57

"No… … no" Gu Li's back was uptight and straight. Jiang Xun's approach made him incredibly flustered, he could only pretend to be calm.

"Really?" Her voice was completely different from her usual voice. How cold it was normally was how sultry it was now.

Gu Li's mouth suddenly turned dry and wanted to drink water. He turned away nervously, not looking at her.

Yet Jiang Xun leaned closer in and said with a smile, "Now that there's no one else. Let's go on a date."

"A date?" Gu Li froze.

"Yeah, the program group arranged for us to go on a date. Right now, we have to get along like a couple." Jiang Xun claimed logically.

Gu Li's eyes widened. Is it supposed to be like that?

"Your face is red again."

"Is… … is it?" Gu Li's face flushed even more.

"It turns out you also stutter a little, no wonder you don't like to talk." Jiang Xun said.

"I'm not." Gu Li was truly too nervous. He didn't know why his heart beat so fast when he stayed with Jiang Xun.

"Have you ever been in a relationship?" Jiang Xun whispered softly in his ear.

Gu Li's heart skipped a beat, "No."

"Then what kind of girl do you like?"

Gu Li went silent for a while before saying, "I don't know."

"You'll know soon enough." Jiang Xun fluttered her lashes.

Gu Li was stunned, he didn't understand what she meant.

Jiang Xun abruptly stood up and sat across from him, becoming more serious, "Are you hungry?"

Gu Li has been hungry since a while back. When the dishes were just served just now, he became even more hungry but he kept resisting for her to come back.

He shook his head and reached out to touch his ears.

Jiang Xun noticed his small movements:

"Okay. If you said it doesn't, then it doesn't. Let's eat first, I'm hungry."

Gu Li's shoulders relaxed a little now.

"The food you ordered suits my taste quite well."

Gu Li lowered his gaze and looked at the dishes on the table. He ordered these casually. Because he didn't know Jiang Xun's preferences, he picked dishes according to his own taste. He whispered, "Really?"

"Eh, are you really not hungry? I'm starving." Jiang Xun pressed the service bell on the table and called the waiter, "Two bowls of rice, please."

At this time, Gu Li felt the current Jiang Xun was a different person than what he saw before. Her entire person now was much more energetic and lively. Was it because there is no program staff following them?

"What are you thinking about? Why aren't you eating?" Jiang Xun waved her hand in front of him.

Through the gaps between her fingers, Gu Li could see her face, an out of the world beauty.

"Do you want me to feed you?" Jiang Xun looked at him with a smile.

It was the first time that Gu Li saw her smile. Previously, Jiang Xun was always cold and expressionless. So as soon as he saw her smile, Gu Li couldn't help staring at her.

The corners of her mouth rose up into a pretty arc. On her cheeks, deep dimples revealed herself. Her stunning face bloomed, making her original beauty even brighter.

Watching him look at her blankly without speaking, Jiang Xun smiled even happily. If those people in the program group saw her now, they would think that there were two personalities within her body.

When Gu Li came back to his senses, Jiang Xun had already picked up a vegetable and brought it to his mouth.

He hesitated for a while before eventually opening his mouth to eat it.

...

By the time they left the restaurant, it was half an hour later. The show crew still hadn't found them yet. Jiang Xun took the distracted Gu Li upstairs to the Escape Room.

The boss was a young man. Seeing the two of them coming in, he was about to greet them when he saw Jiang Xun, stupefying him. After a moment of silence, he asked them, "Just two?"

"Eh."

"Usually this is played by three to nine people. Very few groups play with two people." The boss hesitantly advised.

Jiang Xun nodded, "Can you recommend us one? If not, we'll just choose one that's more suitable for fewer people to play with?"

"Is it your first time to play?" the Boss asked.

Jiang Xun answered, "It's my first time." She looked at Gu Li, "How about you? Have you played this before?"

"No." Gu Li shook his head.

"Then choose a relatively simple one." The boss said.

Jiang Xun refused, "No need, normal difficulty is fine. It doesn't matter if it's a little difficult."

"Alright, you guys can try this. Couples tend to prefer this one more… …" The boss glanced at them and asked, "You guys are a couple, right?"

Jiang Xun let out an "eh", then took Gu Li's arm.

Gu Li's body immediately became rigid as his fingers kept trembling. He could even hear his own heartbeat, but Jiang Xun didn't seem to notice it.

...

Jiang Xun only released Gu Li when they entered the room, checking the room's setting.

While Gu Li did let out a sigh of relief, he felt kind of disappointed.

"Let us start."

"Eh."

Jiang Xun observed the furnishings in the room. Her first reaction was to find a place that might be a door.

The escape room the boss recommended to them was "Escape from the Horror Apartment", which is a very ordinary-looking apartment. However, the whole room was decorated like a scene in a Silent Hill game, eerie and horrible. The lights are also extremely dim.

As soon as they entered, the radio on the cabinet started to make strange noises. There was also a sound coming from the bedroom inside like something was inside.

Jiang Xun could understand why the boss said that this secret room is suitable for couples. It had the same intent of watching a horror movie as a couple. When people get scared, their brain will secrete 'dopamine', which is the same chemical substance secreted in a happy relationship.

Therefore, the fear emotion will make the two people get closer to each other and also develop intimate feelings for one another.

She flinched and whispered, "Did you hear it? It's so scary."

While Gu Li wasn't afraid. Having social phobia doesn't mean he's timid. On the contrary, he hasn't been affected by this environment at all.

Seeing Jiang Xun looking really scared, he suddenly became less nervous.

Gu Li hesitatingly comforted her, "It's okay."

At this moment, a strange piercing scream came from the radio. Jiang Xun was shocked into hugging Gu Li beside him tightly.

"What do we do? I want to leave." Jiang Xun's voice was trembling.

Looking at her, a desire to protect her was aroused, "Let's find an exit first."

"Eh."

Jiang Xun hugged him and didn't let go, causing Gu Li's face to turn increasingly red. It was the first time he had such close contact with the opposite sex outside his family. He was very embarrassed, but with Jiang Xun's current appearance, he couldn't push her away.

In reality, if it were any other person, they wouldn't be fooled by Jiang Xun at all. After all, this wasn't a real haunted house. No matter how realistic it is, it was just an escape room. There wouldn't be anything scary to suddenly jump out at them. Jiang Xun's acting was a bit exaggerated. However, Gu Li's EQ was too low and he had never interacted with the opposite sex before, so he believed everything Jiang Xun said without a doubt, not to mention how good Jiang Xun's acting skills were.

Because Jiang Xun was hugging him too tightly, Gu Li's palms were all sweaty as his Adam's apple moved, "Let's go over there and take a look."

Jiang Xun asked Gu Li in a low voice, "Do you know how to solve puzzles? This kind of escape game seems to include solving puzzles."

While she was talking, the light above her head flickered as if it would go out at any time.

Jiang Xun thought this was quite real. It seemed she had to work harder in her performance.

"Can you hold my hand?"

Jiang Xun's voice was so small that Gu Li almost didn't hear it clearly.

Gu Li's breathing stagnated, he was a little at a loss. This was truly the first time he encountered such a situation.

Seeing he hadn't spoken, Jiang Xun lowered her head and muttered pitifully, "Forget it."

Gu Li seemed to pluck up all his courage to grab Jiang Xun's hand.

His hands could completely envelope Jiang Xun's little hands. But Gu Li was a little embarrassed about his sweaty palms, yet Jiang Xun was grateful, "Thank you."

Gu Li's eyes dodged hers, afraid to look at her.

The two of them just went looking for clues in the room, holding hands like that.

Although they had never played before, Gu Li was quite clever and quickly carried Jiang Xun through the first two levels.

By the third level, it was getting more difficult. They didn't know where to start, so they could only carefully check every corner of the room and put everything in a pile together regardless of whether it was useful or not.

As the radio repeated those same sounds, Jiang Xun's mood seemed to gradually stabilize.

"This newspaper should be the key to solving the puzzle."

"The letters on the stapler, the paper behind the shoe cabinet and the hint under the vase can be pieced together as a string of numbers."

Jiang Xun exclaimed excitedly, "What is it?"

"5740." Gu Li slowly uttered.

After speaking, his face turned red. Then, he said awkwardly, "According to the clues in the newspaper, our next step should be to open the bedroom door and enter the next room."

"Eh." Jiang Xun pretended not to know why he blushed and squeezed his hand, "Then let's go quickly, but there seems to be something in the bedroom."

Gu Li felt her hand trembling. Somehow, he got the courage to say to her, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Jiang Xun nodded with an "eh".

The two went to the bedroom door and opened the door with the code. Who knew that the moment the door was opened, something pounced from the door, like a mechanism, taking both Jiang Xun and Gu Li by surprise.

Jiang Xun screamed as she retreated back two steps. Her left foot stepped on her right foot, causing her to lose balance and fall backward. Gu Li couldn't react in time and was pulled down by her.

Gu Li fell on Jiang Xun, pressing Jiang Xun's face pale with pain, but Jiang Xun resisted it without making a sound.

Jiang Xun felt she was unlucky. Just as she wanted to get up, she turned her head and found that Gu Li's face was extremely close to hers. She quickly reacted, leaning her face over, and called, "Gu Li."

Instinctively, Gu Li turned his head while Jiang Xun also pretended to unintentionally raise her chin.

And like that, the lips of the two pressed together.

Gu Li's eyes widened. The soft feeling put him in the strange dreamy realm again. His mind went blank. He didn't know where to put his hands and even forgot how to breathe.

He could recalled the taste of the strawberry fruit candy that he ate in the car today.