Shen Jianxi didn't prolong her struggle with Jing Luan, as she had a date to keep today.
The biggest surprise for her today was Zhao Yingxin.
Perhaps because they were both women, after an initial awkward period, the two quickly became familiar with each other.
What surprised Shen Jianxi the most was what had happened yesterday.
A man in City S, after getting drunk, harassed a woman. When rejected, he gathered eight or nine men and proceeded to beat up the woman and any other girls who stepped forward to help.
By last night, public outrage over this incident had reached its peak.
When Shen Jianxi saw the news, her first reaction was to speak out.
What surprised her, however, was that Zhao Yingxin, who appeared gentle and spoke softly, was so fierce. On her social media account, she directly lashed out: "These men deserve the death penalty! This wasn't a brawl, it was murder! And it wasn't harassment, it was sexual assault! Also, I hope everyone who says they shouldn't go out so late suffers the same fate!!!"
Still, it made sense. Anyone who saw this incident would surely be angry.
She is me, and I am her.
This incident could have happened to anyone.
Shen Jianxi couldn't imagine if this incident hadn't garnered attention, would these perpetrators have gotten away with it?
After all, some of them were brazenly live-streaming last night.
They spent the entire day discussing these events, becoming more and more agitated. They didn't even notice when it got dark until two cameramen reminded them that they wouldn't be able to proceed with today's double selection if they didn't return. They then got up and left the coffee shop.
After spending the day together, Zhao Yingxin's intense romantic feelings for Shen Jianxi inexplicably lessened.
She unconsciously began to see Shen Jianxi as a sister.
Although she didn't know why, Zhao Yingxin knew she liked Shen Jian very much.
On the way back, the cameramen thought they would return obediently. To their surprise, as soon as they passed a food street, the two women disappeared, leaving them staring at each other, cameras in hand.
"What do we do?" Cameraman A asked Cameraman B.
They were probably the only ones who had lost their program guests.
If this got out, they'd be laughed to death by their colleagues.
"...Let's search," Cameraman B said, heading into the food street.
This street was adjacent to a university, and since it was after school, there were many people.
Looking around, they couldn't immediately distinguish which two were the disguised Shen Jianxi and Zhao Yingxin.
They sighed and resigned themselves to splitting up.
Meanwhile, Shen Jianxi and Zhao Yingxin, having slipped away, happened to run into Ji Zhaoyun and Lin Jing, who were on their way back.
"Oh! Isn't this Teacher Shen and Teacher Zhao? What a coincidence, meeting here."
Lin Jing's insincere expression made Zhao Yingxin instinctively move to Shen Jianxi's left side, disgusted.
"...What's wrong?" Shen Jianxi was confused, having been lost in thought and not noticing what had happened.
Zhao Yingxin patted her right shoulder from behind, smiling genuinely, "Dirty."
Lin Jing's smile froze for a moment. She somehow felt that Zhao Yingxin's words were directed at her.
"Teacher Zhao really knows how to joke. This food street is famous for its cleanliness, you know."
"Oh? Is that so?" Zhao Yingxin glanced at her sideways. "Perhaps Jingjing isn't aware, but the wind was strong today, so it's a bit dirty."
After she spoke, Shen Jianxi looked at her in surprise, only to see Zhao Yingxin wink at her playfully.
Shen Jianxi wanted to laugh at this girl but managed to hold it back.
This time, Lin Jing was sure she was being targeted. She couldn't understand the source of Zhao Yingxin's dislike.
She thought back carefully, absolutely certain she hadn't offended Zhao Yingxin.
As the saying goes, "Three women make a drama." Their current scene was quite dramatic, but the audience for this drama lacked patience.
Ji Zhaoyun glanced impatiently at his phone. It was getting late, and he was looking forward to chatting with Shen Jianxi after the director finished his talk. He had no mood to listen to these people engaging in passive-aggressive banter.
Before Lin Jing could retort, he interrupted, "We should go back."
Lin Jing had no choice but to shut her mouth, swallowing all her resentment.
Just then, the two cameramen also found them. Shen Jianxi and Zhao Yingxin exchanged a helpless glance. It seemed their little escape plan for today was foiled, and they had to return.
On the way back, Ji Zhaoyun held his phone, his expression unreadable, but Shen Jianxi could sense his inner conflict.
Suddenly, a possibility dawned on her, and her relaxed expression faltered.
No way? It couldn't be what she was thinking, could it?
Since she wasn't out with her target for the day, she had brought both phones with her to respond to Ji Zhaoyun and Luo Yuqi's messages promptly.
Both phones had the same notification sound, so Shen Jianxi wasn't worried about revealing anything.
But now...
She hadn't actually expected to encounter Ji Zhaoyun.
Although the old monitoring system of 77 was unreliable, it still existed. Now with this proxy system, apart from broadcasting functions, she hadn't found anything else useful.
Compared to that, 77 seemed much more practical.
She wondered when 77 would return.
Unable to dwell on it, Shen Jianxi had to resolve the current situation first.
If Ji Zhaoyun was conflicted about sending her messages, she needed to quickly mute her phone. Otherwise, at such close proximity, it was bound to arouse suspicion.
Shen Jianxi stealthily reached into her pocket, fumbling by memory to locate the fingerprint sensor and unlock her phone.
The moment her finger touched the volume button, Ji Zhaoyun pressed the send key on his end.
A sound emanated from her pocket.
Ji Zhaoyun didn't pay attention and continued typing rapidly on his screen while Shen Jianxi frantically pressed the volume keys.
However, even though the sound was muted, the vibration couldn't be turned off without taking the phone out.
As Ji Zhaoyun sent message after message, her pocket buzzed incessantly.
They had long since left the food street and were now in a less crowded area, making the sound particularly noticeable.
Zhao Yingxin, standing beside her, looked at her strangely. "Shen Jian, your phone keeps ringing. Aren't you going to check it?"
Shen Jianxi forced a dry laugh. "No need, just junk mail and ads."
"...Oh."
The constant noise from Shen Jianxi's pocket, no matter how unobservant Ji Zhaoyun was, eventually made him notice.
Feeling a sense of unease, he sent another message. This time, there was no reaction from Shen Jianxi's side.
Shaking his head, he suppressed the strange feeling, thinking he must be tired to be having such odd thoughts.
A guy and a girl, how could there be any connection?
Shen Jianxi touched her phone, which was now turned off, and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she had reacted quickly. Otherwise, if Ji Zhaoyun had become suspicious, it would have been troublesome.
The rest of the journey passed without any further incidents. Lin Jing was also unusually quiet.
They were indeed the last to return to the cabin.
Once everyone had gathered, the director finally arrived and informed them that they could go home and rest for two days starting tomorrow.
The dates they had had over these two days were sufficient for the weekend's broadcast, so everyone could engage in other activities and resume filming next Monday.
Having lived in this place for so long, everyone was itching to get out. Although they had gone on dates, it was still under surveillance. Now that they could go home and rest, no one was unhappy.
Only Shen Jianxi, while outwardly celebrating with everyone, was filled with worry.
This weekend...
She was incredibly busy!