CHAPTER 27 (PART 2)

Gu Sheng clung to Wen Heng’s back and finally understood just how well-built this man’s body was from years of training.

His shoulders were broad and solid, waist narrow yet firm. Even though he looked pale and lean, he carried immense strength. Gu Sheng’s figure wasn’t particularly petite, but once on his back, it didn’t seem to affect Wen Heng at all—he moved with ease.

Gu Sheng whispered to the system, “No wonder…”

The system chimed in dreamily: 「Is the host feeling heartthrobbed? The male lead is so strong and reliable—it’s no wonder he’s a universal heartthrob!」

Gu Sheng: “No wonder he didn’t die of pain.”

Seriously, this guy was built like a tank.

System: 「…」

Gu Sheng gave Wen Heng’s shoulder an approving pat.

Wen Heng, supporting her legs at the back of her knees, turned slightly and said, “—Don’t mess around.”

His cool breath brushed her cheek with a hint of mint. Gu Sheng instinctively held her breath, only then realizing how close this piggyback position brought them.

She leaned back a little, then felt that looked too timid, so she slapped his shoulder instead. “Come on, let’s go!”

Wen Heng let out a helpless laugh. “Okay.”

Gu Sheng was light, and lying on his back she felt soft, which made him unconsciously straighten his spine.

Naturally, this little detail didn’t escape the audience’s eyes either—CP fans were totally losing it.

The scene was just too sweet—ahhh!

The staff handed blindfolds to the female guests, who were to put them on their male partners.

“Is everyone ready? Then on my count—three, two, one, go!”

Clinging to Wen Heng’s shoulders, Gu Sheng waved her hand like a general. “Charge!”

Wen Heng’s lips curled into a faint smile beneath the blindfold, and he began to walk forward with her on his back.

It had to be said, losing sight made every step uncertain. The faster couples had already run headfirst into the scratchy, poky hay bales.

Gu Sheng kept a clear view of the whole battlefield and directed Wen Heng. “Go left, more left, okay, now forward—ah, stop! You’re about to hit it! Good, now go forward again—”

Her voice was crisp and close to his ear, but Wen Heng didn’t find it noisy.

It reminded him of long ago, when he used to be resistant to anyone’s touch. But now, carrying Gu Sheng on his back like this, he was in a great mood.

“Now you can go forward!”

“Ahhh right, go right—don’t crash! Yu Shanbei—!”

The whole battlefield was chaotic. Yu Shanbei, covered in hay, was stumbling all over the place causing trouble. The other guests were exasperated and breaking down, but the audience watching from outside the scene were laughing their heads off.

Wang He stuck close to the edge and slipped past the chaos. Under Lu Yuzhuo’s command, they were the first to cross the finish line.

Meanwhile, after getting jostled around, Song Qingzhi and Qin Tian ultimately relied on Qin Tian’s strong physique to crash through the hay bales and charge toward the end.

Wen Heng steadily carried Gu Sheng the whole way, showing remarkable control, though maybe a bit too much—at the end, they only beat Yu Shanbei and finished third.

When she took off his blindfold, Gu Sheng jumped off his back neatly, a little dissatisfied. “If we’d gone just a little faster!”

Wen Heng helplessly adjusted the belt that had been tugged askew and murmured, “I didn’t want you to fall.”

CP fans: [sob sob sob—]

The system: [sob sob sob—]

Gu Sheng, however, stayed pragmatic. She told the system, “Don’t sob yet. If we have to sleep on the mountain later, then you can sob.”

The system waved its little flag: [Let’s go! Charge!]

Though honestly, it thought its CP spending the night alone on the mountain together sounded pretty nice. Hehehe.

This round gave the production team loads of sweet CP moments. They were very satisfied.

The director grinned and shouted into the megaphone, “Great job, everyone! Each couple has scored points. First place: Wang-Lu couple, 3 points. Second: Qing-Tian couple, 2 points. Third: Wen-Sheng couple, 1 point. Fourth: Shan-Lu couple, 0 points.”

[Hahaha Shan-Lu is done for]

[Are Shan-Lu going to end up sleeping in a tent? lol]

[Wen-Sheng is in danger too, sob sob! Wen ge, Sheng jie, hurry up and charge!]

“No worries, the outcome’s not set yet! We have a second game!” the director announced.

Yu Shanbei and Lu Yiyi instantly lit up with hope again.

They were moved to another location. By now, night had fallen. Fires were lit in the four corners of the space, giving off a very outdoorsy, wild vibe.

“The temperature in the mountains has already dropped,” the director said. “Our second game is very fitting for the moment. It’s called Group Hug for Warmth.”

It was a classic game. Everyone would walk in a circle to music, and when the referee shouted a number, the players had to quickly group up in that number. Anyone who failed to find a group would be eliminated.

The guests entered the circle. The music started. The first song was actually a segment from Lorful Pa. Gu Sheng immediately recognized it.

[Dead 😂 the director really knows what he’s doing. He knows Sheng jie’s carrying the show’s traffic]

[@Fu Xiaoshan come quick! They’re promoting your song!]

Gu Sheng, completely at ease, started swaying to the familiar music. Behind her, Wen Heng looked stone-faced.

Just as everyone was getting into the rhythm, the director suddenly shouted, “Two!”

All the couples flinched, instinctively trying to form groups—then realized—

“Two” meant just the couple! They only needed to hug each other.

Several couples burst into laughter and wrapped their arms around their partners.

[LMAO the dog director is too good at this!]

[If it’s manual sugar-delivery, I’m all in! Don’t stop!]

Wen Heng placed an arm around Gu Sheng’s waist and looked down at her.

The song finally ended. Hopefully the next one wouldn’t be—

Thankfully, the director knew when to stop. The next track wasn’t Lorful Pa, but one from Yu Shanbei’s boy band. Yu Shanbei instantly started dancing in the middle of the circle.

The young idol was handsome and energetic, and the bullet comments went wild.

Then the director suddenly shouted a new number: “Five!”

Yu Shanbei stopped dancing instantly. Chaos broke out. Gu Sheng grabbed Wen Heng first, then reached for Lu Yiyi. Lu Yiyi rushed over to hug her unnie, and then they both dragged Yu Shanbei in.

The other two groups had already huddled together, forming even 4-vs-4 sides, so neither could form a five-person group. The round ended in a draw, and the music restarted.

This time, the director shouted: “Three!”

History repeated itself. Gu Sheng grabbed Wen Heng, then reached for Lu Yiyi again. Lu Yiyi immediately abandoned Yu Shanbei and decisively joined Team Wen-Sheng, leaving Yu Shanbei alone, running around the circle in dismay.

Lu Yiyi: Sorry! I just want to hug unnie.

[I’m dying laughing hahahahaha]

[Poor Bei-zi got wrecked lol, but seriously, who can resist a gorgeous goddess? No one!]

Yu Shanbei was eliminated with tears. Qin Tian had a similar fate. The remaining six contestants continued.

The music swelled. Then the director shouted: “Five!”

This time it was even more chaotic. Everyone jostled and scrambled. Gu Sheng tried to pull people in, but over on Song Qingzhi’s side, the three female guests quickly grouped together.

Only then did Gu Sheng belatedly realize that there was a major drawback to playing this game with Wen Heng.

Which was—although Wen Heng was actively participating in the game, no one dared to hold onto him! Even earlier, when Lu Yiyi came over, she only stuck close to Gu Sheng.

Because the female guests were afraid of getting flamed, and as for the male guests—

During the second revival round, Yu Shanbei directly took Lu Yiyi and fled at lightning speed.

Everyone who came had heard the rumors, and they all kept a respectful distance from Wen-shen!

No one dared to go near! They were scared of being accused of scheming!

In the end, when the director called out “6!”, the remaining three couples hugged each other closely, while Wen Sheng maintained their beauty and gloriously got eliminated.

Bottomed out in two rounds.

Gu Sheng: …Tensed up.

—Her fists clenched in frustration!!

Wen Heng: Helpless, and innocent.

…

The first night’s house-snatching battle had concluded, and the Wen Sheng couple suffered a crushing defeat—late at night, they had to hike up the mountain to sleep in a tent.

“Don’t worry, everyone~ Even the tents up in the mountain are insulated~ You won’t freeze!”

Shanlu managed to turn things around in the second game and got the forest ranger’s room. Meanwhile, Wen Sheng had to climb halfway up the mountain to find the tent site arranged by the production team.

Too tragic.

Wen Heng sighed, and then suddenly heard a system alert—because he’d been with Gu Sheng the whole time earlier, the system had only just now issued the warning.

「You will experience your 27th pain episode in two hours.」

Wen Heng: …Even more tragic.

But Gu Sheng had already moved on. You can’t win every time, right?

She’d just work harder tomorrow and the day after!

So the two of them carried high-beam flashlights and started their hike up the mountain together.

The fans were wailing with sympathy, but deep down, a little corner of their hearts couldn’t help but feel excited—

Awooo! Nighttime! Mountain forest! Just the two of them!

So intense!!!

The mountain path at night was a little tricky, but the route had been prepped by the crew in advance. Though it twisted and turned, there were no steep slopes, and it was relatively safe.

The rustling in the nighttime forest sounded like something was watching. More timid people might have clung together by now, but unfortunately, Wen Sheng were both in combat uniforms, looking cool and fearless. They didn’t complain or seem scared the whole way up.

Finally, they reached a clearing halfway up the mountain where the crew had already set up the tents.

—And to be fair, these were deluxe tents, pretty spacious inside, and even came with two sleeping bags.

The room condition matched the supplies: they were given one bucket of water and basic toiletries.

Wen Heng poured some water for Gu Sheng, and the two of them headed over to a small slope to wash up.

The wind was cold and sharp, their silhouettes lonely and desolate, and the crew faithfully filmed the whole thing—crushing the fans with heartache.

[Wuwuwu I feel so bad for them!]

[Please crawl into the sleeping bags and go to sleep!]

After washing up, the two waved at the camera and finally got into their sleeping bags. Inside the bags were fixed cameras, so the crew packed up and went down the mountain.

Now, it was really just Gu Sheng and Wen Heng left up there.

Everything around them was quiet.

Gu Sheng had worked all day, and now all she wanted was sleep.

The tent was windproof, so she crawled into the sleeping bag, zipped it up, and wriggled like a little caterpillar.

[Wuwuwu wife is so cute!]

[It shouldn’t be cold, right? Production team, your sleeping bags better be high quality!]

Wen Heng checked the time. Between the hike and getting settled, there were only a few minutes left on the system’s countdown.

He slid his legs into the sleeping bag too, but stayed sitting, lowering his head to glance at Gu Sheng.

Her eyes were already closed, lashes thick and long, her small face pale and clean. Lying in the sleeping bag, she looked very well-behaved.

Wen Heng couldn’t help but reach out and gently poke her forehead. The touch was smooth and soft.

“What are you doing?” Gu Sheng asked with her eyes still closed.

Wen Heng poked a few more times until she wrinkled her nose. Then he lowered his voice and laughed, “Nothing. Sleep.”

Just before falling asleep, Gu Sheng thought: This dog of a man—why are his actions so annoying, but his voice so gentle?

…And then she turned over, tucked herself into the sleeping bag, and drifted off in warmth.

Even though the production team was doggy, they hadn’t lied. The tent really was warm…

A moment later, just as Wen Heng was lying down, the system chimed again.

「27: Piercing Cold. Pain Level: 3.」
「Duration: 5 hours.」

Wen Heng: “…”

Warmth… was for other people.

…

Gu Sheng was sound asleep. In a daze, she vaguely heard the system say something, but didn’t care and just continued sleeping.

The night grew deeper, and the chill was blocked outside the tent.

Just as the viewers were starting to head to bed as well, Wen Heng’s sleeping bag slowly unzipped.

His pale face peeked out.

Even colder than usual.

…He had held out for an hour. Couldn’t take it anymore.

If he kept enduring, he might actually be frozen stiff by morning.

Wen Heng’s bloodless hand reached for Gu Sheng’s sleeping bag and gently unzipped it. He originally only wanted to drape himself lightly against her, but Gu Sheng was highly alert.

A few seconds later, her startled voice rang out inside the tent: “Wen Heng, what are you doing?!”

The viewers who were still awake suddenly perked up—

What’s happening! What’s happening!

Could it be… the paid content is here?! Late night, wild mountain, tent! Aaaahhh—

Wen Heng’s hand was trembling from the cold, but he couldn’t tell the real reason. He could only say, “I… I’m afraid of the dark.”

Gu Sheng: ??

Wen Heng’s hand fumbled around until it found Gu Sheng’s and held onto it. The bone-deep chill finally faded, and his body began to return to normal temperature. He could feel his limbs again.

[Aaaahhh I’m dying from how hard I’m shipping this!]

[Anyone who fell asleep missed a huge moment—Wen-ge needs to hold his wife’s hand to sleep!]

Gu Sheng shut her eyes again and went right back to sleep.

Wen Heng’s time bottle expanded a little, but it was insignificant against the five-hour countdown. So he tightly held Gu Sheng’s hand.

After two seconds, the audience who were sweetly shipping them heard Gu Sheng’s voice again.

She belatedly felt Wen Heng’s warmth, and her voice was bewildered.

“How come you’re like a corpse??”

—You’re dead?

Wen Heng: “…”

He didn’t want to be.

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