Even After My Death
Chapter 135 - 111 Qi Xingzhou Gets Promoted

Chapter 135: Chapter 111 Qi Xingzhou Gets Promoted

Jiang Ning felt a headache coming on under Qi Xingzhou’s gaze.

Qi Xingzhou’s luggage was scant, just a flat-looking mountaineering pack.

In the absence of a tent, Nong Chun was willing to take him in, both of them sleeping in one tent. That was pretty good, wasn’t it?

But, while Nong Chun was willing, Qi Xingzhou was not...

Jiang Ning suddenly remembered what Ji Shuang had said during her previous visit to the Qi family; Qi Xingzhou didn’t like people entering his room and similarly, he never set foot in the private areas of other Qi family members.

So, was Qi Xingzhou having an obsessive-compulsive episode?

Looking into Qi Xingzhou’s beautiful eyes full of reproach, Jiang Ning really wanted to smack him on the back of his head. If it were anyone else standing in front of her other than Qi Xingzhou, she might have resorted to fists.

Even Jiang Ning found it strange that every time she faced Qi Xingzhou’s clear and limpid gaze, she couldn’t get mad. She always felt a sense of familiarity with those eyes, as though they reminded her of someone she used to know.

As the two stood in front of Jiang Ning’s tent, Nong Chun crawled out from his own tent and smilingly said, "Sister Jiang, I’ve cleared out half of my tent for you. Your friend can come over to stay at any time."

"Mhm, mhm," Jiang Ning nodded, "Thank you."

Nong Chun waved his hand dismissively, "No need to thank me; I even got to eat the coconut meat he brought tonight."

[Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Nong Chun is getting more familiar with Sister Jiang day by day.]

[Right, he was so polite and restrained at first, like someone with social anxiety, and now he’s even speaking with an accent.]

[But what about Sister Jiang’s friend here? He seems like a giant baby. How did the show’s crew ever pick him?]

[Well, that settles it. All his best qualities are in his looks.]

Jiang Ning turned around to take Qi Xingzhou’s mountaineering pack out of her tent, patted his arm, and spoke gently, "Be good. Actually, the feeling of sharing a tent isn’t that bad, it’s not as terrible as you might think."

Qi Xingzhou took his mountaineering pack from Jiang Ning’s hands. Although he didn’t say anything, something about his woeful little expression made the viewers feel like he was being kicked out by Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning stuffed the bag of unfinished beef jerky from the afternoon into Qi Xingzhou’s arms and coaxed him, "Eat this if you get hungry. It’s a bit rough tonight, but we have the beacon burning. Let’s see if any rescue teams come tomorrow. If not, we’ll head back to the safe house the day after. There should be enough rooms at the safe house, right?"

Qi Xingzhou’s eyes lit up at the mention of the safe house and he nodded hesitantly.

The Qi family members watching the screen felt it was incredible.

Ji Shuang laughed, "Oh my, this silly son of mine. This is the first time I’ve seen him compromise."

Qi Xingzhou was extremely protective of his private space; not even the Qi family members were allowed in his room, and sometimes not even Ji Shuang could enter. Similarly, ever since Qi Xingzhou learned to walk, he had never set foot in the bedrooms of Ji Shuang and the others, no matter how important the matter, opting instead to communicate from the doorway.

One could imagine how difficult it was to get Qi Xingzhou to voluntarily compromise on something he disliked doing. Ji Shuang had never seen it happen before.

Today, however, she saw it happen through the screen.

And it was all because Jiang Ning had just said a few words.

Jiang Ning breathed a sigh of relief too, feeling that Qi Xingzhou wasn’t as difficult to communicate with as she had imagined.

She led Qi Xingzhou to Nong Chun’s tent. Nong Chun had just finished tidying it up neatly, all his belongings packed in a backpack in the corner, so as not to take up extra space.

With the tent flap wide open, Nong Chun, sitting inside, noticed Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou approaching and greeted them with a smile.

Responding, Jiang Ning, before heading back to her own tent, handed a bottle of Insect Repellent Spray to Qi Xingzhou, "There are a lot of mosquitoes at night. Spray this if you get bitten."

Qi Xingzhou, holding the bottle still warm from Jiang Ning’s touch, obediently nodded, clearly looking a bit excited.

Once Qi Xingzhou was settled, Jiang Ning finally returned to her tent with ease of mind.

Once Jiang Ning left, only Nong Chun and Qi Xingzhou were left.

Seeing Qi Xingzhou, who was around his age and also male, Nong Chun was noticeably more forward, "Buddy, did you come from the safe house? Is it far? What’s the safe house like? Are there supplies inside?"

Qi Xingzhou’s gaze still followed Jiang Ning, ignoring Nong Chun’s words, until Jiang Ning disappeared into her own tent. Only then did Qi Xingzhou reluctantly withdraw his gaze.

He sat down with his pack in a corner of Nong Chun’s tent, lowered the tent flap, and his slightly furrowed brow of restraint vanished into the darkness.

Nong Chun blinked innocently.

How could this guy be two-faced?

Just a moment ago, he had been quite gentle in front of Jiang Ning, answering every question she asked.

But when it came to talking to himself, the man didn’t show the slightest reaction?

Luckily, Nong Chun was not one to hold grudges. Seeing Qi Xingzhou ignored him, Nong Chun let his body fall back where he sat, grabbed the small blanket beside him, draped it over himself, closed his eyes peacefully, and didn’t forget to say goodnight to Qi Xingzhou, "Dude, I’m going to sleep, make yourself at home."

Without any electronic devices or other forms of entertainment, the guests, having been busy all day, tended to go to bed early.

The moon hung gracefully in the sparsely starred sky, and not far away, waves continually lapped at the beach and rocks, creating various sleep-inducing white noise sounds.

Although the production team’s live broadcast room claimed to stream 24 hours a day, after the guests had gone to sleep for the night, the live footage shifted to an aerial view, focusing on the tents of the guests.

The popularity of the live room also decreased significantly. During the day, the number of live viewers had broken through hundreds of thousands, and at peak times, it had even surpassed a million concurrent viewers. However, after the guests had gone to sleep, the number of live viewers took a nosedive, eventually leaving just a few thousand people in the room. Moreover, these few thousand might not have been actively watching the stream; they probably just left their accounts logged in.

Even the production crew, at this time, inevitably started to slacken, no longer constantly staring at the screens, learning to take it easy.

In the still of the night, a dim light suddenly shone from Nong Chun’s tent.

Following that, a rustling sound was heard, and a shadow quietly slipped out from inside Nong Chun’s tent.

The few viewers who happened to witness this scene were stunned.

[Hmm?]

[Why is this mysterious guest coming out?]

[It’s late at night, isn’t he sleeping?]

[Hey, look at that! What’s he doing?]

Under the watchful eyes of the few viewers, Qi Xingzhou, having slipped out of his tent, crouched and tiptoed, using the cover of night, and then made his way artfully to Jiang Ning’s tent and sat down without moving.

[...Uh?]

To the mosquitoes in the wilderness, a human appearing in the middle of the night was like a pie falling from the sky.

Qi Xingzhou frowned and took out the spray Jiang Ning had given him, spraying it on himself.

[Pfft, not sure if I should say this: the way he’s sitting in front of Jiang Ning’s tent, spraying himself with the spray... he looks like the little match boy in the stories... Everyone else is sleeping, while he’s the only one suffering.]

[I’m dying of laughter. Where did Jiang Ning find such friends? He has a certain goofy charm.]

[Is he going to spend the whole night like this? Isn’t he afraid of being carried away by mosquitoes?]

...

Jiang Ning was a light sleeper, and when she smelled a familiar scent in her nostrils, she opened her eyes in the dark and naturally woke up from her slumber.

She moved a bit, pulling at the small blanket on her, originally intending to continue sleeping, but her eyes opened again in less than three seconds.

The smell in her nostrils... was not an illusion!

Jiang Ning became fully alert in an instant.

She sat up in the darkness, unzipped the tent, and indeed saw the silly figure holding a Small Night Lamp sitting outside her tent.

Qi Xingzhou clearly hadn’t slept; sensing movement behind him, he immediately looked up, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at Jiang Ning.

In the dim light, his well-defined features were even more prominent, his nose high and side profile exquisite. Looking down from Jiang Ning’s angle, his angular jawline was clearly visible. In the intersection of light and shadow, Qi Xingzhou’s neck appeared long and his Adam’s apple prominent, exuding an inexplicable sexiness, yet his eyes were so purely bright when looking at her.

Jiang Ning glanced at the quiet surroundings, pulled open the tent flap she was holding, and whispered, "Come in."

Qi Xingzhou understood, his eyes widened, and he happily stood up and hurried inside, a stark contrast from how he had seemed forced to enter Nong Chun’s tent earlier.

[6, he’s been officially promoted.]