Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 336: Free Food and Drinks

Yu Xia claps her hands and presses them both into the corner.

"Look at this, not cooperating leads to this outcome. It would have been so much easier just to give the money earlier."

Lan Hui looks at her eagerly: "But sister..."

Just after calling her sister, she notices Xie Qingci furrow his brow and look at her with cold eyes.

Her brain doesn’t even react, her mouth instinctively changes: "Yu Xia... Yu Xia, but we have no money! We just arrived and don’t have a penny!"

Yu Xia squints: "Trying to fool me? I heard you. Your task is to spend money, how do you do that without any? And you’ve been discussing how to win all along without worrying about completing your task, there must be a way to get money. If you don’t cooperate, it won’t just be five bucks."

Song Xi speaks: "We do have a little money, but it’s not much. We still need to pay for our task later, can we trade something instead?"

Yu Xia wants to correct his choice of words, "trade," but decides not to talk too much, lest the vinegar jar behind her goes crazy.

"How about this, I’m sometimes kind-hearted for a few seconds. If you don’t want to spend money to avoid disaster, just tell us some information. What’s your task exactly, how much money is required, and how’s it going?"

Song Xi says: "One hundred bucks, and we’re halfway done."

Not sure if he’s telling the truth, Yu Xia doesn’t say whether she believes him, turning to exchange a glance with Xie Qingci.

It seems like the first station’s tasks are all about spending money, just with different amounts.

"What’s your task? Can we exchange information, Yu Xia?" Song Xi asks proactively.

"No way, you need to understand the current situation, we’re not equal."

She goes on a tirade and then picks up the silent Lan Hui, making her appear on camera a bit longer.

"How are you managing to complete the task? How can you spend a hundred bucks with no money?"

Lan Hui is just as troubled: "We can only earn money first, time is tight, we’re worried about how to earn money too. Yu Xia, you guys must have completed your task, right? Are you heading to the second station?"

Yu Xia ignores the last two questions and disdainfully looks them over.

"You’re a bit foolish."

Lan Hui and Song Xi are stunned: "What?"

"If you wait to make the money before spending it, time might not be enough. You should be worried about whether you can complete the task within today, not what order you’ll complete it in."

Lan Hui: "So what should we do? We can’t just say how much money is spent and that’s that!"

Song Xi suddenly brightens up and asks her: "Is your task also like this? How did you complete it?"

"A loan."

Song Xi and Lan Hui are dumbfounded: "...A loan?!"

Yu Xia doesn’t say much, speculating to herself: "How are you earning money? I don’t see you with anything... ah, did you sell the escape items provided by the show?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

She sighs, not expressing much doubt, and the two teams part ways without interfering with each other.

Then she calls Xie Qingci and heads towards the alleyway, speaking loud enough for them to hear:

"They are indeed newcomers, selling the escape items given by the show. Those things surely aren’t given without reason, maybe they have a major use..."

Xie Qingci nods in agreement: "I think so too, maybe there’s something on those items..."

Something what?

The rest is inaudible, Lan Hui anxiously jumps up to catch up and hear more clearly, but Song Xi pulls her back.

"They’re saying this on purpose."

Lan Hui: "But what if it really is useful?"

Song Xi hesitates. It’s really hard to say.

"Forget it, let’s untie the rope and leave here first. Then, let’s follow them and see."

After leaving that courtyard, Yu Xia and Xie Qingci first go to check in and submit their task. Once they get the clues, they find another place to sell things.

She has started loving this kind of mobile stall. Buying and selling can happen anytime and anywhere, and when pursuers come, they can roll up their stuff and run.

At this moment, they’re not guests and pursuers but stall owners and city inspectors, and her speed rolling up the goods is so fast she doesn’t need Xie Qingci to help her run.

The more she understands herself, the more she realizes she has the potential to perform as a stall vendor.

Gradually the sun sets, indicating the ceasefire time is approaching.

Yu Xia starts looking for a place that can provide hot water, preparing instant noodles for dinner.

Xie Qingci thoroughly inspects the three escape items they obtained.

This episode’s items provided by the show seem useless; initially, they thought the director was fooling around. Now they feel there might be some secrets hidden inside.

He checks repeatedly, finally discovering a tag under the foot of a plush swan.

The tag has three figures printed on it, with a line of text below: "Infinite Escape" asylum, free provision of food and drink.

Yu Xia glances at it, expressing skepticism: "Is there really such a good place?"

Xie Qingci points at the first of the three emblems: "That’s the bank’s emblem."

A logo depicting a copper coin.

"You mean," she looks more closely, "this is a clue to the first three stations?"

"Possible, but even if it is, it serves only as a support for us. The proper route still has to rely on clues obtained by completing tasks."

He notes down the line of text, looking around: "When ceasefire time comes, let’s look for this place."

"Alright."

If it’s free, we might as well eat.

Soon, a drone broadcasts the ceasefire signal.

Roadside passersby disperse, with some heading out.

Now with no need to worry about pursuers, they relax, carrying their items while strolling, searching for the asylum.

The place is hard to find, taking about ten minutes to locate.

Yu Xia looks up at the signboard written with the word "asylum" on an A4 sheet, lost in thought.

"I thought I was used to discrepancies between real and pictured items, but clearly, I’m not."

They’ve indeed been deceived, with this straw hut, uneven ground, dilapidated wood door, and the whole viewable inside with just one wooden bench. How can this place be an asylum?

Xie Qingci ventures inside for a look, calling back from the entrance: "There’s hot water and disposable bowl and chopsticks."

He sets things down and makes instant noodles. Yu Xia, like a country bumpkin oblivious to worldly affairs, looks around inside, finding a box of compressed biscuits next to the water boiler.

She thinks, is this the level of quality for free food and drink? Who would eat this?

Within minutes, three groups of guests arrive at the asylum, nearly arguing for fair distribution of the compressed biscuits, and almost cheating at Rock-Paper-Scissors just to get the peanut-flavored biscuits.

Yu Xia sits at the only bench near the entrance, eating her noodles while enjoying the show.