Chapter 59
Chapter 59
In the end, Fu Zhi had to rely on his phone’s flashlight to find his way to the bathroom in the dark.
He emerged with a dark expression, only to be greeted by a sudden, loud, and clear blare from a megaphone:
“I’m going to the bathroom! I’m going to the bathroom!”
The bathroom lights flickered on and stayed lit for a long time.
Fu Zhi: “…”
“Well? Isn’t my method great?” Ning Xi waved the megaphone in her hand.
“If you’re too embarrassed to shout in the future, just use the megaphone when you go to the bathroom. That way, the lights won’t go out.”
Fu Zhi: “…”
He closed his eyes, feeling a sense of exhaustion so profound that he couldn’t even find the strength to curse.
Ning Xi, meanwhile, continued to happily fiddle with the megaphone, completely oblivious.
“I’m going to sleep.”
Fu Zhi’s voice sounded faint, as if it were floating in the air.
The initial joy he felt because Ning Xi had chosen the same house as him had now been replaced by a dull sense of despair.
Until-
“Ah! Cockroach! A cockroach! Ning Xi!!!!”
Ning Xi was just about to fall asleep when she heard Fu Zhi’s scream from next door.
Ning Xi ruffled her hair. “What are you calling me for?! I just closed my eyes!”
“Ning Xi! Ning Xi, there’s a cockroach here!”
Fu Zhi was practically losing his mind.
In his entire life, he had only ever seen cockroaches in videos. Seeing that thing just sitting there on the floor made his skin crawl!
“Where is it?”
Ning Xi arrived holding a broom.
Fu Zhi pointed cautiously toward the nightstand.
Ning Xi swung the broom, then grabbed the cockroach with a tissue and tossed it into the trash can in the courtyard.
“There, it’s gone.”
[Holy crap! Holy crap, crap, crap!]
[When Ning Xi grabbed that cockroach with her bare hands, I felt like she was glowing with divine light.]
[I can’t even imagine how badass she is.]
[Someone give me a link to buy a friend like Ning Xi who’s willing to catch cockroaches for you. [Smile] I’m not joking.]
Ning Xi let out a yawn and turned to head back to her room.
“Wait! What if there are more?” Fu Zhi called out nervously.
“What else can we do? We’ll deal with them as they come! How about we hold a memorial service for the cockroach?” Ning Xi said irritably.
“I’m not joking. People say that when you see one cockroach, there are already many more in places you can’t see!!! We might be sleeping in a cockroach nest right now!”
“…Oh.”
“Don’t you think a cockroach nest is terrifying?”
“…Yeah.”
“Is that all the reaction I get?”
“What, do you want me to stay up all night and go hunting for a cockroach nest with you?!”
Ning Xi didn’t understand what Fu Zhi was trying to achieve.
“Isn’t there that kind of medicine that kills cockroaches? Should we spray some?” Seeing the growing impatience on Ning Xi’s face, Fu Zhi’s voice instinctively grew much quieter.
Ning Xi slapped her forehead. “Oh, right. I remember seeing cockroach spray in the storage room when I was tidying up earlier.”
And so, the two of them got back up in a frantic mess to start spraying every room with cockroach repellent.
[How novel. This is the first time I’ve seen guests on a variety show exterminating cockroaches in the middle of the night.]
[Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan are watching the moon; Jiang Sheshe, Xie Lanchen, and Shen Yibai are either sleeping or reading; and here are our Ning Xi and Fu Zhi, killing cockroaches. Everyone has a bright future ahead of them.]
[Hahahahaha, you didn’t spare any of them!]
On the other side.
“Are you really just going to watch them live together?” Luo Ze’s teasing voice came through the phone’s speaker.
“What else?”
Xie Lanchen answered the call, his tone flat.
“How about I talk to the Program Team and arrange for the two of you to have more contact? Otherwise, wasn’t your hundred-million-yuan investment just to get a spot as a guest a bit of a waste?”
Xie Lanchen frowned. “Don’t interfere with the Program Team on your own initiative.”
Luo Ze’s smile faded slightly. “Lanchen, sometimes I really don’t understand you. You clearly joined this variety show for her, but you don’t seem that proactive. Why? Fu Zhi and Ning Xi are childhood friends; you should be able to see Fu Zhi’s feelings for her. If they keep getting grouped together and staying in the same house, who knows…”
“It won’t happen. Fu Zhi isn’t good enough for her.”
A faint shadow fell across Xie Lanchen’s eyelashes.
“Then why didn’t you fight to be in a group with her? Why didn’t you tell her you wanted to be on her team and live in the same house?”
“…”
The only sound left in the receiver was the silent breathing of the two men.
Luo Ze was truly puzzled. “Back then, you watched the show, booked a flight back to the country, and had me negotiate the contract with the Program Team on your behalf. I thought you were in a hurry. But why, after actually seeing her, are you not so urgent anymore?”
That was a hundred-million-yuan investment, after all.
If Xie Lanchen wanted to, the Program Team could certainly set up numerous game segments to push him and Ning Xi together.
But Xie Lanchen hadn’t given any such instructions. It seemed he had completely immersed himself in the role of an ordinary guest.
A long silence followed.
“…Do you think I’m worthy?”
Xie Lanchen’s voice was very low, as if it could be scattered by a single gust of wind.
“Why wouldn’t you be worthy? Lanchen, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. In just five years, you learned things it takes others over a decade to master. Is there anyone in the Xie Family who doesn’t respect you now? Even my old man wishes you were his biological son! And you’re actually telling me you’re not worthy?”
“Would you still be envious of me before I became this Xie Lanchen?”
Xie Lanchen held his phone, his dark eyes fixed on the distance, a faint, dark mist seemingly swirling in the depths of his gaze.
Luo Ze’s breath hitched.
“Those things are in the past. From the moment you returned to the Xie Family, you became the Eldest Young Master, Xie Lanchen! The Xie Lanchen who is out of everyone’s reach!”
“But I remember,” Xie Lanchen said softly. “I remember spending ten years in that place like a dog that never saw the light of day. I lived for ten years without dignity, in constant fear…”
He was a rat rotting slowly in a gutter. Because of a ray of light, his soul had regrown flesh and blood, allowing him to see the sun again.
But a rat was still a rat.
He was only fit to be a shadow, not to stand by her side.
After hearing Xie Lanchen’s words, Luo Ze didn’t pursue the topic further.
“Fine. You say you’re not worthy, and Fu Zhi isn’t worthy either. So what, Shen Yibai is the one who’s worthy?”
“Of course he isn’t.”
Xie Lanchen answered without a moment’s hesitation.
A half-hearted man was naturally unworthy of her.
Luo Ze practically wanted to laugh. “Right, right, right. None of you are worthy. So you think Ning Xi should just grow old alone?”
Xie Lanchen’s brow furrowed. “Don’t curse her.”
“…Then you tell me, who is the best match for Ning Xi?”
“…”
Xie Lanchen was momentarily speechless.
“Let’s try a different question. What kind of person do you think is worthy of Ning Xi?”
“Naturally, someone of a similar age with looks that match hers. Their personal net worth must be at least a hundred billion at minimum. Their IQ must be higher than average, and they must have graduated from a university ranked in the QS Top 10. They need to be emotionally stable, have zero scandals, and must never have liked anyone else before-they must be completely devoted to her alone. Their parents must also know how to respect her…”
The more Luo Ze listened, the more something felt off. “Are you making a wish, or are you describing yourself?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. These are the most basic requirements,” Xie Lanchen said, frowning.
“I’m actually laughing. Do you think these requirements are easy to meet? Just the asset requirement alone-people with a personal net worth of a hundred billion are as rare as phoenix feathers, and most of them are over forty! They probably have grandkids by now!”
“But someone who meets the criteria can definitely be found,” Xie Lanchen said calmly.
Luo Ze laughed outright. “Fine, you go ahead and look. I want to see what you’ll do when you can’t find anyone!”
Xie Lanchen was clearly the person who fit those criteria best, yet he actually felt he wasn’t worthy of Ning Xi.
Whatever. He was done trying to persuade him.
Once Ning Xi actually fell for someone else, Xie Lanchen would know the meaning of regret.
Luo Ze hung up the phone in a huff.
But after his emotions settled, he couldn’t help but open the livestream.
Seeing Xie Lanchen’s lonely figure appear in the room, Luo Ze shook his head and, as if resigning himself to fate, called Old Master Luo.
“Dad, what exactly happened during those ten years when Lanchen was kidnapped and trafficked?”
There was a long silence on Old Master Luo’s end. Finally, he let out a long, heavy sigh.
Ning Xi and Fu Zhi quickly gave the entire house a thorough pest treatment.
After ensuring that the cockroaches wouldn’t dare show their faces again, the two of them were oblivious enough to head straight back to their respective rooms to sleep.
[Wait, did they just go to sleep right after spraying the chemicals?]
[Isn’t that spray supposed to be toxic?]
[Yeah, shouldn’t they wait for the chemicals to dissipate and ventilate the place for a while before going in to rest?]
[But Ning Xi and Fu Zhi don’t seem to have any reaction. Could it be that this kind of spray is harmless to humans and doesn’t need ventilation?]
A small number of netizens found it strange, but seeing that Ning Xi and Fu Zhi were already preparing for bed, they didn’t think much more of it.
Until ten minutes later.
Fu Zhi suddenly slammed open his bedroom door.
He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air with great difficulty, and weakly reached out toward Ning Xi’s door.
“Ning Xi-the cockroach medicine is poisonous-get out quickly-we can’t stay in this house!!!”
Ning Xi opened her bedroom door, her head feeling heavy and her mind completely dazed.
“So the reason I felt dizzy was because I was poisoned… I thought I was just experiencing the bliss of finally being able to sleep…”