Chapter 101: The Acupressure Board!

"Brother You! What is it? Hurry up and read it!"

Seeing the expression on his face, Deng Fei couldn't help but urge him. Everyone curiously crowded around him to look at the mission card. He read slowly, "Round one: Obstacle Course!"

"Ah..."

The four regular members let out cries of horror. While there was a bit of showmanship to it, their attitude clearly indicated they did not like this task.

Qin Xin said gloomily, "I've seen your obstacle courses from the previous episodes... they're terrifying!"

"How terrifying?" Tong Zhi Ya, standing beside her, asked in a whisper.

Qin Xin curled her lip. "You'll find out once you try it!"

Just then, the on-site director announced, "Before the first round begins, you must draw lots to determine your teams, then draw again to select your means of transport."

"Draw twice?" Li Donghe said dramatically. "Just let us decide our own teams!"

Deng Fei also complained, "I don't want to be in a group with those old foxes. I want to be with Jiang Lun!"

Jiang Lun smiled knowingly, turned, and shook hands with Deng Fei. The camera captured the moment.

The director said, "Deng Fei doesn't need to draw; she can be in a group with Jiang Lun."

"Oh yeah!" Deng Fei cheered. "As long as I'm not with those three old foxes, I'll be lucky for this whole episode!"

"Hey! That makes me very unhappy! Feifei, we were such great partners before!" You Chao couldn't help but complain.

Li Donghe laughed, "Jiang Lun, Feifei's bad luck is exceptionally strong. I've never won a single game when partnered with her. You'd better give it your all this episode!"

As they chatted and laughed, the three—You Chao, Sun Wu, and Li Donghe—drew their lots from the director. The result was Sun Wu and Tong Zhi Ya as a team; they had filmed a drama together before and were no strangers. You Chao and Qin Xin were paired, leaving Li Donghe and Zhang Ziling as the final duo.

After the teams were decided, each group sent one person to draw for their transport. Jiang Lun drew an electric scooter, while the others got a car, a tricycle, and a bicycle.

"Bye-bye! We're off first!"

Li Donghe, having drawn the car, poked his head out the window and waved smugly at everyone before driving off with Zhang Ziling. Sun Wu, riding the bicycle with Tong Zhi Ya on the back, slowly set off as well.

Only You Chao, after getting on the tricycle, couldn't control the handlebars for the life of him. He wailed repeatedly, "I've never ridden this thing before! How do you control it?"

He turned to look at Jiang Lun, who was putting on his helmet, and pleaded, "Jiang Lun, how about we swap? I'll definitely help you with the following tasks. We can form an alliance."

Before Jiang Lun could speak, Deng Fei cut in, "No way! Jiang Lun, don't believe him. He's a liar. Let's go!"

With that, she hurriedly strapped on her helmet and urged Jiang Lun to hurry.

"Brother You, sorry about that! We're heading out!"

Jiang Lun chuckled, twisted the throttle, and the electric scooter zipped away, leaving behind only the sound of You Chao's bitter cries and complaints.

Within a minute, Jiang Lun caught up to Sun Wu. The two teams chatted for a bit on the road before Jiang Lun accelerated and left them behind.

When they arrived at the finish line, they found Li Donghe and Zhang Ziling already lounging on reclining chairs under a parasol, wearing sunglasses and sipping cold drinks, with staff members fanning them and feeding them fruit.

"Oh my! You guys are so slow! I've been waiting for an hour!" Li Donghe smirked.

"Geez! You guys are living the life, aren't you?" Deng Fei exclaimed, running toward them. "You get this kind of treatment just for driving a car?"

Jiang Lun followed, found a lounge chair, and lay down. The staff immediately handed him a drink and began fanning him and feeding him fruit, providing top-tier service.

"Sigh! Why aren't the others here yet? Did they collapse on the road?"

"This is my third drink... *hiccup*..."

"So refreshing! It feels like a vacation!"

"Jiang Lun, sing us a song!"

"Yeah, sing one, sing one..."

About half an hour later, Sun Wu and Tong Zhi Ya finally appeared in everyone's field of vision. As soon as they reached the finish line, they abandoned their bicycle and ran over, completely disregarding their images.

"Huff, huff..." Sun Wu gasped. "This is really hard on an old man like me!"

"Haha! Please, take a seat, Grandpa Sun!"

"Get Grandpa Sun a drink!"

"Grandpa Sun, let me massage your legs!"

Everyone stepped forward, acting as if they were at his beck and call. Sun Wu was the oldest and most senior person present. His role in the show was that of the "uncle," creating comedic contrast through his disconnect with the younger generation and modern trends.

After the commotion died down, everyone returned to their own lounge chairs.

Li Donghe said, "When You Chao and his partner get here, let's give them a hard time!"

"Agreed!" Sun Wu said. "How about this: when they arrive, we all pretend to be asleep and ignore them. Let's see how they react!"

"Haha! That's brutal!"

With the plan set, everyone eagerly awaited You Chao's arrival, holding back laughter as they waited for the show to begin. Jiang Lun lay on the edge, keeping an eye on the distance. After another twenty minutes or so, a small black speck appeared.

"They're here, they're here!" he signaled. "Get ready!"

"Hey! Finally!"

"Everyone, think of your act, let's see how we deal with him!"

"No problem!"

They only had a rough plan; everyone improvised their own performance. Jiang Lun squinted, watching You Chao huffing and puffing as he pedaled the tricycle closer. It took nearly ten minutes before he finally stopped at the finish line.

You Chao was a true gentleman; even though his legs were like jelly from exhaustion, he still walked to the back to help his partner, Qin Xin, off the tricycle.

When the two saw the situation at the finish line, they didn't run over immediately. Instead, they strolled slowly toward the group, chatting casually.

"Yo! You guys are all taking a break!" You Chao approached with his hands behind his back, looking at them one by one. "Stop sleeping, get up!"

Qin Xin walked over and flopped onto an empty chair, groaning, "Oh my god, I'm exhausted!"

You Chao replied, "I was the one pedaling and you were just sitting there. Can you really be more tired than me?"

"Sitting is tiring too! The bumping around nearly rattled me to pieces!"

Qin Xin stretched, and that was when she noticed something off. She couldn't help but say, "Huh? Why are they all ignoring us?"

"Heh heh!" You Chao had an "I-knew-it" expression. "They're probably pretending to be asleep. They're all a bunch of sly foxes; I know them too well!"

He didn't wake them up, but instead chose a chair and lay down. "Oh, in that case, let's sleep too! Ahhh! I'm so tired!"

After saying that, he deliberately let out a loud, fake snore.

Tong Zhi Ya couldn't hold it anymore; she covered her mouth, her body trembling with suppressed laughter. Sun Wu, sitting next to her, made faces and whispered, "Hold it, hold it! Don't blow our cover!"

"But he already figured out what we're doing!" Tong Zhi Ya whispered back.

Just then, You Chao mumbled as if talking in his sleep, "Who is that? Why is it so noisy? Can't a guy get some sleep?"

Tong Zhi Ya couldn't contain herself any longer. She jumped up from the chair and burst into laughter. "I can't... I can't do this anymore!"

"Sigh! And you call yourself an actress? You can't even pull this off!" Sun Wu sat up from his chair, stood, and nudged the others. "Hey, stop pretending. They aren't buying it at all!"

Li Donghe complained, "Weren't we supposed to mock him? Why did you break character so fast?"

Jiang Lun and Deng Fei sat up as well. You Chao stopped acting too, stood up, and laughed, "You guys wanted to trick me? I'm way too smart for that. How could I not see through your little schemes?"

Just as he was speaking, the director chimed in, "After that warm-up, we will now begin our first mission: Obstacle Course! Everyone up!"

"Let's go, let's go! Let's get to the challenge!" Li Donghe waved and stood up, calling everyone over.

You Chao made a bitter face. "I only just rested for a few minutes! This is so unfair!"

Just then, a voice came from Deng Fei's side. "Ziling, Ziling! You aren't actually asleep, are you?"

Everyone turned to see Deng Fei nudging Zhang Ziling, but Zhang Ziling showed no reaction at all.

"Hey! The act is over, time to clock out!" Li Donghe also walked over to nudge her.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Ziling kept her eyes closed, frowning slightly. "Don't touch me, let me sleep a bit longer!"

"What about your image? You're an international supermodel!"

Everyone crowded around her, making a fuss. You Chao grabbed a camera, pointed it at her, and said in a mock news anchor voice, "This is the internationally renowned model, Ms. Zhang Ziling, who has fallen into a deep sleep due to utter exhaustion. Everyone is trying to wake her up, but unfortunately, it's to no avail!"

After some pestering, Zhang Ziling finally yawned and sat up. Seeing so many people surrounding her, her face turned bright red, and she covered her face in embarrassment. "Oh, stop looking at me!"

"Haha..."

Her adorable reaction sent everyone into a roar of laughter.

The eight of them arrived at the location for the first challenge, and their expressions instantly turned to shock.

"What is that?"

Jiang Lun pointed at the plastic mat laid out on the path, which was covered in small, semi-circular protrusions.

"Kid, first time seeing this thing?"

Sun Wu put an arm around his shoulder, adopting the tone of a big brother. "That's an acupressure mat. Once you experience it, you'll know exactly what it feels like!"

"Does it hurt?" Jiang Lun asked involuntarily.

Sun Wu chuckled. "I can tell you from personal experience... yes, it does!"

Seeing Jiang Lun bite his lip with a troubled expression, Sun Wu added, "You'd better be careful not to injure your feet later. We veterans are already used to it; don't blindly rush onto it just to compete with us for the best time!"

"Uh-huh!" Jiang Lun nodded repeatedly, then suddenly turned to look at Sun Wu. Seeing his mischievous grin, he realized the guy was using psychological warfare.

This game didn't just test the body; it tested the mind, too!

After a moment, the on-site director said, "Everyone, are you ready?"

"Ready!"

They shouted in unison. A robotic voice immediately echoed, "Five, four, three, two, one, start!"

"Run!"

Deng Fei grabbed Jiang Lun, then took off ahead of everyone else. Seeing her, a girl, charging ahead, Jiang Lun didn't hesitate and followed her, sprinting toward the acupressure mat.