Page 44

After a performance of "The Matchmaker," the fans below the stage screamed again. Tang Shi seized the moment to promote it. "We dedicated this song to our favorite idol, Sister Qiao Lin. We'll also be involved in the dance choreography for its upcoming music video. We hope everyone will support it when the album comes out."

Seeing this, Jiang Ling promptly teased, "People say the Sugar Juice Duo loves plugging themselves on shows. Looks like it's true!"

"Yeah, I'm so jealous of Qiao Lin. I want fans like that too—handsome, talented, and able to write such a nice song for me." On the other side, Wang Zhezhe put on a sour expression and stared mournfully at the Sugar Juice Duo. Zhao Hang, standing beside her, gave her a push and said with a look of disgust, "It'd be wasted on you. You go off-key every time you sing karaoke, okay?"

That one remark made everyone present burst into laughter. Jiang Ling then tossed the topic to the other contestants onstage, giving them a chance to talk about amusing things that had happened during the competition.

Whether they had coordinated beforehand or for some other reason, everyone unanimously chose to "spill the tea" on the Sugar Juice Duo. One bizarre story after another was revealed by the contestants, keeping everyone laughing nonstop.

The ones with the most to say were Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia, who had been sharing a dorm with the Sugar Juice Duo. Holding their microphones, they poured out their grievances to the cameras. "...You have no idea how troublesome those two are. They do homework every night. No matter how late dance practice runs, they always set aside four hours to study. And their teacher actually watches them study and do homework through the computer, teaches them over video calls, and even makes them do test papers. If their scores aren't good enough, they get punished. Like, if they get one question wrong, they have to copy it out more than ten times... Then we get really scared of disturbing them while they study, so every night, as soon as they open their textbooks, we hurry out of the dorm and go hang around with other contestants. Then they keep asking us, 'Hey, Lin Zhaoran, why do you two keep running out every night? Aren't you tired? Hey, you poor things, why do you look like you have nowhere to go?'... Every night, they usually study until after midnight before going to bed. Honestly, we think they work really hard. Even though they're the youngest among us, they may be the ones putting in the most effort."

Another contestant, Luo Jinfeng, also spoke feelingly. "You may not know this, but the Sugar Juice Duo are probably the only contestants in all of Dance Miracle who cook for themselves in the kitchen."

That immediately piqued everyone's curiosity. Luo Jinfeng recalled, "It was when I had just entered the national competition and had just arrived in Apple City. I wasn't used to the climate or the food. We were lining up to buy food in the cafeteria when we saw this kid skip the line and walk straight into the back kitchen. Then he started tossing ingredients in a wok and, just like that, made Kung Pao chicken and stir-fried pork strips..."

"Wow! They're this handsome, they can dance, write songs, sing, and they can cook too!" Jiang Ling looked the Sugar Juice Duo over in disbelief, shaking his head with a sigh. "As idols, you two are flawless from every angle. How are ordinary people like us supposed to survive?"

The fans below cooperated by screaming wildly. Cries like "Sugar Juice Duo, we love you!" and "Sugar Juice Duo, we'll support you forever!" rang out so often that everyone's ears were practically growing calluses.

After briefly asking Tang Shi questions like, "Why did you think of cooking for yourselves?" and "You have to dance, study, and cook—don't you find it exhausting?" Jiang Ling said directly, "All right, now it's time for your favorite game segment—Telepathic Rapport. Time to test everyone's chemistry."

Telepathic Rapport was one of the most popular game segments on Happy Assembly Call. It mainly tested how well the guests understood one another. The rules were simple: two people formed a team, and based on the prompts displayed on the board provided by the production crew, one acted while the other guessed. However, while guessing, they were not allowed to say any character contained in the prompt, or the answer would be invalidated. If they encountered a prompt that was hard to act out, they could skip it. In the end, the team that guessed the most prompts won.

After the hosts explained the rules, the first pair to play was Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia.

As a street dance duo and close friends in real life, the two should naturally have had a high degree of chemistry. So the hosts, audience, and even the other top-nine contestants all assumed that the game would not be too difficult for them.

But something unexpected happened. With Lin Zhaoran acting and Song Lijia guessing, there was a massive communication barrier between them. No matter what Lin Zhaoran acted out, Song Lijia could not guess it correctly. In the first minute, they only got one especially simple prompt right. Their efficiency was outrageously low, so in the end they had no choice but to switch roles, with Song Lijia acting and Lin Zhaoran guessing. Yet their chemistry was still terrible. Song Lijia was sweating profusely and nearly collapsing from exhaustion, while Lin Zhaoran sat there looking innocent and utterly bewildered.

One of the prompts was "chickens flying and dogs jumping." Song Lijia completely sacrificed his image, acting like both a chicken and a dog, crowing while imitating barks. After struggling for ages, Lin Zhaoran guessed "restless chickens and dogs," then "chickens and dogs ascending to heaven," then "stealing chickens and dogs," but never managed to guess "chickens flying and dogs jumping."

Seeing the two of them wearing matching expressions of near collapse, everyone laughed so hard they were practically falling to the floor.

In the end, they only guessed three prompts in two minutes. Their appalling lack of efficiency made them the least synchronized pair of guests since Happy Assembly Call began airing.

Jiang Ling kept asking from the side, "Are you two really a duo? Have you really known each other for seven years? What exactly have you been doing all those seven years?"

Wang Zhezhe also said in disbelief, "How can that be? When they dance onstage, they're incredibly in sync. They practically know what to do next from a single glance or movement... You weren't doing that on purpose, were you?"

Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia hurriedly shook their heads and said no. They felt rather wronged too. Although they were not usually very in sync in daily life, it had never been this much like chickens talking to ducks. Maybe they were just too nervous because it was their first time appearing on a show.

The Sugar Juice Duo also helped explain. "Actually, those two are especially out of sync in the dorm too. And let me tell you, they're really good at derailing conversations, you know..."

Tang Shi then gave two examples of how their conversations had gone completely in different directions, making everyone laugh so hard their stomachs hurt again.

So although Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia failed during the game segment, they brought laughter to the audience and staff, gained everyone's attention and affection, and could be said to have lost in one respect but gained in another.

Because the first pair's lack of chemistry had been so outrageously bad, when it came time to choose the second pair, host Jiang Ling simply selected Su Minghe and Ming Xiang—two people from different competition regions who barely interacted in daily life and could practically be called complete strangers.

But unexpectedly, whether because both were intelligent or naturally had good chemistry, Ming Xiang and Su Minghe guessed nine prompts within two minutes. Such an excellent score naturally formed a stark contrast with Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia's performance. Even the hosts could not resist twisting the knife again. "As a duo that needs chemistry more than anyone, you guessed fewer prompts than two guests who have never even worked together. Aren't you ashamed?"

Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia could only smile bitterly and shake their heads, unable to offer any rebuttal at all.

Next, it was the Sugar Juice Duo's turn to play. After a brief discussion, they decided that Lu Hengzhi would act and Tang Shi would guess.

Everyone then saw Tang Shi sitting beneath the board while Lu Hengzhi stood opposite him, arms folded, and said with complete calm, "The movie the old man at our school cafeteria loves to play most..."

"Tai Chi Master."

"...A female singer we discussed the night before last. The song from her new album that I like best..."

"Journey Close to Heaven."

"My favorite dish."

"Kung Pao chicken."

"...It's an idiom, and also the title of the movie your favorite idol filmed this February, which will be released during the National Day holiday season in October..."

"Seal the Wolf at Juxu."

"...A place name. We visited it together during last summer vacation. You said you especially loved the red that covered the mountains and fields in autumn..."

"Maple Leaf Valley."

"..."

"..."

The hosts and guests onstage, as well as all the audience members below, watched in stunned silence as Lu Hengzhi described each prompt at rapid speed and Tang Shi answered with absolute certainty, getting every one right. In less than a minute and a half, the twenty prompts prepared by the production crew had all been guessed correctly, setting Happy Assembly Call's record for the shortest time and highest number of correct answers in the Telepathic Rapport segment since the show began airing.

And for a long time to come, that record would likely be difficult to break.

Amid the frenzied screams and applause from the fans below, host Zhao Hang exclaimed, "I'd heard before that some people could be so in sync that they practically had telepathic rapport. I never believed it, but today I finally saw it... You two know each other so well, it's like you know every detail of one another!"

Jiang Ling also sighed in disbelief. "Hey, don't you think that throughout Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi's entire exchange, we couldn't get a word in? Sometimes Lu Hengzhi's descriptions were obviously very vague and uncertain, but Tang Shi understood immediately. Isn't that incredible?"

"That's what real chemistry looks like!"

Wang Zhezhe looked at Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia, who were practically trying to hide behind the other guests, and ruthlessly twisted the knife again. "You're both duos, so why is the gap this huge? Aren't you ashamed?"

Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia simply ran behind the cue board and crouched down, pitifully miming the act of digging into the ground with their hands while muttering, "I can't go on living. Let me dig a hole and bury myself!"

Their antics made everyone burst out laughing again.

With the Sugar Juice Duo's dazzling performance setting the bar so high, none of the remaining contestants wanted to play the game again no matter how the hosts encouraged them. Just as the hosts helplessly prepared to move on to the next game segment, Tang Shi suddenly spoke up. "Hey, I remember that Telepathic Rapport has been around for so long, but I don't think I've ever seen Brother Ling, Sister Zhezhe, and Brother Hang play it... Does everyone want to know how much chemistry the hosts have?"

Everyone on and off the stage brightened. Before the three hosts could react, they immediately shouted, "Yes!"