Ch.52: A crisis even after going through the checkpoints?

Shuuaaa! 

Wen Jiexi rushed to the front of a jewelry store. Except for in shopping malls, there were very few places that sold gems of any kind other than places like a jwewlery store. If it weren't for the fact that Huo Lin'er just happened to pass by this store when she had visited that one time, they wouldn't have known there was a gem-related store near here at all. 

The frame of the door creaked open….and a few people looked up lazily from the counter. 

"Ah….finally you're here, we've been waiting for so long…." The man greeted Wen Jiexi sleepily. From his words, she concluded she had come to the right place.

"I have the token right here." Wen Jiexi said without waiting for the man's next sentence.

"Yeah, I got it…." The man gave it a glance but he didn't seem as excited as the masters of the other two checkpoints and stood up lazily before walking to the back. 

Wen Jiexi saw that the other staff were leaning against the counter, looking just as sleepy as the first man as they propped their cheeks in their hands. The production crew here was just a little too strange….

Several cardboard boxes were moved from the backroom. There were over ten of them and each one was padded with a soft cushion. On the soft cushions lay numerous precious gems, all of the red and all of them were a similar size and shined with the same luster. They placed the gems onto the counter, nearly a hundred or so sparkling were now lying there on the glass top. How generous…Don't tell me….this jewelry store is owned by some hidden tycoon…..that can't be possible, right?

"This…." Wen Jiexi stammered but the man only glanced at her nonchalantly as he explained slowly. 

"The rules of this checkpoint are simple. Here we have a total of 100 gems. 5 are real while the other 95 are counterfeit goods. Pick five gems. As long as one of the gems you pick is real, you pass this checkpoint. Oh, there's a small reward too if you pass this game….I think about 1000 yuan? The time limit is 30 minutes, you can start now." The man didn't wait for Jiexi's response and pressed his stopwatch as soon as he finished speaking.

So she had to play a gambling game now? But she doesn't know a thing about appraising gems…

Wen Jiexi picked up two gems and studied them. What's the difference? Aren't these two gems the same?

She couldn't ask for help as the other four are busy making money and even if they could help, did any of them have any knowledge of gem appraisal? Should she bet on her luck then? 

"Jiexi, why are you looking at these stones for? They're all the same~ Just pick five at random. If you get it right, then you win. If you get it wrong, oh well." Dango came up with a useless idea while watching leisurely from the side. 

Stop spewing nonsense….say, weren't you able to distinguish the prop swords from the real ones last time?

"That's different. This stuff is really complicated, okay?" Dango twisted its waist in dissatisfaction and then flew over the jewelry. 

"Just use your intuition this time! Don't they say that women have the most accurate sixth senses? Come on, just give it a try Jiexi~" 

…..Wen Jiexi decided to ignore Dango.

However, she still considered Dango's words. Since she couldn't identify real from fake….might as well just go with instincts. What else could she do? 

Ten minutes later, Wen Jiexi finished picking through the gems and reluctantly chose five at random. She carefully placed them on an empty tray and treated them with care, just in case. If any of the gems were the real thing, she would not be able to pay for the damages.

"All done?" The man asked. 

"En." Wen Jiexi nodded. 

The man waved his hand and a middle-aged man heavily armed with different tools walked forward. He picked up the five gems Wen Jiexi had chosen and studied them carefully. 

Did they not assign serial numbers to the gems? If they needed an expert to appraise the gems, how do they expect me to pick the right one at a glance???? Wen Jiexi couldn't help but bitterly complain in her heart. 

Ten minutes later, Wen Jiexi saw the middle-aged man make a surprised expression. 

"Miss, have you learned jewelry appraisal before?" 

"No." Wen Jiexi shook her head and looked down at her empty hands and then at the middle-aged man whose hands were full of tools. She was basically telling him that it was impossible for her to appraise jewels with just the naked eye. 

The middle-aged uncle seemed to understand her gaze, and couldn't help but smile at his rather idiotic question. 

"Hahaha, terribly sorry, Miss, I meant no malice. You're correct, even the most skilled jewelry appraiser can't distinguish the authenticity of these gems with just the naked eye. The tools I used just now are all necessary for us appraisers. I must say, you are incredibly lucky. You actually got two out of the five." The middle-aged uncle laughed and then held up two of the five gems. 

"T-two?!" The words made even the sleepy man jump up and many of the staff members almost fell out of their chairs. 

"Hah?" Wen Jiexi exclaimed a little. Wow, this…is she this lucky? The chance of her getting it correct was only 5%! 

"Fine….I guess you pass. Here, take it." The man looked rather reluctant as he took out two envelopes and then handed them over to Wen Jiexi. 

"You can leave now."

"Thank you, bye!" Wen Jiexi made a quick bow and then rushed out. 

"Wait…." The middle-aged man hurried forward to stop her but Wen Jiexi had already disappeared from sight, leaving only a glass door shaking on its hinges. 

"What's wrong, Master." The man raised his eyebrows slightly and asked the middle-aged man respectfully. 

"Ah… it's nothing, I just wanted the little girl to pick again. I thought maybe I had found a lucky seedling for the company, but it looks like I won't get another chance to test her." The middle-aged man scratched his head and took off the equipment. He smiled wryly and then said, 

"But it might be difficult to recruit a girl like her. Unless they're interested in it from the start, few young people will enter the jewelry business. Most who do end up doing jewelry design." The man shrugged and sighed. 

"That's true.'"

Naturally, Wen Jiexi had no idea that the two men were considering recruiting her as she was rushing to her next destination. She quickly tore open the envelope and the number '5' was on the card. 

After recording the number down, she ran to her next destination: the pet shop. Although it was only a shop in name, because instead one room the shop was an entire building. It covered a large area and was over three floors high. Just how was she supposed to know which floor she's supposed to go to….

Wen Jiexi smiled bitterly, she could only use the most basic method and that was to search every floor one by one! 

Five minutes later, Wen Jiexi arrived on the second floor to find the production crew playing with a group of puppies. Seeing this peaceful scene, she could only press a hand to her forehead and sigh. 

"You guys sure are….carefree…." 

"Aiya~ Someone actually came! Must have been hard for you to have found us. Well done, well done!" A woman holding a little cute husky greeted her as she stroked the puppy's fur. She had raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw Wen Jiexi walk in because she had thought most stars would be rather impatient and leave after going through the first floor. Most would give up and not even think about coming up to the second floor. Unexpectedly, someone actually came and from the girl's anxious expression, it seems the girl was in a hurry. How interesting~ 

"Here's the token!" 

"Heya seems like you're in a hurry! Well, I'll make this short then!" The woman with raised eyebrows patted the little husky who kept licking her cheek, 

"Really, it's itchy~ I'm leaving you now~ I'll come to see you again when I have the chance." 

"Wuwuwu…." The little husky was set on the ground but he whimpered when the woman stood up. He stumbled over to the woman's side and as if knowing that the woman was leaving, the little husky rubbed against the woman's calf with its ears flattened. He then looked up pitifully like an innocent child about to be abandoned. 

"Kyaaa! Hey, clerk, help me keep this one safe! I want this cute little puppy! I'm going to take him away with me later!" The woman couldn't bear to look at the little husky's watery eyes any longer and shouted at the clerk. 

"Ok! I will keep him safe! Guaranteed!" The store clerk who was restocking the supplies nodded in understanding at the woman.

"Come with me." The woman beckoned for Wen Jiexi to follow. The woman's steps were quick and hurried, probably because she wanted to hurry back and hug her little husky.

They turned a corner and came to a large open area where several parts of the room were sectioned off into separate rooms. In some of them, people were bathing animals or drying their hair. So one could conclude that this room was a grooming area for pets. 

"Your goal for this checkpoint is in there." The woman pointed at an empty room to the side. 

"What am I supposed to do exactly?" Wen Jiexi glanced inside but didn't see anybody in there. 

"You'll know once you go in. The tools are ready to go and you can start washing them at any time. The time limit is the same as the other checkpoints, you have 30 minutes to pass the challenge." The woman patted Wen Jiexi's shoulder and then revealed both a sympathetic and gloating expression, 

"Good luck!" 

"Awoo..!" The moment Wen Jiexi opened the door, a black shadow pounced on her. If she hadn't subconsciously moved a foot back to stabilize her body, she would've fallen down. 

"Wooof!" A powerful bark sounded from the dark object in front of her. Wen Jiexi's gaze focused….it seemed the object was a big dog and a very familiar dog too…

"Big White! Why are you here?!" 

Woof! Woof! Woof! Ooooh! Isn't this the pretty lady from before?! 

Big White had originally wanted to escape the room to go play somewhere else when he heard familiar voices outside. When the door opened, his dog eyes landed on the person in front of him…only to find that the person in front of him was the pretty Wen Jiexi he had met before! He got excited when he saw her and completely forgot all about escaping as he pounced forward. 

"Wait, wait, Big White, don't lick me!" Wen Jiexi helplessly tried to dodge the dog's saliva. 

"Why is this stupid dog here again! Last time it was super dirty, this time it's still dirty! I knew it, a dumb dog is also a dirty dog!" Dango yelled out from the side with a disgusted expression as it tried to protect its host. 

Wen Jiexi blinked, Dango's words reminded her of her goal, "Yes, it's time to take a bath! 

Woof! This young master doesn't want to take a bath! This young master is so handsome and cool, why would I need to take a bath! Woof!

Hearing the word "bath" Big White stiffened and hurried off of Wen Jiexi as he tried to escape. 

However, no matter how fast Big White is, Wen Jiexi is faster! She put her arms around Big White's waist and then lifted the dog up. She hugged him tightly and started to…princess carry him! She dragged him back into the room and then closed the door behind her. 

For the Big White who was suddenly being carried like a princess….

Woof! This young master is actually being hugged and princess carried?! 

Production crew: We saw a human give a dog a princess carry? This….is not scientific! 

The sounds of a tormented dog barking and something banging against metal rang out from inside the room. Everyone on the second floor could hear it. The production crew couldn't stand it anymore and could only avert their eyes away from the door or cover their ears.

Of course, Wen Jiexi wasn't actually torturing the dog or abusing the poor fellow in any way. Instead, Wen Jiexi was just pinching Big White's waist tightly to keep him from escaping or from hurting himself. Furthermore, because of Big White's frantic struggling, Wen Jiexi accidentally hit the wall behind her, the cabinets below her, and so on. She could only grit her teeth and bear with the pain as she turned on the shower nozzle in her hand and gave the dog a thorough rinse. 

Woof! Woof! Woof! This young master has turned into a wet dog! QAQ

Perhaps it was because his body was subjected to such a cruel thing that Big White was completely frozen and stunned. He fell down softly with an incredulous look in his eyes. Wen Jiexi only raised an eyebrow at Big White's sudden change of behavior before gently putting the dog in the bathtub. Big White's sudden change in behavior was actually helpful to her so she didn't say anything about it. 

She picked up a shampoo made specifically for dogs and rubbed it thoroughly onto the dog's body. She also found a soft brush, one that should be specially used for large dogs. With a brush in one hand, and the shampoo in the other, she slowly cleaned the dog. 

Wen Jiexi's hand that was holding the brush brushed back and forth at an incredible speed. Never before has anyone brushed as fast as Wen Jiexi and she was finished in less than five minutes. However, that was not to say that she didn't wash thoroughly as Big White had turned into a big pile of bubbles and only his face could be seen. Even his tail was covered in foam and bubbles! 

"Alright, Big White, bear with me a little longer, we need to blow dry your hair." Wen Jiexi washed the bubbled off of the dog's fur and watched as the dog shrunk back to it's normal, non-bubble like form. The dog's wet fur stuck to its body and Big White looked smaller than usual. Sure enough, dog fur really does make up for most of a dog's size. 

She picked up the hair dryer when suddenly the Big White who was lying on the table got up. He shook his body and water was flung everywhere. He looked at himself in the mirror, his black and white fur now shiny and clean. He felt rather satisfied at seeing his handsome visage again. 

Woof, woof! This young master is still so handsome! 

Wen Jiexi held the hair dryer blankly and then reached up to touch the drops of water that had splashed onto her face. Then she looked at Big White's satisfied and proud expression. She suddenly had a powerful urge to throw the hair dryer at Big White's head. 

Wasn't he struggling so hard just a few moments ago? Now, look at him. Wen Jiexi sighed and plugged the hair dryer in. She looked at the Big White who was contemplating whether or not to jump off the table and though, what a disobedient dog. 

"Big White, don't move. Your hair hasn't completely dried yet, so if you move again, I will turn you into an even dirtier dog than before." Wen Jiexi threatened in a low whisper. 

Big White stiffened at her words and then raised his head proudly. Hmph, if it wasn't for your pretty face and the fact that you helped clean this young master…..this young master would've….hmph, fine, this young master will let you go this time. 

Wen Jiexi, who had no idea that Big White's thinking was so arrogant, spent another five minutes helping the big dog dry his hair. Once he was released, the handsome husky's fur became a shining mass of fluffiness. 

Wen Jiexi opened the door and Big White rushed out excitedly, barking loudly and with vigor at a staff member. 

"Is this enough?" Wen Jiexi asked.

"Yes, yes, of course, it is. Please change into another set of clothes first." The woman looked awkwardly at the wet Wen Jiexi and handed her a new set of the sheep's costume. 

Accepting the new set of sheep's clothing, Wen Jiexi could only smile bitterly. Couldn't she wear some normal clothes for just a little bit? Unfortunately, she wouldn't say such things as her only option was this clean set of sheep's clothing or her current wet sheep costume that was covered in dirty paw prints. Even a fool would know which option to choose. As for the style of clothing….hah, might as well accept your fate. 

She changed into the new sheep's costume and then accepted the reward form the woman, 

"Good luck! Fighting!" 

"Thanks." Wen Jiexi nodded and then turned around to run towards the next checkpoint. 

"Ahhh, she's still so energetic! How nice it is to be young again." The woman touched her cheek and sighed. 

The other members of the production crew: Her strength is amazing too!

Shuaaa…..

After sprinting at her top speed, Wen Jiexi reached a bank three streets down. 

"Welcome, welcome!" A woman greeted loudly, her eyes brightening when she saw someone come in. She clapped her hands excitedly and welcomed the girl in without a second thought. 

"Er…I have two tokens here…." Wen Jiexi took out both cell phones and showed them to the woman. 

"Two?" The woman blinked, she didn't expect this situation. She turned to whisper something to the people next to her and then looked back helplessly. 

"We never thought that both phones would be delivered by one person, but since the conditions for passing this checkpoint is the same for both tokens you will only need to pass the challenge once for this checkpoint to be considered as cleared." 

"Really?" Wen Jiexi felt pleased with joy. This will save a lot of time! 

She also felt rather amused by the woman's words. It's true that this situation must be rare as when contestants would rarely give their stuff away to others, especially ones that pertained to the clues for the mystery guest stars. 

"Then what do I need to do?" Wen Jiexi asked. 

"All you have to do is work the counter for half an hour." The woman said and then pointed to the empty counter behind her. 

"While wearing this?" Wen Jiexi glanced at the employees in bank uniforms and then at her own clothes. She couldn't possibly have to serve customers while wearing this, right?

"Yup." The woman nodded. 

"But I don't know how to work the counter," Wen Jiexi said hesitantly. 

"There will be some simple instructions over there for you to look at. You'll be able to learn them easily, good luck!" The woman patted Wen Jiexi on the shoulder and then pushed her to sit down in the empty seat behind the counter.

"Good luck!" 

Wen Jiexi watched as the rest of them walked towards the waiting area and they gave her a reassuring smile before they turned to look down at their phones. Wen Jiexi stared at the computer in front of her…..she felt like flipping a table in frustration right about now… 

Ding-a-ling~

The door opened and the sounds of a bell rang out. A man came in and saw that the other counters were occupied. He looked at Wen Jiexi's empty counter hesitatingly, as if he was confirming if Wen Jiexi was really an employee, before reluctantly making his way over carefully. 

"Are you part of the service here?" 

"Ah? Ah….yes…." Wen Jiexi nodded and looked at the man nervously. She rubbed the mouse under her fingers anxiously and then asked politely, 

"What service do you need?"

"Ah, I wish to transfer some money." The man took out his ID and bankbook as he said that. 

"Transfer money?" Wen Jiexi looked at the small sheet of instructions beside the computer. 

「For newcomers' eyes only: (1), (2), (3)」On it were several simple procedures with clearly listed steps below. Wen Jiexi followed the steps with some difficulty and then did what the man requested before handing him a receipt. 

"And you're all good to go." 

"Ah, thank you, Miss." Then the man pointed at Wen Jiexi's costume, 

"Is this a new event launched by your bank? It's really creative." 

"Hahaha…yeah." Wen Jiexi said with a dry smile.

"But how come you're the only one wearing a costume?" The man asked in confusion. 

"….because they're still working out the kinks, I guess. I'm not sure either, they just told me to put it on." Wen Jiexi laughed nervously. Little did Wen Jiexi know that what she said would really cause the bank to force their employees to wear animal costumes for a mouth. Their business boomed after this introduction of animal costumes that the upper management was so satisfied that they made their employees wear different costumes every month. For the regular employees, especially the ones who worked at the counter, they would later both hate and love Wen Jiexi. 

Wen Jiexi served a few more guests but they were all trivial matters. Wen Jiexi felt rather relieved at this. For more complicated situations, she only needed to look at the instructions and she could manage….although her speed might've been a little slow…

The customers Wen Jiexi received were rather patient and chatted with Wen Jiexi while she worked. So her nerves relaxed after a few more times and could even respond normally to their questions. 

After her fifth guest, Wen Jiexi checked the time left. Twenty minutes had passed, she can leave in just ten more! Great! 

Unfortunately, nothing can be that easy as in that moment, an accident happened. 

"Nobody move! This is a robbery!" Three men in masks rushed in while shouting at the top of their lungs. Two of them drew guns from their bags and pointed at the crowd. 

"Hands on your head! Squat down and don't move!" 

Wen Jiexi: What kind of scenario is this? 

Random employee: This is also a segment arranged by the program? Wow, so realistic!

The members of the production crew glanced at each other: Did we arrange for something like this?

And as a result, the robbers were able to witness a peculiar scene of everyone looking at them motionlessly as they continued to do their own things. This was completely different then what they had imagined. Could it be that they weren't intimidating at all??

Thinking to this point, the leader's face darkened and he was immediately displeased. He took a gun out and then shot it upwards. The fluorescent lights broke immediately, glass shattering to the ground as the bank filled with the pungent smell of smoke and gunpowder. 

"You think I'm joking, huh? All of you better put your hands on your head and squat down! Whoever dares to call the police will get their head blown off first!" 

Wen Jiexi: No, no, no, I think you've attracted the police's attention with your shooting just now…how stupid…although…are fake guns this realistic nowadays?

The bank staff seemed to have finally noticed something was wrong and their complexion paled as some began to scream in horror. 

"Shut up! If you continue to yell, I'll shoot you!" The leading robber roared and then pointed at the bag held by another robber. Then he pointed his gun at a middle-aged man in a bank uniform.

"Hurry up and put the money into this bag! You got ten minutes, or I'll blow your brains out! Yes, you! Come over here and get the bag." 

"Yes…yes, yes…." The middle-aged man wiped his sweaty forehead and took the bag.

"You, go accompany him in case he tries to pull anything." The leader motioned to one of the robbers to follow the middle-aged man. While the middle-aged man retrieved the money, he and the remaining robber paced back and forth, probably trying to prevent anyone from secretly calling the police. 

Wen Jiexi also hugged her head and squatted like the rest, but she looked around with a puzzled gaze. She looked over at the members of the production crew but saw that the crew was also panicking as they sat to the side. 

"I said, don't move! Don't you dare move! Do you not understand what I'm saying?!" The robber with a gun shouted. 

The people in the production crew saw the gun pointed at them and could only forcibly calm down as they met Wen Jiexi's confused gaze. 

Wait, is this not part of the show? 

Production crew: Nooooo!!!