YPHC Chapter 35

The track set up by the production team was quite humane-just looking at it, one could feel the planners’ deep love for the contestants.

 

Looking ahead, the first hundred meters from the starting line was pure speed racing. Because there were both men and women among the participants, to ensure fairness, Fangfei could start directly, while others had to complete fifteen push-ups on the spot before officially beginning the race. After the hundred-meter sprint came the balloon-stomping section-fifty meters with twenty-five balloons that all had to be popped before continuing.

 

After the balloons, another fifty meters brought them to the hopscotch game. The soft mats with hopscotch patterns were doused with slippery bubble water, and contestants had to hop through each square to pass. Beyond that was the mud pool, where contestants needed to find five ping-pong balls in a pool of thin mud, carry them forward another hundred meters, and then throw them into small buckets from a distance of two meters. Only after all five balls were in could they finish the challenge and rush toward the finish line.

 

After explaining the rules, the five contestants were guided by staff to the starting line. With the sound of the PD’s starting gun, Fangfei sprinted onto the track, while the other four men immediately dropped to the ground to begin their push-ups.

 

The other contestants watching were so excited they were shouting and screaming, while Jiang Nan’an sat on the side watching, feeling quite calm inside.

 

He quietly gazed over there, watching Yan Jie complete fifteen push-ups quickly and perfectly, then immediately spring up from the ground and rush toward the first checkpoint.

 

Yan Jie was the quickest to start after Fangfei. He flew over the hundred-meter track like a small whirlwind, and the balloon-stomping checkpoint couldn’t slow him down either. He popped one balloon with each step, creating a long string of “pop-pop” sounds beneath his feet.

 

But perhaps because he was moving too fast, he couldn’t stabilize himself at the hopscotch checkpoint, and on his first jump, he slipped on the bubble water and fell flat on his back on the soft mat.

 

Fangfei, who was also conquering this checkpoint, saw his sprawled position and laughed so hard she couldn’t continue forward. Yan Jie’s predicament made everyone laugh, except himself. His expression was as determined as if he were joining the Party. He quickly scrambled up from the mat and began to conquer the hopscotch beneath his feet with a do-or-die attitude, getting up again whenever he slipped, like a jumping shrimp in a hot oil pan.

 

It was hard to imagine that Yan Jie, who was usually so casual and joking about everything, would be so serious for once-not on a world-class stage, but on such a ridiculous elementary school track.

 

Jiang Nan’an was deeply surprised by this: “Such strong conviction. I didn’t realize victory was so important to him.”

 

inBlue tugged at the corner of his lips: “Who knows which wire crossed in his brain? Maybe he’s just eager for that priority selection right.”

 

The game quickly reached the mud pit ball-hunting section that everyone had been looking forward to. The five contestants finally converged at this checkpoint, beginning a fierce and brutal struggle.

 

Fangfei was fine, being a girl-the others were too embarrassed to manhandle her. But for the other four men, the theme of this checkpoint was no longer “finding” but “fighting” and “battling.”

 

The four of them had played together in Class A for over two months and knew each other well, so they showed no mercy.

 

Yan Jie was the first to be pushed into the mud pit. By the time he finally stood up, he was covered in mud from head to toe-even his own mother would barely recognize him as human. After getting up and steadying himself, he wiped his face in disbelief, then launched a frenzied counterattack against the three who had ambushed him.

 

For a while, only Fangfei was seriously looking for ping-pong balls in the mud pit, but eventually she couldn’t escape the brawl. The other four, showing no mercy to anyone in their struggle, dragged her in and covered her in mud too, forcibly making her join the battlefield.

 

In the end, Yan Jie single-handedly took down the other three men, ruthlessly stealing the ping-pong balls from their hands. After collecting five for himself, he mischievously threw the remaining balls like shot puts outside the mud pit. He even pushed Fangfei back down just as she was about to get up, making her sit back down with a splash, while he stepped out of the inflatable pool and ran full speed toward the next checkpoint.

 

It was clear his competitive spirit was burning fiercely, as his eyes seemed fixed only on the finish line-he didn’t even notice when one of the ping-pong balls fell from his arms. It wasn’t until inBlue kept shouting “You dropped a ball! You lost equipment!” that he sat up like a patient startled from his deathbed and hurried back to retrieve his fallen ping-pong ball.

 

Yan Jie, whom the PD praised as “with this kind of spirit, you’ll succeed at anything,” ultimately won first place with an absolute advantage. The second to reach the finish line was Fangfei, followed by Cai Zheng and VS, with Orange Cat painfully losing the selection rights in fifth place.

 

With the winners decided, it was time for the team formation. Jiang Nan’an looked at the whiteboard brought out by the production team, which had five team formation cards: “1A4B,” “3A2C,” and three “2A2B1C.”

 

“Looking at it this way, priority selection rights are indeed important,” Jiang Nan’an said, looking at the three types of formations.

 

Hearing this, inBlue nodded: “Yes, you have to consider not only the formation but also the distribution of player positions. Having priority selection rights is definitely much more comfortable.”

 

Following his train of thought, Jiang Nan’an pondered:

 

“Then in that case, wouldn’t 1A4B be the ideal formation? After all, there are no weak points.”

 

“It’s conventional,” inBlue analyzed for him:

 

“Actually, I think the standard lineup is more reasonable overall, provided that the Class C person chosen is someone who can play support at least a little. After all, in games outside of regular competitions, like solo queue, the impact a support can have isn’t particularly significant. Putting the weak link in the support position would relatively increase the error tolerance. As long as the mistakes aren’t too egregious, the two Class A carries in the team can easily carry. Compared to the standard formation, 1A4B removes one weak point, but at the cost of losing a strong point… But it still depends on player selection. In this situation, choosing players is more important than choosing formations.”

 

Jiang Nan’an found his reasoning sound. After pondering for a moment, he asked:

 

“Then what’s the purpose of 3A2C?”

 

“Maybe it serves as a distraction,” inBlue said with a shake of his head and a smile.

 

“It looks strong with three Class A players, but having two Class C players is too painful. Even if you put one as support, where would you put the other? They’d be targeted no matter which lane they’re in. How should I put it… it’s a gambling formation, with a 10% chance of godlike success and 90% chance of death.”

 

It seemed like the most advantageous formation but was actually the weakest. Probably no one would choose it, and it would likely be left until the end.

 

That’s what Jiang Nan’an thought, but his idea was immediately overturned by reality-

 

Because the next second, the person who had won the priority selection right on the track picked up that dazzling “3A2C” card with his mud-covered hand, the movement smooth and without a moment’s hesitation, then proudly flashed his white teeth at the camera.

 

“…”

 

Jiang Nan’an knew without looking that inBlue must be sharing his silence at this moment.

 

They had underestimated him.

 

They’d forgotten that the biggest gambler in the show was indeed a real person.

 

Yan Jie’s choice probably shocked many people-at least the other four mud-covered people all had expressions of open-mouthed shock, perhaps never imagining that Yan Jie had worked so hard to defeat all of them just to take a formation card that no one else wanted.

 

Fangfei made the second choice. Being an ADC player herself, she leaned toward a protect-the-one formation, so after brief consideration, she still chose 1A4B.

 

With the two special formations taken, the others didn’t need to make choices. Next came the captain’s selection phase.

 

The staff handed the microphone to Yan Jie, and the PD said beside him:

 

“Spring has chosen the special 3A2C formation. You can select two Class A members and two Class C members for your team. So, what is your first choice?”

 

As soon as the words fell, Yan Jie didn’t even think before raising his hand and beckoning to inBlue across from him:

 

“Blue! No hesitation, come over, my good brother. We vowed to share joys and sorrows, never abandon or give up on each other. Although big brother has abandoned you several times, this time I’m choosing you first!”

 

inBlue shook his head with a helpless smile and stood up to walk over.

 

Jiang Nan’an watched his back, then let his gaze wander to the large tree beside him, from the rough texture of the trunk to the lush green branches, and the sunlight cascading through the layered leaves.

 

He lazily yawned, but just as he was squinting his eyes, he heard a smiling voice from the speakers:

 

“Teacher Xiao Shan?”

 

Jiang Nan’an’s yawn was forcibly terminated. He looked over in confusion to see Yan Jie, covered in mud, standing in the sunlight. He could only make out his smiling eyes:

 

“Stop looking at the tree, look at me. Won’t you come to my side?”

 

Jiang Nan’an was slightly taken aback.

 

Yan Jie himself played jungle, inBlue was ADC, and Jiang Nan’an would return to his original role as mid laner. Next, he needed to pick one top laner and one support from Class C.

 

The five contestants eliminated in the first round of the regular points competition were all from Class C, so now only five people remained in Class C. With five to choose from for two positions, and considering lane positions, Yan Jie didn’t hesitate too long before announcing two names:

 

“North Star, Jiang Shanshan.”

 

Both of Yan Jie’s picks were women and entertainment industry artists. Jiang Nan’an was somewhat familiar with their names.

 

North Star had debuted through an idol selection show, excelling in both singing and dancing as an all-around ACE. She had short straight hair and an aggressive beauty with a strong presence, often jokingly called “husband sister” by netizens. She had quickly risen to fame due to her unique style, niche appeal, and solid skills.

 

Jiang Shanshan was a rising young actress in the past two years, with a delicate and sweet appearance that people found appealing, standing there like a doll.

 

“Hi! Hello, Brother Spring!!”

 

Jiang Shanshan jogged over, greeted Yan Jie, then smiled and high-fived inBlue, before finally looking at Jiang Nan’an.

 

Perhaps because they weren’t very familiar, her demeanor when addressing him was much more reserved than with the previous two:

 

“Hello, Teacher Jiang.”

 

“Hello,” Jiang Nan’an shook her hand, then shook North Star’s hand, his tone and demeanor very official: “Hello to you too.”

 

“So you’ve fallen into my hands, Jiang Shanshan,” inBlue looked at Jiang Shanshan with his arms crossed:

 

“Let me say this upfront: in esports, there’s no room for sentiment. If you take my cannon minion, I’ll beat you to death.”

 

“Fine, you’re done for. From now on, you won’t get a drop of my healing or a single shield from me. From now on, I’m Star baby’s support.”

 

Jiang Shanshan hugged North Star, who nodded:

 

“Good, we’ll support each other in the top lane, united in heart and mind. But let me be clear, you can’t take my cannon minions either.”

 

“What’s going on here? The team just formed and the ADC and support are already splitting up?” Yan Jie noticed their conversation and interjected with a smile.

 

The team atmosphere was so harmonious, and judging by how they interacted, it didn’t seem like they had just met.

 

Probably noticing Jiang Nan’an’s confusion, Yan Jie voluntarily explained:

 

“Blue and I have known each other for a long time, as you know. Shanshan is his high school classmate, and I met Star at an exhibition match before, we’ve been playing together for quite a while. Don’t be so formal, Mr. Hang, we’re all family here, just like walking into your own home!”

 

“…” Jiang Nan’an understood.

 

Previously, Jiang Nan’an had marveled at how important victory seemed to be for Yan Jie, that he would risk life and limb for the right formation and teammates, as if beneath his unreliable exterior was a determined, brave, and competitive heart.

 

This contrast made Jiang Nan’an feel like Yan Jie’s persona was about to collapse, but now everything had a reasonable explanation.

 

After all, while others worked so hard to pick the best formation and strongest teammates, Yan Jie had rushed to the front just to gather his acquaintances from the show together for a happy family reunion.

 

Sigh.

 

What was he expecting anyway?

 

That was Yan Jie, after all.

 

The five captains each assembled their ideal teams in turn, and when it came to selecting coaches, Yan Jie unsurprisingly once again chose Chenghua based on his principle of familiarity.

 

After all the elimination round teams were fully formed, this part of the filming also came to an end. On the way back to the recording building, Jiang Nan’an looked at the camphor trees in the landscaped area, strolling leisurely. Before long, Yan Jie appeared from somewhere and asked in a low voice:

 

“How do you like our new home, Mr. Hang?”

 

Jiang Nan’an glanced at him:

 

“So that’s why you chose me, to continue playing house?”

 

“How could that be?” Yan Jie smiled at him:

 

“Of course it’s because I said I would haunt you forever like a female ghost, hee hee hee…”

 

“…”

 

What was that noise.

 

Jiang Nan’an’s upbringing prevented him from giving in to the urge to roll his eyes.

 

He quickened his pace, and as he walked forward, he could hear Yan Jie chuckling behind him.

 

There was no escaping. Soon, Yan Jie jogged up to catch up with him:

 

“Alright, I was just teasing you.”

 

“What?”

 

“The reason I chose you.”

 

Yan Jie opened his mouth, about to say something, when a staff member came over and said:

 

“Could the five captains please come here? We need to arrange the training rooms!”

 

“Coming!”

 

Yan Jie responded loudly, and before leaving, he quickly leaned in to tell Jiang Nan’an:

 

“Emotions are more important than victory. Just like a championship-it only counts as winning if I’m with you.”

 

Hearing this, Jiang Nan’an was momentarily stunned and instinctively turned to look.

 

He saw Yan Jie casually ruffle his hair, wink at him, and smile, showing his canine tooth.

 

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(advanced chapters available on kofi)