Chapter 52
Xie Mi brought Qiu Chengye to the liveliest venue of the entire music festival.
Qiu Chengye’s face was full of wariness, “What are we doing here?”
“Watching the performance, of course. What else do you do at a music festival?”
Xie Mi replied matter-of-factly, “Since we’re already here, shouldn’t we take advantage of the organizers? This band is the most popular local band in Nanhai—seeing them live is a huge win.”
Determined to fully embody the spirit of “milking every benefit,” Xie Mi squeezed with him all the way to the front row—so close they could almost touch the stage.
Qiu Chengye looked around cautiously.
On stage, the band kept singing wildly, while the audience below screamed and cheered. Even Xie Mi instantly joined in, crazily waving and shouting.
But was this really just about watching the performance?
He shifted his gaze to the stage, half-believing, half-doubting.
The band’s lead singer was a young man with dreadlocks. His passionate roars and singing whipped the atmosphere to its peak.
“Though we meet only briefly, as the tide recedes, let’s honor this encounter!!”
“Wuuuuu!!”
Xie Mi screamed especially loudly, nearly bursting Qiu Chengye’s eardrums.
At that, he finally relaxed. Seemed like they really were going to just spend this hour watching the performance.
Then the dreadlocked singer pulled out some bottled water.
As everyone knows, the “lead singer spraying water” is a music festival tradition. Done well, it hypes the crowd even more; done poorly—
Splash! Splash! Splash!
The guy emptied three full bottles—straight onto Qiu Chengye’s face.
Qiu Chengye couldn’t even open his eyes, “For f*ck’s sake, at least splash it evenly!!!”
“What? Not enough? You want more? I’ll satisfy you right now!!”
The place was too loud, so the dreadlocked singer couldn’t hear what he was shouting. But seeing his flushed face and bulging neck veins, he assumed this was just an overexcited, unsatisfied die-hard fan.
“Are you ready? Here I come again!”
The dreadlocked guy hoisted up a whole bucket of water.
“Wait, you—”
Qiu Chengye panicked. Looking left, he saw Xie Mi skillfully whipping out an umbrella and opening it. Looking right, that audience member was directly pouring shampoo over their own head.
“????”
“Wait! Wait—”
A bucket of water whooshed down over Qiu Chengye’s head. He let out a piercing screech.
“I—fu—cking—your—mo—ther—”
“This fan is super hyped! Ready to catch me when I dive?!!” the dreadlocked singer shouted.
Qiu Chengye painfully wiped the water from his eyes—only to see a massive figure falling straight toward him.
“Stage diving” means the performer jumps off the stage and the audience catches them.
The problem was—Qiu Chengye wasn’t prepared at all!!!
Bang!
Qiu Chengye was knocked out cold on the spot.
Xie Mi hurriedly grabbed his wrist and checked, “The heart-rate watch shows a flat line—what does that mean?”
From offstage, Director Niu screamed hysterically, “It means his heart stopped! Qiu Chengye is in shock!!”
The scene was utter chaos.
As Qiu Chengye was carried away on a stretcher, Xie Mi was being interviewed by the PD.
“I really just wanted to bring him to watch the performance, then once he got hyped on his own, his heart rate would spike naturally. Really.”
The PD looked at the backstage data with a complicated expression.
According to statistics, Qiu Chengye had just screamed “Help me” into the mic 14 times. Each one more desperate than the last.
[Hahahahahahahahahahaha]
[Damn, I’m laughing so hard I’m about to go into shock too]
[Every time that guy splashed water I laughed harder—Qiu Chengye’s blinking rate was faster than the screams at the scene, he looked like some crying doll]
[Sister Xie whipping out that umbrella was legendary hahahaha]
[What a heartwarming parent-child moment]
…
Compared to Xie Mi and Qiu Chengye’s “date,” the other two groups were slightly more normal—but only slightly.
For example, Shen Yanqing and Xu Shuangrong. Shen Yanqing’s hearing problem flared up again.
After Xu Shuangrong had been talking nonstop for twenty minutes without him understanding a single word, she finally teared up, aggrieved, “Mr. Shen, do you hate me? Can’t you take the initiative to say something?”
So Shen Yanqing took the initiative, “Let’s play a game. From now on, whoever speaks is a little dog.”
Xu Shuangrong: “…”
Then the two of them sat in silence for forty minutes.
[I swear, I could cry from laughing]
[Am I the only one feeling bad for Shuangshuang? Mr. Shen, was that necessary? Even if you like Xie Mi, can’t you at least interact normally with the other female guests?]
[But hold on, when Mr. Shen went on a date with Liu Woxing earlier, he didn’t seem deaf. They communicated pretty normally]
[Holy sh*t, that’s true. So he just doesn’t want to deal with Xu Shuangrong?]
[Could it be… they have some history?]
The screen cut to Xiao Jingxi and Liu Woxing.
They had been paired for dinner on the very first day of filming. Back then, Mr. Fox and Miss Peacock had chatted happily, so today should have been comfortable too.
But when Xiao Jingxi, as usual, displayed his gentlemanly manners in caring for her, Liu Woxing responded like this:
Xiao Jingxi: “Want some takoyaki?”
Liu Woxing: “Thanks, Actor Xiao, but I don’t like takoyaki. I hate octopus the most—the legs are too many, too easy to split apart.”
Xiao Jingxi: “This band sounds pretty good.”
Liu Woxing: “Yeah. The lead singer’s contrast on and off stage is huge. Off stage he’s shy, on stage he’s fiery. Two different faces, so interesting.”
Xiao Jingxi: “I heard there’ll be fireworks later. Do you like fireworks?”
Liu Woxing: “I do. I once saw a movie where a cheating scumbag was turned into fireworks by his girlfriend and exploded in the sky. Really spectacular movie.”
Xiao Jingxi: “…?”
Liu Woxing kept her usual gentle smile, elegant and demure as always. But her words sounded…
A little passive-aggressive?
[Is it just me, or does Sister Liu’s smile have a trace of impatience?]
[I looked it up—there’s no such movie. Did she remember wrong?]
[Wait! Could Liu Woxing be hinting at something? Don’t forget, she’s the daughter of Yuxing Entertainment. What gossip doesn’t she know? She must be dropping hints on purpose]
[Bro, stop overanalyzing. You’re saying she’s implying Movie King Xiao is cheating? That’s insane]
[Exactly. Everyone knows Xiao Jingxi has had zero scandals since debut. Even the rumor with Xu Shuangrong was clarified immediately as just drama promotion]
[Marking this. If Xiao Jingxi ever does get exposed for something, marketing accounts will definitely dig this scene up and caption it: “So it was foreshadowed all along.”]
…
An hour later, everyone regrouped for the night’s final round of dates.
Just as Xie Mi finished drawing lots, her phone buzzed.
It was Shen Yanqing—he had sent her a post.
The post read: Forward this post to ten people, and your biggest current wish will come true.
[I Freaking Hate Cilantro]: ?
Xie Mi looked up at Shen Yanqing, who was fiddling with his phone across from her, and mouthed: “What crazy thing are you sending me now?”
Shen Yanqing only smiled without answering.
The next second, Director Niu announced the groups.
“Shen Yanqing and Xie Mi as a pair! Qiu Chengye and Xu Shuangrong as a pair! Xiao Jingxi and Lai Bingxuan as a pair! Liu Woxing will sit out this round!”
Caw-caw—
Xie Mi’s phone buzzed again.
[185 Pure-Hearted College Boy]: The post works like a charm.
