FIG CHAPTER 33

Even though they had solved the question, neither of them knew where to use the clue.

Zhu Lianzhen decided to change his way of thinking. Based on his years of experience filming indoor variety shows, he knew the director wouldn’t deliberately stump the guests with something too obscure. Maybe the clue wasn’t in the answer, but in the question itself.

He stared at the numbers written on the blackboard: 2, 6, 5… Could this be referring to the sixth classroom on the second floor? Then what did the 5 represent? Zhu Lianzhen looked around. The seat coordinates did somewhat match the clue’s range, but one digit was missing, so it probably wasn’t that.

Oh, right—the storage cabinets at the back of the classroom were divided into two sides. The left side was labeled 1, the right side 2.

Zhu Lianzhen had just raised his hand to start counting when Tan Qing spoke up. “What if we didn’t need to solve the equation at all, and the clue was just the numbers in the problem?”

Zhu Lianzhen didn’t respond.

Tan Qing went on, “Right-side cabinet, sixth row, fifth one.”

Zhu Lianzhen slowly lowered his hand and turned to stare at Tan Qing with a less-than-friendly expression.

“I thought of it first,” Zhu Lianzhen said.

“…”

“I just didn’t get a chance to say it out loud before you stole my line.”

Tan Qing paused for a few seconds, then nodded. “Ah, yes.”

“I knew you had already figured it out. That’s why I had to say it first and steal your moment.”

Zhu Lianzhen: “…”

In private, Tan Qing was good at playing innocent with him, but once the cameras were rolling, he always liked to tease him.

The two of them went to the locker that matched their theory. It was locked.

This seemed to be the point where the solution to the math problem came into play. Zhu Lianzhen said, “Go check the third column, fourth drawer from the bottom.”

Tan Qing did as told and, sure enough, found a key inside.

They opened the locker. It looked mostly empty, but upon closer inspection, there was a student ID card inside.

Tan Qing picked it up and saw that his own name was written on it.

Zhu Lianzhen leaned in curiously. “Hmm? Does everyone have one of these?”

“Probably.” Tan Qing put the card in his pocket. “Let’s find yours.”

They left the room.

Zhu Lianzhen realized a little too late that he was hot. He clutched at his collar and shook it back and forth, trying to create a bit of breeze.

Tan Qing glanced at him and pointed ahead. “Go open the window there.”

Night had fully fallen, and the lights in the hallway were sparse. They could barely make out each other’s features.

As if making small talk during a break, Zhu Lianzhen asked casually, “By the way, what did I give you for New Year’s that time?”

Tan Qing didn’t respond. In the brief silence, Zhu Lianzhen assumed he was trying to remember.

But what came instead was, “You really want to talk about that in front of the cameras?”

Zhu Lianzhen paused for a second, then instinctively glanced around to check how many cameras were hidden nearby.

Then it hit him. “What do you mean? What can’t be said? I’m pretty sure I’ve never given you anything shady. Don’t mislead the audience.”

Tan Qing kept looking at him with the same calm expression.

Zhu Lianzhen slowly began to sense that something was off.

Crap. Did I never actually give him anything?

“Forget I said anything!” Zhu Lianzhen gave an awkward laugh to cover up the belated guilt. “I was just testing your memory.”

As they spoke, a sharp and shrill wail sounded faintly from upstairs.

Tan Qing identified it immediately. “The leader.”

Zhu Lianzhen: “…That’s the first time I’ve heard him hit dolphin pitch.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Tan Qing said.

At that moment, Ji Yunting was running for his life, trying to shake off a student who was bleeding from every hole in their face.

A few minutes earlier, he’d been in the corridor playing cat’s cradle with a messy-haired NPC. During the third round, he accidentally tangled the string. The NPC’s mouth and forehead had suddenly started bleeding, and they began chasing him relentlessly.

He’d run all the way downstairs to escape, finally shaking the NPC, just in time to run into Fu Rong.

But Fu Rong seemed off.

He was standing with his back to Ji Yunting, motionless in the middle of the stairwell, completely blocking the way.

Ji Yunting couldn’t see his face and called out in confusion, “Fu Rong?”

There was no response.

Ji Yunting walked down a few steps and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. “What are you doing?”

The moment his hand touched Fu Rong, the latter suddenly turned around. A pale light reflected off his face, and his resentful eyes stared out from within the shadows.

“Shit!” Ji Yunting cursed out loud and lost his balance, stumbling back onto the stairs.

Fu Rong calmly turned off the flashlight and looked down at him. “Don’t make noise.”

“You’re nuts.” Ji Yunting clutched his chest, convinced his heart rate had just shot up to 120.

Fu Rong weighed the flashlight in his hand. “I found this prop. Just didn’t know how to use it yet.”

So for now, he used it to scare a teammate.

Once Ji Yunting caught his breath, the two of them exchanged the clues they’d found. Ji Yunting had picked up a floor plan of the school building from the security office.

Fu Rong switched the flashlight to ultraviolet mode and shone it on the map, revealing hidden markings. Several classrooms were marked with stars—these must be task locations.

But the number of classrooms in a school building was limited, so even without the markings, they could’ve found the clues just by exploring. The map seemed a little unnecessary.

With that thought in mind, Fu Rong pointed at the markings. “Got a pen? Connect them.”

Although they didn’t have anything to write with, Ji Yunting had an unusually good memory. As soon as Fu Rong spoke, he understood and mentally traced the lines connecting the marked points.

It resembled a new route, likely corresponding to a specific area on the original blueprint.

“Here!” Ji Yunting pointed to a spot on the map. “If we start from here, we should be able to follow a path that connects all the marked locations without hitting any obstacles.”

Fu Rong nodded, and the two of them stood up.

Following the route exactly, they reached their destination and discovered that the building had a back door. It was an inconspicuous emergency exit.

Up close, they saw the door was equipped with an electronic lock.

Fu Rong pulled out a card and swiped it. The system gave two short beeps, and an error message appeared on the screen: Cardholder identity mismatch.

“What’s that?” Ji Yunting leaned over and saw that Fu Rong was holding a student ID card with Zhu Lianzhen’s name on it.

“I found it earlier in the music room,” Fu Rong said.

Meanwhile, Zhu Lianzhen, hiding behind a corner nearby, quickly ducked back and mouthed to Tan Qing: They mentioned me.

“What?” Tan Qing didn’t catch it.

Zhu Lianzhen had no choice but to lean close and whisper it in his ear. Tan Qing nodded. “Go on.”

When Zhu Lianzhen realized the prop in Fu Rong’s hand was his, he got ready to jump out, but after a moment’s thought, he held back. Instead, he turned around and reached both hands into Tan Qing’s pockets.

He pulled out Tan Qing’s student ID card, then peeked around the corner and shouted, “Fu Rong! I’ll trade you Tan Qing’s for—”

Before he could finish, Tan Qing covered his mouth with one hand and reached for the stolen card with the other. Zhu Lianzhen reacted fast, hiding both hands behind his back and twisting left and right to dodge, gripping the card tightly so Tan Qing couldn’t snatch it.

So Tan Qing lifted his knee and pressed it against Zhu Lianzhen’s lower abdomen. He leaned in, slipped his hand into the narrow space between Zhu Lianzhen and the wall, pinched the corner of the ID card, and whispered, “I’ve got Koty’s. Trade with his instead.”

Zhu Lianzhen: “When did you get his?”

Now that he thought about it, they hadn’t seen Koty in a while. No one knew where he’d wandered off to.

Zhu Lianzhen’s attention drifted. Tan Qing didn’t explain. He just took back the card and reached into his own pocket, feeling around.

The lighting was dim, but Zhu Lianzhen vaguely saw him pull out another ID card.

Tan Qing walked toward Fu Rong and spoke in a negotiating tone. “I’ll give you Koty’s.”

Fu Rong looked at him silently, his expression questioning.

“Not going to trade?” Tan Qing smiled. “Holding onto someone else’s card isn’t going to help you. Having Koty’s might actually be more interesting, don’t you think?”

As he spoke, he gave the ID card a little shake.

Fu Rong considered it for a moment, then agreed to the trade.

They both extended their hands, with one palm open, the other holding the item, and cautiously placed the cards into each other’s palms.

“On the count of three, we let go together.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

As soon as Tan Qing got hold of Zhu Lianzhen’s ID card, he immediately passed it over to him.

Fu Rong lowered his head to inspect what he was holding. His brows furrowed, and he looked up with a dark expression. “Tch.”

He held up the “card” Tan Qing had given him and showed it to the other two. At first glance, it looked similar in size, shape, and thickness to a student ID card, but up close, it was clearly just a piece of plastic, probably the back cover of a remote control.

Zhu Lianzhen burst out laughing. It was rare to see Fu Rong get played, and he was already imagining the screenshot he’d take of Fu Rong’s expression once the episode aired.

Just as he was enjoying the moment, Tan Qing turned to him and said, “Don’t just stand there.”

Zhu Lianzhen snapped out of it and bolted toward the access door without looking back, afraid Fu Rong might chase him down to vent his frustration.

Beep beep—

After swiping their student IDs that matched their identities, the metal gate in front of them slid open automatically. The two of them exited the building one after the other.

They pushed open the glass door, and the cool night breeze greeted them.

“We’re off work now!” Zhu Lianzhen didn’t forget to wave back inside before walking away.

…

After removing their microphones, Zhu Lianzhen and Tan Qing got into a car to wait for the driver.

After a while, a staff member knocked on the window and said to Zhu Lianzhen, “You’ll need to take the car behind this one. This one’s for taking Tan Qing back to the set.”

Zhu Lianzhen turned to Tan Qing and asked, “You’re not done filming yet?”

“Almost. Just one more outdoor scene, and it’ll be a wrap,” Tan Qing replied. “By the way, Xiao Zhu, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you still have that New Year’s gift we mentioned during the recording?”

“Of course,” Zhu Lianzhen answered without hesitation.

He had definitely kept it, though he couldn’t quite remember where he’d put it…

“Can I have it back?” Tan Qing asked.

“Huh?” Zhu Lianzhen was surprised, instinctively assuming it must be something valuable.

Then it hit him—Tan Qing didn’t care much about material things, so it had to have a practical use or sentimental value.

Zhu Lianzhen thought of the pair of earrings he’d received for his birthday. Maybe it was something like that.

Curious, he asked, “You can’t just take back something you’ve already given. If it hadn’t come up during the show, you wouldn’t have remembered it at all, right? Did you forget our ground rules?”

Rule number one: Nothing that happens on camera should carry over into real life.

Tan Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with interest, “But what use is it to you, keeping that thing?”

“Ah, I don’t have a use for it now, but what if I need it later?” Zhu Lianzhen pretended to stay calm. “Why do you want it back, though?”

Tan Qing pressed his lips together and let out a quiet laugh. Zhu Lianzhen immediately felt something was off—had his answer just given something away?

“Xiao Zhu.” Tan Qing’s smile faded. “If you accidentally threw it away, you can just tell me the truth.”

“Don’t worry! It’s still at my place. I’ll go get it for you one of these days when I have time,” Zhu Lianzhen mumbled, lowering his head to fix his clothes and avoid eye contact.

Right before getting out of the car, Tan Qing placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “If you find it, just give it back to me as it is. Don’t open it.”

His serious gaze made Zhu Lianzhen’s guilt hit an all-time high.

Since the truth had been exposed, Zhu Lianzhen could only come clean. “I didn’t mean to ignore it. I was just too busy back then. I’d wake up and head straight to work, and by the time I got home, I’d just crash straight into bed…”

Tan Qing nodded along, signaling that no further explanation was needed. “I get it. I’d probably forget too if it were me.”

After a brief pause, he added in his usual calm tone, “Just remember to give it back.”

Zhu Lianzhen was ready to agree, but his curiosity had already been piqued. “Can you at least tell me what it actually was?”

“It’s not really a gift. Just something that… purely represents the past,” Tan Qing said, choosing his words carefully. “Bringing it up now would only make things complicated for both of us. So just return it as it is.”

Zhu Lianzhen thought it over and nodded.

A few days later, when he finally had some time, he went home to look for the long-forgotten gift. Fortunately, Ah-Xu had helped him organize the storage room earlier, and many of the gifts from collaborations or brands had been sorted by year.

Looking at the packed shelves full of gift boxes and bags, Zhu Lianzhen felt completely at a loss for where to start. So, he went online to search for concert videos, hoping to confirm what the wrapping looked like.

After entering some keywords, the top search result was titled: [QingZhen] Do you really have to be this obvious about your favoritism?!

Zhu Lianzhen glanced at the video thumbnail. Their faces were so close their lips were almost touching, and a bright beam of light happened to shine down on them from above. From the composition to the atmosphere, it looked practically staged.

The video had already racked up over 7.5 million views. Once he clicked in, a flood of comments immediately covered the screen.

It was the talk segment of their concert. In the first few seconds, they were still discussing their year-end recap when Tan Qing suddenly announced he had prepared a New Year’s gift for Zhu Lianzhen.

Amid the loud cheers from the audience, Tan Qing brought the item up from backstage. The other teammates all looked confused. “Where’s ours?”

Zhu Lianzhen gave Tan Qing a quick smile, took the item, and raised his microphone. “Am I the first one?”

“You’re the only one,” Tan Qing said, looking straight at him.

What followed was a wave of screams from fans that didn’t seem to end. Tan Qing glanced toward the crowd and raised a finger slightly, signaling them to quiet down.

Then he asked, “You didn’t prepare anything for me?”

Zhu Lianzhen gave an awkward smile, while the teammates stood off to the side like they were enjoying the drama. Trying to stir things up, Koty was the first to speak. “Oh come on, quit the back-and-forth and just kiss already!”

[Damn Koty, you’re fearless. Never doubted your skills, Chen Maolin]

[Lin-ge… risking his life just to feed the shippers!]

[Koty’s gonna get hunted down by the solo stans as soon as he walks out the venue]

[Warning: Chaos incoming.]

[Warning: Chaos incoming.]

[Warning: Chaos incoming.]

…

Zhu Lianzhen exited the video immediately.

He remembered.

He remembered the situation, the emotions at the time, and that brief exchange between him and Tan Qing that day.

By that point, their relationship had already begun its quiet decline.

A secret relationship was like a ticking time bomb—always hanging there, exerting constant pressure. Zhu Lianzhen often felt anxious, afraid someone might discover their secret. Facing the fans’ enthusiasm only made him more uneasy.

But Tan Qing had always been more open. He never flinched from any CP-related fanservice. When Koty said, “Just kiss already,” Tan Qing actually turned and leaned in toward him.

Zhu Lianzhen froze, eyes wide as he watched Tan Qing lean in, almost close enough to kiss him.

In that instant, a voice screamed in his head: I’m going to lose it.

Of course, Tan Qing was only playing along with Koty’s joke, doing it for the fans.

Right before their lips could touch, Tan Qing whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “You owe me this time.”

Then, just as smoothly, he pulled away and smiled toward the camera.

But Zhu Lianzhen didn’t relax. For the rest of the concert, he remained tense, consciously avoiding eye contact with Tan Qing. He even skipped the duet sections that had been planned during rehearsal.

After the show, the two of them changed in the backstage dressing room.

There was no one nearby to interrupt. Zhu Lianzhen, who had been holding it in the whole time, finally couldn’t help but speak. “Can’t you tone it down a little in front of so many people?”

Tan Qing was in the middle of unbuttoning his shirt and looked over with a puzzled expression.

“Do you have to play along with everything? This isn’t a recording—you can’t just edit things out later.” Zhu Lianzhen frowned deeply.

Understanding what he meant, Tan Qing walked over and gently wrapped an arm around his waist. He murmured a soft apology, though there wasn’t a trace of guilt on his face.

Zhu Lianzhen glared at him. “This isn’t the first time you’ve done this. Are you that eager for people to find out? This was a concert. Just because you’re good at acting doesn’t mean I won’t slip up.”

If he kept going, he feared he’d really get angry, so he ended the conversation with restraint. “This is the last time I’m indulging you. Don’t let it happen again.”

Tan Qing lowered his eyes, his expression tinged with loneliness as he asked, “So does that mean I can’t kiss you anymore?”

That tone easily swayed Zhu Lianzhen. He explained, “Not on stage, obviously. Offstage… you can do whatever you want.”

Receiving his permission, Tan Qing leaned in, aiming to brush his lips against the corner of Zhu Lianzhen’s mouth. But just then, the faint sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway.

“Someone’s coming,” Zhu Lianzhen warned, instinctively pulling away. The unfinished kiss was left hanging.

They had been so close, their chests still holding the warmth of the embrace. As staff came in to tidy up the equipment, the two slipped back into the dressing room. Tan Qing changed clothes calmly, though his eyes never left Zhu Lianzhen.

Just before they left, he reached out to stop Zhu Lianzhen by the arm and whispered, “You owe me a kiss.”

Zhu Lianzhen wasn’t in the mood to respond to that kind of affection right now. He managed a small smile and coaxed, “Next time.”

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Translator’s note: Sorry I posted the wrong chapter. 🥲 Here’s the missing one