Now that the person standing before Chu Ci was Zhou Jin instead, the laughter brimming in Chu Ci's eyes turned to obvious mockery. The young man's casual beckoning gesture was all the more provocative.
[Oho, I can smell the gunpowder.]
[Have you guys noticed that Chu Ci treats Ye Qingzhou and Zhou Jin completely differently? His voice was so gentle when he spoke to Ye Qingzhou, and the way he smiled and beckoned to him was almost... flirtatious? But facing Zhou Jin, Chu Ci is like a completely different person. Both his eyes and that beckoning finger are full of provocation.]
[Isn't that perfectly normal? Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci are partners. On a dating show, isn't "partners" just another way of saying a couple? And what's Zhou Jin's relationship with Chu Ci? They're competitors! To use a not entirely appropriate example, of course people treat their wives completely differently from their rivals...]
[Hahahahaha, if Ye Qingzhou knew you'd called him Chu Ci's "wife," would he be furious?]
[Probably not? After all, in the last game, Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci kissed through a candy wrapper for a whole thirty seconds.]
[I'd already forgotten about that, and now you've stabbed me right in the heart again. [sobbing.jpg]]
[Friend, are you trying to kill me? [smile][smile][smile]]
Zhou Jin hadn't expected Chu Ci to be this bold.
Even at such a disadvantage, Chu Ci still dared to provoke him. Could Ye Qingzhou be watching them from somewhere out of sight?
At that thought, Zhou Jin gradually grew wary. Looking at the perfectly relaxed Chu Ci, he couldn't help demanding in a low voice, "Are you deliberately stalling while you wait for Ye Qingzhou to rescue you?"
Seeing Zhou Jin's indecision, Chu Ci sighed helplessly. "Which one of us is stalling here?"
Zhou Jin: "..."
Only after Chu Ci's reminder did Zhou Jin belatedly realize that he seemed to be the one stalling.
"Hurry up."
Seeing Zhou Jin still standing there without doing anything, Li Muting sounded a little anxious. "I feel like Ye Qingzhou will be back soon..."
If Ye Qingzhou appeared, the situation would turn around completely.
Hearing that, Zhou Jin finally made up his mind.
He took a deep breath and slowly closed in on Chu Ci, his eyes fixed on the white baseball cap, his expression grave, like a leopard poised to strike.
Chu Ci, by contrast, wore a much more cautious expression.
Watching Zhou Jin draw closer and closer, he even lowered his head toward him, his voice carrying an unmistakable hint of laughter. "Do you want this white cap?"
At that, Chu Ci paused for half a second before casually drawing out his words. "Then you can have it."
[That smile! That smile! Something is definitely wrong!]
[Chu Ci's smile is so captivating! Aaaaaah! Does anyone get me?! He's like the mastermind villain in a novel, always perfectly at ease no matter what happens.]
[Girl, you took the words right out of my mouth! Chu Ci's smile really has that neither-good-nor-evil vibe. In short, he's really hot.]
[Why do I feel like Chu Ci is deliberately coaxing Zhou Jin into taking his cap?]
[There's got to be more to this, right? But I still don't understand. What penalty would Zhou Jin get for taking Chu Ci's cap?]
[...Penalty? I've got it!!!]
[I've figured it out too! Chu Ci is so smart!!!]
[Wait, why are you all speaking in riddles?]
His instincts from appearing on variety shows so many times told Zhou Jin that something wasn't right.
He stopped abruptly. "You..."
"Hmm?"
Chu Ci's voice rose slightly at the end, his expression relaxed.
Watching Zhou Jin take so long to act, Li Muting couldn't help walking over to them. Before either Zhou Jin or Chu Ci could react, she snatched the white cap off Chu Ci's head at lightning speed.
"You're too slow."
There was an unmistakable note of complaint in her voice.
Something flashed through Zhou Jin's mind. He desperately wanted to stop Li Muting, only to discover he was too late.
Chu Ci's cap had already been taken off.
"Congratulations."
Chu Ci's short black hair had been pressed into slight disarray by the baseball cap. He casually brushed at the strands over his forehead before slowly raising his eyes to look at Li Muting and Zhou Jin.
A faint, gentle smile spread from the corners of Chu Ci's eyes, his words unhurried. "You've successfully triggered a skill card."
The words "skill card" confirmed Zhou Jin's suspicions, and he sighed in frustration. Li Muting hadn't expected this turn of events either, and she froze on the spot.
[Aaaaaah! It really was a skill card! I guessed right!]
[...I was so busy watching Chu Ci and Ye Qingzhou feed us sugar that I forgot "skill cards" even existed.]
[Actually, you could have guessed when Chu Ci gave Ye Qingzhou that look. Normally, when guests see two opponents, they instinctively ask their partner for backup. But Chu Ci did the exact opposite, having Ye Qingzhou hide inside the task location to lower their opponents' guard. That proves Chu Ci had victory in the bag.]
[Does anyone get that "congratulations" from Chu Ci?! The way he said it really hit! Have no directors approached him about acting???]
[That reversal was incredible!]
[I think Zhou Jin probably realized something was wrong, but Li Muting was too anxious. She was afraid Ye Qingzhou would show up and disrupt their plan, so she hurriedly took Chu Ci's cap.]
[Wait, I just had a ridiculous thought. Could Chu Ci's target have been "Li Muting" all along? If his target were Zhou Jin, he should have taken a defensive, cautious stance right from the start to lower Zhou Jin's guard. But Chu Ci didn't. He looked perfectly at ease the entire time. Seeing him like that, Zhou Jin worried there was a trap, which was why he kept hesitating to act. Li Muting, who was watching their surroundings, worried Ye Qingzhou would suddenly appear, so she took Chu Ci's cap...]
[Maybe it was just a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse.]
[I think Chu Ci looked so at ease because whether they took his cap or not wouldn't affect him much. After all, filming has only just begun, so nobody would have much starting money. If Zhou Jin's team didn't take Chu Ci's cap, he could save the skill card for later; conversely, if Zhou Jin's team did take Chu Ci's cap, his team could get some funds early.]
[I think the analysis above makes a lot of sense.]
[Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!]