Chapter 058: Qiting

The first to play the wolf was Zheng Fang from Song Wan’s group, yet with his old arms and legs, he didn’t catch a single sheep (Zheng Fang’s own words). Guo Feng and Song Wan looked at him speechlessly, but Zheng Fang was thoroughly enjoying himself, almost gloating to the heavens—

“You all dare not let me catch you? Just wait, the internet will definitely criticize you for not respecting the elderly and caring for the young.”

Song Wan gave him a deadpan look. “Are you the elderly or the young?”

Just over forty himself, and he’s invoking the phrase “respect the elderly and care for the young”?

“Song Wan, your eyesight must be failing!” Zheng Fang sighed in mock disappointment. “At the venerable age of thirty-two, am I not worthy of being called ‘old’?”

At this moment, Li Fan, “passing by,” leaned into Zheng Fang’s camera with a solemn face. “In the presence of a senior at the high age of thirty-eight, you must all remember to show respect, or my fans really won’t let you off the hook.”

Zheng Fang looked utterly bewildered. “Wait, am I not the oldest here?”

Li Fan gazed at him fondly for three seconds, then patted his head. “Remember what you said—respect the elderly and care for the young.”

With that, he strolled away at his own pace.

Zheng Fang looked as if struck by lightning. “How am I not the oldest? My beard’s already gone white!”

Qin Hui joined in, ruffling Zheng Fang’s hair. “Sorry, I’m thirty-five. Zheng Fang, remember—respect the elderly and care for the young…”

Even Guo Feng couldn’t help chiming in, “Zheng, er, I mean Brother Zheng… no, Little Zheng, I’m already thirty-three this year.”

Zheng Fang: “…”

Song Wan: “…Pfft, you’re all really hooked on pretending to be old, aren’t you?”

Just then, it was Li Fan’s turn to play.

Facing everyone, he stressed once more, “I’m the eldest here, so remember to respect your elders.” He turned to Zheng Fang, “Especially you, Zheng Fang. Make sure you stand still and let me catch you.”

Zheng Fang glared, but Li Fan only smiled, “Respect your elders and care for the young—”

He stretched the words out, dripping with meaning.

Zheng Fang’s face looked as if he’d just swallowed something foul. He couldn’t help but look back at Song Wan. “Did I just dig my own grave?”

Song Wan, unable to bear it, said, “Brother Zheng, I’m younger than you.”

“And what good is that to me?”

Song Wan raised her hand cautiously. “Brother Zheng, you could have them care for the young instead.”

Zheng Fang instantly revived. “That’s right, you’re the youngest among us!” He turned to glare at the others. “What’s all this talk about respecting elders? Shame on you! Song Wan’s only twenty—remember to take care of the young and don’t catch her!”

But when the game began for real, Song Wan shot off like a bolt and reached the finish line first.

Zheng Fang: “…So you say you’re young, but what use is that? I might as well give you all my excess years—”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Director Yang couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. With these two live wires, Song Wan and Zheng Fang, the show would never lack for good material. Their back-and-forth banter was a producer’s dream.

The second game ended quickly. Though everyone was left filthy, the laughter was worth it.

In the end, the winning team was Ji Youning’s, with Song Wan’s group coming in second.

However, thanks to their accumulated points from previous games, Song Wan’s group still ranked first overall, earning them a special advantage for the name-tag ripping round—

All three members of their team would wear small tags.

In contrast, Qi Ting’s group, who came in last, had tags with “wings”—making them absurdly easy to tear off.

Ji Youning’s team had regular tags and didn’t even glance at Song Wan’s group, instead casting predatory looks at Qi Ting’s team. The competitive gleam in their eyes nearly made Wu Jin and Qin Hui drop to their knees and call them “Daddy.”

The seven contestants arrived at the Mango TV building—the venue for the name-tag battle—but before they could even speak, they were separated and led to different locations.

Throughout, each person wore a blindfold.

To be honest, the sudden deprivation of sight was deeply unsettling, leaving everyone on edge. On each side, two towering men appeared out of nowhere, not only tying blindfolds over their eyes but also rather roughly hauling them off toward their destinations.

Song Wan was nearly scared into cardiac arrest.

Fortunately, she knew she was on a show and managed to keep her composure.

The others felt much the same—after all, this was a variety show, not a kidnapping.

Zheng Fang, on the other hand, put on a show, shouting and hollering dramatically. But everyone knew he was just playing up for the cameras, and the others gamely responded, keeping the mood light and not allowing tension to set in.

Then, out of nowhere, a piercing scream echoed through the entire building.

Song Wan involuntarily trembled.

Guo Feng grew anxious. “Song Wan, are you alright?”

Song Wan, still dazed, replied, “Brother Guo, I’m fine…”

“Wasn’t that you screaming just now?”

Song Wan grew more confused. “No, it wasn’t me.”

Suddenly anxious herself, she asked, “Ji Youning, did something happen over there?”

Although Ji Youning was farther away, her mic picked up the conversation. She sounded bewildered. “Everything’s fine here.”

Then Qing He spoke up. “Did something happen to Qi Ting? Was that you screaming?”

No one answered.

Song Wan swallowed nervously. “Wu Jin, are you there?”

Wu Jin’s voice quavered. “I’m here…”

“Brother Qin?”

Qin Hui replied calmly, “I’m alright. It seems the one who screamed was Qi Ting from our group.”

Wu Jin, unable to contain himself, grumbled, “What is the production team up to? What… what exactly do they want? Did they take Qi Ting away or what?”

“Who knows?” Song Wan quickly interrupted.

If she didn’t, who knew if Wu Jin would spill the fact that the show had a script?

Even though such bits would be edited out, the production team would not look kindly on him for it. Wu Jin was just hot-tempered—why make trouble?

Wu Jin’s agent, watching the monitors behind the director, pursed his lips and turned to Gao Xiang. “Sister Gao, can’t we just push a CP storyline with Wu Jin? It’s mutually beneficial, and I think Song Wan isn’t entirely indifferent toward him, either.”

Gao Xiang gave him a cool glance. “Don’t mistake kindness for affection. Song Wan is still young.”

Once Song Wan was seated on a stool, she was finally allowed to remove her blindfold. “Oh my god—”

A face suddenly loomed in front of her, and she shrieked, reflexively slapping it.

Smack!

A vivid red handprint blossomed on Qi Ting’s face.

“Song Wan, how dare you hit me!”

Song Wan steadied herself and realized it was Qi Ting. She frowned, took a few cautious steps back, and asked warily, “What are you doing here?”

“You hit me and don’t even apologize?” Qi Ting advanced on her, voice sharp, but mindful that they were still filming, so her expression, though twisted, wasn’t completely unsightly.

Song Wan wasn’t having any of it. She apologized briskly and backed away until she was at a safe distance.

She asked again, “Why are you here?”

Qi Ting’s gaze flickered, and she glared at Song Wan, annoyed. “How should I know?”

Song Wan backed away, still wary. “The production team blindfolded all of us just to split us up, so we wouldn’t know where the others were taken. There’s no way two people should end up in the same place.”

“So, how could you possibly be here?”

Especially when she appeared right in front of her, without warning. If Song Wan hadn’t reacted quickly and slapped her, her name tag would probably have been torn off already.

Thinking of this, Song Wan’s expression darkened.

She stopped retreating, looked at Qi Ting, and smiled faintly. “Seems you’re pretty skilled, aren’t you?”

Already resentful toward Song Wan—and now freshly slapped—Qi Ting would have retaliated if not for the cameras. Seeing Song Wan stop running, she seized her chance and lunged straight for her, eyes locked on Song Wan’s name tag.

It was pointless. Song Wan simply sidestepped, and Qi Ting, carried forward by her own momentum, stumbled a few steps ahead—giving Song Wan the perfect opening to reach out and rip the tag off her back with a loud “rrrip.”

Gao Xiang turned a cold stare on Director Yang. “If you don’t want Song Wan on the show, just pay her penalty fee and we’ll walk away without a word.”

Director Yang was sweating bullets. “Sister Gao, you’ve got it all wrong. We didn’t…”

“Didn’t what? Didn’t deliberately put her in front of Song Wan? Or didn’t intend for Qi Ting to teach Song Wan a lesson? Or didn’t plan for Qi Ting to eliminate Song Wan right off the bat?” Gao Xiang was all fire and fury, leaving him speechless in a matter of moments.

But this time, the production team was clearly at fault.

It wasn’t just Gao Xiang—several other agents were eyeing Director Yang with open hostility.

If the show started playing tricks like this, how could they believe Mango TV really wanted to make a good program? Weren’t they just being toyed with?

Money? At Li Fan’s level, money was just a string of numbers. If not for Mango TV’s reputation and reach, who would bother with variety shows?

Director Yang was genuinely flustered. “Sister Gao, I swear I had no idea. You’ve all seen the script—there’s nothing like this in it, and Qi Ting’s assigned location was supposed to be the rooftop…”

Because the agents had been watching the director’s monitors, they saw everything: Qi Ting’s scream was abrupt but not without cause—a man in black had handed her a phone.

Startled, she screamed, then, after the call, two men led her to Song Wan’s location.

Gao Xiang eyed him coldly. “How can you say you didn’t know, when it happened right under your nose during filming, and you’re the director?”