Chapter 44

The Guests set off for the outdoor filming location.

With Xie Lanchen joining them, Ning Xi and Fu Zhi no longer had to worry about travel expenses.

However, a friendship between three people was truly a bit crowded.

Ning Xi found an empty seat at random on the subway.

Just as Xie Lanchen was about to sit next to her, Fu Zhi beat him to it.

Furthermore, Fu Zhi intentionally gave Xie Lanchen a slight shove.

“Sorry, but Feynman, you know how crowded the subway is. It’s easy to bump into each other.”

Fu Zhi apologized to Xie Lanchen without a hint of actual remorse.

His eyes were full of smugness and malicious bravado.

“It’s fine.”

Xie Lanchen nodded with great poise and sat down next to Fu Zhi.

A few stops later, another wave of people boarded the subway.

Then, an incident occurred.

A pregnant woman looked at an older woman sitting in a seat and asked politely, “Excuse me, ma’am, is someone sitting here?”

The older woman waved her off irritably.

“It’s taken!”

However, a long time passed, and no one sat down next to her.

The pregnant woman held her stomach, her face turning pale.

[Holy crap, hogging seats on the subway is so disgusting.]

[This woman has absolutely no class.]

[I’m so angry. Is no one going to step up and help that pregnant woman?]

[The Program Team is still filming even like this? Are the Guests just indifferent? If something happens to that pregnant woman, I don’t think they’ll even need to record the show anymore!]

Just as the netizens were frantically denouncing the Program Team and the Guests, Ning Xi appeared beside the pregnant woman and patted her shoulder.

“You go ahead and take my seat.”

Then she looked at the older woman. “Hello, may I sit in the seat next to you?”

The old lady scanned Ning Xi from head to toe before placing her canvas bag on the empty seat. “I said it’s taken!”

Ning Xi paused for a moment, then glanced at the empty spaces on either side of the old lady. “Didn’t you two say you were leaving? Hurry up.”

The old lady was bewildered. “Huh?”

Ning Xi smiled at the woman and pointed. “Look, ma’am, they’ve already left.”

The woman was even more confused. “Is there something wrong with your head? Who left?”

Ning Xi looked puzzled. “The one in white and the one in black just left. They were just sitting on your left and right.”

The old lady’s expression changed instantly. “Are you sick, girl? There was no one next to me at all!”

Ning Xi immediately sat down in the empty seat next to the woman, looking perfectly content. “Since no one was there, I’ll take the seat!”

The older woman’s face turned ashen. She raised her voice to drive Ning Xi away. “You were tricking me on purpose just now, weren’t you? This seat is taken! Go, go, go!”

“Oh, those two in black and white are back. It looks like they want to take someone with them.”

Xie Lanchen looked toward the subway exit and spoke softly.

The older woman’s entire expression shifted in a flash. She looked at Ning Xi, then at Xie Lanchen, her lips trembling for a long time. “You’re crazy!”

Then, with a pale face, she quickly fled the train.

[Hahahahahahaha, so satisfying!]

Ning Xi looked at Xie Lanchen. “Not bad, kid.”

He had actually scared the woman away with a single sentence.

Xie Lanchen stood up and naturally sat down next to Ning Xi-in the seat the older woman had just vacated-with a smile in his eyes.

“Teacher Ning Xi, your acting was better.”

Sitting diagonally across from them, Fu Zhi stared at the two of them with a look of profound misery.

How did Xie Lanchen end up sitting with Ning Xi in the blink of an eye?

[Three’s a crowd, and one is definitely a lightbulb.]

[Xie Lanchen’s level is truly high.]

[Fu Zhi, it’s fine. Just endure it. It’s no big deal.]

[I’m going to die. I ship Fu Zhi and Ning Xi. Fu Zhi, can you please step up? You have to fight for your wife yourself. Don’t let that interloper Xie Lanchen steal her away! AHHHHHH!!!!]
[? Xie Lanchen was just a bit late. You can call him Little Dawdler, but calling him a ‘Little Third’ is a bit much, don’t you think? [smile][top-left]]

Fu Zhi’s expression remained sour the entire way.

It stayed that way until they finally reached the outdoor filming base mentioned by the Program Team.

“I’m going to go buy some oranges. You two stay right here and don’t move.”

As soon as Ning Xi saw a place selling ice cream, she couldn’t bring herself to walk another step.

Xie Lanchen and Fu Zhi stood where they were to wait for her.

“Feynman, have you had much contact with Ning Mingyue?” Fu Zhi suddenly looked at Xie Lanchen, his tone unusually friendly.

Xie Lanchen looked puzzled.

“You just got here yesterday, so you definitely don’t know much about her,” Fu Zhi said to himself.

“Ning Mingyue has a much better temper than Ning Xi. You’re a director and she’s an actress; the two of you would definitely have more in common.”

Xie Lanchen gave a faint “oh,” showing no emotion.

The netizens watching the livestream were nearly dying of laughter because of Fu Zhi.

[Is he starting to pitch other girls to his love rival now?]

[Fu Zhi: I can’t handle Ning Xi, but I can handle my rival.]

Seeing that Xie Lanchen didn’t seem particularly interested, Fu Zhi gritted his teeth and said directly:

“All Ning Xi knows how to do every day is eat, eat, and eat. She’s annoying as hell. Don’t feel like you have to interact with her just to be polite, or she’ll drive you to an early grave sooner or later…”

“But I think she’s great.”

Xie Lanchen suddenly spoke up, cutting Fu Zhi off.

“I don’t find her annoying at all. On the contrary, as a friend, I like her very much.”

[Ahhh! I! LIKE! HER! VERY! MUCH!]

[I didn’t have any feelings for Xie Lanchen before, but the way he keeps defending Ning Xi is making me ship them all of a sudden.]

[Mom, Dad, I’ve been born!]

Xie Lanchen’s gaze toward him turned much colder.

“I always thought friends were supposed to support and help each other, but you always seem to be belittling Ning Xi. Why? Is this how you treat your friends? I’m starting to doubt if you actually consider Ning Xi a friend at all.”

Fu Zhi froze. “I…”

But he couldn’t find the words to say anything else.

At the same time, many people in the bullet comments finally realized what Xie Lanchen was talking about.

[That’s right, it seems Fu Zhi does nothing but belittle Ning Xi.]

[We outsiders think their bickering is fun, but does Ning Xi, who’s constantly being belittled and mocked, think it’s fun?]

[Damn it, I’ve had enough! If I had a friend like Fu Zhi who opposed me every day and badmouthed me behind my back, I would have shoved a spear up his ass and made him explode by now!]

Ning Xi came back after buying her ice cream. Seeing the sour expressions on both Fu Zhi and Xie Lanchen’s faces, a flash of guilt crossed her eyes.

Did they realize she had just taken advantage of them with that orange joke?

“A castle? What are we doing here?”

Jiang Sheshe and Wei Xuan had also arrived.

Just then, a middle-aged man wearing a butler’s uniform slowly appeared before everyone.

“Oh? Have the five of you just arrived? The banquet is about to begin. Please follow me, distinguished Guests. Your friends are already inside the castle.”

Everyone: ?

[Youai Butler: Welcome, Guests, to the Duke’s Castle adventure! Twenty years ago, the master of the castle held a grand birthday banquet for his wife. Countless nobles and Guests came to the castle to celebrate the Mistress’s birthday.

However, at the stroke of midnight, a fire suddenly broke out in the castle. It did not go out for three days and three nights, and not a single guest who attended the banquet survived.

You seven Guests are the very people who were once invited by the Duke.

Please survive in the castle until twelve o’clock, find the cause of the fire, and save everyone!

Now, the adventure officially begins!]