Chapter 13: The Embrace

The next day, Perfect Partner continued filming.

A voiceover sounded: “Another beautiful day. Good morning, everyone! Today’s schedule is… fishing.”

Fishing?

Ning Ke glanced at Yan Yunzhi. A slow-paced, meditative task like this suited her perfectly.

The show explained the rules: “First, you’ll need to find the fishing rods.”

“Where are the rods?”

“Please find the clues the production team has left for you.”

“Clues? What clues?”

“They’re all around you. Now… begin!”

Gao Qi: “Hey! Not even one sentence before starting?”

Qin Pei: “Director! Stop being a monster!”

The bullet comments laughed:

“Haha, I love seeing the Best Actor and Actress complaining. Big names have it good.”

“Which team do you bet finds the clue first?”

“I’m betting on Team One. Yan Yunzhi looks smart!”

“Not sure. I think Gao Qi’s team has more life experience.”

All three teams struggled with where to even look.

Ning Ke: “First, we confirm the clues are somewhere.”

Yan Yunzhi: “The three teams are staying in different places. For fairness, they probably didn’t put the clues in the living quarters.”

Ning Ke: “So they’re in this courtyard.”

Jiang Lin: “Huh? Right here!”

Ning Ke: “Jiang Lin, search the left side. We’ll take the right.”

As soon as she said it, bullet comments popped up:

“Oh? She just assumed ‘we’ means her and Yan Yunzhi!”

“Heh. Shameless.”

“Let’s see if Team One finds the clue first. I bet a bag of spicy snacks!”

Yan Yunzhi surveyed the courtyard.

On the right side was a neatly stacked pile of firewood, covered with a plastic tarp, probably to keep off snow and rain.

Ning Ke came over, exchanging a look with her.

Ning Ke: “Flip it?”

Yan Yunzhi: “Okay.”

Ning Ke: “Step back. I’ll do it.”

The tarp had collected dust… if she shook it out, Yan Yunzhi might start coughing again.

Yan Yunzhi stepped back two paces. “Alright.”

A string of question marks surfaced:

“??? Am I blind?”

“The eldest miss used to just direct others on shows. Today she’s doing things herself?”

“Teacher Yan is an artist and a senior. Isn’t it normal for Keke to respect her?”

“Don’t you guys see… how absurdly in sync they are?”

Ning Ke shook the tarp free, sending dust flying.

She frowned and stepped back, revealing a small bamboo slip hidden underneath. First clue found!

Bullet comments showered praise:

“Haha, their team really found it first!”

“How did they figure it out?!”

“Watched the replay at 0.5x speed. Two tarps—one dusty, one clean. That means someone had lifted the clean one.”

“God, the synchronicity… I’m shipping it again!”

The comments were still flooding when Jiang Lin found the second clue—Yu You had come over a while ago, they’d traded insults, and Jiang Lin, annoyed, shoved him. Yu You stumbled into the doorframe, dislodging a slip of paper from above the door.

“Seriously?!”

“Are those elementary schoolers fighting?”

“Forget them! Team Ning Ke’s moving out!”

Sure enough, the production team announced: “Team One has found two clues. Congratulations, you’ve received your fishing rods and bait. Please set off immediately.”

Teams Two and Three had barely found their first clue. Qin Pei smiled bitterly. “Can we even compete?”

Production: “This is only the beginning of the task, not the end~”

“The beginning of the task?”

“So what exactly are we fishing for?”

“Doesn’t the production team’s tone sound obnoxious, like they’re asking for a beating?”

“Look, they’ve reached the pond.”

Standing by the pond, Ning Ke understood. The weather was so cold that the water had frozen into thick ice. Seven or eight villagers were breaking the ice and wading in to catch fish, some of which they tossed directly onto the ice. It looked like fishing rods wouldn’t yield much at all.

Viewers were stunned:

“How do we fish? Drop the line into the holes they broke?”

“Why not just grab the fish on the ice?”

“But stepping onto the ice to grab fish is dangerous.”

“The production team really loves chaos.”

Team One had arrived first. By the time the villagers finished breaking the ice, Teams Two and Three had arrived too, talking among themselves:

Yu You: “We have to go into the water. We’ll freeze to death in this weather.”

Jiang Lin: “Kill me now. I’m not getting in.”

Gu Yao: “So dangerous. Standing on the ice is really unsafe.”

The guests were all doers, but complaints aside, once the villagers finished clearing most of the ice and left, all three teams began to act.

Each team assigned one person to fish. Ning Ke delegated the rod to Yan Yunzhi: “You stay here. Jiang Lin and I will check the other side.”

Yan Yunzhi took the rod. “Call me if you need anything.”

Team Two gave the rod to Qin Pei. Team Three gave theirs to Jing Luo.

“Haha, Teacher Yan is really suited to relaxing activities like fishing.”

“Can she actually catch anything? I don’t believe it!”

“Is this going to be lunch?”

“Look, Ning Ke’s heading over there.”

Ning Ke brought Jiang Lin along the pond’s edge: “The ice is thicker here, thinner over there. If we really have to go in, we go this way.”

Jiang Lin was nervous. “I’m going in?”

Ning Ke knew he was afraid of water. “I’ll go in with you.”

Jiang Lin: “What?! A girl like you can’t go in!”

Ning Ke: “Less talk. Get in.”

Jiang Lin: “Really, don’t. I’ll go in myself.”

While Jiang Lin was slowly making his way in, Gao Qi had already sprung into action. With years of acting and martial arts training, he was quick and agile, scooping up two fish from the ice.

Meanwhile, thanks to the freezing weather, the three fishers had caught nothing.

“Seriously?? Then why did the show make everyone find fishing rods first? Idiots.”

“But how are we even competing now?”

“Look, Yu You’s in the water too. He got two fish!”

The camera switched. Yu You had just scooped up two fish and smiled at Gu Yao on the shore. “Catch!”

“Wow, his smile is so sunny!”

“Team One’s feeling the pressure now.”

Ning Ke saw Teams Two and Three both hauling fish. Ignoring Jiang Lin’s protests, she was about to go in herself when she heard Yan Yunzhi call her: “Ning Ke.”

Ning Ke: “You keep fishing. Don’t worry about this side.”

Yan Yunzhi: “You’re going in too?”

Ning Ke hummed.

Her competitive streak ran deep, and once she’d decided something, no one could talk her out of it. She rolled up her sleeves and began checking for a foothold.

“Didn’t they say the eldest miss is spoilt and delicate?”

“Honestly, I think she’s just got a temper. She works hard.”

“A girl falling into freezing water is no joke. Teacher Yan should stop her. I’m so worried.”

Yan Yunzhi didn’t stop her. “I’ll hold you while you go down.”

Ning Ke: “What?”

Yan Yunzhi: “I’ll hold you from here. Safer. Give me your hand—I won’t let go.”

Ning Ke lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, then placed her right hand in Yan Yunzhi’s.

Yan Yunzhi’s hand was cool, with slender fingers on a slim hand. She first clasped Ning Ke’s fingertips, then gripped her hand firmly. Her voice was calm and clear: “Don’t worry.”

Ning Ke hummed. She picked the thickest ice and went down. The moment her weight settled on the ice, she felt her hand being gripped tight enough to ache slightly.

She didn’t have time to think. Swiftly, she grabbed two or three fish off the ice and tossed them to shore.

“Damn, the eldest miss actually walks the talk. She’s really going for it. I’m never saying she’s all talk again.”

“Teacher Yan is so good. She’ll go along with whatever the eldest miss wants to do.”

“Jiang Lin’s scared of water. I feel like they still can’t beat Teacher Gao’s team.”

The viewers’ prediction was spot on. Gao Qi had grown up in the countryside and had martial arts skills; he moved fast and accurately, locking in first place. Team One came second, Team Three last.

Just before time ran out, there was a splash—someone had fallen into the water.

The production team panicked. “Yu You? Yu You!”

The tall boy surfaced quickly, wiping ice shards from his face. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”

On shore, Gu Yao was near tears. “Stop fishing! Get out now. I’ll come get you.”

Yu You was still smiling. “It’s fine. Really!”

“Jeez, this is getting scary.”

“Production team? I know this show is leisure travel plus a bit of survival elements, but can we tone it down NOW?”

Seeing him fall, Yan Yunzhi gripped Ning Ke’s hand. “Stop. Ning Ke, come up.”

The result was already settled. Ning Ke didn’t insist. She used Yan Yunzhi’s hand as leverage to climb up, then let go instantly. “Second place. That’s fine.”

Once they confirmed Yu You was okay, the show announced the results: “First place, Team Two. Second place, Team One. Third place, Team Three. Thank you all for your efforts. Tonight, the production team will weigh the fish, and a sponsor will buy them at fifty times the market price. All proceeds will go to struggling households in the village, so everyone can go home for the New Year, whether rich or poor!”

“Whoa, the production team is doing right.”

“Okay, no more drama this afternoon.”

The show continued: “Our partners aren’t necessarily perfect. They may argue, they may clash. But the most perfect partner is the one you trust to take your hand, knowing they’ll never let go.”

The bullet comments flooded with “cringe.” Seeming to hear them, the show immediately stopped: “For lunch, please go to the villagers’ homes for a local New Year’s meal! Tonight, feel free to visit each other! The livestream is off this afternoon; we’ll open it on a random schedule.”

Ning Ke let out a breath.

The hand hanging at her side curled slightly, then relaxed.

Oh. At least it wasn’t a Whole Fish Feast.

–

The New Year’s meal at noon was lavish. The village had slaughtered several pigs, and with the day’s fish plus all kinds of New Year’s goods—sausages, ham, sauced chicken, braised beef—the spread was rich and very locally flavored.

Everyone crowded around a big table, finally able to chat outside of team competition. As they talked, they warmed up to each other.

Jiang Lin was humorous and made people laugh. Yu You, the sunny goof, had a cough from his dip in the water but kept describing what falling in felt like. Gu Yao, who’d been caught eating a bun earlier, outdid herself today with two full bowls of rice.

As for the quiet Jing Luo, the others finally realized she wasn’t aloof, just socially anxious. Qin Pei served her some food, and she stood up, blushing. “Thank you, thank you!”

Qin Pei teased her: “Ha! So you’re just quiet, not cold!”

The guests got along well, the atmosphere warm.

After an afternoon rest, Gao Qi and Qin Pei rallied Team Three and came over to Team One’s house. Eight people gathered together.

Ning Ke proposed, “Let’s play a game?”

Jiang Lin: “We don’t even have cards. What do we play?”

Yu You: “I brought a ukulele. Want me to get it?”

Gao Qi: “What a coincidence—I brought a violin.”

Lacking proper props, the production team contributed a nine-ring puzzle. They split into four groups by seat: Ning Ke and Yan Yunzhi, Gao Qi and Qin Pei, Yu You and Gu Yao, Jiang Lin and Jing Luo. The first team to solve it would win a reward: they could assign tasks to the other teams.

The show opened a livestream, and the fans who’d waited all afternoon went wild, seizing the comments:

“Little Ning, mama finally got to see you!”

“What’s in Teacher Yan’s hands? A nine-ring puzzle?”

“Hahaha do the losers get punished? I love simple games like this!”

“I bet Team Three’s in last again.”

This round was simple, so when Yu You solved the nine-ring puzzle in just four minutes, everyone was shocked.

“That fast?!”

“Yu You, be honest—do you spend your free time solving nine-ring puzzles every day?”

“Okay, now you get to make your request…”

“Alright, Teacher Gao, you play a piece. Sister Ning, you hug the person you admire most in this room for fifteen seconds.” Yu You didn’t want to make things hard for anyone, but he didn’t forget to target the lounging Jiang Lin. “Jiang Lin, for your team… I’m assigning YOU to dance.”

Bullet comments filled with laughter:

“This is revenge! Jiang Lin pushed him this morning!”

“Too easy for Teacher Gao!”

“But who’s mama’s Little Ning going to hug?”

Gao Qi agreed readily and volunteered: “How about this—I play the violin while Jiang Lin dances?”

Jiang Lin’s dream of lying flat was thoroughly shattered. He ground his teeth. “Fine!”

Gao Qi picked up the violin, his posture textbook-perfect. The audience waited in anticipation. Then he pulled the bow… and the sound of a saw cutting wood filled the air!

Jiang Lin, frantically trying to dance, lost his rhythm at the grinding noise and twisted himself into a pretzel!

“Help! Help! Someone save my ears, my eyes!”

“Hahaha I’m literally dying laughing! Jiang Lin’s dancing like a shaman!”

“Teacher Yan, you’re a professional. Can you even listen to this?”

Yan Yunzhi stood up.

She walked over, said something to Gao Qi, and took the violin. She continued playing.

Liquid music flowed, its rhythm clear and bright, its tone mellow and lovely.

It was an English countryside tune—bright, relaxed, perfect for a quiet winter night.

Ning Ke had been covering her ears and laughing, but at the sound of the violin, she lowered her hands and turned to look.

It had been so long… since she’d heard her play.

The piece ended, and Yu You led the applause.

He’d just gotten his revenge and was in the best mood. “Now, Sister Ning, complete your task, and we’re done!”

Ning Ke froze.

She’d been so focused that she’d forgotten her own task.

“Save us… mama’s nervous. Baby, choose carefully!”

“Heh, just don’t grab anyone for clout.”

“You there with the big face—what does Keke need clout for? Just because your artist is a ‘treasure’ doesn’t mean everyone worships her!”

Ning Ke looked around the room, her gaze finally landing on Yan Yunzhi.

She wasn’t close to any of the other women, and the men were inappropriate. Honestly, if she had to hug someone, she had no choice but Yan Yunzhi.

But she hesitated.

Yan Yunzhi turned her head, catching her gaze. Her lips curved into a smile.

She looked at Ning Ke, smiling without speaking.

“Help! What is Teacher Yan doing?”

“This is called, locking eyes!”

“Shipping it!”

Ning Ke didn’t want to waste time. Following the principle of least distance, she lightly wrapped her arms around Yan Yunzhi’s waist, whispering in her ear: “Play along for the camera.”

Yan Yunzhi said softly, “Okay.”

Ning Ke held her breath, but the bitter herbal scent reached her nose anyway. Her fingers, resting on Yan Yunzhi’s waist, curled inward, not daring to press.

As if applying any force would awaken certain memories.

Memories she’d deliberately suppressed.