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

After the plane landed, the Wuha group didn't even have time to explore the airport properly before being taken by bus all the way to Jinshu Ancient Town.

As the wheels rolled over the stone pavement, the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns and stir-fried spices seeped in through the cracks in the car windows.

Song Yuqi leaned against the window and traced two circles on the glass with her finger.

"It smells so good, Jiang Che! I can smell the broth from a hot pot restaurant!"

Her sun hat was tilted to one side.

Jiang Che raised his hand to straighten the brim of his hat.

"I'll take you to eat as soon as you get off the bus."

A head popped out from the back seat, and Chen He grabbed the back of the seat and slapped it loudly.

"Chef, look at me, my lips are all white, I want to eat too."

Deng Chao raised his hand and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Are you hungry?"

"You almost choked on some beef jerky earlier, and now you're thinking about hot pot?"

Chen He covered the back of his head and turned back.

"Just a few bites of beef jerky... can that be considered a proper meal?"

Lu Han hugged her backpack, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

The bus stopped in front of the ancient town's archway.

The car door opened, and Wu Zheng, dressed in a dark gray cotton-linen jacket, stood guard in front of the stone bridge, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

The assistant director and four production assistants stood on either side, each holding a wooden tray covered with a red cloth.

Chen He stepped out of the car and looked Wu Zheng up and down.

"Old Wu, with that outfit... you've switched careers to become a fortune teller?"

Wu Zheng held the palm-leaf fan to his chest and didn't respond to his comment.

"Welcome, everyone, to Jinshu Ancient Town."

"At this stop, you will experience the clash between intangible cultural heritage and martial arts."

Song Yuqi stepped down the stairs, still holding onto Jiang Che's sleeve, and peeked her head toward the tray.

"Director Wu, stop with the formalities and give us the funding first."

"You took all the eight thousand yuan that Xidao won. You should at least provide enough starting capital for this leg of the trip, right?"

Assistant Director Wu Zhengchao adjusted his palm-leaf fan.

The red cloth was lifted.

There were no banknotes on the tray, only two stacks of wooden copper coins and two scrolls of calligraphy brushes.

Deng Chao picked up a wooden coin and twirled it between his fingers twice.

"They're giving you this thing?"

"Can I buy hot pot?"

Wu Zheng cleared his throat.

"Jinshu Ancient Town uses its own currency, Shutongbao."

"Each person will be given ten coins initially, and all expenses for food, drink, lodging and transportation will be settled in Tongbao."

Before Song Yuqi could even raise her hand toward the tray, Wu Zheng had already placed the palm-leaf fan across her face.

"Don't rush."

"Before issuing Tongbao coins, please announce the grouping rules of this site."

Chen He took half a step back.

"Divided into groups again?"

"Explain clearly first, how do you plan to divide it?"

Wu Zheng turned the fan handle and pointed to two bluestone paths deep in the ancient town.

"The ancient town is divided into the Food God Hall on the East Street and the Hundred Plays Hall on the West Street."

"Each team occupies one street, completes the intangible cultural heritage check-in challenge, earns in-game currency, and finally determines the winner."

Song Yuqi immediately grabbed Jiang Che's wrist.

"I'm in a group with Jiang Che, there's no room for discussion, right?"

Deng Chao nodded in agreement.

"Yes, whatever you do, don't take it apart."

"If it's really demolished, I don't know if Jiang Che will go on strike or not, but your show will definitely be difficult to record."

Wu Zheng shook his head.

"This time, it's not my choice."

"The two newly arrived mystery guest stars will choose the participants."

Chen He tiptoed and looked around halfway.

Where are they?

"Where did you hide again?"

Across the stone bridge, the carved window on the second floor of the teahouse was pushed open from the inside.

On the left, Jin Chen held a covered teacup, the hem of her modified cheongsam being lifted by a corner of the wind blowing in through the window.

Qin Xiao stood on the right, his round-framed glasses sliding half an inch down his nose, while he waved his folding fan with practiced ease.

Deng Chao looked up and recognized the two people, almost dropping the wooden money in his hand back onto the tray.

"Old Qin?"

"And Jin Chen!"

Chen He craned his neck and shouted.

"Director Wu, that's impressive! You managed to poach Qin Xiao and Jin Chen?"

Qin Xiao pushed his glasses back up and bowed slightly towards the bridge through the window.

"My esteemed heroes, I've heard so much about you!"

Jin Chen leaned against the windowsill with one hand and waved to the crowd.

"Brother Chao! Brother He! Little Deer! Yuqi!"

Turning her gaze to Jiang Che, she added another sentence.

"And Teacher Jiang Che!"

Song Yuqi also raised her hand.

"Sister Jin Chen!"

Jiang Che nodded to the people upstairs.

A few minutes later, the two went downstairs, crossed the stone bridge, and met up with the Five Ha Regiment.

As soon as they crossed the stone bridge, Jin Chen took Song Yuqi's hand, his gaze shifting from her face to their still-holding hands.

"Yuqi, I've watched the whole island special."

"You two have been trending on Weibo for three whole days, it's so sweet!"

Song Yuqi tried to pull her hand back, but Jin Chen grabbed it halfway, so she could only smile with her lips pursed.

"Sister Jin Chen... please stop making fun of me."

Qin Xiao patted Jiang Che on the shoulder.

"Brother Jiang Che, I've long admired your name."

I've listened to your new song on repeat so many times.

Jiang Che squeezed his hand back.

"Brother Qin, you're too kind."

Chen He forced his head between the two men.

"Old Qin, look at me too."

"I listen to your crosstalk on repeat every day."

Qin Xiao held the folding fan in front of his chest to block the face that was too close.

"Mr. Chen He, are you using my crosstalk as a lullaby?"

Before Chen He could retort, everyone around him burst into laughter.

Wu Zheng clapped his hands twice.

"Alright, everyone's here."

"Qin Xiao will serve as the head of the Food God Hall on East Street, and Jin Chen will serve as the head of the Hundred Entertainments Hall on West Street."

"Each of the two guest stars has one hundred coins as starting capital. Now, let's begin the selection process."

Jin Chen raised his hand and pointed at Jiang Che and Song Yuqi.

"I choose Jiang Che and Yu Qi!"

"An all-around master chef with top-notch combat skills, and a financial manager—I want both of them."

Qin Xiao had just opened his folding fan when he snapped it shut again.

"Wait a minute, Jin Chen."

"You've taken away the two strongest opponents in one go, what am I supposed to do?"

Jin Chen raised his chin.

"The rules don't say you can't choose them together."

"First come, first served."

Qin Xiao turned to look for Wu Zheng.

"Director, are you going to ignore this?"

"You can tolerate it, but I can't."

Wu Zheng tapped the edge of the table with his palm-leaf fan.

"Only one person can be selected each round, and the selection order is determined by drawing lots."

Jin Chen drew a red card, while Qin Xiao received a blue card.

"Jin Chen will choose first."

Before the signature could be put back, Jin Chen had already pulled Song Yuqi to his side.

"Then I'll choose Yuqi first."

"Let's go shopping and eat snacks together, girls!"

After Song Yuqi steadied herself, her gaze immediately passed over the lottery box and landed on Jiang Che.

Qin Xiao pushed his glasses back up, looked at the remaining four people one by one, and finally chose Jiang Che.

"Brother Jiang Che, you can cook. The Food God Hall can't do without you."

"Come with me."

Jiang Che didn't move, his hands still in his pockets.

"Brother Qin, I suggest you choose Brother Chao or Brother He."

Qin Xiao's folding fan stopped in mid-air.

Why?

Jiang Che turned his head to the side, his gaze passing over the group of people and landing on Song Yuqi.

"I only cook for the person in charge of the family's finances."

Qin Xiao held up the folding fan, but didn't put it down for a long time.

Chen Hexian clutched his chest and took three steps back to lean against Deng Chao.

"It's over, it's over..."

"I'm already stuffed before we even enter the ancient town!"

Deng Chao pointed at Jiang Che and laughed.

"Old Qin, give up."

"These two are bound together; you can't separate them."

Jin Chen stomped his feet and laughed.

"Teacher Qin, did you hear me?"

"Forced relationships are never sweet!"

Qin Xiao put away his folding fan and turned to look at the remaining three people.

"Fine, I can't mess with young people in the throes of new love."

"Then I choose the deer; the deer is reliable."

Lu Han smiled and stood behind him.

Jin Chen's turn was in the second round.

She didn't even bother to repeat her name and simply waved to Jiang Che.

Jiang Che crossed the middle line of the queue and stood back next to Song Yuqi.

Song Yuqi hooked her arm around his sleeve, finally turning her gaze away from the lottery tube that had been following him.

"You're smart to know what's good for you."

Jiang Che looked down at her.

"Otherwise what?"

"You're really going to cook for them?"

The remaining Deng Chao and Chen He were automatically assigned to the East Street Food God Hall.

Chen He glanced at the three people opposite him, then turned back to check his own lineup, and sighed.

"Old Qin, with the two of us, Chao Ge, and Xiao Lu, how about we call this the 'Sunset Glow Senior Citizens Group'?"

Deng Chao kicked him.

"Can't you speak properly?"

"We call ourselves the cunning and calculating Jianghu school!"

After the teams were divided, Wu Zheng put away his palm-leaf fan.

"The two teams headed to their respective neighborhoods to begin their first intangible cultural heritage check-in."

"The mission of Xijie Baixifang is to arrange and perform intangible cultural heritage shadow puppetry."

"The mission of Dongjie Food Hall is to prepare and evaluate the Nine Bowls of Intangible Cultural Heritage."

"At 2 p.m., the residents will gather at the central square of the ancient town to vote."

"The winning team will receive half of the opponent's Shu Tongbao."

Upon hearing the word "nine bowls," Chen He immediately straightened his back.

"Cook?"

"I'm good at this!"

Deng Chao glanced at him sideways.

"You're good at eating."

"Besides instant noodles, what other cooking skills do you have?"

Qin Xiao flung aside his folding fan and stepped onto East Street first.

"What's there to be afraid of!"

"We have Little Deer and Brother Chao; three heads are better than one. Let's go!"

The four people on East Street quickly turned onto another bluestone road.

Jin Chen watched them leave, then turned and spread his hands.

"Gentlemen, how do we set up our shadow puppet show?"

"Let me confess first, I've never even touched a shadow puppet."

Song Yuqi turned to look for Jiang Che.

"Jiang Che, do you even know how to do this?"

Jiang Che had already stepped onto West Street.

"Let's go take a look first."

Wooden buildings nestled between long bluestone streets, red lanterns under the eaves swayed back and forth in the wind, and the aroma of cooking food wafted up from the stoves along the street.

Sweet water noodles, three cannons, and leaf-wrapped rice cakes—the stalls lined up one after another.

When Song Yuqi reached the Three Cannons stall, her pace slowed down.

The glutinous rice balls fell into the copper plate with two clanging sounds.

Jiang Che took half a step further, and when there was no more movement behind him, he stopped and turned around.

"Want some?"

Song Yuqi glanced at the money pouch at Jin Chen's waist and made a two with her fingers.

"Our Gold Monk has a hundred coins..."

"Just one serving, want to try it?"

Jin Chen patted his money pouch.

"purchase!"

"Enough for everyone!"

Two coins were exchanged for a box of "Three Great Cannons" (a type of fried dough stick) coated with soybean powder and brown sugar syrup.

Song Yuqi picked up a piece of food, but instead of putting it in her own mouth, she offered it to Jiang Che first.

"what……"

Jiang Che lowered his head and took a bite of half of it.

Song Yuqi held up the remaining half and asked questions rapidly.

"Is it sweet?"

"sweet."

Soybean powder clung to the corner of her lips.

Jiang Che wiped it off for her with his thumb, and Song Yuqi took the opportunity to stuff the remaining half into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out.

Jin Chen held the remaining two glutinous rice balls, brought them to his mouth, and then stopped.

"I said... I'm here to record a show, right?"

"Why do I feel like a giant third wheel the more I walk around?"

Song Yuqi quickly handed over the bamboo skewer.

"Sister Jin Chen, you should eat too!"

Jin Chen took a bite and shook his head at the two of them.

"These three cannons were originally quite sweet."

"After eating this from the two of you, my mouth is full of sourness."

The three walked across the long street and stopped in front of the Hundred Plays and Shadow Puppet Troupe.

The courtyard gate was open, and a white screen was set up in the center, with the lights behind it already on.

The old craftsman on the bamboo chair was not disturbed by them. He slowly pushed the carving knife along the edge of the cowhide, and fine scraps of leather fell onto half the table.

Above the courtyard wall, the program crew's cameras were already pointed at the control panel.

The loudspeaker blared twice, and Wu Zheng's voice immediately filled the courtyard.

"The West Street Hundred Opera House check-in task is officially launched."

"Within two hours, make shadow puppet props by hand and write and direct a five-minute shadow puppet short play."

"Just a heads-up, the Nine Bowls at Dongjie Shishentang are already open for business."

Jin Chen picked up a carving knife, glanced at the cowhide on the table, and then put the knife back in its place.

"Two hours?"

"The leather isn't even finished yet, but the feast on East Street has probably already started."

Song Yuqi picked up another carving knife and tried it on the edge of the cowhide; the tip of the knife only made a shallow mark.

"This really tests your hand skills..."

Jiang Che bypassed the carving knife and picked up the unfinished white crane figure on the table.

The bamboo skewer spun half a circle between his fingers, and the white crane's wings opened and closed twice in response.

"There's no need to create a complicated, full-length opera."

"Write a new script, and make two more exclusive film characters. That's enough."

Song Yuqi put down the carving knife and moved to his side.

"What notebook are you writing in?"

Jiang Che put the white crane back under the lamp and turned to meet her gaze.

"Write a story of discovery in the ancient town and its surroundings."

He poked her with a bamboo skewer.

"You are the main character."