When Xie Zhengci and Wen He reached the third game station, he understood why Ji Chi would lose...
The production crew said, "Please write the other person's favorite fruit on your answer board."
Wen He: ?
Xie Zhengci: ?
Viewers: ?
[What kind of question is this? These two barely know each other...]
[Time to put their brains to the test.]
Wen He tilted his head toward Xie Zhengci, his eyes full of confusion... Xie Zhengci thought quickly and merely cast a meaningful glance into the orchard. That single glance was enough for Wen He to understand what he meant...
Wen He nodded and silently wrote one word on his board.
"Peaches."
"Peaches."
When they revealed their boards, Xie Zhengci breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Come on, let's go to the next station."
"Peaches."
"Peaches."
Wei Xun and Zhou Siyu also wrote down their answers in unison. Of course, their apparent understanding came from Ji Chi having leaked the question to them.
Beside them, Jiang Ye watched Ji Chi fail to pop five balloons in twenty seconds and guessed that he had completely given up on winning the game.
Jiang Ye could no longer keep his cool. He stepped forward, snatched the darts from Ji Chi's hand, and demanded through gritted teeth.
"Ji Chi, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Ji Chi pouted, putting on an innocent act. "Playing the game? My hands are sore after picking peaches all day. I can't lift the darts, Lawyer Jiang~"
Jiang Ye squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, the veins at his temples bulging. In the end, he merely swallowed his anger. "Fine."
Ji Chi wasn't even worried... what was he worried for?
Seeing that Ji Chi had given up, Jiang Ye simply abandoned all effort himself and sat on the edge of the field.
Ji Chi breathed onto the darts, then threw them one by one at the multicolored balloons. The sound of balloons bursting rang through the orchard, grating on Jiang Ye's nerves.
The balloons were replaced one after another, while the production crew frantically pumped them up nearby.
[I'm dying. Is Demon Dragon just messing around here?]
[Lawyer Jiang's given up too. I'm dying, hahahaha.]
[If you got stuck with a teammate like Ji Chi, you probably wouldn't handle it as gracefully as Lawyer Jiang.]
[The crew can't even stop pumping. I'm laughing so hard.]
The production crew was unwilling to hurry Ji Chi along because much of the show's funding came from the Ji and Xie families. Naturally, they wouldn't dare rush the young master.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhengci grew increasingly adept at the games and had already led Wen He to the final round. Wei Xun and Zhou Siyu stayed close behind, and all four reached the final round together.
The final round was simple... two people had to eat the same biscuit stick, leaving a length of one centimeter at the end. Whichever pair finished fastest would take first place.
Wen He froze in place, his brows tightly furrowed. He felt somewhat resistant.
A box of long Pejoy biscuit sticks sat on the square wooden table.
Wei Xun quickly picked up a biscuit stick and began eating it with Zhou Siyu. One centimeter was too short a distance, and the slightest slip could make them touch. The two nibbled away at the biscuit very, very carefully.
Their eyes met as the distance between them shrank.
Xie Zhengci closed his eyes, steeled himself, and took a biscuit stick from the box. He poked it straight into Wen He's mouth and bit off half of it before Wen He could react.
Wen He's eyes widened. He hadn't expected him to do that. He hastily backed away and spat out the biscuit in his mouth.
In that split second, seeing Wen He resist, Xie Zhengci took a large bite closer just before the biscuit left Wen He's lips, then pulled out a tiny sliver of biscuit.
"We're done!" Xie Zhengci handed the short piece of biscuit remaining in his hand to the production crew to measure.
It measured exactly one centimeter.
The production crew said, "Congratulations to you both on winning today!"
Zhou Siyu lowered his eyes and bit through the biscuit in his mouth, of which more than half remained. The remaining half fell to the ground and was trodden into the dirt.
Somewhat displeased, Wen He moved away from Xie Zhengci. His clenched fists loosened, tightened, then loosened again. A rare look of disgust appeared in his eyes... but quickly vanished.
He hated being treated like that...
So Wen He was very angry.
Seeing how happy Xie Zhengci looked, Zhou Siyu felt miserable again. His gaze swept over Wen He, who was already standing some distance away. There wasn't much expression on his face...
Wen He was very cute...
Zhou Siyu pressed his lips together, concealing the emotions in his eyes, and curved his lips into a smile. "Congratulations, you two. Looks like we lost."
"No congratulations..." Wen He was unhappy, very unhappy, and even his voice sounded glum.
[Ah... President Xie and Xiao He won, but why does the atmosphere feel so strange...?]
[I think so too. President Xie doesn't look very happy, and neither does Xiao He. Why do I feel like Xiao Yu isn't happy either?]
[I don't know. Now I'm unhappy too. My ship can't go on a date tonight.]
[A very unexpected ending.]
Xie Zhengci felt relieved for only a moment before putting it out of his mind. He walked over to Wen He. "Sorry, I got carried away in the heat of the moment..."
Wen He stubbornly turned his head aside, the cowlick on top of his head swiveling with the movement. His voice was dull. "It's fine."
Seeing that he was fine, Xie Zhengci quickly relaxed again.
The four waited for a while before Jiang Yu and Zhang Shengsheng slowly arrived. Zhang Shengsheng took the initiative to tease Zhou Siyu. "Looks like our Xiao Yu gets a feast tonight~"
Zhou Siyu smiled and shook his head, pointing at Wen He, who was squatting on the muddy ground. "Unfortunately, I won't be getting a feast. I'll just have to go back to the house and eat instant noodles~"
Neither of them was puzzled by Zhou Siyu's words. Instead, Zhang Shengsheng felt rather relieved that Wei Xun hadn't taken first place.
Wen He was wearing a straw hat and staring into space. The afternoon sun was no longer so fierce, and the brim shielded him from its rays. When he came back to his senses, he suddenly remembered that the ending in his dream hadn't seemed to go this way...
In the dream, he should have lost the competition, then returned to the house to cook and serve as the chef...
Ah... it seemed dreams really were all fake. Otherwise, why did he always dream of getting rich, only for it never to happen?
Perhaps everything was just a coincidence.
His neck was so itchy... and so hot...
The light before his eyes suddenly brightened, and the slight weight atop his head disappeared. Someone had taken away his straw hat and even caught the flattened cowlick on top of his head in a palm, tugging at it.
The slight tug made Wen He look up. He squinted against the dazzling sunlight, but Ji Chi soon bent his head down, taking the place of the straw hat.
Ji Chi breathed onto his fingertips and lightly flicked Wen He's forehead again, saying through gritted teeth, "Didn't I tell you not to win? Why won't you listen?!"
Wen He closed his eyes in pain and pouted slightly. Picking at the zipper on his jacket, he lowered his head. "I... didn't want to win. Boss Xie wanted to."
Ji Chi braced himself with both arms and looked at the neck exposed when Wen He lowered his head. It was already completely red, and even a light touch revealed how hot it was. This was a very typical sunburn...
Perhaps he should buy a hooded sun-protective jacket next time?
Ji Chi's clothes were a little too big for Wen He. Wen He withdrew his hands into the long sleeves, feeling somewhat miserable.
But Wen He couldn't explain why.
The straw hat that had been taken away was finally placed back on his head, and Ji Chi helped Wen He to his feet.
"Come on, time to get in the car."