RSDH CH15

Even after seeing the correct combination Duan Xingye used to open the chest, the audience still couldn’t link those numbers to the geometric shapes on the paper. Curiosity had everyone scratching their heads.

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

Wu Enqi cast a longing and envious look at the couple, desperately wanting to ask how they solved it. But as the one with the lowest status among all the guests, she pursed her lips and didn’t dare to strike up a conversation.

Jiang Li was different. She reached out and called, “President Cheng, don’t go! How do you solve this puzzle?”

Jiang Li was Cheng Duzhou’s senior in the film industry, but her willingness to call him “President Cheng” along with the fans showed her easygoing nature and lack of pretension.

Cheng Duzhou remembered this was a team battle. He pointed at Duan Xingye and replied to Jiang Li, “Ask my Mister.”

Duan Xingye’s eyelid twitched: “…”

Bullet comments:

“Calling him ‘Mister’ in public is too sweet!”

“Are Teacher Duan’s ears red?”

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

“New fan entering the pit, so shippable.”

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

Duan Xingye didn’t mind helping, but he couldn’t possibly solve the puzzle for them one by one. He simply said concisely, “The missing line segments on the geometric shapes are the intersection points between Chinese characters and the shapes.”

He left the solution logic there and departed with Cheng Duzhou.

The others looked at the geometric figures on the paper again. After pondering for a moment, their eyes lit up.

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

For example, this inverted triangle: two narrow gaps on top, and a gap on each of the two slanted sides. Connecting top and bottom forms the character “Eight” (八).

And for example, this square: no gaps, meaning it’s fully enclosed, which is the character “Four” (四).

After the remaining two groups solved the puzzle, the bullet comments in the livestream surged rapidly.

“I was still frantically looking for numerical relationships, but Duan Xingye already solved the problem with graphical thinking.”

“So amazing!”

“Even though they are competitors, he’s not stingy about helping opponents. Such a smart and kind brother~”

Having finally completed the first stage, Jiang Li and Wu Enqi also hurried to get on the road.

Since the production team designed four different routes for the guests, everyone soon dispersed across the vegetation-rich island.

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

All guests couldn’t see bullet comments during outdoor shooting.

Their follow director asked the question on behalf of the audience: “Where are you two planning to go? Aren’t you going to open the chest first?”

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

Audience: ???

Tao Ziyi shook the envelope containing the money and said, “The production team gave exactly thirty yuan. I guess it’s for ferry tickets. And on the entire island, only South Port has a ferry station. So we are going there now, then looking for a destination with a thirty-yuan ticket fare. Barring any accidents, we should see the accommodation arranged by the program team once we land.”

Audience:

“Tao Ziyi’s IQ is so high! Figured out the destination purely by reasoning.”

“Waiting for first place!”

“Tao Ziyi dealt a dimensionality reduction blow to the other guests.”

“?”

“Wait, isn’t this Duan Xingye’s reasoning?”

“Fans of a certain someone stop peeking at our screen, bad luck!”

“Don’t be funny. Your idol is scatterbrained even when packing luggage; could he have this IQ? Stop trying to scam clout.”

The chief director watched this scene from behind the monitor and wiped away cold sweat.

Turns out more than one group of guests discovered the mission loophole. Fortunately, the production team had already changed the route.

Playing like this, Tao Ziyi would definitely end up with nothing after all his busy work.

The chief director picked up the walkie-talkie: “Remind them.”

Receiving the notification, the follow director said to Huang and Tao, “Better open the chest. The map won’t be wrong, but if you guess wrong, it’s a wasted trip.”

Saying this much was already an obvious hint. Being any more direct wasn’t allowed, as it would let the audience see the production team interfering.

As a result, Tao Ziyi glanced at him sideways, smiling triumphantly: “Looks like I guessed right.”

Director team: “…………”

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

He vowed to take first place, stay in the best room, and then properly mock Duan Xingye.

So slow? No way? Can’t you see the shortcut?

Just thinking about it made his mood soar.

“Hey, this thing is heavy. Throw it away.”

Huang Liang put the locked chest by the roadside.

Abandoning the clues, the couple sprinted towards the destination in their hearts.

The map was hand-drawn, the route clear. Once the direction was set, it wasn’t easy to make mistakes.

Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou didn’t rush. They hiked to the first marker point and found a box with the program logo under a jujube tree. Beside the box were a card and two whiteboards.

Duan Xingye read the rules on the card:

“Back-to-back Quiz.”

“Please stand back-to-back and write down the answer to the question on the whiteboard within ten seconds. You can pass only if the content is consistent. If inconsistent, a five-minute silence penalty applies. After the penalty, switch to a new question and answer again.”

This was the so-called tacit understanding test.

The questions would definitely be about the two of them.

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

Cheng Duzhou: “Hot pot.”

Duan Xingye: “Favorite color.”

Cheng Duzhou: “Blue.”

Duan Xingye: “Hobby.”

Cheng Duzhou: “Roasting people.”

“Favorite season…” Duan Xingye shut his mouth abruptly and raised the whiteboard high. “Cheng Duzhou, I’m gonna smack you!”

“Ahahahahahahaha! I love watching Teacher Duan explode!”

“President Cheng loves teasing Teacher Duan so much; their interaction is super cute!”

“Is Teacher Duan cramming at the last minute?”

“President Cheng can answer everything about Teacher Duan fluently. Wuwu, he really loves Teacher Duan.”

Old Xu acted as the referee, reminding them to stand in position.

The whiteboards were covered with paper.

Duan Xingye held the board in the crook of his arm, his back leaning against Cheng Duzhou. Two seconds later, he suddenly turned back in panic: “Right, what do you like to eat again?”

“…”

Cheng Duzhou looked back at him, then turned away. “Duan Xingye.”

“What?”

“You better guess right.”

“…”

Duan Xingye buried his head, his fingers gripping the marker tightly, falling silent.

Bullet comments:

“Dying of laughter, Teacher Duan Helpless.jpg”

“One wrong move and it’s a fatal question!”

Old Xu shouted for the timer to start.

The two simultaneously lifted the white paper covering the boards.

[Wedding Anniversary.]

Duan Xingye breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they never celebrated anniversaries, he wouldn’t forget when they got the certificate.

March 15th.

3/15, Consumer Rights Day (fighting fakes).

The day Duan Xingye and Cheng Duzhou got their certificate was quite casual.

He was taking a nap when he received a call from Cheng Duzhou saying he was downstairs.

Duan Xingye leaned on the window and looked out into the yard. Because he hadn’t slept enough, his tone was unfriendly: “Let’s reschedule.”

Cheng Duzhou was unusually stubborn: “Today.”

Then Duan Xingye got up, washed his face, put on a jacket, and went out.

He didn’t ask why “today.” Maybe Cheng Duzhou was just passing by, or maybe he was only free today.

Watching the auntie at the Civil Affairs Bureau stamp the bright red steel seal and receiving the red booklet, Duan Xingye thought:

I really hope an administrator with an armband walks in and tears the booklet to shreds.

His marriage to Cheng Duzhou was fake to the point of being a crime against nature.

There wasn’t even a basic ceremony.

Duan Xingye answered in a second, and Cheng Duzhou’s speed wasn’t bad either.

The two turned their answer boards to the camera, their calm expressions revealing their certainty.

Old Xu looked back and forth twice and gave the verdict:

“Answer incorrect.”

“Five minutes of silence.”

Duan Xingye froze. He craned his neck to look at Cheng Duzhou’s board and saw [203] written boldly on it.

February 3rd?

That was more than a month off from the day they got the certificate.

Duan Xingye pursed his lips, his proud little face darkening.

Why was it that every year when the anniversary came around, Cheng Duzhou never showed any indication?

Duan Xingye assumed he was just a person lacking a sense of ritual, but in the end, it was because Cheng Duzhou didn’t even remember the date.

He was in such a hurry to drag him to get the certificate back then, but in reality, he didn’t take that day to heart at all.

The lines of Duan Xingye’s lips tightened. A layer of rising heat flushed his thin, translucent skin. He lowered his head and took off the microphone.

Not recording anymore.

Divorce.

Let it perish.

What a trash program.

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

But physically, he only intended to go to the side and rest for five minutes.

— “It’s not wrong. We are talking about the same day.”

Hearing this, Duan Xingye looked up.

Cheng Duzhou held the board and said to Old Xu, “The third day of the second lunar month in 2021 corresponds to March 15th on the Gregorian calendar.”

Old Xu couldn’t verify it on the spot and was hesitating.

Duan Xingye walked up to look at the board. Before Old Xu could speak, he mumbled, “Really?”

Cheng Duzhou thought Duan Xingye was deliberately tearing down the stage. Seeing his blank expression, he asked, “What are you doubting? The third day of the second lunar month is auspicious for marriage. I asked your grandpa for the birth charts to calculate it.”

“…”

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

Damn. You’re superstitious.

The angry red on his face was instantly covered by a deeper crimson.

— “Today.”

Turns out two years ago, Cheng Duzhou’s sense of ritual was already contained within the date of the marriage.

Viewers in the bullet comments reminded everyone that the third day of the second lunar month in 2021 was indeed March 15th.

Old Xu saw it and breathed a sigh of relief. “Answer correct. Congratulations on passing the tacit understanding test.”

Using the password provided by the production team to open the box, the couple pieced together the two maps they had and continued to the next mission point.

Duan Xingye didn’t speak on the road.

Cheng Duzhou suddenly pinched his glowing white cheek. “What are you thinking?”

Duan Xingye didn’t block his hand this time, letting him be. He asked, “Do you like eating sweet and sour pork ribs?”

Cheng Duzhou glanced at him and chuckled. “Not telling you.”

“?”

What are you being tsundere about?

Fifteen minutes later, the two reached the second mission point and easily found the box.

Duan Xingye held the whiteboard ready to answer. Lifting the white paper, he saw the question—

[When was Duan Xingye’s first kiss?]

Duan Xingye froze. “…”

Stirring up trouble.

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

__

Author’s Note:

President Cheng: Angry. The kind that can’t be coaxed.