The Unreliable Teammates and the Guild Master's Scream...

Inside the villa.

On the second floor.

The atmosphere in the room was inexplicably awkward. Dongfang Zhixia's gaze was calm, looking at Ye Cheng as if she were looking at a dead man, just standing quietly at the bathroom door.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard.

Silently, Ye Cheng removed his hand from the Little Secretary's shoulder and turned off his phone...

"Hey, Officer, we haven't voted yet!" Seeing the phone screen go dark, the Little Secretary's somewhat anxious voice echoed across the second floor as she hugged Ye Cheng's arm and began shaking it.

She had finally found a way to make herself smarter. Since she was already quite a bit behind everyone else, she naturally had to work harder and speed up her progress. That way, she would be a smart person in the future!

Only... the Little Secretary didn't notice at all that the "Officer" she was speaking to seemed to be somewhat "dead."

Some people are alive but already dead, and some are dead but still alive. As for Ye Cheng... he was basically dead!

Although the night temperature was very pleasant and cool, it didn't stop Ye Cheng's forehead from breaking out in a cold sweat. It seemed he could still argue his way out of this... oh wait, no, he could still salvage the situation.

"Ahem, well, as your master, I have already imparted all my ultimate skills to you. If you cause any trouble in the future, absolutely do not... Never mind. Hamster, remember this: you absolutely must not tell anyone else about this method to get smart, otherwise it won't work!"

Seeing the President walking over with a dark expression, Ye Cheng sped up his speech, frantically trying to do damage control with the Little Secretary.

As long as the Little Secretary didn't say anything stupid later, he could definitely survive this. If the President found out he was here fooling the idiot Hamster with some nonsense about getting smarter, he would definitely be beaten to a pulp!

The Little Secretary nodded solemnly. "Understood, Officer!"

After she finished speaking, the Little Secretary felt like something was missing. Oh right, she lacked the proper gestures!

When people on TV called out "Officer, Officer," they usually saluted. The Little Secretary had watched her fair share of soap operas from a certain peninsular country, shows like "Descendants of the Moon" or "My Love from Pluto"...

Blah blah blah, a whole bunch of messy stuff. It had evolved from the once highly sought-after "Peninsula Wave is the best" into the horror comics that were now quite popular on short video platforms... "Men can actually be this beautiful!"

It had become abstract to a whole new level. Still a bit far from being divine, but already very far from being human. You're right, but this is the "double-door refrigerator" male lead!

An idiot like the Little Secretary had her brain completely corroded by these kinds of TV dramas. She wasn't smart to begin with, and now her IQ might have very well dropped into the negatives.

The outfit the Little Secretary was currently wearing was entirely her own request, not something Dongfang Zhixia had asked for. According to the Little Secretary, professionals do professional things. Since she was a secretary, she had to dress like one to look the part!

In reality... as the President's secretary, if she was normally this scatterbrained, she would have been fired countless times by now. Sometimes she even got the times wrong when reporting on work, inadvertently sabotaging the President.

Thanks to the Little Secretary, otherwise the President would have finished her work long ago...

The result of having her brain corroded by "happy soap operas" for so many years was that the Little Secretary was passionate about role-playing. She quickly got into character now. Under Ye Cheng's guidance, she became the subordinate, and Ye Cheng became the Officer!

Copy that Officer, yes Officer, guaranteed to complete the mission Officer... It was just a pity that with the Little Secretary's goofy and dim-witted appearance, even if she put on a military uniform, she would probably just look like a fake soldier.

Ye Cheng: "..."

Watching the clumsy "fake soldier" Hamster saluting him, Ye Cheng fell silent... The pressure was immense.

Ye Cheng was feeling a bit regretful now. If he had known, he wouldn't have acted so "passionate" just now. Great, the Hamster had bought it completely, and now he was the one in trouble.

Tap, tap, tap... The sound of footsteps came to a halt.

Dongfang Zhixia stood by the bed with her arms crossed and her half-dried hair draped over her shoulders. Exuding a powerful aura, she looked at the two of them, narrowed her eyes, and spoke in a cold voice.

"What are you two doing?"

Hearing the familiar voice from the side, the Little Secretary finally realized in hindsight that someone had approached. She took a look, and hey, it was her Miss!

"Miss!" The Little Secretary was beyond excited to see the President. She immediately wanted to run over, hug her Miss's face, and rub her cheeks against it. Unfortunately... the Little Secretary seemed to have forgotten her current condition.

She was no longer a healthy Hamster; she had become a "crippled Hamster."

The result of her reckless movement was...

"Ah!"

"Boohoo, it hurts so much, boohoo..."

"I'm going to die, boohoo..."

The Little Secretary rolled over, practically welding herself to the bedsheets, let out a miserable shriek, and began to sob...

Dongfang Zhixia: "..."

Ye Cheng: "..."

The scene that had played out in front of Ye Cheng just moments ago was practically re-enacted word-for-word in front of Dongfang Zhixia. This miraculous display left both of them in complete silence.

A moment later.

With red eyes, the Little Secretary pitifully dragged her body over to hug her Miss, crying.

"Boohoo, Miss, am I going to die? Boohoo..."

Dongfang Zhixia: "..."

Is it possible that you just exercised too much, and too much lactic acid built up in your body, and then... sigh.

"Don't worry, you're not going to die. You'll be fine after resting for about a week. Just focus on recovering these next few days. I'll have someone push you outside every day for a walk to get some sun. You'll get better in no time," Dongfang Zhixia comforted her softly while patting the Little Secretary's shoulder.

Dongfang Zhixia still doted on the Little Secretary. She didn't launch into any long-winded lectures or scientific explanations. She just told her that nothing bad would happen. After all... with the Little Secretary's brilliant mind, she wouldn't understand even if it was explained to her. It was much more practical to just comfort her directly.

Upon hearing the keyword "get some sun," a program inside the Little Secretary's smart little head was instantly activated, recalling the things Ye Cheng had instructed her about earlier.

"Miss, I'm not going to get some sun. I want to lie at home," the Little Secretary muttered softly, unable to resist glancing in Ye Cheng's direction as she spoke.

"Not getting some sun? You can't just lie at home all day every day. What if you end up making yourself sick from lying down too much?" Dongfang Zhixia frowned, not thinking too much of it.

She just assumed the Little Secretary was being too lazy and didn't want to move.

Silently, Ye Cheng gave the Little Secretary a thumbs-up in approval.

Great job, Hamster! This is your first step towards becoming smart. Good girl, don't lose focus. That's it, keep pushing back against the President. Push back against her, push back against her!!!

Ye Cheng was practically hysterical, even beginning to doubt whether the nonsense he had fed the Little Secretary about how to get smarter was actually true. Damn it, it worked way too fast! He had just said it, and the Little Secretary immediately stepped up to the plate. It worked better than popping smart pills!

Good job, Hamster!

The corners of Ye Cheng's mouth curled up wildly, a smug grin that lasted right up until the Little Secretary's next sentence...

"Miss, I don't want to drop dead. Can we please not go out to sunbathe? I'm begging you, Miss..." The Little Secretary buried her head in her lady's chest, whining softly.

The eldest miss seems to be softer than usual today...

The Little Secretary thought to herself, then couldn't resist giving her a couple more squeezes. Hehe, it's true!

Dongfang Zhixia didn't notice the anomaly in the Little Secretary's behavior at all; her attention was entirely focused on the absurdity of what the Little Secretary had just said.

Drop dead?

Why would sunbathing be associated with dropping dead? Did this idiot read something weird again? Otherwise... wait, no!

As if realizing something, Dongfang Zhixia gathered her wandering thoughts and shifted her gaze to Ye Cheng.

Ye Cheng: "..."

Ye Cheng truly lived up to his veteran actor status. Although he was panicking like crazy on the inside, he remained as steady as an old dog on the outside. Seeing Dongfang Zhixia looking at him, he decided to take the initiative instead.

"President, why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?" Ye Cheng pulled out a small round mirror from his pocket, the back of which was printed with an ad for some Stork Hospital men's clinic, and kept checking his reflection.

Dongfang Zhixia narrowed her eyes. Unable to spot anything unusual, she eventually just gave a cold snort and looked away.

Ye Cheng breathed a sigh of relief... Hahaha, President, you are still too green!

"If you can't soak up the sun, can you soak up the moonlight? Or maybe the starlight? Or..." Dongfang Zhixia fired off a barrage of questions, relentlessly elbowing the information processing center inside the Little Secretary's smart little head.

Under this frantic bombardment, the Little Secretary's brain turned to mush. Ultimately, she cast a pleading look toward Ye Cheng for help...

Arriving at the exact same time as the Little Secretary's plea for help was the President's incredibly gentle gaze. A seemingly understanding smile graced the corners of Dongfang Zhixia's mouth.

"Darling, do you think it's okay to not get some sun?"

Ye Cheng: "..."

Gulp.

Ye Cheng swallowed hard and said decisively, "No, of course it's not okay to avoid the sun. She has to sunbathe. She needs to soak up the sun for a full one hundred and eighty days!"

Damn Hamster, if I ever team up with you again, I'm a dog!

It was true that the Hamster was a good, trustworthy Hamster, but... she was just too stupid. In just a few words, the dear President immediately noticed something was wrong and quickly locked her sights on the true suspect, a certain Mr. Ye.

The Little Secretary would sometimes do strange things, but it wasn't incomprehensible, and there was always a traceable pattern to her actions.

Coming out of the shower and inexplicably spouting such weird nonsense like she was doing now, it was obvious someone had been a bad influence on her. As for who that someone was... oh my, what a tough guess.

"Can we go sunbathe now?" Dongfang Zhixia asked with a gentle smile, looking down at the dazed Little Secretary leaning against her chest.

Conflict was written all over the Little Secretary's face as she muttered in her heart... Didn't he say that sunbathing would make me drop dead? Why is it okay to sunbathe now?

Unable to hold back once again, the Little Secretary's gaze finally landed on Ye Cheng, as if asking him whether she could really sunbathe or not.

Ye Cheng: "..."

Ye Cheng silently put on an expression resembling that Fire Punch pained smile while eating crap meme.

Damn it, Hamster, just you wait!!!

It looked like an inquiry, but it was actually a confirmation!

Having finally confirmed the suspect, Dongfang Zhixia revealed a gentle smile. Faintly, a Stand phantom seemed to materialize behind her, a terrifying entity wearing a Hannya demon mask and holding a knife... and the blade was pressed right against Ye Cheng's neck.

Dongfang Zhixia gently crooked her finger at Ye Cheng.

"Come here."

Ye Cheng: "..."

Gulp.

Ye Cheng swallowed hard. Rather than sitting back and waiting for death, it was better to actively seek death, oh wait, no, actively strike first.

Ye Cheng brewed up his emotions and then... launched a fierce offensive!

With a roll, Ye Cheng tumbled over to Dongfang Zhixia's side. In almost the exact same pose as the Little Secretary, he hugged Dongfang Zhixia's arm and started wailing like a banshee.

"President, I'm innocent, I... huh?"

Just as Ye Cheng was about to show off his Voice of Dragon Country vocals, he suddenly realized that something seemed off.

It felt like...

Ye Cheng: "???"

Ye Cheng froze for a second before snapping to his senses. Like he had just been electrocuted, he hurriedly let go and scrambled away, cold sweat instantly pouring down his forehead... He felt like he was going to die!

Holy shit, is this right?!

Dongfang Zhixia was stunned for a moment, not registering why Ye Cheng was making such a huge fuss. Then, as if realizing something, she looked down...

Dongfang Zhixia: "???"

"Ahhh—" At a speed visible to the naked eye, Dongfang Zhixia's face turned as red as a ripe apple. Her piercing scream echoed throughout the villa, nearly shattering eardrums.