YPHC Chapter 34

The energetic music came to an end, returning to calm, just as people, no matter how excited or enthusiastic, eventually tire.

 

After everyone finished their revelry and returned to their seats, the PD stepped forward and announced the final segment of today’s team building.

 

“Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, we’ve all been in the camp for two months. With the end of the regular points competition, five contestants will not be able to enter the next stage. Their journey in ‘Burning Eternity’ will end today, right here. So today is not only our second team-building event for ‘Burning Eternity,’ but also a farewell. Thank you for coming, and thank you for your dedication and efforts over these two months.”

 

The PD’s words were like pouring boiling water onto crystal-clear ice-the temperature rapidly cooled, as if the warmth from just moments ago had been an illusion.

 

The five contestants who were about to say goodbye went on stage one by one to deliver their farewell speeches, some lighthearted, some reluctant.

 

Fire was the last to go on stage. After taking the microphone, he didn’t speak immediately, but first bowed to the audience.

 

Jiang Nan’an leaned back in his camping chair, watching the person on stage, and for a moment found it difficult to understand his own feelings.

 

This assignment was not one he originally wanted to accept. From the first day he entered the camp, he had hoped to be eliminated early, so he naturally assumed that at this moment, watching contestants who could leave, his feelings should be envious. But when the storyline finally reached this point, he found that reality seemed somewhat different from what he had imagined, though he didn’t know exactly where the problem lay.

 

“First, I’d especially like to thank the production team for giving me this opportunity to stand here, to meet everyone in the show, to meet Class C, to meet Team Four.”

 

Fire talked about the good friends he made in Class C, his interactions with the coaches, and what he had learned during this time, before finally saying:

 

“…I also want to thank the brothers and sisters of Team Four, mainly for not minding that I’m not skilled but still willing to teach me and play with me, haha… Thank you, Brother Qin Hua and Sister Kaka, for comforting me and giving me resources. Thank you, Brother Fangfang, for practicing so many support champions to protect me. Thank you, Brother Spring, for staying late to practice with me several times. Of course, the person I need to thank most is Brother Jiang. I really caused so many problems for you and our team. Thank you for not giving up on me. Although we didn’t spend much time together, I really love our little team!”

 

As Fire spoke, he became somewhat choked up:

 

“It was really happy training and growing with everyone. Thank you, Brother Jiang. Although you’re not good at expressing yourself and don’t talk much, I know you’re especially, especially good. You care for and look after all of us, practicing by yourself every night, not letting us worry when your hand was injured, and learning so many jungle champions to fill in positions for us… You’re the best captain! I’m sorry I couldn’t bring many victories to our team. Although I’m stopping here, Brother Jiang must keep winning! You must win the championship!”

 

On the way back, the bus swayed back and forth. Jiang Nan’an sat by the window, gazing outside lost in thought, his mind filled with what Fire had said on stage and his own indescribable feelings at that time.

 

Fire thanked him for the things he did, saying he was especially good, but in his understanding, those were simply his duties as a captain. He didn’t understand why these actions appeared so genuinely moving in others’ eyes.

 

Jiang Nan’an couldn’t figure it out, just as he couldn’t understand why his emotions when Fire gave his farewell speech weren’t envy, but rather like a stuffed ball of cotton, stuffy and unable to breathe freely.

 

It was just a process required by the show-everyone drawing lots to form a team, training and competing as tasks, and finally completing the tasks to get results. Those who should leave, leave; those who should stay, stay.

 

There wasn’t a single part of the process that went wrong.

 

Jiang Nan’an lowered his eyes, pinching his fingers, momentarily lost in thought, until Yan Jie in the neighboring seat suddenly leaned over and asked softly:

 

“Mr. Hang isn’t happy?”

 

“No.”

 

“You are, right?”

 

“No.”

 

“Fine, if you say you’re not, then you’re not.” Yan Jie lazily yawned, seemingly ending the topic, but after finishing his yawn, he launched a sudden attack on Jiang Nan’an.

 

He had his reasons for doing this-only this way could he catch Jiang Nan’an off guard and make him truly hear:

 

“After spending these two months with Fire, you’ve come to see him as a friend, so now that he’s leaving, you feel reluctant to part. That’s very normal.”

 

“Friend?” Jiang Nan’an frowned, following his train of thought:

 

“We’re not friends.”

 

“Then what are you?” Yan Jie asked patiently.

 

“Teammates.”

 

“Then do you think you and I are friends?”

 

“No,” Jiang Nan’an answered without hesitation.

 

“.” Yan Jie clutched his heart and sighed:

 

“Then what are we?”

 

“…” Jiang Nan’an fell into hesitation.

 

Yes, what were he and Yan Jie?

 

Captain and teaching assistant? But if that relationship were removed, would they still interact as they do now?

 

The answer was yes.

 

So after some consideration, Jiang Nan’an said:

 

“Classmates.”

 

After all, they were both in Class A, with their positions right next to each other, so it was normal to be familiar and talk more.

 

“Then what are you and Teacher Sheng?”

 

“Roommates.”

 

“Isn’t a roommate also a friend?”

 

“It’s different. We’re called roommates because we live together.”

 

“Then if you didn’t live together, what would you be?”

 

“Acquaintances.”

 

Now it was Yan Jie’s turn to fall silent.

 

“Hmm…” He straightened his lazy posture, adjusted his body, and prepared to have a serious discussion with Jiang Nan’an:

 

“What do you think is the definition of a friend?”

 

“Only those who actively create connections even when unnecessary can be called friends,” Jiang Nan’an answered.

 

“Then what reason drives two people to engage in communication and interaction even when unnecessary?”

 

“Emotion.”

 

“Yes, that’s right. So do you think you don’t have emotions with us?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why?”

 

“No reason.”

 

“What reason do you need?”

 

“Where does emotion come from?” Jiang Nan’an couldn’t understand:

 

“Living together is due to work needs, and the same applies to other things. Since our interactions have purpose and reason, where would emotion come from? There’s no reason.”

 

“It naturally comes from our interactions.” Yan Jie slightly lowered his eyes to look at him:

 

“The reason emotion is called emotion is because it’s something without reason.”

 

Jiang Nan’an didn’t respond. Yan Jie looked at him and asked, “Can’t figure it out?”

 

“Mm.”

 

“If you can’t figure it out, don’t think about it. It’s tiring. You don’t need to understand this; it’s enough that others do. It doesn’t matter.”

 

Yan Jie finally understood why Jiang Nan’an said he couldn’t act in romantic dramas. Someone who had to go through such mental gymnastics to understand the concept of “friendship” and needed to find a reasonable explanation for himself-if he were asked to find someone to date and develop romantic feelings, wouldn’t he burn out all his brain cells?

 

But seeing Jiang Nan’an’s deeply furrowed brow, Yan Jie decided to try to explain a bit more:

 

“Let me put it this way: if I fell into a river and you happened to pass by, seeing me about to drown, would you save me?”

 

“Save you.”

 

Yan Jie breathed a sigh of relief, about to say “Then that settles it” and launch into a lengthy discourse from this point, when he heard Jiang Nan’an say leisurely:

 

“Although I have no specific obligation to save you, and letting you die wouldn’t constitute a crime, it would bring moral condemnation, and as a public figure, I need to set a positive example for the public. So, after comprehensive evaluation, even though I don’t want to meddle in others’ affairs, saving you is slightly more worthwhile.”

 

“…” Yan Jie fell into deep thought:

 

“Let’s try another scenario. If both I and Teacher Sheng fell into the river, who would you save?”

 

“You,” Jiang Nan’an answered without hesitation.

 

“Oh?” Yan Jie raised his eyebrows, looking pleased, and even swung his legs a couple of times: “Why?”

 

Jiang Nan’an blinked once and replied coolly:

 

“Because Sheng Yujia knows how to swim.”

 

“…Who doesn’t know how to swim?”

 

“Then why do you need me to save you?”

 

“…”

 

Mr. Hang had his own theories and rhythms that Yan Jie couldn’t shake, so he gave up the discussion.

 

It was evening by the time the bus returned to the film and television park. The five contestants eliminated from the points competition packed their belongings and left the compound that night. When Fire and Fangfang left, the brothers and sisters of Team Four accompanied them all the way to the entrance. At parting, both of them gave Jiang Nan’an a big hug.

 

That night, or perhaps more accurately the early hours of the next day, Fire officially released the original song he had sung for everyone at the dinner. What he hadn’t told them was that he had written this song in the training camp, with the melody and lyrics drawn from his feelings and experiences over the past two months.

 

When he released the song, he included a Q-version avatar of the six members of Team Four drawn by a fan, along with a message:

 

【Thank you for meeting me. This song is for the best Team Four, for the best Brother Qin, the best Sister Kaka, the best Fangfang, the best Brother Spring, and the best captain! Keep going strong in the days ahead!! [Sunshine][Sunshine][Sunshine]】

 

–

 

The end of the second team-building event also marked the official beginning of the second stage of “Burning Eternity.”

 

On Monday of the new week, contestants from each class gathered in the classroom during training time, but instead of starting regular training as usual, they were lined up by their class coaches and taken to the sports field in the compound.

 

This film and television park had a standard 400-meter track, but it was too far from their filming location, so nobody usually went there. Today, however, the track had been decorated early with the show’s logo and sponsorships, clearly for some new scheme.

 

“Welcome everyone to today’s activity venue. First, let’s have a round of applause for our five teaching assistants from the previous stage, that is, our five A-upper rated contestants. Please step forward!”

 

The PD sat on his small stool and began cueing the process. Yan Jie, who had been stuffing small biscuits into Jiang Nan’an’s hand, was momentarily stunned and before he could react, was pushed forward by Jiang Nan’an with a mix of three parts urgency and seven parts disdain.

 

“These five contestants were essentially directly admitted students in the previous stage, participating in our competition only as coaches. But starting today, the task of being captain will fall on you. Please lead your teams to battle in the elimination round of our next stage!”

 

“?” Hearing this, Yan Jie looked at the PD, then at the 400-meter track in front of him, and knew that becoming a captain wouldn’t be so easy.

 

Sure enough, after the PD finished his opening remarks, the staff beside him started to increase the difficulty-various props were brought onto the track and set up, the most eye-catching being a huge inflatable swimming pool in the distance, into which staff were pouring buckets of thin mud.

 

This production team was truly inhuman, Yan Jie thought.

 

On such a beautiful morning, what kind of brain-dead person would give up a clean, refreshing, and handsome image to dive into mud? Just for the title of captain…

 

“The five teams in the elimination round will have three types of team formations: two teams with the special formation 1A4B and 3A2C, and three teams with the ordinary formation 2A2B1C. Each team’s formation, as well as the choice of team members, and even coaches, can be freely selected by the captains. Of course, the right to choose always belongs to the winner. See the track in front of you? Whether the captains can form their most satisfactory teams depends on the rankings in the upcoming competition. The captain who reaches the finish line first after passing all checkpoints will get our priority selection rights, and…”

 

Listening to the PD’s explanation, Fangfei had already started analyzing which of the three formations was most reasonable and had the best chance of winning.

 

“This 1A4B is perfect for a protect-the-one strategy, with one C rising to dominate, but the ordinary formation also seems good. What do you think… Spring?”

 

Fangfei asked the person beside her, but after a long time with no response, she turned her head in surprise and saw that this guy had suddenly become shorter-he was in a standard lunge position stretching his legs, clearly eager to tackle the demonic track ahead.

 

“Why are you looking at me?”

 

Yan Jie noticed her gaze and fiercely made a throat-slitting gesture:

 

“No matter who you are, anyone coveting my priority selection rights will be shown no mercy!”

 

“?”

 

What an idiot.

 

#

 

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(advanced chapters available on kofi)