. I just want to know, is the brother still with his first love?]

Lin Xian’s explanation was good, but they still got no points for the question.

After that, the questions prepared by the production team were much more normal, like food preferences, favorite fruits, and pet peeves. Just as the director had said, the main goal was to deepen the guests’ understanding of each other.

In the end, the Lin Family Siblings scored seven points, which was quite high.

The second pair to go up was the mother and son from the Fu Family.

The Fu mother and son’s good relationship wasn’t just for show. For the first nine questions, which were all about the two of them, they only got Fu Zimo’s debut date wrong.

For the final question, the production team, as expected, started to stir up trouble.

The director, with a wicked grin, asked loudly, "Who is more beautiful, Huo Xinghai’s mother or Fu Zimo’s mother, and why? Please answer!"

At his words, not only did the people on set fall silent, but even the bullet comments paused for two seconds.

Director, you really have some nerve!

[The first battlefield has arrived!!!!]

[Isn’t the answer obvious? Anyone with eyes can see.]

[Well... can’t rule out the possibility that some people are just blind or liars.]

[Just a casual viewer here. I’ve been wanting to say this for a while, but has Huo Xinghai’s mother had plastic surgery?]

[She’s had way too much work done. Standing next to Huo Xinghai, they look like they’re from the same generation. It’s kind of disgusting.]

[Fu Zimo’s fans should stop pretending to be casual viewers. You all look so pathetic when you’re triggered.]

[Is it that hard to admit my mother-in-law is a natural beauty? Mrs. Huo is the pinnacle of ageless goddesses!]

The two fanbases very skillfully started tearing into each other. The bullet comments became a toxic mess until the show’s moderators finally stepped in, banning a few of the most rabid posters and sending out comments guiding everyone to focus on the celebrity’s answer. Only then did the flame war reluctantly die down.

Fu Zimo, having been in the entertainment industry for a few years, lived up to his reputation. Though the smile on his face was a bit strained, he quickly wrote down his answer.

In contrast, Mrs. Fu didn’t have as much self-control. Her expression darkened. She suspected the show was targeting her, making her compete in beauty against a young girl. Were they mocking her for being old and past her prime?

In an instant, Mrs. Fu thought of the young mistresses her husband kept on the side, and her expression grew even uglier.

Mrs. Fu didn’t write a single word by the time the director’s countdown ended. Unsurprisingly, she was questioned when she revealed her blank board.

Mrs. Fu pressed her lips together, unwilling to answer. Fu Zimo smiled and said, "As one of the subjects of the question, I don’t think my mom needs to answer."

Huo Xinghai chuckled softly. ’Quick reflexes.’

Gu Qingyin turned to look at him and asked in a low voice, "So what’s your answer?"

Huo Xinghai smiled sweetly. "No matter how you look at it, my choice is you."

Gu Qingyin gave a noncommittal hum.

’She’d figured something out over the past few days. The second son seemed more approachable than the eldest, but his emotional defenses were much higher. His good temper, easygoing personality, and seeming acceptance of everything were all just a superficial act.’

’The door to Huo Xinghai’s heart wasn’t just shut tight; it was padlocked. It wouldn’t be so easy to open.’

The director reluctantly accepted Fu Zimo’s explanation and countered, "So what’s your answer?"

Fu Zimo generously flipped over his whiteboard. On it was written his mother’s name.

"Mom is forever the most beautiful in my heart."

Mrs. Fu was instantly filled with relief and emotion, her mood improving considerably.

Mrs. Fu hadn’t answered the last question, so they didn’t get a point. In the end, the mother and son from the Fu Family scored eight points, temporarily putting them in first place.

This was a very high score. Given that every family was bound to get one trick question, the best Huo Xinghai and Gu Qingyin could hope for was a tie, and that was only if they answered the other nine questions perfectly.

Of course, that was the best-case scenario.

In reality, neither the Fu Family nor the Lin Family thought they could answer that many correctly.

Because by comparison, Huo Xinghai and Gu Qingyin standing together just gave off a sense of artificiality. They didn’t seem like a mother and son at all.