She Said She Has Feelings For Someone - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Arrogance — Holding a Grudge

However, before an answer could be given, the bus arrived at the destination.

“Spring,” Xia Leshuang smiled. “I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like it.”

An ambiguous answer.

Or perhaps, she simply didn’t remember.

Lu Shuyu shrugged and stood up. “True. Let’s go, Teacher Xia. Your time is the most pressing.”

To her surprise, Xia Leshuang suddenly smiled, looking somewhat arrogant. “I think I’ll be the fastest.”

…

Lu Shuyu arched an eyebrow. “Where does this confidence come from?”

“From Producer Lu, of course,” Xia Leshuang laughed and stepped quickly off the bus.

Fine then…

The smoke-and-mirrors play she had intentionally set up had been seen through.

To create a twist, the production team had set the initial distances and final distances for the bus segment to be completely reversed—

The “closest” point at departure was actually the farthest from the finish line.

And vice versa.

That was why Lu Shuyu had arranged for herself to handle the final recording instead of leaving with Song and Chi.

Stepping off the bus with Chen Qian, she reminded her with a smile, “I hope Teacher Xia can remain this arrogant after seeing the task~”

Xia Leshuang froze, the smile on her lips stiffening. She couldn’t help but ask Chen Qian, “Am I being arrogant?”

Chen Qian pursed her lips, her face saying: What do you think?

They had arrived at the L-City Municipal Museum, which housed nearly 30,000 artifacts across more than ten categories.

While it wasn’t as prominent as some of China’s most famous museums, it collected the culture and history of L-City, making it one of the best places to understand the local area.

The museum building before them was three stories high; its solemn yet modern design was beautiful, but at this moment, it felt like a massive mountain weighing down on them, making it hard to breathe.

As an arts student who had once taken a year off from school to film, Xia Leshuang felt extremely guilty and couldn’t help asking, “You’re not going to test me on history questions, are you…?”

“Of course not,” Lu Shuyu said with a gentle smile. She picked up the mission card and read: “There are over ten types of artifacts in the museum. After touring, guests must return to the production team and recite the full names of any artifacts. Reciting six correctly constitutes a win.”

Xia Leshuang gave a bitter smile but also let out a sigh of relief. “So it’s a memory test.”

Lu Shuyu nodded, smiling brightly. “Our guest teachers are all excellent actors. I’m sure these tests will be a piece of cake for you.”

Xia Leshuang: “…”

Is it too late for me to apologize now?

“Producer Lu,” she couldn’t help saying, “You really…”

She took a sharp turn at the tip of her tongue: “…really know how to hold a grudge.”

Lu Shuyu’s smile grew even more tender. With a slight flick of her thumb, the numbers on the timer began to jump. “Each round lasts ten minutes. Round one, start.”

…

“Fine.” Xia Leshuang surrendered. She immediately grabbed her handheld camera and dashed toward the museum, with the follow-up cameraman scurrying to keep up.

Left behind on standby, Lu Shuyu looked toward her companion in confusion. “What’s so funny?”

The smile on Chen Qian’s face faltered, but she answered honestly, “You two really are old classmates; you give as good as you get.”

“Since I’ve known Leshuang, I’ve rarely seen her show such a rich range of emotions.”

Lu Shuyu didn’t find it strange. “Recording a variety show isn’t much different from acting. It’s not like she hasn’t played this type of character before.”

“Ah…” Chen Qian remembered. “Are you talking about the show Leshuang filmed when she was fourteen?”

That wasn’t the first role of Xia Leshuang’s career, but it was her most famous. The character—a spoiled, willful “little sun”—had made her a household name and had even boosted her father’s career, leading to the founding of Starry Sky Media.

“Right, I remember now,” Chen Qian nodded, then sighed with emotion. “She’s so different from the Leshuang of today.”

Lu Shuyu lowered her eyes, asking as if casually, “Was she like this when you first met her?”

“Not really,” Chen Qian recalled her first meeting with Xia Leshuang three years ago. “Back then, I didn’t even recognize her as the Best Actress Xia. I thought—”

She paused to find the words. “I thought she was a college student who had just graduated, couldn’t find a job, and had come here just to scrape together some grocery money.”

“She was quite green back then. This current sophisticated and seasoned look was forged through years of business dinners.”

Lu Shuyu fell silent for a moment. She found it hard to imagine Xia Leshuang as a “college student scraping for grocery money.”

How could those two worlds ever connect?

Back then, both Director Xia and Best Actress Xu were at the peak of their careers. They had even appeared together as mentors on an acting variety show, becoming famous for a while as the “Power Couple” of the entertainment industry.

She couldn’t help asking, “Did her parents not do anything?”

“Exactly, I asked that too,” Chen Qian said. “But Leshuang just said her parents didn’t support her filming variety shows. They told her if she insisted on it, they wouldn’t give her any support, and she’d have to make it on her own.”

“Actually, you can understand the parents’ feelings. Leshuang is naturally gifted and started at a high level. It’s normal for them to be angry that she’d rather switch to variety shows instead of filming the movies produced by her family.”

Lu Shuyu didn’t comment, only offering a small smile. “I see.”

She didn’t believe that story for a second.

…

At the ten-minute mark, Xia Leshuang came running out just in time. She was running so fast the cameraman behind her could barely keep up.

“Sorry, Sister Lin,” she apologized to the camera operator. “If I didn’t hurry, I wouldn’t make it.”

Sister Lin caught her breath and gave a thumbs-up. “You sure can run!”

Xia Leshuang smiled. “Thank you.”

She turned to Lu Shuyu. “Can I start answering now?”

Lu Shuyu cleared the timer and set it for one minute. “Start.”

The moment the numbers changed, Xia Leshuang began reciting. She spoke extremely fast, with almost no pauses, making Lu Shuyu wonder if she had found another loophole.

Noticing her expression, Xia Leshuang smiled. “Producer Lu, check if I passed first.”

Rewatching the video and checking the names, Lu Shuyu confirmed that she hadn’t missed a single one.

“So, was it really all memory?” she asked, somewhat amazed.

This time, a hint of mischief and guilt surfaced in Xia Leshuang’s smile. She raised her hand, and Sister Lin zoomed in for a close-up, capturing the black ink written on her palm.

Lu Shuyu sighed inwardly. She hadn’t used a phone, nor had she peeked at a “cheat sheet” during the test. Truly, it was just a clever use of the rules.

“So,” she asked, “where did the pen come from?”

Xia Leshuang laughed. “Borrowed it from the museum staff and returned it before I came out.”

She sounded a bit proud of herself.

Lu Shuyu laughed helplessly and nodded. “The staff will thank you.”

“Alright, congratulations Teacher Xia for completing the task in one go. You’ve earned the finish line location and 100 yuan for travel expenses.”

“Please film a short promotional clip for the museum yourself, then choose a mode of transport to head to the finish line.”

“Are there specific requirements for the content?” Xia Leshuang asked.

“As long as we can edit it into a 30-second to 1-minute promo, the rest is up to you.”

“The quality of the promo will be judged by the audience. Your ranking will earn you a certain amount of bonus points to be added to today’s total.”

Hearing this, Xia Leshuang said, “Meaning if I end up as the ‘Gold King,’ these points will also be multiplied by six?”

Once Lu Shuyu nodded, Xia Leshuang took her phone back into the museum, emerging again half an hour later.

Lu Shuyu didn’t know exactly what she had filmed, but looking at her expression, she seemed quite satisfied.

Xia Leshuang checked the transfer and the location on her phone, then decided on her transportation. “A shared bike, it’s the most convenient.”

There was a bike station right across from the museum, and the finish line was less than a kilometer away. If she rode fast, she’d be there in a few minutes.

“But,” she pointed at the transaction record. “This money counts toward my points, right?”

Lu Shuyu was now truly impressed. She gave a thin smile. “Yes, Teacher Xia. You’ve certainly figured out how to play variety shows~”

Xia Leshuang chuckled. “Producer Lu, you flatter me.”

She left with her handheld camera, while Chen Qian and Sister Lin followed to help with the filming. Lu Shuyu took the bus to the finish line.

The final destination was a Cultural and Arts Exhibition Hall recently established in L-City. The production team had rented the indoor venue for the day. Song Yi and the others were already waiting at the entrance.

The moment Xia Leshuang saw the spinning wheel behind Song Yi, she realized what was happening. “There’s another round at the finish line?”

Immediately, she noticed the numbers one through six on the wheel. Sensing trouble, she let out a soft sigh and looked toward Lu Shuyu, who had just entered through the door.

The latter was startled for a second but quickly reacted, arching her brow with a smile that was distinctly proud, provocative, and even a little arrogant.

Xia Leshuang’s heart stirred slightly, and the smile on her face deepened involuntarily.

“Congratulations to Teacher Xia Leshuang for being the first to arrive! You have unlocked the finish line ‘Easter Egg’: a chain of puzzle-solving.”

Song Yi pointed to the wheel. “There are six numbers on the wheel representing the number of puzzle segments. Please spin to choose your challenge.”

“Of course,” Song Yi smiled, “as the first to arrive, you get one extra spin. You can choose between the two results yourself.”

“Great,” Xia Leshuang breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll start then.”

After two spins, she let out a sigh and gave up the struggle. One was a five, and one was a six—what was the difference?

“I’ll choose five,” she said with mock gravity.

A five-segment puzzle sounded difficult, but in practice, it was more time-consuming than hard. The first segment alone—finding the “No. 5 envelope” containing clues—required her to search three floors before finding everything.

Just as she finished assembling the clues and was ready to solve them, someone entered the door. It was Tang Jiahe, who had set out before her.

She tucked her clues away. “Jiahe.”

“What number are you?” Tang Jiahe asked.

“First.”

“Wow, so fast.” Tang Jiahe laughed. “Starting first isn’t always a good thing.”

Realizing there was a task at the finish line, the two didn’t chat for long. Tang Jiahe listened to the rules and spun the wheel, unfortunately landing on a six.

“Ugh, my heart hurts…” Tang Jiahe clutched her chest in despair. Xia Leshuang patted her. “Good luck.”

With that, she turned and slipped away. From behind her came Tang Jiahe’s heartfelt question: “Is Leshuang gloating right now?”

Finding a quiet spot to continue solving the puzzle, Xia Leshuang discovered it was a room floor plan. She thought for a moment. “I think the first floor has a complete floor plan. I’ll go check it.”

Going down to the first floor, she found that Luo Han and He Wenyin had arrived one after another. Xia Leshuang greeted them hurriedly and, without waiting to see their results, dashed toward the floor plan.

After comparing them, the clues pointed to Exhibition Hall No. 5 on the third floor. At the same time, she noticed a discrepancy on the clue map.

“This extra square and the number 5…”

“Ah,” she gasped softly. “It’s that black box.”

“Whoa! I actually got a one!”

An exclamation of joy came from the main hall—it sounded like Jiang Fei.

Xia Leshuang didn’t hesitate any longer. She sprinted toward the third floor, leaving the cameras far behind.