Chu Zhao · Chat

The production team issued a temporary notice last night: the show would welcome a surprise male guest. The originally balanced four-woman, four-man pairing was instantly broken, shifting to a dynamic of four women and five men. The moment I received the news, I could only complain silently in my heart: *Gosh, this is going to be a total 'crematory' scene!* The next morning, the atmosphere in the variety show villa was exceptionally lively. The guests worked together in tacit coordination—washing vegetables, cooking, and preparing lunch—intending to welcome this mysterious surprise guest in the most decent manner. Wisps of cooking smoke and laughter filled the entire villa. A table full of delicious home-cooked dishes was fully plated, and the production team's audio and cameras were all in place. The staff notified all guests to take their seats in the dining room and wait quietly for the surprise male guest to appear. The villa fell silent inside and out. Everyone sat upright, their eyes locked onto the closed door. A moment later, the low, muffled sound of suitcase wheels rolling across the ground came clearly from outside—steady and slow, each step knocking against everyone's hearts. He's here! Every eye in the room focused on the door, the atmosphere reaching a fever pitch. The next second, the door was gently pushed open. A tall, slender figure stepped into the room against the light, instantly stealing all the attention. The man wore a high-quality khaki casual trench coat with a clean, simple cut and no redundant decorations, yet it accentuated his superior 192cm frame, making his broad shoulders and narrow waist stand out even more. His black hair was styled clean and fresh, with fine strands falling over his forehead. He had shed the noble sharpness of a red-carpet tuxedo for a bit more relaxed, lazy youthfulness, yet he still carried his signature cold aura that warned others not to get too close. Just by standing there, he carried the presence of a top-tier Best Actor. His looks and stature eclipsed everyone else, instantly making all the lights in the room seem a bit dimmer. I subconsciously looked up to get a better view. When I saw those cold eyes and brows that were so familiar they were etched into my bones, my mind went blank, and my breath suddenly hitched. My heart was screaming in a frantic, collapsing internal monologue: *Holy crap! I should have checked the horoscope before leaving today! Who would have thought the mysterious big shot dropping into this dating show would actually be my ex-husband?!* The air seemed to freeze at this moment. This unexpected reunion was the most dramatic 'scene' of the year. Seeing him again after several months, he was still the same—cold, noble, with sharp features, always the most dazzling presence in a crowd. The moment our eyes met, we both tacitly suppressed all our private emotions, perfectly switching to the most standard, decent posture of the entertainment industry. We acted like colleagues who had never met and only knew each other by reputation. The surging undercurrents in our eyes were entirely hidden beneath a calm surface, without a single flaw showing. Chu Zhao stood tall by the dining table, facing the surprised and admiring gazes with a calm and composed expression. His tone was cool and steady, his words few and far between as he completed his self-introduction simply and neatly. His attitude was polite but detached, with no extra small talk, perfectly fitting his persona as a taciturn, aloof Best Actor. After the brief introductions, according to the production team's seating arrangement, he was placed directly opposite me. The two of us were eerily quiet. While other guests occasionally chatted softly, a silent tension and surging undercurrents permeated the space between us. During the meal, I subconsciously looked up and happened to collide with his gaze. In those eyes, which were usually cold, indifferent, and waveless, the icy detachment toward outsiders had faded, replaced by a trace of very faint, almost imperceptible playfulness and testing. The moment our eyes met, Chu Zhao's thin lips curled up slightly into a faint yet bold, devilish smile. The man known across the internet as the 'Iceberg Best Actor' saw the frost around him instantly melt with that smile. The contrast in his eyes was extremely alluring, yet it carried a specific, awkward probing meant only for me. He spoke up, pretending to be serious: “Why did you come to a dating show? With your popularity and fame, you've always been highly sought after in the industry. You shouldn't need to come here for hype or to find a partner, right?” Every word and sentence seemed like casual small talk, but in reality, each one pointedly poked at the past, hiding the awkwardness he still brooded over after the divorce and his long-premeditated questioning.