Chapter 293
Xu Shuangrong walked briskly away. The moment she left the racetrack, she broke into a jog, only stopping after running quite a distance, breathing lightly.
[System: What on earth were you doing?]
[System: You told me not to talk to you during the race, but you kept calling me and even babbling random racing stuff.]
[System: Since when did you have so much nonsense to say?]
[Xu Shuangrong: Shut up.]
She had long known this chatterbox of a system couldn’t hold itself back, so the moment she stepped out of the racetrack she started running—just to avoid the system suddenly speaking and exposing her plan to test Xie Mi.
Even though this time, her probing didn’t yield anything.
Xu Shuangrong slowly walked up onto the deck, standing as though she were admiring the endless blue sea and sky, while in truth her mind was spinning rapidly.
Racing required absolute concentration. At high speed, even the slightest hesitation or distraction could cause a huge mistake.
She had deliberately set up two tests for Xie Mi—one at the curve, one during the overtake.
The first was at the curve, where she had silently declared in her mind that she would overtake from the inside lane. If Xie Mi could hear her, even a tiny defensive instinct would have made her car tilt inward slightly.
But Xie Mi hadn’t.
The second was when Xie Mi was about to pass her. She intensified the test, declaring in her head that she would swerve hard and crash into Xie Mi’s car, pretending to be injured by her.
If Xie Mi had felt even a flicker of panic, she would have braked or swerved.
But again—nothing.
If it was just her own overthinking, and Xie Mi really couldn’t hear her conversations with the system, that would be the best outcome.
But if… all of Xie Mi’s calmness was just an act—then it was the worst case.
That would mean Xie Mi not only saw through her tricks instantly even under high-speed danger, but also played along, deliberately keeping her in the dark.
[System: Say something! What were you doing just now? I really don’t understand your moves anymore.]
[System: You’re not even willing to share your plans with me now? Am I not your partner?]
[System: Why are you ignoring me again? Silent treatment?]
[System: I hate silent treatment!!!]
Ignoring the system’s endless complaints, Xu Shuangrong replayed every past confrontation with Xie Mi in her mind.
Her suspicion wasn’t groundless.
In theory, every one of her plans had been seamless. Yet Xie Mi managed to break them every single time.
She didn’t believe it was coincidence. There was only one possibility.
She always revealed her full plans to the system.
If Xie Mi had been able to hear her conversations with the system from the very start—or if the system itself had never truly been on her side—then everything made sense.
Including the two time-travel incidents, the two fabricated police calls, and the adult footprints in Xiqing Mountain that night.
All signs pointed to one thing: maybe she wasn’t the only one experiencing these “crossings.”
Since today’s test failed, she would keep testing.
No matter how clever Xie Mi was, eventually she would slip.
And of course, there was another person she needed to test.
[Xu Shuangrong: I just haven’t recovered yet. Driving that fast made me a little dizzy.]
[System: You should’ve said so! I thought you were giving me the cold shoulder again.]
[System: But why did you suddenly challenge Xie Mi to a race, and forbid me from talking?]
[Xu Shuangrong: Racing with her was just a way to get closer. As for silencing you—I was afraid you’d distract me.]
[System: Then why did you talk to me mid-race?]
[Xu Shuangrong: I was just too nervous.]
[System: Really?]
[Xu Shuangrong: Really.]
[System: Why do I feel like you’re hiding something from me?]
[Xu Shuangrong: You’re overthinking.]
She couldn’t afford to slip up in front of the system—not yet.
If its true identity was as complicated as she suspected…
Then it could be useful.
Two hours remained before the ball. Everyone was in their respective makeup rooms, preparing in full swing.
To preserve the mystery, the eight guests were forbidden from seeing each other from this moment onward.
As Xie Mi’s only assistant and styling team, Diao Mao had also boarded the cruise.
“The production crew said tonight’s ball theme is elegance and mystery. The goal is to look completely different from your usual style, so the others can’t recognize you under the mask.”
As he spoke, Diao Mao hoisted up several of his signature snakeskin bags, pulling out gown after gown.
“Look! These are all the dresses prepared by the show. When the costume room opened just now, all the assistants rushed in to grab outfits. But don’t worry—they couldn’t beat me.”
[Did he just say grab??]
[Strongly request the show to release the assistants’ dress-grabbing footage. That would be hilarious.]
[Say what you will, but Diao Mao’s taste is impeccable. All these dresses look stunning.]
[Come to think of it, we’ve never really seen Old Xie in dark gothic style before.]
The four gowns Diao Mao had chosen were all black, gray, or purple, with unique pleating and innovative cuts—full of gothic mystery.
In the past, Diao Mao had mostly styled Xie Mi in light tones to keep her look clean and emphasize her natural features, avoiding colors that might steal focus.
As for Xie Mi’s own fashion sense… it was better left unmentioned.
So this dark gothic style was indeed a first for her.
“Okay, no problem.”
Xie Mi sat casually at the vanity, leaving everything to Diao Mao’s creativity.
In matters of aesthetics, Diao Mao was a born talent.
After the few styling jobs he’d done for Xie Mi on the show, his reputation skyrocketed. Rumor had it that other companies even tried to poach him, which scared the notoriously stingy Boss Zhang into giving him a 5x raise—plus constant promises of future opportunities, feeding him small dreams every three days and big ones every five.
And Diao Mao, always hungry for dreams, ate them all up.
Publicly, he declared: he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Sister Xie is my one and only sister—my only boss!”
The real reason was his guilt: a few days ago, when he tried to boost her ranking in-game, he messed up and lost fifty stars straight. Sister Xie had rage-quit the game afterward.
Though… he did secretly see her log in late at night two days ago. Excited, he sent her a team-up request—only for her to log out instantly.
But strangely enough, her total match count kept rising anyway.
Must’ve been a system bug, Diao Mao thought seriously.
“All done!”
With the last stroke complete, he stepped back, admiring the mirror. The transformed Xie Mi—so different from her usual style—made him nod in satisfaction.
“This time, they definitely won’t recognize you!”
