I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

Before Chen He could finish speaking, Deng Chao had already raised his hand.

"I know."

Chen He was completely stunned.

He turned his head to look at Deng Chao's raised hand, his voice barely audible.

"Deng Chao".

"You dare!"

Deng Chao didn't even glance at him; his eyes were fixed on Wang Mian.

"A thousand dollars, right?"

Wang Mian nodded with a smile.

Chen He suddenly jumped up from the chair, lunged forward and grabbed Deng Chao's outstretched arm, hanging from it as he plummeted downwards.

"You can't do this!"

"How many episodes did we film? How many hot pot meals did we eat? You betrayed me for a thousand yuan?"

Deng Chao glanced down at him, his face expressionless.

"He'er, a thousand yuan."

How can I refuse?

Chen He's hand slid off Deng Chao's arm.

He crouched on the ground, covered his head with his hands, and let out a desperate wail.

"Go ahead and say it."

Deng Chao stood up, and Chong Wangmian cleared his throat.

"Changsha Jiefang West Road, 2:08 AM."

Chen He peeked out from between his fingers.

"You even remember the time so clearly?"

"I was standing right next to him at the time," Deng Chao said, spreading his hands.

"That day was a celebration party after we finished recording the show, and He'er drank too much."

"Three beers, two glasses of spirits, and one glass of baijiu."

Wang Mian held up the documents, his eyes filled with excitement.

"and then?"

Deng Chao nodded towards Chen He's direction.

"After he came out of the barbecue restaurant, he started walking in a swagger. I followed behind him trying to stop him, but I couldn't."

He strolled into an alley, where there was an old bank with two stone lions crouching at the entrance.

Chen He jumped up from his chair again and reached out to cover Deng Chao's mouth.

"That's enough!"

Deng Chao dodged to the side and continued speaking.

He walked over, patted the head of the stone lion on the left, looked it up and down for a while, then plopped down next to it, put his arm around its neck, and said…

"Stop talking!"

"Say, 'Brother, we're destined to be together, let's become sworn brothers today.'"

A burst of chaotic laughter erupted on the beach.

Lu Han almost spit out her bottled water from her nose.

Song Yuqi laughed so hard she bent over, her hands gripping the armrests of the chair, her shoulders shaking.

Wang Mian was laughing so hard he could barely breathe, but he still tried his best to maintain his professional demeanor.

"and then?"

Deng Chao tilted his head and recalled for two seconds.

"He insisted on finding a witness. It was past 2 a.m., and there weren't many people on the street, except for an old man who was sweeping the floor next to us."

"He ran over and grabbed the old man's broom, demanding that the old man be his witness to his marriage with the stone lion, no, to his sworn brotherhood."

Chen He had slumped back into his chair, his hands covering his face, and a pair of desperate eyes peeking out from between his fingers.

"Did the old man agree?" Wang Mian pressed.

"At first, the old man thought he had encountered a mentally ill person and wanted to call the police."

"Later, I went up and explained for a long time, and bought the old man two bottles of water before he finally stood there and nodded reluctantly."

Deng Chao paused for a moment, then delivered the final blow.

"Chen He kowtowed three times to the stone lion, and got a clump of ash on his forehead. The next morning, when he looked in the mirror, he thought he had a skin condition on his forehead."

Wang Mian looked down at the documents, compared them for a few seconds, and then raised the megaphone.

"Verified in the archives..."

Chen He buried his face in his knees.

"Absolutely true."

"Deng Chao's whistleblowing was successful; he will receive a personal reward of 1,000 yuan!"

Deng Chaochong and Chen He put their hands together and bowed deeply at a standard 90-degree angle.

"He'er, thank you for your sacrifice."

"You're not human." Chen He's voice came from his knees, muffled.

"I only found out today that the term 'plastic brothers' is used to describe you, Deng Chao."

The comments section is completely out of control.

[I could laugh for a year about Chen He becoming sworn brothers with the stone lion.]

[The old man's inner monologue: I was just sweeping the floor, how did this happen?]

Deng Chao's statement, "One thousand yuan is six times what I earned moving boxes today," is so true.

[Brother He, you're kowtowing to the stone lions, at least kowtow to a Buddha!]

Chen He lifted his head from his knees, his eyes replacing the grief and indignation with a fighting spirit awakened by money.

He slowly turned around, stared at Deng Chao, and smiled dangerously.

"Wang Mian".

"Um?"

"Ask Deng Chao next."

Before Wang Mian could even look through the documents, Chen He had already stood up.

"No need to ask anymore, I'll just spill the beans. A thousand dollars, right?"

Deng Chao could no longer laugh.

"He'er, calm down..."

"July 2020."

Chen He turned his head to face the camera.

"The green belt near the Olympic Sports Center in the north of the city."

Deng Chao's expression began to change.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

"Deng Chao feels he has gained weight recently and wants to lose weight, so he goes for a night run."

Chen He got more and more excited as he spoke, hands on his hips, "He was afraid of being recognized by passersby, so he wore sunglasses."

Lu Han suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Wearing sunglasses while jogging at night?"

"Yes." Chen He pointed to Deng Chao.

"Running along the roadside at 10:30 PM wearing sunglasses, guess what?"

Deng Chao reached out to grab his clothes, but couldn't reach them.

"There was a bend in the green belt ahead. He couldn't see the road, lost his footing, and fell into the bushes."

"The bushes had just been watered, and he was wearing a white T-shirt. Just as he climbed out from under them, an auntie walking her dog happened to be passing by."

"When the aunt saw him emerge from the bushes covered in mud and wearing sunglasses, she screamed in fright, and the golden retriever chased him for half a block."

Deng Chao covered his forehead with his hand.

Wang Mian paused for a few seconds while flipping through the documents, then looked up at Deng Chao.

"This doesn't seem to be in the file..."

Chen He became anxious.

"That's because your investigation wasn't thorough enough!"

"I have photos on my phone, which he sent to me the next day. His white T-shirt was covered in mud, and his knees had two scrapes."

Wang Mian hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the staff on the sidelines.

The man looked down and flipped through the supplementary files, then gave a thumbs up a few seconds later.

"Chen He's whistleblowing was successful; he will receive a personal reward of 1,000 yuan."

Chen He turned around and opened his arms to Deng Chao.

"Brother Chao, thank you for your sacrifice."

Deng Chao leaned back in his chair and pointed at him.

"You wait, I have more to share."

Come on.

Chen He patted his chest.

"I've already told everyone about my sworn brotherhood with the stone lion, so what do you think I have to be afraid of?"

The two glared at each other across Lu Han's chair, the atmosphere thick with tension.

Lu Han sat in the middle, looking left and right, and then picked up a bottle of mineral water and took a sip.

"You two made a combined two thousand."

Deng Chao and Chen He both fell silent.

Lu Han screwed the bottle cap on.

"Go on, I'm a professional bystander, I'm not going to laugh."

Song Yuqi couldn't stop laughing beside her, her eyes glistening with tears. She could barely speak and could only gasp for breath while patting the armrest.

Jiang Che picked up a thermos from the side, unscrewed the lid, and handed it to her.

"Drink some water, don't choke."

Song Yuqi took it and drank a mouthful.

She pursed her lips, holding the cup in her hands without returning it.

The campfire crackled twice, then sparks flew up and went out.

The sea breeze blew a few strands of Song Yuqi's loose hair onto Jiang Che's shoulder.

She didn't move, and neither did he.

The two understood each other without saying a word.

Chen He and Deng Chao continued to dredge up old grievances against each other, their voices growing louder and their arguments becoming increasingly outrageous.

Chen He said that Deng Chao sang love songs into his slippers while singing karaoke at the hotel.

Deng Chao countered by accusing Chen He of asking the flight attendant for a blanket three times on the plane because he had used the first one as a scarf.

Wang Mian worked from both sides, verifying the payments on both sides and scattering the money like water.

Lu Han would occasionally chime in, each time hitting the two people's sore spots with precision, concise yet deadly.

Chen He was angered by his question, "If you treat the stone lion like an older brother, what does the stone lion call you?"

He was completely subdued, slumped in his chair, and remained silent.

In the temporary monitoring room, Wu Zheng stared at the screen, his lips twitching.

The assistant director tapped a few times on the calculator and then looked up.

"Director Wu, Deng Chao and Chen He have been exposing each other's secrets for five rounds now, and we've already spent eight thousand yuan."

Wu Zheng leaned back in his chair, staring at Deng Chao and Chen He on the screen, who were hugging and kissing each other.

"Okay, that's about it."

He picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the call button.

On the other side of the screen, Wang Mian heard Wu Zheng's voice through his in-ear monitor.

"That's enough, stop those two lunatics from biting each other."

"Change players."

Ask Song Yuqi.

Wang Mian received the instructions.

He flipped through the contents, scanned two lines, turned around, and his gaze passed over Deng Chao and Chen He, then over Lu Han, before settling steadily on the fourth chair.

Song Yuqi noticed that the room had suddenly fallen silent. She looked up and met Wang Mian's gaze.

"Song Yuqi".

"now you."