Top Chinese celebrity: Debuted from Running Man

Chapter 601, Round 1: Little Knife wins!

……

……

"Can I hug him?"

"Qingqing just hugged so many people, wouldn't it seem too strange if I hugged one too?"

Yang Ying stood still, a thought flashing through her mind. She leaned forward slightly and subconsciously moved about two inches toward Gu Qing.

Her arm moved slightly, her fingertips rising a few centimeters from where they were hanging at her sides.

"Brother Chao, come back. You're our team captain today."

After greeting everyone, Gu Qing smiled and turned her head to the side, naturally shifting her gaze from Yang Ying, and waved to Old Deng, who was still standing to the side acting as if he had no will to live.

"Why should I hesitate..."

Yang Ying awkwardly lowered her hand, biting her lower lip in frustration, "If only I had reached out to hug him sooner."

Although there was a slight regret, this small annoyance was far from enough to dampen her good mood at the moment.

Hearing "Baby Sister" on camera is far more effective than hearing it in private.

The guilt that had weighed on my heart for so many years seems to have truly dissipated.

With her burden lifted, Yang Ying's already striking oval face shone even brighter than before.

Her entire face looked as if it had been covered with a soft-focus filter, making her look unbelievably bright.

Zhao Liying stood in the area designated for the "Sisters Who Make Waves" team and didn't say much after the initial greetings.

Her almond-shaped eyes fell on Yang Ying's exquisitely beautiful oval face, and her heart stirred.

How exactly does this woman look?

She looked from the corner of her eye to the tip of her eyebrow, from the bridge of her nose to her jawline, from her smiling lips to that damn dimple, and the more she looked, the more uneasy she felt.

It's so beautiful. Really, it's so beautiful.

With big eyes, a high nose bridge, a pointed chin, and skin so fair it seems to have its own built-in lighting effect, her smile is like a flower blooming in spring.

This face is undoubtedly the focus in any camera lens; it's a beauty so pure it defies logic.

She's managed to survive in the entertainment industry all this time just because of her face.

Sister Zhao has no choice but to accept it.

You can't say Yang Ying relies on her acting skills, can you?

"I'm completely confused. Will my little brother really not get dizzy?"

Sister Zhao couldn't help but feel uneasy.

She subconsciously raised her hand and touched her chubby cheeks.

Since being "force-fed" by Gu Qing, she has finally gained a little weight back and regained some of her plump and approachable appearance, no longer looking as withered and yellow as a small potato as before.

However, she always had a very clear understanding of her own appearance.

Among female celebrities in the industry, she has always been the least outstanding.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's "ordinary and unremarkable".

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been constantly targeted by haters and called a "country bumpkin" after so many years in the industry.

He is not particularly tall, his features are not outstanding, and his temperament is not remarkable.

They are collectively referred to as: girls with no money, no job, and no status.

Girls with round faces and a cute, sweet style are quite common in ordinary people's circles; they are sweet, approachable, and like the girl next door.

The only good news is,

This is actually quite uncommon in the entertainment industry.

Because everyone in this circle is a stunning beauty with a great presence, elegant and sophisticated, with a commanding aura. Each one of them stands out in a crowd at a glance.

Her approachable appearance, now that she's become popular, has become a unique identifier due to her good rapport with the audience.

Viewers find her approachable and down-to-earth, like the older sister next door, without any sense of distance.

This is her advantage, and Sister Zhao herself is well aware of it.

Indeed, thanks to her unique appeal to the audience, she has firmly secured her position as a top female celebrity.

However, compared to the big baby, there is still a clear difference.

After the eleven people finished exchanging pleasantries,

Standing behind the control panel, holding a microphone, PD Yao announced the first game mission:

"You will compete in two rounds against all the teams present, and the winners will gain some training advantages."

"The challenge is to knock down all the blocks on the platform and then rebuild them. The first team to complete this task wins."

Everyone looked in the direction he was gesturing.

At the very front stood a gantry frame, with stacked blocks of all sizes, all square, carefully arranged on the beams and partitions.

"Which team will challenge first in the first round?"

As soon as Yao PD finished speaking—

"What's there to be afraid of? Our Running Man team will set an example first!"

Gu Qing shouted with great vigor.

"Okay! Well—wait?"

Chen Chichi was about to excitedly agree when, with his mouth halfway open, he turned his head in surprise: "Xiao Gu—did you mispronounce the name?"

After the audience finished laughing,

The two teams dutifully sent out their captains to play rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go first.

Deng Chao, representing the "Riding the Waves" team, is ready to compete against Chen Chichi.

Then Deng Chao gloriously lost to Chen Chichi.

However, Old Deng was certainly not going to accept his fate so easily:

"Best of three! Best of three!"

"No way!" "Best of five!"

"You've become addicted to cheating, haven't you!"

Deng Chao grabbed Chen Chichi's arm and wouldn't let go, almost hanging on him, until Chen Chichi pushed him away with his butt.

Old Deng clutched his fist, clutched his head in pain, and squatted down, his wails echoing throughout the stadium.

"Why do I feel like the variety show's entertainment value has been inexplicably boosted since my brother came back?"

The assistant director, sitting next to the monitor, watched Deng Chao on the screen as he suffered repeated defeats and clutched his head in despair, and his shoulders shook with laughter.

In the first round, the "Riding the Waves Team" took the lead, randomly selecting a college dragon boat team to compete against.

Game start.

Gu Qing, Zhao Liying, Deng Chao, Han Han, and Dong Zijian lined up behind the throwing line, each holding a red sandbag.

Five people stepped forward one by one, and the sandbags drew red parabolas in the air.

"Wow! Go go go!"

"Gu Qing hit it again! He's amazing! He hit it twice!"

"What's wrong with Chao Ge? How come you can't hit the target in three tries? Are you kidding me, Chao Ge?!"

"He won again! He won again—my brother won again! He hasn't missed a single one so far!"

The cheers from the crowd grew louder and louder, and the students' enthusiasm completely ignited the venue.

As the blocks are smashed off one by one, the difficulty suddenly increases when only one block remains on the shelf.

Deng Chao, Zhao Liying, and even Han Han and Dong Zijian all missed throwing their sandbags.

"Brother Chao, Sister Liying, did you two deliberately agree not to meet?"

Gu Qing weighed the sandbag in his hand, preemptively voicing the audience's complaints.

Subsequently,

With a focused gaze, he simultaneously exerted force from his wrists and waist.

"boom--"

The building block fell with a thud, tumbled a few times in the air, and landed on the ground with a thud.

"Ah ah ah ah ah--"

Faced with a scene of showing off skills comparable to Yuanzi Ge learning to serve rice, the female students' screams almost lifted the dome of the venue.

Sister Zhao was just like a little fangirl, with her fists clenched in front of her chin. The moment the blocks were smashed down, she jumped up and screamed twice, completely disregarding her image.

"Wow—Qingqing is so amazing!"

In the Running Man team's area, Yang Ying was completely captivated by that figure.

The second the blocks were smashed down, she instinctively clapped her hands together, cheering joyfully, her ponytail swaying behind her head.

"Baby, whose side are you on?"

Chen Chichi rolled his eyes dramatically next to her, his tone full of complaint, "You're on our team, and Xiao Gu is our opponent, why are you cheering him on?"

"I'll just do my best, it's none of your business!"

Yang Ying turned her head, her pretty face slightly flushed, her mouth still stubborn, and slapped out first, landing a light but firm blow on Chen Chichi's broad shoulder.

"Tch, what's so difficult about that?"

In a corner on the Running Man team's side, Huang Zitao crossed her arms, her gaze lazily shifting over only after the screams from the audience had subsided.

He felt that if he had gone up there, he could have hit the target too.

It's just smashing a building block from five meters away, isn't it?

What's so great about that?

However, his muttered remark inadvertently added a touch of tension to this round of matches.

At least on the surface, it looked like a spark of competition had ignited between two young idols, which would be a good source of material for the later editing of the variety show.

After all the blocks were smashed down, the most difficult part came – stacking them up.

The blocks on the ground were of various sizes and shapes, and the final height to be stacked was a full two and a half meters, which was taller than most of the team members.

The players from both teams began to rush towards the center of the field, bending over to pick up building blocks from the ground and scrambling to stack them up.

Dong Zijian and Han Han, two newcomers to variety shows, were flustered as they piled things up high while frequently looking back at the progress of the team next to them.

The pile over there is already waist-high.

This intense pressure of close pursuit ignited the competitive spirit deep within both of them.

"I can't reach it! I can't reach it! It's too high up there!"

Dong Zijian stood on tiptoe, holding a building block. Even with his arm stretched to its limit, he could barely touch the edge of the top block, and he was sweating profusely with anxiety.

"What should I do? Should I jump around and put it on?"

Deng Chao wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a running start position, but hesitated—if this jump knocked down those below, it would be a real loss.

"No, no, you can't jump! The impact when you land will definitely knock you over!"

Han Han stopped the person.

"Xiao Gu, can you reach it a little more by standing on tiptoe?"

"Can't reach it."

Gu Qing stood on tiptoe, holding the largest square block in her right hand, trying to reach her arm as high as possible into the gap, but she was still a little short.

As the progress next door drew ever closer,

Gu Qing withdrew his hand, his gaze quickly sweeping around the field, and then he took off his coat.

"Sister Liying, come up here."

His movements were so fast that he hardly stopped.

Gu Qing bent down, wrapped the two sleeves of her coat around Zhao Liying's waist, tied a knot at the back of her waist, and covered the pleated skirt completely. The belt was tied neatly and securely.

Then he quickly bent down, placed his hands on his knees, and turned his head slightly to the side, shouting, "Go!"

"coming!"

Zhao Liying did not hesitate or be coy at all.

She took two quick steps, lightly jumped onto his back, and gracefully straddled Gu Qing's shoulders.

Sister Zhao could clearly feel the contours of his shoulder blades and the warmth of his body beneath his shirt seeping through the fabric, warming her knees through the thin material.

"Give me the blocks, give me the blocks, quick, quick, quick!"

Despite her fear of heights, Zhao Liying instantly got into character, gesturing wildly in the air as she directed Dong Zijian and Han Han below to pass the building blocks up one by one.

"Brother Chao, help me up, don't fall."

Gu Qing dared not relax for a moment, firmly supporting Xiao Zhao's legs with both hands, her palms pressed against the outside of her calves.

With his thumbs gripping below her knees, his strength was steady and secure, gradually lifting her up.

The combined height of the two people,

Zhao Liying's fingertips finally reached the empty space on the top layer steadily and gently placed the last block on it.

Wow! Seriously?! Do they have to push themselves this hard?!

Chen Chichi was dumbfounded.

“…” Yang Ying stood in the Running Man team, quietly watching this scene.

She watched Gu Qing deftly tie his coat around Zhao Liying's waist, and watched her straddle his shoulders without any hesitation.

The two worked together seamlessly under the watchful eyes of everyone.

Her smile curved slightly as she tried to maintain a normal expression, but the curve of her lips involuntarily diminished, turning into a bittersweet envy.

"Why didn't the director switch me to Qingqing's team...?"

She thought to herself with a slight complaint, "Isn't the buzz surrounding our reconciliation more interesting than my brother teaming up with Zhao Xiaodao?"

"It's a pity Xiaodi didn't come today, otherwise I should have been able to switch places, right?"

She looked down at her white sneakers, the toes of which lightly brushed against a small patch of glue on the floor, before looking up again with her standard smile.

As Zhao Liying carefully placed the last block on top, the production crew blew a whistle, the sound of which was long and crisp.

"The Team Riding the Waves wins!"

"Oh oh oh! We've got it, brothers!!"

Old Deng was so excited he almost jumped up on the spot. He rushed over in three steps and gave Han Han and Dong Zijian a high-five each.

Then, after Gu Qing safely put Zhao Liying down, he pounced on her and celebrated.

It's back! The feeling I had before is back!

Old Deng finally rediscovered the joy he felt when he first filmed Running Man.

"Come on, next up is the second group—the Running Man team!"

Another whistle blew.

"After this back and forth, aren't we guaranteed to win?"

Chen Chichi rolled up his sleeves, and his "genius brain" worked at lightning speed, accurately reviewing the key steps that made the "Riding the Waves" team win, and then copying and pasting them in the same way.

He first found a jacket, bent down to tie up Yang Ying's skirt to cover her up, and then led the Running Man team onto the field with great confidence and the demeanor of a general who was sure of victory.

The pace of the match started exactly the same as the previous round.

Both sides threw building blocks back and forth, beanbags flew around under the lights, and building blocks fell one by one.

As luck would have it, when the last block was smashed, both teams had only one block left on their gantry racks at the same time.

"Don't move! Don't move!"

Huang Zitao suddenly shouted for everyone around her to stop, chuckled twice, bent down and picked up the last sandbag from the basket.

He weighed the item in his hand, raised his chin slightly, and smiled with an air of confidence. "Let me do it."

He's about to show off!

Huang Zitao's gaze swept across the entire room, her eyes radiating confidence.

Is it really that difficult to smash a palm-sized piece of wood from five meters away?

He had lost a few times before, but he got them all right.

"It has to go well!"

PD Yao stared wide-eyed behind the monitor, his back straightening abruptly. He was praying—no, he was summoning.

God of Variety Shows, descend!

Huang Zitao needs to land a fatal blow to respond to Gu Qing.

The following recordings will be even more interesting.

The entire venue fell silent. All eyes were on Huang Zitao.

He bent over with full force, his movements fluid and precise, striking a beautiful pose, like a baseball pitcher preparing to throw the game-winning pitch.

Huang Zitao pulled her right arm back and stretched her left hand forward to aim; the angle of her body rotation and the transfer of her center of gravity were impeccable.

The cameraman zoomed in all the way, giving him a very handsome close-up.

"Get out of here!!"

Huang Zitao exerted her strength suddenly, transmitting all her power from her feet to her waist and abdomen, then bursting out of her arms. With a final flick of her wrist, the sandbag flew out of her hand.

"call out--"

The sandbags flew out with a whooshing sound.

But instead of flying towards the blocks on the gantry, it flew in a completely unexpected, straight, and precise manner.

It flew towards the face of PD Yao, who was sitting behind the monitor, intently waiting for the arrival of the god of variety shows.

"Oh no, it's coming for me?!"

Yao PD felt a red object in his field of vision getting bigger and closer. He wanted to dodge, but his body couldn't keep up with his mind. He only had time to instinctively tilt his head back.

With a sharp "smack," the sandbag struck him squarely on the forehead, causing his head to snap back.

The small round-framed glasses, which had maintained a perfect image in every previous recording, flew off along with his hat and landed with a thud on the floor behind the monitor.

Hahahahahahaha—

The entire audience burst into laughter.

The students were doubled over with laughter, and the staff were laughing so hard they cried.

The god of variety shows has truly descended.

This is definitely the most classic scene of this season of Running Man.

PD Yao covered the red mark on his forehead, wincing in pain.

Hearing the laughter from the audience, I felt angry but couldn't vent it.

"Don't laugh yet! Don't laugh yet! Let's smash the blocks first! We haven't smashed the blocks yet!"

Amidst the burst of laughter, Chen Chichi used his remaining willpower to be the first to react. He saw that the student team next door had already started rapidly stacking blocks while they were laughing so hard they were practically falling over.

In his haste, he shoved aside Huang Zitao, who was laughing heartily, bent down to pick up the last sandbag, and threw it forcefully—the building blocks fell to the ground with a thud.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!!"

The Running Man members stopped laughing, perked up, and rushed to the center of the field to start stacking blocks.

But they immediately encountered the same problem as the previous group—insufficient height.

Yang Ying is the only female member on the Running Man team, and she is even taller than Zhao Liying.

But even standing on your own two feet, you can't reach the top floor, which is 2.5 meters high.

"Baby, step on me!"

Without hesitation, Chen Chichi lay on the ground, arched his back, stuck out his buttocks, supported himself on all fours, and his back bulged out in a round shape.

"Are you dressed as a turtle?!"

Then, Li Chen kicked his buttocks without any politeness.

He placed his hands on his knees.

He waved to Yang Ying, "Baby, step on my hand, I'll lift you up."

"Zitao, come over here and lend a hand. Support Baby's other foot."

Li Chen also made sure to give the newcomers screen time.

"Catch it with your hands? That's incredibly dirty!"

"Hurry up!"

"Ugh…"

Huang Zitao looked reluctant as she squatted down, but she had barely lifted Yang Ying up by less than ten centimeters when...

His expression suddenly changed, and he complained at the top of his lungs:

"Why are you so heavy? Sister, shouldn't you lose some weight?"

"..."

The perfect smile on Da Baobei's lips could barely maintain its curve. She bit her lower lip, lowered her eyelids, and didn't say anything, but silently readjusted her weight back to her feet.

"Go away! You're so weak!"

Zheng Kai, unable to contain himself any longer, shoved Huang Zitao aside, his voice filled with undisguised anger, "I'll do it! Baby, hold on tight, don't listen to him."

Li Chen's expression also turned sour, but he didn't say anything. He simply lowered his shoulders and placed his hands under his arm.

Together with Zheng Kai, they lifted Yang Ying steadily from both sides. Yang Ying took the building blocks, straightened her arms, gritted her teeth, and placed the last block on top.

But because of those delays just now.

In the end, when the whistle blew, the dragon boat student team next door was the first to complete the entire process of stacking blocks.

The Running Man team lost.

"Zitao, it's all your fault!"

As soon as the competition results were announced, Chen Chichi immediately rushed forward to create a comedic effect.

He poked Huang Zitao's chest with his finger, his face showing a pained expression. "Why did you have to steal my spot to throw the beanbag? Can you even hit it? Huh? Do you think you can even hit it?"

Why can't I hit the target?

Huang Zitao retorted with a laugh, "Didn't I embarrass the director? You saw it all!"

Upon seeing Huang Zitao's nonchalant and carefree attitude despite losing the game, Zheng Kai's expression immediately changed.

His jawline tightened suddenly, his masseter muscles bulged, and a flash of annoyance that no one had time to catch flashed in his eyes.

He turned around, with his back to the camera, grabbed the iconic Running Man hat from his head, and slammed it hard onto the floor.

"Grass."

He silently uttered a single word.

It's not that he can't accept losing.

Losing on Running Man is fine, everyone loses hundreds of games.

What he cared about was Huang Zitao's attitude. It was the kind of attitude that showed indifference towards the game, spoke carelessly about teammates, and treated everyone's efforts as a joke.

"Zheng Kai, it's alright, it's alright."

Li Chen, with his sharp eyes, caught Zheng Kai's change in emotion in an instant.

He quickly took two steps forward, put his arm around Zheng Kai's shoulder, pulled him to the side, blocked the camera's angle with his own body, and lowered his voice.

"Don't take it to heart... Zitao is still young, it's normal for her to be a little childish, don't take it to heart."

"He's still young? Is he younger than Xiao Gu?!"

Zheng Kai gritted his teeth and didn't turn around, his voice slowly being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"He looks a full twelve years older than Xiao Gu!"

What did Zheng Kai see?

A younger artist is carrying the team and giving it his all, going all out in every aspect, bringing the atmosphere to a fever pitch, and protecting his teammates behind him.

Another celebrity was throwing beanbags at the director, telling a female colleague "you should lose weight," and jokingly shifting blame after losing a game.

This isn't childishness, this is—

He didn't finish his sentence, but just uttered another "cough," this time softer, almost like a sigh.

"Kai Kai—your hat."

Yang Ying bent down, picked up the hat from the ground, patted off the dust, and then handed it over.

Her movements were very light, and when she handed over the hat, there was a slight hesitation in her fingertips, as if she wasn't really thinking about handing over something else.

Yang Ying turned her head to look at the other side of the field.

"Haha, we won! We won!"

"Little brother, we're amazing!"

Over there, Gu Qingzheng and Zhao Liying stood side by side, celebrating their victory.

Sister Zhao stood on tiptoe, raised one hand, and Gu Qing smiled and gave her a high five.

Yang Ying stood there quietly for a while.

Zheng Kai took the hat from her hand and said thank you. She heard all those voices, but that was all she heard.

She pursed her lips slightly, biting her lower lip gently before releasing it.

Her naturally smiling lips curved upwards, but the curve couldn't hold up and eventually fell back down.

"Can't we really switch teams?"

Yang Ying swirled this thought in her mind several times, then raised her hand, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and gently scratched her earlobe with her fingertips.

If she were on the same team as Gu Qing

The game we just played,

How could she possibly lose to Zhao Xiaodao?

……

...(End of this chapter)