Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 362: You Were One Step Too Late

Yu Xia made a clicking sound in her heart.

Song Xi and Lan Hui had just come for the second episode, and they had spent one hundred ninety-nine points earned from the last episode just like that. Just thinking about it made her feel uncomfortable.

If they earned little, by the last episode, their points might be significantly lower, almost with no chance at the first place.

She mouthed to Xie Qingci: What should we do?

Xie Qingci shook his head and didn’t answer.

After waiting a while, there was no sound from outside. Xie Qingci left the door and gestured for her to stay in the corner near the door.

Then, he said softly, "This door can’t be locked, we’ll crack the numbers here. If Lan Hui comes, we’ll take her in; if not, then so be it. Is that okay?"

Yu Xia nodded decisively.

Actually, she really wanted to ask why only Lan Hui was caught and where Song Xi went. But anticipating that the person before her also didn’t want to discuss the name Song Xi, she didn’t ask.

If it weren’t for the clues in the photo, he probably wouldn’t even want to see the person in that photo.

Xie Qingci turned Song Xi’s photo face down so he wouldn’t be bothered, focusing solely on that string of numbers.

Unfortunately, after trying every possible arrangement to segment the numbers, he still had no leads.

Watching the time slip away, Xie Qingci went out to the balcony to take a look and came back saying, "The sun’s about to set."

Now without food and still no clues, this half day showed no progress. Compared to leading in the first three episodes, this time being stuck at the clue step was making Yu Xia a bit impatient.

Xie Qingci reassured her, "Don’t worry. Are you hungry?"

"A little. Aren’t you?"

"Hungry, but for sure others are just like us, hungry too. At this moment, if someone finds the clue and the first checkpoint before us, they will probably inform us. That way everybody passes the first checkpoint and there’s a chance to get the airdropped survival package for food."

He spoke in a calm, low voice, gradually easing Yu Xia’s impatience.

"Makes sense," she took a deep breath and looked back at Song Xi’s photo, "then let’s continue to ponder the clues."

No one came to the door; Lan Hui must have already left this floor. Xie Qingci carefully opened a small crack in the door, leaning to peek outside.

He saw no one, but as for further away, it was unclear if there were any pursuers hidden; he closed the door again and turned to see Yu Xia holding a short piece of wood towards him.

In the increasingly dim light, her eerie gaze looked like she was about to smash the plank over his head.

Xie Qingci paused, staying still against the door, and asked her, "What are you doing?"

Yu Xia tilted the piece of wood, aligning it with the series of numbers on the photo. The seemingly random black lines on the wood pointed directly at a few numbers.

"I discovered this. The diagonal length on the wood matches that on the photo."

He inexplicably felt relieved and walked over to examine it seriously.

Yu Xia carefully aligned the wood and the photo and read out the numbers pointed to by the black line, "0222."

"Room 22 on the second floor?" Xie Qingci picked up another nearby piece of wood and compared it, "This piece of wood is useless, how about looking at that outlet panel?"

After comparing everything with black lines, they found only the black lines on the piece of wood in Yu Xia’s hand accurately pointed to numbers.

"Let’s go to the second floor and take a look." Yu Xia handed the photo to him and stood up, her entire body exuding an energy of "finally making progress."

They carefully pulled the door open, turning the squeaky sound into a subtle and unobtrusive noise, walking out quietly.

The corridor was dimmer, empty. If not for hearing the earlier screams so clearly, one couldn’t imagine that there might be a pursuer hiding in such a quiet environment.

As they walked down the long corridor, sweat gathered in Yu Xia’s palms, sighing with relief when they reached the stairs, continuing to stealthily descend.

The second floor was also quiet, empty corridors, the end shrouded in shadows like a beast with its mouth open, waiting for someone to walk in.

Above the room door directly facing the staircase, a "1" number plate was stuck.

They couldn’t figure out whether the room numbers went clockwise or counterclockwise and subjectively chose to go left.

Halfway there, on an ordinary room door, a "13" number plate was stuck.

Yu Xia and Xie Qingci exchanged a glance.

It seemed their direction was right. But why did only this room have a number plate in this row? Was there something inside?

Was it another checkpoint or a pursuer’s room?

Xie Qingci tugged on her clothes, "Let’s check it first and come back to study this."

"Okay."

Room 22 had no number plate; they counted past room 13 to find it.

The door was a security door, and the peephole showed nothing clear inside. Xie Qingci shielded Yu Xia behind him, encircling the doorknob lightly with his fingers.

The door opened, and there were people inside.

Yu Xia saw the figure inside with a start and almost pulled Xie Qingci to flee. But on taking a closer look, it was actually Song Xi and Lan Hui.

Behind them was a familiar check-in machine.

Song Xi habitually pushed up his glasses frame, raising an eyebrow and smiling, "You’re a step too late."

That smile was slightly provocative.

Xie Qingci’s expression was unchanged, "Being first all the time can be tiring."

Song Xi found himself speechless.

Once the door closed, Yu Xia relaxed a little, stepping forward to check in while casually asking Lan Hui, "You guys were quick, how did you find the clue? Was the door already unlockable?"

Lan Hui’s brow was still tightly furrowed, her round apple face sulking, probably distressed over the one hundred ninety-nine points, answering in a dispirited tone.

"We just found a photo with numbers on it. We opened it with a key."

"A key?" she was curious, "Weren’t you being chased by pursuers? How did you get the key?"

Lan Hui looked at her resentfully, "You knew I was being chased and never thought to rescue me?"

Yu Xia leaned against the check-in machine, shrugging slightly, "We’re not allied; we’re rivals. Why would you imagine we’d take such a risk to save you? What made you think I am a kind-hearted person?"

"...Alright, I now know you’re not a kind-hearted person."

She casually tapped on the task options on the screen, "Exactly, kind-hearted people end up suckers who get taken advantage of. Who would irrationally want to be kind-hearted?"

Lan Hui was left without words, and then Song Xi suddenly asked, "You should have found a photo too, right? Whose photo is it?"

Xie Qingci turned to look at him.

Since he could ask such a question, based on Xie Qingci’s knowledge of him, the photo he had must likely be one belonging to one of them, and quite possibly Yu Xia’s photo.

"Whose did you get?" he asked.

Song Xi waved the photo, smiling, "It’s a still photo of Yu Xia from a show."

Xie Qingci showed no surprise, taking out the photo from his bag to show them, his tone void of warmth.

"What a coincidence, we got yours."

Song Xi’s smile widened, "Indeed a coincidence."