So the production team specially asked Chairman Zhang to approve a note adding the sightseeing resort to the reward program. The automatic winning opportunity was a temporary solution to the problem of not being able to divide the seven people into two equal groups.
Cheng Jixue thought for a moment: "Can I give this opportunity to someone else?" He smiled shyly: "Although the water isn't cold this season, if any seniors are not in good health, it's best to avoid going into the water."
Because Cheng Jixue wasn't very familiar with the other guests' health conditions, she could only ask them on the spot. Everyone said they were fine, so Cheng Jixue passed the opportunity to the oldest female senior, Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen smiled, revealing his bright white teeth: "I'm only a little older than Xiao Zhao, so I don't need any special care. But Brother Feng used to be really dedicated to his work, didn't he injure his leg before?"
Feng Yingyu scratched her head sheepishly: "These are all injuries from a long time ago, I'm fine."
Feng Yingyu earned his Best Actor awards through sheer hard work, performing his own stunts, even the most dangerous ones. When he was younger, he once broke his leg after falling from a great height due to a stunt mistake, and it took him a long time to recover.
Even so, the old injury still aches faintly when the weather is cloudy or rainy.
Everyone was filled with respect upon hearing this and unanimously agreed to pass the automatic victory opportunity to Feng Yingyu. Feng Yingyu readily thanked him, saying, "Then I'll gladly accept! See you at the manor! Good luck, brothers!"
The other guests automatically formed groups in front of the valley. The two girls originally wanted to be paired up, but the team leader, Lu Tao, waved his hand and said, "How about this, the two ladies and Xiao Luan will be in one group, and I'll be with President Zhang and Xiao Cheng... Two landlubbers against your two ladies, so it's even!"
Freestyle swimming champion Mr. Zhang smiled but remained silent.
Luan Zhang shook his head: "Brother Lu, you take care of the two of them. You're very meticulous, and I'm afraid I'll get carried away if I start having fun, hahaha!"
Lu Tao understood what he meant and didn't refuse: "Okay, then you and Xiao Cheng and the others!"
Although it is called a rafting race, for the safety of the guests, the first half of the trip is actually a rafting trip, and the second half is a race near a riverbank with a water depth of less than two meters.
The two groups engaged in a fierce battle on the rafting section—Zhao Xinyue sneakily splashed water on Xiao Zhang several times!
I told you two not to feed me dog food!
Zhang Chaohe was initially unaware of who was behind this attack, but upon seeing Zhao Xinyue's evasive expression, he was filled with rage! He nimbly hooked his long legs around Cheng Jixue's calves, and like a nimble monkey, lunged forward, splashing water at Zhao Xinyue!
Zhao Xinyue was beaten so badly she couldn't fight back! Unlike Zhang Chaohe, she wasn't a good swimmer, and when water got into her eyes, she cowered like a quail, screaming for help! Lu Tao, seeing his teammate being bullied, immediately stepped in to help... and then got brutally beaten by Luan Zhang!
Cheng Jixue, whose leg had been inexplicably hooked, was still secretly feeling the strength of Xiao Zhang's slender and powerful thighs—he thought to himself, "He's quite strong."
"It would be better if we could hook it somewhere else," he thought regretfully.
Little did the goose know that the person next to it was already obsessed with unspeakable lewd thoughts, a prime example of someone who "had already thought of names for their children the moment they held hands." And, in his naive and considerate way, he asked, "Why aren't you playing?"
Cheng Jixue looked completely innocent: "I'm not very good at swimming."
“Mr. Zhang, could you splash some water on me?” He smiled just the right amount of time and naturally reached out to hold Zhang Chaohe’s leg: “I’ll hold you back.”
Zhang Chaohe was in a playful mood and no longer cared where the other person was placing their hand on—just two days ago, the two of them were innocent little kids who would blush for half a day after accidentally touching each other's thighs, but today Cheng Jixue was so arrogant that she grabbed his leg, and Zhang Chaohe didn't hesitate at all.
Cheng Jixue: I understand. It seems that geese are animals that need to be stroked gently.
He watched with a smile as Xiao Zhang fought bravely, proving that one goose was stronger than three people, and he forced the other side to retreat steadily! Zhao Xinyue and Xiao Chen rowed hard, and with the force of the current, the distance between the two boats widened!
The production team, still fueling the fire from the safety boat behind, announced: "Whichever group reaches the destination first can start the prize-winning activity!"
Upon hearing this, Little Zhang leaned back abruptly and immediately started to feign weakness: "Let them have their way! I'm a super fighter!"
Director Team: ...
You seemed quite ambitious just now, how come you've suddenly become so polite and courteous?
Zhang Chaohe actually understood Lu Tao's intention in forming the groups this way—if their group lost, the two female guests could go to stay at the resort! Although staying in the courtyard would be fun, it would still be inconvenient for the girls.
They can take a bath and get some rest at the resort. He's already figured out how to play the sixth brother later!
Cheng Jixue's thinking was even simpler—he had to lose, he had to lose today, even if the goose got carried away!
If he loses, he, Zhang Chaohe, and Luan Zhang will go back to the courtyard to live alone. Then he can find an excuse to be modest and let Luan Zhang live in a separate room. Wouldn't he be able to truly achieve his great goal of sharing a bed with Zhang Chaohe?
The two exchanged a glance.
Zhang Chaohe: I'll be starting my performance soon, so assist me!
Cheng Jixue: I'll be playing you in a bit, wait for me!
The two men locked eyes and quickly reached a consensus, both eager to begin their performance! Sure enough, upon arriving at the designated spot downstream, Zhang Chaohe launched a flurry of attacks, only to find his score was 0-5. The ball had been thrown countless times in various ways!
As the director began the countdown, Zhang Chaohe repeated his old trick, hooking his legs around Cheng Jixue's calves once more. Cheng Jixue smiled slightly, remaining as steady as a mountain, each secretly preparing to exert their strength—
"Thump!" Zhang Chaohe hadn't even started acting when he was tricked by Cheng Jixue?
When his opponent loosened his grip, Zhang Chaohe, who was just wondering how to miss his last chance to win the championship, was stunned... and immediately fell face down into the water!
The director immediately announced loudly: "The winner is—the Red Team!"
Zhao Xinyue and Xiao Chen cheered with consecutive victories, while Little Zhang lay in the water looking completely bewildered—the three lifeguards immediately jumped into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot, skillfully scooping up the fallen goose! Before Zhang Chaohe could even react, he received the thoughtful service from the production team, being taken onto the rescue boat and wrapped in layers of large bath towels!
Cheng Jixue glanced apologetically at Zhang Chaohe before following the staff's guidance down the small inflatable boat. Although everyone's clothes were soaked from the fierce fighting, Zhang Chaohe was particularly miserable, so he was fortunate enough to change into dry clothes earlier.
Zhang Chaohe and Cheng Jixue met ashore. They smiled at each other and each tried to justify their earlier behavior:
"The boat was unsteady and wobbled. I couldn't hold you back. I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang."
"The boat was off balance and wobbled. I couldn't hold you back. Oops, oops."
The two men gave the same reason—blaming the ship for any problems! Both felt they had successfully fooled each other and wiped the sweat from their brows.
Luan Zhang, Zhang Chaohe, and Cheng Jixue were taken back to the courtyard by the production team. Zhang Chaohe had already changed clothes on the director's luxurious rescue boat and was then assigned to the kitchen to process today's spoils, peach gum, which he planned to soak for six hours before cooking peach gum milk for a late-night snack.
Luan Zhang and Cheng Jixue were washing themselves in their respective bathtubs, separated by a simple screen. Although they couldn't see each other, they could still chat.
Since there were no cameras following them, Luan Zhang chatted with Cheng Jixue: "Does your family know you're in the entertainment industry?"
Cheng Jixue's heart skipped a beat—he probably hadn't met Luan Zhang before, but there was no guarantee that the other party knew him through some channel, so he cautiously replied, "I know him."
Luan Zhang sighed: "Your family must be quite well-off, so how come you have so much?"
Cheng Jixue gave another ambiguous answer: "Is there?"
Luan Zhang thought he was being modest about not knowing much. While wiping his arms, he complained incessantly: "You have no idea how hard it is to find actors nowadays. They don't know anything, all they know is how to pose, and they just give the camera whatever angle looks good... Why were the films good in the past? Because the actors themselves had depth, experience, knowledge, and high emotional intelligence. Unlike today's fast-food actors, they are just blank slates with nothing."
"Hey, do you have any works to your name?"
Luan Zhang quite liked the child; he was good-looking, smart, seemed to know a little bit about everything, and was well-mannered.
An actor with such a down-to-earth personality has countless possibilities.
Cheng Jixue chuckled: "I've only acted in one TV series that hasn't been filmed yet, and it was a supporting role."
Luan Zhang grunted, "What a pity."
He assumed Cheng Jixue would continue to focus on opera, so he didn't press the matter further. After they finished bathing and changing, they saw Zhang Chaohe sitting in the courtyard picking through some soaked peach gum—Cheng Jixue looked down and suddenly felt a pang of heartache: "How much did you soak?"
The small iron basin used for serving vegetables was slowly filled with peach gum balls that had just been soaked and were slightly fuzzy around the edges!
It's probably enough for about ten people.
Zhang Chaohe thought for a moment and said, "I poured out one-third of the bag."
He had only ever tried peach gum and coconut milk curd, and since peach gum always tasted sticky, he figured this stuff probably wouldn't expand much after soaking. Zhang Chaohe gestured with an enamel mug and figured that one-third of a bag would be just right according to the proportions.
Cheng Jixue was a little overwhelmed. He carried the half-basin of peach gum to the production team to negotiate... Zhang Chaohe was stupid, but he wasn't. The cameras were all in the courtyard, and they must have seen Zhang Chaohe pouring the peach gum!
The reason they didn't stop Zhang Chaohe was 100% because he wanted to freeload a meal!
Cheng Jixue placed the basin on the table, displaying a smile that concealed a dagger: "President Zhang just poured too much; the three of us probably can't finish it today."
Director: "Then we can..."
"You can provide coconut milk, milk, brown sugar, goji berries, red dates, and galangal, right?"
The directing team: The directing team tried to explain: "Actually, it's not necessarily true..."
Cheng Jixue's smile vanished. He picked up the iron basin, turned around, and left, muttering as he went, "Then I'll just scoop out the excess and let it air dry."
Production team: How can you bargain like that—not even bothering to negotiate?!
"Okay! That's all you want!" The director quickly tried to persuade them to stay, "By what time do you need it?"
Cheng Jixue calculated for a moment: "Eight o'clock, I guess."
When he returned to the courtyard, Zhang Chaohe and Luan Zhang were arm wrestling... The two were sitting upright, each stretching out a leg to support their elbows in preparation.
Zhang Chaohe's muscles bulged into a pleasing arc, and his five fingers moved in an orderly fashion, as if he was making every effort to adjust his posture.
Cheng Jixue then sat down to the side with the basin, ready to observe the battle unfold.
But this was different for Zhang Chaohe. His beloved wife—ah, this one who had also "already thought of names for their child after just holding hands"—was watching from the sidelines!
What's this!
This is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate your masculine strength!
Luan Zhang suddenly felt that Little Zhang was shaking with excitement, as if he were about to be killed, and he couldn't help but feel a little terrified: ...
Why does arm wrestling look like a life-or-death duel?
Luan Zhang also focused his attention, and the two stared at each other intently, each exerting their strength. As soon as the cameraman shouted "Action!", the two began to compete fiercely!
To be fair, Luan Zhang was in his prime, while Zhang Chaohe was young and energetic. The two sides were indeed deadlocked for a while—Luan Zhang originally wanted to wear down Zhang Chaohe's tenacity first, and then seize the opportunity to counterattack!
Unexpectedly, after only a short while, Xiao Cheng next to me suddenly tilted his head and said, "Keep it up!"
Inspired by his dream wife, Zhang Chaohe suddenly felt a surge of fierce energy and tackled Luan Zhang, who was still gathering his strength, to the ground!
He jumped up, raised his hands, and cheered as if he had just won a world championship: "Oh—"
Assistant Chen, who was watching from the sidelines, covered his face and said: "Please stop going on variety shows, Mr. Zhang... Please, you're getting further and further away from being a domineering CEO!"
So many wives' dreams of becoming a glamorous couple have been shattered on variety shows! Who would believe that the domineering CEO they admire is actually a frivolous young man?
Luan Zhang was also completely bewildered—what happened? Did Boss Zhang just transform into a Super Saiyan? How come it's over before I even realized it?
Am I really getting old?
Zhang Chaohe glanced smugly at Cheng Jixue, his face beaming with "I'm so awesome!" Cheng Jixue couldn't help but want to laugh, but fearing he might reveal something on camera, he could only offer a cryptic and reserved "Congratulations."
Although he thought he was hiding it well, he had actually given himself away at every turn—the cameraman was really trying his best to cover up his horse's hooves, but it was no match for those two kicking and thrashing about...
The cameraman humbly thought: I have repaid the kindness of the ice cream to this extent. All I can do now is pray that the audience is blind.
Dinner was pickled cabbage and river fish—the main shots were all at the resort tonight, so the group in the courtyard was basically on vacation. Cheng Jixue guessed that Zhang Chaohe liked to eat fish, so he discussed with the director and extorted another fish. He skillfully removed the fish bones in the kitchen and then sliced the fish meat into fillets one by one.
Luan Zhang and Zhang Chaohe watched the spectacle from the sidelines. Luan Zhang remarked, "Wow, it's rare to see so many young people gathered here!"
Goose-style translation: Such a capable and virtuous darling must be married.
Zhang Chaohe: "Yes, that's right."
Goose Brain Heights had been taken over, and he finally understood why his former dorm buddies all became clingy after falling in love—he had even overheard a burly guy sweet-talking his girlfriend in a coquettish voice:
"Fine, then go ahead and chase away the world's most clingy and cutest baby! Humph!"