ASFSODS 38

Each of the five cards had its own bizarre mystery, but when Jiang Siheng said he knew the location on the first one, Wen Chi happily followed along without question.

Jiang Siheng reached out to pull Wen Chi back just as he was about to dash off. Wen Chi looked at him in confusion, and Jiang Siheng asked, “It’s a bit far. Are you sure you want to walk?”

Wen Chi blinked. “Didn’t the director just say we couldn’t get help from anyone else?”

“But we can help ourselves,” Jiang Siheng said, giving him a light pat on the head. Then he pulled out his phone and made a call, motioning for Wen Chi to wait beside him.

A few minutes later, a small car slowly pulled up. The driver’s window rolled down, revealing Xiaopang’s conflicted face. “Jiang Ge.”

Wen Chi waved enthusiastically. “Xiao Pang Ge, where did this car come from?”

Xiao Pang laughed awkwardly. “Borrowed it.” He quickly hopped out and handed the keys to Jiang Siheng.

After Wen Chi climbed into the passenger seat, it took him a moment to realize, “Teacher Jiang, are we… really allowed to drive there?”

Jiang Siheng replied, “Sure. You just have to be good at finding loopholes.”

It was Wen Chi’s first time on a reality show, and he suddenly had a revelation. His face said I’ve learned something today. Meanwhile, back in the livestream, Manager Jin was watching with the look of someone suffering from a toothache, staring at Jiang Siheng like he was a delinquent corrupting his child.

Not just Jin Ge—even the director looked helpless. In fairness, they had never explicitly banned guests from driving. After all, one location per team was intentionally placed far away.

Jiang Siheng seemed familiar with the area. Wen Chi buckled his seatbelt and opened a map app, but quickly realized he didn’t even know the destination. He shoved the phone back in his pocket, surrendering.

“Teacher Jiang, where are we going again?” Wen Chi asked.

“Lionel Langman’s old residence—he was a novelist here in Country Y,” Jiang Siheng replied.

Wen Chi let out an “oh.” He never heard of him.

Wen Chi Livestream:

[Ahhh it really is Lionel Langman’s old house!! I was scared I got it wrong]

[Girl you’re amazing!]

[How do you even know that? You a fan of his work or something?]

[Nope, just randomly saw a post about him while scrolling online]

[See? You really can learn things while surfing the web]

Jiang Siheng reached over to ruffle his hair.

《Heart’s Confession 2》No-Staff Cast Group Chat:
【Zhou Yunbai: Has anyone reached a checkpoint yet?】
【Zhou Yunbai: I don’t recognize a single one】
【Tian Yang: Don’t even talk to me. Ruoyao and I are squatting by the roadside】
【Tian Yang: No clue what to do next】

When Zhou Ruoyao saw Tian Yang’s message, he quickly clarified in the chat that Tian Yang was the one squatting. He was standing, thank you very much. There’s no way he was letting Wen Chi think poorly of him.

Wen Chi hadn’t seen the group chat yet. He was watching the road ahead while also eyeing the GPS. After seeing the app re-routing a third time, he calmly closed it.

Whatever—Teacher Jiang knows the way.

He yawned and opened WeChat to check all the messages that had popped up. Ruoyao had tagged him asking where he was.

【Wen Chi: @Zhou Ruoyao On the road, not there yet】
【Tian Yang: Seeing we’re all equally lost, I feel better】
【Zhou Yunbai: QAQ】
【Zhou Yunbai: What about En’en and Yuqing?】
【Xu Yuqing: We’re almost at the first checkpoint】

Just as Xu Yuqing sent that message, their own car came to a stop.

“We’re here?” Wen Chi turned to Jiang Siheng.

“Yeah, but we still need to walk a bit.”

Wen Chi’s face instantly dropped like he was thinking, Ugh, more walking? Jiang Siheng laughed.

The heater had been running in the car, but as soon as Wen Chi stepped out, the cold wind hit him hard. It jolted him awake instantly.

He tightened his scarf and pulled up his hood. Only then did Jiang Siheng notice the hood had two tiny ears sticking out.

Jiang stared for a few seconds before reaching out to pinch one. “Who bought this for you? You?”

“No!” Wen Chi rescued the ear. “My mom did. She said it looked warm. It’s a bit childish, but it really is warm.”

White and fluffy, paired with Wen Chi’s delicate features—Mama Wen had great taste.

Looking at him like this, Jiang Siheng suddenly wished he could shrink Wen Chi down and carry him around in his pocket.

Lionel Langman’s former residence was tucked into a quiet little alley, just around a corner from where they parked.

Wen Chi Livestream:

[Actually, for a local novelist, maybe some locals would know?]

[Doesn’t matter. The guests aren’t allowed to ask anyone anyway]

[Honestly, I know nothing about obscure authors]

[Same. I might’ve read his stuff, but never paid attention to the name]

[Whoa—Xian’en and Xu Yuqing already got one checkpoint done]

[That fast??]

[It’s okay, Xiao Chi and Teacher Jiang are almost there too]

The alley was quiet. Jiang Siheng led Wen Chi to a small house with a courtyard and stopped in front of it.

Wen Chi held up their card and compared the photo to the building in front of them. After a moment, he spotted the matching corner from the image.

“Found it,” he said. “We still need someone to take the photo, right?”

The alley didn’t seem like a place people usually wandered into. Plus, with the cold weather, the streets had been nearly empty.

“I’ll go check outside. Are you staying here?” Jiang Siheng asked.

Wen Chi glanced nervously at the slightly overgrown courtyard. It gave him the creeps. He instantly clung to Jiang Siheng’s side. “I’m coming with you!”

“Mm.”

Their luck held as they ran into a few foreigners just outside the alley. Wen Chi watched Jiang Siheng chat smoothly with them in English, and one of them nodded with a smile.

Finally, they could check off their first location.

One foreigner lifted their phone to take the picture, then paused and looked at them. They said something Wen Chi couldn’t quite catch.

Jiang Siheng turned to him. “She says it looks like we’re total strangers standing together.”

“Huh?” Wen Chi blinked. “So…?”

“She wants us to stand closer. Try to look more natural.”

Jiang Siheng Livestream:

[Okay but am I the only one who thinks Jiang Ge is just making stuff up to mess with him?]

[You are NOT the only one lol]

[Feels like Jiang Ge totally faked that “get closer” part]

[Actually, no—she really did say that. I understood it too]

[LMAOO Jiang-ge’s rep in this fandom has completely changed]

[He’s different now. Jiang Ge has evolved]

Wen Chi shot Jiang Siheng a suspicious look, then glanced at the foreigner again. She gave them a double thumbs-up and made a bendy motion with her fingers.

Jiang Siheng laughed, half-exasperated. “You don’t believe me?”

Wen Chi gave a sheepish grin. “Of course I do~”

Following her request, the two stood closer together—no more awkward graduation-photo stance.

Wen Chi tried to take off his hat, but Jiang Siheng pressed it back down so he stayed in full fluffy mode for their first official checkpoint photo.

The woman smiled at the photo, clearly delighted. She asked if she could show it to her friends. After getting Jiang Siheng’s permission, she called them over, chattering excitedly.

Whatever they were saying, Wen Chi couldn’t understand but it didn’t seem negative.

Then one young man whispered something to the woman, and she suddenly said, “Really?” with surprise.

Jiang Siheng had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, the woman and the young man walked straight toward them—toward Wen Chi, specifically.

Wen Chi blinked at them in confusion. “Uh—what’s going on?”

The woman smiled warmly. “Hello, lovely boy. My friend wants to know you.”

The sentence was simple enough that Wen Chi understood it immediately. He looked at the man. “You want to know me?”

“Yes. I want to be friends with you,” the man replied.

Wen Chi blinked, unsure how to respond. He looked at Jiang Siheng. “Teacher Jiang?”

Jiang Siheng pulled Wen Chi to his side, holding his wrist firmly in a protective and possessive way. Then he said to the young man, “We’re sorry. We’re working now.”

“Working?” the man echoed in confusion.

Jiang Siheng gestured toward the cameramen. “We have to move on. Thanks again for your help.”

Before Wen Chi could say a word, he was already being led away. He looked back and quickly shouted a thank-you and goodbye to the group.

Once they got back in the car, Wen Chi turned to Jiang Siheng with wide eyes. “Teacher Jiang, did I just get hit on?”

Jiang Siheng caught the excitement in his tone and answered coolly, “Happy about it?”

“A little bit! I mean, I know nothing would ever come of it, but still,” Wen Chi grinned, then pulled out the rest of the cards. “So, where to next?”

“Let’s go farthest to closest,” Jiang Siheng said.

“Okay! Then our next stop is this one. Teacher Jiang, let’s goooo!” Wen Chi entered the address and started the GPS.

Wen Chi Livestream:

[Wait a sec… when did they figure out what all the other cards were??]

[Yeah, I’m confused too. This is a livestream, there’s no editing]

[Did no one notice? Before they reached the novelist’s house, Jiang Ge handed his phone to Wen Chi]

[WHAT? Their relationship is so good that they just casually hand each other their phones??]

[I bet Jiang Ge already figured out what all the locations were]

[Are you new to this fandom, girl?]

[Yeah, I just finished watching episode one]

[You gotta check out the HengWen CP tag. So much good content there]

[You’ll see—they’re like an old married couple doing a reality show]

That comment wasn’t wrong. Jiang Siheng had recognized every location the moment he saw the photos.

Out of the four CP groups, only Wen Chi & Jiang Siheng then Tong Xian’en & Xu Yuqing had made progress.

Main Livestream:

[President Qin’s face is so dark right now lol]

[Xiao Bai is seriously so sweet, I’m gonna cry]

[Tian Yang and Zhou Ruoyao are killing me with laughter]

[Same. They’re so chaotic, it’s hilarious]

[Is this what they call the “slacker duo”?]

[…People really like guys who don’t take anything seriously? Thank god En’en isn’t paired with Tian Yang anymore]

[Exactly. En’en needs to be with Teacher Xu forever!]

[Why do I feel like En’en sometimes seems low-key annoyed with Xu Yuqing?]

[Are you blind or what?]

As Wen Chi saw them getting closer to the next location, a thought suddenly hit him—How did Jiang Siheng recognize all the places from just those partial photos?

He wasn’t the only one wondering. Even the production staff were suspicious.

The producer glanced sideways at the director. “Did someone give him the answers?”

“The hell they did,” the director grumbled, whacking him with a notebook. Then he sighed in frustration. “I freaking forgot—he studied abroad in Country Y and his parents live in the next city over.”