"Oh--"

The two people under the bed simultaneously widened their eyes and gasped in unison.

"Da, da, da..."

Ning Shi's footsteps came and went, each one feeling like a blow to Zhu Jinzhao and Shi Jing's hearts.

Zhu Jinzhao instinctively gripped her phone tightly, barely daring to breathe loudly.

[Oh no, Zhu Jinzhao and Shi Jing are going to be discovered!]

[Oh dear, I just made a bet with Ning Shi's fans that she couldn't possibly find Jin Zhao and Shi Jing, and now you're telling me I've lost the bet?]

[Looks like Jinzhao wasn't the only one who knew people could hide under the bed. Sigh... I miscalculated.]

[Friendly reminder: Don't hold your breath, everyone in the live stream! (heart emoji)]

[Phew...why didn't you say so sooner? I almost choked on my own words!]

"Da, da, da..."

The unhurried footsteps slowly approached the foot of the bed, but instead of stopping there as Zhu Jinzhao had expected, they turned right after a moment and went to the area near the balcony.

"???" Zhu Jinzhao, who was under the bed, frowned in confusion.

It seems that Ning Shiqian's route wasn't aimed at this bed.

"This is the only part left..."

Ning Shi's voice rang out by the balcony door, and the next second, Zhu Jinzhao heard her "whoosh" as she pulled open the curtains in front of her.

"Huh? It's not here either? Looks like the room really is empty."

With that, Ning Shi turned around decisively and left the room with light steps.

"..."

"call……"

Hearing the footsteps disappear into the living room, Zhu Jinzhao and Shi Jing, who were under the bed, simultaneously let out a long-held sigh of relief.

"We should be safe now," Zhu Jinzhao said, panting.

Shi Jing nodded: "It's safe now. Given Ning Shi's character, once she misses an opportunity, she will never come back to look for it a second time."

【Aaaaaaah! I won! I won my bet! You were amazing today, I love you!】

[Hahaha, you scared me half to death! I genuinely thought Ning Shi was going to lift the mattress and look under the bed!]

[False alarm... Stay calm, stay calm...]

OK, Chaochao and Shijing have already secured first place.

Hey, what could be more satisfying than securing first place early on while your rivals are stuck in last place for two consecutive rounds? (heart emoji)

"Click—"

The sound of the door locking could be clearly heard from the living room. Zhu Jinzhao opened his phone and sent a WeChat message to Xiao Li in the next room.

—Little Li, Little Li, are you alright?

Xiao Li replied instantly.

—Today, I am perfectly fine. Brother Li and Fang Lei searched the room several times but never expected me to be hiding under the bed.

Zhu Jinzhao smiled at her phone.

—Alright, let's stay cooped up here.

Xiao Li: Hmm!

"Who are you chatting with?"

Zhu Jinzhao's phone screen had been lit for almost a minute, but Shi Jing hadn't received a single message. He couldn't help but wonder, so he pretended to be curious and asked.

Zhu Jinzhao didn't hide anything from him and told him the truth: "I'm texting Xiao Li to ask her if she's okay."

"Oh." Hearing that the person he was chatting with was Xiao Li, Shi Jing immediately felt better. He carefully stretched his arms and legs, then casually asked, "How's Xiao Li? Is he okay?"

Zhu Jinzhao turned off her phone: "She's great. Lei Zi and Brother Li searched her place several times but couldn't find her."

“Not bad.” Shi Jing nodded approvingly. “As long as Ning Shi and the others don’t discover the secret about the mattress design, I think we can keep hiding until they admit defeat on their own.”

"Hmm...not necessarily." Zhu Jinzhao thought for a moment, but rejected Shi Jing's confidence.

Shi Jing didn't understand: "Why not?"

Zhu Jinzhao took a deep breath before answering, "Because the space under the bed is too enclosed, it's easy to become oxygen-deprived if you stay there for too long."

"...Huh?" Zhu Jinzhao's question should have been ignored, but as soon as Shi Jing mentioned it, she indeed felt that the air around her was a bit stuffy.

"Lack of oxygen is very dangerous. We don't need to make ourselves so uncomfortable for a game. Chaochao, shall we hide somewhere else after a little while?"

Zhu Jinchao frowned and pondered for a few seconds, but his answer was still no.

"No need for that trouble."

She placed her phone on her stomach and raised her hands to lift the mattress slightly.

The enclosed space was broken, and fresh air instantly rushed into the space under the bed from all directions.

Shi Jing felt a cool sensation on the tip of his nose, and the stuffiness he had just felt instantly disappeared.

Zhu Jinzhao: "Anyway, they're already gone. If we feel stuffy, we can just lift up the mattress to get some fresh air."

"...You are this." Shi Jing was so shocked by Zhu Jinzhao's brain that he was speechless, so he simply gave a thumbs up to express his admiration.

Zhu Jinzhao smiled slightly and said, "Help me lift the mattress first, I'll send Xiao Li a WeChat message to remind her about ventilation."

Shi Jing obediently complied: "Okay!"

Two-thirds of the mattress's weight had been distributed to the support frame, so Jing didn't feel tired lifting it. He could even hold the mattress steadily with just one hand.

"Take your time sending it, there's no rush."

Zhu Jinzhao finished editing the text and sent it to Xiao Li immediately. Because she was worried about Xiao Li leaving alone, she gave her a few more instructions and replied to Shi Jing at the same time: "Okay, then thank you for holding on for now."

Shi Jing tensed her arms, stubbornly trying to perfectly display the muscles on her arms, even though she knew Zhu Jinzhao couldn't see.

"It's not hard at all, I'm not tired at all!"

[Street interview: Mr. Shi Jing, what was your purpose in deliberately showing off your muscles? Shi Jing: To seduce Chao Chao (winkwink).]

[Good! You've got it! We need to show Chaochao some risqué stuff so she'll have the energy to make a living!]

[Hahaha, don't you guys think Shi Jing's affected movements are kind of sexy?]

[Shi Jing: Damn it, what did you put in my air? Why do I feel so hot all over when I smell it...?]

The examinee, who was taking the imperial examination, said: "Report! I put aphrodisiacs in it."

"We searched two floors and only managed to find one person. How did those two groups hide so well?"

After searching the entire third floor, Ning Shi stood at the entrance of the spiral staircase with her hands on her hips, a worried look on her face.

Fang Lei frowned. "Now, we only have the common areas on the first and second floors left to search. If there's still no one in those two places, then our mission will be in trouble."

Li Weiwan: "Even if it's difficult, we have to do it. Let's go, hurry up and go downstairs to look for it. There's no point in standing here."

“Okay.” Ning Shi agreed and took the lead in walking down the stairs. “Let’s go, let’s hurry up and finish the task.”

"Great!" Fang Lei suddenly raised his voice, "We can definitely do it!"

As soon as they finished speaking, the three figures quickly disappeared down the spiral staircase.

Above them, Zhu Mingyue suddenly tiptoed out from the corner of the fourth-floor staircase.

"Hmph..." Looking at the three figures at her feet, she curled her lips and smiled smugly.