Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 300: New Era Profiteer

The bizarre segment of "taking a stroll with a pregnant wife" finally ended, and it was Xie Qingci’s turn for the task. The staff let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed like the entire internet knew she was going easy, but she was really in a difficult position, okay?

She followed closely, carefully watching to prevent a human error from occurring again, but accidentally caught sight of a faint red mark peeking out from Xie Qingci’s slightly opened collar as he tossed the ping-pong ball.

It looked like it had been scratched by a tree branch, dark red and perhaps even breaking the skin.

The staff member didn’t think much of it, just sighed at their tough task and turned to glance at Yu Xia, who was being protected nearby.

Xie Qingci charged ahead, getting himself scratched, all to protect Yu Xia behind him. Aww, so touching!

Yu Xia had no idea what the staff member was thinking. Watching Xie Qingci throw a few ping-pong balls, she felt confident they’d succeed this time and said to him, "Keep tossing. I’m going to buy a bottle of water."

He hadn’t drunk much water along the way; the water in the cup was always left for her.

Xie Qingci gave a hum, and there was an indescribable ease in his tone.

The staff lady sighed again and then realized something was off after a couple of seconds; she quickly followed Yu Xia. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"The station doesn’t have a place to buy water. Where are you going?"

Yu Xia had already run behind the check-in machine, searching for traces of bottled water everywhere.

"They must have prepared some water here, maybe in a box or five or six bottles together for convenience. You might not even drink it all, sell us two bottles!"

As her voice fell, she found half a box of water under a tablecloth-covered task table.

The staff didn’t have time to stop her before she saw Yu Xia take two bottles from the box.

Well, it was fortunate she kept her promise and only took two bottles, that should be... acceptable? She paid for it, that’s not cheating, right?

Just as her relief settled, Yu Xia placed the two bottles of water she had taken on the table and said to her, "Will leaving you with two bottles be enough? If not, just ask the program team for more."

"...Didn’t you say you were only buying two bottles?"

Yu Xia patted the box. "Come on, you need a business mind here; I’m buying your water at a price higher than cost, right? Wholesale is always more profitable than retail in such cases. So, a bottle outside costs two yuan, but I’ll pay two yuan and ten cents. There’re five bottles in total here, which makes ten yuan and fifty cents in total. I don’t have small change, and I guess you don’t either, so let me owe you the fifty cents first. Here’s ten yuan, catch."

The ten yuan transaction was slapped into her palm, and the staff member stared wryly at Yu Xia.

"...But this water, I originally wasn’t selling it."

Yu Xia, already walking away with the water, calmly said, "Doesn’t that just make it unexpected good fortune? You’ve made a great deal, I’m telling you."

"..." Really? Are capitalists nowadays just tricking people like this?

When Xie Qingci finished the task, he saw Yu Xia leisurely sipping from her half a box of water.

Seeing him focused on her, she even waved at him.

"Come, have some water."

Considering he must be especially thirsty, she deliberately took out two bottles to toss to him.

Xie Qingci returned one bottle, opened the cap, and drank slowly.

"Rapidly guzzling water isn’t effective when you’re dehydrated. Sipping it slowly and letting it dwell in the mouth improves hydration," he explained.

Yu Xia slowed her pace, keeping the water in her mouth, swallowing slowly.

Xie Qingci’s gaze lingered on the side of her face for a while. Noticing the staff watching them, he naturally shifted his gaze back to his drink.

"You’ve completed the task, points have been credited, and here’s the clue you’ve earned."

Yu Xia avoided the camera as she glanced at it: "Is there additional information?"

Staff: "Yes, this round only allows extra information to be triggered in the first three tasks of the card-draw task and normal task. Specific details need the check-in machine to explain."

The check-in machine’s electronic voice began to beep, speaking emotionlessly:

"Additional obtainable information is the real-time distance of the pursuer. Scanning, scan completed, nearest pursuer is seven hundred meters from your location."

"Seven hundred meters?! That close?"

Yu Xia tightened the cap, grabbed the water, and hurriedly dragged Xie Qingci to run, talking as they ran, the wind creating whooshing sounds in the mic.

"Surely other teams aren’t this close? The pursuers really have their eyes on us!"

Xie Qingci took the bottle out of her grasp. "Don’t rush, seven hundred meters is still a bit of distance. I’ll carry the water."

As the two ran, they exchanged the water bottle, with Xie Qingci already loaded with things and having no place to put the water but his fish basket.

They were heading to climb a hill, very steep, covered in soft moss and shiny stones made slick by rain, easy to slip on.

Yu Xia glanced back, calculating if their climbing figures could be spotted six to seven hundred meters away. If the pursuers spotted them and knew their escape route, it’d be dangerous.

Distracted, she didn’t have stable footing and directly slipped down, her knee striking a rock with a dull grunt of pain, sliding several meters before being stopped by a rock.

"Yu Xia!" Xie Qingci sped down, not caring about the dirty ground, sliding sideways to her side, asking, "Where did you fall?"

Yu Xia waved a hand and used him to stand up.

"It’s nothing, I just wasn’t quick enough to react. It’s too slippery here."

Not believing her, he reached to touch her knee. "Does it hurt?"

"No." She sat, bent her leg, shrinking back further from him, looking pitiful like a timid dear under the drone’s camera.

Xie Qingci frowned, reaching a hand nearer; Yu Xia thought he meant to carry her, so she shrank back further, urgently shifting to the matter at hand.

"We need to climb quickly over this hillock, or the pursuers might spot us anytime." As his hand paused, Xie Qingci’s gaze darkened a bit, glancing at the drone and back to the mountain base. "Yes, but the ground’s too slippery. It’s easy to climb a meter and slip three or four meters back. Your knee must hurt, right? Can you still climb fast?"

She pulled at some vines on her backpack and suggested, "If I grasp the backpack, I can’t prevent a fall; what if we tie the vine to me?"

He looked at her seriously for a few seconds, then replied, "Sure."

Loosening the vines, he wrapped one end around Yu Xia’s waist twice, and the other around his own.

The dark brown vines, with soft leaves attached, cinched Yu Xia’s slender waist like an ornamental belt. With his head down, Xie Qingci tied the vine on her waist, his vivid blue-pulsed hands brushed her belly time-to-time.

As she sucked in her breath, she tugged the vine in the middle and awkwardly asked, "Are these vines strong enough? Won’t they break if I fall back?"

Xie Qingci continued tying without looking up, tone barely shifting, "Don’t worry, if they break, I’ll use my belt."

Yu Xia widened her eyes: "..."