“Battle 5,” Yan Qingwen answered. “The monitor is the Comic-book Man, and the requirement is five participants.”
Shen Mo gave a nod at that, then asked, “Who are you planning to bring?”
Yan Qingwen frowned slightly, as if somewhat troubled. “Haven’t decided yet… Su Man is definitely coming — she’s highly mobile and works well in a team. Lu Yuwen has a sharp mind, so having him along would be an asset. Zhu Shu doesn’t have any obvious standout advantages, but she adapts well to games and is good at reading people and situations… I still need one more, so I’ll probably pick from the applicants coming forward as subjects.”
“Have you considered Li Li?” Shen Mo said. “You two worked together before. You know each other well enough.”
Yan Qingwen shook his head lightly. “He did approach me, but I turned him down. The Li Family did me a kindness once. I can’t take the Li family’s only son into something like this.”
Shen Mo said, “You’ve got two or three weeks — take your time. The Comic-book Man’s games tend to lean toward psychological challenges. When you’re picking people, intelligence is secondary, but willpower absolutely has to be strong. Otherwise, it’s easy for things to go wrong.”
“Mm.” Yan Qingwen nodded. “I understand.”
Finally, Yan Qingwen asked Shen Mo, “What about you two? Have you decided who’s going to be King?”
At that, Shen Mo couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
Before he could say anything, Yan Qingwen continued, “Let Bai Youwei be King.”
Shen Mo glanced at him with mild surprise. “You also think she’s more suited for it?”
Yan Qingwen quirked his lips. “It’s not a question of who’s more suited. It’s that you can’t win against her.”
Shen Mo: “…”
He looked toward the not-so-distant corner where Bai Youwei was chatting happily with Su Man and Zhu Shu. Whatever those three women were talking about, every one of them was brimming with excitement, eyes practically glowing.
“I don’t want her to take risks.” Shen Mo let out a sigh.
“It’s natural for a man to want to protect his woman.” Yan Qingwen said with a teasing lilt. “Just think of it as the end of the world — and her last wish is to be King. As her man, are you going to help or not?”
Shen Mo smiled, but said nothing.
…
Over on the other side, the girls had drifted into some topic that set off ripples of laughter, drawing frequent glances from the nearby gentlemen.
Lu Yuwen walked over carrying a fruit platter and asked with a smile, “What are you all talking about? You seem so happy.”
“Tomato baths.” Su Man took the fruit platter from his hands and rummaged for grapes to eat. “…Mm, sour!”
“Be grateful you have anything at all~” Bai Youwei picked up a slice of honeydew melon and popped it in her mouth. “The melon’s not bad… And the tomatoes — Zhu Shu, can you do a tomato bath with this kind of tomato too?”
“Of course.” Zhu Shu laughed. “As long as there’s enough of them. Though what you look like right after probably isn’t a pretty sight.”
Bai Youwei blinked. “Why?”
“Well, what I said is all technically true — tomatoes are rich in organic acids that help remove dead skin, promote skin cell turnover, help maintain the skin’s acid-alkaline balance and so on…” Zhu Shu picked up a cherry tomato and took a bite, smiling. “But right after you step out of the bath, you’d probably look something like you’d just fought a bloody battle.”
“Pfft—” Su Man choked, bursting into laughter. “Hahaha! Cough cough cough! Cough, cough, cough cough cough!…”
Lu Yuwen gently patted Su Man’s back. Seeing her cough without stopping, he held back a smile. “I’ll go get you some water.”
Su Man: “Cough cough, cough cough cough — okay…”
Bai Youwei gave Su Man a sly wink. “Su Man, Lu Yuwen is really good to you~”
“He is! Cough, cough…” Su Man replied. “We’ve… cough, cough cough! Cough — been through life and death together!”
Bai Youwei glanced at Lu Yuwen’s retreating figure and said teasingly, “Life and death? Oh~ So you two have already pledged your lives to each other?”
Su Man erupted into violent coughing. “Cough cough cough cough cough cough!!”
—