The Most Popular Comedian

Advertisement

“…”

In contrast to the nearby jubilation, there was silence from Wen Zhecheng. Rong Yuheng, still unaware that he had burst Wen Zhecheng’s rosy bubble, turned his attention back to the joyful atmosphere with Su Yuyin and the others.

“What did you guys discover?”

Su Yuyin unfolded a pair of couplets and gestured toward the door frame. “Look, each pair of couplets has the same number of characters, but the length of the characters varies. Based on the marks on the door frame, only these two fit perfectly.”

Rong Yuheng leaned over and saw two couplets written on them: “万事皆顺” (All things go well) and “鸿运当头” (Good luck is on the way).

With the help of Duan Xiu, the couplets were pasted on the door frame. After a moment of contemplation, Su Yuyin continued, “Now, if you look at these two couplets and the two rows of dishes…”

Both Rong Yuheng and Wen Zhecheng were shaken simultaneously:…!

“…” Su Yuyin paused, “Why do you both look like you’ve been called out?”

The duo regained their senses and shook their heads in unison, “No, nothing.”

Sensing that pressing further would only cause trouble, Su Yuyin moved on from the topic and continued, “With eight characters in two rows for each couplet, could they correspond to the eight dishes?”

Wen Zhecheng was now quite sensitive to any topic related to “dishes.” After a brief pause, he poked Rong Yuheng and whispered, “Could there be hidden characters in the dish names?”

Without confirming whether it was accurate or not, Rong Yuheng started praising in a rainbow fart, “What a clever idea, Teacher Wen!”

Advertisement

Su Yuyin turned his head again, “What did Teacher Wen say?”

Wen Zhecheng lifted the corner of his mouth, “Hidden characters.”

Yang Wen behind the surveillance:…This is a mess.

Duan Xiu and Zhou Yin were inspired and immediately started examining the dish names. During this pause, Su Yuyin tapped Wen Zhecheng and reminded him, “Teacher Wen, if you have any ideas, feel free to share them with everyone.”

Wen Zhecheng hesitated for a second and then nodded, “Sure.”

As the dish names were revealed, they indeed matched the characters from the couplets.

Right side dishes: Red (鸿) Braised Pork, Pea (万) and Sausage Stew with Rice, Stir-Fried Pig (头) Head Meat, Mustard Greens (皆) and Tofu Soup.

Left side dishes: Mung Bean (运) and Pig Trotter Stew, Bamboo Shoots (顺) and Beef Stew, Angelica (当) and Ginseng Soup, Braised Lion (事) Head.

Advertisement

Rearranged, they formed the phrases “万事皆顺” (All things go well) and “鸿运当头” (Good luck is on the way).

“Should we rearrange the order of the dishes?”

“Let’s try swapping them according to the order of the couplets.”

After rearranging the dishes to match the couplet order, suddenly the plaque above the door frame lit up:

“In the thirty nights of the Ninth Winter, cold and warmth part ways.”

It was Zhou Yin’s first time participating, and not understanding the clues, she asked, “What does this mean? Do we need to continue deciphering the clues?”

Su Yuyin, already familiar with the routine, pushed the door open and entered the next room. “No need. Let’s just remember this for now and sorted our thoughts later.”

As the door swung open, they entered the second room, where 40 hanging boards were arranged in a 5×8 pattern across the room. Ropes descended from the ceiling, with the four corners of each board threaded with ropes and suspended in the air, hovering over a pool that was over a meter deep.

Su Yuyin was about to turn and call his teammates when he caught a glimpse of a dazzling line of light… He squinted his eyes and focused, only to realize that it was a strand of saliva being drawn out from Rong Yuheng’s wide-open mouth…

Meanwhile, Wen Zhecheng was sneakily feeding a piece of braised pork into Rong Yuheng’s mouth, and Su Yuyin’s gaze couldn’t help but keep darting toward their direction, afraid of being caught.

Advertisement

“…”

Su Yuyin’s fist immediately clenched tightly! He shouted sternly, “Teacher Wen, Rong Yuheng!”

The guilty duo trembled instantly! Rong Yuheng reflexively closed his mouth.

However, Wen Zhecheng’s reaction was quicker. He swiftly retracted his hand, keeping the piece of braised pork intact, and even a glistening strand of thread was pulled out mid-air, drawn back behind him!

The other three were instantly astounded by this breathtaking scene, gaping wide with their noses flaring as they desperately breathed – Oh my god, I’m going blind!

Su Yuyin couldn’t even bring himself to criticize or educate them.

His expression was incredibly complex. “There’s no need to retrieve what’s already been eaten…”

Wen Zhecheng paused for two seconds, then brought the piece of braised pork out from behind and offered it to Rong Yuheng’s mouth again, tentatively asking, “Do you still want it?”

Rong Yuheng’s gaze was intense. “Do you think it’s appropriate?”

“…” Wen Zhecheng pinched the moist braised pork and fell into silence. If Rong Yuheng didn’t eat it, he didn’t know what to do with it.

Fortunately, Zhou Yin had the habit of carrying paper with her. She subtly pulled out a sheet and handed it over, saying, “Wrap it in this.”

Wen Zhecheng visibly sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

In an instant, Rong Yuheng caught on. “You despised my saliva!”

Wen Zhecheng momentarily froze while wiping the space between his fingernails. Then he casually placed the crumpled paper on the table, looking natural, “Not at all.”

Zhou Yin had no idea what to say – shouldn’t a normal person be repulsed? Wait, Wen Zhecheng, are you feeling guilty about something?

Advertisement

Unfortunately, the rules of the show didn’t allow excessive gossip among the guests. Seeing that Wen Zhecheng had already refocused on the game, Zhou Yin could only give up her exploration with regret.

On the wall of the second room was a line of characters:

「徵商徵徵  徵宫商商」

Zhou Yin immediately caught on, “Is it a musical score?”

Everyone present was from the entertainment industry, and their cultural levels were generally not low. After Zhou Yin’s suggestion, they quickly recalled that Gong (宫), Shang (商), Jiao (角), Zhi (徵), and Yu (羽) corresponded to 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in solfège notation.

Zhou Yin quickly deciphered it, “Converted to solfège, it’s 5255, 5122.”

Rong Yuheng looked at the hanging boards, in a 5×8 pattern, just the right size for five tones and eight notes.

“Let’s stand on the corresponding boards, starting from the closest row to us as the 1st tone, and going up to 2356.”

Duan Xiu said, “But we only have five people, we can’t fill up all eight notes.”

Rong Yuheng stood up straight, indicating for Duan Xiu to look at him, “What do you think I am?”

Duan Xiu suppressed the instinct to blurt out “silly” and swallowed the word back, “You’re a person.”

“…” Rong Yuheng gave a look like a tutoring student and dropped a hint, “I mean the shape.”

Duan Xiu leaned forward slightly, “Are you a cylinder?”

Rong Yuheng shook his head and revealed the answer, “I’m a 1.”

Just as the words fell, an abrupt “fuh” sound came from the side. Rong Yuheng turned to the source of the sound and saw that it was the corner of Wen Zhecheng’s mouth, which he hadn’t managed to suppress.

Rong Yuheng frowned, “Teacher Wen, what are you laughing at?”

Wen Zhecheng composed himself and looked sincere, “I feel truly joyful for your cleverness and wisdom.”

Rong Yuheng gave him a suspicious glance, discreetly made a note in his notebook, then turned his attention back to the game, “In the middle of that musical score, there are three 5s. I can lie down to represent a group of three.”

Wen Zhecheng responded with a playful “fuh fuh.”

“…” Rong Yuheng furrowed his brows again and made another note in his mind.

But it couldn’t be denied that Rong Yuheng’s suggestion was currently the only feasible solution. With Rong Yuheng lying down, he could cover the middle row of three 5s, and the last person could span across two 2s. The rest would take one note each, completing all eight notes.

The swaying hanging boards weren’t easy to walk on, and the guests cautiously stepped onto the corresponding boards one by one, their hearts racing.

Rong Yuheng had the most boards to cross. As he moved forward, he reminded Su Yuyin, “Su-ge, just pick the nearest one, so you don’t accidentally step into the water.”

Su Yuyin accused him in pain, “Do you look down on me?”

Rong Yuheng imitated the “fuh fuh” sound he heard from earlier.

“…”

The little incident of mutual teasing was put aside. Except for Rong Yuheng, the other four people quickly stood on the designated boards. Rong Yuheng carefully lay down, his hands clutching the edge of the board, and he continued to mutter, “I’m lying down now, I’m the character ‘一’ (one) in Chinese.”

Wen Zhecheng leaned over to observe him from a few boards away. Rong Yuheng’s raised hips resembled a plump hillock, his shirt clinging to his waist with alluring curves.

Wen Zhecheng’s throat moved slightly. He thought, in the future, I’ll still be your ‘one.’

Both the standing ‘1’ and the lying down ‘一’ could work.

…

As everyone correctly selected their hanging boards, the wall suddenly slid open from the middle, revealing a passage to the next room. The prelude of “5255 5122” played simultaneously, and the music continued to play downwards. They finally recognized it as the song “常回家看看” (Frequently Return Home to Visit).

Once all five of them crossed the boards to the opposite side, Su Yuyin reminded them, “This song should also be one of the clues. Remember, we need to piece it all together.”

Duan Xiu’s thoughts diverged, “Could it be that returning home frequently is the key to finding the treasure?”

Su Yuyin chuckled at his words, “When you have an elderly person at home, it’s like having a treasure. So, you’re not entirely wrong.”

Rong Yuheng was reminded of a certain big white goose and couldn’t help but chuckle. He leaned close to Wen Zhecheng and whispered, “You do have a treasure at home.”

Mention of Wen Zhongyun brought a sudden flood of goose calls into Wen Zhecheng’s mind. Feeling a bit helpless, he said, “Indeed, a world treasure.”

…

The group arrived in the third room. This room returned to the theme of “cuisine,” resembling a kitchen with ingredients scattered all around and two stoves set up.

Pointing to one of the stoves, Rong Yuheng showed a touch of nostalgia, “I heard that I have this at my home.”

The use of “heard” was quite clever.

Su Yuyin, who understood the context, couldn’t help but laugh. He patted Rong Yuheng and played along, “Unfortunately, to respond to the national call for energy conservation, we had to switch to natural gas.”

Rong Yuheng nodded, “We still need to thank the country for making our lives better.”

“…”

Behind the monitor, Yang Wen unconsciously scooted his chair a bit farther from the screen. “This Rong Golden Buddha not only offers salvation but also holds grudges,” he thought to himself.

He was genuinely concerned that Liu Wanjing would be brought up and ridiculed in every episode.

Fortunately, Rong Yuheng also knew when to stop. After a couple of teasing remarks, he refocused on analyzing and collecting clues.

While Rong Yuheng was rummaging through the cupboard, Zhou Yin and Duan Xiu exclaimed, “Hey, there’s a cellphone here!”

Su Yuyin leaned over to see, “Can it be unlocked?”

“It has a password; we probably need more clues. Let’s search around.”

On the other end, Wen Zhecheng was also searching. Seeing that Rong Yuheng was engrossed in searching alone, he didn’t crowd around.

They opened every spice container on the table and emptied the vegetable leaves from the sieve. Wen Zhecheng was about to turn to the other side when his hand accidentally brushed against something resembling a plastic string at the bottom of the table.

It’s like they say, when you least expect it, good fortune finds you. 

Surprised, Wen Zhecheng squatted down to examine it. He found a headphone wire bundled under the tabletop, wound around the steel support below, and tied in a knot.

Clearly, the production team wanted to challenge the guests, making them untangle it themselves.

Wen Zhecheng raised his arm and silently began untangling the headphone wire. He had pulled out about half of it when he heard Zhou Yin knocking on the cabinet door behind him, “Yuheng, why are you almost climbing inside? You should come out of the cupboard first and look for clues.”

A loud smack!

In Wen Zhecheng’s ears, he only heard the word “come out” before his hand was viciously yanked!

…

Half a minute later, the five of them gathered to share the clues. Su Yuyin had unlocked the phone’s password. Inside the phone, there was a photo album and an audio recording. When they played the recording, it contained some crackling noises, a bit fuzzy, and the volume was quite low.

Duan Xiu rubbed his ears, “Wow, this won’t do. Don’t we have any headphones? Plugging in headphones should make it clearer.”

Wen Zhecheng fell silent for two seconds and suddenly spoke up, “We do.”

The other four looked at him with excitement, “Where?”

Wen Zhecheng slowly extended his hand from behind, palm opened, revealing two pairs of headphones lying in his hand.

Su Yuyin quickly opened the Bluetooth settings, “The production team seems to have some money, they’re actually wireless headphones.”

As he finished speaking, Wen Zhecheng took a small step back.

Rong Yuheng was puzzled, “Teacher Wen, what are you doing?”

Wen Zhecheng’s expression seemed quite guilty, especially when he looked at Rong Yuheng. He appeared like an innocent primary school student being caught by a parent.

“…I accidentally turned them into wireless ones.”

Everyone, “…”

The author’s note: Yang Wen behind the monitor: I never thought the most interesting thing would be Wen Zhecheng.

Generation of comedians Rong Yuheng: I feel like my position in the variety show industry is being threatened.

Variety show star Su Yuyin: My story is worthless.