CHAPTER 21:  Drive Him Mad

Level 9 pain — this was the second most painful experience Wen Heng had ever had.

Up to now, the system had never randomly assigned Level 9 before. The only time he had experienced a full Level 10 pain was backstage during a VOL magazine cover shoot — his leg had nearly broken that time.

This time, it was his neck.

A Level 9 pain — bearable, but not fully bearable.

In just a few seconds, cold sweat was already forming at Wen Heng’s temples.

But since they were still in front of a livestream camera, he used all his willpower to stop himself from dragging Gu Sheng into his arms.

Gu Sheng had finally vented her anger, but she wasn’t the type to be petty. She didn’t need to use the system’s power just to make someone bow to her.

So she let out a snort, and with an air of aloof elegance, patted Wen Heng on the shoulder. “Alright, alright, I accept your apology.”

Wen Heng held onto her hand and finally recovered a bit, “Okay. Thanks.”

The bizarre thing about this system was that every wave of pain felt so real it could kill him — but as long as he touched Gu Sheng, it was like the pain had never existed. Once relieved, there wouldn’t be a single trace left on his body.

But after enduring over twenty instances of pain, Wen Heng was starting to sense some sort of purpose behind the system’s random pain distribution. A hidden direction. But being inside it, he couldn’t quite see it clearly yet.

He held onto the small hand that was trying to slip out of his palm, thoughtful.

Gu Sheng was a smart person — could she really not have noticed anything by now?

Or… had she noticed, but chose to stay quiet?

Gu Sheng tried to pull her hand away twice, but it didn’t budge. She glared at him.

Wen Heng’s thoughts had wandered a bit. Meeting her gaze, he thought… her hand was really soft.

All this tension and undercurrent — the viewers had no idea.

From their perspective, what they saw was simply: the WenSheng couple had a little spat, Wen-ge bowed his head to apologize, the wife patted his shoulder, and then the couple held hands and made up.

— No matter how you looked at it, it was childish!

But when it happened between two cold, god-tier beauties, it somehow gave off a strong contrast of cuteness and perfect CP vibes.

[Wuwuwu they’re such a perfect match]
[I thought they were going to hug but holding hands is cute too]
[Aaaah I order you to stop holding back! Or I’ll beg you!]

In the end, Wen Heng still finished drinking that “Freshly-Squeezed Fish Mint Cilantro Yummy Coconut.”

After all, he already had a sip — if he didn’t finish it, he wouldn’t get paid, and that would just be a loss.

Actually, fish mint juice could clear heat, detoxify, and reduce swelling. For certain unmentionable reasons, Wen Heng wasn’t opposed to health drinks like this.

…But it really tasted awful.

The staff respectfully took back the empty bottle and handed Wen Heng an extra 100 yuan.

Wen Heng quietly breathed a sigh of relief. All things considered, it had turned out alright. And having just gone through a Level 9 pain, although the cooldown wasn’t as long as the Level 10 one, the system would at least lay low for a while.

Other guests were starting to gather around the task area at Luohai Square.

Yu Shanbei and Lu Yiyi arrived and spotted the blind box challenge, so they approached Wen Heng and Gu Sheng to ask.

“Wen-ge, Sheng-sheng-jie, how much was the blind box you picked?” Yu Shanbei asked nervously. “And what flavor was it?”

Wen Heng kept a mysterious expression, while Gu Sheng smiled cheerfully and said, “It’s very mystical, hard to describe. You should try it.”

Yu Shanbei was the type with strong curiosity and loved to have fun, so Gu Sheng’s words made him itch to try it out. But he wasn’t as daring as Wen Heng — after a moment of hesitation, he picked a 50-yuan blind box, figuring even if it tasted bad, it couldn’t be that evil.

Sure enough, when he opened the box, the drink was a vibrant tropical red, with fizzy bubbles — looked like a regular summer soda.

Yu Shanbei took a big sip with confidence.

Then — “Puh-puh-puh-puh—”

A majestic scene, like someone coughing blood to the sky.

The staff took a step back and said with a smile, “The one you drew is called ‘Laoshan Snake Grass Watermelon Pulp Bang-Bang Tea.’”

Yu Shanbei choked so badly his face turned red, and the livestream chat exploded with laughter.

Meanwhile, Wen Heng gave a cool little smile, satisfied, and tugged Gu Sheng away.

— Thank you, his mental balance had been restored.

….

That morning’s recording session saw some guests busy earning money, while others were busy being in love.

Right under the trending tag #WenHengGuShengQuarrel#, was another tag: #QingTianCoupleFeelsLikeHighSchoolLove# — the contrast was stark.

On the surface, Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian were the designated “couple goals” of The Four Laws of Happiness, but in reality, they had to balance a limited budget while still acting sweet — it was exhausting, like filming a drama.

But then, something happened that completely changed their situation.

While they were pretending to be high schoolers on a milk tea date, they ran into Wang He and Lü Yuzhuo wandering around the city. Wang He had drawn a huge money envelope, but the two of them were incredibly chill about it.

Wang He said, “You young couples have so many things to spend money on when dating. Us old married folks — we can’t even spend it all.”

So after some polite refusal, Wang He and Lü Yuzhuo gave them a thousand yuan.

A thousand yuan! Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian practically became rich overnight.

By lunchtime, when Song Qingzhi heard that Gu Sheng had gone off to play games to earn money, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Surely WenSheng didn’t have as much funding as they did now.

When she bumped into Gu Sheng, she put on a sweet, innocent smile: “Sister Gu, I heard you were playing games? Was it fun?”

Gu Sheng could instantly see the smug look on her face, but her heart stayed calm: “It was fun.”

Ever since their falling out after Farewell, My Lord, when Gu Sheng said she’d charge money to coach Song Qingzhi in acting, they hadn’t spoken. But clearly, the original novel’s plot was still doing its work — Song Qingzhi hadn’t given up trying to use her as a comparison tool. Gu Sheng recalled that in the original book, Song Qingzhi also landed a role in Rewind, her popularity surged, and she proved herself to be a formidable drama queen.

Song Qingzhi covered her mouth and laughed, her words full of implication: “It’s only just the morning—don’t push yourself too hard, sis. If you’re struggling, you can tell me.”

Gu Sheng almost burst out laughing and nodded. “Yes, I’m really struggling.” Too much money and nowhere to spend it.

She was on good terms with Shan Lu, and those two silly beans had basically let slip the general range after a few casual words. Gu Sheng was fairly certain that the envelope she picked was the one with the highest amount. But she knew variety shows too well—she understood exactly how to maximize the entertainment value.

Song Qingzhi, however, thought she was genuinely having a hard time. This was the first time she had the upper hand in front of Gu Sheng. Even if that advantage came from someone else, it still felt great. She passive-aggressively threw shade at Gu Sheng before heading off for the production team’s interview segment.

The assistant director was currently conducting solo and couple interviews with the cast.

Viewers were all trying to guess how much money each couple had received—that was one of the key gimmicks the show had cooked up.

The assistant asked, “—How do you rank yourselves in terms of funds among the four couples?”

Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian thanked Wang He and the others, then said, “Actually, the amount doesn’t matter that much. Even if we only had a few dozen yuan, we’d still be really happy together~”

A textbook answer for any romance reality show.

[You can always count on Qingzhi and Qin Tian!]

[They’re just like leads from a school romance novel, aww]

Then it was Shan Lu’s turn for the interview. Yu Shanbei knew this was the time to put on a show—they couldn’t just reveal the actual number. They had to stir up curiosity and make people guess like crazy.

“Yi Yi and I aren’t exactly broke,” Yu Shanbei said seriously, “it’s just that… there’s a huge wealth gap between us!”

Lu Yiyi quickly chimed in, “Totally! A hundred times difference, haha!”

When the audience heard “a hundred times,” they cracked up:

[LOL I’m calling it now—Shanbei got the smaller amount]

[I’m making a wild guess here—could one of the couples have a thousand times gap?]

[No way, right? That would be insane—total public execution moment]

At that moment, the interview turned to Wen Heng and Gu Sheng.

The assistant director was a WenSheng CP fan herself, and she was super excited during the interview: “Ahem, Mr. Wen and Ms. Gu, do you know how much money your partner has?”

Gu Sheng glanced at Wen Heng and gave a theatrical sigh. “More or less.”

Wen Heng, in truth, had no idea, so he didn’t say anything.

The top-tier movie star wasn’t someone well-versed in variety shows. He’d rarely appeared in them over the years, and no one expected a high-profile, aloof artist like him to carry the entertainment load. Just his presence was enough.

But right now, he was also guessing how much Gu Sheng had, since he knew exactly how much he had drawn.

Gu Sheng probably had more than him—but not by too much.

The assistant tried hard to hint: “Since your funds will affect the Couples’ Night, where do you two think you rank among the four couples?”

The two of them exchanged a glance, the same answer flashing in their minds.

First place.

Only… in reverse 🙂

—

Filming resumed in the afternoon.

Wen Heng and Gu Sheng headed further north across Lu Hai Plaza. That direction led to the sea, and a long bridge stretched high over the water.

The ocean lay wide and flat, and seagulls crossed paths in the sky like a painting.

Gu Sheng had always been someone who loved fun—loved traveling, loved mountains and seas. So even with a dog of a man beside her and a camera following behind, she was still in a good mood.

The quiet image of the two of them walking side by side was so beautiful that even the viewers stopped spamming the chat and just silently enjoyed the view.

Wen Heng had never experienced walking like this with someone. His time, his emotions—he had always kept them entirely to himself, never shared with others.

But in this moment, watching Gu Sheng run and skip ahead, standing on the railing as the sea breeze swept past her, he felt—for just a second—that he understood the point of romance variety shows.

Actually, their agreement to divorce wasn’t far off.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have cared about any “Couples’ Night.”

But now…

Wen Heng subconsciously walked to the spot just below the railing where Gu Sheng was standing.

As Gu Sheng pushed off the railing to jump down, she suddenly noticed Wen Heng below her, let out a surprised yelp, and almost lost her balance.

Wen Heng reached out and caught her firmly.

The live chat exploded again: [Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!]

Wen Heng realized then—Gu Sheng was really light. This was their first physical contact that wasn’t prompted by the system or the recording needs. It wasn’t about the strange CP system either.

What it was about—he couldn’t quite say.

The CP system picked up on something and chimed in dreamily: “Woo woo woo my beautiful CP must be! Real!”

Gu Sheng pushed Wen Heng away and screamed in her heart, “Ugh, spare me!”

She suspected the dog of a man was faking it for attention, so at dinnertime, she dragged him to a small noodle shop.

“I do have some money, you know. Let me treat you to dinner!” Gu Sheng said seriously, thinking this would prevent him from spending extra funds just to fulfill system wishes.