After several rounds of insults, Zou Yuxing suddenly gave a cold laugh. Looking smug, he went straight for the kill: "I wonder who it was that skipped class in high school and had just stepped one foot over the barrier gate when it rose. Someone ended up dangling with all four limbs off the ground, stuck fast for a whole class period. I've still got a photo."
"..." Wen Feiran's mouth kept twitching. He bit his lower lip and barely managed to hold back his laughter.
Help, I can picture it!
The viewers in the livestream were nearly dying of laughter too.
[Aaaah, that's so embarrassing! With someone holding on to that photo, he'll never be able to show his face again!]
[...And just like that, the proud young master image is ruined. I'll never be able to look Su Shangting in the eye again.]
[I think it's cute. Susu looks so refined, but in private he's actually a total goofball.]
[It's so much fun watching those two together. Tell us more!]
[Why is that guy next to them making such a twisted face? So annoying. People like that really ruin the mood.]
[Exactly. What's he got to complain about when he gets to eat melons in person? I wish I had a perk like that!]
Wen Feiran couldn't control his expressions and didn't know he had been misunderstood again. He could barely take it all in, his attention entirely on eating melons. By the time he came back to his senses, he realized they had arrived at the task location.
Their task was to answer questions within ten seconds. Each correct answer earned five points.
Zou Yuxing took a minute away from the war of digging up each other's embarrassing pasts. "The production team's treating us pretty well. There are ten questions in all. As long as we get them all right, we'll have enough for the rest of the room fees."
Wen Feiran pursed his lips but didn't agree.
A high point value meant difficult questions. The chances of getting them all right were vanishingly small.
As if in response, the first question appeared on the question board: Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov's younger sister once had a parrot. What was its name?
Wen Feiran: "..."
Why don't you ask me what my eldest uncle's sibling-in-law's older brother's sister-in-law named her dog?!
Even a parrot connected to a famous person gets a name, but there's no record of me?!
That hurts!!
Wen Feiran refused to answer, but then something suddenly stirred in his mind.
He had read an essay by that writer, and it seemed to have mentioned it... He actually did know.
Answering felt thoroughly humiliating, but each question was worth five points, and Zou Yuxing was beside him, eagerly waiting to be fed.
Wen Feiran gritted his teeth and finally gave the answer.
The two people there and the viewers in the livestream were all stunned.
[He could even answer such an obscure question? That's incredible!]
[What's his name anyway? He doesn't have his own livestream, and his presence is so easy to miss.]
[I think his name is Wen Feiran. He's the one ranked first on the points leaderboard.]
[I seriously suspect the production team leaked the questions. How could anyone get a question like that right? Could he be a hidden imperial family member?]
The second question soon appeared. Zou Yuxing and Su Shangting were caught up in their argument, and since he couldn't count on them, Wen Feiran willingly took responsibility.
Question: Which empress in history was enthroned and deposed the greatest number of times?
Wen Feiran immediately knew the answer, but just as he was about to speak, his attention was diverted.
"Plenty of people have liked me since I was a kid, definitely more than you. Take that girl from high school. She was at every gathering, and she even signed up for riding lessons just for me!"
"You're really flattering yourself. She was clearly there for me. What did it have to do with you?"
Wen Feiran: "..." It's even a love triangle among the wealthy.
He listened intently, eager to know what happened next. Only when the countdown reached the final second did he give a perfunctory answer: "Yang Xianrong."
"What is the capital of the smallest country?" The next question appeared, and the two men's argument reached a fever pitch.
"No way. She barely said a few words to you at the gatherings. I made a point of watching, and she didn't look at you once."
"I knew you'd say that. What a coincidence, I watched carefully too, and you weren't the one she was looking at either."
"How could that be? She fell and sprained her ankle during a riding lesson once, and my older sister carried her to the infirmary. My sister must have helped her because the girl liked me."
Wen Feiran frowned deeply, suddenly sensing that something was off. He was just about to sort out his thoughts when he saw the glaring red countdown on the screen.
"Malé."
Answering questions was so annoying. It was getting in the way of his melon-eating.
The viewers in the livestream started complaining again.
[Why's he glaring at the machine? If he doesn't want to answer, he can leave!]
[Looks like he's not that good after all. He can only answer at the last second.]
[That's not right, is it? I just think he's busy eating melons and isn't paying attention to the questions.]
[I also think everyone's reading too much into it. There's no need to pick apart every expression he makes. It feels like you're deliberately targeting him...]
Wen Feiran gave each question only a glance and answered at the last second, spending the rest of his time carefully eating melons.
"Even though I didn't like her, I was a real gentleman. One winter, she was wearing nothing but a little black dress, so I had my sister take her back to the room to change. I even brought them a cup of hot cocoa."
"Why were you concerned about what she was wearing? Stop flattering yourself. She wasn't wearing it for you, and she hasn't been in touch with you all these years."
"But she and my sister have been together abroad all this time. When I contacted my sister, I heard her voice several times. Oh, right, my sister said there was someone she liked, but it wasn't convenient to say who. Then that girl took the phone and chatted with me about this and that. That proves a lot."
Before he knew it, the task was complete. Wen Feiran had answered every one of the obscure questions correctly, but he wasn't proud of it, nor did he give it another thought. As if he had finally dealt with a burden holding him back, he turned to look at Su Shangting.
The girl wasn't looking at either of you at the gatherings, and she was so close to your sister. So what might she have done? Your sister was also the one teaching him during riding lessons. Afterward, she went abroad with your sister, and they've spent so many years together. Your sister said there was someone she liked, and then that girl chatted with you...