Chapter 148
[As expected of Old Xie, what a thrilling ride up and down the stairs!]
[Wait, why are you all suspecting Old Xie and Old Shen of flirting behind the scenes? Am I the only one worried they might go crazy privately?]
[Enough with the comments. If you dare let Old Xie get hurt, I won’t mind personally.]
Amidst all these frantic or playful live comments, the protagonist, Xie Mi, didn’t disappoint and pushed open the door to step out.
“Morning…”
She floated out like a ghost with two dark circles under her eyes. Just as she was about to head to the kitchen for instant noodles, her eyes landed on the table, filled with a black-ink feast.
Instantly, she was wide awake.
“Holy crap! Old Shen, someone’s poisoning us! Run!”
Without another word, Xie Mi dashed over to grab Shen Yiqing and run. After tugging twice with no effect, she turned and saw the man’s barely contained amusement in his eyes.
“Teacher Xie, are you being polite?”
“Uh… you made this?”
Shen Yiqing raised an eyebrow, giving no clear answer.
Xie Mi then looked back at the black-colored food on the table and slowly revealed a relieved smile.
Seeing that Old Shen’s cooking was still this terrible, she felt reassured.
Shen Yiqing seemed to understand what she was thinking and thoughtfully explained:
“Teacher Xie, the villa’s butler delivered fresh squid this morning. Today’s meal is a squid-ink feast.”
Xie Mi’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by alertness.
Squid ink? So this black food isn’t burnt? Sniffing the air, she realized there was indeed no burnt smell.
The thought that Shen Yiqing’s culinary skills might surpass hers made her unable to smile. She sat down heavily and picked up a piece of fried egg, taking a bite.
Her grim expression faded, replaced by a relieved smile.
Terrible taste~
“Not tasty?”
Shen Yiqing read the emotion in her eyes and furrowed his brows slightly, seemingly pondering what went wrong in the cooking session.
Xie Mi immediately straightened, put on a serious face, and suppressed the salty taste. She hastily picked up a few more pieces and shoved them into her mouth, rolling her eyes from the saltiness, then grabbed Shen Yiqing’s hand and dashed outside.
“Delicious or not, don’t forget we’re first place and get free breakfast! Might as well take advantage!”
Shen Yiqing looked at her tightly holding his hand and chuckled softly.
“Teacher Xie, your foot’s okay now?”
“My foot… eh, my foot?!”
Only then did Xie Mi notice that since getting up, she had been walking swiftly with no ankle pain—last night, Old Shen’s herbal soak had worked.
Overjoyed, she immediately dragged Old Shen into a spontaneous on-the-spot breakdance.
This utterly shocked the PD and cameramen who were about to follow—too scared to come closer.
Early in the morning, when the yang energy was strong… this shouldn’t be happening…
[I just became sticky rice.]
[Good news: foot’s healed. Bad news: gone crazy.]
[Rounded up: couple dance? I’m freaking shipped!]
[Not even a CP shipper…]
As expected, the first group’s “investigation results” were wild chaos.
At the same time, another PD with a cameraman arrived at the second group: the Xiao Liu team, ranked second and staying in a standard hotel room.
Compared to the first group, the vibe here was much more normal.
Xiao Jingxi had gotten up early and was doing morning exercises with dumbbells. When the production team knocked, he immediately opened the door and even showed the viewers proper form while subtly flaunting his perfect physique.
Next door, Liu Woxing was out for a walk, returning with a few fresh flowers to place in the bedside vase.
When asked what they did after last night’s livestream, the two gave identical answers:
“After the livestream, we each went back to our rooms. No interaction at all.”
[As expected, a sparkless group.]
[Xiao Liu fans quietly dying inside.]
[Upstairs sisters, shipping obscure CPs is fine, but don’t go weird!]
The third group, the Rong Yu team, camped in tents.
When the production team arrived, Xu Shuangrong was outside on the grass, gently feeding a dirty stray cat while holding it in her arms.
Seeing the camera, she was slightly surprised, then shyly smiled.
“…Morning.”
[Damn it, you’ve turned my Shuangshuang into such a mess, do you have a conscience?]
[Waa, my Shuangshuang was never this insecure before. She’s just a kind girl who likes feeding stray cats.]
[I also feed strays sometimes, but I could never hold them like she does. And isn’t that outfit kinda expensive? Changed my view a bit.]
Yu Jinzhe, having finished washing up, passed by and politely smiled at Xu Shuangrong:
“Teacher Xu, I saw you feeding the cat twenty minutes ago. Still feeding it? Isn’t it full?”
Xu Shuangrong nearly lost composure.
The viewers noticed the cat in her arms had been dodging the cat treat pressed against its mouth, its eyes filled with a faint sense of death-wish.
“Can I put it down now? I’m tired, really.”
[I take back what I said earlier.]
[Too hard to judge; I just wish her success.]
[After yesterday’s incident, Xu Shuangrong’s expression seems different. She used to look pure, now her face looks scheming.]
[Don’t hate too much. Shuangshuang didn’t do anything!]
[Who says she didn’t? She offended my Lai family army 💖]
When asked what they did after the livestream, Xu Shuangrong didn’t answer immediately. Yu Jinzhe innocently explained:
“I didn’t dare interact, worried Teacher Xu would say I bullied her, so I went back to the tent early.”
Xu Shuangrong’s lips twitched subtly but maintained her act: half-lowered eyes, a pitiable look.
“Jinzhe little brother, you…”
“Teacher Xu, don’t do this. I’m scared.”
Yu Jinzhe cut off her “spell” and turned to the camera to seriously explain, “I really didn’t bully her.”
Xu Shuangrong’s lip twitches increased.
[Hahaha Jinzhe little brother, you know exactly how to be sarcastic.]
Compared to the previous sparkless group, this one clearly had some tension.
Meanwhile, the production team was frantically searching for the fourth group.
Yes, searching.
Because ranked fourth, Qiu Chengye and Lai Bingxuan could only sleep in sleeping bags and were completely off the team’s radar—they didn’t know where the two were sleeping.
The team conducted a thorough search across the villa and finally found:
Qiu Chengye lying peacefully in the middle of the hotel lobby, and Lai Bingxuan lying on a lounge chair by a villa pool, causing the villa guests to scream.
Neither wanted to compromise—neither slept outdoors.
Only the PD and crew were left kneeling and apologizing to the guests.
