Chapter 105: A Lack of Honor

The game began, and everyone sought out their own partner, racing toward the four floating boards scattered across the beach. This game required cooperation between partners; it wasn’t something one could tackle solo while the other barely participated. Clearly, there was a competitive element in this activity.

Surveying the scene, the money bags bobbing on the sea were obviously limited resources. Everyone realized it was a first-come, first-served situation, so each pair quickened their pace; some broke into a run, notably Xu Junze and Chu Yao.

Chu Yao had already shrugged off the shawl she’d worn earlier, finding it too cumbersome. The shyness she’d felt at first, uncomfortable with the revealing swimsuit, had vanished. After hearing the new rules, her mind was singularly focused: grab enough coins as fast as possible to exchange for the ticket she wanted.

Xu Junze’s motivation differed somewhat, but their goal was the same. He didn’t care what boat took him to Black Island, nor was he bothered about staying in a luxury hotel that night. What mattered to him was the “Best Teamwork” award. Their team had come in last in the previous round; they couldn’t afford to lag behind again, or the audience might perceive them as lacking in teamwork.

“Yao Yao, you sit in front, I’ll be behind,” Xu Junze said, clutching the board as he ran toward the water, already planning their positions.

“Alright,” Chu Yao replied.

Their sudden sprint set the tone, tension rising in the air. Ye Fangfei, usually unhurried on the show, felt the difference this time. No one knew how the producers had set things up—how many money bags were there? If there weren’t enough, some pairs would have to take the small boat to Black Island, which was troublesome.

She couldn’t sit on the small boat…

Thinking of this, she glanced at Chu Yao and Xu Junze running with their board and hurriedly patted Zhang Chen’s shoulder. “Let’s run too!”

Zhang Chen thought he’d misheard. “What?”

“Don’t waste time, run! Those money bags floating on the sea are up for grabs. If we’re slow, there’ll be none left. I have to get a luxury cruise ticket today!” With that, Ye Fangfei dashed off.

Her agile figure sped up, chasing after Chu Yao and Xu Junze.

Zhang Chen: “???”

Was this really the Ye Fangfei he knew? Facing the show’s task, hadn’t she always been indifferent to winning or losing? What changed? Suddenly she cared about victory?

No matter what, it was rare for her to want something! Zhang Chen had waited for this opportunity; if she wanted a luxury cruise ticket, he’d get it for her! That would surely boost her affection for him.

“Alright!” Zhang Chen responded with a grin, grabbing his board and running.

The other guests were equally surprised. Ye Fangfei, suddenly so active and competitive? A miracle.

Lu Zhou watched her run and chuckled; it seemed she really was traumatized by seasickness…

Even the most laid-back female guest sensed the scarcity of resources and grew unusually proactive. The other girls urged their male partners, charging toward the sea together.

Sunshine, beach, handsome men and beautiful women in swimsuits running—it was a delightful scene.

Chu Yao and Xu Junze were the first to plunge into the sea, quickly climbing onto their board: Chu Yao in front, Xu Junze behind. They paddled with their hands, heading toward the floating money bags.

But the waves were strong, and Chu Yao struggled to stay steady, tumbling into the water.

Xu Junze reached out and pulled her up. “Lie down on the board, you won’t fall off that way.”

“Lying down takes up space, and you’ll lose your spot,” Chu Yao said, sitting up and pushing her wet hair behind her, her swimsuit leaving nothing concealed.

Xu Junze’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to her, but he quickly refocused.

“There’s a space-saving method: I’ll sit behind, you lie in front, your calves can rest on my legs—it’ll be harder to fall off, and easier for you to paddle. That is, if you don’t mind.”

Chu Yao considered him seriously, glimpsed the others quickly catching up, and nodded. “Alright, let’s do it your way.”

There was nothing inappropriate about this contact; teamwork required practicality.

Chu Yao positioned herself quickly.

Xu Junze glanced at Chu Yao lying in front of him, her back to him in the swimsuit, feeling a strange mix of emotions. “You need to eat more, you’ve gotten way too thin.”

“…” Chu Yao glared at him. “Can you focus on the money bags? Is now really the time to talk about eating more?”

Xu Junze laughed, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright, I’ll focus on the money bags, not you.”

“They’re catching up, let’s paddle faster. Listen to me—I’ll decide the direction, you follow my lead.”

“Okay,” Xu Junze replied.

In the live chat—

[Key question, where’s she gotten thinner? Front or back?]
[Come on, where are you looking!]
[This pair is fast!]
…

Right behind Xu Junze and Chu Yao were Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei.

Entering the water, the two argued over who should sit in front and who behind.

“No guy sits in front! Besides, I’m taller, sitting in front would block your view and make things harder.”

Zhang Chen insisted Ye Fangfei sit in front, and even lie down like Chu Yao, but Ye Fangfei refused—she wanted the back, and Zhang Chen tried to persuade her.

It would be wonderful if Ye Fangfei sat in front, ideally lying down, so they could have a bit of skin contact.

“Who says a guy can’t sit in front?” Ye Fangfei dragged back the board nearly swept away by a wave, patted it, and said, “Don’t worry, you won’t block my view. If you’re really worried about your height, you can lie down.”

Zhang Chen: “…”

Was this something a woman would say? Did she not know about male anatomy? Lying down?

“You really won’t sit in front?” Zhang Chen made a last effort.

“I feel I’ll have better control sitting behind. Up front, I can’t see your paddling, and if your directions are off, we might not even reach the money bags.”

Ye Fangfei stuck to her choice.

“We haven’t even tried; how do you know I’ll mess up? Can’t you trust me just once?”

“Trust isn’t built in a moment. Your surfing performance before didn’t inspire confidence in your water skills. Plus, this is a competition—the cost of mistakes is high. I don’t want to take the small boat tonight because we wasted time.”

Ye Fangfei climbed onto the board, looking at Zhang Chen.

“You coming?”

With no other option, Zhang Chen climbed up, sitting in front, full of silent frustration.

“Which side do I paddle?” he asked.

“I’ll call out directions; you paddle left or right as I say.”

“Okay.”

“Left… right… left…”

They coordinated and managed to move forward a bit.

But a wave hit, Zhang Chen lost his balance and nearly flipped off. The rhythm was thrown off, and no matter how Ye Fangfei called directions, the board just spun in place.

“Zhang Chen, can’t you tell left from right? I say left, and you paddle right. No wonder we keep spinning in circles,” Ye Fangfei frowned.

“Oh, I got confused, thought you were calling right…” Zhang Chen looked back apologetically.

Ye Fangfei: “…”

They paddled for quite a while, but either the direction was wrong or the strength too little, and the board was swept farther away by the waves—they were even farther from the money bag area than before.

Meanwhile, Xu Junze and Chu Yao worked seamlessly, almost reaching the money bag zone.

Ye Fangfei suddenly thought, if the rules didn’t require partners to work together, she might have collected enough money bags on her own by now.

“I’m really not good at sitting in front and following directions—let me sit behind instead!” Zhang Chen thought that was the issue.

Ye Fangfei didn’t bother arguing; he really couldn’t cooperate up front, so she agreed.

They switched positions.

“You take the lead,” Ye Fangfei said.

“Relax, leave it to me,” Zhang Chen said, brimming with confidence.

But minutes later… Zhang Chen’s directions didn’t get them any closer; after a brief struggle, Wen Yiming and Li Jiayan, Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia had overtaken them completely.

Ye Fangfei sighed. Two people on different wavelengths just had too many bugs to work out.

Unlike Xu Junze and Chu Yao, who had great synergy, their coordinated paddling gave them an advantage, but if partners weren’t in sync, paddling together only led to chaos.

She noticed Lu Zhou and Wen Yiming’s teams had adopted a different strategy and had an idea. She turned to Zhang Chen, “Let’s paddle separately, each person takes a turn, switch when tired.”

Zhang Chen felt the same—no matter who sat where, they just couldn’t coordinate. Continuing would only waste energy, so he agreed.

This method worked much faster—they no longer drifted aimlessly.

Live chat—

[I think Brother Zhang is just a clown]
[Zhang Chen paired with anyone is hilarious]
[He’s got a bit of humor to him]
…

Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia had chosen this relay paddling strategy from the start.

Qi Jiajia sat in front, Lu Zhou behind; the two took turns paddling, quickly overtaking Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei, entering the money bag area as the second team.

When they arrived, Chu Yao already had at least three money bags in hand.

The money bags floated far apart and shifted with the waves; their locations were unstable. Grabbing one wasn’t easy, especially when two teams targeted the same bag, making competition fiercer.

“Jiajia, stop paddling for now. Just spot which bag is closest and easiest to grab, tell me, and I’ll handle the propulsion—you focus on grabbing,” Lu Zhou adjusted their strategy.

“Alright,” Qi Jiajia agreed.

Xu Junze and Chu Yao worked so well together, their speed at collecting money bags was impressive. Qi Jiajia realized competing with them directly might be futile.

“Let’s go over there, farther away; don’t get close to them—they’re too fast at grabbing money,” she told Lu Zhou.

Lu Zhou laughed—“grabbing money” was an apt description. He steered the board toward a quieter area, where no one else was.

Soon, they collected several money bags.

Wen Yiming and Li Jiayan used a different tactic for their board—completely single-handed paddling. Wen Yiming handled all the physical effort; Li Jiayan just sat up front, ready to grab bags.

This was Wen Yiming’s idea—he was confident in his stamina. Li Jiayan let him take charge; her own stamina wasn’t great, so saving energy was a good plan.

They were the third group to enter the money bag zone. Seeing Chu Yao almost unable to hold all her bags, they were both shocked.

“You’re ruthless! At least leave some for us!” Li Jiayan joked.

“Don’t rely on others to leave you food; you have to fight for it yourself,” Xu Junze said, grabbing another money bag and winking at her.

Her swimsuit matched her image, making her look even more captivating than usual; it was hard for anyone’s gaze not to linger.

Wen Yiming, always unimpressed by Xu Junze’s lack of charisma, turned their board toward another money bag, saying, “He’s way too smug. Let’s work hard and take them down.”

“You sound like a gangster—‘take them down’,” Li Jiayan laughed.

Wen Yiming grinned. “It’s just a figure of speech.”

Li Jiayan reached for a nearby money bag, but as other teams approached, she saw Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia heading for the same bag.

“Jiayan, hurry! Don’t let them get it,” Wen Yiming reminded her.

Earlier, Li Jiayan and Qi Jiajia had a bit of a spat in the lounge; now, competing for the same bag again? No way!

Li Jiayan lunged for the bag, got hold of it, but as she leaned out, she lost her balance and fell into the sea.

Without a life jacket and with strong waves, she drifted a bit.

“Jiayan!” Wen Yiming jumped in, reaching for her waist.

Li Jiayan kicked away, putting distance between them, and smiled, “I’m fine—I can swim.”

She swam back, grabbed the board, and climbed up.

Dripping wet, she wiped her face and looked at Lu Zhou.

Qi Jiajia was still reaching for the bag, clearly not having processed Li Jiayan’s victory.

Lu Zhou said to Li Jiayan, “It’s just a bag of coins—no need to get so competitive. Safety first.”

“I just slipped—I’ll be careful next time,” Li Jiayan smiled, feeling warmth in her heart at his concern.

Water dripped from her chin onto her chest, sliding downward; Wen Yiming, still in the sea, was transfixed.

Live chat—

[Wen Yiming, wipe your drool]
[My Jiayan, so sexy]
[This scene is interesting]
…

Qi Jiajia, noticing the strange light in Wen Yiming’s eyes as he looked at Li Jiayan, felt a stab of pain, but also a sense of liberation.

His gaze confirmed her judgment about his character—breaking up was the right choice.

“Lu Zhou, shall we go elsewhere?” Qi Jiajia asked, smiling.

Lu Zhou nodded, paddling to find another money bag.

But at the next spot, they ran into Ye Fangfei and Zhang Chen, who had just arrived.

A money bag floated between the two teams—who would grab it first?

Competition was about to begin.

“How many have you got?” Ye Fangfei asked, eyeing the bag in Qi Jiajia’s hand.

Qi Jiajia raised her bag with a smile. “Seven.”

“You’re loaded—can you let us have this one?” Ye Fangfei asked.

Zhang Chen chimed in, playing the pity card. “Yeah, let us have it. You’ve got seven; we don’t have any.”

“That’s no fun—let’s rely on our own abilities. Whoever gets there first wins,” Lu Zhou said.

Zhang Chen pursed his lips. “You really don’t have a heart for helping the weak?”

Lu Zhou found it amusing. “Who’s weak?”

Zhang Chen: “…” The rascal was trying to trick him.

He pointed at Ye Fangfei. “Her.”

Live chat—

[Wow, you’re bold]
[Zhang, you don’t want to reconcile, do you?]
[Ye Fangfei: Ugh]
…

Ye Fangfei raised her brows, shooting Zhang Chen a look. “Who’s weak?”

Zhang Chen grinned. “It’s strategy—‘play dumb to catch the tiger,’ the twenty-sixth of the thirty-six stratagems.”

Ye Fangfei: “…You’re so clever.”

Lu Zhou laughed. “You’re conspiring so loudly—are you serious?”

“Enough talk, let’s do it—may the best win,” Ye Fangfei said, signaling Zhang Chen to paddle over.

Without hesitation, Lu Zhou moved too.

Both teams raced toward the money bag.

As they neared, Ye Fangfei realized they were still a bit slower; the other side was closer, and Zhang Chen’s paddling was flagging—he must be tired.

Seeing this, Ye Fangfei dove into the sea, swimming straight for the money bag.

Zhang Chen: “???”

Lu Zhou: “…”

Qi Jiajia saw Ye Fangfei break the script and quickly used one hand to help Lu Zhou paddle, hoping to reach the bag first.

Just as they drew near, Qi Jiajia reached out—but was a step too late. The bag vanished underwater, her hand grabbing nothing.

Ye Fangfei emerged from the water, holding the money bag aloft.

She shook water from her face, smiling at Lu Zhou and Qi Jiajia. “Sorry, got it first.”

“That’s a bit unsporting,” Lu Zhou raised his handsome brows, smiling.

“Do you know what real unsporting behavior is?” Ye Fangfei beamed at him.

Lu Zhou, intrigued, asked, “What?”

Before he finished, Ye Fangfei dove again, like a mermaid, swimming around their board underwater.

The water was clear enough to see her silhouette.

Lu Zhou sensed trouble and glanced at the other side of the board.

He saw Ye Fangfei emerge, grabbing a bag that had slipped off the board unnoticed.

She waved her trophy at him, radiant. “Now that’s unsporting! Thanks for your generous donation!”

Qi Jiajia realized what had happened, “Oh no,” she muttered, clutching her bags. “I didn’t hold it properly and dropped one.”

Lu Zhou looked at Ye Fangfei swimming toward Zhang Chen’s board, his smile unchanged. “It’s alright—we’ll just find more.”

The brief encounter ended as both teams went their separate ways.

Qi Jiajia was annoyed at herself for dropping a bag, venting as they searched for new ones.

“It’s all my fault. But they knew that was ours—they should have returned it. That really is unsporting.”

Lu Zhou said, “Actually, it isn’t.”

Qi Jiajia didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

“Not unsporting,” Lu Zhou replied, smiling. “The money bags are fair game. If we drop one, anyone can grab it. That’s the game; don’t stress.”

Qi Jiajia pursed her lips, still a little upset, but had to accept it. “Alright.”

They hunted for new money bags, but saw there were few left.

Meanwhile, the most aggressive team—Xu Junze and Chu Yao—already had at least ten bags but were still competing for the remaining ones.

Wen Yiming and Li Jiayan were locked in fierce battle with Xu Junze’s team, their own haul impressive—probably about ten bags as well.

Lu Zhou watched the intense competition from afar, wondering if they’d forgotten there was another place to collect bags.

He shook his head, uninterested in joining, and steered himself and Qi Jiajia to another area.

Ye Fangfei, seeing only a handful of bags left and watching the fierce contest between the two teams, decided not to join the fray.

They’d arrived late, collecting only two bags; even if they won every remaining bag, they’d still have fewer than the others.

Why waste time? Better to head to the pile area and dive for bags underwater.

Ye Fangfei sat on her board, counted the coins in her two bags: one had five, the other eight.

“Only thirteen,” she said.

Zhang Chen: “What?”

Ye Fangfei shook the bags. “Thirteen dollars total—what can we do with that?”

Zhang Chen: “Not even enough for the small boat, let alone the luxury cruise.”

Ye Fangfei nodded and asked, “How much do you think the luxury cruise ticket costs?”

“If it’s just one trip, maybe a hundred or two? But I doubt they’ll use real market prices; otherwise, how many bags would we need to collect?”

“How about we save up a hundred dollars before exchanging for tickets at the guesthouse?” Ye Fangfei suggested.

Zhang Chen’s lips twitched, feeling his energy drained. “A hundred? That’s a lot. They’ll probably give us a discount—maybe fifty will do. Let’s collect fifty, go exchange, and see.”

“If we go with fifty, we might end up wasting a trip,” Ye Fangfei disagreed.

“What if it’s not a waste? Can you listen to me just once?” Zhang Chen stopped paddling, his exhaustion making him irritable. “Not everything has to go your way.”

“I’m discussing it with you, aren’t I? Why are you so impatient?” Ye Fangfei was puzzled by his sudden mood.

Zhang Chen realized his emotional slip, recalling his mother’s advice, and tried to recover.

“There’s a time limit. If we don’t exchange tickets by six thirty, we’ll have to take the small boat. You said you wanted the luxury cruise, right? Why am I rushing? I just want to get you that ticket before time’s up.”

He decided to use this opportunity to show he was always thinking of her—even if it wasn’t true; he was just tired of the board.

Zhang Chen suddenly felt brilliantly clever.

Ye Fangfei was taken aback.

“You… don’t want the luxury cruise?” she asked.

Zhang Chen hesitated, then said, “I do… but even if I don’t get it, I’m okay.”

“If you want it, don’t make it sound like you’re only doing it for me,” Ye Fangfei corrected him.

“Oh, maybe I exaggerated,” Zhang Chen admitted.

“And I only suggested saving a hundred dollars because of the time limit. If we don’t have enough, we’ll have to redo the task, wasting time and energy. Plus, based on my experience, fifty dollars seems too easy for the show’s style.”

Ye Fangfei explained her reasoning.

Zhang Chen nodded obediently. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

Ye Fangfei acknowledged, handed him the bags. “Let me paddle—you look exhausted.”

Zhang Chen: “…” Was he really that easy to read?

Ye Fangfei turned the board toward the underwater pile zone.

Live chat—

[Zhang Chen is so submissive with Ye Fangfei—wasn’t he so assertive with Qi Jiajia yesterday?]
[Rich puppy vs. glamorous superstar—I love this dynamic! Someone write fanfiction, I’d totally read it!]
[If they ever marry, he’ll be totally henpecked]
[Forget marriage—if they reconcile, I’ll eat a shoe live]
…