Patting their full bellies, Wen Jiexi and the others returned to the meeting spot Old Zhan mentioned earlier. Old Zhan was picking his teeth with a toothpick when they arrived, a satisfied expression on his face that showed he had a good lunch.
Furthermore, Old Zhan had expected the contestants to return with a starved and hungry stomach, so he had prepared bags of leftovers for them. However, he was shocked to find the contestants rubbing their bellies contently and looked even more satisfied than he did. His eyes gleamed with disbelief as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
If he remembered correctly, he had specifically asked the nearby restaurants to refuse to serve the contestants, no matter how much they bargained or begged. That way, the contestants would be forced to buy from the convenience store or go hungry. Why would he want him hungry and starved? So he could film their desperate expressions of course!
If the contestants knew what Old Zhan was thinking right now, they would definitely beat him up. How infuriating! Who would want to watch a bunch of desperate and hungry people beg for leftovers? And who says that actors can't enjoy eating at convenience stores! Some things in the convenience store are delicious, ok?
"So what did you guys eat-" Old Zhan was interrupted by Mu Du before he could finish.
"Aiya~ This is my first time eating on the top floor~ I never expected the food to be so exquisite, and they have everything you ever imagined! Super delicious!" Then he swallowed hard as if he was savoring the aftertaste.
"Yeah, yeah, the ingredients were super fresh, and one bite will make you unable to eat common meals ever again! Every dish was processed naturally and adequately. Which reminds me, the plump foie gras was simply….divine! Although it was a bit expensive, I thought it was totally worth it! I think I'll save up a bit and come back in the future for another meal! I'll think of it as a reward for working so hard." Shi Junmao added when Mu Du winked at him.
"I agree; the meal satisfied my every craving! I never expected that one day I could eat as many high-class dishes as I want! This trip was definitely worth it!" Wen Ting patted her full belly and then turned her head towards Huo Lin'er,
"Am I right? Lin'er~"
"En, it was delicious." Huo Lin'er nodded.
"After being spoiled by Ah-Cheng's cooking, I wouldn't have been able to eat the convenience store's food! I always felt the food in those stores were not fresh enough for my palate. However, this time….well, President Li is just too awesome!" Lan Yuyan said with a shake of his head.
Old Zhan darted his eyes back and forth between the contestants and then realized where the contestants had eaten for lunch after listening to Mu Du and the others' words.
"You guys ate on the top floor?"
Everyone: "En!"
"….Did you dine and dash?"
Everyone: "Hmmm? Of course not!"
"We paid with our faces!"
"For free!"
"Super delicious!"
"There is a restaurant on the top floor that is owned by Sister Lingqing, and she took all of us to eat there." Wen Jiexi took pity on the confused Old Zhan and gave Old Zhan an explanation. Some of the production crew that had followed the contestants around also approached Old Zhan and then whispered in his ears to explain the situation.
"…B-Boss?" Old Zhan was dumbfounded.
He had prepared for dozens of different scenarios, but he had forgotten about the wealthy President! Would a President who ate at their own restaurant need to pay? Ahhhh, how could he have forgotten about this! Wuwuwu, my plans have been ruined!
"Old Zhan, don't cry~ Because of your scheme, we finally got to see President Li's rich and overbearing side! And we got to eat a free meal too~" Mu Du looked at Old Zhan's crestfallen expression and immediately understood what happened. This sly old fox must've had ill intentions and played a wicked hand to trick them. Unfortunately, these contestants don't play with common sense! Old Zhan might've wanted to cheat them but ended up being the one cheated instead.
"Y-You…you….you guys didn't invite me to eat together?!!" Old Zhan cried bitterly.
The crowd of contestants who thought that Old Zhan was going to say they violated the rules looked at him dumbfounded: This is what you're worried about?
"I feed you and dress you, and yet you don't share your gains with me! This baby is not happy! Not happy at all!" Old Zhan howled and almost rolled around on the floor.
Feed us? Fine, they'll admit that he did feed them steak and barbecue dinners.
Dress us? They looked down at their clothes and felt like slapping Old Zhan.
Baby? An old uncle refers to himself as 'baby'? How are you not ashamed?!! We're ashamed for you!
Everyone tacitly decided to ignore Old Zhan who was spasming on the floor again while Mu Du sat down on a wooden chair and crossed his legs,
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"Hmphhhh!!! I'll make you guys regret this!" Old Zhan recovered from his tantrum and yelled,
"Follow me!"
He led them into the building.
"Oh, we're going into this building again?"
"He's not going to make us go 'shopping,' right?"
"Will the program pay for my shopping? If so, then I'm going to buy a little more than usual."
"You're not going shopping!" Old Zhan heard the whispers behind him and shouted angrily. Hmph, what kind of variety show would give their contestants money for shopping? This was not enough to make these annoying idiots regret for a lifetime….
Ten minutes later, everyone arrived on the top floor but not the same place where they just ate but the rooftop above it. The wind was strong on the roof, and Wen Jiexi had to brush her scattered hair out of her face.
There were a few things on top of the roof, including a high platform about three floors high that connected to another building. There was also another high platform on the other end. Between the two platforms was a glass plate about two meters wide and five centimeters thick that connected the two platforms.
"What is this?" Shi Junmao felt a bad feeling in his heart.
"You're going to cross this single-plank bridge!" Old Zhan pointed at the glass 'bridge' with a smile and clapped his hands.
Single-plank bridge? Everyone peered over the roof's ledges and looked at the busy traffic below them that looked like ant's crawling on the sidewalk. Then they looked at the glass bridge. WTF?
"Are there any safety measures in place?" Wen Ting pulled a long face.
"Don't worry about it. This glass bridge is absolutely safe! Even I wouldn't have any trouble jumping up and down on it a few times. It's very stable and wide enough to accommodate you. We would never have made it that difficult." Old Zhan said with a wave of his hands.
Everyone: I'm afraid if you jumped on it, there might have been a few cracks left behind, but you didn't notice it…..
"Are there no wire ropes or nets to catch us?" Lan Yuyan asked.
"Have you ever seen a thirty-story crane? You think we can build something like that so high up?" Old Zhan retorted.
"And what happens if we don't want to cross the bridge?" Mu Du swallowed nervously as he looked at how high above the ground they were. Even those without a fear of heights would feel scared when they saw the height of this drop! Why do you have to torment an old man like this! My legs are shaking…
"There must be at least some challenge, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't be as interesting. However, let me say, that most of my crew have walked across this bridge and they're fine! Although it looks bad from here, it really is different when you're actually walking across it! Really, I'm telling the truth, I swear on my integrity that I'm not lying!" Old Zhan swore but only received complaints,
"Do you even have any integrity?"
"Even if you did, I don't want to do this alright!"
Old Zhan: Well I don't love you guys either! Come at me, I'll drag you down with me!
"You guys can all cross it together. The weight of the glass bridge is about 500 catties (661 pounds) so it can hold about three people at a time. Of course, for the sake of safety, you should only cross it with only about two people at a time. Although, I don't mind if you guys go up one by one." Old Zhan said stuffily.
"But….I have a fear of heights…." Huo Lin'er grasped Wen Ting's hand tightly and looked like she was about to cry.
"En, well, once you cross it, your fear of heights will be cured! Super effective! One of my crew members also had a fear of heights but wasn't afraid anymore after just one time! He even walked across it another three more times! I guarantee that this treatment will work!" Old Zhan said with a thumbs up.
That's beside the point! We still have to walk over it first!
"Ah…if you choose not to do it…there will indeed be a little punishment." Old Zhan clapped his hands and immediately a crew member took out a hula skirt. Yes, the same hula skirt that is famous in Hawaii. He even had a coconut bra, lei, and shell necklace from who knows where to go with it.
"You just have to put on this costume, dance on the streets, and then eat this for dinner…." He pointed at the table next to him.
On the table was a pot filled with a brown bubbling liquid. The ingredients on the table were mostly normal but there were also ingredients like jelly and spicy potato chips on it.
"After dancing, I believe you'll have worked up an appetite so I have specially prepared for a chocolate fondue dinner. You can enjoy it for free! Please. Eat. It. All! Ah, to let you have peace of mind while eating, we will turn off all the lights during the dinner. This can be the so-called, nighttime hot pot, right? Aren't you excited?" Old Zhan said with a smile and especially emphasized the last three words.
Chocolate fondue….?! We've heard of chocolate fountains before but those only used fruit or marshmallows. What the hell is this? Chocolate…pork slices? Chocolate boiled cabbage? And…chocolate spicy peppers? Can we even eat that crap? Won't we get diarrhea in instead? And how is the nighttime darkness gonna help anything, that will just make us more agitated!
They felt no love towards this punishment but some people secretly thought that the hula dancing might be embarrassing and the fondue might be disgusting but it was still acceptable….
"And what if we walk across it?" Wen Ting glanced at the glass bridge eagerly and was excited, unlike Huo Lin'er who was pale with fright.
"Walking across the bridge…isn't that expected?" Mu Du looked at Wen Ting incredulously, as if she had asked some strange question.
Wait, they've forgotten that a certain someone loves theatrics!
Everyone turned towards Old Zhan and he rubbed his nose at the disdain he was receiving. He took out tickets from his sleeves and then said with a twisted expression.
"This is what I have prepared. These are tickets for a premium cruise and for a seven day and six nights trip to a hot spring resort! These are valid until the end of this year. And this is a 50% discount voucher that is valid for one mouth at Simpu Restaurant (one of the top restaurants). As long as you can cross this bridge, you can have all three. Each one of you will get two copies of these rewards so you can take a friend with you." These rewards…just how much money did the program have to spend to get them? If it weren't for the fact that the company promised to reimburse them, the program would've gone bankrupt from this.
Oooooh! Wen Jiexi's eyes widened and pulled on Su Chenyu's arms,
"Su Chenyu, there are so many rewards!"
"En." Su Chenyu nodded. Although she was not short on money, this was still a rare opportunity to go out and play with Jiexi so she thought the rewards were not bad.
"T-this….can we go together?" Wen Jiexi blinked her big shiny eyes, her eyes full of anticipation. To be able to go on vacation with Sister Su! I'm so excited! I hope Sister Su will have time to accompany me! Thinking like this, her eyes showed a little ancient and at this moment a hand patted her head.
"Of course we can."
"Really?!" Wen Jiexi jumped for joy and ignored everyone's staring eyes as she directly hugged Su Chenyu and hung from Su Chenyu's neck.
Li Lingqing: Hey, hey, hey! Please conduct yourself with more dignity!
Chu Heling: Is it ok to act like this in front of everyone?
Everyone else: My goodness, so they had that kind of relationship!
"Be good." Su Chenyu hugged her tightly and then set her down carefully.
Everyone else: Whaaa, what's this spoiled treatment?! It's not like she's a glass doll!
Old Zhan glanced at the group of people who looked like they had been pumped with chicken blood. He watched as they walked towards the high platform and walked up the ladder to the platform. The platform had a railing around it and at least a dozen people could fit on the platform with no problems.
"Then, who's going first?" Old Zhan said and looked at the crowd.
"We'll go first." Li Lingqing took the lead and stood forward before turning to Chu Heling,
"Heling, we're going first, is that ok?"
"Of course it is." Chu Hleing nodded softly.
The two of them walked hand in hand towards the edge of the platform. Although this was the first time they held hands so boldly in front of everyone, no one thought much about it. In their eyes, the two of them had a 'good' relationship but that's all. During this dangerous game, it was best to hold hands and ease the mind. In fact, Mu Du was currently wondering if he should hold Shi Junmao's hand when walking across the bridge…..
Old Zhan rubbed his chin as he watched the first pair walk forward calmly. He expected Li Lingqing to act like this, but he didn't expect Chu Heling who always seemed so quiet to be so courageous. Even though he had walked very slowly when he crossed the first time and his hands and feet were so cold that he almost couldn't move half the time. With his strong will, however, he did not turn back.
But the pair walking across the bridge was laughing and even talking. The strong wind blew at them and their hair was a mess and yet they acted so calmly. It really was impressive.
Finally, the two walked further until they couldn't be seen anymore.
"Ah, it looks like they made it to the other side." Old Zhan looked at the message on his phone and said.
"So fast?" Shi Junmao said in a shocked voice.
"This is fast? It was at least ten minutes, ok? This glass bridge is only five hundred meters long and so that pace can be counted as a little slow. The wind is only a little strong and even if you fall, you probably won't fall off the sides purposely unless you want to commit suicide." Old Zhan rolled his eyes at Shi Junmao."
"Alright, who's next?"
"Is it really that easy? I don't believe it." Shi Jumoao rolled his eyes and grumbled in disbelief. He grabbed the railing with his hands and peeked his head over and looked down. At that moment, a gust of wind immediately swept over and blew Shi Junmao's hair wildly until his hair looked like a hedgehog.
Shi Junmao: My handsome hair?!!
Everyone else: Pffft.
"Oh, this really suits you!" Old Zhan chucked and maliciously patted Shi Junmao's hair. The hedgehog hair immediately turned into a bird's next. Shi Junmao wanted to jump up in anger but remembered where he was currently standing and suppressed his impulse. Just you wait, Old Zhan! I'll settle my accounts with you later!
"Then Ah-Cheng and I will be leaving first!" Lan Yuyan pulled Yan Hoacheng to the edge and yelled.
"En, alright." Old Zhan nodded.
Then they watched as Lan Yuyan and Yan Haocheng did not walk side by side like Li Lingqing and Chu Heling did but instead stood one after another. Lan Yuyan closed his eyes while Yan Haocheng led the way with an indifferent face as he dragged Lan Yuyan behind them.
"….You guys can even come up with something like this…..why are all of you so weird…." Old Zhan looked at them and complained.
"Hah, no matter how weird they are, they are not as weird as you! Someone who can come up with so many strange games!" Mu Du snorted coldly.
"Thank you for your compliment, I will keep this in mind in the future. I think the people who participate in this show in the future will thank you very much because your words have brought me so much support." Old Zhan smiled happily.
Mu Du: *spews out blood in anger*
Everyone else: This isn't a compliment! Sure enough, a thick-skinned person is always shameless!
Next up was Wen Ting and Huo Lin'er. When Huo Lin'er approached the glass bridge, her face was so pale that even her lips were white, which made Wen Jiexi feel that Huo Lin'er would faint with even the slightest provocation…..
At first, Wen Ting was going to suggest she should walk ahead first when Huo Lin'er seemed to have made up her mind. She grabbed Wen Ting's arm tightly and her eyes were wet as she looked at Wen Ting. It looked like she was going to cry if Wen Ting tried to let go.
Wen Ting stared speechlessly as one of Huo Lin'er's hands tightly gripped her arm and the other hand gripped the railing. Finally, Wen Jiexi suggested they should do what Yan Haocheng and Lan Yuyan did if Huo Lin'er was too afraid to look down.
"I don't feel safe doing that." Huo Lin'er said while trembling like a newborn fawn.
"Well then…" Wen Ting came up with an idea.
Wen Jiexi watched as Wen Ting embraced Huo Lin'er tightly so that the little girl was facing her chest. Huo Lin'er was half a head shorter than Wen Ting so although her eyes could look over Wen Ting's shoulder, the girl couldn't look down with how Wen Ting was hugging her head so towards her chest.
"Come, come, let's walk slowly. Anyhow, there's no time limit so there's no need to hurry. I will lead the way and you only have to look at me." Wen Ting patted Huo Lin'er's back and softly encourage Huo Lin'er to move.
Was it her imagination or did she just see Lin'er blush? Wen Jiexi rubbed her nose. Was she just too sensitive lately?
However, she did not notice as Su Chenyu beside her stared at Wen Ting and Huo Lin'er and then looked at her. Her eyes seemed to say 'what a pity' as she could barely suppress her impulse to hug a certain someone. Ai, what a shame that her wifey was just too courageous….hmph.
"Jiexi, is this thing fun?" Dango floated over the glass bridge and asked.
I don't know, this is my first time doing something like this too. There's nothing to be afraid of as the width is wide enough.
"Ah, I want to play too~" Dango cried.
Wen Jiexi watched the little ghost helplessly, wait until you can get your own body, and then you can play too.
"That'll take a long time…" Dango said sadly as the little ghost landed on Wen Jiexi's shoulder.
You're a little ghost now and most people cannot see you. Actually, you have more freedom in your current form. When you become human, you will be restrained by so many different things that you won't have time to play. Enjoy what you have now. She then gently flicked Dango's forehead.
"You're right." Dango thought about it and agreed. Freedom and becoming human. Although the latter is more important, the freedom Dango enjoyed now was nearing its end. After all, as long as there are no accidents, Wen Jiexi will be Dango's last contractor and although the little ghost didn't know when it will be reborn, it was like Wen Jiexi said: we must grasp the present!
"Jiexi, it's time for us to go." Su Chenyu grabbed Wen Jiexi's hand.
Wen Jiexi at Shi Junmao, who was pacing back and forth with anxiety, and Mu Du who was trembling as he held onto the railing. He seemed to be muttering something that she couldn't hear but she guessed he was probably preparing his heart for the challenge. Neither of them seemed ready yet.
"Let's go." Wen Jiexi raised their interlocked hands and nodded obediently and followed Su Chenyu on the bridge.
The moment they stepped onto the bridge, the strong wind made Wen Jiexi narrow her eyes. Fortunately, this place is full of high-rise buildings, otherwise, it might be more difficult to move if they were in the middle of the desert where the sand can blow into your face.
Again this strong wind, the two of them moved slowly. Wen Jiexi looked down but there was no fear on her face. Although the height was a bit scary, the tiny ant-like cars were interesting and the birds flying around her were fascinating.
"Sister Su, look!"
Su Chenyu looked in the direction Wen Jiexi pointed, and in the distance, she was a famous park known for its scenery. At the park, there was a painting on the large turf.
There were ten people in the painting, six women and four men. With animal costumes on their bodies, it was obvious it was the ten of them. Surrounding the grassland was a full circle of fountains and the water rose up and down.
"The crew is really generous with their money, just how long did this take for them to prepare?" Wen Jiexi sighed.
"This program is pretty rich." Su Chenyu patted Wen Jiexi's head.
"Hahaha, look, Sister Su, I'm standing next to you!" Wen Jiexi exclaimed happily and pointed at the woman in the sheep costume standing next to the woman in the wolf costume.
"Then, you can always stand by my side from now on." Su Chenyu pinched Wen Jiexi's cheek and smiled.
Wen Jiexi blushed and her heart beat furiously at Su Chenyu's words. When she saw Su Chenyu smile, she just stood there stupidly, unable to move forward.
"What's the matter?" Su Chenyu raised an eyebrow.
"This…I…think Sister Su looks so beautiful when you smile. So please smile more…" Wen Jiexi pulled on the hem of Su Chenyu's clothes and stammered.
Su Chenyu froze at Wen Jiexi's words, and then the smile grew wider on her face as she lightly caressed Wen Jiexi's face, her voice gentle and soothing,
"Alright, but I'll only smile for you, how about it?"
"En…" Wen Jiexi lowered her head and nodded, then she stepped forward and hugged Su Chenyu's arm tightly as she leaned her head against Su Chenyu's shoulder and whispered,
"Let's go."
"Alright."