Chu Yueyi obtained the English password on the bookshelf, meticulously found the mechanism's location, and quickly opened the final door.
The bookshelf rumbled open, revealing a door just wide enough for one person to pass through. Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua entered the secret room one after another.
The decor of the secret room differed from the study, containing a soft bed and dressing table. The overall tone was fresh and bright, like a young girl's boudoir.
The entire story's truth was similarly revealed through puzzle-solving. The main plot revolved around the intertwining love and hatred between a vampire count and a young girl. The boudoir was the secret room where the count imprisoned the girl, but he ultimately chose to give her freedom. Throughout, traces of his remorse were evident. Of course, beneath the remorse, there was also love.
Many plot twists were dramatic and touching, but Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua sped through, seemingly unmoved by the story.
Chu Yueyi, like a host of "Today's Law," rationally commented: "This story teaches us that restricting others' personal freedom constitutes a crime and will inevitably lead to lifelong regret."
Shi Guanghua glanced at her and asked, "So when will Juliet turn herself in?"
She didn't mention it during their confinement game, but now she's preaching about the law.
Chu Yueyi was suddenly caught off guard by his remark: "..."
She raised an eyebrow and argued eloquently: "Juliet was providing preferential treatment to a prisoner of war! It's a different concept!"
Shi Guanghua: "Oh—"
Chu Yueyi furrowed her brow and coolly stared at him: "Do you have any objections?"
Shi Guanghua: "...No, it was indeed preferential treatment."
Seeing that he had been playing dumb all along but now chimed in to catch her off guard, Chu Yueyi deliberately changed the subject to get back at him, smiling: "Does Mr. Shi have any other insights into the story?"
Shi Guanghua lacked a sense for variety shows and naturally wouldn't give a witty response. He honestly said: "No particular insights, just one reflection."
Chu Yueyi asked curiously: "What reflection?"
Shi Guanghua: "The young girl has a boudoir, while I don't even have a room."
She had occupied even his bedroom at home, unconsciously filling it with her trinkets, seeming to be everywhere.
After one trip to her studio, she could leave behind manga books. Candies mysteriously appeared by the car door, snacks were stored in the freezer compartment, the kitchen was filled with brand new, pretty tableware, and the TV screen would be black when turned on because the channel wasn't switched back after playing video games...
His world had been completely invaded by her, yet he didn't resent it. Instead, he felt a sense of comfort.
His once dull and monotonous life had become vibrant, beginning to have more and more colorful hues.
Hearing this, Chu Yueyi felt he was revealing too much information and hurriedly tried to salvage the situation: "What do you mean you don't have a room!?"
Shi Guanghua thought to himself that he'd never heard of having fewer belongings in his room than someone else, but he still said calmly: "You indeed didn't give me a room in the castle. At least the vampire count built a secret room."
Seeing that he had steered the conversation back to the show, Chu Yueyi breathed a slight sigh of relief. She had mistakenly thought he was talking about reality and naturally wanted to save face as an idol. Now, she went along with it: "The vampire count built a basement, while Juliet's castle is above ground. Of course, the property values are different."
Shi Guanghua: "..."
-- Juliet is so pretentious, hinting that her property is expensive.
-- Romeo, don't always compare yourself to others. Excessive vanity and materialism are not virtuous for men!
-- Tsk tsk, so you don't have a room. I'm shipping this, I'm shipping this.
-- Some people panicked when they heard he had no room, if you know what I mean.
Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua were the first team to complete the challenge, far ahead of the others. Their reward was a beautiful Gothic-style crown called the Vampire Laurel.
The executive producer handed the crown to Shi Guanghua and suggested: "Now, let's crown Yueyi for her outstanding performance."
Shi Guanghua was about to carefully place the delicate crown on Chu Yueyi's head when he saw her tilt her head to dodge, leaving him bewildered and frozen in place.
Chu Yueyi turned around, took the crown from Shi Guanghua's hands, and humbly said: "But I think there's someone who performed even better than me."
Faced with her beaming smile, Shi Guanghua felt an ominous premonition rising within him.
Chu Yueyi: "I think Mr. Shi's background music in the secret passage was excellent and greatly improved my puzzle-solving speed. We should crown him!"
Knowing her strange hobbies, Shi Guanghua tried to leave without a word, but was caught on the spot by the detective.
The surrounding staff were well-prepared, and they also blocked Shi Guanghua's path. It turned out to be the same crew from "Heart-Fluttering Promise."
Shi Guanghua, caught between enemies front and back, suddenly realized he had fallen into a trap!
Moments later, Shi Guanghua's heart sank, and his expression went numb. He wore the shining crown on his head, feeling oddly out of place.
Chu Yueyi sincerely praised him from the side: "So cute!"
"..."
-- Shi: Angry but dare not speak.
-- Laughed so hard! Sweet revenge! Immediately screenshot and have all the music variety show guests repost it!
-- This is a deliberate act of revenge against Shi Guanghua.
-- You have to admit, he looks quite practiced at being forcibly crowned.
As the first to finish, Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua could only sit and chat at the finish line. Setting aside Shi Guanghua's complex expression after being crowned, there was a sense of peaceful contentment in the moment.
Sitting side by side with him, Chu Yueyi casually said: "I want to get a cat. Qinyan recently got one, I saw the new photos she posted on her social media."
Raising a cat had been one of Chu Yueyi's childhood wishes, but Zhang Han had directly refused this proposal, believing that Chu Yueyi lacked the ability to care for small animals, let alone herself.
Now that Chu Yueyi no longer lived with her parents, she recalled her past wish and felt a bit eager to try.
Shi Guanghua pretended not to understand her hint. He silently glanced at her, then calmly looked away.
Noticing he didn't respond, Chu Yueyi muttered quietly: "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Shi Guanghua said calmly: "If you can provide it with a complete family, then having this idea is fine."
Chu Yueyi was taken aback: "What do you mean by a complete family?"
Shi Guanghua: "If one parent is often away from home, it can lead to a lack in the cat's childhood."
Chu Yueyi retorted: "...I've never heard that you need two people to raise a cat?"
Shi Guanghua said seriously: "If you're going to raise one, you should be responsible. Otherwise, you should first find an opportunity to experiment and see if you can consistently take care of it."
Chu Yueyi, considering her frequent filming schedules, nodded thoughtfully: "You have a point, but how can I experiment? I can't just bring a cat home for a trial, can I?"
Shi Guanghua: "I can accompany you in the experiment."
Chu Yueyi: "?"
-- Chu: I want to raise a cat. Shi: Don't raise a cat, raise me.
-- Mr. Shi's little exasperated expression is exactly like "damn raising a cat, it's clearly me raising you to pet," just like my mom. He totally doesn't believe in my ability!
-- Complete family, I get it, I get it. Hinting at marriage, I'm screaming!
-- Please give the kitty a perfect and beautiful childhood! Both dad and mom must be by its side!
-- Shi: Use me for the experiment if you don't have a cat problem.
-- Are you two performing a comedy sketch here?
As Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua chatted and waited, staff members brought them bottled water.
Shi Guanghua unscrewed the mineral water in his hand and instinctively passed it to Chu Yueyi beside him, only to find that she already had a bottle in her hand. His gaze inadvertently fell on that bottle.
The male director who had handed Chu Yueyi the water instantly became flustered. He stood awkwardly to the side, unsure whether to take it back or not, nervously watching Shi Guanghua.
The executive producer jokingly scolded his colleague: "You're in big trouble now! You've stolen someone else's job!"
Shi Guanghua said magnanimously: "It's fine."
Chu Yueyi agreed: "Right, it's just a bottle of water..."
Shi Guanghua: "It's okay if a man hands over water, it's more dangerous when a woman does it."
Chu Yueyi: "???"
Meanwhile, Ren Qinyan and Zou Qian were still struggling in the secret passage. Ren Qinyan couldn't analyze well due to poor eyesight, while Zou Qian couldn't analyze well due to lack of ability. The two perfectly missed various clues, wandering aimlessly in the secret room like headless flies.
Zou Qian casually put down a piece of paper with key information and explained seriously: "The clues definitely wouldn't be this obvious. This must be just to distract us."
Ren Qinyan: "Mm, I trust you."
Hearing her firm tone, Zou Qian suddenly felt embarrassed and scratched his head in frustration: "Don't say that. I feel like some people must have already gotten out. We've been wandering around in here for so long, probably missing a lot of clues. We might not even be able to get out in the end..."
Ren Qinyan reassured him kindly: "It's okay, I was mentally prepared for this when we teamed up."
Zou Qian: "..." Good grief, you don't actually believe we can't get out of here, do you!?
Zou Qian suddenly felt a surge of fighting spirit, as if injected with adrenaline. He had to prove his abilities.
-- Moonlight Team: Other people's wild king carries the girl. Light Bulb Team: Your wild king carries you.
-- Fierce operations like a tiger, but progress is basically zero.
-- Ren: When I left CCY, I was prepared. Men just can't be relied upon!
-- I thought Teacher Chu was playing in a fish pond league, but it turns out this is actually a peak competition?
-- Zou Qian, you're not acting, are you? Isn't the Joker supposed to be a high-IQ criminal?
At the finish point, Chu Yueyi hadn't seen Zou Qian and the others for a while. She couldn't help but feel suspicious and frowned, saying, "They wouldn't deliberately delay in the escape room, would they?"
Chu Yueyi didn't want to judge them unfairly, but she felt that Zou Qian and Ren Qinyan were taking too long. Everyone else had successfully completed the challenge and come out, but they were the only ones left behind, with no sign of them yet.
Shi Guanghua: "Why would they want to delay?"
Chu Yueyi couldn't reveal Zou Qian's little schemes, so she calmly said, "To delay everyone from getting off work, just like you used to do."
Shi Guanghua: "...When did I ever delay everyone from getting off work?"
Chu Yueyi: "Right, you didn't delay getting off work, just the first episode's re-recording."
Back then, Shi Guanghua was so nervous he could barely speak, seriously affecting the filming progress and causing them to re-record material for the first episode.
The directors and producers around them heard Chu Yueyi speaking up for justice, and they immediately straightened their backs, muttering, "That's right, that's right."
"..."
As Shi Guanghua fell silent under the weight of past mistakes being brought up, Chu Yueyi fiddled with his laurel wreath, assertively saying, "Wear it properly. This is punishment for your past errors."
In the depths of the escape room, Zou Qian finally realized his limitations. He looked down at the time and weakly said, "Should we contact the production team for rescue?"
He felt that the two of them wouldn't be able to get out today, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to face Ren Qinyan, thinking to himself why things had to go wrong at such a crucial moment.
Ren Qinyan knew her eyesight was holding them back, which was why she had put all the pressure on Zou Qian. She comforted him, "It's okay. In my heart, we're still number one."
Hearing her sincerity, Zou Qian suddenly felt a bit touched. His lips trembled slightly as he mumbled, "Mm..."
Ren Qinyan: "I watched previous episodes before coming here. We should be the first pair of guests to actually get stuck."
"..." Zou Qian's feeling of being touched vanished, and now he was too embarrassed to look at her.
As the two were completely lost in the escape room, unsure whether to contact the director, they suddenly heard a creaking sound as a hidden door opened nearby, letting in a stream of light.
Zou Qian looked surprised: "Huh, which mechanism opened that? I didn't touch anything."
Ren Qinyan shrugged in confusion, equally puzzled.
Just as the two were bewildered, footsteps could be heard from behind the hidden door.
Zou Qian's forehead broke out in sweat: "No way, no way, what kind of ghost is going to come out now..."
Ren Qinyan had already closed her eyes. She cowered behind Zou Qian, afraid that another swarm of fake bats might appear.
A moment later, Chu Yueyi and Shi Guanghua emerged from behind the door. Chu Yueyi smiled and waved at the two, while Shi Guanghua remained silent, wearing a laurel wreath that clashed completely with his demeanor.
Zou Qian had been terrified but couldn't show weakness in front of Ren Qinyan. Now that he could see who had arrived, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. His first reaction was to tease Shi Guanghua, frowning as he said, "Bro Shi, what on earth are you wearing?"
The Moonlight Team had accepted a mission from the production team to rescue the Light Bulb Team.
Because Zou Qian and Ren Qinyan hadn't shown up for so long, they sent the champion contestant Chu Yueyi to help guide them back to the surface.
Shi Guanghua didn't mind accompanying Chu Yueyi, but he was required to wear the pretty crown, which naturally put him in an extremely awkward mood.
He couldn't lash out at Chu Yueyi, but he was much more casual with Zou Qian, coldly replying, "Love."
Zou Qian was caught off guard by the verbal jab: "..."
Zou Qian said expressionlessly, "You two can rescue her. I've decided to die here."
He really couldn't face the cruel couple, unable to bear the clownish life on the surface. He might as well perish here in the escape room!
- End of "Variety Show" side story.