Which method would be the fairest way to select the chosen ones? Since ancient times, exams had always been the answer ! ...
Which method would be the fairest way to select the chosen ones?
Since ancient times, exams had always been the answer!
With this method, it didn't matter when viewers watched the livestream — whether they tuned in in the morning or at night, on a Saturday or Sunday — as long as they wanted a lucky travel spot, they just needed to take the test.
There were 100 questions in total, including true/false, single-choice and multiple-choice questions.
Astonishingly, there were even short-answer questions.
The audience collectively burst into tears.
[I never thought that, as a working adult and so many years after graduation, I'd experience the agony of multiple-choice questions again.]
[I really have to hand it to the short-answer questions. They reminded me of back in the day when, just to get a few extra points, I'd write 'solution', copy the question again, then ramble on to pad out the word count and fill the paper.]
[If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll only end up sad in old age!]
[Only 20 minutes in total, and you still dare to include short-answer questions? Who came up with this!]
This test paper was created collaboratively by the four members of the Blue Team.
Each person contributed 25 questions.
Originally, Bao Ruanruan wanted the others to include questions related to dance and martial arts to allow multiple areas to flourish.
But in the end, the team leader, Zhen Xuan, slapped his forehead as a realisation struck him. "Let's just uniformly base everything on… Sis Ruanruan's health books."
Hengshan Village had been developed as a wellness tourism destination.
Only such questions would match the theme of Hengshan Village's two-day, one-night trip!
Moreover, dancing was also a form of exercise, and martial arts were for strengthening the body.
In the end, everything could be categorised under the broad concept of wellness.
Ultimately, the Chasing Dream production team named this test '100 Questions on Health and Safety'.
'What time of day is best for exercise?'
'At what time of day should one avoid intense exercise?'
'Which of the following dances are unsuitable for people with cardiovascular disease? A. Breakdance B. Finger dance C. Egyptian dance D. Mongolian dance?'
'Which of the following martial arts moves is suitable for girls to use in self-defence? A. Front kick B. Phoenix-eye punch…!'
'Please briefly explain the current benefits of martial arts for the body (bonus question).'
......
Eager viewers clicked on the test link on Weibo, trying to test their luck.
Upon seeing the questions, they were dumbfounded.
[Help! I don't want to travel anymore!]
[Hehehe.]
[Right now, I just want the person who made the questions to take the test themselves.]
Everyone felt their scalp tingle1.
Once you clicked the link, the test was considered started.
You only had 20 minutes to answer.
Even if you searched on Baidu, there was no way you could finish answering 100 questions in that time.
Many people ended up in tears.
[After all these years, I'm still that poor student.]
[Goodbye, Hengshan Village. I'll just have to pay for the trip myself~]
The audience was filled with whining cries.
In today's livestream of Chasing Dreams, the comments were full of crying emojis.
To lift the audience's spirits, Director Zheng Mingchang had the four members of the Red Team take the test as well.
"If you can score eighty points, then we will also let you go on a trip to Hengshan Village."
"We'll give you a one-week vacation as well."
"And we'll have the Blue Team serve you."
[Hahaha!]
[I'm going to d!e from laughter! Oh my God! It looks like everyone's average score didn't even reach eighty?]
[If the Director is saying this, it means the current highest score probably hasn't even reached eighty yet! My God!]
[I instantly don't feel upset anymore. Red Team, go take the test for me! Go bald2 for me!]
[Medical students laugh smugly~]
During the lunch break at the fashion show venue, the four members of the Red Team were all dumbfounded.
Even the smartest of them, Lan Zhi and Qu Ji'en, almost failed to process what was happening after receiving the Director's call.
"What exam?"
Lan Zhi felt dizzy.
It was only then that Director Zheng Mingchang slapped his forehead, realising that ordinary people wouldn't understand this arrangement.
So he could only explain it again.
Lan Zhi's face almost changed colour.
"Xiao Bao is making the audience answer questions, and those with the highest scores get to go travelling?"
"Uh… can I not do it? I don't like travelling."
As soon as Xiao Mengfei heard the explanation, she immediately waved her hands. "No way, count me out. I don't want to go and have fun. I just want to do the variety show properly."
[Xiaoxiao: "It's not that I'm afraid of exams. I just feel I should give others a chance, so that's why I'm not taking it."]
[Xiaoxiao: 'How could I possibly steal the audience's chance to travel? No, no, no!']
After a brief moment of surprise, Cheng Yao and Qu Ji'en relaxed noticeably.
It was obvious that they had previously achieved fairly good academic results.
"Then I'll give it a try."
Cheng Yao was actually quite confident.
"If I score 80 points, can all four members of our Red Team go travelling?"
[23333 Brother Cheng still has no idea what kind of test paper he is about to see.]
[I estimate you won't pass.]
[Be more confident—remove the 'I estimate'.]
[I'll count to ten, and everyone will witness the collapse of a musical genius's confidence so badly that no army formation remains3.]
[I'm pinching my fingers to calculate📹; I'd say at most 20 points—can't be any higher.]
In the end, the Red Team sent out two study tyrants4 to answer the questions.
Cheng Yao's face practically shone with the radiance of a top student.
Finally, in this variety show, he had a chance to showcase his strengths.
He was absolutely thrilled.
"Sis Lan, watch me!"
Cheng Yao picked up the test paper and shouted confidently like a hype man.
But the moment he looked at the questions——
Silence.
It was as if his pressure points had been struck.
He stared motionlessly at the handwritten test paper.
Only his slightly trembling hand revealed that this was not a static image.
[Watch me! …Sorry for disturbing you, I'll take my leave!]
"Did Bao Bao make this?"
Xiao Mengfei came over to take a look and recognised it instantly.
This style clearly came from a certain person's hand.
Cheng Yao put the test paper down in one second.
"How about… we all do it together?"
[It even scared off the straight-A student, hh!]
Not long afterwards, everyone's wish came true when they saw the Red Team going bald2 from the test.
Qu Ji'en was still able to answer some questions on martial arts.
As for the rest, Lan Zhi could still answer some questions on common health preservation knowledge.
As for Cheng Yao and Xiao Mengfei, one was a study tyrant4 whose speciality did not match the subject5, while the other was a born study dregs6.
The two of them scratched their ears and cheeks in anxiety, and at one point, even considered copying the answers from those sitting next to them.
"If there are three short choices and one long one, pick the longest. If there are three long choices and one short one, pick the shortest."
"If they all look about the same, just choose C."
"Multiple-choice questions..."
Cheng Yao got stuck.
[Focus mainly on guessing, supplement with copying, and combine the two, and you're guaranteed to pass.]
[For true-or-false questions, choose 'false' for all of them~ guaranteed can't go wrong~]
[Use the elimination method for multiple-choice questions~]
[I'm laughing so hard I can't breathe, girls!]
The audience watched with endless delight — finally, someone was suffering alongside them.
So even big celebrities were just like them!
It felt incredibly satisfying.
Especially after the PD finished checking the answers and announced the scores of the four people one by one, the 'hahaha' comments flooding the screen simply would not stop.
"Teacher Lan Zhi: 63 points, Qu Ji'en: 59 points, Xiao Mengfei: 43 points, Cheng Yao: 42 points."
Their faces turned red.
Aside from Lan Zhi, who barely passed, the other three all failed.
In front of the camera, everyone covered their faces.
"How many viewers passed?" Xiao Mengfei still tried to salvage a little dignity.
The PD replied mercilessly, "Teacher Xiao, right now, there are probably more than 3,500 viewers who scored higher than you."
Xiao Mengfei: "......"
Why did she feel the need to ask such a humiliating question?
"Can this segment be cut out and not broadcast?"
[Shut up! Our Xiaoxiao still needs to save face, okay?]
[I got 65 points — does that mean I scored even higher than Teacher Lan Zhi?]
[Eh? It looks like my 50 points aren't actually that bad?]
[After looking at Brother Cheng's score, I instantly felt relieved enough to lie back down peacefully.]
The audience was completely delighted, and some even realised that they had actually done pretty well on the test after all.
This kind of happiness was no different from winning a 100-yuan lottery ticket!
They had originally thought they were at the bottom of the class, but after comparing answers, they discovered that they were actually the top students!
Who would have thought that watching a variety show could give them a sense of superiority they normally never had~
"Unfortunately, teachers of the Red Team, none of you reached the 80-point threshold required for rewards."
Even Qu Ji'en's mouth twitched ungracefully at this announcement.
It wasn't that they merely failed to reach it.
They were nowhere close.
Even with more effort, it still felt impossible.
"Then we can only continue working and can't rest anymore," the PD said regretfully while spreading his hands.
The four members of the Red Team: "......"
They could feel the Director's teasing deeply.
So they had taken the test for nothing and gotten absolutely nothing in return?
Then what had all that frantic struggling and suffering been for earlier?
Xiao Mengfei painfully hugged her own face.
Had she known earlier, she would have just randomly drawn lots to answer the questions.
But the PD mysteriously stepped forward. "After the runway show, Red Team, you have raised a total of five hundred thousand for your fund."
"Now, you have two choices."
"First, complete the mysterious mission and double Red Team's funds."
"Second, complete the conservative mission and maintain Red Team's current funds."
[??? Why doesn't the Blue Team have this mission?]
[Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is simply that Director Zheng always retreated in the face of difficulty.]
[Director Zheng: "Is the Blue Team someone I can afford to provoke?" (The life-saving agreement is still in Bao Ruanruan's hands.) 233333]
[......Now I get it — if you're not strong enough, you'll get beaten up. The Red Team is truly miserable!]
The barrage of comments sparked an immediate heated discussion.
However, the Red Team were still unaware that they had been targeted by the production crew for being too weak.
Qu Ji'en was a democratic captain, so he immediately asked the others on the spot.
"What do you all think?"
He was not very familiar with this programme's style.
"Should we choose the conservative mission?"
After all, money was hard to come by, so it should be treasured even more.
They had spent three whole weeks earning this five hundred thousand.
Under normal circumstances, being conservative would be the primary principle.
But unfortunately, Qu Ji'en had encountered an 'evolved' Red Team.
One who stays near ink gets stained black; one who stays near Bao gradually turns into Bao.
"Director Zheng's style is to stir things up and make life difficult for us," Lan Zhiconcluded, sounding annoyed.
Xiao Mengfei nodded vigorously. "The two choices might actually be equally difficult. Letting us choose is probably just a smokescreen."
Cheng Yao also thought for a moment. "When the risks are equally unknown, the best response method is —————— why do we even need to do this mission?"
PD: “???”
Qu Ji’en: “???”
"Exactly. The five hundred thousand is already ours, isn't it? What has the production team got to do with it?"
"Why should we do this mission? We're not doing it."
[Hahahahahahaha!]
[Comrade Bao Ruanruan, although your body has left us, the valuable spiritual wealth you left behind walks with us.]
[Bullet comments, that's enough from you!]
The livestream camera mischievously switched to a shot of Director Zheng choking on his tea.
He coughed for a long time and glared.
Very quickly, his phone rang.
The moment he answered, Lan Zhi's voice came through:
"Director Zheng, I won't make things difficult for you either."
"How about this? If we do the conservative mission, the production team will sponsor us an extra one hundred thousand. If we do the aggressive mission, then give us an extra two hundred thousand."
In your dreams!
Director Zheng almost spat blood.
"If you don't succeed, there's no money."
"Then we won't do it..."
"......Both missions will guarantee you a reward of twenty thousand. If you complete them, the production team will sponsor an additional twenty thousand for the conservative mission and fifty thousand for the aggressive one."
Director Zheng was helpless.
He could not give any more than that.
"Sure." Lan Zhi's voice quickly replied.
Director Zheng: "......"
He somehow felt like he had suffered a loss.
But after the call ended, the camera cut to Lan Zhi.
The Red Team talked it over and ultimately opted for the 'Aggressive' mission, despite its difficulty.
"Anyway, the guaranteed minimum reward is the same."
"Let's take a gamble, and we might turn a bicycle into a motorcycle7."
All four members of the Red Team agreed.
As a result, they received a bright red mission card from the PD.
A red mission card had never appeared before.
It symbolised ———— death.
The moment the mission card was opened, the livestream camera shoved itself right towards it.
A line of bold black text looked savage and cruel, as though foretelling how hellish the mission would be.
——#High-Difficulty Mission: Seize the Blue Team's Funds#
Lan Zhi: “!”
The other three Red Team members: "!"
[!]
Who were the Blue Team?
They were Bao Ruanruan's team.
When playing large-scale escape games, she was the kind of king-level player8 who not only escaped alive from the tiger's mouth9 of fifteen men in black plus one traitor, but she had even captured the men in black in return and brought all her teammates safely out of the garden.
While everyone else screamed in haunted houses, she would stroll about leisurely and strike directly at the Yellow Dragon10. She was simply a player who did not play by the rules.
Having come this far together, Lan Zhi knows all too well how many of their ideas were all thought up by Bao Ruannuan.
Lan Zhi fell silent for a second.
Then she read out the rest of the mission text.
"If you can successfully take the Blue Team's tokens…
Then, you will seize the Blue Team's current funds."
"The Blue Team's total funds currently amount to six hundred thousand, which are available for stealing.
The corresponding value of each token is as follows:
One piece of clothing: 50,000 funds.
One key: 100,000 funds.
One USB drive: 200,000 funds.
One backpack: 300,000 funds."
"If the accumulated value of the tokens obtained reaches 600,000, the game will end immediately and count as a victory for the Red Team. The Blue Team's funds will be set to zero, while the Red Team will gain 600,000."
"If the total is less than 600,000, then the final funds of the Red and Blue Teams will be calculated according to the corresponding token values."
[An elimination match? My adrenaline is pumping.]
"Do they know we're going to steal their money?"
"They don't."
[!!!]
[The Blue Team is in danger!]
Footnotes Full List
- 头皮发麻 (tóu pí fā má): idiom meaning '*to feel overwhelmed or terrified'
- 秃头 (tūtóu) — Used humorously to describe mentally exhausting studying or overthinking.
- 溃不成军 (kuì bù chéng jūn) — Means suffering total collapse or defeat.
- 学霸 (xuébà) - Internet slang for a top student.
- 专业不对口 (zhuān yè bú duì kǒu): someone's field of expertise does not match the current task or subject.
- 学渣 (xué zhā) — Slang for someone who performs badly in studies.
- 博一博,单车变摩托 (bó yī bó, dān chē biàn mó tuō): take a risk for the chance of a huge payoff; high risk, high reward. It's internet slang commonly used jokingly to encourage risky decisions.
- 王者玩家 (wáng zhě wán jiā): a top-tier or elite player
- 虎口逃生 (hǔ kǒu táo shēng): escape from an extremely dangerous situation.
- 直捣黄龙 (zhí dǎo huáng lóng): attack the enemy's headquarters or core target directly
きつね's Note
This is one of the shortest chapters in the novel, with just over 3,000 Chinese characters.
COMMENTS