Beauty Snake - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: “Don’t Worry, Just Follow My Rhythm.”

“Everyone, look over here—” At the foot of Mount Mingyang, the Department Head’s voice (affectionately nicknamed Baldy) rang out through the megaphone, drawing everyone’s gaze.

“Ahem, before we start our activities, we have a little game—” Baldy paused, his tone becoming mysterious.

“This concerns where you will be staying tomorrow night!” As soon as Baldy said this, the crowd erupted into an uproar.

“People still play this kind of game nowadays?”

“Actually, it sounds quite fun…” People around were whispering to one another. After listening, Ji Yunfei raised an eyebrow and spoke up loudly:

“Stop keeping us in suspense, just get on with it.”

“Right, right, keep going, keep going!” The crowd’s curiosity was instantly pulled to its peak as they chimed in.

“The next game is a Three-Legged Race. Teams will be decided by drawing lots. Naturally, men and women will be separated…”

“All employees are divided into 10 Major Groups, and each Major Group is divided into 20 Small Teams…”

“See that marker pole a hundred meters away?” Baldy pointed his index finger toward the distance. Following his direction, everyone saw a blue marker pole standing tall against the wind.

Seeing everyone’s attention on the pole, Baldy continued leisurely: “The white line here is the starting point… and the marker pole is the finish line. The top three small teams in each Major Group can choose one of the following: Luxury Tent Camping at the peak, an RV Trip, a Standard Twin Room at the Mount Mingyang Resort Hotel, or a Luxury Suite…”

“Ohh—” Before Baldy could even finish, the crowd started to get restless. People sighed in admiration, and some even started clapping.

“Stop, stop, stop, I’m not finished yet. What’s all the excitement for?”

“As for the bottom three teams… you’ll have to take a basic, flimsy tent and do a Night Hike up Mount Mingyang…” As Baldy spoke, a scheming smile involuntarily crept onto his face. The previously rowdy crowd suddenly went silent. They looked at each other, speechless.

“Alright, now that everyone knows the rules, come over and draw lots!” Baldy waved to the Marketing Department Head beside him, who immediately reacted by pulling out five giant lottery boxes.

“Each box represents one Major Group.”

“And the numbers in each Major Group correspond in pairs; those who draw the same number are on the same team—” Baldy took the boxes one by one, shook them in front of the crowd, and then placed them heavily on the table.

“Line up to draw!” Following Baldy’s words, everyone spontaneously formed five lines to begin drawing their numbers.

“Feizi, shall we go together?” Ji Yunfei felt a weight on her shoulder as Chi Chang’s voice came from behind.

Just as Ji Yunfei was about to speak, a patch of warmth pressed into her palm, and her hand was firmly grasped. Xie Yin’s cool, crisp voice rang out leisurely:

“A-Fei, together?”

“What kind of magical crematory battlefield is this?”

“Xie Yin…? You’re going to join the employees too?” Ji Yunfei’s elegant brows knit slightly, her eyes filled with surprise.

Hearing Ji Yunfei’s question, Xie Yin shrugged and spread her hands, stating: “They said this helps me integrate with the staff better and makes me seem a bit more human.”

“However… I also have my own selfish motive… I want to stay with you…” Xie Yin lowered her voice for this part, leaning into Ji Yunfei’s ear with an ambiguous tone. The hot breath hit her ear, and Ji Yunfei’s earlobe turned an unyielding shade of scarlet.

Ji Yunfei silently gritted her teeth and gave the hand Xie Yin had thrust into her palm a hard squeeze. Seeing the other woman wince and frown, she relaxed her grip and said mischievously:

“Fine, since I’m so popular, let’s leave it to fate~”

“Luck decides everything! Good luck, CEO Xie~” Ji Yunfei winked, grabbed Chi Chang, and went to join the line. Left behind, Xie Yin wasn’t annoyed; instead, she crinkled her eyes and followed them.

“15…” Ji Yunfei looked at the number in her hand and read it out softly. Seeing that Chi Chang had finished drawing too, she pulled her aside to show her number.

“I’m 15, what about you?”

“Aww… Fate just doesn’t want us to be together TAT…” Seeing the slip of paper in Ji Yunfei’s hand, Chi Chang’s face collapsed into a look of resentment.

“I’m Number 10…” Chi Chang opened her palm to reveal a large number 10.

“Then who is Number 15…?”

“It’s me… I’m 15…”

While Ji Yunfei was murmuring to herself, a fair hand holding a matching slip of paper with the number 15 waved in front of her eyes.

Looking up, she met Xie Yin’s smiling eyes.

“A-Fei, it seems we really are…”

“Destined for each other…” Xie Yin spoke slowly, the pride of a victor in her eyes and triumph in her tone.

“Oh my, what a coincidence, haha…”

“Then I won’t disturb you. I’m going to find my partner now! See you later!” Chi Chang utilized her “Great Escape Technique” once again, making an excuse to flee, refusing to stay a second longer.

“Three-Legged Race—have you played it before?” Ji Yunfei took the initiative to ask. She was highly skeptical about whether Xie Yin had ever played such a game. After all, for someone of such high status and noble background, this was likely not something she would encounter in her daily life.

“Of course… want to practice first?” Out of nowhere, Xie Yin produced a zip tie and swung it toward Ji Yunfei, tilting her head with a happy smile.

“Come, come, come—Gather around! The game is starting!” Before Ji Yunfei could respond, Baldy’s voice, amplified by the megaphone, rang out again, calling everyone over.

Group after group went; some were joyful while others were worried. Soon, it was time for the Major Group containing Ji Yunfei’s trio. Looking at Xie Yin, who was bending over to tie their legs together with the zip tie, Ji Yunfei felt a bit apprehensive.

After all, she had never played a game requiring such tacit coordination… what if they fell? She didn’t mind falling herself, but as for Xie Yin…

She couldn’t bear to let her get hurt.

“A-Fei?” Xie Yin’s voice pulled Ji Yunfei back to reality. She suddenly found herself staring into a pair of bright eyes.

“Don’t worry, just follow my rhythm.”

As if possessed, Ji Yunfei smiled and nodded. Perhaps Xie Yin’s words had a certain magic to them, for her restless heart settled down just like that.

Tweet—! The whistle blew, and everyone in the game started striding forward.

Before they had gone very far, Ji Yunfei saw several groups start to trip over each other, some even falling flat on their backs together.

On the other hand, while she and Xie Yin weren’t moving fast, they were incredibly steady. As the distance grew, they actually overtook other groups, making their way into the top three.

“Woohoo—Our top three winners have emerged!” As Ji Yunfei and Xie Yin crossed the line, the Marketing Department Head, taking over for Baldy, shouted into the megaphone, and everyone cheered.

“See, I told you, no need to worry.” Xie Yin looked at Ji Yunfei and winked, as if seeking praise.

Their hands were still interlaced, fingers tightly locked. When Ji Yunfei noticed, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

“Let go first…” She shook their joined hands, trying to break free, but the grip only tightened.

“No.” Xie Yin leaned down to undo the zip tie binding them together, then secretly pressed her lips against the hand still locked with hers.

“Aren’t you afraid someone will see?” Ji Yunfei panicked and swatted the fuzzy head beside her, though she controlled her strength… this made the action look less like a rejection and more like flirting.

“I’m not afraid. We’re staying together tonight anyway…”

“What is there to be afraid of?”

“You rascal!!” Stunned by Xie Yin’s twisted logic, Ji Yunfei was speechless, only able to huff out that one phrase after a long silence.

“Hey, look at CEO Xie and Ji Yunfei…”

“I just saw Ji Yunfei swat the CEO’s head?”

“Since when did those two get so close?” The rustling whispers nearby reached Ji Yunfei’s ears. She instantly felt a wave of embarrassment and stopped holding back, pulling away from Xie Yin.

“?” Surprised by Ji Yunfei’s sudden move, a look of grievance appeared on Xie Yin’s face. She turned her back to the crowd, pouting as she looked up at the person in front of her.

“Watch your public image! CEO Xie!”

“Fine…” Xie Yin looked unwilling, but she didn’t dare to be reckless anymore, standing up properly. By the time she turned back to face the crowd, she had already donned her usual cold and distant mask.

“Feizi… I am never participating in this kind of game again… ahh—” Chi Chang hobbled toward Ji Yunfei, her voice full of lament.

“Is it really that bad?”

“Bad? I have to stay in a broken tent, waaaah—” The thought of taking a flimsy tent to stay on the mountain peak and getting bitten by insects made Chi Chang unable to smile.

“Pfft, hahahaha…”

“CEO Xie… are we staying in a tent too?”

“We’re staying in the Luxury Tent… to make Director Chi jealous!”

“Is that okay?” Ji Yunfei’s tone of request was tinged with a bit of coaxing. She wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes and looked at Xie Yin.

Hit by this “sugar-coated bullet” from Ji Yunfei, Xie Yin’s head started spinning—how could she possibly say no? Thus, she dizzily followed Ji Yunfei’s lead, and the two chose the Luxury Tent Package.

With her scheme successful, Ji Yunfei was all smiles. While everyone was focused on their own accommodation assignments, she stepped closer to Xie Yin.

She moved her fingers, hooking them around Xie Yin’s pinky. Seeing the other woman’s startled expression, she spoke up: “I’ll have to trouble CEO Xie to stay in the wild with me~”

Cough, cough, cough— Xie Yin covered her mouth with her hand, saying nothing. She simply followed the finger hooking her pinky and gradually took the entire hand into her firm grasp.

No one else was paying attention to them anymore, and the two were happy to be left alone, chatting idly with the “third wheel” Chi Chang.

“Hey, hey, hey—”

“There are no other activities today. You can head back to the resort hotel to settle in first!”

“The accommodation chosen today is valid from tomorrow until the final day!”

“So those staying in the broken tents don’t have to be too sad—at least you can enjoy a hotel bed today!!”

“Booo—” There was a clear hint of schadenfreude in Baldy’s words, and the crowd couldn’t help but hiss.

“Alright, alright, dismissed!”

“See you tonight!” Rattled by the hissing, Baldy felt a bit embarrassed. He gave a few brief instructions and fled the scene with his megaphone.

“Shall we go?” The crowd was already thinning. Xie Yin lightly squeezed Ji Yunfei’s hand and asked softly.

“Mmm.” Ji Yunfei nodded, allowing Xie Yin to lead her away from the crowd and through a side door into the resort hotel.

“I don’t know why… but avoiding the crowd feels strangely thrilling…”

“Since I’m seeking a thrill… I might as well go all out…”

“Ji Yunfei, what kind of nonsense are you thinking again?!!”

Keeping her head down as she followed Xie Yin, the little theater in Ji Yunfei’s mind never stopped until Xie Yin playfully pinched her cheek.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, nothing, nothing—”

“Wait? Shouldn’t it be a standard twin room?” Snapping back to reality, Ji Yunfei noticed that the room they were in was clearly of a much higher grade than a standard twin.

“We have to stay in a tent tomorrow, so let’s sleep somewhere nice today. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Xie Yin smiled as she pulled her inside, then turned back to get the luggage.

“But…”

“There’s only one bed, hey!!”

“What’s wrong with one bed? It’s not the first time we’ve slept together…”

“Sleeping comfortably is what’s most important, A-Fei…” Xie Yin acted innocent and self-righteous, making Ji Yunfei the one who felt guilty instead.

“Fine, one bed it is!” Ji Yunfei finally chose to abandon her personal moral standards and enjoy a “shameless” life. Since Xie Yin said so, she was going to enjoy it to the fullest; it would be a waste of a Presidential Suite otherwise—

“Alright, take this outfit…”

“You need to wear a formal dress for the dinner tonight…”

“I figured you probably didn’t bring one.” As Xie Yin spoke, she pulled a high-end gift box from her suitcase, her gaze somewhat wavering.

Ji Yunfei took it and opened the box. Inside was a pure white tube-top gown, faintly patterned with snake scales that reflected a soft shimmer under the lights.

“This…”

“Thank you…” Ji Yunfei eventually accepted it. She could no longer bring herself to reject Xie Yin’s kindness.

“If you really want to thank me… dance with me tonight… Dear Miss Ji—”

“We didn’t get to dance last time… don’t reject me this time.” Xie Yin covered her lips and laughed lightly as she made the invitation.

This woman still remembers what happened at the last gala…

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