Chapter 60
Chapter 60
The Program Team rushed to Ning Xi and Fu Zhi’s house.
The team’s doctor examined the two of them and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “There’s no major problem. Fortunately, their reactions were quite obvious, and they didn’t stay in the room with the cockroach poison for long. Just take some medicine tonight and get some good rest.”
Director Qin was also frantically wiping his forehead.
Good grief. Trying to exterminate cockroaches and nearly exterminating themselves-only Ning Xi and Fu Zhi could pull off something like that.
Moreover-
“This house definitely isn’t sleepable tonight, and it’s too late to prepare a new one on short notice. So, you two should head over to the other two groups’ houses for the night. They both have spare rooms,” Director Qin said.
Fu Zhi’s face immediately darkened when he heard they had to go to someone else’s house.
“Which one, then?”
Fu Zhi looked toward Ning Xi.
Ning Xi was applying a cooling patch to her forehead as she said casually, “Whichever one has a spare room.”
“Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan only have two people in their house. Should we go there?” Fu Zhi suggested, his mind spinning with schemes.
[Yup, he doesn’t want to go to the house with Xie Lanchen. I get it.]
[I’m begging the Princess to stop thinking. Every time he thinks, I just want to laugh.]
[And his eyes are darting around so obviously. Even an idiot can see what he’s thinking.]
Ning Xi had no objections.
Director Qin looked a bit awkward. “I’m sorry, you two, but the other two houses only have one prepared room left each. So you might have to…”
Live separately.
Fu Zhi curled his lip in annoyance and said, “Then I’ll go to the house where Shen Yibai is staying. I’m more familiar with him.”
“I DON’T WANT HIM!!!!”
Jiang Sheshe had rushed over after hearing the news, and the first sentence she heard hit her like a bolt from the blue.
“I don’t want Fu Zhi! I already have two guys over there. If we add Fu Zhi, it’s going to turn into a boys’ dormitory!”
And among those three men, not a single one of them knew how to use their words properly.
Even if she was having a spat with Brother Xuan, she didn’t deserve this!
“Heh, you’re talking like it’s your house. I’m not going for you; I’m going for Shen Yibai!” Fu Zhi sneered.
The situation suddenly became tricky.
Director Qin couldn’t handle these two difficult ancestors, so he turned his gaze toward Ning Xi for help.
Ning Xi gave him an ‘OK’ sign and then looked directly at Jiang Sheshe and Fu Zhi.
“Those words are way too much! Why haven’t you started fighting yet? Even if you can take it, I can’t!”
Director Qin: “…”
Fu Zhi: “…”
Jiang Sheshe: “…”
[You really know how to fan the flames.]
[She just wants to watch the world burn, hahaha.]
Ultimately, considering that Jiang Sheshe’s side did indeed have more male guests, plus Jiang Sheshe’s “strong demand,” it was arranged for Ning Xi to go to Jiang Sheshe’s house while Fu Zhi went to Ning Mingyue and Wei Xuan’s house.
Ning Xi packed her things quickly and prepared to leave.
“Ning Xi…” Fu Zhi spoke up resentfully, watching her head off without a second thought.
Ning Xi simply waved her hand without looking back.
“We’ll talk about it when we’re back on the clock tomorrow.”
Fu Zhi’s gaze grew even more mournful, looking as if Ning Xi were leaving for the ends of the earth.
[Will we meet again, Ning Xi? Ning Xi, how can I live without you? Ning Xi!]
[Fu Zhi is seriously too clingy. He has to call for Ning Xi over every little thing.]
[When Ning Xi gets married in the future, Fu Zhi might actually try to marry into the family along with her.]
[Hahahahahahaha, what a nutjob.]
Ning Xi had just arrived at Jiang Sheshe’s house when a message from Fu Zhi arrived.
It was an eighteen-photo burst of the room he was currently in, accompanied by a “desolate.jpg” emoji.
Ning Xi’s face was a total ‘confused Nick Young’ meme. “Why take eighteen photos of the same thing? Do you think my data is free?”
She really wanted to block him.
Meanwhile, Fu Zhi was still relentlessly sending photos.
Ning Xi replied directly: “UNSUB”
Then she set him to ‘Do Not Disturb’.
Fu Zhi: “…”
“This is my room. The one on the far right is Shen Yibai’s, the one on the left is Xie Lanchen’s, and this one in the middle is the empty one.”
Jiang Sheshe pointed out the layout of the house.
“At this time, Xie Lanchen should be showering. Shen Yibai… I don’t know what he’s doing. He hasn’t come out all night.”
As Jiang Sheshe spoke, she couldn’t help but steal a glance at Ning Xi. She was truly curious-was Shen Yibai this quiet when he was with Ning Xi too? How did Ning Xi stand it?
Wouldn’t dating someone so silent and brooding be suffocating?
In that moment of distraction, Jiang Sheshe didn’t pay attention, and her face slammed right into a white shirt that seemed to have been hung up to dry not long ago, still dripping with water.
“Uh oh.”
Ning Xi silently pulled back the hand she’d tried to use to stop Jiang Sheshe, though she hadn’t been fast enough.
She saw Jiang Sheshe looking shocked and devastated.
“It’s over! My foundation got on the shirt! I don’t know how to do laundry!”
Ning Xi looked at the shirt, and the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed.
Wasn’t Shen Yibai wearing this exact one today?
“Forget it, I’ll just pay him back,” Jiang Sheshe quickly came up with a solution.
“This shirt is likely a custom-made piece. It probably costs six figures,” Ning Xi recalled.
She remembered that many of Shen Yibai’s logo-less shirts were quite expensive.
“What?!”
Jiang Sheshe had assumed it would be a few thousand or maybe ten thousand at most.
“I have an idea,” Ning Xi said, looking at Jiang Sheshe with a beaming smile.
“What idea?”
Ning Xi looked up at the sky and down at the ground, remaining silent.
Jiang Sheshe took a deep breath and transferred a thousand yuan to Ning Xi.
“Alright, can you tell me now?”
“Coming right up!” Ning Xi’s face lit up with joy at the sound of the transaction notification.
“Just don’t do anything. Go to sleep and rest normally.”
“But what if Shen Yibai asks me about it tomorrow?!”
“If he doesn’t ask, don’t say anything. If he does ask, act surprised.”
“…”
Seeing Jiang Sheshe’s shell-shocked expression, Ning Xi finally patted her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Shen Yibai won’t even ask.”
Shen Yibai really wouldn’t care that much about a single shirt.
Jiang Sheshe looked at Ning Xi skeptically.
Right then, there was a click.
The bathroom door was pushed open.
Xie Lanchen emerged wearing black pajamas, drying his hair with a cold and casual expression.
An occasional droplet of water fell onto Xie Lanchen’s pale neck, slowly sliding across his collarbone before disappearing into his pajamas…
Summer pajamas were thin. Even though the light was dimming, his tall stature and smooth, lean lines were clearly visible.
“Holy moly.”
Ning Xi pried her eyes wide open with her fingers.
She was going to look as hard as she could!
[What a thirsty girl!]
[Holy moly, Xie Lanchen is fully dressed, so why does he give off such a ‘forbidden fruit’ vibe?]
[Sexiness is an aura; sexual tension is all about the feeling.]
[What’s a ‘seven days and seven nights’ marathon in a novel? I could go for a thousand and one nights with Xie Lanchen! (heart-eyes emoji)]
[You thirsty girls need to go on a diet of bland food and pure thoughts.]
Xie Lanchen also paused when he saw Ning Xi and Jiang Sheshe, seemingly caught off guard.
But after seeing Ning Xi staring at him with her eyes pried open, his initial slight awkwardness instantly vanished.
He couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle.
Under the moonlight, his features looked refined and gentle.
He looked at the luggage in Ning Xi’s hands with a puzzled expression.
Ning Xi cleared her throat and gave a concise summary of the cockroach incident.
She detailed Fu Zhi’s cowardice and ignorance while glossing over the fact that she, like Fu Zhi, hadn’t known that the cockroach spray required ventilation.
However, even without watching the livestream, Xie Lanchen figured out what had happened with a bit of thought.
When he remembered that Ning Xi had mistaken dizziness for a ‘blissful lightheadedness,’ he could no longer control the smile on his lips.
“Right? You also think it’s ridiculous, don’t you? How can anyone be afraid of cockroaches!” Ning Xi threw her hands up.
“Indeed,” Xie Lanchen agreed, his lips curling upward.
Then he slowly repeated Ning Xi’s words, mimicking her tone, “How can anyone be afraid of cockroaches?”
Jiang Sheshe looked at Ning Xi beside her, then at Xie Lanchen across from them.
For some reason, she felt like she was starting to glow.
[Jiang Sheshe: Before, Ning Xi was the third wheel for me and Wei Xuan. Now, I’m the third wheel for Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen.]
[Three’s a crowd, and that crowd is always Steve.]
[I won’t allow anyone to speak ill of Steve! Because I am that Steve! (disdain emoji)]
At seven in the morning, the alarm clock echoed through the entire house.
Director Qin’s voice came through the loudspeaker: “guests, our second day in Ling Village has officially begun! The Program Team has prepared a sumptuous breakfast for everyone!”
Ning Xi sprang out of bed directly from a glute bridge.
“Breakfast? What breakfast? Where’s the breakfast?!”
She rushed toward the source of Director Qin’s voice and found it was coming from the courtyard of this very house.
Seeing three tables laden with food, Ning Xi was about to ‘accidentally’ trip and fall right onto the sliced oranges when she was quickly caught by Director Qin.
“Teacher Ning, you have to win the game to eat this breakfast.”
Ning Xi: ?
The other guests began to appear in the courtyard one after another.
“Sheshe…”
When Ning Mingyue saw Jiang Sheshe, she thought about how she had been arranged to stay in the same house as Wei Xuan last night and how they had watched the moon together. She intended to take the initiative to smooth things over and comfort her.
To her surprise, Jiang Sheshe didn’t even notice her, scurrying straight over to Ning Xi’s side.
“Shen Yibai is about to find out!!! Is the method you mentioned yesterday really going to work?”
Jiang Sheshe asked in a tiny whisper.
Before Ning Xi could speak, Fu Zhi forced himself between the two of them, squeezing Jiang Sheshe out of the way.
Fu Zhi was complaining to Ning Xi.
“I didn’t sleep well at all last night! There wasn’t a single familiar face in that house! It was cold! Emotionless!”
Ning Xi let out a dry chuckle. “And who exactly are you emotional with? Shen Yibai?”
Seriously, everyone, take this as a warning: avoid ‘brother-obsessed’ guys like him.
It was one thing to be clingy as a kid, but now they were on a variety show where the houses were assigned, and he still insisted on living together!
If Shen Yibai ever got married, he probably wouldn’t even be able to shake off Fu Zhi.
“Ning Xi!” Fu Zhi snapped, irritated.
Right then, Shen Yibai walked out of his room.
Seeing the courtyard full of people, he frowned slightly. He walked straight over to the shirt he had hung out to dry the night before, intending to take it down.
Jiang Sheshe held her breath and silently moved to the other side of Ning Xi, nervously grabbing her wrist.
Fu Zhi glared at Jiang Sheshe.
They already had one Xie Lanchen; they definitely couldn’t handle another Jiang Sheshe!
“Ahhh, Shen Yibai saw it! He saw the foundation I got on his shirt!” Jiang Sheshe whispered. She didn’t even notice Fu Zhi; her entire focus was on Shen Yibai.
Ning Xi remained calm.
Shen Yibai merely glanced at the foundation on the shirt with a frown, then tossed the garment directly into the trash can.
With a faint, indifferent expression, he joined the rest of the guests.
Feeling guilty, Jiang Sheshe backed even further away from Shen Yibai, her face full of disbelief.
“It was that simple?”
Ning Xi shrugged. “What else did you expect? Even when he’s angry, he doesn’t speak more than usual. And as for a shirt-when he has hundreds of the exact same style in his closet-he’s not going to waste a second glance on it.”
Especially since it was foundation. It didn’t take a genius to figure out it had to be either her or Jiang Sheshe, since they shared the same house.
Shen Yibai wasn’t the type of person to make things difficult for a girl.
“You know him so well,” Jiang Sheshe remarked.
Ning Xi: “…”
Why did those words sound so wrong coming from Jiang Sheshe?
Once the final guest, Xie Lanchen, appeared, Director Qin picked up his megaphone.
“Hello, guests! I am your Youai Village Chief for this trip to Ling Village.
“The Village Chief has prepared a sumptuous breakfast for everyone this morning, but it will only be available to the team that takes first place in the upcoming game.”
As he finished speaking, staff members pushed out four small carts.
On each cart sat a large, pre-cut slice of watermelon.
“The competition will consist of male guests facing off in pairs. The female guests will be blindfolded and must feed the watermelon to the men. The two male guests who finish their watermelon in the shortest time will get to invite one female guest to join them for breakfast.”
[Invite? Why do they have to invite a female guest? Can’t they just eat with the one they teamed up with?]
Director Qin’s next words arrived just in time to resolve the confusion in the Danmaku.
“The groupings for this round will be determined by the male guests drawing lots! You will randomly select the female guest who will feed you the watermelon!”
Drawing lots?
“We can’t just stay with our friends?” Fu Zhi was the first to object.
“No. We’re using random groupings this time in hopes of seeing the chemical reactions produced by different pairings.”
Fu Zhi clenched his fists. From that moment until the drawing of lots, he wore a look that screamed, “I’m pissed off, don’t mess with me.”
Finally, it was time for him and Shen Yibai to draw lots as the first pair of competitors.
“Jiang Sheshe.”
Shen Yibai called out Jiang Sheshe’s name in a cold, indifferent voice.
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
Jiang Sheshe was already feeling guilty toward Shen Yibai. Hearing him suddenly call her name, she reflexively threw her hands up in apology.
Then she realized everyone’s eyes were on her.
Jiang Sheshe: “…”
“Ning… Xi?”
When Fu Zhi saw the name on his slip, his eyes instantly lit up.
And when Ning Xi heard her name called, her eyes lit up as well.
Time to fight! Let’s go!
[Wait, I have a bad feeling about this!]
[Little Prince, of all people to be paired with, you had to get that battle-maniac Ning Xi. My condolences.]
[Fu Zhi has been screwed over by Ning Xi so many times in games, yet he insists on teaming up with her every time. He’s got a lot of lives left, I guess.]
Ning Xi and Jiang Sheshe were both blindfolded.
“I’ll sit in front of Shen Yibai; it’ll be more convenient that way.”
Jiang Sheshe chose her feeding position first.
Director Qin nodded in satisfaction.
One blindfolded girl feeding watermelon, one handsome man looking at the beautiful girl in front of him…
Wasn’t the atmosphere just dripping with romantic tension?
“That posture won’t work! You’ll never win like that!”
Ning Xi shot a disdainful look at Jiang Sheshe. She stepped directly behind Fu Zhi and shoved the watermelon right up to his mouth.
She stood poised, ready for battle.
“Wait! I have something to say!” Fu Zhi finally realized something was wrong.
“Three, two, one-start!”
At that exact moment, Director Qin’s voice fell.