RSDH CH15

Seeing the correct passcode Duan Xingye had provided to unlock the box, the audience still couldn’t connect that string of numbers to the geometric shapes on the paper, scratching their heads in sheer curiosity.

Having determined their bearings from the map, Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou prepared to set out.

Wu Enqi cast both eager and envious gazes toward the couple, dying to ask how they had cracked it. But being the lowest-ranking guest in terms of seniority and fame, she pouted and didn’t dare chime in.

Jiang Li was different. Reaching out her hand, she called, “President Cheng, don’t leave! How did you solve this?”

Jiang Li was Cheng Duzhou’s senior in the film and television industry, yet she was willing to call him “President Cheng” along with the fans, demonstrating an easygoing personality with zero pretentiousness.

Cheng Duzhou still remembered this was a team race. Pointing toward Duan Xingye, he replied to Jiang Li, “Ask my husband.”

Duan Xingye’s eyelid twitched: “…”

Bullet comments:

“Calling him ‘my husband’ in public is way too sweet!”

“Are Teacher Duan’s ears red?”

“President Cheng respects his husband’s opinion so much.”

“Newbie falling into the ship, so sweet to ship.”

The gazes of the two married couples converged on Duan Xingye.

Duan Xingye didn’t mind offering help, but it was impossible to solve it for them one by one, so he explained succinctly, “The missing line segments on the geometric shapes are the intersection points between Chinese characters and the figures.”

Leaving behind the problem-solving logic, he departed with Cheng Duzhou.

When the others looked back at the geometric patterns on the paper and pondered for a moment, their eyes lit up.

For example, with this circle, connecting the symmetrical gaps on both the left and right sides formed the character “一” (One).

For instance, this inverted triangle had two closely spaced gaps at the top and one gap on each of its two slanted sides; connecting top to bottom formed “八” (Eight).

And like this square with no gaps—it was the fully enclosed character “四” (Four).

Once the remaining two couples cracked the riddle, bullet comments in the livestreams soared rapidly.

“I was still frantically searching for numerical relationships, while Duan Xingye already solved it with spatial pattern thinking.”

“So amazing!”

“Even in a competition, he doesn’t hesitate to help his opponents. What a smart and kind young man~”

Having finally cleared the first checkpoint, Jiang Li, Wu Enqi, and their spouses hurried onto the road.

Because the production crew had mapped out four distinct routes for the guests, before long, everyone dispersed across the lush, overgrown island.

Tao Ziyi and Huang Liang had set out the earliest, looking thoroughly confident.

None of the guests could see bullet comments during outdoor shooting.

Their follow-up director voiced the audience’s confusion on their behalf: “Where are you two planning to go? Aren’t you opening the chest first?”

Tao Ziyi winked at the camera and said mysteriously, “I think I already know where tonight’s accommodations are.”

Audience: ???

Tao Ziyi waved the envelope containing the money and said, “The production crew gave exactly thirty yuan, no more, no less. I’m guessing it’s for boat tickets, and the only ferry terminal on the entire island is at South Port. So we’re heading there right now, and then looking for a destination with a thirty-yuan fare. Barring any surprises, once we step ashore, we’ll see the accommodations arranged by the crew.”

Audience:

“Tao Ziyi has such a high IQ! Figured out the destination purely through deduction.”

“Sitting and waiting for first place!”

“Tao Ziyi just delivered a dimensional-strike crushing defeat to the other guests.”

“?”

“I’m pretty sure that was Duan Xingye’s deduction?”

“Certain fans need to stop lurking and spying, what bad luck!”

“Stop being hilarious. Your idol couldn’t even pack luggage without forgetting everything—could he have this kind of IQ? Don’t flatter yourself by trying to pick a fight.”

Watching this on the monitors, the head director wiped away cold sweat.

Turns out more than one pair of guests had discovered the mission’s loophole. Thank goodness the production crew had already swapped the routes.

Playing it Tao Ziyi’s way, after bustling all afternoon, he was guaranteed to come up completely empty-handed.

The head director picked up the walkie-talkie: “Give them a hint.”

Receiving the instruction, the follow-up director said to Huang and Tao, “Better unlock the chest. The map won’t be wrong, but if your guess is off, you’ll have run around for nothing.”

Putting it this way was already a blatant hint; anything more direct couldn’t be said, or the audience would see that the production crew was interfering.

Instead, Tao Ziyi shot him a sideways glance, his smile dripping with smugness: “Looks like my guess hit the bullseye.”

Directing team: “…………”

Tao Ziyi urged Huang Liang: “Let’s hurry.”

He swore to take first place, stay in the finest room, and thoroughly mock Duan Xingye afterward.

So slow? Really? Couldn’t you spot the shortcut right in front of you?

Just imagining it made him feel completely refreshed.

“Ugh, this thing is heavy. Let’s just toss it.”

Huang Liang set the locked chest down on the side of the road.

Abandoning the clues, the couple sprinted toward their envisioned destination.

The map was hand-drawn with clear routes; as long as they oriented themselves properly, it was hard to go astray.

Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou didn’t rush along the way. Hiking to the first marked checkpoint, they found a chest stamped with the show’s logo beneath a jujube tree, accompanied by a card and two whiteboards.

Duan Xingye read the rules on the card:

“Back-to-back quiz.”

“Please stand back-to-back and write the answers to the question on the whiteboards within ten seconds. Both answers must match to clear the challenge. If they do not match, a five-minute silence penalty will be incurred, after which a new question will be drawn to answer.”

This was the so-called chemistry test.

The questions were bound to be about the two of them.

Duan Xingye immediately asked Cheng Duzhou, “You know what I like to eat, right?”

Cheng Duzhou: “Hotpot.”

Duan Xingye: “Favorite color.”

Cheng Duzhou: “Blue.”

Duan Xingye: “Hobby.”

Cheng Duzhou: “Snapping at people.”

“Favorite season…” Duan Xingye snapped his mouth shut, raising the whiteboard high. “Cheng Duzhou, I’ll whack you with this!”

“Ahahahahahahahaha! I love watching Teacher Duan bristle so much!”

“President Cheng really loves teasing Teacher Duan, their interaction is super cute!”

“Is Teacher Duan cramming at the last minute?”

“President Cheng can answer everything about Teacher Duan without missing a beat. Wuuuu, he really loves Teacher Duan so much.”

Acting as referee, Old Xu reminded the two to get into position.

A sheet of paper still covered the whiteboard.

Cradling the board in the crook of his arm, Duan Xingye leaned his back against Cheng Duzhou’s. Two seconds later, he suddenly whipped his head back in a panic: “Wait, what do you like to eat again?”

“…”

Cheng Duzhou looked back at him, then turned forward again: “Duan Xingye.”

“What?”

“You’d better guess right.”

“…”

Duan Xingye lowered his head, his fingers tightening around the marker, not uttering another word.

Bullet comments:

“Dying of laughter, helpless_Teacher_Duan.jpg”

“A lethal trap question if you’re not careful!”

Old Xu called out for the countdown to begin.

The two simultaneously peeled off the paper covering the board.

[Wedding anniversary.]

Duan Xingye breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they never celebrated anniversaries, he wouldn’t forget the date they got their marriage certificate.

March 15th.

315, World Consumer Rights Day.

The day Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou registered their marriage had been utterly casual.

He was taking an afternoon nap when he received a call from Cheng Duzhou saying he was downstairs at his house.

Duan Xingye leaned against the window to look outside into the courtyard, his tone foul from not having slept enough: “Let’s reschedule.”

Cheng Duzhou was uncharacteristically stubborn: “Today.”

So Duan Xingye got up, splashed water on his face, put on a coat, and walked out the door.

He hadn’t asked why it had to be “today”—maybe Cheng Duzhou was just passing by, or maybe he only had free time today.

Watching the auntie at the Civil Affairs Bureau stamp down the bright red seal and holding the little red book in hand, Duan Xingye had thought:

I really wish an inspector wearing an armband would march in and rip this booklet to shreds.

His and Cheng Duzhou’s marriage was fake enough to offend heaven and earth.

Without even the most basic ceremony.

Duan Xingye answered in a single second, and Cheng Duzhou’s speed was just as fast.

The two turned their answer boards toward the camera, their composed expressions conveying sheer certainty.

Old Xu looked back and forth between them twice and delivered the verdict:

“Incorrect answer.”

“Five-minute silence penalty.”

Duan Xingye froze. Craning his head to look at Cheng Duzhou’s whiteboard, he saw clearly written on it: [203].

February 3rd?

A difference of over an entire month from the day they registered their marriage.

Duan Xingye pressed his lips together, his haughty little face darkening gradually.

Why was it that every year when their anniversary arrived, Cheng Duzhou never made any gesture?

Duan Xingye had simply assumed he was someone who lacked a sense of ceremony; turns out Cheng Duzhou didn’t even remember the date.

Back then, he had been in such a rush to drag him to register the certificate, yet he hadn’t taken anything from that day to heart at all.

The lines of Duan Xingye’s lips tightened, a flush of rising heat dusting his delicate skin. Lowering his head, he took off his microphone.

Not filming anymore.

Let’s get divorced.

Let it all burn.

What a garbage show.

In an instant, countless impulsive thoughts rushed to his head.

Yet for now, he merely planned to rest on the side for five minutes.

—”It’s not incorrect. The two of us are referring to the exact same day.”

Hearing this, Duan Xingye looked up.

Holding the whiteboard, Cheng Duzhou said to Old Xu, “The third day of the second lunar month in 2021 corresponds to March 15th on the solar calendar.”

Old Xu had no way to verify on hand and was still hesitating.

Duan Xingye stepped forward to inspect the board, muttering blankly before Old Xu could speak, “Really?”

Cheng Duzhou thought Duan Xingye was deliberately poking holes. But seeing his bewildered expression, he asked, “What are you doubting? The third day of the second lunar month was auspicious for marriage, calculated by asking your grandfather for your eight characters of birth.”

“…”

Duan Xingye looked at Cheng Duzhou, his long eyelashes fluttering once.

Fuck. You’re superstitious.

The angry flush on his face was instantly overshadowed by a much deeper crimson blush.

—”Today.”

Turns out two years ago, Cheng Duzhou’s sense of ceremony had already been embedded in the wedding date itself.

Viewers chimed in via bullet comments to confirm that the third day of the second lunar month in 2021 indeed fell on March 15th.

Seeing this, Old Xu breathed a sigh of relief: “Answer correct. Congratulations on passing the chemistry test.”

Unlocking the chest with the code provided by the crew, the couple pieced together the two map fragments and continued toward the next checkpoint.

Duan Xingye didn’t speak along the way.

Cheng Duzhou out of nowhere pinched his luminous, pale cheek: “What are you thinking about?”

This time, Duan Xingye didn’t brush his hand away, letting him be, and asked, “Do you like sweet and sour ribs?”

Cheng Duzhou shot him a glance and chuckled softly: “Not telling.”

“?”

What are you being tsundere about?

Fifteen minutes later, the two reached the second checkpoint and found the chest with ease.

Holding the whiteboard ready to answer, Duan Xingye lifted the white paper, only to see the question—

[When was Duan Xingye’s first kiss?]

Duan Xingye froze: “…”

Stirring up trouble.

At the same time, he felt a chilling, ominous low pressure radiating from behind him.

__

Author’s Note:

President Cheng: Mad, the kind that can’t be coaxed.