No animal performances, but no stopping animals determined to perform

"Will our successfully matched guests please hold hands and leave the stage to begin your romantic Aquarium date!"

The keeper slipped perfectly into the role of host. After sending Liu Woxing and Qiu Chengye off, he turned his attention back to the three remaining female guests.

"Next, Teacher Xie, please come up to the pool!"

Knowing full well that this segment was just a formality, Xie Mi walked over, determined to get it over with.

Who would have thought that someone would suddenly shove her as she passed Xu Shuangrong and Lai Bingxuan?

Xie Mi: "???"

Seriously, who had that much brute strength?

She was sent flying straight into the water. The instant she hit it, she heard Xu Shuangrong cry out, "Miss Lai, why did you push Teacher Xie?"

Fine, fine, fine. So I ended up being a tool for Xu Shuangrong to sow discord after all.

Lai Bingxuan shouted furiously, "What do you mean I pushed her? I didn't push her at all!!"

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

[It was Lai Bingxuan! I saw her reach out!]

[Huh? You can't really see clearly from this angle, can you?]

[Who else besides Lai Bingxuan would be that nasty? Everything was fine these past few days, but the second she showed up, all this trouble started. Obviously she's stirring things up.]

[It had to be Lai! It couldn't possibly be Shuangrong!]

With Xu Shuangrong steering the narrative, everyone's attention landed on Lai Bingxuan.

Xie Mi: Excuse me?

Could someone please spare a thought for her, the one who had been launched into the pool?

Lai Bingxuan was never one to keep her temper. The moment she was falsely accused, she lost it and lunged at Xu Shuangrong, cursing all the way.

The people around them hurried to hold her back, while Xu Shuangrong hid pitifully behind a staff member, the very picture of a victim.

The champion of justice arrived late, but arrived nonetheless:

"Little White! Smack her!"

The beluga suddenly surfaced and whipped its tail again. A heavy wall of water smacked into Xu Shuangrong, sending her flying.

"Ah!"

Having avenged herself on the spot, Xie Mi smiled in satisfaction. "Nice job, Little Whi-huh?"

The beluga, thoroughly enjoying itself, hoisted Xie Mi onto its back and began swimming around the pool, clearly treating her as a new playmate.

Xie Mi was jostled so hard she saw stars.

Okay, okay, I admit I picked up a little something from the keeper's hand signals just now, but does the beluga have to get this excited?!!

Now everyone's attention shifted to her and the beluga.

"Look! The beluga's carrying someone!"

"Aaaaaah, could this be the secret act-a joint performance by a beluga and a human?!"

"This is way better than the act just now!!"

The audience in the hall suddenly erupted in cheers.

Knocked to the ground, Xu Shuangrong saw that not only was no one concerned about her, but Xie Mi had also derailed the narrative she had worked so hard to build. Panicking, she shouted.

"Teacher Xie, you can't do this! You can't force animals to perform!"

Xie Mi foamed at the mouth. "Take another look. Who's being forced here?"

Uh...

[No animal performances, but no stopping animals determined to perform.]

[I'm dying. Why does this kind of ridiculous stuff always happen to Teacher Xie?]

[Hahahaha, I'll say it again: good old Xie was born for variety shows.]

[I bow down to you, boss.]

Of course, Shen Yeqing was even more impressed. He had jumped into the water immediately to rescue her, only to get rammed aside by the beluga.

"..."

Enough already.

#Beluga performance#

#Xie Mi Born for variety shows#

Unsurprisingly, the Beluga Hall segment made the trending list, while no one cared about Xu Shuangrong's carefully orchestrated attempt to drive a wedge between them. She finally realized where the problem lay.

Xie Mi was the biggest glitch of all!

So after their Aquarium trip ended and they returned to the hotel, Xu Shuangrong cornered Xie Mi outside her room, where no cameras were filming.

"Teacher Xie, can we talk?"

"Ummm... are you sure you want to talk right now?"

"..."

The two drenched women stared at each other.

This was supposed to be the time the production team had given them to change, but Xu Shuangrong refused to let it go.

"I just wanted to apologize. Miss Lai and I have had some disagreements before, and now she's targeting you because of me. I feel terrible about it."

Xie Mi laughed in disbelief.

Xu Shuangrong really did take her for an idiot.

"You're saying Miss Lai is targeting me?"

"Yes. Back at the Aquarium, she pushed you..."

"Stop right there."

A faint smile played on Xie Mi's lips. "Try fooling me if you want, but don't fool yourself too. You know perfectly well who pushed me, don't you?"

Xu Shuangrong pressed her lips together without speaking, seemingly determined to play dumb to the end.

Xie Mi casually swept the wet hair off her forehead. "Just try using me as your human shield again."

Her lips curved into a teasing smile as she stared straight into Xu Shuangrong's eyes.

"Careful, or I really might pick a side."

"You know how unhinged I can be~"

Bang.

Only after the door closed did Xu Shuangrong, still standing outside, belatedly furrow her brows. For no clear reason, she felt that Xie Mi was somewhat beyond her control.

There was something unhinged about her... as though she had everything under control and wouldn't readily get involved in a dispute, but would go off the rails the moment anyone provoked her.

It was nothing like what she had envisioned.

After dinner at the hotel, they all boarded the bus headed for the Summer Music Festival.

Clearly traumatized by Xie Mi's outfit that morning, the production team had splurged on a professional styling team to give every guest a makeover.

Xie Mi's look was Y2K hottie.

The moment she appeared, the livestream chat exploded.

[If I may ask, this beauty can't possibly be that cavewoman from this morning, right?]

[Sister Xie???? Sister Xie!!!!]

[Holy crap, has good old Xie always been this gorgeous?! You've been holding out on your buddies all this time!]

[A beauty attack!! I'm officially a fan of Old Xie's face!!]

[Sister Xie, pretty girls like you are easy targets for creeps. Self-defense is a required course, and staying on guard every day gets exhausting. But don't worry, you won't have to watch out for wolves anymore, because your man is here ❤]

Her number-one fan, the assistant director, had already secretly snapped several gorgeous photos and posted them on his alternate Weibo account, raving about how stunning his fave was.

Until Xie Mi smoothly pulled out her shit-green sunglasses and put them on.

The assistant director's hand shook, and his phone fell and shattered.

"Where did you dig up so much ugly stuff?" Shen Yeqing, sitting beside her, asked with absolutely no tact.

Xie Mi rolled her eyes. "I bought them at the local secondhand market. They're all the hottest fashion accessories right now. Don't be bitter just because you don't have any."

Shen Yeqing chuckled softly, his lazy laugh carrying a faint tenderness.

Xie Mi couldn't help recalling the "Liu Liu" she had heard in her dream the night before, and she gave him a couple of extra looks.

She would have to find a chance to sound him out.

Once the bus was cruising steadily down the road, Director Niu began moving the program along.

"We're heading to South Sea City's annual Summer Music Festival, where we'll be going on randomly paired dates!"

"Randomly paired dates?"

The term was so vague that Lai Bingxuan couldn't help asking, "How exactly are you randomizing them?"

"Drawing lots."

Director Niu flashed a troublemaking smile. "It's seven o'clock now. You'll draw lots for the first time to decide your date pairings from seven to eight."

[Seven to eight? What does that mean? There'll be more afterward?]

[If this is the first round, there has to be a second. So there's more than one date tonight!]

[Drawing lots really makes it random. All the existing couples will get scrambled, and more than once, too. They're definitely stirring things up.]

[Wait, the male-to-female ratio is three to four right now. Doesn't that mean someone will end up alone?!]

[Holy crap! This is exciting!!]