As the score gradually evened out, Qin Wei was also exhausted to the point of collapse.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she had to admit that she still needed to keep up with physical training in the future. A few months was clearly not enough, she still needed to continue.
Her opponents were not much better off either. There were ball marks all over Xin Ya's face and clothes. While failing to demonstrate her image as a sporty girl, she had made herself look even more disheveled.
Lin Qiqi, who was in a similar predicament, was also bending over and panting heavily. At this point, she was also nearing her physical limits, unable to go on for even a minute more.
Director A looked at the monitor and nodded.
It seemed that Shen Kai still had feelings for Qin Wei, deliberately claiming his strengths as weaknesses, just to avoid Qin Wei embarrassing herself.
But it didn't matter anymore. This game had already met his expectations and would definitely attract viewership once aired.
For him, having viewership was enough.
Director A signaled to a staff member beside him. The staff immediately understood and ran over to shout:
"The first ever volleyball tournament at Peach Blossom Village is now over! Teachers Xin Ya, Lin Qiqi and Chen Mo are the winners!"
Shen Qingqing sneered. She didn't care about the outcome. Anyway, she had been slacking off the whole time and didn't want to get involved in their quarrels.
Qin Wei also didn't care about winning or losing. She had achieved her goal and that was enough.
The winning side wasn't too happy either. Xin Ya had been frowning the whole time. If not for the cameras, she probably would have started fighting Qin Wei by now.
...
It was about time for Xin Ya to leave. She had no plans to stay overnight at Peach Blossom Village. After changing her clothes and washing her face, she packed her bags, ready to leave. When bidding farewell to everyone, she made no attempt to hide her reluctance with Qin Wei.
Just then, Qin Wei took out an orange gift box from behind her back. It was marked:
"Hermes?"
Xin Ya was a little surprised.
"This is for me?"
Qin Wei nodded, "What happened earlier was out of anyone's control. Please take this."
Xin Ya accepted it. Holding it in her hand, she could tell there was some weight inside. From experience, she guessed there was probably a Hermes candle stand inside.
Xin Ya gladly accepted it. After how Qin Wei had hit her, she had to at least get some compensation back, otherwise she would have suffered a major loss.
"Bye."
Waving goodbye to everyone, Xin Ya got in the car and left.
Chen Mo went to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, and Qin Wei followed to help.
Chen Mo seemed to be in a good mood, even humming a song while washing the dishes.
Qin Wei wiped the dishes dry as Chen Mo washed them, and said,
"Teacher Chen was just a bystander watching the commotion today."
Chen Mo smiled, "Mainly because you all played quite well, I couldn't help much."
Qin Wei said, "You used to be a professional athlete. You only switched careers to become a host after retiring early. If I'm not mistaken, you used to play volleyball."
Her words surprised Chen Mo a little. "Oh? I've never mentioned that publicly, how did you know?"
Qin Wei was caught off guard for a moment. Come to think of it, that was true.
If she had to explain how she knew, it was because during her student days, she had been in the school's volleyball team for a semester and participated in competitions big and small. Although she quit later, she kept it as a hobby and would still play a game or two at the gym on weekends. So she also watched matches occasionally and knew Chen Mo was from the same province as her, so it wasn't that bizarre she knew about her.
But Chen Mo wasn't a well-known athlete after all, so it was still odd that Qin Wei, as a huge celebrity uninterested in sports events, would know about her.
"Um... Li Hanming mentioned it casually, so I remembered it."
Chen Mo was still a little doubtful, but Qin Wei quickly changed the topic,
"Teacher Chen, are the dishes done?"
Chen Mo nodded. But then she suddenly recalled something else,
"The dishes today were delicious, and everyone finished them. Only Xin Ya wasted that small stew pot. I was about to go throw it away."
Just as Chen Mo was about to leave, Qin Wei stopped her,
"Teacher Chen, I've already taken care of it. Since there's nothing else, let's all go back and rest!"
Meanwhile, Xin Ya sat in the car and glanced at the gift from Qin Wei. Ultimately, she couldn't resist opening it.
Lifting the box lid, a pungent smell of chicken soup overwhelmed Xin Ya, turning her face pale. She didn't get a good grip on it and spilled the contents onto her pants and the car seat.
Instantly, the entire car was filled with the smell of meat broth.
There was no Hermes inside. The gift box contained the stew pot Xin Ya had wasted during dinner. Qin Wei had carefully kept it for her and sneakily placed it inside the gift box. She had also deliberately lifted the lid which would peel off the plastic wrap, ensuring the soup would leak out.
She was foolish not to be more vigilant. She had assumed Qin Wei wouldn't dare make trouble in front of the cameras. She never expected her to act so nonchalant that there was no reason to suspect anything amiss.
Xin Ya's face turned dark now. She was grinding her teeth furiously.
She took out her phone and snapped a photo of the mess, about to publicly expose Qin Wei's malicious act online. But she hesitated.
If Qin Wei bullied her like this, netizens would definitely question the context. Her image as someone who exercises to lose weight but never starves herself would be shaken. She was also the spokesperson for sports brands - they wouldn't want such feedback.
While Qin Wei's reputation wasn't good, she also had a controversial public image. People would question why she inexplicably did this to her if there was no reason.
After careful calculation, she had only recently managed to turn her life around, she couldn't afford to stir up trouble.
Due to various concerns, Xin Ya could only blame her own misfortune. But she would definitely avenge this grudge someday!
...
After showering, Qin Wei picked up the candle stand on her desk and lit the aromatherapy candle inside. Satisfied with the scent, she put it back.
She really had poor judgement, mistakenly packing this while preparing her luggage. She had thought it would be useless, but it came in handy.
Qin Wei chuckled to herself, imagining Xin Ya's expression when she opened the gift box and saw what was inside. She didn't know how Xin Ya would react.
It served her right for deliberately causing trouble and wasting food. Packing it for her to bring home wasn't going overboard!
Qin Wei checked the hot search on her phone. It was still quiet, so it seemed Xin Ya had a normal head on her shoulders despite her poor character. She could have blown this up and accused Qin Wei of bullying her, but she didn't.
Apparently she didn't want others to know why Qin Wei bullied her.
It was best to let sleeping dogs lie. Although Qin Wei didn't care, she was also too lazy to escalate matters since her retirement was nearing. She didn't want any more scandals.
Shen Qingqing also finished showering and came out of the bathroom, only to be overwhelmed by a strong fragrance - this scent made her heart skip a beat. Wasn't this the aromatherapy candle scent that Shen Kai often used on set?
She was stunned for a moment. If she remembered correctly, this particular scented candle was custom made for Shen Kai based on his preferences, and had never been publicly sold.
In other words, no one else could possibly own it unless gifted by Shen Kai.
