Chapter 255
Just after cashing in the task and getting the reward, Xie Mi received a message from Director Niu.
[Director Niu]: Please gather in the styling room in ten minutes to prepare for the group promo photo shoot.
[Director Niu]: Next, there will be limited-time hidden tasks released. To ensure you receive the messages first, please pin my chat and send me a screenshot for confirmation.
[Xie Mi]: Do hidden tasks pay?
[Director Niu]: The rewards are generous.
[Xie Mi]: Then I’m in!
Clutching her five hundred yuan prize, Xie Mi headed to the styling room. First thing she did was split the loot with Shen Moqing.
“Here, 250.”
Shen Moqing accepted with a smile. “Thank you.”
For the group shoot, the styling wasn’t so elaborate.
Since the theme was running under the sunset, the outfits were casual and simple.
Xie Mi was given a white-and-pink sports set, her hair braided into a loose side ponytail, topped with a pink cherry blossom clip.
A completely different vibe from earlier in the day.
[In a gown she’s a peerless beauty, in pink-white sportswear she’s a lively girl. I hereby dub her “Ever-Changing Mi.”]
[Please, give Sister Xie more diverse looks! Let that face reach its full potential!!]
[The day I see Old Xie in a qipao, I can die with no regrets.]
At the next table, Liu Woxing had also finished—light green sportswear with a half-up braided hairstyle.
Catching sight of Xie Mi, her heart stirred. She picked up a little green flower clip and pinned it into her own hair.
Looking at her green clip in the mirror, then at the pink cherry blossom in Xie Mi’s hair, she couldn’t help but feel giddy.
The internet says when close friends wear the same accessories, it shows intimacy.
So… does this mean she and Teacher Xie now have “sister-style” matching clips?
“~”
“Once you’ve finished styling, teachers, please head to the beach. The sunset is perfect right now—don’t miss it!”
Director Niu urged everyone along.
Xie Mi had just stood up to leave when a staffer suddenly clasped a cuff on her wrist.
“Teacher Xie, someone has used a skill card on you. From now, you’ll be locked together with them for two hours.”
For a moment, Xie Mi thought she was being punished for sneaking food last season. Relieved, she quickly asked, “What skill card?”
What is this, Yu-Gi-Oh!?
“It was me.”
Across the room, Xiao Jingxi stood up, walked over, and held out his hand. The staffer cuffed the other half onto his wrist.
“I completed a hidden task and got a hidden reward: the Binding Card.”
“It binds any two people together for two hours.”
As he spoke, a smile slowly appeared in his eyes.
“Now we can finally spend some time together.”
[????????]
[WTF?! What kind of plot twist is this??]
[I thought hidden tasks only gave extra cash—there are hidden rewards too??]
[This is broken. Bound together for two hours? Sparks are inevitable.]
[When did Xiao Jingxi complete his task? I never saw him do anything! Hidden tasks should be harder than normal ones, right??]
[Noooo, Xiao Jingxi go away!!]
The sudden skill card caught the audience off guard, and the other guests were stunned too.
No one had expected a hidden reward like this.
But Xie Mi quickly figured it out.
Thinking back on today’s oddities, she realized.
“Your task was to get slapped by Miss Lai?”
Lai Bingxuan, eavesdropping, froze. “What?”
Xiao Jingxi, who’d wanted to act cool, faltered. “How did you know?”
“You suddenly trying to team up with Miss Lai was already suspicious. And you kept provoking her, knowing full well she’d hit you. If you still did it, it must’ve been profitable.”
Lai Bingxuan’s eyes widened. “What?! You mean I was used?!!”
Xiao Jingxi steadied himself, looking at Xie Mi with a meaningful gaze.
“Yes. My task was to be attacked three times by a female guest. I did use Miss Lai—she was the fastest way I could think of to complete it.”
[What a twisted task. No wonder it’s a hidden one.]
[That’s insane. Respect.]
[Wait—Xie Mi guessed it just like that?? Incredible.]
[No wonder Xiao Jingxi kept acting like a jerk today—it was on purpose!]
[Are all hidden tasks this bizarre? What about the other two? I didn’t see anyone else acting weird…]
[Help, I came for romance but now it’s turning into a logic puzzle show.]
“Who said Miss Lai was the only option?”
Xie Mi wasn’t having it. “Don’t I count?”
What, had she not hit him hard enough before?
Xiao Jingxi choked, falling silent.
Of course he knew the task could’ve been completed with Xie Mi.
…But Xie Mi hurt.
Grandma-destroys-parking-lot, trash-can-lid-to-the-head, punches and kicks, blow dryer stuffed in his mouth…
He didn’t want to remember.
“In any case, we’re bound now. Let’s spend the next two hours amicably.”
Xiao Jingxi flashed what he thought was a dazzling smile.
It was the same smile he had practiced in the mirror countless times, modeled after the one that supposedly made Xie Mi fall for him at first sight.
But Xie Mi only grinned back.
“Did you ever think… the real disaster starts now?”
His smile froze. “…What?”
Still smiling, Xie Mi said nothing more, and slowly walked toward the door.
Relieved, Xiao Jingxi laughed to himself. Just tough talk—she’d actually compromised.
He was about to follow when Xie Mi suddenly bolted like a mad horse.
Yanked off balance, he was dragged flying out with her!!
“Xie—ugh!”
Before he could finish, a leg shot out from nowhere and hooked his foot.
He lost balance and hit the ground with a thud.
Meanwhile, Xie Mi sprinted on, each stride like she was about to take flight, half-dragging Xiao Jingxi, who was nearly paralyzed from being hauled along the floor.
Leaning casually against the doorframe, Shen Moqing retracted his leg and watched the two being pulled toward the beach.
He shook his head in feigned helplessness.
“Aiya, can’t stop Teacher Xie.”
Why did you have to provoke her?
