Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 252: Springtime Flutter

The first two task stations didn’t have such a glaring sign, but this last stage is so obvious... Something’s fishy.

The two exchanged a glance, and Xie Qingci took the lead and walked over.

Yu Xia followed behind, watchfully scanning the surroundings.

She suspected there was definitely a trap in this stage, like using the show’s logo to lure them in, only for hunters to suddenly appear and catch them.

As they got closer, they peeked behind the signboard to see a staff member sitting there, smiling at them and saying welcome, while a livestream continued on a phone beside them.

"Welcome, you’re the first group to reach the third task point. Please align your face with the scanner to sign in."

Face scanning sign-in?

Yu Xia peeked out from beside Xie Qingci’s arm: "What, are we attending an international conference?"

The staff member stopped talking and operated the machine for a bit. The scanner emitted a mechanical voice: "Please remove your hat and face the camera."

Xie Qingci removed his baseball cap, and the machine made a "ding" sound.

"Scan complete, teammate information missing."

Xie Qingci looked at Yu Xia. She muttered to herself but cooperatively removed her hat and leaned forward, her hair flowing over her shoulders.

Scanner: "Ding—Face mismatch detected, Yu Xia’s information not found."

"?" Yu Xia stood up straight and suspiciously patted the machine, hoping a couple of smacks would smarten it up to recognize her.

But the result stayed the same—"Scan result mismatch, please rescan."

"What kind of crappy machine is this? Am I not in its database?" she asked the staff member.

Before waiting for a reply, she muttered another complaint: "This could easily cause misunderstandings. Is it going to say I’ve had plastic surgery? Did your show team skimp so much that you couldn’t get a decent machine? Is this from centuries-old smart tech?"

The staff was also a bit flustered: "Maybe you could try scanning again?"

She leaned in again, the scanning line on the screen fluctuating without correctly detecting a face.

Just as she was about to give the broken machine a whack, Xie Qingci gathered her hair from behind her head, using his hand like a hair tie.

"Try it like this?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

His actions seemed cautious, not wanting to pull her hair, with some strands slipping out.

Amid the fragmented sunlight between clouds, she saw their reflection in the screen, harmonious and intimate. Seeing Xie Qingci bending down meticulously gathering her hair made her skip a beat for two seconds.

"Ding—Scan successful, Yu Xia’s information matched."

The mechanical voice pulled her attention back. She stood up straight, and Xie Qingci took a step back, releasing her hair, which cascaded down like a waterfall, partially hiding her already delicate small face.

She tucked her hair behind her ears, her eyelashes fluttered, but she said, "It really was because of the hair, how unintelligent. If I were bald, wouldn’t I never pass?"

The staff glanced sideways at Xie Qingci’s downcast look, guessing the bullet screen probably wasn’t wrong in saying Xie Qingci had a thing for Yu Xia.

The scanner’s screen showed their face scan images rotating, as the mechanical voice continued to work:

"Scanning in progress, scan completed, Yu Xia and Xie Qingci group total score of 245 points, including 100 points accumulated at each of the first two stations, 30 points from earning cash, 5 points for self-made meals in the wild, 10 points for being the first group to reach the final task point."

"Scores exceed 99 points, would you like to initiate the card-pulling task? Additionally, since you are the first group to arrive, you can directly choose the fast-forward task. Completing the task allows you to draw a designated Fast Forward Card, which type of task would you like to choose?"

Earlier she called this a bad machine, but it doesn’t seem that bad.

Having played through two stations, Yu Xia finally felt like "this is how the show should be played." Otherwise, the earlier dull planning barely matches a team determined to impact the best reality show of the year.

She regained her first day’s enthusiasm, eagerly asking the staff.

"So we can freely choose among three types of tasks?"

The staff, like an insurance salesperson seeking commission, retained their smile effortlessly.

"Yes, here we have three types of tasks: ordinary tasks, card-pulling tasks, and fast-forward tasks."

"Ordinary tasks are just for earning points, not too difficult. Card-pulling tasks reward you with a chance to draw Fast Forward, Pause, or Retreat Cards. But which card you draw depends on luck.

Fast-forward tasks are more targeted. Once completed, you get a Fast Forward Card that sends you directly to the finish line, available only for the first group to arrive, with a higher difficulty. Completing the last two types of tasks still gives you clearance points, but if unsuccessful, you must complete an ordinary task before proceeding to the end."

Yu Xia pondered carefully, deciding there was no need to select the most difficult fast-forward task.

Completing the task and reaching the end by themselves wouldn’t be a challenge since there were still three days left in the five-day limit.

Thus, the card-pulling task was unnecessary. If they drew a Pause or Retreat card, wouldn’t it be bad luck?

She then said to Xie Qingci, "What about the ordinary task? If this fast-forward task was at the first station, we might give it a try."

The staff heard her clearly, smiling as they said, "That’s the rule for the next period; fast-forward tasks will only appear at the beginning."

She paused, pulled Xie Qingci aside a bit, and whispered, "What do you think?"

Xie Qingci: "I’ll listen to you."

What a flirtatious line, not to mention that Xie Qingci’s eyes spelled "ambiguous," she should feel awkward for at least two seconds, right?

But Yu Xia wasn’t like that.

She looked at Xie Qingci, deeply disappointed, and sighed, "Why are you so indecisive? If I make the wrong choice and regret it later, won’t everyone just blame me? Choosing with high risk makes no sense; we are teammates and must learn to share the risk!"

Xie Qingci: "...Alright, I’ll choose the ordinary task. Since this is the last stage, there’s no need to fast forward. We just need to avoid getting caught in the next three days."

She nodded satisfactorily: "That’s what I thought too."

Then they chose the ordinary task.

The staff wasn’t surprised and tapped a few times on the machine, allowing them to select again.

"The ordinary tasks are divided into five levels based on points and task difficulty. Which level would you like to choose?"

Yu Xia stepped aside: "Come, little brother, you choose. The main labor force of the task should have the right to choose."

Xie Qingci helplessly stepped forward, directly scrolling to the highest level task, but didn’t hurry to confirm, instead turning back to ask her:

"How about this? The more points we get, the safer we are."

"Sure, let’s see what the task is."

After clicking confirm, a line of text silently appeared on the screen.

[Ride a dog for one kilometer]