Chapter 145
Chapter 145
“Teachers, the dinner ordered by the Program Team has arrived. Tonight’s recording of the finale performance in Ling Village may run very late, so please eat whenever it fits your schedule.”
Today, the Program Team had shown a rare flash of conscience and hadn’t made the guests cook while preparing their stages.
The moment Ning Xi heard there was food, she immediately stopped caring about the gossip. She ignored everyone else and practically flew to the dining table.
“Sheshe…” Wei Xuan seized the moment, wanting to talk things over with Jiang Sheshe.
The sooner a misunderstanding was cleared up, the better.
Jiang Sheshe paused and looked at Wei Xuan.
That face, that tone-still so familiar to her, still so easy to like.
[It’s over, it’s over. Sis’s eyes are going all misty again.]
[She’s exactly like my love-brained friend. One second: “We’re broken up.” Next second: “We’re back together.”]
But in the very next second, what happened shocked everyone-
Jiang Sheshe raised her elbow and slammed it hard into Wei Xuan’s chest.
The impact made a solid thud. There was absolutely no holding back.
Wei Xuan was knocked two steps backward, then stared at Jiang Sheshe in even greater shock.
How could Sheshe do that?!
This wasn’t like her at all.
Meanwhile, Jiang Sheshe was, for the first time, experiencing just how satisfying this felt!
No wonder Ning Xi sometimes went straight to using her hands when she didn’t want to talk to Fu Zhi. After hammering Wei Xuan once, Jiang Sheshe instantly felt like her chest didn’t hurt anymore, her waist wasn’t sore anymore, and even her energy had returned.
She felt like she could punch him ten more times!
Jiang Sheshe’s first instinct was to share this discovery with Ning Xi.
But when she looked up, she found that the only seat beside Ning Xi, other than the one next to Xie Lanchen, had actually been snatched first by that foul-mouthed walking corpse Fu Zhi!
At the thought, Jiang Sheshe couldn’t help glaring at Wei Xuan.
“This is all your fault! From now on, don’t come bother me whether you have something to say or not!”
If Wei Xuan hadn’t insisted on stopping her, how would Fu Zhi have gotten the chance to steal her seat?
Sure enough, men only slowed the speed at which she drew her blade.
Wei Xuan, who had been elbowed, glared at, and blamed: ?
“Pretty good show, right?”
Fu Zhi pretended to accidentally brush Ning Xi’s arm, then said in a gloating whisper.
Ning Xi, who had been unwrapping her meal box, paused and turned to look at Fu Zhi.
…So Jiang Sheshe’s sudden madness had Fu Zhi’s handiwork behind it.
“Want to know why? If I tell you, it’ll scare you to death.” Fu Zhi raised a brow, looking rather pleased with himself.
Back when he saw Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan come out of a room alone together, he’d already felt that something was off.
As it happened, one of his friends knew Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan from school, so Fu Zhi had asked him to look into it.
If he hadn’t checked, he wouldn’t have known. Once he did, he nearly got the shock of his life.
Some students who worked part-time off campus had seen Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan privately eating together, behaving intimately like a couple.
Following that lead, Fu Zhi dug up even more photos of the two secretly going on dates.
All he could say was that those two thought no one would recognize them if they avoided the area around school, but they had no idea that people from Xiangcheng were scattered all over the world, everywhere and anywhere!
Fu Zhi looked at Ning Xi, ready to wait until she was dying of curiosity before dropping the news on her and scaring her half to death.
In the end, she looked like she didn’t care at all. She only gave an “oh” and turned her head away.
Now the one dying of curiosity became Fu Zhi.
“You’re really not curious? I haven’t told anyone this secret.”
If Ning Mingyue hadn’t pissed him off, he really wouldn’t have been interested in dragging out all this dirty laundry about her.
After all, running into someone sly and rotten like Ning Mingyue was no different from stepping in dog shit.
Without even lifting her head, Ning Xi said, “Not curious.”
Fu Zhi’s contrary streak flared up. “Then I’m going to say it anyway! I’m going to tell you whether you want to hear it or not!”
Ning Xi quickly looked up, revealing a victorious smile. “Fine, then. I suppose I’ll listen.”
Fu Zhi: Damn it. Tricked again!
And every day, it was a different kind of trick.
Still, Fu Zhi obediently typed the matter into the notes app on his phone and, avoiding the cameras, let Ning Xi glance at it.
At first, Ning Xi hadn’t taken it too seriously.
But once she clearly saw what Fu Zhi had written: !!!
How did Fu Zhi know something this private?
No, that wasn’t the real question. The real question was: at this table right now, who didn’t know about something this private?!
Ning Xi swept her gaze around the group. Fu Zhi, Jiang Sheshe, Ning Mingyue, Wei Xuan…
All right. Aside from Xie Lanchen, Shen Yibai, and Qin Se, the people who should know and the people who shouldn’t know probably all knew already.
Ning Xi’s heart died for one brief instant. The plot was probably going to collapse spectacularly from here on out.
The next second, she revived at full health and cheerfully opened her lunch box. Whatever. Who cared if the plot collapsed or not? When in doubt, go to sleep. When life goes off the rails, hang yourself. When disaster strikes, everybody dies!
Let them all die! Hahahahaha!
Xie Lanchen had been paying attention to Ning Xi and Fu Zhi whispering to each other the whole time. Although he hadn’t heard anything, connecting it with Jiang Sheshe’s earlier attitude toward Wei Xuan gave him a rough guess.
It seemed Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan’s matter had already been exposed.
Tsk.
He had originally wanted to wait until Shen Yibai and Ning Mingyue went public, then give this to them as a love token.
The corners of Xie Lanchen’s eyes lifted slightly, tinged with regret.
Shen Yibai, meanwhile, remained silent as he wiped his utensils with a napkin. His movements were unhurried and methodical, his knuckles distinct, faint blue veins rising along his hands before disappearing into his wrist bones. He had a calm, composed ease, as smooth as flowing clouds and running water.
Ning Mingyue looked toward Shen Yibai with obvious nervousness.
She was afraid Shen Yibai would notice something, but his expression was no different from usual. She should have been relieved, yet instead she grew even more uneasy.
Shen Yibai, whose intelligence bordered on the uncanny and who was smart enough to become the richest man in Xiangcheng in the future-had he really not noticed a single clue?
[Hahaha, everyone else is chattering away, but Shen Yibai is so calm he looks like he’s not even in the same world as them.]
[I’m already used to Ice Block Bro being like this. If he suddenly started talking a lot, I’d think something was wrong.]
[This guy’s mentality is ridiculously steady. He doesn’t seem like someone his age at all. He gives off big-shot-in-a-young-man’s-body vibes.]
[I don’t know why, but he gives me the feeling that he’s so free of desires he’s evolved past dating and marriage. No need to wait for the final episode. I can already tell Ning Mingyue and Shen Yibai are going nowhere. At most, they’re friends.]
[Now that you mention it, it really is going by so fast. After the filming in Ling Village ends, it’ll be finale night. At this point, I can tell at a glance whether it’s friendship or romance between the guests.]
[Xi-Lan Flower is love. Solid and reassuring.]
…
At that moment, in the livestream.
Ning Xi opened her lunch box, and when she saw the chicken drumstick and wings inside, her eyes practically lit up.
She picked up a drumstick with her chopsticks and suddenly looked at Xie Lanchen. “Xiao Xie, do you like chicken drumsticks?”
Everyone was instantly shocked.
What?! Ning Xi was actually being generous enough to share a drumstick with someone else?
Beside her, Fu Zhi spoke with a sour note in his voice. “Why don’t you ask if I like them?”
Xie Lanchen met Ning Xi’s sparkling eyes, paused, then a trace of amusement appeared in his own. “I don’t.”
In one second, Ning Xi moved the drumstick from Xie Lanchen’s plate to her own. “What a coincidence. I do.”
Then, in passing, she also moved the drumstick from Fu Zhi’s plate over. “No rush, no rush. Everyone gets a turn, everyone gets a turn.”
Everyone got a turn to give her food, hahahahaha!
Fu Zhi: “…”
After stealing the drumsticks, Ning Xi watched Xie Lanchen’s reaction. She had thought she would see an expression of speechless resignation on Xiao Xie’s face, but who would have thought he would still be smiling just like before?
As if he had expected it all along.
Ning Xi remembered she hadn’t finished acting out her bit yet and couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
But the next second, Xie Lanchen looked at the chicken wings on Ning Xi’s plate.
“Teacher Ning, do you like chicken wings?”
[Xiao Xie wants to use the same trick to “get revenge” on Ning Xi? Impossible. Ning Xi likes eating everything, hahahaha.]
[Where do you see “revenge” in Xie Lanchen’s eyes? He clearly saw through the fact that Ning Xi was teasing him and is deliberately indulging her!!! Otherwise, listen to his tone. Does he sound even the slightest bit like he wants to steal Ning Xi’s chicken wings? If anything, he’s all lazy and relaxed, totally giving off the vibe of a man calmly coaxing his wife into a good mood!!!]
[? Wait, that actually seems true.]
When Ning Xi heard Xie Lanchen’s question, her eyes immediately lit up. “I do!”
Then, with lightning speed, she also moved the chicken wings from Xie Lanchen’s plate to her own.
Xie Lanchen: “…”
Her scheme successful, Ning Xi looked eagerly at Xie Lanchen, who had been completely fooled by her.
Seeing the hesitant, wanting-to-speak-but-stopping expression on Xie Lanchen’s face, she burst into loud laughter.
And as Xie Lanchen watched Ning Xi laugh so happily, an almost imperceptible smile flashed through his eyes as well.
“All right, I was just joking. Here, have them back.”
With what little conscience she had left, Ning Xi returned the drumstick and wings to Xie Lanchen.
Only then did she officially start eating.
But the moment she took her first bite, she froze.