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Tang Shi turned around, looking at the three hosts with a smug expression. He even grinned mischievously. "Well, I believe Brother Ling, Sister Zhezhe, and Brother Hang are such dedicated hosts that they definitely won't disappoint us."

As Tang Shi spoke, applause and cheers rose one after another from below, unceasing. The three hosts, meanwhile, put on exaggeratedly reluctant expressions for the sake of entertainment. Wang Zhezhe even said in a deliberately sour tone, "Hey, are you two trying to use us to make yourselves look better? You just got such amazing results—what are we supposed to do now?"

"Exactly! You're deliberately trying to make us look bad!"

Still, jokes aside, the three of them got ready for the game. Zhao Hang turned back and asked, "Then how are the three of us supposed to play?"

"Pair up in twos!"

"One man and one woman per team. Isn't there a saying that men and women working together don't get tired?"

Hearing that, Jiang Ling lowered his head and muttered, "Men and women working together don't get tired... Sounds like you've got plenty of experience, huh?"

That one line drew another burst of laughter from the entire audience. During the following host game segment, the three hosts deliberately made it hilarious, each move more exaggerated and ridiculous than the last. Everyone laughed until their stomachs hurt and their mouths went sore.

In that atmosphere, the Telepathic Rapport game segment naturally came to a successful close.

What no one expected, however, was that after the episode aired, not only did viewers across the country marvel at the Sugar Juice Duo's level of mutual understanding, but many celebrities who watched the show—especially celebrity couples, other duos, and celebrity friends who always acted close and in sync before the media—would directly choose to skip the Telepathic Rapport segment when they later came on the show. As a result, the game was effectively forced off the stage for quite some time. It was not until the Sugar Juice Duo returned to record the show for a second time, when the hosts deliberately split them up and paired them with other guests, lowering the overall completion speed and efficiency of the game, that this effect finally came to an end.

Still, the image of the Sugar Juice Duo as two people with perfect chemistry and telepathic rapport became deeply ingrained in the hearts of people both inside and outside the industry.

That was a story for later, so it would not be discussed for now.

The next game was a newly introduced segment on Happy Assembly Call called Who's the Undercover? Although Happy Assembly Call had never featured this game before, Tang Shi had watched the show for so many years in his previous life that he was naturally extremely familiar with it. Thus, after the hosts explained the rules, Tang Shi was actually the quickest person to adapt during the first round.

In one particular round, all the other guests drew "cross the river and burn the bridge," while only Lu Hengzhi drew "kill the donkey once it has finished turning the millstone." Although Lu Hengzhi tried his best to act the same as everyone else while giving his description, and successfully fooled all the guests, Tang Shi still firmly and accurately identified Lu Hengzhi as the undercover.

"I can't really say exactly what was wrong, but he just felt different! It felt like he was deliberately trying to keep pace with us. But that isn't actually his usual personality. So I thought he was the undercover."

Jiang Ling, who was not participating in the game and was only hosting it, looked at Tang Shi in astonishment and asked, "So you didn't think there was anything wrong with Lu Hengzhi's description at all. You just felt that his behavior didn't fit the personality he usually showed, so you chose him?"

Tang Shi nodded firmly. The other guests, especially the Dance Miracle contestants, all pointed at Lu Hengzhi after hearing Tang Shi's explanation. They knew that no one understood Lu Hengzhi better than Tang Shi. If Tang Shi said Lu Hengzhi was acting strangely, then there had to be something wrong with Lu Hengzhi's performance.

Jiang Ling gave Lu Hengzhi a regretful glance, while Lu Hengzhi, now the target of everyone's suspicion, smiled knowingly and left the game without another word. That round was over.

Watching Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi, Wang Zhezhe asked Lu Hengzhi, "What are you thinking right now?"

Lu Hengzhi said with an unconcerned expression, "Nothing much. Honestly, after hearing their descriptions, I could tell that my phrase was different from theirs. I guessed then that Tang Shi would definitely point at me."

The audience and guests once again marveled at the Sugar Juice Duo's tacit understanding. After that, they played several more games to ensure that none of the guests were neglected and that everyone had a chance to shine... Before long, the entire show reached its end.

During the final segment, Tang Shi did not forget the task he had come for. He said to the hosts on set, "Actually, we prepared gifts for the three hosts and the production team when we came to Happy Assembly Call this time."

This was not written into the script beforehand, so the three hosts looked rather surprised. Tang Shi said directly, "I left the gifts with Sister Sun because she has a refrigerator that can keep them at the right temperature."

As one of the more senior makeup artists at Apple TV Station, Sister Sun had many cosmetics that needed to be kept at a certain temperature, so it was not strange for her equipment to include a refrigerator.

His words made the hosts even more curious, and they simply had a staff member go to Sister Sun to retrieve the gifts. It turned out that after Tang Shi learned he would be appearing on Happy Assembly Call, he had specially called his mother and asked her to mail over several boxes of frozen dumplings.

Some were for Li Mei, the Dance Miracle staff, and the contestants. Some were for the Qilu Gossip production team. The rest were naturally for Happy Assembly Call. The gifts were nothing expensive, but they absolutely represented Tang Shi's sincerity.

However, only a few bags of dumplings were brought onto the Happy Assembly Call stage this time. The rest were still stored in the large freezer in the back kitchen of the Apple TV Station staff cafeteria.

"These are all dumplings my mother made herself. A few of the bags were made by me personally. They might not taste as good as my mom's, but I think they still carry a lot of my own sincerity."

Looking at the dumplings in their hands, the three hosts were touched and amused. "We've hosted shows for so many years and received gifts from plenty of guests. Usually, people give the production team their albums, movie tickets, books they like, and things like that. This is the first time we've seen someone bring frozen dumplings as a gift."

Thinking of Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi's performance in the Dance Miracle finals, one of them could not help asking, "Hey, you two wouldn't be trying to use our Happy Assembly Call platform to advertise again, would you?"

Tang Shi nodded readily. "Of course that's part of it. We hope that if you think the dumplings are good after eating them, you'll help promote them for us. People in our line of work rarely get to eat on time, so having our dumplings as a late-night snack would be pretty good too! We have lots of different fillings."

Lu Hengzhi also explained, "Of course, you can cut this part out and not air it. We understand the broadcasting requirements, and maybe advertising is not allowed."

The Sugar Juice Duo had said everything there was to say, so naturally the three hosts could not add much. Besides, they were honestly quite touched by the duo's gesture. Wang Zhezhe fiddled with the dumplings, looking at the clearly packaged ones and the ones in plastic bags. Holding up a bag of the latter, she asked, "These are the ones you made yourselves, right?"

Tang Shi nodded. Then, looking at the audience below, who were screaming and shouting, "We want dumplings," he said, "We actually prepared dumplings for the audience too. But there are too many people here, so we definitely can't give everyone a whole bag. Still, we personally made... about three jin of dumplings, I think. Later, the production team can help cook them on induction stoves. Everyone should be able to get about one."

The Sugar Juice Duo's gesture made the fans in the venue scream excitedly. After all, being able to personally eat dumplings handmade by their idols... not every fan got to have such luck.

To ensure a bigger gimmick, the production team even suggested bringing the induction stoves onto the stage. They sent a staff member running to the cafeteria to fetch the dumplings, then had the Sugar Juice Duo, several other guests, and the hosts cook together for the audience and hand out the dumplings. This made all the fans cheer with delight.

For a time, the atmosphere in the entire recording hall reached its peak.

Many people also became fans because of what the Sugar Juice Duo did that day, especially after tasting the thin-skinned, generously filled, delicious dumplings. After all, not everyone could pull off such a heartwarming gesture—it depended on one's cooking skills.

The ancients said that if you wanted to conquer someone's heart, you first had to conquer their stomach. By carrying on their ancestors' teachings, the Sugar Juice Duo gained a large group of diehard fans during their first appearance on an entertainment variety show. At the same time, they strongly established their image as "warm-hearted big boys," giving their management team plenty of inspiration and convenience for later public relations work.

At the end of the show, as was customary, it was time for the guests to perform a song. The production team arranged for the Sugar Juice Duo to play guitar and sing live, using Sixteen-Year-Old Bicycle to bring the recording to a close.

More than a month later, the episode officially aired amid the anticipation of all the fans. As expected, it set Happy Assembly Call's highest ratings record of that year and once again sparked a Dance Miracle craze.

The Sugar Juice Duo also returned to the public eye nationwide because of the release of Qiao Lin's new album.

Chapter 43

The day after recording Happy Assembly Call, the top ten contestants, including Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi, flew from Apple City to the capital under the company's arrangements. Emperor Entertainment's headquarters were located in the capital.

The top ten contestants would undergo a month of training there before beginning the Dance Miracle touring performances being prepared around the country under the company's arrangements.

As members of Dance Miracle's top ten, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi naturally had to participate in the month-long training after arriving at headquarters. However, unlike the other contestants, who had nothing else to worry about, the Sugar Juice Duo had another task during this trip to the capital—they had to take part in filming the music video for Qiao Lin's new album.

Of course, the company had already arranged everything thoroughly, so Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi did not need to worry about it.

On their second day at the company, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi finally met their manager—Wei Feng. Returning to the company with Wei Feng was Emperor's current top male star, Yun Xiaoting. The two had reportedly just finished filming a new movie and had returned to report to the boss, catch up a little, and meet the company's newcomers.

Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi met Yun Xiaoting and his manager in the president's office on the top floor of the company. As an idol-turned-powerhouse king who had captivated young people across both the eighties and nineties generations, Yun Xiaoting had maintained a positive image ever since his debut. Sunny and handsome, gentle and refined, serious in his work, humble in manner, devoted to charity—these beautiful and uplifting words had been attached to Yun Xiaoting by the media for years. Since the media revealed last year that Yun Xiaoting and diva Li Wenya had married because of an unexpected pregnancy, he had also gained the halos of "good husband" and "national dad."

As practically diehard fans of Yun Xiaoting, Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi naturally knew every drama he had acted in, every announcement he had made, and even every rumor about him since his debut like the backs of their hands.

So their first reaction upon seeing Yun Xiaoting was to take out notebooks and ask him for an autograph.

Yun Xiaoting's reaction upon seeing the Sugar Juice Duo for the first time was rather strange as well.