The love triangle sprang up without warning.
Caught between the raging flames on either side, Xie Mi sighed helplessly. She braced both hands against the two men and shoved them flying, declaring with righteous conviction.
"Let's keep going! Next round!"
[Such noble selflessness!]
[Only Xie could pull that off. I'd have lost my mind over them ages ago.]
[But I still wanted to see the love triangle! (sobbing)]
Round two: beach volleyball.
The production team marked out the court, and the two teams took their places on opposite sides to work out their formations.
"I'll organize us."
This time, Xiao Jingxi spoke up. "I'm good at every ball sport. The men will stand in the back row and receive. The women can stand in the front row and stay put."
"But if the front row doesn't receive, doesn't that mean we're missing a layer of defense? They have two layers, and we only have one. Wouldn't that put us at a huge disadvantage?"
Liu Woxing asked.
Xiao Jingxi's tone brooked no argument. "The worst thing you can do in volleyball is force yourself to receive a ball you can't handle. You'd be better off standing there doing nothing. Don't worry. I'm good at volleyball. I can receive it."
After hearing that, Liu Woxing said nothing more.
Shen Yeqing, however, chuckled. "Then how do you decide who 'can' and 'can't' receive, Best Actor Xiao?"
Xiao Jingxi frowned, irritated, but since it was Shen Yeqing, he couldn't afford to offend him outright.
He could only offer a useless platitude. "People who know how to play 'can receive.' People who don't 'can't receive.'"
"So you're assuming the women don't know how to play?" Shen Yeqing countered unhurriedly.
Xiao Jingxi choked on his words. Faced with the three women's burning stares, he stubbornly insisted, "They show no signs of exercising."
And that settled it.
Xie Mi merely smiled without a word.
Clearly, he desperately wanted to show off this time. Fine, she would let him.
After all...
She had just noticed that one of the women on the other team handled the volleyball like a real pro.
"Five balls per side. Begin!"
At Director Niu's command, the woman on the opposing team served first. She tossed the volleyball high and struck it hard.
Whoosh-!
The volleyball shot toward them like a bullet, bearing down with overwhelming force.
Xie Mi, standing in the middle, should have received it, but she obediently crouched down and left the ball to Xiao Jingxi behind her.
Xiao Jingxi charged forward with all his might and swung with everything he had! This time, he would reclaim every last shred of his lost dignity-
Bam!
The ball sent Xiao Jingxi flying.
"One point lost for the guest team!"
Everyone fell utterly silent, staring at Xiao Jingxi with half his head buried in the sand.
The best actor had humiliated himself in public. Nobody dared laugh.
Except Xie Mi, who clutched her stomach and pounded the ground with laughter. When she looked up, she found Shen Yeqing pounding it too.
[Well, uh...]
[Seriously? I'd already started screen-recording to capture Best Actor Xiao's cool receive, and this is what you give me?]
[Unless my eyes deceived me, Best Actor Xiao literally went flying just now...]
[Hahahahahahaha, sorry, I can't hold it in anymore.]
"Our strategy doesn't seem to be working very well," Liu Woxing said tactfully.
Xu Shuangrong was the first to help Xiao Jingxi up. Hearing that, she immediately defended him. "Actually, Jingxi wasn't wrong. If we don't know how to play and recklessly try to receive, we'll only increase the risk. He was looking out for us."
Xiao Jingxi gave her a grateful look, then turned toward Xie Mi, who was practically rolling around with laughter. His expression darkened again.
His cheeks felt as though they were on fire.
"My position was bad just now. I couldn't play properly. Again."
He had to salvage his pride.
The match continued. This time, they served first. Xiao Jingxi, the self-proclaimed volleyball expert, volunteered. He tossed the ball high and slammed it with every ounce of strength he had.
This was-
A serve with his dignity on the line!!!
Bam!
The assistant director jumped up and gave it a light tap. The ball flew back and drifted gently down beside Xu Shuangrong's feet.
"..."
Silence was tonight's Cambridge.
Xu Shuangrong turned back innocently. "I followed your instructions. I didn't receive it."
Even though the ball had been so slow that a three-year-old could have caught it.
The corner of Xiao Jingxi's mouth twitched, but he couldn't say a thing. He had told them not to receive. He couldn't contradict himself now.
Xie Mi, meanwhile, was thoroughly entertained.
Xu Shuangrong really lived up to her sweet-but-scheming image. One moment, she comforted Xiao Jingxi; the next, she proved his strategy wrong through her actions.
That was a subtle little act of revenge.
"Are you sure you don't want to change strategies?" Xie Mi folded her arms and raised an eyebrow.
Xiao Jingxi pressed his lips together. "What difference would changing it make? Even if we let the three of you receive, could you really turn the match around?"
The chauvinistic Qiu Chengye wholeheartedly agreed. "Even we men can't win, so you women can forget it. Men are naturally more talented at sports."
Those two had really found common ground.
Xie Mi was about to say something when Shen Yeqing suddenly leaned weakly against her.
"I'm no good at sports. Help me, Ms. Xie."
Xiao Jingxi's and Qiu Chengye's expressions changed at the same time.
That slap in the face rang loud and clear.
Xie Mi curled her lips into a smile and patted the 185-centimeter-tall little wife in her arms. "Don't worry. Your man will take care of you."
Xie Mi and Shen Yeqing switched positions.
Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye clearly objected, but since Shen Yeqing had proposed the switch himself, they couldn't really say anything.
They could only warn Xie Mi, "Try not to receive too many balls. When one comes at you, dodge and let us take it."
Xie Mi answered with her middle finger.
The third ball began, with the opposing team serving this time.
The other team seemed to have noticed their change in formation and deliberately aimed at Xie Mi. After all, she looked like such an obvious weak link.
"Move!" Xiao Jingxi shouted as he charged toward her.
Xie Mi swept his legs out from under him, then leaped up and delivered a spike!
Bam!
The ball skimmed past the assistant director's face. He stood rooted to the spot in terror, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
What... what a ferocious shot!
Even Director Niu sounded incredulous. "The directors' team... loses a point."
"Great shot!" Liu Woxing jogged over to high-five Xie Mi, a huge smile blooming across her usually gentle face.
When she noticed Xie Mi staring at her, she realized she had lost her composure and hastily tried to explain. "I was just so happy..."
"You look great smiling like that." Xie Mi grinned, then turned and spiritedly challenged the other side. "Come on! Keep going!"
Liu Woxing paused, her eyes unconsciously curving into a smile as she murmured her agreement.
Watching it all, Xu Shuangrong's gaze darkened slightly.
The match continued. Xie Mi stopped pretending and laid her cards on the table, showing off her superb volleyball skills while deviously aiming only at the assistant director.
Wherever the assistant director stood, that was where she hit.
The opposing team's expert had to knock the assistant director out of the way to receive the ball, and his howls rang out throughout the match.
Although Xiao Jingxi and Qiu Chengye were surprised by Xie Mi's skills, neither wanted her to steal the spotlight, so they scrambled to receive the ball first.
Their eagerness to win only sent them crashing into each other, costing them another point.
Furious, Xie Mi sent them straight to the afterlife with a spinning flying kick.
"Get lost!!!"
Before you continue