Please Like Her 12 – Both fall off the horse1.
If there is one person in a group whose intelligence is not up to par, they will be subject to ridicule from everyone.
But if there are two, the situation will become absurd, much like a scene from a comedy show.
The who couldn’t accept this situation the most is Song Zeqian. He seems just one step away from the truth, but that last step is ridiculously wrong.
But was he wrong about his observations and deductions about people?
No, he wasn’t. It’s entirely because Ye Lu didn’t realize he and Yan Yu were true friends, which led to Song Zeqian’s judgment error.
Song Zeqian’s gaze fell on Ye Lu, and suddenly he had some new insights.
Enough stupidity seems to blur the line between truth and falsehood, making it impossible to distinguish.
Suddenly, he had some new creative inspiration for the script.
Meanwhile, Ou Yi was still looking at Xu Ze in pain, and he finally accepted the fact, saying, “So we’re not real friends. Can we still play basketball together?”
Xu Ze : “…”
The answer was obvious.
But Ou Yi looked so pitiful, as if he was inexplicably immersed in a lonely character who had been ‘abandoned by real friends.’
Shang Lu couldn’t bear to see it anymore and said, “Why don’t you play with him once?”
Ou Yi nodded and looked at Xu Ze again.
Xu Ze : “…Okay, let’s play.”
Hearing Xu Ze’s affirmative answer, Ou Yi was instantly revived, put his arm around Xu Ze’s shoulder, and once again revealed a not-so-smart smile.
The ‘real or fake friends’ game segment came to a complete end.
Except for Shang Lu and Tang Qingqing, who won by lying down, all the other groups failed their tasks and had to accept the punishment of the day.
Only Shang Lu and Tang Qingqing were allowed to wash off the remaining flour on their faces, while the rest had to press their faces completely into the pile of flour prepared by the production team.
Chen Zi’an had secretly wiped his face several times, unable to imagine the image of flour completely covering his facial features. So when he buried his face in the flour, he controlled the force a bit, just slightly smudging it, especially deliberately placing the upper half of his face in the air, trying to make it look passable.
However, on both sides of him stood Ye Lu and Ou Yi.
When he saw that both of them were completely covered in flour and could hardly open their eyes, still laughing and teasing each other, Chen Zi’an, who stood in the middle, fell silent.
There is no harm without comparison.
[Chen Zi’an, are you being too casual about this?]
[Ye Lu, as soon as he opened his mouth, flour from his nose fell into his mouth. I’m dying of laughter.]
With Ye Lu and Ou Yi taking the lead, the others buried themselves even deeper in flour. When they lifted their heads, people couldn’t see their facial features clearly.
Chen Zi’an : “…”
What’s going on? Wasn’t this punishment supposed to be just for show? Why are these guests taking it so seriously one by one?
Although Chen Zi’an thought he was fine, in order to avoid criticism during the broadcast, he could only grit his teeth and pat some more flour on his face.
“What kind of punishment is this…” Ye Lu confidently revealed a smile, his big white teeth as white as the flour on his face, blending together.
And just at this moment, the ceiling above suddenly opened.
Everyone: “?!”
Two staff members quickly approached Shang Lu and Tang Qingqing, opening umbrellas for the two of them.
A showerhead appeared in the ceiling, playing a very provocative tune.
“Wash, wash~”
The music played, and the showerhead started rotating 360 degrees.
The water sprayed from the showerhead wasn’t a lot, but it was very dense. Flour on everyone’s faces and hair began to wash away with the white water. Some flour even stuck to their faces because of the water, and they couldn’t wipe it off.
A chorus of screams erupted.
But soon, the showerhead retracted, and all those who were being punished looked miserable.
The program team announced, “Take a selfie in your current state and change it as your Weibo profile picture for three days.”
Everyone : “?!”
So ruthless!
Shang Lu took a step back, suddenly feeling grateful that she hadn’t lost.
Tang Qingqing also couldn’t help but touch her own face, and when she looked at Shang Lu, her gaze was filled with undisguised admiration.
Thank goodness she was with Shang Lu; otherwise, she would have been one of those people now.
After the punishment was over…
The director asked, “Do you all feel angry?”
Ou Yi replied, “It’s alright, I’m willing to take the risk.”
Ye Lu uploaded a selfie and said, “It’s okay, I’m still as handsome as ever.”
With the two of them leading the way, even if the others were unhappy, they couldn’t say much and had to save face by saying indifferent things.
Even Lin Yanyan coldly snorted and reluctantly squeezed out the words, “I can endure it.”
Shang Lu, on the other hand, was asking for trouble, “I’m not angry at all, after all, I have no sense of participation.”
The program team : “…”
Why aren’t they following the script? They’re not really such broad-minded people, are they?
So the assistant director awkwardly suggested, “You need to express anger so we can continue with the process.”
“Alright,” Ye Lu cooperated, “I’m very angry!”
Lin Yanyan smiled, “I really want to tear you all apart.”
Director : “Since everyone is so angry, our program team will give you a chance for revenge.”
After that, everyone was taken to the garden.
Some strange equipment had appeared here at some point.
It looked like a huge stage with at least thirty-six compartments, and the bottom was all empty.
The director introduced, “This game is called ‘Whack-a-Mole.’ Each teacher can choose four staff members they dislike the most to be the ‘moles.’ When the music starts, we’ll take turns popping up, and the teachers can take turns coming up to challenge us with inflatable hammers. If you hit the same staff member twice, you can punish them by smearing paint on their face.”
Everyone : “!”
The audience was also excited.
[Wow, the program team is playing along with them.]
[Hahaha, the program team is using themselves as bait to stimulate everyone’s anger.]
[I have BGM playing in my head, ‘Men, it’s time for battle~!’]
Sure enough, most of the guests now had sticky flour on their faces, and when they heard this, they all became eager.
Shang Lu asked, “Should Tang Qingqing and I participate?”
The director’s team was generous, “According to the game setup, only guests who have been punished can seek revenge, but if you two teachers want to join, you can.”
Shang Lu clicked his tongue and said, “Then I won’t participate.”
Lin Yanyan asked curiously, “Why not? It’s such a good opportunity.”
Shang Lu said, “If they can agree to such a generous thing; it proves there must be a problem inside.”
Others : “!”
What Shang Lu said made sense.
So, everyone went from initially holding inflatable hammers, eager to retaliate against the program team, to suddenly behaving modestly.
After all, no one wanted to be the first one. They had no idea whether they were going to hit groundhogs or be used as guinea pigs!
Ou Yi also remembered the lesson from last time in the escape room when he didn’t listen to Shang Lu in the car. If Shang Lu felt something was off, he had to be cautious! Otherwise, they would definitely suffer!
Seeing this, the director provoked, “You often complain about being treated badly by us, and now that you have a chance to fight back, you don’t dare? There won’t be such an opportunity in the future.”
Ye Lu was easily provoked and immediately raised the inflatable hammer and stepped onto the stage, saying, “Who’s afraid of who? Come on!”
After Ye Lu spoke, he used the inflatable hammer to point at four staff members.
Naturally, one of them was the director.
The director didn’t seem flustered at all. He even joined everyone in putting on a helmet and walked over happily.
- an idiom used to describe a situation where two or more people experience a setback or failure together. ↩︎