[I think Zhou Jin must have realized something was wrong, but Li Muting was too impatient. She was afraid Ye Qingzhou would show up and disrupt their plan, so she hurriedly took off Chu Ci's hat.]
[Wait, I just had a ridiculous thought. Could Chu Ci's target have been "Li Muting" all along? If his target had been Zhou Jin, he should have acted defensive and cautious from the start to get Zhou Jin to lower his guard. But Chu Ci didn't. He looked completely at ease the whole time. Seeing him like that, Zhou Jin worried it was a trap, which was why he kept holding off and surveying the surroundings. Li Muting was worried Ye Qingzhou would suddenly appear, so she took off Chu Ci's hat...]
[Maybe he just lucked into it.]
[I think Chu Ci looked so relaxed because whether they took off his hat or not wouldn't make much difference to him. After all, filming had only just started, so nobody would have much starting money. If Zhou Jin's team didn't take off Chu Ci's hat, he could save the skill card for later. On the other hand, if Zhou Jin's team did take off his hat, his team could get some money early.]
[I think the person above makes a lot of sense.]
[Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!]
Looking at Zhou Jin and Li Muting, who stood frozen in place, Chu Ci took out his skill card. Its name was "Plunder Card."
Plunder, as the name suggested, meant forcibly seizing someone else's property or goods for oneself. In Let's Fall in Love, it meant taking the other team's money for oneself.
The Plunder Card was one of the production team's many skill cards.
Since the game had only just begun, Li Muting and Zhou Jin had only completed one task. They currently had 50 yuan.
Chu Ci and Ye Qingzhou currently had 250 yuan between them.
Just as Zhou Jin was about to hand their earnings to Chu Ci, he suddenly felt a coolness on top of his head.
It was Zhou Ze.
He had ambushed them while Zhou Jin was talking to Chu Ci.
"Hahahahaha..."
Still holding Zhou Jin's white hat, Zhou Ze raised his eyebrows smugly at the two people frozen before him. "I wonder if you've heard the saying, 'The mantis stalks the cicada...'"
Before Zhou Ze could finish, he felt his own head go bare.
Looking at the stunned Zhou Ze, Ye Qingzhou leisurely supplied the rest of the saying for him. "While the oriole waits behind."
Zhou Ze: "?"
Chu Ci raised his eyebrows slightly. "Beautiful."
The scene just now had been rather chaotic. Put simply, Zhou Ze had ambushed Zhou Jin and Li Muting while they weren't paying attention, only for Ye Qingzhou to snatch his victory before he could even finish his "acceptance speech."
[Hahahahaha, why aren't you laughing anymore, Zhou Ze?]
[Zhou Ze: I've never been much of a smiler.]
[Sure enough, smiles never disappear. They just move to someone else.]
[Zhou Ze hadn't even finished saying, "The mantis stalks the cicada while the oriole waits behind," before Ye Qingzhou took his hat.]
[Ye Qingzhou really is made for variety shows. That was peak entertainment...]
[What's the most important part? Zhou Jin was already penniless, so taking his hat was a complete waste of effort for Zhou Ze.]
[I've been watching Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci's livestream the whole time. Can anyone tell me how much Zhou Jin and Bai Zihan's team has?]
[Zhou Jin and Bai Zihan drew a relatively difficult task. The reward for completing it was 100 yuan.]
[So Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci already have 350 yuan? They only need another 150 to complete the task?]
[That's right. Another 150 yuan and they win.]
After taking Zhou Ze's white hat, Ye Qingzhou stood beside Chu Ci. "Hand over the money."
Zhou Jin handed Ye Qingzhou the 50 yuan they had just earned.
"Wait."
Zhou Ze couldn't help raising a hand to interrupt their exchange, his thoughts in disarray. "Zhou Jin, why are you giving Mr. Ye money? I clearly saw you take off Chu Ci's hat. Shouldn't those two be paying you...?"
When Zhou Ze and Bai Zihan came out of the task location, they saw Zhou Jin, Li Muting, and Chu Ci in a standoff. He gave Bai Zihan a meaningful look, preparing to play the oriole waiting behind the mantis stalking the cicada.
Whether Chu Ci or Zhou Jin won, Zhou Ze would take the winner's hat, maximizing his gains.
They were too far apart for Zhou Ze to hear their conversation. All he could see was Zhou Jin and Chu Ci locked in a standoff, while Li Muting took advantage of their distraction to remove Chu Ci's hat.
Let's Fall in Love was a dating variety show, and this episode's theme was "sharing good fortune and hardship alike." That meant Zhou Ze only had to take one person's hat to win all of that team's money.
The counterpart to "sharing good fortune" was "sharing hardship." That meant once Zhou Ze took one person's hat and eliminated that guest, their teammate would have to return to the respawn point with them and wait.
In Zhou Ze's plan, Chu Ci had already been eliminated by Zhou Jin's team, which meant Ye Qingzhou would have to accompany Chu Ci back to the respawn point.
And having just dealt with Chu Ci, Zhou Jin and Li Muting would be at their least vigilant. An ambush at that moment would have the best chance of success.
Who could have expected Ye Qingzhou to appear out of nowhere?
"Besides, wasn't Chu Ci eliminated? Shouldn't Mr. Ye be going to the respawn point with him? Why was he allowed to take my hat?"
Zhou Ze's handsome eyes were full of confusion.
[Hahahahaha, our Zhou Ze is completely baffled.]
[If Chu Ci hadn't had that skill card, Zhou Ze really might have reaped the rewards without lifting a finger...]
[If Chu Ci hadn't had a skill card, he would have called Ye Qingzhou out ages ago. Why would he let Zhou Jin and Li Muting push him around?]
[Is it just me? Why do I feel like Chu Ci wouldn't necessarily have lost to Zhou Jin even without that skill card?]
[Are you kidding? Zhou Jin works out year-round. He's all muscle. Now look at Chu Ci's skinny frame. How could he beat Zhou Jin?]
[Who can say for sure? My gut tells me Chu Ci is strong.]
[I declare Ye Qingzhou the MVP of this game.]
"Chu Ci used a skill card."
Seeing Zhou Ze's bewildered expression, Zhou Jin explained.
"...A skill card?"
With Zhou Jin's reminder, Zhou Ze finally remembered that Ye Qingzhou and Chu Ci had received a skill card from the production team at the start. But he was still puzzled. "What kind of skill card is that powerful?"
"Here."
Seeing Zhou Ze's confusion, Chu Ci kindly handed him the skill card.