Chapter 88: The Situation Ahead Looks Grim

Country M, nearly five in the afternoon.

The four pairs of guests from “Shall We Swap? Exes” had all arrived one after another at today’s final check-in attraction—Adventure Park.

Li Jiayan and Xu Junze were the first to arrive and received the program’s mission card.

“Please fasten both ends of the red rope around each other’s wrists, and make your way together through the adventure forest. Once you reach the top of the tower at the end, write down your thoughts about today’s journey!”

Li Jiayan read out the mission card’s instructions, then turned to Xu Junze with a smile. “This one seems simpler than the others.”

“Adventure forest? I wouldn’t jump to conclusions so soon.” Xu Junze’s gaze drifted to the straw basket beside the mission card, inside which lay four thick red ropes, each with circular clasps at both ends designed to secure around wrists. Picking up one, he asked, “So we’re supposed to tie this to our hands?”

“Yes, though I’m not sure what the point is.” Li Jiayan replied with a helpless smile.

“Maybe they want to force us closer together?” Xu Junze deftly fastened one end of the red rope to his left wrist and handed her the other end.

“It’s really short, isn’t it?” Li Jiayan observed, estimating the length to be less than a meter.

“About fifty centimeters,” Xu Junze confirmed.

Li Jiayan tied the other end to her right wrist. They tested how far apart they could stand with the rope taut. Li Jiayan laughed, “If we walk single file, won’t we end up stepping on each other’s heels?”

“Then let’s walk side by side,” Xu Junze suggested.

Once the rope was secured, they prepared to follow the jungle signs along the only path—there were no other options.

Just as they were about to set out, footsteps sounded behind them.

They turned to see Zhang Chen and Qi Jiajia arriving. The four greeted each other.

“I heard from Chu Yao that the task on Rose Street was exhausting and a real hassle. How did you two finish so quickly?” Qi Jiajia exclaimed in surprise.

“It was tough, but we got lucky,” Li Jiayan replied with a smile.

“If I’d known, we would’ve chosen Rose Street too,” Qi Jiajia said, glancing at Zhang Chen out of the corner of her eye.

If they’d gone to Rose Street, they wouldn’t have stumbled upon Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei’s scene, and someone wouldn’t have spent the whole drive here in a sulk.

After watching Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei’s stage performance at the shopping plaza, Zhang Chen’s mood had plummeted. He barely spoke to Qi Jiajia on the way, except to urge the driver to go faster and ask how much longer it would take.

He seemed determined to win this last round—perhaps hoping to beat Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei and reclaim some dignity for himself?

That was Qi Jiajia’s guess. In any case, throughout today’s journey, she’d been forced to rush alongside him, racing against time without a moment to enjoy the trip. By now, she’d grown accustomed to his competitive urgency and no longer bothered objecting.

Still, she was curious. Zhang Chen and Ye Fangfei had only dated for three days—could seeing Ye Fangfei perform with Lu Zhou really have affected him so deeply?

Had he actually chased after Ye Fangfei for a long time? Was it that, despite the brief relationship, his feelings for her ran deep?

She couldn’t figure it out.

“So what’s the final task?” Qi Jiajia asked Li Jiayan and Xu Junze.

Xu Junze raised his right hand, the one fastened with the red rope, to show them.

“Why does this look like you’re walking a dog?” Zhang Chen remarked as he caught sight of the red rope on their wrists.

Qi Jiajia: “…”

Li Jiayan: “…”

The corners of Xu Junze’s lips twitched at Zhang Chen’s random joke, and he couldn’t help but tease back, “Is that a new form of self-deprecating humor?”

Zhang Chen didn’t answer, instead picking up the mission card to read.

Sensing Zhang Chen’s gloomy mood, Li Jiayan quietly pulled Qi Jiajia aside and whispered, “Zhang Chen doesn’t seem happy. Did you two have a disagreement?”

“No, he’s just jealous,” Qi Jiajia replied, shaking her head and lowering her voice so only Li Jiayan could hear.

Hearing the word “jealous,” Li Jiayan paused, immediately thinking of Lu Zhou.

“Did something happen?” she asked, feigning nonchalance.

Qi Jiajia suddenly realized this was related to Lu Zhou, and that Li Jiayan was his ex-girlfriend. She caught herself before saying more, smiled with pressed lips, and went over to join Zhang Chen in reading the mission card.

Xu Junze urged Li Jiayan onward, and the two set off on the jungle trail.

Zhang Chen and Qi Jiajia soon fastened their red rope and quickly caught up, even surpassing them.

Xu Junze found their sudden burst of competitiveness amusing. “Fine, let them go ahead and check out the situation for us.”

Li Jiayan nodded, her mind still pondering what Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei could have done on the shopping street stage to make Zhang Chen so jealous.

Lost in thought, their steps became misaligned, and the winding, rugged path was hard to navigate. They quickly fell behind Zhang Chen and Qi Jiajia.

Before long, Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei, who had arrived later at Adventure Park, caught up with them.

Li Jiayan was surprised to see them, and her attention returned to the present.

“We were the first to arrive, but now we’ve fallen so far behind. Zhang Chen and Jiajia have overtaken us, and you two have caught up from behind,” Xu Junze joked.

“We didn’t see anyone the whole way and thought you’d all finished the task and returned to the hotel. It’s getting dark, so we jogged most of the way,” Lu Zhou replied with a smile.

“Jogged? Didn’t you step on each other’s feet? Junze and I have done that several times,” Li Jiayan said, glancing at the red rope connecting Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei’s wrists.

They kept a normal distance, the rope hung in a relaxed arc, no tension or any hint of intimacy, which eased Li Jiayan’s mind.

“If you walk in sync, it’s fine. Problems arise when one is faster than the other,” Ye Fangfei replied.

“Looks like Junze and I need to work on our coordination,” Li Jiayan said, giving Lu Zhou a sidelong glance.

The four continued along the only path, Li Jiayan and Xu Junze in front, Ye Fangfei and Lu Zhou behind.

“The shopping street task was hard, right? We started there but couldn’t finish, so we switched to Rose Street,” Li Jiayan said, though her words were directed at Lu Zhou behind her.

“It was tough, mainly because we kept messing up with the binoculars and gave the wrong answers. We ran out of money and had to sing on the street to make up for it,” Lu Zhou replied.

“That’s allowed? Then this round must be too easy for you two!” Xu Junze chimed in.

Li Jiayan smiled. “Yeah, not fair. What did you sing?”

She was genuinely curious, especially about what duet could have made Zhang Chen so upset.

Ye Fangfei glanced at Li Jiayan, remembering that she was Lu Zhou’s ex, and recalled Zhang Chen’s reaction after watching their performance.

“We sang—” Lu Zhou began.

Ye Fangfei subtly nudged him, hoping to remind him to be careful with his words and avoid unnecessary trouble.

Lu Zhou, puzzled, turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t pull the rope so tight. It’s uncomfortable,” Ye Fangfei improvised, giving him a meaningful look.

Lu Zhou glanced down—the rope was slack. Realizing her intent, he smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”

“It’s fine,” Ye Fangfei replied, not sure if he’d caught her meaning.

Li Jiayan, receiving no answer, turned to glance at them.

Lu Zhou smiled at her. “You’d better watch Junze’s heels this time—don’t step on them again.”

No sooner had he spoken than Xu Junze stumbled forward.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Li Jiayan had indeed just stepped on his heel and quickly apologized.

“Maybe we need to march in step and count out loud,” Xu Junze joked.

Li Jiayan laughed.

“That’s actually a good idea,” Lu Zhou added with a grin.

With that, the conversation shifted, and no one mentioned Lu Zhou and Ye Fangfei’s stage performance again.

The four walked on, chatting and laughing, until suddenly, from ahead, came a startled, almost comical cry—one that sounded oddly familiar.

“Ah, no, no! I can’t do this! It’s too scary!”

They all stopped in surprise, exchanging looks.

“That sounds like Zhang Chen,” Xu Junze said.

Ye Fangfei’s lips twitched. “It is.”

Li Jiayan froze. “Seems like trouble up ahead.”

Lu Zhou smiled. “I knew it. Things were going too smoothly—not the production team’s style.”

With that, the four quickened their pace toward the commotion.