Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Ning Xi was reaching the end of her rope. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Fu Zhi tilted his chin up. “You can go, but you have to take me with you!”

He wanted to see for himself what Ning Xi was planning to do with Xie Lanchen!

Ning Xi: …

As anyone who has ever dealt with people knows, interpersonal relationships are harder to handle than a corpse.

Looking at the sugarcane and ice cream in Fu Zhi’s hands, Ning Xi decided it wasn’t worth a full-blown confrontation. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Fine.”

It wasn’t like it was out of her way.

Fu Zhi’s expression instantly brightened.

And so, with Ning Xi pedaling and Fu Zhi sitting on the back rack clutching two stalks of sugarcane, the two of them set off.

This wasn’t the first time Fu Zhi had ridden on the back of Ning Xi’s bike, but it was the first time he had both hands full.

He cautioned her with extreme care, “Car ahead! Slow down!!!”

Ning Xi replied, “What are you afraid of? Let them try and hit us!”

Fu Zhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, feeling humiliated, he raised his hand and pressed his wrist against Ning Xi’s waist to seek a shred of security.

“Hahahahaha!”

Ning Xi’s waist was exceptionally sensitive; she couldn’t help but laugh the moment he touched her.

With that laugh, the bike began to swerve in an S-pattern.

Terrified, Fu Zhi immediately let go. “Ride properly!”

When it rains, it pours.

While Ning Xi was still zigzagging, two cars suddenly appeared at the intersection ahead, driving toward each other and threatening to block the road.

Ning Xi accelerated instantly. Mid-sprint, the bike accidentally hit a rock, but she used her superb sense of balance to steady herself.

With one final, perfect drift, the bike came to a halt.

“So, how’s that? My riding skills are pretty good, right?”

Ning Xi turned back triumphantly, only to freeze.

Wait, where was he?

A few meters back, Fu Zhi was sitting on the ground clutching two stalks of sugarcane, looking completely dazed.

How did he fall off the bike?

Netizens who had witnessed the whole thing pulled out their screen recordings.

The footage showed that when Ning Xi hit the rock, the bike gave a violent jolt, and Fu Zhi tumbled off the back rack.

At the moment he fell, Fu Zhi had instinctively tried to grab onto the bike.

However, Ning Xi possessed the strength of an ox. She hadn’t felt the slightest bit of resistance from Fu Zhi at all, her mind entirely focused on her perfect drift.

[Ning Xi, think about it carefully-do you really care about your friend Fu Zhi that much?]

[Fu Zhi: Your back seat, my first traffic accident.]

[Xie Lanchen: I don’t even want to talk about the times I sat on the back of her bike.]

[Summary: Ning Xi’s back seat-a thriller for everyone else.]

“I told you to slow down!” Fu Zhi felt like his backside was about to shatter.

“Who told you to touch my waist?” Ning Xi wasn’t about to let him off the hook either.

The two of them stared each other down.

Fu Zhi said, “Taking ten thousand steps back, just now…”

Ning Xi interrupted, “Just say it here. If you take ten thousand steps back, who’s going to hear you?”

Fu Zhi continued, “Do you know how dangerous that was? If we were a second slower, we might have…”

Ning Xi shook her head. “Young man, you’re still too young. You lack drive.”

She had obviously timed her dash perfectly!

Fu Zhi closed his eyes and decided to stop communicating. After all, talking to Ning Xi only served to make himself angry.

“Fine. Let’s both compromise. Ride slower in a bit, and I’ll keep my distance from you, okay?”

Ning Xi hesitated. “I guess… okay.”

Hearing Ning Xi’s reluctant tone, Fu Zhi took a deep breath and silently began to recite the Heart-Cleansing Mantra in his head:

“The heart is as calm as water, and water is the heart itself. No breeze rises, and the waves remain undisturbed…”
The two of them returned to the bicycle.

This time, Fu Zhi maintained a distance from Ning Xi wide enough to fit an entire Mixue Ice Cream & Tea shop between them.

Netizens marveled at the sight.

[Fu Zhi wiped out that hard just now, yet he still wants to ride on Ning Xi’s bike. That’s true love right there.]

[One is willing to strike and the other is willing to suffer. I’m tired of saying it.]

In the livestream.

Ning Xi was psyching herself up, preparing for a slingshot start.

A familiar, slightly uncertain voice suddenly rang out.

“Teacher Ning?”

Ning Xi looked at Xie Lanchen in shock. “What are you doing here!”

Wasn’t he supposed to be about a hundred meters away?

Xie Lanchen looked innocent. “I started walking this way right after you finished asking me where I was.”

Ning Xi: …

[In the time it took you two to perform that comedy routine, Xie Lanchen had enough time to walk over here on foot.]

[I’ve always said that performing skits is bad for your health.]

Ning Xi cleared her throat and got straight to the point. “Xiao Xie, do you want some ice cream? My treat.”

Fu Zhi looked at Ning Xi in disbelief.

Why did he have to pay for his own ice cream, while Xie Lanchen got a free treat from Ning Xi?

“Sure,” Xie Lanchen agreed with a light chuckle.

Fu Zhi then turned his look of disbelief toward Xie Lanchen.

Doesn’t this damn green tea love to act all considerate? How could he just agree to let a girl pay for him?

Thus, the livestream audience witnessed a scene that was as bizarre as it was harmonious:

Ning Xi paid the bill, and Xie Lanchen carried three sundaes to the table.

Then, the three adults sat together on high stools, eating their sundaes while staring out the window.

“I feel like something is a bit weird,” Ning Xi said, taking a bite of her sundae.

“Me too.” Fu Zhi looked at the sundae in his hand-which had just been handed to him by a smiling Xie Lanchen-with a complicated expression.

Given how much he detested Xie Lanchen, he should have slapped the item out of his hand, or at the very least, thrown a few insults his way.

Yet here he was, sitting peacefully on the surface with Xie Lanchen, eating sundaes?

“The sundae is very sweet. I like it a lot.” Xie Lanchen’s brow arched slightly, his thin lips curving into a faint smile.

Ning Xi let out a silly grin.

The next second, her phone buzzed with a message.

[Youai Village Chief: The first opposite-sex guest Hidden Mission has been successfully challenged. Please find the second opposite-sex guest.]

Ning Xi glanced at it and continued eating her sundae.

Suddenly remembering something, she looked at Fu Zhi, who had insisted on squeezing himself between her and Xie Lanchen.

“You had a fever yesterday. You should eat less cold food today.”

Before Fu Zhi could speak, Xie Lanchen took his sundae away, his smile turning slightly cold. “Right. Don’t eat it.”

“None of your business…” Fu Zhi’s expression was icy.

However, as soon as Ning Xi swept a glance his way, Fu Zhi behaved himself.

He allowed Xie Lanchen to throw away the sundae he had only taken one bite of.

Then, he resentfully recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra in his head.

Meanwhile, Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen continued to enjoy their treats.

Finally, a netizen pointed out the strangeness of the scene with piercing accuracy.

[Ah! Do you feel it? This magical ‘family of three’ vibe!]

[I knew something was off! It’s clearly two men and one woman, yet there’s no tense love-triangle drama. Instead, they look like a harmonious family of three!]

[Fu Zhi: Leopard Daddy and Kitty Mommy, I’ve arrived!]

[? Does no one respect us Fu-Ning CP fans anymore? We don’t want a couple turning into mother and son, hey!]

[My lord, times have changed (hehe).]