The six people in Quentin’s team, excluding him, formed a semicircle. He stood at the center, and from the left end to the right end of the semicircle, they stepped forward one by one to perform the princess carry squat.
The other team also formed a semicircle, but their order was much more chaotic than Quentin and the others, as if they hadn’t discussed the order of carrying in advance.
As Qin Miao’s words fell, Xue Mingzhu, who was standing at the far left end of the semicircle, stepped forward, standing beside Quentin and half-squatting to reach out, lowering his center of gravity. His arms went around Quentin’s back and behind his knees respectively, then, without a second’s pause, he stood straight up carrying him.
And Quentin also cooperated by raising his arms to hug Xue Mingzhu’s neck. This was the most effort-saving and convenient posture for Xue Mingzhu to exert force.
“1”
…
In the chaotic shouts of the audience, Xue Mingzhu quickly completed one squat.
He didn’t even frown, looking quite relaxed.
It was just that he did it too fast, causing Quentin, who was being carried by him, to jostle around as if he was riding a tricycle on a mountain road, bumping up and down, the six or seven stacked bracelets on his wrist jingling and clattering.
“…13”
“…14”
“…15!”
Xue Mingzhu let out a long breath: “Switch, next!”
Yang Siyi, who had been waiting beside the two of them, stepped forward in a flash to replace Xue Mingzhu’s position, rubbing his hands together and imitating Xue Mingzhu’s earlier movements before exerting force.
The teammates who hadn’t had their turn yet actively acted as the atmosphere group, constantly peeking at the progress of the neighboring team and reporting in real-time.
“Wow… Xiao Xue, you’re amazing. The neighboring team is only at 8, we’ve directly doubled it!”
“Is our team leader easy to carry? Does he really weigh 125 pounds? It feels like you carried him very easily, finishing 15 effortlessly.”
“Actually, it’s still tiring, right? You’re sweating.”
Xue Mingzhu wiped his sweat while watching Yang Siyi’s increasingly difficult movements, glancing at Sheng Yuanxu who spoke: “I told you I’m very strong. I didn’t lie, right?”
Sheng Yuanxu nodded resignedly, giving a thumbs up: “Okay, you’re indeed amazing. Will you still have the strength to continue later? I feel we’ll be caught up soon.”
Liao Fei, who was being carried next door, was only 175cm tall and weighed less than 110 pounds, a full 15 pounds lighter. Moreover, shorter people have a lower center of gravity, making it easier to exert force.
Their team was full of tall guys. Quentin’s weight was already in the lightest range among them. This disadvantage was unavoidable.
The gap Xue Mingzhu opened up was almost closed by Yang Siyi, the second to go. Qiao Xue, who was waiting on the side, also looked worried. He knew his situation, his strength wasn’t that great either.
Xue Mingzhu waved his hand: “Relax, I still have energy. Let me catch my breath, I’ll continue after our team finishes a round.”
The audience below couldn’t hear their conversation. They could only watch the situation of the two teams anxiously.
“What to do, Quentin’s team is about to be caught up!”
“It’s hard…Unless there’s another Xue Mingzhu in their team, otherwise the gap will only get bigger.”
“If only Cui Yan were here, sigh. It’s a pity this game wasn’t in the first public performance. Otherwise, I think Cui Yan alone could carry Quentin from start to finish.”
“It’s fine. Winning only adds 10 votes. The vote difference between these two teams is definitely more than 10 votes. No need to worry so much.”
“Hey, wait, look at Quentin. What is he doing?”
Quentin got down from Yang Siyi, whose legs were so weak he staggered two steps. His face turned red, hanging his head as he said in a muffled voice: “Sorry, I dragged everyone down.”
Tang Heng patted his shoulder: “It’s okay, it’s just a game. I might not do as many as you later.”
Qiao Xue was just about to bend down to carry him when he saw Quentin raise his hand and hook the hood and shawl, pulling it off like taking off a sweater.
His movements were quick. It took one second to take it off, and one second to stuff the heavy cotton fabric in his hand to Xue Mingzhu. He shook his head, letting the hair that was pressed under the hood become fluffy.
“Quick, this way it’s lighter.” Quentin said in a low voice, then actively reached out to place his arm around Qiao Xue’s neck, lifting one leg to signal the latter to hook it, “No need to squat down to carry. You stand and carry. Just lift your hands and I’ll lean on you.”
Halfway through his words, Qiao Xue understood his meaning. He placed one hand behind Quentin’s back, the other bent at the elbow and lifted. Then, to his surprise, he saw Quentin lift his legs one after the other and lean against him, effortlessly cooperating to complete the princess carry posture.
This is something that only someone with long legs and a strong core could do. The audience, who were originally immersed in surprised screams at Quentin taking off his clothes, let out even louder cheers after seeing Quentin’s nimble and agile movements, shouting until they were almost hypoxic.
However, to be fair, Quentin’s action of lifting and pulling off his clothes in front of everyone was indeed very cool.
So handsome that the audience’s attention was first captured by his crisp and decisive movements, and it took them two seconds to come back to their senses and look at his appearance after taking off his outer clothes.
After removing the heavy gray and brown cloth wraps layered on his body, Quentin wore only a tank top and trousers.
He was now in all black, highlighting the eagle feather ear cuff he wore on his ear. The visually elongated ear tip made him look like an elf from another race.
In addition, the strings of bracelets around his wrist became even more eye-catching, setting off his fair and slender arms. He looked very handsome and made people unable to look away.
“Has anyone found accessories like Quentin’s? They’re so pretty, I want them.”
“We can only use image search, but no photos are allowed during the public performance. We can only wait after this episode airs to find them.”
“Don’t just talk about accessories. The shoes he’s wearing are also very nice, they make his legs look slim and long.”
“’They make his legs long’?Are you sure it’s because of the shoes? His legs would look good in anything.”
The stylist had put Quentin in a pair of waxed texture Western ankle boots, with crescent-shaped metal accessories embedded on the sides. The boots had heels, making his height in shoes approach 185cm.
But because his teammates were all tall, even the host Qin Miao, who was only 170cm, was wearing high heels. With a row of tall people standing together and no comparative contrast, the audience naturally couldn’t feel the imposing presence of a 185cm height.
If Quentin wearing the hood and shawl was a wasteland investigator, then him in just a tank top resembled a mixed-race youth from a foreign land.
Such fair skin couldn’t be described as a desert hunter. Perhaps he could play an archer shuttling among branches and grass in a forest?
“…57-58-59…” Sheng Yuanxu clenched his teeth, “6-0!”
“Ah!!”
He put Quentin down, let out a long sigh, and directly collapsed to his knees, saying weakly: “I can’t… Has the neighboring team caught up?”
Zhuang Nao, who was also resting while squatting nearby, replied lazily: “They’re at 58… Oh, 59 now.”
At this point, the team had already completed one round, and it was back to Xue Mingzhu, who had recovered some stamina.
Quentin, who had been carried back and forth by six people, was already very proficient in the action of hugging necks and lifting legs. Without hesitation, he jumped onto Xue Mingzhu, waiting until the other party was steady before remembering to ask: “Are you okay?”
Xue Mingzhu grunted: “Don’t ask a man if he’s okay. If you ask, he’s very okay!”
Quentin said’oh’: “Then be quick. There’s only half a minute left.”
Xue Mingzhu panted heavily, his ears flushed red: “Heartless… guy… only thinking about… winning!”
“I’m not just thinking about winning. We will definitely win.” Quentin, who had his arm around Xue Mingzhu’s neck, freed one hand and patted the boy’s back perfunctorily. But his tone was very serious: “I observed the audience voting buttons. Our team’s vote count is much higher than theirs.”
He repeated, “Don’t worry, we’re definitely going to win.”
Quentin considered himself someone who didn’t excessively care about winning or losing. But whatever he did, he would always go all out aiming for first place. Even if he didn’t end up first, he wouldn’t feel regret, because he had already tried his best.
Just like in this game, he couldn’t contribute much. He could only try to reduce the weight of the clothes, then trust his teammates. That was enough. Even if they lost in the end, it didn’t matter.
Xue Mingzhu took a quick glance at the situation of the neighboring team. The boy over there, holding Liao Fei while doing squats, was clearly struggling. His face was red and his neck was thick with strain, trembling unsteadily. He obviously didn’t have much strength left.
That boy was the strongest in their team, a regular at the “NS” base gym. If even he couldn’t hold on anymore, their team probably didn’t have much energy left either.
Xue Mingzhu closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath, adjusted his posture for holding the person, then endured the soreness in his legs and sped up.
“66! 67! 68! 69! 70!”
“Time’s up!”
Qin Miao blew the whistle and raised her hand to call a stop.
“The competition between the two teams was very fierce, and the final scores are very close, almost neck and neck,” the host said, stepping forward with the microphone. “Now let’s see which team the 10 winning votes will go to.”
She deliberately paused for two seconds, turning her head to look at the teams on the left and right. “Everyone seems too tired to speak. Quentin, Liao Fei, what do you think? Which team will win?”
Quentin didn’t hesitate. “Us.”
Liao Fei glanced at Quentin, hesitated for two seconds, and said quietly, “I think it’s us too.”
Qin Miao laughed. “It seems everyone is very confident. Then I now announce…”
“Congratulations! Team Fire Seed! For winning the relay princess-carry game with a score of 70!”
“And congratulations to our Team Knight as well, achieving an excellent score of 68! Only a two-point difference. Both teams are amazing, full marks for physical strength!”
Yang Siyi, who had been lowering his head nervously holding his breath, suddenly looked up, the confusion in his eyes gradually turning into pleasant surprise. “We… won?”
He excitedly slapped Zhuang Nao hard. “We won! We really won!”
Zhuang Nao coughed twice from the slaps and quickly dodged. “Alright, alright, we won, we won. Take it easy.”
But Yang Siyi’s excitement hadn’t faded. He turned to look at Quentin, who was two people away from him, and without warning, ran over and hugged Quentin’s waist from behind, forcefully lifting him five centimeters off the ground, yelling.
“Team leader! We won! We won!”
Quentin looked at the other teammates crowding over, a rare look of bewilderment on his face. “You guys…”
Tang Heng, who had finally squeezed his way in, hurriedly reached out and took Quentin from Yang Siyi’s grasp before Quentin could speak.
He held Quentin face-to-face in his arms, spun around three times on the spot, and chuckled foolishly. “Team leader, why do you suddenly feel lighter? Are you happy we won?”
Having gotten used to being carried, Quentin subconsciously wrapped his arms around Tang Heng’s neck. “…Happy.”
Then, he became like a banana targeted by a troop of apes, passed around and carried in a circle by a bunch of whooping monkeys.
Even when he questioned, “Weren’t you all out of strength? How come you can still carry people?” The ones behind him didn’t stop, each one more sly than the last, going “Mhm” and “Ah” and pretending not to hear clearly.
Several seconds later, Quentin finally landed back on his feet. Even his hair was messy, as if someone had taken the opportunity to ruffle it, or perhaps not just someone, but someone and someone and someone.
Fortunately, the stylist hadn’t given him a complicated hairstyle anyway. At most, it was a bit tousled, like a hedgehog curled into a ball with all its spines raised.
The fluctuating emotions caused by his teammates’ reckless “celebration ceremony” gradually calmed down during the final seconds of being passed around. The tolerant team leader ultimately talked himself into acceptance.
What’s the point of arguing with a bunch of fools? Apart from Qiao Xue, all these people were younger than his age in his previous life. Whatever, let it be.
So what if they carried him? They’d done it so many times during the game already.
So what if his head got ruffled? At his current height, he wasn’t afraid of not growing tall because of pats on the head.
Let them be noisy. Boys this age are always noisy…wait, who slapped his butt!
The audience watched with great interest, it was a pity they couldn’t use their phones to record it.
“Pfft, Quentin… Quentin looks like he’s been taken advantage of, help, his soul seems to have floated out from the top of his head.”
“He looks numb from his teammates’ antics, tsk tsk, these boys are so naughty.”
“But so cute. Quentin looks so well-behaved standing next to Sister Miao holding the clothes.”
……
Qin Miao waited for the discussions offstage to quiet down a bit before resuming hosting.
She teased them a few times with a smile, didn’t drag out the game segment too long, and following the program’s script, began announcing the final vote count.
“The winning team in this round’s game, Team Fire Seed, will receive a 10-vote bonus added to their final vote count. Now, let’s take a look at the final vote counts for both teams…out of the votes cast by all 1000 audience members present, who will emerge victorious? Please look at the big screen!”
The big screen split into red and blue halves, and the numbers on both sides started to jump and fluctuate simultaneously.
Everyone on and off stage focused their gaze on the screen, unanimously holding their breath, waiting for the numbers to stop.
The eyes of Team Fire Seed’s members grew brighter and brighter, while Team Knight’s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
The final outcome was unsurprising, but the specific vote counts displayed on the screen were astonishing.
[785 : 194]
Including mentor votes and the game bonus votes, with 35 abstentions, the vote difference between the two teams was a staggering 591, more than half of the total audience.
The vote ratio was extremely disparate. Leave alone the first and second performances of this season, even counting last year’s girl group survival show, such an astonishing 4:1 ratio had never appeared before.
It was truly… terrifying.
Bi Xiao’s eyes immediately went wide, almost blurting out his disbelief, barely managing to stop himself at the last moment.
He clenched his fists, his emotions extremely unsettled. “On what basis! How can the gap be so big? Where is our stage inferior to theirs?! Even if it really is inferior, it couldn’t possibly create such a huge vote gap! There must be something wrong!”
He stood there in a daze, not even hearing the host’s speech. He turned to look at the group of boys next to him who were trying to start another “celebration ceremony” but were slapped back by Quentin.
Bi Xiao’s gaze swept fiercely over Xue Mingzhu before landing on Quentin’s face, who was giving a victory speech.
He looked at Quentin, then at the countless glowing green light sticks offstage, and suddenly understood.
The vote difference was so huge, it must be because there were too many of Quentin’s fans in the audience!
Since they were fans, they would definitely be biased and wouldn’t vote fairly. That’s why they lost so badly.
Bi Xiao followed his teammates back to the backstage lounge, lost in thought. The applause and cheering had nothing to do with him. Everyone’s attention was on Quentin and the others.
Some were lavishly praising Quentin’s stage performance, some were teasing them about the game, some were eagerly wanting to join the activity of carrying Quentin…
And Bi Xiao, like a wandering ghost, left his team’s seating area and floated over to a friend he’d made in Class B.
Saying “friend” was a stretch; it was more of a “roommate + meal buddy” relationship, far from being close confidants, just a bit more familiar than with others.
But precisely because of this bit of familiarity, as soon as his friend saw Bi Xiao’s sullen expression, he guessed what he wanted to say and proactively said, “What, not convinced?”
Bi Xiao’s tone was cool. “Of course I’m not convinced. If we lose, we lose, I accept that. But I don’t think I’m that much worse than them. The live audience vote… Hah, if the program really wanted fairness and justice, the live audience should screen out fans. Quentin brought so many fans, from the start it was destined that he’d have many more votes than others. How could it be fair?”
“Uh…” The friend rubbed the tip of his nose. “But we’re a survival show. Survival shows inherently rely on fans.”
Bi Xiao refuted without hesitation. “For public performance PKs, of course you look at the stage. Popularity is flimsy; strength is the hard truth. When the official episode airs, viewers will see such a huge vote difference and will definitely think there’s a problem. Would the director want our show to be labeled as unfair?”
The friend couldn’t help but cough a few times, his expression somewhat awkward. “Ahem! But didn’t you say a few days ago that your team’s average ranking was higher than Quentin’s team’s, that you had the advantage…?”
Bi Xiao choked, and said sullenly, “I miscalculated then. Quentin single-handedly lifted his team up. Who knew it could be like this!”
“Hmm… Leaving fans aside for a moment, even just looking at the stage, your team is of course very good, but Quentin’s team is indeed also very impressive.” The friend hinted tactfully. “Quentin and Xue Mingzhu coordinated quite well. Their dual rap was very explosive. To be honest, I think Quentin’s rap isn’t worse than Xue Mingzhu’s.”
“Quentin can rap?”
Bi Xiao was surprised for a moment, but was still unconvinced. “Pfft, I’m not worse than Xue Mingzhu either. What’s the big deal.”
The friend gradually lost patience. “The key point is their original composition strength is strong, the song is good, they sang it well, the stage design was also good, and the live effect was absolutely amazing… When several key aspects you can point to are all more impressive, even a large vote difference will seem natural to the audience. Do you understand?”
Bi Xiao was stunned, and after a long pause, finally forced a smile. “Heh, you’re joking, right? Are you serious?”
The friend looked completely serious. “What do you think?”
Bi Xiao was devastated. He lowered his head, and silently returned to his team.
