CH 22

There’s a minor cliffhanger ahead. So I’ll upload the next chapter in a moment.

The two people who had completed their private deal returned to the cameramen, and the variety show continued to be filmed.

The two looked the same as usual, as if after that mysterious exchange, all of Gu Wei’s earlier sins had been forgiven by Jiang Xun. 

The staff stared dumbfounded. He had already begun to feel that, when this episode was broadcast, this exchange would definitely attract the attention of audiences across the country.

“Can you give me another chance?” Gu Wei asked.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you behind,” Jiang Xun patted Gu Wei’s soft hair, and asked the staff, “you probably have other plans, right?”

“Yes, there is another way.” The staff was a little embarrassed, “but the game’s difficulty is relatively high, it will be quite the challenge, if I say so to myself.”

“We’ll try,” Jiang Xun said.

The game that the staff said was relatively difficult turned out to be a game of charades. This game would be a test of the tacit understanding between the two. Gu Wei didn’t even know the number of Jiang Xun’s total kills in the World Championship, and that was an easy question. With this kind of game… well, they would fail, right? The staff made the reasonable assumption that the degree of tacit understanding would be low.

Seeing that these two guests would definitely struggle, they would have to be rescued by the other guests instead. 

“You have two minutes. Gu Wei will make the gestures, and Jiang Xun will try to guess the correct idioms. If you guess four questions correctly, you will pass the level and get a mission key,” the staff introduced the rules of the game, “you can give verbal hints while making gestures, but it must be under ten words. And you can’t say any of the words within the idioms, otherwise it will be an automatic failure!”

“Okay,” Gu Wei was a little nervous.

“Why are you nervous?” Jiang Xun saw his tension, “don’t be afraid. At worst, I will stay with you in this building. I don’t believe that the director team will let us stay here until the end of the variety show.”

Gu Wei nodded. He rationalized Jiang Xun’s words, feeling a little more relaxed as a result. His chest even started to feel warm somehow. 

He had participated in many variety shows, and there were many games that he failed on his own. This was the first time that someone said that they would stand with him regardless of the result of the game.

“Are you feeling cold?” It was early autumn, and the temperature in the morning was quite low. The school uniform prepared by the crew seemed to be too big, and Gu Wei looked a little thin wearing it. It made Jiang Xun feel that Gu Wei was frailer than usual, and that worried him. 

Gu Wei shook his head, subconsciously took a step closer to Jiang Xun’s side.

Under the guidance of the staff, Jiang Xun stood with his back against the display screen, while Gu Wei stood opposite of Jiang Xun, facing the display screen.

The timer started ticking and the first words appeared on the screen.

Chicken-and-duck conversation.

Gu Wei: “…”

How do you mime that?? It was the first question, and yet it was difficult already. 

He thought for a while, then flapped his hands as if he was trying to fly with wings. He then said, “four words.” 

Jiang Xun: “?”

Jiang Xun: “What is this, a bird?”

Gu Wei: “No, no.” 

The timer counted down, and suddenly they only had two minutes left. The staff then looked complacent, as if he’s satisfied with the current situation. However, Gu Wei had some level of wit, if a bit desperate. 

Then he let himself go and blurted out: “When you added me on WeChat.”

Jiang Xun was stunned for a moment, and said with a bit of uncertainty: “Chicken-and-duck conversation?”

“That’s right!!” Gu Wei jumped up happily.

Staff: “?” 

What was that? No, no. It must have been beginner’s luck. Just a lucky guess. The following questions would teach them how to behave for sure.

Gu Wei suddenly found joy in variety shows. He actually had fun somehow! As he found the routine of this game, the staff and the cameramen got even more confused. 

The second question: Bold as brass1the original is 胆大包天, extremely audacious; literally: courage so big it can wrap the sky. Since it was about guessing idioms, I substituted it for an English one.

Gu Wei had an idea: “Ge, it’s when I posted on Moments, and only you can see it.” 

Jiang Xun: “Bold as brass?” 

Gu Wei: “That’s right! Ge, you are really amazing!”

Staff: “??”

What the hell was that? They got lucky again? Twice in a row?? No, no way… how…?? 

The third question: to stir up trouble. 

Gu Wei was even happier: “Ge! It’s when I liked your Weibo post!”

Jiang Xun blurted out: “Having an ulterior motive2the original is 心怀叵测, ulterior motives; literally: a heart inside the chest is impossible to measure?” 

“Is that how you see me?” Gu Wei pouted, he was a bit offended.

“No, no.” Jiang Xun said with a smile, “is it… ‘to stir up troubles3the original is 惹是生非, causing troubles; literally: provoke the non-living’?” 

Another correct answer. 

Gu Wei looked at the camera, satisfied. His smile reached his eyes, and he looked positively glowing.

The staff member: “……….”

Why did these two people suddenly have a strange tacit understanding? Weren’t they just strangers not long ago? How on earth did they suddenly seem to have a myriad inside jokes?? 

The staff felt a bit scammed by this bizarre development.

The director, who was watching from afar, was going crazy. This charades game was originally used to make things difficult for the guests. The guests’ wild gestures and bizarre descriptions would look silly. He banked on that for humor purposes! The audience loved it when the guests looked stupid on-screen! 

But Jiang Xun and Gu Wei were simply two bugs4as in programming bugs; or as in they are cheating.

Why were they so good at this game?! It’s not scientific!

A variety show that couldn’t dig holes for its guests were not good shows. 

“Come on, ge!” Gu Wei was happy. He was rarely this cheerful while filming a variety show, “one more question, and I can follow you out of this building!” 

The sentence “follow you” inexplicably touched Jiang Xun’s heartstrings.

“How could it be going so smoothly for them? Have they seen the answer beforehand?” The staff and director whispered softly to each other.

“Impossible! I only decided on the idioms last night,” The director scratched his head and made a decision, “how about this, change the last idiom to a difficult one; that is, something that would be hard to gesture, or at least be embarrassing to describe.”

So, in the final twenty seconds of the game, the newly chosen idiom appeared in the screen– 

Tying the knot5the original is 谈婚论嫁, the meaning is quite literal actually, it’s ‘talking about getting married’. Well, there’s only one English idiom I could think about in this situation…. 

Gu Wei: “…”

What.

Gu Wei: “?????”

How the hell was he going to describe that??

Hey, if any of my tl (esp on the og idiom) is wrong, please correct me! My chinese level is strictly for casual convo only T~T