Chapter (xii)
Edited: 04.09.2023
Bold – English in the Raws
Of course that was not possible, after all, they had to live together for the next 15 days.
After arriving in Athens and resting for a night, the “All the Way West” crew officially began filming the next day.
The arrangement on the first day was to look for the mission card in pairs, complete the specified tasks according to the requirements on the cards, and finally get the puzzle piece. If all three groups could get the puzzle piece and return to the B&B before 5 pm, they could piece together a complete card, which would be a charitable fund provided by major sponsors. If one of the groups wasn’t able to complete their part, then the task was declared as a failure.
In addition, cell phones and other items that could provide off-site assistance were all handed over to the program team and would only be given back when they return in the evening.
When the whole group drew lots, Xia Xi’ai silently recited in his mind dozens of times not to draw Jiang Liushen. God seemed to have heard his prayers and he ended up drawing Su Zhi as his teammate.
You Qing, who drew Jiang Liushen, was all excited and smiling, “Wow, Xi’ai, I drew Brother Shen!”
“Congratulations.” He congratulated sincerely.
The remaining guests, Zhou Yuxuan and Tao Xiaotao naturally became a group. The director then handed out clue cards to the three groups and Xia Xi’ai’s card only had two big words written on it: Syntagma Square. The other groups’ probably also had similar attractions on their cards.
After packing up the equipment, the cameraman followed them.
But once they were outside, Xia Xi’ai looked around the strange and foreign environment and was immediately at a loss.
He didn’t know English.
It wasn’t like he never took English classes before. When he participated in an English competition in middle school, he could easily take first place. However, due to various reasons, he resolutely chose to drop out when he entered high school and hadn’t spoken English for six or seven years. Not to mention that he didn’t learn much in middle school anyway, after not using it for a long time, he was practically a clean slate. Right now, he could only barely say a few phrases like, “Nice to meet you” and some other everyday phrases.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” You Qing’s group was about to leave. When he noticed him standing in the doorway, he had a few assumptions in his heart and asked with a smile: “Xi’ai, pay attention to safety okay? If you don’t know the way, just ask someone. You should know English, right?”
“……Of course.”
“That’s good. I’m not very good, but Brother Shen is in my group so I’m not afraid. After all, Brother Shen is super fluent in English.”
“Your Brother Shen.” Xia Xi’ai pointed to the front, “Is about to disappear.”
You Qing was shocked. He turned his head and realized it was true. Jiang Liushen didn’t wait for him and was already about dozens of meters away. He bit his lip, stomped his foot, and hurriedly chased after him: “Brother Shen! Walk slower! Wait for me! I’ll get lost!”
When Xia Xi’ai saw off the two, he was still wondering how he was going to ask for directions. He was a man and a novice junior. And letting Su Zhi, who was about four or five years older than him, ask others for directions seemed a little inappropriate.
“Let’s go.” Just as he was worrying, Su Zhi came over, “I’ve already asked. They said to turn left and after about two hundred meters, take the 3rd line and we should arrive.”
Xia Xi’ai froze: “Sister Su Zhi, when did you ask?”
“When you two were bickering.”
“We weren’t……” Xia Xi’ai looked at the cameraman on the side.
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He and You Qing really didn’t like each other. Before he entered Dragon Soar Entertainment Company, You Qing was a newcomer favored by the company’s owner. He later took that position away so You Qing had always held a grudge and would always go against him openly and secretly. But since he never caused any substantial damage, Xia Xi’ai also didn’t go after him, and at most responded with a few dislikes of his own. But in front of the audience, it was still necessary to maintain a peaceful and friendly relationship as much as possible. Otherwise, their fans would begin to fight, the company would have a headache, and they would inevitably receive a lecture from Sister Long.
Su Zhi saw his worry: “It’s okay, the program team has a sense of proportion and knows what can and can’t be broadcast. If they indiscriminately broadcast something that shouldn’t be broadcasted, the audience won’t be happy and neither will our family, right?”
She lifted her chin towards the cameraman, her eyes were quite authoritative.
The cameraman immediately nodded his head like pounding garlic.
Family……Xia Xi’ai seemed to have understood something.
He didn’t know much about Su Zhi’s private life and the only bit of information was from Xu Tong. It was said that Su Zhi married Duan Xingye, the heir of the Duan family, two years ago and became a wealthy wife in no time, attracting the envy and jealousy of many female celebrities.
However, a year ago, the Duan family suddenly had another illegitimate son with ruthless means. The moment he entered the family, he forced Duan Xingye to hand over half of the company’s business. In the future, it was unknown whether he might even seize the entire family property so Su Zhi and her husband should be very depressed these days.
Of course, these were only Xu Tong’s speculative gossip. As far as he could see with his own eyes, Su Zhi’s mood had not been affected in the slightest.
With a strong woman leading the group, it naturally gave him a peace of mind. Xia Xi’ai barely made any effort and followed Su Zhi’s lead. They got on the subway, which led to the destination of their card: Syntagma Square.
The name felt quite grand, but after a field trip, he realized that it was only a palm-sized piece of land, not as big as the square where the old ladies in his neighborhood dance.
There were many pigeons, white and gray, flapping their wings in a circle and trapping him inside. He carefully lifted his feet and walked step by step, lest he steps on these cute little creatures and their not-so-cute pigeon poop.
An uncle selling pigeon feed was rattling off some unintelligible English, seemingly trying to get him to buy the feed. Xia Xi’ai waved his hand and refused: “No, I don’t want, no.“
Fortunately, Su Zhi helped him out. She even asked the uncle if he had seen their mission card, but the uncle only spouted words without care. He even grabbed a pigeon from the ground to gesture. They didn’t know what he wanted to express and in the end, Su Zhi no longer had the patience.
“His accent is so heavy, I tried my best.”
Xia Xi’ai nodded to show understanding and continued to search around for clues.
At that moment, the clock rang, signaling a complete hour and the soldiers in the square, who had been standing still on guard, suddenly moved.
Only then did Xia Xi’ai notice them. Taking a closer look, he almost spat out the water he was drinking.
These soldiers were actually wearing tight white stockings and pleated skirts.
He looked at the exaggerated and slow movement of the soldiers. Wearing red hats with long tassels, leather shoes with cocked fur balls, and carrying ceremonial guns with bayonets, they marched with serious faces. But with that feminine outfit, it was really comical.
Even Su Zhi, a cold goddess, couldn’t help but laugh: “If you wear these clothes to war, your enemy might laugh to death before the fight begins.”
When Xia Xi’ai heard that, he also chortled. After laughing, he felt a little guilty. After all, those people were serious about their work and should be respected rather than joked about.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to laugh. We just thought it was interesting, don’t misunderstand.” He said to the camera, “Men also have the right to wear skirts, just like women have the right to wear pants. Gender equality.”
Su Zhi watched him apologize. And when the cameraman went to shoot the scene, she took advantage to say, “Xia Xi’ai, I thought you were not easy to get along with at first, but I didn’t expect you to be quite sensible.”
Xia Xi’ai blushed slightly: “Sister Su Zhi, you flatter me.”
“I feel that you have a good upbringing. Your family must love you very much, right?”
“Yes, they love me very much.” Xia Xi’ai looked up at the azure and bright sky. He slightly curved his eyes and showed a rare gentle smile.
“I also……miss them a lot.”
☽ ⋆ℍalf 𝕄oon 𝕋ranslations⋆ ☾ 
Not nice to laugh about others culture~ But plus for quick response
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(ŐωŐ人)
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