Chapter 283
Hearing Yu Jinzhe’s words, Xie Mi glanced around.
Lai Bingxuan was nowhere to be seen.
The staff were all busy setting up cameras and moving tents, and the place was bustling with people.
But even so, there was no reason to let a guest wander around alone on a pitch-dark mountain.
“Didn’t think you cared about Miss Lai this much.”
Xie Mi raised a brow, pulled out a chocolate bar, and handed it to Yu Jinzhe. “Go give it to her then.”
Yu Jinzhe blinked innocently. “I thought you’d go yourself.”
“Then you thought wrong. Take this chocolate to Miss Lai. And if I find out you ate it instead…”
Xie Mi stopped talking, only smiling as she made a throat-slitting gesture.
Yu Jinzhe obediently took the chocolate and left.
She thought this clumsy little trick would end there. But then, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted in panic:
“Ah! A snake!”
The production team panicked instantly. At night, their biggest fear was snakes on the mountain. Even though experts had assured them earlier that there were no venomous snakes here, ordinary snakes could still scare people.
Everyone quickly grabbed flashlights and pointed them at the ground, starting to search.
“Where? Where is it?”
“Don’t panic, I know how to catch snakes! Just point it out to me!”
“Which way did it go? How many?”
The cameramen aimed their lenses at the snake-hunting chaos, recording this dramatic moment.
In an instant, all eight livestream rooms were filled with shouting about the snake.
[Oh my god, it’s not venomous, is it?]
[Climbing at night really is dangerous. I once got bitten by a snake on a night hike and died.]
[? Then right now you’re…]
[I didn’t even see the snake. What if it crawled into a tent!]
[Ahhhh you scared me!]
Amid the commotion, Yu Jinzhe suddenly rushed over, grabbed Xie Mi, and dragged her off. “Sis, something’s wrong!”
He didn’t even explain, just hauled her away without giving her a chance to react.
Xie Mi was about to kick the back of his knee to stop him when she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling from a distance.
“Xie Mi! Xie Mi!”
Lai Bingxuan?
In that moment of hesitation, Yu Jinzhe had already pulled her to a small slope.
It wasn’t far from where the crew was stationed—just a few steps away—but far enough to escape the cameras.
Xiao Jingxi was lying there, peering down with a grave expression.
And Lai Bingxuan’s cries continued, coming from below the slope.
“Xie Mi! Xie Mi!”
Xie Mi frowned.
“Miss Lai accidentally fell down and twisted her ankle. She can’t climb up for now and has been calling for you. I brought you here first. I’ll go get the staff. Sis, you stay and calm her down.”
Yu Jinzhe explained, then turned and ran.
At the same time, Xiao Jingxi spotted her and immediately called out, “Perfect timing, Xie Mi. Think of a way to pull Lai Bingxuan up.”
Then he shouted downward, “Xie Mi’s here, calm down.”
But Lai Bingxuan’s voice still came up in the same panicked tone: “Xie Mi! Xie Mi!”
Xie Mi walked over and looked down.
As expected—no one.
Only a phone lying there, endlessly playing a loop of Lai Bingxuan’s voice: “Xie Mi! Xie Mi!”
And that was when Xiao Jingxi made his move.
He suddenly grabbed her arm, yanking her hard toward him—so forcefully that an unprepared person would have had no defense.
But Xie Mi was prepared.
She calmly raised her free hand into a fist and delivered an uppercut straight to his chin.
His teeth clacked together with a loud snap, and his skull felt like it had nearly rattled apart.
At the same moment, someone behind a tree pressed a shutter.
In that instant the photo was captured, Xie Mi suddenly turned her head toward the camera and raised her hand.
Click click click click click—
Five shots in a row.
Yu Jinzhe opened his phone to check the five photos and fell silent.
In each one, Xie Mi was staring directly into the camera, flipping it off. But her mouth shape was different in each shot, clearly forming words.
Put together, they read:
[Look at me, you little bastard.]
She was the number one assassin of the Qing dynasty—could anyone dare hold her gaze for even a few seconds?
Yu Jinzhe’s answer: not even one second.
The boy turned and bolted. But that wild, beast-like stride behind him closed the gap instantly, clamping down on the scruff of his fate.
Xu Shuangrong, rushing over to “rescue” Xie Mi from danger, instead stumbled upon a scene of raw violence.
Two people were strung up on a tree, being lashed with vines.
Her eyes darkened at the sight.
Couldn’t even handle such a simple task—what a waste.
Five minutes later, Xie Mi returned to camp looking refreshed.
The staff had also sorted out the “snake incident.” It turned out to be a false alarm—no snake at all, just someone mistaking a tree branch for one.
That person was now apologizing awkwardly.
“Sorry, I have a bit of night blindness, couldn’t see clearly, and I’m really afraid of snakes. My reaction was too much. Thanks for bearing with me.”
The staff didn’t make a fuss. They waved it off with a smile, saying it was fine, and went back to work.
Xie Mi noticed that the one who had mistaken the branch for a snake was none other than Xiao Jingxi’s assistant.
What a laughably sloppy little scheme.
The cameras, now reset, turned back toward the guests who were pitching tents.
“Xie Mi, where did you just go? I came back from the restroom and didn’t see you.”
Lai Bingxuan, frazzled over a pile of camping gear, immediately called out when she saw her.
“I went to the restroom too.”
Xie Mi scampered over, playing the flunky. “What orders does Miss Lai have for this lowly servant?”
“Help me set up the tent. I’ll wire you fifty thousand after the show.”
“This servant obeys!”
[I can pitch tents too! I can pitch tents!!]
[If I ever found Miss Lai’s dog, I wouldn’t return it. I’d replace it.]
[Give me back my rich-girl life, my wealthy parents, my silver spoon! The reincarnation system won’t spare you—it made me a broke nobody, suffering in inferiority for over a decade…]
Just as the livestream calmed down again with everyone pitching tents, Xiao Jingxi and Yu Jinzhe finally reappeared together.
The two of them leaned on each other as they walked, clothes disheveled, hair messed up, faces showing utter despair.
Their dedicated cameramen, who had been anxiously searching for them, immediately zoomed in.
“They’re back, finally—”
The words stopped dead when their appearance came into focus.
Late at night, a quiet grove, two young men returning together in such a state.
This… carried a lot of implications.
[? Wait, you two?]
[I really don’t want to overthink it, but how could anyone not?]
[Did I miss something? When did their relationship get this close?]
[I get it now—Xiao Jingxi’s new PR move: publicly pairing up with little brother Jinzhe, admitting he’s never liked women, crushing the cheating rumors. Bold. Really bold.]
[Xiao Jingxi, seriously… (facepalm with a weary smile)]
