Chapter 22
Chapter 22
When Qi Wu walked out of the bathroom, Tong Luo immediately sat up on the bed. She had been tossing and turning since she could not fall asleep.
“Were you… singing just now?”
Tong Luo hesitated for a few moments before slowly posing her question.
There was nothing that could be done about it. Although the doors did keep out most of the noises when they were closed, Tong Luo could still hear Qi Wu singing in the bathroom.
“Yes.”
Qi Wu sat on her bed and pulled out the remaining few lemon drops in her jar. A frown settled on her brows as he reluctantly yet eagerly ate a lemon drop.
By now, Tong Luo had filled in the gaps on what she thought must have happened.
Qi Wu had gone to call her debtholder, so that could only mean she had sung for her debtholder.
The more Tong Luo knew about the situation, the more complex this “debtholder” was.
*
As Song Qi’s voice echoed from the speakers installed all over the contestants’ living quarters, the contestants who had just woken up from their afternoon nap hurriedly ran over to the field located next to the lake.
Qi Wu was still half-awake and had languidly stumbled along with Tong Luo over to join the back of the group of contestants while her eyes drooped drowsily.
When Song Qi walked over with his speakerphone, he quickly noticed Qi Wu.
It was now a hard task for Song Qi to not notice Qi Wu. After all, Hu Mofei would immediately start blabbering away on the production team’s radio channel. Just like what he was doing right now.
“Did my darling daughter not have a good nap? Song, why did you have to make them gather here so early?” Hu Mofei whined.
“It’s already two o’clock!” Song Qi shot back.
He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
It was basically impossible for him to have a proper conversation with a fan like Hu Mofei.
When the contestants saw Song Qi getting angry, they all thought their idyllic and lazy mannerisms had infuriated him. Thus, all of them stood up straight out of fear, looking just like a troop of soldiers.
Tong Luo carefully kept an eye on Qi Wu the entire time, worried that Qi Wu might fall asleep at any moment.
Eventually, Tong Luo could not resist saying to Qi Wu, “Mr. Song is here.”
Qi Wu gave her a small nod in return. The bleary and obedient look in her eyes nearly made Tong Luo give in to the urge to run a hand through Qi Wu’s hair.
After all, she just looked way too cute in her current state.
Song Qi held up his speakerphone and said in a voice that echoed all across the field.
“After the end of our talent showcase this morning, I believe you should all have a basic understanding of the people next to you. Your next tasks will play an important role in the category you’ll go to later on. Please treat every task seriously.”
People immediately started whispering when they heard that.
Song Qi did not stop them and allowed their imaginations to run wild.
After a while, he spoke up once more. “I trust many of you have now guessed that there will be three categories in this show. There are only twenty slots for each category, which means by the time it is time to select your category, forty of you will have left the show.”
As soon as he said that, everyone started shifting around restlessly.
That meant nearly half of them would be eliminated by the time they were able to select which category to enter. It was a realization that made many panic.
Clearing his throat, Song Qi continued, “Your next tasks are going to be about your ability to choose which category you’ll be in. Every task will give you a certain number of points. When the time comes, the contestant with the highest number of points would be the first person to choose where they would be going while the contestant with the lowest number of points would go last. The top ten contestants will win the right to make the first pick and also to reject a challenge once.”
“However, you can’t rest easy just because you have the first pick. You might have to duel against challengers. In here, might makes right.”
Song Qi’s booming voice left lasting impressions in everyone’s minds.
That meant even if the contestant with the most points had finished all the tasks and had first pick for which category they wanted to go to, they would also need to be a very talented contestant as they might end up being challenged later on.
“This afternoon, you will all play in a three-legged race. Get past the obstacles set on your path and win points. You will be awarded points according to how fast you get through the challenges. Your partner will be your roommate. Now, you’ll have ten minutes to discuss strategies.”
Song Qi immediately walked out of the cameras’ view as soon as he was finished speaking, leaving all one hundred contestants standing around in the field.
Soon, the crew members were handing out equipment needed for the three-legged race. The contestants grabbed the items needed and promptly started discussing what to do during the task with their partners.
It was not just a simple race, after all. From start to finish, it was at least a quarter mile. That did not include the many traps and obstacles that might have been set up along the way.
Tong Luo stared at a few of the obstacles visible from a distance and clicked her tongue. “Why are there hay and wooden logs? Are they saying that two of us need to cross it at the same time?”
The entire place being used for the race was only a quarter mile long, but Tong Luo could only spot a few of the obstacles that had been set up. However, it was clear that the production team had spent a lot of hours designing the obstacle course. Many of the obstacles she could spot were very difficult.
It was evidently not just a test of teamwork, but also a test of intelligence.
When she turned her attention away from the obstacles, she noticed Qi Wu examining the rope they were given and hurriedly explained, “That’s to tie two of our legs together.”
Upon seeing the blank look in Qi Wu’s eyes, she asked, “Have you never participated in a three-legged race before?”
Qi Wu shook her head. “I never played games.”
The temple was a holy sanctuary. How could something like entertainment ever exist within its walls?
Tong Luo was stunned.
She had not expected Qi Wu to have never played a game before as she had only assumed Qi Wu had never run in a three-legged race before.
There was an indescribable ball of feelings swelling inside her heart.
She knelt down and used the rope to tie two of their legs together, even using a special knot to make sure the rope did not loosen over time.
“Three-legged races are simple. Two of our legs will be tied together, so we need to be in sync no matter what we do or where we walk.”
After a brief explanation of the rules by Tong Luo, Qi Wu soon understood what the game was about.
“Teamwork,” Qi Wu softly exclaimed.
“Yes.”
Tong Luo’s answer was simple.
Qi Wu tilted her head as she looked at Tong Luo. “Do you trust me?”
Stunned, Tong Luo paused and looked up. When her eyes met Qi Wu’s calm eyes, she subconsciously nodded. “I do.”
As soon as she said that, a smile spread across Qi Wu’s face. “I’ll go with your speed.”
“We can both accommodate each other. For now, let’s work on walking.”
Qi Wu’s smile was so radiant that Tong Luo did not even realize it when she started speaking faster and faster.
The two women soon began practicing.
They were nearly the same height. With their quick minds and willingness to work with each other, they were soon able to walk around in a balanced manner.
The other teams were also quick to familiarize themselves with each other. However, there were a few teams that just could not work together.
For example, Tong Fei and Qiu Yan.
The two of them had been assigned to the same room by the production team, but Tong Fei was a pampered princess who looked down on Qiu Yan while Qiu Yan refused to fawn over Tong Fei since Qiu Yan had already signed on with a talent agency.
However, they were now trapped together because of this game.
Naturally, Tong Fei was not someone who would compromise and conform to other people’s movements. Qiu Yan could barely be polite to her, and even that was only because of the Tong family. As they both disliked each other, they were constantly stumbling and crawling as they moved around. They looked just like two wriggling worms.
When Jiang Xuxu brought her roommate over to talk to them, her gleeful grin could not be hidden at all.
“You should go over there and have a look. The two of them are just amazing. The production team really did well with this arrangement.”