Chapter 15: Holding His Hand
As if driven by the muscle memory of being caught red-handed reselling the autograph, upon hearing Min Zhi’s “I’ll scan yours,” Xi Leng unconsciously opened his payment code and let him scan.
Absurd, yet somehow reasonable.
The point was, not only did Min Zhi not expose him on the spot, he actually transferred the money.
This amount of money was nothing but a drizzle for a big star. Min Zhi must have already noticed his financial difficulties.
His fake fan identity clearly hadn’t aroused suspicion, otherwise he wouldn’t have left his phone number in the note. But the ten thousand yuan was several times higher than the previous three thousand, for no apparent reason. Xi Leng felt unworthy of it.
He immediately saved the phone number and sent a text message introducing himself, then added Min Zhi on WeChat, intending to transfer the ten thousand yuan back once the request was accepted.
But Min Zhi didn’t accept it.
After 24 hours, the transfer was automatically refunded.
Seeing this, Xi Leng didn’t say anything more and naturally used the money to enrich his small coffers, adding another brick to his upcoming moving project.
Moving to a safe and comfortable big house, then kidnapping his rebellious younger brother, who would break his leg in the future, to live with him.
And then… slowly, turning the house into a home.
Three days later, it was the day of the “Unlimited Escape Room” recording.
The filming location for the first episode of “Unlimited Escape Room” was chosen out of town. The guests, according to their own schedules, either traveled with the main group or took a separate flight.
The program team, well-funded, arranged business class for all the guests. However, the two biggest names, Min Zhi and Jiang Songnan, due to other work commitments, could only take a later flight.
The filming location was in a newly built resort area in Huaicheng. Filming here was also a promotional project in collaboration with the local government, and the accommodation was a newly built luxury five-star hotel by the sea.
This wasn’t entirely the same as the “Unlimited Escape Room” in Xi Leng’s memory. Perhaps it was also a chain reaction caused by his rebirth, even the production format and content of the same variety show were different from his past life.
After giving their names and checking in, the hotel bellhop came over to take their luggage and help them carry it to their rooms upstairs.
The hotel rooms were on the 12th floor. Although Xi Leng only brought a light backpack, having someone take the elevator and carry it up for him was still much easier.
Dinner was at the hotel buffet at 6:30 pm. They had two hours of free time to rest and relax. Xi Leng didn’t go anywhere. Climbing the stairs back to his room would be more tiring, so he rested on a sofa in the lobby.
After dozing off for a while, Xi Leng opened his eyes to see Luo Jiayan sitting opposite him, quietly looking at him.
“Ah Zhao, you’re awake?” Luo Jiayan, who didn’t know how long he had been waiting, said excitedly. “It’s time, shall we go eat?”
Xi Leng hummed in agreement.
In his past life, he had always been at Luo Jiayan’s beck and call, following closely behind him, while Luo Jiayan, smiling brightly, socialized among various friends, not paying him much attention.
In this life, he had come to his senses, treating Luo Jiayan as a normal friend again, and Luo Jiayan, in turn, became more enthusiastic towards him, chattering and focusing solely on him.
But he only felt tired.
Qiaoqiao arrived soon after, and the three of them ate at the buffet together. It turned into two people chattering, with Xi Leng quietly acting as background music, but the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.
After the three of them finished eating, they went to the lobby as instructed by the director, meeting up with the late Jiang Songnan. In addition, the cameramen assigned to the five guests were already waiting.
Jiang Songnan had a casual and arrogant attitude, looking difficult to deal with, even speaking to the director impolitely: “We have to be filmed now?”
“Yes, it’s for the hotel’s promotion, it’s in the contract.” Sheng Jiao patiently explained. “As long as you don’t leave the hotel, you can go anywhere, do anything, there are no additional requirements.”
The resort hotel was in a Western classical style, luxuriously decorated, resplendent and full of artistic flair. Various entertainment and lifestyle facilities were also available, including a public gym, swimming pool, aromatherapy spa, Thai massage… all exclusively open to them.
“I just happened to bring the brochure, there’s a garden upstairs, it looks like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the photos.” Qiaoqiao waved the brochure in her hand. As the only female guest, she cautiously asked the three men present, “…Does anyone want to go take a look?”
Jiang Songnan, even in front of the cameras, didn’t bother to pretend and ignored her completely.
Normally, Luo Jiayan would definitely be the one to agree, but this time he hesitated slightly, his gaze shifting between Xi Leng and Qiaoqiao: “The top floor? Then Ah Zhao… Never mind. I’ll go with you. Just me.”
“That’s great! Let’s go, let’s go.” Qiaoqiao smiled, very cheerful.
The two went to take the elevator, one after the other. Qiaoqiao looked back to confirm, then lowered her voice and said to Luo Jiayan: “I suspect there’s a hidden mission.”
Luo Jiayan looked shocked, his eyes wide.
Qiaoqiao smiled again: “But there are no clues whatsoever. Let’s just follow the hotel guide one by one, first the Hanging Gardens on the top floor… the gym and swimming pool are too specialized, and not really related to the hotel’s theme, we can rule those out… lastly, we’ll go back to the first floor, the piano staircase, and the Monet Garden outside.”
In the lounge area on the first floor, Xi Leng and Jiang Songnan were left facing each other.
Jiang Songnan glanced at the person opposite him, his gaze like falling into a silent frozen lake. He looked a few more times, but Xi Leng remained unmoved, so he spoke first: “I heard you’re Min Zhi’s fan?”
These words were like a command, and Xi Leng immediately went into work mode: “Yes, I’ve liked him for three years. I joined this show for him.”
Jiang Songnan hated Min Zhi and naturally had no good feelings towards his fans, but this fan was exceptionally good-looking and had a cold and indifferent attitude, not even a hint of excitement at seeing a celebrity, even if it wasn’t him.
Would this person show a completely different side in front of Min Zhi? Passionate, adoring, obsessed… Jiang Songnan found that he couldn’t imagine it at all.
Amidst his annoyance, jealousy eventually prevailed.
“It seems Min Zhi plans to improve his image, specifically coming on a variety show to pamper his fans.” Jiang Songnan sneered. “But he hasn’t even shown up yet.”
Xi Leng’s appearance was cold and detached, but his words were shocking.
“I’m very happy just to see him. To see him in person, even talk to him, be on a show with him… I wouldn’t even dare to dream of it before.”
“I’ll be happy to wait for him too.”
Jiang Songnan: “…”
After speaking, Xi Leng realized he had missed something and added a faint smile unhurriedly.
He acted so naturally, his acting skills flawless even in front of the professional actor Jiang Songnan. Or perhaps, Jiang Songnan didn’t have time to think it over, his expression changing instantly.
Xi Leng frowned slightly.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Xi Leng turned around in astonishment, seeing Min Zhi standing there, looking travel-worn, a rare smile in the corners of his sharp eyes, his lips also curved upwards in amusement.
“Little fan.”
Min Zhi hadn’t checked in yet. Spotting Xi Leng from afar, he completely ignored Jiang Songnan opposite him, striding over to greet him first.
The world of the novel was filled with coincidences and surprises. Exposure could happen in an instant, as could maximizing favorability.
Xi Leng’s feelings were slightly complicated. Thinking that Min Zhi still had to go upstairs and unpack after checking in, he didn’t rush to put on an act. Not only would it be tiring for him to act, but Min Zhi was also someone with a strong sense of boundaries, overdoing it would be counterproductive.
Casually picking up a hotel guide from the rack, Xi Leng slowly strolled around the hotel lobby while flipping through it.
He walked to a large floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the path was quiet and serene, summer flowers in full bloom, vibrant and colorful. Warm yellow string lights were wrapped around the fence, like notes jumping on a musical score.
This should be the Monet Garden mentioned in the guide.
A cameraman was following behind him. Xi Leng didn’t plan to go upstairs, so he decided to stroll through the garden. He enjoyed the feeling of being one with nature in the undisturbed night. When he returned from his walk, he felt refreshed.
Another landmark on the first floor, the piano staircase, was located in a more prominent position indoors.
The steps were designed to look like piano keys, neat white rectangles, with black squares painted on the left side, representing the black keys of a piano.
Xi Leng had been planning to go back to his room, and he could just use this staircase.
He lifted his foot and stepped down. The silent piano key step suddenly made a crisp sound, emitting a faint glow from beneath.
Xi Leng looked down curiously, lifted his foot, then stepped on it again.
It was like playing a giant piano with his feet.
He carefully observed this novelty he had never seen before, then suddenly froze.
The camera behind him, following his movements, tilted downwards, both he and the lens focusing on a line of inconspicuous small print next to a black key.
“Walk 8 steps up to find the truth.”
Puzzle-solving was easily addictive. Even Xi Leng was intrigued, following the instructions and walking upstairs silently.
The number “8” in the riddle used Roman numerals instead of Arabic numerals. Xi Leng made a mental note of it.
He walked eight steps, arriving at the ninth step.
“Unrevealed grievances will crush you, sending you tumbling to the bottom.”
This clue didn’t have any numbers. Xi Leng thought for a moment and, following the words “tumbling to the bottom,” walked back down.
The “bottom” likely didn’t refer to the first step. The marble floor didn’t seem unusual either, but there was a rug, only half the width of the staircase, quite conspicuous.
If he really tumbled down from upstairs, he would indeed land on this rug.
Xi Leng decisively lifted the strange rug and, as expected, found a crumpled piece of paper with some black marks underneath.
On the back of the paper were the familiar instructions: “Prepare yourself, set off again, walk twenty steps.”
This time, “twenty” was written in Chinese characters, he didn’t think it was a code. So, he turned the paper over, his attention focusing on the black marks.
As he walked upstairs, he kept examining the black marks and the seemingly patterned creases…
Halfway up, it suddenly dawned on him. He quickly folded the paper into a “north, south, east, west” fortune teller, a simple childhood origami game.
The flat paper became three-dimensional. He brought the four corners representing “east,” “south,” “west,” and “north” together, the previously distant lines connecting to form a Roman numeral, “IX.”
At this time, he reached the twentieth step. Beneath his feet was a bright white key, the black keys painted on the sides. The lighting was bright, and the clue on the white key was clear: “Hardship drags you down, but you hear a voice, turn around, it’s a helping hand from a friend.”
“…Hm? No numbers this time?”
The first clue directly gave him the number, the second required him to obtain the number through origami, if the difficulty was increasing, where was the number in the third clue hidden?
Xi Leng stood on the twentieth step, bending down to carefully examine it, but found nothing.
He knew nothing about pianos.
Could the answer be hidden within the clue itself? He repeated: “‘A helping hand from a friend’… Right.”
Xi Leng looked around and saw Min Zhi, clearly drawn by the chaotic piano melody, downstairs.
“Min-shen! Here!”
It was the first time Min Zhi saw such overt enthusiasm from him, he was so unaccustomed to it that he froze for a moment.
In a blink of an eye, he also arrived at the piano staircase, stepping on a series of jarring notes.
“What’s wrong?” He stopped at the 19th step, tilting his head slightly upwards.
Xi Leng, thanks to the advantage of the steps, was slightly taller, his jawline sharp and defined, but with his head lowered, the lower half of his face was hidden in shadow, so Min Zhi could only see his phoenix eyes.
His hazel eyes were like a pool of spring water, the fragmented crystal lights reflected in them like stars.
Xi Leng didn’t answer Min Zhi’s question verbally but silently extended a hand towards him.
Min Zhi, caught off guard, was just like that, his hand taken.
The long, porcelain-white hand was slightly cold, slipping into his palm.
In an instant, an electric current seemed to surge through his body, making even his hair stand on end.
