Su Ding glanced around; there was no one else. The words were spoken to her.
She paused slightly, looking at the exam paper in Chen Xi’s hand. "Let me take a look first."
Chen Xi handed her the paper and pointed to the problem.
It was a high school math function problem. Su Ding had been an excellent student, ranking in the top twenty in her province. Mathematics was her strongest subject.
Seeing the familiar problem, she felt a spark of interest.
The two walked to a table and sat down. Chen Xi looked at her with some uncertainty, about to suggest asking someone else when he heard Su Ding say, "Give me the pen."
Chen Xi handed her the pen.
Without hesitation, Su Ding rapidly wrote a long string of solution steps on the paper.
The steps were very clear. Chen Xi, being intelligent, followed along from the beginning to the middle, and all his confusion dissolved.
A flicker of surprise crossed his usually indifferent eyes.
After Su Ding finished writing, she glanced at him and smiled, "The key to this problem is this sentence…"
She pointed to the conditional information in the problem statement.
Chen Xi nodded in understanding. "I get it now. Thank you, Sister Su Ding."
Su Ding returned the pen to him. "You're welcome. Are you about to take an exam?"
"Yes, a test next month." Chen Xi, uncharacteristically, was not cold and spoke with a hint of warmth.
"It must be tough. Don't put too much pressure on yourself; maintain a good mindset."
Su Ding offered this advice to Chen Xi from the perspective of someone who had been through it. Chen Xi nodded and quietly buried his head in his studies.
When it was time for dinner, everyone gathered around the table and started chatting.
"Ding Ding, your baby…" Zhang Meng suddenly covered her mouth, laughing shyly. "Ah, I'm sorry, I heard somewhere before that you have a daughter."
All eyes turned to Su Ding.
Su Ding’s grip on her chopsticks tightened. This variety show was being broadcast live, and Zhang Meng had deliberately exposed her private life in front of the audience.
It went without saying that Zhang Meng must have heard it from Shao Lin.
Perhaps sensing Su Ding's expression change, Lü Xi tried to smooth things over. "Don't the media always write made-up stories? Last time, I was…"
He recounted a story about being followed by paparazzi who claimed he was meeting a lover in secret, and how it was later clarified that it was his sister, telling the story so vividly that it made everyone burst into laughter.
Zhang Meng cast an intentional glance at Su Ding and jabbed her bowl.
In the afternoon, the production team asked everyone to find hidden mission cards, which would come with corresponding rewards.
Their expenses here were covered by these rewards.
Everyone dispersed to begin their search.
Su Ding felt a presence in the living room. Her gaze was drawn to a vase on a cabinet, and she went to move it to see what was inside.
Lü Xi happened to be searching nearby. Seeing Su Ding about to move the vase, he offered a helping hand. "Let me."
Just as Su Ding was about to let go, she accidentally brushed against Lü Xi's outstretched hand.
Their hands touched.
Su Ding's fingernail grazed Lü Xi's hand, and she vaguely felt as if she had cut him. Startled, she immediately looked. "I'm sorry."
Indeed, there was a shallow scratch on Lü Xi's hand.
"It's nothing," Lü Xi said with a smile, unbothered, and moved the vase.
Su Ding, however, frowned. "Wait."
Lü Xi blinked in surprise. Before he could turn around, Su Ding grabbed tissues for him and then went upstairs.
He wiped the oozing blood with the tissue, but to his surprise, the wound continued to bleed.
At that moment, Su Ding came back down directly with a band-aid.
She casually tore open the packaging. "Give me your hand."
Lü Xi instinctively obeyed and extended his hand. The wound was covered by the band-aid.
His gaze was drawn to Su Ding's fair hands. Her pale, slender wrists, as if all the bones were showing, were delicate and evoked a sense of pity.
Seeing him staring at his hand without speaking, Su Ding asked, "Are you alright?"
Lü Xi gave an awkward smile and turned his head. "I'm fine. Let's continue searching."
No one noticed his reddening earlobes or his palms, which were constantly wiping sweat.
Finally, Chen Xi found the mission card.
The hidden mission was for everyone to go out onto the streets and earn money by performing their individual talents, which would serve as their subsequent funds.
With limited ingredients left, they had to act if they wanted to continue eating and living.
In the afternoon, everyone headed to the city center, preparing to split up and carry out the mission.
Su Ding herself didn't have any particular talents. Before filming abroad, she had worked many odd jobs. Before long, she found a job as a temporary waitress at a coffee shop. Her experience made her a quick study.
It was the busy afternoon break, and many people were out shopping. The coffee shop had a steady stream of customers.
Su Ding quickly became busy.
At this point, a group of four or five young men sat down at a table. They first discussed some serious matters, but soon began to fool around.
Just as Su Ding served them pastries and coffee, she was called over by the one with dyed blond hair.
"Miss, can I get your WeChat?"
Su Ding was taken aback, clearly not expecting such an impromptu request.
She smiled politely. "I'm sorry, there's a store policy against adding customers' contact information casually."
As she turned to leave, she saw the blond-haired man say, "Miss, let's get acquainted. I'll come back and order your store's coffee next time."
Su Ding was being cornered. She continued to smile, "I'm truly sorry."
A young man with green hair at the same table scoffed, "The lady isn't interested in you."
The blond-haired man got angry. "You're just a damn server. Asking for your WeChat is doing you a favor, you know?"
At this moment, a customer entered the shop.
Su Ding, being closest to the door, immediately turned her head, smiling. "Welcome!"
The customer, dressed in a suit and tie, looked stunned.
Su Ding recognized the person and also paused for a moment, then quickly maintained a polite smile. "Please order at the counter, thank you."
Luo Zhu was completely dumbfounded. His boss was waiting in the car for him to buy coffee, and the waitress turned out to be the boss's wife?
He nodded distractedly and walked numbly towards the counter.
After a half-second of reaction, he quickly lowered his head to message Mr. Jin, asking him to come in.
Su Ding was about to attend to other customers when the blond-haired man grabbed her sleeve. "Hey, is this how you treat customers? Believe it or not, I'll report you."
"You are a customer, so of course you have that right."
Su Ding replied indifferently, pulled her hand free, and turned to leave. As she took a step, a cup of hot coffee was poured over her head.
Su Ding squeezed her eyes shut tightly, wiping her wet face.
Her clothes were soaked, her white shirt stained with brown coffee, and it exuded a rich coffee aroma.
The cameraman in the distance saw this scene and was terrified.
The director had told them to capture the most authentic situations. This show was all about reality, and they hadn't expected such an incident.
They were stunned.
But the director was probably delighted, because they had captured some attention-grabbing footage!
As everyone speculated on how Su Ding would react, they saw her wipe her face clean and turn to stare at the blond-haired man, her expression disheveled but composed, her calm gaze making him uneasy.
While he was momentarily stunned, Su Ding directly picked up the coffee from the table and splashed it onto the blond-haired man's face!
Years ago, working as a server abroad, she had endured hardship for the sake of survival.
But now, it was just filming. The cause and effect were all recorded by the cameras. She held the moral high ground, and it wasn't in her nature to suffer and not retaliate.
As the coffee splashed, the cameraman's hands trembled.
This celebrity was truly genuine. This program would likely hit the trending topics just with this incident alone.
#Female celebrity splashed with coffee, retaliates by splashing back#
At this moment, more people entered the shop.
Su Ding didn't look up, but most of the people in the shop shifted their attention from Su Ding to the newcomer.
The man was tall and imposing, walking in with a powerful aura.
It was Jin Ye.