She was bustling about, looking like she was about to ride on a vast grassland, brandishing a whip.
Cheng Zhirang stopped her, shaking his head, "Let’s stick to the previous plan. But the one grabbing the ball will be me, you, Lin Lian, and Xu Cheng; we’ll leave Bai Shu alone up there."
"No problem, hurry up, I’m ready to fight!"
"Wait," he stopped her again, "Don’t rush, besides this plan, there should be another one.
We’ll all stay up there, quickly switch positions, form several Gomoku lines, and let the projector keep projecting transparent balls, then we’ll scramble for them."
Mu Qiu tilted her head, squinting her eyes and sizing him up.
"You’ve gone bad."
Cheng Zhirang smiled, "A close red makes a close black."
She gagged, glared at him, then stood up to find Lin Lian. He took charge of notifying Xu Cheng and Bai Shu.
After Shi Yuhuai removed his makeup, the photographer zoomed in for a close-up as usual, deliberately moving the camera down a bit, capturing his damp-shirted upper body.
The photographer was also a veteran worker on the show; they understood what fans craved.
As he returned to the poolside, just about to climb up, a hand suddenly reached out beside him.
Cheng Zhirang half-squatted, bent over, holding a rope in one hand and offering his other hand to him.
"I’ll pull you up."
Shi Yuhuai was wary, but when he looked past Cheng, Mu Qiu was wandering elsewhere, not paying attention here, so Cheng Zhirang pulling him up probably wasn’t under Mu Qiu’s directives.
He reached his hand up, watching as his hand entered Cheng Zhirang’s palm, his expression turning odd.
This felt very much like a bride agreeing to marry the groom.
Before he could shake off this odd notion, Cheng Zhirang pulled his hand vigorously upward!
He leaped up, standing at the outermost intersection.
Then Cheng Zhirang, with long strides, stood at the second intersection on that line.
"Qiuqiu!"
Mu Qiu abandoned disturbing Shu Ran, standing at the third intersection.
The Gomoku was completed.
The projector stopped, releasing two transparent balls.
Shi Yuhuai was used but didn’t mind, as after forming Gomoku, grabbing the ball was fair, with no inherent advantage.
However, what he hadn’t anticipated was that he’d continually be used thereafter.
Cheng Zhirang forcibly moved him from one intersection to another, not caring whether he was stable, as long as pressure was sensed by the sensor.
The projector couldn’t spin fast enough, continually releasing transparent balls.
Guan Yu and the others gaped as a slew of transparent balls flew in, squeezing the toy duck they picked up with a "quack."
"Goodness, it’s raining balls. You guys are turning the Monkey Swing Mountain game into an aquatic battling contest."
Chuchu immediately joined in, "Oh my God, Brother Cheng and the others are terrifying. I’m exhausted from scrambling, and now you’re telling me the real snatching is just beginning?"
Jiang Zhufeng: "Brother Huai, sorry, I can’t save you."
After being used multiple times, Shi Yuhuai finally broke free from Cheng Zhirang’s grip.
"Are you planning to release all the remaining balls first?"
Cheng Zhirang nodded, taking large strides to the next intersection: "Worried you wouldn’t cooperate well, had to force you to cooperate."
"...Didn’t you think I might cooperate willingly?"
"I did, but it’s not important."
With a calm tone saying arrogant things, Cheng Zhirang abandoned this spot and went to grab the bewildered Li Yang on the other side.
His arm tensed with muscle curvature, his strength surprisingly enormous, pulling Li Yang over, barely steady after crossing two intersections.
"Brother Cheng! Brother Cheng, what are you doing?! I struggled to climb up!"
Another Gomoku formed, the projector spewing transparent balls again. Cheng Zhirang eyed where the balls fell, then glanced at Mu Qiu, who had given up pulling people to grab balls, and with a flick, hoisted Li Yang to the next intersection.
Li Yang was terrified: "My clothes! Brother Cheng, my clothes will tear! I’ll walk myself!"
"One of my feet is already in the water, Brother Cheng! Ow!"
He was directly flung onto the central intersection, hanging skewed, luckily caught by crossed strips, preventing a plunge into water.
Li Yang trembled, turning to Cheng Zhirang: "Brother Cheng..."
Cheng Zhirang smiled at him, "As you wish, you’re worthless now."
"..." Sob sob sob.
All transparent balls from the projector were released, around seven or eight balls floated, exchanging continuously in the water with some people’s hands.
Cheng Zhirang prepared to lift Mu Qiu, but before leaving, reconsidered and dunked Li Yang instead.
"Even though you’re worthless, making you lose points is still good."
Li Yang was livid.
The battle for transparent balls had been underway for a while. Above, Bai Shu unleashed a Foshan Shadowless Kick, kicking folks into the water, while Xu Cheng, Lin Lian, and Mu Qiu dived in for balls, with distinct roles.
Mu Qiu was engrossed in snatching, slightly tired, gasping, eyes fixed on a particular ball in the water.
The note in that ball was makeup remover; she noticed, so she aimed at that ball to grab.
But the opposition was strong, as Jiang Zhufeng and Shu Ran entangled her hands and feet, and Guan Yu’s splash from a dive bomb weakened half her fighting capacity. Despite not having massive strength, the girls were adept at restraining, few could withstand it.
Her struggle was intense, frequently wiping her face, likely washing off most of her makeup.
Just as she was about to gear up to dive for the ball again, two hands suddenly extended from behind, hooked under her arms.
"I’ll pull you up. Don’t stay soaked all the time, let me go down."
It was Cheng Zhirang’s voice.
She looked back at him, nodded, and agreed.
Then he exerted force with both hands, lifting Mu Qiu out, breaking away from a group of girls.
Seated by the edge, before standing, Lin Lian and Xu Cheng emerged from water, Xu Cheng exuberantly raising a ball, "Makeup remover! Sister Mu Qiu! Makeup remover!"
Mu Qiu paused, surprise spreading across her face.
"Quick, quick, bring it over, you’re amazing!"
She scrambled to charge towards them, but someone beat her to it.
Guan Yu made several frog jumps in the water, splashing everyone’s eyes on the shore, dog paddled to Xu Cheng’s side, clasping him.
Xu Cheng showed a face of terror.
Meanwhile, Cheng Zhirang had entered the water, aiming to snatch the transparent ball Mu Qiu had eyed. With his strength guaranteed, the makeup remover ball was secure; she sympathized with Xu Cheng, saying, "Forget it, safeguarding the ball is less vital than preserving life. Or just toss the ball up... never mind, forget I said."
The ball was already in Guan Yu’s hand.
Guan Yu grimly laughed, rotating the ball to see the note inside.
"Makeup removal oil, makeup removal oil, my makeup removal... Excuse me, what the heck is contour powder?"
She looked up blankly at Xu Cheng’s innocent face.