Chapter 8: I Want It All

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“Yeah ~fantastic baby~”

Inside the car, Yang Ying listened to her favorite song, her slender fingers making rock-and-roll gestures as she twisted and sang along, looking very lively.

“Baby, can you play something a bit more soothing?”

Old Dengtou frowned, looking exactly like a grandfather on the subway. “How about playing ‘Spring Mud’ (Chun Ni)?”

“Chao-ge, you don’t understand. This is the fashion of us young people.”

As she spoke, Yang Ying gently bumped her shoulder against Gu Qing, who was sitting in the middle, and gave a playful wink. “Right, Little Brother Qingqing?”

“By the way, Qingqing, didn’t you debut in the Peninsula? Do you know BigBang?”

“I know them, but they don’t know me.”

Gu Qing said truthfully.

As a group that enjoyed immense popularity across Asia and even in Europe and America, BigBang was currently at their peak, with the Hallyu wave sweeping everything in its path.

There were simply too many obsessive fans!

Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been an incident in the country where a certain host knelt in public before the members of BigBang.

“Hahaha—”

Hearing Gu Qing’s words, the car erupted in laughter.

“Qingqing, you’re too cute.”

Yang Ying reached out and ruffled Gu Qing’s hair.

Bold!

A man’s head cannot be touched!

Gu Qing subconsciously wanted to dodge, but then he remembered his persona for the show and had to stay stiff and motionless.

He hadn’t expected that the "Big Baby," who was always mocked for her terrible acting, would get into character faster than he did.

Look at this industrial-grade saccharine she was dispensing; he wondered if the audience would buy it after the show aired.

“In the future, they will definitely know your name.”

Yang Ying’s fingertips were still tangled in a few strands of his smooth, cool hair. She tilted her head to look at the stiff, wide-eyed youth, her beautiful eyes curving into cunning crescents.

He gets shy after just a little teasing.

No wonder the girls around her would drain the "old guys" of their money and then turn around to keep a "little fresh meat" (young idol).

Youthful, vibrant, and full of spirit—just looking at him was a treat for the eyes, as if it could wash away the weariness in one’s heart. Who could not love that?

“By the way, little brother, the clue we got was the order of the zodiac. Do you have any ideas?”

Old Dengtou, not wanting to be a part of the "play," threw down his clue card with a headache and asked, “I’m the worst at riddles. This has to rely on you guys.”

“Chao-ge, the card says the twelve zodiac signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake. Following the order, I guess the first password we got should be 6.”

Gu Qing knew the answer in his heart, but he still pondered for a moment and analyzed it seriously.

“Eh, that’s it!”

Deng Chao slapped his forehead. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Hehe, little brother, you’re so smart.”

As he spoke, he gave a weird smile, raised his "magic claws," and wanted to replicate Big Baby’s move.

“Ah?”

This scared Gu Qing so much his face turned green. “Chao-ge, what are you doing?”

As the saying goes: one should be willing to go through fire and water for a brother, but to hold a brother’s hand?

Well, he’d rather let the brother die!

“What am I doing?”

Deng Chao deliberately slowed down to double speed, making a ‘slurp’ sound as he licked his lips evilly. “Of course, I’m ‘rewarding’ you!”

“No way!!”

Yang Ying, who reacted first, knew Deng Chao was deliberately creating a show effect, so she channeled her inner tomboy!

She grabbed Gu Qing and pulled him to her side, their bodies pressed close together, protecting him like a hen protecting her chicks. “Qingqing-didi is mine!”

“Yours?”

Deng Chao acted ‘exasperated,’ grabbing the hand that was holding Gu Qing and dragging him toward himself. “Little brother, do you want a woman or a brother?!”

“Definitely the sister!!”

“Want the brother!!”

Just like that,

Gu Qing was pulled left and right like a marionette.

“Stop!!”

He cried out in despair.

The bickering Yang Ying and Deng Chao stopped and looked at Gu Qing in the middle, confused.

The next second,

Gu Qing took their hands and pressed them onto his own head, closing his eyes with a numb expression. “Only children make choices; I want them all!”

“Hahaha—”

The accompanying VJ couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Only children make choices, I want them all?

Having filmed variety shows for so many years, he had a premonition that this line would definitely become a viral meme.

During the idle chat,

The car drove to the Venice Hotel.

Everyone took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel.

What came into view was a dense crowd of staff members and a large, upright square white cloth.

Gu Qing naturally knew that what was hidden behind it was a swimming pool.

But after recording the variety show for a whole morning, he also understood one thing.

Variety shows are about playing games to create show effects, not watching you breeze through a performance show by yourself.

If that really happened, the director would only have one request: re-record!

“The three of you, please come with me.”

A well-mannered hostess led the three of them to a table.

After the other two teams, ‘Bao Lan’ and ‘Chen Chichi,’ finished their tasks and arrived one after another.

Director Lu Hao picked up a megaphone. “All three groups are here. Now it’s time for the meal we’ve prepared for you.”

“Oh oh oh!!”

“After recording all morning, I’m starving.”

“Great, it’s not going to be a food-eating competition, is it?”

As everyone cheered, Chen Chichi was the most excited. “I can take on six of them by myself!”

While speaking,

Three hostesses brought out the prepared ingredients and placed them on the table one by one.

“Lotus root, Dongpo pork, bean sprouts, shrimp, chili sauce, shredded radish, pickles…”

Gu Qing took the initiative to help, taking the plates from the hostess and silently memorizing the order of the dishes.

After everything was ready,

With a “Whoosh—” sound,

The white cloth behind them suddenly fell, revealing a large outdoor swimming pool with six strange devices placed by the edge.

“Ah—”

The sudden scene made Ma Su and Yang Ying scream continuously.

“Before we eat, I have to announce a new task.”

Lu Hao explained with a mischievous smile, “Your three teams must each choose two members to sit on the ejection chairs.

The remaining member needs to roll the dishes onto a spring pancake in the order the beautiful waitress served them just now. If you make even one mistake, your teammates will be punished with ejection!”

“Oh~ no!!”

Deng Chao held his head with both hands. “Little brother, Baby, do any of you remember the serving order just now?”

“Chao-ge, I was busy undoing my waist seal just now; I didn’t see a single dish.”

Yang Ying held up the waist seal she had just taken off and complained coquettishly to the camera.

She had been ready to have a big meal and hadn’t expected the production team to pull this stunt.

“Chao-ge, I remember!”

At this moment, Gu Qing said firmly, “I was helping that young lady serve the plates just now…”

“Really?!”

Deng Chao jumped up in ecstasy. “Little brother, you’re amazing! What’s the order?”

In an instant,

All the members of the Chen Chichi and Wang Baoqiang teams, who had been making a ruckus, turned their heads in unison, staring straight at Gu Qing.

“I only…”

“Don’t say it!!”

Deng Chao, who had come to his senses, covered his mouth first, winked at Chen Chichi and the others, and said triumphantly, “Eh, I’m not telling you. Isn’t that annoying?”

“Director, this is unfair!!”

Chen Chichi wailed continuously. “I want a teammate like Little Gu too.”

“Chen Chichi, you have the nerve to say that? From the beginning, you said you wanted to eat, and when the food was actually served, you couldn’t remember a single thing. What use are you?”

The Big Black Bull (Li Chen) was so angry that smoke was practically coming out of his nose.

After some commotion,

The Yellow Team had Zheng Kai handle the food.

The Red Team originally intended to let Ma Su handle it,

But Chen Chichi, acting like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, claimed he had a waist injury and squeezed Ma Su out.

The Blue Team was simpler.

Baby sat at the table, picked up a pair of chopsticks, and waited impatiently for the meal to start.

Gu Qing sat on the left,

Deng Chao sat on the right, unable to suppress the smile on his face, constantly mocking the other two teams.

“Director Lu, will Little Gu really remember the whole process?”

A VJ in charge of filming said worriedly in a low voice, “If that happens, the game will end too quickly, and there won’t be any show effect.”

“Should we… pause? Re-record it?”

“No, we need the members’ real reactions. If we really re-record, there won’t be any effect at all.”

Lu Hao gritted his teeth. “At worst, we’ll find some footage from later to fill it in.”

During the discussion,

“Poof, poof—”

Two loud bangs, and the two Wang brothers had already flown into the pool.

The 1.6-meter depth almost completely submerged them.

“Hahahaha—”

Deng Chao slapped his thigh in laughter. “How is it? Is it refreshing?”

“Is it cold underwater?”

“Brothers, I’m sorry.”

Zheng Kai was also under huge psychological pressure; he dropped his chopsticks and slumped on the table, not wanting to see anyone.

“Chen Chichi, can you be serious for once?!”

Li Chen looked at Chen Chichi, who was still giggling, and felt his anger rising.

“Ah ah ah, I’m scared! I’m scared!”

Seeing the two Wangs take flight, Ma Su was so nervous she couldn’t sit still.

“Hahaha.”

Facing his two teammates who were on the verge of a breakdown, Chen Chichi gave up on treatment and laughed twice, spread out a spring pancake, picked up the Dongpo pork, rolled it up, and took a charming bite.

“Splash—splash”

“Chen Chichi, I’m going to kill you!!”

“Gurgle~~”

The grief-stricken Big Black Bull turned into a real water buffalo.

“Hehehe, Chichi, you’re really something.”

Deng Chao was enjoying the show immensely, attracting a lot of hatred in the process.

But he didn’t care at all.

“Come on, little brother, tell them the real answer!”

Deng Chao patted Gu Qing’s shoulder hard.

I saw,

The eyes of the whole audience were focused on Gu Qing.

“The second order is: meat!” Gu Qing said.

“Very good, what’s next?” Deng Chao asked expectantly.

“Uh… after that, I don’t know either.”

Gu Qing scratched his head sheepishly. “I only remembered the meat.”

Deng Chao: “?”

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(End of chapter)