Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 359: Beast of Burden

Thinking of her brother, Yu Xia naturally recalled the things Yue Ling said in the morning.

Xie Qingci had previously complained that she was training him like a dog, but compared to how her sister-in-law transformed her brother, it wasn’t that bad.

As for those few words her sister-in-law implied, upon closer consideration, they really didn’t apply to her and Xie Qingci.

Her brother and Xie Qingci are quite different, to be honest, she and her brother share more of the same status.

Back then, she was such an ascetic person, donned in monk robes, devoid of desires and joy.

Yet now, she could even send messages like "Baby, I miss you terribly".

The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong, her eating pace slowed down, Xie Qingci nudged a piece of rib against her lips, but she turned her head to dodge it.

Xie Qingci: "What are you thinking? Don’t want to eat?"

"Thinking you’re like a beast."

He ate the rib himself, almost choking at her words, coughing a few times.

Yu Xia silently looked at him: "You really don’t feel that way yourself?"

He drank two sips of soup to suppress the cough. His ears were a bit red, unsure if it was due to the word "beast" making him embarrassed, or because he coughed too hard.

"I don’t feel that way." He actually dared to say it.

She didn’t bother to argue, pushed his hand, and said while raising her chin: "Give me some ribs, I want to eat ribs."

He picked another piece of rib and fed it to her, eating potatoes himself.

While eating, Yu Xia was pondering, watching him bow his head and eat, the movement of his Adam’s apple while swallowing, she suddenly asked, "While you were away for a few days, did you get too close to any other girls?"

Xie Qingci was stunned, put down his chopsticks and stared at her.

"No. Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Usually, it’s him being jealous, she has never asked such a question, seeming really not to worry about other women appearing by his side.

She narrowed her eyes: "Really no? Psychology says some people honestly disclose their whereabouts just to make the other person trust them more, so they can go out and fool around better."

Xie Qingci showed an incredulous expression: "...Me, fool around?"

Yu Xia wondered, could it be her words were too insulting to his sincere heart?

Would he say "I devote all my heart to you, yet you still think I’m out fooling around"? Or follow up with "What do you want from me, should I cut open my heart for you to believe in my love for you"?

Then Xie Qingci said: "Besides work, I’m always texting or calling you, where would I have the time to fool around?"

...Turns out men are all about realism.

She was a bit embarrassed, and forced out: "What if while working, there’s a female colleague who harasses you? You not resisting still counts as fooling around."

"..." Xie Qingci couldn’t help but laugh, simply pinched her chin and turned her face, almost kissing, "How about you demonstrate what harassment looks like, and teach me what effective resistance means? Then I’ll follow your rules once I’m out."

Yu Xia’s ears tingled from his laughs, saying: "Don’t overthink, I’m not jealous, just testing you..."

Xie Qingci bit her: "You better be jealous."

She opened her mouth, suddenly unable to think of any witty reply.

"Have some soup," Xie Qingci fed her a spoonful of soup, then surveyed her with that weird gaze, "You’ve made progress."

"What?"

He recalled something, smilingly replied: "Finally got two bars of chocolate from you."

What is that supposed to mean? Yu Xia didn’t understand what he was laughing at.

But she couldn’t stand his knowing look, patted his thigh: "Do you know what my sister-in-law told me today?"

He ate potatoes while looking at her.

Yu Xia: "She said some people seem passionately in love, but in reality, they’re holding back, just to be the one controlling the whole situation."

Xie Qingci seriously pondered, nodded along.

She immediately squinted her eyes, tone dangerous: "You really nod?"

Xie Qingci: "I’m holding back, aren’t you aware of it? We can go in and test it again."

"...Food can’t even shut your mouth! If you’re hungry, eat a Snickers!"

Xie Qingci laughed.

——

The next afternoon, the penultimate episode of "Infinite Escape" was being recorded.

This time, the production team sent them by bus to an abandoned building on the outskirts.

Before arriving at the destination, everyone was discussing the game format in the bus.

Yu Xia sat in her seat yawning, and Song Xi in the same row but different seat couldn’t help but gaze at her.

With her eyelashes carrying tears, she looked stunningly lazy, even her half-closed eyes reaching for the water cup looked graceful, her slender arms and seemingly fragile wrists gleamed white, compared to Xie Qingci’s next to hers...

Song Xi suddenly withdrew his gaze, curled his index finger to push his glasses up, maintained a smile, pulling her into the conversation.

"Yu Xia, what do you think? This time are we just running around one building?"

Yu Xia lazily answered: "Probably. The first three episodes completed different types of places, switching to indoors this time is quite refreshing."

Sitting in the back row, Fang Yuanzhou draped his arm over Song Xi’s seat, interjected: "Doesn’t that make it easier? Every checkpoint is indoors, we don’t need to find a place to stay outdoors."

He beat Song Xi to it, causing Song Xi to close his open mouth, the curve of his lips slightly drooped, glancing at Fang Yuanzhou without much emotion.

These two professional athletes, constantly rivalling, couldn’t beat Xie Qingci for three consecutive episodes, and weren’t popular with the production team.

Yet starting last episode, Fang Yuanzhou deliberately engaged more in the conversations amongst the crew, especially displaying high enthusiasm when Yu Xia was present.

That sunny demeanor was as glaring as today’s sunlight.

Song Xi turned to face him, saying with a smile: "I don’t think it’s simple. It may be an easy location, but the game must be harder, perhaps this episode’s difficulty will be higher than before."

Fang Yuanzhou exclaimed: "That makes sense too, if it’s simple, there’d be nothing to broadcast. Although Yu Xia, it would be tougher for your team to win first place, since running up and down the building advantages our team more."

"Not necessarily," Yu Xia raised an eyebrow, pointing at the person beside her quietly tidying up his backpack, "our team has Xie Qingci."

Xie Qingci looked up and smiled at everyone.

Fang Yuanzhou: "But you also have yourself in your team, whereas we have two guys who don’t mind being used as beasts. In your team, Xie Qingci would consider if your body can handle it, right?"

This was a self-deprecating joke, but to certain two ears, it sounded a bit peculiar.

Yu Xia opened her mouth, wanting to retort "It’s alright, Xie Qingci is also a beast," but after yesterday, the word carried an ambiguous sensual undertone she couldn’t express verbally.

So in the end, she reluctantly said: "That’s reasonable."

Xie Qingci held his laughter: "No worries, the game isn’t just about physical strength, Yu Xia can handle the mental tasks. Seems like we have the advantage in our team."

Song Xi translated his words: Your team has two muscle without brains, don’t damn think of flaunting physical strength in front of my girlfriend.