After finishing his instructions to Jiang Yuan, Shao Yuye puffed out his cheeks and started blowing up the balloon with all his might.
He had to hurry through the stage and get the partner-swap item card. Just thinking that every extra minute he wasted meant his little sister spending one more minute with that dog Qi Luozhou…
He immediately blew even harder.
Jiang Yuan was also fired up by him, taking a deep breath and blowing up his balloon.
Logically speaking, the bigger they blew the balloon, the farther it should fly.
Compared with the urgency on their side, the vibe over at Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou’s side was much more relaxed.
By the time Shao Yuye and Jiang Yuan’s balloons had both swollen into huge round shapes, the two of them had only just taken their balloons out of the bag.
[I’m laughing to death. Brother Ye and Jiang Yuan’s side looks like <Seven Swords Battle Anthem1>, while God Zhou and Wanwan’s side is <Mandarin Ducks under Auspicious Moon2>3. Hahahaha!]
[Are you guys really on the same show? The contrast in vibes is way too big!!]
Shao Yuye finished blowing his balloon first.
It was enormous, bulging to the brim. Held in his hand, it was even bigger than his head. Brimming with confidence, he glanced around.
At this moment, Qi Luozhou and Shen Wanwan had only just started blowing their balloons.
The ‘good homie’ Jiang Yuan, whom Shao Yuye had just brainwashed, had also nearly finished blowing his.
Their progress was completely in the lead.
Shao Yuye squatted down and placed the balloon behind the starting line.
The finish line set by the production team was three meters away. Not too close, not too far. By his estimation, the air in the balloon should be enough to carry it drifting all the way there.
Shao Yuye let go.
The blue balloon, no longer pinched shut, released a faint hiss and shot forward with unstoppable momentum—
Jiang Yuan paused mid-blow for a second, watching helplessly as the blue balloon surged forward, took off directly, then spun *piu-piu* in the air before landing with a *pop*, neatly at Shao Yuye’s feet.
“……”
He silently shut his mouth.
Shao Yuye also choked for a moment.
The bullet comments exploded with laughter:
[Hahahaha! Brother Ye’s balloon looks impressive but is totally useless!]
[When he finished blowing it just now, I even got excited, thinking Brother Ye was about to clear the stage already, hahaha!]
Thanks to Shao Yuye’s failed experiment, it became clear that blowing the balloon too big—too much air—didn’t work either.
Jiang Yuan quietly let a bit of air out of his own balloon, adjusting it to what he thought was the right size.
On the other side, Qi Luozhou had also finished blowing his first balloon.
If Shao Yuye’s balloon was an XXL, then Jiang Yuan’s was an XL, while the one in Qi Luozhou’s hands barely counted as an M, not even an L.
Shao Yuye snorted coldly.
“If that can pass, I’ll livestream myself washing my hair upside down!”
Qi Luozhou replied nonchalantly, “I don’t even mind if you cut your hair upside down.”
[Hahahaha! As a chaos-lover, I suddenly really want God Zhou to pass. Not for anything else, just to see Brother Ye washing his hair upside down!]
[Even though God Zhou’s chances look tiny, I still want to beg the heavens. Please let God Zhou pass!]
Qi Luozhou and Jiang Yuan stood at the starting line together and released their balloons at the same time.
Jiang Yuan’s balloon had an excellent start.
Though it almost skimmed the ground the entire way, it made up for it by being steady and reliable, and in the end barely crossed the finish line.
Yes!
Shao Yuye excitedly high-fived Jiang Yuan.
As for Qi Luozhou’s balloon, its momentum was extremely weak. After flying out, it quickly went limp and collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing this, Shao Yuye mocked, “Pathetic.”
Qi Luozhou just smiled indifferently.
The bullet comments were filled with regret.
[Ah, if God Zhou had blown it a little bigger, it would’ve been fine!]
[It’s okay. As long as everyone blows them to Jiang Yuan’s size, they’ll pass right away. Lock these two teams together, clear the stage together, hahaha!]
Qi Luozhou’s laid-back attitude only strengthened Shao Yuye’s determination to rescue his sister.
Being with a guy like that must be pure torture!
He quickly blew another balloon to the right size, adjusted the angle of release a few times, and passed the stage smoothly.
Before leaving, he reluctantly made a gesture toward Shen Wanwan.
“Wait for me.”
Shen Wanwan nodded.
Standing beside her, Qi Luozhou’s smile never faded. He only lifted his chin slightly, but the usual detached air around him diminished a lot, as if he’d silently accepted some kind of challenge.
[Ahhh! ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ is way too shippable!]
[Thank you, Brother Ye. Even the ‘WanZhou’ shippers secretly got fed. At the moment Brother Ye said “Wait for me,” God Zhou’s expression was so meaningful!]
[Stop fighting already! If you’re gonna fight, go fight in the dance studio!]
After Shao Yuye and Jiang Yuan left, Qi Luozhou leisurely took a new balloon and started blowing again.
His movements were unhurried, looking very elegant.
Shen Wanwan went to release her balloon.
This stage really wasn’t hard.
As long as you got the balloon size and the release angle right, you could pass easily.
But theory was one thing, actually doing it still had some difficulty.
Her balloon fell just one step short of the finish line.
When she walked back, Qi Luozhou set down the balloon he hadn’t finished blowing yet.
At that size, failure was almost guaranteed.
She raised an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong?”
Qi Luozhou smiled brightly.
“Tired.”
He said it with complete justification.
The ‘Yu Yu’s still in the livestream: [???]
How are you tired?!
Do you maybe want to look at your passion-filled nemesis who’s already charging into the fourth stage?!
The ‘Xiao Chuan’s, however, were used to it.
[God Zhou has his own rhythm, okay!]
[Did he discover some hidden mission or something? Feels like he’s deliberately stalling for time.]
[Or maybe he’s just tired. Blowing balloons really does wear out your cheeks!]
Lin Kexin only found out that Shao Yuye had put out a harsh warning toward her because nosy show fans—who love drama as long as it’s not happening to them—kept tagging her like crazy.
She logged onto Weibo and posted an update—
@LinKexin : [Oh my god? Am I being called out by Brother Ye? 🫨🫨]
Fans rushed to the scene in one second and immediately started having fun.
[Brother Ye : Don’t sleep tonight, this is my hunting hour!]
[Kexin, remember to lock your doors and windows before bed. Brother Ye is coming tonight with his 40-meter broadsword!]
[I’m laughing to death, how did you even think of this? You actually split apart ‘Petty Revenge Duo’!]
[‘WanZhou’ shippers thank Kexin! Thank you, Kexin! ‘WanZhou’ just scored big points hahahaha! 😆😆]
At this time, the trending topics were almost completely taken over by <Extreme Challenge>—
#Shao Yuye calls out Lin Kexin#
#’Petty Revenge Duo split apart#
#WanZhou#
#Singles Team#
…
Every single topic had sky-high engagement and insane heat, truly a god-tier brawl.
Even so, one topic shot up like a dark horse, rocketing upward and finally landing firmly at No. 1 on the hot search—
#Shao Yuye eats his own words#
A meme blogger had made a comparison video.
<DJ Playlist—Shao Yuye’s face-slapping compilation!>
The first clip was Shao Yuye at the first stop.
Facing the camera, he was sharp all over, bristling with edge. He gave a cold laugh, his voice full of irritation.
—“Who do you think I least want to team up with??”
Her. Her. Or her!
The delicate Shen Wanwan, the annoying Shen Wanwan, the Shen Wanwan he wished he could split from on the spot.
—“And in the show, who would you most like to partner with?”
—“Anyone but Shen Wanwan.”
Back then, Shao Yuye was full of hostility. Even mentioning Shen Wanwan made him frown uncontrollably.
The scene cuts to today’s livestream.
—“Jiang Yuan, Shao Yuye, you’re a team!”
Shao Yuye, incredulous: “What did you say?”
—“Shen Wanwan, Qi Luozhou, you’re a team!”
Shao Yuye, furious: “Did you mess that up?!”
[Old Brother Ye: irritable cool guy; current Brother Ye: walking meme!]
[Hahahaha ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ is actually really shippable! ‘Even though I hated you before, now I only allow myself to take care of you!’]
At first, the comments were overwhelmingly positive, everyone laughing happily.
Until someone came in to stir things up:
[Heh, I advise you to keep the memes in check. Don’t cry later when the ‘partner’ turns into the sister-in-law.]
[The tone upstairs is way too sour. There’s zero ambiguity in ‘Petty Revenge Duo’, it’s just normal friendship. Why smear them like that? Besides, as long as Brother Ye is still an idol, he absolutely won’t date!]
Although the ‘Yu Yu’s fired back, that person still doubled down:
[Tsk. Believe men’s sweet talk? Pigs will climb trees first!
[I’ll put this here: Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan are definitely already dating! If not dating, then at least flirting! Feel free to dig this up later!]
Seeing that the person was completely unreasonable, the ‘Yu Yu’s didn’t bother arguing anymore and quickly buried those baseless speculations.
Meanwhile, some people started steering the narrative, claiming the director team had given Lin Kexin too much power, didn’t respect the guests’ wishes, and randomly assigned teams.
Most of the dissatisfaction came from Bai Ling’s fans.
With Bai Ling stuck with Su Tingxuan, a total deadweight, how fast could her progress possibly be?
Lin Kexin’s fans couldn’t match Bai Ling’s fans’ combat power, and within a few exchanges were shut down by the ‘Ling Jiao4‘s.
[Is Lin Kexin deliberately targeting Bai Ling?]
[Obviously. Bai Ling and Zhang Yiran were doing just fine, yet Lin Kexin had to split her up and pair her with Su Tingxuan!]
[Don’t tell me Lin Kexin is jealous of our Bai Ling?]
[Really feel bad for our Bai Ling. Such a kind, considerate little angel shouldn’t get this ending!!]
Some ‘Yu Yu’s couldn’t stand it anymore and went in to say a few words for Lin Kexin.
[Some people’s fans are really losing it. This is just a variety show. Are you seriously taking it that far?]
Haters snapped back angrily:
[Shen Wanwan must have paid Lin Kexin off! Otherwise why would Shen Wanwan and Qi Luozhou be a team? Bai Ling openly said before that Qi Luozhou is her idol and that she wanted to team up with him!]
That logic was truly… touching.
Even passersby couldn’t watch anymore and spoke up:
[What, just because you want to team up with Qi Luozhou, they have to assign you there? Who are you, Queen Mother of the West or the Jade Emperor? So impressive.]
[Anyway, I don’t believe Qi Luozhou would choose Shen Wanwan.]
[Me neither!]
The ‘Xiao Chuan’s stared at these confident statements in total confusion.
Wait.
Why wouldn’t we believe it?
Have you people even watched the show?
They look… really harmonious right now…
The internet was in an uproar.
The show aired all day, and people argued all day over whether Qi Luozhou had chosen Shen Wanwan.
Finally, that evening, the full version of the third stop of <Extreme Challenge> officially went online.
And in the complete episode, all viewers finally saw the full picture of Lin Kexin’s team assignments. In the written partner preferences—
Jin Xiaoyu and Zhang Yiran chose each other.
Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye chose each other.
Su Tingxuan chose Bai Ling.
Bai Ling chose Qi Luozhou.
And Qi Luozhou…
chose Shen Wanwan.
The live comments exploded:
[Holy sh*t?! Did I see that right?! Qi Luozhou actually actively chose Shen Wanwan?!]
- most likely refers to the background music theme during battles from the movie <Seven Swords>, a wuxia movie released in 2005. ↩︎
- 鸳鸯 (yuānyāng) literally means mandarin ducks, and 祥月 (xiáng yuè) literally means auspicious moon. Mandarin ducks are a Chinese symbol for lifelong couples and the moon is a classic romantic setting in Chinese poetry and song. ↩︎
- This whole sentence means that Shao Yuye and Jiang Yuan’s side had a tense battle vibe while Qi Luozhou and Shen Wanwan’s side had an old-school romance vibe. ↩︎
- 菱角 (líng jiǎo) literally means water chestnut. Bai Ling’s fandom name. ↩︎