The live chat barrage started flooding the screen in disbelief, while the guests in the observation room were utterly dumbfounded as they watched everything on the TV.

Song Yun stood up in disbelief, while the others all looked shocked.

The guests on site and the host stared, dumbfounded, at the large figure crouching over there.

They had no idea what was going on with him, but judging from the shocked expression on the cameraman’s face opposite them, this definitely was not something small.

At that moment, the handsome young man seemed to notice it too. He hesitated before walking over, and in a low voice he asked the red-haired man: “Chris, are you… all right?”

The barrage instantly exploded: “No one could be better than him! His face is still red!”

“The one we should be worried about now is you, Mr. Ye!”

“Don’t get too close, careful or he’ll take advantage of you!”

But those present had no idea what the barrage was saying. Several guests, who had just been lying on the ground pretending to be dead, now all sat halfway up, staring at the crouching man, and the host was about to step forward to ask what had happened.

And then…

They saw the red-haired man, who had just been arrogant beyond belief and teamed up with Ye Wangxing to wipe them all out, now sitting there with his entire face flushed red.

His eyes were even a little wet, making them look like flowing gold.

The guests he had just eliminated: “……”

Wait, brother, who are you?

The man in front of them, who looked flushed, bashful, and pure-hearted—was he really the same person who had been so ghostly and perfectly coordinated with the young man earlier, nearly scaring them to death?

The blank expressions on the guests faces gave the audience another round of content to laugh at.

Even more eye-catching, however, was his attitude toward the handsome young man beside him.

“Ahem, sweetheart, nice working with you~”

The red-haired man still wore a smile as he looked at the handsome youth, but it was different. Before, with the same carefree grin, he had seemed wanton and rakish. But now…

The more they looked, the more he seemed shy. He even coughed, and when he called out “sweetheart,” the end of the word lifted slightly, carrying a trace of tremor.

Even though he tried afterward to act more unrestrained, the blush on his face ruined the effect.

The handsome young man stared at the red-haired man like he was stunned.

He froze at first, then it seemed to dawn on him who exactly was standing in front of him.

He looked the red-haired man up and down several times, lips parting slightly, his eyes full of disbelief.

The barrage at this moment produced a godlike comment: “Mr. Widower looks like he wants to say: ‘You’ve already slept in my bed, and now you’re pulling this on me?!’”

As the comment slid across the screen from right to left, it was instantly liked by a flood of people, becoming the iconic line of this broadcast.

The red-haired man also seemed to realize the state he was in, and the smile on his face froze completely. For a moment he could not move at all.

Just as the situation was deadlocked, the host finally reacted and hurried forward to smooth things over. He first praised the eliminated guests for their abilities, and for not abandoning their teammates even under such harsh conditions.

Meanwhile, the two people who had created those “harsh conditions” still stood frozen nearby, silent, as if playing a game of statues.

The red-haired man smiled stiffly at the handsome youth. Ye Wangxing seemed to realize something too, staring at the red-haired man thoughtfully. The two just stared at each other, neither speaking.

After finishing his praise of the eliminated guests, the host turned to the pair beside them.

“…First of all, congratulations to the two of you for finally winning this season’s championship. So, do you have any words you’d like to share?”

The host smiled broadly, and the red-haired man reacted first. Facing the outsiders, he finally put on his usual mischievous grin again and said: “Maybe the difficulty was too low? Their aim was decent, but their tactical awareness was terrible.”

The host’s lips twitched, but he still dutifully handed the microphone to Ye Wangxing.

“It was fine. But the choice of partner was good—after all, there were six living people. If it had been just me, even slaughtering pigs wouldn’t have taken under ten minutes.”

The handsome young man’s lips curved into a smile as he spoke. Although his eyes still didn’t look at the red-haired man, the blush that had just faded from his face returned again the very next second.

—The atmosphere was perfect.

Just from this scene, no one would have guessed that only half an hour earlier, one of them had slapped the other.

After this clip was released, the number of viewers in the livestream rose once more. But when the new onlookers rushed into the “battlefield,” the two had already gotten into the car heading for the next location.

This made the barrage wail in protest: “What the hell? They’re back in the car again? I want to watch the widower and the red-haired pure-hearted boy interact!!!”

“I feel the same! Director! This guy was not as advertised! Why was it only the redhead bothering that widower gentleman? Where was the pure-hearted boy I wanted to see?!”

And just as these new viewers were wailing, the older audience members, who had been watching all along, spoke with the tone of those who had “been there, done that.”

“This was the pure-hearted boy you wanted. Friendly reminder: forty minutes ago this guy just trended on the hot search.”

“If you don’t know, sisters, just search for ‘forced kiss’ and ‘true feelings for someone.’ Put those two keywords together, and you’ll know everything you want.”

While the new viewers went crazy on Weibo, the older ones sighed.

“Who would have thought that forty minutes ago we thought this was a case of force and assault, and just forty minutes later we could watch a scene of complete reversal?”

“Honestly, I still couldn’t believe it. These two men looked so experienced, and yet they could still play such pure-hearted games. Was I the one who went insane, or was it the world?”

“? Sister in front, elaborate?”

“Can’t elaborate. If I say more, I’ll get banned.”

As a car whooshed past across the barrage, other comments shifted the topic back to Ye Wangxing.

“What if Mr. Widower knew that this guy could blush just from a high-five—would that whole imprisonment incident have ever happened?”

“I don’t think it would.”

“I bet if the widower just curled his finger, this guy would follow him around on a leash—But who the hell could have guessed that the same guy who played imprisonment and forced kisses would blush red as a tomato and crouch down just from giving his crush a high-five?!”

The barrage was incredulous, and so were the people on site. The six guests—three men and three women—kept sneaking glances at the pair. They had no mind to stick to the scripted personas at all. Their eyes showed no hunger for clout, only the passion of gossip.

Ironically, this won them plenty of favor from casual viewers—after all, it had been a long time since anyone had seen such normal people in a variety show. And since someone else had already taken responsibility for providing the topic, the rest could just sit back and enjoy the gossip, giving the audience breathing space—or rather, space to gossip more.

While the car ride left everyone inside quiet, the viewers rushed straight to Weibo and other platforms to vent their frenzy. But the director did not ignore the traffic from this segment, she directly shifted the car footage back to the observation room.

Normally, the observation room should not have switched feeds so frequently, but the effect of the show was too strong, and the guests there had no choice but to get back to work.

The agent and the singing king, though the biggest names, were the least troublesome during breaks. At most they requested a touch-up or some water, and the atmosphere between them was like that of an old married couple.

The ones with the most demands were the top star and the actor, the “young couple.” One moment they wanted makeup touch-ups, the next they wanted an energy boost. The actor was fine—he just reminded his assistant to get him unsweetened milk tea later.

But the top star clearly seemed to be intentionally tormenting his assistant. One moment he wanted coffee, the next juice. When both arrived, he said the juice was artificial and unhealthy, then demanded milk tea instead.

Song Yun frowned at this, unable to stomach it.

But the top star didn’t care. When he saw Song Yun frowning at him, he didn’t even spare him a glance, ignoring him completely.

Song Yun had no choice but to withdraw his gaze, frown, and tell his assistant not to go near the top star later. As for himself and Shi Xuanzhu, their requests were no more than makeup touch-ups and stretching their limbs.

The veteran actor couple didn’t need makeup either, but judging from their atmosphere, they must have had a big argument outside just now.

The husband’s face stayed stiff, and the wife’s complexion was no better. But when the host asked everyone to return to their seats and prepare for the live broadcast, the wife at least managed to show a small smile—just that alone put her ahead of her husband.

Still, everyone had seen what happened on TV earlier and remembered it. When the camera finally turned to them, they all put on shocked expressions, as if it was their first time seeing what was shown on screen.

This made Song Yun sigh—indeed, actors in the entertainment industry never lacked skill. Then he too put on a shocked expression.

Except his was genuine.

He was truly shocked—that redhead actually had such a pure-hearted side.

The host then moved on to the routine question, asking the guests if they thought any couples had potential this time.

This time, the answers weren’t limited to Ye Wangxing and the redhead.

As huge as that scoop had been, it also gave them inspiration.

The agent and the singing king exchanged a look and chose the female fitness trainer and the athlete, since they had held out the longest against Ye Wangxing and Chris.

“When they looked at each other, there was a sense of mutual respect, like comrades standing side by side.”

But the top star disagreed. After discussing with the actor, he stuck to his view that the female trainer would prefer the domineering white-collar man.

“No matter how strong a woman is, there’s always a little woman inside her heart.”

The top star declared. He completely missed the huge eye roll his wife gave beside him.

Then Shi Xuanzhu jumped in, announcing that the dessert shop owner’s gaze had always drifted toward the white-collar man, so he figured she liked him at first sight.

“Indeed, that was how it was for my wife and me back in the theater. She kept looking at me, so I gave her the chance to pursue me.”

The veteran actor smiled proudly as he said it.

However, his wife, who had always supported him, directly ruined his argument this time.

“At that time, I had no experience. I had never seen anyone wearing bell-bottom pants that dragged on the ground, so naturally, I stared at you,” the aunt said bluntly.

The veteran actor’s face turned ashen, he could guess with his toes what kind of explosion would appear in the bullet comments.

“But you can’t say that the young boss also stared at that white-collar worker because of his clothes!”

The veteran actor rebutted, clearly flustered.

At that moment, Song Yun, whether deliberately or accidentally, smiled and said: “Uh, maybe she noticed that the white-collar worker’s height-increasing insoles were showing? She probably had a slight obsessive-compulsive trait—whether it was her hairstyle, bracelet, or clothes, everything was aligned symmetrically.”

Song Yun smiled as he spoke.

“And she also stared at the female fitness coach for a long time, her outfit today was somewhat asymmetrical.”

With someone else backing her up, the wife raised her chin higher, which made the veteran actor’s gaze toward Song Yun seem a little off.

However, since this was normal conversation, the veteran actor didn’t dare confront Song Yun.

So he only looked at Shi Xuanzhu and said with a fake smile: “Seems like Teacher Shi isn’t fulfilling his husbandly duties.”

The veteran actor’s comment energized the bullet comments after a short pause.

“What’s wrong with this old conservative? Shi Yingdi’s wife merely expressed her opinion honestly, and he’s accused of failing his marital duties?”

“This old guy must have been born in the late Qing Dynasty. That tone hit instantly. Feels like he’s about to pull out foot-binding cloth.”

“Stop, the Qing Dynasty prohibited foot-binding, it was those old conservatives trying to rebel against Qing but still not wanting to lose their heads, so they harmed women at home instead.”

“So this old conservative is worse than people in the Qing Dynasty! But I feel the top idol isn’t completely right either. Even the strongest woman has a vulnerable side, does that mean even the strongest man has a weak side?”

“This is years-old thinking, yet they keep bringing it up. No wonder the rumors about the top idol’s male chauvinism weren’t baseless. Actors with him probably only wanted his resources.”

“Wait, what’s going on? Why isn’t Shi Yingdi saying anything? He’s even nodding and smiling. People are cursing your wife, at least defend her a little! Could it be because your wife didn’t support your view, you’re upset?”

The bullet comments were incredulous seeing Shi Xuanzhu nod at the veteran actor, appearing to agree with him. More viewers started sympathizing with the slightly stunned Song Yun.

Fortunately, Shi Xuanzhu didn’t do anything to raise viewers’ blood pressure. After nodding at the veteran actor, he whispered: “Senior, although I support your opinion, Song Yun is my partner. This isn’t about failing marital duties, it’s mutual respect between spouses.”

“He supports his view, I have mine. Even if our opinions differ, we won’t argue over it.”

Shi Xuanzhu held Song Yun’s hand beside him and smiled.

“I believe my partner feels the same.”

His words were elegant. Although the bullet comments sensed something off, Shi Xuanzhu’s hired online boosters quickly redirected their attention.

Song Yun found it strange but, after thinking, didn’t feel anything wrong.

The veteran actor felt his face was somewhat contradicted, but seeing Shi Xuanzhu’s gentle smile, he snorted and stayed silent, looking at his wife with an increasingly unpleasant expression.

His expression caused another wave of outrage in the bullet comments, but attention soon shifted.

—The eight guests finally arrived at the rooms they would stay in for the next few days.

Since their luggage had been checked beforehand, they didn’t need to open the suitcases again, and simply carried their luggage to their single rooms with the room cards provided by the host.

Before leaving, the host smiled mysteriously at them: “Except for the two champions, the others, please come down as soon as possible.”

This piqued the curiosity of the six other guests. They exchanged glances and quickly rushed toward the only staircase, dragging their luggage upstairs.

The two champions leisurely dragged their luggage upstairs at a slow pace.

The red-haired man had finally repaired his language system during the car ride. He looked at the handsome young man with a playful expression: “I didn’t expect us to share the same roof. If he sees this, he’d crawl out of the ground to kill me, right?”

It was obvious whom the red-haired man referred to, but the handsome young man showed no sign of anger. His previously calm expression turned cold as he quietly said without looking at the red-haired man: “…I actually hope he crawls up from the ground to find me.”

The young man dragged his suitcase down the corridor, the rolling sound echoing. His expression was cold, yet tinged with sorrow, making his words simultaneously light and heavy.

The bullet comments were nearly moved to tears

“…I really feel how much the widower loved his deceased husband. That gaze could never come from someone indifferent to the deceased.”

“I also hope my loved one could crawl back from the ground to me. Even if it costs me a scolding, I’d find it worth it…”

“Suddenly, the person next to him looks a little dazzling—clearly a wealthy man.”

The red-haired man, however, wasn’t moved by the sorrowful expression. He whistled, smiling: “So deep in love, seems he hasn’t forgotten him.”

“I never forgot him. Besides, I could never forget him.”

The bullet comments didn’t notice the pause before the young man spoke and continued marveling at the heavenly love between him and his husband.

The young man stopped at his room door and glanced at the red-haired man: “Aren’t you going to your own room?”

The red-haired man raised an eyebrow: “If you don’t mind, I’d like to share a bed with you tonight.”

“I don’t want to. Go to your own room.”

After saying this, the young man opened his room door and went in. The red-haired man ignored his words and followed with his luggage.

“This room is even smaller than the toilet at home. I wonder if you can get used to it, sweetheart—”

The red-haired man entered, commenting on the room, but stopped midway.

He saw the handsome young man standing by the head of the bed, looking at a simple but elegant jewelry box that shouldn’t even appear here.

Beside the box was a neatly written card.

The young man stared blankly at the card.

The bullet comments were familiar with this, having seen many variety shows.

“Is a new task triggered?”

“Do you only get this for winning the championship? I didn’t see this box in others’ rooms.”

“Did the crazy guy see it? Could it affect the next task?”

As the bullet comments discussed, the red-haired man walked over, followed by a cameraman who zoomed in on the jewelry box.

They saw the young man gently pick up the box and open it.

Inside was a stunning green thumb ring.

The water and color looked exactly like imperial jade.

However, neither the cameraman nor the bullet comments thought it was genuine, they assumed it was a task requirement from the director—there was a card next to it, after all.

When the camera focused on the card, the bullet comments realized something was off.

“—Whose task card uses red letters to write: ‘I give you power, my partner’?”

The audience found it strange, thinking either it was the director’s prank or someone else had given it.

If the former, the director was insane, if the latter… who could call the handsome young man ‘my partner’?

The bullet comments felt a chill rising up their legs.

The young man’s reaction made them feel even colder.

The dark red letters looked ominous, yet the young man seemed entranced, staring at the card.

Fortunately, the red-haired man stepped forward, took the card, and slowly tore it to pieces.

He then smiled, covered the young man’s and his earpieces, and whispered a few words. The cameraman barely captured a few words: “No,” “fake,” “verified.”

These words were jumbled, leaving the bullet comments unable to piece together the truth.

After the card was taken and destroyed, the situation improved for the young man.

He even stopped the cameraman and director from reporting, saying he knew exactly who had given it.

This piqued the audience’s curiosity, but the young man didn’t explain.

He simply looked at the ring and slowly put it on his thumb.

The imperial jade fit perfectly, like a wealthy heir in full control of his family, and…

It fit seamlessly.

Even when he tried to remove it, it took considerable effort.

“…Just like him” He murmured.

His voice was pleasant, yet it made the bullet comments wish they could hide under a blanket.

The red-haired man showed a scornful, slightly gnashing expression.

“Tch, persistent ghost,” he muttered.

The viewers, though frightened, still gave a sharp comment: “—Why does he look like a mistress seeing her partner with the legitimate spouse?”

 

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