Chapter 22
Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
As soon as Xia Rong turned his head, he met Su Chi’s line of sight . Xia Rong has been well versed regarding variety show routines for a long time and knew that if he does anything deliberate later on, it was likely that during the editing afterward, they would photoshop a confronting gaze onto this current frame along with crackling sparks and lightning in the air .
However, Xia Rong knew that his eyes toward Su Chi right now were only full of sincerity and concern: You’re not turning into a cat again, are you? Today’s clothes are quite loose, it’ll be okay . Quickly come over!
Su Chi also looked back at him tacitly: No need . I’m fine . Don’t worry about it .
The expression in his eyes silently reflected these three refusals .
Although Xia Rong was a little discouraged that he couldn’t openly ruffle the cat, on second thought, it would be nice to be able to compete with an acquaintance . In case Su Chi encountered any emergencies along the way (but only limited to shifting into a cat), he could help out and take care of him (but only if he was in cat form) .
Ah! That cat is really just too cute!
The director was both surprised and delighted to see that Su Chi took the initiative to stand up and ask to be grouped with Xia Rong, these two were the trenders of the trenders and the most popular amongst the popular . Didn’t the program staff make every effort to invite them two over precisely to use their conflict as a gimmick to create hot topics?
The grouping by height in the first episode was actually designed just to put them in opposing teams, and the end result truly did not disappoint them . It could be imagined that after a heavily detailed and colorful editing, the audience will definitely remember this pair of old enemies . Even now, Su Chi would voluntarily stand up and consciously request to be in the same competing group… It was just as if one was dozing off and someone rushed to deliver a pillow!
With a smile on his face, the director deliberately asked Xia Rong in a provoking way, “Xia Rong, do you choose to accept this battle?”
In front of the camera, Xia Rong turned to his side and threw open his folded fan as he gave a smile, “Of course . ”
“He’s quite in character! Haha!” Kang Yifan laughed as he also displayed a few sword moves and made a POSE . Because he had filmed a historical-costumed sitcom when he was a child, his actions were like floating clouds and flowing water1, particularly appealing . “This one would like to learn from the chivalrous Jin Shiyi . Don’t know whether the chivalrous Jin Shiyi would be willing to accept the challenge?”
Though he said that Xia Rong was “quite in character,” he was even more immersed into his own . Moreover, the opponent he chose was obviously also quite deeply engrossed . The other held his head high, stood upright, and folded his hands in a salute . “Jin Shiyi accepts!”
The remaining two that were left were the honest man, Ye Mang, and the suspected honest man, Gao Junming, both who never played any wicked tricks or displayed any chuuni characteristics2 . They looked around and saw that only the two of them were left, then looked at each other before they just simply exchanged a handshake . “Please take care of me . ”
“Ha ha ha, likewise . Please take care of me . ”
“…”
“…”
A gust of cold wind blew by… The two were silent for a while before they quietly released their hands .
Afterward, the directing team announced that the first round of the competition had started and that the competing groups should set out according to order and proceed to ‘A Place With Tea’ to complete the task of ‘Entering Jianghu3’ .
Xia Rong and Su Chi were the last of the groups to set out . The rules required the celebrities to run over to the hinted location, but also provided them a short period to get themselves together and fix their makeup before heading out . Xia Rong took advantage of this time to give the accompanying Xiao Zhou the jade pendant that he took off . In principle, reality shows typically did not allow agents and assistants to accompany the artists . However, the artists’ work was exhausting, so many assistants would just follow from afar and took care not to enter the camera frame, so the production team would usually turn a blind eye .
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Xiao Zhou was one of the people who saw the process of how Yu Lao gifted the jade in the dressing room, so he was surprised and asked, “Why did you take it off?”
Xia Rong was in a hurry to go back to start filming, so he didn’t say much more, “I’m not sure if this thing is good or bad . You keep it for now and try to keep it a bit farther away from us . If you’re afraid of it, it’s fine if you don’t keep it on you . Just don’t forget where you put it . ”
Xiao Zhou’s focus was on… ‘Us’?
Mainly just that cat spirit . Xia Rong thought silently . But I can’t tell you that .
Having settled his worries, Xia Rong ran as brisk as the wind . Originally, most of the male celebrities in the circle already needed to keep fit and build their muscles . Xia Rong had also particularly enjoyed sports since his student days, playing football or basketball was not a problem . It was a bit more than 1000 meters from the starting point to the place where the task was; he ran it easily and comfortably without much panting . But somehow, for some unknown reason, he felt a bit of a headache, perhaps from the wind .
When he arrived at the task’s location, Xia Rong turned around and found that Su Chi arrived almost at the same time as him . His face was also ruddy as if it didn’t take him much effort . This immediately aroused his competitiveness: Although it was regretful that he couldn’t ruffle the cat, since he was a human now, they were competitors!
He still remembered that silly incident in the last episode when ‘as the snipe and clam grappled, the fisherman stood to profit4’ . It was hard to say how he would be ridiculed after it gets broadcasted, so this time, he needed to take advantage of the opportunity and win a few times against him . So he could redeem his shameful record!
The key to the task location was ‘a place where there is tea’ . In fact, it was very simple . It should just be that teahouse with the big and obvious ‘茶’ in the distance5 . Xia Rong’s idea was again affirmed once he saw the small camera that stood outside the teahouse . “It should be here!”
He strode into the teahouse ambitiously, only to find that when the teahouse’s proprietress raised her head, why did she seem… a little familiar?
The proprietress, with her fair complexion and peachy cheeks, bright and beautiful, was the currently popular little flower6, Meng Xuan . Xia Rong had filmed a school idol drama with her several years back, but because Meng Xuan was too gorgeous and her acting was mediocre, no matter how she tried, she didn’t look like a pure girl of sixteen or seventeen, so the drama flopped . From then on, Meng Xuan embarked on the road of ’What pureness? When acting I’ll only be an alluring b*tch of a madame’, which really made her shine, and she became more and more popular .
It seemed that Meng Xuan was the ‘ultimate goddess’ in this episode, but obviously, the program group was no longer satisfied with inviting such popular flowers, but only having them show their face and be a vase in the last act7 . So they started having them participate in the process of the program .
Seeing that it was Xia Rong who came in, Meng Xuan immediately called out to him with a smile, “Tong Mu . ” Xia Rong was stunned for a moment before he reacted, this was the name of the male protagonist in their idol drama . He had thought for a moment before he remembered and called out, “Uh… Xiao Ru!”
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He Xiaoru was the name of the female protagonist in that idol drama but Xia Rong just couldn’t remember her surname anymore, so he could only call her by a nickname . Meng Xuan said with a smile, “I just knew that you wouldn’t be able to remember it clearly . After all, you were always so absentminded…”
Su Chi had already lifted the curtain to come in and Xia Rong didn’t know how much he heard . Nonetheless, as soon as he(SC) came over, he shook hands with Meng Xuan with a slight smile, “Long time no see . I’ve also filmed an advertisement with you, I hope you won’t be too biased . ”
Meng Xuan laughed and replied, “I won’t, I won’t . After all, you are both male gods…”
On the side, Xia Rong took the opportunity to ask, “Then of the two of us, who’s more handsome?”
Meng Xuan was stunned for a moment . She then immediately laughed in spite of herself and straightened the hair near her ear while portraying an appearance as if she didn’t know how to answer for the camera . Xia Rong also didn’t have an intention to force an answer, so the three of them just laughed and the situation was considered over . The setting of the game was then introduced .
“The first thing a great hero needs when he first enters Jianghu is to have excellent eyesight and hearing, only by this can he practice peerless martial arts,” Meng Xuan, who was actually reading it directly from the script, explained in a soft and sweet voice . “In a bit, we will ask a hero to go behind a partition while the proprietress will dance and hum for the great hero through a layer of fine gauze . The great hero would then need to guess the name of the song according to the proprietress’s voice and dance . Given the same amount of time, the chivalric hero that guessed the most songs will be considered victorious and the winning hero… ” She raised her head and threw a wink at them . “Will be gifted a secret martial arts manual by the proprietress with her sincere love . ”
The rules were quite easy to understand; in fact, it was a revamped version of the song guessing game . Moreover, the hints would be very comprehensive, not only was there the body language representation but also the humming of the song . It should be easy to guess the title of the song… Sure enough, the ‘Entering Jianghu’ challenge wasn’t too difficult and the program team couldn’t always be so pitted8 against the artists!
…Until Xia Rong saw Meng Xuan put on a pair of headphones that were playing super-intense heavy metal music .
The order to experience ‘The Proprietress’ Trial’ was determined by the order they entered the teahouse, so Xia Rong went in first and stood behind the partition . As it was small and narrow behind the partition, there was only a fixed camera positioned there while the cameraman who followed him stayed outside to film Meng Xuan’s performance .
And so, Xia Rong was separated by a layer of ethereal ochre gauze . Outside the partition, the flirtatious and amorous proprietress sang sinuously and danced whirling about . However, his emotions didn’t have any fluctuations, instead, he even wanted to break his headphones .
TMD9, whoever could figure out what song it was from this confusing and unpredictable humming, he(XR) will take his surname!
And there’s you, Meng Xuan… Don’t sing anymore, your image as an idol has already shattered to the floor!!!
Xia Rong’s mood collapsed and a sense of melancholy flooded him . As the wind blew past his head, he felt it hurt even more . Gradually, he felt that it was more than just a headache, instead, it was as if all his joints began to ache as well .
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It hurt so much that he wanted to squat down for a bit, but then he remembered that he was still filming the program and there was a camera next to him . He took a step back and tried to lean against the wall behind him to help him keep standing . However, in this way, he no longer had time to pay attention to Meng Xuan’s humming and performance .
He felt that things were getting worse and worse, his whole body was burning hot yet from his bone marrow, he felt intermittent bursts of oppressive coldness . The vision in front of his eyes seemed to sway while the light and colors seemed to have a moment of distortion . He wanted to yell ‘stop’ and tell the director that he was not feeling well, but after his lips opened and closed several times, he actually couldn’t spit out the word .
At the final moment, before he fell, relying on the strongest instinct of a celebrity, he pulled the black cloth from the side and covered the only camera nearby .
Five seconds later, a fluffy trembling and tottering paw poked out from a messy pile of men’s clothing on the ground .
Xia Rong: “…”
Xia Rong had thought that while him falling might not have been earth-shattering, at least it would alarm the group of people outside that was recording the program . But who knew, the result was that he soundlessly fell down and soundlessly… turned into a cat .
With Su Chi as an example, Xia Rong’s ability to accept that he had ‘changed into a cat’ was actually quite strong . He held up one of his paws in front of his eyes, seriously observing and studying it as he waved it around .
En, the pads were pink, the paws were white, while the fur was orange-yellow . Then turning around to take a look at this body…
Xia Rong was outraged .
Why was it that when Su Chi changed into a cat, he was a silver gradient British Shorthair while he was a regular household’s orange cat?! There must be discrimination in this cat-changing world, there must be!
Also, how exactly would this show continue? ‘Entering Jianghu’, his Jianghu road has died even before it started!
The late emperor died before he even accomplished half his undertaking, was this really not a problem?!
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