The male participants were also watching the live broadcast.
Jiang Yuan, Qi Luozhou, and Su Tingxuan shared a room.
Unlike Jiang Qianfan and the others, who were watching for entertainment, Jiang Yuan was worried that Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan might clash again.
Due to the incident that morning where someone fell into the water, both Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan were facing a wave of online criticism, nearly losing all their public favor.
Especially Shao Yuye. As a top-tier celebrity, his every word and action were magnified. At such a critical moment, being caught up in this kind of scandal made many of his competitors, both openly and secretly, fanning the flames, hoping to bring him down.
Jiang Yuan was known for being a peacemaker.
He thought that if Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan had another conflict, he could step in to mediate.
“Fortunately, it looks like they’re both calmer tonight.”
Seeing the two of them temporarily at peace on the screen, Jiang Yuan let out a long sigh of relief.
After finishing their tasks, the day’s live broadcast was coming to an end.
The production team handed them a 20-yuan ‘Speed Token.’
The Speed Token was a currency used in <Extreme Challenge>, the variety show, and could be exchanged for prop cards or daily necessities.
The show maintained a strict reward-and-punishment system. Although this team ranked last and had to face the nightly dishwashing punishment, the producers wouldn’t let them work for nothing, so they rewarded them with 20 yuan in Speed Tokens.
Shen Wanwan took the token from the director’s hand.
“Give it to me.”
Jiang Yuan, who had just relaxed, immediately tensed up again. “Oh no, I have a bad feeling they’re about to argue again!”
Sure enough, Shao Yuye’s temper flared instantly. His tone was sharp:
“What kind of nonsense are you trying to pull this time?!”
Shen Wanwan replied, “I want to get a hand treatment.”
The livestream chat exploded with criticism.
[Shen Wanwan is unbelievable! I thought she had changed, but nope, here she goes again!]
[It’s just washing dishes! What’s the big deal? You’d think she spent the whole day hauling bricks or something!]
[This is ridiculous. I seriously think she’s just pretending to be a rich heiress. No way a real rich girl would wash dishes. She probably realized she let it slip and is now playing up this act!]
Jiang Yuan sighed. “Sigh, Shen Wanwan has always been delicate. Making her wash dishes really is a bit much for a pampered young lady. But people don’t need to go this hard on her.”
“She’s so dramatic.” Su Tingxuan couldn’t help but complain. After a pause, he added, “Pretty annoying, actually.”
“Her hands are swollen.”
At that moment, Qi Luozhou, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.
Jiang Yuan and Su Tingxuan were both stunned.
The ‘God Zhou’ noticed such a small detail?
On the screen, the night breeze ruffled the strands of hair by the girl’s cheek.
Her pale nose wrinkled slightly from the pain, and her slender fingers were tinged an unnatural red.
Su Tingxuan was momentarily dazed.
He hadn’t noticed at all.
And, naturally, Shao Yuye hadn’t realized that Shen Wanwan’s hands were swollen either.
He just found her annoying.
They had been bickering for days, and at this point, he was both exhausted and irritated. With a careless wave of his hand, he simply said, “Do whatever you want,” before turning on his heel and striding away.
The livestream ended there.
An hour and a half later, Shen Wanwan finished her hand treatment, and the swelling had eased.
001 nudged her affectionately : {Well, this is just part of your character setting.}
No one else knew, but it did.
Shen Wanwan actually felt pain.
{Luckily, now that you’ve awakened, these pre-set conditions in the novel should start fading away. But I still have to remind you, never offend the female lead! Otherwise, these debuffs might haunt you for life!}
“Mm.”
Shen Wanwan responded absentmindedly.
The next morning, the live broadcast resumed. After the initial introductions, there was a routine segment where each group make declarations.
The top three teams had relatively close scores. Zhang Yiran’s team, currently in first place, struck a playful victory pose. Zhang Yiran sighed dramatically.
“Aiyaa, we keep unlocking new levels first, always getting the first look at everything. It’s kinda boring.”
Jin Xiaoyu fired back immediately, “If some sneaky people hadn’t used an obstacle card to sabotage us yesterday, we would’ve been first!”
“Then use it back on us, duh! Bleh~”
Zhang Yiran stuck out his tongue at her.
Li Yan, just as infuriating, wiggled his finger and beckoned them forward tauntingly—”Come at us, then!”
Jin Xiaoyu huffed, “Just you wait! We’ll knock you down to second place today—no, wait! God Zhou, hurry up and overtake them! Push them down to third!”
‘God Zhou’ was what fans called Qi Luozhou.
Bai Ling covered her mouth, giggling as she stole a glance at Qi Luozhou beside her.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting fragmented shadows across his face.
His slightly upturned peach blossom eyes softened the sharpness of his strong brows, giving him an air of refined elegance.
When he didn’t smile, he seemed distant, as if keeping the world at arm’s length.
If Shao Yuye’s coldness was aggressive, an outright stay-away-from-me hostility—
Then Qi Luozhou’s coldness was different. He could interact with people just fine, yet no one ever truly reached his heart.
And yet, someone like that was born with such irresistibly soulful eyes.
It only made his enigmatic charm all the more intoxicating.
Under Jin Xiaoyu’s expectant gaze, Qi Luozhou spoke unhurriedly, in his usual lazy drawl.
“We’ll take our time.”
[Hahaha! I knew God Zhou would say that!]
[God Zhou : The struggles of the world have nothing to do with me.]
[The real ‘I don’t compete’ Qi Luozhou!]
[God Zhou : Don’t @ me, I’m just here to admire the scenery. Hahahaha! ]
The fourth team consisted of Jia Lu and Chi Tian. Jia Lu, a top model, was cool and reserved, not much of a talker. Chi Tian, on the other hand, was chatty and adorable but didn’t have much influence, making her presence rather weak in the show.
The two of them were the diligent, task-focused type. They have been on the show since the beginning, yet barely stirring any buzz.
The two finished their conversation without much enthusiasm, and it was now Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan’s turn.
Jiang Qianfan was terrible at games, and Su Tingxuan was a spoiled young master with little physical ability. Their progress as a team had been sluggish from the start.
She patted Su Tingxuan’s shoulder and said boldly, “Let’s just aim not to come in last.”
After all, if they ended up last, they would be eliminated the next day.
[Hahaha, help! When Jiang Qianfan said they were aiming not to be last, Brother Ye’s vein literally twitched.]
[Competitive Shao Yuye: Holding it in.jpg]
[Brother Ye, hurry up and shake off Shen Wanwan! Go for first place!!!]
Everyone turned to look at Shao Yuye.
Shao Yuye waved his hand dismissively. “Nothing to say.”
Giving up before the last moment wasn’t his style, but clearly, being teamed up with Shen Wanwan meant he’d soon be packing his bags and leaving the show.
Damn.
This sucked.
Today, Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan’s team would start from Level 11.
Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan had spent an hour last night struggling with this level and still hadn’t cleared it.
The competition venue was a fifteen-minute ride from their accommodations, and all four of them had to take a sightseeing vehicle together.
Su Tingxuan got on first. Seeing Shen Wanwan approach with her usual arrogance, he instinctively wiped the seat for her.
Otherwise, this pampered princess would complain for half a day.
But Shen Wanwan didn’t sit next to him. Instead, she chose the seat in front, and Shao Yuye sat beside her.
Su Tingxuan froze, his hand pausing mid-wipe.
Jiang Qianfan sat down next to him, clearly amused by his action.
“Didn’t take you for the considerate type,” she teased.
Su Tingxuan let out an awkward laugh.
Meanwhile, Shao Yuye closed his eyes as soon as he got on the vehicle.
Shen Wanwan didn’t say anything either, simply turning to gaze at the scenery outside.
The icy atmosphere between them was a stark contrast to Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan, who were chatting animatedly in the back.
Jiang Qianfan had already fired off three different topics, but Su Tingxuan, lost in thought, hadn’t responded.
Curious, she followed his gaze.
“What are you looking at?”
Startled, Su Tingxuan quickly snapped out of it, touching the tip of his nose guiltily. “Nothing.”
It was just… weird.
He was chatting away with another woman, yet Shen Wanwan hadn’t looked back even once.
Level 11 was a moving basketball challenge.
The hoop moved rapidly from side to side, and contestants had to shoot from five meters away. To pass, they needed to score five consecutive baskets. If they missed even once, they had to start over.
Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan had been stuck on this level for a solid two hours the previous afternoon.
It was indeed a tough challenge. Success required both precise aim and the ability to predict the hoop’s movement.
The first two teams had resorted to spending 200 speed coins to skip the level.
Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan didn’t have that many coins, so they had no choice but to tough it out.
After the director explained the rules, Shao Yuye chuckled. “Isn’t this basically a freebie?”
Before his debut, he had been on his school’s basketball team and was a skilled player.
After debuting, he had aced every basketball-related challenge he’d encountered on variety shows.
[Hahaha! Other contestants: weak, pitiful, helpless. Brother Ye: Did the director just hand-feed me points?]
[Jiang Qianfan & Su Tingxuan: Hey, hey, hey, have some manners, will you?!]
Shao Yuye picked up a basketball, his arm muscles flexing perfectly.
Standing tall under the sunlight, he casually flicked his wrist, sending the ball into a graceful arc through the air, only to hear a crisp thunk as it hit the rim and bounced onto the ground.
First shot, perfect basket.
Impressive.
[AHHHHH! BROTHER YE IS THE BEST! BROTHER YE IS A LEGEND! ]
[The almighty ACE, Shao Yuye! The unstoppable Shao Yuye! The comeback king Shao Yuye! My husband Shao Yuye!]
[LMAO girl, put some pants on!]
[Pfft. I’m calling rigged! Brother Ye’s shots must be fake. Unless he comes and makes one right in front of me, I refuse to believe it!]
[Y’all are shameless, your thirst is practically smacking me in the face!]
Shen Wanwan stood with her arms crossed, watching Shao Yuye showcase his skills.
Since he was so confident, she saw no need to step in.
Shao Yuye dribbled the ball effortlessly, barely glancing at the hoop before launching another shot.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
One shot, two shots, three shots…
His movements were fluid and efficient. It was over in less than two minutes.
Under the stunned gazes of Jiang Qianfan and Su Tingxuan, Shao Yuye easily cleared the level with Shen Wanwan.
A staff member approached to announce their success.
“Congratulations! Your team has passed the level. Please proceed to the prize wheel before moving on to the next stage.”
At the end of each level, contestants spun a wheel with three categories: Opportunities, Cards, and Tokens.
Landing on ‘Opportunities’ meant immediately gaining whatever advantage was listed.
‘Cards’ could be stored for later use.
Tokens awarded additional Speed Tokens, which directly affected contestants’ quality of life during the show.
Feeling good after the easy win, Shao Yuye casually spun the wheel.
The wheel spun rapidly before gradually slowing down and finally stopping on an unexpected section.
The staff member reacted instinctively, blurting out before thinking:
“Congratulations! You’ve won a -10 Speed Token reward! Wishing you the best of luck in your extreme challenge!”
Shen Wanwan : “…”
Shao Yuye : “…”
It was as if a flock of crows had just flown overhead, cawing in unison.