He plays Feng Yuxiu, and his girlfriend is a fairy-like beauty.

Zhang Yixing opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"I haven't decided yet."

"Then don't think about it for now, sit down."

Zhang Yixing hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to him.

"Yixing, let me ask you a question." Ye Mo turned to look at him. "If you win me over, all my time will be yours, but then you'll be chased by others. Wang Xun will chase you, Xiaozhu will chase Wang Xun, Teacher Huang will chase Xiaozhu, Brother Bo will chase Teacher Huang, Brother Honglei will chase Brother Bo—and I'll chase Brother Honglei. After you get my time, can you outrun Wang Xun?"

"Can't outrun them."

"So it's useless for you to have my time; you're just storing it for me."

Zhang Yixing paused for a moment: "That seems to make sense."

"Why don't we form an alliance?"

"How do we tie it?"

"Don't chase me yet, and I won't run either. Let's work together. I'll hold off Wang Xun for you, and you can distract Brother Hong Lei. When the time is almost up, we'll have a fair fight."

Zhang Yixing thought for a moment: "You're not going to trick me, are you?"

Ye Mo looked at him.

His gaze was very sincere.

"One star. I've been scamming people since 4:30 in the morning, but I'm not scamming you, you're the freebie."

"Could you please not mention the free gift?"

"Alright, let's not talk about it anymore. We're all in this together, it's a simple agreement."

Zhang Yixing bit his lip and reached out his hand.

Ye Mo shook hands with him.

Then he turned to his cameraman and whispered, "Remember to add the caption 'Kidnapping Scene' to this clip in post-production."

It's better to play with the little sheep yourself than to give it to someone else.

However, the main reason is that he is easy to fool.

It's exactly 7 o'clock.

Games start.

The station tasks are located in three places: Xujiahui Metro Station, the Bund Viewpoint, and the City God Temple Snack Street. Each completed station task will add 15 to 30 minutes.

Ye Mo's first reaction after receiving the station coordinates was not to complete the mission—but to call Sun Honglei.

"Brother Hong Lei."

"what?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the car—why are you asking? Are you here to arrest me?"

"No, I want to discuss something with you."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone: "What is it?"

"Let's form an alliance."

"...You pursued me, and now you're allied with me?"

"Yes, think about it—you're chasing Bo-ge, Bo-ge is chasing Teacher Huang, and Teacher Huang is chasing Little Pig. Those three are shrewd. I'm chasing you, I'm the hunter and you're the prey. But if we switch places—I'll help you stop Bo-ge, and you'll help me stop Teacher Huang. We'll take down the three smartest ones first, and then we'll have a fair showdown."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Sun Honglei's voice came through, tinged with amusement: "You pranked me in the early hours of the morning, and now you want to form an alliance with me? Do you think I'll believe you?"

"You may not believe it, but it wasn't easy for you to win over Brother Bo. He's incredibly cunning, and you couldn't catch him on your own."

Quiet.

Sun Honglei's voice deepened slightly: "Okay, come over here, I'm on Nanjing West Road."

"wait for me."

Ye Mo hung up the phone and turned to the cameraman, saying, "Now add subtitles—'Fooling the scene.'"

The photographers were dumbfounded. Ye Mo wasn't just breaking the rules, he was setting them.

But...

They certainly won't say anything unless the director gives a direct answer.

Director Yan was secretly overjoyed.

This guy is so entertaining.

That's exactly the feeling he wanted.

Fifteen minutes later.

Nanjing West Road.

Sun Honglei stood in front of a convenience store wearing a light-colored polo shirt, holding a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

Ye Mo jogged over.

"Brother Hong Lei."

"Ye Mo." Sun Honglei looked him up and down. "Are you alone? Didn't you bring Zhang Yixing?"

"I released the one-star creature."

"...Release them?"

"Yes, he was chasing me, but he said he wanted to complete his mission first to buy time before trying to catch me, so I let him go."

Sun Honglei took a sip of water: "So you released your hunter and then came to ally with your prey."

"right."

Do you know what this is called?

"What's your name?"

"Raising a tiger will only bring trouble."

"Tiger is a one-star? One-star is a little lamb."

Sun Honglei almost choked.

He wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, looked at Ye Mo, and his expression was complicated.

"You, do you know that Zhang Yixing may look well-behaved, but he's not stupid? If you let him go, he'll secretly come back and bite you."

"I told him he was a free gift."

"...You still told him this?"

The two looked at each other for a second.

Then they both laughed.

Sun Honglei tightened the screws on the mineral water bottle and put it into the canvas bag.

"Alright, let's form an alliance, but I have one condition."

"you say."

"I haven't decided yet, I'll tell you later!"

"no problem."

"Okay, let's go, let's do the mission first."

City God Temple.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

There are already quite a few tourists.

The camera crew, carrying their equipment, squeezed through the crowd. Several passersby recognized Sun Honglei and followed behind, filming him with their phones.

The task was set up at the entrance of a Ningbo Tangtuan (glutinous rice dumpling) shop.

A giant roulette wheel with various tasks listed on it: eat xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), shout "The whole meal is on me today!" at the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop.

Find a stranger to take a photo with and ask them to say, "You're the most handsome."

Sun Honglei walked over and spun the roulette wheel.

The pointer stopped at "Shouting at Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop: I'm paying for everything today."

He took a deep breath and walked to the entrance of Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop.

Then he turned to the diners filling the shop and shouted, "Today, I'll pay for everything... that's impossible, but you all have a good time. I'm Sun Honglei."

The diners paused for a second, then laughed and applauded.

Mission accomplished, 15 minutes overtime.

Ye Mo clapped sincerely from the side: "Brother Hong Lei, that was a great joke. It didn't cost any money and it also earned us a favor."

"That's called variety show intelligence." After completing the station's task, Sun Honglei raised an eyebrow at him. "Ye Mo, aren't you going to do it?"

"I won't do it."

Why?

Ye Mo checked his bracelet; he had fifty-two minutes left.

Completing the task will add 15 to 30 minutes.

But he pushed the roulette wheel to the side.

"Because Wang Xun is almost here."

Sun Honglei was taken aback: "How did you know?"

Ye Mo pointed to the distance, where a familiar, tall and thin figure was squeezing into the crowd.

Wang Xun.

"He's a fan of Yixing, but Yixing has disappeared. Since he can't find Yixing, he comes looking for me. I guess he knows that I've allied with Yixing."

Sun Honglei paused for a moment: "So you're the bait now?"

"Yes, I deliberately stood in a conspicuous place, waiting for Wang Xun to come and arrest me, and then you arrested him."

"You want me to capture my own allies?"

"Allies are for mutual exploitation."

Sun Honglei looked at Ye Mo and suddenly smiled.

He laughed very loudly.

"No wonder Huang Bo said he couldn't be in a group with you; you even scheme against your own allies."

"Brother Bo is prejudiced against me. He has a problem with me. His face was three layers black from being washed in the early morning."

Sun Honglei patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, you go be the bait, I'll take care of Wang Xun."

Ye Mo walked into the square in the center of the City God Temple and stood under a locust tree.

The location is very conspicuous, with the bracelet sticking out.

Fifty minutes is quite a long time.

Five minutes later, Wang Xun emerged from the crowd.

"Ye Mo!"

"Brother Xun."

Wang Xun ran over, took out his phone, and saw a photo of Zhang Yixing hiding in a jewelry store, his face pressed against the glass, looking at his phone.

"Where is Yixing? He's running too fast, I chased him for three blocks and still couldn't catch him."

"He went to see Teacher Huang."

"Why do you want to see Teacher Huang?"

"Teacher Huang's prey is Little Pig. One Star wants to form an alliance with Teacher Huang and have Little Pig help him block you."

Wang Xun was stunned: "How can a child like him be so good at playing?"

"I taught him."

"...You'll teach him?"

"Yes, I said that when you're out in the world, you have to learn to use others' strengths against you."

Wang Xun was silent for a moment: "Ye Mo, whose side are you really on?"

Ye Mo thought for a moment.

"I'll help with the ratings for this episode."

Wang Xun turned and left because he sensed something was wrong.

Ye Mo is just too shrewd!

But it was too late.

Sun Honglei came out of the alley next door and stuck his bracelet directly onto Wang Xun's bracelet.

The time displayed on the bracelet jumped, and Wang Xun's remaining time was reset to zero and transferred to Sun Honglei's name.

The number on Sun Honglei's wristband jumped from over sixty minutes to over one hundred minutes.

Wang Xun stood still, looking down at his bracelet that had been reset to zero.

"I've been eliminated?"

"That's right." Sun Honglei smiled and put his arm around his shoulder. "You're the third one to be eliminated. Congratulations on being the first one to be eliminated this round."

"Third?" Wang Xun stared, wide-eyed. "Who was first?"

Sun Honglei raised his phone, and a new message popped up in the Extreme Challenge group chat on the screen—

Luo Zhixiang: "Brothers, I've been cornered in the toilet by Teacher Huang, help me, I'm waiting online."

Two minutes later.

Luo Zhixiang: "Too late, already eliminated."

The following message is even earlier.

Huang Bo: "@Ye Mo, you just wait."

Wang Xun looked down at his phone, then looked up at Ye Mo and Sun Honglei.

"Have you two formed an alliance?"

"Yes." Sun Honglei nodded.

"So you guys were behind this from beginning to end?"

"It's not trickery, it's strategy."

Wang Xun pointed at Sun Honglei, then at Ye Mo, and then turned to the cameraman: "Viewers, you've all seen them. One is Yu Zecheng from 'Lurking,' and the other is Feng Yuxiu. They're both incredibly cunning and insane. I didn't lose unjustly."

In the end, you have to prove yourself.

It was nearly noon.

The list of those eliminated is gradually getting longer.

Luo Zhixiang was cornered in the toilet by Huang Lei and taken away.

Huang Bo lured Huang Lei into the mall elevator to fight back, but Sun Honglei sneaked up from behind and killed him twice.

"You stole from me!"

"What do you mean by stealing? This is a tactic."

"You stole! I lay in ambush for twenty minutes—"

"I didn't lie in ambush for a single minute; I followed you for ten minutes."

Huang Bo stared with his mouth open, looking like he'd just swallowed a mouthful of sand.

Only Zhang Yixing was still running.

This child has been running since the beginning, and no one has caught up with him.

But he completed the most tasks at the station: he ate xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), took photos with passersby, and did a flash mob on the Bund, adding up to nearly ninety minutes on his wristband.

Ye Mo squatted by the roadside, with about thirty minutes left on his wristband.

He hasn't done any of the site missions since the beginning of the game.

The whole process involved making phone calls, forming alliances, betraying others, and watching others get eliminated.

Huang Bo sat next to him; he had already been eliminated but was still watching the excitement.

"Ye Mo, what have you been doing all morning?"

"Form an alliance."

"With whom?"

"First I followed Yi Xing, then Brother Hong Lei, and in between I chatted with Brother Xun for a few minutes."

"and then?"

"Then I released Yixing, Xun was taken in by Honglei, and I tricked Honglei in the elevator, but he was tough and didn't get killed."

Huang Bo fell silent.

Then he pointed at Ye Mo with the finger that still had a little black mark on it: "You are the least like a guest I have ever seen. You don't care about winning or losing at all."

Ye Mo thought for a moment.

"Brother Bo, I got up at 4:30 in the morning to set up the traps. I spent over an hour splashing you with water, applying shower gel, and smearing you with charcoal powder. I did all that, do you think I did it all to win?"

"Then what is it for?"

"It's all for fun! What kind of young people aren't young if they don't have fun, hahaha!"

Huang Bo looked at him.

I stared at it for several seconds.

Then he laughed.

"Okay, I'll remember that. When the show airs, I'll see how you edit it."

3 PM.

The final showdown.

Only three people remained: Zhang Yixing for nearly ninety minutes, Sun Honglei for about one hundred and twenty minutes, and Ye Mo for about twenty minutes.

Location: The Bund Viewing Platform.

Sun Honglei and Zhang Yixing bumped into each other under the statue of Chen Yi.

Zhang Yixing had just finished his station task and was still holding an unfinished meat bun in his hand.

Sun Honglei walked over, his steps slow: "Yixing, how long have you been running?"

"Eight hours," Zhang Yixing gasped for breath. "Brother Hong Lei, how can you bear to eliminate me?"

"Heartless."

Sun Honglei reached out to touch Zhang Yixing's bracelet.

Zhang Yixing instinctively stepped back and bumped into someone.

Ye Mo.

Both of them were taken aback at the same time.

Ye Mo smiled at Zhang Yixing: "Yixing, do you remember what I said when we formed the alliance this morning?"

"Remember, a fair fight in the end."

"I think—" Ye Mo placed his hand between Zhang Yixing's bracelet and his own bracelet, "it's about time now."

Snapped.

Ye Mo attached the bracelet to it.

Zhang Yixing's bracelet timer reset to zero—ninety minutes were all given to Ye Mo.

Zhang Yixing looked down at his bracelet.

Then he looked up at Ye Mo.

"Didn't you say you wanted a fair fight?!"

"I mean a fair final showdown, but do you think it's fair?" Ye Mo pointed at Sun Honglei. "He lasted 120 minutes, I only lasted 20-odd minutes. Do you think that's fair?"

"...That's not fair."

"That's right. I'll take you down first, then fight him. That's called creating fairness."

Sun Honglei watched this scene from behind, his expression a half-smile.

"Ye Mo, this isn't about creating fairness; it's about eating the tenderest part first and then gnawing on the tough one."

"Then, Brother Honglei, the hard way is coming."

It was very windy on the Bund.

The two people stood in the middle of the observation deck.

Ye Mo's bracelet displayed a number: 110 minutes.

Sun Honglei: One hundred and twenty minutes.

The difference is not significant.

"You know, it doesn't really matter who wins or loses between us anymore," Sun Honglei said.

Why?

"Because this episode already had enough impact. No matter who comes in first place, what the audience will remember is that you tricked three guests with shower gel in the early morning."

"And you got your ear blown by a one-star."

"We don't need to mention that."

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Then Sun Honglei extended the bracelet.

Ye Mo also reached out.

The two bracelets touched each other.

The numbers are jumping.

The two people simultaneously saw the final number displayed on each other's wristbands.

The wind made the flags on the Bund flutter loudly.

Director Yan shouted something from a distance using a megaphone.

"This episode's recording is now complete."

......