Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Dinner finished just after eight o’clock.
Ning Xi took the initiative to do the dishes.
Ning Mingyue had originally intended to head out and complete some tasks, but seeing Shen Yibai wiping the table and seemingly heading toward the kitchen, she paused. She turned to Ning Xi with a smile.
“Xiao Xi, why don’t you take a break? I can handle this.”
Without a second’s hesitation, Ning Xi handed the bowls directly to Ning Mingyue.
“That would be great… I mean, Mingyue, you know I can never say no to you.”
She had just noticed that the Program Team had left a ladder in the yard. It led up to the roof, perfect for stargazing-she had been dying to go up there, hehe.
Ning Mingyue paused for a moment before taking the bowls with a strained smile.
For some reason, Ning Xi’s ready agreement felt a bit off to her.
It wasn’t until Shen Yibai entered the kitchen that Ning Mingyue realized what felt so strange.
Ning Xi… really didn’t seem to want any further contact with Shen Yibai at all.
Even Shen Yibai seemed to have easily discarded Ning Xi to be with her.
Everything was going so incredibly smoothly…
Perhaps because happiness had come too easily, Ning Mingyue felt as if she were walking on clouds, plagued by a sense of insecurity.
“Yibai, let me help you.”
Ning Mingyue shook her head and reached out to take the plate from Shen Yibai’s hand.
Shen Yibai instinctively pulled back, frowning. “No need.”
Noticing the look of shock on Ning Mingyue’s face, he added a cool explanation: “Don’t get your hands dirty.”
Only then did Ning Mingyue’s smile return.
She lowered her eyes and noticed a footprint on Shen Yibai’s white shoes. She quickly pointed it out.
“Your shoe looks dirty.”
She remembered that Shen Yibai was always very conscious of his image. His appearance was usually meticulous, never a hair out of place.
To her surprise, Shen Yibai merely glanced down and said indifferently, “It’s fine. I’ll change them tomorrow.”
Ning Mingyue didn’t press the matter further, instead shifting the conversation to the tasks she had completed that day.
Shen Yibai’s expression remained disinterested.
His attention was completely diverted when a scream echoed from the yard outside.
“Aaaaah!”
Jiang Sheshe’s shriek was so loud it nearly sent Ning Xi tumbling off the ladder.
“Why are the lights in this bathroom red?!”
Jiang Sheshe stormed out of the bathroom in a rage.
She had just flipped the switch and for a split second thought the King of Hell had come to collect her soul.
She had been completely blinded by the glare.
[They’ve turned this place into an escape room, hahaha!]
[Yesterday it was voice-activated lights, today it’s red lights. This style reminds me of a certain someone…]
[Ning Xi, come out and take a bow.]
Hearing Jiang Sheshe’s outburst, Ning Xi scrambled up the ladder even faster.
Well, when she had gone to buy a bulb from Niu Xiaohua today, Niu Xiaohua said she had one that she couldn’t sell and gave it to her for free.
At the time, Ning Xi figured free was free, so she took it. She hadn’t realized until she installed it that it was a red light…
“What’s wrong with red? It looks quite festive.”
Ning Xi whispered a consolation to Jiang Sheshe.
Her voice was so guilty and faint that only she could hear it.
A lazy chuckle suddenly drifted up from the foot of the ladder.
Ning Xi looked down and saw Xie Lanchen, who had appeared out of nowhere to steady the ladder for her. Her eyes lit up.
“Xiao Xie!!! What’s that in your hand?!”
“V me 50, and I’ll tell you.”
“…” Ning Xi felt a sting in her pride.
Xie Lanchen climbed up the ladder to the roof and placed an oversized KFC bag in front of her.
“Didn’t you say you wanted fried chicken?”
Ning Xi stared at Xie Lanchen’s handsome, sharp profile.
In the night air, with the evening breeze blowing, he somehow looked a bit softer.
She was stunned. “You can just get it whenever you want?”
She had indeed been craving it, but she knew the nearest KFC was over twenty miles away from Ling Village, so she hadn’t bothered.
She hadn’t expected Xie Lanchen to actually go and buy it so quickly…
“Of course,” Xie Lanchen said with certainty.
[Xie Lanchen, don’t spoil her too much!]
[“You can just get it whenever you want?” “Of course.” Who else felt the impact of that dialogue?]
[Fu Zhi has already lost. Even a jaded person like me is falling for Xie Lanchen.]
[If the Princess had Xie Lanchen’s attitude, she wouldn’t be getting called a copycat after knowing Ning Xi for so many years… Some people are born at the finish line but insist on running in the opposite direction. What can you do?]
“Then I also want crawfish, duck necks, durian, taro ice…” Ning Xi began making her wishes.
“…”
Seeing the speechless expression on Xie Lanchen’s face, Ning Xi burst into laughter.
“Xiao Xie, you didn’t really think my stomach was a bottomless pit, did you? I was just joking. I couldn’t possibly fit crawfish and all that in today.”
Xie Lanchen laughed along with her.
“But I can tomorrow,” Ning Xi added with a sharp turn.
Xie Lanchen’s smile vanished. “…”
Ning Xi was once again doubled over by Xie Lanchen’s sudden change in expression.
How could Xie Lanchen believe everything she said? He was so gullible, haha.
[So sweet, sob sob sob.]
[Does anyone else feel like Xie Lanchen is intentionally teasing Ning Xi to make her happy? Can you guys feel it?]
[It feels so good to have someone listen to you seriously and give you feedback, waaaaah!]
Xie Lanchen handed Ning Xi a pair of disposable gloves and then pushed the bucket of chicken wings toward her.
Ning Xi’s eyes lit up when she saw the ten-piece bucket she had been craving.
“You actually knew what I wanted to eat?”
She felt like she had only mentioned the ten-piece bucket in passing during dinner.
Xie Lanchen looked at Ning Xi, his dark eyes filled with sincerity. “I listen to every word you say.”
Ning Xi froze.
She looked back at him. Under the deep blue night sky, his eyes seemed to be brimming with the light of a thousand stars.
Her heart felt as if it had been brushed by a soft feather. It turned out there really was someone who would remember everything she said without being a buzzkill…
“Ning Xi! Ning Xi!”
Just then, Fu Zhi’s voice drifted up from the courtyard, shouting as if he were trying to summon a ghost.
“What are you yelling for? You scared me! You absolute lunatic!” Jiang Sheshe’s complaining voice followed.
“Ah Zhi, is your body feeling better?” Ning Mingyue asked with concern.
Fu Zhi ignored them and asked directly, “Where’s Ning Xi?! Doesn’t she know I went to the hospital? I have something to tell her!”
It was incredibly good news, hahahahahahaha.
On the roof.
Ning Xi ignored him and continued eating her chicken wings.
Truth be told, the moment Fu Zhi wiggles his backside, she knows exactly what kind of fart he’s about to let out. Judging by his uncontrollably smug tone, the Program Team had probably given him some kind of reward.
Besides, Fu Zhi was bound to keep blathering on about the whole ‘saving a life’ thing later.
“Where’s Ning Xi?” Fu Zhi searched for a long time without finding Ning Xi or Xie Lanchen. He finally realized something was wrong.
“Why is Xie Lanchen gone too? Where are they?”
“I think the ladder was moved. Are they on the roof?” Wei Xuan guessed.
Ning Xi: …
Damn that Wei Xuan. He was always guessing this and that, and he was always right.
“Hi.”
Holding a chicken wing, Ning Xi waved to Fu Zhi from the roof.
Fu Zhi was about to speak, but his face fell the moment he saw Xie Lanchen standing beside her.
Right then, a message from the Program Team arrived.
[Youai Village Chief: Hello, guests! Today’s farming assistance activity has concluded successfully!
Because guest Fu Zhi rescued a drowning child and saved a family-while also delaying his afternoon task time-the Program Team is awarding him an additional 1,000 yuan in compensation.
guest Fu Zhi has a total balance of 1,850 yuan, making him the first-place winner of this activity. He earns the right to assign rooms tonight.
guest Ning Xi has a total balance of 1,725.7 yuan. A special reward will be unlocked later.]
“Ning Xi earned 1,725?” Jiang Sheshe was the first to be shocked.
Excluding Fu Zhi, wasn’t Xie Lanchen the one who earned the most from tasks this morning? How did Ning Xi suddenly pull off an upset?
Ning Xi flipped her hair and bragged, “You saw that right. 1,725. Taking second place was as easy as pie.”
However, a second later, the Program Team sent out the task and expense breakdown for all the guests.
When Jiang Sheshe saw the glaring entry on Ning Xi’s ledger-‘Received 250 from guest Jiang Sheshe’-she finally saw the light.
“So you were the scammer who set me up! I worked hard all afternoon feeding cows just to earn that 250!”
Now everyone had a balance of over a thousand. Xie Lanchen, who ranked third, still had 1,700 left even after paying over a hundred in rush fees for a courier to bring KFC.
Shen Yibai also had nearly 1,700.
She was the only one with a glaring 0!!!
Ning Xi patted Jiang Sheshe pityingly. “Silly child, even if you had that 250, you’d still be in last place. What’s the difference? Besides, do you really think it sounds good to say you worked all day just to earn 250? Think about it, is the number 250 really a good thing?”
In any case, she would never return money she had snatched through her own abilities, hee hee.
Jiang Sheshe fell into a mental spiral because of Ning Xi’s words.
She was definitely in last place anyway. Compared to 250, a 0 felt like it carried a bit less of a mocking tone.
“Ahem.”
Fu Zhi cleared his throat, trying to assert his presence in front of Ning Xi.
He took first place today, surpassing Ning Xi.
Credit where credit was due; Ning Xi actually approved of Fu Zhi’s actions in saving the child today.
She said sincerely, “Even though you’re a bit of a shameless jerk, you did a good thing today. I don’t have much to wish for you, so I’ll just hope that in the future, you can earn over ten thousand a month.”
Fu Zhi: …
His monthly allowance was already seven figures.
Earning only ten thousand a month… what a malicious curse!