Chapter 44
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 44: Title
"This exam features rapid-fire Q&A. Ten questions total—2 red flowers per correct answer, -1 for wrong answers. Your flower count directly impacts team rankings."
"First question: Identify this contestant! Write names on your boards. For fairness, no flowers will be awarded for recognizing yourself. 15-second countdown… now!"
A red timer appeared on the screen-right. (Added "on the" for natural phrasing)
Fifteen seconds proved too brief for contemplation. Scratchy writing sounds filled the air.
The photographed girl smiled sweetly with a round face, bangs, crescent eyes, and pink hair clips.
Though pixelated, her delicate features promised future beauty.
Yet with five attractive female contestants present, identification proved challenging.
"Time’s up! Reveal boards!" the director commanded.
Answers varied: Shen Xi (1), other female names (2 each), and—
Song Yutian’s blank board.
"Before revealing answers," the director inquired, "Yutian, why did you not respond?"
"No time," she answered.
The director looked skeptical but continued: "Correct answer is—"
Three characters flashed: Song Yutian.
Contestants turned to stare.
Liu Tian blurted, "Yutian! You were this sweet? Adorable!"
Shen Xi remarked, "Never imagined this style from you."
[Song Yutian was this cute?? Unrecognizable!]
[Childhood round face vs current icy vibe—how?]
[Looks different… plastic surgery?]
Upon closer inspection, the girl’s features indeed matched Song Yutian’s. The rushed timeframe and contrasting smiles had caused confusion.
Two correct answers: Gu Feng and Zhong Yueli.
The director first questioned Zhong Yueli: "How’d you know?"
"Song Yutian had similar styling in an old drama," Zhong Yueli answered.
Bullet comments erupted:
[Exactly! Saw Sister Song’s childhood drama at 10—identical!]
[Forgot she was a child star! Adult acting ruined her rep.]
[Zhong Yueli has such a good memory! He remembers a show from so long ago!]
[Wow, I suddenly want to see Sister Song’s old works! Little Sister Song was so cute when she was young!]
The director then asked Gu Feng, "Mr. Gu, what about you?"
Gu Feng’s gaze drifted to Song Yutian for a second before snapping back. "No particular reason. I just thought they looked similar."
What he didn’t say was that he’d recognized her as Song Yutian the instant the photo appeared—even before the director posed the question.
Though Gu Feng had never seen Song Yutian’s childhood photos, her face had flashed through his mind countless times these past few days, even appearing in last night’s dreams.
That’s why, despite the stark difference between the little girl in the photo and the current Song Yutian, those eyes gave her away immediately.
Finally, the director asked Song Yutian: "So, Yutian, did you stay silent earlier because you recognized yourself?"
Song Yutian nodded. "More or less."
Truthfully, she hadn’t been certain it was her.
She knew she’d never taken such a photo herself but couldn’t be sure if it belonged to the original host’s childhood.
"Now, please come forward to claim your photo, Song Yutian. This is today’s special segment—subsequent contestants must also claim their photos and pin them to their clothing."
The program group had printed the on-screen photo and placed it in a small paper frame.
Song Yutian stepped forward to clip the photo to her shirt hem.
The director continued, "Except for Zhong Yueli and Gu Feng, who each gain two red flowers, all others lose one. But since this is the first round, deductions will leave scores at zero."
Next appeared childhood photos of Liu Tian, Shen Xi, Qin Yuanzhuo, and An Xin.
Song Yutian’s keen observational skills allowed her to identify each one through subtle details. She answered correctly every time, maintaining her second-place red flower count behind Zhong Yueli.
The sixth photo showed a child with an ear-length bob, a slight frown, and pursed lips—an unhappy expression contrasting with luminous eyes, delicate features, and adorable red ribbon bows adorning both sides of their hair.
A collective "Wow!" rippled through the studio when it appeared.
The little girl’s stubbornly cute expression captivated everyone.
As the countdown began, contestants scribbled furiously.
"Time’s up! Show your boards!" the director called.
"Let’s see… Oh dear," the director chuckled while scanning the answers. "No one got it—wait! One person’s correct!"
Contestants exchanged puzzled glances while checking each other’s answers. The livestream deliberately focused on facial reactions rather than the answer boards to build suspense.
[Only Su Moying and Wei Yao haven’t had childhood photos shown among the girls. How could only one be right?]
[Neither really looks similar. Maybe Wei Yao? Moying’s sweeter!]
[Why the delay? What’s happening?!]
Assuming it must be someone new, contestants guessed accordingly: Su Moying received three votes, Wei Yao five. Zhong Yueli’s board remained blank, while Song Yutian’s answer read—
"Congratulations to Song Yutian for being the only one with a correct answer! This photo belongs to… Zhong Yueli!"
Shockwaves hit both the stage and the livestream.
Wei Yao gasped: "Yueli! After all these years together, I never knew you were this gorgeous as a child!"
"Brother Yueli looked better than Xinxin’s last photo!" Liu Tian blurted, earning a playful swat from An Xin.
Gong Yu howled with laughter: "Hahaha! Brother Yueli’s too pretty!"
[OMG! I always knew Zhong Yueli had delicate features, but this childhood look fits perfectly!]
[This can’t be real! The most beautiful photo yet turns out to be…]
[Even fans didn’t recognize it! Where did the program group dig this up?!]
[Yueli-brother childhood cuteness overload! Screenshotting NOW!]
[How did Sister Song guess right? Witchcraft!]
The director voiced everyone’s question: "Yutian, how did you know?"
Song Yutian shrugged. "Facial feature comparison made it obvious."
"But didn’t you think this should be a girl’s photo?" the director pressed.
"Why would I?" she countered.
The director blinked. "Seems Yueli’s observational skills surpass all of us."
Turning to Zhong Yueli: "How does this photo exist?"
Zhong Yueli deadpanned: "With no sisters at home, they occasionally dressed me like this for photos. I’m shocked you found it."
The director preened: "Our program group specially obtained this internet-premiere collector’s edition!"
The screen transitioned to the next photo.
It was unclear if the program group did this on purpose, but this photo formed a sharp contrast to the previous one. The boy in the picture appeared underdeveloped, with scattered facial features, small eyes, and a fleshy nose tip.
After fifteen seconds, the answers were revealed. Surprisingly, three participants hadn’t written anything.
The director first asked Wei Yao: "Yao Yao, why didn’t you answer?"
Wei Yao shook her head: "The photo was blurry, and the time was too short. I couldn’t figure it out."
"How about Yutian?"
Song Yutian said: "After comparing facial features, I didn’t find any strong resemblance."
Liu Tian gave a similar response.
The director announced: "This question seems as challenging as the previous one! The correct answer is Gong Yu!"
Gong Yu stepped forward to retrieve his photo. Returning to his seat, he awkwardly remarked: "I hadn’t grown into my features yet as a kid. Consider this my glow-up, haha."
When no one responded, Gong Yu forced another laugh: "Boys shouldn’t fuss over appearances anyway. Looking too polished would make us seem girlish—that’d be ridiculous, right?"
Complete silence followed.
After several seconds, Gong Yu finally realized his gaffe and glanced nervously at Zhong Yueli: "I didn’t mean anything by that…"
The director remained speechless, intensifying the awkward atmosphere. Song Yutian suddenly spoke up: "Since when are ‘delicate’ and ‘girlish’ considered insults?"
Gong Yu’s heart sank. Though expressing his genuine opinion, he knew these remarks could damage his reputation if circulated online. While unafraid of Song Yutian, Zhong Yueli’s massive fanbase posed a real danger.
"Nonono!" he backpedaled. "I just meant men should prioritize masculinity over grooming…"
Song Yutian tilted her head: "Really? Yet your actions contradict your words."
Throughout the show, Gong Yu had sported textbook boyband styling—tousled brown bangs, pale foundation, earth-toned eyeshadow with winged eyeliner, and a natural lip tint. Despite claiming to "avoid grooming," his makeup surpassed that of all the male contestants, though still leaving him overshadowed in group shots.
Moreover, the childhood photo pinned to his sleeve revealed significant facial discrepancies that suggested possible "subtle adjustments"—though only he knew the truth.
Gong Yu froze mid-stage. Wei Yao’s sudden snicker broke the silence, soon followed by suppressed giggles from other female contestants. Zhong Yueli, the unintended target of his remarks, showed no reaction beyond quietly observing Song Yutian.
Unaware of these dynamics, Song Yutian smiled sweetly: "Just sharing my thoughts. You don’t mind, right?"
