Amelia Lockhart only looked up at Ethan Quinn, her eyes red-rimmed, when she heard the gasps rising and falling around her.
The moment the pain hit, she had almost instinctively tried to pull her hand away. Thankfully, Ethan had reacted quickly and gripped it tightly; otherwise, their mission would have failed.
'I can't believe it. The High God is actually happy to see me in pain?'
Watching the corners of his lips lift into a slight smile, Amelia Lockhart felt like she finally understood why Ethan Quinn was the most popular High God. No wonder so many Immortal Fairies adored him.
When Ethan Quinn smiled, it was as if everything else lost its color.
It was like a pebble tossed into a calm lake, sending shimmering ripples across the surface and bringing the entire scene to life.
She felt as if the pain from a moment ago had been completely healed.
Amelia Lockhart silently devoured two large pieces of durian with one hand. Seeing Ethan Quinn chug more than half a bottle of water, she felt a little bad. She picked up a bright yellow piece and asked him, "Want a piece? We might not get any food this afternoon, and this durian is really fresh."
Amelia Lockhart believed that fresh durian was the most delicious kind, with a sweet and savory flavor. Maybe Ethan Quinn could handle it.
Ruby Sawyer had been keeping a close eye on Amelia Lockhart. The moment she saw Amelia about to feed Ethan Quinn durian, she immediately spoke up with "kind" advice. "Amelia, Ethan can't eat durian. He threw up once just from smelling it. It was all over the trending topics. You can't possibly not know that, right?"
Of course Amelia Lockhart knew. She had come to the mortal world to repay a debt of gratitude, so she paid the closest attention to everything that happened with Ethan Quinn.
But if he only drank water, what if he fainted from hunger? If the High God starved to death, she wouldn't be able to repay her debt.
Amelia Lockhart's eyes instantly filled with resolve. With a do-or-die expression, she looked at Ethan Quinn and, just as he was about to take another drink of water, shoved the fragrant, delicious piece of durian in her hand right into his mouth!
[Is this Amelia Lockhart nuts?! Our girl Ruby already reminded her he'd puke!]
With a mouthful of durian, Ethan Quinn looked as if someone had hit the pause button. The scene froze.
Amelia Lockhart noticed he looked like he was about to gag and immediately panicked. 'If Ethan Quinn throws up the durian, will that count as a failed mission?'
Amelia Lockhart quickly shoved the piece of durian a little further in, stuffing his mouth completely full.
Ethan Quinn frowned slightly.
"This durian is fresh; it doesn't have that weird smell. You can't just eat nothing, right?"
Ethan Quinn shot her a cool glance.
Then, he was forced to take a large bite of the durian flesh.
Amelia Lockhart finally let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes sparkling, she watched him and pulled the durian away slightly. "How is it? Do you feel like throwing up?"
Ethan Quinn chewed in silence.
'It's... actually not that bad?'
Seeing him finally swallow, Amelia Lockhart immediately offered the durian to his lips again.
Ethan Quinn hesitated for a second before taking another bite.
The image froze in place.
One standing on her toes to feed him.
The other lowering his head to eat.
The atmosphere on set was quiet and strange. Ruby Sawyer, for one, couldn't believe her eyes. Ethan Quinn actually ate durian? And Amelia Lockhart fed it to him with her own hands?
The live comments, however, were like a pot of boiling water.
[Our boy is trying so hard for the mission, he even ate durian! My heart aches for him!]
[SOB SOB SOB! I wish I could switch places with Amelia Lockhart right now! I want to feed our boy too!]
In the end, Amelia Lockhart finished feeding him a small piece of durian. Ethan Quinn's nonchalant expression left her unable to figure out what he was thinking.
"Are you okay?"
Ethan Quinn finished the remaining half-bottle of water and gave her a look that said, 'Figure it out yourself.'
[I'm so sick of Amelia Lockhart. Our boy won't even talk to her now!]
After confirming he wasn't having any adverse reactions, Amelia Lockhart polished off the rest of the durian in a flash.
"Ethan Quinn and Amelia Lockhart are in first place!" When the director's team announced the results, Amelia Lockhart's eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. 'Good, I didn't drag him down!'
Once the mission was over, Amelia Lockhart wanted to pull her hand away. She'd felt immense pressure being held by the High God the whole time.
Ethan Quinn merely glanced down at their intertwined hands before finally letting go.
[Haha! The moment the mission ended, our boy let go!]
While the other six contestants were still battling various foods, Amelia Lockhart and Ethan Quinn were already standing in front of the table for selecting the afternoon's mission.
Four cards were laid out on the table.
The backs of the cards showed one star to Four Stars, respectively.
The director, clearly in a good mood, smiled and began to explain. "These are the mission cards for the afternoon. The stars on the back represent the difficulty. The one-star mission is the easiest, and the Four Stars mission is the hardest. You two have won the right to choose first."
Amelia Lockhart's eyes lit up, and she immediately reached for the easiest one-star mission, but Ethan Quinn grabbed her sleeve, stopping her.
Amelia Lockhart gave him a confused look, but Ethan Quinn didn't say anything. He just let go of her sleeve and shot her another look.
Amelia Lockhart understood. She turned to the director and asked, "Is the reward for completing each mission the same?"
Only then did the director continue with a smile, "Of course not. The rewards correspond to the star level. However, if you choose a high-difficulty mission and fail to complete it, you get no reward at all."
This time, Amelia Lockhart didn't dare reach out. She waited as Ethan Quinn thought for a few seconds. He reached out and picked the three stars mission card. After he flipped it over, Amelia Lockhart craned her neck to look.
Three stars mission: Help Granny Lawrence fill her water storage tank!
'Doesn't seem that hard, does it?'
Or so Amelia Lockhart thought.
It wasn't until they asked for directions and found Granny Lawrence's house that they saw the enormous water tank and understood why this was a three stars mission.
This water tank...
Perhaps it should be called a cistern.
It was a concrete tank, about three meters high, six meters long, and six meters wide.
Granny Lawrence was old and had trouble getting around. Volunteers would periodically haul water from the village river to fill the tank for her.
Amelia Lockhart's mouth twitched as she looked at the two shoulder poles and four buckets in front of them. 'With just these four small buckets... filling this entire tank would probably take a whole day and night, wouldn't it?'
[HOLY CRAP! The production team is ruthless! A tank that huge!]
Granny Lawrence seemed to notice the two of them questioning their life choices. She chuckled and said in accented Mandarin, "The tank is still half full. I didn't expect two such pretty young'uns to be the ones fetching water."
Hearing that the tank was half full and that Granny Lawrence had complimented her, Amelia Lockhart's face lit up with a smile. "It's no trouble, Granny Lawrence! Which way is the village river?"
"Just follow this path to the very end, and you'll see it."
Amelia Lockhart nodded, then deftly snatched the shoulder poles from Ethan Quinn's hands. She quickly tied the two poles together and hoisted the combined pole, with all four empty buckets hanging from it, onto her shoulder.
'Taking care of the High God is my undeniable duty!'
"You didn't eat much for lunch, so you should stay here and chat with Granny Lawrence! Anyway, I'm strong. A few trips should be no problem."
With that, Amelia Lockhart ran off as if she had wings on her feet, the four buckets JINGLING and CLANGING behind her.
[I think... I'm starting to ship them...]
[She's definitely just trying to show off in front of our boy. I refuse to believe she can actually fill that huge cistern!]