FLME Ch20: Drama

“The points stolen by moles will be settled in the final round. Now announcing the members’ points: Song Chenglei 221 points, Tong Li 176 points, Chu Han 197 points, Xi Su 154 points, Cao Lingyun 188 points, Yu Wen—”

The production team intentionally paused for a moment.

“Teacher Yu, -32 points.”

Yu Wen cooperatively pretended to black out.

Everyone else was astonished, looking at each other. Tong Li exaggeratedly said, “Teacher Yu was touched 32 times today?!”

Song Chenglei: “Ah, is this a proper variety show?”

Cao Lingyun was dumbfounded and softly said, “Teacher Yu not only owes millions but also lost his dignity coming here…”

Yu Wen looked up at the sky, pouting in grievance, “How will I face people after the show airs?”

As everyone was noisily discussing, Chu Han calculated his points and noticed something was wrong.

“I also lost four points.” He said in confusion.

Director: “Each time the ‘gold thief’ steals, it’s two units of points, doubled for team members.”

Tong Li: “Who touched you today?”

Chu Han thought for a second, didn’t say anything, and silently stood farther from Xi Su.

Xi Su: “Brother, I’m innocent. I kept my distance from you today. If I were the mole, would I only steal four points?”

Song Chenglei: “No matter what, four points strongly indicate it. It’s exactly 2 points doubled, making it highly likely a team member did it.”

Once the points were announced, the moles quickly understood that they weren’t the only ones in their faction. If those high points weren’t stolen by them, there must be another mole in the team.

But Song Chenglei was an exception. He almost drained Yu Wen’s points. The main points were with him, so he couldn’t figure it out for now and continued to blame Xi Su.

Yu Wen roughly calculated. Chu Han was obviously Tong Li’s target, and there were no follow-ups because she was cautious and knew when to stop. Xi Su’s target was him, possibly interrupted by the restroom incident, so he only stole two points temporarily. Song Chenglei’s target was also him; the elder brother made him wipe his shoes eight times, and with the team doubling rule, it was 32 points.

Director: “Do you need to switch teams?”

Director: “The team that arrived first just now has the right to switch teams.”

Oh. Yu Wen’s eager hands stayed put. They were the third to arrive.

Chu Han hesitated and raised his hand.

Xi Su helplessly said, “Brother, you’ll regret this.”

Chu Han wanted to choose Yu Wen, but when he looked over, Yu Wen motioned with his mouth towards Song Chenglei.

“…I want Teacher Song,” Chu Han said.

The remaining Yu Wen and Xi Su naturally formed a team.

Yu Wen was sucking on the ice pop Chu Han exchanged with the program team before leaving, glancing at Xi Su.

Being caught editing gossip audio in the restroom was naturally a bit embarrassing for Xi Su, but more than that, he was puzzled.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t I explain clearly in the messages?” Xi Su quietly took off his microphone, holding a small bamboo basket like Yu Wen’s. The cameraman was left far behind, pretending to dig for mushrooms while actually talking.

“You picked the wrong one, that’s the egg of the bamboo fungus. Pick the one next to it,” Yu Wen instructed.

“Oh.”

After being directed to pick two or three mushrooms, Xi Su asked, “You still haven’t said how you know about my… identity.”

He pondered for a moment before summarizing the last two words, his tone indicating he didn’t care much.

Yu Wen, gnawing on his ice pop to the point of numbing his lips, spoke with a slur, “I can’t really explain it. I usually catch these gossips live…”

Xi Su, analyzing the deeper meaning of his words, looked horrified, “You followed me?”

“…Are you worth it?”

Unable to hold back, Yu Wen mocked him.

Xi Su didn’t ask further, giving Yu Wen a deep look, convinced that he must have some unknown information network behind him.

Xi Su had left school after high school to work, not known for a great temper. His agent described him as both foolish and hot-tempered. Yet, under the company’s packaging and with barely passable acting skills, he had somehow established a straightforward, innocent, and clumsy positive persona.

He knew he was different off-screen, but facing Yu Wen, he rarely held back his bad temper, suspecting Yu Wen had a powerful backer based on his social experience.

Yu Wen, completely unaware that he had been labeled as a “society elite” by Xi Su, continued to focus on his ice pop.

After finishing, he put the wrapper in a small plastic bag he carried, licked the remaining sweetness off his lips, and finally said, “May I ask, what was your original surname?”

Xi Su: “…Xi.”

Yu Wen: “Oh… I’m sorry.”

Yu Wen thought to himself that he had made a premature assumption, wrongly thinking Xi Su was the cannon fodder villain from the book, the illegitimate son of the Feng family… Speaking of which, why does the Feng family have so many illegitimate children? Is Feng Chengzhou’s father some sort of fertility deity?

While he was silently ridiculing, Xi Su was confused by his apology, “It’s fine. Should we delete the recording?”

Yu Wen: “I was just being polite.”

Xi Su: “Understood.”

Yu Wen: “Why did you think of using Chu Han’s scandal recording to blackmail Feng Chengzhou, such an ‘original’ idea?”

Xi Su gave him a strange look, dug up two mushrooms while speaking, “Hasn’t this been trending? Are you on 2G? Feng Chengzhou came out publicly, and Chu Han’s value skyrocketed overnight. People digging into Chu Han’s dark history stretch from here to France. I was investigating Feng Chengzhou when a private detective told me there was a recording of Chu Han, so I spent a lot of money to buy it.”

Thinking about the ten thousand yuan, Yu Wen agreed it was indeed a lot of money.

But can you, a celebrity, stop being so stingy when you talk?

“And then? Why not blackmail Chu Han?”

Xi Su straightened up, looking at him like he was crazy.

Xi Su: “Aren’t you his friend? Do you think he’d give in? It’d be lucky if he didn’t call the cops on me.”

Yu Wen: “…”

Good point.

Chu Han does have that stubborn mule-like personality.

Yu Wen tilted his head, “But why are you investigating Feng Chengzhou?”

Xi Su’s movements paused, frowning as this involved family matters. He said, “Are we close enough to talk about this?”

“…Sometimes friendship happens in an instant.” Yu Wen blurted out, “The moment I saw you, I felt an instant connection, like meeting an old friend…”

Xi Su frowned deeply, “I don’t understand. Are you saying you fell in love with me at first sight?”

“…” Yu Wen opened his mouth, then closed it, finally saying, “Mr. Xi, you have a mind that, though lacking in worldly knowledge, is incredibly imaginative.”

Not knowledgeable, but very good at wild ideas.

Xi Su felt this was a compliment, “I think so too. Basically, you want to hear about my current situation with the Feng family, right? Can’t you find out on your own? You managed to find out my identity, so this shouldn’t be hard.”

Yu Wen: “My parents taught me to see things from all angles. I should hear from the person involved.”

He smiled calmly, looking very persuasive.

Xi Su was convinced.

“We’re on the same boat now, so telling you isn’t a problem, but you must keep it a secret.”

Although Yu Wen didn’t know when he got on Xi Su’s “boat,” he didn’t bother denying it. Whether he was on it or not wasn’t up to Xi Su to say.

Seeing him nod, Xi Su said, “It’s a pretty cliché story. My mom was Feng Mingjie’s lover. You know Feng Mingjie, right? Feng Chengzhou’s dad… Oh, you do. That’s enough. Feng Mingjie treated my mom as a lover, while she saw him as her true love. After their brief affair, she had me. For years, she waited in vain for Feng Mingjie to bring her back to the Feng family as Mrs. Feng. Later, she got sick and wrote me a letter, revealing that if I couldn’t make it in life, I should seek out the president of Huiteng Group. That’s when I found out I was his illegitimate son.”

Xi Su continued, “At that time, our family had a lot of debts. I had just entered the entertainment industry and was making money. There was no time to acknowledge my father, so I delayed it for two years, until now. Recently, I finally managed to get a blood sample and did a paternity test. During the time Feng Chengzhou came out publicly, he was under a lot of scrutiny. I thought of having a private detective take some dirt on him to see if I could blackmail him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anything on Feng Chengzhou but did get something on Chu Han.”

Yu Wen: “…”

He hesitated, then finally said, “Do you know that blackmail… is illegal?”

Xi Su, surprised: “Really? I didn’t know.”

…You really don’t feel guilty at all.

Xi Su thought about it, deciding it wasn’t that serious, “Do you know why wealthy families are easily blackmailed? Because they don’t dare to call the police. Compared to justice, their reputation is more important. Any problem that can be solved with a million is a small issue.”

As the break ended and the production director caught up, Yu Wen moved closer to him, put on his microphone, and covered it with his hand, “Are you very short on money?”

Xi Su glanced at him, “Aren’t you?”

Yu Wen thought the same.

If not, who would be out here working?

Xi Su: “Didn’t I say? My mom fell ill and owed a lot of debt. My grandma is very old, and I want to pay off the debt and buy her a house as soon as possible.”

Yu Wen always felt that this development was like a foggy mountain.

Who ever heard of an illegitimate child not fighting for inheritance but just thinking about blackmail?

He voiced his thoughts, and Xi Su showed an expression like “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Xi Su: “Fight for inheritance? Do you think I have the ability to do that?”

Yu Wen: “…Sometimes you’re surprisingly clear-headed.”

Xi Su: “I told you all this because I consider you a friend! These are my true feelings!”

Yu Wen: …Okay.

Just one trip out and he gained another friend.

Before long, he would have friends all over the world, and ruling the world would just be a matter of time!

During the program, it wasn’t a good time to talk. The staff noticed their microphones were silent, came over, and pried their hands off the mics. The two were forced to stop whispering, and Yu Wen suddenly remembered the most important thing he hadn’t mentioned.

—He hadn’t warned Xi Su not to use Chu Han for fake CP again.

–

After filling two baskets with mountain goods, they encountered Tong Li and Cao Lingyun halfway up the mountain.

Tong Li was panting heavily, casually probing, “Xiao Yu… in the last round, you lost over thirty points. Any leads?”

Here we go, realizing there’s an undercover teammate, they started looking for someone.

Yu Wen put on a look of deep thought, frowning like a little bitter melon, “…No.” He shook his head.

Tong Li exchanged a glance with Cao Lingyun, who said, “We just met Teacher Song. He said he had almost no direct contact with you the whole time. We talked and felt that the rules the director announced this morning might not be the whole story. Suppose Teacher Song is the undercover; is it possible he doesn’t need to touch you directly? For example, letting Xi Su touch your hair or grab your wrist would also be physical contact.”

Yu Wen: “Huh? What?!”

He was internally unruffled.

Dear swans, you finally thought of this.

Tong Li: “So, Xiao Yu, think carefully. Is there anyone who might be the intermediary?”

“Intermediary? I don’t know,” Yu Wen said carelessly. “But I touched my own shoes many times today.”

Xi Su took a sharp breath, “Could it be…”

(Yu Wen) directly touching (Yu Wen)’s foot? Damn, what a genius idea, why didn’t he think of that!

Xi Su was inwardly frustrated.

Tong Li stared directly at Yu Wen.

“Did Teacher Song make you touch them?”

Yu Wen was about to nod when he had a flash of inspiration, looked up, and met Tong Li’s gaze.

In that instant, he understood the hidden meaning behind Tong Li’s words, smiled faintly, and said vaguely, “I don’t quite remember. I wore white shoes, which easily get dirty, so I might have wiped them myself.”

Tong Li gave him a deep look, and the two teams separated.

Not long after they walked away, Tong Li said with certainty, “Yu Wen was only with Teacher Song in the last round. If it’s as Yu Wen said, Teacher Song is still the biggest suspect.”

Cao Lingyun, confused for a moment, nodded without fully understanding, “I think so too.”

She never contributed much in terms of brainpower; Tong Li was a trusted ally to her, so whatever Tong Jie said was gospel.

Seeing no suspicion in her, Tong Li sighed in relief.

Actually, that vague sentence confirmed for her that Yu Wen was indeed her teammate.

The task card only specified the body part to be touched by the thief. For example, her card read: ( ) directly touch ( )’s shoulder, Tong Li steals 2 points.

The person in the parentheses was selected by her. She cautiously chose someone she was relatively close to, Xi Su and Chu Han, and had Xi Su touch Chu Han to complete the task.

Meanwhile, Yu Wen evidently took a completely different route: (Yu Wen) directly touch (Yu Wen)’s foot, Yu Wen steals 2 points.

A bold, unconventional, and highly deceptive approach.

Losing over thirty points in the first round, no one would suspect he was the undercover.

In a game of Werewolf, this was like a high-level player self-inflicting wounds to deceive the healer.

Tong Li couldn’t help but marvel at Yu Wen’s brilliant strategy, while also clarifying her own goal: during the evening vote, she must protect Yu Wen to the end!

According to the rules, as long as one undercover remained hidden, they would win.

She told Cao Lingyun, “In tonight’s vote, we’ll vote Teacher Song out in the first round; his suspicion is too high.”

–

“I think she’s very suspicious,” Xi Su said, watching Tong Li’s departing figure.

“…” Yu Wen turned his head to look at him a beat late.

Xi Su analyzed earnestly, “Her words just now clearly pointed to Teacher Song. But Teacher Song was with you the whole time in the last round. You should know if Teacher Song is a good person, right?”

Yu Wen: “…Mm.”

Of course, he knew Teacher Song wasn’t a good person.

Xi Su, however, took this as agreement, gaining confidence, “Teacher Song is a good person, and she’s been targeting him. I’m starting to doubt her now. How about we vote her out in the first round tonight?”

Yu Wen: “…”

Xi Su’s reasoning was clear.

He thought: Yu Wen lost over thirty points, definitely in the last round. Only Song Chenglei had the opportunity then, so Song Chenglei must be his undercover teammate. Tong Li had been the brains of the team, sharp and meticulous. From any angle, they couldn’t let her talk much. It’d be best to vote her out in the first round.

Perfect.

Yu Wen couldn’t say much more, so he responded deeply, “Mm.”

If they wanted to kill each other off, he wouldn’t stop them.

Do as you please.