The two cameramen took their positions, with Quentin and Ji Sheng standing on opposite sides of the open space at the end of the corridor.
Neither of them used their hands to protect the name tags on their backs. Ji Sheng didn’t need to, because a mouse team member couldn’t tear a cat team member’s tag. As for Quentin, he simply hadn’t thought of that.
As long as he could end it quickly and restrain Ji Sheng, no one else present could tear his tag. Naturally, he didn’t need to free up a hand to cover his name tag.
Who would win? Probably Ji Sheng.
The cameramen, each filming their own assigned guest through their lenses, both felt Quentin didn’t have much chance of winning.
Even disregarding their cat and mouse identities, if these two were to engage in a name-tag tearing duel, the one more likely to win would still be Ji Sheng, let alone under the premise that Quentin was restricted.
Both cameramen were veteran employees of Cat and Mouse Game. When it came to the matter of cat-mouse confrontations and name-tag tearing, their experience was richer than most guests’.
The biggest highlight of the Cat And Mouse name-tag tearing game were actually the trash-talking during a stalemate and exciting chase scenes. For a mouse team member to turn the tables, they could basically only rely on stalling for time and running away. In a direct confrontation, they were at a hundred percent disadvantage, unless the mouse team member’s physical fitness completely outclassed the cat team member’s.
But there had been cases in the past where a large, strong mouse team member, during a direct confrontation with a small, slender cat team member, had been sneak-attacked and forcefully defeated. So, to sum it up, a 1v1 direct face-off was the least likely to succeed and also the most thankless approach, only appearing when there was no other choice.
Quentin was also helpless. He couldn’t outrun them, he wasn’t familiar with the third floor, and he didn’t know where to hide…
But honestly, he didn’t think he would be eliminated.
Although it might not show on the outside, Quentin actually knew how to fight.
He knew where to apply force for the most pain, and he knew where to hit for the fastest, most energy-efficient results. These were all experiences he had accumulated in his previous life after running away from home.
Quentin stared at Ji Sheng. The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and soon, they both read the pent-up aggression in each other’s eyes.
Quentin pushed off heavily with one leg, using the momentum to sprint. Like a tiger pouncing on its prey, he closed the distance to Ji Sheng within two seconds. The latter jumped back vigorously, reaching out to touch the name tag on Quentin’s back.
“Thump!”
Before his fingers could touch Quentin’s name tag, Ji Sheng felt a tremendous force pushing against both his shoulders. With a loud bang, it felt like a wave was forcibly pushing him back to the ground, causing him to stumble backward several steps.
‘…Huh? So strong?’
Ji Sheng looked at Quentin again in astonishment, only to see that the young man still wore that faintly calm expression, his eyes very focused. Before Ji Sheng could make his next move, Quentin charged forward again.
Shoulders, arms, ribs… more and more body parts were struck. It wasn’t that it hurt much, but he was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t fight back.
The young man’s attacks had no discernible technique, but they were sufficiently effective and efficient. Where had Ji Sheng ever encountered such a scene!
His family background was good, and he had lacked for nothing since childhood. The greatest hardship he had endured in his youth was during his time as a BKL trainee. He had never been involved in anything like fighting.
Trainees who fought would be asked to leave, and if a celebrity fought and was unfortunately photographed, all sorts of scandals and rumors would spring up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
As for other competitive variety shows, no one actually fought!
Quentin… this guy was simply unbelievable! He didn’t play by the rules!
Ji Sheng felt extremely frustrated.
But in fact, as the cameramen on both sides saw it, they didn’t think there was any problem. Quentin was just fast. It didn’t look like he was using much force. On the contrary, Ji Sheng was unusually cooperative, constantly defending and retreating. Perhaps the senior wanted to give the newcomer more room to shine?
Ji Sheng: %&*@# Go to hell, what magnanimous senior!
When Ji Sheng finally caught his breath from the storm of attacks and prepared to try a counterattack, his hand, which he had been holding across his body for defense, was suddenly grabbed.
Quentin held the man’s wrist tightly, pulled it to the side, twisted it, then sidestepped to brush past Ji Sheng, turning to get behind him. He pinned Ji Sheng’s right hand behind his back in a posture like a police officer controlling a criminal.
Then he raised his knee and drove it into Ji Sheng’s lower back.
“?!”
Not wanting to lose face, Ji Sheng gritted his teeth and swallowed the “fuck” that nearly slipped out. Before his thoughts could catch up, his other hand was also grabbed and pinned behind his back.
Now it was really a case of a police officer catching a criminal, only missing a pair of handcuffs. Ji Sheng could practically squat down, raise both hands, and shout surrender.
Considering this was being recorded for a show, Quentin held back his strength, at most causing Ji Sheng a bit of pain. Injury was far from it; not even a bruise would be left.
In his previous life, after this point, Quentin would have started considering whether to break the left leg or the right leg…ahem, just joking. In his previous life, he was already a celebrity by 18, so fighting wouldn’t have been appropriate.
Quentin held Ji Sheng’s hands behind his back, pressing the other party against the wall. Looking down, he could see the name tag, just inches away, with the two black words “Ji Sheng” written on it.
Before he could say anything, he heard Ji Sheng’s muffled voice: “Alright, alright, I won’t tear off your tag. Let go. I’ll pretend I never saw you. We’ll each go our own way.”
Quentin thought for a moment: “No. You have to swear an oath first. You can’t tear my tag for the rest of today. Then, and only then, will I let go.”
Ji Sheng: “…”
Damn it, how could he do that? He was still thinking of finding He Shuyi later, and the two of them would be unstoppable.
Ji Sheng leaned his forehead against the wall: “Just keep holding me then. Anyway, you can’t tear off my tag either. We’ll just stay like this until someone else comes.”
He was fearless.
Quentin was silent for a few seconds: “…If you won’t swear, I’ll use a belt to tie your hands.”
‘Belt? What belt?’
Ji Sheng was stunned. He heard the flatness in Quentin’s tone, without any hint of a threat in it. It wasn’t much different from how he usually spoke. But when he turned his head to look…
Quentin was wearing sweatpants with an elastic, stretchy waistband. There was no belt involved. But he himself was wearing a pair of dark gray jeans, with a brown coffee-colored belt around the waist.
This belt was mainly decorative. Even if he took it off, it wouldn’t be a big deal… The hell it wouldn’t!
The point wasn’t whether his belt was useful or not. It was the action of ‘taking it off’!
If he ended up being pinned down by Quentin on this show tonight and had his belt pulled off to tie his hands, he might as well voluntarily retire from the entertainment circle after recording ended. He would be too embarrassed to face his peers.
The face-conscious Ji Sheng grumbled for a long time, then gritted his teeth and said: “You can’t do this. We’re recording a show.”
Quentin looked confused: “I don’t have any other rope. I’ll tie you up in the stairwell. You can just wait for someone to come rescue you.”
He said it so frankly it made people’s teeth itch. Who told him that if he didn’t have rope, he could just take someone else’s belt! Wasn’t this guy a top high school student? Can top students also get into fights with people?!
Seeing Quentin’s hand reaching toward him, Ji Sheng immediately surrendered and compromised: “Wait, wait, wait…Don’t move! I swear! I won’t tear your tag for the rest of tonight, and I won’t tell anyone you’re on the third floor!”
How pathetic. How did he, a senior who had drawn the cat team identity, inexplicably end up in this situation? This kid really left him no face at all.
Ji Sheng complained inwardly, but he had to admit, this side of Quentin was more to his liking…More real, more interesting.
Before, whether watching the show or during occasional conversations, the Quentin in Ji Sheng’s eyes was like a painting. Only now did he feel this painting had come to life, becoming a person full of youthful spirit.
Unaware of Ji Sheng’s thoughts, Quentin kept his promise and let go. Before Ji Sheng could react, he turned and ran.
He darted away in a flash, just like a little rabbit.
“…Damn it.”
Ji Sheng rubbed his wrists as he turned around, staring wide eyed at Quentin’s retreating figure. Glancing at the camera beside him out of the corner of his eye, he held back the swear words that were about to burst out and said quietly, “Young people these days, so full of energy.”
He ran so fast… Then again, would this kid really hide on the third floor? He found that hard to believe.
*
From the start of recording at 8 PM until now, the name-tag tearing round had been going on for an hour.
Elimination announcements came over the broadcast from time to time. During this period, Quentin changed his hiding spot every ten minutes.
After shaking off Ji Sheng, his luck was good. He didn’t run into any other guests directly, only occasionally narrowly avoiding cat team members searching nearby.
“Ding dong! Attention, Qi Yang, eliminated.”
“Ding dong! Attention, Wen Xinyi, eliminated.”
Two announcements, barely a minute apart, made Quentin, who was hiding inside a cardboard box, instinctively look up, peeking outside through the gap at the top of the box.
What was happening? Has the cat-mouse battle already begun? Two people eliminated in a row… Was it internal strife within the same team, or had they both been defeated by the cat team?
Quentin, who had been constantly hiding, could hardly even tell if the others were friend or foe, so naturally, he had no way of knowing that after parting ways with him, Ji Sheng had quickly rendezvoused with He Shuyi, and the two of them were now vigorously hunting the mouse team, joining forces to ambush Qi Yang and Wen Xinzhi, eliminating two people within five minutes.
The two seniors, relying on their rich experience, brazenly bullied the newcomers. Especially Ji Sheng, who had been hit hard by Quentin. He was ruthless, leaving no chance for pleading, and even added sarcastic trash-talk.
“You two are no good. You’re far worse than Quentin. That kid is even younger than you, right? He even managed to escape from me twice. Sigh, you’re holding him back.”
“All you’re doing is growing tall but not growing strong, huh? Xiao Qi, Xiao Wen, don’t just dodge. Learn from your leader… Oh, I forgot, you haven’t debuted yet, have you? Quentin isn’t your leader yet.”
“It’s just you left, Xiao Wen. Don’t struggle. You can’t escape.”
Help! What kind of “big villain sowing discord” was this!
Qi Yang and Wen Xinyi’s expressions actually became serious after hearing this. No one in NS wanted to hold Quentin back. Although, most of the time, that was indeed the fact.
Forget not being able to keep up in singing and dancing. Now, when recording a variety show, they had to be teased for holding him back? If people said this kind of thing too often, what if Quentin actually started to dislike them!
Unfortunately… a direct cat-mouse confrontation had no future. The two young men, holding in their anger and wanting to fight back, ultimately failed and were surrounded and eliminated.
“Ding dong, random locations have been refreshed. Please check.”
The broadcast announcement sounded again.
The black-haired, green-eyed young man silently lifted the cardboard box, carefully crawled out, and quickly walked in a crouched manner to the next hiding spot.
Quentin had already memorized the entire building’s floor plan in his mind and, while hiding quietly, had summarized several escape routes.
Even if the game progressed to the very end, leaving him as the only mouse team member, he was confident he could stall until the game ended, despite the location updates every ten minutes.
Quentin had calculated. Including himself and Yan Qiao, there should be three mouse team members left. On the cat team’s side, due to some misunderstanding, two had torn each other’s name tags, and both were eliminated.
The situation was 3:4, which was not too bad.
If the mouse team could all complete their personal tasks before the game ended, there might still be a chance for a comeback.
They said one needed a strong competitive spirit to record Cat and Mouse Game well, and Quentin was a particularly competitive person. He had to do his best in everything within his ability. So, he didn’t even care about the show’s entertainment value anymore, focusing all his thoughts on the desire to win until the end.
No matter how thrilling or exciting the other guests’ experiences were, he was determined to keep hiding. Unless the counterattack time was unlocked, he would never voluntarily stick his neck out.
Only, while hiding, Quentin sometimes thought, if only he had drawn the cat team. Taking the initiative would definitely be much more satisfying than hiding all the time.
