Following the brief afternoon nap, by the time the afternoon’s activities finally commenced, the threads regarding A Promise of Mountains and Seas and the involvement of wealthy family commercial warfare had already exploded in popularity outside the view of the guests.
For modern netizens, who is dating, sleeping with, breaking up, or divorcing whom is certainly no small source of fun. However, the explosive nature of a wealthy family commercial war combined with attempted poisoning was clearly on a much higher level than the former.
Consequently, when the afternoon broadcast officially began, countless new viewers swarmed in. The livestream room was suddenly overcrowded, and after a short time, it rarely experienced a situation where the screen froze completely.
The production team, having no prior experience, hurriedly hired several programmers who worked overtime to divert traffic into a few backup livestream rooms.
By the time the livestream rooms were finally repaired, the image flickered, and the remaining six guests, excluding Yun Qi and Duan Xingge, were already standing firmly in the activity room.
The countless new viewers who rushed in to gossip had no idea about what had happened previously or the subtle, tense environment in the dating show’s current bullet comments. They weren’t even here for the dating show; seeing the scene, they excitedly reasoned:
“The ones who aren’t here must be the boss of Ming-Yun and the boss of Xing-Yun, right? Are they still living together? Could the one who poisoned the food be the boss of Xing-Yun!”
“Caught a commercial war in action; are the two of them going to have a shootout in the room?”
“As expected, real commercial warfare only requires the simplest methods—killing the opposing boss.”
Some fans wanted to attract new followers to their CP, so they started a campaign in the bullet comments:
“Jiao-bao is so beautiful, I wonder which brother-in-law is lucky enough to have him.”
“Just a passerby, that little beauty sitting in the corner is so good-looking ww. Can I know his name?”
“+11, he seems to be my favorite cute and delicate beauty!”
However, other viewers seemed to have auto-filtered them, with eyes only for the two men:
“You guys haven’t heard the full gossip. It’s said that President Yun of Ming-Yun raised the boss of Xing-Yun, but the brothers became enemies for some reason. This is probably a premeditated revenge.”
“I get it now. Rival heirs fighting for the family fortune, right? Exciting! Let the chaos come even more fiercely!”
“I don’t think it should be so blatant. Could it be the chef’s doing? You know, the kind of plot where they eventually find out the chef is an illegitimate child from the previous generation who committed murder to snatch the family fortune!”
While the viewers were discussing it enthusiastically, the two people at the center of the topic finally arrived late.
Hearing the sound of the two pushing the door and entering, the guests turned their heads one after another, and the camera followed closely to zoom in.
It was evident that the two had followed the host’s suggestion and were dressed relatively casually and thinly.
Duan Xingge wore a light blue short-sleeved shirt; paired with that face, if one could forget the viciousness he displayed when acting ruthless at noon, one would almost think he was the campus heartthrob of some university at first glance.
Yun Qi, possessing memories of the previous life, had chosen the same white shirt as before. He wasn’t worried about being punished, but still followed the process of choosing a thinner item of clothing—after all, the temperature in the afternoon would be slightly higher than in the morning, and wearing something thin was cooler.
But he had overlooked one thing: in his previous life, he hadn’t had an allergic reaction on the first day of the broadcast, nor had he lived with Duan Xingge.
Although, after a noon of recovery, the red marks from the allergic reaction on his body had mostly faded, the clear, visible fingerprints left by someone else’s massage remained on the side of his waist and slightly above his tailbone.
When Duan Xingge was massaging those areas, Yun Qi had been immersed in guilt, so he was completely unaware of those traces that were faintly visible beneath the shirt.
When Yun Qi appeared in front of the camera with a cold face, the passersby who had just rushed into the livestream room planning to feast on the wealthy family drama had never expected that the so-called “President Yun” would have such a face. The bullet comments went silent as if they had been cleared; countless unprepared new viewers widened their eyes in disbelief, staring blankly at the screen.
Beside Yun Qi, however, Duan Xingge smiled as gently as the spring breeze, as if he weren’t the one who had gone crazy at noon.
After three seconds of silence in the livestream room, it exploded. The speed at which many bullet comments changed was simply faster than turning a page:
“Woc, why didn’t anyone tell me President Yun looked like this?!”
“What President Yun, this is my wife. So, which one of you plotted against my wife? Huh? Stand out!”
“I want to say that from now on, I am irreconcilable with the rival of Ming-Yun, Xing-Yun… wait, why is the boss of Xing-Yun, Duan Xingge?!”
“Sister, how slow is your internet speed? Even I, who don’t follow celebrities, know that Duan Xingge debuted to raise sponsorship for his company… But this face is truly god-tier; it’s certainly enough to support a whole company.”
“I always thought Xing-Yun was named that way intentionally to compete with Ming-Yun, and that’s why it also had a ‘Yun’ in it. Today I just found out the boss of Ming-Yun is named Yun Qi, and he was the one who raised Duan Xingge… Woc, you kid are a bit too abnormal, right!”
While the bullet comments were going crazy, the camera slowly zoomed out according to the process. However, as if by coincidence, just as the camera zoomed in, it captured the side of Yun Qi’s waist, faintly visible beneath the hem of his shirt as he walked toward the room.
During the inadvertent swaying of the shirt, the slim waist covered in fingerprints flashed past; the white parts were dazzlingly white, while the red parts were red enough to make people blush.
That flash of crimson lasted only for a second, yet it made people’s hearts flutter. The bullet comments, already crazy, reached the peak of the two phases of the dating show:
“Ahhhhh, woc, fingerprints?! That must be fingerprints, right?! Is this something I can watch for free??”
“With a waist this white and this thin, you tell me this is a waist??? This is clearly my life, okay!!”
“You’ve got it, President Duan. Your wife is so good-looking and you don’t even tell us brothers, you just secretly touch him every day, right? You’re really something.”
“Don’t you old fans who have been eating so well tell us anything?? Your mouths are quite tight, you guys.”
“Reunion, foster brothers, younger top, sworn enemies, cohabitation, fingerprints… Don’t rush, I’m thinking.”
Even though the traffic was diverted into three or four livestream rooms, the bullet comments from the new viewers, exploding like a pot, occupied the entire screen in every single one.
For a time, no one paid attention to what the new activity in the afternoon actually was, and no one bothered with the spacious and bright activity room under the lens.
Yun Qi entered the room and scanned the surroundings briefly. He saw a huge display cabinet placed in the center of the room, and next to it were several tables covered with velvet tablecloths and corresponding tools.
Even without the slightest bit of other information, Yun Qi only needed one glance at the tools in the room to guess the direction of the activity, let alone the fact that he possessed the memories of a previous life.
This was actually a small activity for identifying jewelry. Based on his memories of the previous life, the production team would have them split into pairs, and then randomly take out a set of jewelry from the cabinet for the four groups to identify. In total, eight sets of jewelry would be taken out, and the group with the highest final score would win.
However, during each identification, one of the two people in the same group could only look and not touch, and was not allowed to move, while the other person could only touch and not look, but was allowed to move.
During each identification, the former would direct the latter to take the jewelry from the table specified by the production team.
This meant that one person needed to wear a blindfold and look for things on the field, while the other needed to have their hands tied behind their back and sit in their seat directing the other person. Neither of them could remove the blindfold or the bindings on their hands throughout the process.
The addition of this rule greatly enriched the interactivity of the game.
For example, in his previous life, when Bai Yiming and Duan Xingge were in a group, because of Bai Yiming’s incorrect direction, Duan Xingge accidentally touched Ming Jiao’s hand when picking up a gem, causing the bullet comments to howl repeatedly.
Later, he almost bumped into Yun Qi, who couldn’t move, and Yun Qi, with quick eyes and fast hands, tilted his body, directly tripping Duan Xingge. The bullet comments joyfully referred to this as the retaliation between love rivals.
But in this life, things seemed to be slightly different.
The host was just about to start introducing the rules when Duan Xingge, without waiting to hear them, was the first to withdraw his gaze. He raised an eyebrow and said to Yun Qi: “Wanna bet?”
Yun Qi was still gritting his teeth in anger over what had happened just moments ago; hearing this, he looked up at him: “Bet on what?”
“This activity must be about distinguishing truth from falsehood, so how about we bet on who can identify more genuine goods?” Duan Xingge said, throwing out a very tempting bait. “If I lose the bet, you can make any request, and I’ll be at your disposal.”
Yun Qi narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, clearly becoming interested: “And if you win the bet?”
“Is President Yun that unconfident?” Duan Xingge raised an eyebrow. “If I win, then I’ll trouble President Yun to in front of the camera repeat what you promised me when you were young.”
It took Yun Qi three seconds to realize what matter he was referring to. His mind exploded; his face involuntarily grew hot, and he was almost ready to refuse immediately, but Duan Xingge laughed one step ahead of him: “What, is President Yun afraid?”
Yun Qi’s words hung on the tip of his tongue. Perhaps he had been angered a bit too severely in the room earlier, but in the end, he swallowed the words of refusal and nodded, squeezing out a sentence through his teeth: “…Okay.”
Facing the two’s wager, the new viewers were actually a bit confused, completely unaware of what riddle Duan Xingge was telling. Fortunately, the old viewers weren’t very clear either.
As soon as the two finished their bet, the host followed up by introducing the activity rules for the afternoon. The content was exactly the same as in Yun Qi’s memories, with nothing to be surprised about.
But the other guests and viewers were clearly hearing it for the first time, especially the viewers. When they heard that one of the two people in each group needed to have their hands bound and the other needed to be blindfolded, the bullet comments became instantly excited:
“?! Hello, I’m a newcomer, is this a proper dating show?”
“Hello, no, this is an 18x jewelry identification show.”
“Grass, did the production team send people to study in the neighboring island country?”
“Input keywords: blindfold, bound, control and obedience… Did you mean: BDSM community?”
“God-tier BDSM community; the bullet comments know how to extract keywords.”
After the other guests regained their senses from their surprise, they looked one after another at the only two professionals present.
Ming Jiao looked at the host: “May I ask how the grouping is decided?”
“Our grouping is decided by drawing lots,” the host said with a smile. “Completely random.”
“But in that case…” Ming Jiao puffed out his cheeks, “If Brother Xing and A-Yun are in the same group, that would be too much of a cheat!”
Yun Qi’s brow twitched upon hearing this, and he couldn’t help but look at Ming Jiao. He hadn’t said these words in his previous life.
Seeing him look over, Ming Jiao blinked: “A-Yun, you are so professional, if you add Brother Xing, wouldn’t the rest of us just surrender?”
What Ming Jiao said was indeed reasonable, and the other guests couldn’t help but nod in agreement when they heard it.
“Then how about this: if A-Yun and Brother Xing draw together, it doesn’t count,” Ming Jiao suggested, rare to have come up with an idea once. “Then we’ll trouble the brothers and sisters of the production team to organize the drawing again. Wouldn’t that be fine?”
As soon as this was said, the entire activity room fell silent.
After three seconds, just as Yun Qi was about to speak, Duan Xingge raised an eyebrow and was the first to say: “I understand now. Xiao Ming has danced around for so long just to be in a group with President Yun.”
Yun Qi’s words were halted; he couldn’t help but turn his head and give him a warning look.
Ming Jiao’s face flushed red, and he hurriedly denied: “No, no”
“Then how about this: if the two of us really end up in the same group” Duan Xingge directly interrupted him, “The person wearing the blindfold will let you have one hand, and the one not wearing the blindfold… will wear my nearsighted glasses to increase the difficulty, how about that? Is it fair this time?”
Yun Qi’s brow twitched, and he couldn’t help but say: “If you want to increase the difficulty, go into a group by yourself; don’t drag me into it.”
However, the host felt this was a very good idea and made a decisive decision: “This is indeed much fairer. Does anyone have any objections? If not, it’s decided.”
A bad premonition suddenly rose in Yun Qi. Just as he wanted to open his mouth to veto it, Duan Xingge spoke for him: “None.”
Perhaps sensing Yun Qi’s unkind gaze, Duan Xingge laughed and turned his head: “We aren’t necessarily going to be in the same group. Why is President Yun so anxious to deny it? It’s just for fun; don’t be so competitive. Or could it be… that President Yun really wants to be in a group with me?”
Yun Qi sneered: “Being in a group with you is worse than being in a group with a wall.”
Facts proved that one shouldn’t speak too firmly, otherwise, it easily turns into a boomerang that hits oneself.
In his previous life, Yun Qi actually really did draw into a group with him, just as Ming Jiao had wished.
In this life, however, he hesitated. Looking at the lot of balls, he looked at that familiar ball, but ultimately didn’t choose it, instead avoiding it and randomly picking one from the rest.
However, coincidentally, when he took out the paper strip with the number written on it from the ball, it clearly had the number “3” printed on it.
A bad premonition rose in Yun Qi. If he remembered correctly, the one who drew three in the previous life was Bai Yiming and Duan Xingge. In this life, he could only hope that.
“I’m in a group with Brother Yiming!” Ming Jiao’s crisp voice sounded in his ear.
Yun Qi paused, turning his head slowly, just in time to meet Duan Xingge’s immensely delighted smile. The other party raised the paper strip in his hand, and it could be seen that it was also printed with the number “3.”
Yun Qi: “…”
“Oh my, what a coincidence, President Yun?” Duan Xingge raised an eyebrow and teased. “Didn’t President Yun say that being in a group with me was worse than being in a group with a wall? One shouldn’t be so hypocritical, President Yun.”
Yun Qi didn’t pay any attention to him with a cold face. Duan Xingge knew when to stop and didn’t tease him any further, but the smile on his lips didn’t vanish at all anyone could see his pleasant mood.
The two of them didn’t even realize it themselves; their way of getting along seemed to have returned to the way they were once familiar with.
The production team had prepared four chairs for the four groups, placing them in the four corners of the room. However, to facilitate one guest tying the hands of another, there was a certain distance between the chairs and the walls in the corners.
To increase interactivity, the production team required the two people in each group to personally put the blindfold on or tie the hands of the other person.
As for how the roles of the two people in each group were allocated, the production team had prepared a drawing box. The two could decide by negotiation; if they couldn’t decide, they could also draw lots from the host.
Then, living up to expectations, neither Yun Qi nor Duan Xingge was willing to be the one who was tied up, ultimately becoming the only pair in the whole place that couldn’t come to an agreement and had to draw lots.
However, perhaps it was because Heaven felt Yun Qi had been unlucky for too long; this time he was finally lucky for once and didn’t draw the side that was to be tied up.
Clutching the lot in his hand, Yun Qi looked down at the chair assigned to them and turned his head to sneer at Duan Xingge: “President Duan, please.”
Duan Xingge admitted his loss, threw the paper strip into the basket, and walked three steps to the chair to sit down. He stretched his long legs out on the ground, and his momentum practically turned that ordinary chair into a dragon throne.
However, not long after he sat down, he discovered the blindfold hanging on the back of the chair, and his interest was piqued.
Duan Xingge picked up the blindfold from the back of the chair, turned it over in his hand, raised an eyebrow at Yun Qi, and said: “After I’ve had my hands tied, I won’t be able to serve President Yun in putting on the blindfold. It’s better to trouble President Yun to condescend and come closer; it won’t be too late to tie me up after you’ve put on the blindfold.”
Yun Qi pressed his lips together and walked over with a cold face. He originally wanted to stand and let the other person put it on, but Duan Xingge stood up and pressed him onto the seat without any room for refusal.
Yun Qi’s brow twitched: “You”
Before he could finish his words, Duan Xingge raised his hand and put the solid black blindfold over his eyes. Not waiting for Yun Qi to refuse, he grabbed the strap and reached backward. When passing by his ears, his fingers “inadvertently” brushed against the other person’s earlobe.
Yun Qi: “!”
Yun Qi trembled almost imperceptibly but couldn’t vent it, so he could only press his lips together and endure this heart palpitation.
He sat in the chair, forced to look up and let the person in front of him act, but the camera was filming from behind Duan Xingge.
Therefore, from the audience’s perspective, one could only see Duan Xingge’s back and a little bit of Yun Qi’s chin. The result of this visual difference was that Yun Qi looked as if he had been pressed into the corner and forced to lift his chin.
The bullet comments instantly went silent. Countless people held their breath in front of the livestream room; anyone at this moment realized that Duan Xingge’s change of position just now was absolutely intentional.
And when Duan Xingge finished fastening the straps of the blindfold and moved away from Yun Qi, countless eyes in front of the livestream room widened in shock.
Follow-up question: Would you like to proceed to the next chapter, or is there a specific interaction or plot detail you would like to analyze?