Chapter 30: Meowen Breaks the Stereotypes!

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“Xiao Gu!!!”

Chen Chichi wailed heart-wrenchingly, her hands curling into the shape of chicken claws, looking for all the world like she was cosplaying a short-armed Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“Right… *cough cough*… No… *cough cough*.”

Gu Qing was coughing so hard that tears were nearly streaming from his eyes.

*Slap, slap, slap—*

In a panic, Wang Likun increased the force of her palms, nearly making Gu Qing vomit again.

“Likun, are you an undercover agent sent by another team?!”

Chen Chichi wanted to cry but had no tears.

“Holy crap, what’s wrong with you guys?”

The sound of footsteps echoed on the stairs again. Deng Chao and Baby from the Green Team had just come up carrying food boxes, only to see Chen Chichi’s “devastated” face.

It gave Old Deng a fright.

“What… are you doing?”

In Yang Ying’s confused gaze, there was a flicker of an emotion she hadn't even noticed herself, focused intently on Gu Qing and Wang Likun.

As it turned out,

Just as he was about to be slapped into unconsciousness, Gu Qing was covering his mouth and coughing.

And Wang Likun?

Blushing from Chen Chichi’s remark—“You must be an undercover agent!”—she had her hands over her face, her head resting unconsciously on Gu Qing’s back.

The scene felt very much like the "scent of romance" found in idol dramas.

It wasn't until Chen Chichi wiped the rice grains from her face and, flailing her arms in exasperation, reconstructed the events of what had happened,

That the crowd was moved to laughter.

Only then did Yang Ying breathe a sigh of relief, before reaching for tissues from the production crew out of concern. “Qingqing…”

“I’ll do it.”

As his teammate, Wang Likun naturally took the tissues. Though she wasn't being quite intimate enough to wipe Gu Qing's mouth, she was using her hands to brush the rice grains off his clothes.

Especially when she saw

The youth's fluffy head so close at hand, Wang Likun’s maternal instincts surged again; she desperately wanted to give it a good rub!

Yang Ying: “!!!”

Perhaps because she had been repeatedly "poisoned" by the partners beside her,

“What are you doing?”

Gu Qing successfully awakened his sense of killing intent. Catching a glimpse of a hand approaching him from the corner of his eye, he dodged in fright and asked warily.

“You… you have a rice grain on your head.”

Wang Likun stammered, her cheeks flushing red.

“Oh… I can do it myself.”

Gu Qing raised his hand to brush his head.

Witnessing this scene,

The tension in Yang Ying’s shoulders suddenly relaxed. Looking at the cowlick sticking up as the boy leaned back warily, she suddenly noticed that the grain of white rice stuck to that tuft of hair was wobbling comically with his movements.

“Pfft—”

A delicate, pleasant laugh escaped from between her teeth. As Deng Chao turned his head in surprise,

“Chao-ge, hurry, hurry, hurry, we have to do our mission too.”

Yang Ying was already humming a light tune as she crouched down to open the food box.

The ingredient they had found was ‘Mengge (Sea Squirt).’

The three of them—Yang Ying and her teammates—each took a piece and stuffed it into their mouths.

The leathery texture and exaggerated saltiness caused everyone's expressions to contort.

After chewing for a long time,

A staff member from the director's crew, stifling a laugh, reminded them, “You aren't supposed to eat the skin of the Mengge.”

“Likun, don't just stand there dazed, let's keep moving.”

Having finished their meal, Chen Chichi didn't dare delay.

“I forgot how to recite this word... Escape to Muqi Mu (Cold Tossed Chinese Yam)... Me-wu-en...”

Wang Likun was still blankly trying to memorize the words.

“Me-wu-en Da Ke Ban A (Spicy Chicken Feet)!!”

Chen Chichi poked her head over the stairs and roared.

“Oh, oh.”

Wang Likun had just reached the stairs.

“You made me forget it!!”

A second after Chen Chichi finished speaking, her memory lapsed.

She ran back in despair, and only after ensuring they had memorized the words did the two of them set off.

Gu Qing sat cross-legged on the tatami, caught between laughter and tears, pressing his hands together in a plea: “Director, can I really not go with the team? I won't open my mouth, okay?”

“No. Even if you don't speak, you'll find a way to signal us.”

The production crew rejected him ruthlessly.

“Fine then…”

Gu Qing pursed his lips and made a zipping motion across his mouth with his hand, declaring his silence.

After that,

The Red Team also returned carrying their mission props.

The funny thing was,

Li Chen, who was walking at the very front, tripped as he went up the stairs, nearly throwing the ingredients flying.

Fortunately, Ou Di and Wang Baoqiang behind him were quick-handed and managed to catch the "big black bull" just in time to prevent a disaster.

But misfortunes often come in pairs.

Just as Li Chen was feeling relieved, holding the [Red Bean Porridge] in one hand and the [Braised Pig Trotter] in the other while stepping across the floor,

The floor, which had just been sprayed with water and rice grains, was undoubtedly a bit slippery.

And so,

*Thud—*

Li Chen suffered a second fall, and the two mission props he was holding flew out heavily.

“No!!!”

Ou Di’s mouth hung wide open, and Wang Baoqiang’s pupils dilated.

*Splat—*

The red bean porridge spilled all over the floor, and the braised pig trotters rolled in a circle.

“What do we do?”

The three of them looked at each other.

They couldn't exactly lie on the floor and lick it up, could they?

“The braised pig trotters can still be eaten if we wash them.”

Wang Baoqiang was all about saving food.

“Then let's do it!”

Li Chen and Ou Di were also game.

The three of them rinsed the trotters with water and began eating fiercely.

As the teams moved back and forth,

The worst part was,

Chen Chichi’s Orange Team and Deng Chao’s Green Team actually collided at the Kaimuqi (Kimchi) stall.

“Likun, go!!”

Chen Chichi grabbed the kimchi bag with one hand and pulled Wang Likun with the other, sprinting toward their destination with her tongue sticking out.

“Ahhh, Auntie, hurry up!!”

Deng Chao and his two teammates followed closely behind.

The two teams arrived at the site almost simultaneously.

“Kaimuqi!!”

Both teams presented the same ingredient to the camera.

“Xiao Gu, eat quickly!!”

Chen Chichi’s eyes were even turning red as she grabbed a piece of bright red kimchi and stuffed it into her mouth.

Gu Qing was no slouch either; having eaten kimchi for five years, he was practically immune.

Ignoring the spiciness, he grabbed a handful and shoved it into his mouth.

Wang Likun lost all her goddess-like grace as well, eating rapidly.

But no matter how hard she ate, she couldn't match the "big treasure."

Yang Ying’s cheeks were bulging like a hamster's as she chewed with great force.

Fortunately,

The combat power of Chen Chichi and Gu Qing was clearly stronger than that of Deng Chao and Lin Gengxin.

“Director, we're finished!!”

Chen Chichi was the first to raise her hand.

Just as Deng Chao and the others were about to give up,

“You must finish the food in your mouth and then blow a whistle to complete the task.”

The director gave them hope.

Old Deng immediately had a mischievous idea; he circled around to Gu Qing’s back and used both hands to press against his cheeks, preventing him from continuing to chew.

With that,

The Green Team finished their food first.

“Director, is this even allowed?!”

Chen Chichi protested loudly from the front.

Behind them,

Gu Qing was in a frantic "brawl" with Deng Chao.

“It's fine. Whoever finishes first wins.”

Lu Hao was more than happy to let the show's chaos escalate.

“Fine, fine, fine, so that's how we're playing, huh?”

The pulled-apart Gu Qing said "angrily."

“Me-wu-en Da Ke Ban!!”

The two teams' ingredients overlapped again, and the intense battle continued.

Seizing an opportunity, Gu Qing lunged forward, grabbed the boneless chicken feet from the Green Team's box, stuffed them into his mouth, and glared with bulging cheeks

“Come on, do it again!!”

“I'm not eating! Let's see how you win!”

“Xiao Gu, you're too smart.”

Chen Chichi and Wang Likun picked up the pace.

But what no one expected next was,

Yang Ying tossed her ponytail, leaped in front of Gu Qing, and reached her onion-white fingertips toward his mouth.

“Can't we just scoop it out?”

“Huh?!”

Lin Gengxin’s jaw nearly hit the floor. My god, can you really play like this on a show?

“Baby is right, let's go!!”

Deng Chao reacted extremely quickly, preventing the atmosphere from cooling down. He pinned Gu Qing to the tatami and performed a "forceful skull-splitting" maneuver to pry Gu Qing's mouth open.

The situation on site had completely spiraled out of control.

Even the production crew watched, dumbfounded.

Gu Qing was being besieged by the three of them, while Chen Chichi and Wang Likun rushed to the rescue.

By the time Li Chen's team returned, they witnessed a bizarre sight.

Gu Qing sat with his mouth wide open, his eyes vacant.

Chen Chichi and Wang Likun were on either side of him, resting their heads on his shoulders, their bodies twitching slightly from time to time.

Meanwhile, Deng Chao, Baby, and Lin Gengxin were all high-fiving in celebration, looking utterly delighted.

“What… happened here?”

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(End of Chapter)