Chapter 119
From a distance, Xie Mi saw a row of staff holding megaphones, screaming themselves hoarse at her.
“Teacher Xie! Come back!”
“Teacher Xie! You’re out of frame!”
“Teacher Xie! If you keep going, you’ll be out of the country!!”
Xie Mi scratched her head awkwardly, gave a sheepish grin, and shouted back, “Don’t panic, don’t panic, I’ll be right back!”
She put her helmet back on and sat in the car again.
Immediately, the staff looked as if they were facing a great enemy, shrieked in unison, and scattered in all directions.
“Run! Quick, run!”
Before the words were even finished, the racecar roared to life and shot forward, smashing through the guardrail once again. This time it barreled straight from the outdoor track into the indoor arena, even demolishing the shelf holding helmets.
The racetrack staff stood dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, the program crew cautiously poked their heads out from behind barriers, exhaling in relief.
“Good thing we ran fast.”
After working with Teacher Xie for so long, everyone’s reflexes had become sharper.
“Holy crap!”
Xie Mi pulled off her helmet, stunned once more. “Racing God, where did you just take me this time?”
She swore she only tapped the gas pedal once—just once.
[The coach hasn’t even started yet, and Sister Xie already zoomed abroad with one foot on the pedal. Isn’t she also a racing genius?]
[Old Xie: Don’t worry, I’ve got my own rhythm.]
[Wait, what’s Old Shen doing?]
Xie Mi had just unbuckled her seatbelt when she noticed Shen Yanqing already standing in front of her.
His breathing was slightly uneven, and the worry in his eyes eased a little the moment he saw her safe.
“You…” he began.
Xie Mi glanced behind him. From the outdoor stands to the indoor arena—it wasn’t exactly a short distance.
“You took a cab?”
Shen Yanqing let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, hail a Didi (China’s Uber).”
[I can testify—Old Shen jumped straight from the stands, sparks flying, lightning speed, and in a flash he was at Old Xie’s side.]
[No joke, Old Shen was seriously panicked just now.]
[Ahhh! Shipping them again!]
“Come on, what’s there to be nervous about?”
Joking aside, Xie Mi could clearly see Shen Yanqing’s concern. She patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t you know me by now? Thick-skinned and tough as nails.”
Shen Yanqing’s brows lifted slightly. For once, he didn’t agree with her boast.
Just as Xie Mi was about to add something, a loud, arrogant laugh rang out.
“Hahahahaha—”
Qiu Chengye’s voice arrived before he did. “Didn’t I already tell you this is tough? With my skills, I can at least wrestle with the coach for a few rounds, but you guys are still too weak.”
Halfway through, his expression suddenly changed. Worried that his words were too harsh and might provoke Xie Mi into exposing his secret, he hurriedly added,
“I’m just giving you a friendly reminder.”
Then he realized he sounded too timid, which hurt his masculine image, so he quickly tacked on another line.
“I advise you to wise up and leave while you can!”
At that, he noticed Xie Mi’s gaze shift oddly. He panicked again and rushed to say:
“I don’t mean any harm.”
“…”
The atmosphere on-site inexplicably fell silent.
Qiu Chengye fell silent too.
The longer the silence stretched, the more he dug his toes into the floor in embarrassment.
…Should’ve just kept my mouth shut.
[Wait, nobody told me Bro Kitty got buffed this season too?]
[Question: was that Sichuan opera face-changing we just witnessed?]
[Why does Qiu flip between cowardly and bold every other sentence?]
[It’s making me see stars—bright, dark, bright, dark.]
After a long pause, it was Xie Mi who finally broke the silence.
“Wow, you really get variety shows.”
Qiu Chengye: “…”
His face darkened as he returned to the stands, ignoring Lai Bingxuan’s gloating look, and stared gloomily at Shen Yanqing, who was now putting on his helmet on the track.
Ever since joining the show with Xie Mi, he had become the industry’s laughingstock, mocked daily by peers.
Determined to restore his dignity, yet too afraid of Xie Mi exposing his secret, he was stuck in a constant dilemma.
But he would not yield—he swore to fight Xie Mi to the bitter end!
With that thought, he sneered.
So what if Shen Yanqing replaced her on the track? In this race, they were destined to—
Before the word “lose” could even form in his mind, a thunderous roar shook the track.
The next moment, a black racecar shot forward—not off-track, but executing a dazzling sharp turn at the bend, speed furious and wild.
Lai Bingxuan was dumbstruck. Qiu Chengye’s eyes nearly popped out.
The laid-back coach instantly went on high alert, slamming the accelerator to chase, but with a ten-second head start, the black car had gained too much distance. No matter how he pushed, it was futile.
One lap later, the black racecar crossed the finish line. The arena erupted in cheers.
Everyone screamed—except for two stunned figures in the stands.
The loudest of all was one certain groundhog.
“Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!”
“He won! Holy crap, he actually won!”
Just as Shen Yanqing lifted off his helmet, he heard Xie Mi’s shrieking voice. His lips curved unconsciously, and he looked up in her direction.
There she was, already dancing a goofy little victory jig outside the track, arms and legs flailing so fast they left afterimages, terrifying the nearby staff into thinking she was having a seizure and not daring to approach.
Shen Yanqing’s smile deepened. Across the track, he called her name loudly.
“Teacher Xie—”
“Hey—”
“How did I do?”
“Like a frog on a steel pole—absolutely top-notch.”
[Now that’s a compliment]
[Wait, I was about to start shipping, but Old Xie… what?]
[But damn, Old Shen is so handsome—he can even race!]
[Damn it, he got me with the handsomeness again]
[Who gets it? The first thing Old Shen did after taking off his helmet was look for Old Xie. The second he saw her, he smiled. Who gets this sweet detail?!]
[I get it, I get it! Aaaaah!]
“Congratulations to the Xie-Shen team for completing the mission and successfully checking in at the racing venue! Unfortunately, the Cheng-Bing team can no longer attempt this location. Please proceed to other checkpoints!”
Qiu Chengye couldn’t force a smile, but afraid of revealing too much and letting Xie Mi catch on, he could only plaster on a fake grin.
The day’s game time ended, and darkness fell.
Each team had made some progress.
The most dominant was undoubtedly the Xie-Yao Slay-the-Donkey team, who had already claimed three shops in a diagonal line on the 16-square grid.
If they checked in at just one more place—the roller skating rink—they could connect four shops in a row and win the day’s game.
At that moment, Xie Mi and Shen Yanqing were on their way to the rink.
But the other three teams were also heading there at the same time.
To stop the Xie-Yan team from winning, everyone had to fight for that final checkpoint.
Thus, all four teams converged.
A war was about to break out.
