Chapter 33

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Chapter 33: Title

Both of their answers were, "It’s okay."

The audience was a bit surprised because when looking at the bullet comments, there were all sorts of "happy" and "not happy," yet these two chose a response that was not so easy to agree on.

[Huh? Can you really guess it so accurately?]

[Isn’t this really something you discussed beforehand?]

[Even though I don’t know how she guessed, Sister Song is amazing!]

[How did she do that? Could it really be a connection?]

Even Gu Feng himself looked clearly surprised by the situation.

He had just thought a little before answering, but Song Yutian, who started writing first, had perfectly guessed his answer.

Gu Feng looked at Song Yutian with slight surprise, noticing that the woman across from him had no change in expression, as if everything was as she expected.

Song Yutian was indeed not surprised at all because, after spending time together these past few days, she had already figured out Gu Feng’s thoughts and style.

Arrogant and self-centered, yet very concerned about how others see him, and also dislikes being disliked.

Answering "happy" would show a good opinion of her and a positive impression, but it would go against the image he created for Su Moying, so Gu Feng would not say that.

On the other hand, saying "unhappy" would make him seem difficult and unfriendly, which would harm his image.

Therefore, Gu Feng would surely choose a vague word.

Based on the way Gu Feng had spoken in the past couple of days, Song Yutian picked a phrase he often used, and it turned out to be what she expected.

The staff continued with the second question, "Who do you want to collaborate with the most from the other eight contestants?"

The answer was obvious, and there was no need to add the condition "except for the other person."

Song Yutian quickly wrote "Su Moying" on the answer board, and Gu Feng did not hesitate this time.

After revealing the answer board, both of their answers were the same again.

In the next few questions, there were some easy ones, but also a few that were a bit hard to answer well. Yet, no matter what the questions were, Song Yutian and Gu Feng’s answers were surprisingly similar; even if there was a word or two that was different, the meanings were the same.

As the scores of both people steadily rose to eighty points, the audience was amazed by their incredible "chemistry."

[Wow! This is so amazing! Sister Song is so smart. She guesses correctly every time?]

[I thought these two hated each other. Was I thinking too simply?]

[These two must have known each other before, right? How else could they understand each other so well in less than three days?]

[Be bolder with your guess! I think these two not only know each other, but they might have a close relationship. Maybe they even dated before!]

The audience in the live stream did not know that they were actually getting close to the truth. The two had indeed known each other before the show, but they were not a couple or exes; it was more of a one-sided "pursuit."

However, Song Yutian herself had not experienced this "pursuit," so she wrote her answers based entirely on her understanding of Gu Feng over the past three days and her not-so-clear memories of the original book.

Thankfully, Song Yutian had always been good at reading people, and Gu Feng was just not a difficult person to understand.

The questions set by the program team were not very unusual; they had always focused on the relationship between the two people and the content of the competition. Based on Gu Feng’s personality and attitude towards her, it was not hard for Song Yutian to guess what answer he would give.

"It seems that the two of you really have a special understanding!" Even the staff member who had been maintaining a professional smile while reading the questions expressed surprise in their voice.

"Now, there are just two questions left. Unlike before, this time both of you need to answer these two questions at the same time—"

"What was your first impression of each other when you met for the first time, and what do you think your first impression is in the other person’s mind? Please answer with one word each."

As soon as the words were spoken, neither of the two began to write.

Song Yutian and Gu Feng exchanged glances, understanding that they both had the same question in mind.

Did ‘first meeting’ refer to the show or before that?

Whether it was Gu Feng’s character or the purpose of the program team asking this question, the ‘first meeting’ should have referred to the first day of the show when all the contestants introduced themselves.

But both Song Yutian and Gu Feng knew in their hearts that their first meeting was actually a month ago.

According to the earlier plan, Song Yutian only needed to guess how Gu Feng would answer.

But because of the special nature of this question, it had now become that Song Yutian had to guess how Gu Feng would guess her answer.

It was almost like a tongue twister.

Song Yutian did not answer as quickly as she had for the earlier questions because she was indeed a bit unsure.

She did not know how Gu Feng understood the question. Was he answering based on their first meeting on the show, or the real first time they met before she arrived?

The staff noticed the hesitation from both of them and kindly said, "There’s no rush. This question has no time limit, and you can take your time to answer. However, you cannot communicate with each other while answering."

Finally, after a minute, both of them wrote down their answers.

The staff understood the need for showmanship; instead of having them reveal their answers at the same time as before, they said, "This time, let’s reveal the answers one by one. Mr. Gu, please turn over your answer board first. Yutian, you can go first."

With Gu Feng and all the viewers eagerly waiting, Song Yutian raised her answer board—

"Excellent, ordinary."

Four simple words that made the live broadcast burst with excitement.

[Wow, I can’t believe it! Song Yutian thinks Gu Feng is excellent, while she feels very ordinary in his eyes.]

[Uh, why do I feel the exact opposite? Sister Song is mocking Gu Feng, right?]

[Don’t forget, Sister Song is guessing Gu Feng’s answer, which only means she thinks Gu Feng sees her as ordinary.]

[Help, I am completely confused! So whose impression is this really?]

Not only was the audience confused, but Gu Feng himself didn’t know how to respond either.

When he saw these four words, Gu Feng first felt a rush of joy, thinking that Song Yutian was praising him for being excellent.

But after thinking carefully, his heart sank again. Song Yutian had started by saying she wanted to guess his thoughts, which meant she only thought he considered himself to be very excellent.

It seemed to suggest that he felt too good about himself.

And the second word, "ordinary"…

Gu Feng repeated this word in his mind, and in a flash, he remembered the time when Song Yutian had "entangled" him, and he had slightly sarcastically asked her:

"I’ve seen many ordinary women like you. How could you think you could be my girlfriend?"

With this thought, Gu Feng suddenly lifted his head. However, Song Yutian’s expression and gaze remained too calm, showing almost no emotion.

In contrast, his emotions had been stirred too many times by her these past few days…

"Mr. Gu?"

Gu Feng snapped back to reality, realizing that he had been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard the staff calling for him to raise the answer board.

The staff repeated, "Please show your answer."

Gu Feng turned over the board and lifted it up. On it were the two words—

"Beautiful, Successful."

Seeing the woman across from him displaying a look of surprise for the first time, Gu Feng felt very uneasy.

Just after hearing the last question, Gu Feng had recalled the day they first met at a gathering.

That had been a small get-together after the Gu Group’s annual meeting.

Since the high-ranking members were all men, several female performers, including Song Yutian, who had sung at the annual meeting, had been invited to this gathering. It was called a mood booster, but in reality, it had just been to provide more listeners for the men to drink and chat with during the meal.

At that time, Song Yutian, with heavy stage makeup, had stood up, raised her glass, and smiled at him flatteringly.

"Mr. Gu, I toast to you."

He had seen many women like this; they just wanted to get close for future benefits.

The woman’s next compliments had been phrases like "young and talented" and "handsome and charming," which he had heard countless times.

Her beauty was indeed more striking, and hearing such a female star express her admiration for him at the dinner table somewhat satisfied his vanity. So, he had looked at her a few more times and casually complimented her appearance.

However, his reaction might have led her to misunderstand something, and soon, this woman started appearing frequently. There were all sorts of made-up coincidences and countless encounters.

At first, he would occasionally brush her off, but later, he became more and more annoyed. Especially after he met Su Moying at a certain event, he had become completely fed up with the woman’s persistence, so he gave her a stern warning. She had quieted down for a while, until—

On the first day of recording the show, her makeup was so light that it was barely noticeable, making her look like a completely different person from his memory.

At that time, he hadn’t paid much attention, or rather, he thought he hadn’t been paying attention.

Looking back now, he realized that beneath that light makeup, she was even more captivating, but her eyes no longer showed any desire to please or flatter him.

Gu Feng discovered that if he had to use one word to describe his impression of her at that time, he could only think of one word—

"Beautiful."

Even when he thought back to the first time they met, when she had been wearing heavy makeup, that word had still seemed very fitting.

After thinking it over many times, Gu Feng changed that word to "pretty," just like how he had always described her—pretty but shallow.

The staff’s voice timely interrupted the slightly delicate atmosphere between the two. "Oh dear, it seems a bit unfortunate. The last question means you both cannot score any points."

"However," the staff continued, "you both did very well on your teamwork test, scoring eighty points! Congratulations! Now, please enjoy your delicious meal. You can take your time eating because, no matter when you finish, the next clue will be revealed in one hundred minutes."

After speaking, the staff snapped their fingers, and the main course was brought out. They said, "Enjoy your meal," and left, leaving Song Yutian and Gu Feng behind.

After a busy morning, Song Yutian was a bit hungry and picked up her knife and fork to eat.

Gu Feng wanted to ask something, but seeing Song Yutian so focused on her meal, he swallowed his words.

The meal was very hearty, with various fish, meats, and vegetables, paired with thick soup and drinks in between. The taste was also excellent.

The two of them almost finished the meal in silence—

Until the last dessert was served.

Gu Feng suddenly said, "Don’t you have anything to ask me?"

Song Yutian was about to take a bite of tiramisu with her spoon when she paused and asked, "What?"

Gu Feng looked at Song Yutian’s slightly puzzled face and suddenly felt deflated. "…Never mind, you can eat."

Song Yutian blinked but did not ask further. She lowered her gaze and put the tiramisu in her mouth.

Song Yutian actually sensed the change in Gu Feng’s attitude. However, she did not intend to acknowledge or respond. It was just a spark of his most trivial curiosity, and it wasn’t worth her concern.

After finishing lunch, a little over an hour had passed. When the 100-minute countdown ended, the staff appeared at the table right on time. "Did you both enjoy your meal?"

The two of them politely replied with a few words.

The staff member said, "Okay, I will now announce the final challenge. Please, both of you, look at the challenge card."

After speaking, he handed out two cards, each with the program group’s logo on the back, to Song Yutian and Gu Feng.

Song Yutian quietly read the contents on the card.

Challenge Name: Atmosphere Creator

Challenge Content: Please choose one of the following: sing onstage or dance on the dance floor, and perform for more than two minutes as a duo, trying to earn cheers and applause from everyone.

Challenge Goal: To succeed, the volume of cheers or applause must reach one hundred and ten decibels.

Seeing that both of them had finished reading the rules, the staff member said, "You can start preparing now. Once you are ready, feel free to get on stage; I will handle the volume test."

After speaking, he shook the decibel meter in his hand.

Song Yutian thought, No wonder the program group asked them to change clothes in advance and prepared suits and dresses; it was for this part.

She glanced at Gu Feng, who had a predictable grim expression on his face.

Besides Gu Feng, the other nine contestants had some experience performing live. Gu Feng was the only one who was completely out of his depth and facing this challenge.

Song Yutian, as a "former dancer," although her body had lacked practice and her basic skills had faded, could still handle a two-minute performance.

Unfortunately, the program group’s rules emphasized that it had to be a duet, so she couldn’t perform alone.

In this situation, accommodating Gu Feng, who had no experience in performing, was clearly the only option.

So, Song Yutian asked Gu Feng, "Do you want to sing or dance?"

Gu Feng’s expression changed several times.

He had indeed learned to ballroom dance from a young age due to his elite education and had even taken special classes for it, but performing in front of a group of strangers was a completely different experience.

As for singing… even though he had been adored since childhood, he knew he had no talent for singing, and it was clear that he didn’t sing very well.

After a long hesitation, Gu Feng finally managed to say, "Let’s dance. I know a little bit of ballroom dancing."

After saying that, he tried to sound calm and added, "You can dance, right? If not…"

Song Yutian didn’t waste time with him**,** "I can."

Five minutes later—

Song Yutian and Gu Feng quickly discussed and chose the most basic waltz steps. Although Song Yutian wasn’t sure if this would help them complete the challenge, there didn’t seem to be a better option at the moment.

Next to the dance floor, a small band was already playing. Song Yutian gave a song title to one of the staff members to help communicate, then signaled Gu Feng to walk onto the dance floor with her.

The dance floor was in the center of the restaurant, right next to the small stage where someone had been singing earlier.

The singer who was on stage when they arrived had already left, and the band that had been playing had stopped as well.

Many customers noticed the sudden silence in the background**,** looked around, and naturally saw Song Yutian and Gu Feng standing on the dance floor.

This kind of silence lasted for about half a minute, and almost everyone’s gaze was focused on the two of them.

The two stood out in terms of body shape, looks, and charm, and many were whispering about them. However, not many truly recognized them**;** most were just guessing if they were stars invited by the restaurant.

Feeling the gazes of the people, Gu Feng felt uneasy all over.

He had seen many grand occasions; he had even given speeches to hundreds of people at the same time several times, but those were in familiar settings where he was well-prepared, which was completely different from the feeling of performing on the spot now.

Gu Feng instinctively looked at Song Yutian. Dancing wasn’t her specialty either**;** she should be as nervous as he was.

However—

The woman’s posture was upright**,** her long hair tucked smoothly behind her ears, revealing a long and beautifully shaped neck, along with a glimpse of her white back. She smiled, her expression calm yet full of life.

Although Gu Feng had seen Song Yutian’s smile many times, he always felt that this time, her smile was even more… dazzling.

It was as if this was not a simple dance floor in a restaurant**,** but rather a refined and grand stage.

And she belonged to this stage.

The music finally started.

Once the two decided to dance, the discussion in the live chat never stopped.

[Singing seems okay, but is dancing really fine? There was no time to prepare.]

[It’s so scary to dance in front of so many guests. Can these two really do it?]

[Help, I have this habit of feeling embarrassed for others. I can’t watch, what should I do?]

[I remember Song Yutian danced in another show, and to be honest, it was pretty average.]

But all these worries and doubts were eased when Song Yutian stepped into the center of the dance floor.

The woman’s graceful figure and elegant posture drew attention, even when she was just standing still.

The doubts faded completely when the music began to play.

When he was a teenager, Gu Feng was specially taught ballroom dancing for the sake of so-called "high society socializing." Later, at various social events, he danced with many girls from wealthy families who had received elite education since childhood.

But Gu Feng could feel that Song Yutian danced better than anyone he had ever danced with before.

Gu Feng was not a professional, but the difference was so obvious that he felt it the moment the music started. Every one of her movements was incredibly light, as if they came naturally, without any sense of heaviness.

However, the performance was not as smooth as he had hoped.

At first, Gu Feng was still focused on managing his expressions**,** worried about whether he should make eye contact with Song Yutian.

But soon, he couldn’t think about that anymore. Whether it was because he hadn’t danced in a while or because of the pressure of performing in front of people, he made two mistakes in a row shortly after the music began.

Although Song Yutian was quick to react and he did not step on her feet, it still affected the rhythm of the dance.

Then Gu Feng clearly felt that Song Yutian’s hand on his shoulder tightened slightly.

After that, even though the dance steps were the same, Gu Feng often felt like he was being led by Song Yutian.

Gu Feng was used to being the one who took control, but strangely, this time he felt no resistance at all.

The pressure of the hand on his shoulder even calmed his restless heart.

For the next minute and a half, Gu Feng did not make any mistakes while dancing.

Although their dance didn’t have any special highlights or impressive moves, handsome men and beautiful women never lacked an audience.

Especially the woman in the black dress, whose graceful posture and beautiful movements drew enough attention.

Two minutes passed**,** the music stopped, and the audience erupted into warm applause.

Although it wasn’t perfect, no one could deny that it was a delightful dance.

But if someone in the audience understood dance, they would notice that compared to the woman’s dance steps, the man seemed a bit forced**,** and the two were not completely in sync.

One of Gu Feng’s hands rested on Song Yutian’s waist while the other held hers. Only when she glanced at his hand did he suddenly let go, but his heartbeat did not calm down.

For a moment, he almost forgot that this was a competition**,** that they were facing a challenge from the program group.

Until the staff member’s voice abruptly rang out beside them, like a cold splash of water,

"Unfortunately, your highest score is ninety-eight, which is still a bit short of the target."

Song Yutian sighed inwardly. Sure enough, they were still a little short.

To accommodate Gu Feng, there were many difficult and exciting moves she couldn’t do, the waltz was not a fast dance, and you couldn’t rely solely on the atmosphere to engage the crowd without technique.

"Would you like to try again?" the staff member asked.

Song Yutian was thinking quickly. In this situation, doing a similar dance with Gu Feng wouldn’t help, without the novelty, the audience’s reaction would only be more subdued.

There were only two options now. First, she could dance a simpler routine that would lift the mood.

Although her major was classical dance, she was also very interested in other dance styles, so she had learned quite a bit in her spare time and could easily pick a performance. As for the duet limitation, Gu Feng could either hum a few lines with the original singer or just be a background performer.

Second, they could give up the challenge entirely. Since the program group had set up this part, they must have provided alternative options for the contestants; they wouldn’t let them be stuck forever if they couldn’t complete the challenge.

Song Yutian was still hesitating when a strange male voice suddenly spoke beside her.

"This beautiful lady, may I have the honor of dancing with you?"