Chapter 18: You Are Mine

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"Prajna Paramita!"

As Li Chen, playing the role of Zhi Zunbao, was being relentlessly pestered by Xie Yilin, he helplessly shouted an incantation.

The Moonlight Box emitted a "strange" glow, transporting the five couples to the modern era.

Pink Team: Wang Baoqiang, Tang Yixin

Yellow Team: Deng Chao, Nazha

Green Team: Wang Zhulan, Zhang Lanxin

Red Team: Gu Qing, Yang Ying

Blue Team: Li Chen, Xie Yilin

"Brothers, do you see this muddy water in front of you?"

Lu Hao explained the game rules. "This is a vat of water contaminated by the false love of the world. You need to find the mysterious water that has been passed down through generations in this village and pour it into this muddy pool to evolve it into the pure water of true love."

"Oh~~"

The crowd responded in a daze.

"Alright, the first game is to win at dice to earn a water bottle from the NPC villagers."

Lu Hao gave up. "Remember, only one of the five bottles actually contains the mysterious water."

"Okay, okay, we got it."

Deng Chao couldn't be bothered to listen and took Nazha's hand. "Let's go, let's go."

Li Chen and the Wang brothers also pulled their female partners along.

"Qingqing, let's go too."

Yang Ying reached out urgently; Gu Qing grabbed her hand, and they began to sprint in search of their target.

After much effort, they finally found a shop with the letter 'R'.

Just as the owner rolled two dice to show 'five' and 'five',

Gu Qing used a "god-like hand" to roll a 'six' and a 'five'.

"Ahhh!!"

"Qingqing, you're amazing!"

Yang Ying screamed with joy, jumping up to high-five him in celebration.

"The box, the box."

Gu Qing opened the vermilion wooden box with great anticipation.

A paper card with the word 'Empty' written on it hit him like a bolt from the blue.

"Why is it you again!"

"The word 'Empty' is still chasing me!!"

Recalling the previous episode, Gu Qing closed his eyes in agony.

Next,

they visited three more shops, and without exception, they were all 'Empty' boxes.

It wasn't until the fourth shop that they won the Water of True Love from a proprietress to complete the mission.

After finishing the task,

following the production team's hints, they arrived at the pier, preparing to take a boat to the next location.

"Hello, Little Gu, you're here."

Wang Baoqiang's and Zhulan's teams were already waiting ahead of time.

"Brother Baoqiang, where are Brother Chao and the others?"

Gu Qing asked curiously.

"Chao and Li Chen have already finished their tasks; those two teams set off by boat early."

Wang Zhulan pointed toward the lake.

"Hahaha, little brother, bye-bye! Remember, don't miss me!"

Deng Chao stood up unsteadily and began to wave boastfully at Gu Qing on the shore.

"Brother Chao, be careful, stay safe, don't fall!"

Gu Qing reminded him loudly.

"Got it," Deng Chao sat down with a chuckle.

Soon, another boat arrived.

Since they were the last team to complete the task, the right to board the boat could only be given to the Wang brothers.

To make matters worse,

the originally clear sky suddenly turned gloomy, and raindrops began to pour down.

"Sigh, what bad luck."

Gu Qing looked up at the sky, then lowered his head dejectedly, raising his hand above Yang Ying's head to shield her from the rain.

"It's okay, Qingqing, it's nice being just the two of us."

The inadvertent gesture made Yang Ying's heart flutter slightly. Her face seemed to feel a bit hot—she wasn't sure if it was the warmth from his palm above her head or... from her heart...

"The boat is here."

"Baby, come quickly."

Gu Qing hurried onto the boat, and Yang Ying also took his hand to walk under the eaves.

"There are only the two of us on this boat, unlike them who have so many people."

Yang Ying took off her hair tie to tidy her hair. "It's so romantic, and I'm very happy. Do you know why, Qingqing?"

"Why?" Gu Qing was bewildered.

"Because we used to be 'true love'~"

Yang Ying gave a playful wink and didn't forget to blow a kiss to Gu Qing.

"Is... is that so?"

Gu Qing seemed just like the character Li Xiaojun he played; faced with this sudden "confession," he had no idea how to respond.

The VJ filming in the front seat had a "doting auntie" smile on his face, already imagining how to add pink bubbles around the two of them during post-production.

Until,

"Teacher Huang!!"

A bystander's loud shout from the bridge shattered the quiet, romantic atmosphere.

Although the romance between Teacher Huang and Yang Ying had never been made public in the media,

the two had been caught by paparazzi in intimate contact countless times, making it a semi-transparent fact.

"Sister Baby, it seems our 'true love' is not recognized by the world."

Gu Qing used the situation to play the victim, feigning loneliness. "Brother Xiaoming's influence is still too strong."

But unexpectedly,

just as he finished speaking, a soft, cool little hand pressed against the back of his hand.

Gu Qing looked up and saw a pair of eyes rippling like water.

Yang Ying: "At least for now, you are by my side."

"..."

"..."

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

The VJ filming them let out a mental marmot scream.

"Is this fake? Or is it real?"

"It must be for the show!"

Gu Qing's mind was in a mess; he only wanted to call for help. "Brother Chao, I can't tell anymore!"

……

"Help me!!!"

This cry came from Deng Chao.

Although they had set off early, the first boat they took had no eaves at all.

As the rain poured down, everyone on the boat turned into drowned rats.

"Little brother!!!"

Deng Chao was originally preparing to dock to seek shelter, but his sharp eyes spotted Gu Qing's approaching boat. "Come save me!!"

"Brother Chao, I'm coming right away."

Gu Qing felt as if he had grasped a life-saving straw, hurriedly leaning to the side to ask the oarsman to pull closer.

"Chao, if you leave, what will Yilin and I do?"

Li Chen was stunned. "We just formed an alliance!"

"Chen, sorry, you'll have to endure this hardship alone."

Deng Chao pulled Nazha up. "Honey, let's go."

"Laburaka, I'm scared."

Thinking she actually had to jump boats, Nazha's beautiful face turned pale with fear.

"It's just one step!"

"No, I'm still scared."

"How about this... little brother, come over and help Nazha up."

Deng Chao called Gu Qing to the stern of the boat.

Seeing the handsome guy reaching out a hand to her,

Nazha's courage rose a tiny bit. She grabbed Gu Qing's hand, brought her front leg onto the boat, and pushed off with her back leg.

"Ah—" Her dolphin pitch was so high it nearly deafened Gu Qing.

Furthermore,

perhaps due to the rain making the stern slippery,

Nazha's delicate body lost control, and she tumbled headfirst into Gu Qing's arms, her hands wrapping around his shoulders without letting go.

Yang Ying: "?"

Sister, what is the meaning of this?

Are you doing this right in front of me?

"Honey, what are you doing?!"

Deng Chao, who had boarded later, reacted quickly, putting on an expression of both shock and agony. "You are a married woman!!"

"Laburaka, I... I... I... my foot slipped."

Nazha's face turned crimson. She hurriedly let go of Gu Qing, her hands busy fixing her hair, touching her face, and scratching her ears.

She seemed very busy, but no one knew exactly what she was busy doing.

As for Gu Qing?

He had just snapped out of the moment where he had been taken advantage of.

A soft fragrance in his arms?

Novels really are liars; this was clearly very hard!

After a "Nazha-style headbutt,"

Gu Qing felt that he was not far from chest tightness and shortness of breath.

Does this count as a workplace injury?

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(End of Chapter)