Chapter 12: If you're dissatisfied with me, feel free to ask the director to change partners

Peach Blossom Forest

From afar, one could see the neatly arranged trees lining both sides of the road, covered with peach blossoms above, with petals scattered on the ground giving the entire place a tender, irresistible beauty.

A long road was carpeted with a thick red rug, about ten meters long, with five lanes of balloons laid out on it, around ten balloons per lane.

To the left of the rug lay a pile of long strips of fabric that appeared exceptionally soft.

"The first challenge entails each guest tying one leg together and popping all the balloons to reach the finish line for victory. The ranking is based on the time it takes to reach the finish line; if not all the balloons are burst, it doesn't count as passing."

"Geez, this is too childish," Yao Hui complained with disdain. These kinds of games were a breeze for him during his younger days.

"...You said the same thing about the roller coaster," Meng Wangge said slowly, throwing shade.

"Just watch me take you to first place in this competition, unless you hold me back," Yao Hui said, his face turning red with irritation, unable to contain his embarrassment.

This damn fatty really had to hit where it hurts.

[Hahaha why remind me of the time Yao Hui wet his pants, I'm dying of laughter.]

[Yao Hui, you gotta step it up, not for the glory but at least to avoid another pants-wetting incident.]

[How mean you guys are!]

"Everyone can start tying their feet now. If you don't know how, let the staff assist you."

"Okay."

Sang Qiao grabbed a rope, squatted down, and extended her right foot, looking up at Si Chenli to motion him to bring his foot closer.

The man uncomfortably shifted his gaze away, pressing his leg towards hers. Even without looking, he could feel their legs touch, and Sang Qiao wound the rope around their calves, her fingers occasionally brushing carelessly against his leg.

Her fingers were smooth, as gentle to the touch as her own calves; they were so close that he could clearly smell the scent of her shampoo.

The subtle scent of flowers was pleasant, just like her.

"All set, this should hold strong," Sang Qiao said after finishing, not forgetting to pat their legs.

"Pat-pat." Twice, not painful, rather it tickled a bit.

"Hmm," Si Chenli's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his voice husky, as if the spots she had patted still retained some warmth.

The other four pairs of guests also quickly finished tying up. Sang Jiao and Gu Nanmo stood there listlessly, their legs weak.

Even though Gu Nanmo was a young master unaccustomed to labor, his stamina could hardly support him in this task. "Director, isn't this a bit unfair to us? We just finished doing a hundred frog jumps."

"There's nothing unfair about it. The frog jumps were a punishment because you didn't complete the task. If you think you can't do this task either, you can forfeit."

"Alright, Nanmo, please hold on for a bit, okay? Director, we can continue the task!"

Sang Jiao was eager to continue and hastily spoke up as the peacemaker, while inwardly cursing Gu Nanmo for his lack of stamina.

"Alright then," Gu Nanmo saw that even Sang Jiao, a woman, chose to persist, so he felt embarrassed to suggest forfeiting.

The five pairs of guests quickly tied one of their feet together and stood on their respective lanes.

"Lin Weichen, I'm warning you, don't you dare hold me back; we must get first place in this task!" Lu Tianxin said fiercely.

After all, during the bungee jumping, Lin Weichen had already held her back enough. If it weren't for her repeatedly jumping several times, would they have gotten the card hanging in that little bag?

"Sure," Lin Weichen looked down the path, his whole demeanor was listless as if completing the task was merely an order for him.

"Everyone get ready! I'll count to three and then we start, one! Two! Three!"

As soon as the director's voice faded, five pairs of guests stepped onto the carpet, which was soft and comfortable.

Yao Hui and Meng Wangge had different stepping frequencies. After only taking two steps, the pair tripped and fell, bursting the first balloon immediately.

Yao Hui, noticing they were now last, couldn't help but get angry, "Can't you be a bit more useful? Get up quickly!"

"Can you really blame just me? You're also at fault," Meng Wangge retorted in a low voice, feeling quite displeased.

"Fine, fine, get up quick. This time I'll count—one, lift the free foot, and two for the bound one, got it?"

"Got it."

The two quickly got up from the ground, and with the counting, their coordination improved significantly.

Gu Nanmo and Sang Jiao, who were second last, had terribly sore legs, stumbling forward on the balloons in a daze, hardly speeding up at all.

Lu Tianxin, being third to last, was entirely dragged by Lin Weichen. Ever since her fall, he hadn't stopped but kept dragging her, bursting balloon after balloon.

"Lin... Weichen, at least... help me up... ah!" Lu Tianxin felt awkward being dragged, but the carpet was soft, so it wasn't painful.

Yet, she was utterly devoid of any gracefulness!

"Aren't you aiming for first place? We can't afford to waste time," Lin Weichen said coolly and sped up, soon passing the second pair.

Seeing her team being overtaken, Liang Mengyun gritted her teeth wanting to speed up, but ended up tripping herself with her mismatched steps.

Sang Shen also had to stop, but he didn't attend to Liang Mengyun. Instead, he turned to look back at the lagging Sang Jiao.

"Let's keep going," Liang Mengyun said biting her lip, picking herself up.

"If you're tired, just give up, the challenge isn't that important," Sang Shen said casually, frowning as he saw Sang Jiao fall behind.

"This is a love show, your sister is getting attention, can't you just cooperate with me?"

Liang Mengyun nearly stopped breathing after she spoke—how could she dare talk to Sang Emperor like that.

As expected, Sang Shen was surprised at her words as well, narrowing his eyes at her, "If you think I'm not cooperating, you might as well ask the director to switch partners."

"I… I didn't mean that, I'm sorry," Liang Mengyun said, somewhat flustered.

How could she have the audacity to speak to Sang Emperor like that; she hadn't kept her emotions in check.

"Alright, let's continue," Sang Shen said, without intending to talk more about it, stood up and gestured for her to move forward.

"Okay."

Ahead in the lead, the foot that Sang Qiao and Si Chenli had bound together saw Sang Qiao stepping on the back of Si Chenli's foot, while her other foot hung freely.

He held her around the waist with one arm, bearing her full weight.

Being carried by Si Chenli, Sang Qiao felt desperate; she had only slightly misaligned her step at the beginning and nearly fell, so Si Chenli just couldn't stand it and picked her up.

It was fast, certainly, but it jostled her stomach painfully, and she feared he might not have enough strength and would drop her.

"Could... could you put me down to walk?"

"No need." The man had no intention of putting her down and continued to lead, bursting all the balloons and reaching the finish line first.