Chapter 7: Acupressure Mat

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“You… have you been there?”

“She… what does she mean by this?!”

Gu Qing’s brain crashed.

The next moment,

A bouquet made of steel wool suddenly appeared in his blank mind.

Endurance, resilience, wealth?

“My stomach is quite tough; I can’t handle eating soft rice.”

Gu Qing shook his head vigorously to dispel the distracting thoughts.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t dabbled in the abstract side of the internet before.

But Gu Qing could still tell the difference between the internet and reality.

“My alcohol tolerance isn’t great, I don’t dare to go.”

“Alcohol tolerance can be trained, you know. I have many sisters who love fair-skinned, handsome little brothers like you. They have a lot of connections, too. Want me to introduce you to some?”

“Better not.”

Gu Qing’s reply was very blunt. “I have to record the show tomorrow morning, I’m going to sleep.”

After sending the message,

He placed his phone on the nightstand and stopped paying attention to any follow-up replies.

“One is already terrifying enough, and she wants to introduce a whole group? I don’t have the habit of pulling a carriage.”

Gu Qing pulled the quilt over his head and muttered to himself.

The night passed without incident.

……

The next day, the official recording of *Running Man* began.

What impressed Gu Qing the most was,

When Ma Su saw him, she acted as if nothing had happened. She didn’t show the slightest bit of awkwardness and even took the initiative to come over with a beaming smile to greet him, looking exactly like a kind older sister.

As expected of a Best Actress, this acting skill was truly top-tier.

After Ma Su left,

Deng Chao suddenly leaned into Gu Qing’s ear and lowered his voice: “Little brother, stay away from her, understand?”

“Chao-ge…”

Gu Qing was stunned for a moment.

“Listen to your brother, you won’t go wrong.”

Deng Chao patted his shoulder firmly.

Since they were all in the same circle, he couldn’t speak too plainly.

“I understand, thank you, Chao-ge.”

Gu Qing was naturally very grateful for this well-intentioned reminder.

“Chao-ge, what kind of secrets are you whispering to little brother Qingqing?”

Not far away, the somewhat neglected Baby interrupted the two men’s huddle. “The director says it’s time to go.”

“Coming, coming.”

Deng Chao smiled and led Gu Qing to the car, heading toward West Lake Square.

Upon arriving at their destination,

The group headed straight for the square.

At this moment, a group of middle-aged women were playing the brainwashing hit song "Little Apple" and dancing square dances.

“You are my little, little apple,

Just like the most beautiful cloud in the sky,

Spring has come again, flowers cover the hillside,

Plant hope and you shall harvest.”

The bright, dynamic music echoed throughout the square.

“What is this for?”

Wang Zhulan looked confused, not forgetting to raise his hands to follow along. “Are we supposed to dance with these aunties?”

“Don’t worry about that, just treat it as a morning workout.”

Wang Baoqiang also started swinging his arms.

“Chao-ge, Baby-jie, wait a second, these aunties seem to be carrying something on their backs.”

Gu Qing, who was familiar with the process, held back Deng Chao and Yang Ying, who were planning to join the dance.

“Eh, there really is something.”

Deng Chao said in surprise.

Before they could even ask,

“Beep—”

A shrill whistle sounded. The aunties immediately stopped dancing, took the items off their backs, and quickly spread them out, forming something that looked like a carpet.

Chen Chichi: “What on earth is this? Why is it covered in spikes?”

“Acupressure mat, it’s an acupressure mat!!”

Having specifically binged *Running Man* the night before, Deng Chao’s eyes widened as he said in horror.

“Acupressure mat??!”

The group gasped repeatedly.

“This is way too big.”

Even Gu Qing, who had been prepared, felt his scalp tingle when he saw the protrusions on the mats that looked like stone stalagmites.

Just then,

Director Lu Hao picked up a megaphone and reminded them via narration: “The White Snake Acupressure Mat Relay Race is the challenge for all members today.”

According to the mission introduction,

The *Running Man* team members needed to complete three relay segments, passing the acupressure mat challenge within 90 seconds. The first two teams to succeed would each receive a clue, while the last team would get nothing.

“Ninety seconds? Director, isn’t this a bit too hard?!”

Chen Chichi looked like he was about to collapse, and Zheng Kai and the others were also complaining non-stop.

Lu Hao looked troubled, but no one was listening to his attempts to stop them.

“Chao-ge, the rhythm.”

Gu Qing reminded him quietly.

Remembering his duty, Deng Chao hurriedly clapped his hands and said: “Brothers, 90 seconds is 90 seconds. If we don’t try, how do we know we can’t do it?”

“No matter what difficulties lie ahead, we must run to our hearts’ content. That is the spirit of *Running Man*!”

“……”

Off-camera, Lu Hao breathed a sigh of relief seeing Deng Chao successfully take control of the situation.

“Little brother, thanks to your reminder.”

While Lu Hao was still introducing the rules, Deng Chao took the opportunity to bend down and pick up a jump rope from the ground.

“Chao-ge, you’ve helped me a lot too.”

Gu Qing replied in a low voice: “But Chao-ge, why are you taking the jump rope?”

“To play with it.”

Learning that the Yellow Team was up first, Deng Chao quickly tied the jump rope into a knot, then nonchalantly kicked it aside.

Gu Qing: “……”

Just like that, after the rules were introduced,

When the director blew the whistle,

Zheng Kai, who went first, jumped over the human saddle while grimacing in pain. He quickly picked up the jump rope to start, but the rope was tangled, and the more he tried to untie it, the messier it got.

“Beep—time’s up.”

Lu Hao blew the whistle.

“Snap!”

The jump rope hit the ground. Zheng Kai’s face turned red with anger, and he roared: “Who did this?!?”

“Hahaha—”

Deng Chao couldn’t hold back his mischievous laughter.

“It was you!!”

Zheng Kai was furious. He picked up the jump rope and, acting like a farm owner, chased Deng Chao around the garden, whipping him.

“Protest! Protest!”

“Director, this isn’t fair!!”

“Deng Chao is too mean, this round shouldn’t count.”

Wang Baoqiang and Zhulan weren’t idle either, joining in to protest to the directing team.

“Alright, alright, only this once.”

Lu Hao reluctantly accepted.

The competition restarted.

With no one bothering him, Zheng Kai went full throttle, as if possessed by a little cheetah, quickly completing the jump rope task and passing the baton to Wang Baoqiang.

The two worked in perfect harmony, taking only a minute for the whole thing. It looked like there was great hope for completing the mission.

But they had overlooked… the horizontal bar before the finish line!

When it was Wang Zhulan’s turn to take the baton and prepare to charge, a fat auntie suddenly cut across their path, startling everyone.

“Carry me on your back?”

Looking at the large characters on the auntie’s chest, Wang Zhulan was dumbfounded, struck by lightning. “Auntie, how much do you weigh?”

“Hehe, about 200 jin (100kg).” The auntie said shyly.

“It’s over, I’m dead, I’m dead.”

Wang Zhulan bent down, tears in his eyes, feeling as if a mountain had climbed onto his back. He sprinted toward the finish line while screaming in agony.

Until he encountered—the horizontal bar!

The first iconic scene in *Running Man* history was born.

The short-statured Wang Zhulan jumped forward with all his might, but his hands were far from the high horizontal bar.

And so,

“Snap—”

Wang Zhulan fell into the pit, lifted his face toward the camera, and lamented: “Director, your humble servant cannot do it~”

“Hahaha—” The people present burst into laughter.

Deng Chao and Li Chen, who had the lowest threshold for laughter, were already rolling on the ground.

“Zhulan-ge, are you okay?”

Gu Qing also held back his laughter and stepped forward to help Wang Zhulan up from the pit.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Seeing Gu Qing come to pull him up, Wang Zhulan felt a warmth in his heart.

As a comedian, he was always the clown on *Bainian Daka Xiu* and was rarely shown any concern.

In the end, because he went over time, the Yellow Team failed to complete the challenge.

Next was Chen Chichi’s Red Team.

The same scene played out again.

Li Chen and Ma Su didn’t waste much time on the first two legs, but when it was Chen Chichi’s turn…

“My waist!”

“My waist is going to break!!”

Chen Chichi, with the auntie on his back, wailed incessantly. His face turned bright red, and he stumbled forward, taking longer than the first two combined.

“Chen Chichi, you’re a man, for heaven’s sake!!”

Li Chen, who didn’t know about Chen Chichi’s waist injury, was furious and kept complaining.

Next, it was the last group’s turn, the Blue Team, where Gu Qing was.

Just as he opened his mouth to take the third leg,

“Little brother, you go first, Baby second, I’ll go third.”

Old Deng was planning to sacrifice himself.

The first two groups had already shown that the third leg would be the most painful.

“Chao-ge, let me take the third leg.”

Gu Qing couldn’t bear to let an older man suffer.

“With your skinny arms and legs, don’t get crushed.”

Deng Chao shook his head decisively.

“That’s right, Qingqing, don’t push yourself. You have your sister here.”

Yang Ying’s beautiful eyes were filled with concern.

“I…”

Gu Qing felt no joy in being taken care of; instead, he felt stifled.

As a grown man, was he really unable to carry someone?

But unfortunately, this body was indeed pitifully weak.

Because cameras tend to widen a person’s face,

Entertainment companies in the Peninsula were very strict about the weight of their artists, and the standard was based on a single metric

Height in cm minus 120cm equals the artist’s weight.

Gu Qing’s actual height was 177cm, reaching 180cm with shoes.

His current weight was exactly 60kg, which, combined with his height, made him a “thin bamboo pole,” giving the impression that a gust of wind could blow him over.

“Beep—”

As soon as the whistle blew,

Gu Qing turned his frustration into motivation. Enduring the pain from the acupressure mat, he sprinted with a ‘whoosh’ and quickly took the baton.

Yang Ying also kept her “tough girl” persona in mind, not acting pretentious at all, and completed the challenge.

Finally, Old Deng lived up to expectations. With sweat on his forehead and panting heavily, he grabbed the horizontal bar and ate the cookie.

Under the expectant gazes of the three,

Lu Hao stopped the stopwatch, held it up to the camera, and said: “87 seconds, qualified!”

“Yeah!!!”

“We did it!!”

Yang Ying beamed with joy and jumped up, her long ponytail swaying in the air. She reached out her small hand toward Gu Qing, the meaning very clear.

“Snap—”

After Gu Qing high-fived her, he took the clue card given by the directing team under the envious and jealous gazes of Baoqiang and the others.

“The order of the snake in the twelve zodiac signs?”

Deng Chao and Yang Ying leaned their heads in, question marks seemingly floating above them.

“What does this mean?”

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