So it came time for the puzzle exchange in the evening, and Xiao Can and He Xingzhou arrived at the activity room, where everyone’s attention was focused on the chicken they were holding.
The “Charge charge!” team, who hadn’t seen them all afternoon, had obviously heard about this thing too. The Omega girl took the initiative to approach them and asked, “What’s this, it’s so cute, let me see.”
Xiao Can hesitated for a moment, holding the chicken out to her but not wanting to put it in her hand. “Just look at it like this.”
The girl gave him a meaningful look, then observed the chicken.
There were two stickers on the chicken, one with the Baitao logo and the other saying: “I lay golden eggs.”
“What are golden eggs?” she asked.
“It’s eggs made of gold,” Xiao Can said.
“What’s it for?”
Xiao Can smiled at her. “What’s gold for?”
“…In this game, I haven’t heard of gold being used for anything,” the girl said.
“Yeah,” Xiao Can nodded as if to agree. “Then it’s useless.”
But the girl became even more suspicious. “You’re not honest. Will you swear to God?”
“Why so serious,” Xiao Can said unwillingly. “There’s no need for this, it makes you seem very distrustful.”
The girl stared at his face for a while, then turned and announced, “There must be something wrong with this chicken!”
He Xingzhou, who had been silent for a long time, lowered his head and chuckled.
Xiao Can nudged him with his elbow, signaling him to keep quiet.
The exchange activity began formally, but it was different from what everyone had imagined; it was more like an auction.
Each team could come up on stage and publicly offer the puzzle pieces they were willing to sell, and other teams could bid if interested. When both parties reached an agreement, the transaction was complete.
Each person could only sell one item at a time, taking turns.
In the first round, everyone was testing the waters, and the desire to sell and buy wasn’t high.
After all, so far, the puzzle pieces obtained by each team were quite scattered, and it was still uncertain what kind of harvest they would have tomorrow, so they couldn’t determine the collection target.
Xiao Can now had the most red puzzle pieces, but only four of them. He had only one piece of blue and one piece of green. If he traded the red ones for blue ones, and ended up not getting any more red ones tomorrow, it would be disastrous.
In the second round, Yumi representing “Having You Is Great” team came up on stage and offered a red puzzle piece for sale.
Xiao Can was a little tempted and exchanged glances with He Xingzhou. He Xingzhou nodded at him.
So Xiao Can raised his hand and said, “Prince Charlie bids!”
Yumi looked at him expectantly. “How much?”
After a moment’s thought, Xiao Can said, “I can exchange it with purple.”
He had two pieces of purple, and although the hope of collecting them was relatively slim, as long as he kept one piece, he wouldn’t be afraid of others collecting them.
“We don’t want purple,” Yumi refused. “Anything else?”
While Xiao Can was hesitating, He Xingzhou suddenly reached into his pocket and took out something, holding it up high.
“Would a golden egg be enough?” He Xingzhou asked.
“Huh?” Yumi was puzzled. “What is that?”
“A golden egg,” He Xingzhou stood up and showed everyone the plastic ball in his hand, then looked at the staff next to him with a firm tone, “You said the exchange was completely voluntary, right?”
After hesitating, the staff nodded slightly.
“I get it,” the Omega girl from the “Charge!” team said. “It’s the chicken that lays the eggs, right? It really can lay eggs!”
Xiao Can cleared his throat. “What’s gold for, everyone should know, right? It’s the most valuable thing!”
“If one isn’t enough…” He Xingzhou frowned, “At most two. We only have four ourselves.”
Xiao Can quickly nudged him, lowered his voice urgently and said, “Don’t say it out loud!”
He Xingzhou also whispered, “Can we exchange with two?”
Xiao Can frowned. “You’ve said it… Okay.”
He Xingzhou looked at Yumi again and asked, “Two golden eggs, deal or no deal?”
Yumi hesitated and looked for help from Tan Zhen in the audience.
Seeing this, Tan Zhen looked at Xiao Can, who smiled and winked at him.
So Tan Zhen made a decision immediately, firmly making an OK gesture to Yumi.
The deal was then successfully completed.
He Xingzhou stepped forward and handed over two golden eggs, bringing back a red puzzle piece.
After sitting down, he leaned close to Xiao Can and asked in a voice only they could hear, “How many pieces now?”
“Five,” Xiao Can whispered back to him, “With the treasure puzzle piece, it’s six in total, just three pieces left.”
He Xingzhou nodded.
“It’s Prince Charlie’s turn next,” the staff announced.
Xiao Can thought for a moment, raised his hands and made an ‘X’ sign, saying, “PASS.”
“Aren’t there still two golden eggs?” Qin ge, not far from them, encouraged, “Why not exchange for something?”
Xiao Can shook his head with a smile.
Qin ge frowned, then whispered to his teammates.
After the exchange, the day’s activities came to an end.
On the way back to the hotel, Tan Zhen took the initiative to invite Xiao Can to ride in the same car, and Xiao Can gladly accepted.
As soon as they sat down, Tan Zhen immediately asked, “What’s the use of that thing?”
“It’s useless,” Xiao Can finally didn’t need to hold back anymore and laughed, “It’s just a prop we use during tasks, but He Xingzhou insisted on holding onto it.”
Tan Zhen was stunned.
“It’s completely useless,” Xiao Can said, “It’s just trash.”
He laughed heartily for a while before realizing something was wrong.
Tan Zhen’s face darkened, not saying a word.
Xiao Can’s heart skipped a beat, thinking, uh-oh.
“You even lied to me…” Tan Zhen murmured.
“Uh, I…”
“I thought you wouldn’t lie to me, that’s why I let Yumi agree,” Tan Zhen sighed heavily, “I’m so stupid.”
“It’s just a game, all in good fun,” Xiao Can pleaded, “I didn’t think much about it… I’m sorry.”
He could have made excuses like “I never said it was useful” or “You misunderstood,” but that would have seemed insincere.
Tan Zhen smiled at him and then said, “I can’t believe He Xingzhou would go along with your deception. I really misjudged him.”
Xiao Can thought, indeed.
He had been worried that He Xingzhou would reveal his bottom line, but He Xingzhou was enthusiastically involved, even more than him.
“Do you want to join in?” Xiao Can asked.
“What do you mean?” Tan Zhen blinked.
“According to the original setting of the game, it is indeed useless,” Xiao Can coaxed, “but for other teams, this thing is still mysterious and valuable.”
“…”
“Even if others don’t know that you and I are close, you and He Xingzhou are a pair,” Xiao Can said, “How could he deceive you? Just pretend that we’ve secretly told you its value and that it’s very valuable.”
“So you want me to be the one who got cheated and still help you count the money?” Tan Zhen said.
“How can you say that,” Xiao Can waved his hand, “This is mutually beneficial cooperation.”
Tan Zhen sighed helplessly, “I don’t have much choice either!”
“I wouldn’t deceive you,” Xiao Can grabbed his hand, softening his tone, “How about this, tomorrow you guys randomly pick something, and I’ll double it for you in exchange, okay? Don’t be angry.”
“It’s fine, the exchange has been made anyway,” Tan Zhen smiled, “I’m not one to hold grudges.” Then he added, “I’m not angry.”
Xiao Can knew he wasn’t angry, just a little upset upon learning the truth.
“Ah, it would be great if we were on the same team,” Xiao Can leaned against him, pitifully, “If only you had chosen me.”
Tan Zhen knew he was in the wrong and felt a bit nervous with him leaning against him, so he didn’t say anything.
Seeing this, Xiao Can whispered softly in his ear, “Do you want to know what’s really going on between He Xingzhou and me?”
Tan Zhen was stunned for a moment and shook his head, “It’s not necessary.”
“Let’s talk about it when we get back to the hotel,” Xiao Can smiled at him, “I trust you.”
Tan Zhen nodded, and the previous disappointment finally dissipated.
“So, when you asked him out for dinner that day, was it because of pheromones?” Tan Zhen sat cross-legged on the bed, suddenly enlightened, “I thought…”
Wearing pajamas sitting opposite him, Xiao Can asked, “You thought what?”
Tan Zhen scratched his chin, “You kind of have a bit of a fondness for him.”
“Don’t joke, just talking to him makes me annoyed,” Xiao Can waved his hand.
“But you two got along really well today!”
“That’s because I was accommodating him,” Xiao Can turned his head, “I have to endure humiliation in front of the camera.”
“I saw you whispering to each other,” Tan Zhen gestured, “Getting so close, laughing so happily.”
“Because… because we tricked the puzzle,” Xiao Can laughed awkwardly.
Tan Zhen covered his face, “I’m such a fool!”
But he quickly cheered up again, put down his hand and said, “So, me putting you two together today was right. Being with him makes you feel better, doesn’t it?”
That was indeed true.
Since they had dinner together last night, he had felt refreshed and comfortable, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
He Xingzhou’s pheromones were an irreplaceable medicine for him.
Xiao Can nodded honestly, “Yeah.”
“How long will it take to cure this problem?” Tan Zhen asked again.
Although he had confessed to Tan Zhen, Xiao Can still found it difficult to talk about this part.
“It might take a while…,” he said vaguely, “We’ll have to take it slow.”
“I’ve never heard of this kind of situation before,” Tan Zhen pondered, “Don’t you think… it’s like there’s a force in the universe that wants to tie you two together?”
Xiao Can couldn’t help but be annoyed, “Are you trying to say that we’re a perfect match?”
“Hehe,” Tan Zhen smiled, suddenly remembering something, “By the way… what does his pheromone smell like to you?”
Xiao Can remembered that Tan Zhen said he smelled a completely different odor that day in the hotel, which he initially thought was the stench of a decaying corpse.
“What I smell is different from what you smell,” Xiao Can explained, “It’s minty, cool, with a hint of woodiness, kind of like the mint candy you gave me that day.”
Tan Zhen blinked, his eyes gleaming, “Then you two are perfect for each other!”
“…Xiao Can regretted telling him.”
Tan Zhen was excited for a moment, then sighed again for some reason. “Since last night, I’ve been thinking, if you hadn’t left that room, maybe you and him would be together by now.”
“That’s impossible,” Xiao Can said decisively.
“Just think about it. He would feel responsible for you rationally, and emotionally… emotionally, he’s probably already enchanted by you,” Tan Zhen said. “You can’t shake him off.”
“That premise doesn’t exist,” Xiao Can said. “He said I’m not his type of interest, he could never like me, he even got angry saying that.”
Tan Zhen frowned. “How childish!”
“Anyway, you won’t listen to anything we say, just indulging in your own imagination,” Xiao Can said.
Tan Zhen pursed his lips, feeling both amused and embarrassed. Then he sighed and looked down at his hands, lost in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” Xiao Can asked.
“I made a decision last night,” Tan Zhen said. “After this recording is over, I’m going to break up with him.”
