Chapter 91
“Xie Mi! I don’t allow you to be with anyone else. I haven’t agreed to break up with you yet—this is cheating!”
Xiao Jingxi’s eyes turned red with fury, and without another word he tried to drag Xie Mi away.
Just as Xie Mi was about to sweep him aside like fallen leaves in the autumn wind, her other hand was pulled back by Shen Yanqing.
“Movie King Xiao, dreaming again?”
He seemed to have sobered up, his gaze once again careless as before, looking at Xiao Jingxi with a faint, mocking smile.
The veins on Xiao Jingxi’s forehead bulged.
This whole time, he had been tolerating Shen Yanqing because of his status—but Xie Mi was clearly his girlfriend!
He gritted his teeth, forcing down his rage.
“Mr. Shen, this is between me and Xie Mi. Perhaps you don’t know, but my relationship with her is far more—”
“Far more ridiculous.”
Xie Mi couldn’t help cutting in, “Xiao Jingxi, I’m begging you, please stop going around telling people you’re my ex. I’m afraid I’ll die of laughter.”
Dating Xiao Jingxi was the biggest black mark in her history.
Xiao Jingxi’s expression turned utterly dark.
Shen Yanqing raised his brows meaningfully. “An ex, huh. A qualified ex should be like they’re dead. Of course… you can also remove the word like.”
Xie Mi looked at him with admiration. “Heroes think alike.”
Shen Yanqing: “So, out here in the wilderness, in the dead of night?”
Xie Mi: “Kill him and dispose of the body.”
Shen Yanqing: “Friends who kill often all know—”
Xie Mi: “Killing is easy, hiding the corpse is hard.”
Shen Yanqing: “But right now it’s…”
Xie Mi: “A perfect time and place.”
After their little crosstalk performance, the two of them turned in unison and gave Xiao Jingxi sinister smiles.
“Jie-jie-jie-jie-jie-jie-jie-jie…”
A moment ago Xiao Jingxi had been heated red with anger, but now his face went pale in an instant. He let go of Xie Mi’s hand and backed up two steps. “What are you two planning?”
“Jie-jie-jie-jie-jie…”
“You—wait!”
“Jie-jie-jie…”
“Can’t you two act like normal people?!!”
Xie Mi was having a blast playing hunting games out in the field when suddenly a sound rang in her ears.
Ding!
[Female Lead Awakening Progress: 50%.]
“…? No way, sis.”
She looked back and saw only the white hem of a skirt disappearing behind a distant house.
Xu Shuangrong was wearing a white dress today.
Xie Mi suddenly remembered.
In the original novel, there was a scene in which Xiao Jingxi and the second male lead, You Hongxuan, competed for Xu Shuangrong’s favor out in the fields.
That explained it.
If a scene similar to the original played out in front of Xu Shuangrong, it would trigger her awakening progress.
Although she didn’t know why she could hear this system notification, she couldn’t shake the feeling that once Xu Shuangrong awakened, something extraordinary would happen.
…But wait.
Why did she suddenly feel like she was playing a game, collecting progress bars?
The next morning, the ranch owner treated them to a hearty farmhouse breakfast.
After breakfast, Director Niu gathered them in the wide-open fields.
“This morning we’ll be playing several games to decide the way you’ll return to the villa.”
“First place gets to ride in a luxury car, second place rides the production team’s bus, third place gets an electric scooter, and last place will have to pedal a bicycle back.”
“Friendly reminder: the distance from here to the villa is about 20 kilometers.”
The moment those words landed, groans erupted everywhere.
“20 kilometers? On a bicycle? That’s insane!” Lai Bingxuan stared in disbelief.
Yu Jinzhe adopted a thoughtful look. “An average bicycle speed is about 15 km per hour. Twenty kilometers would only take an hour and twenty minutes of nonstop pedaling.”
“Nonstop pedaling for an hour and twenty minutes—provided you have the stamina.”
Liu Woxing gave a gentle smile. “For us, it may be… somewhat difficult.”
Even Xu Shuangrong looked worried.
[Production team, you’re so ruthless—making my delicate baby pedal 20 km! Don’t you know Shuangshuang is dieting and has low blood sugar?!]
[Seriously, now you’re adding extreme sports? Director Niu, be a decent human!]
[Love it! Keep it coming! Some people earning 3k a month crying over someone earning 300k a month—give me a break.]
[No, let my Sister Xie ride. She’s a tough warrior.]
[Your Xie-bro is savage, as always.]
“The teams this time will be assigned based on the real-time trending popularity of super-topic CP pairings.”
“The hottest CP, Xie-Yanqing Slay-the-Donkey, will be one team. Second hottest, Star-Cheng, will be one team. Fourth hottest, Xiao-Rong, will be one team. And eighth hottest, Bing-Yu, will be one team!”
Once the four teams assembled, each group was given different colored hats.
The assistant director then announced the first game’s rules.
“Male guests carry female guests on their backs into the arena. The female guests must snatch other female guests’ hats while protecting their own. If your hat is taken, you’re out. Last one standing wins.”
This was a classic game in variety shows, but when played by dating-show guests, it carried a very different flavor.
Carrying meant physical contact. In the struggle, there would be even more contact.
If sparks of ambiguity flew by accident—that was exactly what the audience wanted to see.
“Come on, Old Shen!”
Xie Mi, who loved competitive games, was already fired up. She leapt onto Shen Yanqing’s back like a tiger pouncing, and he caught her steadily.
She immediately felt envious. “Damn, is the view this wide for all of you 185cm-tall guys?”
Shen Yanqing, not the least bit modest, replied, “If Teacher Xie likes it, I could carry you more often.”
“Great, two compliments and you’re already cocky.”
Meanwhile, the other three groups were getting ready.
Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye, who worked out regularly, could carry their partners easily. But our delicate little sickly boy, Yu Jinzhe, was clearly struggling.
In the original story, he was the gloomy beautiful youth type. With his thin frame, even carrying Lai Bingxuan looked like hard work.
Lai Bingxuan snapped at him, “Can you even do this, weakling?!”
The boy’s clear eyes flashed with hurt, and he lowered his gaze, silently enduring the scolding.
The live chat scrolled with pity for Yu Jinzhe, but only Xie Mi knew—This brat was definitely keeping score again.
With the whistle blown, the four teams officially entered the cordoned-off arena, but no one made the first move.
After all, with four teams fighting at once, whoever acted first would stand out as a target and risk being ganged up on.
The safest plan was to hold out until the end. But…
There are always those who can’t sit still.
“Screw it, I’m charging straight in!”
Confident-bro Qiu Chengye once again overestimated himself. Without a word, he rushed forward with Liu Woxing on his back, heading straight for the weakest team.
“Woxing! Grab her hat!”
Caught off guard, Liu Woxing scrambled to grab Lai Bingxuan’s hat, but she ducked sharply and smacked him across the face.
Smack!
A bright red handprint bloomed on Qiu Chengye’s cheek.
Qiu Chengye: “??”
Finally losing patience, he roared to the sky—
“Am I just a freaking pack mule to you?!!”
