Chapter 172 - 156: It’s Not Really a Big... Deal?
Chapter 172: Chapter 156: It’s Not Really a Big… Deal?
For this kind of sudden attack in the early morning, Director Xu was prepared to wait for several minutes.
The guests being woken up from their dreams always need some time to prepare, plus a few guests have morning temper and so on.
Le Qiqi is one of those; in past shows, there have been similar wake-up segments, and Le Qiqi is always the last one to get up.
Director Xu leaned against the door, flashing a charming smile at the camera in the most sunny posture.
“Based on my understanding of Le Qiqi, we still have to chat here for ten minutes… Ouch!”
Director Xu hadn’t even been leaning there for two minutes when the door suddenly swung open from inside.
Caught off guard, Director Xu stumbled in, tripping and falling.
[Director Xu is a bit like my college senior…???]
[Hahaha, the slap to Director Xu’s face came too fast. Did my lady actually get up early today? Unbelievable, oh boy, doesn’t she deserve some praise now?]
[Our lady is making progress, she’s become adept at counterattacking! I’m going to brag to Mo Anxia’s fans!!!]
Old fans of the show know Le Qiqi’s habits, so her getting up so early this time was truly shocking.
Le Qiqi’s fans couldn’t wait to brag to the fans of the other regular guests.
No sooner had they started than, after Director Xu fell in, the next second, out came a pajama-clad… Ji Xizhi!
Ji Xizhi placed a hand against Director Xu’s shoulder, preventing him from hitting the ground.
The cool young guy persona Director Xu had just managed to establish crumbled instantly. He braced himself against the door, barely managing to regain his footing.
The live stream fans were already dumbfounded.
As Director Xu “threw” the door open and the accompanying PD’s direct shot showed, everyone saw Ji Xizhi in the frame.
[Ji Xizhi?! Shoot, did Director Xu get the room wrong?]
[I knew it, how could the early riser be my lady haha, unbelievable!]
[Director Xu, give me an explanation. You promised to wake our Zhi Zhi last, but you came for her first, you pig brain!]
Ji Xizhi’s fans were all too aware of her daily routine. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, and Director Xu, by going to the wrong room, accidentally woke Ji Xizhi up. This was too excessive.
Ji Xizhi’s fans criticized angrily.
Director Xu’s eyes were wide open like gongs.
“Ji Xizhi! Why are you here? Where’s Le Qiqi!!!”
Director Xu stepped back several times, retreating to the door outside the room, carefully cross-checking the room number.
“8018, right? Isn’t this Le Qiqi’s room?”
After checking the room number, Director Xu poked his head inside the room. There was no Le Qiqi in the room, only Ji Xizhi staying there alone!
Ji Xizhi looked calm, not seeming like she had just woken up in a mess. Although upon a closer look, her face still showed signs of tiredness, given the early hour, sleepiness was a physiological reaction.
“I swapped with her last night.” Ji Xizhi said with ease, then waved to the PD behind her, “Starting filming early, yes? Come in, please.”
Director Xu muttered under his breath, “Why swap privately? How come this wasn’t communicated with the show team!”
Ji Xizhi turned, “Does it have to be reported?”
Director Xu: “No, never mind, it’s not that big of a deal.”
Director Xu thought it over; after all, each room was equipped with props, so swapping rooms wouldn’t have much impact; Le Qiqi would fall for it anyway, and as for Ji Xizhi, he couldn’t really figure out what Ji Xizhi was afraid of.
It’s just that seeing Ji Xizhi now, he assumed she wasn’t afraid of ghosts, otherwise, she would’ve screamed when she got up.
Director Xu pondered, rubbing his chin.
He followed the PD into the room, choosing a spot beside the sofa opposite the bed, standing behind the PD so as not to obstruct the shot of the guest.
After getting into position, Ji Xizhi was already sitting on the bed beginning her skincare routine; she had deduced the time from the trap set last night, waking up only ten minutes earlier, just as Director Xu knocked, she’d finished brushing her teeth and washing her face.
Now that the show crew had entered, Ji Xizhi stood by the window, applying moisturizer, and asked Director Xu, “When do we leave for recording?”
Director Xu stared blankly at Ji Xizhi’s feet, responding, “Ah, gathering downstairs for breakfast at six, then heading to the recording site.”
But inside, he was puzzled.
Strange? Did the timing mechanism fail? The frightening prosthetic should’ve popped up by now. Ji Xizhi had been standing by the bed for quite a while, yet it hadn’t activated, was it malfunctioning?
Director Xu hadn’t considered the possibility that Ji Xizhi might have discovered it earlier, primarily because the hotel’s bed bottoms were solid; unless Ji Xizhi lifted the plank to look, she couldn’t have seen it.
The live stream fans were equally curious.
[Didn’t Director Xu just say there’s a mechanism in the room? Everything looks normal now!]
[Not good, not good, if it were Le Qiqi, the mechanism would make sense, but Ji Xizhi… hmm, I think she already disarmed it!]
[I’m so curious, could you show it to me before dismantling, what trick did Director Xu prepare, leaving us hanging here is a bit of a tease!]
Director Xu gestured to the show crew’s PD to adjust the camera position and try to activate the mechanism.
The PDs knew the trigger spots ahead of time, so once she got Director Xu’s hint, she smoothly sidled towards the bed with the camera in hand.
Ji Xizhi finished her skincare, checked the time, unfazed by the PD’s tricky angles.
With the gathering set for six, she still had an hour. She casually opened her laptop to prepare today’s study plan.
Director Xu, hovering by the sofa for a while, seeing the PD failing to trigger anything under the bed despite her efforts, eventually decided to let it go for now.
Perhaps it was a quality issue with the props purchased by the team, getting jammed under the bed was entirely possible.
Taking a look at Ji Xizhi’s focused demeanor, Director Xu smiled.
“Perfect, Ji Xizhi, you should decide who the next guest to wake up is!”
Immersed in her study plan, Ji Xizhi responded without thinking, “Le Qiqi then.”
[My lady still couldn’t dodge this one haha!]
[Please don’t choose my Qiqi, she’s definitely still asleep!]
[Better to get it over with early, with Ji Xizhi around, Le Qiqi’s relatively safer, trust me!]
Director Xu got interested, “Why Le Qiqi?”
Ji Xizhi looked up in surprise and asked, “Weren’t you just planning to start with Le Qiqi for shooting?”
Director Xu: “… You really follow the show’s rules.”
Director Xu hesitated briefly but kindly added, “Actually, you don’t have to follow so strictly; just choose whoever you want, you don’t need to follow us!”
Looking up to meet Director Xu’s expectant, almost sparkling eyes, Ji Xizhi tentatively asked:
“Would the show prefer waking Qiu Lin?”
Director Xu eagerly replied, “Great! Then it’s Qiu Lin!”
He had heard about the airport incident; in the airport photos online, Qiu Lin was even holding Ji Xizhi’s arm, seemingly having a good relationship, so Ji Xizhi waking Qiu Lin was perfect.
Having made his decision, Director Xu relaxed, and with Ji Xizhi still working on her preparations, there were still seven to eight minutes before five o’clock, so he settled comfortably onto the sofa to take a break.
As soon as he sat down, his attention was drawn to a large parcel on the sofa.
The parcel was tightly wrapped in thick, pure white cloth, with a rather artistic silhouette.
Director Xu: “Ji Xizhi, did you bring this?”
Ji Xizhi: “No.”
Scratching his chin contemplatively, Director Xu felt the shape inside the parcel seemed familiar. Before his brain could connect the dots, his hand had already reached out.
The parcel was loosely fastened, tied with a flimsy knot on top.
With a gentle tug from Director Xu, the entire parcel came apart.