The Princess's Smile (1)
Qu Chen looked somewhat bewildered and did not answer.
At this moment, Qu Chen looked to the side, suddenly broke free from Jian Tanxi, and ran in the other direction. He was so strong that Jian Tanxi couldn't hold him back and had to follow him.
Qu Chen ran to an old man, grabbed his hand, and seemed to know him.
The old man was also somewhat surprised to see Qu Chen: "You must be little Qu Chen? You recognize me?"
Upon recognizing the old man, Jian Tanxi exclaimed in delight, "Professor Pan!"
This elderly man was none other than Professor Pan Xian from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Jian Tanxi had participated in two games with him.
In the first game, "Prevent Starvation," Professor Pan Xian appears lying in a hospital bed, remaining unconscious and silent throughout.
At that time, Jian Tanxi, Qin Man, and Qu Chen were also in this game.
Unexpectedly, Qu Chen still remembered Professor Pan and recognized him at a glance.
It seems that Qu Chen is much smarter than most people imagine, and has an exceptionally good memory.
It wasn't surprising that Professor Pan recognized Qu Chen. After he left the first game, the aliens transmitted images of the first game into his mind, so he knew how to play the "No Starvation" game and what the other players looked like.
Professor Pan was pleasantly surprised to see Jian Tanxi: "Jian Tanxi, I didn't expect to meet you again... It's quite rare to meet a former teammate in a new game."
Jian Tanxi: "Yes, we can team up again... By the way, during the seesaw game, I remember you had an eye in your palm that could look around as your hand moved. Is that your special ability?"
Professor Pan: "That's right, my superpower is called cloning. It can temporarily replicate a body organ, and the location is up to me, but it only lasts for 10 minutes. I can clone an eye in my palm, or clone a hand on my waist, and so on."
"I see."
Professor Pan, worried that Qu Chen might run off, took his hand and asked Jian Tanxi, "By the way, I remember this child was with his mother, right?"
"Yes, the mother and son hadn't been separated before, but after playing a few games, Qin Man and Qu Chen separated, and neither of them could find the other. I teamed up with Qin Man in the last game, but she wasn't here this time, and I don't know how to notify her... Sigh."
Professor Pan said, "I have a solution."
He took out a companion spray and said, "This is a companion spray. Just spray it on your teammate, and you'll be teamed up with them for the next three games and won't be separated for a while. I'll spray you and Qu Chen, so the three of us will be teamed up temporarily. In the next three games, as long as we meet Qin Man, we can hand the child over to her."
Although the probability is low, it's the best we can do. Having Qu Chen in our hands is better than having him in the hands of strangers.
Jian Tanxi said happily, "So Professor Pan also has a companion spray. One of my teammates sprayed me once, so we've been teaming up. Her name is Meng Yuening. She gave the rest of the spray to Qin Man. So the next time we meet Qin Man, she can spray her son with it, and that way they can stay together for at least three games."
"So you've already seen the companion spray, then there's no need for further introduction. Now I'll spray you both with it..."
"Wait, Professor Pan, let's wait until this game is over. This spray only lasts for three games, and if we spray it now, it might count towards this game."
"Alright."
Qu Chen didn't know what the two adults were talking about, but he was smiling happily, probably because he had suddenly found two people he knew and was very excited.
He happily ran to a distance, then ran back to Jian Tanxi and Professor Pan, repeating this cycle over and over.
At this moment, Jian Tanxi introduced Meng Yuening to Professor Pan, and the two greeted each other.
Suddenly, a somewhat familiar voice rang out: "Jian Tanxi, Professor Pan, I didn't expect to meet you again. It's really surprising that you two, a girl and an old man, have survived until now."
Jian Tanxi looked at the person who was speaking and saw that he was a handsome man in his late twenties, wearing a plaid shirt and gold-rimmed glasses.
Although he was good-looking, there was a hint of impatience and disdain in his eyes.
Jian Tanxi couldn't remember who he was, but Professor Pan smiled and said, "Oh, it's Huo Zimu. We meet again."
Jian Tanxi then remembered that this man was the IT elite she met in the first game, a sophisticated egoist.
In the "Don't starve to death" challenge, while everyone else was thinking about how to survive, he was thinking about how to hoard the food for himself, and even considered killing or eating his teammates.
When most people participated in the game for the first time, they still retained a lot of humanity. However, Huo Zimu was able to immediately change his mindset and think about how to sacrifice his teammates to benefit himself. Jian Tanxi looked at him with new respect.
Jian Tanxi thought she would never see him again, but unexpectedly, they ran into each other again in this game. It was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
Professor Pan knew what kind of person Huo Zimu was, but he behaved very gently and without any hostility, so Huo Zimu didn't know what to say next.
Jian Tanxi said to Huo Zimu, "I'm quite surprised that you've survived this long. Anyway, we're teammates again, so we can only cooperate and achieve mutual benefit, not kill each other. I hope this cooperation will be pleasant."
Huo Zimu chuckled noncommittally: "The referee didn't say that we can't fight each other in this round. Let's wait for the referee to announce the rules."
Jian Tanxi: "..."
At that moment, a man and a woman walked over.
Although they came together, they weren't close to each other and probably didn't know each other.
The man had a resolute and handsome face; he was extremely handsome, and Jian Tanxi had never seen anyone more handsome than him in real life.
Moreover, his face was very familiar.
Jian Tanxi remembered who he was and asked, "Are you the male celebrity Lin Nanhuai?"
Lin Nanhuai nodded without saying anything.
The other unfamiliar girl was slightly chubby and quite pretty, but she seemed a bit lazy.
She introduced herself, "My name is Xu Yunhong, what are your names?"
Everyone introduced themselves to each other, except for male celebrity Lin Nanhuai, who stood a little far away, seemingly not intending to speak to anyone.
He didn't introduce himself, seemingly assuming everyone should know him.
After everyone had introduced themselves, they all sensed that Lin Nanhuai was unapproachable, so no one struck up a conversation with him.
Professor Pan, focused on his academic work, didn't know much about people in the entertainment industry. He asked Jian Tanxi in a low voice, "Tanxi, is that young man a popular celebrity?"
Jian Tanxi: "Yes, he has been very popular in recent years. He has played the male lead in several hit period dramas."
Professor Pan nodded: "I see."
Although their voices were relatively soft, Lin Nanhuai still heard them.
He looked at Professor Pan with displeasure and asked, "Are you from outer space? How come you don't recognize me?"
Professor Pan, with his good temper, said with a smile, "I'm sorry, I'm old and can't keep up with the times anymore, and I rarely watch TV."
Lin Nanhuai snorted but said nothing.
Jian Tanxi shook her head secretly.
Before the drastic changes on Earth, Lin Nanhuai was known for his good temper and doting on his fans. His fans often marketed him as being down-to-earth and different from other celebrities.
Unexpectedly, Lin Nanhuai's true colors were revealed to be like this.
As expected, it's just a persona; taking it seriously is a losing proposition.
At this moment, Miss Jenny floated over and said, "Now that everyone is here, let me announce the rules of this game. The game is: The Princess's Smile. Participants: Jian Tanxi, Meng Yuening, Pan Xian, Qu Chen, Huo Zimu, Xu Yunhong, Lin Nanhuai..."
Lin Nanhuai interrupted, displeased: "Why is my name put last?"
Miss Jenny explained, "The introduction of players is random and does not represent anything. The last player introduced does not mean the weakest player. Please do not misunderstand."
Lin Nanhuai: "..."
Everyone was speechless. Typical male celebrity, still concerned about rankings even at a time like this.
Miss Jenny: "Background information: In the Kingdom of Red Strawberry, there was a princess who hadn't smiled since she was very young, and it had been ten years since then. The king was very worried and hoped that the princess could finally smile happily. So, he sought out talented people from all over the world to make the princess smile. However, so far, no one had succeeded."
The king promised players a great reward for making the princess smile. Will this group of players succeed?
Game Rules:
First, players cannot touch the princess.
Second, each player has five minutes to try and make the princess laugh. If they fail to make the princess laugh within five minutes, the referee, Miss Jenny (that's me), will beat up all the players. Some players have already experienced my power. So, try your best not to fail!
Third, before each attempt to make the princess laugh, all players have ten minutes to discuss and decide who will participate and how to make the princess laugh.
Fourth, just like in previous games, no one can die in this game. If anyone dies, the remaining players will be trapped in this instance forever, their fate entirely dependent on the whims of the King and Princess.
That concludes the presentation. Do you have any further questions?
Huo Zimu asked, "Why doesn't the princess smile? Can you tell us why? If she has facial paralysis, no matter how hard we try, it will be useless."
Miss Jenny: "I'm sorry, I can't say. Have fun playing."
Huo Zimu: "..."
Jian Tanxi felt that the Red Strawberry Kingdom looked familiar and asked, "Is the Red Strawberry Kingdom your kingdom? Last time I helped you find a groom, it was the king of the Red Strawberry Kingdom who officiated at your wedding?"
Miss Jenny said, "That's right. Last time the King officiated my wedding, and this time I'm officiating the games for the King. It's just a matter of returning the favor."
"If the princess simply smiles, does that count as passing the test?"
"Yes, as long as the princess smiles, whether it's a gentle smile, a wild laugh, a silly laugh, a cold laugh... any kind of smile counts as passing. Now, please welcome the King and Her Highness the Princess!"
The king and princess arrived and sat down in chairs.
The king had a full beard, was short in stature, had a somewhat dignified face, and held a scepter.
The princess was about thirteen or fourteen years old, cute and beautiful, with skin as smooth as a peeled lychee. Unfortunately, her face was cold and expressionless, without a trace of a smile; otherwise, she would have been even more beautiful.
Miss Jenny said, "The princess has arrived, the game begins. In ten minutes, players, please begin the first round of trying to make the princess laugh. Now, you may go to the meeting room to discuss."
Everyone went into the meeting room.
Meng Yuening asked, "Our goal this time is to make the princess laugh... If we fail, all we'll get is a beating from Miss Jenny? That sounds alright."
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