This Guy Has Cheats

Jiang Ning had already thrown everything Jiang Suqing said earlier out of his mind. His brother was too soft-hearted, believing whatever his buddies told him. Jiang Ning had seen plenty of people in the entertainment industry who couldn't speak up for themselves, and he figured Wen Shuang had most likely been framed.

Wen Shuang's concern for his little assistant just now hadn't contained a trace of affectation. Jiang Ning could tell, which was why he was willing to travel with Wen Shuang.

The two switched every half hour and somehow rode more than twenty kilometers. It was already one in the afternoon. Forget someone as fond of food as Wen Shuang—even Jiang Ning's stomach was growling with hunger.

When they passed a snack stall selling liangfen, Jiang Ning called for Wen Shuang to stop and ordered two bowls of liangfen and two bottles of water. Wen Shuang initially felt embarrassed. After all, it was Jiang Ning's money. He had planned to tough it out until evening, even if that meant getting eliminated. In fact, Wen Shuang had already started considering elimination. Chen Zong was difficult to get along with, Wu Tan looked like he wanted to set him up, and that wasn't even counting the other artists who thought he had stolen their spotlight. There were simply too many landmines to step on, and Wen Shuang truly didn't want to deal with them. He figured that if he got eliminated because he wasn't capable enough, Sister Zhu would at most find it regrettable and probably wouldn't get angry, right? If not, he could return half the money he had earned from appearing on the show.

But Jiang Ning stuffed the food into Wen Shuang's arms without another word. "Take it! If you don't want it, throw it away."

How could he throw it away? Warmth filled Wen Shuang's heart. He thought Jiang Ning really was a good person. The two downed half a bottle of water in one go, and after shoving a mouthful of liangfen into his mouth, Jiang Ning came back to life and asked the owner how much it cost.

The owner looked utterly honest. "One hundred eighty."

Wen Shuang nearly choked. "How much?!"

"One hundred eighty." The owner grinned as she suddenly flipped over the price list on the table. The show's logo was printed in the upper right corner, and beneath it was the artist pricing: eighty per bowl of liangfen and ten per bottle of water.

The food in Wen Shuang's mouth instantly stopped tasting good. He muttered, "Can I spit it out and give it back?"

The owner shook her head and held out her hand with a smile. "One hundred eighty."

The production team had set up obstacles along the route. Wen Shuang had never expected that he and Jiang Ning could take such an out-of-the-way path and still fall into a trap.

Wen Shuang had guessed wrong about that. There had originally been nothing on this road, but since they had come, there had to be something.

The cameraman furiously snapped photos of their adorably stunned expressions. Finally! The two had gotten along far too well the whole way, chatting, laughing, and fooling around as if they were on a trip with their moms. Where was the fighting? Where was the conflict? There hadn't been a single exciting moment. Now that Wen Shuang had eaten ninety yuan's worth of food, would Jiang Ning get angry?

By the rules, once they ate, they had to pay. Jiang Ning quickly recovered and directly handed the owner two hundred yuan, then took another two bottles of water and generously gave one to Wen Shuang. "It's fine! My civilian partner probably won't need this money, and the remaining three hundred is enough for us to reach the island in the middle of the lake."

Wen Shuang was moved to tears. "Brother Jiang, as long as I'm here today, I'll definitely help you reach the finish line!"

Jiang Ning laughed. "Thank you, Brother Wen!"

Then the two burst into hearty laughter at the same time.

The cameraman: "..."

Wen Shuang had originally been feeling somewhat negative, but that suddenly changed. It was fine if he got eliminated, but Jiang Ning couldn't.

And Wen Shuang had been right: the route he chose avoided many of the production team's obstacles. They couldn't even imagine what the other groups had been "butchered" into. Peng Shanshan and Wu Tan only had one hundred yuan. The woman was delicate and couldn't endure hardship, insisting on taking a cab. By the time they reached the first rest stop, they had wasted more than fifty yuan. Then they ate some bread and drank some water, spending another twenty. They had almost nothing left, yet the road ahead was still long. They had thoroughly complied with the production team's wishes and were already blaming and fighting each other.

Han Ling, who had thirty yuan, was more cautious. She gradually figured out the production team's tricks, avoided the routes they pointed out, found nearby alternatives, and kept taking buses. It was slower, but at least she hadn't wasted much money.

Third place went to the model Wang Yuze. He had one hundred eighty yuan on him, had been lucky enough not to encounter a single obstacle, and still had nearly one hundred left.

As for Chen Zong, after getting rid of Wen Shuang, he thought he had cast off a huge nuisance. His desperate desire to win had him charging recklessly forward without considering whether the route was correct or whether there were obstacles. He had been happily enjoying food by himself, only to get fleeced for two hundred yuan. Unable to control his emotions, he turned into a roaring maniac and kept claiming he had run into a shady shop. The owner, who had been smiling happily, immediately darkened her face. Once the show aired, Jiang Ning's fans would probably tear him apart.

Here, they reached the final bike-share checkpoint. They couldn't ride any farther. Wen Shuang checked the map while locking the bike. The hood on his sweatshirt could be removed. Seeing Jiang Ning repeatedly shielding himself from the sun with his hand, Wen Shuang took off the hood and placed it over Jiang Ning's face from behind. It had to be said, the move looked pretty cool, and the cameraman gave it a close-up.

"Aren't you hot?" Jiang Ning immediately felt a little more comfortable. His face would peel after sun exposure, which would be a huge hassle for later filming.

"Not hot." A layer of fine sweat beaded on Wen Shuang's forehead, so he was clearly lying through his teeth. They stood on the highway, with dense forest to their left and a gently flowing river to their right. The so-called island was on the opposite side of the river. What were they supposed to do? Walk all the way around?

Fortunately, there was always a way out. Wen Shuang saw a fisherman rowing toward them and felt that his luck had been getting better and better lately.

The fisherman had nothing to do with the production team. He had initially been a little intimidated by the cameras, but Wen Shuang explained patiently with a smile, calling him "Uncle" over and over until the man was delighted. The middle-aged man, who had initially worn a stern face, finally smiled. He understood what Wen Shuang meant and said, "I can take you across the river, but you'll have to wait another hour or so. I need to pull in my nets first."

Walking around the river would take at least two hours. Even waiting would be much more worthwhile. Wen Shuang hurriedly nodded. "Sure, we'll listen to you, Uncle!"

Jiang Ning stared in amazement. Just as he was about to praise Wen Shuang, Wen Shuang pushed him into the shade. The river flowed gently, and the breeze carried coolness with it. Once Jiang Ning sat down, he didn't really want to get back up. Wen Shuang had no intention of letting him move. "Rest for a bit. I'll go help."

"I'm going too!" Jiang Ning lifted himself up.

This time, Wen Shuang pressed down on his shoulder and kept him firmly in place. "You don't know how. Don't go make things worse."

In his previous life, Wen Shuang's grandfather had made a living from the sea. Every vacation, Wen Shuang would go there to play, and he had become quite skilled at pulling in nets. Seeing how quickly Wen Shuang got the hang of it and how smoothly he moved, the uncle immediately took a greater liking to the young man. The two stood side by side, occasionally chatting as they worked.

"The current upstream has been too strong these past few days. River crabs and the like are all hiding away. My little grandson wants to eat river crabs, but I haven't caught a single one all day," the uncle complained.

The moment he finished speaking, Wen Shuang lifted the net, and two plump river crabs were hanging from it. He looked utterly innocent. "These?"

The uncle: "..."

The cameraman: "..." Director, this guy is using cheats.

Wen Shuang was only helping, so naturally the river crabs belonged to the uncle. With results to show for it, the uncle was even happier. He and Wen Shuang quickly wrapped things up, somehow finishing all the work in just forty minutes. Then he waved a large hand. "Come on, get on the boat!"

Jiang Ning was also utterly stunned by Wen Shuang's extraordinary performance. Even after reaching the opposite shore, with part of the island already in view, he still felt like it wasn't real.

Thinking about it, they had only spent money on one meal?

Looking at it that way, that two-hundred-yuan meal had been so cheap. The liangfen was delicious.

"They can't make it here yet. It'll probably take another two hours. If they don't dawdle, they should arrive by seven." Several directors who had arrived early by car were drinking tea and fanning themselves with large palm-leaf fans, looking completely confident. But the assistant director had just taken a sip of tea when he looked up and saw two figures walking toward them. He instantly sprayed it out.

The director was forced to wash his face and hurriedly stood up to scold him. "What are you doing?!"

The assistant director pointed behind him as if he had seen a ghost. "Th-they're here!"

"Who's here?" The director was utterly confused. Then he turned his head, and it never turned back again.

Jiang Ning and Wen Shuang warmly greeted everyone. "Hi~"

The director's tongue was tangled. "No, wait, wait! How did you g-get here?!"

"We crossed the river." Jiang Ning spoke in a profound, mysterious tone. "You see, my name contains the character for river. Why is that? Because the river is my benefactor! When I encounter a river, I transform into a dragon! I soar into the sky! Naturally, this was a piece of cake."

Wen Shuang held back a laugh and played along. "Mm, I rode on the dragon's back and arrived."

All the directors: "..."

With no other choice, the director went to ask the cameraman nearby. The cameraman practically rolled his eyes as he truthfully explained everything, and afterward he kept muttering, "Really, it makes no sense. Wen Shuang was still thinking of a way when the fisherman showed up. The fisherman wanted river crabs, and Wen Shuang pulled in the net and got them. His luck is way too good."

Jiang Ning sat in the director's seat drinking tea, casually chatting with the planner across from him, who was close to losing his smile.

"No, there's still one final obstacle!" The director glared viciously at Wen Shuang and Jiang Ning's backs.

The production team stopped the boat going to the island in the middle of the lake. They only gave them one life jacket and told them to grab onto floating buoys and make their way across themselves.

The smile on Jiang Ning's face vanished instantly.

Wen Shuang noticed immediately and leaned closer to ask quietly, "You can't swim?"

"Mm." Jiang Ning found it difficult to say. "I'm also a little afraid of water."

"It's okay." Wen Shuang patted his head. "I'm a very good swimmer."

If anyone else had said that, Jiang Ning would still have felt uneasy. But Wen Shuang was different. Jiang Ning had noticed long ago that although this person had a gentle temperament and was easy to talk to, he was incredibly resilient at heart. He never did anything unless he was sure of it, and once he made a promise, he would do everything possible to keep it. He was obviously someone who could be knocked over with a single punch, yet he gave people an extraordinary sense of security.

With Wen Shuang guaranteeing it, Jiang Ning didn't hesitate. He put on the life jacket and lightly leaned against Wen Shuang. Using the life jacket's buoyancy, the two slowly made their way toward the island.

"I was scared at first too, but after I caught a fish in the water, I was never afraid again." Wen Shuang heard Jiang Ning's slightly hurried breathing and began talking to distract him.

Jiang Ning asked, "What kind of fish?"

"A big carp," Wen Shuang answered. "I was overjoyed. I originally planned to take it home and raise it, but it turned belly-up halfway there. Grandpa said I cried so hard."

"What happened to the fish?" Jiang Ning asked. "Did you eat it?"

"Buried it." Wen Shuang's tone was melancholy, carrying the helplessness of digging up his own embarrassing past. "I gave it a rose funeral."

Jiang Ning pictured the scene. "Hahaha!"

The two chatted and laughed in the water, while everyone on shore looked utterly weathered.